毛新宇

August 5, 2010 8:19 AM

Pudgy Mao Xinyu is the youngest major general in the Chinese army, perhaps due to nepotism.
posted by xowie (33 comments total)

Extremely disappointing that Mr. Mao is not an adorable cherub-faced war toddler.
posted by theodolite at 8:22 AM on August 5, 2010 [4 favorites]

He is the very model of a Mao-born Major General
posted by Astro Zombie at 8:22 AM on August 5, 2010 [24 favorites]

I like how he has is top shirt button undone and his tie loosened. He looks hungover.
posted by Pastabagel at 8:26 AM on August 5, 2010

I reminded of Europe in the middle ages, where top church offices were largest nepotistic, including one case in which a whole order was given to an infant. I think they had to come to agreement that a child has to be able to speak before it can accept a marriage and or job offer.

So add me to the disappointed Mao Xinyu isn't a toddler pile.
posted by The Whelk at 8:28 AM on August 5, 2010

All the references to him being "pudgy" are interesting. Marks him as America-loving? Lazy? Both?
posted by DU at 8:31 AM on August 5, 2010 [1 favorite]

I am the very model of a modern Major-General,
I've eaten everything vegetable, animal, and mineral,
I know the Chairmen Communist, and I research the fights historical
From the Long March to Liaoshen, in order categorical;
I'm very well acquainted, too, with matters patronageathetical,
I understand nepotism, both the simple and pathetical,
About great steps forward I'm teeming with a lot o' news . . .

I am the very model of a modern Major-General.
posted by Ironmouth at 8:31 AM on August 5, 2010 [3 favorites]

I am very disappointed that his name isn't actually Pudgy.

Pudgy Mao would be a pretty great name for a band, though.
posted by padraigin at 8:31 AM on August 5, 2010 [1 favorite]

I too was expecting a zany Chinese Munro.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 8:34 AM on August 5, 2010

All the references to him being "pudgy" are interesting. Marks him as America-loving? Lazy? Both?

It's a reference to the caption "pudgy dictator" which was used under a picture of Mao in a counter-propaganda article by Time Magazine (circa 1949). The article is still being used as a teaching example in American college journalism classes. At least, it was when I took them.

Perlmutter points out the Lucepress's fealty to a "cultural China"--the ancient and majestic society with its artistic, literary, and philosophical artifacts--and the publisher's dogged attempt to exalt that national abstraction even as Time constructed and excoriated a post-1949 "Red China" in its pages. The book brilliantly examines the magazine's tribulations in maintaining such a double stance and provides a fascinating account of the dilemma Luce and his editors faced, and the solution they developed, when China severely restricted access for Western journalists after 1949. As the only available images of China were propaganda pieces dispensed by the Communist Party's Eastfoto news service, Time found a solution in what Perlmutter calls "contrarian captioning," whereby, for example, a picture of a smiling Mae Zedong would bear the caption "pudgy dictator" (p. 75). Contrarian captioning became a mainstay for the Lucepress as it sought simultaneously to keep China in view and to malign the usurper it saw in the Communist Party.

posted by zarq at 8:41 AM on August 5, 2010 [7 favorites]

His adversaries questioned his intelligence, and even his handwriting.

They are tough on generals in China.
posted by GenjiandProust at 8:50 AM on August 5, 2010

By the way, the nickname stuck with Mao for years in the American press.

Now that you're aware of it, you may find yourself noticing its use in conservative editorials about other heads of state. Kim Jong Il and Hugo Chávez Frías are sometimes referred to as "pudgy dictators," too. It's a subtle disparagement, linking them to Mao.
posted by zarq at 8:55 AM on August 5, 2010

His adversaries questioned his intelligence, and even his handwriting.


And I bet they'd go NUTS if he wore sandals in public...
posted by hermitosis at 9:00 AM on August 5, 2010

Mao Zedong has the most famous handwriting script (in terms of number of people who could name it on sight) in the history of the world. (Wei renmin fuwu!) It may be petty, but it's not totally bizarre to comment on Xinyu's handwriting.
posted by zjacreman at 9:01 AM on August 5, 2010 [3 favorites]

Power comes from the end of a genealogy line.
posted by Babblesort at 9:01 AM on August 5, 2010 [2 favorites]

Can someone explain to me why he can't get a decent tailor for his jacket? Or is he expected to grow into the uniform? What the hell is with the giant sleeve?
posted by spicynuts at 9:16 AM on August 5, 2010

Is this the thread where we see which Mefites are plants working for Chinese military intelligence?
posted by grobstein at 9:21 AM on August 5, 2010

Is this the thread where we see which Mefites are plants working for Chinese military intelligence?

沒有任何陰謀。
posted by zarq at 9:26 AM on August 5, 2010 [2 favorites]

Extremely disappointing that Mr. Mao is not an adorable cherub-faced war toddler.

Yeah. I was expecting Xiao Pangzi in a uniform.
posted by qxntpqbbbqxl at 9:27 AM on August 5, 2010

PERHAPS?!?!?
posted by briank at 9:42 AM on August 5, 2010

To be fair, the general did turn out to be a pretty good brake pad salesman.
posted by The 10th Regiment of Foot at 9:50 AM on August 5, 2010

Not a healthy-looking fella, that's for sure.

Schmucks like this guy are great to promote if you want to keep the real power hidden from public view.
posted by leotrotsky at 9:52 AM on August 5, 2010

Mr. Mao as adorable cherub-faced war toddler?
posted by applemeat at 9:55 AM on August 5, 2010

Is this the thread where we see which Mefites are plants working for Chinese military intelligence?

Aren't we all?
posted by Ironmouth at 10:15 AM on August 5, 2010

roflmao?
posted by scruss at 10:17 AM on August 5, 2010 [5 favorites]

"But if you go writing books on Grandpa Mao, ya ain't gonna make it with anyone, anyhow..."
posted by symbioid at 10:25 AM on August 5, 2010 [1 favorite]

I sort of feel for the guy. With expectations from the Party, and clearly lacking the intellect of his grandfather, he's quietly toggling along trying his best not to screw up too badly.
posted by klue at 10:28 AM on August 5, 2010 [1 favorite]

clearly lacking the intellect of his grandfather

I'm sure he'll do fine, as long as he's never called upon to locate his car on the battlefield. On the other hand, military mastermind that he is, he has clearly taken to heart at least one of the 36 Stratagems: 以逸待勞 ("to await in leisure for a belabored enemy"). And who knows, maybe it's all part of a long-con strategy of 假痴不癲 ("feign idiocy but do not fall") and 借屍還魂 ("appropriate a corpse to resurrect the soul").

Personally, I would love to have a miniature Mao Xinyu. I would love him and care for him and feed him every day.
posted by bokane at 10:45 AM on August 5, 2010 [2 favorites]

I always thought banning pre-formed cigarettes was an interesting idea. Just make loose tobacco and papers available at a very high price, but no packs of cigarettes. Make smokers roll their own and see who has the patience to keep up with it. :)

Speaking as a smoker, you could mandate that papers are only available outside of city limits and loose tobacco could only be sold with a 5:1 sawdust:tobacco ratio, and you'd still have smokers driving out to Bumfuck County for papers and picking most of the wood out. Opiates ain't got nothing on Father Nicotine- my grandfather hasn't touched tobacco in fifty years, but he says not a single dinner has gone by where he didn't crave a smoke afterwards.

Me, I'm migrating over to the electronic cigarettes, picking up packs of American Spirits when I'm between JOYE-510 atomizers. Once they start selling these lovely little devices in stores (for a reasonable price... those $20 disposables can eat me), I'm done with inhaling burnt tobacco.
posted by maus at 11:17 AM on August 5, 2010 [2 favorites]

whoooaaa shiiiit wrong thread D: D: D:

but my point stands: quitting Mao is hard guys!
posted by maus at 11:17 AM on August 5, 2010 [2 favorites]

I sort of feel for the guy. With expectations from the Party, and clearly lacking the intellect of his grandfather, he's quietly toggling along trying his best not to screw up too badly.

While I agree with you, I can't help but think of another beneficiary of nepotism who recently was instrumental in helping to FUCK UP THE ENTIRE WORLD.

no not Prince Harry
posted by jtron at 11:23 AM on August 5, 2010 [1 favorite]

I sort of feel for the guy. With expectations from the Party, and clearly lacking the intellect of his grandfather, he's quietly toggling along trying his best not to screw up too badly.

Yeah, ever since I first heard about this guy (wasn't the Danwei-translated interview previously posted to MetaFilter?) I've felt sorry for him (obviously not more than people who are actually suffering in China and the world). Most of the CCP "princelings" can get along fine with the relative lower fame of their powerful parents, but he has to live life with the apparent reputation of a stupid fat slob. I think it's one of the more farcical and pathetic examples of the Dengist CCP approach to gilded cages for those who have fallen out of power (in this case more keeping him away from any actual power, which I have the feeling even in his cloddishness he's aware of, and thank goodness for that). Does anyone have links to Chinese coverage of this (either human or machine translated - I've only begun learning Chinese)? I suspect a side benefit of this may be to the official CCP line on Mao - just look at his grandson!
posted by Gnatcho at 11:31 AM on August 5, 2010

Oh yeah, thanks for the info on "pudgy dictator", Zarq. I knew about the Luce hard-on for China (maybe not only metaphorical), but I didn't know about that very funny example.
posted by Gnatcho at 11:34 AM on August 5, 2010

Of course, the actuality is that this nepotism has occurred after the capitalist restoration; in Mao's lifetime none of his children got special favours on a par with, say, the dynasties of North Korea (they were of course post-'49 as relatively pampered as any other high official's children) or even Deng Xiaoping's brood, let alone the shower that followed. Favourite son Mao Anying of course dying fighting in Korea as a low-ranking officer. Xinyu's father, Anqing, suffered from mental illness probably caused by a beating from a cop when he and his brothers were begging as street children in 30s Shanghai and spent his adult career as a linguist with no political clout, though his mother Shao Hua rose to some prominence.
I'd be off to cash that cheque from Chinese military intelligence now, but they all sold out years ago as well.
posted by Abiezer at 1:37 PM on August 5, 2010 [2 favorites]