MAO ZEDONG

One of the most outstanding and influential individuals of 20^th century. His embrace of Marxism, giving Communism a Chinese face, had ramifications within China and way beyond. The radical challenge to inherited authority – of family, local vested interests and religions – was ruthless. The strategies he deployed were memorable as much for symbolic potency as practical effect – the Long March, the Re-education Programme, the Five Year Plans, the ubiquitous self-portraits and statues. They linger, but shifts in Communist political thinking in recent decades are becoming more distanced from Mao. Although still contentious, the extent of the extremes to which he went in his own self-interest and promotion is becoming more systematically documented from public sources. This is most especially apparent in his reported disregard for the matter of individual human life and the scale of famine and starvation for which he had personal responsibility.

Life

• Brief BBC biography of Mao
• Biography of Mao from ThoughtCo with links to related articles
  
• Biography of Mao from Spartacus Educational with links
• The cult of Mao in posters

Writings

• The Mao Zedong internet archive with links to an extensive collection of his writings

Video

Mao Zedong speech (1 min)