ABSTRACT
Symbols have played an important part in Chinese life since the beginning of its recorded history. For centuries, the Chinese have performed their rituals, celebrated their holidays, and adorned their personal effects with images of good fortune, long life, and prosperity. During the Communist era, symbols and slogans continue to play an important part in providing an easily remembered litany of the Communist party’s ideological themes and objectives. Rice has been China’s staple food for thousands of years, and the most important symbol of the party’s economic policies was an unbreakable iron rice bowl, which stood for the party’s commitment to provide cradle-to-the-grave security for all its citizens. When Deng Xiaoping began in 1978 to transform China from a centrally planned and controlled economy to a more open market-oriented economy, his supporters insisted that the iron rice bowl must be smashed if China was to achieve this economic transformation.
