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For the novel by Ying Chang Compestine, see Revolution Is Not a Dinner Party (novel).

Revolution is not a dinner party,[2] or making revolution is not inviting people over for dinner,[3] is a phrase coined by Mao Zedong.[4] It is taken from Mao’s essay titled Report on an Investigation of the Peasant Movement in Hunan written in 1927 during the Land Revolution.[5] It means that a revolution cannot be gentle and soft, but determined and thorough, and it is a violent and bloody action of one class overthrowing another.[6]

In this report, Mao stated that “A revolution is not a dinner party, or writing an essay, or painting a picture, or doing embroidery; it cannot be so refined, so leisurely and gentle, so temperate, kind, courteous, restrained and magnanimous. A revolution is an insurrection, an act of violence by which one class overthrows another.”[7]

Based on this view, historian Zhang Ming further pointed out that “a revolution is not a dinner party, a revolution is a petition to eat”.[8] The saying is also the basis of a political joke: “for many cadres Geming bushi qingke jiushi chifan ‘Revolution is not entertaining guests, just eating dinner [at public expense or at the cost of the nouveaux riches].” [9]

In late 1966, during the early Cultural Revolution, the Chinese composer Li Jiefu (李劫夫, 1913–1976) composed a communist revolutionary song based on Mao’s saying, entitled “Geming Bu Shi Qingke Chifan”《革命不是请客吃饭》(Revolution is Not a Dinner Party), and it was recorded and disseminated across China soon thereafter.[10]

See also

References

  1. ^ “Programmatic literature written under the oil lamp”. Xinhua News Agency. 2021-04-19. Archived from the original on June 29, 2021.
  2. ^ Davis, Edward Lawrence (2005). Encyclopedia of Contemporary Chinese Culture. Taylor & Francis. pp. 656–. ISBN 978-0-415-77716-2.
  3. ^ Xueping Zhong; Zheng Wang; Bai Di (2001). Some of Us: Chinese Women Growing Up in the Mao Era. Rutgers University Press. pp. 89–. ISBN 978-0-8135-2969-1.
  4. ^ Christopher Arnander; Frances Wood; Kathryn Lamb (2008). The Pavilion in the Sky: Chinese Proverbs and Idioms. Stacey International. ISBN 978-1-905299-67-6.
  5. ^ “50th Anniversary of the Cultural Revolution: A Look at the Cultural Revolution through Ten Objects”. BBC News. 2016-05-09.
  6. ^ “Does power come from the barrel of a gun?”. Radio Free Asia. 2021-06-02.
  7. ^ Stuart Heaver (15 August 2019). “Dear Hong Kong protestors: you have the support of Chairman Mao”. The Independent.
  8. ^ “A evolution is a petition to eat”. Yazhou Zhoukan. 2011-09-19.
  9. ^ Davis (2005).
  10. ^ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPlWGnZkY4Q