Egg fried rice protests are a form of internet protest used by Chinese internet users against the government, occurring yearly around October 24, the birthday of Mao Anying, son of Mao Zedong, or around November 25, the date of his death. Posting recipes for egg fried rice is done as a subtle jab at the death of Anying during the Korean War; such posts are usually blocked or taken down by Chinese officials and can lead to sanctions against those involved. [1]
Mao Anying worked on the staff of General Peng Dehuai in northeastern Korea during the Korean War. On the morning of November 25, 1950, he had overslept. According to some accounts, once awake, he stole eggs from the general's supplies and was cooking breakfast for himself despite orders that staff were only to cook at night for fear of American air raids. As he was making a pan of egg fried rice, he is said to have perished in a napalm attack by American forces on the area, who were drawn to the cooking fire. [1]
While some doubt the story's authenticity, [1] internet users have taken to posting egg fried rice recipes yearly during October or November as a form of protest against the Chinese government. [2]
In October 2020, food blogger Wang Gang posted an egg fried rice recipe and was widely denounced by officials and forced to post an apology. [1] He was accused of using the video post as a "malicious political innuendo" insulting to Mao's legacy. [3]
On October 23, 2021, a regional branch of the China Unicom company posted a fried rice recipe and had their account on Weibo suspended, and all replies to the post were frozen. [1] The account was shut down as the post "insulted the People's Volunteers" fighting with the North Korean communists during the war. [2] A man who posted a comment on October 8, 2021, about fried rice deemed "obnoxious" by authorities was jailed for ten days. [2] He is quoted as having posted, "The greatest result of the Korean War was egg fried rice: thank you, egg fried rice! Without egg fried rice, we [China] would be no different from North Korea. Sadly, there's not that big a difference nowadays." [4]
Controlling posts about egg fried rice during October and November and publicly shaming those involved "is seemingly a condoned method of constructing an internet that conforms to socialist core values." [4] The fried rice story involving Anying's death has never been confirmed and is said to enrage Chinese nationalists and Communist Party officials. [5] The Chinese Academy of History (中国历史研究院), a state-run institute set up in 2019, denounced the fried rice story as rumors spread by those with "vicious hearts" aiming to "gravely dwarf the heroic image of Mao Anying's brave sacrifice." The academy, citing declassified documents, stated Mao's position was compromised through intercepted radio transmissions. [6]
Curry is a dish with a sauce seasoned with spices, mainly associated with South Asian cuisine. In southern India, leaves from the curry tree may be included.
Mao Zedong was a Chinese politician, Marxist theorist, military strategist, poet, and revolutionary who was the founder of the People's Republic of China (PRC). He led the country from its establishment in 1949 until his death in 1976, while also serving as the chairman of the Chinese Communist Party during that time. His theories, military strategies and policies are known as Maoism.
Spam is a brand of salty processed canned pork and ham made by Hormel Foods Corporation. It was introduced in 1937 and gained popularity worldwide after its use during World War II. By 2003, Spam was sold in 41 countries on six continents. In the U.S., Hawaii is the state with the highest per capita consumption of Spam. It has become an ingredient in Hawaiian cuisine.
Maoism, officially called Mao Zedong Thought by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is a variety of Marxism–Leninism that Mao Zedong developed to realize a socialist revolution in the agricultural, pre-industrial society of the Republic of China and later the People's Republic of China. The philosophical difference between Maoism and traditional Marxism–Leninism is that a united front of progressive forces in class society would lead the revolutionary vanguard in pre-industrial societies rather than communist revolutionaries alone. This updating and adaptation of Marxism–Leninism to Chinese conditions in which revolutionary praxis is primary and ideological orthodoxy is secondary represents urban Marxism–Leninism adapted to pre-industrial China. Later theoreticians expanded on the idea that Mao had adapted Marxism–Leninism to Chinese conditions, arguing that he had in fact updated it fundamentally and that Maoism could be applied universally throughout the world. This ideology is often referred to as Marxism–Leninism–Maoism to distinguish it from the original ideas of Mao.
The time period in China from the founding of the People's Republic in 1949 until Mao's death in 1976 is commonly known as Maoist China and Red China. The history of the People's Republic of China is often divided distinctly by historians into the Mao era and the post-Mao era. The country's Mao era lasted from the founding of the People's republic on 1 October 1949 to Deng Xiaoping's consolidation of power and policy reversal at the Third Plenum of the 11th Party Congress on 22 December 1978. The Mao era focuses on Mao Zedong's social movements from the early 1950s on, including land reform, the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution. The Great Chinese Famine, one of the worst famines in human history, occurred during this era.
An omelette is a dish made from eggs, fried with butter or oil in a frying pan. It is quite common for the omelette to be folded around fillings such as chives, vegetables, mushrooms, meat, cheese, onions or some combination of the above. Whole eggs or egg whites are often beaten with a small amount of milk, cream, or water.
Fried rice is a dish of cooked rice that has been stir-fried in a wok or a frying pan and is usually mixed with other ingredients such as eggs, vegetables, seafood, or meat. It is often eaten by itself or as an accompaniment to another dish. Fried rice is a popular component of East Asian, Southeast Asian and certain South Asian cuisines, as well as a staple national dish of Indonesia. As a homemade dish, fried rice is typically made with ingredients left over from other dishes, leading to countless variations. Fried rice first developed during the Sui Dynasty in China.
The time period in China from the death of Mao Zedong in 1976 until the Tianamen Square protests in 1989 is often known as Dengist China. In September 1976, after Chairman Mao Zedong's death, the People's Republic of China was left with no central authority figure, either symbolically or administratively. The Gang of Four was purged, but new Chairman Hua Guofeng insisted on continuing Maoist policies. After a bloodless power struggle, Deng Xiaoping came to the helm to reform the Chinese economy and government institutions in their entirety. Deng, however, was conservative with regard to wide-ranging political reform, and along with the combination of unforeseen problems that resulted from the economic reform policies, the country underwent another political crisis, culminating in the crackdown of massive pro-democracy protests in Tiananmen Square.
Mao Anying was a Chinese military officer. He was the eldest son of Mao Zedong and Yang Kaihui. Educated in Moscow and a veteran of multiple wars, Mao was killed in action by an air strike during the Korean War.
Rong Yiren was the Vice President of the People's Republic of China from 1993 to 1998 and was heavily involved with the opening of the Chinese economy to western investment. Rong is known both in China and in the Western world as "the Red Capitalist" because his family were some of the few pre-1949 industrialists in Shanghai to have been treated well by the Chinese Communist Party in return for their co-operation with the government of the People's Republic of China.
Nasi goreng is a Southeast Asian fried rice dish, usually cooked with pieces of meat and vegetables. One of Indonesia's national dishes, it is also eaten in Malay-speaking communities in countries such as Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei, and has gained popularity in Sri Lanka through migrations from the Malay Archipelago, in countries like Suriname via Indonesian immigrant communities, and in the Netherlands through its colonial ties with Indonesia. Nasi goreng is distinguished from other Asian fried rice preparations by its distinct smoky aroma, and caramelised yet savoury undertones of flavour. There is no single defined recipe for nasi goreng, and its composition and preparation varies greatly from household to household.
Yu Dongyue was born in Liuyang, a city in Hunan province of China on December 4, 1967. He is the former arts editor of Liuyang Daily. In the Tiananmen protests of 1989, following a plan made by his friend Yu Zhijian, he and Lu Decheng threw eggshells full of paint at a portrait of China’s political figure Mao Zedong. Yu Dongyue was given a 20-year prison sentence for "sabotage" and "counter-revolutionary propaganda”. He had become badly disturbed psychologically. He was also criticized for his "very avant-garde views on art." He also had been subjected to various physical tortures because of “reactionary statements” he and his friends made about officials.
The history of the People's Republic of China details the history of mainland China since 1 October 1949, when CCP chairman Mao Zedong proclaimed the People's Republic of China (PRC) from atop Tiananmen, after a near complete victory (1949) by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in the Chinese Civil War. The PRC is the most recent political entity to govern mainland China, preceded by the Republic of China and thousands of years of monarchical dynasties. The paramount leaders have been Mao Zedong (1949–1976); Hua Guofeng (1976–1978); Deng Xiaoping (1978–1989); Jiang Zemin (1989–2002); Hu Jintao (2002–2012); and Xi Jinping.
Drunken noodles or drunkard noodles is a Thai stir-fried noodle dish similar to phat si-io but spicier. In English texts, it is rendered as pad kee mao, pad ki mao, or pad kimao – from its Thai name Thai: ผัดขี้เมา, RTGS: phat khi mao,, in which phat means 'to stir-fry' and khi mao means 'drunkard'.
Tiananmen Square or Tian'anmen Square is a city square in the city center of Beijing, China, named after the eponymous Tiananmen located to its north, which separates it from the Forbidden City. The square contains the Monument to the People's Heroes, the Great Hall of the People, the National Museum of China, and the Mausoleum of Mao Zedong. Mao Zedong proclaimed the founding of the People's Republic of China in the square on October 1, 1949; the anniversary of this event is still observed there. The size of Tiananmen Square is 765 x 282 meters. It has great cultural significance as it was the site of several important events in Chinese history.
Chinese fried rice is a family of fried rice dishes popular in Greater China and around the world. It is sometimes served as the penultimate dish in Chinese banquets, just before dessert.
Red braised pork belly or hong shao rou is a classic pork dish from China, red-cooked using pork belly and a combination of ginger, garlic, aromatic spices, chilies, sugar, star anise, light and dark soy sauce, and rice wine. The pork belly is cooked until the fat and skin are gelatinous, soft, and melt easily in the mouth, while the sauce is usually thick, sweet and fairly sticky. The dish has a melt-in-the-mouth texture that is formed as a result of a long braising process, during which the liquid reduces and becomes thick. It is generally served with steamed rice and dark green vegetables, often over holidays. The dish is often prepared with hard-boiled chicken eggs or vegetables, which are used to soak up the juices from the recipe.
American fried rice is a Thai fried rice dish with "American" side ingredients like fried chicken, ham, sausages, raisins, and ketchup. Other ingredients like pineapples and croutons are optional.
Nigel Ng Kin-ju is a Malaysian stand-up comedian and Internet celebrity based in England.
Wang Gang is a Chinese chef and Internet personality. He was born in Fushun County, Zigong, Sichuan, and decided to pursue a culinary career at age 15. He has 5 million followers across Xigua Video, bilibili, Weibo, and YouTube as of 2018, and has been praised for his simple, levelheaded approach to cooking. He specialises in Sichuan cuisine.