The Mao Mango Cult of 1968 and the Rise of China's Working Class
By Ben Marks
— For 2,000 years, the peach was the iconic fruit of China, an auspicious symbol of good health and a long life. But from August of 1968 until roughly the fall of the following year, the mango was China’s most revered produce item, whose meaning was unwittingly bestowed upon it by none other than Mao Zedong.
“Apparently, Mao didn’t like fruit. It was an easy re-gift."
Now an exhibition about the mango's short-lived sanctification has opened at Museum Reitberg in Zurich, Switzerland....
