Quotations from Chairman Mao (, commonly known as the "红宝书" during the Cultural Revolution), colloquially referred to in the English-speaking world as the Little Red Book, is a compilation book of quotations from speeches and writings by Mao Zedong (formerly romanized as Mao Tse-tung), the former chairman of the Chinese Communist Party, published from 1964 to 1979 and widely distributed during the Cultural Revolution.
Publication process
Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-tung was originally compiled by an office of the PLA Daily (People's Liberation Army Daily) as an ideological handbook. Lin's approach became known as the "lively study, lively application" of Mao Zedong Thought. In 1961, Lin had required PLA Daily to publish a Mao quote each day to emphasise the central theme of the day's editorial.
The emphasis on Quotations started decreasing after the 9th Party Congress in April 1969. or "Little Treasure Book" in China. From the mid-1960s through the mid-1970s, it was the most printed book globally. others contend that the distribution ran into the "billions", and others cite "over a billion" official volumes between 1966 and 1969 alone as well as "untold numbers of unofficial local reprints and unofficial translations."
The initial print run was distributed only within the PLA, with 4.2 million copies printed.
The Foreign Affairs Department of the State Council issued a March 1966 circular requesting any foreigners who had obtained a copy of Quotations to return it, stating that the book was for internal education and study only and was not a complete description of Mao Zedong Thought. During the Mao era, when people swore oaths, they would often do so on Quotations. After the end of the Cultural Revolution in 1976 and the rise of Deng Xiaoping in 1978, the importance of the book waned considerably, and the glorification of Mao's quotations was considered to be left deviationism and a cult of personality.
Quotations continues to be a symbol of Mao Zedong Thought in China today. In certain situations, the book is given as a gift, for example, when public funds are involved, or when personal events arise, such as congratulating newlyweds.
Today in China, Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-Tung is mostly seen as a piece of nostalgia. It is difficult to find in bookstores.
Euro-American contexts
Assessing its legacy in the French Maoist context, Alain Badiou concludes that "Mao's Little Red Book has been our guide, not, as fools say, in the sense of a dogmatic catechism, but on the contrary, so that we can clarify and invent new behaviors in all sorts of disparate situations that were unfamiliar to us."
In the United States, Quotations was particularly popular among African American and Asian American radicals, who often viewed the text as a welcome departure from what they regarded as a typically Eurocentric body of theory. With the proceeds, they purchased weapons to arm Black Panther Party members for self-defense against police brutality.
On the Danish rock band Kliché's debut album, Supertanker, the songs "Militskvinder" and "Masselinjen" drew on texts from the Quotations.
India
In India, Quotations gained popularity following the 1967 Naxalbari uprising and the beginning of the Naxalite Movement. The leader of the first phase of the Naxalite Movement, Charu Majumdar, placed major emphasis on the text, requiring it to be studied and to be read aloud to illiterate peasants.