Mocking public sculpture

There's no shortage of sculpture in China's college campuses and public parks. Much of it is in the social-realist style that is easily mocked, so it's no surprise when people end up cracking jokes.

At the front gate of Chang'an University is this Rainbow of Youth statue, known as the "Noodle Goddess." The Northwest Institute of Political Science and Law has a statue of Justice. Since she holds the traditional sword and scales raised above her head as if to attack, people describe the work as "A Mistress Wants Revenge." The Chengdu University of Technology has a statue of a woman "Running to the New Century." Students call it "Beautiful Woman Running Naked." (These and other photos are available at the links below).

Often, these sculptures will have an upraised orb of some sort. Sometimes the ball will be carried by person, while other times it rests on a symbol of a particular discipline - law, science, or history, for example - to represent the universality of learning, or some such sacred mission. In northern Chinese slang, however, "lift a ball" (顶个球) means "worthless," so these sculptures have nicknames that cynically subvert their intended idealism.

In this sculpture at Peking University, an "S" and a "D" represent Science and Democracy, the "Mr. Sai and Mr. De" of the May 4 Movement. A ball rests on the "S." The vulgar interpretion for this goes, "Science may be worth shit, but Democracy isn't even worth shit" (科学还顶个球，民主连个球都不顶).

This statue at a crossroads in Chengdu shows two workers connected by a band symbolizing solidarity. Locals who didn't know the true name of the sculpture took the band for a zero and called it "The Working Class is Nothing" (工人阶级等于零).

Even Mao Zedong is not spared, though the ubiquity of the "Waving Mao," "Gazing Mao," and "Saluting Mao" statues doesn't do too much to keep a lid on mockery. Beijing's two remaining statues left over from the flurry of cult-of-personality image-building in 1967-1969 are located opposite each other in Haidian District. The Chairman standing in the front courtyard of the China University of Geosciences keeps a watchful eye on his counterpart across Xueyuan road at the University of Science and Technology.

And in Chengdu, where mahjong is a favorite pastime of the locals, a statue of Mao with his arm extended in an open-hand salute is said to be giving a warning: "Comrades, don't bet more than 5 kuai!"