Why did they need to hire ppl to cry at Mao's funeral?

Question: Why did they need to hire ppl to cry at Mao's funeral!?

since they liked him so much!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:

Actually, it was a Chinese custom to hire mourners for funerals!. It would be done so the family could save face just in case nobody showed up!. It sounds silly, but apparently the Jews did the same thing (check out the story of Lazarus in the Gospels -- it talks about people gathered around his tomb, and historians say they were paid mourners)!.

It's still done in some places today!. When I briefly stayed in Manila, I met a woman who was actually a professional mourner!.

In other places, you'll find a tradition at Chinese funerals where a family member will give each guest (not professional mourners, but actual guests) a small bit of money in a small red envelope!. That's just a remnant of this old tradition!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Legacy
As anticipated after Mao’s death, there was a power struggle for control of China!. On one side was the left wing led by the Gang of Four, who wanted to continue the policy of revolutionary mass mobilization!. On the other side was the right wing opposing these policies!. Among the latter group, the restorationists, led by Chairman Hua Guofeng, advocated a return to central planning along the Soviet model, whereas the reformers, led by Deng Xiaoping, wanted to overhaul the Chinese economy based on market-oriented policies and to de-emphasize the role of Maoist ideology in determining economic and political policy!. Eventually, the reformers won control of the government!. Deng Xiaoping, with clear seniority over Hua Guofeng, defeated Hua in a bloodless power struggle shortly afterwards!.

Mao's legacy has produced a large amount of controversy!. Many historians and academics are critical of Mao, especially his many campaigns to suppress political enemies and gain international renown, some comparing him to Hitler and Stalin!.[38][39]

Supporters of Mao credit him with advancing the social and economic development of Chinese society!. They point out that before 1949, for instance, the illiteracy rate in Mainland China was 80 percent, and life expectancy was a meager 35 years!. At his death, illiteracy had declined to less than seven percent, and average life expectancy had increased to more than 70 years (alternative statistics also quote improvements, though not nearly as dramatic)!. In addition to these increases, the total population of China increased 57% to 700 million, from the constant 400 million mark during the span between the Opium War and the Chinese Civil War!. Supporters also state that, under Mao's government, China ended its "Century of Humiliation" from Western and Japanese imperialism and regained its status as a major world power!. They also state their belief that Mao also industrialized China to a considerable extent and ensured China's sovereignty during his rule!. Many, including some of Mao's supporters, view the Kuomintang, which Mao drove off the mainland, as having been corrupt!.

They also argue that the Maoist era improved women's rights by abolishing prostitution, a phenomenon that was to return after Deng Xiaoping and post-Maoist CPC leaders increased liberalization of the economy!. Indeed, Mao once famously remarked that "Women hold up half the heavens"!. A popular slogan during the Cultural Revolution was, "Break the chains, unleash the fury of women as a mighty force for revolution!"

Skeptics observe that similar gains in literacy and life expectancy occurred after 1949 on the small neighboring island of Taiwan, which was ruled by Mao's opponents, namely Chiang Kai-Shek and the Kuomintang, even though they themselves perpetrated substantial repression in their own right!. The government that continued to rule Taiwan was composed of the same people ruling the Mainland for over 20 years when life expectancy was so low, yet life expectancy there also increased!. A counterpoint, however, is that the United States helped Taiwan with aid, along with Japan and other countries, until the early 1960s when Taiwan asked that the aid cease!. The mainland was under economic sanctions from the same countries for many years!. The mainland also broke with the USSR after disputes, which had been aiding it!.

Another comparison has been between India and China!. Noam Chomsky commented on a study by the Indian economist Amartya Sen!.

He observes that India and China had "similarities that were quite striking" when development planning began 50 years ago, including death rates!. "But there is little doubt that as far as morbidity, mortality and longevity are concerned, China has a large and decisive lead over India" (in education and other social indicators as well)!. In both cases, the outcomes have to do with the "ideological predispositions" of the political systems: for China, relatively equitable distribution of medical resources, including rural health services and public distribution of food, all lacking in India!. [40]
The United States placed a trade embargo on China as a result of its involvement in the Korean War, lasting until Richard Nixon decided that developing relations with China would be useful in also dealing with the Soviet Union!.

Mao's military writings continue to have a large amount of influence both among those who seek to create an insurgency and those who seek to crush one, especially in manners of guerrilla warfare, at which Mao is popularly regarded as a genius!. As an example, the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) followed Mao's examples of guerrilla warfare!.

One of the last publicly displayed portraits of Mao Zedong at the Tiananmen gate!.The ideology of Maoism has influenced many communists around the world, including Third World revolutionary movements such as Cambodia's Khmer Rouge,[41] The Communist Party of Peru, and the revolutionary movement in Nepal!. The Revolutionary Communist Party, USA also claims Marxism-Leninism-Maoism as its ideology, as do other Communist Parties around the world which are part of the Revolutionary Internationalist Movement!. China itself has moved sharply away from Maoism since Mao's death, and most people outside of China who describe themselves as Maoist regard the Deng Xiaoping reforms to be a betrayal of Maoism, in line with Mao's view of "Capitalist roaders" within the Communist Party!.

As the Chinese government instituted free market economic reforms starting in the late 1970s and as later Chinese leaders took power, less recognition was given to the status of Mao!. This accompanied a decline in state recognition of Mao in later years in contrast to previous years when the state organized numerous events and seminars commemorating Mao's 100th birthday!. Nevertheless, the Chinese government has never officially repudiated the tactics of Mao!.

In the mid-1990s, Mao Zedong's picture began to appear on all new renminbi currency from the People’s Republic of China!. This was officially instituted as an anti-counterfeiting measure as Mao's face is widely recognized in contrast to the generic figures that appear in older currency!.[citation needed] On March 13, 2006, a story in the People's Daily reported that a proposal had been made to print the portraits of Sun Yat-sen and Deng Xiaoping!.[42]

In 2006, the government in Shanghai issued a new set of high school history textbooks which omit Mao, with the exception of a single mention in a section on etiquette!. Students in Shanghai now only learn about Mao in junior high school!.[43]

Mao lived in the government complex in Zhongnanhai, Beijing!.Www@QuestionHome@Com