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Honors Theses

Mao zedong and the cultural revolution: in theory and impact.

Marissa Bryan , Coastal Carolina University Follow

Date of Award

Spring 5-7-2020

Document Type

Degree name.

Bachelor of Arts (BA)

College of Humanities and Fine Arts

First Advisor

Kimberly Hale

Abstract/Description

Across the globe, the 20 th century witnessed several instances of tyrannical regimes and leaders; Chairman Mao Zedong was argued by many to have been one of the most merciless tyrants that this era witnessed. A founder of the Chinese Communist Party, Mao Zedong was one of the most significant and controversial political actors in the last century. Chairman Mao became the leader of the People’s Republic of China after declaring its existence in 1949, marking the beginning of both a communist regime in the East Asian territory and Mao’s tyrannical reign. Zedong can be remembered for several of his failed policies or programs aimed at converting China into a prosperous communist nation, such as his first Five-Year Plan, and The Great Leap Forward. Many also remember Mao for the Great Sparrow Campaign, part of his Four Pests Campaign that resulted in a great famine that ended with over 30 million individuals dying. The most significant portion of Mao’s legacy, however, is the decade-long Cultural Revolution, aimed at eliminating old ideas, habits, customs, and cultures of China, also known as the Old Four and his infamous political philosophical beliefs and writings. The Cultural Revolution severely crippled China’s society, economy, and political atmosphere and millions of citizens died in its midst, one of the most violent and catastrophic times in modern China. Mao’s rise to power and the Cultural Revolution and all that contributed to and resulted from both will be the main focus of this paper.

Recommended Citation

Bryan, Marissa, "Mao Zedong and the Cultural Revolution: In Theory and Impact" (2020). Honors Theses . 368. https://digitalcommons.coastal.edu/honors-theses/368

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The central question which will be considered in this thesis is how Mao Zedong formulated a concept of imperialism and resistance to it, to enable and continue the socialist revolution in China. The specific focus in this thesis is an explanation of how Mao understood imperialism in order to use it and to turn it into anti-imperialism, the origins of his ideas, his theoretical development of it and his application of this idea in practice. At the same time, it will be examined how other aspects of Mao's thinking were linked to this central, strategic concept. The thesis begins by examining Mao's connection and indebtedness to Marx and Lenin: this has not yet been done with regard to his use of the concept of 'imperialism'. This thesis, besides being a contribution to the history of Marxism therefore, aims to fill a gap in research on Mao. It will help to establish how Mao used the concepts of imperialism and anti-imperialism. In addition, my research is part of the discussion as to what degree Marxism has been revised in the process. The argument essentially will be that Mao, basing himself on Marx and Lenin, used their concepts to adapt Marxism-Leninism in a novel manner in Chinese circumstances, first to win the revolution, and then to construct what he regarded as socialism. Thus the thesis will do two things: a) it will clarify Mao's relationship to Marx and Lenin: Why did Mao's Marxism-Leninism take the form it did. Did Mao stand on Lenin's shoulders.; and b) it will contribute to understanding why the Chinese Communist Party won the revolution.

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Mao Zedong and China in the Twentieth-Century World

A concise history.

• Rebecca E. Karl
• Edited by: Rey Chow , Michael Dutton , Harry Harootunian and Rosalind C. Morris
• X / Twitter

Please login or register with De Gruyter to order this product.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Duke University Press
• Copyright year: 2010
• Main content: 214
• Published: August 13, 2010
• ISBN: 9780822393023

Mao Zedong’s Impact on the World Essay

Mao Zedong, who is also called (Mao Tse-tung), was born in Chaochan. He was a son of a peasant farmer, who lived in a small town in the suburb region of china in 1893. Mao’s life is characterized by a pattern of diversity. He did many things in life which revealed his passion for excellence and order. He became a Marxist during his early days while working as a library assistant in Perking University and served in the revolutionary army during the 1911 Chinese revolution.

Mao Zedong (Mao Tse-tung) had influence in many sectors of life. He was a member of the Chinese Community Party established by Chen Duxiu and Li Dazhaou in June 1921 in collaboration with Zhou E, Zhu De, and Lin B. The establishment of this party was inspired by the Russian revolution. Many activities of the Russian revolution are attributed to have come from Mr. Mao (Blumberg, Arnold, 1995).

Mao at one point took control of the whole of north China. This happened during his period as a political organizer. During the Japanese invasion of the heartland of China, Chiang Kai-Shek who was the leader then had little support and power, he lost control of most of the coastal region to the Japanese and therefore he was more than willing to collaborate with Mao and his Communist army with the sole purpose of beating Japan.

Mao Zedong had many accomplishments both in china as his home country and in the entire region of the Middle East. Many people considered him a great man of his time because he did things that have remained remarkable over years starting from his home country China. As a consequence of the renowned step that he made, the famous ‘Great leap forward’, there was an increase in agricultural and industrial production; the reform involved the establishment of large agricultural communes who owned their own farms and factories.

This probably led to improved living standards in many ways. The agricultural revolution became a major employer of the count men since many were employed to work in the farms, yet others worked in the industries in which agricultural products were the main source of raw materials. Despite this even after retiring from the chairman of the People’s Republic of China, he remained important in determining the overall policy hence influencing most of their decisions.

Mao Zedong was also a great revolutionist. He had many accomplishments during this time one of which is the victory he obtained in a war against Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek in the Chinese civil war. As a leader of his country, Mao invested more in military ventures and weaponry that his country was feared by many in the region.

At a universal level, it can be argued that Mao had a great impact on the world at large in one way or the other, for instance, when he was the leader of the Communist Party of China, it is reported that most of the Americans were favorably impressed since the party seemed less corrupt, more unified and more vigorous especially in the resistance to Japan. China was henceforth keenly observed in the region and as a result of Mao’s rule; the country made some moves in the positive direction and gained a great reputation. A strong contact, therefore, developed between him and the United States of America (Wills, John E, 1994).

Another big achievement realized by Mr. Mao was the permanent isolation of China after the start of the split of Sino-Soviet. All the experts were hence withdrawn from China back to their countries. This was a test into the independence of the country and the government of Mao succeeded in establishing peace and stability even after soviet experts left.

He is also credited with advancing the social and economic development of the surrounding society as well as increasing the rate of literacy. There was also increased life expectancy during and shortly after his regime for instance in the small neighboring island of Taiwan, a researcher once said that it is because of Mao that Taiwan can be heard of today; because of his input, other world powers also got involved in supporting the country alongside other countries like Japan.

Mao Zedong was a prolific writer of political and philosophical work and part of his work is even used by the western countries e.g. the ‘Little Red Book’, he was also a skilled calligrapher with a highly personal skill, his work remains an attraction in China even today and this may boost tourism. He introduced a new form of calligraphy called the Mao style which has gained popularity after his death; this enhanced creativity in education and writing.

He is also considered as the most influential literary figure and an avid poet of which some of his poetical work is still used by scholars today hence an impact on education globally.

Mao Zedong has had a lot of impact in the Asian countries compared to the other regions. He believed that the U. S could not win over Korea. This was confirmed in the same year when he sent his troops who later won a war against Americans.

Due to the domino theory, it is believed that if a country falls into communism, there is the likelihood of the surrounding countries also falling into it, this could have worried the U. S and Britain since they too believe in democracy.

Furthermore, he is considered as the leader of the world’s most populous nation and on the other hand, it is estimated that 50-200 million civilians died from starvation under his rule though it also remains a considerable fact that he industrialized China (Barme, Geremie, 1999).

Mao’s attitude towards the USA was always negative and this made him give support to many countries that were fighting against the USA. Such support informed of food and weapon supplies. He is considered a symbol of communism in that when he took control of China, western nations realized that communism was really a problem so much bigger than they thought or expected hence to this day, he is revered in most parts of the world of course with much of it centered In China.

Mao Zedong also created a philosophy of communism that influenced many places around the world even though they were not widely spread. To add to that, among some of his greatest effects is the kind of pressure that through him was mounted in all directions to countries such as; Vietnam, Iran, and Mongolia and this led to cold war politics.

Works cited

Barme, Geremie. Shades of Mao . Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe, 1999.

Blumberg, Arnold. Great tyrants who made history . Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press, 1995.

Wills, John E. Mountain of fame in Chin a. Princeton , N. J: Princeton University Press, 1994.

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IvyPanda. (2021, September 25). Mao Zedong's Impact on the World. https://ivypanda.com/essays/mao-zedongs-impact-on-the-world/

"Mao Zedong's Impact on the World." IvyPanda , 25 Sept. 2021, ivypanda.com/essays/mao-zedongs-impact-on-the-world/.

IvyPanda . (2021) 'Mao Zedong's Impact on the World'. 25 September.

IvyPanda . 2021. "Mao Zedong's Impact on the World." September 25, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/mao-zedongs-impact-on-the-world/.

1. IvyPanda . "Mao Zedong's Impact on the World." September 25, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/mao-zedongs-impact-on-the-world/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Mao Zedong's Impact on the World." September 25, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/mao-zedongs-impact-on-the-world/.

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9 Between ‘Paper’ and ‘Real Tigers’: Mao's View of Nuclear Weapons

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Mao Zedong originally saw a new China's struggle for security in terms of conventional warfare and in 1946 satirized the atomic bomb as a ’paper tiger’. Mao found it difficult to understand why the imperialists would venture to use nuclear weapons in a war if they wanted to dominate other nations, because a massively destructive weapon would not serve the purpose of acquiring political control, but would instead destroy that which was to be controlled. However, he gradually changed his position, as he understood the deterrent value of the bomb. Frequent US nuclear threats against China, Soviet pressures, and pressures from other Chinese leaders who kept pushing Mao to pay more attention to nuclear‐weapon programmes are the important factors that contributed to his ’nuclear revolution’. Consequently, his thinking on the atomic bomb came to dominate China's defence policy and brought about the policy changes that turned China into a major nuclear power.

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Some Reflections on Mao Zedong’s Thought

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• Theresa Chu  

Part of the book series: Boston College Studies in Philosophy ((MNPL,volume 9))

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Around the turn of the century and the decades that followed, Chinese thinkers discussed different philosophical systems in a veritable forum of ideas. Many were distressed by the discovery of China’s weakness as a nation, felt the irrelevance of traditional Chinese thought in the modern world and turned towards the West for ideas which seemed to have accompanied prosperity and progress in Western society. Others clung to traditional Chinese philosophies harder than ever precisely because of the feeling that the very ground on which Chinese Society stood was beginning to shake. Most thinkers sought reforms on a practical level along with their effort to find more adequate theories.

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© 1982 Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, The Hague, Boston, London

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Chu, T. (1982). Some Reflections on Mao Zedong’s Thought. In: Adelmann, F.J. (eds) Contemporary Chinese Philosophy. Boston College Studies in Philosophy, vol 9. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-7689-4_5

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