RP 169: Chairman Mao Badges

Millions of Chairman Mao badges were produced during China’s Cultural Revolution, and were worn by almost all Chinese people, from Premier Zhou Enlai down to the smallest child. Made in a wide variety of materials (aluminium, plastic, bamboo,porcelain, gold, silver, copper, iron and lead) and with an extensive range of shapes, sizes and designs, they immediately became collectors’ items. To give an idea of scale, in China today serious collections start at 10,000 different Maobadges.This catalogue starts with the modest collection of 350 Mao badges at the British Museum. It is the first serious catalogue of its kind in a Western language. While Chinese catalogues assume an extensive prior knowledge of Chinese revolutionaryhistory, this new English catalogue is designed for the beginner and specialist alike, giving Chinese script, pinyin romanisation and English translations, plus glossaries of the symbolic imagery and inscriptions found on the badges.