When Mao Went Swimming
<p>Chairman Mao Zedong swam in the Yangtze River on 25th July, 1966. Despite being in his Seventies, the leader was said by party propagandists (and hence every newspaper in China) to have set a world-record pace of nearly 15 km in 65 min.&nbsp;</p><br><p>This piece of political theatre showed the world that the public face of the Chinese Communist party was in robust physical shape (despite reports in the West to the contrary), and reset Mao’s image in China after his disastrous ‘Great Leap Forward’ had claimed the lives of millions of people.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly unpick the symbolism of this iconic event; explain how Mao leveraged the publicity to reconsolidate his power; and reveal what Mao got VERY wrong about sparrows…&nbsp;</p><br><p><strong>Further Reading:</strong></p><p>• ‘The Chairman's Historic Swim’ (TIME, 1999): <a href="http://content.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2054250,00.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">http://content.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2054250,00.html</a></p><p>• ‘Power of symbolism: The swim that changed Chinese history’ (SupChina, 2021): <a href="https://supchina.com/2021/07/14/power-of-symbolism-the-swim-that-changed-chinese-history/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://supchina.com/2021/07/14/power-of-symbolism-the-swim-that-changed-chinese-history/</a></p><p>• ‘This photo triggered China’s Cultural Revolution’ (Vox, 2020): <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXByOrRrO7c&feature=emb_title" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXByOrRrO7c&feature=emb_ti</a></p><br><p><strong>For bonus material and to support the show, visit</strong><a href="https://create.acast.com/episodes/ca1f94a1-0921-446a-ae00-4d4bfd2ba3ef/Patreon.com/Retrospectors" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>&nbsp;</strong></a><a href="http://patreon.com/Retrospectors" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>Patreon.com/Retrospectors</strong></a></p><p><strong>We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts:</strong><a href="https://create.acast.com/episodes/ca1f94a1-0921-446a-ae00-4d4bfd2ba3ef/podfollow.com/Retrospectors" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>&nbsp;</strong></a><a href="http://podfollow.com/Retrospectors" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>podfollow.com/Retrospectors</strong></a></p><br><p><em>The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.</em></p><p><em>Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Sophie King.</em></p><p><em>Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2022.</em></p><br /><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>
Today In History with The Retrospectors
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Show Notes
Chairman Mao Zedong swam in the Yangtze River on 25th July, 1966. Despite being in his Seventies, the leader was said by party propagandists (and hence every newspaper in China) to have set a world-record pace of nearly 15 km in 65 min.
This piece of political theatre showed the world that the public face of the Chinese Communist party was in robust physical shape (despite reports in the West to the contrary), and reset Mao’s image in China after his disastrous ‘Great Leap Forward’ had claimed the lives of millions of people.
In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly unpick the symbolism of this iconic event; explain how Mao leveraged the publicity to reconsolidate his power; and reveal what Mao got VERY wrong about sparrows…
Further Reading:
• ‘The Chairman's Historic Swim’ (TIME, 1999): http://content.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2054250,00.html
• ‘Power of symbolism: The swim that changed Chinese history’ (SupChina, 2021): https://supchina.com/2021/07/14/power-of-symbolism-the-swim-that-changed-chinese-history/
• ‘This photo triggered China’s Cultural Revolution’ (Vox, 2020): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXByOrRrO7c&feature=emb_ti
For bonus material and to support the show, visit Patreon.com/Retrospectors
We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/Retrospectors
The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.
Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Sophie King.
Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2022.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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