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Mao Zedong
Mao, shown here with Henry Kissinger and Zhou Enlai.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 Peng Dehuai. Mao orchestrated a denouncement of Peng and his
supporters, stifling criticism of the Great Leap policies.
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 localised or exaggerated as China was continuing to claim record
harvests and was a net exporter of grain through the period. 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. Various other sources have put the figure
between 20 and 43 million.
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. 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 USSR and CPC.
Partly-surrounded by hostile American military bases (reaching from South Korea,
Japan, Okinawa, and Taiwan), China was now confronted with a new 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.
The Great Leap policies were effectively given up following a Politburo meeting
in January 1961 and Mao took a more backseat role whilst more moderate leaders
such as Liu Shaoqi, who had become State President in 1959 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.
Cultural Revolution
Main article: Cultural Revolution
Following these events, other members of the Communist Party, including Liu
Shaoqi and Deng Xiaoping, decided that Mao should be removed from actual power
and only remain in a largely ceremonial and symbolic role. They attempted to
marginalize Mao, and by 1959, Liu Shaoqi became State President, but Mao
remained Chairman. Liu and others began to look at the situation much more
realistically, somewhat abandoning the idealism Mao wished for.
Facing the prospect of losing his place on the political stage, Mao responded to
Liu and Deng's movements by launching the Cultural Revolution in 1966. According
to Jung Chang and Jon Halliday, in Mao: the Unknown Story, Mao was bitter that
his Great Leap Forward programme had been stopped by Liu and other party
leaders, and he was determined to exact revenge. The Cultural Revolution allowed
Mao to circumvent the Communist hierarchy by giving power directly to the Red
Guards, groups of young people, often teenagers, who set up their own tribunals.
The Revolution led to the destruction of much of China's cultural heritage and
the imprisonment of a huge number of Chinese intellectuals, as well as creating
general economic and social chaos in the country. Millions of lives were ruined
during this period, which is depicted by such Chinese films as To Live and
Farewell My Concubine.
It was during this period that Mao chose Lin Biao to become his successor. Mao
and Lin Biao formed an alliance leading up to the Cultural Revolution in order
for the purges to succeed. Mao needed Lin's clout for his plan to work. In
return, Lin was made Mao's successor. Somewhat later, it is unclear whether Lin
was planning a military coup or an assassination attempt; he died trying to flee
China, probably anticipating his arrest, in a suspicious plane crash over
Mongolia. It was declared that Lin was planning to depose Mao, and he was
posthumously expelled from the CPC. At this time, Mao lost trust in many of the
top CPC figures.
Mao greeted United States President Richard Nixon (right) in a China visit in
1972In 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 smoking and
heart trouble. Mao remained passive as various factions within the Communist
Party mobilized for the power struggle anticipated after his death. When Mao
could not swim any longer, the indoor swimming pool he had at Zhongnanhai was
converted into a giant reception hall, according to Li Zhisui.
Death
Mao Zedong died at the age of 82, on September 9, 1976 at 10 minutes past
midnight in Beijing. Mao had been in poor health for several years and had
declined visibly for some months prior to his death. His body lay in state at
the Great Hall of the People. A memorial service was held in Tiananmen Square on
September 18, 1976. There was a three minute silence observed during this
service. His body was later placed into the Mausoleum of Mao Zedong, although he
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.
As anticipated after Mao’s death, there was a power struggle for control of
China. On one side were the leftists led by the Gang of Four, who wanted to
continue the policy of revolutionary mass mobilization. On the other side were
the rightists, which consisted of two groups. One was the restorationists led by
Hua Guofeng who advocated a return to central planning along the Soviet model.
The other was the reformers, led by Deng Xiaoping, who wanted to overhaul the
Chinese economy based on market-oriented policies and to de-emphasize the role
of Maoist ideology in determining economic and political policy.
Eventually, the moderates won control of the government. Deng Xiaoping, with
clear seniority over Hua Guofeng, defeated Hua in a bloodless power struggle
shortly afterwards.
Cult of Mao
The caption on the poster reads: "The People's Liberation Army is A School of
Mao Zedong Thought".One of the reasons Mao is most remembered is the Cult of
Mao, the personality cult that was created around him. Mao presented himself as
an enemy of landowners, businessmen, and Western and American imperialism, as
well as an ally of impoverished peasants, farmers and workers. Some argue that
personality cults go against the basic ideas of Marxism. Stalin, however,
circumvented this and began cultivating a cult of personality around himself and
Lenin, even though Lenin expressly wished that no monuments be created after his
death.
Mao said the following about cults at the 1958 Party congress in Chengdu, where
he expressed support for the idea of personality cults—even ones like Stalin's:
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
analysed and blind worship.
In 1962, Mao proposed the Socialist Education Movement (SEM) in an attempt to
"protect" the peasants against the temptations of feudalism and the sprouts of
capitalism that he saw re-emerging in the countryside (due to Liu's economic
reforms). Large quantities of politicised art were produced and circulated—with
Mao at the centre. Numerous posters and musical compositions referred to Mao as
"A red sun in the centre of our hearts" (我们心中的红太阳) and a "Savior of the people"
(人民的大救星).
The Cult of Mao proved vital in starting the Cultural Revolution. China's youth
had mostly been brought up during the Communist era, and they had been told to
love Mao. Thus they were his greatest supporters. Their feelings for him were so
strong that many followed his urge to challenge all established authority.
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 typographically emphasised by
putting them in boldface or red type in even the most obscure writings.
Legacy
Mao's legacy has produced a large amount of controversy. Many Chinese
mainlanders continue to regard Mao Zedong as a great revolutionary leader,
although they also believe that he made serious mistakes later in his life.
According to Deng Xiaoping, Mao was "seventy-percent right and thirty-percent
wrong", and his "contributions are primary and his mistakes secondary." Some,
including members of the Communist Party of China, hold Mao responsible for
pulling China away from its biggest ally, the USSR, in the Sino-Soviet Split,
while others admire his break with what Mao considered to be "capitalist-roaders."
The Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution were also considered to be
major disasters in his policy by his critics and even many of his supporters.
Mao has also been blamed for not encouraging birth control and for creating a
demographic bump, which later Chinese leaders responded to with the one child
policy.
Supporters of Mao credit him with advancing the social and economic development
of Chinese society. They point out that before 1949, for instance, the
illiteracy rate in Mainland China was 80 percent, 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. Supporters also state that, under Mao's
regime, China ended its "Century of Humiliation" from Western 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. Some of Mao's supporters view the Kuomintang as
having been corrupt and credit Mao with driving them off the Chinese mainland to
Taiwan.
They also argue that the Maoist era improved women's rights by abolishing
prostitution, a phenomenon that was to return after Deng Xiaoping and
post-Maoist CPC leaders increased liberalization of the economy. 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!"
Skeptics observe that similar gains in literacy and life expectancy occurred
after 1949 on the small neighboring island of Taiwan, which was ruled by Mao's
opponents, namely Chiang Kai-Shek and the Kuomintang, even though they
themselves perpetrated substantial repression in their own right. The regime
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. A counterpoint, however, was that the United States helped
Taiwan with aid and infrastructure, along with Japan and other countries,
whereas the mainland was under economic sanctions from the same countries for
many years.
Another comparison has been between India and China. It is argued that India was
ahead of China in some health measures before Mao took over, but Communist-ruled
China surpassed capitalist India in virtually every measure of economic and
social development, a position supported by a study by Indian economist Amartya
Sen. It is worth noting, however, that China did not have the same kind of
ethnic and social problems that India did, such as the caste system.
Mao believed that "socialism [was] the only way out for China" because the
United States and other Western countries would not allow China to develop using
theories such as Imperialism, as described by Lenin. 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. Some people claim that while the Tigers
(South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore) obtained favorable trade terms
from the United States, most Third World capitalist countries did not, and they
saw nothing like the economic growth of the Tigers. The other side of this
debate argue that the disparity in per capita income between Taiwan and the
mainland today demonstrates that Mao's statement may have been a self-fullfilling
proposition.
There is more consensus on Mao's role as a military strategist and tactician
during the Chinese Civil War and the Korean War. Even among those who find Mao's
ideology to be either unworkable or abhorrent, many acknowledge that Mao was a
brilliant political and military strategist. 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.
Remains of Mao's personality cult: one of the last publicly displayed portraits
of Mao Zedong at the Tiananmen gate.The ideology of Maoism has influenced many
communists around the world, including third world revolutionary movements such
as Cambodia's Khmer Rouge, Peru's Shining Path, the revolutionary movement in
Nepal, and also claims influence of the Revolutionary Communist Party, USA.
China 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 Mao's legacy.
Many in mainland China regard Mao as a revolutionary hero in the first half of
his life but hold that he was corrupt after gaining power. However, most Chinese
liberals eschew Mao's authoritarian tactics.
Contemporary views about him in the PRC are affected by bans on some works that
criticise Mao (including this article). The controversial Mao: the Unknown
Story, by Jung Chang and Jon Halliday, provides a far less flattering picture of
Mao than previous historical works do. Chang's book notes that Mao fabricated
many myths about his background and youth to enhance his image as a true
"people's hero." It likewise contends that details relevant to key events in the
Long March (in particular the 1935 Battle of Luding Bridge) were falsified. Open
academic discussion of Mao's life is restricted by the official "70% good, 30%
bad" verdict.
As the Chinese government instituted free market economic reform in the early
21st century, it put less emphasis on studying Mao. For example, there was
little state recognition of the 25th anniversary of Mao's death. This was a
clear contrast with 1993, when the state organized numerous events and seminars
commemorating Mao's 100th birthday. Nevertheless, unlike the denunciations of
Stalin and "Stalinism" by Khrushchev during the Soviet era in Russia, the
Chinese government has never officially repudiated the tactics of Mao. Critics
of the government who uphold Mao's critique of the current rulers of China as
betraying the core principals of socialism are also suppressed by the Chinese
government.
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 March 13, 2006, a story in
the People's Daily reported that a proposal had been made to replace Mao's
portrait on currency with that of Sun Yat-sen and Deng Xiaoping
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