With support from the University of Richmond

History News Network

History News Network puts current events into historical perspective. Subscribe to our newsletter for new perspectives on the ways history continues to resonate in the present. Explore our archive of thousands of original op-eds and curated stories from around the web. Join us to learn more about the past, now.

Plastic Mao statues outlawed in China

Souvenir statues of Chairman Mao must not be cast from plastic or plaster and must be an "authentic likeness" of the Great Helmsman, according to new Chinese regulations.

Chinese officials in Mao's home province of Hunan said they were concerned about the flow of shoddy Mao souvenirs that has flooded the Chinese market.

According to Xinhua, Mao's hometown of Shaoshan sold 124 million yuan (£12.4 million) worth of trinkets last year, of which almost three-quarters were Mao statuettes.

But buyers have complained that some Mao statues do not even resemble the founder of modern China and that substandard statues have melted in the heat or chipped easily....
Read entire article at Telegraph (UK)