Mao cult

[xuefang]

I've been searching information about Mao cult. I have found out that Mao cult started (or was created) at the same time with Cultural revolution. It appear as propaganda posters, Little red book etc. And Mao didin't stopped cult's growth, people respected Mao as hero of a new China and no one wasn't allowed to criticize Mao (or was they?).

I would like to learn more about Mao cult, so if you have any website recommendations or information/opinions on your own, please share them with me.

[gougou]

A good place to start for things like this is always Wikipedia. Check out what they have to say about Mao, and about personality cults.

[randall_flagg]

and after you are done reading all of what has been published on Mao, read Jung Chang's "Mao -- The Unkown Story". That's a real eye opener. I'm not done with it yet, but wow! it sure paints a different picture than what even the more critical westerners have written.

[mr.stinky]

i read somewhere (if you need to know, it was in a 50's reader's digest magazine in

a backpacker's hut on the keppler track in new zealand) that during the anti-japanese

war, the unit that mao commanded in southern china provided weather information for

the american bombers carrying atomic bombs to japan.

[xuefang]

I have read information from Wikipedia and other websites that I found by Google.

Reading books about Mao would be a good idea. I just have to find out which books I can get from my local library.

Thank you very much for your recommendations, and more is always welcome.

[xuefang]

I'm just wondering that was the cult of personality created to Mao or did it just evolved by it self (people respecting/following Mao).

I think it's more clear that Mao/Mao's men were maintaining the cult after it was noticed/created. Pupils and students had to study Mao's thoughts, propaganda posters, Mao's pictures everywhere (were people forced to this or did they do it voluntarily?), Mao-suit, The little red book and so on.

Difficult questions.

[xuefang]

I would like to ask your personal views about Mao Zedong.

1. What comes to your mind when you think Mao?

2. What made him a strong leader? Or what didn't?

3. Do you agree the statement that Mao was 70% right and 30% wrong?

4. Other opinions and thoughts.

Thank you.

[Lu]

Xuefang, I'm quite sure your local library has some books about Mao and about the Cultural Revolution that will tell you much more than you will find on this forum. Just about any book on the CR and China during that time will do. And you can read Jung Chang's 'Wild Swans' and the memoirs of Mao's personal doctor, Li Zhisui (or something like that, I forgot his name).

[xuefang]

I have read the Wild Swans and it was really touching book and included much information about China's history. Thanks for the other book recommendation and I'm happy to notice that my local library has that Li Zhisui's book.

I know that from books I get facts and lots of information about Mao and his cult of personality. I just wanted to find out too what Chinese think of him today and other personal opinions.

Thank you all.

[ywjlf]

personally, like most of the 40-years old people in china, i adore mao. he is a great revolutionary, and save china from chaos. on the one hand, he is a pour communist , on the other hand, he is a politician or statesman with troditional chinese characters. therefore based on the first point, he liberated the chinese people from the landowners and the big bureaucrats, and on the second point, he created the cultural revolutionary, as most chinese emperor who founded a new dynasty did, to consolidate his power he killed many people.(maybe he never knew the lost was so immense) it is so-called politics.(mao said, "what is politics? that is increase the people who support you and decrease the people who oppose you") many people may day he is a autocrat, while who is not a autocrat in china? now china is running fast on a road of socielism with chinese charaters. however, many problems float out. some people even yearn the mao's time. who knows what will happen in 50 or 100years?

to contrast, i will translate it into chinese

就我个人来说，像很多40岁以上的人一样，我很崇拜毛。 他是一个伟大的革命家，把中国从一片混乱种解救了出来。一方面，他是一个纯粹的共产主义者，另一方面，他又是一个传统的政治家。就第一个方面来说，他把中国人民从地主和大官僚的统治中解放出来，从第二个方面来说，他又像很多中国历史上新朝代的建立者一样，为了巩固他的统治，他发动了文化大革命并且要了很多人的性命。（可能他也没有想到损失会这么大）这个可能就是所谓的政治吧。（毛说过，“什么是政治？政治就是增加你的支持者，减少你的反对者）很多人可能会说他是以个独裁者，但是在中国谁又不是独裁者呢？现在中国正在中国特色社会主义这条道路上飞速发展，但是也出现了很多问题，又些人甚至怀念毛的时代。谁知道50年或者是100年之后，中国会是一个什么样子呢？