September is a politically sensitive time in China. Last week, a parade featuring the Chinese military commemorated the end of World War II. This week, 50th anniversary celebrations are being held to show off what China calls its Tibet Autonomous Region. With so much going on, public dissent in China is being pushed to the periphery, as seen by the online crackdown in the wake of last month’s Tianjin explosions.

There’s also one more significant Chinese event this month, but it’s something that has fallen out of the public’s eye in China. Yesterday, September 9, marks the 39th anniversary of the death of Chairman Mao Zedong.

While the Little Red Books and Revolutionary zeal of Mao’s age have all but disappeared from Chinese society, Mao’s influence remains strong in China. During the military parade on September 3, soldiers and tanks filed through Tian’anmen Square under a watchful portrait of Mao hanging at the front of the Forbidden City. Just the same, yesterday’s Tibet celebrations featured Chinese Communist Party symbols that included Mao’s portrait.

Almost half a century after his death, Chinese still find it hard to criticize the controversial figure seen on all of their paper money. Arguments about the founding father of modern China may use the “ratio” argument in which any criticism against Mao is acceptable so long as he is given a favorable ratio that describes his fault, as in “70 percent right, 30 percent wrong”.

However, some Chinese netizens are marking the death of Mao 39 years later by describing it as the breath of fresh air China needed to get back on its feet. Law professor He Weifang made the following post on Weibo, attracting  7,700 likes and 3,400 forwards within just three hours:

39 years ago today, Mao Zedong passed away. The entire nation grieved and marched to a dirge as a funeral was held. The people were deeply worried for the future of China. 16 years old at the time, what I did not now then was that his death signified an important turning point in history. The Cultural Revolution had been put down, the brutal ‘class struggle’ was finally over, the gaokao examination was re-instituted (to allow people to attend university) as were contracts for land. At last, we could finally eat without want, China had been reformed! Who said that death is necessarily a bad thing?

In the wake of several parades and with nationalist sentiment riding high, this kind of opinion may be considered weird in China. For instance, commemorations of Mao’s death were greeted with numerous comments calling him “a great man” over on the China Daily Weibo account. However, with this post going viral, other netizens came out with their own frank opinions about Mao.

This Weibo user made this observation, rather cryptically:

Without the death of Mao on September 9, there wouldn’t be a Teacher’s Day (held on September 10).

Meanwhile, another netizen came out with a frank assessment of history:

The passing of Mao informed the world that the worship of a man is not only a tragedy for society, but for individuals as well.

And this netizen put all his cards on the table:

Today is the anniversary of old Mao’s death. Some of old Mao’s ideas have merit, but he was unable to realize them. He is a person I fundamentally disagree with. During Mao’s rule, an untold number of people were persecuted and killed. As well, the poisonous thinking caused by the Cultural Revolution continues to this day. Although we can’t say that he is completely to blame, he was the leader (of China at the time), and should take responsibility as such. To all those people who like and support Mao, go ahead, I’m not going to argue with you.

Comments on He Weifang’s post included the following:

梵籁n卡山：
You’ve said so much… let me simplify it for you — a good death!

南行北往：
The one good thing he did was (blank)

上头有人斯基：
All of a sudden, we’re allowed to make criticisms now?

魏臻二娃：
After news of Mao’s death spread, there were people who wanted to laugh, but didn’t dare. So they stifled their laughs and ran for many kilometers into the woods, and only upon reaching remote mountaintops would they finally let out the huge laugh that had been boiling inside them. This is a fact.

BOSS谭力挺阿根廷：
I support you!!!

竹垞山人：
Completely blaming Mao for the collapse of society is not being objective. This is not to say that Mao was all that great or noble. Just think about it: at that time, what did Chinese people really think of freedom, democracy, and civilization? Did the Chinese people have rational thinking? Had the experience of being a slave seeped into their bones? If the element that causes the collapse of culture isn’t eliminated, more tragedies may be awaiting China in the future.

Even though criticisms against Mao continue to be muted today, as seen by various posts getting quickly censored, it appears that the Chinese public aren’t afraid to voice their criticism.