Chairman Mao Memorial Hall

Final resting place of Mao Zedong

39°54′04″N 116°23′29″E / 39.9010°N 116.3915°E / 39.9010; 116.3915Named forMao ZedongGroundbreakingNovember 24, 1976CompletedMay 24, 1977Renovated1997-98Known forFinal resting place of Mao ZedongWebsitejnt.mfu.com.cn

The Chairman Mao Memorial Hall (simplified Chinese: 毛主席纪念堂; traditional Chinese: 毛主席紀念堂; pinyin: Máo Zhǔxí Jìniàn Táng), also known as the Mausoleum of Mao Zedong, is the final resting place of Mao Zedong, Chairman of the Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party from 1943 and the Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party from 1945 until his death in 1976.

Although Mao had wished to be cremated, his wishes were ignored and his body was embalmed. The construction of a memorial hall as his final resting place began shortly after his death. This highly popular attraction is located in the middle of Tiananmen Square in Beijing. It stands on the previous site of the Gate of China, the southern (main) gate of the Imperial City during the Ming and Qing dynasties.

The embalmed body of Chairman Mao is preserved in the cooler, central hall of the memorial hall in a glass case with dim lighting; it is guarded by a military honor guard. The memorial hall is open to the public every day except Mondays.[1]

History

The memorial hall is located on the Tiananmen Square, where the Beijing Gate of China used to stand (2005)

The memorial hall was built soon after Mao's death on September 9, 1976. People throughout China were involved in the design and construction of the memorial hall, with 700,000 people from different provinces, autonomous regions, and nationalities doing symbolic voluntary labor.[2]

On May 24, 1977, the construction of Chairman Mao's Memorial Hall was completed. On August 22, 1977, the delegates to the 11th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party visited Mao Zedong's remains, and the communiqué of the 1st Plenary Session of the 11th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party was published on the same day. On August 31, 1977, President Josip Broz Tito of Yugoslavia went to visit Chairman Mao's Memorial Hall to admire the remains of Mao Zedong.[3] on September 9, 1977, the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, the State Council, and the Central Military Commission held a "Commemoration of the First Anniversary of the Death of the Great Leader and Mentor, Chairman Mao, and the Inauguration of Chairman Mao Memorial Hall" on the North Square of Chairman Mao's Memorial Hall". Since then, representatives from all provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the central government have come to pay their respects.[4]

The memorial hall was closed for renovations for nine months in 1997 before reopening on January 6, 1998.[5] After that, the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party has held commemorative activities here on the occasion of the 90th, 100th, 110th and 120th anniversaries of the birth of Mao Zedong.[6][7]

Sculptures

A brown stone sculpture of soldiers fighting with various weapons, led by one carrying a flag with a man's face in profile on it
One of four sculptures located near the entrance and exit of the memorial hall

The North Hall contains the alabaster seated statue of Chairman Mao Zedong.[8] Chairman of the CPC Central Committee Hua Guofeng, Vice Chairman Ye Jianying and other central leaders personally reviewed the draft and selected the plan for the statue of Chairman Mao. In the creation of the statue, there were always two options for the seated figure, with or without crossing the legs. The central government chose the option of crossing the legs. After the statue was made, someone thought that the cross-legged statue was vivid and friendly, but it did not harmonize well with the solemn atmosphere of the Memorial Hall. The Central Committee studied and discussed these views and decided to rebuild a flat-legged statue to replace the cross-legged one. However, the implementation of this decision was very cumbersome, and finally Deng Xiaoping decided that there was no need to replace it, so the statue remained cross-legged.[9]

There are four sculpture groups in the square, all of which are made of clay,[10] one on each side of the east and west sides of the main gate in the north, and one on each side of the east and west sides of the back gate in the south. The sculpture on the east side of the north gate shows the democratic revolution. The sculpture on the west side of the north gate represents the socialist revolution and industrial construction. The two sculptures on both sides of the south gate represent the inheritance of the will and the continuation of the revolution.[11]

Visits

A queue to enter the memorial hall
The president Alberto Fernández visiting the Chairman Mao Memorial Hall in 2022

The memorial hall today remains a popular destination in Beijing, and is often visited by foreign dignitaries and Chinese Communist Party officials. Foreign heads of state, such as Cuban leader Fidel Castro and Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro visited the memorial hall during their state trips to China.[12][13]

On 29 September 2019, CCP general secretary Xi Jinping along with other Politburo members of the Chinese Communist Party visited the Chairman Mao Memorial Hall.[14]

See also

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mausoleum of Mao Zedong.
  1. ^ "毛主席纪念堂". cpc.people.com.cn. Archived from the original on December 17, 2019. Retrieved November 10, 2019.
  2. ^ "The Chairman Mao Memorial Hall Successfully Completed", China Pictorial, 9: 4–12, 1977
  3. ^ 中国特色政党外交 (in Chinese). 社会科学文献出版社. 2017. p. 92. ISBN 978-7-5201-0056-4. Retrieved April 29, 2024.
  4. ^ 清华之路: 素质培养个案 (in Chinese). 花城出版社. 2003. p. 103. ISBN 978-7-5360-4113-4. Retrieved April 29, 2024.
  5. ^ "Crowds flock to Mao mausoleum". BBC. January 6, 1998. Archived from the original on April 21, 2004. Retrieved December 31, 2013.
  6. ^ "纪念毛泽东同志诞辰130周年，毛主席纪念堂开放时间调整". m.thepaper.cn. Retrieved April 29, 2024.
  7. ^ "毛泽东诞辰120周年 习近平等赴纪念堂瞻仰遗容-中新网". www.chinanews.com.cn. Retrieved April 29, 2024.
  8. ^ 国魂典 (in Chinese). 吉林人民出版社. 1993. p. 218. Retrieved April 29, 2024.
  9. ^ "大修183天，毛主席纪念堂再开放". news.ifeng.com. Retrieved April 29, 2024.
  10. ^ 伟人安息的地方: 毛主席纪念堂纪实 (in Chinese). 吉林人民出版社. 1993. p. 146. ISBN 978-7-206-01779-7. Retrieved April 29, 2024.
  11. ^ 功绩永垂：毛主席纪念堂设计施工与建设 (in Chinese). 吉林出版集团有限责任公司. 2011. p. 57. ISBN 978-7-5463-2638-2. Retrieved April 29, 2024.
  12. ^ "Castro Honors Mao". The Washington Post. Associated Press. Archived from the original on November 10, 2019. Retrieved November 10, 2019.
  13. ^ "Venezuela's Maduro pays tribute to 'giant' Mao". MalayMail. September 14, 2018. Archived from the original on November 10, 2019. Retrieved November 10, 2019.
  14. ^ "Xi bows to Mao Zedong ahead of Communist China's 70th anniversary". Al Jazeera. Al Jazeera and news agencies. Archived from the original on November 6, 2019. Retrieved November 10, 2019.
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