With streaks of grey, China’s ‘Uncle Xi’ breaks with black
HONG KONG— President Xi Jinping is known for breaking the rules of Chinese politics, amassing more power than any leader since Mao.
His latest attempt to shake things up may be one of his boldest moves yet: Xi is going slightly — though unabashedly — grey, in defiance of long-standing Communist Party tradition.
For decades, Chinese leaders have sported unnaturally black heads of hair, a look that symbolized unity and gave the party a youthful veneer.
But Xi, 65, appears to be dispensing with vanity as he presents himself as a relatable and avuncular leader, part of his efforts to soften his hard-line policies.
As Xi took part in the annual meeting of China’s legislature last week, the silver streaks in his hair have been a hit with delegates and the public.
“He’s very humble,” said Gu Yan, 47, an employee at a technology firm in the eastern city of Xiamen. “He’s not afraid to be himself.”
Xi has a history of making sartorial choices that underscore his image as a man of the people. He is often pictured in China wearing a navy blue, zippered windbreaker, a symbol of humility as he leads a campaign against corruption.
His salt-and-pepper hair further reinforces that image, as well as Xi’s desire to be seen as a paternal figure and live up to the nickname by which he is popularly known, “Uncle Xi,” experts say.
“It’s not this image of the stodgy cadre who must be exactly dyed and dressed in the right mould,” said Julian Gewirtz, a scholar who studies Chinese history and politics at Harvard.
“It’s an image of the party that is more relatable and less apparatchik-like in its esthetics.”
Going grey was not always such a big deal in China — both Mao and Deng Xiaoping, China’s paramount leader, embraced a silver-haired look in their later years.
But more recently, as the party promoted a “collective leadership” model to spread power more evenly after the strongman days of Mao, flawless black hair joined the sickle and hammer as part of the Communist uniform.
Zhang Jiehai, a sociologist at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, said that in the past Chinese officials had dyed their hair to obscure health conditions and promote a more youthful image. But now, he said, officials are younger and society has grown more open.
“It has become more natural,” he said. “The leaders no longer need to cover up grey hair.”
Jiang Zhirong, the co-owner of a barbershop in a Beijing alleyway, said Xi couldn’t go wrong.
“Whether he dyes his hair or not,” she said, “the president has great style.”