【英国《卫报》6月24日报道】题：毛泽东常在：中国如何在新时代里触及过去（记者塔妮娅 布兰尼根发自北京）

　　在一个闷热的夏日午后，毛泽东和蒋介石面对面站在北京龙潭公园里。尽管天气闷热无比，尽管他们发动过惨烈的内战，但此刻毛主席却以平静而安详的眼神注视着他的老对手。

　　一时间，过往的游人停住了脚步，然后高兴地把这位中国最知名人物团团围住，一起合影和握手。

　　40岁的王飞（音）说：“我们在电视上见过他，留下了深刻印象，但这次是在现实生活中，他就站在我们面前。我们很荣幸能亲眼见到他。”

　　当然，这里所说的他并不是毛泽东，而是说他的饰演者。商清瑞是中国若干毛泽东的扮演者之一，在中国共产党准备庆祝建党90周年纪念时，商清瑞也突然忙起来了，他被邀请出席各项活动。

　　中国共产党值得庆祝的东西很多。1921年，中共是由13人在中国东部的一艘小船上成立。今天，它成为世界上最大、最有影响力的政党，拥有党员8000多万。

　　尽管如此，中共还认为让党员对过去的荣耀产生敬畏很有必要，因此它忙于开展诸如革命旅游、红歌会和放映新版爱国主义电影等活动。讲述建党历史的影片《建党伟业》群星云集，目的是吸引年轻观众。

　　“让历史告诉未来！”商清瑞呼喊着。他正在一场活动中――为内蒙古干部举行的晚会――扮演着毛泽东。他的下一站行程是北京一所监狱，他将去提升他们的道德品行，并对囚犯进行再教育。他还要参加一场公司邀请的商业活动。

　　模仿毛泽东不是闹着玩的事，这是很严肃的。同时在电视剧里扮演毛泽东的商清瑞不但会被邀请参加婚礼，也会参加一些庄重的官方活动。

　　他说：“毛泽东时代的风气是为人民服务。现在每个人都只看重钱。我们在这样的文化下长大，我有责任把它传承下去，否则年轻人将会迷惘。”

 

英文原版：

Party evokes Mao on its 90th birthday 

By Tania Branigan | From the Newspaper June 27, 2011 (2 days ago)

 

ON a sultry summer afternoon, Mao Zedong and Chiang Kai-shek stand face to face in Beijing`s Longtan Park. In spite of the oppressive heat and the vicious civil war they waged, the chairman gazes at his old foe with serene benevolence.

For a moment, the passing tourists freeze. Then they break into grins and crowd around China`s best-known figure for photographs and handshakes.

“We saw him on television and were impressed, but this time it was for real, standing in front of us. We`re really honoured to meet him in person,” said 40-year-old Wang Fei.

Mao is not, of course, quite the person he was. Thirty-five years after his death, his shoes are filled by impersonator Shang Qingrui. And as the Communist party of China (CPC) prepares for its 90th anniversary, demand for his services has boomed, with guest appearances already lined up at a string of official events.

The CPC has plenty to celebrate. It began in 1921 when 13 men gathered on a boat in eastern China to create an illegal organisation. Today it is the world`s largest and most powerful political party, with more than 80 million members and control of the world`s second largest economy.

Despite this, it seems necessary to keep today`s members in awe of the glory of the past, hence a busy campaign complete with revolutionary tours, red song concerts and a new patriotic movie that sprinkles its account of the party`s creation with a host of star cameos aimed at younger viewers.

As the party moves ever further from its roots — the new film is co-sponsored by Cadilllac — it exploits them to bolster its relentless, Leninist grip on political power.

“This is an absurd era,” Professor He Bing of the China University of Politics and Law told graduates in a bold speech this month.

“They encourage you to sing revolutionary songs, but do not encourage you to make revolution; they encourage you to watch [the new movie] `The Great Achievement of Founding The Party`, but they do not encourage you to establish a party.”

He Bing`s view is clearly not part of the official campaign. “Let history tell the future!” booms Shang, in between drags on a cigarette that seems as much prop as habit. The impersonator is reliving the highlights of his last engagement — a party for cadres in Inner Mongolia — where he paid tribute to young red heroines who lost limbs to frostbite fighting to save a herd of sheep. His next booking is at a Beijing jail, to raise the morale of staff and re-educate prisoners. He also takes on corporate work although he drew the line at promoting a spa, judging it too undignified.

He is one of several “Mao Zedongs” when it comes to the impersonation business. They even share slicked-back, jet-black hair and instantly recognisable uniforms — although the chairman`s two-piece is rather more sombre than the King`s jewelled jumpsuits. But imitating Mao is no joke: this act is deadly serious. Shang, who has also played the leader in television dramas, is hired not for boozy weddings but staid official events.

Others make their living impersonating Song Qingline, revolutionary and widow of Sun Yat-sen, and Deng Xiaoping, who began China`s economic reform in the 1980s.

“In Mao`s generation, the spirit was to serve the people. Now everyone has got their eyes on money,” Shang said. “We grew up learning this culture. It is my responsibility to pass it on, otherwise it will be lost and young people will be lost.”

Others believe the real problem is too much reverence for an imagined past. Last month the Caixin website published a taboo-breaking essay on Mao by influential liberal economist Mao Yushi — no relation. For these Maoists, many of whom are relatively young and stand against what they see as capitalist excesses and foreign influence, this competing version of history represents a struggle between left and right. — The Guardian, London

编者注：英文版最后一段（红色部分）提到中国著名的自由主义经济学家茅于轼由于在财新网发表反毛文章被公诉之事，新华网翻译时选择性“失明”了。