Mao Zedong

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Lore & Background

Mao Zedong was born on 26 December 1893 near Shaoshan village in Hunan, during the Qing dynasty. His father, Mao Yichang, was a formerly impoverished peasant who had become one of the wealthiest farmers in Shaoshan. At age 8, Mao was sent to Shaoshan Primary School, learning Confucian values, though he later admitted he did not enjoy the classical Chinese texts, instead favouring novels like Romance of the Three Kingdoms and Water Margin. At age 13, his father united him in an arranged marriage to 17-year-old Luo Yixiu; Mao refused to recognise her as his wife, and she died of dysentery in 1910 at 20. Working on his father's farm, Mao read voraciously, developing a 'political consciousness' from Zheng Guanying's booklet lamenting Chinese power and arguing for representative democracy. He also read Adam Smith, Montesquieu, Rousseau, Darwin, and Huxley. Inspired by George Washington and Napoleon, his views were shaped by Gelaohui-led protests after a famine in Changsha; Mao supported the protesters' demands, but the armed forces suppressed them and executed their leaders. In 1911, Mao began secondary school in Changsha, where revolutionary sentiment was strong. Inspired by Sun Yat-sen's newspaper The People's Independence, Mao called for Sun to become president in a school essay. As a symbol of rebellion, Mao and a friend cut off their queue pigtails. Supporting the Xinhai Revolution, Mao joined the rebel army as a private soldier but was not involved in fighting. After six months, he resigned in 1912. Around this time, Mao discovered socialism from a newspaper article and read pamphlets by Jiang Kanghu, but remained unconvinced. Over the next few years, Mao enrolled in and dropped out of a police academy, a soap-production school, a law school, an economics school, and Changsha Middle School. Studying independently, he read core works of classical liberalism and western scientists. He was inspired by Friedrich Paulsen, a neo-Kantian philosopher whose emphasis on achieving a carefully defined goal led Mao to believe strong individuals were not bound by moral codes. His father cut off his allowance, forcing him into a hostel for the destitute. Mao enrolled at the Fourth Normal School of Changsha, which merged with the First Normal School of Hunan. Professor Yang Changji urged him to read New Youth, created by Chen Duxiu. In his first school year, Mao befriended Xiao Zisheng; together they went on a walking tour of Hunan, begging and writing literary couplets for food. In 1915, Mao was elected secretary of the Students' Society, organised the Association for Student Self-Government, and led protests against school rules. He published his first article in New Youth in April 1917, instructing readers to increase physical strength to serve the revolution. In spring 1917, he was elected to command the students' volunteer army to defend the school from marauding soldiers. With Xiao Zisheng and Cai Hesen, they formed the Renovation of the People Study Society in April 1918 to debate Chen Duxiu's ideas. The Society gained 70–80 members, many of whom later joined the Communist Party. Mao graduated in June 1919, ranked third in the year. Mao moved to Beijing, where Yang Changji secured him a job as assistant to the university librarian Li Dazhao, who authored New Youth articles on the October Revolution in Russia. Mao was introduced to Marxism while working there, and later participated in the May Fourth Movement of 1919. In 1921, Mao became a founding member of the CCP. After the start of the Chinese Civil War, he helped build the Chinese Red Army and developed a strategy of guerrilla warfare. In 1935, Mao became leader of the CCP during the Long March, a military retreat to the Yan'an Soviet in Shaanxi. The CCP allied with the Kuomintang in 1937, but the civil war resumed after Japan's surrender in 1945. He defeated the Nationalist government, which withdrew to the island of Taiwan in 1949.

Reader's Guide

Mao led land redistribution and industrialisation campaigns, suppressed political opponents, and intervened in the Korean War. Afterwards, a brief period of liberalisation known as the Hundred Flowers Campaign was also suppressed. From 1958 to 1962, Mao oversaw the Great Leap Forward, a campaign that aimed to collectivise agriculture and industrialise the country, followed by the Great Chinese Famine. In 1966, Mao launched the Cultural Revolution, which was marked by violent class struggle, destruction of historical artifacts, and Mao's cult of personality. Mao died in 1976. He was initially succeeded by Hua Guofeng, then in 1978 by Deng Xiaoping. China under his leadership has been described as a totalitarian regime which resulted in tens of millions of deaths, mainly through famine, as well as political persecution, prison labor, and executions. He is credited with transforming China from a semi-colony into a major world power and promoting literacy, women's rights, basic healthcare, education, and an increased life expectancy. He is recognized for his role in ending imperialism and consolidating the state in China. Under his rule, China became the fifth state to possess nuclear weapons. Mao was influential in the international communist movement, inspiring various Maoist organisations.

Did You Know?

• At age 13, Mao was forced into an arranged marriage with 17-year-old Luo Yixiu; he refused to recognise her as his wife, and she died of dysentery in 1910 at 20.
• As a symbol of rebellion against the Manchu monarch, Mao and a friend cut off their queue pigtails in 1911.
• Mao published his first article in New Youth in April 1917, instructing readers to increase their physical strength to serve the revolution.
• The Renovation of the People Study Society, formed by Mao in April 1918, gained 70–80 members, many of whom later joined the Communist Party.
• Mao graduated from the First Normal School of Hunan in June 1919, ranked third in the year.