Cult of Personalities: Part 3 The People's Republic of Mao

       The history of China seems to be very repetitive as dynasties fall and new ones are reborn. There was the Han Dynasty, the Yuan, the Ming, and the Qing. Now there are many more dynasties, but I guess I am too lazy to list them all or explain them. If you are interested more in the dynasties of China I highly recommend doing some of your own research. The Warring period would be an interesting place to start. Qin Shi Huang would be the one to unite China under an iron fist. The history of China is wheel that could not be broken as a new dynasty always seemed to take over. Even after the Mongols conquered China they established the Yuan Dynasty. Mao was born during the weakening of the Qing Dynasty. He would be the one that would want to break the cycle and break the wheel of China.

     Mao Zedong was born in Hunan, China in 1893. He was born to an authoritarian father and loving mother. His mother practiced Buddhism, but Mao later rejected the entirety of religion. He was working in the fields at the age of 13; however, he eventually left to attend school in Changsha. He would later become a certified teacher but could not find work. Eventually, he found himself working as a librarian at  Beijing University. At this point he was taking part in workers protest and joined the Chinese Communist party in 1921. In 1923 the Chinese president, Sun Yat-sen died and Chiang Kai Shek took over the Kuomintang. Mao and Chiang would become bitter rivals in the fight for mainland China for the next thirty some years. Mao would gain fame and ultimately become head of the Communist party after his famous "Long March." This was a successful strategic retreat led by Mao as the Kuomintang attempted to surround them. The bitter fighting between the Communists and Kuomintang came to a stand-still when the Japanese invaded in 1937. Chiang Kai-Shek failed to hold the city of Nanking and requested assistance from the Communists. They successfully beat back the Japanese forces in 1945, but the fighting resumed between the Kuomintang and Communists.

        Eventually, the Communists beat them out of the country and the rest of the Chinese

Nationalists fled to Taiwan where they remain until this day. Mao would become the party Chairman and attempted to reform the country and did make some positive impacts for education, healthcare, and women. However, it was proven that he cannot run a country after his devastating "Great Leap Forward" where he is responsible for a self-made famine (just like Holodomor in the Ukraine). Mao set unrealistic expectations for agricultural and industrial output between 1958-1961. This program saw the deaths of 40 million people; more than most scholars believe Stalin killed. After this terrible event, party leaders pushed him to the sidelines until his return in the mid 1960s during the Cultural Revolution. Unfortunately, this event imprisoned intellectuals and it closed universities across China. It sent many people to reeducation camps. They were looking for those against the ideals of the Communist Party. He did open trade with the US in 1970s after meeting with President Nixon. His 27 year rule has been praised and criticized by many scholars. He did help unify China and encourage modernization, but at the cost of how many? Do the ends justify the deaths of 40 to 70 million people? Did he see their deaths as any value to him or was he more concerned about his own power? These are questions I think many scholars still debate. In my own opinion, China's success can be most attributed to Mao's successor Deng Xiaoping. 

      His cult of personality still lives on with millions of people still making their pilgrimage to his grave every year. Lin Biao is most responsible for creating the cult of Mao; as he published Mao's quotes in the "Little Red Book." They printed millions of copies of this book and were used extensively during the Cultural Revolution when Chairmen Mao was seen as the "Great Teacher" and "Great Commander." Using these terms are a very obvious sign of a cult; Mao even said that a form of hero worship is needed to stimulate the masses. This stimulation is obviously the form of brainwashing. I cannot imagine how difficult it must be for those that did suffer under this regime or were purged during the Cultural Revolution because he will probably always be considered the father of modern day China. It is hard to disapprove that theory. In the words of my professor from college, "Mao did great things, but terrible things." I think over time as China liberalizes its political sphere and economic sphere even more, the attitude of Mao will change entirely. 

      They will be able to conduct research without party influence or political bias. You will be able to criticize him more without repercussion. Mao was ambitious and a man not to be reckon with. However, the wheel never broke. It kept on turning even after the fall of Qing Dynasty. China is now just using politics to take control of the region around it, and even Mao likened himself to Qin Shi Huang (an emperor). Surprisingly, this is almost a perfect comparison. It is troubling to see that China has not made a public apology to those that died and those that suffered under his policies. Again, it is important to never forget the terrible atrocities he committed, and they should continue to write about them until the truth is accepted. Again, this will take time until the wheel is truly broken. 

Recommended Books

-Mao: The Unknown Story by Jung Chang and Jon Halliday

-Wind in the Tower: Mao Tse-Tung and the Chinese Revolution, 1949-1975

Just a Side Note:

This statue maybe pretty impressive of Mao's head, but they are also building a new huge statue of him, you should look it up.