 |
 |
One of Mao Zedong's early articles, "A Study of Physical Culture" [体育之研究，Tiyu zhi yanjiu], published in the influential journal New Youth [新青年，Xin Qingnian] in 1917, was devoted to the benefits of regular exercise and swimming to make the Chinese people physically strong.
|
|
All his life, Mao would follow his own prescription
and swim wherever he could. Moreover, Mao's penchant for water made
swimming an accepted physical activity for many Chinese. In 1956, Mao
swam in the Yangzi for the first time. It inspired him to compose the
poem Youyong (游泳，Swimming], which turned the dip into a memorable feat.
On 16 July 1966, a great Crossing-the-Yangzi event
was organized in Wuhan to commemorate the event. Mao showed up to
stress his support for this exercise and plopped down from his boat to
float downstreams for over an hour. During his dip, he exchanged jokes
with the masses and taught a woman how to perform the backstroke swim.
The happening was covered extensively by the Chinese mass media. It was
widely interpreted as a demonstration that Mao, although residing in
Shanghai, far removed from the locus of power, still was physically fit
and able to continue to lead China on its revolutionary course. This
played a major role in his bid to regain power during the Cultural Revolution.
Mao's swim became a major yearly event of
commemoration, giving thousands the opportunity to express their
boundless devotion to the Chairman. They would jump enthusiastically in
the water to do their bit. Not only in Wuhan, at the very spot where
Mao had entered the waters, but also in the sea and in various rivers and
lakes across the country. On the first anniversary, in 1967, there were
50,000 swimmers in lakes all over Beijing alone.
The posters shown here were published at the tenth anniversary in 1976, just a few weeks before Mao would die.
Sources:
Alice de Jong, "The Strange Story of Chairman Mao's Wonderful Gift", Reminiscences and Ruminations—China Information Anniversary Supplement, vol. 9, no. 1 (Summer 1994), pp. 48-54
Li Zhisui, The Private Life of Chairman Mao—The Memoirs of Mao's Personal Physician (London, etc.: Random House 1996)
Return to the
Mao Cult 
s.r.landsberger@let.leidenuniv.nl
|
search this site!  |
International Institute of Social History