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{{Short description|Leader of the People's Republic of China from 1949 to 1976}}
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{{For|the TV series|Mao Zedong (TV series){{!}}''Mao Zedong'' (TV series)}}
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{{Redirect|Mao}}
{{Redirect|Mao}}
<!-- Please DO NOT add {{family name hatnote}}; this article uses a footnote template to clarify the name. -->
:''"毛" redirects here. "毛" is also the Chinese character meaning [[Fur]].''
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{{Chinese name|Mao}}
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{{Use British English|date=January 2022}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2024}}
{{Infobox officeholder
{{Infobox officeholder
|name = Mao Zedong (Tse-tung)
| name = Mao Zedong
|image = Mao_Zedong_portrait.jpg
| native_name = {{nobold|毛泽东|}}
|imagesize = 245px
| native_name_lang = zh
| image = Mao Zedong in 1959 (cropped).jpg
|nationality = [[People's Republic of China|Chinese]]
|signature =
| imagesize =
|order = 1st [[Chairman of the Communist Party of China]]
| caption = Mao in 1959
| office = [[Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party]]
|deputy = [[Liu Shaoqi]]<br />[[Lin Biao]]<br />[[Zhou Enlai]]<br />[[Hua Guofeng]]
|term_start = 1943
| term_start = 20 March 1943
|term_end = 1976
| term_end = 9 September 1976
|predecessor = [[Zhang Wentian]]<br />(As [[General Secretary of the Communist Party of China|General Secretary]])
| predecessor = [[Zhang Wentian]] (as [[General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party|General Secretary]])
|successor = [[Hua Guofeng]]
| successor = [[Hua Guofeng]]
| deputy = {{unbulleted list|[[Liu Shaoqi]]|[[Lin Biao]]|[[Zhou Enlai]]|Hua Guofeng}}
|birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1893|12|26|df=y}}
| order2 = 1st
|birth_place = [[Shaoshan]], [[Xiangtan]], [[Hunan]], [[Qing Dynasty]]
| office2 = Chairman of the People's Republic of China
|death_date = {{death date and age |df=yes|1976|9|9|1893|12|26|df=y}}
| term_start2 = 27 September 1954
|death_place = [[Beijing]], [[People's Republic of China]]
|religion = [[Atheist]]
| term_end2 = 27 April 1959
| premier2 = Zhou Enlai
|spouse = [[Luo Yixiu]] (1907–1910) <br /> [[Yang Kaihui]] (1920–1930) <br /> [[He Zizhen]] (1930–1937) <br /> [[Jiang Qing]] (1939–1976) <br />
| deputy2 = [[Zhu De]]
|signature = Mao Zedong Signature.svg
|party = [[Communist Party of China]]
| predecessor2 =
| successor2 = Liu Shaoqi
|order2 = 1st [[Chairman of the People's Republic of China]]
| office3 = [[Chairman of the Central Military Commission (China)|Chairman of the Central Military Commission]]
|premier2 = [[Zhou Enlai]]
|deputy2 = [[Zhu De]]
| deputy3 = {{unbulleted list|Zhu De|Lin Biao|[[Ye Jianying]]}}
|term_start2 = 27 September 1954
| term_start3 = 8 September 1954
| term_end3 = 9 September 1976
|term_end2 = April 1959
| predecessor3 =
|predecessor2 = Position Created
| successor3 = Hua Guofeng
|successor2 = [[Liu Shaoqi]]
|order3 = 1st Chairman of the [[Communist Party of China|CPC]] [[Central Military Commission (People's Republic of China)|Central Military Commission]]
| office4 = Chairman of the [[Central People's Government of the People's Republic of China (1949–1954)|Central People's Government]]
| term_start4 = 1 October 1949
|term_start3 = 1954
| term_end4 = 27 September 1954
|term_end3 = 1976
| deputy4 =
|predecessor3 = Position Created
| premier4 = Zhou Enlai
|successor3 = [[Hua Guofeng]]
| predecessor4 = ''Office established''<br />[[Li Zongren]] (as [[President of the Republic of China]])
|order4= 1st [[Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference|Chairman of the CPPCC]]
| successor4 =
|term_start4= 1 October 1949
| office5 = [[Chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference]]
|term_end4= 25 December 1954
| term_start5 = 9 October 1949
|predecessor4= Position Created
| term_end5 = 25 December 1954
|successor4= [[Zhou Enlai]]
| predecessor5 = ''Office established''
|term5= 25 December 1954 – 9 September 1976 (honorary)
| successor5 = Zhou Enlai
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{birth date|1893|12|26|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Shaoshan]], [[Hunan]], [[Qing China]]
| death_date = {{death date and age|1976|9|9|1893|12|26|df=y}}
| death_place = [[Beijing]], China
| resting_place = [[Chairman Mao Memorial Hall]], Beijing
| party = [[Chinese Communist Party|CCP]] (from 1921)
| otherparty = [[Kuomintang]] (1925–1926)
| spouse = {{unbulleted list|{{marriage|[[Luo Yixiu]]|1907|February 11, 1910|reason=died}}|{{marriage|[[Yang Kaihui]]|December 1920|November 14, 1930|reason=died}}|{{marriage|[[He Zizhen]]|1928|1937|reason=divorced}}|{{marriage|[[Jiang Qing]]|20 November 1938}}}}
| children = {{plainlist|
* 10, including:
* [[Mao Anying]]
* [[Mao Anqing]]
* [[Mao Anlong]]
* [[Yang Yuehua]]
* [[Li Min (daughter of Mao Zedong)|Li Min]]
* [[Li Na (daughter of Mao Zedong)|Li Na]]}}
| parents = {{ubl|[[Mao Yichang]]|[[Wen Qimei]]}}
| alma_mater = [[Hunan First Normal University]]
| signature = Mao Zedong signature.svg
| module2 = {{Collapsible list
| titlestyle = background-color:#FCF;text-align:center;
| title = Central institution membership
| bullets = on
| 1964–1976: Member, [[National People's Congress]]
| 1954–1959: Member, National People's Congress
|
| 1938–1976: Member, [[6th Politburo Standing Committee of the Chinese Communist Party|6th]], [[7th Secretariat of the Chinese Communist Party|7th]], [[8th Politburo Standing Committee of the Chinese Communist Party|8th]], [[9th Politburo Standing Committee of the Chinese Communist Party|9th]], [[10th Politburo Standing Committee of the Chinese Communist Party|10th]] Politburo
| 1938–1976: Member, [[6th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party|6th]], [[7th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party|7th]], [[8th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party|8th]], [[9th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party|9th]], [[10th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party|10th]] Central Committee
}}
}}
----
{{Collapsible list
| titlestyle = background-color:#FCF;text-align:center;
| title = Other offices held
| bullets = on
| 1954–1959: Chairman of the People's Republic of China
| 1954–1976: Chairman, [[CPC Central Military Commission]]
| 1954–1959: President and Chairman, National Defence Council
| 1954–1976: Honorary Chairman, [[CPPCC National Committee]]
| 1949–1954: Chairman, Central People's Revolutionary Military Commission
| 1949–1954: Chairman, CPPCC National Committee
| 1949–1954: Chairman, [[State Council of the People's Republic of China|PRC Central People's Government]]
| 1943–1956: Chairman, [[CPC Central Secretariat]]
| 1936–1949: Chairman, CPC Central Military Commission
}}
| module3 = {{longitem|
'''[[Paramount leader|Paramount Leader of<br />the People's Republic of China]]'''}} {{flatlist
|
* ({{italics correction|''Inaugural holder''}})
* [[Hua Guofeng]] {{big|'''→'''}}
}}
| module = {{Infobox Chinese
| pic = Mao Zedong (Chinese characters).svg
| piccap = "Mao Zedong" in Simplified (top) and Traditional (bottom) Chinese characters
| picupright = 0.525
| child = yes
| s = 毛泽东
| t = 毛澤東
| w = {{tone superscript|Mao2 Tse2-tung1}}
| p = Máo Zédōng
| tp = Máo Zé-dong
| bpmf = ㄇㄠˊ&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;ㄗㄜˊ&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;ㄉㄨㄥ
| gr =
| mi = {{IPAc-cmn|AUD|Zh-Mao_Zedong.ogg|m|ao|2|-|z|e|2|.|d|ong|1}}
| suz = Máu Zéh-ton
| j = mou4 zaak6 dung1
| y = Mòuh Jaahk-dūng
| ci = {{IPAc-yue|m|ou|4|-|z|aak|6|-|d|ung|1}}
| poj = Mô͘ Te̍k-tong
| tl = Môo Ti̍k-tang
| h = Mô Chhe̍t-tûng
| order = st
| altname = [[Courtesy name]]
| t2 = 潤之
| s2 = 润之
| w2 = {{tone superscript|Jun4-chih1}}
| p2 = Rùnzhī
| tp2 = Rùn-jhih
| mi2 = {{IPAc-cmn|r|un|4|.|zhi|1}}
| bpmf2 = ㄖㄨㄣˋ&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;ㄓ
| j2 = jeon6 zi1
| y2 = Yeuhn-jī
| ci2 = {{IPAc-yue|j|eon|6|-|z|i|1}}
| poj2 = Lūn-chi
}}
}}
{{Mao Zedong series}}
'''Mao Zedong'''{{efn|{{IPAc-en|ˈ|m|aʊ|_|(|t|)|s|ə|ˈ|t|ʊ|ŋ}};<ref>{{cite dictionary |title=Mao Tse-tung |url=http://www.dictionary.com/browse/mao-tse-tung |dictionary=[[Dictionary.com]] |access-date=17 November 2021 |language=en}}</ref> {{lang-zh|c=|s=毛泽东|t=|p=Máo Zédōng}} pronounced {{IPAc-cmn|m|ao|2|-|z|e|2|.|d|ong|1}}; traditionally [[Romanization of Chinese|romanised]] as '''Mao Tse-tung'''. {{family name explanation|lang=Chinese|[[Mao (surname)|Mao]]|Ze}}}} (26 December 1893 – 9 September 1976), also known as '''Chairman Mao''', was a Chinese politician, revolutionary, and political theorist who founded the [[China|People's Republic of China]] (PRC) and led the country from [[Proclamation of the People's Republic of China|its establishment]] in 1949 until [[Death and state funeral of Mao Zedong|his death]] in 1976. Mao also served as the [[chairman of the Chinese Communist Party]] (CCP) from 1943 until his death, and as the party's de facto leader from 1935. His theories, which he advocated as a Chinese adaptation of [[Marxism–Leninism]], are known as [[Maoism]].


Mao was the son of a peasant in [[Shaoshan]], [[Hunan]]. He was influenced early in his life by the events of the [[Xinhai Revolution|1911 Revolution]] and [[May Fourth Movement]] of 1919, supporting [[Chinese nationalism]] and [[anti-imperialism]]. He later adopted Marxism–Leninism while working as a librarian at [[Peking University]], and in 1921 was a founding member of the Chinese Communist Party. After the start of the [[Chinese Civil War]] between the [[Kuomintang]] (KMT) and CCP in 1927, Mao led the failed [[Autumn Harvest Uprising]] and founded the [[Jiangxi Soviet]]. He helped establish the [[Chinese Red Army]] and developed a strategy of [[Guerrilla warfare|guerilla warfare]]. In 1935, Mao became the leader of the CCP during the [[Long March]]. Although the CCP allied with the KMT under the [[Second United Front]] during the [[Second Sino-Japanese War]], China's civil war resumed after [[Japan's surrender]] in 1945; Mao's forces defeated the [[Nationalist government]], which withdrew to [[Taiwan]] in 1949.
'''Mao Zedong''' ({{zh|s=毛泽东|t=毛澤東|w='''Mao Tse-tung'''|p=Máo Zédōng}}) {{Audio|Zh-Mao_Zedong.ogg|pronunciation}} (December 26, 1893{{ndash}}September 9, 1976) was a [[Han Chinese|Chinese]] revolutionary, political theorist and [[Communism|communist]] leader. He led the [[People's Republic of China]] (PRC) from its establishment in 1949 until his death in 1976. His theoretical contribution to [[Marxism]]-[[Leninism]], military strategies, and his brand of Communist policies are now collectively known as [[Maoism]].


On 1 October 1949, Mao [[Proclamation of the People's Republic of China|proclaimed the foundation of the PRC]], a [[one-party state]] controlled by the CCP. He initiated campaigns of [[Land Reform Movement|land redistribution]] and [[Industry of China|industrialisation]], [[Campaign to Suppress Counterrevolutionaries|suppressed counter-revolutionaries]], intervened in the [[Korean War]], and began the [[Hundred Flowers Campaign|Hundred Flowers]] and [[Anti-Rightist Campaign]]s. In 1958, Mao launched the [[Great Leap Forward]], which aimed to transform China's economy from [[Agrarian society|agrarian]] to [[Industrial society|industrial]]; it resulted in [[Great Chinese Famine]]. In 1966, Mao initiated the [[Cultural Revolution]], a campaign to remove "counter-revolutionary" elements, marked by violent [[class struggle]], destruction of historical artifacts, and [[Mao's cult of personality]]. From the late 1950s, Mao's foreign policy was dominated by [[Sino-Soviet split|a political split with the Soviet Union]], and during the 1970s he began establishing [[China–United States relations|relations with the United States]]; China was also involved in the [[Vietnam War]] and [[Cambodian Civil War]]. In 1976, Mao died after suffering a series of [[heart attack]]s. He was succeeded as leader by [[Hua Guofeng]] and in 1978 by [[Deng Xiaoping]]. The CCP's [[Resolution on Certain Questions in the History of Our Party since the Founding of the People's Republic of China|official evaluation of Mao's legacy]] both praises him and acknowledges he made errors in his later years.
Mao remains a controversial figure to this day, with a contentious and ever-evolving legacy. He is officially held in high regard in China as a great revolutionary, political strategist, military mastermind, and savior of the nation. Many Chinese{{Quantify|date=January 2010}} also believe that through his policies, he laid the economic, technological and cultural foundations of modern China, transforming the country from an [[agrarian society]] into a [[major power|major world power]]. Additionally, Mao is viewed by many{{Who|date=January 2010}} as a [[poet]], [[philosopher]], and [[visionary]], owing the latter primarily to the [[cult of personality]] fostered during his time in power.<ref>{{cite book |last=Short |first=Philip |title=Mao: A Life |publisher=Owl Books |year=2001 |url=http://books.google.com/books?visbn=0805066381 |isbn=0805066381 |page=630 |quote=Mao had an extraordinary mix of talents: he was visionary, statesman, political and military strategist of cunning intellect, a philosopher and poet.}}</ref> As a consequence,{{Clarify|date=February 2010}} his portrait continues to be featured prominently on [[Tiananmen]] and on all [[Renminbi]] bills.


<!-- Legacy -->Mao is considered one of the most significant figures of the 20th century. His policies were responsible for a vast number of deaths, with estimates ranging from 40 to 80 million victims of starvation, persecution, [[Laogai|prison labour]], and mass executions, and his regime has been described as [[totalitarian]]. He has been also credited with transforming China from a [[semi-colony]] to a leading world power by advancing literacy, women's rights, basic healthcare, primary education, and life expectancy. Under Mao, China's population grew from about 550 million to more than 900 million. Within China, he is revered as a national hero who liberated the country from foreign occupation and exploitation. He became an ideological figurehead and a prominent influence within the international communist movement, inspiring various Maoist organisations.
Conversely, Mao's social-political programs, such as the [[Great Leap Forward]] and the [[Cultural Revolution]], are blamed for causing severe [[famine]] and damage to the [[Chinese culture|culture]], [[Chinese society|society]] and [[Economy of the People's Republic of China|economy]] of China. This is generally accepted in China as well as by the [[Chinese Communist Party]]. Mao's policies and political purges from 1949 to 1975 are widely believed to have caused the deaths of between 50 to 70 million people.<ref>[http://users.erols.com/mwhite28/warstat1.htm#Mao Death Toll Median Average Estimates of 14 Sources = 45.75 – 52.5 million people] Which include the books: ''Le Livre Noir du Communism'' by Stephane Courtois, ''Hungry Ghosts: Mao's Secret Famine'' by Jasper Becker, ''China's Changing Population'' by Judith Banister, ''Contemporary Chinese Population'' by Wang Weizhi, ''Mao: The Unknown Story'' by Jung Chang, ''Victims of Politics'' by Kurt Glaser, ''How to Prevent Genocide'' by John Heidenrich, ''Mao's China and After'' by Maurice Meisner, ''The Human Cost of Communism in China'' by Robert L. Walker. Along with reports by ''Agence France Press'' (1999), ''Dictionary of 20 Century World History'', ''Guinness Book of World Records'', ''Washington Post'' (1994), and the ''Weekly Standard'' (1997)</ref><ref name="deathtoll"/><ref name="Fenby"/> Since [[Deng Xiaoping]] assumed power in 1978, many Maoist policies have been abandoned in favour of [[economic reform in the People's Republic of China|economic reforms]].


== English romanisation of name ==
Mao is regarded as one of the most influential figures in modern world history,<ref>{{cite web|work=The Oxford Companion to Politics of the World|url=http://www.oxfordreference.com/pages/samplep02|title=Mao Zedong|accessdate=2008-08-23}}</ref> and named by [[Time Magazine]] as one of the [[Time 100: The Most Important People of the Century|100 most important]] people of the 20th century.<ref>[http://www.time.com/time/time100/leaders/profile/mao.html Time 100: Mao Zedong] By Jonathan D. Spence, 13 April 1998.</ref>
During Mao's lifetime, the English-language media universally rendered his name as Mao Tse-tung, using the [[Wade–Giles]] system of transliteration though with the circumflex accent in the syllable ''Tsê'' dropped. Due to its recognizability, the spelling was used widely, even by the PRC's [[Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China|foreign ministry]] after [[Hanyu Pinyin]] became the PRC's official romanisation system for [[Mandarin Chinese]] in 1958; the well-known booklet of Mao's political statements was officially entitled ''[[Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-tung]]'' in English translations. While the pinyin-derived spelling ''Mao Zedong'' is increasingly common, the Wade–Giles-derived spelling ''Mao Tse-tung'' continues to be used in modern publications to some extent.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Explainer: Mao Zedong or Mao Tse-tung? We Have the Answer |last=Pottinger |first=Jesse |work=That's Online |date=26 August 2019 |access-date=24 April 2020 |url=https://www.thatsmags.com/china/post/29208/mao-zedong-or-mao-tse-tung-we-have-the-answer_1}}</ref>


==Early life==
== Early life ==
{{Main|Early life of Mao Zedong}}
Mao was born on December 26, 1893, in [[Shaoshan]], Hunan province China. His father was a poor peasant who had become a wealthy farmer and grain dealer. At age 8 he began studying at the village primary school, but left school at 13 to work on the family farm. He later left the farm to continue his studies at a secondary school in [[Changsha]], the capital of Hunan province. When the [[Xinhai Revolution]] against the [[Qing Dynasty]] broke out in 1911 he joined the Revolutionary Army in Hunan. In the spring of 1912 the war ended, the [[Republic of China]] was founded and Mao left the army. He eventually returned to school, <ref>{{cite book |last=Feigon |first=Lee |title=Mao: A Reinterpretation |year=2002 |publisher=Ivan R. Dee |location=Chicago |isbn=1566635225 |page=17 }}</ref>and in 1918 graduated from the First Provincial Normal School of Hunan.


=== Youth and the Xinhai Revolution: 1893–1911 ===
Following his graduation, it is believed that Mao traveled with Professor Yang Changji, his college teacher and future father-in-law, to [[Beijing]] in 1919. Professor Yang died in 1920 but prior to his death had held a faculty position at [[Peking University]], and at his recommendation, Mao worked as an assistant librarian at the University Library under the curatorship of [[Li Dazhao]], who would come to greatly influence Mao's future thought. Mao registered as a part-time student at Beijing University and attended a few lectures and seminars by intellectuals, such as [[Chen Duxiu]], [[Hu Shi]], and [[Qian Xuantong]]. During his stay in Shanghai, he engaged himself as much as possible in reading which introduced him to [[Communist]] theories.
[[File:Mao Zedong ca1910.jpg|left|thumb|Mao Zedong {{circa|1910s}}]]
Mao Zedong was born on 26 December 1893, near [[Shaoshan]] village in [[Hunan]].{{sfnm|1a1=Schram|1y=1966|1p=19|2a1=Hollingworth|2y=1985|2p=15|3a1=Pantsov|3a2=Levine|3y=2012|3p=11}} His father, [[Mao Yichang]], was a formerly impoverished peasant who had become one of the wealthiest farmers in Shaoshan. Growing up in rural Hunan, Mao described his father as a stern disciplinarian, who would beat him and his three siblings, the boys [[Mao Zemin|Zemin]] and [[Mao Zetan|Zetan]], as well as an adopted sister/cousin, [[Mao Zejian|Zejian]].<ref>{{harvnb|Schram|1966|pp=19–20}}; {{harvnb|Terrill|1980|pp=4–5, 15}}; {{harvnb|Feigon|2002|pp=13–14}}; {{harvnb|Pantsov|Levine|2012|pp=13–}}.</ref> Mao's mother, [[Wen Qimei]], was a devout [[Buddhist]] who tried to temper her husband's strict attitude.<ref name="Schram1966 p20 Terrill 1980 11">{{harvnb|Schram|1966|p=20}}; {{harvnb|Terrill|1980|p=11}}; {{harvnb|Pantsov|Levine|2012|pp=14, 17}}.</ref> Mao too became a Buddhist, but abandoned this faith in his mid-teenage years.<ref name="Schram1966 p20 Terrill 1980 11" /> At age 8, Mao was sent to Shaoshan Primary School. Learning the value systems of [[Confucianism]], he later admitted that he did not enjoy the [[Chinese classics|classical Chinese texts]] preaching Confucian morals, instead favouring [[Classic Chinese Novels|classic novels]] like ''[[Romance of the Three Kingdoms]]'' and ''[[Water Margin]]''.<ref>{{harvnb|Schram|1966|pp=20–21}}; {{harvnb|Terrill|1980|p=8}}; {{harvnb|Pantsov|Levine|2012|pp=15, 20}}</ref> At age 13, Mao finished primary education, and his father united him in an [[arranged marriage]] to the 17-year-old [[Luo Yixiu]], thereby uniting their land-owning families. Mao refused to recognise her as his wife, becoming a fierce critic of arranged marriage and temporarily moving away. Luo was locally disgraced and died in 1910 at 20 years old.<ref>{{harvnb|Terrill|1980|p=12}}; {{harvnb|Feigon|2002|p=23}}, {{harvnb|Pantsov|Levine|2012|pp=25–28}}</ref>


[[File:Shaoshan 01.JPG|thumb|left|[[Former Residence of Mao Zedong|Mao Zedong's childhood home]] in Shaoshan, in 2010, by which time it had become a tourist destination]]
He married [[Yang Kaihui]], Professor Yang's daughter and a fellow student, despite an existing marriage arranged by his father at home, which Mao never acknowledged. In October 1930, the [[Kuomintang]] (KMT) captured [[Yang Kaihui]] as well as her son, [[Mao Anying|Anying]]{{Citation needed|date=November 2009}}. The KMT imprisoned them both, and Anying was later sent to his relatives after the KMT killed his mother{{Citation needed|date=November 2009}}. At this time, Mao was living with [[He Zizhen]], a co-worker and 17 year old girl from Yongxing, [[Jiangxi]].<ref>Hollingworth, Clare, Mao and the men against him (Jonathan Cape, London: 1985), p. 45.</ref> Likely due to poor language skills (Mao never learned to speak [[Mandarin Chinese|Mandarin]]), he turned down an opportunity to study in [[France]].<ref>{{citebook|authorlink=Jung Chang|last=Chang|first=Jung|coauthors=Jon, Halliday|title=Mao: The Unknown Story|publisher=Magazine Publishing (Hong Kong)|year=2006|isbn=9627934194}}</ref>


Working on his father's farm, Mao read voraciously<ref>{{harvnb|Feigon|2002|p=15}} {{harvnb|Terrill|1980|pp=10–11}}</ref> and developed a "political consciousness" from [[Zheng Guanying]]'s booklet which lamented the deterioration of Chinese power and argued for the adoption of [[representative democracy]].<ref>{{harvnb|Schram|1966|p=23}}; {{harvnb|Terrill|1980|pp=12–13}}; {{harvnb|Pantsov|Levine|2012|p=21}}</ref> Mao also read translations of works by Western authors including [[Adam Smith]], [[Montesquieu]], [[Jean-Jacques Rousseau]], [[Charles Darwin]], and [[Thomas Huxley]].<ref name=":11">{{Cite book |last1=Marquis |first1=Christopher |url= |title=Mao and Markets: The Communist Roots of Chinese Enterprise |last2=Qiao |first2=Kunyuan |date=2022 |publisher=[[Yale University Press]] |isbn=978-0-300-26883-6 |location=New Haven |oclc=1348572572 |author-link=Christopher Marquis}}</ref>{{Rp|page=34}} Interested in history, Mao was inspired by the military prowess and nationalistic fervour of [[George Washington]] and [[Napoleon Bonaparte]].<ref>{{harvnb|Schram|1966|p=25}}; {{harvnb|Terrill|1980|pp=20–21}}; {{harvnb|Pantsov|Levine|2012|p=29}}</ref> His political views were shaped by [[Gelaohui]]-led protests which erupted following a famine in [[Changsha]], the capital of Hunan; Mao supported the protesters' demands, but the armed forces suppressed the dissenters and executed their leaders.<ref>{{harvnb|Schram|1966|p=22}}; {{harvnb|Terrill|1980|p=13}}; {{harvnb|Pantsov|Levine|2012|pp=17–18}}</ref> The famine spread to Shaoshan, where starving peasants seized his father's grain. He disapproved of their actions as morally wrong, but claimed sympathy for their situation.<ref>{{harvnb|Terrill|1980|p=14}}; {{harvnb|Pantsov|Levine|2012|p=18}}</ref> At age 16, Mao moved to a higher primary school in nearby Dongshan,<ref>{{harvnb|Schram|1966|p=22}}; {{harvnb|Feigon|2002|p=15}}; {{harvnb|Terrill|1980|p=18}}; {{harvnb|Pantsov|Levine|2012|p=28}}</ref> where he was bullied for his peasant background.<ref>{{harvnb|Schram|1966|p=26}}; {{harvnb|Terrill|1980|p=19}}; {{harvnb|Pantsov|Levine|2012|pp=28–30}}</ref>
On 23 July 1921, Mao, age 27, attended the first session of the [[National Congress of the Communist Party of China]] in [[Shanghai]]. Two years later, he was elected as one of the five commissars of the Central Committee of the Party during the third Congress session. Later that year, Mao returned to Hunan at the instruction of the [[Central Committee of the Communist Party of China|CPC Central Committee]] and the Kuomintang Central Committee to organize the Hunan branch of the Kuomintang.<ref name="chronology">{{cite news|url=http://news.163.com/05/0908/11/1T4IGSAR00011246_2.html|title=毛泽东生平大事(1893–1976)}} (Major event chronology of Mao Zedong (1893–1976), People's Daily</ref> In 1924, he was a delegate to the first National Conference of the Kuomintang, where he was elected an Alternate Executive of the Central Committee. In 1924, he became an Executive of the Shanghai branch of the Kuomintang and Secretary of the Organization Department.


In 1911, Mao began middle school in [[Changsha]].<ref>{{harvnb|Schram|1966|p=26}}; {{harvnb|Terrill|1980|pp=22–23}}; {{harvnb|Pantsov|Levine|2012|p=30}}</ref> Revolutionary sentiment was strong in the city, where there was widespread animosity towards Emperor [[Puyi]]'s [[absolute monarchy]] and many were advocating [[republicanism]]. The republicans' figurehead was [[Sun Yat-sen]], an American-educated Christian who led the [[Tongmenghui]] society.<ref>{{harvnb|Pantsov|Levine|2012|pp=32–34}}</ref> In Changsha, Mao was influenced by Sun's newspaper, ''The People's Independence'' (''Minli bao''),<ref>{{harvnb|Schram|1966|p=27}};{{harvnb|Terrill|1980|p=22}}; {{harvnb|Pantsov|Levine|2012|p=33}}</ref> and called for Sun to become president in a school essay.<ref>{{harvnb|Schram|1966|pp=26–27}}; {{harvnb|Terrill|1980|pp=22–24}}; {{harvnb|Pantsov|Levine|2012|p=33}}</ref> As a symbol of rebellion against the [[Manchu]] monarch, Mao and a friend cut off their [[Queue (hairstyle)|queue]] pigtails, a sign of subservience to the emperor.<ref>{{harvnb|Schram|1966|p=26}}; {{harvnb|Terrill|1980|p=23}}; {{harvnb|Pantsov|Levine|2012|p=33}}</ref>
For a while, Mao remained in Shanghai, an important city that the CPC emphasized for the [[Revolution]]. However, the Party encountered major difficulties organizing labor union movements and building a relationship with its nationalist ally, the [[Kuomintang]] (KMT). The Party had become poor, and Mao became disillusioned with the revolution and moved back to Shaoshan. During his stay at home, Mao's interest in the revolution was rekindled after hearing of the 1925 uprisings in Shanghai and Guangzhou. His political ambitions returned, and he then went to Guangdong, the base of the Kuomintang, to take part in the preparations for the second session of the National Congress of Kuomintang. In October 1925, Mao became acting Propaganda Director of the Kuomintang.


Inspired by Sun's republicanism, the army rose up across southern China, sparking the [[Xinhai Revolution]]. Changsha's governor fled, leaving the city in republican control.<ref>{{harvnb|Schram|1966|pp=30–32}}; {{harvnb|Pantsov|Levine|2012|pp=32–35}}</ref> Supporting the revolution, Mao joined the rebel army as a [[private soldier]], but was not involved in fighting or combat. The northern provinces remained loyal to the emperor, and hoping to avoid a civil war, Sun—proclaimed "provisional president" by his supporters—compromised with the monarchist general [[Yuan Shikai]]. The monarchy was abolished, creating the [[Republic of China (1912–1949)|Republic of China]], but the monarchist Yuan became president. With the revolution over, Mao resigned from the army in 1912, after six months as a soldier.<ref>{{harvnb|Schram|1966|p=34}}; {{harvnb|Pantsov|Levine|2012|pp=34–35}}</ref> Around this time, Mao discovered [[socialism]] from a newspaper article; proceeding to read pamphlets by [[Jiang Kanghu]], the student founder of the Chinese Socialist Party, Mao remained interested yet unconvinced by the idea.<ref>{{harvnb|Schram|1966|pp=34–35}}; {{harvnb|Terrill|1980|pp=23–24}}</ref>
In early 1927, Mao returned to Hunan where, in an urgent meeting held by the Communist Party, he made a report based on his investigations of the peasant uprisings in the wake of the [[Northern Expedition (1926–1927)|Northern Expedition]]. This is considered the initial and decisive step towards the successful application of Mao's revolutionary theories.<ref name="peasant">{{cite web|url=http://www.etext.org/Politics/MIM/classics/mao/sw1/mswv1_2.html|title='Report on an investigation of the peasant movement in Hunan' Mao Zedong 1927}}</ref>


=== Fourth Normal School of Changsha: 1912–1919 ===
==Political ideas==
Over the next few years, Mao Zedong enrolled in and dropped out of a police academy, a soap-production school, a law school, an economics school, and the government-run [[Changsha Middle School]].<ref>{{harvnb|Schram|1966|pp=35–36}}; {{harvnb|Terrill|1980|pp=22, 25}}; {{harvnb|Pantsov|Levine|2012|p=35}}.</ref> Studying independently, he spent much time in Changsha's library, reading core works of [[classical liberalism]] such as [[Adam Smith]]'s ''[[The Wealth of Nations]]'' and [[Montesquieu]]'s ''[[The Spirit of the Laws]]'', as well as the works of western scientists and philosophers such as [[Charles Darwin|Darwin]], [[John Stuart Mill|Mill]], [[Rousseau]], and [[Herbert Spencer|Spencer]].<ref>{{harvnb|Schram|1966|p=36}}; {{harvnb|Terrill|1980|p=26}}; {{harvnb|Pantsov|Levine|2012|pp=35–36}}.</ref> Viewing himself as an intellectual, years later he admitted that at this time he thought himself better than working people.{{sfn|Pantsov|Levine|2012|pp=36–37}} He was inspired by [[Friedrich Paulsen]], a [[Neo-Kantianism|neo-Kantian]] philosopher and educator whose emphasis on the achievement of a carefully defined goal as the highest value led Mao to believe that strong individuals were not bound by moral codes but should strive for a great goal.{{sfn|Pantsov|Levine|2012|pp=40–41}} His father saw no use in his son's intellectual pursuits, cut off his allowance and forced him to move into a hostel for the destitute.{{sfn|Pantsov|Levine|2012|p=36}}
{{Main|Maoism}}
{{Maoism sidebar |expanded=all}}
{{Marxist theory}}


[[File:Mao Zedong 1913.jpg|thumb|upright|Mao in 1913]]
Mao had a strong interest in the political system, encouraged by his father. His two most famous essays, both from 1937, 'On Contradiction' and 'On Practice', are concerned with the practical strategies of a revolutionary movement and stress the importance of practical, grassroots knowledge, obtained through experience.


Mao wanted to become a teacher and enrolled at the Fourth Normal School of Changsha, which soon merged with the [[First Normal School of Hunan]], widely seen as the best in Hunan.<ref>{{harvnb|Schram|1966|pp=36–37}}; {{harvnb|Terrill|1980|p=27}}; {{harvnb|Pantsov|Levine|2012|p=37}}.</ref> Befriending Mao, professor [[Yang Changji]] urged him to read a radical newspaper, ''[[New Youth]]'' (''Xin qingnian''), the creation of his friend [[Chen Duxiu]], a dean at [[Peking University]]. Although he was a supporter of [[Chinese nationalism]], Chen argued that China must look to the west to cleanse itself of superstition and autocracy.{{sfn|Schram|1966|pp=38–39}} In his first school year, Mao befriended an older student, [[Xiao Zisheng]]; together they went on a walking tour of Hunan, begging and writing literary couplets to obtain food.<ref>{{harvnb|Pantsov|Levine|2012|p=43}}; see also {{cite book |first=Hsiao |last=Yu |author-link=Xiao Zisheng |title=Mao Tse-Tung and I Were Beggars |location=Syracuse, N.Y. |publisher=[[Syracuse University Press]] |date=1959}}</ref>
Both essays reflect the [[guerrilla]] roots of Maoism in the need to build up support in the countryside against a Japanese occupying force and emphasise the need to win over '[[hearts and minds]]' through 'education'. The essays, reproduced later as part of the '[[Quotations from Chairman Mao Zedong|Red Book]]', warn against the behaviour of the blindfolded man trying to catch sparrows, and the 'Imperial envoy' descending from his carriage to 'spout opinions' .


A popular student, in 1915 Mao was elected secretary of the Students' Society. He organised the Association for Student Self-Government and led protests against school rules.<ref>{{harvnb|Schram|1966|pp=42–43}}; {{harvnb|Terrill|1980|p=32}}; {{harvnb|Pantsov|Levine|2012|p=48}}.</ref> Mao published his first article in ''New Youth'' in April 1917, instructing readers to increase their physical strength to serve the revolution.<ref>{{harvnb|Schram|1966|p=41}}; {{harvnb|Terrill|1980|p=32}}; {{harvnb|Pantsov|Levine|2012|p=42}}.</ref> He joined the Society for the Study of Wang Fuzhi (''Chuan-shan Hsüeh-she''), a revolutionary group founded by Changsha literati who wished to emulate the philosopher [[Wang Fuzhi]].<ref>{{harvnb|Schram|1966|pp=40–41}}; {{harvnb|Terrill|1980|pp=30–31}}.</ref> In spring 1917, he was elected to command the students' volunteer army, set up to defend the school from marauding soldiers.<ref>{{harvnb|Schram|1966|p=43}}; {{harvnb|Terrill|1980|p=32}}; {{harvnb|Pantsov|Levine|2012|pp=49–50}}.</ref> Increasingly interested in the techniques of war, he took a keen interest in [[World War I]], and also began to develop a sense of solidarity with workers.{{sfn|Pantsov|Levine|2012|pp=49–50}} Mao undertook feats of physical endurance with Xiao Zisheng and [[Cai Hesen]], and with other young revolutionaries they formed the Renovation of the People Study Society in April 1918 to debate Chen Duxiu's ideas. Desiring personal and societal transformation, the Society gained 70–80 members, many of whom would later join the Communist Party.<ref>{{harvnb|Schram|1966|p=44}}; {{harvnb|Terrill|1980|p=33}}; {{harvnb|Pantsov|Levine|2012|pp=50–52}}.</ref> Mao graduated in June 1919, ranked third in the year.<ref>{{harvnb|Schram|1966|p=45}}; {{harvnb|Terrill|1980|p=34}}; {{harvnb|Pantsov|Levine|2012|p=52}}.</ref>
After graduating from Hunan Normal School, the highest level of schooling available in his province, Mao spent six months studying independently. Mao was first introduced to communism while working at [[Peking University]], and in 1921 he attended the organizational meeting of the Communist Party of China (or CPC). He first encountered [[Marxism]] while he worked as a library assistant at Peking University.


== Early revolutionary activity ==
Other important influences on Mao were the [[Russian Revolution of 1917|Russian revolution]] and, according to some scholars, the Chinese literary works: ''[[Outlaws of the Marsh]]'' and ''[[Romance of the Three Kingdoms]]''. Mao sought to subvert the alliance of imperialism and [[feudalism]] in China. He thought the [[Kuomintang|Nationalists]] to be both economically and politically vulnerable and thus that the revolution could not be steered by Nationalists.
=== Beijing, anarchism, and Marxism: 1917–1919 ===
[[File:Mao Zedong in 1924.jpg|left|thumb|Mao Zedong in 1924]]
Mao moved to Beijing, where his mentor Yang Changji had taken a job at Peking University.<ref>{{harvnb|Schram|1966|p=48}}; {{harvnb|Pantsov|Levine|2012|pp=47, 56–57}}.</ref> Yang thought Mao exceptionally "intelligent and handsome",<ref>{{harvnb|Feigon|2002|p=18}}; {{harvnb|Pantsov|Levine|2012|p=39}}.</ref> securing him a job as assistant to the university librarian [[Li Dazhao]], who would become an early Chinese Communist.<ref>{{harvnb|Schram|1966|p=48}}; {{harvnb|Pantsov|Levine|2012|p=59}}.</ref> Li authored a series of ''New Youth'' articles on the [[October Revolution]] in Russia, during which the Communist [[Bolshevik Party]] under the leadership of [[Vladimir Lenin]] had seized power. Lenin was an advocate of the socio-political theory of [[Marxism]], first developed by the German sociologists [[Karl Marx]] and [[Friedrich Engels]], and Li's articles added Marxism to the doctrines in the Chinese revolutionary movement.<ref>{{harvnb|Schram|1966|p=47}}; {{harvnb|Pantsov|Levine|2012|pp=59–62}}.</ref>


Becoming "more and more radical", Mao was initially influenced by [[Peter Kropotkin]]'s [[anarchism]], which was the most prominent radical doctrine of the day. [[Anarchism in China|Chinese anarchists]], such as [[Cai Yuanpei]], Chancellor of Peking University, called for complete [[social revolution]] in social relations, family structure, and [[Gender inequality in China|women's equality]], rather than the simple change in the form of government called for by earlier revolutionaries. He joined Li's Study Group and "developed rapidly toward Marxism" during the winter of 1919.<ref>{{harvnb|Schram|1966|pp=48–49}}; {{harvnb|Pantsov|Levine|2012|pp=62–64}}.</ref> Paid a low wage, Mao lived in a cramped room with seven other Hunanese students, but believed that Beijing's beauty offered "vivid and living compensation".<ref>{{harvnb|Schram|1966|p=48}}; {{harvnb|Pantsov|Levine|2012|pp=57–58}}.</ref> A number of his friends took advantage of the anarchist-organised ''[[Diligent Work-Frugal Study Movement|Mouvement Travail-Études]]'' to study in France, but Mao declined, perhaps because of an inability to learn languages.<ref>{{harvnb|Schram|1966|p=51}}; {{harvnb|Pantsov|Levine|2012|pp=53–55, 65}}.</ref> Mao raised funds for the movement, however.<ref name=":11" />{{Rp|page=35}}
Throughout the 1920s, Mao led several labour struggles based upon his studies of the propagation and organization of the contemporary labour movements.<ref name="vaughan">{{cite book | title=Mao Zedong As Poet and Revolutionary Leader: Social and Historical Perspectives| url=http://books.google.com/books?id=EWtBMQgUGmEC| last=Chunhou| first=Zhang. C| isbn=0739104063}}</ref> However, these struggles were successfully subdued by the government, and Mao fled from [[Changsha]] after he was labeled a ''radical activist''. He pondered these failures and finally realized that [[Industry|industrial]] workers were unable to lead the revolution because they made up only a small portion of China's population, and unarmed labour struggles could not resolve the problems of imperial and feudal suppression.


At the university, Mao was snubbed by other students due to his rural Hunanese accent and lowly position. He joined the university's Philosophy and Journalism Societies and attended lectures and seminars by the likes of [[Chen Duxiu]], [[Hu Shih]], and [[Qian Xuantong]].<ref>{{harvnb|Schram|1966|p=48}}; {{harvnb|Pantsov|Levine|2012|pp=62, 66}}.</ref> Mao's time in Beijing ended in the spring of 1919, when he travelled to Shanghai with friends who were preparing to leave for France.<ref>{{harvnb|Schram|1966|pp=50–52}}; {{harvnb|Pantsov|Levine|2012|p=66}}.</ref> He did not return to Shaoshan, where his mother was terminally ill. She died in October 1919 and her husband died in January 1920.{{sfn|Pantsov|Levine|2012|pp=66–67}}
Mao began to depend on Chinese [[peasant]]s who later became staunch supporters of his theory of violent revolution. This dependence on the rural rather than the urban proletariat to instigate violent revolution distinguished Mao from his predecessors and contemporaries. Mao himself was from a peasant family, and thus he cultivated his reputation among the farmers and peasants and introduced them to Marxism.<ref name="peasant"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.etext.org/Politics/MIM/classics/mao/sw1/mswv1_1.html|title='Analysis of the classes in Chinese society' Mao Zedong 1927.}}</ref>


=== New Culture and political protests: 1919–1920 ===
==War==
[[File:Mao1927.jpg|left|thumb|Mao in 1927]]
[[File:Mao Zedong in 1919 (02).jpg|thumb|Mao Zedong in 1919]]
On 4 May 1919, students in Beijing gathered at [[Tiananmen]] to protest the Chinese government's weak resistance to Japanese expansion in China. Patriots were outraged at the influence given to Japan in the [[Twenty-One Demands]] in 1915, the complicity of [[Duan Qirui]]'s [[Beiyang government]], and the betrayal of China in the [[Treaty of Versailles]], wherein Japan was allowed to [[Shandong Problem|receive territories in Shandong]] which had been surrendered by [[German Empire|Germany]]. These demonstrations ignited the nationwide [[May Fourth Movement]] and fuelled the [[New Culture Movement]] which blamed China's diplomatic defeats on social and cultural backwardness.<ref>{{harvnb|Schram|1966|pp=51–52}}; {{harvnb|Feigon|2002|pp=21–22}}; {{harvnb|Pantsov|Levine|2012|pp=69–70}}.</ref>
[[File:Mao1931.jpg|left|thumb|Mao in 1931]]


In Changsha, Mao had begun teaching history at the Xiuye Primary School{{sfn|Pantsov|Levine|2012|p=68}} and organising protests against the pro-Duan Governor of Hunan Province, [[Zhang Jingyao]], popularly known as "Zhang the Venomous" due to his corrupt and violent rule.{{sfn|Pantsov|Levine|2012|p=76}} In late May, Mao co-founded the Hunanese Student Association with [[He Shuheng]] and [[Deng Zhongxia]], organising a student strike for June and in July 1919 began production of a weekly radical magazine, ''[[The Shian Kian Weekly Review|Xiang River Review]]''. Using vernacular language that would be understandable to the majority of China's populace, he advocated the need for a "Great Union of the Popular Masses", and strengthened trade unions able to wage non-violent revolution.{{clarify|date=May 2016}} His ideas were not Marxist, but heavily influenced by Kropotkin's concept of [[Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution|mutual aid]].<ref>{{harvnb|Schram|1966|pp=53–54}}; {{harvnb|Pantsov|Levine|2012|pp=71–76}}.</ref>
In 1927, Mao conducted the famous [[Autumn Harvest Uprising]] in [[Changsha]], [[Hunan]], as commander-in-chief. Mao led an army, called the "Revolutionary Army of Workers and Peasants", which was defeated and scattered after fierce battles. Afterwards, the exhausted troops were forced to leave Hunan for Sanwan, Jiangxi, where Mao re-organized the scattered soldiers, rearranging the military division into smaller regiments.


[[File:Beijing students protesting the Treaty of Versailles (May 4, 1919).jpg|thumb|Students in Beijing rallying during the May Fourth Movement]]
Mao also ordered that each company must have a party branch office with a [[commissar]] as its leader who would give political instructions based upon superior mandates. This military rearrangement in Sanwan, Jiangxi initiated the CPC's absolute control over its military force and has been considered to have the most fundamental and profound impact upon the Chinese revolution. Later, they moved to the [[Jinggang Mountains]], Jiangxi.
Zhang banned the Student Association, but Mao continued publishing after assuming editorship of the liberal magazine ''New Hunan'' (''Xin Hunan'') and authored articles in popular local newspaper ''[[Ta Kung Pao]]''. Several of these advocated [[Feminism in China|feminist]] views, calling for the liberation of women in Chinese society; Mao was influenced by his forced arranged-marriage.<ref>{{harvnb|Schram|1966|p=55}}; {{harvnb|Pantsov|Levine|2012|pp=76–77}}.</ref> In fall 1919, Mao organized a seminar in Changsha studying economic and political issues, as well as ways to unite the people, the feasibility of socialism, and issues regarding Confucianism.<ref name=":9">{{Cite book |last=Huang |first=Yibing |url= |title=An ideological history of the Communist Party of China |date=2020 |others=Qian Zheng, Guoyou Wu, Xuemei Ding, Li Sun, Shelly Bryant |isbn=978-1-4878-0425-1 |edition= |volume=1 |publisher=Royal Collins Publishing Group |location=Montreal, Quebec |pages=16 |oclc=1165409653}}</ref> During this period, Mao involved himself in political work with manual laborers, setting up night schools and trade unions.<ref name=":9" /> In December 1919, Mao helped organise a general strike in Hunan, securing some concessions, but Mao and other student leaders felt threatened by Zhang, and Mao returned to Beijing, visiting the terminally ill Yang Changji.<ref>{{harvnb|Schram|1966|pp=55–56}}; {{harvnb|Pantsov|Levine|2012|p=79}}.</ref> Mao found that his articles had achieved a level of fame among the revolutionary movement, and set about soliciting support in overthrowing Zhang.{{sfn|Pantsov|Levine|2012|p=80}} Coming across newly translated Marxist literature by Thomas Kirkup, [[Karl Kautsky]], and Marx and Engels—notably ''[[The Communist Manifesto]]''—he came under their increasing influence, but was still eclectic in his views.{{sfn|Pantsov|Levine|2012|pp=81–83}}


Mao visited Tianjin, [[Jinan]], and [[Qufu]],{{sfn|Pantsov|Levine|2012|p=84}} before moving to Shanghai, where he worked as a laundryman and met [[Chen Duxiu]], noting that Chen's adoption of Marxism "deeply impressed me at what was probably a critical period in my life". In Shanghai, Mao met an old teacher of his, [[Yi Peiji]], a revolutionary and member of the [[Kuomintang]] (KMT), or Chinese Nationalist Party, which was gaining increasing support and influence. Yi introduced Mao to General [[Tan Yankai]], a senior KMT member who held the loyalty of troops stationed along the Hunanese border with Guangdong. Tan was plotting to overthrow Zhang, and Mao aided him by organising the Changsha students. In June 1920, Tan led his troops into Changsha, and Zhang fled. In the subsequent reorganisation of the provincial administration, Mao was appointed headmaster of the junior section of the First Normal School. Now receiving a large income, he married Yang Kaihui, daughter of Yang Changji, in the winter of 1920.{{sfn|Schram|1966|pp=56–57}}<ref name="Mair_2013_p211">{{cite book |last1=Mair |first1=Victor H. |last2=Sanping |first2=Sanping |last3=Wood |first3=Frances |title=Chinese Lives: The people who made a civilization |date=2013 |publisher=[[Thames & Hudson]] |location=London |isbn=978-0500251928 |page=211}}</ref>
In the Jinggang Mountains, Mao persuaded two local insurgent leaders to pledge their allegiance to him. There, Mao joined his army with that of [[Zhu De]], creating the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army of China, [[History of the People's Liberation Army#From the founding of the People.27s Liberation Army to the Korean War|Red Army]] in short. Mao's tactics were strongly based on that of the Spanish Guerillas during the [[Napoleonic Wars]].


=== Founding the Chinese Communist Party: 1921–1922 ===
From 1931 to 1934, Mao helped establish the [[Soviet Republic of China]] and was elected Chairman of this small republic in the mountainous areas in Jiangxi. Here, Mao was married to [[He Zizhen]]. His previous wife, [[Yang Kaihui]], had been arrested and executed in 1930, just three years after their departure.
[[File:Location of the First Congress of the Chinese Communist Party Xintiandi Shanghai July 1921.jpg|thumb|upright|Location of the first Congress of the Chinese Communist Party in July 1921, in [[Xintiandi]], former [[French Concession]], Shanghai]]


The Chinese Communist Party was founded by [[Chen Duxiu]] and [[Li Dazhao]] in the [[Shanghai French Concession]] in 1921 as a study society and informal network. Mao set up a Changsha branch, also establishing a branch of the Socialist Youth Corps and a Cultural Book Society which opened a bookstore to propagate revolutionary literature throughout Hunan.<ref>{{harvnb|Schram|1966|p=63}}; {{harvnb|Feigon|2002|pp=23, 28}}</ref> He was involved in the movement for Hunan autonomy, in the hope that a Hunanese constitution would increase [[civil liberty|civil liberties]] and make his revolutionary activity easier. When the movement was successful in establishing provincial autonomy under a new warlord, Mao forgot his involvement.<ref>{{harvnb|Schram|1966|pp=63–64}}; {{harvnb|Feigon|2002|pp=23–24, 28, 30}}</ref>{{clarification needed|date=July 2023}} By 1921, small Marxist groups existed in Shanghai, Beijing, Changsha, Wuhan, Guangzhou, and Jinan; it was decided to hold a central meeting, which began in Shanghai on 23 July 1921. The [[1st National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party|first session of the National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party]] was attended by 13 delegates, Mao included. After the authorities sent a police spy to the congress, the delegates moved to a boat on South Lake near [[Jiaxing]], in Zhejiang, to escape detection. Although Soviet and [[Comintern]] delegates attended, the first congress ignored Lenin's advice to accept a temporary alliance between the Communists and the "bourgeois democrats" who also advocated national revolution; instead they stuck to the orthodox Marxist belief that only the urban proletariat could lead a socialist revolution.{{sfn|Schram|1966|pp=64–66}}
It was alleged{{Citation needed|Please say who said this.|date=August 2009}} that Mao orchestrated the [[Anti-Bolshevik League incident]] and the [[Futian incident]].


Mao was party secretary for Hunan stationed in Changsha, and to build the party there he followed a variety of tactics.{{sfn|Schram|1966|p=68}} In August 1921, he founded the Self-Study University, through which readers could gain access to revolutionary literature, housed in the premises of the Society for the Study of [[Wang Fuzhi]], a Qing dynasty Hunanese philosopher who had resisted the Manchus.{{sfn|Schram|1966|p=68}} He joined the [[YMCA]] Mass Education Movement to fight illiteracy, though he edited the textbooks to include radical sentiments.{{sfn|Schram|1966|pp=68–69}} He continued organising workers to strike against the administration of Hunan Governor [[Zhao Hengti]].{{sfn|Schram|1966|p=69}} Yet labour issues remained central. The successful and famous {{Interlanguage link|Anyuan coal mines strikes|zh|安源路矿工人大罢工}} (contrary to later Party historians) depended on both "proletarian" and "bourgeois" strategies. [[Liu Shaoqi]] and [[Li Lisan]] and Mao not only mobilised the miners, but formed schools and cooperatives and engaged local intellectuals, gentry, military officers, merchants, Red Gang dragon heads and even church clergy.<ref>{{cite journal |first=Elizabeth J. |last=Perry |url=http://apjjf.org/2013/11/1/Elizabeth-Perry/3882/article.html |title=Anyuan: Mining China's Revolutionary Tradition |journal=[[The Asia-Pacific Journal]] |volume=11 |number=1 |date=14 January 2013 |quote=reprinting Ch 2 of Elizabeth J. Perry. ''Anyuan: Mining China's Revolutionary Tradition.'' Berkeley: University of California Press, 2012. |isbn=978-0520271890}}</ref> Mao's labour organizing work in the Anyuan mines also involved his wife Yang Kaihui, who worked for women's rights, including literacy and educational issues, in the nearby peasant communities.<ref name=":8">{{Cite book |last=Karl |first=Rebecca E. |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/503828045 |title=Mao Zedong and China in the twentieth-century world : a concise history |date=2010 |publisher=[[Duke University Press]] |isbn=978-0-8223-4780-4 |location=Durham [NC] |pages=22–23 |oclc=503828045}}</ref> Although Mao and Yang were not the originators of this political organizing method of combining labor organizing among male workers with a focus on women's rights issues in their communities, they were among the most effective at using this method.<ref name=":8" /> Mao's political organizing success in the Anyuan mines resulted in Chen Duxiu inviting him to become a member of the Communist Party's Central Committee.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Karl |first=Rebecca E. |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/503828045 |title=Mao Zedong and China in the twentieth-century world : a concise history |date=2010 |publisher=[[Duke University Press]] |isbn=978-0-8223-4780-4 |location=Durham [NC] |page=23 |oclc=503828045}}</ref>
In Jiangxi, Mao's authoritative domination, especially that of the military force, was challenged by the Jiangxi branch of the CPC and military officers. Mao's opponents, among whom the most prominent was Li Wenlin, the founder of the CPC's branch and Red Army in Jiangxi, were against Mao's land policies and proposals to reform the local party branch and army leadership. Mao reacted first by accusing the opponents of [[opportunism]] and [[kulak]]ism and then set off a series of [[Anti-Bolshevik League incident|systematic suppressions]] of them.<ref>{{cite book|last=Lynch|first=Michael J|title=Mao|year=2004|isbn=0415215773|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=fzVSkyaBIGEC&}}</ref>


Mao claimed that he missed the July 1922 Second Congress of the Communist Party in Shanghai because he lost the address. Adopting Lenin's advice, the delegates agreed to an alliance with the "bourgeois democrats" of the KMT for the good of the "national revolution". Communist Party members joined the KMT, hoping to push its politics leftward.{{sfn|Schram|1966|pp=69–70}}
Under the direction of Mao, it is reported that horrible methods of [[torture]] took place<ref name="torture">{{cite book |last=Short |first=Philip |title=Mao: A Life |publisher=Owl Books |year=2001 |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=4y6mACbLWGsC&pg=PA272&dq=mao+a+life+ab-tuan+torture&ei=YNtASrm-KKP2yATf2ehD |isbn=0805066381 |page=272–274}}</ref> and given names such as [[sitting in a sedan chair]], [[airplane ride]], [[toad-drinking water]], and [[monkey pulling reins]]."<ref name="torture"/> The wives of several suspects had their breasts cut open and their genitals burned.<ref name="torture"/> It has been estimated that 'tens of thousands' of suspected enemies,<ref>{{cite book |last=Short |first=Philip |title=Mao: A Life |publisher=Owl Books |year=2001 |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=4y6mACbLWGsC&pg=PA279&dq=mao+a+life+%27tens+of+thousands%27+died&ei=atxASrCwG5HIyASswqVE |isbn=0805066381 |page=279}}</ref> perhaps as many as 186,000,<ref>Jean-Luc Domenach. ''Chine: L'archipel oublie.'' (''China: The Forgotten Archipelago.'') Fayard, 1992. ISBN 2-213-02581-9 pg 47</ref> were killed during this purge. Critics accuse Mao's authority in Jiangxi of being secured and reassured through the [[revolutionary terrorism]], or [[Red Terror#Historical significance of the Red Terror|red terrorism]].<ref>[http://communismonline.com/figures_mao.html ao Zedong], communismonline.com</ref>
Mao enthusiastically agreed with this decision, arguing for an alliance across China's socio-economic classes, and eventually rose to become propaganda chief of the KMT.<ref name="Mair_2013_p211"/> Mao was a vocal anti-imperialist and in his writings he lambasted the governments of Japan, the UK and US, describing the latter as "the most murderous of hangmen".<ref>{{harvnb|Schram|1966|pp=73–74}}; {{harvnb|Feigon|2002|p=33}}</ref>


=== Collaboration with the Kuomintang: 1922–1927 ===
Mao, with the help of [[Zhu De]], built a modest but effective army, undertook experiments in rural reform and government, and provided refuge for Communists fleeing the rightist purges in the cities. Mao's methods are normally referred to as Guerrilla warfare; but he himself made a distinction between guerrilla warfare (''youji zhan'') and [[Mobile Warfare]] (''yundong zhan'').
[[File:Chairman Mao-1.webm|thumb|Mao giving a speech (no audio)]]


At the Third Congress of the Communist Party in Shanghai in June 1923, the delegates reaffirmed their commitment to working with the KMT. Supporting this position, Mao was elected to the Party Committee, taking up residence in Shanghai.{{sfn|Schram|1966|pp=74–76}} At the First KMT Congress, held in [[Guangzhou]] in early 1924, Mao was elected an alternate member of the KMT Central Executive Committee, and put forward four resolutions to decentralise power to urban and rural bureaus. His enthusiastic support for the KMT earned him the suspicion of Li Li-san, his Hunan comrade.{{sfn|Schram|1966|pp=76–82}}
Mao's [[Guerrilla Warfare]] and [[Mobile Warfare]] was based upon the fact of the poor armament and military training of the Red Army which consisted mainly of impoverished peasants, who, however, were all encouraged by revolutionary passions and aspiring after a communist [[utopia]].


In late 1924, Mao returned to Shaoshan, perhaps to recuperate from an illness. He found that the peasantry were increasingly restless and some had seized land from wealthy landowners to found communes. This convinced him of the revolutionary potential of the peasantry, an idea advocated by the KMT leftists but not the Communists.<ref>{{harvnb|Schram|1966|p=78}}.</ref> Mao and many of his colleagues also proposed the end of cooperation with the KMT, which was rejected by the [[Comintern]] representative [[Mikhail Borodin]].<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2RHIAeZEYjIC |title=Missionaries of Revolution: Soviet Advisers and Nationalist China, 1920–1927 |last1=Wilbur |first1=C. Martin |last2=How |first2=Julie Lien-ying |date=1989 |publisher=[[Harvard University Press]] |isbn=978-0674576520 |language=en}}</ref> In the winter of 1925, Mao fled to Guangzhou after his revolutionary activities attracted the attention of Zhao's regional authorities.{{sfn|Schram|1966|p=83}} There, he ran the 6th term of the KMT's [[Peasant Movement Training Institute]] from May to September 1926.<ref>{{citation |page=465 |last=Mao |first=Zedong |author-mask=Mao Zedong |editor1-last=Schram |editor1-first=Stuart Reynolds |editor2-first=Nancy Jane |editor2-last=Hodes |display-editors=1 |ref={{harvid|Schram & al.|1992}} |series=''Mao's Road to Power'', Vol. II |title=National Revolution and Social Revolution, December 1920 – June 1927 |publisher=[[M. E. Sharpe]] |date=1992}}.</ref><ref>{{citation |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=mpqApZWrJyIC&pg=PA66 66] |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mpqApZWrJyIC |title=Frontier Passages: Ethnopolitics and the Rise of Chinese Communism, 1921–1945 |last=Liu |first=Xiaoyuan |author-mask=Liu Xiaoyuan |publisher=[[Stanford University Press]] |location=Stanford |year=2004 |isbn=978-0804749602 |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref> The Peasant Movement Training Institute under Mao trained cadres and prepared them for militant activity, taking them through military training exercises and getting them to study basic left-wing texts.{{sfn|Schram|1966|pp=82, 90–91}}
Around 1930, there had been more than ten regions, usually entitled "soviet areas", under control of the CPC.<ref name="cambridge">{{cite book | title=The Cambridge History of China (vol. 13, pt. 2)| url=http://books.google.com/books?id=Fxs3ROaIhPMC| last=Fairbank| first=John K| coauthors=Albert Feuerwerker| publisher=Cambridge University Press| isbn=0521243386}}</ref> The relative prosperity of "soviet areas" startled and worried [[Chiang Kai-shek]], chairman of the Kuomintang government, who waged five waves of besieging campaigns against the "central soviet area." More than one million Kuomintang soldiers were involved in these five campaigns, four of which were defeated by the Red Army led by Mao. By June 1932 (the height of its power), the Red Army had no less than 45,000 soldiers, with a further 200,000 local militia acting as a subsidiary force.<ref name="mobmass">{{cite book | title=Mobilizing the Masses: Building Revolution in Henan| url=http://books.google.com/books?id=1BN9dAqprX8C&| last=Ying-kwong Wou| first=Odoric| year=1994| publisher=Stanford University Press| isbn=0804721424}}</ref>


[[File:Mao 1925.jpg|thumb|Mao in Guangzhou in 1925]]
Under increasing pressure from the KMT encirclement campaigns, there was a struggle for power within the Communist leadership. Mao was removed from his important positions and replaced by individuals (including [[Zhou Enlai]]) who appeared loyal to the orthodox line advocated by Moscow and represented within the CPC by a group known as the [[28 Bolsheviks]].
[[File:Mao.gif|right|thumb|Mao in 1935]]


When party leader Sun Yat-sen died in May 1925, he was succeeded by [[Chiang Kai-shek]], who moved to marginalise the left-KMT and the Communists.{{sfn|Schram|1966|pp=84, 89}} Mao nevertheless supported Chiang's [[National Revolutionary Army]], who embarked on the [[Northern Expedition]] attack in 1926 on warlords.<ref>{{harvnb|Schram|1966|pp=87, 92–93}}; {{harvnb|Feigon|2002|p=39}}</ref> In the wake of this expedition, peasants rose up, appropriating the land of the wealthy landowners, who were in many cases killed. Such uprisings angered senior KMT figures, who were themselves landowners, emphasising the growing class and ideological divide within the revolutionary movement.{{sfn|Schram|1966|p=95}}
[[Chiang Kai-shek]], who had earlier assumed nominal control of China due in part to the Northern Expedition, was determined to eliminate the Communists. By October 1934, he had them surrounded, prompting them to engage in the "[[Long March]]," a retreat from Jiangxi in the southeast to [[Shaanxi]] in the northwest of China. It was during this 9,600 kilometer (5,965&nbsp;mile), year-long journey that Mao emerged as the top Communist leader, aided by the [[Zunyi Conference]] and the defection of [[Zhou Enlai]] to Mao's side. At this Conference, Mao entered the Standing Committee of the [[Politburo of the Communist Party of China]].


[[File:KMT 3rd Plenary Session of 2nd Central Committee.jpg|thumb|left|Third Plenum of the KMT Central Executive Committee in March 1927. Mao is third from the right in the second row.]]
According to the standard Chinese Communist Party line, from his base in [[Yan'an]], Mao led the Communist resistance against the Japanese in the [[Second Sino-Japanese War]] (1937–1945).{{Citation needed|date=August 2007}} However, Mao further consolidated power over the Communist Party in 1942 by launching the [[Shu Fan movement]], or "Rectification" campaign against rival CPC members such as [[Wang Ming]], [[Wang Shiwei]], and [[Ding Ling]]. Also while in Yan'an, Mao divorced He Zizhen and married the actress Lan Ping, who would become known as [[Jiang Qing]].


In March 1927, Mao appeared at the Third Plenum of the KMT Central Executive Committee in Wuhan, which sought to strip General Chiang of his power by appointing [[Wang Jingwei]] leader. There, Mao played an active role in the discussions regarding the peasant issue, defending a set of "Regulations for the Repression of Local Bullies and Bad Gentry", which advocated the death penalty or life imprisonment for anyone found guilty of [[counter-revolution]]ary activity, arguing that in a revolutionary situation, "peaceful methods cannot suffice".{{sfn|Schram|1966|p=98}}{{sfn|Feigon|2002|p=42}} In April 1927, Mao was appointed to the KMT's five-member Central Land Committee, urging peasants to refuse to pay rent. Mao led another group to put together a "Draft Resolution on the Land Question", which called for the confiscation of land belonging to "local bullies and bad gentry, corrupt officials, militarists and all counter-revolutionary elements in the villages". Proceeding to carry out a "Land Survey", he stated that anyone owning over 30 ''mou'' (four and a half acres), constituting 13% of the population, were uniformly counter-revolutionary. He accepted that there was great variation in revolutionary enthusiasm across the country, and that a flexible policy of land redistribution was necessary.{{sfn|Schram|1966|pp=99–100}} Presenting his conclusions at the Enlarged Land Committee meeting, many expressed reservations, some believing that it went too far, and others not far enough. Ultimately, his suggestions were only partially implemented.{{sfn|Schram|1966|p=100}}
[[File:Mao1938a.jpg|left|thumb|Mao in 1938, writing ''On Protracted War'' <ref>[http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/mao/selected-works/volume-2/mswv2_09.htm On Protracted War<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>]]


== Civil War ==
During the Sino-Japanese War, Mao Zedong's military strategies, laid out in [[On Guerrilla Warfare]] were opposed by both Chiang Kai-shek and the United States. The US regarded Chiang as an important ally, able to help shorten the war by engaging the Japanese occupiers in China. Chiang, in contrast, sought to build the ROC army for the certain conflict with Mao's communist forces after the end of [[World War II]]. This fact was not understood well in the US, and precious [[lend-lease]] armaments continued to be allocated to the Kuomintang.
{{Main|Chinese Civil War|Chinese Communist Revolution}}


=== Nanchang and Autumn Harvest Uprisings: 1927 ===
In turn, Mao spent part of the war (as to whether it was most or only a little is disputed) fighting the Kuomintang for control of certain parts of China. Both the Communists and Nationalists have been criticised for fighting amongst themselves rather than allying against the Japanese Imperial Army. Some argue, however, that the Nationalists were better equipped and fought more against Japan.<ref name=Lam>"[http://hnn.us/roundup/entries/13999.html Willy Lam: China's Own Historical Revisionism]", [[History News Network]], 11 August 2005. Retrieved 15 May 2006.</ref>
[[File:中國工農紅軍軍旗.svg|thumb|Flag of the [[History of the People's Liberation Army#From the founding of the People's Liberation Army to the Korean War|Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army]]]]


Fresh from the success of the Northern Expedition against the warlords, Chiang turned on the Communists, who then numbered in the tens of thousands across China. Chiang ignored the orders of the [[Wuhan Nationalist government|Wuhan-based leftist KMT government]] and marched on Shanghai, a city controlled by Communist militias. As the Communists awaited Chiang's arrival, he loosed the [[White Terror (mainland China)|White Terror]], massacring {{formatnum:5000}} with the aid of the [[Green Gang]].{{sfn|Feigon|2002|p=42}}<ref>{{harvnb|Schram|1966|p=106}}; {{harvnb|Carter|1976|pp=61–62}}</ref> In Beijing, 19 leading Communists were killed by [[Zhang Zuolin]].{{sfn|Schram|1966|pp=106–109, 112–113}}{{sfn|Carter|1976|p=62}} That May, tens of thousands of Communists and those suspected of being communists were killed, and the CCP lost approximately {{formatnum:15000}} of its {{formatnum:25000}} members.{{sfn|Carter|1976|p=62}}
In 1944, the Americans sent a special diplomatic envoy, called the [[Dixie Mission]], to the Communist Party of China. According to Edwin Moise, in ''Modern China: A History 2nd Edition'':


The CCP continued supporting the leftist KMT government in Wuhan, a position Mao initially supported,{{sfn|Carter|1976|p=62}} but by the time of the [[5th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party|CCP's Fifth Congress]] he had changed his mind, deciding to stake all hope on the peasant militia.{{sfn|Carter|1976|p=63}} The question was rendered moot when the Wuhan government expelled all Communists from the KMT on 15 July.{{sfn|Carter|1976|p=63}} The CCP founded the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army of China, better known as the "[[History of the People's Liberation Army#From the founding of the People's Liberation Army to the Korean War|Red Army]]", to battle Chiang. A battalion led by General [[Zhu De]] was ordered to take the city of [[Nanchang]] on 1 August 1927, in what became known as the [[Nanchang Uprising]]. They were initially successful, but were forced into retreat after five days, marching south to [[Shantou]], and from there they were driven into the wilderness of [[Fujian]].{{sfn|Carter|1976|p=63}} Mao was appointed commander-in-chief of the Red Army and led four regiments against Changsha in the [[Autumn Harvest Uprising]], in the hope of sparking peasant uprisings across Hunan. On the eve of the attack, Mao composed a poem—the earliest of his to survive—titled "Changsha". His plan was to attack the KMT-held city from three directions on 9 September, but the Fourth Regiment deserted to the KMT cause, attacking the Third Regiment. Mao's army made it to Changsha, but could not take it; by 15 September, he accepted defeat and with 1000 survivors marched east to the [[Jinggang Mountains]] of [[Jiangxi]].<ref>{{harvnb|Carter|1976|p=64}}; {{harvnb|Schram|1966|pp=122–125}}; {{harvnb|Feigon|2002|pp=46–47}}</ref>
: ''Most of the Americans were favorably impressed. The CPC seemed less corrupt, more unified, and more vigorous in its resistance to [[Japan]] than the [[Kuomintang]]. United States fliers shot down over North China...confirmed to their superiors that the CPC was both strong and popular over a broad area. In the end, the contacts with the USA developed with the CPC led to very little.''


=== Base in Jinggangshan: 1927–1928 ===
After the end of World War II, the U.S. continued to support Chiang Kai-shek, now openly against the Communist's [[People's Liberation Army]] led by Mao Zedong in the [[Chinese Civil War|civil war]] for control of China. The U.S. support was part of its view to contain and defeat world communism. Likewise, the Soviet Union gave quasi-covert support to Mao (acting as a concerned neighbor more than a military ally, to avoid open conflict with the U.S.) and gave large supplies of arms to the Communist Party of China, although newer Chinese records indicate the Soviet "supplies" were not as large as previously believed, and consistently fell short of the promised amount of aid.{{Citation needed|date=December 2008}}
[[File:Mao1927.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Mao in 1927]]
{{Quote box| quote = {{lang|zh|革命不是請客吃飯,不是做文章,不是繪畫繡花,不能那樣雅緻,那樣從容不迫,文質彬彬,那樣溫良恭讓。革命是暴動,是一個階級推翻一個階級的暴烈的行動。}}<br /><br />[[Revolution is not a dinner party]], nor an essay, nor a painting, nor a piece of embroidery; it cannot be so refined, so leisurely and gentle, so temperate, kind, courteous, restrained and magnanimous. A revolution is an insurrection, an act of violence by which one class overthrows another.|source= — Mao, February 1927<ref>{{cite web |url=http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/special/china_1900_mao_war.htm |title=Mao Zedong on War and Revolution |work=Quotations from Mao Zedong on War and Revolution |publisher=[[Columbia University]] |access-date=12 November 2011}}; {{harvnb|Feigon|2002|p=41}}</ref>
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The CCP Central Committee, hiding in Shanghai, expelled Mao from their ranks and from the Hunan Provincial Committee, as punishment for his "military opportunism", for his focus on rural activity, and for being too lenient with "bad gentry". The more orthodox Communists especially regarded the peasants as backward and ridiculed Mao's idea of mobilizing them.<ref name="Mair_2013_p211"/> They nevertheless adopted three policies he had long championed: the immediate formation of [[workers' council]]s, the confiscation of all land without exemption, and the rejection of the KMT. Mao's response was to ignore them.<ref>{{harvnb|Schram|1966|p=125}}; {{harvnb|Carter|1976|p=68}}</ref> He established a base in [[Jinggangshan City]], an area of the Jinggang Mountains, where he united five villages as a self-governing state, and supported the confiscation of land from rich landlords, who were "re-educated" and sometimes executed. He ensured that no massacres took place in the region, and pursued a more lenient approach than that advocated by the Central Committee.<ref>{{harvnb|Schram|1966|p=130}}; {{harvnb|Carter|1976|pp=67–68}}; {{harvnb|Feigon|2002|p=48}}</ref> In addition to land redistribution, Mao promoted literacy and non-hierarchical organizational relationships in Jinggangshan, transforming the area's social and economic life and attracted many local supporters.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Karl |first=Rebecca E. |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/503828045 |title=Mao Zedong and China in the twentieth-century world : a concise history |date=2010 |publisher=[[Duke University Press]] |isbn=978-0-8223-4780-4 |location=Durham [NC] |pages=36 |oclc=503828045}}</ref>
In 1948, the People’s Liberation Army starved out the Kuomintang forces occupying the city of [[Changchun]]. At least 160,000 civilians are believed to have perished during the [[Siege of Changchun|siege]], which lasted from June until October. PLA lieutenant colonel Zhang Zhenglu, who documented the siege in his book ''[[White Snow, Red Blood]]'', compared it to [[Hiroshima]]: ''“The casualties were about the same. Hiroshima took nine seconds; Changchun took five months.”''<ref name="China Is Wordless on Traumas of Communists’ Rise">{{cite web|title=China Is Wordless on Traumas of Communists’ Rise|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/02/world/asia/02anniversary.html |publisher=New York Times |year=2009|accessdate=2009-10-02}}</ref>


Mao proclaimed that "Even the lame, the deaf and the blind could all come in useful for the revolutionary struggle", he boosted the army's numbers,<ref name="Carter1976 p69">{{harvnb|Carter|1976|p=69}}</ref> incorporating two groups of bandits into his army, building a force of around {{formatnum:1800}} troops.<ref>{{harvnb|Schram|1966|pp=126–127}}; {{harvnb|Carter|1976|pp=66–67}}</ref> He laid down rules for his soldiers: prompt obedience to orders, all confiscations were to be turned over to the government, and nothing was to be confiscated from poorer peasants. In doing so, he moulded his men into a disciplined, efficient fighting force.<ref name="Carter1976 p69" />
On 21 January 1949, Kuomintang forces suffered massive losses against Mao's forces. In the early morning of 10 December 1949, PLA troops laid siege to [[Chengdu]], the last KMT-occupied city in [[mainland China]], and Chiang Kai-shek evacuated from the mainland to [[Taiwan]] (Formosa) that same day.


{{Quote box
==Leadership of China==
| quote = <poem>{{lang|zh|敵進我退,
<!-- Deleted image removed: [[File:Mzd25.jpg|right|thumb|[[Propaganda in the People's Republic of China|Chinese poster]] depicting Mao as "the Helmsman", his revolutionary epitaph, 1969]] -->
敵駐我騷,
[[File:Chinese stamp in 1950.jpg|[[Joseph Stalin]] and Mao depicted on a Chinese [[postage stamp]]|left|thumb]]
敵疲我打,
The [[People's Republic of China]] was established on October 1, 1949. It was the culmination of over two decades of civil and international war. From 1954 to 1959, Mao was the [[President of the People's Republic of China|Chairman of the PRC]]. During this period, Mao was called Chairman Mao ({{lang|zh-cn|毛主席}}) or the Great Leader Chairman Mao ({{lang|zh-cn|伟大领袖毛主席}}).
敵退我追。}}


When the enemy advances, we retreat.
The Communist Party assumed control of all media in the country and used it to promote the image of Mao and the Party. The Nationalists under General [[Chiang Kai-Shek]] were vilified as were countries such as the United States of America and Japan. The Chinese people were exhorted to devote themselves to build and strengthen their country through Communist ideology. In his speech declaring the foundation of the PRC, Mao is famously said to have announced: "The Chinese people have stood up" (though whether he actually said it is disputed<ref>[http://www.scmp.com/portal/site/SCMP/menuitem.2af62ecb329d3d7733492d9253a0a0a0/?vgnextoid=aaf2214c1fce3210VgnVCM100000360a0a0aRCRD&ss=China&s=News The famous Mao slogan, that he never even used], [[SCMP]], Sep 25, 2009</ref>).
When the enemy rests, we harass him.
When the enemy avoids a battle, we attack.
When the enemy retreats, we advance.</poem>
| source = — Mao's advice in combating the Kuomintang, 1928<ref name="Carter1976 p70">{{harvnb|Carter|1976|p=70}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Schram|1966|p=159}}; {{harvnb|Feigon|2002|p=47}}</ref>
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[[File:Bare foot revolutionary.jpg|thumb|Chinese Communist revolutionaries in the 1920s]]
In spring 1928, the Central Committee ordered Mao's troops to southern Hunan, hoping to spark peasant uprisings. Mao was skeptical, but complied. They reached Hunan, where they were attacked by the KMT and fled after heavy losses. Meanwhile, KMT troops had invaded Jinggangshan, leaving them without a base.<ref>{{harvnb|Schram|1966|p=131}}; {{harvnb|Carter|1976|pp=68–69}}</ref> Wandering the countryside, Mao's forces came across a CCP regiment led by General [[Zhu De]] and [[Lin Biao]]; they united, and attempted to retake Jinggangshan. They were initially successful, but the KMT counter-attacked, and pushed the CCP back; over the next few weeks, they fought an entrenched guerrilla war in the mountains.<ref name="Carter1976 p70"/>{{sfn|Schram|1966|pp=128, 132}} The Central Committee again ordered Mao to march to south Hunan, but he refused, and remained at his base. Contrastingly, Zhu complied, and led his armies away. Mao's troops fended the KMT off for 25 days while he left the camp at night to find reinforcements. He reunited with the decimated Zhu's army, and together they returned to Jinggangshan and retook the base. There they were joined by a defecting KMT regiment and [[Peng Dehuai]]'s Fifth Red Army. In the mountainous area they were unable to grow enough crops to feed everyone, leading to food shortages throughout the winter.<ref>{{harvnb|Schram|1966|pp=133–137}}; {{harvnb|Carter|1976|pp=70–71}}; {{harvnb|Feigon|2002|p=50}}</ref>


In 1928, Mao met and married [[He Zizhen]], an 18-year-old revolutionary who would bear him six children.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.china.org.cn/english/culture/232503.htm |title=Memorial opened to commemorate Mao's 2nd wife |date=20 November 2007 |website=www.china.org.cn |access-date=7 October 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Ni |first=Ching-ching |date=27 March 2007 |title=Death illuminates niche of Mao life |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-mar-27-fg-mao27-story.html |url-status=live |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |location=Beijing |publication-place=Los Angeles, California |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201011132708/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-mar-27-fg-mao27-story.html |archive-date=11 October 2020 |access-date=7 October 2021}}</ref>
Mao took up residence in [[Zhongnanhai]], a compound next to the [[Forbidden City]] in Beijing, and there he ordered the construction of an indoor swimming pool and other buildings. Mao often did his work either in bed or by the side of the pool, preferring not to wear formal clothes unless absolutely necessary, according to Dr. [[Li Zhisui]], his personal physician. (Li's book, ''[[The Private Life of Chairman Mao]]'', is regarded as controversial, especially by those sympathetic to Mao.)


=== Jiangxi Soviet Republic of China: 1929–1934 ===
In October 1950, Mao made the decision to send the [[People's Volunteer Army]] into Korea and fought against the United Nations forces led by the U.S. Historical records showed that Mao directed the [[PVA]] campaigns in the [[Korean War]] to the minute details.<ref name="Burkitt">{{Citation
[[File:Mao Zedong in Yan'an.jpg|thumb|Mao in [[Yan'an]] (1930s)]]
| last1 = Burkitt | first1 = Laurie
| last2 = Scobell | first2 = Andrew
| last3 = Wortzel | first3 = Larry M.
| title = The lessons of history: The Chinese people's Liberation Army at 75
| publisher = [[Strategic Studies Institute]]
| pages = 340–341
| date = July 2003
| year = 2003
| isbn = 1-58487-126-1
| url = http://www.strategicstudiesinstitute.army.mil/pdffiles/PUB52.pdf}}</ref>


In January 1929, Mao and Zhu evacuated the base with 2,000 men and a further 800 provided by Peng, and took their armies south, to the area around [[Tonggu County|Tonggu]] and [[Xinfeng County, Jiangxi|Xinfeng]] in Jiangxi.<ref>{{harvnb|Schram|1966|p=138}}; {{harvnb|Carter|1976|pp=71–72}}</ref> The evacuation led to a drop in morale, and many troops became disobedient and began thieving; this worried [[Li Lisan]] and the Central Committee, who saw Mao's army as ''[[lumpenproletariat]]'', that were unable to share in proletariat [[class consciousness]].<ref>{{harvnb|Schram|1966|pp=138, 141}}</ref><ref name="Carter1976 p72">{{harvnb|Carter|1976|p=72}}</ref> In keeping with orthodox Marxist thought, Li believed that only the urban proletariat could lead a successful revolution, and saw little need for Mao's peasant guerrillas; he ordered Mao to disband his army into units to be sent out to spread the revolutionary message. Mao replied that while he concurred with Li's theoretical position, he would not disband his army nor abandon his base.<ref name="Carter1976 p72"/>{{sfn|Schram|1966|p=139}} Both Li and Mao saw the Chinese revolution as the key to [[world revolution]], believing that a CCP victory would spark the overthrow of global imperialism and capitalism. In this, they disagreed with the official line of the Soviet government and Comintern. Officials in Moscow desired greater control over the CCP and removed Li from power by calling him to Russia for an inquest into his errors.<ref>{{harvnb|Schram|1966|pp=146–149}}; {{harvnb|Carter|1976|p=75}}; {{harvnb|Feigon|2002|p=51}}</ref> They replaced him with Soviet-educated Chinese Communists, known as the "[[28 Bolsheviks]]", two of whom, [[Bo Gu]] and [[Zhang Wentian]], took control of the Central Committee. Mao disagreed with the new leadership, believing they grasped little of the Chinese situation, and he soon emerged as their key rival.{{sfn|Carter|1976|p=75}}{{sfn|Schram|1966|pp=149–151}}
Along with [[Land reform#Asia|Land reform]], during which significant numbers of [[landlord]]s were beaten to death at mass meetings organized by the [[Communist Party of China|CPC]] as land was taken from them and given to poorer peasants,<ref name="land reform killings">{{cite book |last=Short |first=Philip |title=Mao: A Life |publisher=Owl Books |year=2001 |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=HQwoTtJ43_AC&pg=PA436&dq=Mao+landlords+and+members+of+their+families+killed&ei=qHULSafGIJLsMvT9yKQE |isbn=0805066381 |pages=436–437}}</ref> there was also the [[Campaign to Suppress Counterrevolutionaries]],<ref name="Yang Kuisong">Yang Kuisong. [http://journals.cambridge.org/production/action/cjoGetFulltext?fulltextid=1809180 Reconsidering the Campaign to Suppress Counterrevolutionaries] ''The China Quarterly'', 193, March 2008, pp.102–121. [[PDF]] file.</ref> which involved public executions targeting mainly former Kuomintang officials, businessmen accused of "disturbing" the market, former employees of Western companies and intellectuals whose loyalty was suspect.<ref> Steven W. Mosher. ''China Misperceived: American Illusions and Chinese Reality.'' [[Basic Books]], 1992. ISBN 0-465-09813-4 pp 72, 73</ref> The [[United States Department of State|U.S. State department]] in 1976 estimated that there may have been a million killed in the land reform, 800,000 killed in the counterrevolutionary campaign.<ref>Stephen Rosskamm Shalom. ''Deaths in China Due to Communism.'' Center for Asian Studies Arizona State University, 1984. ISBN 0-939252-11-2 pg 24</ref>


[[File:1931 military parade of formation of Chinese Soviet Republic.jpg|thumb|left|Military parade at the founding of a Chinese Soviet Republic in 1931]]
Mao himself claimed that a total of 700,000 people were executed during the years 1949–53.<ref>Jung Chang and Jon Halliday. ''Mao: The Unknown Story.'' pg 337: ''"Mao claimed that the total number executed was 700,000 but this did not include those beaten or tortured to death in the post-1949 land reform, which would at the very least be as many again. Then there were suicides, which, based on several local inquiries, were very probably about equal to the number of those killed."'' Also cited in ''Mao Zedong'', by [[Jonathan Spence]], as cited [http://www.nytimes.com/books/00/02/06/reviews/000206.06burnst.html]. Mao got this number from a report submitted by Xu Zirong, Deputy Public Security Minister, which stated 712,000 counterrevolutionaries were executed, 1,290,000 were imprisoned, and another 1,200,000 were "subjected to control.": Yang Kuisong. [http://journals.cambridge.org/production/action/cjoGetFulltext?fulltextid=1809180 Reconsidering the Campaign to Suppress Counterrevolutionaries] ''The China Quarterly'', 193, March 2008, pp.102–121. [[PDF]] file.</ref> However, because there was a policy to select "at least one landlord, and usually several, in virtually every village for public execution",<ref name="Cambridge history of China">{{cite book |last=Twitchett |first=Denis |coauthors=[[John K. Fairbank]], [[Roderick MacFarquhar]] |title=The Cambridge history of China |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=052124336X |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=ioppEjkCkeEC&pg=PA87&dq=at+least+one+landlord,+and+usually+several,+in+virtually+every+village+for+public+execution&ei=wP14R6muKIi0iQHR4ezAAQ&ie=ISO-8859-1&sig=9REVjFOEIx_4TIMFixd7fhgC9FY |accessdate=2008-08-23}}</ref> the number of deaths range between 2 million<ref name="Cambridge history of China"/><ref>Maurice Meisner. ''Mao's China and After: A History of the People's Republic, Third Edition.'' Free,Press, 1999. ISBN 0684856352 p. 72: "...the estimate of many relatively impartial observers that there were 2,000,000 people executed during the first three years of the People's Republic is probably as accurate a guess as one can make on the basis of scanty information."</ref> and 5 million.<ref>Steven W. Mosher. ''China Misperceived: American Illusions and Chinese Reality.'' [[Basic Books]], 1992. ISBN 0465098134 pg 74: "...a figure that [[John K. Fairbank|Fairbank]] has cited as the upper range of "sober" estimates."</ref><ref>Lee Feigon. ''Mao: A Reinterpretation.'' Ivan R. Dee, 2002. ISBN 1566635225 p. 96: "By 1952 they had extended land reform throughout the countryside, but in the process somewhere between two and five million landlords had been killed."</ref> In addition, at least 1.5 million people,<ref name="Philip Short">{{cite book |last=Short |first=Philip |title=Mao: A Life |publisher=Owl Books |year=2001 |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=HQwoTtJ43_AC&pg=PA436&dq=%27%27At+least+a+million-and-a-half+more+disappeared+into+the+newly+established+%27reform+through+labour%27+camps,+purpose-built+to+accommodate+them&ei=L_54R6eOFYq-igG72-2XCA&ie=ISO-8859-1&sig=lJa-WxMPEygPOSBdsIoT13cmSHY |isbn=0805066381 |pages=436}}</ref> perhaps as many as 4 to 6 million,<ref name="Valentino">Benjamin A. Valentino. ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=LQfeXVU_EvgC&pg=PA121&dq=four+million+to+six+million+forced+labor#v=onepage&q=four%20million%20to%20six%20million%20forced%20labor&f=false Final Solutions: Mass Killing and Genocide in the Twentieth Century]'' [[Cornell University Press]], 2004. pp. 121–122. ISBN 0801439655</ref> were sent to [[laogai|"reform through labour"]] camps where many perished.<ref name="Valentino"/> Mao played a personal role in organizing the mass repressions and established a system of execution quotas,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://hrichina.org/public/PDFs/CRF.4.2005/CRF-2005-4_Quota.pdf|format=PDF|title=Mao's "Killing Quotas." Human Rights in China (HRIC). 26 September 2005, at Shandong University|last=Changyu|first=Li|accessdate=2009-06-21}}</ref> which were often exceeded.<ref name="Yang Kuisong"/> Nevertheless he defended these killings as necessary for the securing of power.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://orpheus.ucsd.edu/chinesehistory/pgp/jeremy50sessay.htm|title=''Terrible Honeymoon: Struggling with the Problem of Terror in Early 1950s China.''|last=Brown|first=Jeremy}}</ref>
In February 1930, Mao created the Southwest Jiangxi Provincial Soviet Government in the region under his control.{{sfn|Schram|1966|p=149}} In November, he suffered emotional trauma after his second wife Yang Kaihui and sister were captured and beheaded by KMT general [[He Jian]].<ref>{{harvnb|Feigon|2002|p=50}}; {{harvnb|Carter|1976|p=75}}; {{harvnb|Schram|1966|p=153}}</ref> Facing internal problems, members of the Jiangxi Soviet accused him of being too moderate, and hence anti-revolutionary. In December, they tried to overthrow Mao, resulting in the [[Futian incident]], during which Mao's loyalists tortured many and executed between 2000 and 3000 dissenters.<ref>{{harvnb|Schram|1966|p=152}}; {{harvnb|Carter|1976|p=76}}; {{harvnb|Feigon|2002|pp=51–53}}</ref> The CCP Central Committee moved to Jiangxi which it saw as a secure area. In November, it proclaimed Jiangxi to be the [[Soviet Republic of China]], an independent Communist-governed state. Although he was proclaimed Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars, Mao's power was diminished, as his control of the Red Army was allocated to [[Zhou Enlai]]. Meanwhile, Mao recovered from [[tuberculosis]].<ref>{{harvnb|Carter|1976|p=77}}; {{harvnb|Schram|1966|pp=154–155}}; {{harvnb|Feigon|2002|pp=54–55}}</ref>


The KMT armies adopted a policy of [[Encirclement campaigns|encirclement and annihilation]] of the Red armies. Outnumbered, Mao responded with guerrilla tactics influenced by the works of ancient military strategists like [[Sun Tzu]], but Zhou and the new leadership followed a policy of open confrontation and conventional warfare. In doing so, the Red Army successfully defeated [[First encirclement campaign against the Jiangxi Soviet|the first]] and [[Second encirclement campaign against the Jiangxi Soviet|second encirclements]].<ref>{{harvnb|Schram|1966|pp=155–161}}</ref><ref name="Carter1976 p78">{{harvnb|Carter|1976|p=78}}</ref> Angered at his armies' failure, Chiang Kai-shek personally arrived to lead the operation. He too faced setbacks and retreated to deal with the [[Mukden Incident|further Japanese incursions into China]].<ref>{{harvnb|Carter|1976|p=77}}; {{harvnb|Schram|1966|pp=161–165}}; {{harvnb|Feigon|2002|pp=53–54}}</ref> As a result of the KMT's change of focus to the defence of China against Japanese expansionism, the Red Army was able to expand its area of control, eventually encompassing a population of 3 million.<ref name="Carter1976 p78"/> Mao proceeded with his land reform program. In November 1931 he announced the start of a "land verification project" which was expanded in June 1933. He also orchestrated education programs and implemented measures to increase female political participation.<ref>{{harvnb|Schram|1966|pp=166–168}}; {{harvnb|Feigon|2002|p=55}}</ref> Chiang viewed the Communists as a greater threat than the Japanese and returned to Jiangxi, where he initiated the [[Fifth encirclement campaign against the Jiangxi Soviet|fifth encirclement campaign]], which involved the construction of a concrete and barbed wire "wall of fire" around the state, which was accompanied by aerial bombardment, to which Zhou's tactics proved ineffective. Trapped inside, morale among the Red Army dropped as food and medicine became scarce. The leadership decided to evacuate.<ref>{{harvnb|Schram|1966|pp=175–177}}; {{harvnb|Carter|1976|pp=80–81}}; {{harvnb|Feigon|2002|pp=56–57}}</ref>
Starting in 1951, Mao initiated two successive movements in an effort to rid urban areas of corruption by targeting wealthy [[capitalists]] and political opponents, known as the [[three-anti/five-anti campaigns]]. A climate of raw terror developed as workers denounced their bosses, wives turned on their husbands, and children informed on their parents; the victims often being humiliated at [[Struggle Session|struggle sessions]], a method designed to intimidate and terrify people to the maximum. Mao insisted that minor offenders be criticized and reformed or sent to labor camps, ''"while the worst among them should be shot."'' These campaigns took several hundred thousand additional lives, the vast majority via [[suicide]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Short |first=Philip |title=Mao: A Life |publisher=Owl Books |year=2001 |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=4y6mACbLWGsC&pg=PA437&dq=mao+while+the+worst+among+them+should+be+shot&ei=ipaVSYquJpLmyQTiieWsDw |isbn=0805066381 |page=437 }}</ref>


=== Long March: 1934–1935 ===
In [[Shanghai]], people jumping to their deaths became so commonplace that residents avoided walking on the pavement near skyscrapers for fear that suicides might land on them.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,808241-5,00.html|title=High Tide of Terror|date=5 March 1956|publisher=[[Time Magazine]]|accessdate=2009-05-11}}</ref> Some biographers have pointed out that driving those perceived as enemies to suicide was a common tactic during the Mao-era. For example, in his biography of Mao, [[Philip Short]] notes that in the [[Yan'an Rectification Movement]], Mao gave explicit instructions that ''"no cadre is to be killed,"'' but in practice allowed security chief [[Kang Sheng]] to drive opponents to suicide and that "this pattern was repeated throughout his leadership of the People's Republic."<ref>{{cite book |last=Short |first=Philip |title=Mao: A Life |publisher=Owl Books |year=2001 |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=4y6mACbLWGsC&pg=PA631&dq=no+cadre+is+to+be+killed+kang+sheng&ei=2HIRSqnVGZmYyATIo_iNCw#PPA632,M1 |isbn=0805066381 |page=631}}</ref>
[[File:Map of the Long March 1934-1935-en.svg|thumb|250px|An overview map of the Long March]]
[[File:Mao Zhou Zhu.jpg|thumb|right|[[Zhou Enlai]], Mao Zedong, and [[Zhu De]] during the [[Long March]].]]
On 14 October 1934, the Red Army broke through the KMT line on the Jiangxi Soviet's south-west corner at Xinfeng with {{formatnum:85000}} soldiers and {{formatnum:15000}} party cadres and embarked on the "[[Long March]]". In order to make the escape, many of the wounded and the ill, as well as women and children, were left behind, defended by a group of guerrilla fighters whom the KMT massacred.<ref>{{harvnb|Schram|1966|p=180}}; {{harvnb|Carter|1976|pp=81–82}}; {{harvnb|Feigon|2002|p=57}}</ref> The {{formatnum:100000}} who escaped headed to southern Hunan, first crossing the [[Xiang River]] after heavy fighting,<ref>{{harvnb|Feigon|2002|p=57}}; {{harvnb|Schram|1966|pp=180–181}}; {{harvnb|Carter|1976|p=83}}</ref> and then the [[Wu River (Yuan River, north)|Wu River]], in [[Guizhou]] where they took [[Zunyi]] in January 1935. Temporarily resting in the city, they [[Zunyi Conference|held a conference]]; here, Mao was elected to a position of leadership, becoming Chairman of the [[Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party|Politburo]], and ''de facto'' leader of both Party and Red Army, in part because his candidacy was supported by Soviet Premier [[Joseph Stalin]]. Insisting that they operate as a guerrilla force, he laid out a destination: the Shenshi Soviet in [[Shaanxi]], Northern China, from where the Communists could focus on fighting the Japanese. Mao believed that in focusing on the anti-imperialist struggle, the Communists would earn the trust of the Chinese people, who in turn would renounce the KMT.<ref>{{harvnb|Schram|1966|p=181}}; {{harvnb|Carter|1976|pp=84–86}}; {{harvnb|Feigon|2002|p=58}}</ref>


From Zunyi, Mao led his troops to [[Loushan Pass]], where they faced armed opposition but successfully crossed the river. Chiang flew into the area to lead his armies against Mao, but the Communists outmanoeuvred him and crossed the [[Jinsha River]].<ref>{{harvnb|Schram|1966|p=183}}; {{harvnb|Carter|1976|pp=86–87}}</ref> Faced with the more difficult task of crossing the [[Tatu River]], they managed it by fighting a battle over the [[Luding Bridge]] in May, taking [[Luding County|Luding]].<ref>{{harvnb|Schram|1966|pp=184–186}}; {{harvnb|Carter|1976|pp=88–90}}; {{harvnb|Feigon|2002|pp=59–60}}</ref> In Moukung, Western Sichuan, they encountered the {{formatnum:50000}}-strong CCP Fourth Front Army of [[Zhang Guotao]] (who had marched from the mountain ranges around [[Ma'anshan]]{{sfn|Carter|1976|pp=90–91}}), and together proceeded to Maoerhkai and then [[Gansu]]. Zhang and Mao disagreed over what to do; the latter wished to proceed to Shaanxi, while Zhang wanted to retreat west to [[Tibet]] or [[Sikkim]], far from the KMT threat. It was agreed that they would go their separate ways, with [[Zhu De]] joining Zhang.<ref>{{harvnb|Schram|1966|p=186}}; {{harvnb|Carter|1976|pp=91–92}}; {{harvnb|Feigon|2002|p=60}}</ref> Mao's forces proceeded north, through hundreds of kilometres of [[Mongolian–Manchurian grassland|grasslands]], an area of quagmire where they were attacked by [[Manchu people|Manchu tribesman]] and where many soldiers succumbed to famine and disease.<ref>{{harvnb|Schram|1966|pp=187–188}}; {{harvnb|Carter|1976|pp=92–93}}; {{harvnb|Feigon|2002|p=61}}</ref> Finally reaching Shaanxi, they fought off both the KMT and an Islamic cavalry militia before crossing the [[Min Mountains]] and Mount Liupan and reaching the Shenshi Soviet; only 7,000–8,000 had survived.<ref>{{harvnb|Feigon|2002|p=61}}; {{harvnb|Schram|1966|p=188}}; {{harvnb|Carter|1976|p=93}}</ref> The Long March cemented Mao's status as the dominant figure in the party. In November 1935, he was named chairman of the Military Commission. From this point onward, Mao was the Communist Party's undisputed leader, even though he would not become party chairman until 1943.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Barnouin |first1=Barbara |last2=Yu |first2=Changgen |title=Zhou Enlai: A Political Life |location=Hong Kong |publisher=[[Chinese University of Hong Kong]] |date=2006 |isbn=9629962802 |access-date=12 March 2011 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NztlWQeXf2IC&q=zhou+enlai |page=62 |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref>
Following the consolidation of power, Mao launched the First Five-Year Plan (1953–8). The plan aimed to end Chinese dependence upon agriculture in order to become a world power. With the [[Soviet Union]]'s assistance, new industrial plants were built and agricultural production eventually fell to a point where industry was beginning to produce enough capital that China no longer needed the USSR's support. The success of the First Five Year Plan was to encourage Mao to instigate the Second Five Year Plan, the Great Leap Forward, in 1958. Mao also launched a phase of rapid [[collectivization]]. The CPC introduced price controls as well as a [[Simplified Chinese character|Chinese character simplification]] aimed at increasing literacy. Large scale industrialization projects were also undertaken.


== World War II ==
Programs pursued during this time include the [[Hundred Flowers Campaign]], in which Mao indicated his supposed willingness to consider different opinions about how China should be governed. Given the freedom to express themselves, liberal and intellectual Chinese began opposing the Communist Party and questioning its leadership. This was initially tolerated and encouraged. After a few months, Mao's government reversed its policy and persecuted those, totalling perhaps 500,000, who criticized, as well as those who were merely alleged to have criticized, the Party in what is called the [[Anti-Rightist Movement]]. Authors such as [[Jung Chang]] have alleged that the Hundred Flowers Campaign was merely a ruse to root out "dangerous" thinking.<ref>Chang, Jung; Halliday, Jon. 2005. ''Mao: The Unknown Story''. New York: Knopf. 410.</ref>
{{Main|Second Sino-Japanese War}}


[[File:1938 Mao Zedong Zhang Guotao in Yan'an.jpg|thumb|left|[[Zhang Guotao]] (left) and Mao in Yan'an, 1937]]
Others such as Dr [[Li Zhisui]] have suggested that Mao had initially seen the policy as a way of weakening those within his party who opposed him, but was surprised by the extent of criticism and the fact that it began to be directed at his own leadership.{{Citation needed|date=January 2007}} It was only then that he used it as a method of identifying and subsequently persecuting those critical of his government. The Hundred Flowers movement led to the condemnation, silencing, and death of many citizens, also linked to Mao's Anti-Rightist Movement, with death tolls possibly in the millions.


Mao's troops arrived at the [[Yan'an]] Soviet during October 1935 and settled in [[Bao'an Subdistrict, Zhidan County|Bao'an]], until spring 1936. While there, they developed links with local communities, redistributed and farmed the land, offered medical treatment, and began literacy programs.<ref>{{harvnb|Feigon|2002|p=61}}; {{harvnb|Schram|1966|p=193}}; {{harvnb|Carter|1976|pp=94–96}}</ref> Mao now commanded {{formatnum:15000}} soldiers, boosted by the arrival of [[He Long]]'s men from Hunan and the armies of Zhu De and Zhang Guotao returned from Tibet.{{sfn|Schram|1966|p=193}} In February 1936, they established the North West Anti-Japanese Red Army University in Yan'an, through which they trained increasing numbers of new recruits.{{sfn|Schram|1966|pp=206–207}} In January 1937, they began the "anti-Japanese expedition", that sent groups of guerrilla fighters into Japanese-controlled territory to undertake sporadic attacks.<ref>{{harvnb|Schram|1966|p=20}}; {{harvnb|Carter|1976|p=101}}</ref> In May 1937, a Communist Conference was held in Yan'an to discuss the situation.{{sfn|Schram|1966|p=202}} Western reporters also arrived in the "Border Region" (as the Soviet had been renamed); most notable were [[Edgar Snow]], who used his experiences as a basis for ''[[Red Star Over China]]'', and [[Agnes Smedley]], whose accounts brought international attention to Mao's cause.{{sfn|Schram|1966|pp=209–210}}
===Great Leap Forward===
{{Main|Great Leap Forward}}
In January 1958, Mao Zedong launched the second Five-Year Plan known as the ''Great Leap Forward'', a plan intended as an alternative model for economic growth to the Soviet model focusing on heavy industry that was advocated by others in the party. Under this economic program, the relatively small agricultural collectives which had been formed to date were rapidly merged into far larger [[people's communes]], and many of the peasants ordered to work on massive infrastructure projects and the small-scale production of iron and steel. Some private food production was banned; livestock and farm implements were brought under collective ownership.


[[File:1945 Mao and Chiang.jpg|thumb|In an effort to defeat the Japanese, Mao (left) agreed to collaborate with Chiang (right).]]
Under the Great Leap Forward, Mao and other party leaders ordered the implementation of a variety of unproven and unscientific new agricultural techniques by the new communes. Combined with the diversion of labor to steel production and infrastructure projects and the reduced personal incentives under a commune system this led to an approximately 15% drop in grain production in 1959 followed by further 10% reduction in 1960 and no recovery in 1961 (Spence, 553).
[[File:Mao1938a.jpg|thumb|Mao in 1938, writing ''On Protracted War'']]


On the Long March, Mao's wife He Zizhen had been injured by a shrapnel wound to the head. She travelled to Moscow for medical treatment; Mao proceeded to divorce her and marry an actress, [[Jiang Qing]].<ref name="Schram p208">{{harvnb|Schram|1966|p=208}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Carter|1976|p=95}}</ref> He Zizhen was reportedly "dispatched to a mental asylum in Moscow to make room" for Qing.<ref>{{cite news |last=Terrill |first=Ross |date=8 March 1998 |title=What Mao Traded for Sex |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1998-mar-08-op-26719-story.html |url-status=live |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |archive-url=https://archive.today/20200524045009/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1998-mar-08-op-26719-story.html |archive-date=24 May 2020 |access-date=7 October 2021}}</ref> Mao moved into a cave-house and spent much of his time reading, tending his garden and theorising.<ref>{{harvnb|Carter|1976|pp=95–96}}</ref> He came to believe that the Red Army alone was unable to defeat the Japanese, and that a Communist-led "government of national defence" should be formed with the KMT and other "bourgeois nationalist" elements to achieve this goal.<ref>{{harvnb|Schram|1966|p=194}}</ref> Although despising Chiang Kai-shek as a "traitor to the nation",<ref>{{harvnb|Schram|1966|p=196}}</ref> on 5 May, he telegrammed the Military Council of the Nanjing National Government proposing a military alliance, a course of action advocated by Stalin.<ref>{{harvnb|Schram|1966|p=197}}</ref> Although Chiang intended to ignore Mao's message and continue the civil war, he was arrested by one of his own generals, [[Zhang Xueliang]], in [[Xi'an]], leading to the [[Xi'an Incident]]; Zhang forced Chiang to discuss the issue with the Communists, resulting in the formation of a [[Second United Front (China)|United Front]] with concessions on both sides on 25 December 1937.<ref>{{harvnb|Schram|1966|pp=198–200}}; {{harvnb|Carter|1976|pp=98–99}}; {{harvnb|Feigon|2002|pp=64–65}}</ref>
In an effort to win favor with their superiors and avoid being purged, each layer in the party hierarchy exaggerated the amount of grain produced under them and based on the fabricated success, party cadres were ordered to requisition a disproportionately high amount of the true harvest for state use primarily in the cities and urban areas but also for export. The net result, which was compounded in some areas by drought and in others by floods, was that the rural peasants were not left enough to eat and many millions starved to death in the largest [[famine]] in [[human history]]. This famine was a direct cause of the death of tens of millions of Chinese peasants between 1959 and 1962. Further, many children who became emaciated and malnourished during years of hardship and struggle for survival, died shortly after the Great Leap Forward came to an end in 1962 (Spence, 553).


The Japanese had taken both Shanghai and [[Nanjing]]—resulting in the [[Nanjing Massacre]], an atrocity Mao never spoke of all his life—and was pushing the Kuomintang government inland to [[Chongqing]].<ref>{{harvnb|Schram|1966|p=211}}; {{harvnb|Carter|1976|pp=100–101}}</ref> The Japanese's brutality led to increasing numbers of Chinese joining the fight, and the Red Army grew from {{formatnum:50000}} to {{formatnum:500000}}.<ref>{{harvnb|Schram|1966|p=205}}</ref><ref name="Carter1976 p105">{{harvnb|Carter|1976|p=105}}</ref> In August 1938, the Red Army formed the [[New Fourth Army]] and the [[Eighth Route Army]], which were nominally under the command of Chiang's [[National Revolutionary Army]].<ref>{{harvnb|Schram|1966|p=204}}; {{harvnb|Feigon|2002|p=66}}</ref> In August 1940, the Red Army initiated the [[Hundred Regiments Offensive]], in which {{formatnum:400000}} troops attacked the Japanese simultaneously in five provinces. It was a military success that resulted in the death of {{formatnum:20000}} Japanese, the disruption of railways and the loss of a coal mine.<ref name="Carter1976 p105"/><ref>{{harvnb|Schram|1966|p=217}}</ref> From his base in Yan'an, Mao authored several texts for his troops, including ''Philosophy of Revolution'', which offered an introduction to the Marxist theory of knowledge; ''Protracted Warfare'', which dealt with guerrilla and mobile military tactics; and ''[[On New Democracy]]'', which laid forward ideas for China's future.<ref>{{harvnb|Schram|1966|pp=211–216}}; {{harvnb|Carter|1976|pp=101–110}}</ref>
The extent of Mao's knowledge as to the severity of the situation has been disputed. According to some, most notably Dr. Li Zhisui, Mao was not aware of anything more than a mild food and general supply shortage until late 1959.


[[File:Kang Seng Mao Zedong in Yan'an.jpg|thumb|Mao with [[Kang Sheng]] in Yan'an, 1945]]In 1944, the U.S. sent a special diplomatic envoy, called the [[Dixie Mission]], to the Chinese Communist Party. The American soldiers who were sent to the mission were favourably impressed. The party seemed less corrupt, more unified, and more vigorous in its resistance to Japan than the Kuomintang. The soldiers confirmed to their superiors that the party was both strong and popular over a broad area.<ref name=":3">{{Cite book |last=Moise |first=Edwin E. |author-link=Edwin Moise |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c2787J5UfAQC |title=Modern China, a History |date=2008 |publisher=Pearson/Longman |isbn=978-0582772779 |pages=105 |language=en |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref> In the end of the mission, the contacts which the U.S. developed with the Chinese Communist Party led to very little.<ref name=":3" /> After the end of World War II, the U.S. continued their diplomatic and military assistance to Chiang Kai-shek and his KMT government forces against the [[People's Liberation Army]] (PLA) led by Mao Zedong during the [[Chinese Civil War|civil war]] and abandoned the idea of a [[coalition government]] which would include the CCP.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Eastman |first1=Lloyd E. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6Wrw4RrFpUkC&pg=PA353 |title=The Nationalist Era in China, 1927–1949 |last2=Ch'en |first2=Jerome |last3=Pepper |first3=Suzanne |last4=Slyke |first4=Lyman P. Van |date=30 August 1991 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=978-0521385916 |pages=353 |language=en |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref> Likewise, the [[Soviet Union]] gave support to Mao by [[Soviet occupation of Manchuria|occupying north-eastern China]], and secretly giving it to the Chinese communists in March 1946.<ref>{{cite web |publisher=揚子晚報網 |script-title=zh:"张莘夫事件"与苏军撤出东北 |title="Zhāngshēnfū shìjiàn"yǔ sū jūn chè chū dōngběi |trans-title="Zhang Xinfu Incident" and Soviet Army's Withdrawal from Northeast China |url=http://epaper.yangtse.com/yzwb/2009-04/20/content_12663469.htm |author=作者:劉向上 |date=20 April 2009 |access-date=20 April 2009 |language=Chinese |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131101182923/http://epaper.yangtse.com/yzwb/2009-04/20/content_12663469.htm |archive-date=1 November 2013}}</ref>
<blockquote>
''"But I do not think that when he spoke on 2 July 1959, he knew how bad the disaster had become, and he believed the party was doing everything it could to manage the situation"''
</blockquote>


== Leadership of China ==
Jung Chang and Jon Halliday, in ''Mao: the Unknown Story'', alleged that Mao knew of the vast suffering and that he was dismissive of it, blaming bad weather or other officials for the famine.
{{See also|History of the People's Republic of China (1949–1976)}}


=== Establishment of the People's Republic of China ===
<blockquote>
[[File:PLAHuaihai.jpg|thumb|left|PLA troops, supported by captured [[M5 Stuart]] light tanks, attacking the Nationalist lines in 1948]]
''"Although slaughter was not his purpose with the Leap, he was more than ready for myriad deaths to result, and hinted to his top echelon that they should not be too shocked if they happened (438–439)."''
</blockquote>


In 1948, the People's Liberation Army starved out the Kuomintang forces occupying [[Changchun]]. At least {{formatnum:160000}} civilians are believed to have perished during [[Siege of Changchun|the siege]], which lasted from June until October. PLA lieutenant colonel Zhang Zhenglu, in his book ''[[White Snow, Red Blood]]'', compared it to [[Hiroshima]]: "The casualties were about the same. Hiroshima took nine seconds; Changchun took five months."<ref>{{cite news |title=China Is Wordless on Traumas of Communists' Rise |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/02/world/asia/02anniversary.html |work=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=2 October 2009 |first=Andrew |last=Jacobs |date=2 October 2009}}</ref> On 21 January 1949, Kuomintang forces suffered great losses in decisive battles against Mao's forces.<ref name="Palestini2011">{{cite book |first=Robert |last=Palestini |title=Going Back to the Future: A Leadership Journey for Educators |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9n_DUv1_NkAC&pg=PA170 |year=2011 |publisher=R&L Education |isbn=978-1607095866 |page=170 |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref> In the early morning of 10 December 1949, PLA troops laid siege to [[Chongqing]] and [[Chengdu]] on [[mainland China]], and Chiang Kai-shek fled from the mainland to Taiwan.<ref name="Palestini2011" /><ref name="Perkins2013">{{cite book |first=Dorothy |last=Perkins |title=Encyclopedia of China: History and Culture |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KMQeAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA79 |year=2013 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=978-1135935627 |page=79 |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref>[[File:Mao Proclaiming New China.JPG|thumb|left|Mao declares the founding of the People's Republic of China on 1 October 1949]]
In ''Hungry Ghosts'', [[Jasper Becker]] notes that Mao was dismissive of reports he received of food shortages in the countryside and refused to change course, believing that peasants were lying and that [[rightists]] and [[kulaks]] were hoarding grain. He refused to open state granaries,<ref name="Becker81">[[Jasper Becker]]. ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=iC4g0gXBmIkC&pg=PA81&dq=refused+to+open+state+granaries#v=onepage&q=refused%20to%20open%20state%20granaries&f=false Hungry Ghosts: Mao's Secret Famine].'' Holt Paperbacks, 1998. ISBN 0805056688 p. 81</ref> and instead launched a series of "anti-grain concealment" drives that resulted in numerous purges and suicides.<ref>[[Jasper Becker]]. ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=iC4g0gXBmIkC&pg=PA86&dq=Mao+peasants+were+lying#v=onepage&q=Mao%20peasants%20were%20lying&f=false Hungry Ghosts: Mao's Secret Famine].'' Holt Paperbacks, 1998. ISBN 0805056688 p. 86</ref> Other violent campaigns followed in which party leaders went from village to village in search of hidden food reserves, and not only grain, as Mao issued quotas for pigs, chickens, ducks and eggs. Many peasants accused of hiding food were tortured and beaten to death.<ref>[[Jasper Becker]]. ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=iC4g0gXBmIkC&pg=PA93&dq=peasants+beaten+tortured+to+death&lr=#v=onepage&q=peasants%20beaten%20tortured%20to%20death&f=false Hungry Ghosts: Mao's Secret Famine].'' Holt Paperbacks, 1998. ISBN 0805056688 p. 93</ref>


Mao proclaimed the [[Proclamation of the People's Republic of China|establishment of the People's Republic of China]] from the [[Tiananmen|Gate of Heavenly Peace]] (Tian'anmen) on 1 October 1949, and later that week declared "The Chinese people have stood up" ({{lang-zh|labels=no|c=中国人民从此站起来了}}).<ref>{{cite book |quote=The phrase is often mistakenly said to have been delivered during the speech from the Gate of Heavenly Peace, but was first used on September 21, at the First Plenary Session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, then repeated on several occasions |editor-last=Cheek |editor-first=T. |title=Mao Zedong and China's Revolutions: A Brief History with Documents |location=New York |publisher=[[Palgrave Macmillan]] |year=2002 |page=125 |isbn=978-0312256265}}</ref> Mao went to Moscow for talks in the winter of 1949–50. Mao initiated the talks which focused on the political and economic revolution in China, foreign policy, railways, naval bases, and Soviet economic and technical aid. The resulting treaty reflected Stalin's dominance and his willingness to help Mao.<ref>{{cite journal |first=Odd Arne |last=Westad |title=Fighting for Friendship: Mao, Stalin, and the Sino-Soviet Treaty of 1950. |journal=Cold War International History Project Bulletin |volume=8 |number=9 |date=1996 |pages=224–236}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |first=Robert C. |last=North |title=The Sino-Soviet Agreements of 1950 |journal=Far Eastern Survey |volume=19 |number=13 |date=1950 |pages=125–130 |doi=10.2307/3024085 |jstor=3024085| issn = 0362-8949 }}</ref>
Whatever the case, the Great Leap Forward led to millions of deaths in China. Mao lost esteem among many of the top party cadres and was eventually forced to abandon the policy in 1962, also losing some political power to moderate leaders, notably [[Liu Shaoqi]] and [[Deng Xiaoping]]. However, Mao and national propaganda claimed that he was only partly to blame. As a result, he was able to remain Chairman of the Communist Party, with the Presidency transferred to Liu Shaoqi.


Following the Marxist–Leninist theory of [[vanguardism]],<ref name=":10">{{Cite book |last1=Cai |first1=Xiang |url= |title=Revolution and its narratives: China's socialist literary and cultural imaginaries (1949-1966) |last2=蔡翔 |date=2016 |publisher=[[Duke University Press]] |others=Rebecca E. Karl, Xueping Zhong, 钟雪萍 |isbn=978-0-8223-7461-9 |location=Durham |pages=100 |oclc=932368688}}</ref> Mao believed that only the correct leadership of the Communist Party could advance China into socialism.<ref name=":10" /> Conversely, Mao also believed that mass movements and mass criticism were necessary in order to check the bureaucracy.<ref name=":10" />
The Great Leap Forward was a disaster for China. Although the steel quotas were officially reached, almost all of it made in the countryside was useless lumps of iron, as it had been made from assorted scrap metal in home made furnaces with no reliable source of fuel such as coal. According to Zhang Rongmei, a geometry teacher in rural Shanghai during the Great Leap Forward:


[[File:Mao and Jiang Qing 1946.jpg|thumb|Mao with his fourth wife, [[Jiang Qing]], nicknamed "Madame Mao", 1946]]
<blockquote>
''"We took all the furniture, pots, and pans we had in our house, and all our neighbors did likewise. We put all everything in a big fire and melted down all the metal."''
</blockquote>


=== Korean War ===
Moreover, most of the dams, canals and other infrastructure projects, which millions of peasants and prisoners had been forced to toil on and in many cases die for, proved useless as they had been built without the input of trained engineers, whom Mao had rejected on ideological grounds.
Mao pushed the Party to organise campaigns to reform society and extend control. These campaigns were given urgency in October 1950, when the [[People's Volunteer Army]] was sent into the [[Korean War]] to fight as well as reinforce the armed forces of North Korea, the [[Korean People's Army]], which had been in full retreat. The United States placed a trade embargo on the People's Republic as a result of its involvement in the [[Korean War]], lasting until [[Richard Nixon]]'s improvements of relations. At least 180,000 Chinese troops died during the war.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.china.org.cn/china/2010-06/28/content_20365659.htm |title=180,000 Chinese soldiers killed in Korean War |website=china.org.cn |access-date=28 November 2019}}</ref>


As the Chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), Mao was also the Supreme Commander in Chief of the PLA and the People's Republic and Chairman of the Party. Chinese troops in Korea were under the overall command of then newly installed Premier [[Zhou Enlai]], with General [[Peng Dehuai]] as field commander and political commissar.<ref name="Burkitt">{{Cite book |last1=Burkitt |first1=Laurie |last2=Scobell |first2=Andrew |last3=Wortzel |first3=Larry M. |author3-link=Larry Wortzel |title=The lessons of history: The Chinese people's Liberation Army at 75 |publisher=[[Strategic Studies Institute]] |pages=340–341 |year=2003 |isbn=978-1584871262 |url=http://www.strategicstudiesinstitute.army.mil/pdffiles/PUB52.pdf |access-date=14 July 2009 |archive-date=5 February 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120205072610/http://www.strategicstudiesinstitute.army.mil/pdffiles/PUB52.pdf |url-status=dead}}</ref>
The worst of the famine was steered towards enemies of the state, much like during the [[Soviet Famine of 1932-33|1932–33 famine]] in the [[USSR]].<ref>Benjamin A. Valentino. ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=LQfeXVU_EvgC&pg=PA128&dq=Mao+black+element+Great+Leap+Forward#v=onepage&q=Mao%20black%20element%20Great%20Leap%20Forward&f=false Final Solutions: Mass Killing and Genocide in the Twentieth Century]'' [[Cornell University Press]], 2004. p. 128. ISBN 0801439655</ref> As [[Jasper Becker]] explains:


=== Social reform ===
<blockquote>
During the [[Chinese Land Reform|land reform campaigns]], large numbers of landlords and rich peasants were beaten to death at mass meetings as land was taken from them and given to poorer peasants, which reduced [[economic inequality]].{{sfn|Short|2001|pp=436–437}}<ref>{{cite book |last=Scheidel |first=Walter |author-link=Walter Scheidel |title=The Great Leveler: Violence and the History of Inequality from the Stone Age to the Twenty-First Century |publisher=[[Princeton University Press]] |year=2017 |isbn=978-0691165028 |url=http://press.princeton.edu/titles/10921.html |page=226 |quote="In Zhangzhuangcun, in the more thoroughly reformed north of the country, most "landlords" and "rich peasants" had lost all their land and often their lives or had fled. All formerly landless workers had received land, which eliminated this category altogether. As a result, "middling peasants," who now accounted for 90 percent of the village population, owned 90.8 percent of the land, as close to perfect equality as one could possibly hope for."}}</ref> The [[Campaign to Suppress Counterrevolutionaries|Campaign to Suppress Counter-revolutionaries]]{{sfn|Kuisong|2008}} targeted bureaucratic bourgeoisie, such as compradors, merchants and Kuomintang officials who were seen by the party as economic parasites or political enemies.<ref>{{cite book |first=Steven W. |last=Mosher |title=China Misperceived: American Illusions and Chinese Reality |publisher=[[Basic Books]] |date=1992 |isbn=0465098134 |pages=72–73}}</ref> In 1976, the [[United States Department of State|U.S. State Department]] estimated as many as a million were killed in the land reform, and {{formatnum:800000}} killed in the counter-revolutionary campaign.<ref>{{cite book |first=Stephen Rosskamm |last=Shalom |title=Deaths in China Due to Communism |publisher=Center for Asian Studies [[Arizona State University]] |date=1984 |isbn=0939252112 |page=24}}</ref>
''"The most vulnerable section of China's population, around five per cent, were those whom Mao called '[[enemies of the people]]'. Anyone who had in previous campaigns of repression been labeled a 'black element' was given the lowest priority in the allocation of food. Landlords, rich peasants, former members of the nationalist regime, religious leaders, rightists, counter-revolutionaries and the families of such individuals died in the greatest numbers."''<ref>[[Jasper Becker]]. ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=iC4g0gXBmIkC&pg=PA103&dq=mao+black+element+died+in+the+greatest+numbers#v=onepage&q=mao%20black%20element%20died%20in%20the%20greatest%20numbers&f=false Hungry Ghosts: Mao's Secret Famine].'' Holt Paperbacks, 1998. ISBN 0805056688 p. 103</ref>
</blockquote>


Mao himself claimed that a total of {{formatnum:700000}} people were killed in attacks on "counter-revolutionaries" during the years 1950–1952.<ref>{{Harvnb|Spence|1999}}{{Page needed|date=January 2013}}. Mao got this number from a report submitted by Xu Zirong, Deputy Public Security Minister, which stated {{formatnum:712000}} counter-revolutionaries were executed, {{formatnum:1290000}} were imprisoned, and another {{formatnum:1200000}} were "subjected to control.": see {{Harvnb|Kuisong|2008}}.</ref> Because there was a policy to select "at least one landlord, and usually several, in virtually every village for public execution",<ref name="Cambridge history of China">{{cite book |last1=Twitchett |first1=Denis |first2=John K. |last2=Fairbank |author2-link=John K. Fairbank |first3=Roderick |last3=MacFarquhar |author3-link=Roderick MacFarquhar |title=The Cambridge history of China |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=978-0521243360 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ioppEjkCkeEC&q=at+least+one+landlord,+and+usually+several,+in+virtually+every+village+for+public+execution&pg=PA87 |access-date=23 August 2008 |year=1987 |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref> the number of deaths range between 2 million<ref name="Cambridge history of China"/><ref>{{cite book |last=Meisner |first=Maurice |author-link=Maurice Meisner |title=Mao's China and After: A History of the People's Republic |edition=Third |publisher=Free Press |date=1999 |isbn=0684856352 |page=72 |quote=... the estimate of many relatively impartial observers that there were {{formatnum:2000000}} people executed during the first three years of the People's Republic is probably as accurate a guess as one can make on the basis of scanty information.}}</ref>{{sfn|Kuisong|2008}} and 5 million.<ref>{{cite book |first=Steven W. |last=Mosher |title=China Misperceived: American Illusions and Chinese Reality |publisher=[[Basic Books]] |date=1992 |isbn=0465098134 |page=74 |quote=... a figure that [[John K. Fairbank|Fairbank]] has cited as the upper range of 'sober' estimates.}}</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Feigon|2002|p=96}}: "By 1952 they had extended land reform throughout the countryside, but in the process somewhere between two and five million landlords had been killed."</ref> In addition, at least 1.5 million people,{{sfn|Short|2001|p=436}} perhaps as many as 4 to 6 million,{{sfn|Valentino|2004|pp=121–122}} were sent to [[laogai|"reform through labour"]] camps where many perished.{{sfn|Valentino|2004|pp=121–122}} Mao played a personal role in organising the mass repressions and established a system of execution quotas,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://hrichina.org/public/PDFs/CRF.4.2005/CRF-2005-4_Quota.pdf |title=Mao's "Killing Quotas." Human Rights in China (HRIC). September&nbsp;26, 2005, at Shandong University |last=Changyu |first=Li |access-date=21 June 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090729194758/http://www.hrichina.org/public/PDFs/CRF.4.2005/CRF-2005-4_Quota.pdf |archive-date=29 July 2009}}</ref> which were often exceeded.{{sfn|Kuisong|2008}} He defended these killings as necessary for the securing of power.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://orpheus.ucsd.edu/chinesehistory/pgp/jeremy50sessay.htm |title=Terrible Honeymoon: Struggling with the Problem of Terror in Early 1950s China |last=Brown |first=Jeremy |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090627092313/http://orpheus.ucsd.edu/chinesehistory/pgp/jeremy50sessay.htm |archive-date=27 June 2009}}</ref>
[[File:Kissinger Mao.jpg|thumb|Mao, shown here with [[Henry Kissinger]] and [[Zhou Enlai]]; [[Beijing]], 1972.]]


[[File:Mao, Bulganin, Stalin, Ulbricht Tsedenbal.jpeg|thumb|left|Mao at [[Joseph Stalin]]'s 71st birthday celebration in Moscow, December 1949]]
In the Party Congress at [[Lushan]] in July/August 1959, several leaders expressed concern that the ''Great Leap Forward'' was not as successful as planned. The most direct of these was Minister of Defence and [[Korean War]] General [[Peng Dehuai]]. Mao, fearing loss of his position, orchestrated a purge of Peng and his supporters, stifling criticism of the Great Leap policies. Senior officials who reported the truth of the famine to Mao were branded as "right opportunists."<ref>[[Jasper Becker]]. ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=iC4g0gXBmIkC&pg=PA93&dq=terrible+famine+mao+right+opportunist&lr=#v=onepage&q=terrible%20famine%20mao%20right%20opportunist&f=false Hungry Ghosts: Mao's Secret Famine].'' Holt Paperbacks, 1998. ISBN 0805056688 pp. 92–93</ref> A campaign against right opportunism was launched and resulted in party members and ordinary peasants being sent to camps where many would subsequently die in the famine. Years later the CPC would conclude that 6 million people were wrongly punished in the campaign.<ref>Benjamin A. Valentino. ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=LQfeXVU_EvgC&pg=PA127&dq=6+million+wrongly+punished&lr=#v=onepage&q=&f=false Final Solutions: Mass Killing and Genocide in the Twentieth Century]'' [[Cornell University Press]], 2004. p. 127. ISBN 0801439655</ref>


The government is credited with eradicating both consumption and production of [[opium]] during the 1950s.<ref name=":4">{{Cite book |last=Bottelier |first=Pieter |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YMhUDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA131 |title=Economic Policy Making In China (1949–2016): The Role of Economists |publisher=[[Routledge]] |year=2018 |isbn=978-1351393812 |pages=131 |language=en |quote=We should remember, however, that Mao also did wonderful things for China; apart from reuniting the country, he restored a sense of natural pride, greatly improved women's rights, basic healthcare and primary education, ended opium abuse, simplified Chinese characters, developed pinyin and promoted its use for teaching purposes. |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref><ref name="McCoy opium" /> Ten million addicts were forced into compulsory treatment, dealers were executed, and opium-producing regions were planted with new crops. Remaining opium production shifted south of the Chinese border into the [[Golden Triangle (Southeast Asia)|Golden Triangle]] region.<ref name="McCoy opium">{{cite web |url=http://www.a1b2c3.com/drugs/opi010.htm |title=Opium History, 1858 to 1940 |first=Alfred W. |last=McCoy |access-date=4 May 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070404134938/http://www.a1b2c3.com/drugs/opi010.htm |archive-date=4 April 2007}}</ref>
There is a great deal of controversy over the number of deaths by starvation during the Great Leap Forward. Until the mid 1980s, when official census figures were finally published by the Chinese Government, little was known about the scale of the disaster in the Chinese countryside, as the handful of Western observers allowed access during this time had been restricted to model villages where they were deceived into believing that Great Leap Forward had been a great success. There was also an assumption that the flow of individual reports of starvation that had been reaching the West, primarily through Hong Kong and Taiwan, must be localized or exaggerated as China was continuing to claim record harvests and was a net exporter of grain through the period. Because Mao wanted to pay back early to the Soviets debts totaling 1.973 billion [[yuan]] from 1960 to 1962,<ref name="Yang Jisheng"/> exports increased by 50%, and fellow Communist regimes in [[North Korea]], [[North Vietnam]] and [[Socialist People's Republic of Albania|Albania]] were provided grain free of charge.<ref name="Becker81"/>


=== Three-anti and Five-anti Campaigns ===
Censuses were carried out in China in 1953, 1964 and 1982. The first attempt to analyse this data in order to estimate the number of famine deaths was carried out by American demographer Dr Judith Banister and published in 1984. Given the lengthy gaps between the censuses and doubts over the reliability of the data, an accurate figure is difficult to ascertain. Nevertheless, Banister concluded that the official data implied that around 15 million excess deaths incurred in China during 1958–61 and that based on her modelling of Chinese demographics during the period and taking account of assumed underreporting during the famine years, the figure was around 30 million. The official statistic is 20 million deaths, as given by [[Hu Yaobang]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Short |first=Philip |title=Mao: A Life |publisher=Owl Books |year=2001 |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=4y6mACbLWGsC&pg=PA631&dq=mao+a+life+all+the+dead+of+the+second+world+war&ei=V8N5SaWvCIuYMrK0-KwL |page=761}}</ref> [[Yang Jisheng]], a former [[Xinhua News Agency]] reporter who had privileged access and connections available to no other scholars, estimates a death toll of 36 million.<ref name="Yang Jisheng">Mark O'Neill. [http://en.chinaelections.org/newsinfo.asp?newsid=18328# A hunger for the truth: A new book, banned on the mainland, is becoming the definitive account of the Great Famine.] South China Morning Post, 2008-7-6.</ref> Various other sources have put the figure between 20 and 46 million.<ref name="maostats"/>
Starting in 1951, Mao initiated movements to rid urban areas of corruption; the [[Three-anti and Five-anti Campaigns]]. Whereas the three-anti campaign was a focused purge of government, industrial and party officials, the five-anti campaign set its sights slightly more broadly, targeting capitalist elements in general.<ref>{{cite book |first1=John |last1=Fairbank |first2=Merle |last2=Goldman |title=China: A New History |location=Cambridge, MA |publisher=The [[Belknap Press]] of [[Harvard University Press]] |date=2002 |page=349}}</ref> Workers denounced their bosses, spouses turned on their spouses, and children informed on their parents; the victims were often humiliated at [[struggle session]]s, where a targeted person would be verbally and physically abused until they confessed to crimes. Mao insisted that minor offenders be criticised and reformed or sent to labour camps, "while the worst among them should be shot". These campaigns took several hundred thousand additional lives, the vast majority via suicide.{{sfn|Short|2001|p=437}}


[[File:Mao dalai lama-1955.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|Mao and [[Zhou Enlai]] meeting with the [[14th Dalai Lama|Dalai Lama]] (right) and [[Choekyi Gyaltsen, 10th Panchen Lama|Panchen Lama]] (left) to celebrate the [[Losar|Tibetan New Year]], Beijing, 1955]]
On the international front, the period was dominated by the further isolation of China, due to start of the [[Sino-Soviet split]] which resulted in [[Khrushchev]] withdrawing all Soviet technical experts and aid from the country. The split was triggered by border disputes, and arguments over the control and direction of world communism, and other disputes pertaining to foreign policy. Most of the problems regarding communist unity resulted from the death of Stalin and his replacement by Khrushchev.


In Shanghai, suicide by jumping from tall buildings became so commonplace that residents avoided walking on the pavement near skyscrapers for fear that suicides might land on them.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,808241-5,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080318093047/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,808241-5,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=18 March 2008 |title=High Tide of Terror |date=5 March 1956 |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |access-date=11 May 2009}}</ref> Some biographers have pointed out that driving those perceived as enemies to suicide was a common tactic during the Mao-era. In his biography of Mao, [[Philip Short]] notes that Mao gave explicit instructions in the [[Yan'an Rectification Movement]] that "no cadre is to be killed" but in practice allowed security chief [[Kang Sheng]] to drive opponents to suicide and that "this pattern was repeated throughout his leadership of the People's Republic".{{sfn|Short|2001|p=631}}
Stalin had established himself as the successor of "correct" [[Marxist]] thought well before Mao controlled the [[Communist Party of China]], and therefore Mao never challenged the suitability of any Stalinist doctrine (at least while Stalin was alive). Upon the death of Stalin, Mao believed (perhaps because of seniority) that the leadership of the "correct" Marxist doctrine would fall to him. The resulting tension between Khrushchev (at the head of a politically/militarily superior government), and Mao (believing he had a superior understanding of Marxist ideology) eroded the previous patron-client relationship between the [[CPSU]] and CPC. In China, the formerly favourable Soviets were now denounced as "revisionists" and listed alongside "American imperialism" as movements to oppose.


[[File:CheWithMao1.jpg|thumb|left|Mao greeting [[Che Guevara]] in China at an official ceremony in the Government palace, November 1960]]
[[File:Mao Zedong sitting.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Photo of Mao sitting, published in "Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-Tung", ca. 1955]]


=== Five-year plans ===
Partly-surrounded by hostile [[United States|American]] military bases (reaching from [[South Korea]], [[Japan]], and [[Taiwan]]), China was now confronted with a new [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] threat from the north and west. Both the internal crisis and the external threat called for extraordinary statesmanship from Mao, but as China entered the new decade the statesmen of the People's Republic were in hostile confrontation with each other.
Following the consolidation of power, Mao launched the [[First five-year plan (China)|first five-year plan]] (1953–1958), which emphasised rapid industrial development. Within industry, iron and steel, electric power, coal, heavy engineering, building materials, and basic chemicals were prioritised with the aim of constructing large and highly capital-intensive plants. Many of these plants were built with Soviet assistance and heavy industry grew rapidly.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |date=1998 |title=China – Economic policies |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/China/Economic-policies |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Britannica}}</ref> Agriculture, industry and trade were organised as [[worker cooperative]]s.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6zJaAAAAYAAJ |title=Doing Business in the People's Republic of China |date=1994 |publisher=Price, Waterhouse |pages=3 |quote=At the same time, agriculture was organized on a collective basis (socialist cooperatives), as were industry and trade. |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref> This period marked the beginning of China's rapid industrialisation and it resulted in an enormous success.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |date=1998 |title=China – The transition to socialism, 1953–57 |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/China/The-transition-to-socialism-1953-57 |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Britannica}}</ref>


Despite being initially sympathetic towards the [[Governments of Imre Nagy|reformist government]] of [[Imre Nagy]], Mao feared the "reactionary restoration" in Hungary as the [[Hungarian Revolution of 1956]] continued and became more hardline. Mao opposed the withdrawal of Soviet troops by asking [[Liu Shaoqi]] to inform the Soviet representatives to use military intervention against "Western imperialist-backed" protestors and Nagy's government. However, it was unclear to what degree Mao's stance played a role in [[Nikita Khrushchev]]'s decision to invade Hungary. It was also unclear if China was forced to conform to the Soviet position due to economic concerns and China's poor power projections compared to the USSR. Despite his disagreements with Moscow's hegemony in the [[Eastern Bloc]], Mao viewed the integrity of the international communist movement as more important than the national autonomy of the countries in the Soviet sphere of influence. The Hungarian crisis also influenced Mao's [[Hundred Flowers Campaign]]. Mao decided to soften his stance on Chinese intelligentsia and allow them to express their social dissatisfaction and criticisms of the errors of the government. Mao wanted to use this movement to prevent a similar uprising in China. However, as people in China began to criticize the CCP's policies and Mao's leadership following the Hundred Flowers Campaign, Mao cracked down on the movement he initiated and compared it to the "counter-revolutionary" Hungarian Revolution.<ref>{{Cite journal |url=https://www.globalpoliticsreview.com/publications/2464-9929_v01_i01_p18.pdf |journal=Global Politics Review |volume=1 |number=1 |date=October 2015 |pages=18–34 |title=The Hungarian Connection: the 1956 Hungarian Revolution and its Impact on Mao Zedong's Domestic Policies in the late 1950s |first=David Tibor |last=Teszar}}</ref>
At a large Communist Party conference in Beijing in January 1962, called the "Conference of the Seven Thousand," [[President of the People's Republic of China|State President]] [[Liu Shaoqi]] denounced the Great Leap Forward as responsible for widespread famine.<ref name="Chang">Chang, Jung and Jon Halliday, ''Mao: The Unknown Story'' (2006), pp. 568, 579.</ref> The overwhelming majority of delegates expressed agreement, but Defense Minister [[Lin Biao]] staunchly defended Mao.<ref name="Chang"/> A brief period of liberalization followed while Mao and Lin plotted a comeback.<ref name="Chang"/> Liu and [[Deng Xiaoping]] rescued the economy by disbanding the people's communes, introducing elements of private control of peasant smallholdings and importing grain from Canada and Australia to mitigate the worst effects of famine.


During the Hundred Flowers Campaign, Mao indicated his supposed willingness to consider different opinions about how China should be governed. Given the freedom to express themselves, liberal and intellectual Chinese began opposing the Communist Party and questioning its leadership. This was initially tolerated and encouraged. After a few months, Mao's government reversed its policy and persecuted those who had criticised the party, totalling perhaps {{formatnum:500000}},<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Vidal |first=Christine |year=2016 |title=The 1957–1958 Anti-Rightist Campaign in China: History and Memory (1978–2014) |url=https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-01306892/document |journal=Hal-SHS}}</ref> as well as those who were merely alleged to have been critical, in what is called the [[Anti-Rightist Movement]]. The movement led to the persecution of at least 550,000 people, mostly intellectuals and dissidents.<ref name="1Mac">{{Cite book |last=MacFarquhar |first=Roderick |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yrkpx6iKq48C&dq=550000+anti-rightist+china&pg=PA82 |title=The Politics of China: The Eras of Mao and Deng |date=13 January 1997 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-58863-8 |via=Google Books}}</ref> Li Zhisui, Mao's physician, suggested that Mao had initially seen the policy as a way of weakening opposition to him within the party and that he was surprised by the extent of criticism and the fact that it came to be directed at his own leadership.<ref>{{Harvnb|Li|1994|pp=198, 200, 468–469}}</ref>
===Cultural Revolution===

=== Military projects ===
United States President [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]]'s threats during the [[First Taiwan Strait Crisis]] to use nuclear weapons against military targets in [[Fujian]] province prompted Mao to begin China's nuclear program.<ref name=":172">{{Cite book |last=Crean |first=Jeffrey |title=The Fear of Chinese Power: an International History |date=2024 |publisher=[[Bloomsbury Academic]] |isbn=978-1-350-23394-2 |edition= |series=New Approaches to International History series |location=London, UK}}</ref>{{Rp|pages=89–90}} Under Mao's [[Two Bombs, One Satellite]] program, China developed the atomic and hydrogen bombs in record time{{Quantify|date=February 2024}} and launched a satellite a few years after the Soviet Union launched Sputnik.<ref name=":022">{{Cite book |last=Jin |first=Keyu |title=The New China Playbook: Beyond Socialism and Capitalism |date=2023 |publisher=Viking |isbn=978-1-9848-7828-1 |location=New York |author-link=Keyu Jin}}</ref>{{Rp|page=218}}

[[Project 523]]<ref name=hsu2006>{{cite journal |last1 = Hsu |first1 = Elisabeth |title = Reflections on the 'discovery' of the antimalarial qinghao |journal = [[British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology]] |year = 2006 |volume = 61 |issue = 6 |pages = 666–670 |doi = 10.1111/j.1365-2125.2006.02673.x |pmid = 16722826 |pmc = 1885105}}</ref> is a 1967 military project to find [[antimalarial medication]]s.<ref name="meera">{{cite web |last1 = Senthilingam |first1 = Meera |title = Chemistry in its element: compounds: Artemisinin |url = http://www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/podcast/CIIEcompounds/transcripts/artemisinin.asp |work = [[Chemistry World]] |publisher = [[Royal Society of Chemistry]] |access-date = 27 April 2015}}</ref> It addressed [[malaria]], an important threat in the [[Vietnam War]]. [[Zhou Enlai]] convinced Mao Zedong to start the mass project "to keep [the] allies' troops combat-ready", as the [[meeting minutes]] put it. The one for investigating [[traditional Chinese medicine]] discovered and led to the development of a class of new antimalarial drugs called [[artemisinin]]s.<ref name="tu2011">{{cite journal |last1 = Tu |first1 = Youyou |title = The discovery of artemisinin (qinghaosu) and gifts from Chinese medicine |journal = Nature Medicine |year = 2011 |volume = 17 |issue = 10 |pages = 1217–1220 |doi = 10.1038/nm.2471 |pmid = 21989013|s2cid = 10021463 }}</ref>

=== Great Leap Forward ===
{{Main|Great Leap Forward}}
[[File:Nikita Khrushchev, Mao Zedong, Ho Chi Minh and Soong Ching-ling.jpg|thumb|Mao with [[Nikita Khrushchev]], [[Ho Chi Minh]], and [[Soong Ching-ling]] during a state dinner in Beijing, 1959]]

In January 1958, Mao launched the Great Leap Forward, to turn China from an agrarian nation to an industrialised one.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-silence-that-preceded-chinas-great-leap-into-famine-51898077/ |title=The Silence that Preceded China's Great Leap into Famine |last=King |first=Gilbert |website=[[Smithsonian]] |access-date=28 November 2019}}</ref> The relatively small agricultural collectives that had been formed were merged into far larger [[people's commune]]s, and many peasants were ordered to work on infrastructure projects and on the production of iron and steel. Some private food production was banned, and livestock and farm implements were brought under collective ownership.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Slatyer |first=Will |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tprrCQAAQBAJ |title=The Life/Death Rhythms of Capitalist Regimes - Debt Before Dishonour: Timetable of World Dominance 1400-2100 |date=20 February 2015 |publisher=Partridge Publishing Singapore |isbn=978-1-4828-2961-7 |language=en |via=[[Google Books]]|page=509}}</ref>

The effect of the diversion of labour to steel production and infrastructure projects, and cyclical [[natural disaster]]s led to an approximately 15% drop in grain production in 1959 followed by a further 10% decline in 1960 and no recovery in 1961.<ref name="Spence1999 p553">{{Harvnb|Spence|1999}}{{Page needed|date=January 2013}}<!-- Book has only 188 pages, so page 553 does not look right --></ref>

To win favour with their superiors and avoid being purged, each layer in the party exaggerated the amount of grain produced under them. Based upon the falsely reported success, party cadres were ordered to requisition a high amount of that fictitious harvest. The result, compounded in some areas by drought and in others by floods, was that farmers were left with little food and many millions starved to death in the [[Great Chinese Famine]]. The people of urban areas were given food stamps each month, but the people of rural areas were expected to grow their own crops and give some of the crops back to the government. The death count in rural parts of China surpassed the deaths in the urban centers.<ref name=":0">{{cite journal |last1=Yushi |first1=Mao |title=Lessons from China's Great Famine |journal=The Cato Journal |date=22 September 2014 |volume=34 |issue=3 |pages=483–491 |id={{Gale|A387348115}} |url=https://www.proquest.com/openview/7453e8c6f7d53a0684e517742c966e39/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=37750}}</ref> The famine was a direct cause of the death of some 30 million Chinese peasants between 1959 and 1962.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Smil |first1=V. |title=China's great famine: 40 years later |journal=[[British Medical Journal|BMJ]] |date=18 December 1999 |volume=319 |issue=7225 |pages=1619–1621 |doi=10.1136/bmj.319.7225.1619 |pmid=10600969 |pmc=1127087}}</ref> Many children became malnourished.<ref name="Spence1999 p553"/>

In late autumn 1958, Mao condemned the practices used during Great Leap Forward such as forcing peasants to do labour without enough food or rest which resulted in epidemics and starvation. He also acknowledged that anti-rightist campaigns were a major cause of "production at the expense of livelihood." He refused to abandon the Great Leap Forward, but he did demand that they be confronted. After the July 1959 [[Lushan Conference|clash at Lushan]] Conference with [[Peng Dehuai]], Mao launched a new anti-rightist campaign along with the radical policies that he previously abandoned. It wasn't until the spring of 1960, that Mao would again express concern about abnormal deaths and other abuses, but he did not move to stop them. Bernstein concludes that the Chairman "wilfully ignored the lessons of the first radical phase for the sake of achieving extreme ideological and developmental goals".<ref name="wilfulness">{{cite journal |last1=Thomas P.|first1=Bernstein |title=Mao Zedong and the Famine of 1959–1960: A Study in Wilfulness |journal=The China Quarterly |date=June 2006 |volume=186 |issue=186 |pages=421–445 |doi=10.1017/S0305741006000221 |jstor=20192620 |s2cid=153728069}}</ref>

[[File:Mao Zedong shakes hands with People's commune workers.jpg|thumb|Mao shaking hands with a people's commune farmer, 1959]]
Mao stepped down as President of China on 27 April 1959; he retained other top positions such as Chairman of the Communist Party and of the Central Military Commission.<ref name=":5">{{Cite book |last1=Li |first1=Xiaobing |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Fm5BAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA41 |title=Evolution of Power: China's Struggle, Survival, and Success |last2=Tian |first2=Xiansheng |year=2013 |publisher=[[Lexington Books]] |isbn=978-0739184981 |pages=41 |language=en |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref> The Presidency was transferred to [[Liu Shaoqi]].<ref name=":5" /> Mao eventually abandoned the policy in 1962.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Three Chinese Leaders: Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai, and Deng Xiaoping |url=http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/special/china_1950_leaders.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131211053051/http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/special/china_1950_leaders.htm |archive-date=11 December 2013 |access-date=22 April 2020 |website=[[Columbia University]]}}</ref> Liu Shaoqi and [[Deng Xiaoping]] rescued the economy by disbanding the people's communes, introducing elements of private control of peasant smallholdings and importing grain from Canada and Australia to mitigate the worst effects of famine.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lsHLDAAAQBAJ&q=Liu+Shaoqi+and+Deng+Xiaoping+rescued+the+economy+by+disbanding+the+people's+communes,+introducing+elements+of+private+control+of+peasant+smallholdings+and+importing+grain+from+Canada+and+Australia+to+mitigate+the+worst+effects+of+famine.&pg=PT373 |title=50 Great Military Leaders of All Time |last=Tibbetts |first=Jann |year=2016 |publisher=Vij Books India Pvt Ltd |isbn=978-9385505669 |language=en |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref>

At the [[Lushan Conference]] in July/August 1959, several ministers expressed concern that the Great Leap Forward had not proved as successful as planned. The most direct of these was Minister of Defence [[Peng Dehuai]]. Following Peng's criticism of the Great Leap Forward, Mao made a purge of Peng and his supporters, stifling criticism of the Great Leap policies. A campaign was launched and resulted in party members and ordinary peasants being sent to prison labour camps. Years later the CCP would conclude that as many as six million people were wrongly punished in the campaign.{{sfn|Valentino|2004|p=127}}

=== Split from Soviet Union ===
{{Main|Sino-Soviet split}}
[[File:President Gerald Ford and Daughter Susan Watch as Secretary of State Henry Kissinger Shakes Hands with Mao Tse-Tung.jpg|thumb|U.S. President [[Gerald Ford]] watches as [[Henry Kissinger]] shakes hands with Mao during their visit to China, 2 December 1975]]

The [[Sino-Soviet split]] resulted in [[Nikita Khrushchev]]'s withdrawal of Soviet technical experts and aid from the country. The split concerned the leadership of [[world communism]]. The USSR had a network of Communist parties it supported; China now created its own rival network to battle it out.<ref>{{Cite journal |jstor=20029719 |title=Sino-Soviet Competition in Africa |journal=[[Foreign Affairs]] |volume=42 |issue=4 |pages=640–654 |last1=Scalapino |first1=Robert A. |year=1964 |doi=10.2307/20029719}}</ref> Lorenz M. Lüthi writes: "The Sino-Soviet split was one of the key events of the Cold War, equal in importance to the construction of the Berlin Wall, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Second Vietnam War, and Sino-American rapprochement. The split helped to determine the framework of the Second Cold War in general, and influenced the course of the Second Vietnam War in particular."<ref>{{cite book |first=Lorenz M. |last=Lüthi |title=The Sino-Soviet Split: Cold War in the Communist World |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dl4TRDxqexMC |year=2010 |publisher=[[Princeton University Press]] |page=1 |isbn=978-1400837625 |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref>

The split resulted from Khrushchev's more moderate Soviet leadership after the death of Stalin in March 1953. Only Albania openly sided with China, thereby forming an alliance between the two countries. Warned that the Soviets had nuclear weapons, Mao minimised the threat.<ref>{{cite book |first=Jasper |last=Becker |title=The Chinese |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oyGtw4cXJjMC&pg=PA271 |year=2002 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |page=271 |isbn=978-0199727223 |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref> Struggle against Soviet revisionism and U.S. imperialism was an important aspect of Mao's attempt to direct the revolution in the right direction.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Garver |first=John W. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0_OuCgAAQBAJ |title=China's Quest: The History of the Foreign Relations of the People's Republic of China |date=2016 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0190261054 |pages=132 |language=en |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref>

In the late 1950s, Mao wrote reading notes responding to the Soviet Book ''Political Economy: A Textbook'' and essays (''[[A Critique of Soviet Economics]]'') responding to Stalin's ''[[Economic Problems of Socialism in the USSR]].<ref name=":322">{{Cite book |last=Hammond |first=Ken |title=China's Revolution and the Quest for a Socialist Future |publisher=1804 Books |year=2023 |isbn=9781736850084 |location=New York, NY |pages=}}</ref>''{{Rp|page=51}} These texts reflect Mao's views that the USSR was becoming alienated from the masses and distorting socialist development.<ref name=":322" />{{Rp|page=51}}

=== Third Front ===
[[File:Kissinger Mao.jpg|thumb|Mao with [[Henry Kissinger]] and [[Zhou Enlai]], Beijing, 1972]]
[[File:Mao Zedong with Emperor Haile Selassie I.webp|thumb|Ethiopian Emperor [[Haile Selassie|Haile Selassie I]] with Mao in 1971 after the death of [[Lin Biao]] ]]
{{Main|Third Front (China)}}
After the Great Leap Forward, China's leadership slowed the pace of industrialization.<ref name=":02">{{Cite book |last=Meyskens |first=Covell F. |url= |title=Mao's Third Front: The Militarization of Cold War China |date=2020 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=978-1-108-78478-8 |location=Cambridge, United Kingdom |doi=10.1017/9781108784788 |oclc=1145096137 |s2cid=218936313}}</ref>{{Rp|page=3}} It invested more on in China's coastal regions and focused on the production of consumer goods.<ref name=":02" />{{Rp|page=3}} Preliminary drafts of the Third Five Year Plan contained no provision for developing large scale industry in China's interior.<ref name=":02" />{{Rp|page=29}} After an April 1964 General Staff report concluded that the concentration of China's industry in its major coastal cities made it vulnerable to attack by foreign powers, Mao argued for the development of basic industry and national defense industry in protected locations in China's interior.<ref name=":02" />{{Rp|pages=4, 54}} Although other key leaders did not initially support the idea, the 2 August 1964 [[Gulf of Tonkin incident]] increased fears of a potential invasion by the United States and crystallized support for Mao's industrialization proposal, which came to be known as the Third Front.<ref name=":02" />{{Rp|page=7}} Following the Gulf of Tonkin incident, Mao's own concerns of invasion by the United States increased.<ref name=":12">{{Cite book |last=Hou |first=Li |title=Building for oil: Daqing and the Formation of the Chinese Socialist State |date=2021 |publisher=[[Harvard University Asia Center]] |isbn=978-0-674-26022-1 |edition= |series=[[Harvard-Yenching Institute]] monograph series |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |pages=}}</ref>{{Rp|page=100}} He wrote to central cadres, "A war is going to break out. I need to reconsider my actions" and pushed even harder for the creation of the Third Front.<ref name=":12" />{{Rp|page=100}}

The secretive Third Front construction involved massive projects including extensive railroad infrastructure like the [[Chengdu–Kunming railway|Chengdu–Kunming line]],<ref name=":02" />{{Rp|pages=153–164}} aerospace industry including satellite launch facilities,<ref name=":02" />{{Rp|page=218–219}} and steel production industry including [[Panzhihua Iron and Steel]].<ref name=":02" />{{Rp|page=9}}

Development of the Third Front slowed in 1966, but accelerated again after the [[Sino-Soviet border conflict]] at Zhenbao Island, which increased the perceived risk of Soviet Invasion.<ref name=":02" />{{Rp|pages=12, 150}} Third Front construction again decreased after United States President [[1972 visit by Richard Nixon to China|Richard Nixon's 1972 visit to China]] and the resulting rapprochement between the United States and China.<ref name=":02" />{{Rp|pages=225–229}} When Reform and Opening up began after Mao's death, China began to gradually wind down Third Front projects.<ref name=":92">{{Cite book |last1=Marquis |first1=Christopher |url= |title=Mao and Markets: The Communist Roots of Chinese Enterprise |last2=Qiao |first2=Kunyuan |date=2022 |publisher=[[Yale University Press]] |isbn=978-0-300-26883-6 |location=New Haven |doi=10.2307/j.ctv3006z6k |jstor=j.ctv3006z6k |oclc=1348572572 |author-link=Christopher Marquis |s2cid=253067190}}</ref>{{Rp|page=180}} The Third Front distributed physical and human capital around the country, ultimately decreased regional disparities and created favorable conditions for later market development.<ref name=":92" />{{Rp|pages=177–182}}

=== Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution ===
{{Main|Cultural Revolution}}
{{Main|Cultural Revolution}}
[[File:1966-11 1966年毛泽东林彪与红卫兵.jpg|thumb|200px|right|A public appearance of Chairman Mao and [[Lin Biao]] among [[Red Guards]], in Beijing, during the [[Cultural Revolution]] (November 1966)]]
Mao was concerned with the nature of post 1949 China. He saw that the revolution had replaced an old elite, with a new one. He was concerned that those in power were becoming estranged from the people they were supposed to serve. Corruption was also a concern. Mao thought that a greater threat to China was not from forces outside of the Communist Party, but from people from within who would subvert it and create a new elite who would control the masses of the population, and not serve them (capitalism from within). He thought that a renewal was required, a revolution of culture that would unseat and unsettle the "ruling class" and keep China in a state of 'perpetual revolution' that served the interests of the majority, not a tiny elite.<ref>Mao a Reinterpretation by Lee Feigon, page 140</ref>
During the early 1960s, Mao became concerned with the nature of post-1959 China. He saw that the old ruling elite was replaced by a new one. He was concerned that those in power were becoming estranged from the people they were to serve. Mao believed that a revolution of culture would unseat and unsettle the "ruling class" and keep China in a state of "[[Continuous revolution theory|continuous revolution]]" that, theoretically, would serve the interests of the majority, rather than a tiny and privileged elite.{{sfn|Feigon|2002|p=140}}


The Cultural Revolution led to the destruction of much of China's traditional cultural heritage and the imprisonment of many Chinese citizens, as well as the creation of chaos in the country. Millions of lives were ruined, as the Cultural Revolution pierced into Chinese life. It is estimated that hundreds of thousands of people, perhaps millions, perished in the violence of the Cultural Revolution.<ref name="maostats">{{cite web |url=http://necrometrics.com/20c5m.htm#Mao |title=Source List and Detailed Death Tolls for the Twentieth Century Hemoclysm |publisher=Historical Atlas of the Twentieth Century |access-date=23 August 2008}}</ref> This included prominent figures such as Liu Shaoqi.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2016/05/cultural-revolution-china/482964/ |title=The Cultural Revolution's Legacy in China |last=Vasilogambros |first=Matt |date=16 May 2016 |work=[[The Atlantic]] |access-date=28 November 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://reviews.history.ac.uk/review/1179 |title=Debating the Cultural Revolution in China |website=Reviews in History |access-date=28 November 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Pye |first=Lucian W. |year=1986 |title=Reassessing the Cultural Revolution |journal=The China Quarterly |volume=108 |issue=108 |pages=597–612 |doi=10.1017/S0305741000037085 |issn=0305-7410 |jstor=653530 |s2cid=153730706}}</ref>
There are political aspects to this period as well. [[Liu Shaoqi]] and [[Deng Xiaoping]]'s prominence gradually became more powerful. Liu and Deng, then the State President and General Secretary, respectively, had favored the idea that Mao should be removed from actual power but maintain his ceremonial and symbolic role, with the party upholding all of his positive contributions to the revolution. They attempted to marginalize Mao by taking control of economic policy and asserting themselves politically as well. Many claim that Mao responded to Liu and Deng's movements by launching the [[Cultural Revolution]] in 1966, although the case for this is perhaps overstated.<ref>For a full treatment of this idea see- Mobo Gao, "The Battle for China's Past", Pluto Press, London, 2008</ref>


It was during this period that Mao chose [[Lin Biao]] to become his successor. Lin was later officially named as Mao's successor. By 1971, a divide between the two men had become apparent. [[Lin Biao incident|Lin Biao died on 13 September 1971]], in a plane crash over the air space of Mongolia, presumably as he fled China, probably anticipating his arrest. The CCP declared that Lin was planning to depose Mao and posthumously expelled Lin from the party. At this time, Mao lost trust in many of the top CCP figures. The highest-ranking Soviet Bloc intelligence defector, Lt. Gen. [[Ion Mihai Pacepa]] claimed he had a conversation with [[Nicolae Ceaușescu]], who told him about a plot to kill Mao with the help of Lin Biao organised by the [[KGB]].<ref name="Pacepa0">{{cite web |url=http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=MzY4NWU2ZjY3YWYxMDllNWQ5MjQ3ZGJmMzg3MmQyNjQ= |title=The Kremlin's Killing Ways |author=Ion Mihai Pacepa |work=National Review |date=28 November 2006 |access-date=23 August 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070808171854/http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=MzY4NWU2ZjY3YWYxMDllNWQ5MjQ3ZGJmMzg3MmQyNjQ%3D |archive-date=8 August 2007}}</ref>
Believing that certain liberal bourgeois elements of society continued to threaten the socialist framework, groups of young people known as the [[Red Guard (China)|Red Guards]] struggled against authorities at all levels of society and even set up their own tribunals. Chaos reigned in many parts of the country, and millions were persecuted, including a famous philosopher, Chen Yuen. Mao is said to have ordered that no physical harm come to anyone, but that was not always the case. During the Cultural Revolution, the schools in China were closed and the young intellectuals living in cities were ordered to the countryside to be "re-educated" by the peasants, where they performed hard manual labor and other work.


In 1969, Mao declared the Cultural Revolution to be over. Various historians mark the end of the Cultural Revolution in 1976, following Mao's death and the arrest of the [[Gang of Four]].<ref>Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution lasting until 1976:
The Revolution led to the destruction of much of China's traditional cultural heritage and the imprisonment of a huge number of Chinese citizens, as well as creating general economic and social chaos in the country. Millions of lives were ruined during this period, as the Cultural Revolution pierced into every part of Chinese life, depicted by such Chinese [[film]]s as ''[[To Live (film)|To Live]]'', ''[[The Blue Kite]]'' and ''[[Farewell My Concubine (film)|Farewell My Concubine]]''. It is estimated that hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions, perished in the violence of the Cultural Revolution.<ref name="maostats">{{cite web | url = http://users.erols.com/mwhite28/warstat1.htm#Mao |title=Source List and Detailed Death Tolls for the Twentieth Century Hemoclysm | publisher = Historical Atlas of the Twentieth Century | accessdate=2008-08-23}}</ref>


* {{cite web |title=Marxists.org Glossary: Cultural Revolution |url=https://www.marxists.org/glossary/events/c/u.htm |access-date=6 October 2015 |website=[[Marxists Internet Archive]] |publisher=Encyclopedia of Marxism}}
When Mao was informed of such losses, particularly that people had been driven to suicide, he is alleged to have commented: ''"People who try to commit suicide&nbsp;— don't attempt to save them!&nbsp;.&nbsp;.&nbsp;. China is such a populous nation, it is not as if we cannot do without a few people."''<ref>{{citebook|authorlink=Roderick MacFarquhar|last=MacFarquhar|first=Roderick|coauthors=Schoenhals, Michael|title=Mao's Last Revolution|publisher=[[Harvard University Press]]|year=2006|isbn=0674023323|pages=110}}</ref> The authorities allowed the Red Guards to abuse and kill opponents of the regime. Said [[Xie Fuzhi]], national police chief: ''"Don't say it is wrong of them to beat up bad persons: if in anger they beat someone to death, then so be it."''<ref>[[Roderick MacFarquhar|MacFarquhar, Roderick]] and Schoenhals, Michael. ''Mao's Last Revolution''. [[Harvard University Press]], 2006. p. 125</ref> As a result, in August and September 1966, there were 1,772 people murdered in Beijing alone.<ref>[[Roderick MacFarquhar|MacFarquhar, Roderick]] and Schoenhals, Michael. ''Mao's Last Revolution''. [[Harvard University Press]], 2006. p. 124</ref>
* {{cite web |title=The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution in China, 1966–1976 |url=http://www.sjsu.edu/faculty/watkins/cultrev.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190424130644/http://www.sjsu.edu/faculty/watkins/cultrev.htm |archive-date=24 April 2019 |access-date=6 October 2015 |website=sjsu.edu |publisher=San José State University Department of Economics}}
[[File:Nixon Mao 1972-02-29.png|thumb|Mao greets [[United States]] President [[Richard Nixon]] during his [[1972 Nixon visit to China|visit to China in 1972]]]]
* {{cite web |last1=Spence |first1=Jonathan |year=2001 |title=Introduction to the Cultural Revolution |url=http://iis-db.stanford.edu/docs/115/CRintro.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160131124840/http://iis-db.stanford.edu/docs/115/CRintro.pdf |archive-date=31 January 2016 |access-date=6 October 2015 |website=iis-db.stanford.edu}} – Adapted from ''[[The Search for Modern China]]''</ref> The Central Committee in 1981 [[Resolution on Certain Questions in the History of Our Party since the Founding of the People's Republic of China|officially declared]] the Cultural Revolution a "severe setback" for the PRC.<ref>"Resolution on Certain Questions in the History of Our Party Since the Founding of the People's Republic of China", (Adopted by the Sixth Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on 27 June 1981) ''Resolution on CPC History (1949–81).'' (Beijing: Foreign Languages Press, 1981). p. 32.</ref>


An estimate of around 400,000 deaths is a widely accepted minimum figure, according to [[Maurice Meisner]].<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YpV7vbvclfgC&pg=PA354 |title=Mao's China and After: A History of the People's Republic |edition=3rd |first=Maurice |last=Meisner |page=354 |publisher=Free Press |year=1999 |isbn=978-0684856353 |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref> MacFarquhar and Schoenhals assert that in rural China alone some 36&nbsp;million people were persecuted, of whom between 750,000 and 1.5&nbsp;million were killed, with roughly the same number permanently injured.{{sfn|MacFarquhar|Schoenhals|2006|p=262}}
It was during this period that Mao chose [[Lin Biao]], who seemed to echo all of Mao's ideas, to become his successor. Lin was later officially named as Mao's successor. By 1971, however, a divide between the two men became apparent. Official history in China states that Lin was planning a military coup or an assassination attempt on Mao. Lin Biao died in a plane crash over the air space of Mongolia, presumably in his way to flee China, probably anticipating his arrest. The CPC declared that Lin was planning to depose Mao, and posthumously expelled Lin from the party. At this time, Mao lost trust in many of the top CPC figures. The highest-ranking Soviet Bloc intelligence defector, Lt. Gen. [[Ion Mihai Pacepa]] described his conversation with [[Nicolae Ceauşescu]] who told him about a plot to kill Mao Zedong with the help of [[Lin Biao]] organized by [[KGB]].<ref name="Pacepa0">{{cite web|url=http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=MzY4NWU2ZjY3YWYxMDllNWQ5MjQ3ZGJmMzg3MmQyNjQ=|title=The Kremlin’s Killing Ways|author=Ion Mihai Pacepa|publisher=National Review Online|date=28 November 2006|accessdate=2008-08-23}}</ref>


== State visits ==
In 1969, Mao declared the Cultural Revolution to be over, although the official history of the People's Republic of China marks the end of the Cultural Revolution in 1976 with Mao's death. In the last years of his life, Mao was faced with declining health due to either [[Parkinson's disease]] or, according to Li Zhisui, [[motor neurone disease]], as well as lung ailments due to [[tobacco smoking|smoking]] and [[heart disease|heart trouble]]. Some also attributed Mao's decline in health to the betrayal of Lin Biao. Mao remained passive as various factions within the Communist Party mobilized for the power struggle anticipated after his death.
During his leadership, Mao traveled outside China on two occasions, both times for state visits to the Soviet Union. In his first visit on 16 December 1949, Mao traveled to celebrate the 70th birthday of [[Joseph Stalin]] in Moscow, an event that was also attended by East German deputy chairman of the Council of Ministers [[Walter Ulbricht]] and Mongolian general secretary [[Yumjaagiin Tsedenbal]].<ref>{{lang|ru|Лев Котюков.}} [http://www.ykt.ru/ilken/n0803/s13.htm Забытый поэт.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928062213/http://www.ykt.ru/ilken/n0803/s13.htm |date=28 September 2007 }}</ref> Mao's second visit took place between 2 November and 19 November 1957; highlights included his attendance at the 40th anniversary ([[Ruby Jubilee]]) celebrations of the [[October Revolution]] (he attended the annual [[1957 October Revolution Parade|military parade]] of the Moscow Garrison on [[Red Square]] as well as a banquet in the [[Kremlin]]) and the [[1957 International Meeting of Communist and Workers Parties|International Meeting of Communist and Workers Parties]], where he met with other communist leaders.<ref name="ParkSnyder2012">{{cite book |first1=Kyung-Ae |last1=Park |first2=Scott |last2=Snyder |title=North Korea in Transition: Politics, Economy, and Society |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mwoD97Y8XPMC&pg=PA214 |year=2012 |publisher=[[Rowman & Littlefield]] |isbn=978-1442218130 |page=214}}</ref>


== Death and aftermath ==
This period is often looked at in official circles in China and in the west as a great stagnation or even of reversal for China. While many&nbsp;— an estimated 100 million&nbsp;— did suffer,<ref>Daniel Chirot. ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=e-kVgozyE8gC&pg=PA198&dq=100+million+persecution+cultural+revolution&cd=7#v=onepage&q=&f=false Modern tyrants: the power and prevalence of evil in our age].'' [[Princeton University Press]], 1996. ISBN 0691027773 p. 198</ref> some scholars, such as Lee Feigon and Mobo Gao, claim there were many great advances, and in some sectors the Chinese economy continued to outperform the west.<ref name="ReferenceA">For a lengthy discussion on this topic see Mobo Gao, "The Battle for China's Past", Pluto Press, London, 2008; and Lee Feigon "Mao a Reinterpretation" 2002</ref> They actually go so far as to conclude that the Cultural Revolution period actually laid the foundation for the spectacular growth that continues in China. During the Cultural Revolution, China exploded its first H-Bomb (1967), launched the Dong Fang Hong satellite (January 30, 1970), commissioned its first nuclear submarines and made various advances in science and technology. Health care was free, and living standards in the country side continued to improve.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>
{{Main|Death and state funeral of Mao Zedong}}
{{Further|Chairman Mao Memorial Hall}}{{external media|video1=[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=raZmROeAo1o Official Chinese documentary on Mao's funeral]|width=210px|float=right}}[[File:Mao Zedong with Z Bhutto.jpeg|left|thumb|upright=0.8|Ailing Mao with Pakistani prime minister [[Zulfikar Ali Bhutto|Zulfiqar Bhutto]] during a private visit in May 1976]]
[[File:Mubarak_and_Mao_Zedong.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|With Egyptian vice-president [[Hosni Mubarak]] during the latter's visit to Beijing in 1976]]
Mao's health declined in his final years, probably aggravated by his chain-smoking.<ref>Heavy smoker:
*{{cite book |first=Rebecca E. |last=Karl |title=Mao Zedong and China in the Twentieth-Century World: A Concise History |year=2010 |publisher=[[Duke University Press]] |isbn=978-0822393023 |page=79 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uqOhYRUITWwC&pg=PA79 |access-date=28 July 2015}}
*{{cite news |first=Heather |last=Timmons |title=The End of China's 'Ashtray Diplomacy' |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/china/archive/2013/12/the-end-of-chinas-ashtray-diplomacy/282703/ |access-date=28 July 2015 |work=[[The Atlantic]] |date=30 December 2013}}
*{{cite news |first=Johan |last=Nylander |title=Stubbing out Mao's smoky legacy |url=http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2014/02/stubbing-out-mao-smoky-legacy-2014255326672545.html |access-date=28 July 2015 |publisher=[[Al Jazeera Media Network|Al Jazeera]] |date=9 February 2014}}
*{{cite news |first=Jamie |last=Florcruz |title=China clouded in cigarette smoke |url=http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/01/07/florcruz.china.smokers/ |access-date=28 July 2015 |work=[[CNN]] |date=7 January 2011}}</ref> It became a [[Classified information|state secret]] that he suffered from multiple lung and heart ailments during his later years.<ref name="KissengerTrans">{{cite web |title=The Kissenger Transcripts: Notes and Excerpts |url=http://nsarchive.gwu.edu/nsa/publications/DOC_readers/kissinger/notes.htm |website=nsarchive.gwu.edu |access-date=28 July 2015}}</ref> There are unconfirmed reports that he possibly had [[Parkinson's disease]]<ref name="Parkinsons">Parkinson's disease:
*{{cite web |title=Mao Zedong |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/commandingheights/shared/minitext/prof_maozedong.html |access-date=28 July 2015 |publisher=[[PBS]]}}
*{{cite web |title=Mao Tse-tung Biography |url=http://www.biography.com/people/mao-tse-tung-9398142 |access-date=28 July 2015 |website=biography.com}}</ref><ref name="NYT1" /> in addition to [[amyotrophic lateral sclerosis]] (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease.<ref name="LouGehring">Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis:
*{{cite book |first=Zhisui |last=Li |title=Private Life Of Chairman Mao: The Memoirs of Mao's Personal Physician |year=2010 |publisher=[[Random House]] |isbn=978-1407059228 |page=581 |edition=illustrated, reprint |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sAOHE8xK4OEC&pg=PA581 |access-date=28 July 2015}}
*{{cite book |first=Nicholas |last=Griffin |title=Ping-Pong Diplomacy: Ivor Montagu and the Astonishing Story Behind the Game That Changed the World |year=2014 |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] |isbn=978-0857207371 |page=163 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sXStAAAAQBAJ&pg=PP163 |access-date=28 July 2015}}
*{{cite book |first=Eugene |last=Sadler-Smith |title=The Intuitive Mind: Profiting from the Power of Your Sixth Sense |year=2010 |publisher=[[John Wiley & Sons]] |isbn=978-0470685389 |page=223 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Zf94TfWkbSAC&pg=PT223 |access-date=28 July 2015}}
*{{cite book |first=William C. |last=Triplett, II |title=Rogue State: How a Nuclear North Korea Threatens America |year=2004 |publisher=Regnery Publishing |isbn=978-0895260680 |page=[https://archive.org/details/roguestate00will/page/224 224] |edition=illustrated |url=https://archive.org/details/roguestate00will |url-access=registration |access-date=28 July 2015}}</ref> He suffered two major [[heart attack]]s, one in March and another in late June, then a third on 2 September, rendering him an invalid. He died nearly one week later, on 9 September 1976, at the age of 82.{{sfn|Spence|1999|pp=176–177}} The Communist Party delayed the announcement of his death until 16:00, when a national radio broadcast announced the news and appealed for party unity.<ref name="NYT1">{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0909.html#article |title=Mao Tse-Tung Dies In Peking At 82; Leader Of Red China Revolution; Choice Of Successor Is Uncertain |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=25 October 2014}}</ref>


Mao's embalmed body, draped in the CCP flag, lay in state at the [[Great Hall of the People]] for one week.<ref name=Mummy1>{{cite book |first=Christine |last=Quigley |title=Modern Mummies: The Preservation of the Human Body in the Twentieth Century |year=1998 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-0786428519 |pages=40–42 |edition=illustrated, reprint |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VP2JxzGGlNwC&pg=PA40 |access-date=28 July 2015 |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref> One million Chinese filed past to pay their final respects, many displaying sadness, while foreigners watched on television.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1976/09/18/Chinese-bid-Mao-sad-farewell/3331505529812/ |title=Chinese bid Mao sad farewell |website=UPI |language=en |access-date=29 March 2020}}</ref><!-- Video 7: "funeral-of-mao-1978"--><ref>{{cite web |first=S. L. |last=James |title=China: Communist History Through Film |url=https://archive.org/details/china-communist-history |publisher=[[Internet Archive]] |access-date=28 July 2015}}</ref> Mao's official portrait hung on the wall with a banner reading: "Carry on the cause left by Chairman Mao and carry on the cause of proletarian revolution to the end".<ref name=Mummy1/> On 17 September, the body was taken in a minibus to the 305 Hospital, where his internal organs were preserved in [[formaldehyde]].<ref name=Mummy1/>
==Death: Mao's final week & days==
<!-- Much of this section sounds editorialized, and at the very least is missing a lot of citations -->At five o'clock in the afternoon of September 2, 1976, Mao suffered a heart attack, far more severe than his previous two and affecting a much larger area of his heart. X rays indicated that his lung infection had worsened, and his urine output dropped to less than 300 cc a day. Mao was awake and alert throughout the crisis and asked several times whether he was in danger. His condition continued to fluctuate and his life hung in the balance.


On 18 September, guns, sirens, whistles and horns across China were simultaneously blown and a mandatory three-minute silence was observed.<ref>{{cite news |title=1976: Chairman Mao Zedong dies |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/september/9/newsid_3020000/3020374.stm |access-date=28 July 2015 |work=[[BBC News]] |date=9 September 1976}}</ref> [[Tiananmen Square]] was packed with millions of people and a military band played "[[The Internationale]]". Hua Guofeng concluded the service with a 20-minute-long eulogy atop Tiananmen Gate.<ref>{{cite news |title=Chinese Bid Farewell to Nation's Leader |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1842&dat=19760915&id=lBwsAAAAIBAJ&pg=2059,3249975&hl=en |access-date=8 October 2015 |work=Florence Times + Tri-Cities Daily |agency=United Press International |date=18 September 1976}}</ref> Despite Mao's request to be cremated, his body was later permanently put on display in the [[Mausoleum of Mao Zedong]], in order for the [[Zhonghua minzu|Chinese nation]] to pay its respects.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lu |first=Xing |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Qby8DgAAQBAJ&pg=PT50 |title=The Rhetoric of Mao Zedong: Transforming China and Its People |year=2017 |publisher=[[University of South Carolina Press]] |isbn=978-1611177534 |page=50 |quote=In 1956 Mao signed a proposal for cremation along with 151 other high-ranking officials. According to hearsay, Mao wrote in his will that he wanted to be cremated after his death. Ironically his successors decided to keep his dead body on display for the nation to pay its respects. |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref>
Three days later, on September 5, Mao's condition was still critical, and Hua Guofeng called Jiang Qing back from her trip. She spent only a few moments in Building 202 (where Mao was staying) before returning to her own residence in the Spring Lotus Chamber.


On 27 June 1981, the communist party's Central Committee adopted the ''[[Resolution on Certain Questions in the History of Our Party since the Founding of the People's Republic of China]],'' which assessed the legacy of the Mao era and the party's priorities going forward.<ref name=":62">{{Cite book |last=Karl |first=Rebecca E. |title=Mao Zedong and China in the Twentieth-Century World: a Concise History |year=2010 |publisher=[[Duke University Press]] |isbn=978-0-8223-4780-4 |series=Asia-Pacific series |location=Durham, NC |jstor=j.ctv11hpp6w}}</ref>{{Rp|page=166}} The ''Resolution'' describes setbacks during the period 1957 to 1964 (although it generally affirms this period) and major mistakes beginning in 1965, attributing Mao's errors to individualist tendencies which arose when he departed from the collective view of the leadership.<ref name=":62" />{{Rp|page=167}} Regarding Mao's legacy, the Resolution concludes Mao's contributions to the Chinese Revolution far outweigh his mistakes.<ref name=":13">{{Cite book |last=Meisner |first=Maurice J. |title=Mao's China and After: a History of the People's Republic |title-link=Mao's China and After |date=1999 |publisher=Free Press |isbn=978-0-684-85635-3 |edition=3rd |location=New York, NY |author-link=Maurice Meisner}}</ref>{{Rp|page=445}}
On the afternoon of September 7, Mao took a turn for the worse. Jiang Qing went to Building 202 where she learned the news. Mao had just fallen asleep and needed the rest, but she insisted on rubbing his back and moving his limbs, and she sprinkled powder on his body. The medical team protested that the dust from the powder was not good for his lungs, but she instructed the nurses on duty to follow her example later. The next morning, September 8, she went again. She demanded the medical staff to change Mao's sleeping position, claiming that he had been lying too long on his left side. The doctor on duty objected, knowing that he could breathe only on his left side, but she had him moved nonetheless.


== Legacy ==
Mao's breathing stopped and his face turned blue. Jiang Qing left the room while the medical staff put him on a respirator and performed emergency cardiopulmonary [[resuscitation]]. Mao barely revived and [[Hua Guofeng]] urged Jiang Qing not to interfere further with the doctors' work, as her actions were detrimental to Mao's health and helped cause his death faster. Mao's organs were failing and he was taken off the life support a few minutes after midnight. September 9 was chosen because it was an easy day to remember. <!-- This should be cited, I point this out because the consensus view in China is that September 9th was chosen because of pronunciation in Chinese Sept. 9 is 九月九号 jiu-yue jiu-hao or 九九 jiu-jiu for short, which is a homonym for 久久 which means a very-very long time, or "forever". Still, I do not know what the real reason was, but the information given here, without a citation, seems to be lacking -->Mao had been in poor health for several years and had declined visibly for at least 6 months prior to his death.
[[File:Mao Zedong youth art sculpture 4.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Young Mao Zedong statue|Statue of young Mao]] in [[Changsha]], the capital of [[Hunan]]]]
Mao has been regarded as one of the most important and influential individuals in the 20th century.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2046285_2045996_2045849,00.html |title=Top 25 Political Icons |last1=Webley |first1=Kayla |date=4 February 2011 |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.oxfordreference.com/pages/samplep02 |title=Mao Zedong |work=The Oxford Companion to Politics of the World |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060321185302/http://www.oxfordreference.com/pages/samplep02 |archive-date=21 March 2006 |access-date=23 August 2008}}</ref> He has also been described as a political intellect, theorist, military strategist, poet, and visionary.<ref>{{Harvnb|Short|2001|p=630}} "Mao had an extraordinary mix of talents: he was visionary, statesman, political and military strategist of cunning intellect, a philosopher and poet."</ref> He was credited and praised for driving [[imperialism]] out of China,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://blog.eteacherchinese.com/history-of-china/chinese-leader-mao-zedong-part-i/ |title=Chinese Leader Mao Zedong / Part I |access-date=2 April 2015 |archive-date=12 July 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150712232214/http://blog.eteacherchinese.com/history-of-china/chinese-leader-mao-zedong-part-i/ |url-status=dead}}</ref> having unified China and for ending the previous decades of civil war. He has also been credited with having [[Feminism in Chinese communism#Mao era (1949–1976)|improved the status of women in China]] and for improving literacy and education.<ref name=":4" /><ref>{{cite book |last1=Pantsov |first1=Alexander V. |url= |title=Mao: The Real Story |last2=Levine |first2=Steven I. |date=2013 |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] |isbn=978-1451654486 |location= |page=574}}</ref><ref name="Galtung" /><ref name="PopulationStudies2015" /> In December 2013, a poll from the state-run ''[[Global Times]]'' indicated that roughly 85% of the 1,045 respondents surveyed felt that Mao's achievements outweighed his mistakes.<ref>{{cite news |title=Mao's achievements 'outweigh' mistakes: poll |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/asia-pacific/2013/12/mao-achievements-outweigh-mistakes-poll-2013122553410272409.html |work=[[Al Jazeera Media Network|Al Jazeera]] |date=23 December 2013}}</ref> It has been said in China that Mao was 70 percent right and 30 percent wrong.<ref name=":11" />{{Rp|page=55}}<ref name=":13"/>{{Rp|page=445}}


His policies resulted in the deaths of tens of millions of people in China during his reign,<ref name="Fenby"/><ref>{{Cite book |last=Evangelista |first=Matthew |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9IAfLDzySd4C&pg=PA96 |title=Peace Studies: Critical Concepts in Political Science |date=2005 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-0-415-33923-0 |pages=96 |language=en |quote=It resulted in an estimate of as many as 80 million deaths resulting from Chinese government policies under Mao Zedong between 1950 and 1976.}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1994/07/17/how-many-died-new-evidence-suggests-far-higher-numbers-for-the-victims-of-mao-zedongs-era/01044df5-03dd-49f4-a453-a033c5287bce/ |title=How Many Died? New Evidence Suggest Far Higher Numbers for the Victims of Mao Zedong's Era |last1=Strauss |first1=Valerie |date=17 July 1994 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |access-date=28 November 2019 |last2=Southerl |first2=Daniel |issn=0190-8286}}</ref> done through starvation, persecution, prison labour in ''[[laogai]]'', and mass executions.{{sfn|Short|2001|p=631}}<ref name="Fenby"/> Mao rarely gave direct instruction for peoples' physical elimination.{{sfn|Short|2001|p=631–632}} According to [[Philip Short]], the overwhelming majority of those killed by Mao's policies were unintended casualties of [[List of famines in China|famine]], while the other three or four million, in Mao's view, were necessary victims in the struggle to transform China.{{sfn|Short|2001|p=632}} Mao's China has been described as an autocratic and totalitarian regime responsible for mass repression.<ref name=":7">{{cite magazine |title=The Cultural Revolution and the History of Totalitarianism |url=https://time.com/4329308/cultural-revolution-history-totalitarianism/ |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |access-date=14 December 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Johnson |first=Ian |author-link=Ian Johnson (writer) |date=5 February 2018 |title=Who Killed More: Hitler, Stalin, or Mao? |url=https://www.nybooks.com/daily/2018/02/05/who-killed-more-hitler-stalin-or-mao/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180205193203/https://www.nybooks.com/daily/2018/02/05/who-killed-more-hitler-stalin-or-mao/ |archive-date=5 February 2018 |access-date=18 July 2020 |website=The [[New York Review of Books]] |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":6">{{cite book |last=Fenby |first=Jonathan |url=https://archive.org/details/modernchinafallr00fenb/page/351/mode/2up |title=Modern China: The Fall and Rise of a Great Power, 1850 to the Present |publisher=[[Penguin Group]] |year=2008 |isbn=978-0061661167 |pages=351 |author-link=Jonathan Fenby}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Schram |first=Stuart |author-link=Stuart R. Schram |date=March 2007 |title=Mao: The Unknown Story |journal=[[The China Quarterly]] |issue=189 |pages=205 |doi=10.1017/s030574100600107x |s2cid=154814055}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Evangelista |first=Matthew A. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9IAfLDzySd4C&q=80+million |title=Peace Studies: Critical Concepts in Political Science |publisher=[[Taylor & Francis]] |year=2005 |isbn=978-0415339230 |pages=96 |language=en |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref> Mao was accused as one of the great tyrants of the twentieth century.<ref name = "tyrant">{{Harvnb|MacFarquhar|Schoenhals|2006|p=471}}: "''Together with Joseph Stalin and Adolf Hitler, Mao appears destined to go down in history as one of the great tyrants of the twentieth century''"</ref><ref name = "compare">{{cite book |first=Michael |last=Lynch |author-link=Michael Lynch (historian, born 1938) |title=Mao |series=Routledge Historical Biographies |publisher=[[Routledge]] |date=2004 |page=230}}</ref>{{sfn|Short|2001|p=631}}<ref name="Fenby">{{cite book |author-link=Jonathan Fenby |last=Fenby |first=J. |title=Modern China: The Fall and Rise of a Great Power, 1850 to the Present |publisher=[[Ecco Press]] |year=2008 |isbn=978-0061661167 |page=[https://archive.org/details/modernchinafallr00fenb/page/351 351] |quote=Mao's responsibility for the extinction of anywhere from 40 to 70 million lives brands him as a mass killer greater than Hitler or Stalin, his indifference to the suffering and the loss of humans breathtaking |url=https://archive.org/details/modernchinafallr00fenb/page/351}}</ref> He was frequently likened to the First Emperor of a unified China, [[Qin Shi Huang]].{{sfn|MacFarquhar|Schoenhals|2006|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=mCKPmUzKeZUC&pg=PA428 428]}}<ref>''Mao Zedong sixiang wan sui!'' (1969), p. 195. Referenced in {{cite book |title=Governing China: From Revolution to Reform |edition=Second |first=Kenneth |last=Lieberthal |publisher=[[W. W. Norton & Company]] |date=2003 |isbn=0393924920 |page=71}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |first=Mao |last=Zedong |title=Speeches At The Second Session Of The Eighth Party Congress |url=https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/mao/selected-works/volume-8/mswv8_10.htm |access-date=28 June 2016 |website=[[Marxists Internet Archive]]}}</ref><ref name="compare"/>{{efn|"The People's Republic of China under Mao exhibited the oppressive tendencies that were discernible in all the major absolutist regimes of the twentieth century. There are obvious parallels between Mao's China, [[Nazi Germany]] and [[Soviet Russia]]. Each of these regimes witnessed deliberately ordered mass 'cleansing' and extermination."<ref name="compare"/>}}
His body lay in state at the [[Great Hall of the People]]. A memorial service was held in [[Tiananmen Square]] on 18 September 1976. There was a three minute silence observed during this service. His body was later placed into the [[Mausoleum of Mao Zedong]], even though he had wished to be cremated and had been one of the first high-ranking officials to sign the "Proposal that all Central Leaders be Cremated after Death" in November 1956.<ref>{{cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=China After Mao's Death: Nation of Rumor and Uncertainty |url= |quote=[[Hong Kong]], 5 October 1976. With no word on the fate of the body of Mao Zedong, almost a month after his death, rumors are beginning to percolate in China, much as they did following the death of Prime Minister Chou En-lai... |publisher=New York Times |date=6 October 1976 |accessdate=2007-07-21 }}</ref>


China's population grew from around 550 million to over 900 million under his rule.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Attane |first=Isabelle |year=2002 |title=China's Family Planning Policy: An Overview of Its Past and Future |journal=Studies in Family Planning |volume=33 |issue=1 |pages=103–113 |doi=10.1111/j.1728-4465.2002.00103.x |issn=0039-3665 |jstor=2696336 |pmid=11974414}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Wu |first=J. |year=1994 |title=Population and family planning in China |journal=Verhandelingen – Koninklijke Academie voor Geneeskunde van Belgie |volume=56 |issue=5 |pages=383–400; discussion 401–402 |issn=0302-6469 |pmid=7892742}}</ref> Mao's [[People's war|insurgency strategies]] continue to be used by insurgents, and his political ideology continues to be embraced by many Communist organisations around the world.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/mar/16/onward-march-maoism-julia-lovell |title=Maoism marches on: the revolutionary idea that still shapes the world |last=Lovell |first=Julia |date=16 March 2019 |work=[[The Guardian]] |access-date=20 January 2020 |issn=0261-3077}}</ref>
==Cult of Mao==
[[File:Shanghai, guardería 1978 03.jpg|thumb|In 1978, the classroom of a kindergarten in Shanghai putting up portraits of then-Chairman [[Hua Guofeng]] and former Chairman Mao Zedong]]


=== In China ===
Mao's figure is largely symbolic both in China and in the global communist movement as a whole. During the Cultural Revolution, Mao's already glorified image manifested into a [[personality cult]] that influenced every aspect of Chinese life. Mao was regarded as the undisputed leader of China's [[working class]] in their 100-year struggle against [[imperialism]], [[feudalism]] and [[capitalism]], which were the three-evils in pre-1949 China since the [[Opium War]]. Even today, many Chinese people regard Mao as a God-like figure, who led the ailing China onto the path of an independent and powerful nation, whose pictures can expel the evil spirit and bad luck.
In mainland China, Mao is respected by a great number of the general population. Mao is credited for raising the average life expectancy from 35 in 1949 to 63 by 1975, bringing "unity and stability to a country that had been plagued by civil wars and foreign invasions", and laying the foundation for China to "become the equal of the great global powers".{{sfn|Gao|2008|p=81}} He is lauded for carrying out massive [[land reform]], promoting the status of women, improving popular literacy, and positively "transform(ing) Chinese society beyond recognition."{{sfn|Gao|2008|p=81}} Mao has been credited for boosting literacy (only 20% of the population could read in 1949, compared to 65.5% thirty years later), doubling life expectancy, a near doubling of the population, and developing China's industry and infrastructure, paving the way for its position as a world power.<ref name="China 2010, pp. 327">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vr81YoYK0c4C&pg=PA327 |title=The Cambridge Illustrated History of China |last=Ebrey |first=Patricia Buckley |date=2010 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|isbn=978-0521124331 |page=327 |author-link=Patricia Buckley Ebrey |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref><ref name="Galtung">{{cite book |last1=Galtung |first1=Marte Kjær |last2=Stenslie |first2=Stig |date=2014 |title=49 Myths about China |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qqqDBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA189 |publisher=[[Rowman & Littlefield]] |page=189 |isbn=978-1442236226 |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref><ref name="PopulationStudies2015">{{cite journal |last1=Babiarz |first1=Kimberly Singer |last2=Eggleston |first2=Karen |display-authors=etal. |date=2015 |title=An exploration of China's mortality decline under Mao: A provincial analysis, 1950–80 |journal=[[Population Studies (journal)|Population Studies]] |volume=69 |issue=1 |pages= 39–56 |doi=10.1080/00324728.2014.972432 |pmid=25495509 |quote=China's growth in life expectancy at birth from 35–40 years in 1949 to 65.5 years in 1980 is among the most rapid sustained increases in documented global history. |pmc=4331212}}</ref>


Opposition to Mao can lead to censorship or professional repercussions in mainland China,<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.refworld.org/docid/5a94281fa.html |title=China 'fires' editors over criticism of Mao, detains leftist activist |website=Refworld |access-date=18 May 2019}}</ref> and is often done in private settings.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/06/world/asia/06iht-letter06.html |title=Mao's Legacy Still Divides China |last=Tatlow |first=Didi Kirsten |date=5 May 2011 |work=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=18 May 2019 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> When a video of [[Bi Fujian]], a television host, insulting Mao at a private dinner in 2015 went viral, Bi garnered the support of Weibo users, with 80% of them saying in a poll that Bi should not apologize amidst backlash from state affiliates.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.firstpost.com/world/everyone-victim-mao-no-one-dares-say-says-tv-host-china-draws-ire-2191357.html |title=Everyone is a victim of Mao, but no one dares to say it, says TV host in China, draws ire |website=Firstpost |date=10 April 2015 |access-date=18 May 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Chinese TV Anchor To Be Punished For Mao Jibe |url=https://news.sky.com/story/chinese-tv-anchor-to-be-punished-for-mao-jibe-10349877 |access-date=18 May 2019 |publisher=[[Sky News]]}}</ref> Chinese citizens are aware of Mao's mistakes, but many see Mao as a national hero. He is seen as someone who successfully liberated the country from [[Japanese occupation of China|Japanese occupation]] and from Western imperialist exploitation dating back to the [[Opium Wars]].<ref name=":2">{{Cite news |last1=Ding |first1=Iza |last2=Javed |first2=Jeffrey |date=26 May 2019 |title=Why Maoism still resonates in China today |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/05/29/why-maoism-still-resonates-china-today/}}</ref> Between 2015 and 2018, ''[[The Washington Post]]'' interviewed 70 people in China about the Maoist era. A "sizable proportion" lauded the era's simplicity, attributing to it the "clear meaning" of life and minimal inequality; they contended that the "spiritual life" was rich. The interviewees simultaneously acknowledged the poor "material life" and other negative experiences under Mao.<ref name=":2" />
At the 1958 Party congress in Chengdu, Mao expressed support for the idea of personality cults if they venerated figures who were genuinely worthy of adulation:
[[File:Mao Zedong Square 20210319.jpg|thumb|Mao Zedong Square at Shaoshan]]
On 25 December 2008, China opened the Mao Zedong Square to visitors in his home town of central Hunan Province to mark the 115th anniversary of his birth.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2008-12/25/content_7341714.htm |title=Chairman Mao square opened on his 115th birth anniversary |work=[[China Daily]] |date=25 December 2008 |access-date=2 January 2013}}; {{cite news |title=Mao Zedong still draws crowds on 113th birth anniversary |url=http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200612/27/eng20061227_336033.html |date=27 December 2006 |access-date=2 January 2013 |work=[[People's Daily]]}}</ref>


Former party official Su Shachi has opined that "he was a great historical criminal, but he was also a great force for good."<ref name="Biography 2005">[[Biography (TV series)]] [https://www.imdb.com/video/hulu/vi3081083673/ Mao Tse Tung: China's Peasant Emperor] [[A&E Network]] 2005, {{ASIN|B000AABKXG}} {{time needed|date=January 2013}}</ref> In a similar vein, journalist [[Liu Binyan]] has described Mao as "both monster and a genius."<ref name="Biography 2005"/> [[Li Rui (politician)|Li Rui]], Mao's personal secretary and Communist Party comrade, opined that "Mao's way of thinking and governing was terrifying. He put no value on human life. The deaths of others meant nothing to him."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Watts |first=Jonathan |date=1 June 2005 |title=China must confront dark past, says Mao confidant |url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2005/jun/02/china.jonathanwatts |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180917215335/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2005/jun/02/china.jonathanwatts |archive-date=17 September 2018 |access-date=13 August 2021 |website=[[The Guardian]] |language=en}}</ref>
{{cquote|There are two kinds of personality cults. One is a healthy personality cult, that is, to worship men like Marx, Engels, Lenin, and Stalin. Because they hold the truth in their hands. The other is a false personality cult, i.e. not analyzed and blind worship.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://library.thinkquest.org/26469/cultural-revolution/cult.html |title= Cult of Mao | publisher = library.thinkquest.org | accessdate= 2008-08-23 |quote= This remark of Mao seems to have elements of truth but it is false. He confuses the worship of truth with a personality cult, despite there being an essential difference between them. But this remark played a role in helping to promote the personality cult that gradually arose in the CCP.}}</ref>}}


[[Chen Yun]] remarked "Had Mao died in 1956, his achievements would have been immortal. Had he died in 1966, he would still have been a great man but flawed. But he died in 1976. Alas, what can one say?"<ref>{{cite news |title=Big bad wolf |url=http://www.economist.com/node/7854042 |access-date=28 July 2015 |newspaper=[[The Economist]] |date=31 August 2006}}</ref> [[Deng Xiaoping]] said "I should remind you that Chairman Mao dedicated most of his life to China, that he saved the party and the revolution in their most critical moments, that, in short, his contribution was so great that, without him, the Chinese people would have had a much harder time finding the right path out of the darkness. We also shouldn't forget that it was Chairman Mao who combined the teachings of Marx and Lenin with the realities of Chinese history—that it was he who applied those principles, creatively, not only to politics but to philosophy, art, literature, and military strategy."<ref>{{cite news |title=Deng: Cleaning up Mao's mistakes |url=http://digitalcollections.library.cmu.edu/awweb/awarchive?type=file&item=472059 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=1980 |access-date=20 November 2021 |archive-date=29 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190829143815/http://digitalcollections.library.cmu.edu/awweb/awarchive?type=file&item=472059 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
In 1962, Mao proposed the Socialist Education Movement (SEM) in an attempt to educate the peasants to resist the temptations of [[feudalism]] and the sprouts of capitalism that he saw re-emerging in the countryside from Liu's economic reforms. Large quantities of politicized art were produced and circulated&nbsp;— with Mao at the center. Numerous posters, badges and musical compositions referenced Mao in the phrase "Chairman Mao is the red sun in our hearts" ({{lang|zh|毛主席是我们心中的红太阳}})<ref name="WangMaoBadgesChapter5">[http://www.britishmuseum.org/pdf/2%20-%20Part%202%20-%20Mao%20badges%20with%20low%20res%20image%20of%20poster.pdf Chapter 5: "Mao Badges – Visual Imagery and Inscriptions"] in: Helen Wang: ''Chairman Mao badges: symbols and Slogans of the Cultural Revolution'' (British Museum Research Publication 169). The Trustees of the British Museum, 2008. ISBN 978 086159 169 5.</ref> and a "Savior of the people" ({{lang|zh|人民的大救星}})<ref name="WangMaoBadgesChapter5" /><ref>In "The East is Red" ({{lang|zh|东方红}}), an anthem that wasq popular during the Cultural Revolution. See lyrics and English translation at [http://www.chinapoet.net/bbs/thread-61611-1-1.html ChinaPoet.net] or [http://bbs.sogou.com/f?s=%CE%A1%CE%A1%C0%A5%C2%D8&t=TP$TmyfqIOaxV6GBAAAA&page=1#flB8 Sogou.net]. Accessed 2009-08-24.</ref>.


=== Outside China ===
The Cult of Mao proved vital in starting the Cultural Revolution. China's youth had generally been raised during the Communist era, which had taught them to idolize Mao. The youth also did not remember the immense starvation and suffering caused by Mao's Great Leap Forward, and their thoughts of Mao were generally positive. Thus, they were his greatest supporters. Their feelings for him were of such strength that many followed his urge to challenge all established authority.
{{external media| float = right| width = 230px|video1 = [https://www.c-span.org/video/?155775-1/mao-life ''Booknotes'' interview with Philip Short on ''Mao: A Life'', April 2, 2000], [[C-SPAN]]}}
[[Philip Short]] said that the overwhelming majority of the deaths under Mao were unintended consequences of famine.{{sfn|Short|2001|p=632}} Short stated that landlord class were not exterminated as a people due to Mao's belief in redemption through thought reform,{{sfn|Short|2001|p=632}} and compared Mao with 19th-century Chinese reformers who challenged China's traditional beliefs in the era of China's clashes with Western colonial powers. Short writes that "Mao's tragedy and his grandeur were that he remained to the end in thrall to his own revolutionary dreams. ... He freed China from the straitjacket of its Confucian past, but the bright Red future he promised turned out to be a sterile purgatory."{{sfn|Short|2001|p=632}}


Alexander V. Pantsov and Steven I. Levine, in their biography, asserted that Mao was both "a successful creator and ultimately an evil destroyer" but also argued that he was a complicated figure who should not be lionised as a saint or reduced to a demon, as he "indeed tried his best to bring about prosperity and gain international respect for his country."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Pantsov |first1=Alexander V. |last2=Levine |first2=Steven I. |date=2013 |title=Mao: The Real Story |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] |pages=5–6 |isbn=978-1451654486}}</ref> They also remarked on Mao's legacy: "A talented Chinese politician, an historian, a poet and philosopher, an all-powerful dictator and energetic organizer, a skillful diplomat and utopian socialist, the head of the most populous state, resting on his laurels, but at the same time an indefatigable revolutionary who sincerely attempted to refashion the way of life and consciousness of millions of people, a hero of national revolution and a bloody social reformer—this is how Mao goes down in history. The scale of his life was too grand to be reduced to a single meaning." Mao's English interpreter [[Sidney Rittenberg]] wrote in his memoir that whilst Mao "was a great leader in history", he was also "a great criminal because, not that he wanted to, not that he intended to, but in fact, his wild fantasies led to the deaths of tens of millions of people."<ref name="Reut09"/>
In October 1966, Mao's ''[[Quotations From Chairman Mao Tse-Tung]]'', which was known as the ''Little Red Book'' was published. Party members were encouraged to carry a copy with them and possession was almost mandatory as a criterion for membership. Over the years, Mao's image became displayed almost everywhere, present in homes, offices and shops. His quotations were [[Emphasis (typography)|typographically emphasized]] by putting them in boldface or red type in even the most obscure writings. Music from the period emphasized Mao's stature, as did children's rhymes. The phrase ''Long Live Chairman Mao for [[ten thousand years]]'' was commonly heard during the era, which was traditionally a phrase reserved for the reigning [[Emperor of China|Emperor]].


[[File:President Richard Nixon and Mao Zedong.jpg|thumb|Mao greets U.S. President [[Richard Nixon]] during his [[1972 Nixon visit to China|visit to China in 1972]].]]
Today, Mao is still regarded by some as the "never setting Red Sun". He has been compared to the Saint Kings of the classical China<ref name="ShaoShan">[http://www.shaoshan.gov.cn/Article/ShowArticle.asp?ArticleID=14617 {{lang|zh|韶山升起永远不落的红太阳}}]</ref>. Since 1950, over 40 million people have visited Mao's birthplace in [[Shaoshan]]. Hunan<ref name="ShaoShan" />


The United States placed a trade embargo on the People's Republic as a result of its involvement in the [[Korean War]], until [[Richard Nixon]] decided that developing relations with the PRC would be useful.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Chen |first=Xin-zhu J. |date=2006 |title=China and the US Trade Embargo, 1950–1972 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44288827 |journal=[[American Journal of Chinese Studies]] |volume=13 |issue=2 |pages=169–186 |jstor=44288827 |issn=2166-0042}}</ref> The television series ''[[Biography (TV series)|Biography]]'' stated: "[Mao] turned China from a feudal backwater into one of the most powerful countries in the World. ... The Chinese system he overthrew was backward and corrupt; few would argue the fact that he dragged China into the 20th century. But at a cost in human lives that is staggering."<ref name="Biography 2005"/> Professor [[Jeffrey Wasserstrom]] compares China's relationship to Mao to Americans' remembrance of [[Andrew Jackson]]; both countries regard the leaders in a positive light, despite their respective roles in devastating policies. Jackson forcibly moved Native Americans through the [[Trail of Tears]], resulting in thousands of deaths, while Mao was at the helm.<ref name="Schiavenza 2010">{{cite web |title=Some China Book Notes |url=http://mattschiavenza.com/2010/10/08/some-china-book-notes/ |website=Matt Schiavenza.com |access-date=8 February 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150209022723/http://mattschiavenza.com/2010/10/08/some-china-book-notes/ |archive-date=9 February 2015}}</ref>{{efn|"Though admittedly far from perfect, the comparison is based on the fact that Jackson is remembered both as someone who played a significant role in the development of a political organisation (the Democratic Party) that still has many partisans, and as someone responsible for brutal policies toward Native Americans that are now referred to as genocidal.
===Popular culture===


Both men are thought of as having done terrible things yet this does not necessarily prevent them from being used as positive symbols. And Jackson still appears on $20 bills, even though Americans tend to view as heinous the institution of slavery (of which he was a passionate defender) and the early 19th-century military campaigns against Native Americans (in which he took part).
[[File:1950s 毛主席给我们的幸福生活.jpg|thumb|200px|A 1950 Chinese propaganda poster showing a happy family of five enjoying life under the image of Mao Zedong.
]]
Mao also has a presence in China and around the world in [[popular culture]], where his face adorns everything from t-shirts to coffee cups. Mao's granddaughter Kong Dongmei, defended the phenomenon, stating that "it shows his influence, that he exists in people's consciousness and has influenced several generations of Chinese people's way of life. Just like [[Che Guevara in popular culture|Che Guevara's image]], his has become a symbol of revolutionary culture."<ref name="Reut09">[http://in.reuters.com/article/entertainmentNews/idINIndia-42756920090928?sp=true Granddaughter Keeps Mao's Memory Alive in Bookshop] by Maxim Duncan, ''[[Reuters]]'', September 28, 2009</ref>
He has also been immortalized in the song "Revolution" sung by [[The Beatles]] with the lyric, "And if you go carryin' pictures of chairman Mao/you ain't gonna make it with anyone anyhow."


At times Jackson, for all his flaws, is invoked as representing an egalitarian strain within the American democratic tradition, a [[self-made man]] of the people who rose to power via straight talk and was not allied with moneyed interests. Mao stands for something roughly similar."<ref name="Schiavenza 2010"/>}}
==Legacy==
{{POV-section|Legacy section|date=January 2010}}
{{quotation|"Mao was an accomplished poet, writer and historian, a profound thinker, and a superb military strategist. He crushed the US-backed Nationalist's 4.3-million strong armies in a series of titanic battles, forcing his rival, Chiang Kai-shek, to flee to Taiwan [...] ''The Great Helmsman'' united fractured, war-torn China, restoring its pride and self-confidence after two centuries of humiliation. Mao thwarted both Soviet and U.S. efforts to turn China into a client state, and built up China's military power [...] But Mao's crackpot economic notions, notably the infamous 1958 Great Leap Forward, created famines that killed 20–36 million Chinese peasants. Mao's aides dared not tell him millions were starving. ''Red Emperor Mao'' was prodigal with his people's lives, and, according to aides who were close to him, was shockingly indifferent to their suffering. Mao horrified even brutal Soviet leaders by saying he was prepared to lose half his people to emerge victorious from a nuclear war [...] Like Stalin – once called "half man, half beast" – Mao appealed as much as he repelled. Most Chinese now regard Mao as their nation's beloved, respected father&nbsp;— but one who went dangerously senile before his death in 1976."|[[Eric Margolis]] <ref name="EricM">[http://www.huffingtonpost.com/eric-margolis/remembering-chinas-great_b_303107.html Remembering China's Great Helmsman] by [[Eric Margolis]], ''[[The Huffington Post]]'', September 29, 2009</ref>}}


[[File:MaoStatueinLijang.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Statue of Mao in [[Lijiang, Yunnan|Lijiang]]]]
As anticipated after Mao’s death, there was a power struggle for control of China. On one side was the left wing led by the [[Gang of Four (China)|Gang of Four]], who wanted to continue the policy of revolutionary mass mobilization. On the other side was the right wing opposing these policies. Among the latter group, the restorationists, led by Chairman [[Hua Guofeng]], advocated a return to central planning along the Soviet model, whereas the reformers, led by [[Deng Xiaoping]], wanted to overhaul the [[Economy of the People's Republic of China|Chinese economy]] based on market-oriented policies and to de-emphasize the role of Maoist ideology in determining economic and political policy. Eventually, the reformers won control of the government. Deng Xiaoping, with clear seniority over Hua Guofeng, defeated Hua in a bloodless power struggle a few years later.


[[John King Fairbank]] remarked, "The simple facts of Mao's career seem incredible: in a vast land of 400 million people, at age 28, with a dozen others, to found a party and in the next fifty years to win power, organize, and remold the people and reshape the land—history records no greater achievement. [[Alexander the Great|Alexander]], [[Julius Caesar|Caesar]], [[Charlemagne]], all the kings of Europe, [[Napoleon]], [[Otto von Bismarck|Bismarck]], [[Vladimir Lenin|Lenin]]—no predecessor can equal Mao Tse-tung's scope of accomplishment, for no other country was ever so ancient and so big as China."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Fairbank |first=John King |author-link=John King Fairbank |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eGbZgYbDVugC&pg=PA276 |title=The United States and China |edition=4th Revised and Enlarged |date=1983 |publisher=[[Harvard University Press]]|isbn=9780674036642 }}</ref> In ''China: A New History'', Fairbank and Goldman assessed Mao's legacy: "Future historians may conclude that Mao's role was to try to destroy the age-old bifurcation of China between a small educated ruling stratum and the vast mass of common people. We do not yet know how far he succeeded. The economy was developing, but it was left to his successors to create a new political structure."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Fairbank |first1=John King |last2=Goldman |first2=Merle |title=China: a new history |date=2006 |publisher=Belknap Press of Harvard University Press |location=Cambridge (Mass.) |isbn=0-674-01828-1 |edition=2nd enlarged}}</ref>
Mao is regarded as a national hero of China. In 2008, China opened the Mao Zedong Square to visitors in his hometown of central Hunan Province to mark the 115th anniversary of his birth.<ref>[http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2008-12/25/content_7341714.htm Chairman Mao square opened on his 115th birth anniversary]</ref><ref>Mao Zedong still draws crowds on 113th birth anniversary http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200612/27/eng20061227_336033.html</ref>


[[Stuart R. Schram]] said "Eternal rebel, refusing to be bound by the laws of God or man, nature or Marxism, he led his people for three decades in pursuit of a vision initially noble, which turned increasingly into a mirage, and then into a nightmare. Was he a [[Faust]] or [[Prometheus]], attempting the impossible for the sake of humanity, or a despot of unbridled ambition, drunk with his own power and his own cleverness?"<ref>{{cite book |last1=Schram |first1=Stuart R. |author1-link=Stuart R. Schram |title=The thought of Mao Tse-Tung |date=1989 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |location=Cambridge [Cambridgeshire] |isbn=978-0521310628}}</ref> Schram also said "I agree with the current Chinese view that Mao's merits outweighed his faults, but it is not easy to put a figure on the positive and negative aspects. How does one weigh, for example, the good fortune of hundreds of millions of peasants in getting land against the execution, in the course of land reform and the 'Campaign against Counter-Revolutionaries,' or in other contexts, of millions, some of whom certainly deserved to die, but others of whom undoubtedly did not? How does one balance the achievements in economic development during the first Five-Year Plan, or during the whole twenty-seven years of Mao's leadership after 1949, against the starvation which came in the wake of the misguided enthusiasm of the Great Leap Forward, or the bloody shambles of the Cultural Revolution?" Schram added, "In the last analysis, however, I am more interested in the potential future impact of his thought than in sending Mao as an individual to Heaven or to Hell."<ref name="MacFarquhar">{{cite journal |title=Stuart Reynolds Schram, 1924–2012 |last=MacFarquhar |first=Roderick |journal=[[China Quarterly]] |date=December 2012 |volume=212 |issue=212 |pages=1099–1122 |doi=10.1017/S0305741012001518 |doi-access=free}}</ref>
[[File:Chairman Mao.jpg|left|270px|thumb|Mao's official portrait at the [[Tianmen Square|Tiananmen]] gate.]]


[[Maurice Meisner]] assessed Mao's legacy: "It is the blots on the Maoist record, especially the Great Leap and the Cultural Revolution, that are now most deeply imprinted on our political and historical consciousness. That these adventures were failures colossal in scope, and that they took an enormous human toll, cannot and should not be forgotten. But future historians, without ignoring the failures and the crimes, will surely record the Maoist era in the history of the People's Republic (however else they may judge it) as one of the great modernizing epochs in world history, and one that brought great social and human benefits to the Chinese people."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Meisner |first1=Maurice J. |title=Mao's China and after: a history of the People's Republic |date=1999 |publisher=Free Press |location=New York, NY |isbn=0684856352 |edition=3.}}</ref>
Supporters of Mao credit him{{Citation needed|date=November 2009}} with advancing the social and economic development of Chinese society. They point out that before 1949, for instance, the [[List of countries by literacy rate|illiteracy rate]] in Mainland China was 80%, and [[life expectancy]] was a meager 35 years. At his death, illiteracy had declined to less than seven percent, and average life expectancy had increased to more than 70 years (alternative statistics also quote improvements, though not nearly as dramatic). In addition to these increases, the total population of China increased 57% to 700 million, from the constant 400 million mark during the span between the [[Opium War]] and the [[Chinese Civil War]].


=== Third World ===
Supporters also state that, under Mao's government, China ended its "Century of Humiliation" from Western and Japanese imperialism and regained its status as a major world power. They also state their belief that Mao also industrialized China to a considerable extent and ensured China's sovereignty during his rule. Many, including some of Mao's supporters, view the [[Kuomintang]], which Mao drove off the mainland, as having been corrupt.
{{see also|Maoism–Third Worldism}}
The ideology of Maoism has influenced many Communists, mainly in the [[Third World]], including revolutionary movements such as [[Cambodia]]'s [[Khmer Rouge]],<ref>{{cite book |first=Robert Jackson |last=Alexander |title=International Maoism in the developing world |publisher=Praeger |date=1999 |page=200}}; {{cite book |last=Jackson |first=Karl D. |title=Cambodia, 1975–1978: Rendezvous with Death |publisher=[[Princeton University Press]] |isbn=978-0691025414 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h27D3EYGwzgC&q=Radical+Left-wing+Chinese+Communist+Underpinnings+of+Cambodian+Communism&pg=PA219 |page=219 |date=1992 |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref> [[Peru]]'s [[Shining Path]], and the [[Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre)|Nepalese revolutionary movement]]. Under the influence of Mao's agrarian socialism and [[Cultural Revolution]], [[Pol Pot]] and the Khmer Rouge conceived of his disastrous [[Year Zero (political notion)|Year Zero]] policies which purged the nation of its teachers, artists and intellectuals and emptied its cities, resulting in the [[Cambodian genocide]].<ref>[[Biography (TV series)]]: Pol Pot; [[A&E Network]], 2003.</ref> The [[Revolutionary Communist Party, USA]], also claims Marxism–Leninism-Maoism as its ideology, as do other Communist Parties around the world which are part of the [[Revolutionary Internationalist Movement]]. China itself has moved sharply away from Maoism since Mao's death, and most people outside of China who describe themselves as Maoist regard the Deng Xiaoping reforms to be a betrayal of Maoism, in line with Mao's view of "[[capitalist roader]]s" within the Communist Party.<ref>{{cite book |first=Tim |last=Clissold |title=Chinese Rules: Mao's Dog, Deng's Cat, and Five Timeless Lessons from the Front Lines in China |location=NY |publisher=Harper |date=2014 |isbn=978-0062316578}}</ref> As the Chinese government instituted market economic reforms starting in the late 1970s and as later Chinese leaders took power, less recognition was given to the status of Mao. This accompanied a decline in state recognition of Mao in later years in contrast to previous years when the state organised numerous events and seminars commemorating Mao's 100th birthday. Nevertheless, the Chinese government has never officially repudiated the tactics of Mao. Deng Xiaoping, who was opposed to the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution, stated that "when we write about his mistakes we should not exaggerate, for otherwise we shall be discrediting Chairman Mao Zedong and this would mean discrediting our party and state."<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Dirlik |first=Arif |date=4 June 2012 |title=Mao Zedong in Contemporary Chinese Official Discourse and History |url=https://journals.openedition.org/chinaperspectives/5852 |journal=China Perspectives |language=en |volume=2012 |issue=2 |pages=17–27 |doi=10.4000/chinaperspectives.5852 |issn=2070-3449 |doi-access=free}}</ref>


The July 1963 [[Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty]] increased Chinese concerns over a US-Soviet re-alignment against China and prompted Mao's articulation of the "Two Intermediate Zones" concept.<ref name=":172" />{{Rp|page=|pages=96–97}} Mao viewed Africa and Latin America as the "First Intermediate Zone", in which China's status as a non-white power might enable it to compete with and supersede both United States and Soviet Union influence.<ref name=":172" />{{Rp|page=48}} The other intermediate zone was the USA's wealthier allies in Europe.<ref name=":172" />{{Rp|page=97}}
They also argue{{Citation needed|date=November 2009}} that the Maoist era improved women's rights by abolishing [[prostitution]] and [[foot binding]]. The latter prohibition however made little sense since foot-binding was no longer practised by the 1920s, and, as early as 1906, a Qing decree was encouraging a ban on the practice. At about the same time, groups in China's provinces were militating for the condition of women, half a century before Mao.<ref>{{cite book|last=Mitter|first=Rana|title=Modern China|publisher=Oxford University Press|date=2009|page=78}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Fenby|first=Jonathan|title=The Penguin History of Modern China: The Fall and Rise of a Great Power, 1850 – 2009|publisher=Penguin Books|date=2009|pages=96–97}}</ref> Prostitution returned after Deng Xiaoping and post-Maoist CPC leaders increased [[liberalization]] of the economy. Mao also created reforms that allowed women to initiate divorce and inherit property. Indeed, Mao once famously remarked that "Women hold up half the heavens". A popular slogan during the Cultural Revolution was, "Break the chains, unleash the fury of women as a mighty force for revolution!"


=== Military strategy ===
Skeptics observe{{Citation needed|date=November 2009}} that similar gains in literacy and life expectancy occurred after 1949 on the small neighboring island of [[Republic of China|Taiwan]], which was ruled by Mao's opponents, namely [[Chiang Kai-Shek]] and the [[Kuomintang]], even though they themselves perpetrated substantial violent repression in their own right. The government that continued to rule Taiwan was composed of the same people ruling the Mainland for over 20 years when life expectancy was so low, yet life expectancy there also increased.
Mao's military writings continue to have a large amount of influence both among those who seek to create an insurgency and those who seek to crush one, especially in manners of guerrilla warfare, at which Mao is popularly regarded as a genius.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ghandhi |first=R.K.S. |date=1965 |title=Mao Tse-tung: His Military Writings and Philosophy |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44635448 |journal=Naval War College Review |volume=17 |issue=7 |pages=1–27 |jstor=44635448 |issn=0028-1484 }}</ref> The [[Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre)|Nepali Maoists]] were highly influenced by Mao's views on [[On Protracted War|protracted war]], [[New Democracy|new democracy]], [[Mass line|support of masses]], [[Continuous revolution theory|permanency of revolution]] and the [[Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Upreti |first=Bhuwan Chandra |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gwGa885LPQAC&pg=PA56 |title=Maoists in Nepal: From Insurgency to Political Mainstream |date=2008 |publisher=Gyan Publishing House |isbn=978-8178356877 |pages=56 |language=en |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref> Mao's major contribution to the military science is his theory of [[People's War]], with not only guerrilla warfare but more importantly, [[Mobile Warfare]] methodologies. Mao had successfully applied Mobile Warfare in the Korean War, and was able to encircle, push back and then halt the UN forces in Korea, despite the clear superiority of UN firepower.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Zhang, Mao's Military Romanticism: China and the Korean War, 1950-1953, 1995 {{!}} US-China Institute |url=https://china.usc.edu/zhang-maos-military-romanticism-china-and-korean-war-1950-1953-1995 |access-date=19 May 2023 |website=china.usc.edu |language=en}}</ref>


=== Literature ===
A counterpoint, however, is that the United States helped Taiwan with aid, along with Japan and other countries, until the early 1960s when Taiwan asked that the aid cease. The mainland was under economic sanctions from the same countries for many years. The mainland also broke with the USSR after disputes, which had been aiding it. In addition, there is considerable difference in magnitude between increasing the literacy and lifespan of a nation of less than 20 million people (Taiwan) and a nation of nearly a billion people.
Mao's poems and writings are frequently cited by both Chinese and non-Chinese. The official Chinese translation of President [[Barack Obama]]'s inauguration speech used a famous line from one of Mao's poems.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://chinapressusa.com/newscenter/2009-01/22/content_186098.htm |work=[[People's Daily]] |script-title=zh:奧巴馬就職演說 引毛澤東詩詞 |language=zh |title=Àobāmǎ jiùzhí yǎnshuō yǐn máozédōng shīcí |trans-title=Obama Inaugural Speech Quotes Mao Zedong's Poetry |date=22 January 2009 |access-date=28 July 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090827144936/http://chinapressusa.com/newscenter/2009-01/22/content_186098.htm |archive-date=27 August 2009 |url-status=dead}}</ref> In the mid-1990s, Mao's picture began to appear on all new [[renminbi]] currency from the People's Republic of China. This was officially instituted as an anti-counterfeiting measure as Mao's face is widely recognised in contrast to the generic figures that appear in older currency. On 13 March 2006, the ''[[People's Daily]]'' reported that a member of the [[Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference]] proposed to include the portraits of [[Sun Yat-sen]] and Deng Xiaoping in the renminbi.<ref>{{Cite news |date=13 March 2006 |title=Portraits of Sun Yat-sen, Deng Xiaoping proposed adding to RMB notes |work=[[People's Daily]] |url=http://en.people.cn/200603/13/eng20060313_250192.html |access-date=23 August 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160308043656/http://en.people.cn/200603/13/eng20060313_250192.html |archive-date=8 March 2016}}</ref>


=== Public image ===
Another comparison has been between India and China. [[Noam Chomsky]] commented on a study by the Indian economist [[Amartya Sen]].
Mao gave contradicting statements on the subject of [[personality cults]]. In 1956, as a response to the [[On the Cult of Personality and Its Consequences|Khrushchev Report]] that criticised [[Joseph Stalin]], Mao stated that personality cults are "poisonous ideological survivals of the old society", and reaffirmed China's commitment to [[collective leadership]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Mao Zedong: A Political and Intellectual Portrait |first=Maurice |last=Meisner |publisher=Polity |year=2007 |page=133}}</ref> At the 1958 party congress in Chengdu, Mao expressed support for the personality cults of people whom he labelled as genuinely worthy figures, not those that expressed "blind worship".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://library.thinkquest.org/26469/cultural-revolution/cult.html |title=Cult of Mao |publisher=library.thinkquest.org |access-date=23 August 2008 |quote=This remark of Mao seems to have elements of truth but it is false. He confuses the worship of truth with a personality cult, despite there being an essential difference between them. But this remark played a role in helping to promote the personality cult that gradually arose in the CCP. |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080601001246/http://library.thinkquest.org/26469/cultural-revolution/cult.html |archive-date=1 June 2008}}</ref>


In 1962, Mao proposed the [[Socialist Education Movement]] (SEM) in an attempt to educate the peasants to resist the "temptations" of feudalism and the sprouts of capitalism that he saw re-emerging in the countryside from Liu's economic reforms.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://chineseposters.net/resources/landsberger-paint-it-red.php |title=Stefan Landsberger, Paint it Red. Fifty years of Chinese Propaganda Posters |website=chineseposters.net |access-date=7 November 2017}}</ref> Large quantities of politicised art were produced and circulated—with Mao at the centre. Numerous posters, [[Chairman Mao badge|badges]], and musical compositions referenced Mao in the phrase "Chairman Mao is the red sun in our hearts" ({{lang-zh|labels=no |t=毛主席是我們心中的紅太陽 |p=Máo Zhǔxí Shì Wǒmen Xīnzhōng De Hóng Tàiyáng}})<ref name="WangMaoBadgesChapter5">[https://www.britishmuseum.org/pdf/2%20-%20Part%202%20-%20Mao%20badges%20with%20low%20res%20image%20of%20poster.pdf Chapter 5: "Mao Badges – Visual Imagery and Inscriptions"] in: [[Helen Wang]]: ''[[Chairman Mao badge]]s: symbols and Slogans of the Cultural Revolution'' (British Museum Research Publication 169). The Trustees of the British Museum, 2008. {{ISBN|978-0861591695}}.</ref> and a "Savior of the people" ({{lang-zh|labels=no |c=人民的大救星 |p=Rénmín De Dà Jiùxīng}}).<ref name="WangMaoBadgesChapter5"/>
:''He observes that India and China had "similarities that were quite striking" when development planning began 50 years ago, including death rates. "But there is little doubt that as far as morbidity, mortality and longevity are concerned, China has a large and decisive lead over India" (in education and other social indicators as well). In both cases, the outcomes have to do with the "ideological predispositions" of the political systems: for China, relatively equitable distribution of medical resources, including rural health services and public distribution of food, all lacking in India.''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.spectrezine.org/global/chomsky.htm|work=Spectrezine (Spectre Magazine online)|title=Counting the Bodies&nbsp;— Noam Chomsky|accessdate=2008-08-23}}</ref>


In October 1966, Mao's ''[[Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-tung]]'', known as the ''Little Red Book'', was published. Party members were encouraged to carry a copy with them, and possession was almost mandatory as a criterion for membership. According to ''[[Mao: The Unknown Story]]'' by [[Jung Chang|Jun Yang]], the mass publication and sale of this text contributed to making Mao the only millionaire created in 1950s China (332). Over the years, Mao's image became displayed almost everywhere, present in homes, offices and shops. His quotations were [[Emphasis (typography)|typographically emphasised]] by putting them in boldface or red type in even the most obscure writings. Music from the period emphasised Mao's stature, as did children's rhymes. The phrase "Long Live Chairman Mao for [[ten thousand years]]" was commonly heard during the era.<ref>{{cite book |last=Lu |first=Xing |title=Rhetoric of the Chinese Cultural Revolution: the impact on Chinese thought, Culture, and Communication |year=2004 |publisher=[[University of South Carolina Press]] |isbn=978-1570035432 |page=65 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GO5HrrJC_aMC&q=Long+Live+Chairman+Mao+for+ten+thousand+years&pg=PA65 |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref>
There continue to be disagreements on Mao's legacy. Some historians claim that Mao Zedong was a dictator comparable to [[Adolf Hitler|Hitler]] and [[Joseph Stalin|Stalin]],<ref>Michael Lynch. ''Mao (Routledge Historical Biographies).'' [[Routledge]], 2004. p. 230: ''"The People’s Republic of China under Mao exhibited the oppressive tendencies that were discernible in all the major absolutist regimes of the twentieth century. There are obvious parallels between Mao’s China, Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia. Each of these regimes witnessed deliberately ordered mass ‘cleansing’ and extermination."''</ref><ref>[[Roderick MacFarquhar|MacFarquhar, Roderick]] and Schoenhals, Michael. ''Mao's Last Revolution''. [[Harvard University Press]], 2006. ISBN 0-674-02332-3 p. 471: ''"Together with Joseph Stalin and Adolf Hitler, Mao appears destined to go down in history as one of the great tyrants of the twentieth century."''</ref> with a death toll surpassing both.<ref name="deathtoll">{{cite book |last=Short |first=Philip |title=Mao: A Life |publisher=Owl Books |year=2001 |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=4y6mACbLWGsC&pg=PA631&dq=mao+a+life+all+the+dead+of+the+second+world+war&ei=V8N5SaWvCIuYMrK0-KwL |isbn=0805066381 |page=631}}; [[Jung Chang|Chang, Jung]] and [[Jon Halliday|Halliday, Jon]]. ''[[Mao: The Unknown Story]].'' [[Jonathan Cape]], London, 2005. ISBN 0-224-07126-2 p. 3; [[R. J. Rummel|Rummel, R. J.]] ''[http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/NOTE2.HTM China’s Bloody Century: Genocide and Mass Murder Since 1900]'' [[Transaction Publishers]], 1991. ISBN 0-88738-417-X p. 205: In light of recent evidence, Rummel has increased Mao's [[democide]] toll to [http://hawaiireporter.com/story.aspx?1c1d76bb-290c-447b-82dd-e295ff0d3d59 77 million]; [[Daniel Jonah Goldhagen]]. ''Worse Than War: Genocide, Eliminationism, and the Ongoing Assault on Humanity.'' [[PublicAffairs]], 2009. ISBN 1586487698 p. 53: ''"...the Chinese communists' murdering of a mind-boggling number of people, perhaps between 50 million and 70 million Chinese, and an additional 1.2 million Tibetans."''</ref><ref name="Fenby">[[Jonathan Fenby|Fenby, Jonathan]]. ''Modern China: The Fall and Rise of a Great Power, 1850 to the Present.'' Ecco, 2008. ISBN 0-06-166116-3 p. 351''"Mao’s responsibility for the extinction of anywhere from 40 to 70 million lives brands him as a mass killer greater than [[Hitler]] or [[Stalin]], his indifference to the suffering and the loss of humans breathtaking."''</ref> Mao was also frequently compared to China's First Emperor [[Qin Shi Huang]], notorious for [[Burning of books and burying of scholars|burying alive hundreds of scholars]], and liked the comparison.<ref>[[Roderick MacFarquhar|MacFarquhar, Roderick]] and Schoenhals, Michael. ''Mao's Last Revolution''. [[Harvard University Press]], 2006. ISBN 0-674-02332-3 p. 428</ref> During a speech to party cadre in 1958, Mao said he had far outdone Qin Shi Huang in his policy against intellectuals: ''"He buried 460 scholars alive; we have buried forty-six thousand scholars alive... You [intellectuals] revile us for being Qin Shi Huangs. You are wrong. We have surpassed Qin Shi Huang a hundredfold."''<ref>''Mao Zedong sixiang wan sui!'' (1969), p. 195. Referenced in ''Governing China: From Revolution to Reform (Second Edition)'' by Kenneth Lieberthal. W.W. Norton & Co., 2003. ISBN 0393924920 p. 71</ref>


[[File:Mao mausoleum queue.jpg|thumb|center|<div style="text-align: center">Visitors wait in line to enter the Mao Zedong Mausoleum.</div>|alt=|300x300px]]
Mao's [[English (language)|English]] interpreter [[Sidney Rittenberg]], who remains the only American ever to be admitted into the [[Chinese Communist Party]], was himself imprisoned in solitary confinement for a total of 16 years during the power struggles of Mao's rule. However, in his memoir ''The Man Who Stayed Behind'', Rittenberg states that he believes Mao never intended to cause the deaths and suffering endured by people under his chairmanship. In his remarks on the matter Rittenberg has declared that Mao "was a great leader in history, and also a great criminal because, not that he wanted to, not that he intended to, but in fact, his wild fantasies led to the deaths of tens of millions of people."<ref name="Reut09" /> Li Rui, Mao's personal secretary, goes further and claims he was dismissive of the suffering and death caused by his policies: "Mao's way of thinking and governing was terrifying. He put no value on human life. The deaths of others meant nothing to him."<ref>Jonathan Watts. ''[http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2005/jun/02/china.jonathanwatts China must confront dark past, says Mao confidant]'' [[The Guardian]], 2 June 2005</ref>


Mao also has a presence in China and around the world in popular culture, where his face adorns everything from T-shirts to coffee cups. Mao's granddaughter, [[Kong Dongmei]], defended the phenomenon, stating that "it shows his influence, that he exists in people's consciousness and has influenced several generations of Chinese people's way of life. Just like [[Che Guevara in popular culture|Che Guevara's image]], his has become a symbol of revolutionary culture."<ref name="Reut09">[http://in.reuters.com/article/entertainmentNews/idINIndia-42756920090928?sp=true Granddaughter Keeps Mao's Memory Alive in Bookshop] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210104030930/https://in.reuters.com/article/entertainmentNews/idINIndia-42756920090928?sp=true |date=4 January 2021 }} by Maxim Duncan, [[Reuters]], 28 September 2009</ref> Since 1950, over 40 million people have visited Mao's birthplace in [[Shaoshan]], Hunan.<ref name="ShaoShan">{{cite web |url=http://www.shaoshan.gov.cn/Article/ShowArticle.asp?ArticleID=14617 |script-title=zh:韶山升起永远不落的红太阳 |language=zh |title=Sháoshān shēng qǐ yǒngyuǎn bù luò de hóng tàiyáng |trans-title=The red sun that never sets rises in Shaoshan |publisher=Shaoshan.gov.cn |access-date=25 October 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141107235535/http://www.shaoshan.gov.cn/Article/ShowArticle.asp?ArticleID=14617 |archive-date=7 November 2014}}</ref>
The United States placed a trade embargo on China as a result of its involvement in the [[Korean War]], lasting until [[Richard Nixon]] decided that developing relations with China would be useful in also dealing with the Soviet Union.


A 2016 survey by [[YouGov]] survey found that 42% of American [[millennials]] have never heard of Mao.<ref>{{cite news |title=Poll: Millennials desperately need to bone up on the history of communism |url=https://www.marketwatch.com/story/poll-millennials-desperately-need-to-bone-up-on-the-history-of-communism-2016-10-17 |work=MarketWatch |date=21 October 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Poll Finds Young Americans More Open to Socialist Ideas |url=https://www.voanews.com/a/young-americans-seen-less-opposed-to-socialist-ideas/3562681.html |work=[[Voice of America|VOA News]] |date=23 October 2016}}</ref> According to the [[Centre for Independent Studies|CIS]] poll, in 2019 only 21% of Australian millennials were familiar with Mao Zedong.<ref>{{cite news |first=Tom |last=Switzer |title=Opinion: Why Millennials are embracing socialism |url=https://www.smh.com.au/national/anxiety-plus-ignorance-why-millennials-are-embracing-socialism-20190222-p50zj5.html |work=[[The Sydney Morning Herald]] |date=23 February 2019}}</ref> In 2020s China, members of [[Generation Z]] are embracing Mao's revolutionary ideas, including violence against the capitalist class, amid rising social inequality, long working hours, and decreasing economic opportunities.<ref>{{cite news |last=Yuan |first=Li |date=8 July 2021 |title='Who Are Our Enemies?' China's Bitter Youths Embrace Mao. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/08/business/china-mao.html |work=[[The New York Times]] |location= |access-date=8 July 2021}}</ref> As of the early 2020s, surveys conducted on [[Zhihu]] frequently rank Mao as one of the greatest and most influential figures in Chinese history.<ref name=":11" />{{Rp|page=58}}
Mao's military writings continue to have a large amount of influence both among those who seek to create an [[insurgency]] and those who seek to crush one, especially in manners of guerrilla warfare, at which Mao is popularly regarded as a genius. As an example, the [[Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist)]] followed Mao's examples of guerrilla warfare to considerable political and military success even in the 21st century.


== Genealogy ==
However, Mao's major contribution to the military science is his theory of [[People's War]], with not only [[Guerrilla warfare]] but more importantly, [[Mobile Warfare]] methodologies. Mao had successfully applied [[Mobile Warfare]] in the [[Korean War]], and was able to encircle, push back and then halt the UN forces in Korea, despite the overwhelming strength of UN firepower.


=== Ancestors ===
Mao's poems and writings are frequently cited by both Chinese and non-Chinese. The official Chinese translation of President Barack Obama's inauguration speech used a famous line from one of Mao's poems.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://chinapressusa.com/newscenter/2009-01/22/content_186098.htm|work=People's Daily Online|title=奥巴马就职演说 引毛泽东诗词|date=2009-01-22|accessdate=2009-07-15}}</ref> [[John McCain]] misattributed a campaign quote to Mao several times during his 2008 presidential election bid, saying "Remember the words of Chairman Mao: 'It's always darkest before it's totally black.'"
Mao's ancestors were:
* {{lang|zh-Latn|Máo Yíchāng}} ({{lang|zh-hant|毛貽昌}}, born [[Xiangtan]] 1870, died [[Shaoshan]] 1920), father, [[courtesy name]] {{lang|zh-Latn|Máo Shùnshēng}} ({{lang|zh-hant|毛順生}}) or also known as Mao Jen-sheng
* {{lang|zh-Latn|Wén Qīmèi}} ({{lang|zh|文七妹}}, born Xiangxiang 1867, died 1919), mother. She was illiterate and a devout Buddhist. She was a descendant of [[Wen Tianxiang]].
* {{lang|zh-Latn|Máo Ēnpǔ}} ({{lang|zh|毛恩普}}, born 1846, died 1904), paternal grandfather
* {{lang|zh-Latn|Liú}} ({{lang|zh-hant|劉/刘}}, given name not recorded, born 1847, died 1884),{{sfn|Pantsov|Levine|2012|pp=13}} paternal grandmother
* {{lang|zh-Latn|Máo Zǔrén}} ({{lang|zh|毛祖人}}), paternal great-grandfather


=== Wives ===
The ideology of [[Maoism]] has influenced many communists around the world, including [[Third World]] revolutionary movements such as [[Cambodia]]'s [[Khmer Rouge]],<ref>{{cite book |last=Jackson |first=Karl D |title=Cambodia, 1975–1978: Rendezvous with Death |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=069102541X |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=h27D3EYGwzgC&pg=PA219&dq=Radical+Left-wing+Chinese+Communist+Underpinnings+of+Cambodian+Communism&ei=vwF5R6HIHYjOiQHFu7DJDQ&ie=ISO-8859-1&sig=bexUOMGrciQwVW3S4kHk5X3eXqc |page=219}}</ref> [[Peru]]'s [[Shining Path]], and the [[Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist)|revolutionary movement]] in [[Nepal]]. The [[Revolutionary Communist Party, USA]] also claims Marxism-Leninism-Maoism as its ideology, as do other Communist Parties around the world which are part of the [[Revolutionary Internationalist Movement]]. China itself has moved sharply away from Maoism since Mao's death, and most people outside of China who describe themselves as Maoist regard the Deng Xiaoping reforms to be a betrayal of Maoism, in line with Mao's view of "[[Capitalist roader]]s" within the Communist Party.
[[File:Mao Jiang Qing and daughter Li Na.jpg|thumb|Mao with [[Jiang Qing]] and daughter [[Li Na (daughter of Mao Zedong)|Li Na]] in the 1940s]]


Mao had four wives who gave birth to a total of 10 children, among them:
As the Chinese government instituted free market economic reforms starting in the late 1970s and as later Chinese leaders took power, less recognition was given to the status of Mao. This accompanied a decline in state recognition of Mao in later years in contrast to previous years when the state organized numerous events and seminars commemorating Mao's 100th birthday. Nevertheless, the Chinese government has never officially repudiated the tactics of Mao.
# [[Luo Yixiu]] (1889–1910) of [[Shaoshan]]: married 1907 to 1910
# [[Yang Kaihui]] (1901–1930) of [[Changsha]]: married 1921 to 1927, executed by the KMT in 1930; mother to [[Mao Anying]], [[Mao Anqing]], and [[Mao Anlong]]
# [[He Zizhen]] (1910–1984) of Jiangxi: married May 1928 to 1937; mother to 6 children
# [[Jiang Qing]] (1914–1991), married 1939 until Mao's death; mother to [[Li Na (daughter of Mao Zedong)|Li Na]]


=== Siblings ===
In the mid-1990s, Mao Zedong's picture began to appear on all new [[renminbi]] currency from the People’s Republic of China. This was officially instituted as an anti-counterfeiting measure as Mao's face is widely recognized in contrast to the generic figures that appear in older currency. On 13 March 2006, a story in the [[People's Daily]] reported that a proposal had been made to print the portraits of [[Sun Yat-sen]] and [[Deng Xiaoping]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://english.people.com.cn/200603/13/eng20060313_250192.html|work=People's Daily Online|title=Portraits of Sun Yat-sen, Deng Xiaoping proposed adding to RMB notes|date=2006-03-13|accessdate=2008-08-23}}</ref>
Mao had several siblings:
* [[Mao Zemin]] (1896–1943), younger brother, executed by a warlord
* [[Mao Zetan]] (1905–1935), younger brother, executed by the KMT
* [[Mao Zejian]] (1905–1929), adopted sister, executed by the KMT


Mao's parents altogether had five sons and two daughters. Two of the sons and both daughters died young, leaving the three brothers Mao Zedong, Mao Zemin, and Mao Zetan. Like all three of Mao Zedong's wives, Mao Zemin and Mao Zetan were communists. Like Yang Kaihui, both Mao Zemin and Mao Zetan were killed in warfare during Mao Zedong's lifetime. Note that the character ''zé'' ({{lang|zh-hant|澤}}) appears in all of the siblings' given names; this is a common [[Chinese name#Given names|Chinese naming convention]].
In 2006, the government in Shanghai issued a new set of high school history textbooks which omit Mao, with the exception of a single mention in a section on etiquette. Students in Shanghai now only learn about Mao in junior high school.<ref>{{cite news|last=Kahn|first=Joseph|title=Where’s Mao? Chinese Revise History Books|publisher=New York Times|date=2006-09-02|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/01/world/asia/01china.html?<!-- -->ex=1314763200&en=abf86c087b22be74&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss|accessdate=2007-02-28}}</ref>


From the next generation, Mao Zemin's son [[Mao Yuanxin]] was raised by Mao Zedong's family, and he became Mao Zedong's liaison with the Politburo in 1975. In Li Zhisui's ''[[The Private Life of Chairman Mao]]'', Mao Yuanxin played a role in the final power-struggles.{{sfn|Li|1994|p=659}}
==Genealogy==
Mao Zedong had several wives who contributed to a large family. These were:
# [[Luo Yixiu]] (罗一秀, 1889–1910) of [[Shaoshan]]: married 1907 to 1910
# [[Yang Kaihui]] (杨开慧, 1901–1930) of [[Changsha]]: married 1921 to 1927, executed by the [[Kuomintang|KMT]] in 1930
# [[He Zizhen]] (贺子珍, 1910–1984) of Jiangxi: married May 1928 to 1939
# [[Jiang Qing]]: (江青, 1914–1991), married 1939 to Mao's death


=== Children ===
His ancestors were:
Mao had a total of ten children,{{sfn|Spence|1999|p=97}} including:
* Wen Qimei (文七妹, 1867–1919), mother. She was illiterate and a devout Buddhist. She was a descendant of [[Wen Tianxiang]].
* [[Mao Anying]] (1922–1950): son to Yang, married to {{lang|zh-Latn|Liú Sīqí}} ({{lang|zh-hant|劉思齊}}), [[killed in action]] during the [[Korean War]]
* Mao Yichang (毛贻昌, 1870–1920), father, [[courtesy name]] Mao Shunsheng (毛顺生) or also known as Mao Jen-sheng
* [[Mao Anqing]] (1923–2007): son to Yang, married to [[Shao Hua]], son [[Mao Xinyu]], grandson Mao Dongdong
* Mao Enpu (毛恩普), paternal grandfather
* Mao Anlong (1927–1931): son to Yang, died during the [[Chinese Civil War]]
* Mao Zuren (毛祖人), paternal great-grandfather
* Mao Anhong: son to He, left to Mao's younger brother [[Mao Zetan|Zetan]] and then to one of Zetan's guards when he went off to war, was never heard of again
* [[Li Min (daughter of Mao Zedong)|Li Min]] (b. 1936): daughter to He, married to {{lang|zh-Latn|Kǒng Lìnghuá}} ({{lang|zh-hant|孔令華}}), son {{lang|zh-Latn|Kǒng Jìníng}} ({{lang|zh-hant|孔繼寧}}), daughter [[Kong Dongmei]] ({{lang|zh|孔冬梅}})
* [[Li Na (daughter of Mao Zedong)|Li Na]] (b. 1940): daughter to Jiang (whose birth surname was Lǐ, a name also used by Mao while evading the KMT), married to {{lang|zh-Latn|Wáng Jǐngqīng}} ({{lang|zh|王景清}}), son {{lang|zh-Latn|Wáng Xiàozhī}} ({{lang|zh-hant|王效芝}})


Mao's first and second daughters were left to local villagers because it was too dangerous to raise them while fighting the [[Kuomintang]] and later the Japanese. Their youngest daughter (born in early 1938 in Moscow after Mao separated) and one other child (born 1933) died in infancy. Two English researchers who retraced the entire Long March route in 2002–2003<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/en/doc/2003-11/23/content_283948.htm|title= Stepping into history|work=China Daily|date=23 November 2003|access-date=23 August 2008}}</ref> located a woman whom they believe might well be one of the missing children abandoned by Mao to peasants in 1935. Ed Jocelyn and Andrew McEwen hope a member of the Mao family will respond to requests for a DNA test.<ref>''The Long March'', by Ed Jocelyn and Andrew McEwen. Constable 2006</ref>
He had several siblings:
* [[Mao Zemin]] (毛泽民, 1895–1943), younger brother, executed by a warlord
* [[Mao Zetan]] (毛泽覃, 1905–1935), younger brother, executed by the [[Kuomintang|KMT]]
* [[Mao Zejian]] (毛泽建, 1905–1929), adopted sister, executed by the [[Kuomintang|KMT]]


Through his ten children, Mao became grandfather to twelve grandchildren, many of whom he never knew. He has many great-grandchildren alive today. One of his granddaughters is businesswoman [[Kong Dongmei]], one of the richest people in China.<ref>Kong Dongmei on China's rich list:
:Mao Zedong's parents altogether had six sons and two daughters. Two of the sons and both daughters died young, leaving the three brothers Mao Zedong, Mao Zemin, and Mao Zetan. Like all three of Mao Zedong's wives, Mao Zemin and Mao Zetan were communists. Like Yang Kaihui, both Zemin and Zetan were killed in warfare during Mao Zedong's lifetime.
* {{cite news|title=Kong Dongmei, Granddaughter Of Mao Zedong, Appears On China Rich List|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/09/kong-dongmei-china-rich-list-mao_n_3244297.html|access-date=29 July 2015|agency=[[Agence France-Presse]]|work=[[HuffPost]]|date=9 July 2015}}
Note that the character ''ze'' (泽) appears in all of the siblings' given names. This is a common Chinese naming convention.
* {{cite news|author1=Malcolm Moore|title=Mao's granddaughter accused over China rich list|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/10046550/Maos-granddaughter-accused-over-China-rich-list.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/10046550/Maos-granddaughter-accused-over-China-rich-list.html |archive-date=10 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|access-date=29 July 2015|work=[[The Daily Telegraph]]|date=9 May 2013|location=Beijing}}{{cbignore}}</ref> His grandson [[Mao Xinyu]] is a general in the Chinese army.<ref>{{cite news|title=Mao's grandson, promoted to major general, faces ridicule|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2010-aug-04-la-fg-china-mao-20100804-story.html|access-date=29 July 2015|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|date=4 August 2010}}</ref> Both he and Kong have written books about their grandfather.<ref>{{Cite web|date=22 December 2003|title=Family Cherish the Chairman|url=http://www.china.org.cn/english/culture/83075.htm |website=[[China Internet Information Center]]}}</ref>


== Personal life ==
From the next generation, Zemin's son, [[Mao Yuanxin]], was raised by Mao Zedong's family. He became Mao Zedong's liaison with the Politburo in 1975. Sources like [[Li Zhisui]] (''[[The Private Life of Chairman Mao]]'') say that he played a role in the final power-struggles.<ref>''Biographical Sketches'' in ''[[The Private Life of Chairman Mao]]''</ref>
[[File:Mao Zedong and Zhang Yufeng in 1964.jpg|thumb|Mao and [[Zhang Yufeng]] in 1964]]


Mao's private life was kept very secret at the time of his rule. After Mao's death, [[Li Zhisui]], his personal physician, published ''[[The Private Life of Chairman Mao]]'', a memoir which mentions some aspects of Mao's private life, such as chain-smoking cigarettes, addiction to powerful sleeping pills and large number of sexual partners.<ref>[[#Li94|Li]], 1994.</ref> Some scholars and others who knew Mao personally have disputed the accuracy of these accounts and characterisations.<ref>[[#De96|DeBorga and Dong 1996]]. p. 4.</ref>
Mao Zedong had several children:
* [[Mao Anying]] (毛岸英): son to Yang, married to Liu Siqi (刘思齐), who was born Liu Songlin (刘松林), [[killed in action]] during the [[Korean War]]
* [[Mao Anqing]] (1923–2007): son to Yang, married to [[Shao Hua]] (邵华), son [[Mao Xinyu]] (毛新宇), grandson [[Mao Dongdong]].
* [[Li Min]] (李敏): daughter to He, married to Kong Linghua (孔令华), son Kong Ji'ning (孔继宁), daughter Kong Dongmei (孔冬梅)
* [[Li Na (Daughter of Mao Zedong)|Li Na]] (Chinese:李讷; Pinyin: Lĭ Nà): daughter to Jiang (whose birth given name was Li, a name also used by Mao while evading the KMT), married to Wang Jingqing (王景清), son Wang Xiaozhi (王效芝)


Having grown up in [[Hunan]], Mao spoke [[Mandarin Chinese|Mandarin]] with a marked Hunanese accent.{{sfn|Hollingworth|1985|pp=29–30}} [[Ross Terrill]] wrote Mao was a "son of the soil ... rural and unsophisticated" in origins,{{sfn|Terrill|1980|p=19}} while [[Clare Hollingworth]] said that Mao was proud of his "peasant ways and manners", having a strong Hunanese accent and providing "earthy" comments on sexual matters.{{sfn|Hollingworth|1985|pp=29–30}} [[Lee Feigon]] said that Mao's "earthiness" meant that he remained connected to "everyday Chinese life."{{sfn|Feigon|2002|p=26}}
Sources suggest that Mao did have other children during his revolutionary days; some died, but in most of these cases the children were left with peasant families because it was difficult to take care of the children while focusing on revolution. Two English researchers who retraced the entire Long March route in 2002–2003<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/en/doc/2003-11/23/content_283948.htm|title= Stepping into history|work=China Daily|date=2003-11-23|accessdate=2008-08-23}}</ref> located a woman whom they believe might well be a missing child abandoned by Mao to peasants in 1935. Ed Jocelyn and Andrew McEwen hope a member of the Mao family will respond to requests for a DNA test.<ref>''The Long March'', by Ed Jocelyn and Andrew McEwen. Constable 2006</ref> It has been confirmed that Yang Kaihui had given birth to three children while with Mao and He Zizhen had six, most probably all Mao's.


Sinologist [[Stuart R. Schram]] emphasised Mao's ruthlessness but also noted that he showed no sign of taking pleasure in torture or killing in the revolutionary cause.{{sfn|Schram|1966|p=153}} Lee Feigon considered Mao "draconian and authoritarian" when threatened but opined that he was not the "kind of villain that his mentor Stalin was".{{sfn|Feigon|2002|p=53}} Alexander Pantsov and Steven I. Levine wrote that Mao was a "man of complex moods", who "tried his best to bring about prosperity and gain international respect" for China, being "neither a saint nor a demon."{{sfn|Pantsov|Levine|2012|pp=5–6}} They noted that in early life, he strove to be "a strong, wilful, and purposeful hero, not bound by any moral chains", and that he "passionately desired fame and power".{{sfn|Pantsov|Levine|2012|pp=42, 66}}
==Personal life==
There are few academic sources discussing Mao's private life, which was very secretive at the time of his rule. However, and particularly after Mao's death, there has been an influx of publications on his personal life, as an example [[The Private Life of Chairman Mao]] by his physician [[Li Zhisui]]. ''The Private Life of Chairman Mao'' claims he had chain smoked cigarettes, had poor [[dental hygiene]], causing his teeth to be colored green (it was also claimed that he rubbed Green Tea on his teeth instead of more commonly used dental hygiene methods, giving his teeth a distinctly green color) and generally lived a life of deviancy and excess.


Mao learned to speak some English, particularly through [[Zhang Hanzhi]], his English teacher, interpreter and diplomat who later married [[Qiao Guanhua]], Minister of Foreign Affairs and the head of China's UN delegation.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://mobile.nytimes.com/2008/01/29/world/asia/29zhang.html |title=Zhang Hanzhi, Mao's English Tutor, Dies at 72 |first=David |last=Barboza |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=29 January 2008}}</ref> His spoken English was limited to a few single words, phrases, and some short sentences. He first chose to systematically learn English in the 1950s, which was very unusual as the main foreign language first taught in Chinese schools at that time was Russian.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://history.people.com.cn/n/2015/0709/c372327-27277288-3.html |script-title=zh:揭秘毛泽东为什么学英语:"这是斗争的需要" |website=[[People's Daily]] |title=Jiēmì máozédōng wèishéme xué yīngyǔ:"Zhè shì dòuzhēng de xūyào" |trans-title= Demystifying why Mao Zedong learned English: "This is the need of struggle" |date=9 July 2015 |language=zh-cn |access-date=12 January 2018 |archive-date=13 January 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180113093107/http://history.people.com.cn/n/2015/0709/c372327-27277288-3.html |url-status=dead}}</ref>
==Writings and calligraphy==
[[File:Mao-calligraphy1.jpg|thumb|right|180px|Mao's [[calligraphy]]: ''[[The People's Republic of China]]: all nationalities unite. Mao Zedong.'' ({{zh|c=中华人民共和国各民族团结起来 毛泽东}} Zhōnghuárénmíngònghéguó gè mínzú tuánjié qǐ lái – Máo Zédōng)]]


== Writings and calligraphy ==
Mao was a prolific writer of political and philosophical literature.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.iisg.nl/~landsberger/mzdt.html |title=Stefan Landsberger's Chinese Propaganda Poster Pages-Mao Zedong Thought<!- Bot generated title -> |accessdate=2008-08-23}}</ref> Mao is the attributed author of ''[[Quotations From Chairman Mao Tse-Tung]]'', known in the West as the "Little Red Book" and in Cultural-revolution China as the "Red Treasure Book" (红宝书): this is a collection of short extracts from his speeches and articles, edited by [[Lin Biao]] and ordered topically. Mao wrote several other philosophical treatises, both before and after he assumed power. These include:
[[File:Baidi Mao.jpg|thumb|upright|Mao's [[calligraphy]]: a bronze plaque of a poem by [[Li Bai]]. (Chinese: 白帝城毛澤東手書李白詩銅匾 )]]
* ''[[On Guerrilla Warfare]]''; 1937
{{quote box
* ''On Practice'' (《实践论》); 1937
| quote = <poem>{{lang|zh-Hant|鷹擊長空,
* ''[[On Contradiction]]'' (《矛盾论》); 1937
魚翔淺底,
* ''[[On Protracted War]]'' (《论持久战》); 1938
萬類霜天競自由。
* ''[[Norman Bethune#Memory|In Memory of Norman Bethune]]'' (《纪念白求恩》); 1939
悵寥廓,
* ''On [[New Democracy]]'' (《新民主主义论》); 1940
問蒼茫大地,
* ''Talks at the Yan'an Forum on Literature and Art'' (《在延安文艺座谈会上的讲话》); 1942
誰主沉浮
* ''[[Serve the People]]'' (《为人民服务》); 1944
|size = 110%}}</poem>
* ''The Foolish Old Man Who Removed the Mountains'' (《愚公移山》); 1945
* ''On the Correct Handling of the Contradictions Among the People'' (《正确处理人民内部矛盾问题》); 1957


<poem>Eagles cleave the air,
Mao was also a skilled [[calligrapher]] with a highly personal style. In China, Mao was considered a master calligrapher during his lifetime.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.asiawind.com/art/callig/modern.htm#Contemporary%20Chinese%20Calligraphy |title=100 years<!- Bot generated title -> |accessdate=2008-08-23}}</ref> His [[Chinese calligraphy|calligraphy]] can be seen today throughout mainland China.<ref>{{cite book |last=Yen |first=Yuehping |title=Calligraphy and Power in Contemporary Chinese Society |publisher=Routledge |year=2005 |url=http://books.google.com/books?visbn=0415317533 |page=2}}</ref> His work gave rise to a new form of [[Chinese calligraphy]] called "Mao-style" or ''Maoti'', which has gained increasing popularity since his death. There currently exist various competitions specializing in Mao-style calligraphy.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://art.people.com.cn/GB/41132/41137/4802132.html|work=People.com|title=首届毛体书法邀请赛精品纷呈|date=2006-09-11|language=Chinese}}</ref>
Fish glide in the limpid deep;
Under freezing skies a million creatures contend in freedom.
Brooding over this immensity,
I ask, on this boundless land
Who rules over man's destiny?</poem>
| source = —Excerpt from Mao's poem "Changsha", September 1927{{sfn|Carter|1976|p=64}}
| align = right
| width = 25em
| bgcolor = #ACE1AF
}}
Mao was a prolific writer of political and philosophical literature.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://chineseposters.net/themes/mao-thought.php |title=Mao Zedong Thought – Part 1 |access-date=30 April 2011 }}</ref> The main repository of his pre-1949 writings is the [[Selected Works of Mao Zedong]]. A fifth volume, which brought the timeline up to 1957, was briefly issued, but subsequently withdrawn from circulation for its perceived ideological errors. There has never been an official "Complete Works of Mao Zedong".<ref>Wilkinson, Endymion (2018). ''Chinese History: A New Manual'' (5th paperback ed.). Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Asia Center. {{ISBN|978-0998888309}}.</ref> Mao is the attributed author of ''[[Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-tung]]'', known in the West as the "Little Red Book" and in Cultural Revolution China as the "Red Treasure Book" ({{lang|zh-hant|紅寶書}}). First published in January 1964, this is a collection of short extracts from his many speeches and articles (most found in the Selected Works), edited by [[Lin Biao]], and ordered topically. ''The Little Red Book'' contains some of Mao's most widely known quotes.{{efn|Among them are:
{{blockquote|War is the highest form of struggle for resolving contradictions, when they have developed to a certain stage, between classes, nations, states, or political groups, and it has existed ever since the emergence of private property and of classes.|source="Problems of Strategy in China's Revolutionary War" (December 1936), ''Selected Works of Mao Tse-tung'', '''I''', p. 180.}}
{{blockquote|Every communist must grasp the truth, '[[Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun]].{{'"}}|source=1938, ''Selected Works of Mao Tse-tung'', '''II''', pp. 224–225.}}
{{blockquote|Taken as a whole, the Chinese revolutionary movement led by the Communist Party embraces two stages, i.e., the democratic and the socialist revolutions, which are two essentially different revolutionary processes, and the second process can be carried through only after the first has been completed. The democratic revolution is the necessary preparation for the socialist revolution, and the socialist revolution is the inevitable sequel to the democratic revolution. The ultimate aim for which all communists strive is to bring about a socialist and communist society."|source="The Chinese Revolution and the Chinese Communist Party" (December 1939), ''Selected Works of Mao Tse-tung'', '''II'', pp. 330–331.}}
{{blockquote|All reactionaries are [[paper tiger]]s. In appearance, the reactionaries are terrifying, but in reality they are not so powerful. From a long-term point of view, it is not the reactionaries but the people who are really powerful.|source=Mao Zedong (July 1956), "U.S. Imperialism Is a Paper Tiger".}}}}


Mao wrote prolifically on political strategy, commentary, and philosophy both before and after he assumed power.{{efn|The most influential of these include:
===Literary figure===
* ''[[Report on an Investigation of the Peasant Movement in Hunan]]'' ({{lang|zh-hant|《湖南农民运动考察报告》}}); March 1927
Politics aside, Mao is considered one of modern China's most influential literary figures, and was an avid poet, mainly in the classical ''[[ci (poetry)|ci]]'' and ''[[shi (poetry)|shi]]'' forms. His poems are all in the traditional Chinese verse style.
* ''[[On Guerrilla Warfare]]'' ({{lang|zh-hant|《游擊戰》}}); 1937
* ''[[On Practice]]'' ({{lang|zh-hant|《實踐論》}}); 1937
* ''[[On Contradiction]]'' ({{lang|zh-hant|《矛盾論》}}); 1937
* ''[[On Protracted War]]'' ({{lang|zh-hant|《論持久戰》}}); 1938
* ''[[Norman Bethune#Legacy|In Memory of Norman Bethune]]'' ({{lang|zh-hant|《紀念白求恩》}}); 1939
* ''On [[New Democracy]]'' ({{lang|zh-hant|《新民主主義論》}}); 1940
* ''[[Talks at the Yan'an Forum on Literature and Art]]'' ({{lang|zh-hant|《在延安文藝座談會上的講話》}}); 1942
* ''[[Serve the People]]'' ({{lang|zh-hant|《為人民服務》}}); 1944
* ''The Foolish Old Man Who Removed the Mountains'' ({{lang|zh|《愚公移山》}}); 1945
* ''On the Correct Handling of the Contradictions Among the People'' ({{lang|zh-hant|《正確處理人民內部矛盾問題》}}); 1957}} Mao was also a skilled [[Chinese calligrapher]] with a highly personal style.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.asiawind.com/art/callig/modern.htm#Contemporary%20Chinese%20Calligraphy |title=100 years |website=Asia Wind |access-date=23 August 2008}}</ref> His calligraphy can be seen today throughout mainland China.<ref>{{cite book |last=Yen |first=Yuehping |title=Calligraphy and Power in Contemporary Chinese Society |publisher=Routledge |year=2005 |url=https://books.google.com/books?visbn=0415317533 |page=2}}</ref> His work gave rise to a new form of Chinese calligraphy called "Mao-style" or ''Maoti'', which has gained increasing popularity since his death. There exist various competitions specialising in Mao-style calligraphy.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://art.people.com.cn/GB/41132/41137/4802132.html |work=People |script-title=zh:首屆毛體書法邀請賽精品紛呈 |title=Shǒujiè máo tǐ shūfǎ yāoqǐngsài jīngpǐn fēnchéng |trans-title=The First Mao Ti Calligraphy Invitational Contest |date=11 September 2006 |language=zh |access-date=1 April 2007 |archive-date=26 November 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061126185030/http://art.people.com.cn/GB/41132/41137/4802132.html |url-status=dead}}</ref>


=== Literary works ===
As did most Chinese intellectuals of his generation, Mao received rigorous education in Chinese classical literature. His style was deeply influenced by the great [[Tang Dynasty]] poets [[Li Bai]] and [[Li He]]. He is considered to be a [[romanticism|romantic]] poet, in contrast to the [[Literary realism|realist]] poets represented by [[Du Fu]].
{{main|Poetry of Mao Zedong}}
Mao's education began with [[Chinese classics|Chinese classical literature]]. Mao told Edgar Snow in 1936 that he had started the study of the Confucian [[Analects]] and the [[Four Books and Five Classics|Four Books]] at a village school when he was eight, but that the books he most enjoyed reading were ''[[Water Margin]]'', ''[[Journey to the West]]'', the ''[[Romance of the Three Kingdoms]]'' and ''[[Dream of the Red Chamber]]''.<ref name="Barnstone">Barnstone, Willis (1972; rpr. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2008). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=1SCD3xwYwJ0C&pg=PP1 The Poems of Mao Zedong]''. pp. 3–4. {{ISBN|0520935004}}.</ref> Mao published poems in classical forms starting in his youth and his abilities as a poet contributed to his image in China after he came to power in 1949. His style was influenced by the great [[Tang dynasty]] poets [[Li Bai]] and [[Li He]].<ref>Ng, Yong-sang (1963). "The Poetry of Mao Tse-tung". ''The China Quarterly'' '''13''': 60–73. {{doi|10.1017/S0305741000009711}}.</ref>


Many of Mao's poems are still popular in China and a few are taught as a mandatory part of the elementary school curriculum. Some of his most well-known poems are: ''[[Changsha (poem)|Changsha]]'' (1925), ''The Double Ninth'' (1929.10), ''Loushan Pass'' (1935), ''The Long March'' (1935), ''Snow'' (1936.02), ''The PLA Captures Nanjing'' (1949.04), ''Reply to Li Shuyi'' (1957.05.11), and ''Ode to the Plum Blossom'' (1961.12).
Some of his best known poems are "[[Changsha (poem)|Changsha]]" (1925), "[[The Double Ninth]]" (October 1929), "Loushan Pass" (1935), "The Long March" (1935), "[[Snow (1936 poetry)|Snow]]" (February 1936), "[[The PLA Captures Nanjing]]" (1949), "[[Reply to Li Shuyi]]" (11 May 1957), and "Ode to the Plum Blossom" (December 1961).
{{clr}}


==See also==
==Portrayal in media==
Mao has been portrayed in film and television numerous times. Some notable actors include: Han Shi, the first actor ever to have portrayed Mao, in a 1978 drama ''Dielianhua'' and later again in a 1980 film ''Cross the Dadu River'';<ref>{{cite web|title=Being Mao Zedong|url=http://www.china.org.cn/arts/2011-07/04/content_22917108.htm|work=Global Times|access-date=15 March 2013|date=4 July 2011}}</ref> [[Gu Yue]], who had portrayed Mao 84 times on screen throughout his 27-year career and had won the Best Actor title at the [[Hundred Flowers Awards]] in 1990 and 1993;<ref>{{cite web|title=Famous actor playing Mao Zedong dies|url=http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200507/05/eng20050705_194191.html|work=People's Daily|access-date=15 March 2013|date=5 July 2005}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Actor famous for playing Mao Zedong dies of miocardial infarction|url=http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200507/05/eng20050705_194076.html|work=People's Daily|access-date=15 March 2013|date=5 July 2005}}</ref> [[Liu Ye (actor)|Liu Ye]], who played a young Mao in ''[[The Founding of a Party]]'' (2011);<ref>{{cite web|last=Liu|first=Wei|title=The reel Mao|url=http://europe.chinadaily.com.cn/epaper/2011-06/03/content_12636667.htm|work=China Daily European Weekly|access-date=15 March 2013|date=3 June 2011}}</ref> [[Tang Guoqiang]], who has frequently portrayed Mao in more recent times, in the films ''The Long March'' (1996) and ''[[The Founding of a Republic]]'' (2009), and the television series ''[[Huang Yanpei (TV series)|Huang Yanpei]]'' (2010), among others.<ref>{{cite web|last=Xiong|first=Qu|title=Actors expect prosperity of Chinese culture|url=http://english.cntv.cn/program/cultureexpress/20111126/104783.shtml|publisher=CCTV News|access-date=15 March 2013|date=26 November 2011|archive-date=14 December 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131214133729/http://english.cntv.cn/program/cultureexpress/20111126/104783.shtml|url-status=dead}}</ref> Mao is a principal character in American composer [[John Adams (composer)|John Adams]]' opera ''[[Nixon in China]]'' (1987). [[The Beatles]]' song "[[Revolution (Beatles song)|Revolution]]" refers to Mao in the verse "but if you go carrying pictures of Chairman Mao you ain't going to make it with anyone anyhow...";<ref name="AldridgeBeatles1969">{{cite book |first1=Alan |last1=Aldridge |author2=Beatles |title=The Beatles Illustrated Lyrics |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DKG-FXj_HNYC&pg=PA104 |year=1969 |publisher=[[Houghton Mifflin Harcourt]] |isbn=978-0395594261 |page=104}}</ref> [[John Lennon]] expressed regret over including these lines in the song in 1972.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Spignesi |first1=Stephen J. |last2=Lewis |first2=Michael |title=Here, There, and Everywhere: The 100 Best Beatles Songs |year=2004 |location=New York |publisher=[[Black Dog Publishing|Black Dog]] |isbn=978-1579123697 |page=40}}</ref>
* [[Maoism]]
* [[Mao suit]]
* [[Quotations from Chairman Mao Zedong]] – "The Little Red Book"
* [[Poetry of Mao Zedong]]
* [[Mausoleum of Mao Zedong]]
* [[Mao: The Unknown Story]]
* [[Mao Tse-tung: Ruler of Red China]]


==References==
== See also ==
{{Portal|Biography|China|Communism}}
{{Reflist|2}}
* [[Chinese tunic suit]]
<categorytree mode=all depth="0">Mao Zedong</categorytree>


==Further reading==
== Notes ==
{{notelist}}
*{{cite book|last=Becker|first=Jasper|title=Hungry Ghosts: Mao's Secret Famine|publisher=Holt Paperbacks|year=1998|isbn=0805056688}}
*{{cite book|authorlink=Jung Chang|last=Chang|first=Jung|coauthors=Halliday, Jon|title=[[Mao: The Unknown Story]]|publisher=[[Knopf]]|year=2005|isbn=0679422714}}
*{{cite book|first=Lee|last=Feigon|title=Mao: A Reinterpretation|publisher=Ivan R. Dee, Publisher |year=2003|isbn=1566635225}}
*{{cite book|authorlink=Roderick MacFarquhar|last=MacFarquhar|first=Roderick|coauthors=Schoenhals, Michael|title=Mao's Last Revolution|publisher=[[Harvard University Press]]|year=2006|isbn=0674023323}}
*{{cite book|first=Gao|last=Mobo|title=The Battle for China's Past: Mao and the Cultural Revolution|publisher=Pluto Press |year=2008|isbn=074532780X}}
*{{cite book|last=Schram|first=Stuart R.|title=Mao Tse-Tung|publisher=Penguin|year=1967|isbn=0140208402}}
*{{cite book|last=Schwartz|first=Benjamin Isadore|title=Chinese Communism and the Rise of Mao|publisher=Harvard University Press|year=1951|isbn=0674122518}}
*{{cite book|last=Short|first=Philip|title=Mao: A Life|publisher=Owl Books|year=2001|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=HQwoTtJ43_AC&dq=mao+a+life&ei=EU6QScfyKYK2kwT0zqg2|isbn=0805066381|page=761}}
*{{cite book|authorlink=Jonathan Spence|last=Spence|first=Jonathan D.|title=Mao Zedong|publisher=Viking|year=1999|isbn=0670886696}}
*{{cite book|last=Terrill|first=Ross|title=Mao: A Biography|publisher=Stanford University Press|year=1980|isbn=0804729212}}
*{{cite book|first=Zhisui|last=Li|authorlink=Li Zhisui|title=[[The Private Life of Chairman Mao]]|publisher=Random House|year=1996|isbn=0679764437}}


== References ==
==Annotated writings==
{{reflist}}
* [http://www.popupchinese.com/lessons/archive/short-stories/serve-the-people Serve the People], mouseover annotated version of Mao's 1944 speech
* [http://www.popupchinese.com/lessons/archive/short-stories/remembering-norman-bethune Remembering Norman Bethune] mouseover annotated version of Mao's 1935 eulogy for the famous Canadian doctor


== Bibliography ==
==External links==
{{refbegin|30em}}
{{sisterlinks|s=Author:Mao Zedong}}
* {{cite book |last=Carter |first=Peter |title=Mao |year=1976 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=London |isbn=978-0192731401}}
*[http://chairmanmaozedong.org Discusses the life, military influence and writings of Chairman Mao ZeDong.]
* {{cite book |last=Clisson |first=Tim |title=Chinese Rules: Mao's Dog, Deng's Cat, and Five Timeless Lessons from the Front Lines in China |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yWqBAwAAQBAJ |year=2014 |publisher=Harper |location=New York |isbn=978-0062316578}}
*[http://www.asiasource.org/society/mao.cfm Asia Source biography]
* {{cite book |last=Feigon |first=Lee |author-link=Lee Feigon |title=Mao: A Reinterpretation |year=2002 |isbn=978-1566634588 |publisher=Ivan R. Dee |location=Chicago}}
*[http://www.chinesemao.com/ ChineseMao.com: Extensive resources about Mao Zedong]
* {{cite book |last=Gao |first=Mobo |title=The Battle for China's Past: Mao and the Cultural Revolution |year=2008 |publisher=[[Pluto Press]] |location=London |isbn=978-0745327808}}
*[http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/1999/china.50/inside.china/profiles/mao.tsetung/ CNN profile]
* {{cite book |last=Hollingworth |first=Clare |author-link=Clare Hollingworth |title=Mao and the Men Against Him |year=1985 |publisher=Jonathan Cape |location=London |isbn=978-0224017602}}
*[http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2005/jun/02/china.jonathanwatts China must confront dark past, says Mao confidant]
* {{cite journal |last1=Kuisong |first1=Yang |date=March 2008 |title=Reconsidering the Campaign to Suppress Counterrevolutionaries |journal=[[The China Quarterly]] |volume=193 |issue=193 |pages=102–121 |doi=10.1017/S0305741008000064 |s2cid=154927374}}
*[http://www.etext.org/Politics/MIM/classics/mao/index.html Collected Works of Mao at the Maoist Internationalist Movement]
* {{cite book |last=Li |first=Zhisui |author-link=Li Zhisui |title=The Private Life of Chairman Mao: The Memoirs of Mao's Personal Physician |url=https://archive.org/details/privatelifeofcha00lizh_0 |url-access=registration |year=1994 |publisher=[[Random House]] |location=London |isbn=978-0679764434}}
*[http://art-bin.com/art/omaotoc.html Mao quotations]
* {{cite book |last1=MacFarquhar |first1=Roderick |author-link1=Roderick MacFarquhar |last2=Schoenhals |first2=Michael |title=Mao's Last Revolution |year=2006 |publisher=[[Harvard University Press]] |location=Cambridge, MA |isbn=978-0674027480}}
*[http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2007/jan/18/comment.china Mao was cruel – but also laid the ground for today's China]
* {{cite book |last1=Pantsov |first1=Alexander V. |last2=Levine |first2=Steven I. |title=Mao: The Real Story |year=2012 |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] |location=New York and London |isbn=978-1451654479}}
*[http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/mao/index.htm Mao Zedong Reference Archive at marxists.org]
* {{cite book |last=Schram |first=Stuart |author-link=Stuart R. Schram |title=Mao Tse-Tung |year=1966 |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] |location=London |isbn=978-0140208405 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/maotsetung0000schr}}
*[http://www.monthlyreview.org/0904hinton.htm On the Role of Mao Zedong]
* {{cite book |last=Short |first=Philip |author-link=Philip Short |title=Mao: A Life |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4y6mACbLWGsC |year=2001 |publisher=[[Owl Books]] |isbn=978-0805066388}}
*[http://www.oxfordreference.com/pages/samplep02 Oxford Companion to World Politics: Mao Zedong]
* {{cite book |last=Spence |first=Jonathan |author-link=Jonathan Spence |title=Mao Zedong |series=Penguin Lives |year=1999 |publisher=[[Viking Press]] |location=New York |isbn=978-0670886692 |url=https://archive.org/details/maozedong00spen}}
*[http://artchina.free.fr/items/creasite.php?params=Mao%20Zedong_CATEGORY_0 Propaganda paintings showing Mao as the great leader of China]
** {{cite news |last=Burns |first=John F. |date=6 February 2000 |title=Methods of the Great Leader |url=https://www.nytimes.com/books/00/02/06/reviews/000206.06burnst.html |newspaper=[[The New York Times]]}}
*[http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,483023,00.html Remembering Mao's Victims]
* {{cite book |last=Terrill |first=Ross |author-link=Ross Terrill |title=Mao: A Biography |year=1980 |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]]}}, which is superseded by {{cite book |last=Terrill |first=Ross |author-link=Ross Terrill |title=Mao: A Biography |publisher=[[Stanford University Press]] |year=1999 |isbn=0804729212}}
*[http://www.biography.com/video.do?name=politicalfigures&bcpid=1740037438&bclid=1774292646&bctid=1731352871 Mao Tse Tung: Leader, Killer, Icon]
* {{cite book |last=Valentino |first=Benjamin A. |title=Final Solutions: Mass Killing and Genocide in the Twentieth Century |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LQfeXVU_EvgC |year=2004 |publisher=[[Cornell University Press]] |isbn=978-0801439650}}
*[http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/COLDmao.htm Spartacus Educational biography]
{{refend}}
*[http://ncafe.com/northkorea/uncountedmillions.html Uncounted Millions: Mass Death in Mao's China]
*[http://www.monthlyreview.org/0906amin.htm What Maoism Has Contributed]


== Further reading ==
{{start box}}
{{refbegin|30em}}
* {{cite book |last1=Andrew |first1=Anita M. |last2=Rapp |first2=John A. |title=Autocracy and China's Rebel Founding Emperors: Comparing Chairman Mao and Ming Taizu |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YQOhVb5Fbt4C&pg=PA110 |year=2000 |publisher=[[Rowman & Littlefield]] |isbn=978-0847695805 |pages=110–}}
* {{cite book |last=Davin |first=Delia |title=Mao: A Very Short Introduction |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GfShg2lD8Y4C |year=2013 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0191654039}}
* {{cite book |last1=Keith |first1=Schoppa R. |title=Twentieth Century in China: A History in Documents |date=2004 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |location=Oxford |isbn=978-0199732005}}
* {{cite book |last=Schaik |first=Sam |title=Tibet: A History |year=2011 |publisher=[[Yale University Press]] Publications |location=New Haven |isbn=978-0300154047}}
{{refend}}

== External links ==
{{Library resources box}}
{{Sister project links|s=Author:Mao Zedong|wikt=no|v=no|n=no|b=no}}

=== General ===
* [https://digitalarchive.wilsoncenter.org/collection/227/foundations-of-chinese-foreign-policy "Foundations of Chinese Foreign Policy] online documents in English from the Wilson Center in Washington
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20000510085445/http://www.asiasource.org/society/mao.cfm Asia Source biography]
* [http://www.chinesemao.com/ ChineseMao.com: Extensive resources about Mao Zedong] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130906033211/http://www.chinesemao.com/ |date=6 September 2013 }}
* [http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/1999/china.50/inside.china/profiles/mao.tsetung/ CNN profile]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20041209035950/http://www.etext.org/Politics/MIM/classics/mao/index.html Collected Works of Mao at the Maoist Internationalist Movement]
* [https://purl.fdlp.gov/GPO/gpo47030 Collected Works of Mao Tse-tung (1917–1949)] [[Joint Publications Research Service]]
* [http://art-bin.com/art/omaotoc.html Mao quotations]
* [http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/mao/index.htm Mao Zedong Reference Archive at marxists.org]
* [http://www.oxfordreference.com/pages/samplep02 Oxford Companion to World Politics: Mao Zedong]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20130909234651/http://english.cpc.people.com.cn/66095/4468893.html Bio of Mao at the official Communist Party of China web site]
* [https://collections.tepapa.govt.nz/object/188416 Photo of Chairman Mao strolling outside his official residence, 1957]

=== Commentary ===
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100305093011/http://www.chairmanmaozedong.org/ Discusses the life, military influence and writings of Chairman Mao ZeDong.]
* [https://monthlyreview.org/commentary/what-maoism-has-contributed What Maoism Has Contributed] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210812060630/https://monthlyreview.org/commentary/what-maoism-has-contributed/ |date=12 August 2021 }} by Samir Amin (21 September 2006)
* [https://www.theguardian.com/world/2005/jun/02/china.jonathanwatts China must confront dark past, says Mao confidant]
* [https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2007/jan/18/comment.china Mao was cruel – but also laid the ground for today's China]
* [https://monthlyreview.org/2004/09/01/on-the-role-of-mao-zedong On the Role of Mao Zedong] by William Hinton. Monthly Review Foundation 2004 Volume 56, Issue 04 (September)
* [http://artchina.free.fr/items/creasite.php?params=Mao%20Zedong_CATEGORY_0 Propaganda paintings showing Mao as the great leader of China]
* [http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,483023,00.html Remembering Mao's Victims]
* [https://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/16/opinion/16iht-eddikotter16.html Mao's Great Leap to Famine]
* [http://www.nybooks.com/blogs/nyrblog/2010/dec/20/finding-facts-about-maos-victims/ Finding the Facts About Mao's Victims]
* [http://www.huffingtonpost.com/eric-margolis/remembering-chinas-great_b_303107.html Remembering China's Great Helmsman]
* [http://monthlyreview.org/commentary/did-mao-really-kill-millions-in-the-great-leap-forward Did Mao Really Kill Millions in the Great Leap Forward?] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191011135700/https://monthlyreview.org/commentary/did-mao-really-kill-millions-in-the-great-leap-forward/ |date=11 October 2019 }}
* [https://www.imdb.com/video/hulu/vi3081083673/ Mao Tse Tung: China's Peasant Emperor]
{{Mao Zedong}}{{s-start}}
{{s-ppo}}
|-
{{s-bef|before=[[Zhang Guotao]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=Head of the [[Organization Department of the Chinese Communist Party]]|years=1924–1925}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Chen Duxiu]]}}
|-
{{s-bef|before=[[Wang Jingwei]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=Head of the [[Kuomintang]] Propaganda Department|years=1925–1926}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Ku Meng-yu]]}}
|-
{{s-bef|before=Lu Yi}}
{{s-ttl|title=Head of the [[General Political Department of the People's Liberation Army|CPC Central Military Commission General Political Department]]|years=1931}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Zhou Yili]]}}
|-
{{s-bef|before=[[Zhu De]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Chairman of the Central Military Commission (China)|Chairman of the CPC Central Military Commission]]|years=1936–1949}}
{{s-aft|after=Himself|as=Chairman of the PRC People's Revolutionary Military Council}}
|-
{{s-bef|before=[[Deng Fa]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=President of the [[Communist Party of China|CPC]] [[Central Party School]]|years=1943–1947}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Liu Shaoqi]]}}
|-
{{s-bef|rows=2|before=[[Zhang Wentian]]|as=[[General Secretary of the Communist Party of China|General Secretary]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=Chairman of the [[Politburo of the Communist Party of China]] |years=1943–1945}}
{{s-non|reason=Post merged with the Chairman of the Central Committee}}
|-
{{s-ttl|title=[[Chairman of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China]] |years=1945–1976}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Hua Guofeng]]|rows=2}}
|-
{{s-bef|before=Himself|as=Chairman of the PRC People's Revolutionary Military Council}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Chairman of the Central Military Commission (China)|Chairman of the CPC Central Military Commission]]|years=1954–1976}}
|-
{{s-off}}
{{s-off}}
{{s-bef |before = None}}
{{s-ttl |title = Chairman of the Central Executive Committee of the [[Chinese Soviet Republic]]
|years = 1931&nbsp;– 1934}}
{{s-aft |after = None}}
|-
|-
|colspan="3" style="text-align:center;"|'''Chinese Soviet Republic'''
{{s-bef |before = None}}
{{s-ttl |title = Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the [[Chinese Soviet Republic]]
|years = 1931&nbsp;– 1934}}
{{s-aft |after = [[Zhang Wentian]]}}
|-
|-
{{s-bef |before = None}}
{{s-new|rows=2}}
{{s-ttl |title = Chairman of the [[Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference]]
{{s-ttl|title=Chairman of the Central Executive Committee of the [[Chinese Soviet Republic]]|years=1931–1937}}
{{s-non|reason=Chinese Soviet Republic disbanded}}
|years = 1949&nbsp;– 1954}}
{{s-aft |after = [[Zhou Enlai]]}}
|-
|-
{{s-ttl|title=Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the [[Chinese Soviet Republic]]|years=1931–1934}}
{{s-bef |before = None}}
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{{Persondata
|NAME = Zedong, Mao
|SHORT DESCRIPTION = 毛泽东; 毛澤東; Máo Zédōng; Mao Tse-tung
|DATE OF BIRTH = 26 December 1893
|PLACE OF BIRTH = [[Hunan]], [[China]]
|DATE OF DEATH = 9 September 1976
|PLACE OF DEATH = [[Beijing]], [[China]]
}}
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[[Category:People of the Cultural Revolution]]
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[[Category:People with Parkinson's disease]]
[[Category:Political philosophers]]
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[[Category:Philosophers from Hunan]]
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[[zh:毛泽东]]

Latest revision as of 16:38, 21 December 2024

Mao Zedong
毛泽东
Mao in 1959
Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party
In office
20 March 1943 – 9 September 1976
Deputy
Preceded byZhang Wentian (as General Secretary)
Succeeded byHua Guofeng
1st Chairman of the People's Republic of China
In office
27 September 1954 – 27 April 1959
PremierZhou Enlai
DeputyZhu De
Succeeded byLiu Shaoqi
Chairman of the Central Military Commission
In office
8 September 1954 – 9 September 1976
Deputy
Succeeded byHua Guofeng
Chairman of the Central People's Government
In office
1 October 1949 – 27 September 1954
PremierZhou Enlai
Preceded byOffice established
Li Zongren (as President of the Republic of China)
Chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference
In office
9 October 1949 – 25 December 1954
Preceded byOffice established
Succeeded byZhou Enlai
Personal details
Born(1893-12-26)26 December 1893
Shaoshan, Hunan, Qing China
Died9 September 1976(1976-09-09) (aged 82)
Beijing, China
Resting placeChairman Mao Memorial Hall, Beijing
Political partyCCP (from 1921)
Other political
affiliations
Kuomintang (1925–1926)
Spouses
  • (m. 1907; died 1910)
  • (m. 1920; died 1930)
  • (m. 1928; div. 1937)
  • (m. 1938)
Children
Parents
Alma materHunan First Normal University
Signature
Chinese name
Simplified Chinese毛泽东
Traditional Chinese毛澤東
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinMáo Zédōng
Bopomofoㄇㄠˊ   ㄗㄜˊ   ㄉㄨㄥ
Wade–GilesMao2 Tse2-tung1
Tongyong PinyinMáo Zé-dong
IPA[mǎʊ tsɤ̌.tʊ́ŋ]
Wu
SuzhouneseMáu Zéh-ton
Hakka
RomanizationMô Chhe̍t-tûng
Yue: Cantonese
Yale RomanizationMòuh Jaahk-dūng
Jyutpingmou4 zaak6 dung1
IPA[mɔw˩ tsak̚˨ tʊŋ˥]
Southern Min
Hokkien POJMô͘ Te̍k-tong
Tâi-lôMôo Ti̍k-tang
Courtesy name
Simplified Chinese润之
Traditional Chinese潤之
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinRùnzhī
Bopomofoㄖㄨㄣˋ   ㄓ
Wade–GilesJun4-chih1
Tongyong PinyinRùn-jhih
IPA[ɻwə̂n.ʈʂɻ̩́]
Yue: Cantonese
Yale RomanizationYeuhn-jī
Jyutpingjeon6 zi1
IPA[jɵn˨ tsi˥]
Southern Min
Hokkien POJLūn-chi
Central institution membership

Other offices held

Mao Zedong[a] (26 December 1893 – 9 September 1976), also known as Chairman Mao, was a Chinese politician, revolutionary, and political theorist who founded the People's Republic of China (PRC) and led the country from its establishment in 1949 until his death in 1976. Mao also served as the chairman of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from 1943 until his death, and as the party's de facto leader from 1935. His theories, which he advocated as a Chinese adaptation of Marxism–Leninism, are known as Maoism.

Mao was the son of a peasant in Shaoshan, Hunan. He was influenced early in his life by the events of the 1911 Revolution and May Fourth Movement of 1919, supporting Chinese nationalism and anti-imperialism. He later adopted Marxism–Leninism while working as a librarian at Peking University, and in 1921 was a founding member of the Chinese Communist Party. After the start of the Chinese Civil War between the Kuomintang (KMT) and CCP in 1927, Mao led the failed Autumn Harvest Uprising and founded the Jiangxi Soviet. He helped establish the Chinese Red Army and developed a strategy of guerilla warfare. In 1935, Mao became the leader of the CCP during the Long March. Although the CCP allied with the KMT under the Second United Front during the Second Sino-Japanese War, China's civil war resumed after Japan's surrender in 1945; Mao's forces defeated the Nationalist government, which withdrew to Taiwan in 1949.

On 1 October 1949, Mao proclaimed the foundation of the PRC, a one-party state controlled by the CCP. He initiated campaigns of land redistribution and industrialisation, suppressed counter-revolutionaries, intervened in the Korean War, and began the Hundred Flowers and Anti-Rightist Campaigns. In 1958, Mao launched the Great Leap Forward, which aimed to transform China's economy from agrarian to industrial; it resulted in Great Chinese Famine. In 1966, Mao initiated the Cultural Revolution, a campaign to remove "counter-revolutionary" elements, marked by violent class struggle, destruction of historical artifacts, and Mao's cult of personality. From the late 1950s, Mao's foreign policy was dominated by a political split with the Soviet Union, and during the 1970s he began establishing relations with the United States; China was also involved in the Vietnam War and Cambodian Civil War. In 1976, Mao died after suffering a series of heart attacks. He was succeeded as leader by Hua Guofeng and in 1978 by Deng Xiaoping. The CCP's official evaluation of Mao's legacy both praises him and acknowledges he made errors in his later years.

Mao is considered one of the most significant figures of the 20th century. His policies were responsible for a vast number of deaths, with estimates ranging from 40 to 80 million victims of starvation, persecution, prison labour, and mass executions, and his regime has been described as totalitarian. He has been also credited with transforming China from a semi-colony to a leading world power by advancing literacy, women's rights, basic healthcare, primary education, and life expectancy. Under Mao, China's population grew from about 550 million to more than 900 million. Within China, he is revered as a national hero who liberated the country from foreign occupation and exploitation. He became an ideological figurehead and a prominent influence within the international communist movement, inspiring various Maoist organisations.

English romanisation of name

During Mao's lifetime, the English-language media universally rendered his name as Mao Tse-tung, using the Wade–Giles system of transliteration though with the circumflex accent in the syllable Tsê dropped. Due to its recognizability, the spelling was used widely, even by the PRC's foreign ministry after Hanyu Pinyin became the PRC's official romanisation system for Mandarin Chinese in 1958; the well-known booklet of Mao's political statements was officially entitled Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-tung in English translations. While the pinyin-derived spelling Mao Zedong is increasingly common, the Wade–Giles-derived spelling Mao Tse-tung continues to be used in modern publications to some extent.[2]

Early life

Youth and the Xinhai Revolution: 1893–1911

Mao Zedong c. 1910s

Mao Zedong was born on 26 December 1893, near Shaoshan village in Hunan.[3] His father, Mao Yichang, was a formerly impoverished peasant who had become one of the wealthiest farmers in Shaoshan. Growing up in rural Hunan, Mao described his father as a stern disciplinarian, who would beat him and his three siblings, the boys Zemin and Zetan, as well as an adopted sister/cousin, Zejian.[4] Mao's mother, Wen Qimei, was a devout Buddhist who tried to temper her husband's strict attitude.[5] Mao too became a Buddhist, but abandoned this faith in his mid-teenage years.[5] At age 8, Mao was sent to Shaoshan Primary School. Learning the value systems of Confucianism, he later admitted that he did not enjoy the classical Chinese texts preaching Confucian morals, instead favouring classic novels like Romance of the Three Kingdoms and Water Margin.[6] At age 13, Mao finished primary education, and his father united him in an arranged marriage to the 17-year-old Luo Yixiu, thereby uniting their land-owning families. Mao refused to recognise her as his wife, becoming a fierce critic of arranged marriage and temporarily moving away. Luo was locally disgraced and died in 1910 at 20 years old.[7]

Mao Zedong's childhood home in Shaoshan, in 2010, by which time it had become a tourist destination

Working on his father's farm, Mao read voraciously[8] and developed a "political consciousness" from Zheng Guanying's booklet which lamented the deterioration of Chinese power and argued for the adoption of representative democracy.[9] Mao also read translations of works by Western authors including Adam Smith, Montesquieu, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Charles Darwin, and Thomas Huxley.[10]: 34  Interested in history, Mao was inspired by the military prowess and nationalistic fervour of George Washington and Napoleon Bonaparte.[11] His political views were shaped by Gelaohui-led protests which erupted following a famine in Changsha, the capital of Hunan; Mao supported the protesters' demands, but the armed forces suppressed the dissenters and executed their leaders.[12] The famine spread to Shaoshan, where starving peasants seized his father's grain. He disapproved of their actions as morally wrong, but claimed sympathy for their situation.[13] At age 16, Mao moved to a higher primary school in nearby Dongshan,[14] where he was bullied for his peasant background.[15]

In 1911, Mao began middle school in Changsha.[16] Revolutionary sentiment was strong in the city, where there was widespread animosity towards Emperor Puyi's absolute monarchy and many were advocating republicanism. The republicans' figurehead was Sun Yat-sen, an American-educated Christian who led the Tongmenghui society.[17] In Changsha, Mao was influenced by Sun's newspaper, The People's Independence (Minli bao),[18] and called for Sun to become president in a school essay.[19] As a symbol of rebellion against the Manchu monarch, Mao and a friend cut off their queue pigtails, a sign of subservience to the emperor.[20]

Inspired by Sun's republicanism, the army rose up across southern China, sparking the Xinhai Revolution. Changsha's governor fled, leaving the city in republican control.[21] Supporting the revolution, Mao joined the rebel army as a private soldier, but was not involved in fighting or combat. The northern provinces remained loyal to the emperor, and hoping to avoid a civil war, Sun—proclaimed "provisional president" by his supporters—compromised with the monarchist general Yuan Shikai. The monarchy was abolished, creating the Republic of China, but the monarchist Yuan became president. With the revolution over, Mao resigned from the army in 1912, after six months as a soldier.[22] Around this time, Mao discovered socialism from a newspaper article; proceeding to read pamphlets by Jiang Kanghu, the student founder of the Chinese Socialist Party, Mao remained interested yet unconvinced by the idea.[23]

Fourth Normal School of Changsha: 1912–1919

Over the next few years, Mao Zedong enrolled in and dropped out of a police academy, a soap-production school, a law school, an economics school, and the government-run Changsha Middle School.[24] Studying independently, he spent much time in Changsha's library, reading core works of classical liberalism such as Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations and Montesquieu's The Spirit of the Laws, as well as the works of western scientists and philosophers such as Darwin, Mill, Rousseau, and Spencer.[25] Viewing himself as an intellectual, years later he admitted that at this time he thought himself better than working people.[26] He was inspired by Friedrich Paulsen, a neo-Kantian philosopher and educator whose emphasis on the achievement of a carefully defined goal as the highest value led Mao to believe that strong individuals were not bound by moral codes but should strive for a great goal.[27] His father saw no use in his son's intellectual pursuits, cut off his allowance and forced him to move into a hostel for the destitute.[28]

Mao in 1913

Mao wanted to become a teacher and enrolled at the Fourth Normal School of Changsha, which soon merged with the First Normal School of Hunan, widely seen as the best in Hunan.[29] Befriending Mao, professor Yang Changji urged him to read a radical newspaper, New Youth (Xin qingnian), the creation of his friend Chen Duxiu, a dean at Peking University. Although he was a supporter of Chinese nationalism, Chen argued that China must look to the west to cleanse itself of superstition and autocracy.[30] In his first school year, Mao befriended an older student, Xiao Zisheng; together they went on a walking tour of Hunan, begging and writing literary couplets to obtain food.[31]

A popular student, in 1915 Mao was elected secretary of the Students' Society. He organised the Association for Student Self-Government and led protests against school rules.[32] Mao published his first article in New Youth in April 1917, instructing readers to increase their physical strength to serve the revolution.[33] He joined the Society for the Study of Wang Fuzhi (Chuan-shan Hsüeh-she), a revolutionary group founded by Changsha literati who wished to emulate the philosopher Wang Fuzhi.[34] In spring 1917, he was elected to command the students' volunteer army, set up to defend the school from marauding soldiers.[35] Increasingly interested in the techniques of war, he took a keen interest in World War I, and also began to develop a sense of solidarity with workers.[36] Mao undertook feats of physical endurance with Xiao Zisheng and Cai Hesen, and with other young revolutionaries they formed the Renovation of the People Study Society in April 1918 to debate Chen Duxiu's ideas. Desiring personal and societal transformation, the Society gained 70–80 members, many of whom would later join the Communist Party.[37] Mao graduated in June 1919, ranked third in the year.[38]

Early revolutionary activity

Beijing, anarchism, and Marxism: 1917–1919

Mao Zedong in 1924

Mao moved to Beijing, where his mentor Yang Changji had taken a job at Peking University.[39] Yang thought Mao exceptionally "intelligent and handsome",[40] securing him a job as assistant to the university librarian Li Dazhao, who would become an early Chinese Communist.[41] Li authored a series of New Youth articles on the October Revolution in Russia, during which the Communist Bolshevik Party under the leadership of Vladimir Lenin had seized power. Lenin was an advocate of the socio-political theory of Marxism, first developed by the German sociologists Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, and Li's articles added Marxism to the doctrines in the Chinese revolutionary movement.[42]

Becoming "more and more radical", Mao was initially influenced by Peter Kropotkin's anarchism, which was the most prominent radical doctrine of the day. Chinese anarchists, such as Cai Yuanpei, Chancellor of Peking University, called for complete social revolution in social relations, family structure, and women's equality, rather than the simple change in the form of government called for by earlier revolutionaries. He joined Li's Study Group and "developed rapidly toward Marxism" during the winter of 1919.[43] Paid a low wage, Mao lived in a cramped room with seven other Hunanese students, but believed that Beijing's beauty offered "vivid and living compensation".[44] A number of his friends took advantage of the anarchist-organised Mouvement Travail-Études to study in France, but Mao declined, perhaps because of an inability to learn languages.[45] Mao raised funds for the movement, however.[10]: 35 

At the university, Mao was snubbed by other students due to his rural Hunanese accent and lowly position. He joined the university's Philosophy and Journalism Societies and attended lectures and seminars by the likes of Chen Duxiu, Hu Shih, and Qian Xuantong.[46] Mao's time in Beijing ended in the spring of 1919, when he travelled to Shanghai with friends who were preparing to leave for France.[47] He did not return to Shaoshan, where his mother was terminally ill. She died in October 1919 and her husband died in January 1920.[48]

New Culture and political protests: 1919–1920

Mao Zedong in 1919

On 4 May 1919, students in Beijing gathered at Tiananmen to protest the Chinese government's weak resistance to Japanese expansion in China. Patriots were outraged at the influence given to Japan in the Twenty-One Demands in 1915, the complicity of Duan Qirui's Beiyang government, and the betrayal of China in the Treaty of Versailles, wherein Japan was allowed to receive territories in Shandong which had been surrendered by Germany. These demonstrations ignited the nationwide May Fourth Movement and fuelled the New Culture Movement which blamed China's diplomatic defeats on social and cultural backwardness.[49]

In Changsha, Mao had begun teaching history at the Xiuye Primary School[50] and organising protests against the pro-Duan Governor of Hunan Province, Zhang Jingyao, popularly known as "Zhang the Venomous" due to his corrupt and violent rule.[51] In late May, Mao co-founded the Hunanese Student Association with He Shuheng and Deng Zhongxia, organising a student strike for June and in July 1919 began production of a weekly radical magazine, Xiang River Review. Using vernacular language that would be understandable to the majority of China's populace, he advocated the need for a "Great Union of the Popular Masses", and strengthened trade unions able to wage non-violent revolution.[clarification needed] His ideas were not Marxist, but heavily influenced by Kropotkin's concept of mutual aid.[52]

Students in Beijing rallying during the May Fourth Movement

Zhang banned the Student Association, but Mao continued publishing after assuming editorship of the liberal magazine New Hunan (Xin Hunan) and authored articles in popular local newspaper Ta Kung Pao. Several of these advocated feminist views, calling for the liberation of women in Chinese society; Mao was influenced by his forced arranged-marriage.[53] In fall 1919, Mao organized a seminar in Changsha studying economic and political issues, as well as ways to unite the people, the feasibility of socialism, and issues regarding Confucianism.[54] During this period, Mao involved himself in political work with manual laborers, setting up night schools and trade unions.[54] In December 1919, Mao helped organise a general strike in Hunan, securing some concessions, but Mao and other student leaders felt threatened by Zhang, and Mao returned to Beijing, visiting the terminally ill Yang Changji.[55] Mao found that his articles had achieved a level of fame among the revolutionary movement, and set about soliciting support in overthrowing Zhang.[56] Coming across newly translated Marxist literature by Thomas Kirkup, Karl Kautsky, and Marx and Engels—notably The Communist Manifesto—he came under their increasing influence, but was still eclectic in his views.[57]

Mao visited Tianjin, Jinan, and Qufu,[58] before moving to Shanghai, where he worked as a laundryman and met Chen Duxiu, noting that Chen's adoption of Marxism "deeply impressed me at what was probably a critical period in my life". In Shanghai, Mao met an old teacher of his, Yi Peiji, a revolutionary and member of the Kuomintang (KMT), or Chinese Nationalist Party, which was gaining increasing support and influence. Yi introduced Mao to General Tan Yankai, a senior KMT member who held the loyalty of troops stationed along the Hunanese border with Guangdong. Tan was plotting to overthrow Zhang, and Mao aided him by organising the Changsha students. In June 1920, Tan led his troops into Changsha, and Zhang fled. In the subsequent reorganisation of the provincial administration, Mao was appointed headmaster of the junior section of the First Normal School. Now receiving a large income, he married Yang Kaihui, daughter of Yang Changji, in the winter of 1920.[59][60]

Founding the Chinese Communist Party: 1921–1922

Location of the first Congress of the Chinese Communist Party in July 1921, in Xintiandi, former French Concession, Shanghai

The Chinese Communist Party was founded by Chen Duxiu and Li Dazhao in the Shanghai French Concession in 1921 as a study society and informal network. Mao set up a Changsha branch, also establishing a branch of the Socialist Youth Corps and a Cultural Book Society which opened a bookstore to propagate revolutionary literature throughout Hunan.[61] He was involved in the movement for Hunan autonomy, in the hope that a Hunanese constitution would increase civil liberties and make his revolutionary activity easier. When the movement was successful in establishing provincial autonomy under a new warlord, Mao forgot his involvement.[62][clarification needed] By 1921, small Marxist groups existed in Shanghai, Beijing, Changsha, Wuhan, Guangzhou, and Jinan; it was decided to hold a central meeting, which began in Shanghai on 23 July 1921. The first session of the National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party was attended by 13 delegates, Mao included. After the authorities sent a police spy to the congress, the delegates moved to a boat on South Lake near Jiaxing, in Zhejiang, to escape detection. Although Soviet and Comintern delegates attended, the first congress ignored Lenin's advice to accept a temporary alliance between the Communists and the "bourgeois democrats" who also advocated national revolution; instead they stuck to the orthodox Marxist belief that only the urban proletariat could lead a socialist revolution.[63]

Mao was party secretary for Hunan stationed in Changsha, and to build the party there he followed a variety of tactics.[64] In August 1921, he founded the Self-Study University, through which readers could gain access to revolutionary literature, housed in the premises of the Society for the Study of Wang Fuzhi, a Qing dynasty Hunanese philosopher who had resisted the Manchus.[64] He joined the YMCA Mass Education Movement to fight illiteracy, though he edited the textbooks to include radical sentiments.[65] He continued organising workers to strike against the administration of Hunan Governor Zhao Hengti.[66] Yet labour issues remained central. The successful and famous Anyuan coal mines strikes [zh] (contrary to later Party historians) depended on both "proletarian" and "bourgeois" strategies. Liu Shaoqi and Li Lisan and Mao not only mobilised the miners, but formed schools and cooperatives and engaged local intellectuals, gentry, military officers, merchants, Red Gang dragon heads and even church clergy.[67] Mao's labour organizing work in the Anyuan mines also involved his wife Yang Kaihui, who worked for women's rights, including literacy and educational issues, in the nearby peasant communities.[68] Although Mao and Yang were not the originators of this political organizing method of combining labor organizing among male workers with a focus on women's rights issues in their communities, they were among the most effective at using this method.[68] Mao's political organizing success in the Anyuan mines resulted in Chen Duxiu inviting him to become a member of the Communist Party's Central Committee.[69]

Mao claimed that he missed the July 1922 Second Congress of the Communist Party in Shanghai because he lost the address. Adopting Lenin's advice, the delegates agreed to an alliance with the "bourgeois democrats" of the KMT for the good of the "national revolution". Communist Party members joined the KMT, hoping to push its politics leftward.[70] Mao enthusiastically agreed with this decision, arguing for an alliance across China's socio-economic classes, and eventually rose to become propaganda chief of the KMT.[60] Mao was a vocal anti-imperialist and in his writings he lambasted the governments of Japan, the UK and US, describing the latter as "the most murderous of hangmen".[71]

Collaboration with the Kuomintang: 1922–1927

Mao giving a speech (no audio)

At the Third Congress of the Communist Party in Shanghai in June 1923, the delegates reaffirmed their commitment to working with the KMT. Supporting this position, Mao was elected to the Party Committee, taking up residence in Shanghai.[72] At the First KMT Congress, held in Guangzhou in early 1924, Mao was elected an alternate member of the KMT Central Executive Committee, and put forward four resolutions to decentralise power to urban and rural bureaus. His enthusiastic support for the KMT earned him the suspicion of Li Li-san, his Hunan comrade.[73]

In late 1924, Mao returned to Shaoshan, perhaps to recuperate from an illness. He found that the peasantry were increasingly restless and some had seized land from wealthy landowners to found communes. This convinced him of the revolutionary potential of the peasantry, an idea advocated by the KMT leftists but not the Communists.[74] Mao and many of his colleagues also proposed the end of cooperation with the KMT, which was rejected by the Comintern representative Mikhail Borodin.[75] In the winter of 1925, Mao fled to Guangzhou after his revolutionary activities attracted the attention of Zhao's regional authorities.[76] There, he ran the 6th term of the KMT's Peasant Movement Training Institute from May to September 1926.[77][78] The Peasant Movement Training Institute under Mao trained cadres and prepared them for militant activity, taking them through military training exercises and getting them to study basic left-wing texts.[79]

Mao in Guangzhou in 1925

When party leader Sun Yat-sen died in May 1925, he was succeeded by Chiang Kai-shek, who moved to marginalise the left-KMT and the Communists.[80] Mao nevertheless supported Chiang's National Revolutionary Army, who embarked on the Northern Expedition attack in 1926 on warlords.[81] In the wake of this expedition, peasants rose up, appropriating the land of the wealthy landowners, who were in many cases killed. Such uprisings angered senior KMT figures, who were themselves landowners, emphasising the growing class and ideological divide within the revolutionary movement.[82]

Third Plenum of the KMT Central Executive Committee in March 1927. Mao is third from the right in the second row.

In March 1927, Mao appeared at the Third Plenum of the KMT Central Executive Committee in Wuhan, which sought to strip General Chiang of his power by appointing Wang Jingwei leader. There, Mao played an active role in the discussions regarding the peasant issue, defending a set of "Regulations for the Repression of Local Bullies and Bad Gentry", which advocated the death penalty or life imprisonment for anyone found guilty of counter-revolutionary activity, arguing that in a revolutionary situation, "peaceful methods cannot suffice".[83][84] In April 1927, Mao was appointed to the KMT's five-member Central Land Committee, urging peasants to refuse to pay rent. Mao led another group to put together a "Draft Resolution on the Land Question", which called for the confiscation of land belonging to "local bullies and bad gentry, corrupt officials, militarists and all counter-revolutionary elements in the villages". Proceeding to carry out a "Land Survey", he stated that anyone owning over 30 mou (four and a half acres), constituting 13% of the population, were uniformly counter-revolutionary. He accepted that there was great variation in revolutionary enthusiasm across the country, and that a flexible policy of land redistribution was necessary.[85] Presenting his conclusions at the Enlarged Land Committee meeting, many expressed reservations, some believing that it went too far, and others not far enough. Ultimately, his suggestions were only partially implemented.[86]

Civil War

Nanchang and Autumn Harvest Uprisings: 1927

Flag of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army

Fresh from the success of the Northern Expedition against the warlords, Chiang turned on the Communists, who then numbered in the tens of thousands across China. Chiang ignored the orders of the Wuhan-based leftist KMT government and marched on Shanghai, a city controlled by Communist militias. As the Communists awaited Chiang's arrival, he loosed the White Terror, massacring 5,000 with the aid of the Green Gang.[84][87] In Beijing, 19 leading Communists were killed by Zhang Zuolin.[88][89] That May, tens of thousands of Communists and those suspected of being communists were killed, and the CCP lost approximately 15,000 of its 25,000 members.[89]

The CCP continued supporting the leftist KMT government in Wuhan, a position Mao initially supported,[89] but by the time of the CCP's Fifth Congress he had changed his mind, deciding to stake all hope on the peasant militia.[90] The question was rendered moot when the Wuhan government expelled all Communists from the KMT on 15 July.[90] The CCP founded the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army of China, better known as the "Red Army", to battle Chiang. A battalion led by General Zhu De was ordered to take the city of Nanchang on 1 August 1927, in what became known as the Nanchang Uprising. They were initially successful, but were forced into retreat after five days, marching south to Shantou, and from there they were driven into the wilderness of Fujian.[90] Mao was appointed commander-in-chief of the Red Army and led four regiments against Changsha in the Autumn Harvest Uprising, in the hope of sparking peasant uprisings across Hunan. On the eve of the attack, Mao composed a poem—the earliest of his to survive—titled "Changsha". His plan was to attack the KMT-held city from three directions on 9 September, but the Fourth Regiment deserted to the KMT cause, attacking the Third Regiment. Mao's army made it to Changsha, but could not take it; by 15 September, he accepted defeat and with 1000 survivors marched east to the Jinggang Mountains of Jiangxi.[91]

Base in Jinggangshan: 1927–1928

Mao in 1927

革命不是請客吃飯,不是做文章,不是繪畫繡花,不能那樣雅緻,那樣從容不迫,文質彬彬,那樣溫良恭讓。革命是暴動,是一個階級推翻一個階級的暴烈的行動。

Revolution is not a dinner party, nor an essay, nor a painting, nor a piece of embroidery; it cannot be so refined, so leisurely and gentle, so temperate, kind, courteous, restrained and magnanimous. A revolution is an insurrection, an act of violence by which one class overthrows another.

— Mao, February 1927[92]

The CCP Central Committee, hiding in Shanghai, expelled Mao from their ranks and from the Hunan Provincial Committee, as punishment for his "military opportunism", for his focus on rural activity, and for being too lenient with "bad gentry". The more orthodox Communists especially regarded the peasants as backward and ridiculed Mao's idea of mobilizing them.[60] They nevertheless adopted three policies he had long championed: the immediate formation of workers' councils, the confiscation of all land without exemption, and the rejection of the KMT. Mao's response was to ignore them.[93] He established a base in Jinggangshan City, an area of the Jinggang Mountains, where he united five villages as a self-governing state, and supported the confiscation of land from rich landlords, who were "re-educated" and sometimes executed. He ensured that no massacres took place in the region, and pursued a more lenient approach than that advocated by the Central Committee.[94] In addition to land redistribution, Mao promoted literacy and non-hierarchical organizational relationships in Jinggangshan, transforming the area's social and economic life and attracted many local supporters.[95]

Mao proclaimed that "Even the lame, the deaf and the blind could all come in useful for the revolutionary struggle", he boosted the army's numbers,[96] incorporating two groups of bandits into his army, building a force of around 1,800 troops.[97] He laid down rules for his soldiers: prompt obedience to orders, all confiscations were to be turned over to the government, and nothing was to be confiscated from poorer peasants. In doing so, he moulded his men into a disciplined, efficient fighting force.[96]

敵進我退,
敵駐我騷,
敵疲我打,
敵退我追。


When the enemy advances, we retreat.
When the enemy rests, we harass him.
When the enemy avoids a battle, we attack.
When the enemy retreats, we advance.

— Mao's advice in combating the Kuomintang, 1928[98][99]
Chinese Communist revolutionaries in the 1920s

In spring 1928, the Central Committee ordered Mao's troops to southern Hunan, hoping to spark peasant uprisings. Mao was skeptical, but complied. They reached Hunan, where they were attacked by the KMT and fled after heavy losses. Meanwhile, KMT troops had invaded Jinggangshan, leaving them without a base.[100] Wandering the countryside, Mao's forces came across a CCP regiment led by General Zhu De and Lin Biao; they united, and attempted to retake Jinggangshan. They were initially successful, but the KMT counter-attacked, and pushed the CCP back; over the next few weeks, they fought an entrenched guerrilla war in the mountains.[98][101] The Central Committee again ordered Mao to march to south Hunan, but he refused, and remained at his base. Contrastingly, Zhu complied, and led his armies away. Mao's troops fended the KMT off for 25 days while he left the camp at night to find reinforcements. He reunited with the decimated Zhu's army, and together they returned to Jinggangshan and retook the base. There they were joined by a defecting KMT regiment and Peng Dehuai's Fifth Red Army. In the mountainous area they were unable to grow enough crops to feed everyone, leading to food shortages throughout the winter.[102]

In 1928, Mao met and married He Zizhen, an 18-year-old revolutionary who would bear him six children.[103][104]

Jiangxi Soviet Republic of China: 1929–1934

Mao in Yan'an (1930s)

In January 1929, Mao and Zhu evacuated the base with 2,000 men and a further 800 provided by Peng, and took their armies south, to the area around Tonggu and Xinfeng in Jiangxi.[105] The evacuation led to a drop in morale, and many troops became disobedient and began thieving; this worried Li Lisan and the Central Committee, who saw Mao's army as lumpenproletariat, that were unable to share in proletariat class consciousness.[106][107] In keeping with orthodox Marxist thought, Li believed that only the urban proletariat could lead a successful revolution, and saw little need for Mao's peasant guerrillas; he ordered Mao to disband his army into units to be sent out to spread the revolutionary message. Mao replied that while he concurred with Li's theoretical position, he would not disband his army nor abandon his base.[107][108] Both Li and Mao saw the Chinese revolution as the key to world revolution, believing that a CCP victory would spark the overthrow of global imperialism and capitalism. In this, they disagreed with the official line of the Soviet government and Comintern. Officials in Moscow desired greater control over the CCP and removed Li from power by calling him to Russia for an inquest into his errors.[109] They replaced him with Soviet-educated Chinese Communists, known as the "28 Bolsheviks", two of whom, Bo Gu and Zhang Wentian, took control of the Central Committee. Mao disagreed with the new leadership, believing they grasped little of the Chinese situation, and he soon emerged as their key rival.[110][111]

Military parade at the founding of a Chinese Soviet Republic in 1931

In February 1930, Mao created the Southwest Jiangxi Provincial Soviet Government in the region under his control.[112] In November, he suffered emotional trauma after his second wife Yang Kaihui and sister were captured and beheaded by KMT general He Jian.[113] Facing internal problems, members of the Jiangxi Soviet accused him of being too moderate, and hence anti-revolutionary. In December, they tried to overthrow Mao, resulting in the Futian incident, during which Mao's loyalists tortured many and executed between 2000 and 3000 dissenters.[114] The CCP Central Committee moved to Jiangxi which it saw as a secure area. In November, it proclaimed Jiangxi to be the Soviet Republic of China, an independent Communist-governed state. Although he was proclaimed Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars, Mao's power was diminished, as his control of the Red Army was allocated to Zhou Enlai. Meanwhile, Mao recovered from tuberculosis.[115]

The KMT armies adopted a policy of encirclement and annihilation of the Red armies. Outnumbered, Mao responded with guerrilla tactics influenced by the works of ancient military strategists like Sun Tzu, but Zhou and the new leadership followed a policy of open confrontation and conventional warfare. In doing so, the Red Army successfully defeated the first and second encirclements.[116][117] Angered at his armies' failure, Chiang Kai-shek personally arrived to lead the operation. He too faced setbacks and retreated to deal with the further Japanese incursions into China.[118] As a result of the KMT's change of focus to the defence of China against Japanese expansionism, the Red Army was able to expand its area of control, eventually encompassing a population of 3 million.[117] Mao proceeded with his land reform program. In November 1931 he announced the start of a "land verification project" which was expanded in June 1933. He also orchestrated education programs and implemented measures to increase female political participation.[119] Chiang viewed the Communists as a greater threat than the Japanese and returned to Jiangxi, where he initiated the fifth encirclement campaign, which involved the construction of a concrete and barbed wire "wall of fire" around the state, which was accompanied by aerial bombardment, to which Zhou's tactics proved ineffective. Trapped inside, morale among the Red Army dropped as food and medicine became scarce. The leadership decided to evacuate.[120]

Long March: 1934–1935

An overview map of the Long March
Zhou Enlai, Mao Zedong, and Zhu De during the Long March.

On 14 October 1934, the Red Army broke through the KMT line on the Jiangxi Soviet's south-west corner at Xinfeng with 85,000 soldiers and 15,000 party cadres and embarked on the "Long March". In order to make the escape, many of the wounded and the ill, as well as women and children, were left behind, defended by a group of guerrilla fighters whom the KMT massacred.[121] The 100,000 who escaped headed to southern Hunan, first crossing the Xiang River after heavy fighting,[122] and then the Wu River, in Guizhou where they took Zunyi in January 1935. Temporarily resting in the city, they held a conference; here, Mao was elected to a position of leadership, becoming Chairman of the Politburo, and de facto leader of both Party and Red Army, in part because his candidacy was supported by Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin. Insisting that they operate as a guerrilla force, he laid out a destination: the Shenshi Soviet in Shaanxi, Northern China, from where the Communists could focus on fighting the Japanese. Mao believed that in focusing on the anti-imperialist struggle, the Communists would earn the trust of the Chinese people, who in turn would renounce the KMT.[123]

From Zunyi, Mao led his troops to Loushan Pass, where they faced armed opposition but successfully crossed the river. Chiang flew into the area to lead his armies against Mao, but the Communists outmanoeuvred him and crossed the Jinsha River.[124] Faced with the more difficult task of crossing the Tatu River, they managed it by fighting a battle over the Luding Bridge in May, taking Luding.[125] In Moukung, Western Sichuan, they encountered the 50,000-strong CCP Fourth Front Army of Zhang Guotao (who had marched from the mountain ranges around Ma'anshan[126]), and together proceeded to Maoerhkai and then Gansu. Zhang and Mao disagreed over what to do; the latter wished to proceed to Shaanxi, while Zhang wanted to retreat west to Tibet or Sikkim, far from the KMT threat. It was agreed that they would go their separate ways, with Zhu De joining Zhang.[127] Mao's forces proceeded north, through hundreds of kilometres of grasslands, an area of quagmire where they were attacked by Manchu tribesman and where many soldiers succumbed to famine and disease.[128] Finally reaching Shaanxi, they fought off both the KMT and an Islamic cavalry militia before crossing the Min Mountains and Mount Liupan and reaching the Shenshi Soviet; only 7,000–8,000 had survived.[129] The Long March cemented Mao's status as the dominant figure in the party. In November 1935, he was named chairman of the Military Commission. From this point onward, Mao was the Communist Party's undisputed leader, even though he would not become party chairman until 1943.[130]

World War II

Zhang Guotao (left) and Mao in Yan'an, 1937

Mao's troops arrived at the Yan'an Soviet during October 1935 and settled in Bao'an, until spring 1936. While there, they developed links with local communities, redistributed and farmed the land, offered medical treatment, and began literacy programs.[131] Mao now commanded 15,000 soldiers, boosted by the arrival of He Long's men from Hunan and the armies of Zhu De and Zhang Guotao returned from Tibet.[132] In February 1936, they established the North West Anti-Japanese Red Army University in Yan'an, through which they trained increasing numbers of new recruits.[133] In January 1937, they began the "anti-Japanese expedition", that sent groups of guerrilla fighters into Japanese-controlled territory to undertake sporadic attacks.[134] In May 1937, a Communist Conference was held in Yan'an to discuss the situation.[135] Western reporters also arrived in the "Border Region" (as the Soviet had been renamed); most notable were Edgar Snow, who used his experiences as a basis for Red Star Over China, and Agnes Smedley, whose accounts brought international attention to Mao's cause.[136]

In an effort to defeat the Japanese, Mao (left) agreed to collaborate with Chiang (right).
Mao in 1938, writing On Protracted War

On the Long March, Mao's wife He Zizhen had been injured by a shrapnel wound to the head. She travelled to Moscow for medical treatment; Mao proceeded to divorce her and marry an actress, Jiang Qing.[137][138] He Zizhen was reportedly "dispatched to a mental asylum in Moscow to make room" for Qing.[139] Mao moved into a cave-house and spent much of his time reading, tending his garden and theorising.[140] He came to believe that the Red Army alone was unable to defeat the Japanese, and that a Communist-led "government of national defence" should be formed with the KMT and other "bourgeois nationalist" elements to achieve this goal.[141] Although despising Chiang Kai-shek as a "traitor to the nation",[142] on 5 May, he telegrammed the Military Council of the Nanjing National Government proposing a military alliance, a course of action advocated by Stalin.[143] Although Chiang intended to ignore Mao's message and continue the civil war, he was arrested by one of his own generals, Zhang Xueliang, in Xi'an, leading to the Xi'an Incident; Zhang forced Chiang to discuss the issue with the Communists, resulting in the formation of a United Front with concessions on both sides on 25 December 1937.[144]

The Japanese had taken both Shanghai and Nanjing—resulting in the Nanjing Massacre, an atrocity Mao never spoke of all his life—and was pushing the Kuomintang government inland to Chongqing.[145] The Japanese's brutality led to increasing numbers of Chinese joining the fight, and the Red Army grew from 50,000 to 500,000.[146][147] In August 1938, the Red Army formed the New Fourth Army and the Eighth Route Army, which were nominally under the command of Chiang's National Revolutionary Army.[148] In August 1940, the Red Army initiated the Hundred Regiments Offensive, in which 400,000 troops attacked the Japanese simultaneously in five provinces. It was a military success that resulted in the death of 20,000 Japanese, the disruption of railways and the loss of a coal mine.[147][149] From his base in Yan'an, Mao authored several texts for his troops, including Philosophy of Revolution, which offered an introduction to the Marxist theory of knowledge; Protracted Warfare, which dealt with guerrilla and mobile military tactics; and On New Democracy, which laid forward ideas for China's future.[150]

Mao with Kang Sheng in Yan'an, 1945

In 1944, the U.S. sent a special diplomatic envoy, called the Dixie Mission, to the Chinese Communist Party. The American soldiers who were sent to the mission were favourably impressed. The party seemed less corrupt, more unified, and more vigorous in its resistance to Japan than the Kuomintang. The soldiers confirmed to their superiors that the party was both strong and popular over a broad area.[151] In the end of the mission, the contacts which the U.S. developed with the Chinese Communist Party led to very little.[151] After the end of World War II, the U.S. continued their diplomatic and military assistance to Chiang Kai-shek and his KMT government forces against the People's Liberation Army (PLA) led by Mao Zedong during the civil war and abandoned the idea of a coalition government which would include the CCP.[152] Likewise, the Soviet Union gave support to Mao by occupying north-eastern China, and secretly giving it to the Chinese communists in March 1946.[153]

Leadership of China

Establishment of the People's Republic of China

PLA troops, supported by captured M5 Stuart light tanks, attacking the Nationalist lines in 1948

In 1948, the People's Liberation Army starved out the Kuomintang forces occupying Changchun. At least 160,000 civilians are believed to have perished during the siege, which lasted from June until October. PLA lieutenant colonel Zhang Zhenglu, in his book White Snow, Red Blood, compared it to Hiroshima: "The casualties were about the same. Hiroshima took nine seconds; Changchun took five months."[154] On 21 January 1949, Kuomintang forces suffered great losses in decisive battles against Mao's forces.[155] In the early morning of 10 December 1949, PLA troops laid siege to Chongqing and Chengdu on mainland China, and Chiang Kai-shek fled from the mainland to Taiwan.[155][156]

Mao declares the founding of the People's Republic of China on 1 October 1949

Mao proclaimed the establishment of the People's Republic of China from the Gate of Heavenly Peace (Tian'anmen) on 1 October 1949, and later that week declared "The Chinese people have stood up" (中国人民从此站起来了).[157] Mao went to Moscow for talks in the winter of 1949–50. Mao initiated the talks which focused on the political and economic revolution in China, foreign policy, railways, naval bases, and Soviet economic and technical aid. The resulting treaty reflected Stalin's dominance and his willingness to help Mao.[158][159]

Following the Marxist–Leninist theory of vanguardism,[160] Mao believed that only the correct leadership of the Communist Party could advance China into socialism.[160] Conversely, Mao also believed that mass movements and mass criticism were necessary in order to check the bureaucracy.[160]

Mao with his fourth wife, Jiang Qing, nicknamed "Madame Mao", 1946

Korean War

Mao pushed the Party to organise campaigns to reform society and extend control. These campaigns were given urgency in October 1950, when the People's Volunteer Army was sent into the Korean War to fight as well as reinforce the armed forces of North Korea, the Korean People's Army, which had been in full retreat. The United States placed a trade embargo on the People's Republic as a result of its involvement in the Korean War, lasting until Richard Nixon's improvements of relations. At least 180,000 Chinese troops died during the war.[161]

As the Chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), Mao was also the Supreme Commander in Chief of the PLA and the People's Republic and Chairman of the Party. Chinese troops in Korea were under the overall command of then newly installed Premier Zhou Enlai, with General Peng Dehuai as field commander and political commissar.[162]

Social reform

During the land reform campaigns, large numbers of landlords and rich peasants were beaten to death at mass meetings as land was taken from them and given to poorer peasants, which reduced economic inequality.[163][164] The Campaign to Suppress Counter-revolutionaries[165] targeted bureaucratic bourgeoisie, such as compradors, merchants and Kuomintang officials who were seen by the party as economic parasites or political enemies.[166] In 1976, the U.S. State Department estimated as many as a million were killed in the land reform, and 800,000 killed in the counter-revolutionary campaign.[167]

Mao himself claimed that a total of 700,000 people were killed in attacks on "counter-revolutionaries" during the years 1950–1952.[168] Because there was a policy to select "at least one landlord, and usually several, in virtually every village for public execution",[169] the number of deaths range between 2 million[169][170][165] and 5 million.[171][172] In addition, at least 1.5 million people,[173] perhaps as many as 4 to 6 million,[174] were sent to "reform through labour" camps where many perished.[174] Mao played a personal role in organising the mass repressions and established a system of execution quotas,[175] which were often exceeded.[165] He defended these killings as necessary for the securing of power.[176]

Mao at Joseph Stalin's 71st birthday celebration in Moscow, December 1949

The government is credited with eradicating both consumption and production of opium during the 1950s.[177][178] Ten million addicts were forced into compulsory treatment, dealers were executed, and opium-producing regions were planted with new crops. Remaining opium production shifted south of the Chinese border into the Golden Triangle region.[178]

Three-anti and Five-anti Campaigns

Starting in 1951, Mao initiated movements to rid urban areas of corruption; the Three-anti and Five-anti Campaigns. Whereas the three-anti campaign was a focused purge of government, industrial and party officials, the five-anti campaign set its sights slightly more broadly, targeting capitalist elements in general.[179] Workers denounced their bosses, spouses turned on their spouses, and children informed on their parents; the victims were often humiliated at struggle sessions, where a targeted person would be verbally and physically abused until they confessed to crimes. Mao insisted that minor offenders be criticised and reformed or sent to labour camps, "while the worst among them should be shot". These campaigns took several hundred thousand additional lives, the vast majority via suicide.[180]

Mao and Zhou Enlai meeting with the Dalai Lama (right) and Panchen Lama (left) to celebrate the Tibetan New Year, Beijing, 1955

In Shanghai, suicide by jumping from tall buildings became so commonplace that residents avoided walking on the pavement near skyscrapers for fear that suicides might land on them.[181] Some biographers have pointed out that driving those perceived as enemies to suicide was a common tactic during the Mao-era. In his biography of Mao, Philip Short notes that Mao gave explicit instructions in the Yan'an Rectification Movement that "no cadre is to be killed" but in practice allowed security chief Kang Sheng to drive opponents to suicide and that "this pattern was repeated throughout his leadership of the People's Republic".[182]

Photo of Mao sitting, published in "Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-Tung", ca. 1955

Five-year plans

Following the consolidation of power, Mao launched the first five-year plan (1953–1958), which emphasised rapid industrial development. Within industry, iron and steel, electric power, coal, heavy engineering, building materials, and basic chemicals were prioritised with the aim of constructing large and highly capital-intensive plants. Many of these plants were built with Soviet assistance and heavy industry grew rapidly.[183] Agriculture, industry and trade were organised as worker cooperatives.[184] This period marked the beginning of China's rapid industrialisation and it resulted in an enormous success.[185]

Despite being initially sympathetic towards the reformist government of Imre Nagy, Mao feared the "reactionary restoration" in Hungary as the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 continued and became more hardline. Mao opposed the withdrawal of Soviet troops by asking Liu Shaoqi to inform the Soviet representatives to use military intervention against "Western imperialist-backed" protestors and Nagy's government. However, it was unclear to what degree Mao's stance played a role in Nikita Khrushchev's decision to invade Hungary. It was also unclear if China was forced to conform to the Soviet position due to economic concerns and China's poor power projections compared to the USSR. Despite his disagreements with Moscow's hegemony in the Eastern Bloc, Mao viewed the integrity of the international communist movement as more important than the national autonomy of the countries in the Soviet sphere of influence. The Hungarian crisis also influenced Mao's Hundred Flowers Campaign. Mao decided to soften his stance on Chinese intelligentsia and allow them to express their social dissatisfaction and criticisms of the errors of the government. Mao wanted to use this movement to prevent a similar uprising in China. However, as people in China began to criticize the CCP's policies and Mao's leadership following the Hundred Flowers Campaign, Mao cracked down on the movement he initiated and compared it to the "counter-revolutionary" Hungarian Revolution.[186]

During the Hundred Flowers Campaign, Mao indicated his supposed willingness to consider different opinions about how China should be governed. Given the freedom to express themselves, liberal and intellectual Chinese began opposing the Communist Party and questioning its leadership. This was initially tolerated and encouraged. After a few months, Mao's government reversed its policy and persecuted those who had criticised the party, totalling perhaps 500,000,[187] as well as those who were merely alleged to have been critical, in what is called the Anti-Rightist Movement. The movement led to the persecution of at least 550,000 people, mostly intellectuals and dissidents.[188] Li Zhisui, Mao's physician, suggested that Mao had initially seen the policy as a way of weakening opposition to him within the party and that he was surprised by the extent of criticism and the fact that it came to be directed at his own leadership.[189]

Military projects

United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower's threats during the First Taiwan Strait Crisis to use nuclear weapons against military targets in Fujian province prompted Mao to begin China's nuclear program.[190]: 89–90  Under Mao's Two Bombs, One Satellite program, China developed the atomic and hydrogen bombs in record time[quantify] and launched a satellite a few years after the Soviet Union launched Sputnik.[191]: 218 

Project 523[192] is a 1967 military project to find antimalarial medications.[193] It addressed malaria, an important threat in the Vietnam War. Zhou Enlai convinced Mao Zedong to start the mass project "to keep [the] allies' troops combat-ready", as the meeting minutes put it. The one for investigating traditional Chinese medicine discovered and led to the development of a class of new antimalarial drugs called artemisinins.[194]

Great Leap Forward

Mao with Nikita Khrushchev, Ho Chi Minh, and Soong Ching-ling during a state dinner in Beijing, 1959

In January 1958, Mao launched the Great Leap Forward, to turn China from an agrarian nation to an industrialised one.[195] The relatively small agricultural collectives that had been formed were merged into far larger people's communes, and many peasants were ordered to work on infrastructure projects and on the production of iron and steel. Some private food production was banned, and livestock and farm implements were brought under collective ownership.[196]

The effect of the diversion of labour to steel production and infrastructure projects, and cyclical natural disasters led to an approximately 15% drop in grain production in 1959 followed by a further 10% decline in 1960 and no recovery in 1961.[197]

To win favour with their superiors and avoid being purged, each layer in the party exaggerated the amount of grain produced under them. Based upon the falsely reported success, party cadres were ordered to requisition a high amount of that fictitious harvest. The result, compounded in some areas by drought and in others by floods, was that farmers were left with little food and many millions starved to death in the Great Chinese Famine. The people of urban areas were given food stamps each month, but the people of rural areas were expected to grow their own crops and give some of the crops back to the government. The death count in rural parts of China surpassed the deaths in the urban centers.[198] The famine was a direct cause of the death of some 30 million Chinese peasants between 1959 and 1962.[199] Many children became malnourished.[197]

In late autumn 1958, Mao condemned the practices used during Great Leap Forward such as forcing peasants to do labour without enough food or rest which resulted in epidemics and starvation. He also acknowledged that anti-rightist campaigns were a major cause of "production at the expense of livelihood." He refused to abandon the Great Leap Forward, but he did demand that they be confronted. After the July 1959 clash at Lushan Conference with Peng Dehuai, Mao launched a new anti-rightist campaign along with the radical policies that he previously abandoned. It wasn't until the spring of 1960, that Mao would again express concern about abnormal deaths and other abuses, but he did not move to stop them. Bernstein concludes that the Chairman "wilfully ignored the lessons of the first radical phase for the sake of achieving extreme ideological and developmental goals".[200]

Mao shaking hands with a people's commune farmer, 1959

Mao stepped down as President of China on 27 April 1959; he retained other top positions such as Chairman of the Communist Party and of the Central Military Commission.[201] The Presidency was transferred to Liu Shaoqi.[201] Mao eventually abandoned the policy in 1962.[202] Liu Shaoqi and Deng Xiaoping rescued the economy by disbanding the people's communes, introducing elements of private control of peasant smallholdings and importing grain from Canada and Australia to mitigate the worst effects of famine.[203]

At the Lushan Conference in July/August 1959, several ministers expressed concern that the Great Leap Forward had not proved as successful as planned. The most direct of these was Minister of Defence Peng Dehuai. Following Peng's criticism of the Great Leap Forward, Mao made a purge of Peng and his supporters, stifling criticism of the Great Leap policies. A campaign was launched and resulted in party members and ordinary peasants being sent to prison labour camps. Years later the CCP would conclude that as many as six million people were wrongly punished in the campaign.[204]

Split from Soviet Union

U.S. President Gerald Ford watches as Henry Kissinger shakes hands with Mao during their visit to China, 2 December 1975

The Sino-Soviet split resulted in Nikita Khrushchev's withdrawal of Soviet technical experts and aid from the country. The split concerned the leadership of world communism. The USSR had a network of Communist parties it supported; China now created its own rival network to battle it out.[205] Lorenz M. Lüthi writes: "The Sino-Soviet split was one of the key events of the Cold War, equal in importance to the construction of the Berlin Wall, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Second Vietnam War, and Sino-American rapprochement. The split helped to determine the framework of the Second Cold War in general, and influenced the course of the Second Vietnam War in particular."[206]

The split resulted from Khrushchev's more moderate Soviet leadership after the death of Stalin in March 1953. Only Albania openly sided with China, thereby forming an alliance between the two countries. Warned that the Soviets had nuclear weapons, Mao minimised the threat.[207] Struggle against Soviet revisionism and U.S. imperialism was an important aspect of Mao's attempt to direct the revolution in the right direction.[208]

In the late 1950s, Mao wrote reading notes responding to the Soviet Book Political Economy: A Textbook and essays (A Critique of Soviet Economics) responding to Stalin's Economic Problems of Socialism in the USSR.[209]: 51  These texts reflect Mao's views that the USSR was becoming alienated from the masses and distorting socialist development.[209]: 51 

Third Front

Mao with Henry Kissinger and Zhou Enlai, Beijing, 1972
Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie I with Mao in 1971 after the death of Lin Biao

After the Great Leap Forward, China's leadership slowed the pace of industrialization.[210]: 3  It invested more on in China's coastal regions and focused on the production of consumer goods.[210]: 3  Preliminary drafts of the Third Five Year Plan contained no provision for developing large scale industry in China's interior.[210]: 29  After an April 1964 General Staff report concluded that the concentration of China's industry in its major coastal cities made it vulnerable to attack by foreign powers, Mao argued for the development of basic industry and national defense industry in protected locations in China's interior.[210]: 4, 54  Although other key leaders did not initially support the idea, the 2 August 1964 Gulf of Tonkin incident increased fears of a potential invasion by the United States and crystallized support for Mao's industrialization proposal, which came to be known as the Third Front.[210]: 7  Following the Gulf of Tonkin incident, Mao's own concerns of invasion by the United States increased.[211]: 100  He wrote to central cadres, "A war is going to break out. I need to reconsider my actions" and pushed even harder for the creation of the Third Front.[211]: 100 

The secretive Third Front construction involved massive projects including extensive railroad infrastructure like the Chengdu–Kunming line,[210]: 153–164  aerospace industry including satellite launch facilities,[210]: 218–219  and steel production industry including Panzhihua Iron and Steel.[210]: 9 

Development of the Third Front slowed in 1966, but accelerated again after the Sino-Soviet border conflict at Zhenbao Island, which increased the perceived risk of Soviet Invasion.[210]: 12, 150  Third Front construction again decreased after United States President Richard Nixon's 1972 visit to China and the resulting rapprochement between the United States and China.[210]: 225–229  When Reform and Opening up began after Mao's death, China began to gradually wind down Third Front projects.[212]: 180  The Third Front distributed physical and human capital around the country, ultimately decreased regional disparities and created favorable conditions for later market development.[212]: 177–182 

Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution

A public appearance of Chairman Mao and Lin Biao among Red Guards, in Beijing, during the Cultural Revolution (November 1966)

During the early 1960s, Mao became concerned with the nature of post-1959 China. He saw that the old ruling elite was replaced by a new one. He was concerned that those in power were becoming estranged from the people they were to serve. Mao believed that a revolution of culture would unseat and unsettle the "ruling class" and keep China in a state of "continuous revolution" that, theoretically, would serve the interests of the majority, rather than a tiny and privileged elite.[213]

The Cultural Revolution led to the destruction of much of China's traditional cultural heritage and the imprisonment of many Chinese citizens, as well as the creation of chaos in the country. Millions of lives were ruined, as the Cultural Revolution pierced into Chinese life. It is estimated that hundreds of thousands of people, perhaps millions, perished in the violence of the Cultural Revolution.[214] This included prominent figures such as Liu Shaoqi.[215][216][217]

It was during this period that Mao chose Lin Biao to become his successor. Lin was later officially named as Mao's successor. By 1971, a divide between the two men had become apparent. Lin Biao died on 13 September 1971, in a plane crash over the air space of Mongolia, presumably as he fled China, probably anticipating his arrest. The CCP declared that Lin was planning to depose Mao and posthumously expelled Lin from the party. At this time, Mao lost trust in many of the top CCP figures. The highest-ranking Soviet Bloc intelligence defector, Lt. Gen. Ion Mihai Pacepa claimed he had a conversation with Nicolae Ceaușescu, who told him about a plot to kill Mao with the help of Lin Biao organised by the KGB.[218]

In 1969, Mao declared the Cultural Revolution to be over. Various historians mark the end of the Cultural Revolution in 1976, following Mao's death and the arrest of the Gang of Four.[219] The Central Committee in 1981 officially declared the Cultural Revolution a "severe setback" for the PRC.[220]

An estimate of around 400,000 deaths is a widely accepted minimum figure, according to Maurice Meisner.[221] MacFarquhar and Schoenhals assert that in rural China alone some 36 million people were persecuted, of whom between 750,000 and 1.5 million were killed, with roughly the same number permanently injured.[222]

State visits

During his leadership, Mao traveled outside China on two occasions, both times for state visits to the Soviet Union. In his first visit on 16 December 1949, Mao traveled to celebrate the 70th birthday of Joseph Stalin in Moscow, an event that was also attended by East German deputy chairman of the Council of Ministers Walter Ulbricht and Mongolian general secretary Yumjaagiin Tsedenbal.[223] Mao's second visit took place between 2 November and 19 November 1957; highlights included his attendance at the 40th anniversary (Ruby Jubilee) celebrations of the October Revolution (he attended the annual military parade of the Moscow Garrison on Red Square as well as a banquet in the Kremlin) and the International Meeting of Communist and Workers Parties, where he met with other communist leaders.[224]

Death and aftermath

External videos
video icon Official Chinese documentary on Mao's funeral
Ailing Mao with Pakistani prime minister Zulfiqar Bhutto during a private visit in May 1976
With Egyptian vice-president Hosni Mubarak during the latter's visit to Beijing in 1976

Mao's health declined in his final years, probably aggravated by his chain-smoking.[225] It became a state secret that he suffered from multiple lung and heart ailments during his later years.[226] There are unconfirmed reports that he possibly had Parkinson's disease[227][228] in addition to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease.[229] He suffered two major heart attacks, one in March and another in late June, then a third on 2 September, rendering him an invalid. He died nearly one week later, on 9 September 1976, at the age of 82.[230] The Communist Party delayed the announcement of his death until 16:00, when a national radio broadcast announced the news and appealed for party unity.[228]

Mao's embalmed body, draped in the CCP flag, lay in state at the Great Hall of the People for one week.[231] One million Chinese filed past to pay their final respects, many displaying sadness, while foreigners watched on television.[232][233] Mao's official portrait hung on the wall with a banner reading: "Carry on the cause left by Chairman Mao and carry on the cause of proletarian revolution to the end".[231] On 17 September, the body was taken in a minibus to the 305 Hospital, where his internal organs were preserved in formaldehyde.[231]

On 18 September, guns, sirens, whistles and horns across China were simultaneously blown and a mandatory three-minute silence was observed.[234] Tiananmen Square was packed with millions of people and a military band played "The Internationale". Hua Guofeng concluded the service with a 20-minute-long eulogy atop Tiananmen Gate.[235] Despite Mao's request to be cremated, his body was later permanently put on display in the Mausoleum of Mao Zedong, in order for the Chinese nation to pay its respects.[236]

On 27 June 1981, the communist party's Central Committee adopted the Resolution on Certain Questions in the History of Our Party since the Founding of the People's Republic of China, which assessed the legacy of the Mao era and the party's priorities going forward.[237]: 166  The Resolution describes setbacks during the period 1957 to 1964 (although it generally affirms this period) and major mistakes beginning in 1965, attributing Mao's errors to individualist tendencies which arose when he departed from the collective view of the leadership.[237]: 167  Regarding Mao's legacy, the Resolution concludes Mao's contributions to the Chinese Revolution far outweigh his mistakes.[238]: 445 

Legacy

Statue of young Mao in Changsha, the capital of Hunan

Mao has been regarded as one of the most important and influential individuals in the 20th century.[239][240] He has also been described as a political intellect, theorist, military strategist, poet, and visionary.[241] He was credited and praised for driving imperialism out of China,[242] having unified China and for ending the previous decades of civil war. He has also been credited with having improved the status of women in China and for improving literacy and education.[177][243][244][245] In December 2013, a poll from the state-run Global Times indicated that roughly 85% of the 1,045 respondents surveyed felt that Mao's achievements outweighed his mistakes.[246] It has been said in China that Mao was 70 percent right and 30 percent wrong.[10]: 55 [238]: 445 

His policies resulted in the deaths of tens of millions of people in China during his reign,[247][248][249] done through starvation, persecution, prison labour in laogai, and mass executions.[182][247] Mao rarely gave direct instruction for peoples' physical elimination.[250] According to Philip Short, the overwhelming majority of those killed by Mao's policies were unintended casualties of famine, while the other three or four million, in Mao's view, were necessary victims in the struggle to transform China.[251] Mao's China has been described as an autocratic and totalitarian regime responsible for mass repression.[252][253][254][255][256] Mao was accused as one of the great tyrants of the twentieth century.[257][258][182][247] He was frequently likened to the First Emperor of a unified China, Qin Shi Huang.[259][260][261][258][b]

China's population grew from around 550 million to over 900 million under his rule.[262][263] Mao's insurgency strategies continue to be used by insurgents, and his political ideology continues to be embraced by many Communist organisations around the world.[264]

In 1978, the classroom of a kindergarten in Shanghai putting up portraits of then-Chairman Hua Guofeng and former Chairman Mao Zedong

In China

In mainland China, Mao is respected by a great number of the general population. Mao is credited for raising the average life expectancy from 35 in 1949 to 63 by 1975, bringing "unity and stability to a country that had been plagued by civil wars and foreign invasions", and laying the foundation for China to "become the equal of the great global powers".[265] He is lauded for carrying out massive land reform, promoting the status of women, improving popular literacy, and positively "transform(ing) Chinese society beyond recognition."[265] Mao has been credited for boosting literacy (only 20% of the population could read in 1949, compared to 65.5% thirty years later), doubling life expectancy, a near doubling of the population, and developing China's industry and infrastructure, paving the way for its position as a world power.[266][244][245]

Opposition to Mao can lead to censorship or professional repercussions in mainland China,[267] and is often done in private settings.[268] When a video of Bi Fujian, a television host, insulting Mao at a private dinner in 2015 went viral, Bi garnered the support of Weibo users, with 80% of them saying in a poll that Bi should not apologize amidst backlash from state affiliates.[269][270] Chinese citizens are aware of Mao's mistakes, but many see Mao as a national hero. He is seen as someone who successfully liberated the country from Japanese occupation and from Western imperialist exploitation dating back to the Opium Wars.[271] Between 2015 and 2018, The Washington Post interviewed 70 people in China about the Maoist era. A "sizable proportion" lauded the era's simplicity, attributing to it the "clear meaning" of life and minimal inequality; they contended that the "spiritual life" was rich. The interviewees simultaneously acknowledged the poor "material life" and other negative experiences under Mao.[271]

Mao Zedong Square at Shaoshan

On 25 December 2008, China opened the Mao Zedong Square to visitors in his home town of central Hunan Province to mark the 115th anniversary of his birth.[272]

Former party official Su Shachi has opined that "he was a great historical criminal, but he was also a great force for good."[273] In a similar vein, journalist Liu Binyan has described Mao as "both monster and a genius."[273] Li Rui, Mao's personal secretary and Communist Party comrade, opined that "Mao's way of thinking and governing was terrifying. He put no value on human life. The deaths of others meant nothing to him."[274]

Chen Yun remarked "Had Mao died in 1956, his achievements would have been immortal. Had he died in 1966, he would still have been a great man but flawed. But he died in 1976. Alas, what can one say?"[275] Deng Xiaoping said "I should remind you that Chairman Mao dedicated most of his life to China, that he saved the party and the revolution in their most critical moments, that, in short, his contribution was so great that, without him, the Chinese people would have had a much harder time finding the right path out of the darkness. We also shouldn't forget that it was Chairman Mao who combined the teachings of Marx and Lenin with the realities of Chinese history—that it was he who applied those principles, creatively, not only to politics but to philosophy, art, literature, and military strategy."[276]

Outside China

External videos
video icon Booknotes interview with Philip Short on Mao: A Life, April 2, 2000, C-SPAN

Philip Short said that the overwhelming majority of the deaths under Mao were unintended consequences of famine.[251] Short stated that landlord class were not exterminated as a people due to Mao's belief in redemption through thought reform,[251] and compared Mao with 19th-century Chinese reformers who challenged China's traditional beliefs in the era of China's clashes with Western colonial powers. Short writes that "Mao's tragedy and his grandeur were that he remained to the end in thrall to his own revolutionary dreams. ... He freed China from the straitjacket of its Confucian past, but the bright Red future he promised turned out to be a sterile purgatory."[251]

Alexander V. Pantsov and Steven I. Levine, in their biography, asserted that Mao was both "a successful creator and ultimately an evil destroyer" but also argued that he was a complicated figure who should not be lionised as a saint or reduced to a demon, as he "indeed tried his best to bring about prosperity and gain international respect for his country."[277] They also remarked on Mao's legacy: "A talented Chinese politician, an historian, a poet and philosopher, an all-powerful dictator and energetic organizer, a skillful diplomat and utopian socialist, the head of the most populous state, resting on his laurels, but at the same time an indefatigable revolutionary who sincerely attempted to refashion the way of life and consciousness of millions of people, a hero of national revolution and a bloody social reformer—this is how Mao goes down in history. The scale of his life was too grand to be reduced to a single meaning." Mao's English interpreter Sidney Rittenberg wrote in his memoir that whilst Mao "was a great leader in history", he was also "a great criminal because, not that he wanted to, not that he intended to, but in fact, his wild fantasies led to the deaths of tens of millions of people."[278]

Mao greets U.S. President Richard Nixon during his visit to China in 1972.

The United States placed a trade embargo on the People's Republic as a result of its involvement in the Korean War, until Richard Nixon decided that developing relations with the PRC would be useful.[279] The television series Biography stated: "[Mao] turned China from a feudal backwater into one of the most powerful countries in the World. ... The Chinese system he overthrew was backward and corrupt; few would argue the fact that he dragged China into the 20th century. But at a cost in human lives that is staggering."[273] Professor Jeffrey Wasserstrom compares China's relationship to Mao to Americans' remembrance of Andrew Jackson; both countries regard the leaders in a positive light, despite their respective roles in devastating policies. Jackson forcibly moved Native Americans through the Trail of Tears, resulting in thousands of deaths, while Mao was at the helm.[280][c]

Statue of Mao in Lijiang

John King Fairbank remarked, "The simple facts of Mao's career seem incredible: in a vast land of 400 million people, at age 28, with a dozen others, to found a party and in the next fifty years to win power, organize, and remold the people and reshape the land—history records no greater achievement. Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne, all the kings of Europe, Napoleon, Bismarck, Lenin—no predecessor can equal Mao Tse-tung's scope of accomplishment, for no other country was ever so ancient and so big as China."[281] In China: A New History, Fairbank and Goldman assessed Mao's legacy: "Future historians may conclude that Mao's role was to try to destroy the age-old bifurcation of China between a small educated ruling stratum and the vast mass of common people. We do not yet know how far he succeeded. The economy was developing, but it was left to his successors to create a new political structure."[282]

Stuart R. Schram said "Eternal rebel, refusing to be bound by the laws of God or man, nature or Marxism, he led his people for three decades in pursuit of a vision initially noble, which turned increasingly into a mirage, and then into a nightmare. Was he a Faust or Prometheus, attempting the impossible for the sake of humanity, or a despot of unbridled ambition, drunk with his own power and his own cleverness?"[283] Schram also said "I agree with the current Chinese view that Mao's merits outweighed his faults, but it is not easy to put a figure on the positive and negative aspects. How does one weigh, for example, the good fortune of hundreds of millions of peasants in getting land against the execution, in the course of land reform and the 'Campaign against Counter-Revolutionaries,' or in other contexts, of millions, some of whom certainly deserved to die, but others of whom undoubtedly did not? How does one balance the achievements in economic development during the first Five-Year Plan, or during the whole twenty-seven years of Mao's leadership after 1949, against the starvation which came in the wake of the misguided enthusiasm of the Great Leap Forward, or the bloody shambles of the Cultural Revolution?" Schram added, "In the last analysis, however, I am more interested in the potential future impact of his thought than in sending Mao as an individual to Heaven or to Hell."[284]

Maurice Meisner assessed Mao's legacy: "It is the blots on the Maoist record, especially the Great Leap and the Cultural Revolution, that are now most deeply imprinted on our political and historical consciousness. That these adventures were failures colossal in scope, and that they took an enormous human toll, cannot and should not be forgotten. But future historians, without ignoring the failures and the crimes, will surely record the Maoist era in the history of the People's Republic (however else they may judge it) as one of the great modernizing epochs in world history, and one that brought great social and human benefits to the Chinese people."[285]

Third World

The ideology of Maoism has influenced many Communists, mainly in the Third World, including revolutionary movements such as Cambodia's Khmer Rouge,[286] Peru's Shining Path, and the Nepalese revolutionary movement. Under the influence of Mao's agrarian socialism and Cultural Revolution, Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge conceived of his disastrous Year Zero policies which purged the nation of its teachers, artists and intellectuals and emptied its cities, resulting in the Cambodian genocide.[287] The Revolutionary Communist Party, USA, also claims Marxism–Leninism-Maoism as its ideology, as do other Communist Parties around the world which are part of the Revolutionary Internationalist Movement. China itself has moved sharply away from Maoism since Mao's death, and most people outside of China who describe themselves as Maoist regard the Deng Xiaoping reforms to be a betrayal of Maoism, in line with Mao's view of "capitalist roaders" within the Communist Party.[288] As the Chinese government instituted market economic reforms starting in the late 1970s and as later Chinese leaders took power, less recognition was given to the status of Mao. This accompanied a decline in state recognition of Mao in later years in contrast to previous years when the state organised numerous events and seminars commemorating Mao's 100th birthday. Nevertheless, the Chinese government has never officially repudiated the tactics of Mao. Deng Xiaoping, who was opposed to the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution, stated that "when we write about his mistakes we should not exaggerate, for otherwise we shall be discrediting Chairman Mao Zedong and this would mean discrediting our party and state."[289]

The July 1963 Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty increased Chinese concerns over a US-Soviet re-alignment against China and prompted Mao's articulation of the "Two Intermediate Zones" concept.[190]: 96–97  Mao viewed Africa and Latin America as the "First Intermediate Zone", in which China's status as a non-white power might enable it to compete with and supersede both United States and Soviet Union influence.[190]: 48  The other intermediate zone was the USA's wealthier allies in Europe.[190]: 97 

Military strategy

Mao's military writings continue to have a large amount of influence both among those who seek to create an insurgency and those who seek to crush one, especially in manners of guerrilla warfare, at which Mao is popularly regarded as a genius.[290] The Nepali Maoists were highly influenced by Mao's views on protracted war, new democracy, support of masses, permanency of revolution and the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution.[291] Mao's major contribution to the military science is his theory of People's War, with not only guerrilla warfare but more importantly, Mobile Warfare methodologies. Mao had successfully applied Mobile Warfare in the Korean War, and was able to encircle, push back and then halt the UN forces in Korea, despite the clear superiority of UN firepower.[292]

Literature

Mao's poems and writings are frequently cited by both Chinese and non-Chinese. The official Chinese translation of President Barack Obama's inauguration speech used a famous line from one of Mao's poems.[293] In the mid-1990s, Mao's picture began to appear on all new renminbi currency from the People's Republic of China. This was officially instituted as an anti-counterfeiting measure as Mao's face is widely recognised in contrast to the generic figures that appear in older currency. On 13 March 2006, the People's Daily reported that a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference proposed to include the portraits of Sun Yat-sen and Deng Xiaoping in the renminbi.[294]

Public image

Mao gave contradicting statements on the subject of personality cults. In 1956, as a response to the Khrushchev Report that criticised Joseph Stalin, Mao stated that personality cults are "poisonous ideological survivals of the old society", and reaffirmed China's commitment to collective leadership.[295] At the 1958 party congress in Chengdu, Mao expressed support for the personality cults of people whom he labelled as genuinely worthy figures, not those that expressed "blind worship".[296]

In 1962, Mao proposed the Socialist Education Movement (SEM) in an attempt to educate the peasants to resist the "temptations" of feudalism and the sprouts of capitalism that he saw re-emerging in the countryside from Liu's economic reforms.[297] Large quantities of politicised art were produced and circulated—with Mao at the centre. Numerous posters, badges, and musical compositions referenced Mao in the phrase "Chairman Mao is the red sun in our hearts" (毛主席是我們心中的紅太陽; Máo Zhǔxí Shì Wǒmen Xīnzhōng De Hóng Tàiyáng)[298] and a "Savior of the people" (人民的大救星; Rénmín De Dà Jiùxīng).[298]

In October 1966, Mao's Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-tung, known as the Little Red Book, was published. Party members were encouraged to carry a copy with them, and possession was almost mandatory as a criterion for membership. According to Mao: The Unknown Story by Jun Yang, the mass publication and sale of this text contributed to making Mao the only millionaire created in 1950s China (332). Over the years, Mao's image became displayed almost everywhere, present in homes, offices and shops. His quotations were typographically emphasised by putting them in boldface or red type in even the most obscure writings. Music from the period emphasised Mao's stature, as did children's rhymes. The phrase "Long Live Chairman Mao for ten thousand years" was commonly heard during the era.[299]

Visitors wait in line to enter the Mao Zedong Mausoleum.

Mao also has a presence in China and around the world in popular culture, where his face adorns everything from T-shirts to coffee cups. Mao's granddaughter, Kong Dongmei, defended the phenomenon, stating that "it shows his influence, that he exists in people's consciousness and has influenced several generations of Chinese people's way of life. Just like Che Guevara's image, his has become a symbol of revolutionary culture."[278] Since 1950, over 40 million people have visited Mao's birthplace in Shaoshan, Hunan.[300]

A 2016 survey by YouGov survey found that 42% of American millennials have never heard of Mao.[301][302] According to the CIS poll, in 2019 only 21% of Australian millennials were familiar with Mao Zedong.[303] In 2020s China, members of Generation Z are embracing Mao's revolutionary ideas, including violence against the capitalist class, amid rising social inequality, long working hours, and decreasing economic opportunities.[304] As of the early 2020s, surveys conducted on Zhihu frequently rank Mao as one of the greatest and most influential figures in Chinese history.[10]: 58 

Genealogy

Ancestors

Mao's ancestors were:

  • Máo Yíchāng (毛貽昌, born Xiangtan 1870, died Shaoshan 1920), father, courtesy name Máo Shùnshēng (毛順生) or also known as Mao Jen-sheng
  • Wén Qīmèi (文七妹, born Xiangxiang 1867, died 1919), mother. She was illiterate and a devout Buddhist. She was a descendant of Wen Tianxiang.
  • Máo Ēnpǔ (毛恩普, born 1846, died 1904), paternal grandfather
  • Liú (劉/刘, given name not recorded, born 1847, died 1884),[305] paternal grandmother
  • Máo Zǔrén (毛祖人), paternal great-grandfather

Wives

Mao with Jiang Qing and daughter Li Na in the 1940s

Mao had four wives who gave birth to a total of 10 children, among them:

  1. Luo Yixiu (1889–1910) of Shaoshan: married 1907 to 1910
  2. Yang Kaihui (1901–1930) of Changsha: married 1921 to 1927, executed by the KMT in 1930; mother to Mao Anying, Mao Anqing, and Mao Anlong
  3. He Zizhen (1910–1984) of Jiangxi: married May 1928 to 1937; mother to 6 children
  4. Jiang Qing (1914–1991), married 1939 until Mao's death; mother to Li Na

Siblings

Mao had several siblings:

  • Mao Zemin (1896–1943), younger brother, executed by a warlord
  • Mao Zetan (1905–1935), younger brother, executed by the KMT
  • Mao Zejian (1905–1929), adopted sister, executed by the KMT

Mao's parents altogether had five sons and two daughters. Two of the sons and both daughters died young, leaving the three brothers Mao Zedong, Mao Zemin, and Mao Zetan. Like all three of Mao Zedong's wives, Mao Zemin and Mao Zetan were communists. Like Yang Kaihui, both Mao Zemin and Mao Zetan were killed in warfare during Mao Zedong's lifetime. Note that the character () appears in all of the siblings' given names; this is a common Chinese naming convention.

From the next generation, Mao Zemin's son Mao Yuanxin was raised by Mao Zedong's family, and he became Mao Zedong's liaison with the Politburo in 1975. In Li Zhisui's The Private Life of Chairman Mao, Mao Yuanxin played a role in the final power-struggles.[306]

Children

Mao had a total of ten children,[307] including:

  • Mao Anying (1922–1950): son to Yang, married to Liú Sīqí (劉思齊), killed in action during the Korean War
  • Mao Anqing (1923–2007): son to Yang, married to Shao Hua, son Mao Xinyu, grandson Mao Dongdong
  • Mao Anlong (1927–1931): son to Yang, died during the Chinese Civil War
  • Mao Anhong: son to He, left to Mao's younger brother Zetan and then to one of Zetan's guards when he went off to war, was never heard of again
  • Li Min (b. 1936): daughter to He, married to Kǒng Lìnghuá (孔令華), son Kǒng Jìníng (孔繼寧), daughter Kong Dongmei (孔冬梅)
  • Li Na (b. 1940): daughter to Jiang (whose birth surname was Lǐ, a name also used by Mao while evading the KMT), married to Wáng Jǐngqīng (王景清), son Wáng Xiàozhī (王效芝)

Mao's first and second daughters were left to local villagers because it was too dangerous to raise them while fighting the Kuomintang and later the Japanese. Their youngest daughter (born in early 1938 in Moscow after Mao separated) and one other child (born 1933) died in infancy. Two English researchers who retraced the entire Long March route in 2002–2003[308] located a woman whom they believe might well be one of the missing children abandoned by Mao to peasants in 1935. Ed Jocelyn and Andrew McEwen hope a member of the Mao family will respond to requests for a DNA test.[309]

Through his ten children, Mao became grandfather to twelve grandchildren, many of whom he never knew. He has many great-grandchildren alive today. One of his granddaughters is businesswoman Kong Dongmei, one of the richest people in China.[310] His grandson Mao Xinyu is a general in the Chinese army.[311] Both he and Kong have written books about their grandfather.[312]

Personal life

Mao and Zhang Yufeng in 1964

Mao's private life was kept very secret at the time of his rule. After Mao's death, Li Zhisui, his personal physician, published The Private Life of Chairman Mao, a memoir which mentions some aspects of Mao's private life, such as chain-smoking cigarettes, addiction to powerful sleeping pills and large number of sexual partners.[313] Some scholars and others who knew Mao personally have disputed the accuracy of these accounts and characterisations.[314]

Having grown up in Hunan, Mao spoke Mandarin with a marked Hunanese accent.[315] Ross Terrill wrote Mao was a "son of the soil ... rural and unsophisticated" in origins,[316] while Clare Hollingworth said that Mao was proud of his "peasant ways and manners", having a strong Hunanese accent and providing "earthy" comments on sexual matters.[315] Lee Feigon said that Mao's "earthiness" meant that he remained connected to "everyday Chinese life."[317]

Sinologist Stuart R. Schram emphasised Mao's ruthlessness but also noted that he showed no sign of taking pleasure in torture or killing in the revolutionary cause.[318] Lee Feigon considered Mao "draconian and authoritarian" when threatened but opined that he was not the "kind of villain that his mentor Stalin was".[319] Alexander Pantsov and Steven I. Levine wrote that Mao was a "man of complex moods", who "tried his best to bring about prosperity and gain international respect" for China, being "neither a saint nor a demon."[320] They noted that in early life, he strove to be "a strong, wilful, and purposeful hero, not bound by any moral chains", and that he "passionately desired fame and power".[321]

Mao learned to speak some English, particularly through Zhang Hanzhi, his English teacher, interpreter and diplomat who later married Qiao Guanhua, Minister of Foreign Affairs and the head of China's UN delegation.[322] His spoken English was limited to a few single words, phrases, and some short sentences. He first chose to systematically learn English in the 1950s, which was very unusual as the main foreign language first taught in Chinese schools at that time was Russian.[323]

Writings and calligraphy

Mao's calligraphy: a bronze plaque of a poem by Li Bai. (Chinese: 白帝城毛澤東手書李白詩銅匾 )

鷹擊長空,
魚翔淺底,
萬類霜天競自由。
悵寥廓,
問蒼茫大地,
誰主沉浮

Eagles cleave the air,
Fish glide in the limpid deep;
Under freezing skies a million creatures contend in freedom.
Brooding over this immensity,
I ask, on this boundless land
Who rules over man's destiny?

—Excerpt from Mao's poem "Changsha", September 1927[324]

Mao was a prolific writer of political and philosophical literature.[325] The main repository of his pre-1949 writings is the Selected Works of Mao Zedong. A fifth volume, which brought the timeline up to 1957, was briefly issued, but subsequently withdrawn from circulation for its perceived ideological errors. There has never been an official "Complete Works of Mao Zedong".[326] Mao is the attributed author of Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-tung, known in the West as the "Little Red Book" and in Cultural Revolution China as the "Red Treasure Book" (紅寶書). First published in January 1964, this is a collection of short extracts from his many speeches and articles (most found in the Selected Works), edited by Lin Biao, and ordered topically. The Little Red Book contains some of Mao's most widely known quotes.[d]

Mao wrote prolifically on political strategy, commentary, and philosophy both before and after he assumed power.[e] Mao was also a skilled Chinese calligrapher with a highly personal style.[327] His calligraphy can be seen today throughout mainland China.[328] His work gave rise to a new form of Chinese calligraphy called "Mao-style" or Maoti, which has gained increasing popularity since his death. There exist various competitions specialising in Mao-style calligraphy.[329]

Literary works

Mao's education began with Chinese classical literature. Mao told Edgar Snow in 1936 that he had started the study of the Confucian Analects and the Four Books at a village school when he was eight, but that the books he most enjoyed reading were Water Margin, Journey to the West, the Romance of the Three Kingdoms and Dream of the Red Chamber.[330] Mao published poems in classical forms starting in his youth and his abilities as a poet contributed to his image in China after he came to power in 1949. His style was influenced by the great Tang dynasty poets Li Bai and Li He.[331]

Some of his best known poems are "Changsha" (1925), "The Double Ninth" (October 1929), "Loushan Pass" (1935), "The Long March" (1935), "Snow" (February 1936), "The PLA Captures Nanjing" (1949), "Reply to Li Shuyi" (11 May 1957), and "Ode to the Plum Blossom" (December 1961).

Portrayal in media

Mao has been portrayed in film and television numerous times. Some notable actors include: Han Shi, the first actor ever to have portrayed Mao, in a 1978 drama Dielianhua and later again in a 1980 film Cross the Dadu River;[332] Gu Yue, who had portrayed Mao 84 times on screen throughout his 27-year career and had won the Best Actor title at the Hundred Flowers Awards in 1990 and 1993;[333][334] Liu Ye, who played a young Mao in The Founding of a Party (2011);[335] Tang Guoqiang, who has frequently portrayed Mao in more recent times, in the films The Long March (1996) and The Founding of a Republic (2009), and the television series Huang Yanpei (2010), among others.[336] Mao is a principal character in American composer John Adams' opera Nixon in China (1987). The Beatles' song "Revolution" refers to Mao in the verse "but if you go carrying pictures of Chairman Mao you ain't going to make it with anyone anyhow...";[337] John Lennon expressed regret over including these lines in the song in 1972.[338]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ /ˈm (t)səˈtʊŋ/;[1] Chinese: 毛泽东; pinyin: Máo Zédōng pronounced [mǎʊ tsɤ̌.tʊ́ŋ]; traditionally romanised as Mao Tse-tung. In this Chinese name, the family name is Mao and Ze is a generation name.
  2. ^ "The People's Republic of China under Mao exhibited the oppressive tendencies that were discernible in all the major absolutist regimes of the twentieth century. There are obvious parallels between Mao's China, Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia. Each of these regimes witnessed deliberately ordered mass 'cleansing' and extermination."[258]
  3. ^ "Though admittedly far from perfect, the comparison is based on the fact that Jackson is remembered both as someone who played a significant role in the development of a political organisation (the Democratic Party) that still has many partisans, and as someone responsible for brutal policies toward Native Americans that are now referred to as genocidal. Both men are thought of as having done terrible things yet this does not necessarily prevent them from being used as positive symbols. And Jackson still appears on $20 bills, even though Americans tend to view as heinous the institution of slavery (of which he was a passionate defender) and the early 19th-century military campaigns against Native Americans (in which he took part). At times Jackson, for all his flaws, is invoked as representing an egalitarian strain within the American democratic tradition, a self-made man of the people who rose to power via straight talk and was not allied with moneyed interests. Mao stands for something roughly similar."[280]
  4. ^ Among them are:

    War is the highest form of struggle for resolving contradictions, when they have developed to a certain stage, between classes, nations, states, or political groups, and it has existed ever since the emergence of private property and of classes.

    — "Problems of Strategy in China's Revolutionary War" (December 1936), Selected Works of Mao Tse-tung, I, p. 180.

    Every communist must grasp the truth, 'Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun.'"

    — 1938, Selected Works of Mao Tse-tung, II, pp. 224–225.

    Taken as a whole, the Chinese revolutionary movement led by the Communist Party embraces two stages, i.e., the democratic and the socialist revolutions, which are two essentially different revolutionary processes, and the second process can be carried through only after the first has been completed. The democratic revolution is the necessary preparation for the socialist revolution, and the socialist revolution is the inevitable sequel to the democratic revolution. The ultimate aim for which all communists strive is to bring about a socialist and communist society."

    — "The Chinese Revolution and the Chinese Communist Party" (December 1939), Selected Works of Mao Tse-tung, 'II, pp. 330–331.

    All reactionaries are paper tigers. In appearance, the reactionaries are terrifying, but in reality they are not so powerful. From a long-term point of view, it is not the reactionaries but the people who are really powerful.

    — Mao Zedong (July 1956), "U.S. Imperialism Is a Paper Tiger".
  5. ^ The most influential of these include:

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Bibliography

Further reading

General

Commentary

Party political offices
Preceded by Head of the Organization Department of the Chinese Communist Party
1924–1925
Succeeded by
Preceded by Head of the Kuomintang Propaganda Department
1925–1926
Succeeded by
Preceded by
Lu Yi
Head of the CPC Central Military Commission General Political Department
1931
Succeeded by
Preceded by Chairman of the CPC Central Military Commission
1936–1949
Succeeded by
Himself
as Chairman of the PRC People's Revolutionary Military Council
Preceded by President of the CPC Central Party School
1943–1947
Succeeded by
Preceded byas General Secretary Chairman of the Politburo of the Communist Party of China
1943–1945
Post merged with the Chairman of the Central Committee
Chairman of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China
1945–1976
Succeeded by
Preceded by
Himself
as Chairman of the PRC People's Revolutionary Military Council
Chairman of the CPC Central Military Commission
1954–1976
Political offices
Chinese Soviet Republic
New title Chairman of the Central Executive Committee of the Chinese Soviet Republic
1931–1937
Chinese Soviet Republic disbanded
Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the Chinese Soviet Republic
1931–1934
Succeeded by
People's Republic of China
New title Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference
1949–1954
Succeeded by
Chairman of the Central People's Government of the People's Republic of China
1949–1954
Succeeded by
Himself
as Chairman of the People's Republic of China
Chairman of the People's Revolutionary Military Council of the Central People's Government
1949–1954
Succeeded by
Himself
as Chairman of the National Defence Commission in the capacity as President of the PRC
Preceded by
Himself
as Chairman of the Central People's Government
President of the People's Republic of China
1954–1959
Succeeded by