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Chairman Mao’s guidance |
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Here is a Chinese military slide rule made by the Flying Fish company of Shanghai. It is designed for aerial navigation, like a number of others I have that come from other countries; but it also carries a bit of operational guidance that is missing in the others: the text in red at the top of the rule says “Go all out, be sure to annihilate the invading enemy!” – a well known quotation (in China, at any rate) by Chairman Mao, and one followed here by his signature. I've seen many military slide rules, but none as mission-focused as this one... |
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The plastic rule, which is 25 cm in overall length, was made by the National Light Industrial Products Import and Export Corporation of Shanghai, under the Flying Fish brand. Unlike some (though not all) of their slide rules, it lacks the fish logo; but the guy who sold it to me identified it as such, and he lives in Shanghai, so he should know. The rule is well made, with crisp scales and a firm movement. It lists a manufacturing year of 1969, and its scale captions are about parameters you would need to handle if you were a pilot out to annihilate things from the air – altitude, speed, distance, heading, barometric pressure, turn radius, and so on. |
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 Click photo to enlarge |
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 Click photo to enlarge |
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This slide rule reminded me of the card in the photo below. This is a “QSL” – a reception confirmation card – from my high school days. I was a shortwave listener (the larval stage of the radio amateur I was soon to become), and I had reported reception to Radio Peking, who promptly sent me this card, a copy of Mao’s red book, and some impressive propaganda materials. Seems to me that the spirit of the picture on the card fits well with the sentiment on the slide rule... |
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Exhibit provenance: eBay, from a seller in China who was kind enough to translate the slogan for me. |
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