Mao Zedong

The name of Mao Zedong consisted of two parts - Tse-tung. Tse had a double meaning: the first - "wet and wet", the second - "mercy, goodness, good deed." The second character is “dun” - “east”. The whole name meant "The Benevolent East." At the same time, according to tradition, the child was given an unofficial name. It was to be used in special cases as a grand, respectful Yunzhi. “Yun” means to chant, and “chi” - or, more precisely, “zhilan” - “orchid”. Thus, the middle name meant "The Orchid Chanted." Soon, the second name had to be replaced: it lacked the sign “water” from the point of view of geomancy. As a result, the second name turned out to be similar in meaning to the first: Runchzhi - “An Orchid Irrigated with Water”. With a slightly different spelling of the character “chi”, the name Runchzhi acquired another symbolic meaning: “Benevolent to all living.” ^[12] But the great name, although it reflected the aspirations of the parents of a brilliant future for their son, was also a “potential challenge to fate,” therefore, as a child, Mao was called a modest diminutive name - Shi san ya-tzu ^[13] (“The Third Child named Stone ").

The early years

Mao Zedong was born on December 26, 1893 in the village of Shaoshan , Hunan Province , near the provincial capital, the city of Changsha . Zedong's father, Mao Yichang (1870-1920), belonged to the small landowners, and his family was quite wealthy. The strict nature of the Confucian father led to conflicts with his son and at the same time the boy’s affection for the soft- tempered Buddhist mother , Wen Qimei (1867-1919). Following his mother’s example, little Mao became a Buddhist. However, as a teenager, Mao abandoned Buddhism. Years later, he said to his associates ^[13] :

Young Mao received a classical primary Chinese education at a local school, which included an introduction to the teachings of Confucius and the study of ancient Chinese literature. “I knew the classics, but did not like it,” Mao Zedong later admitted in an interview with Edgar Snow ^[14] . The young man retained a passion for reading and a dislike for classical philosophical treatises even after leaving school at the age of 13 (the reason for this was the strict temper of the teacher, who applied harsh methods of education and often beat students) and returned to his father's house. Mao Yichang enthusiastically met the return of his son, hoping that he would become his support in household chores and housekeeping. However, his expectations did not come true: young Mao resisted any physical work and spent all his free time reading books. ^[15]

In late 1907 - early 1908, another conflict occurred between the father and son in the Mao family. This time, his reason was the marriage that Mao Yichang arranged for his eldest son. The cousin of Mao, Luo Yixiu (1889-1910), was chosen as the bride of the future Chairman. According to Mao Zedong, he did not accept his wife and refused to live with her. “I never lived with her - neither then nor after. I did not consider her my wife, ”Chairman Edgar Snow acknowledged years later. ^[16] Shortly after the wedding, Mao ran away from home and lived for about six months visiting a friend of the unemployed student in the same place in Shaoshan. He continued to read enthusiastically: at that time he had to get acquainted with classical Chinese historiography - “ Historical Notes ” by Sima Qian and “The History of the Han Dynasty ” by Ban Gu .

Despite the tension in relations with his father, when in the fall of 1910, young Zedong demanded money from his parent to continue his education, Mao Yichang could not refuse and provided his son with training at the highest level Dunshan Elementary School. At school, Mao was met with hostility: the rest of the students were annoyed by his appearance (he had an atypical height for a southerner of 177 cm), origin (most of the students were sons of large landowners) and speech (Mao spoke the local Xiangtan dialect until the end of his life) ^[17] . However, this did not cancel the perseverance and diligence with which the new student approached the classes. Mao could write good compositions in a classical manner, was diligent and, as usual, read a lot. Here he got acquainted with geography and began to read works on foreign history. He first learned about such famous historical figures as Napoleon , Catherine II , Peter I , Wellington , Gladstone , Russo , Montesquieu and Lincoln . The main books for him at that time were publications telling about the Chinese reformers Liang Qichao and Kang Yuwei . Their ideas of constitutional monarchism had a huge impact on the schoolboy Mao, who fully accepted the views of the leaders of the reform movement. ^[18]

The Xinhai revolution finds young Mao in Changsha , where he moved from Dongshan at the age of eighteen. The young man witnesses the bloody struggle of various groups, as well as soldiers' uprisings, and for a short time he adjoins the army of the governor of the province. Six months later, he left the army to continue his studies, this time at Changsha First Provincial High School. But here he did not stay long ("I did not like First School. Her program was limited, and the orders were terrible" ^[19] ). Mao devoted himself to self-education and spent six months studying at the Hunan Provincial Library, focusing on the geography, history and philosophy of the West. However, dissatisfied with the carefree life of Mao Yichang stopped sending money until Mao finds a worthy occupation. The young man himself refused to earn a living, and as a result, in the spring of 1913, he was forced to enroll in students of the newly opened Fourth Provincial Pedagogical School in Changsha, later combined with the First Provincial Pedagogical School.

In 1917, his first article appeared in the journal New Youth. At the school, Mao with friends creates the society “Renewal of the people”, whose program was “a mixture of Confucianism with Kantianism ”. A year later, at the invitation of his beloved Kantian teacher, Yang Changji, who was appointed professor of ethics at Peking University , he moved to Beijing , where he works as an assistant to Li Daczhao , who later became one of the founders of the Chinese Communist Party , in the library of Peking University . In Beijing, Mao, among other Chinese students, had the opportunity to go to study in France, which he was preparing for, but later the young man did not take this chance: among many reasons there was a dislike for physical labor, which had to be moonlighted in France, and difficulties in learning foreign languages ^{[20] [21]} . In addition, in Beijing, young Mao found his love - the daughter of Yang Changji, Yang Kaihui, who later became his first real wife. ^[22]

In Beijing, the formation of the political views of young Mao was greatly influenced by his acquaintance with Li Daczhao (a supporter of Marxism) and Chen Duxiu , as well as his acquaintance with the ideas of anarchism , in particular the works of P. A. Kropotkin ^[23] . After completing the preparatory courses for studying in France, Mao finally came to the conclusion that he would stay in China and arrange his career here.

The beginning of political activity

Leaving Beijing in March 1919, young Mao travels around the country, studies in depth the works of Western philosophers and revolutionaries, is keenly interested in events in Russia and takes an active part in organizing revolutionary Hunan youth. In the winter of 1920, he visited Beijing as part of a delegation from the National Assembly of the Hunan Province, demanding the removal of the corrupt and brutal Governor Zhang Jingyao ( Chinese 張敬堯 ) ^[24] . The delegation did not achieve any meaningful success, but soon Zhang was defeated by the representative of another militaristic clique, Wu Peifu , and was forced to leave Hunan.

Mao left Beijing on April 11, 1920, and on May 5 of that year arrived in Shanghai , intending to continue the struggle to free Hunan from the rule of a tyrant, as well as to abolish the military governorship. Contrary to his own, later statements, according to which, by the summer of 1920, he switched to communist positions, historical materials show something different: events in Russia, communication with the adherents of communism, Li Dazhao and Chen Duxiu, had a great influence on Mao, however time, he still could not fully understand the ideological trends and finally choose one direction for himself ^[25] . The final formation of Mao as a communist takes place in the fall of 1920. By that time, he was completely convinced of the political inertness of his compatriots and came to the conclusion that only a Russian-style revolution could radically change the situation in the country. Having sided with the Bolsheviks, Mao continued underground activities, now aimed at spreading Leninist Marxism. In mid-November 1920, he began the construction of clandestine cells in Changsha: first, he created the cell of the Socialist Youth Union, and a little later, on the advice of Chen Duxiu, and a communist circle similar to the one already existing in Shanghai ^[26] .

In July 1921, Mao participated in the founding congress of the Chinese Communist Party . Two months later, upon his return to Changsha, he becomes secretary of the Hunan branch of the CCP. At the same time, Mao marries Yang Kaihui, the daughter of Yang Changji, who died in 1920. Over the next five years, they have three sons - Anin , Anqing and Anlong.

Due to the extreme inefficiency of organizing workers and recruiting new party members in July 1922, Mao was suspended from participation in the Second Congress of the CCP ^[27] .

At the insistence of the Comintern, the CCP was forced to enter into an alliance with the Kuomintang . By that time, Mao Zedong was fully convinced of the bankruptcy of the Chinese revolutionary movement, and at the Third Congress of the CCP he supported this idea. Supporting the line of the Comintern, Mao moved into the front ranks of the leaders of the CCP: at the same congress, he was included in the Central Executive Committee of the party of nine members and five candidates, entered the narrow Central Bureau of five people and was elected secretary and head of the organizational department of the CEC.

Returning to Hunan, Mao actively set about creating the local Kuomintang cell. As a delegate from the Hunan Kuomintang organization, he participated in the First Congress of the Kuomintang, which was held in Canton in January 1924. At the end of 1924, Mao left Shanghai, seething with political life, and returned to his native village. By that time, he was severely exhausted physically and mentally. According to the historian Pantsov, his fatigue was caused by the paralyzed work of the Shanghai branch of the Kuomintang, which almost stopped working due to disagreements between the Communists and Kuomintang, as well as because of the cessation of funding received from Canton. Mao resigned from the post of secretary of the organizational section and asked for leave due to illness ^[28] . According to Yong Zhang and Holliday, Mao was removed from his post, removed from the Central Committee and was not invited to the next CCP congress, scheduled for January 1925 ^[29] . Be that as it may, Mao really left his post a few weeks before the Fourth Congress of the CCP, and on February 6, 1925, arrived in Shaoshan.

The Soviet Republic in Jiangxi

In April 1927, Mao Zedong organized a peasant uprising of the "Autumn Harvest" in the vicinity of Changsha . The uprising is suppressed by local authorities, Mao is forced to flee with the remnants of his detachment to the Jinganshan mountains on the border of Hunan and Jiangxi . The Kuomintang attacks soon forced Mao's groups, as well as Zhu De , Zhou Enlai, and other CCP military leaders defeated during the Nanchang Uprising, to leave this territory. In 1928 , after long migrations, the communists firmly established themselves in the west of Jiangxi province. There, Mao creates a fairly strong Soviet republic. Subsequently, he carries out a number of agrarian and social reforms - in particular, confiscation and redistribution of land, liberalization of women's rights ^[30] .

Meanwhile, the Chinese Communist Party was in a difficult crisis. The number of its members was reduced to 10,000, of which only 3% were workers. The new party leader Li Lisan , due to several serious defeats on the military and ideological front, as well as disagreements with Stalin , was expelled from the Central Committee. Against this background, the position of Mao, who emphasized the peasantry and acted relatively successfully in this direction, is strengthening in the party, despite frequent conflicts with the party elite. Mao dealt with his opponents at the local level in Jiangxi in 1930-1931 with the help of repressions, during which many local leaders were killed or imprisoned as agents of the fictional society AB Tuan. The AB Thuan affair was, in fact, the first “purge” in the history of the CCP ^[31] .

At the same time, Mao suffered a personal loss: the Kuomintang agents managed to capture his wife, Yang Kaihui. She was executed in 1930, and a little later, the youngest son, Mao Anlong, dies of dysentery. His second son from Kaihui, Mao Anyin , died during the Korean War .

In the fall of 1931, the Chinese Soviet Republic was created on the territory of 10 Soviet regions of Central China controlled by the Chinese Red Army and partisans close to it. At the head of the Provisional Central Soviet Government (Council of People's Commissars) stood Mao Zedong.

Great Campaign

By 1934, Chiang Kai-shek forces surrounded the communist areas in Jiangxi and began to prepare for a massive attack. KPC leadership decides to leave the area. The operation to break through the four rows of Kuomintang fortifications is being prepared and conducted by Zhou Enlai - Mao is currently again in disgrace. The dominant position after the removal of Li Lysan is occupied by “28 Bolsheviks,” a group of young functionaries close to the Comintern and Stalin, led by Van Ming , who were trained in Moscow . With heavy losses, the Communists manage to break through the barriers of the nationalists and leave for the mountainous regions of Guizhou . During a short respite, the legendary party conference takes place in the town of Zunyi , at which the party formally adopted some theses submitted by Mao; he himself becomes a permanent member of the Politburo, and the group of “28 Bolsheviks” is subjected to tangible criticism ^[32] . The party decides to evade an open clash with Chiang Kai-shek by throwing it to the north, through impassable mountainous areas.

Yan'an Period

A year after the start of the Great Campaign, in October 1935 the Red Army reached the communist area of Shaanxi - Gansu - Ningxia (or, in the name of the largest city, Yan'an ), which it was decided to make the new outpost of the Communist Party. During the Great Campaign during the war, due to the epidemic, accidents in the mountains and swamps, and also due to desertion, the Communists lost more than 90% of the composition that left Jiangxi. However, they manage to quickly regain their strength. By that time, the main goal of the party began to be considered the struggle against a growing Japan , which was entrenched in Manchuria and Prov. Shandong. After open hostilities broke out in July 1937 , the Communists, at the direction of Moscow, go to create a united patriotic front with the Kuomintang . (For more details, see the Second Sino-Japanese War )

At the height of the anti-Japanese struggle, Mao Zedong initiates a movement called “ Zhengfeng ” (“streamlining work style”; 1942–43 ). The reason for this is the sharp growth of the party, replenished by deserters from the army of Chiang Kai-shek and peasants who are not familiar with party ideology. The movement includes a communist indoctrination of new party members, an active study of Mao’s works, as well as campaigns of “self-criticism”, especially those affecting Mao’s main rival, Wang Ming, as a result of which free thinking is virtually suppressed among the communist intelligentsia. The result of Zhengfeng is a complete concentration of party power in the hands of Mao Zedong ^[33] . In 1943, he was elected chairman of the Politburo and the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee, and in 1945 - chairman of the CPC Central Committee. This period becomes the first stage in the formation of the personality cult of Mao.

Mao studies the classics of Western philosophy and, in particular, Marxism . On the basis of Marxism - Leninism , some aspects of traditional Chinese philosophy and, not least, his own experience and ideas, Mao manages, with the help of personal secretary Chen Bod, to create and "theoretically substantiate" a new direction of Marxism - Maoism . Maoism was conceived as a more pragmatic form of Marxism, which would be more adapted to the Chinese realities of that time. Its main features can be identified by an unambiguous orientation on the peasantry (and not on the proletariat), as well as the great Han nationalism ^[34] . The influence of traditional Chinese philosophy on Marxism in the Maoist version manifested itself in the vulgarization of dialectics .

CCP Victory in Civil War

In the war with Japan, the Communists are more successful than the Kuomintang . On the one hand, this was explained by the tactics of guerrilla warfare practiced by Mao, which made it possible to successfully operate behind enemy lines, on the other hand, the main attacks of the Japanese military machine were taken by the Chiang Kai-shek army, better armed and perceived by the Japanese as the main enemy. At the end of the war, even attempts were made to draw closer to the Chinese Communists on the part of America , which became disillusioned with Chiang Kai-shek, suffering one defeat after another.

By the mid-1940s, all the Kuomintang public institutions, including the army, were at an extreme stage of decomposition. Unprecedented corruption , arbitrariness, violence flourishes everywhere; the country's economy and financial system are virtually atrophied.

Chiang Kai-shek's categorical refusal to organize life in the country after the end of the war according to democratic norms and the wave of repressions against dissidents cause a complete loss of Kuomintang support among the population and even his own army ^[35] . On March 19, 1947, the Kuomintang seized the city of Yan'an - the "communist capital." Mao Zedong and the entire military command had to flee. However, the Kuomintang failed to achieve the main strategic goal - to destroy the main forces of the Communists and seize their base ^[36] . After that, the active phase of the civil war began, in which the Communists manage to take over the entire territory of mainland China in 2.5 years, despite the support of the Kuomintang from the United States. On October 1, 1949 (even before the end of hostilities in the southern provinces), Mao Zedong from the Tiananmen Gate proclaimed the formation of the People’s Republic of China with its capital in Beijing . Mao himself becomes the chairman of the government of the new republic.

The First Five-Year Plan and the Hundred Flowers Campaign

The first years after the victory over the Kuomintang are mainly devoted to solving pressing economic and social problems. Mao Zedong attaches particular importance to agrarian reform, the development of heavy industry and the strengthening of civil rights. The Chinese Communists are carrying out almost all the reforms on the model of the Soviet Union, which had a great influence on the PRC in the early 1950s and provided it with large-scale economic and military assistance. Maoists confiscate land from large landowners; Within the framework of the first five-year plan, with the help of specialists from the USSR, a number of large industrial projects are being implemented. In foreign policy, the beginning of the 1950s for China was marked by participation in the Korean War , in which about 3 million Chinese volunteers die in 3 years of hostilities ^[37] , including Mao’s son.

After the death of Stalin and the 20th Congress of the CPSU , disagreements also arise in the highest echelons of power in China over the liberalization of the country and the admissibility of criticism of the Party. At first, Mao decided to support the liberal wing, which included Zhou Enlai (Prime Minister of the State Council of the PRC), Chen Yun (deputy chairman of the CCP) and Deng Xiaoping (secretary general of the CCP). In 1956, in his speech "On the fair resolution of contradictions within the people," Mao urged to openly express his opinion and participate in discussions, throwing the slogan: "Let a hundred flowers bloom, let a hundred schools compete." The Party Chairman did not expect his call to provoke a flurry of criticism of the CCP and himself. The intelligentsia and ordinary people strongly condemn the CCP's dictatorial style of government, human rights and freedoms violations, corruption, incompetence, and violence. Thus, already in July 1957, the campaign of " One Hundred Flowers " was curtailed, and instead a campaign was proclaimed against right-wing deviators. About 520,000 people who voted during the “Hundred Flowers” ​​are being arrested and repressed, a wave of suicides is circulating throughout the country ^[38] .

Great Leap Forward

Despite all efforts, the growth rate of the Chinese economy in the late 1950s left much to be desired. Agricultural productivity has regressed. In addition, Mao was worried about the lack of a "revolutionary spirit" among the masses. He decided to solve these problems within the framework of the “Three Red Banners” policy, designed to ensure a “Great Leap Forward” in all areas of the national economy and which started in 1958 . In order to achieve Britain’s production in 15 years, it was planned to organize almost the entire rural (and also partially urban) population of the country into autonomous “communes”. Life in communes was extremely collectivized - with the introduction of collective canteens, private life and, moreover, property were practically eradicated. Each commune had to not only provide itself and the surrounding cities with food, but also produce industrial products, mainly steel , which was smelted in small furnaces in the backyards of the commune members: thus, it was expected that mass enthusiasm would fill the lack of professionalism.

In the food program, Mao attached great importance to the elimination of “four pests” throughout the country: rats, sparrows, flies, mosquitoes. In the intervals between agricultural work, the peasant population had to actively fight them, which led, in particular, to the almost complete extermination of sparrows ^[39] .

The policy of the Great Leap Forward ended in a tremendous failure. The quality of communal production was extremely low; collective field processing went very badly: 1) the peasants lost their economic motivation in their work, 2) many workers were involved in “metallurgy” and 3) the fields remained uncultivated where optimistic “statistics” predicted unprecedented yields. Within two years, food production fell catastrophically. At this time, provincial leaders reported to Mao on the unprecedented successes of the new policy, provoking raising the bar for the sale of grain and the production of "home" steel. Critics of the Great Leap Forward, for example, Secretary of Defense Peng Dehuai , have lost their posts. In 1959-1961, the country was seized by the greatest famine, the victims of which, according to various estimates, were from 10 to 45 million people ^[40] .

Ahead of the Cultural Revolution

In 1959, Mao's left-wing views led to the severance of China's relations with the Soviet Union. From the very beginning, Mao has an extremely negative attitude towards Khrushchev's liberal politics and, in particular, to his theses on the peaceful coexistence of the two systems. During the Great Leap Forward, this hostility translates into open confrontation. The USSR withdraws from China all the specialists who helped to raise the country's economy, and ceases financial assistance. Mao told the Chinese that pre-Soviet (until 1917) and Soviet Russia after 1956-1961 was imperialism, and imperial China and the Qing Empire were not imperialism ^[41] .

The domestic political situation in China is also changing significantly. After the catastrophic failure of the Great Leap Forward, many leaders at both the top and the local level begin to deny support to Mao. Inspection trips around the country of Deng Xiaoping and Liu Shaotsi (who replaced Mao Zedong as head of state in 1959) reveal the monstrous consequences of the current policy, as a result of which the majority of the Central Committee members more or less openly side with the "liberals". Veiled demands for the resignation of the CCP chairman are heard. As a result of this, Mao Zedong partially admits the failure of the Great Leap Forward and even hints at his guilt in this ^[42] . Maintaining authority, he ceases to actively intervene in the affairs of the country's leadership for a while, observing from the outside how Dan and Liu pursue a realistic policy that fundamentally diverges from his own views - dissolve the communes, allow private land ownership and elements of free trade in the countryside, significantly weaken the grip censorship.

At the same time, the left wing of the party is strengthening its positions, acting mainly from Shanghai. Thus, the new Minister of Defense, Lin Biao, is actively promoting the cult of the personality of Mao, especially in his "People's Liberation Army" (see below). For the first time in politics - at first the politics of culture - Jiang Qing , the last wife of Mao, began to intervene. It sharply attacks the democratically minded writers and poets of China, as well as the authors of "bourgeois" literature, writing without the subtext of the class struggle. In 1965, in Shanghai, on behalf of the left-wing journalist Yao Wenyuan , an article was published that criticized the drama of the famous historian and writer, deputy mayor of Beijing Wu Han, “ Demotion of Hai Zhuyi ” ( Chinese 海瑞 罢官 ), which is allegorical, using the example from antiquity, illustrated the reigning in China corruption, arbitrariness, bigotry and lack of freedom. Despite the efforts of the liberal bloc, the discussion around this drama becomes a precedent for the beginning of major changes in the field of culture, and soon the Cultural Revolution. It is assumed that the image of Hai Zhui allegorically expresses nothing more than the defense of Peng Dehuai , demoted for his sincere criticism of the policies of the Chairman.

Cultural Revolution

Despite the rapid pace of development of the Chinese economy after abandoning the Three Red Banner policy, Mao is not going to put up with the liberal trend of development of the national economy. He is also not ready to forget the ideals of permanent revolution, to allow “bourgeois values” (the predominance of economics over ideology) in the life of the Chinese. Nevertheless, he is forced to state that the bulk of the leading cadres do not share his worldview. Even the established Cultural Revolution Committee prefers not to take harsh measures against critics of the regime at first. In this situation, Mao decides to conduct a new global perturbation, which was supposed to return society to the bosom of revolution and "true socialism." In addition to the left-wing radicals - Chen Boda , Jiang Qing and Lin Biao , Mao Zedong’s ally in this enterprise was to be primarily Chinese youth ^[43] .

After swimming in the Yangtze River in July 1966 and thereby proving his “fighting efficiency”, Mao returns to leadership, arrives in Beijing and makes a powerful attack on the liberal wing of the party, mainly on Liu Shaotsi . A little later, the Central Committee, at the direction of Mao, approves the document Sixteen Points, which has become practically the program of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution. It began with attacks on the leadership of Peking University lecturer Nie Yuanzi. Following this, students of secondary schools, in an effort to confront conservative and often corrupt teachers and professors, were inspired by the revolutionary moods and cult of the “Great Helmsman - Chairman Mao”, which was skillfully fanned by the “leftists” ^{[ specify ]} , they begin to organize in detachments of “hungweibins” - “red guards” (can also be translated as “Red Guards”). In the left-controlled press ^{[ specify ]} , a campaign is launched against the liberal intelligentsia. Unable to withstand persecution, some of its representatives, as well as party leaders commit suicide.

On August 5, Mao Zedong published his dazibao under the title “Fire at Headquarters”, in which he accused “some leading comrades in the center and at the local level” of “carrying out the dictatorship of the bourgeoisie and trying to suppress the tumultuous movement of the great proletarian cultural revolution.” This dazibao , in fact, called for the rout of the central and local party bodies declared by the bourgeois headquarters ^[44] .

With the logistical support of the People’s Army (Lin Biao), the Hongweibing movement has become global. Mass judges of leading workers and professors are held throughout the country, during which they are subjected to all kinds of humiliation, and are often beaten ^[45] . At a million-strong rally in August 1966, Mao expressed full support and approval for the actions of the Hungweibans, from which an army of revolutionary left-wing terror was consistently created. Along with the official repression of party leaders, more and more brutal reprisals of the hungweibins are taking place. Among other representatives of the intelligentsia, he was brutally tortured and committed suicide by the famous Chinese writer Lao She .

Terror captures all areas of life, classes and regions of the country. Not only famous personalities, but also ordinary citizens are robbed, beaten, tortured, and even physically destroyed, often under the most insignificant pretext. The Hunweibins destroy countless works of art, burn millions of books, thousands of monasteries, temples, libraries ^[46] . Soon, in addition to the Hunweibins, detachments of revolutionary working youth — Zzaofani (rebels) —were organized, and both movements were divided into warring factions, sometimes waging a bloody struggle between themselves. When the terror reaches its peak and life in many cities freezes, regional leaders and the PLA decide to oppose the riots. Clashes between the military and the Hongweibins, as well as internal clashes between revolutionary youth, put China at risk of civil war. Realizing the measure of reigning chaos, Mao decides to end the revolutionary terror. Millions of Hongweibins and Zhao-Fans, along with party workers, are simply sent to villages. The main action of the cultural revolution is over, China is figuratively (and, in part - literally) lying in ruins.

The 9th CPC Congress, which took place in Beijing from April 1 to 24, 1969, approved the first results of the "cultural revolution." In the report of one of the closest associates of Mao Zedong, Marshal Lin Biao, the main place was occupied by the praise of the “great helmsman,” whose ideas were called “the highest stage in the development of Marxism-Leninism” ... PDA basics. 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 CPC, his deputy and the Standing Committee of the Politburo of the Central Committee ^[47] .

The final stage of the cultural revolution

At the end of the cultural revolution, an unexpected turn takes place in China's foreign policy. Against the backdrop of extremely tense relations with the Soviet Union (especially after the armed conflict on Damansky Island ), Mao suddenly decided to get closer to the United States of America, which Lin Biao , who was considered the official successor of Mao, sharply opposed. After the cultural revolution, his power increased sharply, which worries Mao Zedong. Attempts by Lin Biao to conduct an independent policy make the chairman completely disappointed in him, against Lin they begin to fabricate a case. Upon learning of this, Lin Biao flees the country on September 13, 1971 , but his plane crashes under mysterious circumstances over aimak Hentiy in Mongolia ^[48] . Already in 1972, President Nixon visited China. ^[49]

Recent Years Mao

Since 1971, Mao was very ill and infrequently went out to people ^[50] . After the death of Lin Biao, an intra-factional struggle in the CCP takes place behind the back of the aging Chairman. The group of “left radicals” (led by the leaders of the cultural revolution, the so-called “ gang of four ” - Jiang Qing , Wang Hongwen , Zhang Chunqiao and Yao Wenyuan ) and the group of “pragmatists” (led by the moderate Zhou Enlai and rehabilitated Dan Xiaoping ). Mao Zedong is trying to maintain a balance of power between the two factions, allowing, on the one hand, some concessions in the field of economics, but also supporting, on the other hand, massive ultra-left campaigns, for example, “Criticism of Confucius and Lin Biao.” The new successor to Mao was considered Hua Guofeng , belonging to the moderate left.

The struggle between the two factions escalates in 1976 after the death of Zhou Enlai. His commemoration resulted in massive public demonstrations, in which people express their respect to the deceased and protest against the politics of left radicals. The riots are brutally suppressed, Zhou Enlai is posthumously stigmatized as a “kapputist” (that is, the proponent of the capitalist path is a label used during the cultural revolution), and Deng Xiaoping is sent into exile. By that time, Mao was already seriously ill with Parkinson's disease and was not able to actively intervene in politics.

After two severe heart attacks, on September 9, 1976 at 00:10 Beijing time, at the 83rd year of his life, Mao Zedong died. Over a million people attended the funeral of the “Great Helmsman”. The body of the deceased was embalmed according to the technique developed by Chinese scientists and put on display a year after death in the mausoleum built on Tiananmen Square by order of Hua Guofeng. By early 2007, about 158 ​​million people had visited the tomb of Mao.

The personality cult of Mao Zedong originates during the Yan'an period in the early forties. Even then, in the studies on the theory of communism, mainly the works of Mao are used. In 1943, newspapers began to appear with a portrait of Mao at the editorial, and soon the "ideas of Mao Zedong" became the official program of the CCP. After the victory of the Communists in the Civil War, posters, portraits, and later statues of Mao appear in city squares, in offices and even in citizens' apartments. However, the cult of Mao was brought to the grotesque size by Lin Biao in the mid-1960s. Then Mao’s quote book - “ Little Book ”, which later became the Bible of the Cultural Revolution, was first published. In propaganda writings, such as in Lei Feng 's Diary, loud slogans and fiery speeches, the cult of the “leader” was forced to absurdity . Crowds of young people bring themselves to hysteria, shouting toasts to the "red sun of our hearts" - "the wisest chairman of Mao." Mao Zedong is becoming a figure on which almost everything is focused in China.

During the years of the cultural revolution, a real psychosis reigned in the country: the Hongweibins beat cyclists who dared to appear without the image of Mao Zedong; passengers of buses and trains had to chorus repeat excerpts from the collection of sayings (quote book) of Mao; classic and modern works were destroyed; books were burned so that the Chinese could only read one author - the “great helmsman” Mao Zedong, published in tens of millions of copies ^[47] . The following fact testifies to the planting of the personality cult. The Hunweibins in their manifesto wrote ^[51] :

We are the red guards of Chairman Mao, we make the country writhe in convulsions. We tear and destroy calendars, precious vases, records from the USA and England, amulets, ancient drawings and elevate above all this the portrait of Chairman Mao.

After the defeat of the “Gang of Four”, the hype around Mao subsides significantly. He is still the “galleon figure” of Chinese communism, he is still honored, Mao’s monuments are still standing in the cities, his image adorns Chinese banknotes, badges and stickers. Moreover - some of Mao's monuments were erected after his death. However, the current cult of Mao among ordinary citizens, especially young people, should rather be attributed to the manifestations of modern pop culture, and not to a conscious worship of this person’s thinking and deeds.

In fact, Mao Zedong has become a commercial brand in modern China. In China annually sell tens of millions of souvenirs with the image of Mao, which are largely exported abroad. This brand is of particular importance for China’s foreign policy: although the Chinese have long moved away from most of Mao’s ideas in domestic politics, in other countries they still support Maoist groups, using their activities as an instrument of their policy ^[52] .

The chairman of the NPC Standing Committee, Ye Jianying, in 1979 described the time of Mao’s reign as a “feudal-fascist dictatorship” ^[53] . Later another assessment was given.

Comrade Mao Zedong is a great Marxist, a great proletarian revolutionary, strategist and theorist. If we consider his life and work as a whole, then his merits before the Chinese revolution largely prevail over the blunders, despite the serious mistakes made by him in the "cultural revolution". His merits occupy the main place, and mistakes take a secondary place.

- CCP Leaders, 1981 ^[54]

Mao left his successors a country in a deep, comprehensive crisis. After the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution, China's economy stagnated, intellectual and cultural life was crushed by left-wing radicals, political culture was completely absent ^{[55] [56]} , due to excessive public politicization and ideological chaos. The crippled fates of tens of millions of people throughout China who have suffered from senseless and brutal campaigns should be considered a particularly serious legacy of the Mao regime. It should be noted that estimates of the number of victims of the Maoist regime vary greatly ^[57] . Only during the cultural revolution, according to various sources, from half a million ^[58] to 20 million people ^[59] died, another 100 million were affected in one way or another in its course ^[59] . The number of victims of the “Great Leap Forward” was even greater, but since the majority of them were in the rural population, even the approximate number characterizing the scale of the disaster is unknown ^[60] .

On the other hand, one cannot fail to admit that Mao, having received an underdeveloped agricultural country mired in corruption, anarchy and general devastation in 1949, in a short time made it a fairly powerful, independent state with atomic weapons. During his reign, the percentage of illiteracy decreased from 80% to 7% ^[61] , life expectancy increased by 2 times ^[62] , the population grew by more than 2 times ^[63] , and industrial production by more than 10 times ^[64] . He managed to unite China, and also included Inner Mongolia , Tibet and East Turkestan . The ideology of Maoism has also had a great influence on the development of leftists, including terrorist movements in many countries of the world — the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia , the Shining Path in Peru , the revolutionary movement in Nepal , and the communist movements in the USA and Europe ^[65] . Meanwhile, China itself, after the death of Mao, in its economy has moved far from the ideas of Mao Zedong, preserving the communist ideology. The reforms initiated by Deng Xiaoping in 1979 and continued by his followers de facto made the Chinese economy capitalistic , with corresponding consequences for domestic and foreign policy ^[66] . In China itself, the persona of Mao is evaluated extremely ambiguously. On the one hand, part of the population sees in him the hero of the Civil War, a strong ruler, a charismatic personality ^[67] . Some older Chinese people are nostalgic for their confidence in the future, equality and the absence of corruption, which, in their opinion, existed in the Mao era ^[68] . On the other hand, many people cannot forgive Mao for the cruelty and mistakes of his massive campaigns, especially the cultural revolution. Today in China it is allowed to speak openly about the role of Mao in the modern history of the country, discussions about the negative aspects of his rule are allowed ^[69] , but too harsh criticism is not welcomed and suppressed ^[70] . In the PRC, the official formula for evaluating his activity remains the opinion given by Mao himself as a characteristic of Stalin's activity (as a response to the revelations in Khrushchev's secret report): 70 percent of victories and 30 percent of mistakes ^{[71] [72]} . In this way, the CPC is seeking recognition of its power in conditions when the bourgeois economy in the PRC is combined with communist ideology ^[66] .

Mao is depicted on the stamps of China, Albania ^[73] , East Germany ^[74] . The collage “Marilyn in the image of Mao” ( Eng. Marilyn as Mao , or “Marilyn / Mao”), created by the American photographer Philip Halsman in 1952, turned into an artistic image used by many famous artists such as Salvador Dali , Chinese artists Yu Juhan and Hua Jimin ^{[75] [76]} .

Parents :

• Wen Qimei ( 文 七妹 , 1867-1919), mother.
• Mao Yichang ( 毛顺生 , 1870-1920), father.

Brothers and sisters

• Mao Zemin ( 毛泽民 , 1896-1943), younger brother.
  • Mao Yuanxin ( Chinese 毛远新 ; born 1941), son of Mao Zemin, nephew of Mao Zedong
• Mao Zetan ( 毛 泽 覃 , 1905-1935), younger brother.
• Mao Tsehong , ( 毛 泽 红 , 1907-1929) the younger sister.

Three other brothers, Mao Zedong and one sister, died at an early age. Mao Zemin and Zetan died in the struggle on the side of the Communists, Mao Zhehong was killed by the Kuomintang.

Wives

• Luo Isiu ( 罗一秀 , 1889-1910), formally a spouse since 1907, forced marriage, not recognized by Mao.
• Yang Kaihui ( 杨开慧 , 1901-1930), wife from 1921 to 1927.
• He Zizhen ( 贺子珍 , 1910-1984), wife from 1928 to 1939
• Jiang Qing ( 江青 , 1914-1991), wife from 1938 to 1976.

Children

from Yang Kaihui

• Agnin ( 毛岸英 , 1922-1950)
• ( 毛 岸 青 , 1923-2007)
• Anlong ( 毛 岸 龙 , 1927-1931)

from He Zizhen

• Xiao Mao (born 1932, lost in 1934)
• Li Ming ( 李敏 , b. 1936)
• son (1939-1940)

Two other children were left in foreign families during the Civil War in 1929 and 1935. Later, repeated attempts to search did not lead to anything.

from jiang qing

• Li Na ( 李讷 , b. 1940),

also allegedly several illegitimate children.

• “ On Practice ” ( 實踐 論 ), 1937
• “ Regarding Contradictions ” ( 矛盾 論 ), 1937
• “ Against Liberalism ” ( 反對 自由主義 ), 1937
• " On a protracted war " ( 論 持久戰 ), 1938
• “On the New Democracy ” ( 新民主主義 論 ), 1940
• " On literature and art ", 1942
• “ Serve the People ” ( 為人民服務 ), 1944
• " Methods of work of party committees ", 1949
• “ On the correct resolution of contradictions within the people ” ( 正确 处理 人民 内部 矛盾 问题 ), 1957
• “ Bring the Revolution to the End ”, 1960

In addition to political prose, the literary heritage of Mao Zedong includes a number of poems (about 20), written in the classical form of the Tang Dynasty. Mao's poems are still popular in China and abroad. The most famous of them are: Changsha (长沙, 1925), The Great Campaign (长征, 1935), Snow (雪, 1936), Answer by Li Shu-i (答 李淑 一, 1957) and Oda to plum blossoms (咏梅, 1961 )

• Mao Zedong Eighteen poems / Translations of S. Marshak , A. Surkov , N. Aseev , M. Basmanov, L. Eidlin , I. Golubev edited by N. Fedorenko and L. Eidlin; Preface and notes by N. Fedorenko. - Moscow: Publishing house of foreign literature , 1957. - 74, [2] p.
• Mao Zedong. Clouds in the snow. A collection of poems by Mao Zedong. Poems in the translations of A. Pantsov. - M. Veche. 2010 .-- 112 p., Ill.

• Galenovich Yu. M. Mao Zedong near. - M .: “Russian Panorama”, 2006. - 325 p. - (Leaders of China). - 1000 copies. - ISBN 5-93165-158-6 .
• Mao Zedong / A.V. Lomanov // New Philosophical Encyclopedia : in 4 volumes / prev. scientific ed. Council V. S. Styopin . - 2nd ed., Rev. and add. - M .: Thought , 2010 .-- 2816 p.
• Pantsov A.V. Mao Zedong / Alexander Pantsov. - M .: Young Guard , 2007 .-- 867 p. - (The life of wonderful people ). - 5,000 copies. - ISBN 978-5-235-02983-5 .
• Short F. Mao Zedong = Mao. A Life / Philippe Short, Trans. from English Yu. G. Kiryak. - M .: AST, 2005 .-- 606 p. - (The person in the story). - 4000 copies. - ISBN 5-17-028288-5 .
• Yoon Zhang , Holliday J. Unknown Mao = Mao: The Unknown Story / Transl. from English I.A. Igorevsky. - M .: CJSC Centerpolygraph , 2007 .-- 845 p. - 20,000 copies. - ISBN 978-5-9524-2896-6 .
• Not yuandong. A new understanding of the philosophical ideas of Mao Zedong // Questions of philosophy . 2007. No. 5.

• “ Two Lives of Chairman Mao ” - a documentary by Denis Trofimov, 2004.
• " Mao. Secrets of the great helmsman ”- a documentary by Igor Vereshchaki, 2007.

• Biography of Mao Zedong I (Russian)
• Biography of Mao Zedong II (Russian)
• Maoist Library (Russian)
• Works of Mao Zedong I (Russian)
• Works of Mao Zedong II (Russian)
• Poems of Mao Zedong (Russian)
• Collected Works of Mao Zedong (English) (unavailable link from 05/14/2013 [2274 days] - history )
• Comrade Mao - 44 Chinese Posters 1950s - 70s
• Mao Zedong Posters
• The bloody revolution of Mao. Documentary
• Dictators Secrets of the great leaders Two lives of Chairman Mao. Documentary film (Russian)
• Maoism is the tragedy of China. Soviet propaganda film
• Video - Mao Zedong proclaims the formation of China
• BBC program on Mao Zedong (Chinese)
• Alexander Tarasov . "Mao's legacy for the radical of the late XX - early XXI century"
• Mao Zedong's Video Funeral
• Egor Sennikov . Confucius knew, but did not like. Favorite books of Mao Zedong // Gorky , 05/14/2019