Zhang Jian, a pioneering 19th century capitalist, has been brought back to life many times by the Chinese Communist party since his death in 1926, depending on its propaganda needs.
But his latest reincarnation, as a patriotic nation builder and philanthropist, marks his highest profile reappearance yet, championed by no less a communist puritan than President Xi Jinping.
This month Mr Xi, who has emphasised the party’s centrality in all aspects of life in contemporary China, visited Zhang’s hometown of Nantong, a Yangtze river port 100km north of Shanghai. He toured a museum founded by Zhang — China’s first — and reviewed an exhibition about the life of the famed entrepreneur.
Mr Xi visited Nantong just nine days after regulators halted what would have been the world’s biggest ever initial public offering — by Alibaba founder Jack Ma’s Ant Group — and a fortnight after the party’s Central Committee formally placed “self-reliance” at the…