Qiu Xiaolong - The Mao Case

The sixth book in the Inspector Chen series, 2009

I am indebted to many people for their support, particularly to Patricia Mirrlees, whose warm friendship thawed the frozen moments of writing; to Yang Xianyi, whose example of moral integrity inspired the characters in the story; and to Keith Kahla, whose brilliant editorial work helped to present it in its present form.

CHIEF INSPECTOR CHEN CAO was in no mood to speak at the political studies meeting of the Shanghai Police Bureaus Party committee.

His mood was due to the topic of the day the urgency of building spiritual civilization in China. Spiritual civilization was a political catchphrase much emphasized in the Party newspapers starting in the mid-nineties. Peoples Daily had another editorial on the subject just that morning. In the same issue, however, yet another high-ranking Party official was exposed in a corruption scandal.

So where could the spiritual civilization come from? Surely, it wasnt something that could be pulled out of thin air like a rabbit out of a magicians hat. Still, Chen had to sit, stiff and serious, at the middle of the conference room table, nodding like a robot, while others talked.

You cannot connect nothing to nothing with broken fingernails

Whether this bleak image came from a poem he had read long ago, while lying in the sun on some beach, was a detail he couldnt recall.

In spite of the Partys propaganda, materialism was sweeping over China. It was a well-known joke that the old political slogan Look to the future had become an even more popular maxim, Look to the money, for in Chinese, both future and money are pronounced as qian, exactly the same. But that wasnt a joke, not exactly. So where would the spiritual civilization come from?

Nowadays, people look at nothing but their own feet, Party Secretary Li Guohua, the top Party boss in the bureau, spoke, gravely, his heavy eye bags trembling in the afternoon light. We have to reemphasize the glorious tradition of our Party. We have to rebuild the Communist value system. We have to reeducate people

Were people to blame for this? Chen lit a cigarette, rubbing the ridge of his nose with his forefinger and middle finger. After all the political movements under Mao, after the Cultural Revolution, after the eventful summer of 1989, after the numerous corruption cases within the Party system -

People care for nothing but money, Inspector Liao, the head of the homicide squad, chipped in loudly. Let me give you an example. I went to a restaurant last week. An old Hunan restaurant that has been in business for many years, but all of a sudden, its a Mao restaurant. There are pictures of Mao, and of his bewitching personal secretaries, posted all over the walls. The menu is full of special dishes that were supposedly favorites of Mao. And so-called Xiang Sister Waitresses, clad in dudou-style bodices with Mao quotations printed on them, strutted around like hookers. The restaurant is shamelessly capitalizing on Mao, who would die from shock if he were resurrected today.

And theres the joke, Detective Jiang said, about Mao walking into Tiananmen Square, where a shrewd businessman used him as an instant picture model for tourists, making tons of money. A crying shame -

Leave Mao alone, Party Secretary Li cut in angrily.

A crying shame or not, a joke at the expense of Mao remained a political taboo, Chen observed, pulling over the ashtray. Still, the joke was a vivid illustration of present-day society. Mao had turned into a profitable brand name. Retribution or karma? Chen mused, watching the smoke rings spiral up in the conference room, when he became aware of Lis fidgeting beside him. He had to say something.

Economic basis and ideological superstructure. Chen managed to come out with a couple of Marxist terms he had learned in his college years, but then he checked himself. According to Marx, there is a corresponding relation between the ideological superstructure and the economic basis. What marked the present-day socialism of Chinese characteristics was, however, the very incongruity between the two. With the market economy totally capitalistic and at the primitive accumulation stage, to use another Marxist phrase what kind of a communist superstructure or spiritual civilization could be expected?

Still, hed better think of something fast. It was expected of him not only as an intellectual having majored in English before being assigned by the state to the police bureau, but also as a chief inspector, and an emerging Party cadre.

Come on, Chief Inspector Chen, youre not just a police officer, but a published poet too, Commissar Zhang urged. A revolutionary of the older generation, long retired, Zhang still attended the bureaus political studies meetings, believing that the current problems were the result of insufficient political study. Surely you have a lot to tell us about the necessity of rebuilding a spiritual civilization.

What was behind Zhangs remark, Chen could easily guess. It wasnt just an implicit criticism of his being a poet, but also of his being, in Zhangs eyes, too liberal.

When I came in to work this morning on a crowded bus, Chen started over again, clearing his throat, an old man with a crutch struggled aboard. He fell hard when the bus lurched to a stop. No one got up to give him a seat. A young passenger, seated, commented that its no longer the age of Comrade Lei Feng, Maos selfless Communist role model -

He left his sentence unfinished again. Perhaps it was coincidental that Mao kept coming up like a returning ghost. Chen ground out his cigarette, ready to finish his sentence when his cell phone rang shrilly. Without looking at the others in room, he answered it.

Hi, this is Yong, a womans voice said, clear and crisp, Im calling about Ling.

Ling was Chens girlfriend in Beijing, or to be exact, ex-girlfriend, though they hadnt exactly said so explicitly. Yong, a friend and former colleague of Lings, had tried to help during their prolonged off-and-on relationship, which went back as early as his college years.

Oh? Whats happened to Ling? he exclaimed, drawing surprised stares from his colleagues. He stood up in a hurry, saying to the room, Sorry, I have to take this.

Ling got married, Yong said.

What? he said, striding out into the corridor.

He really shouldnt have been astonished. Their relationship had long been on the rocks, what with the insurmountable problem of her being an HCC a high cadres child, her father was a top-ranking Party cadre, with his being unable to imagine himself becoming an HCC, because of her, even for her sake. The friction was intensified by his dislike of the social injustice, with the distance between Beijing and Shanghai, and by so many things between them

Ling was not to blame, he had kept telling himself. Still, the news came as a shattering blow.

Hes another HCC, but also a successful businessman and a Party official. She doesnt really care for all that, you know

He listened, leaning into a corner, gazing at the opposite wall, which resembled a piece of blank paper. Somehow he felt like an audience, listening to a story about something that had happened to others.

You should have tried harder, Yong said, in Lings defense. You cant expect a woman to wait forever.

I understand.

It may not be too late. Yong delivered her Parthian shot. She still cares so much for you. Come to Beijing, and Ill tell you a lot of things. Youve not been to Beijing for such a long time. I almost forget what you look like.