Mao Zedong's cult of personality was a prominent part of Chairman Mao Zedong's rule over the People's Republic of China from the state's founding in 1949 until his death in 1976. Mass media, propaganda and a series of other techniques were used by the state to elevate Mao Zedong's status to that of an infallible heroic leader, who could stand up against the West, and guide China to become a beacon of communism.
Mao Zedong himself recognized a need for personality cult, blaming the fall of Khrushchev on the lack of such a cult. During the period of Cultural Revolution, Mao's personality cult soared to an unprecedented height, and he took advantage of it to mobilize the masses and attack his political opponents such as Liu Shaoqi, then Chairman of the People's Republic of China. Mao's face was firmly established on the front page of People's Daily, where a column of his quotes was also printed every day; Mao's selected works were later printed in even greater circulation; the number of Mao's portraits produced (1.2 billion) exceeded the population of China at the time, in addition to a total of 4.8 billion Chairman Mao badges that were manufactured. Every Chinese citizen was presented with the Little Red Book—a selection of quotes from Mao, which was required to be carried everywhere and be displayed at all public events, and citizens were expected to read the quotes from the book daily. However, in the 1970s, Mao also criticized others for overdoing his own personality cult.Lin, Xu and Wu 1995. p. 48.
After the Cultural Revolution, Deng Xiaoping and others launched the Boluan Fanzheng program which invalidated the Cultural Revolution and abandoned (and forbade) the use of a personality cult.
History
Origin and development
The personality cult of Mao Zedong can be traced back to the 1930s, to his involvement in Jiangxi on the Long March (1934–36), and especially during the Yan'an period in the early 1940s. In 1943, during the Yan'an Rectification Movement, newspapers began to appear with a portrait of Mao in the editorial, and soon the "ideas of Mao Zedong" became the official program of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
After the victory of the CCP in the Civil War, posters, portraits, and later statues of Mao began to appear in city squares, in offices and even in citizens' apartments. In 1957, Mao launched the Anti-Rightist Campaign, which was regarded as a continuation of the Yan'an Rectification Movement and further consolidated the rule of the Communist Party and Mao in mainland China. However, the Great Leap Forward caused tens of millions of deaths during the Great Chinese Famine, forcing Mao to take a semi-retired role in 1962. The reputation of Liu Shaoqi, the 2nd President of China, grew so high that it challenged the status of Mao. In response, Mao launched the Socialist Education Movement in 1963.
In 1964, Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-tung, commonly known as the Little Red Book, was published for the first time, which later became one of the most famous symbols of the Cultural Revolution.
Influence of Lin Biao The cult of Mao was brought to its peak by Lin Biao in the mid-1960s. Immediately following the May 16 Notification, Lin Biao gave a speech in which he expressed his view that the 16 May Notification was intended to "forestall a counterrevolutionary plot" and to establish the absolute authority of "Mao's thought."
In a July 1966 letter to Jiang Qing circulated publicly only after Lin's death, Mao described Lin's speech as containing "deeply disturbing" ideas. Mao wrote, "I have never thought that the pamphlets I have written had such magic power. Now that he has taken to inflating them, the whole country will follow suit. It seems exactly like the scene of the marrow-monger wife Wang who boasts of the quality of her goods." "They flatter me by praising me to the stars, [but] things turn to their contrary: the higher one is driven, the harder his fall. I am prepared to fall, shattering all my flesh and bones. It does not matter; matter is not destroyed, it only falls to pieces." Mao had agreed to the CCP Central Committee circulating Lin's speech as an official document and commented in his July 1966 letter, "This is the first time in my life that, on an important point, I have given way to another against my better judgment; let us say independently of my will." Mao wrote that he could not publicly refute Lin's comments, because doing so would put a damper on "the left, all of whom speak like that."
In 1970, Lin advocated for China's constitution to be amended to describe Mao as a "genius." Mao rejected the planned amendment.
Cultural Revolution
Mao's cult was significantly elevated during the Cultural Revolution, despite the major failures of his Great Leap Forward campaign only years prior. The established Cultural Revolution Committee preferred not to take harsh measures against critics of the regime at first. And so Mao decided to turn to the grassroots of the revolution and "true socialism" where he reaffirmed the foundation of his cause - "in addition to left-wing radicals - Chen Boda, Jiang Qing and Lin Biao, Mao Zedong's ally in this enterprise was to be primarily Chinese youth".
Mao once again proved his "fighting efficiency" after swimming across the Yangtze River in July 1966, in an annual swim that commemorates his first historic swim across in 1956. Following this upon his return to Beijing he made a powerful attack on the liberal wing of the party, mainly on President Liu Shaoqi. A little later, the CCP Central Committee approved Mao's Sixteen Points on the Cultural Revolution, an early expression of the political views and objectives of the cultural revolution. It began with attacks on the leadership of Beijing University lecturer Nie Yuanzi. Following this, students of secondary schools, in an effort to confront conservative and often corrupt teachers and professors. This political initiative was strategically cultivated by Mao, who fanned the "leftists" in organizing themselves in "Red Guards". The left-controlled press subsequently launched a campaign against the liberal intelligentsia. Unable to withstand persecution, some of its representatives as well as party leaders committed suicide.
On 5 August, Mao Zedong published his own dazibao (big-character poster), a short but pivotal document titled Bombard the Headquarters, which called out leading figures who were purportedly trying to suppress the Cultural Revolution.
With the logistical support of the People's Army provided by Lin Biao, the Red Guard movement became a nationwide phenomenon. This movement persecuted leading workers and professors throughout the country, subjected them to all kinds of humiliation, and often beat them. Following this, at a million-strong rally in August 1966, Mao expressed full support and approval for the actions of the Red Guards, giving them further validation and permission to continue their actions. Soon after, more and more brutal atrocities by the Red Guard took place. For example, among other representatives of the intelligentsia, famous Chinese writer Lao She was brutally tortured and committed suicide.
The 10th CCP Congress, which took place in Beijing from 1 to 24 April 1969, approved the first results of the "Cultural Revolution". In this report, one of the closest associates of Mao Zedong, Marshal Lin Biao, ensured praise is focused on the "great helmsman", whose ideas were called "the highest stage in the development of Marxism–Leninism". This new CCP charter officially consolidated "the ideas of Mao Zedong" as the ideological basis of the CCP. The program part of the charter included an unprecedented provision that Lin Biao is "the continuation of the work of Comrade Mao Zedong". The entire leadership of the party, government and army was concentrated in the hands of the Chairman of the CCP, his deputy and the Standing Committee of the Politburo of the Central Committee.
During the Cultural Revolution, Mao's personality cult manifested itself in the ubiquitous wearing of badges depicting Chairman Mao, and people carrying around a Little Red Book with the writings of Mao, which would be studied and quoted from at every opportunity. There was even a "loyalty dance" () which people would perform in order to demonstrate their loyalty to the great leader.
In propaganda writings, such as PLA's legendary communist soldier Lei Feng's Diary, loud slogans and fiery speeches significantly elevated the cult of Mao.
The following quote epitomizes the Red Guards' thoughts surrounding Chairman Mao, in their manifesto they wrote: Academic Dongping Han writes that during the Cultural Revolution, rural villagers used the personality cult surrounding Mao Zedong as a political instrument to pursue their goals. Ordinary villagers used Mao's words as a de facto constitution which they could effectively use in political discourses.
Mao's reaction In January 1965, before the Cultural Revolution, Mao Zedong expressed the need for personality cult in an interview with American journalist Edgar Snow, blaming the fall of the Soviet Union's Khrushchev on the lack of such a cult. Again in December 1970, Mao told Edgar Snow in another interview that "we all need some personality cult", admitting that the personality cult around him during the Cultural Revolution was necessary to oppose Liu Shaoqi (then President of China). In the first few years of the Cultural Revolution, Mao took advantage of his personality cult to mobilize the populace, especially the Red Guards, to achieve his goals, including destroying the "Four Olds" and attacking his political opponents such as Liu Shaoqi.
However, during the later stage of the Cultural Revolution, Mao also criticized others for overdoing his own personality cult. With the permission from Mao, some members of the Cultural Revolution Group such as Kang Sheng and Zhang Chunqiao publicly accused that some people promoted Mao cult only to accumulate their own "political capital" or political leverage; these people were also labelled as anti-Marxists and anti-Leninsts, and as Liu Shaoqi's loyalists. Mao and the Central Committee of CCP wanted to completely control the interpretation and use of the Mao cult. On the other hand, academic Alessandro Russo writes that Mao did not believe his thinking had any absolute authority. Russo thinks that Mao's study initiatives in the last few years of his life were an effort to prompt mass intellectual engagement to rethink the problems raised by the Cultural Revolution.
When Lin Biao gave a speech citing the "absolute authority" of Mao's political thinking shortly after the May 16 Notification, Mao wrote privately that Lin's speech contained "deeply disturbing ideas," sarcastically comparing it to "Wife Wang boasting pumpkins to sell at the market." Mao allowed the speech to be published, describing it privately as "the first time in my life that, on an important point, I have given way to another against my better judgment."
At a 1967 meeting with a Hysni Kapo-led delegation from Albania, Mao criticized the cult of personality that had developed around himself and stated that he was to blame for much of the chaos in China.
At a 1970 Party meeting where Chen Boda proclaimed the "genius" of Mao's thinking, Mao criticized Chen for making a major political error. Mao likewise rebuffed Lin's effort to cite Mao's "genius" in China's constitution. Mao also objected to Lin's characterization of Mao as being above the party and the state. In September 1971, Lin Biao died in a plane crash after a "failed coup" against Mao, known as the Lin Biao incident. Chen Boda lost power and became imprisoned in 1970 due to his support of Lin Biao.
Characteristics
Propaganda