50 Years on, Mao Still Matters in China
Scholars say Mao’s rule still shapes party legitimacy and governance, even as China’s economy has shifted to state capitalism.
- On September 9, 1976, Mao Zedong died, leaving China a poor, isolated communist state. Fifty years later, the nation has become the world's second-largest economy with a digitalized society and vast private sector.
- Cergy-Paris University professor Zhang Lun identified four major political legacies left by Mao: an authoritarian, centralized system; governance through political campaigns; populist anti-elitism; and utopian egalitarianism. These shaped China's political trajectory for decades.
- Institutional continuity defines the CCP, veteran journalist Chang Ping argues, as the party's core principle remains that "the party leads everything." The CCP can pursue state objectives "at all costs," potentially sacrificing ordinary people's interests.
- The most fundamental change over the past five decades has been "de-Maoization," Zhang argues, though this process was never fully completed. Today, the CCP operates a dynamic model of state capitalism with a strong private sector.
- Mao remains an important symbol of the CCP's political legitimacy despite 50 years of transformation. Revolutionary language he left behind serves as a standard by which contemporary reality can be measured and criticized.
30 Articles
30 Articles
Young Chinese seek answers in Mao Zedong, half a century after his death
The Great Helmsman sparks interest among a generation that did not live through his rule, while the Communist Party reinforces a historical narrative that dilutes his errors to bolster its legitimacy
ledauphine.com
A founding figure of the People's Republic of China, Mao Zedong ruled the Middle Empire with an iron hand from 1949 to 9 September 1976. Fifty years after his death, the Chinese regime - incarnated by Xi Jinping - rehabilitates certain areas of Maoist power and revives the political legacy of the "Great Timonier".
Fifty years after the death of Mao Zedong, how does China manage the ambivalent legacy of this former leader? Answer in this podcast with Harold Thibault, correspondent of the "World" in China.
Under Xi Jinping's leadership, various political concepts and methods of government associated with the Mao era have again caught attention, all of which, as the memory of his turbulent command fades, and the country grapples with inequality and economic slowdown.
Coverage Details
Bias Distribution
- 46% of the sources are Center
Factuality
To view factuality data please Upgrade to Premium
