Ma Jian's China Dream: A Satire of Totalitarianism and Memory

Ma Daode's Role and Ambition

• 💡 Ma Daode, a corrupt party official, serves as the director of the China Dream Bureau.
• 🎯 His primary task is to replace people's private dreams with President Xi Jinping's "great China Dream" of national rejuvenation.
• 🚀 He is preparing to present a plan for a mass golden wedding anniversary celebration, aiming to advance the new China Dream projects.

Disturbing Flashbacks and Past

• 🧠 Ma Daode is increasingly plagued by flashbacks of the Cultural Revolution, which disrupt his thoughts.
• ⚡ These "unearthed memories" include his adolescent self scattering political pamphlets and witnessing zealous youths and red slogans.
• ⚠️ His nightmare visions from the past threaten to destroy his dream of a glorious future and cause him trouble.

Personal Life and Colleagues

• 💬 Ma Daode maintains multiple mistresses, including Yuyu, who he hired as his personal assistant in a previous role.
• 🤝 His secretary, who, is a quiet, reserved man whose impassive demeanor makes Ma uneasy.
• 📜 Ma's past is linked to Song Bin, a former classmate with whom he participated in the Cultural Revolution before their friendship crumbled due to factional chaos.

Bureaucratic Operations

• 📈 Ma instructs his secretary to invite the disabled association to an upcoming party meeting.
• 🌐 He also requests the head of the internet monitoring unit to be present, as the bureau plans to merge with them.
• 📝 His secretary, who is not a party member, is responsible for writing progress reports sent to the municipal party committee.