In Impromptus today, I mention a conversation I had with a lady from Belarus. She said that people in her country are afraid to say the name of the dictator, Lukashenko. That’s the kind of grip he has on the country. I said that it has long been that way with Fidel Castro, too. Many Cubans are afraid to say his name. Instead, they gesture toward their chin, indicating a beard. The lady from Belarus smiled and nodded with recognition. “Same with us,” she said. “We indicate a mustache” — for Lukashenko has a prominent one. Like a brush.
I believe I have mentioned, over the years, one of the best, most penetrating essays I know. I’d like to take the opportunity to do so again. It’s an essay about China by the great Perry Link. The title is “The Anaconda in the Chandelier: Chinese Censorship Today.” To download the essay, go here. It begins like this:
In China’s Mao years you could be detained and persecuted for talking with your neighbor about your cat. The Chinese word for “cat” (mao, high level tone) is a near-homophone for the name of the Great Leader (mao, rising tone), and a tip to the police from an eavesdropper who misheard one for the other and took you to be disrespectful could ruin your life.