Mao Zedong (Mao Tse-Tung,) also called Chairman Mao (1893–1976,) is undisputedly the foremost figure in modern Chinese history and a commanding presence in twentieth-century history. He was a revolutionary who served as the leader of the Communist Party of the People’s Republic of China 1949–76 and as China’s head of state 1949–59.
Born in Shaoshan, Hunan Provide, during the Qing Empire, Mao was the son of an educated Hunanese peasant. Mao was trained in Chinese classics and received a modern education.
As co-founder of the Chinese Communist Party in 1921 and its operative leader from the time of the Long March (1934–35,) Mao ultimately defeated both the occupying Japanese and rival Kuomintang nationalist forces to create the People’s Republic of China in 1949 and became its first head of state.
At the outset, Mao followed the Soviet Marxist-Leninist Communist model; however, from 1956, he introduced his measures, such as the brief period of freedom of expression known as Hundred Flowers and the economically-catastrophic Great Leap Forward (1958–60.)
Despite having resigned as head of state, Mao set off the Cultural Revolution (1966–76) to solidify his ideology and purge the party of revisionists. During these years, he fired political rivals and became the focus of a personality cult.
Mao is remembered for institutionalizing the pattern of struggle based on countryside guerrilla warfare that ultimately led to victory in the civil war and the overthrow of the Nationalists, the distribution of land to the peasants, the reinstatement of China’s independence and sovereignty, provided education and health care for the poor, and advanced rights for women. Mao’s record after 1949 is, however, a subject of debate: the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution are often viewed as ill-conceived elaborate programs that led to disastrous consequences. After his death, China loosened its economic restraints, allowing capitalism to develop.
On top of his political and military proficiency, Mao was a talented calligrapher and a poet in the classical style. The small corpus of work he left behind is well regarded. Quotations from Chairman Mao Zedong (1967; popularly known as ‘The Little Red Book‘) continues to be a worldwide bestseller.
More: Wikipedia • READ: Works by Mao Zedong
Classes struggle, some classes triumph, others are eliminated. Such is history; such is the history of civilization for thousands of years.
—Mao Zedong
Topics: Class
If you want to know the taste of a pear, you must change the pear by eating it yourself. If you want to know the theory and methods of revolution, you must take part in revolution. All genuine knowledge originates in direct experience.
—Mao Zedong
Topics: Knowledge
War can only be abolished through war, and in order to get rid of the gun it is necessary to take up the gun.
—Mao Zedong
Topics: Peace
The enemy advances, we retreat; the enemy camps, we harass; the enemy tires, we attack; the enemy retreats, we pursue.
—Mao Zedong
Topics: Enemy
There is a serious tendency toward capitalism among the well-to-do peasants
—Mao Zedong
Topics: Capitalism
So long as a person who has made mistakes… honestly and sincerely wishes to be cured and to mend his ways, we should welcome him and cure his sickness so that he can become a good comrade. We can never succeed if we just let ourselves go and lash at him.
—Mao Zedong
Topics: Mistakes
Letting a hundred flowers blossom and a hundred schools of thought contend is the policy for promoting the progress of the arts and the sciences and a flourishing culture in our land.
—Mao Zedong
Topics: Culture
We think too small. Like the frog at the bottom of the well. He thinks the sky is only as big as the top of the well. If he surfaced, he would have an entirely different view.
—Mao Zedong
Topics: Perception
Weapons are an important factor in war, but not the decisive factor; it is people, not things, that are decisive. The contest of strength is not only a contest of military and economic power, but also a contest of human power and morale. Military and economic power is necessarily wielded by people.
—Mao Zedong
Topics: War, Weapon
Take the ideas of the masses (scattered and unsystematic ideas) and concentrate them (through study turn them into concentrated and systematic ideas), then go to the masses and propagate and explain these ideas until the masses embrace them as their own, hold fast to them and translate them into action, and test the correctness of these ideas in such action. Then once again concentrate ideas from the masses and once again go to the masses so that the ideas are persevered in and carried through. And so on, over and over again in an endless spiral, with the ideas becoming more correct, more vital and richer each time. Such is the Marxist theory of knowledge.
—Mao Zedong
Investigation may be likened to the long months of pregnancy, and solving a problem to the day of birth. To investigate a problem is, indeed, to solve it
—Mao Zedong
Topics: Pregnancy
Our attitude towards ourselves should be “to be satiable in learning” and towards others “to be tireless in teaching.”
—Mao Zedong
Topics: Education
All reactionaries are paper tigers.
—Mao Zedong
Topics: Conservatives
In time of difficulties, we must not lose sight of our achievements.
—Mao Zedong
Topics: Difficulty, Achievements, Achieving
The people, and the people alone, are the motive force in the making of world history.
—Mao Zedong
Topics: People
There is in fact no such thing as art for art’s sake, art that stands above classes, art that is detached from or independent of politics. Proletarian literature and art are part of the whole proletarian revolutionary cause.
—Mao Zedong
Topics: Arts, Artists, Art
A revolution is not a dinner party, or writing an essay, or painting a picture, or doing embroidery; it cannot be so refined, so leisurely and gentle, so temperate, kind, courteous, restrained and magnanimous. A revolution is an insurrection, an act of violence by which one class overthrows another.
—Mao Zedong
Topics: Revolutionaries, Revolution, Revolutions
The cadres of our Party and state are ordinary workers and not overlords sitting on the backs of the people.
—Mao Zedong
Topics: Government
In general, any form of exercise, if pursued continuously, will help train us in perseverance. Long-distance running is particularly good training in perseverance.
—Mao Zedong
Topics: Exercise
Genuine equality between the sexes can only be realized in the process of the socialist transformation of society as a whole.
—Mao Zedong
Topics: Equality
All political power comes from the barrel of a gun. The communist party must command all the guns, that way, no guns can ever be used to command the party.
—Mao Zedong
Imperialism is a paper tiger.
—Mao Zedong
An army without culture is a dull-witted army, and a dull-witted army cannot defeat the enemy.
—Mao Zedong
Topics: Enemy, Army, Navy, The Military
All the reputedly powerful reactionaries are merely paper tigers. The reason is that they are divorced from the people. Look! Was not Hitler a paper tiger? Was Hitler not overthrown? U.S. imperialism has not yet been overthrown and it has the atomic bomb. I believe it also will be overthrown. It, too, is a paper tiger.
—Mao Zedong
Topics: Fanaticism
I have witnessed the tremendous energy of the masses. On this foundation it is possible to accomplish any task whatsoever.
—Mao Zedong
The first law of war is to preserve ourselves and destroy the enemy.
—Mao Zedong
Topics: Simplicity
Politics is war without bloodshed while war is politics with bloodshed.
—Mao Zedong
Topics: Politics, One liners, Politicians, War
To read too many books is harmful.
—Mao Zedong
Topics: Reading, Books
Every good communist should know that political power grows out of the barrel of a gun.
—Mao Zedong
Topics: Power
Communism is not love. Communism is a hammer which we use to crush the enemy.
—Mao Zedong
Topics: Communism, Socialism
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