Professor Liang Zhu adds Mao Zedong's love of reading, his idea of seeking truth from facts, his strict self-discipline, and his virtue of being thrifty will stand as an example for young people for years to come.

Zhu Nianfeng agrees. He firmly believes Mao Zedong's saying: "Not to have a correct political point of view is like having no soul." Based on this understanding and love of the study of Marxism, Zhu Nianfeng joined the "Youth Research Organization of Marxism Development", a student group set up in Peking University three years ago. The organization has attracted over 300 members, and Zhu Nianfeng is the incumbent director.

"Our members come from different departments, from economy to architecture, and join in the organization voluntarily. The study of Mao Zedong Thought remains an important part of our activity. Although we argued a lot about Mao's mistakes, our evaluation of Mao tends to be more objective."

He says their studies have caused them to absorb not only Mao Zedong's thoughts, but the attitude he chose towards life.

"Mao Zedong had high aspirations and clear objectives. He is telling us what the true meaning of life is. Is it only for one's own development? No, one will only be successful when he wins and losses with the entire country."

Zhu Nianfeng's organization in Peking University is not the only one. Hundreds of similar organizations focused on the study of Mao Zedong's thoughts, literature and life have been set up in universities across China over the past few years. They are trying to draw new thoughts from the Great Helmsman to be applied to China's current situation.

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Collect the Badge, Store the History

Collecting has always been a favorite hobby among Chinese people. These collectors target a wide range of items, from cigarette packages and matchboxes to stamps and stones. In the past 20 years, a new item was added to the list of highly sought-after possessions. That is a badge, with the face of the late Chinese leader Mao Zedong. Let's go and meet two enthusiastic collectors of these items.

Ma Jingjun, a civil servant in Beijing, is very busy these days, as the 4th National Exhibition of Mao Zedong Badges is underway in the capital. Director of the Beijing Mao Zedong Badges Association affiliated with the Chinese Collectors Association, Ma is in charge of organizing this event. He tells us that the first national exhibition of Mao Zedong Badges was held in 1998 in central China's Zhengzhou City, the second one, in south China's Guangzhou, and the third, in Beijing. This time, on the occasion of 110th anniversary of Mao Zedong's birth, the exhibition came to Beijing again.

"More than 60 collectors from 24 provinces across the country will display their collected items in more than 80 different categories. We will also hold some seminars and discussions during the exhibition. What's more, an auction is to be held. All in all, the exhibition has attracted a great deal of people from all over the country."

Talking about the badges themselves, Ma Jingjun couldn't be more excited. He says the badges bear witness to the history of the Chinese Communist Party. It is thought that the first Mao Zedong Badge was made in 1942 in Yan'an in northwest China. After this, more badges were made, but in a small quantity. During the first four years of the Cultural Revolution, between 1966 and 1970, the production of Mao Zedong Badge peaked. Every factory and enterprise, or even the family, would make badges by themselves.

At that time, the teenaged Ma Jingjun wore the badges like others every day, without any special or unique thought. But such a situation made a change one day in 1991.

"I was collecting the tourist souvenir badges then. One of my colleagues came to show me a Mao Zedong Badge one day and asked whether I would collect it or not. Just on the first sight of it, I knew I fell in love with it."

In Tianjin, a city near Beijing, we found another serious Mao Zedong Badge collector, Li Hongtao. He began collecting Mao Zedong Badges five years earlier than Ma Jingjun, and his unique emotional bond toward the badge can be attributed to his family.

"During the Cultural Revolution, when I was still a middle school student, my family members all liked Mao Zedong Badges very much. My father and his colleagues often made their own. Their badges were extremely exquisite. I love them so much and have kept them until now."
In the middle of 1980s, Li Hongtao, then a stamp collector, discovered the Mao Zedong badges on sale in the local flea market. He feels that Mao Zedong Badges contain historical as well as artistic value.

"The material, the design, the decoration, - everything on the badge has its own artistic value. Moreover, the badges reflect not only the history of the Chinese Communist Party, but also the history of the Cultural Revolution, because every organization, governmental or non-governmental, issued its own Mao Zedong badges at that time."
Ma Jingjun agrees, saying Mao Zedong Badges have earned a special place in the history of badges around the world.

"Many countries, like the U.S., France or the Soviet Union, also issued beautiful and exquisite badges of various themes. But as a leader's badge, the Mao Zedong Badge is incomparable to others both in quantity and variety."

Both Ma Jingjun and Li Hongtao regularly visit their local flea markets in search of new Mao Zedong badges. Many people cannot imagine just how devoted they are to their hobby.

"I feel as if something is missing from my life if I don't make it to a flea market at the weekend."

"Sometimes it takes so much time to find the badge you're looking for, but when you find it, the feeling is indescribable."

"Sometimes I sit at my desk for hours, admiring the badges, until my wife come to turn off my desk lamp."

Today, both Ma Jingjun and Li Hongtao are not just ordinary collectors. As we heard earlier, Ma Jingjun organizes exhibitions, issues magazines and holds academic seminars, as well as exchange activities throughout the country. Li Hongtao is in charge of a special website for Mao Zedong Badge collectors. He thinks it is easier for him to maintain a database with the help of a computer and the Internet. Moreover, he has his own designs in the pipeline.

"I want to build an online museum, which contains 50,000 types of Mao Zedong badges. Although I don't have so many, I can ask other collectors to help me. Here in the online museum, people can view both sides of the badges, while in the real museum, only one side is displayed."

People have been collecting Mao Zedong Badges for twenty years. Ma Jingjun says when he first started, people were simply competing on the number of badges they could collect. In recent years, people are learning more about their badges, but it is still far from enough.

"The collections must be backed up with proper research. Without research, all the badges are nothing but a pile of wasted iron. We still have a lot to learn about scientifically collecting Mao Zedong badges and how to carry out research into their background and history."

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