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Mao 101

A remote, ramshackle Henan school is teaching its dwindling student body that only the Great Helmsman himself can save the People's Republic. Xu Donghuan meets a principal who dances to his own, old tune. Pictures by Simon Song

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Democracy School principal Xia Zuhai holds a copy of Mao Zedong's little red book as he delivers a speech during morning class on September 9, the 37th anniversary of Mao's death. The slogan on the wall says: "The country's rise and fall is my responsibility."

As far as Xia Zuhai is concerned, Mao Zedong is more than a desperately missed, great leader. The Henan province school principal thinks of the late chairman as a Buddha-like figure.

When the rain eases on the morning of September 9, the 37th anniversary of Mao's death, Xia, 49, leads a Buddhist ceremony in honour of the Great Helmsman at his village school, on the outskirts of Sitong town, in Zhoukou city, 900 kilometres south of Beijing. In front of a huge painting of Mao on a tiled wall in the centre of the campus, he has set up a shrine with offerings of snacks, fruit and Mao's favourite red chillies, as well as a small stack of publications, including a copy of the People's Daily, a Southern Weekend weekly newspaper and a Yanhuang Chunqiu monthly magazine. The latter two are known for having a liberal stance.

"You should never underestimate Chairman Mao. He wouldn't be annoyed by the criticisms inside," Xia says, with a chuckle. After lighting a cigarette for Mao and putting it on the edge of the incense burner, Xia is joined by his 15-year-old daughter, Yuanyuan, and the two kneel side by side on a bamboo mat and kowtow 81 times.

"The tradition is to kowtow three times but that's not enough to express our gratitude for Mao. So we kowtow 81 times, our highest salute to Mao," Xia will explain later.

The ceremony finishes with a prayer said by Xia and three repetitions of the Amitabha Buddha mantra.

Throughout the ceremony, Xia's students, each wearing a Mao badge on their shirt, have been standing on the side, watching.

"This is purely a family worship, held at the school, which is also our family property and our home," says Xia. Though not involving them, such veneration, which is given several times a year in the presence of the students, and the message it contains may take hold in their young minds.

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