(Translator’s preface: Mao Zedong set a great example of personal modesty and plain living. During the Cultural Revolution, personal worship of Mao was taken to ridiculous lengths. He was eulogised everywhere as “Great Leader, Great Teacher, Great Helmsman and Great Commander-in-Chief”, but said he hated this and wanted to be known only as a teacher, a profession he trained for and worked as in his early years. During his lifetime, he forbade the printing of his image on the nation’s currency. It is a great irony that following his death and the restoration of capitalism, the currency that accompanied the emergence of billionaires by the dozen carried the image of this great Communist. The images of the currency have been sourced by me, and the italicised notes with them are mine.)
2020-10-6
The yuan used in China has accompanied the establishment and
growth of the People's Republic for nearly 60 years of trials and tribulations.
It was born under the fire of the Liberation War and developed during the
booming period of socialist construction and reform and opening up, with a
total of five sets issued in succession. The head of the founding leader and
great man of the century, Mao Zedong, was finally solemnly emblazoned on the
RMB in the fourth set, which was printed and issued from 1987 to 1992, and in
the fifth set, which was issued on the 50th anniversary of the National Day in
1999. It would have been possible for Mao Zedong's portrait to be on the
currency to meet the long-awaited people much earlier. This is because Mao
Zedong had firmly refused to have his image printed on the RMB several times
during his lifetime.
In April 1947, the Central Committee of the Communist Party
of China appointed Dong Biwu to prepare for the establishment of the People's
Bank of China and to organise the design and printing of the RMB at the same
time.
The People's Bank of China was originally scheduled to be
established and issue RMB on 1 January 1949. However, in view of the prospect
of victory in the People's Liberation War, it was decided to bring forward the
official opening of the bank by one month, i.e. 1 December 1948, and at the
same time to convert the eight currencies of the various base areas into RMB at
a uniform rate.
The design of the new currency was entrusted to Wang Yijiu
and Shen Naiyong of the Jinchaji Border Area Printing Bureau. During the design
process, the designers, initially full of reverence and in accordance with
Chinese and foreign currency design practices, unanimously decided that the
head of Mao Zedong, the founding leader of the Republic, should be placed on
the face of the RMB, and submitted the design along these lines to the Party
Central Committee for approval.
However, after seeing the draft submitted for review, Mao
Zedong said in a very serious and strict manner a thought-provoking statement,
"The RMB belongs to the state and is issued by the government, not the
Party, and I am now the Chairman of the Party, not the Chairman of the
government, so how can my head be printed on it?"
The design had to be changed because Mao Zedong's words were
so eloquent and his subjective consciousness so sincere and disciplined,
justified to the point of being impeccable. On the advice of Nan Hanchen,
General Manager of the People's Bank of China, the final design was to reflect
the masses of workers and peasants in the liberated areas and the construction
of production. All the Chinese characters on the currency including
"People's Bank of China", were written in standard block letters by
Dong Biwu, who was the Chairman of the North China People's Government at the
time. The RMB was printed by the Jiamusi Dongzhao Bank printing factory. The
first batch of RMB was issued in Shijiazhuang, Hebei Province, at 9am on 1
December 1948, in the form of three types of banknotes: the five yuan, two yuan
and one yuan.
(Above: the 12 denominations of the first issue ranged from 1 to 50,000 yuan, reflecting the inflation inherited from the defeated Guomindang regime).
The first set of RMB was printed and issued in 12
denominations and 62 editions from 1 December 1948 until December 1953. This
set of notes from the early years of the country's existence focuses on
reflecting the party line, policies and the will of the people at the time. Of
these, 23 plates show the theme of establishing industrialisation, 20 plates
reflect the theme of developing production, and four plates show the theme of
the workers' and peasants' alliance. Due to Mao's strong principles and ample
powers of persuasion, the history of his head on the currency had to be
deferred.
On October 1, 1949, the People's Republic of China was
proclaimed. Shi Lei, then head of the issuance section of the People's Bank of
China, asked the governor of the People's Bank of China, Nan Hanchen, "Now
that Mao Zedong has become the chairman of the central government, is it
possible to print the image of Chairman Mao on the RMB?" Nan Hanchen
nodded approvingly and said, "I have never forgotten about this. Let's
think of it together." Nan Hanchen then shook his head a few times and
said with deep regret, "It's just that the Chairman, the old man[1],
still refuses to do so. The other day, when I went to Zhongnanhai for a
meeting, I took advantage of the break between meetings to ask the Chairman for
advice face to face. The Chairman was very resolute and told me with a solemn
face, 'I have become the Chairman of the Government, but I cannot print it even
if I am the Chairman of the Government, because we had a decision at a meeting
before we went to the city. This decision was made at the Second Plenary
Session of the Seventh Central Committee held in March 1948, which stipulated
that it was forbidden to give birthday wishes to party leaders and to use the
names of leaders as names of places, cities, streets, buildings and factories,
so as to prevent some comrades from becoming complacent, singing praises,
greedy for enjoyment and not seeking progress because of their victories, and
to enable comrades to maintain their style of hard work and wholehearted
service to the people ." Shi Lei nodded his head in conviction and said
yes. For, as he had truly heard, the Second Plenary Session of the Seventh
Central Committee of the Party had indeed made a ban on birthday celebrations for
Party leaders and the use of the names of Party leaders as place names, as
proposed by Chairman Mao Zedong.
In April 1950, Luo Gongliu and Zhou Lingzhao, renowned art
professors, began work on the design of the second set of RMB in accordance
with the decision of the Central Government. Based on international
conventions, and in view of the uniqueness and anti-counterfeiting nature of
the leader's portrait, they considered that the Soviet ruble had the portrait
of Lenin, the American dollar had the portrait of Washington and Lincoln, the
British pound had the portrait of the Queen, and so on, and it was logical that
the new Chinese renminbi should bear the portrait of Mao Zedong, the leader who
had established immortal feats for China and was much beloved by the Chinese
people. They then carefully designed several sets of different images of Mao
Zedong: a 5 Yuan note with ethnic minorities carrying a portrait of Mao Zedong;
a 1 Yuan note with the portrait of Mao Zedong on the front of the Tiananmen
Square; and a 20 cent note with a locomotive with a striking portrait of Mao
Zedong.
When the above preliminary proposal was submitted to the
Central Committee for approval, it was again met with the strong veto of
Chairman Mao Zedong. Once again, Mao Zedong took a strong stance and firmly
opposed the printing of his image on banknotes and repeatedly pointed out in
all seriousness: "The Second Plenary Session of the Seventh Central
Committee of the Party has a rule that one, we should not make birthday
parties; two, we should not give gifts; three, we should give fewer toasts;
four, we should clap less; five, we should not use people's names as place
names; and six, we should not list Chinese comrades on a par with Marx, Engels,
Lenin and Stalin. In order to stop the traditional phenomenon of singing the
praises of virtue, the Party resolution must be observed, that my image must
not be printed on the RMB."
(Above: the second issue in 1955 had a conversion rate between the first and second series of 1:10,000, so the value of the existing 10,000 yuan note fell to one yuan. It reflected the victory of bringing inflation under control).
It is evident that Mao Zedong always kept a clear head and a
sensible understanding that Mao's attitude was not a momentary modesty. He was
taking the lead in implementing the initiative of "making sure that
comrades maintain a modest, prudent, not arrogant, not impatient style, and
making sure that comrades maintain a style of hard work", which was put
forward at Xibaipo on the eve of the victory; he took the lead in seriously
practising the principle of "catching up" from Xibaipo to Beijing
"We will never be Li Zicheng, we will get good results in the
examination"[2].
With such a firm attitude and orders from Mao Zedong, those
responsible for the design and production of the second edition of the RMB and
the specific staff had no choice but to comply with the orders. The good thing
is that Premier Zhou Enlai was extremely responsible for the design of the
notes and carefully reviewed them one by one, giving a series of instructions
and making specific comments.
One day in 1953, Wang Wenhuan, director of the Printing
Bureau, approached the governor of the People's Bank of China, Nan Hanchen,
with the layout of 11 types of banknotes that had just been revised, to ask for
further instructions for review. Wang Wenhuan pointed out the layout and said,
"The 1 yuan note is Beijing Tiananmen Square, the 2 yuan note is Mount
Baota in Yan'an, and the 3 yuan note is Longyuankou in Jinggang Mountain. The 5
yuan note and the 10 yuan note use the image of national unity and the alliance
of workers and peasants, reflecting the foundation of our country. The whole
set is complete and unified in design, with an outstanding national style."
Nan Han Chen nodded in satisfaction. In this way, the second set of RMB 20-cent
notes, originally designed with a small head of Mao Zedong embedded in the
locomotive of the Mao Zedong, were eventually replaced with a five-pointed
star. Other items such as the portrait of Mao Zedong on the Tiananmen Square
Tower on the 1 Yuan note, and the portrait of the Chairman in the parade scene
of people of all ethnic groups holding up the portrait of Mao Zedong on the 5
Yuan note, were also all cancelled.
The original draft of this set of notes underwent repeated
revisions, adjustments and additions by the designer, and was written in Chinese
wei-style characters by Mr Ma Wenwei, a researcher at the head office.
It was then printed and issued in 11 denominations and 17 editions from 1 March
1955 until 20 April 1962. The plan to have Mao's portrait printed on the second
set of renminbi fell through again when Mao Zedong again unceremoniously
blocked it.
When the third set of RMB was designed and issued, the
printing of Mao's head was not mentioned again because of the two previous
instances. However, during the Cultural Revolution, there was a ludicrous and
thought-provoking episode related to the printing of Mao's head. The story goes
like this: some people from the banknote printing factory cabled the head
office of the People's Bank of China, saying that they wanted to raise the
great red flag of Mao Zedong's Thought, that there was something wrong with the
RMB 1 yuan note being printed, and that the printing should be stopped immediately,
claiming that they wanted to print notes with the Chairman's head on them, and
that the head office should make a clear statement. The head office promptly
reported this to the Central Committee, and when Mao Zedong learned of it, he
again firmly opposed it and asked Zhou Enlai to convey the opinion that
"the Chairman does not agree to his image being printed on the RMB."
Thus the matter came to an end.
Premier Zhou Enlai was equally concerned about the design of
the third set of banknotes, providing strict control and careful guidance, and
proposing three specific amendments. This set of RMBs was printed and issued
from 20 April 1962 until 15 April 1980. In this way, the third set of RMBs
still did not have the portrait of Mao Zedong on them.
( Liang Jun, China’s first female tractor driver and the banknote on which she features. Below, the photo on which the engraving for the note was based.
The fourth set of renminbi was designed in 1983, after the end of the Cultural Revolution and the new period of reform and opening up that followed the smashing of the Gang of Four. By this time, Mao Zedong and other major leaders of the first generation of the Chinese Communist Party had passed away.
(Above and below: the one yuan denomination features images of Yao and Dong minority nationality women. As a 16-year-old, Shi Milkin was photgraphed in Guizhou Province by one of the currency designers. Her family was poor, she had not read a book, and she couldn’t speak Mandarin, but she graced the one yuan note issued in the early 1980s.)
The design of this RMB was still undertaken by the design
team headed by Luo Gongliu. The initial design proposal was still for a maximum
denomination of 10 yuan. However, with the development of the commodity
economy, this small denomination became increasingly unable to meet the needs
of the market, especially when it came to buying valuables, it was inconvenient
to carry large amounts of cash and the general public wanted a larger
denomination of RMB to be issued. For this reason, the People's Bank submitted
to the State Council on the one hand to print additional large denominations of
RMB 50 and RMB 100, and on the other hand to assign new tasks to the design
team.
Inspired by the touching scenes of the crowds holding
portraits of the leaders in the past National Day parades, Luo Gongliu was
inspired to reflect the glorious images of the first generation of major
leaders of the new China. At the same time, it was also a beautiful wish that
had been deep in everyone's hearts for many years. So, after thorough research,
the designers agreed that the four leaders - Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai, Liu Shaoqi
and Zhu De - should be placed in relief on the 100 Yuan note to scientifically
summarise that "Mao Zedong Thought is the crystallisation of the
collective wisdom of the Chinese Communist Party".
Although Mao Zedong was adamantly opposed to the printing of
his head in the past, with the changes and developments of the times, it was
imperative that the heads of the great men are printed on the face of the note.
In this way, it is not only a way to remember and permanently frame the great
achievements of the older proletarian revolutionaries, but also an effective
channel to educate the younger generation on revolutionary traditions.
In view of the fact that banknotes in many countries are
generally exchanged once every seven or eight years, and our country’s fourth
set of renminbi had been in circulation for more than 10 years, it was time to
gradually exchange new edition currency. Therefore, on September 30, 1999,
Premier Zhu Rongji issued the State Council Order No. 268, instructing the
People’s Bank of China to issue 100 yuan, 50 yuan, 20 yuan, 10 yuan, 5 yuan, 1
yuan, and 5 jiao and 1 jiao[3]
notes. The fifth set of renminbi with eight denominations was mixed with the
fourth set of renminbi. This was a major event in the construction of our
country’s currency system and a great gift on the 50th birthday of the
Republic.
(Above and below: the fifth series. The capitalist-roaders are adept at hiding behind this great Communist's image).
When people who were immersed in the rich, warm happiness of
celebrating the 50th anniversary of the founding of the country saw the head of
Mao Zedong at the beginning of the founding of the country stand out as the
main scene on the front of the fifth set of RMB 100 large notes, it was like a
gust of spring breeze pounding in their faces and a wisp of fresh fragrance
refreshing their hearts, and they were in an extraordinarily joyful and relaxed
mood. The enlarged head of Mao Zedong is very pleasing to the eye, very kind
and benevolent, fulfilling the long-standing wish of hundreds of millions of
people to venerate and remember the founding leader, which has profound
historical significance.
Chinese original accessed at 毛泽东屡阻在人民币上印他的像_马院网|红色故事Mayuan.wang - Powered by Discuz!
[1] The term “laorenjia” (“the old man”)
is highly respectful in China.
[2]
This remark was made to Zhou Enlai as he and Mao prepared to leave
Xibaipo in rural China for Beijing. Li Zicheng was leader of a peasant
rebellion that invaded Beijing and, in 1644, toppled the Ming Dynasty. Even though he overran Beijing, the
would-be emperor failed to keep power because he and his colleagues alienated
the masses by adopting an aristocratic lifestyle. His rule lasted less than a
year. The reference to the imperial exams, which were taken in Beijing, was to
the test that Party cadres would have to take in facing the sugar-coated
bullets of the bourgeoisie once they had entered the cities.
[3] One jiao is equal to ten fen, or ten cents.
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