How mango fruit was worshipped in China

Hardly any Chinese would dare to challenge the influence of Mao Zedong, but his gift to the working class almost overshadowed this greatness. For nearly a whole year, an ordinary mango became a cult, which he presented to the workers, and those who had never seen such a fruit decided that the Chairman was sharing his innermost with them. Mango has become a symbol of a “happy life.”

To preserve it, they attempted to do so with wax and formaldehyde, but when this method failed, they resorted to pouring artificial fruits and drawing images on dishes and household items. Those who dared not see the sanctity in mangoes were persecuted and even executed.

Red Guards and workers: the confrontation

The emergence of the mango cult was facilitated by the political circumstances developing in China since 1958, at a bad time for Mao Zedong due to failed reforms. They were so unsuccessful that many people died, and his popularity plummeted. Something was needed that could raise the leader in the eyes of the people.

To do this, they came up with the Cultural Revolution, which helped to fight the oppositionists, fulfilling the role of the “restoration” of capitalism. On this basis, groups were formed among the youth who supported Mao Zedong’s ideas. They were created among both students and schoolchildren. They began to be called the Red Guards or “Red Guards.” But their actions were sometimes quite violent, and not only towards their opponents.

The activities of the youth groups initially suited the party leader, but they not only attacked the opposition but could deal with any resident. This created danger and tension in society, and the “red guards” looked more like bandit groups. Several groups supported Mao Zedong, but instead of forming a single entity, they clashed with each other, resulting in skirmishes.

Once, it escalated into a serious, protracted conflict known as the “ hundred-day war” of students. Mao Zedong eventually got tired of the riots, and it was necessary to calm the rioters. To solve the problem with the students, he used factory workers who were sent to break up practically armed groups that were throwing homemade bombs, sulfuric acid, bricks, and spears at each other.

40 mangoes as a gift to workers: the Chinese emperor did not like the exotic fruit, but it became a cult of the revolution

Thirty thousand workers were supposed to stand between the factions and pacify them, but they had no weapons to pacify the militant groups. Due to the intense passion of the students, who didn’t care who they threw objects at, several hundred workers were injured, and a dozen were killed.

The students were eventually tamed, and that marked the end of the Cultural Revolution. Visit. A F R I N I K. C O M .For the full article. Mao Zedong sent the workers a mango as a token of gratitude, which was presented to him as a gift by the Pakistani Foreign Minister while on a visit to China.

What was the mango like when it was presented? Most likely, it was a gift from a diplomat who did not come to visit empty–handed. For some reason, they remained untouched: either Mao did not like them, or he did not like all the fruits at all. Without touching them, he sent them to the factory to the workers, those who helped to calm the students.

The workers, having received an exotic fruit that they had never seen before and could not even imagine the taste, decided that this was more than gratitude. They took it as the sacrifice of their leader and raised mango into a cult. The distribution of exotic fruits to the working class marked a turning point, recognizing them as the leaders of the Cultural Revolution.

The employees were very enthusiastic and arranged a grand ceremony to welcome the mango. They began singing aphorisms in honor of Mao and decided to preserve the fruits to pass them on to future generations; they were filled with wax and formaldehyde. During the Cultural Revolution, many religious paraphernalia were destroyed, but people still had a sense of worship, and they found a way out in the image of mango.

Mangoes in Chinese life

Mango fruits soaked in wax began to deteriorate after a while anyway, and then a reform commission was established. They decided to carefully remove the wax and make a drink from the fruit, which was then given to each worker as a symbol of blessing. What they saw was passed on to Mao Zedong, to whom he only laughed as if at an intricate story, adding that let them worship; it does not harm.

Workers in some factories soaked mangoes in the anti-corrosion liquid formalin; others used gypsum to make mango molds and fill them with wax. Activists at some factories have chartered special planes to share mangoes with their comrades in Shanghai. It wasn’t long before the whole of China began worshipping mangoes and organizing events similar to the religious rituals held throughout the country: people kept artificial mangoes in glass tombs, treated them like relics, and lined the streets and alleys. For worship, mangoes were placed in special glass capsules that resembled an altar.

Soon, the mango image was launched on the production line: they began to produce enameled cups with a mango pattern, mango-quilt noodles, mango-flavored cigarettes, and much more. The National Propaganda Department quickly reacted to the popularity of the fetus and began to write about it in the press. The party newspaper People’s Daily published a poem saying, “Seeing a golden mango is like seeing the great leader Chairman Mao; standing in front of a golden mango is like standing next to Chairman Mao. Touching the gold over and over again.”

As a result, the attitude towards mango reached fanaticism. Having replaced the real ones, which had deteriorated, with artificial ones made of wax, they had to be held in reverence. One worker was even scolded, as it was suspected that he was carrying a mango loosely, which might have caused it to fall out of his hands and thereby show disrespect to their leader, Mao Zedong.

In 1968, on the day of China’s national holiday, there was a parade in Tiananmen Square, and there were so many mango items on it that they overshadowed the primary purpose of the event – the opening of the bridge over the Yangtze River. Artificial yellow fruits were in the hands of almost every Chinese person, and mango-shaped balloons floated in the air. They were featured on posters, and in the center, there was an artificial, huge basket filled with mango fruits, repeating exactly the one that was handed over to the workers.

The Deadly Cult of Mango

Fanaticism for mango has blocked all the realities of the fact that it is an ordinary fruit. The admiration for him was genuinely not fake; otherwise, it would be difficult to explain some of the actions of the activists, who took any disrespect for mango with hostility. Because of this, many hid their honest thoughts and did not speak out directly; otherwise, they would face an unenviable fate.

But while people in cities adapted faster and knew when to keep quiet in remote villages, not even everyone had heard that it was necessary to worship mangoes. The case confirms this in the town of Fulin, in which a local doctor died.

The cult’s fanatics traveled with mangoes to populated areas, and the doctor, seeing the yellow fruit, did not admire it. He did not make an impression on him, for which he paid the price, expressing the idea that it was just a fruit. They beat him, dragged him all over the village, and executed him by shooting him in the head on the edge of the town.

The boy had a similar reaction to mango, and he didn’t understand what to admire, but he didn’t say anything, and it saved his life. This was not the first, nor was it the last, execution of those who did not see mango as an exceptional value.

Mango has ceased to be a cult to worship

The mango cult began to weaken after a year, and people started using wax souvenirs instead of candles when electricity was unavailable. Dishes and household items were used for their intended purpose, and no one revered them anymore – they were ordinary household items.