|
Mao: The Unknown StoryThis was his first-ever public appearance before a large crowd of hundreds of thousands. The crowd was well organized, and very distant from the Gate high above. From now on Mao would ascend the Gate on special occasions, a practice he modeled on Soviet leaders mounting LeninБЂ™s tomb in Red Square, which was far lower and less grand. On this occasion Mao made the only speech he ever delivered from the Gate in his entire reign of twenty-seven years. (On other occasions when he appeared there, he would at most mouth a slogan or two.) He cleared his throat every other sentence, in the manner of a nervous speaker rather than a rousing orator. Moreover, the content was extraordinarily flat, mainly a list of appointments. Its most salient feature was what he did not say. Mao did not outline any program to benefit БЂњthe peopleБЂ« in whose name the regime had been installed. The crowd of over 100,000 cried БЂњLong live Chairman Mao!БЂ« Mao appeared excited, waving as he walked from one end of the magnificent Gate to the other, and occasionally shouting into the microphone: БЂњLong live the people!БЂ« He had that day established himself as the absolute ruler of some 550 million people ...» |
Код для вставки книги в блог HTML
phpBB
текст
|
|