China’s youth turn to Chairman Mao’s writings for comfort after tech executive says they sleep too much
- Youth turn to Mao after Tencent manager posted that young people today sleep too much
- Chairman Mao argued that while the young should work hard, the load should not be too heavy and they must also rest their bodies
A collection of Chairman Mao Zedong’s articles has become one of the best online sellers in China in recent days as many people turn to his advice for the country’s youth to take more rest.
The Quotations from Chairman Mao Zedong collection was the sixth bestseller in the past 24 hours on online platform JD.com, moving up from a ranking of 17th over the past week. On Dangdang, another go-to place for book lovers, the Mao collection was ranked 23rd most popular in the past 24 hours, moving up from 41st over the past week.
The sudden surge in interest in Mao’s writings occurred after a tech executive criticised young people for oversleeping in a social media post that went viral among China’s netizens.
On the May Fourth Youth Day in China, in honour of young people aged 14 and above and established to commemorate the 1919 May Fourth Movement, Tencent Holdings public relations manager Zhang Jun posted that young people today sleep too much.
“The biggest respect for the youth is to let them have a good sleep,” commented one Weibo user in response to Zhang.