Mao's leaky, lawless umbrella
Linkedin post by Matías Otero Johansson:
The Orientalism Problem: Edgar Snow's last interview with Mao
In an article published in Life Magazine in 1971, journalist Edgar Snow (1905-1972) ends his account of the last interview Mao Zedong would grant him thus:
"As he curteously escorted me to the door, he said he was not a complicated man, but really very simple. He was, he said, only a lone monk walking the world with a leaky umbrella. … I believe #China will seek to cooperate with all friendly states, and all friendly people within hostile states, who welcome her full participation in world affairs."
As soon as I saw the word "umbrella", I knew what this turn of phrase was about.
It is covered in John Rohsenow's magisterial dictionary of xiēhòuyǔ 歇後語, which I refer to as "truncated witticisms".
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