Would be pretty cool if it were a reference to his works, but it seems to be a coincidence. Apparently Chinese people don’t really call it “little red book” and just call it 毛主席语录 (Máo Zhǔxí Yǔlù) aka “Quotations from Mao Zedong”. Mandarin speakers in Rednote are very confused when westerners are asking them about the name being a reference lol
“Quotations from Mao Zedong” the official name, and PRC nationals probably get deducted social points credits for calling it anything other than that.
But the fact that it’s published as a “little red book” fails to escape the obvious reference, if you’re familiar with Chinese history, and the Cultural Revolution.
One quotation from a French newspaper, even a respected one, doesn’t change that.
In fact, given the Chinese Communist Party’s control over education, I question what the “Mandarin speakers in Rednote” actually learned about the Cultural Revolution and its awfulness. Likely a similarly filtered version to what the Japanese today learn about what the Imperial Army did in WW2.
The picture of people across the globe doomscrolling religiously through the “little red book” on their phones without knowing where it came from is subversive(?), ironic(?). I can’t think of a good word right now.
Love how silly libs are about Mao lmao
Would be pretty cool if it were a reference to his works, but it seems to be a coincidence. Apparently Chinese people don’t really call it “little red book” and just call it 毛主席语录 (Máo Zhǔxí Yǔlù) aka “Quotations from Mao Zedong”. Mandarin speakers in Rednote are very confused when westerners are asking them about the name being a reference lol
“Quotations from Mao Zedong” the official name, and PRC nationals probably get deducted social
pointscredits for calling it anything other than that.But the fact that it’s published as a “little red book” fails to escape the obvious reference, if you’re familiar with Chinese history, and the Cultural Revolution.
One quotation from a French newspaper, even a respected one, doesn’t change that.
In fact, given the Chinese Communist Party’s control over education, I question what the “Mandarin speakers in Rednote” actually learned about the Cultural Revolution and its awfulness. Likely a similarly filtered version to what the Japanese today learn about what the Imperial Army did in WW2.
The picture of people across the globe doomscrolling religiously through the “little red book” on their phones without knowing where it came from is subversive(?), ironic(?). I can’t think of a good word right now.