Commonly known as “the king of fruits,” mangoes are rich in vitamin A, which is essential for eye health, and vitamin C, essential in forming collagen and improving skin elasticity. Mango trees can live for hundreds of years, and they continue to bear fruits even after 200-300 years. Originating in India over 4,000 years ago, mangoes, scientifically known as the Mangifera Indica, are the national fruit of India, Pakistan, and the Philippines, and the mango tree is the national tree of Bangladesh. “And they would climb mango trees during sunrise and steal mangoes! They would just sit up there and eat mangoes for breakfast.” “My dad told me that when he and his brother were kids back in India, they would sneak onto their rich neighbor’s front yard because they had mango trees,” recalled Tanushri Sundaram ’22 as we shared stories of the prevalence of mangoes in our lives. Here is a 1969 propaganda poster showing Mao proudly standing in front of a parade of workers carrying a plate of mangoes. Although today you can still buy authentic items with mango motifs on it from that era, the Chinese government discourages selling them to tourists. Moreover, mango motifs appeared everywhere - on household items, posters, parade floats, and textiles. Workers chose to preserve the gifted mangoes with formaldehyde or wax, and would bow to their factory mango as it served as a symbol of their leader’s devotion to them and the nation. Mesmerized by this rare foreign fruit that almost nobody in China had seen before, the Chinese appointed the mango as a bearer of magical properties, associated with immortality and eternal life. Instead of eating the mangoes, Mao re-gifted them to the workers (supposedly Mao did not like the taste of fruits), sending one mango to each factory. This plan backfired and dozens died while hundreds were injured. Although it was a small gesture - in fact, during mango season in South Asia, seeing people proudly carrying boxes of mangoes as gifts for their loved ones is very common - it had a profound effect on Chinese society.Īround the same time as the reception of the mangoes, after a brutal clash between two rival factions of the Red Guards and Qinghua University, Mao sent in 30,000 workers from Shanghai to act as a buffer between the groups and maintain peace. In 1968, Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Mian Arshad Hussain gifted a box of mangoes to Mao Zedong, the Chinese Communist Party chairman and leader of the People’s Republic of China. The fruit was introduced to other parts of the world through traders and colonizers, and is now cultivated in most frost-free tropical climates including the Americas, the Caribbean, Spain, East and West Africa, and Australia.Īs China was grappling with a mania for mangoes during the Cultural Revolution, Chairman Mao’s Mango Cult swept the nation. Mangoes, known as the king of fruits, originated in India over 4,000 years ago.
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