I once asked my students who they thought the ideal Chinese person was. The overwhelming response was Zhou Enlai, Bruce Lee, and Liu Xiang. However, there were a few oddballs out there. For example, there was this one girl who kept on insisting that Wu Zhetian was ideal while another was absolutely in love with Jay Chow. Then there was one guy who said Chairman Mao. Almost everyone scoffed and said he was an idiot, but then he pulled out a hundred, a fifty, a twenty, a ten, a five, and a one. He argued that all of them had Chairman Mao on it so if someone didn’t like Chairman Mao, that meant they didn’t like money. Sure, he was joking, but this brings me to this article.
Chinese money these days is so boring. All of it just has Chairman Mao. At least the old money had minority peoples, or even older money had workers, peasants, and soldiers… it had variety back then. Now it’s just Chairman Mao. At least Zhou Enali would be better looking. I was always thinking of just putting famous Chinese leaders on money, like keep Mao there, but add Deng, Zhou, Sun Zhongsan, and Zhao Ziyang or something. However, the idea of putting ancient Chinese historical figures on the money sounds better.
Imagine opening your wallet and seeing a traditional Chinese painting on your money of a poet or ancient hero standing in a shroud of fog with mountains and waterfalls in the background. Cherry blossoms along the side of the bill in full bloom. Little kids with weird hair holding giant carps and peaches. It would be awesome. Oh, and there is a need for 500 RMB and 1000 RMB bills now. Price of stuff is going up. And with more different types of money, you can add more artwork. Maybe hold a contest for paintings for the money… yeah… I mean if my RMB looked really sexy, I would hesitate to exchange it back for some bland old US Dollars.
I think if the Chinese government does this, it will also be a subtle political statement
It probably won’t be popular among minority peoples. That might also be the reason why Mao is on all bills. Thanks to the Cultural Revolution, he’s recognizable in every corner of China! On the other hand, I vote for using pictures of natural wonders, such as Zhangjiajie, Jiuzaigou, Huangguoshu, and Panda. 🙂
@ Delirious – Subtle would be an understatement. Taking Mao off the money would be similar to taking his face off the Forbidden City.
@ Wood – I agree with the Pandas. Imagine that… a giant panda on every bill… but we can’t discriminate. Red Pandas must be included as well.