Red Song Society

The Red Song Society (simplified Chinese: 红歌会网; traditional Chinese: 紅歌會網; lit. 'Red Song Society Website') is a Chinese website promoting Maoism in mainland China, sponsored by Shenzhen Red Song Society Culture Consulting Co., Ltd. The website's motto is "sing red songs; promote righteous ways".

History

Created in May 2011, the website is formerly known as the Shenzhen Red Song Society Forum.[1] After the Bo Xilai incident in 2012, the website was shut down along with the Utopia and Maoflag, later restarted.[2]

In 2017, member of the website and Hong Zhenquai, a Chinese writer of the Yanhuang Chunqiu, went to court in the People's Court of Bao'an District, Shenzhen City over the authenticity of Five Heroes of Mountain Langya. Hong lost in the first trial and subsequently filed an appeal.[3] In 2018, the Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court in Guangdong Province issued a review verdict that the Red Song Society website did not constitute an infringement of Hong Zhenquai's reputation rights.[4] However, according to Guo and Garrick, the case is still under review.[3]

In July 2022, Hubei Daily Media Group announced that it sued the Red Song Society for reprinting the article without permission.[5]

In 2019, the site participated in online criticism of the website Visual China, over claims that it had criticized Mao Zedong by putting the word "dictator" in the caption of some of its photos. Visual China was fined for its conduct.[6]

Analysis

The Red Song Society has been described as a Maoist left-wing or far-left website.[7][8] Jude Blanchet, who majored in China's neo-Maoism, describes the website as the neo-Maoist version of Drudge Report.[9] An article from the Economist says posts on the Red Song Society argue that life was fairer in the Mao era, because the state then provided free housing, free education and free medical care for urban workers at the time.[5]

References
  1. "关于红歌会网 - 站务公告" [About Red Song Society - Announcement]. Red Song Society (in Simplified Chinese). Retrieved 2022-12-29.
  2. Blanchette, Jude (2019). "Bombard the Headquarters". China's new Red Guards : the return of radicalism and the rebirth of Mao Zedong. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 125. ISBN 9780190605841. Retrieved 2022-12-29.
  3. Guo, Yingjie; Garrick, John (12 March 2020). "China's 'Socialist Rule of Law' and the Five Heroes of Mount Langya". Australian Journal of Asian Law. 20 (2): 333–348. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
  4. "法院：支持消除质疑英雄事迹言论的不良影响" [Court: support to eliminate the negative impact of statements questioning heroic deeds]. chinacourt.org (in Simplified Chinese). 2018-06-21. Retrieved 2022-12-29.
  5. "Mao-loving websites are in a grey zone between propaganda and dissent". The Economist. 2022-08-18. Retrieved 2022-12-29.
  6. ""视觉中国"因何被当局罚款？ (Why Was Visual China Fined?)". 美国之音 (in Chinese). 2019-04-20. Retrieved 2023-09-25.
  7. "媒体观察："客观纪念"毛泽东可能吗？" [Media Watch: Is it possible to "objectively commemorate" Mao Zedong?]. BBC News Chinese (in Simplified Chinese). 2014-09-09. Retrieved 2022-12-29.
  8. Chong, David (2022-09-27). "「3场葬礼看清主子、奴才和走狗」 中国极左文章引热议" ["3 funerals to see masters, minions and lackeys" Chinese ultra-leftist article is hotly debated]. See Hua Daily News (in Simplified Chinese). Retrieved 2022-12-29.
  9. Phillips, Tom (2017-02-09). "'Christianity theme park' in Mao Zedong's home province sparks outrage". the Guardian. Retrieved 2022-12-29.
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