Defend Mao

Defend Mao's Policy Yet Another Annie Hall Moment Much popular literature about China, such as Jung Chang's recent biography of Mao, makes it seem as though China did little after the communist revolution in 1949 but lurch from one disaster to another. In fact, China's national income under a planned economy grew fivefold between 1952 and 1978. Though wages were low, the welfare system - the famous "iron rice bowl" - guaranteed lifetime employment, pensions, healthcare and other benefits that created a high degree of personal security. (Pankaj Mishra, The Guardian) Of course, defending Mao's welfare policy is not unprecedented. Professor Amartya Kumar Sen, Nobel prize economist, made a similar assertion - alas and alack, a man in Sen's audience had actually lived through the Chairman Mao's glorious era - WSJ: In the Woody Allen movie "Annie Hall", a character is sounding off about the Canadian media theorist Marshall MacLuhan when the subject himself appears and says: "Excuse me, I'm Marshall MacLuhan. You know nothing of my work." Woody Allen then turns to the audience and asks, "don't you wish life were like that?" In Hong Kong last week it was Nobel Prize economist Amartya Sen doing the sounding off, praising the state medical system in China under the Cultural Revolution. Mr. Sen asserted that Maoist China had actually made great strides in medicine, bringing down child mortality rates and prolonging life expectancy. Moving to a privatized system was making the system less fair and efficient, said the Nobel laureate, who's behind many U.N. economic works, such as the much-heralded "Human Development Index." To back up his remarkable claim, Mr. Sen said that the rate of growth in life expectancy in China was slowing down. Or at least it was doing so compared to India, which is catching up with China in life expectancy. "The gap between India and China has gone from 14 years to seven [since 1979] because of moving from a Canada-like system to a U.S. like system," said Mr. Sen, adding that he thought this change by China was a mistake. But, alas, there was someone in the audience who actually had lived through the Cultural Revolution in China, and had been one of Mao's "barefoot doctors." He didn't see things quite the same way as Mr. Sen. In fact, he said the comments had quite surprised him. "I observed with my own eyes the total absence of medicine in some parts of China. The system was totally unsustainable. We used to admire India," said Weijian Shan, now a banker in Hong Kong [LFC: MD of Newbridge Capital]. Mr. Shan then added an anecdote that tickled the audience, telling how when he first visited Taiwan in the 1980s and saw young medical school graduates serving in the countryside, he thought to himself, "China ought to copy Taiwan." Mr. Shan added, about Mao's medicine, "If they had made the system optional, nobody would have opted for it." Mao Zedong pronunciation (help·info) (Simplified Chinese: 毛 东 Traditional Chinese: 泽 ; 毛 東 Pinyin: Máo Zédōng; Wade-Giles: Mao Tse-tung); December 26, 1893–September 澤 ; 9, 1976 was a Chinese military and political leader who led the Communist Party of China (CPC) to victory against the Kuomintang (KMT) in the Chinese Civil War, and was the leader of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) from its establishment in 1949 until his death in 1976. Regarded as one of the most important figures in modern world history,[1] and named by Time Magazine as one of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century,[2] Mao is still a controversial figure today, over thirty years after his death. He is generally held in high regard in China where he is often portrayed as a great revolutionary and strategist who eventually defeated Chiang Kai-shek in the Chinese Civil War, and transformed the country into a major power through his policies. However, many of Mao's socio-political programs such as the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution are blamed by critics from both within and outside China for causing severe damage to the culture, society, economy and foreign relations of China, as well as an enormous and unnecessary loss of lives.[3] Although still officially venerated in China, his influence has been largely overshadowed by the political and economic reforms of Deng Xiaoping and other leaders since his death.[4][5] Mao is also recognized as a poet and calligrapher.[6] Contents [hide]               1 Early life in China 2 Political ideas 3 War and Revolution 4 Leadership of China o 4.1 Great Leap Forward o 4.2 Cultural Revolution 5 Death 6 Cult of Mao 7 Legacy 8 Genealogy 9 Writings and calligraphy o 9.1 Literary figure 10 Figure in popular culture 11 See also 12 References 13 Further reading 14 External links o 14.1 Audio and video Early life in China The eldest child of a relatively prosperous peasant family, Mao Zedong was born on December 26, 1893, in a village called Shaoshan in Xiangtan County (湘 縣 Hunan 潭 ), province. His ancestors migrated from Jiangxi province during the Ming Dynasty, and had settled there as farmers. His father was Mao Jen-sheng, a peasant farmer. Wen Chimei, his mother, was a very devout Buddhist. Due to his family's relative wealth, his father was able to send him to school and later to Changsha for more advanced schooling. Names Given name Trad. 毛 東 澤 Simp. 毛 东 泽 Pinyin Máo Zédōng WG IPA Mao Tse-tung Style name 潤 ¹ 之 润 之 Rùnzhī Jun-chih /mau̯ː˧ tsɤ˧˥.tʊŋ˧ /ʐuənː˧ tʂ̩˥/ ˧ / ˧ Surname: Mao Pseudonym: The Great Helmsman ¹Originally 詠 (咏 ) then 润 , in Xiangtan dialect 芝 芝 芝 have the same pronunciation yùnzhī During the 1911 Revolution, Mao enlisted as a soldier in a local regiment in Hunan which fought on the side of the revolutionaries. Once the Qing Dynasty had been effectively toppled, Mao left the army and returned to school.[7] After graduating from the First Provincial Normal School of Hunan in 1918, Mao traveled with Professor Yang Changji, his high school teacher and future father-in-law, to Beijing during the May Fourth Movement in 1919. Professor Yang held a faculty position at Peking University. Because of Yang's recommendation, Mao worked as an assistant librarian at the University with Li Dazhao as curator. Mao registered as a part-time student at Beijing University and attended many lectures and seminars by famous intellectuals, such as Chen Duxiu, Hu Shi, Qian Xuantong, etc. During his stay in Beijing, he read as much as possible, and through his readings, he was introduced to Communist theories. He married Yang Kaihui, Professor Yang's daughter who was his fellow student, despite an existing marriage arranged by his father at home. Mao never acknowledged this marriage. In October 1930, the Guomindang (GMD) captured Yang Kaihui with her son, Anying. The GMD imprisoned them both and Anying, then, was later sent to his relatives after the GMD killed his mother, Yang Kaihui. At this time , Mao was living with a co-worker, He Zizhen, a 17 year old girl from Yongxing, Jiangxi.[8] Mao turned down an opportunity to study in France because he firmly believed that China's problems could be studied and resolved only within China. Unlike his contemporaries, Mao concentrated on studying the peasant majority of China's population. On July 23, 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 (1923), Mao returned to Hunan at the instruction of the CPC Central Committee and the Kuomintang Central Committee to organize the Hunan branch of the Kuomintang.[9] 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. 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. The Party had become poor, and Mao was 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, and took 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.[9] 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. This is considered the initial and decisive step towards the successful application of Mao's revolutionary theories.[10] Political ideas Main article: Maoism Mao as a young man. Mao had a great interest in the political system, encouraged by his father.[11] In addition to his limited formal education, Mao spent six months studying independently. Mao was first introduced to communism while working at Peking University, and in 1921 he cofounded the Communist Party of China (or CPC).[12] In 1920, Mao also developed his theory of violent revolution. His theory was inspired by the Russian revolution and was likely influenced by 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 Nationalists to be both economically and politically vulnerable and thus that the revolution could not be steered by Nationalists. He concluded that violent revolution must be conducted by the proletariat under the supervision of a Communist party. Throughout the 1920s, Mao led several labour struggles based upon his studies of the propagation and organization of the contemporary labour movements.[11] 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 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. Mao began to depend on Chinese peasants 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.[10][13] War and Revolution Mao in 1927. 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 reorganized the scattered soldiers, rearranging the military division into smaller regiments. 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. 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, Red Army in short. (the Fourth Front of Workers' and Peasants' Red Army of China). 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. Mao in 1931. 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 kulakism and then set off a series of systematic suppressions of them.[14] It is reported that horrible forms of torture and killing took place. Jung Chang and Jon Halliday claim that victims were subjected to a red-hot gun-rod being rammed into the anus, and that there were many cases of cutting open the stomach and scooping out the heart.[15] The estimated number of the victims amounted to several thousands and could be as high as 186,000.[16] Critics accuse Mao's authority in Jiangxi was secured and reassured through the revolutionary terrorism, or red terrorism. 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). 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. Around 1930, there had been more than ten regions, usually entitled "soviet areas," under control of the CPC.[17] The 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 out 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.[18] Under increasing pressures 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. Mao in 1935 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 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. 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] However, Mao further consolidated power over the Communist Party in 1942 by launching the Zheng Feng, 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. Mao in 1938, writing On Protracted War During the Sino-Japanese War, Mao Zedong's strategies 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 lendlease armaments continued to be allocated to the Kuomintang. 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. However the Nationalists were better equipped and did most of the fighting against the Japanese army in China.[19] 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: Most of the Americans were favorably impressed. The CPC seemed less corrupt, more unified, and more vigorous in its resistance to Japan than the Guomindang. 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. Then again, modern commentators have disputed such claims. Amongst others, Willy Lam stated that during the war with Japan: The great majority of casualties sustained by Chinese soldiers were borne by KMT, not Communist divisions. Mao and other guerrilla leaders decided at the time to conserve their strength for the "larger struggle" of taking over all of China once the Japanese Imperial Army was decimated by the U.S.-led Allied Forces.[19] Mao in 1946 in Yan'an After the end of World War II, the U.S. continued to support Chiang Kai-shek, now openly against the Communist Red Army (led by Mao Zedong) in the 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. On January 21, 1949, Kuomintang forces suffered massive losses against Mao's Red Army. In the early morning of December 10, 1949, Red Army 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. Leadership of China Stalin and Mao Zedong depicted on a Chinese postage stamp 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 Chairman of the PRC. During this period, Mao was called Chairman Mao (毛 席 or the Great Leader Chairman Mao (伟 领 毛 席 The Communist Party 主 ) 大 袖 主 ). 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. In his speech declaring the foundation of the PRC, Mao announced: "The Chinese people have stood up!" 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.) A meeting between Mao and Joseph Stalin after the CPC's 1949 victory over the KMT in the Chinese Civil War. Mao’s first political campaigns after founding the People’s Republic were land reform and the suppression of counter-revolutionaries, which centered on mass executions, often before organized crowds. These campaigns of mass repression targeted former KMT officials, businessmen, former employees of Western companies, intellectuals whose loyalty was suspect, and significant numbers of rural gentry.[20] The 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.[21] Mao himself claimed a total of 700,000 killed during the years 1949–53.[22] However, because there was a policy to select "at least one landlord, and usually several, in virtually every village for public execution",[23] 1 million deaths seems to be an absolute minimum, and many authors agree on a figure of between 2 million and 5 million dead.[24][25] In addition, at least 1.5 million people were sent to "reform through labour" camps.[26] Mao’s personal role in ordering mass executions is undeniable.[27][28] He defended these killings as necessary for the securing of power.[29] 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 USSR'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 Chinese character simplification aimed at increasing literacy. Land was taken from landlords and more wealthy peasants and given to poorer peasants. Large scale industrialization projects were also undertaken. 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, and 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.[30] 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] 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. Great Leap Forward Main article: Great Leap Forward In January 1958, Mao 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. All private food production was banned; livestock and farm implements were brought under collective ownership. 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. 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 what is thought to be 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 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. "But I do not think that when he spoke on July 2, 1959, he knew how bad the disaster had become, and he believed the party was doing everything it could to manage the situation" 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. "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)." 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. 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: 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. 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, shown here with Henry Kissinger and Zhou Enlai; Beijing, 1972. 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. 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. 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.[31] Various other sources have put the figure between 20 and 72 million.[3] 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 CPSU and CPC. In China, the formerly favourable Soviets were now denounced as "revisionists" and listed alongside "American imperialism" as movements to oppose. 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. At a large Communist Party conference in Beijing in January 1962, called the "Conference of the Seven Thousand," State President Liu Shaoqi denounced the Great Leap Forward as responsible for widespread famine.[32] The overwhelming majority of delegates expressed agreement, but Defense Minister Lin Biao staunchly defended Mao.[32] A brief period of liberalization followed while Mao and Lin plotted a comeback.[32] 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. Cultural Revolution Main article: Cultural Revolution Liu Shaoqi and Deng Xiaoping's prominence gradually became a challenge to Mao's position of power. 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, and the party will uphold 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. 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. Under the pretext that certain liberal "bourgeois" elements of society, labeled as class enemies, continue to threaten the socialist framework under the existing dictatorship of the proletariat, the idea that a Cultural Revolution must continue after armed struggle 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. Chaos reigned over the country, and millions were prosecuted, including a famous philosopher, Chen Yuen. During the Cultural Revolution, Mao closed the schools in China and the young intellectuals living in cities were ordered to the countryside. They were forced to manufacture weapons for the Red Army. The Revolution led to the destruction of much of China's 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 films as To Live, The Blue Kite and Farewell My Concubine. It is estimated that hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions, perished in the violence of the Cultural Revolution.[3] When Mao was informed of such losses, particularly that people had been driven to suicide, he blithely commented: "People who try to commit suicide — don't attempt to save them! . . . China is such a populous nation, it is not as if we cannot do without a few people."[33] Mao greets United States President Richard Nixon (right) during his visit to China in 1972 It was during this period that Mao chose Lin Biao, who seemed to echo all of Mao's ideas, 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. By 1971, however, because of Lin's grip over the military and Mao's own paranoia, a divide between the two men became clear, and it was unclear whether Lin was planning a military coup or an assassination attempt. Lin Biao 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. 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.[34] 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 smoking and heart trouble. Mao remained passive as various factions within the Communist Party mobilized for the power struggle anticipated after his death. Death At five o'clock in the afternoon of September 2, 1976, Mao suffered another myocardial infarction (heart attack), far more severe than the previous two and affecting much larger area of his heart. His body was giving out. The personal doctors group began emergency treatment immediately. 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. 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 before returning to her own residence in the Spring Lotus Chamber. On the afternoon of September 7, Mao took a turn for the worse. Jiang Qing came 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 came again. She wanted 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. 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 cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Mao revived, and Hua Guofeng urged Jiang Qing not to interfere further with the doctor's work. 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. [35] Cult of Mao 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 stretched into every part of Chinese life. 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. 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: “ 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. ” [36] 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 (due to Liu's economic reforms). Large quantities of politicized 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 心 的 太 ) and a "Savior of the people" (人 的 救 ). 们 中 红 阳 民 大 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 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. After the Cultural Revolution, there are some people who still worship Mao in family altars or even temples for Mao.[37] Legacy 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, 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 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 shortly afterwards. Mao's legacy has produced a large amount of controversy. Many historians and academics are critical of Mao, especially his many campaigns to suppress political enemies and gain international renown, some comparing him to Hitler and Stalin.[38][39] 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 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. 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 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. 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. Another comparison has been between India and China. Noam Chomsky commented on a study by the Indian economist Amartya Sen. 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. [40] 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. 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. 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,[41] The Communist Party of Peru, and the 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 roaders" within the Communist Party. 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. 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 anticounterfeiting measure as Mao's face is widely recognized in contrast to the generic figures that appear in older currency.[citation needed] On March 13, 2006, a story in the People's Daily reported that a proposal had been made to print the portraits of Sun Yatsen and Deng Xiaoping.[42] 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.[43] Mao lived in the government complex in Zhongnanhai, Beijing. Genealogy Mao Zedong had several wives which contributed to a large family. These were: 1. Luo Yixiu (罗 秀 1889-1910) of Shaoshan: married 1907 to 1910 一 , 2. Yang Kaihui (杨 慧 1901-1930) of Changsha: married 1921 to 1927, executed by 开 , the KMT in 1930 3. He Zizhen (贺 珍 1910-1984) of Jiangxi: married May 1928 to 1939 子 , 4. Jiang Qing: (江 , 1914-1991), married 1939 to Mao's death 青 From left to right: Mao Zetan, Mao Zemin, Wen Qimei and Mao Zedong at Changsha, 1919. His ancestors were:    Wen Qimei (文 妹 1867-1919), mother. She was illiterate and a devout Buddhist. 七 , Mao Yichang (毛 昌 1870-1920), father, courtesy name Mao Shunsheng (毛 生 贻 , 顺 ) or also known as Mao Jen-sheng Mao Enpu (毛 普 paternal grandfather 恩 ), He had several siblings:    Mao Zemin (毛 民 1895-1943), younger brother 泽 , Mao Zetan (毛 覃 1905-1935), younger brother 泽 , Mao Zehong, sister (executed by the KMT in 1930) 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. Note that the character ze (泽 appears in all of the siblings' given names. This is a ) common Chinese naming convention. 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 powerstruggles.[44] Mao Zedong had several children:     Mao Anying (毛 英 son to Yang, married to Liu Siqi (刘 齐 who was born Liu 岸 ): 思 ), Songlin (刘 林 killed in action during the Korean War 松 ), Mao Anqing (1923-2007): son to Yang, married to Shao Hua (邵 ), son Mao 华 Xinyu (毛 宇 grandson Mao Dongdong (last surviving known male line of 新 ), Mao). Li Min (李 ): daughter to He, married to Kong Linghua (孔 华 son Kong Ji'ning 敏 令 ), (孔 宁 daughter Kong Dongmei (孔 梅 继 ), 冬 ) Li Na (Chinese:李 ; Pinyin: Lĭ Nà): daughter to Jiang (whose birth given name 讷 was Li, a name also used by Mao while evading the KMT), married to Wang Jingqing (王 清 son Wang Xiaozhi (王 芝 景 ), 效 ) Sources suggest that Mao did have other children during his revolutionary days; 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 [45] located a woman who 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.[46] Writings and calligraphy Mao was a prolific writer of political and philosophical literature.[47] 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 书 this is a 宝 ): 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:      On Practice (《 实 论 ); 1937 践 》 On Contradiction (《 矛 论 ); 1937 盾 》 On Protracted War (《 论 久 》 1938 持 战 ); In Memory of Norman Bethune (《 纪 白 恩 ); 1939 念 求 》 On New Democracy (《 新 主 义 》 1940 民 主 论 );     Talks at the Yan'an Forum on Literature and Art (《 在 安 艺 谈 上 讲 》 延 文 座 会 的 话 ); 1942 Serve the People (《 为 民 务 ); 1944 人 服 》 On the Correct Handling of the Contradictions Among the People (《 正 处 人 内 矛 问 》 1957 确 理 民 部 盾 题 ); The Foolish Old Man Who Removed the Mountains (《 愚 移 》 ); 1957 公 山 Mao was also a skilled calligrapher with a highly personal style. In China, Mao was considered a master calligrapher during his lifetime.[48] His calligraphy can be seen today throughout mainland China.[49] 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.[50] Literary figure Politics aside, Mao is considered one of modern China's most influential literary figures, and was an avid poet, mainly in the classical ci and shi forms. His poems are all in the traditional Chinese verse style. 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 romantic poet, in contrast to the realist poets represented by Du Fu. 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 (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). Figure in popular culture The face of Mao Zedong, arguably still one of the most recognizable in the modern world, continues to appear on t-shirts and other merchandise. The Beatles song Revolution has a reference to Mao with the lines, "but if you go carrying pictures of chairman Mao/You ain't going to make it with anyone anyhow". Mao is also featured in the Little Feat song Apolitical Blues. In a Simpsons episode when the family goes to China, Homer visits Mao's mausoleum and talks to Mao's embalmed body. China in Power Politics, 1928-1937: from Disunity to Coalition The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), 1927-1934 POLICY DISAGREEMENTS WITHIN THE CCP AFTER 1927 After the break with the KMT in 1927, the Communists had different ideas about the future policy that the CCP should adopt. A. Policy disagreements i. Ch'en Tu-hsiu (陳 秀 for example, still believed that the Communists should ally with the 獨 ), middle class in carrying out revolutions. Despite the failure of the KMT-CCP Coalition, he still had confidence in this policy. ii. Ch'u Ch'iu-pai (瞿 白 on the other hand, advocated violent and nationwide Communist-led 秋 ), uprisings against the middle-class, the KMT and the warlords immediately and at any cost. iii. Li Li-san (李 三 believed that only workers in the cities could bring about the future 立 ) Communist revolution. He intended to organize the workers, who would then, given time, seize power from the middle class. To him, the peasants as a revolutionary force were only of secondary importance. iv. Mao Tse-tung (毛 東 both distrusted the idea of coalition with the middle-class and doubted 澤 ) the effectiveness of worker uprisings in the cities. Since there were so many peasants in China, he argued, the CCP should depend on the peasants in spreading Communism.. B. Effects i. Much of the CCP's energy was wasted in empty and impractical debates over the problem as to which policy was correct. ii. As a result, the strength of the CCP, which had already been greatly weakened after the KMT purges of 1926-27, declined further. FAILURE OF COMMUNIST URBAN UPRISINGS IN 1927 In 1927, Ch'u Ch'iu-pai was in control of the CCP headquarters in Shanghai. He called for a number of armed uprisings in some Chinese cities. Rebellions, selected murders, terrorist acts, robberies and small-scale attacks were tried. A. Urban uprisings i. The "August First Uprising" - In Nanchangof Kiangsi, for example, Chou En-lai (周 來 and 恩 ) Chu Teh (朱 ) succeeded in stimulating a military revolt in the KMT army on August 1, 1927. 德 However, it was soon put down by other KMT forces. Since this was the first uprising of the CCP, "August First" is now celebrated every year by Communist China as the "Founding Day of the People's Liberation Army (PLA)”. ii. The Autumn Harvest Uprising - On the other hand, in Changsha of Hunan, Mao Tse-tung led the so-called "Autumn Harvest Uprising"in September. Because the Communists were poorly armed and had no popular support, the uprising was equally unsuccessful. B. Effects of failure i. Mao Tse-tung and Chu Teh on Chingkangshan - After the Changsha uprising, Mao Tse-tung retreated to Chingkangshan on the border of Kiangsi and Hunan in 1929. He was later joined by Chu Teh, who had experienced a similar failure in Nanchang. ii. Beginning of Communism in the countryside - From then on, no longer under the strict and close control of the CCP headquarters in Shanghai, young Communists like Mao Tse-tung and Chu Teh could turn away from bookish arguments and actually go into the countryside to organize the peasants. iii. Rise of Li Li-san at the CCP headquarters - Ch'u Ch'iu-pai was held responsible by Soviet Russia for the ill-prepared and ill-directed uprisings. He was called back to Moscow. Real power at the CCP headquarters fell into the hands of Li Li-san. But as CCP members like Mao and Chu had started organizing the peasants in villages far away from Shanghai the CCP headquarters soon found itself increasingly unable to control overall Communist activities in China. Worried about the growing power of Mao and Chu, Li Li-san ordered them to divide their forces into small guerrilla units. Mao and Chu, however, refused, on the ground that a concentration of forces was needed for the construction of a safe territorial base. In this way, the Chinese Communist movement was divided into two levels: one in the city, the other in the countryside. iv. Mao and Chu free from Russian control - Since Russian control of the Chinese Communist movement stopped short at the CCP headquarters, Mao and Chu were free to test their own revolutionary policy, disregarding orders from Soviet Russia. v. Peasants or workers - As both coalition with the KMT and urban uprisings proved to be unworkable, only two policies were left for use: Mao's idea of organizing peasants in the countryside, and Li Li-sans idea of organizing workers in the city. COMMUNISM IN THE COUNTRYSIDE: MAO TSE-TUNG'S (Mao Zedong) PEASANT REVOLUTION, 1928-1931 A. From Chingkangshan (井 山 to Juichin (瑞 ) 岡 ) 金 The peasants on Chingkangshan were quite unfriendly to the Communists. Consequently, in 1929, Mao and Chu decided to move to a new base in the border region in Juichin between Kiangsi, Fukien and Kwangtung. There they established a Soviet Republic. In China, there had always been a traditional lack of cooperation between the provinces in suppressing rebellions if such rebellions broke out on the provincial borders.This was why Mao chose Chingkangshan and Juichin as bases, for both these regions were situated between a few provinces. B. Revolutionary programs i. Steps - Generally, when Mao and his men arrived at a village, they would first organize the peasants by setting up peasant associations. Then, armed bands of peasants would be formed to stimulate and spread uprisings against the landlords and local KMT officials. The landlord's land and properties would be seized, confiscated, and distributed among the landless peasants. Local self-governments would be set up under Communist supervision and direction. Labour teams and production cooperatives would be created. When more and more villages had in this way been brought under Communist control, a Soviet (i.e. an economically self-sufficient and elected government organized on Communist principles) would be created. ii. Land Revolution - According to Marxism, all land should be confiscated by the Communists and then re-distributed equally among the peasants. To the poor peasants, this was of great benefit. The middle and upper (richer) peasants, however, did not welcome any such revolution. This was because they had always held land greater than the average village landholding, which meant that the land they would receive after re-distribution by the Communists must necessarily be smaller in size than the land they originally had had. For the sake of strengthening popular support for the Communist movement, Mao Tse-tung did not want to displease these middle and upper peasants. Thus, he allowed them to retain all or part of their land as private property, even though Communism did not permit private property in theory. In so doing, Mao was changing original Marxist-Leninist ideas to suit China's conditions. He was introducing a Chinese version of Communism. iii. Encouragement given to economic development - Meanwhile, because middle and upper peasants were permitted to hold their land, agricultural productivity was raised. Trade, on the other hand, was encouraged by the Communists. For example, the Red Army was sent to protect local fairs. C. Revolutionary armies i. For the sake of keeping local law and order, local self-defence units (militias) were set up in the villages held by the Communists. Village people were taught to fight battles or to cut wood for making primitive weapons. A spying network was set up, by which the villages provided valuable military-strategic information for the Red Army. In effect, therefore, every village was turned into a fighting base. ii. The Red Army continuously expanded in size. Despite the low pay and strict discipline of the Army, many peasants volunteered to join it. This was because, unlike the traditional Chinese army which usually treated the people badly, the Red Army behaved well, helped the people in their daily village work, and succeeded in winning confidence among the peasants. Whereas the KMT had to spend about 3/4 of its yearly income on military spending alone, the Red Army was self-supporting and did not need CCP money to maintain it. iii. In terms of military strategy, Communist soldiers avoided meeting the far more numerous KNIT troops face to face in battles. Instead, surprise attacks, ambushes of the enemy's military supplies, and unexpected small-scale invasions were carried out. With a good spying system between the villages, this guerrilla strategy was successful. The KNIT forces were unable to destroy the Communists for three reasons: 1. 2. effective KMT control over the villages was lacking, cooperation from the masses was absent, and 3. KMT soldiers were not used to guerrilla fighting. C. Revolutionary spirit The Communists lived, worked and ate with the people. They felt they were saving the lives of thousands of poor peasants. A strong sense of unity and mission developed among the Communists, for the following reasons: i. The Communists had a common ideal to fight for Communism. They had complete confidence in their final victory. In contrast, the KMT consisted of many opportunists who cared for their self-interests only. ii. The CCP members as a group were looked down upon and threatened by other classes of Chinese society. The Communists realised that in order to work for the Communist movement in such an unfavourable environment, they must stand together. iii. Officers of the Red Army had to fight side by side with the common soldiers. Therefore, whereas the leaders had friendly relations with the soldiers, the soldiers had confidence in their leaders. The poverty in the countryside offered no opportunities for corruption nor promotion prospects via favouritism. This contributed to the Communist spirit of honest government and unselfish public service. Because China's countryside was generally, free from foreign influence, anti-foreign and anti-imperialist feelings remained uncomplicated and strong. In such simple surroundings, the Communists therefore enjoyed stronger unity. E. Revolutionary nationalism With the effective use of propaganda and public meetings, the Communists succeeded in arousing the political consciousness of the ignorant peasants and filling them with intense nationalism. F. Revolutionary base Mao Tse-tung told his fellow Communists and the Red Army not to spread control over a territory wider than that they could hold. They were to concentrate on working in a self-supporting territorial base, and to avoid carrying out ill-prepared uprisings against the KMT. COMMUNISM IN THE CITIES: LI LI-SAN'S URBAN LABOUR MOVEMENTS AND UPRISINGS, 1928-1930 A. Organizing the workers in cities During the period, Li Li-san, who was in control of the Shanghai CCP headquarters, worked to promote labour organizations and encouraged strikes in the cities. This was because he believed that only the workers could bring about final Communist success. B. Armed uprisings and failure In 1929-30, the times seemed promising for revolutionary seizure of power by the Communists in cities:  For one thing, the worldwide economic depression showed the weakness of capitalism and would likely create a revolutionary situation.  For another, Chiang Kai-shek was at the moment busy struggling with some of the former warlords who had risen to challenge his leadership. Li Li-san therefore ordered CCP members to attack cities and carry out armed uprisings. In 1930, Mao Tse-tung and Chu Teh, in response to Li Li-san's call, succeeded in capturing Changsha. However, the city was held only for a few days and was then re-taken by the KMT. Similar failures occurred in other cities. Owing to the failure of these uprisings, Li Li-san was recalled by Soviet Russia. He went to Moscow and was kept there. Reasons for the failure of Li Li-san’s revolution in the city:  China's working class was small in size and weak in influence, as industrialization was limited in scope and was heavily concentrated in the treaty ports, where foreign control was, even by 1930, strong.   The KMT's strength was strongest in cities. Contrary to Li Li-sans expectation, the worldwide depression of 1929-30 did not seriously affect China's cities, except in ports where foreign business was important. The depression therefore did not create a revolutionary situation in China. CORRECTNESS OF MAO TSE-TUNG'S POLICY OF PEASANT REVOLUTION A. Inapplicability of all other policies except Mao's By 1930, it became clear that all other different CCP policies had been proved unworkable except Mao Tsetung's line which aimed at organizing peasants in the countryside: i. Alliance with the middle-class like the KMT had been tried before 1927 and had proved to be dangerous and unreliable. ii. Seizure of power through armed uprisings in the cities had been attempted, both in 1927 and in 1929-30, but had been equally unsuccessful. iii. Efforts to organize the workers had been ineffective and unfruitful. Once the correctness of Mao's policy was proved, it held control of the CCP without being challenged by any other effective rival policy. B. A Chinese version of Communism Yet Mao's policy was basically unorthodox in the MarxistLeninist tradition of revolution, i.e. his emphasis on peasants had turned away from the traditional emphasis on workers in Marxist-Leninist Communism. In this way, Mao and his followers actually began to work out a new (and Chinese) version of Communism. The development of the Chinese Communist movement became independent of outside control. C. Reasons for the success of Mao Tse-tung's policy i. China had over 300 million peasants. It was therefore the peasants; not the workers, who provided the strongest revolutionary power. ii. Traditionally, effective government authority and power stopped short at the provincial counties (hsien). The Central government enjoyed little effective control over the countryside. Free from KMT suppression, Mao Tse-tung and his men had therefore a better chance to carry out revolution there. iii. Most Chinese governments in the past carried out social reform from the top down, from the city working out measures to cure social suffering in the countryside. Mao Tse-tung and his men, however, reversed the process and worked up from below. They lived with the peasants, got familiarized with rural problems, and put into effect social measures that directly benefited the people. iv. While other CCP members just argued emptily with one another over Communist theories, Mao and his followers put their ideas into actual practice. MAO TSE-TUNG'S POWER AND ITS CHALLENGES, 1928-34 A. Growth of the Juichin Republic The Juichin Republic, which was established by Mao Tse-tung and Chu Teh in 1929, grew in power quickly. This was because: i. ii. Their revolutionary programs attracted new members and won social support. Some non-Communist leftist groups in China joined Mao's revolutionary movement because they were persecuted by the KMT. iii. A number of KMT soldiers changed sides and joined the Communists, owing to harsh treatment by the KMT or the attractions of Communism as an ideology. iv. Those CCP members who tried to betray the party and surrender to the KMT were punished severely. On one occasion, the relatives of a Communist traitor's extended, family were all executed by the Juichin government. THE LOSS Of THE CCP'S KIANGSI BASE IN 1934 A. Reasons i. Effective military strategy of the KMT - The new military strategy of economic blockade that Chiang Kai-shek adopted in the 5th extermination campaign was effective. ii. Ineffective military strategy and unpopular land policy of the CCP - Within the CCP, the "returned students" understood little about the conditions in China. Whereas Mao Tse-tung favoured guerrilla strategy and limited land reform, these Russiasupported members adopted positional warfare against KMT forces and introduced violent land confiscation. Consequently, the Red Army was defeated badly by Chiang Kai-shek, while the peasants stopped giving support to the Communist Movement. iii. Failure of the CCP to ally with rebellious soldiers of the KMT - In 1933, the CCP failed to give support to and cooperate with the rebellious KMT soldiers in the Fukien Revolt. If it had done so the CCP might have been strengthened against the KMT. B. Effects i. Re-adoption of Mao Tse-tung's policies - Mao Tse-tung's policies proved to be correct. Both the guerrilla strategy and the moderate land reform that he advocated were to be re-adopted and remained unchallenged in the Chinese Communist Movement till after 1945. ii. Counter-revolution in the Kiangsi base - The KMT re-established control over former Communist territories, cancelled all Communist measures like land reform, and put landlords back in the villages. Chiang Kai-shek's chance of winning peasant support was forever lost. iii. Beginning of the Long March - The CCP was forced to abandon its territorial base and started the socalled Long March (1934-35). Qtn: What the problems did Mao face in trying to implement his policies in China? [12m] The policies meant in the question are the economic policy, Great leap Forward and the social policy, Great Proletariat Cultural Revolution. Mao undertook these policies in 1958 to 1960 and 1966 to 1976 respectively. Mao faced problems in both policies he undertook. However both policies shared two similar problems - uncareful planning and political problem. In implementing both policies, Mao realised that he now had to face the problem of his uncareful planning that resulted in further unexpected problems. In the Great Leap Forward, for example, his uncareful planning cause the cash crops in the field to rot while farmers were sent to work on the construction of infrastructure facilities. In the proletariat revolution, such a problem gave rise to unintended extremism of the Red Guards and violence in the society. The emphasis for highest regard for the proletariats and a cult of personality of Mao that developed soon caused Red Guards, who were Mao loyals, to commit acts of violence and social disarray. In this revolution, the theme was "Reds are better than experts". The Red Guards soon went around destroying anything associated with tradition or foreign, criticised teachers, intellects and politicians. Another shared problem is the problem of political enemies he faced. This was the biggest problem he faced because these were people who introduced policies that continually reversed his reforms. In this way, Mao's reforms faced huge obstacles for it to succeed the way Mao wanted it to be. This is because, at the same time there were policies that aimed to reverse these reforms. These political enemies were the Rightists who included Deng Xiaoping and Liu Shaoqi. Further problems for the implementation of Great Leap Forward can be classified as unintended and intended. An unintended problem was the natural disaster, a famine, which loomed China in 9159 to 1961. This disrupted Mao's reforms because people were starving and the Great leap Forward was not succeeding was not succeeding. An intended problem was the stop of aid from the Soviet Union in its provision of finance and industrial material, namely steel, to China. It was not that Mao literally intended for such a problem to arise. Rather, it was a problem that could have prevented if Mao maintained important diplomatic ties with communism ally, Soviet Union. However this was not the case. A fell-out between China and Soviet Union as each was championing with the other their brand of communism. China thus faced the problem of lack of funds and material to industrialise. The problems Mao faced in turning to implement the proletariat revolution can be classified into two groups - political and socio-political. The political problems, like mentioned before, were the problems he faced with his political enemies (Rightist) of whose policies he greatly disapproved of. In the socio-political aspect, Mao faced the threat of the intellects and professionals in the society because Mao feared that these people, using their intelligence and independent thinking, would resent Mao's reforms and influence their people of their resentment. Such opposition threatens Mao's credibility. On the other hand Mao also faced the problems of violence in the society and extremism of the Red Guards in executioning the revolution. This social problem caused Mao's policy of the Great Proletariat Cultural Revolution to result in more bad than good. As the Red Guards were Mao's representatives, such conduct of the Red Guards would clearly threaten Mao's credibility as well. In conclusion, these were the problems Mao faced in trying to implement his social and economic policies. Of Belts and Ladders: State Policy and Uneven Regional Development in Post-Mao China   C. Cindy Fan1 1 Department of Geography, University of California, Los Angeles Correspondence: Department of Geography, University of California, Los Angeles, California, 90024. Abstract This paper investigates the driving forces that have brought about recent changes in China's regional development. I review the dramatic shifts in development philosophy during the post-Mao period, and discuss the role of Western neoclassical theories in influencing state regional policy and their relevance in predicting patterns of regional development in China. In contrast to the Maoist period, Chinese development philosophy since the late 1970s has emphasized efficiency rather than equity, and open-door rather than self-reliance. The regional policy that ensued has favored the eastern region and selected coastal provinces and cities. Despite this spatially biased regional policy, the literature has observed a decline in regional inequality in China. The empirical analysis in this paper resolves this paradox by investigating changes in uneven development at multiple scales of resolution. Specifically, inter-provincial inequality declined because a new growth corridor emerged along the southern and southeastern coast as a result of large state and foreign investments and state preferential policies, while the old economic core in the north and northeast experienced much slower growth. State policy is critical in bringing about regional selectivity in economic growth. That the strong spatial restructuring found in Guangdong is not found in other provinces underlines the differential impacts of regional policy and illustrates the importance of foreign investment and the state's specific political-economic concerns in south China. These findings suggest that neoclassical theories based on market economies are not capable of predicting or explaining regional development in China, and that contemporary regional development theories should give greater attention to the role of the state. Future studies need to scrutinize the relevance of the literature on the geography of production and investigate the ways that capitalist firms may impact the economic landscape of China's open zones.