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| nationality = [[People's Republic of China|Chinese]] | | nationality = [[People's Republic of China|Chinese]] | ||
| birth_name = | | birth_name = | ||
| birth_date = December | | birth_date = 26 December 1893 | ||
| birth_place = Shaoshan, Hunan, [[People's Republic of China#Semi-colonial_and_semi-feudal_society_.281840.E2.80.931949.29 | Qing dynasty]] | | birth_place = Shaoshan, Hunan, [[People's Republic of China#Semi-colonial_and_semi-feudal_society_.281840.E2.80.931949.29 | Qing dynasty]] | ||
| death_date = September | | death_date = 9, September, 1976 (aged 82) | ||
| death_place = Beijing, [[People's Republic of China]] | | death_place = Beijing, [[People's Republic of China]] | ||
| death_cause = Heart attack associated with old age | | death_cause = Heart attack associated with old age | ||
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}} | }} | ||
'''Mao Zedong''' {{Datebio|birthday=26th|birthmonth=December|birthyear=1893|deathmonth=September|deathday=9th|deathyear=1976}} was a [[People's Republic of China|Chinese]] [[Marxism-Leninism|Marxist–Leninist]] revolutionary who | '''Mao Zedong''' {{Datebio|birthday=26th|birthmonth=December|birthyear=1893|deathmonth=September|deathday=9th|deathyear=1976}} was a [[People's Republic of China|Chinese]] [[Marxism-Leninism|Marxist–Leninist]] revolutionary who led the Chinese people to [[Chinese revolution|their proletarian revolution]] and served as the supreme leader of the [[People's Republic of China]] from 1949 to 1976. Under Mao's leadership, China's life expectancy increased from 35 to 65 years and industrial production increased by an average of 11% annually.<ref>{{Citation|author=M. Meissner|year=1996|title=The Deng Xiaoping Era. An Inquiry into the Fate of Chinese Socialism, 1978-1994|city=Hill and Way}}</ref> Per capita food production increased by 60% and total food production increased by over 169%.<ref>{{Citation|author=Guo Shutian|year=2004|title=Can China Feed Itself? Chinese Scholars on China’s Food Issue|chapter=China’s Food Supply and Demand Situation and International Trade|city=Beijing|publisher=Foreign Languages Press}}</ref> | ||
Mao's contributions to the development of Marxism-Leninism, military theory, and the theory of communist party organization are known in China as [[Mao Zedong Thought]]. Mao Zedong was also a poet and calligrapher. | |||
== Biography == | == Biography == | ||
=== Early life ( | === Early life (1893–1911) === | ||
Mao Zedong was born on December | Mao Zedong was born on 26 December 1893 in a middle [[Peasantry|peasant]] family in Shaoshan Valley, modern day Xiangtan County of Hunan Province, under the reign of [[Qing dynasty (1636–1912)|Qing Dynasty]] Emperor Guangxu.<ref name=":2">{{Citation|author=Pang Xianzhi and Jin Chongji|year=2011|title=Mao Zedong, a Biography. Volume 1. 1893–1949|title-url=https://en.prolewiki.org/wiki/Library:Mao_Zedong,_a_Biography._Volume_1._1893%E2%80%931949|chapter=Leaving Home|chapter-url=https://en.prolewiki.org/wiki/Library:Mao_Zedong,_a_Biography._Volume_1._1893%E2%80%931949#Leaving_Home|publisher=CCCPC Party Literature Research Office, Translated by Foreign Languages Press|volume=1}}</ref><ref>[https://baike.baidu.com/reference/113835/47b3UXeOlls2dqtF1RBQ9euk5nvQ6S5grjQRBfjOFkWIPa1ltVabtooqj1XMsHEO68MSM1QOJ1SrB8XHur3CBi5Ue5vS3PMNKQ December 26: Mao Zedong was born in Shaoshanchong, Xiangtan, Hunan] - Central People's Government of the People's Republic of China.</ref> He was born as the third child of Mao Yichang and Wen Suqin, and the first child to survive infancy. From the age of six, Mao worked on his father's land and at a later age served as the family account keeper, performing farm work alongside the laborers hired by his father. Mao Zedong learned from his own experiences the hardships that the Peasantry suffered, as Mao Yinchang enforced a harsh work discipline on Mao Zedong and his younger brothers, even beating them. Such a life ingrained in Mao a rebellious spirit and good work discipline.<ref name=":2" /> | ||
When Mao Zedong was 14, Mao Yunchang forced him into marriage for the purposes of securing more farm laborers. But, Mao Zedong never accepted the marriage nor lived with his intended wife. Leaving his father no choice to accept his son's de facto unmarried state.<ref name=":2" /> Contrary to his adversarial relationship with his father, Mao's relation with his mother was far more positive. Wen Suqin's influence reflected in Mao's instances of disobedience against his father's exploitative practices towards neighbors and family members. Mao upheld his mother as the kind of person who would help others at their own expense whereas he remembered his father as a person emblematic of private ownership system that disregarded all fraternity.<ref name=":2" /> | |||
Since his early childhood, Mao studied at a traditional Chinese private school taught by his maternal uncle in Tangjiatuo in Xiangxiang County, living spent most of his childhood living with his mother's family, till he was 8 years old and brought back home to Shaoshan Valley. In the following 8 years, he attended six more private schools in nearby counties, excepting for two years when his father took him out of school to work full time, and even during his studies, being required to help on the side.<ref name=":2" /> Mao later described his early education as "six years of reading Confucian books" and despite initially favoring the thoughts of the ancient philosophers, he came to dislike them in part due to the teaching styles of his teachers. Growing an interest in books and subjects that his teachers disdained, such as the Water Margin and Romance of the Three Kingdoms among other works. Mao's studies and personal preferences cultivated in him a great interest in studying history and appreciation of the role that history plays in shaping the world. He read the tales to other children and elderly of the village, and detected the absence of peasant protagonists from the novels and the class dynamic inherent within the absence.<ref name=":2" /> | |||
In April 1910, during a time of famine and great suffering, the peasants had come to present petitions requesting aid at the governor's office. The governor's men fired on the petitioners, killing fourteen and wounding many more. The outraged masses set fire to the governor's office and other buildings before the Imperial Qing government bloodily suppressed them, beheading them and displaying the heads as warnings against future uprisings over the city's south gate. The news of the uprising and the bloody repressions reached Shaoshan Valley, where despite initial indignation, people quickly began to forget about the news. Mao for his part was immensely shaken by how innocents were driven to desperation and subsequently murdered. The incident stayed with him for the rest of his life.<ref name=":2" /> | |||
''' | |||
In the | In 1911, famine struck Shaoshan Valley, and the hungry peasants organized themselves and began seizing food from the houses of landlords and delivery of merchants, including from Mao Yunchang. Mao Zedong did not sympathize with his father but as a result of his then reformist mindset, felt that the peasants had went about it wrongly.<ref name=":2" /> | ||
Owing to the isolation of his village, Mao's early political development was highly influenced by Reformist thought, like those of his teacher, Li Shuqing, whom he depended on greatly for developments in wider China like the constitutional reform attempt of the crumbling Qing Dynasty. At the age of 17, filled with the need to continue his studies outside his secluded village and hearing that Dongshan School taught modern knowledge, Mao convinced family members to persuade his father to approve of the move. Leaving the environs of Shaoshan Valley for the first time.<ref name=":2" /> | |||
'' | Dongshan Higher Primary School in Xiangxiang County, Hunan Province, taught classical education but also subjects such as Natural Sciences, Geography and the English. It was at the school that Mao became informed that both the Guangxu Emperor and Empress Dowager Cixi had been dead for years and the Xuantong Emperor having been enthroned for two years. Hunan Province was a stronghold of reformist thought and their publications were not outlawed unlike more revolutionary outlets, leading Mao to be influenced by the reformist thoughts of Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao, who advocated for a Constitutional Monarchy.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":0">[https://baike.baidu.com/reference/113835/45c61_sYsjwuFPa1aDDw8lcZjnk3omFT8e1bvav0Kglvx1_WFxZpF-EGCPAwByZusnJrNqR7WCn7nNWeNlb-PDQw3lNdl6gFAXixsnC1_4CqCQ9f-nnHKW0L Chronology of Mao Zedong's Life (1893-1925) Party History Channel] - People's Daily Online </ref> He was not aware of [[Sun Yat-sen]]’s [[Revolution|Revolutionary]] conceptions of establishing a [[Bourgeois democracy|Bourgeois Democracy]] in place of the old order, which had in fact became the dominant political trend across the country.<ref name=":2" /> | ||
After coming in possession of an edition of ''Xinmin congbao'' (New People’s Miscellany), the journal edited and published by Liang Qichao, Mao made his earliest political commentary. Advocating for a Monarchy with laws written by the people and Monarch favored with public approval, as opposed to a Monarchy where the laws are written by the Monarch and who enjoys no public support. With Britain and Japan as the former while China fell under the latter. Young Mao also put emphasis on great personalities, believing that China should strive to create individuals learned from Western history.<ref name=":2" /> | |||
''' | In the spring of 1911, due to Mao's excellence in learning, his teacher, He Langang, took Mao with him to the Provincial Xiangxiang Middle School in Changsha, capital of Hunan Province. On the eve of the Bourgeois Democratic 1911 Revolution, Changsha was a hub of the Province's revolutionary activity, with even the local military forces aligning with the revolutionaries. Changsha was Mao's, then 18, first encounter with revolutionary thought, becoming a dedicated reader of the revolutionary publication ''Minli bao'' (People’s Journal). Expanding his world and political view greatly.<ref name=":2" /> Far from the Imperial Reformist he had been, Mao had become a fervent Republican and lead his fellow students in act of disobedience against Imperial laws, by cutting the legally mandated queue haircuts. News of the Guangzhou Uprising in 27 April 1911 shook the whole of China, including Hunan, where students such as Mao were driven into excitement. It led Mao to write an article supporting Sun Yat-sen, proposing that the revolutionary leader be welcomed home to serve as President but in a display of his still developing political consciousness, advocated also that the Imperial reformist Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao be in the same government. <ref name=":2" /><ref name=":0" /> | ||
On 10 October 1911, the Wuchang Uprising broke out and revolutionaries seized the government of Hubei Province, quickly asking revolutionaries in Hunan to rise up in solidarity with them. A representative came to the Xiangxiang Middle School and gave a speech elucidating them on the Uprising, leading Mao and students to eagerly join in the fight for a Republic. Mao was set to leave for Wuhan to join the revolutionary armies gathering there when revolutionaries in Changsha successfully launched their own uprising and established a revolutionary government on 24 October 1911. Mao immediately joined the revolutionary army of the new government, but rather than a student detachment, he opted to join the regular army. Becoming a private in the left platoon of the First Battalion, 25<sup>th</sup> Brigade, of the Hunan New Army.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":0" /> | |||
During his time in the army, Mao would receive military training and a salary, latter of which he would use to purchase newspapers, journals and books to keep apace of political developments across China. It was while reading an article in the ''Xianghan xinwen'' (Xianghan News), that Mao would first encounter the term 'socialism'. The article itself had only been advocating reformism but Mao would become interested in the concept, reaching out to friends and acquaintances for their thoughts. Mao only served in the army for little over half a year since in little over two months after the Wuchang Uprising, majority of China had declared independence from the tottering Qing Dynasty and a peace process began between the Revolutionaries and the Qing. Resulting in a Republic being declared and the last Qing emperor forced into abdication. The conciliationist attitude of the revolutionaries unfortunately resulted in Yuan Shikai, a Qing official and general, becoming provisional president of the new Republic rather than Sun Yat-sen.<ref name=":2" /> | |||
After leaving the army, Mao resumed his quest for knowledge. He applied for entrance examination of the police academy, the soap-making technical school, the politics and law institute, and the public high school before entering the Hunan Provincial Senior Middle School for a short time. Chafing at the inflexible rules and limited curriculum, Mao left the school and opted for self-study, lodging at the Xiangxiang Guild Hall and securing study material, like the political and scientific works of the West, from the Provincial Library.<ref name=":2" /> Mao spent half a year studying in such a manner before circumstances changed, with his father refusing to financially support his unorthodox learning methods and rampageous disbanded army units coming to board at the Xiangxiang Guildhall, rendering the Guild Hall ill suited for peaceful living.<ref name=":2" /> | |||
=== '''College and developing political consciousness (1912-1919)''' === | |||
Mao, now 20, resolved to return to school and continue his studies that way when he became aware of the Hunan Provincial Fourth Teachers’ Training College offering free education, cheap housing and a teaching post for graduates. Mao passed the entrance examination and enrolled into the Training College's five year program. The Fourth Teacher's College was subsequently merged with the First Teacher's College located in the southern suburbs of Changsha, delaying Mao's graduation by several months.<ref name=":3" /> | |||
The First Teachers College, also known as Hunan Provincial Normal School, was a storied institution, whose history and incarnations stretched back to the 7th century CE, which endeavored to mold its students into ideal people and whose constitution advocated for up-to-date educational approach. The faculty were noted for their progressive outlook and great knowledge and during Mao's time, many progressive students of all ages but especially the young enrolled there. Earning the School the reputation of being the cradle of progressive youth. A teacher of particular importance was Yang Changji, Mao's ethics teacher. Yang had studied both in Japan and England, and toured Germany and Switzerland before returning to China. Despite being offered a government post, Yang declined and preferred to teach instead, seeing it his duty to guide young mind. He advocated thorough investigations while studying, and the fusion of Chinese and Western knowledge. Yang would be of great influence to young Mao.<ref name=":3" /> | |||
It was at the College that Mao further developed his political consciousness and became friends with like-minded people. His studies at the College encouraged Mao to put great emphasis on practical work and analysis of the world. Mao kept apace of current events by spending his college allowance to buy materials such as journals, newspapers, maps and reference works. Coming to earn a reputation among his fellow students as an expert in contemporary affairs.<ref name=":3">{{Citation|author=Pang Xianzhi and Jin Chongji|year=2011|title=Mao Zedong, a Biography. Volume 1. 1893–1949|title-url=https://en.prolewiki.org/wiki/Library:Mao_Zedong,_a_Biography._Volume_1._1893%E2%80%931949|chapter=The College Student|chapter-url=https://en.prolewiki.org/wiki/Library:Mao_Zedong,_a_Biography._Volume_1._1893%E2%80%931949#The_College_Student|publisher=CCCPC Party Literature Research Office, Translated by Foreign Languages Press|volume=1}}</ref> | |||
For all Mao's development, at that time he still continued to hold Imperial Reformists such as Zeng Guofan and Kang Youwei and the opportunist Yuan Shikai to be as respectable as Sun Yat-sen. Not yet seeing all for who they truly were.<ref name=":3" /> | |||
Despite the formation of the Chinese Republic, the various ills that gave impetus to the Revolution of 1911 had not been resolved. Instead, the opportunist Yuan Shikai actively hampered progress since becoming the Provisional President by suspending the provisional constitution of the republic and disbanding parliament. In January 1915, Japan proposed the extortionist '21 demands' in return for assisting Yuan Shikai in assuming the throne in a restored Monarchy. They issued their ultimatum on 7 May, and on 9 May Yuan's government made rapid response in favor of the deal. Protests started across the nation at the gross betrayal of the country, and the First College was no exception to the sentiment. The students including Mao compiled statements and articles condemning the bargain.<ref name=":3" /> | |||
A confrontation between the people and the Yuan Government was building as Yuan redoubled his efforts to establish his own imperial dynasty, even declaring himself emperor, in face of popular disapproval and the people's wish to preserve the republic. The national sentiment was so great that even pro-Monarchist forces like such as Kang Youwei, Liang Qichao and Tang Hualong were forced to side against Yuan, at least publicly, in hopes of co-opting the popular movement. The southern provinces of China declared independence from the Yuan government and established military councils, prepared to fight against the Yuan warlord government. The country stood at the precipice of a second democratic revolution. Instead, Yuan died on 6 June 1916, only eighty-three days after his proclamation as emperor. Immediately conciliators set about to lull the people back to inaction. Li Yuanhong and Duan Qirui, Yuan's associates would assume political power after Yuan's death and proclaimed the restoration of the republic's provisional constitution and parliament while Liang Qichao used his standing as an anti-Yuan leader to facilitate reconciliation between the prospective revolutionaries and the collaborators.<ref name=":3" /> | |||
After the people of Hunan expelled Tang Xiangming, the provincial inspector-general appointed by Yuan Shikai, Mao lamented to a friend that there had been outbursts of violence and bloodshed and compared it to the French Revolution. Mao's still developing understanding considered peaceful resolutions as the best outcome and he was taken in by the machinations of Liang, Li and Duan.<ref name=":3" /> | |||
In the wake of Yuan Shikai's death, a former Qing general, Zhang Xun, would also make a failed attempt at an imperial restoration. Attempting to re-enthrone the last Qing emperor. Both ventures disturbed China's progressive intelligentsia, questioning why a republican system could not set roots in China. They came to the conclusion that the ideology of the Feudal system had not been combated and defeated, and that the masses, who still mostly operated under such ideology, were not able to take active part in the struggle for national salvation. This marked the beginnings of the New Culture Movement as they set about trying to transform the culture and consciousness of the nation. Out of the movement arose the ''New Youth'' magazine by [[Chen Duxiu]], a future founder of the [[Communist Party of China]]. After being introduce to ''New Youth'' by Yang Changji, who also wrote for it, Mao was greatly taken by the thoughts expressed in it. It was at the school that Mao also first came into contact with inklings of Materialist philosophy through the dualism of the Kantian school, comparing neo-Confucianists favorably to Immanuel Kant. The encounter with materialism, however diluted, facilitated Mao's growth towards a nascent dialectal worldview. No longer seeing 'great harmony as something viable in society.<ref name=":3" /> | |||
In summer of 1917 Mao and his friend, Xiao Zisheng, would go on a summer field trip to study the real conditions of China. Traveling 900 li (450 km) for over a month and conversing with people from all walks of life in towns and villages, from peasants to magistrates, and academics to priests. Mao would make more these field trips and they served as the beginnings of Mao's method of investigation and study into the facts of life.<ref name=":3" /> | |||
In October 1917, the student's association held their annual elections and voted Mao to various posts, some of which were previously held by staff members. Using his new posts, Mao sought to revitalize the college's evening school for workers<ref name=":3" /> | |||
In November 1917, in light of of Zhang Xun's attempted restoration, more chaos beset China in the form of a civil war between the Northern Warlords and the Southern Provinces. After a battlefield defeat, a warlord army withdrew to the vicinity of Changsha driving to inhabitants to panic, fearing a looting. The college proposed to disperse the students to east of Changsha, but Mao instead proposed that students who were undergoing military training should mobilize to defend the college. The college authorities acceded to the proposal and a volunteer corp was formed. The retreating soldiers passed by the college. On 18 November however, Mao organized the several hundred volunteers into three detachments and had them take positions on hilltops in the Houzishi area. The students were mostly armed only in wooden rifles, but Mao had arranged that the local police force would use their weaponry while the students set off fire crackers. The unexpected confrontation devastated the morale of the shattered army and they surrendered, averting the feared sacking of Changsha. Victory in Mao's very first military engagement.<ref name=":3" /> | |||
'''1918''' | '''1918''' | ||
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[[Category:Mao Zedong Family]] | [[Category:Mao Zedong Family]] | ||
[[Category:Chinese communists]] | [[Category:Chinese communists]] | ||
[[Category:Featured page]] |
Latest revision as of 06:22, 6 October 2024
This article is missing sources. Please do not take all information in this article uncritically, since it may be incorrect. |
Chairman Mao Zedong 毛泽东 | |
---|---|
Portrait of comrade Mao | |
Born | 26 December 1893 Shaoshan, Hunan, Qing dynasty |
Died | 9, September, 1976 (aged 82) Beijing, People's Republic of China |
Cause of death | Heart attack associated with old age |
Nationality | Chinese |
Political orientation | Marxism–Leninism (developed what is now known as Mao Zedong Thought) Anti-imperialism |
Political party | Communist Party of China |
Mao Zedong (December 26th, 1893 — September 9th, 1976) was a Chinese Marxist–Leninist revolutionary who led the Chinese people to their proletarian revolution and served as the supreme leader of the People's Republic of China from 1949 to 1976. Under Mao's leadership, China's life expectancy increased from 35 to 65 years and industrial production increased by an average of 11% annually.[1] Per capita food production increased by 60% and total food production increased by over 169%.[2]
Mao's contributions to the development of Marxism-Leninism, military theory, and the theory of communist party organization are known in China as Mao Zedong Thought. Mao Zedong was also a poet and calligrapher.
Biography[edit | edit source]
Early life (1893–1911)[edit | edit source]
Mao Zedong was born on 26 December 1893 in a middle peasant family in Shaoshan Valley, modern day Xiangtan County of Hunan Province, under the reign of Qing Dynasty Emperor Guangxu.[3][4] He was born as the third child of Mao Yichang and Wen Suqin, and the first child to survive infancy. From the age of six, Mao worked on his father's land and at a later age served as the family account keeper, performing farm work alongside the laborers hired by his father. Mao Zedong learned from his own experiences the hardships that the Peasantry suffered, as Mao Yinchang enforced a harsh work discipline on Mao Zedong and his younger brothers, even beating them. Such a life ingrained in Mao a rebellious spirit and good work discipline.[3]
When Mao Zedong was 14, Mao Yunchang forced him into marriage for the purposes of securing more farm laborers. But, Mao Zedong never accepted the marriage nor lived with his intended wife. Leaving his father no choice to accept his son's de facto unmarried state.[3] Contrary to his adversarial relationship with his father, Mao's relation with his mother was far more positive. Wen Suqin's influence reflected in Mao's instances of disobedience against his father's exploitative practices towards neighbors and family members. Mao upheld his mother as the kind of person who would help others at their own expense whereas he remembered his father as a person emblematic of private ownership system that disregarded all fraternity.[3]
Since his early childhood, Mao studied at a traditional Chinese private school taught by his maternal uncle in Tangjiatuo in Xiangxiang County, living spent most of his childhood living with his mother's family, till he was 8 years old and brought back home to Shaoshan Valley. In the following 8 years, he attended six more private schools in nearby counties, excepting for two years when his father took him out of school to work full time, and even during his studies, being required to help on the side.[3] Mao later described his early education as "six years of reading Confucian books" and despite initially favoring the thoughts of the ancient philosophers, he came to dislike them in part due to the teaching styles of his teachers. Growing an interest in books and subjects that his teachers disdained, such as the Water Margin and Romance of the Three Kingdoms among other works. Mao's studies and personal preferences cultivated in him a great interest in studying history and appreciation of the role that history plays in shaping the world. He read the tales to other children and elderly of the village, and detected the absence of peasant protagonists from the novels and the class dynamic inherent within the absence.[3]
In April 1910, during a time of famine and great suffering, the peasants had come to present petitions requesting aid at the governor's office. The governor's men fired on the petitioners, killing fourteen and wounding many more. The outraged masses set fire to the governor's office and other buildings before the Imperial Qing government bloodily suppressed them, beheading them and displaying the heads as warnings against future uprisings over the city's south gate. The news of the uprising and the bloody repressions reached Shaoshan Valley, where despite initial indignation, people quickly began to forget about the news. Mao for his part was immensely shaken by how innocents were driven to desperation and subsequently murdered. The incident stayed with him for the rest of his life.[3]
In 1911, famine struck Shaoshan Valley, and the hungry peasants organized themselves and began seizing food from the houses of landlords and delivery of merchants, including from Mao Yunchang. Mao Zedong did not sympathize with his father but as a result of his then reformist mindset, felt that the peasants had went about it wrongly.[3]
Owing to the isolation of his village, Mao's early political development was highly influenced by Reformist thought, like those of his teacher, Li Shuqing, whom he depended on greatly for developments in wider China like the constitutional reform attempt of the crumbling Qing Dynasty. At the age of 17, filled with the need to continue his studies outside his secluded village and hearing that Dongshan School taught modern knowledge, Mao convinced family members to persuade his father to approve of the move. Leaving the environs of Shaoshan Valley for the first time.[3]
Dongshan Higher Primary School in Xiangxiang County, Hunan Province, taught classical education but also subjects such as Natural Sciences, Geography and the English. It was at the school that Mao became informed that both the Guangxu Emperor and Empress Dowager Cixi had been dead for years and the Xuantong Emperor having been enthroned for two years. Hunan Province was a stronghold of reformist thought and their publications were not outlawed unlike more revolutionary outlets, leading Mao to be influenced by the reformist thoughts of Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao, who advocated for a Constitutional Monarchy.[3][5] He was not aware of Sun Yat-sen’s Revolutionary conceptions of establishing a Bourgeois Democracy in place of the old order, which had in fact became the dominant political trend across the country.[3]
After coming in possession of an edition of Xinmin congbao (New People’s Miscellany), the journal edited and published by Liang Qichao, Mao made his earliest political commentary. Advocating for a Monarchy with laws written by the people and Monarch favored with public approval, as opposed to a Monarchy where the laws are written by the Monarch and who enjoys no public support. With Britain and Japan as the former while China fell under the latter. Young Mao also put emphasis on great personalities, believing that China should strive to create individuals learned from Western history.[3]
In the spring of 1911, due to Mao's excellence in learning, his teacher, He Langang, took Mao with him to the Provincial Xiangxiang Middle School in Changsha, capital of Hunan Province. On the eve of the Bourgeois Democratic 1911 Revolution, Changsha was a hub of the Province's revolutionary activity, with even the local military forces aligning with the revolutionaries. Changsha was Mao's, then 18, first encounter with revolutionary thought, becoming a dedicated reader of the revolutionary publication Minli bao (People’s Journal). Expanding his world and political view greatly.[3] Far from the Imperial Reformist he had been, Mao had become a fervent Republican and lead his fellow students in act of disobedience against Imperial laws, by cutting the legally mandated queue haircuts. News of the Guangzhou Uprising in 27 April 1911 shook the whole of China, including Hunan, where students such as Mao were driven into excitement. It led Mao to write an article supporting Sun Yat-sen, proposing that the revolutionary leader be welcomed home to serve as President but in a display of his still developing political consciousness, advocated also that the Imperial reformist Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao be in the same government. [3][5]
On 10 October 1911, the Wuchang Uprising broke out and revolutionaries seized the government of Hubei Province, quickly asking revolutionaries in Hunan to rise up in solidarity with them. A representative came to the Xiangxiang Middle School and gave a speech elucidating them on the Uprising, leading Mao and students to eagerly join in the fight for a Republic. Mao was set to leave for Wuhan to join the revolutionary armies gathering there when revolutionaries in Changsha successfully launched their own uprising and established a revolutionary government on 24 October 1911. Mao immediately joined the revolutionary army of the new government, but rather than a student detachment, he opted to join the regular army. Becoming a private in the left platoon of the First Battalion, 25th Brigade, of the Hunan New Army.[3][5]
During his time in the army, Mao would receive military training and a salary, latter of which he would use to purchase newspapers, journals and books to keep apace of political developments across China. It was while reading an article in the Xianghan xinwen (Xianghan News), that Mao would first encounter the term 'socialism'. The article itself had only been advocating reformism but Mao would become interested in the concept, reaching out to friends and acquaintances for their thoughts. Mao only served in the army for little over half a year since in little over two months after the Wuchang Uprising, majority of China had declared independence from the tottering Qing Dynasty and a peace process began between the Revolutionaries and the Qing. Resulting in a Republic being declared and the last Qing emperor forced into abdication. The conciliationist attitude of the revolutionaries unfortunately resulted in Yuan Shikai, a Qing official and general, becoming provisional president of the new Republic rather than Sun Yat-sen.[3]
After leaving the army, Mao resumed his quest for knowledge. He applied for entrance examination of the police academy, the soap-making technical school, the politics and law institute, and the public high school before entering the Hunan Provincial Senior Middle School for a short time. Chafing at the inflexible rules and limited curriculum, Mao left the school and opted for self-study, lodging at the Xiangxiang Guild Hall and securing study material, like the political and scientific works of the West, from the Provincial Library.[3] Mao spent half a year studying in such a manner before circumstances changed, with his father refusing to financially support his unorthodox learning methods and rampageous disbanded army units coming to board at the Xiangxiang Guildhall, rendering the Guild Hall ill suited for peaceful living.[3]
College and developing political consciousness (1912-1919)[edit | edit source]
Mao, now 20, resolved to return to school and continue his studies that way when he became aware of the Hunan Provincial Fourth Teachers’ Training College offering free education, cheap housing and a teaching post for graduates. Mao passed the entrance examination and enrolled into the Training College's five year program. The Fourth Teacher's College was subsequently merged with the First Teacher's College located in the southern suburbs of Changsha, delaying Mao's graduation by several months.[6]
The First Teachers College, also known as Hunan Provincial Normal School, was a storied institution, whose history and incarnations stretched back to the 7th century CE, which endeavored to mold its students into ideal people and whose constitution advocated for up-to-date educational approach. The faculty were noted for their progressive outlook and great knowledge and during Mao's time, many progressive students of all ages but especially the young enrolled there. Earning the School the reputation of being the cradle of progressive youth. A teacher of particular importance was Yang Changji, Mao's ethics teacher. Yang had studied both in Japan and England, and toured Germany and Switzerland before returning to China. Despite being offered a government post, Yang declined and preferred to teach instead, seeing it his duty to guide young mind. He advocated thorough investigations while studying, and the fusion of Chinese and Western knowledge. Yang would be of great influence to young Mao.[6]
It was at the College that Mao further developed his political consciousness and became friends with like-minded people. His studies at the College encouraged Mao to put great emphasis on practical work and analysis of the world. Mao kept apace of current events by spending his college allowance to buy materials such as journals, newspapers, maps and reference works. Coming to earn a reputation among his fellow students as an expert in contemporary affairs.[6]
For all Mao's development, at that time he still continued to hold Imperial Reformists such as Zeng Guofan and Kang Youwei and the opportunist Yuan Shikai to be as respectable as Sun Yat-sen. Not yet seeing all for who they truly were.[6]
Despite the formation of the Chinese Republic, the various ills that gave impetus to the Revolution of 1911 had not been resolved. Instead, the opportunist Yuan Shikai actively hampered progress since becoming the Provisional President by suspending the provisional constitution of the republic and disbanding parliament. In January 1915, Japan proposed the extortionist '21 demands' in return for assisting Yuan Shikai in assuming the throne in a restored Monarchy. They issued their ultimatum on 7 May, and on 9 May Yuan's government made rapid response in favor of the deal. Protests started across the nation at the gross betrayal of the country, and the First College was no exception to the sentiment. The students including Mao compiled statements and articles condemning the bargain.[6]
A confrontation between the people and the Yuan Government was building as Yuan redoubled his efforts to establish his own imperial dynasty, even declaring himself emperor, in face of popular disapproval and the people's wish to preserve the republic. The national sentiment was so great that even pro-Monarchist forces like such as Kang Youwei, Liang Qichao and Tang Hualong were forced to side against Yuan, at least publicly, in hopes of co-opting the popular movement. The southern provinces of China declared independence from the Yuan government and established military councils, prepared to fight against the Yuan warlord government. The country stood at the precipice of a second democratic revolution. Instead, Yuan died on 6 June 1916, only eighty-three days after his proclamation as emperor. Immediately conciliators set about to lull the people back to inaction. Li Yuanhong and Duan Qirui, Yuan's associates would assume political power after Yuan's death and proclaimed the restoration of the republic's provisional constitution and parliament while Liang Qichao used his standing as an anti-Yuan leader to facilitate reconciliation between the prospective revolutionaries and the collaborators.[6]
After the people of Hunan expelled Tang Xiangming, the provincial inspector-general appointed by Yuan Shikai, Mao lamented to a friend that there had been outbursts of violence and bloodshed and compared it to the French Revolution. Mao's still developing understanding considered peaceful resolutions as the best outcome and he was taken in by the machinations of Liang, Li and Duan.[6]
In the wake of Yuan Shikai's death, a former Qing general, Zhang Xun, would also make a failed attempt at an imperial restoration. Attempting to re-enthrone the last Qing emperor. Both ventures disturbed China's progressive intelligentsia, questioning why a republican system could not set roots in China. They came to the conclusion that the ideology of the Feudal system had not been combated and defeated, and that the masses, who still mostly operated under such ideology, were not able to take active part in the struggle for national salvation. This marked the beginnings of the New Culture Movement as they set about trying to transform the culture and consciousness of the nation. Out of the movement arose the New Youth magazine by Chen Duxiu, a future founder of the Communist Party of China. After being introduce to New Youth by Yang Changji, who also wrote for it, Mao was greatly taken by the thoughts expressed in it. It was at the school that Mao also first came into contact with inklings of Materialist philosophy through the dualism of the Kantian school, comparing neo-Confucianists favorably to Immanuel Kant. The encounter with materialism, however diluted, facilitated Mao's growth towards a nascent dialectal worldview. No longer seeing 'great harmony as something viable in society.[6]
In summer of 1917 Mao and his friend, Xiao Zisheng, would go on a summer field trip to study the real conditions of China. Traveling 900 li (450 km) for over a month and conversing with people from all walks of life in towns and villages, from peasants to magistrates, and academics to priests. Mao would make more these field trips and they served as the beginnings of Mao's method of investigation and study into the facts of life.[6]
In October 1917, the student's association held their annual elections and voted Mao to various posts, some of which were previously held by staff members. Using his new posts, Mao sought to revitalize the college's evening school for workers[6]
In November 1917, in light of of Zhang Xun's attempted restoration, more chaos beset China in the form of a civil war between the Northern Warlords and the Southern Provinces. After a battlefield defeat, a warlord army withdrew to the vicinity of Changsha driving to inhabitants to panic, fearing a looting. The college proposed to disperse the students to east of Changsha, but Mao instead proposed that students who were undergoing military training should mobilize to defend the college. The college authorities acceded to the proposal and a volunteer corp was formed. The retreating soldiers passed by the college. On 18 November however, Mao organized the several hundred volunteers into three detachments and had them take positions on hilltops in the Houzishi area. The students were mostly armed only in wooden rifles, but Mao had arranged that the local police force would use their weaponry while the students set off fire crackers. The unexpected confrontation devastated the morale of the shattered army and they surrendered, averting the feared sacking of Changsha. Victory in Mao's very first military engagement.[6]
1918
On April 14, together with Xiao Zisheng, He Shuheng, Cai Hesen and others, he initiated the establishment of Xinmin Society.
In June, graduated from Hunan Provincial First Normal School.
In August, he went to Beijing for the first time to organize Hunan's work-study program in France. During his stay in Beijing, he served as the librarian of Peking University, and with the help of Li Dazhao and others, he began to accept the ideological influence of the Russian October Revolution.[7]
1919
On April 6, he returned to Changsha from Shanghai.
In May, in response to the May 4th Movement , the Hunan Student Union was established to lead the anti-imperialist patriotic movement of Hunan students.
On July 14, the journal "Xiangjiang Review" edited by the Hunan Student Union was launched in Changsha. From July to August, he continuously wrote and published the long article "The Great Union of the People".
On October 5, his mother, Wen, died of illness, and upon hearing the news, he rushed back to Shaoshan from Changsha. On the 8th, "Mother's Essay" was written in front of the mother's spirit.
In December, he went to Beijing for the second time to lead the campaign to expel Zhang Jingyao, a warlord in Hunan. During his stay in Beijing, he read Marxist books such as The Communist Manifesto .
1920
In May and June, he met Chen Duxiu in Shanghai and discussed with him the Marxist books he had read.
At the beginning of August, together with Yi Lirong and others, he founded the Cultural Publishing House in Changsha to spread Marxism and new culture.
From August to September, he participated in the preparation for the establishment of the Russian Research Association.
On November 25, wrote to Luo Zhanglong , proposing that Xinmin Society, "It is better to become a combination of doctrines. Doctrines are like a flag. Only when the flag is erected can everyone have something to look forward to and know where to go."
In November, organized the Changsha Communist Group with He Shuheng and others.
On December 1, he sent a letter to Cai Hesen, Xiao Zisheng and other members who were working and studying in France[8]. The letter stated that he accepted Marxism and followed the path of the Russian October Revolution. He prepared to build the Socialist Youth League in Changsha. He then got married to Yang Kaihui.[5]
Communist Start & Beginning of Military Career (1921 - 1930)[edit | edit source]
1921
From January 1st to 3rd, together with more than ten people including He Shuheng, Peng Huang, Zhou Shizhao , Xiong Jinzheng, held the New Year's meeting of members of the Xinmin Society in Changsha Chaozong Street Cultural Publishing House. At the meeting, it was proposed that the Xinmin Society should take "transformation of China and the world" as its common purpose, and agreed to use "Russian-style" methods to transform China.
From July 23 to early August, together with He Shuhen, he attended the First National Congress of the Communist Party of China held in Shanghai as a representative of the Changsha Communist Group.
In August, he returned to Changsha and served as the director of the Hunan Branch of the Secretariat of the Chinese Labor Organization. He founded Hunan Self-study University with He Shuheng .
On October 10, the Hunan branch of the Communist Party of China was established and served as secretary.
1922
In May, the Hunan District Executive Committee of the Communist Party of China was established and served as secretary.
From September to December, he organized and led a series of strikes by the Guangdong-Han Railway workers, the Anyuan road and mine workers, and the Changsha mud and wood workers, pushing the Hunan labor movement to a rapid climax.
1923
In April, he left Changsha and arrived in Shanghai to work in the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.
In June, he attended the Third National Congress of the Communist Party of China in Guangzhou and was elected as a member of the Central Executive Committee, a member of the Central Bureau, and served as the Secretary of the Central Bureau.
On September 16, in accordance with the decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and entrusted by Lin Boqu, the deputy director of the General Affairs Department of the Kuomintang headquarters, he returned to Changsha to prepare for the establishment of the Hunan Kuomintang organization.
1924
In January, he attended the first National Congress of the Chinese Kuomintang in Guangzhou and was elected as an alternate member of the Central Executive Committee.
In February, he went to Shanghai and served as a member of the Shanghai Executive Department of the Kuomintang and secretary of the Organization Department.
In December, he returned to Hunan to recuperate.
1925
In February, when he returned to Shaoshan, he recuperated from his illness and launched a peasant movement at the same time.
In September, went to Guangzhou to participate in the preparations for the Second National Congress of the Kuomintang.
In October, he served as the acting director of the Central Propaganda Department of the Kuomintang.
On December 1, the article " Analysis of the Classes in Chinese Society " was published.
On December 5, the editor-in-chief of the Kuomintang Central Propaganda Department publication " Politics Weekly " was launched.[5]
1926
In January, he attended the Second National Congress of the Chinese Kuomintang and continued to be elected as an alternate executive member of the Central Committee.
On March 18, he delivered a speech entitled "The Significance of Commemorating the Paris Commune " at the gathering commemorating the fifty-fifth anniversary of the Paris Commune at the Guangzhou KMT Political Workshop.
In March, Chiang Kai-shek created the Zhongshan ship incident in Guangzhou , and advocated a counterattack with Zhou Enlai and others.
From May to September, he hosted the Sixth Peasant Movement Workshop of the Kuomintang and served as the director.
In November, he went to Shanghai to serve as the Secretary of the Peasant Movement Committee of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. Soon he went to Wuhan and founded the Kuomintang Central Peasant Movement Workshop.
In December, he attended the first workers' congress and the first farmers' congress in Hunan province in Changsha.[9]
1927
From January 4th to February 5th, he inspected the peasant movement in five counties of Xiangtan, Xiangxiang, Hengshan, Liling and Changsha in Hunan.
In March, he published the " Investigation Report on the Peasant Movement in Hunan "; he attended the Third Plenary Session of the Second Central Committee of the Kuomintang in Wuhan.
On April 12, Chiang Kai-shek launched a counter-revolutionary coup in Shanghai.
From April 27th to May 10th, he attended the Fifth National Congress of the Communist Party of China and was elected as an alternate member of the Central Executive Committee. The meeting criticized Chen Duxiu's rightist mistakes.
On July 15, Wang Jingwei launched a counter-revolutionary coup in Wuhan, Ninghan merged , and the Great Revolution failed.
On August 1, the Nanchang Uprising broke out. Together with Song Qingling and other 22 Kuomintang Central Committee members, they jointly issued the "Central Committee Members' Declaration", condemning Chiang Kai-shek and Wang Jingwei for betraying the national revolution.
On August 7, he attended an emergency meeting held by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China in Hankou, and put forward the idea that power grows out of the barrel of a gun, and was elected as an alternate member of the Provisional Political Bureau of the Central Committee. After the meeting, he went to Hunan to lead the Autumn Harvest Uprising on the border between Hunan and Jiangxi .
On September 9, the Autumn Harvest Uprising on the border between Hunan and Jiangxi broke out. When going to the headquarters of the third regiment of Tonggu Xiaojia Temple in Jiangxi, passing Liuyang Zhangjiafang, he was caught by the Qingxiang team of the regiment defense bureau and escaped with wit on the way.
In September, after the Autumn Harvest Uprising was frustrated, he led the uprising troops to march towards the middle of the Luoxiao Mountains .
In October, arrived at Maoping, Ninggang County, Jiangxi, and began to establish the Jinggangshan Revolutionary Base .
In November, he was wrongly accused by the Political Bureau of the Provisional Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, and was removed from his position as an alternate member of the Political Bureau.
1928
In April, he led his troops to join forces with the remaining troops of the Nanchang Uprising Army led by Zhu De and Chen Yi and the peasant army of the Southern Shonan Uprising in Long City, Ninggang County, Jiangxi Province .
In May, he served as the party representative and secretary of the Military Commission of the Fourth Army of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army (later renamed the Chinese Red Army), which was jointly organized by the two troops.
In July, he was elected as a member of the Central Committee at the Sixth National Congress of the Communist Party of China.
In October, he drafted a resolution for the Second Hunan-Jiangxi Boundary Congress of the Communist Party of China, proposing the idea of "armed separatism of workers and peasants ".
On November 25, he wrote a report to the Central Committee on behalf of the Front Committee of the Fourth Red Army of the Communist Party of China, summarizing the experience of the Jinggangshan armed separatism of workers and peasants.
In December, presided over the formulation of Jinggangshan "Land Law".
1929
In January, Zhu De and Chen Yi led the main force of the Fourth Red Army to march to southern Jiangxi and western Fujian. In the spring of 1930, two revolutionary bases in southern Jiangxi and western Fujian were initially formed.
In April, presided over the formulation of the " Land Law " of Xingguo.
In June, he attended the Seventh Congress of the Fourth Red Army of the Communist Party of China held in Longyan. His correct opinions on the tasks, political work and military work of the Red Army were not accepted . Others are in charge. After the meeting, he left the main leadership position of the Fourth Red Army, went to western Fujian to recuperate and guide local work.
In July, guided the convening of the first Congress of the CPC in West Fujian.
In September, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China issued a letter of instruction to the Front Committee of the Fourth Red Army, affirming Mao Zedong's correct proposition on the Red Army's strategy of action and building a strong people's revolutionary army.
In December, presided over the Ninth Congress of the Fourth Red Army of the Communist Party of China in Gutian Village, Shanghang County, Fujian Province, made a political report at the meeting, and drafted the resolution of the meeting (that is, the resolution of the Gutian Conference). The General Assembly re-elected Mao Zedong as Secretary of the former Party Committee.[10]
1930
In January, wrote the article " A single spark can start a prairie fire ", expounding the theory of the Chinese revolutionary road of encircling the city from the countryside and seizing power by armed forces.
In May, conducted an investigation in Xunwu, Jiangxi; at the same time, he wrote an article " Against Bookishness ", proposing that "without investigation, there is no right to speak".
In August, he served as the general political commissar of the Red Front Army and the secretary of the General Front Enemy Committee of the Communist Party of China.
In September, he was elected as an alternate member of the Politburo at the Third Plenary Session of the Sixth Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.
From December 30 to January 3 of the following year, together with Zhu De and others, he commanded the Red Front Army to smash the first "encirclement and suppression" of the Kuomintang army.
The Long March and the War to Resist Japanese Imperialism (1931 - 1940)[edit | edit source]
1931
On January 7, the enlarged Fourth Plenary Session of the Sixth Central Committee of the Communist Party of China was held in Shanghai, and was elected as an alternate member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (did not attend the meeting). Wang Ming entered the Political Bureau of the Central Committee with the support of representatives of the Communist International.
From April to May, together with Zhu De and others, he commanded the Red Front Army to smash the second "encirclement and suppression" of the Kuomintang Army.
From July to September, the third "encirclement and suppression" of the Kuomintang army was crushed.
From November 1st to 5th, he was squeezed out at the first congress ( Southern Jiangxi meeting ) held by the party organization in the Central Soviet Area, and was accused of "narrow empiricism", "rich peasant line" and "extremely serious consistent right- wing opportunism ".
In November, he made a report at the First National Congress of the Chinese Soviet; he was elected as the chairman and chairman of the People's Committee at the first meeting of the Central Executive Committee of the Chinese Soviet Republic.[11]
1932
In January, I went to the ancient temple of Donghua Mountain on the outskirts of Ruijin, Jiangxi to recuperate.
In March, after the Red Army failed to attack Ganzhou, they stopped recuperating and rushed to the front line to command.
On April 15, the "Declaration of War Against Japan" was issued.
On May 9, Tong Xiangying issued "The Provisional Central Government of the Chinese Soviet Republic Opposes the KMT's Selling of Songhu Agreement".
In June, together with Zhu De, he commanded the First Red Army and the Fifth Red Army to return to southern Jiangxi from western Fujian.
In October, at the meeting of the Central Bureau of the Soviet Area of the Communist Party of China held in Ningdu, Jiangxi, he was hit by the wrong leadership of the "Left". After the meeting, he was dismissed from the position of general political commissar of the Red Army and went to Changting, Fujian to recuperate.[11]
1933
In late January, the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee moved to the Central Revolutionary Base.
In early February, the provisional Central Committee of the Communist Party of China comprehensively implemented the "offensive line", eliminated the influence of Mao Zedong's active defense line in the central base areas, and launched the so-called struggle against the " Luo Ming line ".
On May 30, Tong Xiangying and others issued the Provisional Central Government of the Chinese Soviet Republic's "Declaration on Selling out Pingjin for the Kuomintang".
On June 1, Tong Xiangying and others issued the "Instructions on Land Survey Movement" of the Provisional Central Government of the Chinese Soviet Republic.
In August, made a report on "Smashing the Five "Encirclement and Suppression" and Soviet Economic Construction Tasks" at the Economic Construction Conference of the Seventeen Counties in the South of the Central Soviet Area held in Ruijin.
In October, he wrote the article "How to Analyze Rural Classes", which became the standard for classifying rural classes.
In November, he conducted investigations in Changgang Township of Xingguo County and Caixi Township of Shanghang County successively, and wrote "Investigation of Changgang Township" and "Investigation of Caixi Township".
1934
In January, he was elected as a member of the Politburo at the Fifth Plenary Session of the Communist Party of China. Made a work report at the Second National Congress of the Chinese Soviet. Continue to be elected as Chairman of the Central Executive Committee of the Chinese Soviet Republic.
On June 19, Tong Xiangying and others published the "Declaration of the Central Government of the Chinese Soviet Republic on Selling North China for the Kuomintang".
On July 15, Tong Xiangying and others published the "Declaration for the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army to Go North to Anti-Japanese War".
On the evening of October 18, he led the security squad to leave Yudu and embark on the Long March.
At the end of November, the Red Army suffered heavy losses in the Battle of Xiangjiang. On the 30th, crossed the Xiangjiang River with the First Field Column of the Military Commission.
On December 12, at the emergency meeting of the heads of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China held in Hunan Passage, it was adopted that the Red Army was urged to abandon the original plan to join the Second and Sixth Red Army Corps in western Hunan and instead advance to Guizhou, where the enemy was weak.
1935
From January 15th to 17th, he attended the enlarged meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee held in Zunyi, Guizhou , and was co-opted as a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee. The meeting ended the rule of Wang Ming's "Left" adventurism in the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, and actually established a new central leadership represented by Mao Zedong.
In March, he formed a three-member military command group with Zhou Enlai and Wang Jiaxiang.
From March to May, together with Zhou Enlai and others, he commanded the Red Army to cross the Chishui River four times , cross the Jinsha River skillfully , and seize the Luding Bridge by flying , winning decisive victories in the strategic shift.
On June 15, Tong Xiangying and others issued the "Declaration for Opposing Japan's Annexation of North China and Chiang Kai-shek's Traitorous Country".
In June, he led the Red Front Army to join the Red Fourth Front Army in western Sichuan. Soon, he fought against Zhang Guotao's escapism and separatism .
On October 19, he led the Shaanxi-Gansu Detachment of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army to Wuqi Town, Yan'an, Shaanxi . The Red Army successfully completed the Long March .
In December, he attended the meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee held in Wayaobao , northern Shaanxi. The meeting determined the strategy of establishing the anti-Japanese national united front .
On December 27, he made a report on "On the Strategy of Opposing Japanese Imperialism" at the meeting of party activists , expounding the strategy and policy of the Anti-Japanese National United Front.
1936
On January 25, together with Zhou Enlai, Peng Dehuai and other 20 generals of the Red Army, they jointly issued the "Letter to All Generals and Soldiers of the Northeast Army for the Red Army's Willingness to Join Forces with the Northeast Army in Anti-Japanese War", proposing specific methods for organizing the national defense government and the Anti-Japanese Allied Forces, and suggested sending representatives to each other Negotiate together.
From February to May, together with Peng Dehuai, he led the main force of the Red Army across the Yellow River.
In March, five points of opinion were put forward to the Nanjing authorities to stop the civil war and unanimously resist Japan.
On June 1, together with Zhu De, he issued 20 propositions on saving the country and the people.
On June 12, he and Zhu De issued a declaration, expressing support for the " Guangdong Incident " and proposing eight programs for resisting Japan and saving the nation.
From July to October, he met with American journalist Snow many times in Yan'an, northern Shaanxi , answered his questions about the Chinese revolution and the Red Army of Workers and Peasants, and introduced his own experiences.
On August 10, he attended the meeting of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and made a report on the relationship between the two parties of the Kuomintang and the Communist Party and the issue of the united front.
On August 25, he drafted the "Letter from the Communist Party of China to the Chinese Kuomintang", calling for a unified resistance to Japan.
On December 7, he served as the chairman of the Revolutionary Military Commission of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.
On December 12 [12], Zhang Xueliang and Yang Hucheng carried out " military remonstrance " in Xi'an and detained Chiang Kai-shek. Mao Zedong and the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China analyzed the complicated political situation at that time, determined the policy of peacefully resolving the Xi'an Incident , and sent Zhou Enlai and others to Xi'an to participate in the negotiations to promote the peaceful settlement of the incident.
In December, he wrote "Strategic Issues in China's Revolutionary War".[13]
1937
On January 13, stationed in Yan'an with the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the Central Military Commission.
On February 9, he attended the meeting of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. The meeting discussed and passed the "Central Committee of the Communist Party of China to the Third Plenary Session of the Chinese Kuomintang", and put forward five national policies and four guarantees. This document actually became the program of the Kuomintang-Communist cooperation negotiations.
In March, met with American journalist Smedley and answered some questions she raised about the Sino-Japanese War and the Xi'an Incident.
From April to July, he taught dialectical materialism at the Anti-Japanese Military and Political University, two of which were later organized into "On Practice" and "On Contradiction".
In May, at the National Congress of the Communist Party of China, he made the report "The Mission of the Communist Party of China in the Anti-Japanese Period" and the conclusion of "Struggle to Win Millions of People into the Anti-Japanese National United Front".
On July 7, the Marco Polo Bridge Incident broke out and the National War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression began.
On July 23, he published "Principles, Measures and Prospects for Opposing Japan's Offensive", proposing the principles and policies of resolutely resisting the Japanese War and opposing compromise and concessions.
From August 22nd to 25th, attended the enlarged meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee held in Luochuan, northern Shaanxi, emphasized the principle of independence in the united front, clarified the strategic policy of independent mountain guerrilla warfare, and served as secretary of the newly formed Central Military Commission of the CPC .
On August 25, jointly issued an order with Zhu De and Zhou Enlai on the reorganization of the Red Army into the Eighth Route Army of the National Revolutionary Army . Subsequently, he directed the Eighth Route Army to go to the front line of the Anti-Japanese War.
On November 12, he made a report on " The Situation and Tasks of the Anti-Japanese War after the Fall of Taiyuan in Shanghai " at the meeting of activists of the Yan'an Party , comprehensively expounding his opinions on the united front and the relationship between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party.
In December, attended the meeting of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and delivered a speech, reiterating and adhering to the principles and policies determined at the Luochuan meeting in response to Wang Ming's right-leaning capitulationist idea of "everything goes through the united front".[14]
1938
In the spring, a decision was made for the Eighth Route Army to enter the plains from the mountains of North China to carry out guerrilla warfare.
In May, the article "Strategic Issues in Anti-Japanese Guerrilla Warfare" was published.
From May 26th to June 3rd, gave a lecture on "On Protracted War" at the Yan'an Anti-Japanese War Research Association. Comprehensively analyze the era of the Sino-Japanese War and the basic characteristics of both sides, refute the theory of quick victory and national subjugation, and expound the general policy of the protracted war in China's Anti-Japanese War.
From September 14th to 27th, he attended the meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee. Wang Jiaxiang conveyed the instructions of the Communist International, saying that the leadership of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China should be headed by Mao Zedong to solve the problem of unified leadership. Mao Zedong made a long speech at the meeting.
From September 29th to November 6th, attended the Sixth Plenary Session of the enlarged Sixth Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, and made a political report and conclusion of the meeting on "On the New Stage". The meeting approved the line of the Politburo headed by Mao Zedong.
1939
On February 2, he spoke at the Party, Government and Military Production Mobilization Conference in Yan'an, calling for his own efforts to overcome economic difficulties.
On February 5, gave a speech on "Opposing Capitulationism" at the Party School of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.
In late April, wrote the article "May 4th Movement".
On May 4, gave a speech on "The Direction of the Youth Movement " at the Yan'an Youth Commemoration of the 20th Anniversary of the May 4th Movement .
From July to August, he made several reports, condemning the diehards of the Kuomintang for creating anti-communist friction and calling for continued unity in the war of resistance.
On September 16, I talked with three reporters from Central News Agency, "Sweeping Daily" and "Xinmin Daily", reiterating the self-defense of "I will not be attacked if people do not attack me; in principle.
On October 4, the "Communist" was published, stating that the united front, armed struggle, and party building are the three magic weapons for the Chinese revolution to defeat the enemy.
On December 1, drafted a decision for the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on absorbing a large number of intellectuals.
On December 21, wrote the article " Memorial Bethune " for the "Norman Bethune Memorial Book" compiled and printed by the Political Department of the Eighth Route Army and the Ministry of Health.
In the same month, he co-authored "The Chinese Revolution and the Communist Party of China".
From December to March of the following year, the leader repelled the first anti-communist climax of the Kuomintang diehards.
1940
In January, "On New Democracy" was published, which systematically discussed the theory and program of the New Democratic Revolution.
On March 6, drafted instructions for the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on the issue of political power in the anti-Japanese base areas, proposing to implement the "three-three system".
On March 11, he made a report on "Current Strategic Issues in the Anti-Japanese United Front", summed up the experience of repelling the first anti-communist upsurge, and put forward the strategic thinking of "developing progressive forces, winning over middle forces, and opposing stubborn forces" and rational, Beneficial and moderate principles.
On May 4, he drafted an instruction from the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China to the Southeast Bureau and the New Fourth Army, emphasizing the need to let go of the expansion of the army to resist the attacks of anti-communist diehards, and pointed out that the policy of struggle should be adopted to "deal with possible sudden nationwide incidents."
In late June, he made a report at the meeting of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, analyzing the international situation and its impact on China's War of Resistance, and pointed out that we should not only be alert to sudden incidents launched by the diehards of the Kuomintang, but also strive for a better situation.
In November, Zhu De, Peng Dehuai, Ye Ting , Xiang Ying replied to He Yingqin and Bai Chongxi 's "Hao Dian" telegram ("Jia Dian"), clearly refuting Hao Dian's unreasonable accusations against the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army.
In December, he talked with comrades who came back from the front to study at the Central Party School , emphasizing the importance of cadres being proficient in Marxism-Leninism.[15]
The End of the War of Anti-Japanese Resistance and a New China is born (1941- 1950 )[edit | edit source]
1941
In early January, the Southern Anhui Incident occurred.
On January 20, he drafted an order for the Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of China to rebuild the military headquarters of the New Fourth Army, and made a speech on the Southern Anhui Incident to Xinhua News Agency reporters, and solemnly proposed twelve measures to solve the Southern Anhui Incident.
On May 1, the " Government Program for the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region ", which was reviewed and rewritten and approved by the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, was released, stipulating that the construction of political power in the border region should implement the "three-three-system" principle.
On May 8, drafted the "Summary on Repelling the Second Anti-Communist Upsurge" within the party instructions, and put forward the strategic thinking of "fighting against fighting, pulling against pulling" and winning over the centrists.
On May 19, at the Yan'an cadre meeting, he made a report on " Reforming Our Study", which proposed to oppose subjectivism and clarified the ideological principles of seeking truth from facts.
On August 1, drafted the "Decision on Investigation and Research" for the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.
From September 10th to October 22nd, he attended the enlarged meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and made a report against subjectivism and sectarianism.
On September 26, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China made the "Decision on the Advanced Study Group" and established the Central Study Group with Mao Zedong as the leader.
In autumn and winter, he successively presided over the editing of the party's historical literature collections such as "Since the Sixth National Congress", "Before the Sixth National Congress" and "Two Lines".[16]
1942
On February 1, at the opening ceremony of the Party School of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, he made a report on "Rectifying the Party's Style of Work".
On February 8, made a speech on "Opposing Party Stereotypes" at a cadre meeting convened by the Propaganda Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.
In May, delivered a speech and made a conclusion at the Yan'an Literature and Art Workers Symposium.
On September 7, he wrote an editorial for the Yan'an "Liberation Daily", discussing that streamlining the army and streamlining administration is an extremely important policy.
In December, submitted a long written report on "Economic Issues and Financial Issues" to the senior cadre meeting of the Northwest Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, discussing the general policy of financial and economic work of "developing the economy and ensuring supply".
1943
On March 20, at the meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, he was presumed to be the chairman of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee and the chairman of the Secretariat of the Central Committee.
On May 26, at the cadre meeting held by the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, he made the "Report on the Dissolution of the Communist International".
On June 1, drafted a decision on leadership methods for the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.
On July 1, he sent a letter to Kang Sheng, pointing out that the work of "anti-rape" should be investigated and studied, distinguish right from wrong, educate the masses, and oppose "forced, confessed, and believed".
On July 12, he wrote the editorial "Questioning the Kuomintang" for the "Liberation Daily" in Yan'an, exposing the conspiracy of the Kuomintang diehards to attack the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region.
From early September to early October, presided over the meeting held by the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China during this period, criticizing Wang Ming's "left" adventurism mistakes during the ten-year civil war and right opportunism mistakes in the early days of the War of Resistance. Speech and make a summary.
In December, the inscription "Seek truth from facts" was completed for the auditorium of the Central Party School.
1944
On April 12 and May 20, he gave lectures on study and the current situation at the senior cadre meeting of the Northwest Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the first department of the Central Party School.
On May 15, Lin Boqu, who had negotiated with the Kuomintang representatives in Xi'an, submitted a written opinion drafted by him as the specific content of the negotiations. The opinion paper puts forward 20 opinions on issues concerning national politics and pending cases of the two parties.
On May 21, at the Seventh Plenary Session of the Sixth Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, he was elected as the chairman of the Central Committee and the chairman of the Bureau of the Seventh Plenary Session.
On June 5, the drafted "Instructions of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Urban Work" was discussed and approved at the Seventh Plenary Session of the Sixth Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.
From June to August, he met many times with members of the Northwest Visiting Group of Chinese and foreign journalists and members of the US Army Observation Group stationed in Yan'an, and expounded on issues such as the Chinese Communist Party's anti-Japanese policy and the relationship between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party.
On September 8, delivered a speech "Serving the People" at Zhang Side's memorial service.
On October 31, presided over the meeting of the Presidium of the Seventh Plenary Session of the Sixth Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, and decided to send Wang Zhen and Wang Shoudao to lead the troops to the south to "establish a base with Hengshan as the center".
In November, Zhou Enlai and Hurley, the personal representative of US President Roosevelt , held several talks on the relationship between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party and reached a five-point draft agreement. This draft agreement was rejected by Chiang Kai-shek.
1945
On April 20, he attended the last meeting of the Seventh Plenary Session of the Sixth Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. The meeting basically passed the "Resolution on Certain Historical Issues" , which was revised many times by Mao Zedong.
From April 23 to June 11, presided over the Seventh National Congress of the Communist Party of China, delivered an opening speech ("The Destiny of Two Chinas") and a closing speech ("The Foolish Old Man Moved Mountains"), and submitted "On Coalition Government" to the conference Written political report. The Congress decided to use Mao Zedong Thought as the guideline for all the work of the whole party.
On June 19, he was elected chairman of the Central Committee at the First Plenary Session of the Seventh Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.
In July, he held talks on the relationship between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party with six people including Chu Fucheng and Huang Yanpei, members of the National Political Council. Talking about the "new road" of democracy, jumping out of the "cyclic law" of the rise and fall of political parties and groups.
On August 9, the statement "The Last Battle Against the Japanese Invaders" was issued.
On August 13, he delivered a speech titled "The Situation after the Victory of the Anti-Japanese War and Our Policy", proposing the policy of tit for tat and fighting for every inch of the Kuomintang to strive for domestic peace and democracy.
On August 28, he went to Chongqing for peace talks with Chiang Kai-shek.
On September 2, the Japanese government formally signed the instrument of surrender. China's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression ended victoriously.
On October 10, the Minutes of the Meeting between the National Government and the Representatives of the Communist Party of China (referred to as the " Double Ten Agreement ") was signed in Chongqing. On the 11th, return to Yan'an.
On October 17, at the Yan'an cadre meeting, he made a report on the Chongqing negotiations, pointing out that the Chinese revolution "has a bright future, but the road is tortuous."
On December 28, drafted the "Establishing a Solid Northeast Base Area" instruction.[17]
1946
In April, he wrote "Some Estimates on the Current International Situation".
On June 26, the Kuomintang army aggressively attacked the Liberated Areas of the Central Plains, and a full-scale civil war broke out.
On July 4, the Southern Front Field Army made a strategic decision to "fight a few victories on the inside and then move to the outside."
On July 20, drafted the inner-party directive of "Smashing Chiang Kai-shek's Attack with Self-Defense War".
On August 6, he met with American journalist, Strong, and put forward the famous assertion that "all reactionaries are paper tigers".
On September 16, he drafted the instruction "Concentrate Superior Forces and Annihilate Enemies Individually" for the Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of China.
On October 1, he drafted an inner-party directive for the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, summarizing the experience of the three-month war.
On November 18, the name "People's War of Liberation" was used for the first time in the party directive drafted for the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.
1947
On March 18, he led the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the headquarters of the People's Liberation Army to withdraw from Yan'an, and began the one-year battle in northern Shaanxi.
From March to August, he led the Northwest Field Army to successively win the battles of Qinghuabian, Yangmahe, Panlong, and Shajiadian, smashing the key attacks of the Kuomintang on the liberated areas of northern Shaanxi.
From July 21st to 23rd, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China was held in Xiaohe Village, Jingbian County, Northern Shaanxi Province, and the idea of resolving Chiang Kai-shek's struggle in five years (from July 1946) was proposed. Before and after this, the three armies of Liu Deng, Chen Su, and Chen Xie were deployed to cross the Yellow River and switch to a strategic offensive.
In October, the " Manifesto of the Chinese People's Liberation Army " was drafted, and the slogan "Down with Chiang Kai-shek and liberate the whole of China" was put forward.
In November, the "How to Divide Classes" and "Decisions on Some Issues in the Land Struggle" drafted in 1933 were reissued to the whole party to guide the correct development of the land reform movement in the liberated areas.
From December 25th to 28th, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (i.e. the December meeting) was hosted in Yangjiagou, Mizhi County, northern Shaanxi, and a written report "Current Situation and Our Tasks" was submitted to the meeting, and the top ten military forces were proposed. Principles and the three major economic programs of New Democracy.
1948
On January 18, drafted a draft decision on "Several Important Issues Concerning Current Party Policies" for the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.
On March 23, the war in northern Shaanxi was over, and the Yellow River was crossed eastward to the North China Liberated Area.
On April 1, he delivered an important speech at the Caijiaya Jinsui Cadre Meeting in Xing County, Shanxi, clarifying the party's new democratic revolution general line and land reform general line.
From April 30th to May 7th, he presided over an enlarged meeting of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee in Chengnanzhuang, Fuping County, Hebei Province, and put forward several opinions on leading the war to the Kuomintang-ruled areas, developing production, and strengthening discipline.
On May 1, he sent a letter to Li Jishen and Shen Junru , proposing to establish a democratic coalition government and hold a new Political Consultative Conference first.
On May 27, he arrived at Xibaipo Village, Pingshan County, Hebei Province, where the Central Working Committee of the Communist Party of China is located.
From September 8th to 13th, he hosted a meeting of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China in Xibaipo, and made important reports on issues such as war, nation-building, and finance and economics.
From September to January of the following year, he organized and commanded the three strategic decisive battles of Liaoshen, Huaihai, and Pingjin, gathering and annihilating the main force of the Kuomintang army to the north of the Yangtze River.
On December 30, he wrote the 1949 New Year's message "Carrying the Revolution Through to the End" for Xinhua News Agency.
1949
In March, he presided over the Second Plenary Session of the Seventh Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, and proposed guidelines and basic policies for realizing the shift of the party's work focus, winning national victories, and building a new China.
On March 25, he led the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the headquarters of the People's Liberation Army to be stationed in Beiping.
On April 21, when the Nanjing government refused to accept the "Domestic Peace Agreement", he and Zhu De jointly issued the "Order to March to the Nation".
On April 23, the People's Liberation Army occupied Nanjing and wrote the poem " Seven Laws: The People's Liberation Army Occupies Nanjing ".
From June 15th to 19th, he attended the first plenary meeting of the preparatory meeting of the new CPPCC and delivered a speech at the opening ceremony.
On June 30, the article "On the People's Democratic Dictatorship" was published.
On July 4th, Cheng Qian was called again, and he praised Cheng's policy of opposing Chiang Kai-shek and Guangxi and peacefully resolving the Hunan issue, and made arrangements for related matters.
From September 21 to 30, he attended the first plenary session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, delivered an opening speech, and was elected chairman of the Central People's Government. The meeting adopted the "Common Program " drafted by Zhou Enlai and reviewed and revised by him many times.
On October 1, the People's Republic of China was established and presided over the founding ceremony.
On December 5, the "Instructions on the Army's Participation in Production and Construction Work in 1950" was issued.
On December 16, he arrived in Moscow and visited the Soviet Union for the first time . On February 14, 1950, China and the Soviet Union signed the "Sino-Soviet Treaty of Friendship, Alliance and Mutual Assistance."
From December to early next year, specific arrangements were made for the liberation of Tibet.
1950
From June 6th to 9th, he presided over the Third Plenary Session of the Seventh Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, submitted a written report on "Struggling for a Basic Improvement in the National Financial and Economic Situation", and made a speech on "Don't Attack from All Sides".
On June 28, the Eighth Meeting of the Central People's Government Committee was presided over and the " Land Reform Law of the People's Republic of China " was passed.
In early October, he presided over a meeting of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, and made a decision to "resist US aggression, aid Korea, defend the country".
On October 8, an order was issued to form the Chinese People's Volunteers, ordering the volunteers to immediately dispatch to North Korea to aid the Korean people, and appointed Peng Dehuai as the commander and political commissar of the Volunteers . Then he personally directed the first to third campaigns.
After October, launched and led the suppression of counter-revolutionary movement.[18]
Building up New China (1951 - 1960)[edit | edit source]
1951
In February, at the enlarged meeting of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, the idea of "three-year preparation and ten-year planned economic construction" was put forward.
On May 20, the article "We Should Pay Attention to the Discussion of the Movie "The Legend of Wu Xun"" was published in the form of an editorial in "People's Daily".
On May 24, a banquet was held to celebrate the signing of the "Agreement on the Measures for the Peaceful Liberation of Tibet". So far, the whole territory of mainland China has been liberated.
In September, presided over the formulation of the "Resolution of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Mutual Assistance and Cooperation in Agricultural Production (Draft)".
On October 12, the first volume of " Selected Works of Mao Zedong " was published. The second and third volumes were published in April 1952 and April 1953, respectively.
In December, the "Three Antis" campaign against corruption, waste, and bureaucracy was launched.[19]
1952
In January, he presided over the Standing Committee of the CPPCC National Committee and passed the "Decision on Carrying out the Study Movement for Ideological Transformation of People from All walks of life".
On January 26, he drafted instructions for the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on launching the "Five Antis" campaign (the "Five Antis" are against bribery, against tax evasion, against theft of state property, against cutting corners, and against theft of national economic intelligence).
On April 6, drafted the "Instructions on Tibet Work Policy" for the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.
On August 9, the "Outline for the Implementation of Regional Ethnic Autonomy of the People's Republic of China" was released.
In September, the general line for the transitional period began to be conceived.
1953
On January 13, the Constitution Drafting Committee of the People's Republic of China was established and served as the chairman.
On March 26, drafted instructions for the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on opposing the ideology of Han chauvinism.
On June 15, he spoke at the meeting of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, and made a relatively complete statement of the party's general line during the transition period.
On July 27, the Korean armistice agreement was officially signed in Panmunjom .
On September 7, he talked with some representatives of the democratic parties and business circles, pointing out that state capitalism is the only way to transform capitalist industry and commerce.
On October 15 and November 4, he had two conversations with the head of the Rural Work Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. He pointed out that the rural work departments at all levels should regard mutual assistance and cooperation as extremely important matters.
1954
In January, began to preside over the drafting of the Constitution of the People's Republic of China in Hangzhou.
On March 23, presided over the first meeting of the Constitution Drafting Committee, and proposed the first draft of the Constitution of the People's Republic of China.
From September 15th to 28th, he attended the first plenary session of the first session of the National People's Congress, delivered the opening speech "Strive for the Construction of a Great Socialist Country", and was elected as the Chairman of the People's Republic of China.
On September 28, the Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of China was formed and served as its chairman.
On October 16, wrote the "Letter on the Research Issues of the Dream of Red Mansions" to the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and relevant comrades.
On October 19, in a conversation with Indian Prime Minister Nehru , he proposed that the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence should be extended to all state relations.
1955
On January 15th, Liu Shaoqi, Zhou Enlai, and Deng Xiaoping were instructed: "We should thoroughly criticize Hu Feng's bourgeois idealism, anti-party and anti-people literary thought."
In March, he delivered an opening speech and conclusion at the National Congress of the Communist Party of China, calling on cadres to delve into the issue of socialist industrialization and become experts in this area.
On May 12, at the Supreme State Council, the policy of eliminating counter-revolutionaries was proposed.
On June 9, wrote an inscription for the Monument to the People's Heroes in Tiananmen Square: The people's heroes will live forever.
On July 31, he made a report on "About the Issue of Agricultural Cooperation" at the meeting of secretaries of the provincial, municipal and autonomous regional party committees convened by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.
From September to December, presided over the editing of the book "The Socialist Upsurge in Rural China", and wrote two prefaces and 104 notes.
From October 4th to 11th, presided over the Sixth Plenary Session of the Seventh Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, and passed the "Resolution on Agricultural Cooperative Issues".
On October 29, the executive members of the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce were invited to discuss the socialist transformation of private industry and commerce.
On December 16, the draft directive of the Central Committee on intellectual issues was revised, and it was proposed to train intellectuals in large numbers and pay attention to absorbing high-level intellectuals into the party.
1956
On January 20, he spoke at a conference on intellectuals held by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, calling on the whole party to study scientific knowledge, unite with non-party intellectuals, and strive to quickly catch up with the world's advanced scientific level.
On January 25, chaired the Supreme State Council to formally discuss and approve the "National Agricultural Development Program (Draft) from 1956 to 1967" (forty articles) .
From February to March, successively listened to the reports of 34 central working departments, and conducted systematic investigation and research on economic construction issues.
At the beginning of April, "On the Historical Experience of the Dictatorship of the Proletariat" was reviewed and revised.
On April 25, at the enlarged meeting of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, he made a report on " On the Ten Major Relationships ".
On April 27, cremation was carried out after the signature died.
On April 28, at the enlarged meeting of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, the policy of "letting a hundred flowers bloom and a hundred schools of thought contend" was proposed.
On August 22, he presided over the Seventh Plenary Session of the Seventh Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, and proposed two work priorities, one is socialist transformation, and the other is economic construction. The main focus of the two is still construction.
From September 15th to 27th, hosted the Eighth National Congress of the Communist Party of China and delivered an opening speech. During the Eighth National Congress, the importance of strengthening economic construction was emphasized again.
On September 28, he was elected chairman of the Central Committee at the First Plenary Session of the Eighth Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.
On November 15, he made a speech at the Second Plenary Session of the Eighth Central Committee of the Communist Party of China: Our economic construction has retreated and advanced, but the main thing is to advance.
In December, "Revisiting the Historical Experience of the Dictatorship of the Proletariat" was revised.
1957
On February 27, made a speech on "Correctly Handling Contradictions among the People", and put forward two kinds of contradiction theories.
On March 12, he spoke at the National Propaganda Work Conference of the Communist Party of China and announced the start of rectification within the party.
On April 30, leaders of various democratic parties were invited to have a discussion and asked them to help the Communist Party rectify the movement.
On May 15th, he wrote the article "Things Are Changing", and then launched the anti-rightist struggle, and made a serious mistake of magnification.
From September 20th to October 9th, he presided over the Third Plenary Session of the Eighth Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. At the meeting, he raised objections to the discussion of the main contradictions in Chinese society in the resolution of the Eighth National Congress, and believed that it should return to the proposal of the Second Plenary Session of the Seventh Central Committee of the Party
In November, led the Chinese party and government delegation to visit the Soviet Union, participated in the celebration of the 40th anniversary of the October Revolution , and attended the representative meeting of the Communist Party and the Workers' Party . During the period, it was proposed that within 15 years, the output of China's major industrial products should catch up with that of the United Kingdom.[20]
1958
In January, hosted the Nanning Conference of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and drafted the "Sixty Articles of Working Methods (Draft)". Criticize "anti-rash advance" at the meeting.
In March, hosted the Chengdu Conference of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. The meeting continued to criticize "anti-rash advance", and the various economic indicators formulated were greatly improved.
From May 5th to 23rd, hosted the Second Session of the Eighth National Congress of the Communist Party of China. The meeting changed the relevant conclusions of the first meeting of the Eighth National Congress, arguing that the struggle between the two classes and the two roads is still the main contradiction in the country. The meeting passed the general line of "go all out, strive for the top, and build socialism more quickly, better and more economically".
From July 31 to August 3, he held talks with Khrushchev, the first secretary of the CPSU Central Committee who was visiting, and rejected the Soviet side's suggestion of establishing a joint fleet and a long-wave radio station that violated China's sovereignty.
From July to August, deployed the bombardment of Kinmen.
On August 6, inspected Qiliying People's Commune in Xinxiang, Henan. When it comes to "the name People's Commune is good".
From August 17th to 30th, an enlarged meeting of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China was hosted in Beidaihe, and the "Resolution on the Establishment of People's Commune in Rural Areas" was passed.
From November 2nd to 10th, he presided over the first Zhengzhou meeting and began to correct the "Left" errors in the "Great Leap Forward" and the People's Commune Movement. During the meeting, he wrote a letter to the party committees at the county level and above, requesting to study "Problems of the Socialist Economy in the Soviet Union" and "Marx Engels on Communist Society".
From November 28 to December 10, the Sixth Plenary Session of the Eighth Central Committee of the Communist Party of China was held in Wuchang, and the "Resolution on Several Issues Concerning the People's Commune " was passed.
1959
From February 27th to March 5th, he presided over the second Zhengzhou meeting. From March 25th to April 5th, he held an enlarged meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and the Seventh Plenary Session of the Eighth Central Committee in Shanghai to continue to correct "left" errors.
In April, according to Mao Zedong's opinion, the first meeting of the Second National People's Congress passed a resolution that he would no longer serve as the chairman of the country and Liu Shaoqi would be the chairman.
From June 25th to 28th, I went back to my hometown Shaoshan.
From July 2 to August 16, hosted the enlarged meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and the Eighth Plenary Session of the Eighth Central Committee in Lushan. The enlarged meeting of the Politburo originally planned to further correct the mistakes of the "Left", but in the later period and at the Eighth Plenary Session of the Eighth Central Committee, it mistakenly launched a criticism of Peng Dehuai and others.[21]
1960
In March, the fourth volume of "Selected Works of Mao Zedong" was approved in Guangzhou. Published in September.
On March 30, he drafted the "Instructions on Combating Bureaucracy" for the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.
From June 14th to 18th, he presided over an enlarged meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee in Shanghai, wrote the article " Ten Years Summary ", re-emphasized the principle of seeking truth from facts, and proposed to seriously study the laws of socialist revolution and construction.
From July 5th to August 10th, presided over the work conference of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China held in Beidaihe to study international issues and domestic economic adjustment issues.
On November 15, he drafted the "Instructions on Thoroughly Correcting the "Five Winds" Issues" for the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. ("Five Styles", that is, communist style , exaggerated style , command style, cadre special style and blind command style.)
Adjusting, consolidating, enriching, educating and improving New China and the launch of the Cultural Revolution (1961 - 1970)[edit | edit source]
1961
From January 14th to 18th, he presided over the Ninth Plenary Session of the Eighth Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and called for the great promotion of investigation and research. This meeting officially approved the eight-character policy for adjusting the national economy. After the meeting, he organized and led three investigation teams to conduct in-depth investigations and researches in the rural areas of Zhejiang, Hunan, and Guangdong.
From May 21st to June 12th, presided over the work meeting of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China to discuss and revise the "Regulations on the Work of Rural People's Commune (Draft)" (namely, the sixty agricultural articles) . It stipulates that the supply system will be abolished; whether or not to run a canteen is entirely up to the members to discuss and decide.
From August 23rd to September 16th, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China hosted a work conference in Lushan to discuss issues such as industry, food, finance and trade, and education. The meeting emphasized the earnest implementation of the eight-character policy of economic adjustment.
On September 29, it proposed "three-level ownership, team-based", and the basic accounting unit of the rural people's communes was delegated to the production team.[22]
1962
From January 11th to February 7th, he presided over the enlarged Central Work Conference of the Communist Party of China (also known as the "Seven Thousand People Conference ") and delivered an important speech on the issue of democratic centralism .
From July to September, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China Work Conference and the Tenth Plenary Session of the Eighth Central Committee were held successively in Beidaihe and Beijing, criticizing the so-called "dark wind", "going alone" and "reversing the verdict" and making comments about class, situation, contradictions and inner party The speech on the question of unity further developed the erroneous thesis that class struggle is the principal contradiction in socialist society.
1963
From February 11th to 28th, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China held a working conference, which decided to carry out the "Four Cleans" movement in rural areas and the "Five Antis" movement in cities.
On March 5, the inscription "Learn from Comrade Lei Feng" was published in the "People's Daily" .
In May, presided over the formulation of the "Central Committee of the Communist Party of China's Decision on Several Issues Concerning Current Rural Work (Draft)" (referred to as the "Ten Articles") in Hangzhou , as a programmatic document to guide the "Four Cleans-ups" in rural areas.
On December 16, I heard Nie Rongzhen's report on the ten-year plan for science and technology, and pointed out: Without science and technology, productivity cannot be improved.
In December, the first instruction on literary and artistic work was made.
1964
On February 13, a symposium on educational work was convened to propose ideas for reforming the educational system.
In May, when listening to the report on the third five-year plan , he put forward the idea of two fists (agriculture, national defense) and one butt (basic industry ); he also proposed the strategic layout of dividing the country into first, second, and third lines.
On June 15th and 16th, watch the Beijing and Jinan military training report performances.
On June 16, at a small meeting held at the Ming Tombs in Beijing, he gave a speech on cultivating successors to the cause of the proletarian revolution.
In June, he again issued instructions on literary and artistic work, and the literary and artistic circles expanded to other areas of ideology, erroneously carrying out excessive political criticism.
On October 16, China's first atomic bomb was successfully detonated.
From December 15th to 28th, presided over the central working conference to discuss and formulate "Some Issues Presently Raised in the Rural Socialist Education Movement" (referred to as "23 Articles") , and partially correct the "Leftist", but mistakenly stated that "the focus of the movement is to rectify those in power within the party who are taking the capitalist road."[23]
1965
From May 22nd to 29th, go back to Jinggangshan.
On July 27, he met Li Zongren, the former acting president of the Kuomintang government , and his wife who had returned from overseas.
At the beginning of November, the article "Comment on the New Historical Drama "Hai Jui Dismissed from Office" was approved to be published, which opened the prelude to the "Cultural Revolution".
1966
On March 12, he sent a letter to Liu Shaoqi, proposing "preparing for war and famine for the people".
At the end of March, he falsely accused the "Outline of the Report on Current Academic Discussions" formulated by the Five-member Cultural Revolution Group chaired by Peng Zhen.[24]
On May 7, the "May 7 Instructions" were issued, proposing that the People's Liberation Army "should be a big school", that all walks of life should focus on their own professions, "learn other things at the same time", and "education should be revolutionary" and so on.
On May 16, the enlarged meeting of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China passed the "Notice of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China" formulated by Mao Zedong, which made a serious miscalculation of the political situation of the party and the country at that time.
From August 1st to 12th, presided over the convening of the Eleventh Plenary Session of the Eighth Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, and passed the "Decision on the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution". During the meeting, Mao Zedong's "Bombarding the Headquarters—My Big-Character Poster" written on the 5th was printed and distributed, criticizing "Rightist Revisionism" The enlarged meeting of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee in May and the convening of this meeting marked the full launch of the "Cultural Revolution".
From August 18th to November 26th, he met eight times in Beijing with teachers, students and Red Guards from all over the country.
1967
In January, expressed support for the "January Revolution " in Shanghai. Since then, the wind of seizing power has spread all over the country.
On January 23, the "Decision of the Chinese People's Liberation Army to Resolutely Support the Revolutionary Left Masses" was issued.
On February 11th and 16th, Tan Zhenlin , Chen Yi , Ye Jianying , Li Fuchun , Li Xiannian , Xu Xiangqian , Nie Rongzhen , etc. were dissatisfied with Lin Biao and Jiang Qing 's perverse actions, and strongly criticized the wrong practices of the "Cultural Revolution" in order to "make a big noise." in Huairen Hall. After listening to the report of the Central Cultural Revolution Group, Mao Zedong expressed his dissatisfaction.[25]
1968
On January 16, he made important instructions on the so-called "Notice of Wu Hao and others leaving the Communist Party" and other materials sent by Jiang Qing and others: "This matter has long been clarified, and it was the Kuomintang's rumors and slanders", which made their attempt to frame Zhou Enlai fail.
From October 13th to 31st, he hosted the Twelfth Plenary Session of the Eighth Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. Under extremely abnormal circumstances, he made the decision to expel Liu Shaoqi from the party.
On December 22, the directive "It is very necessary for educated youth to go to the countryside and receive re-education from poor and lower-middle peasants" was published in the " People's Daily ", and the upsurge of educated youth going to the mountains and countryside began.
1969
From April 1st to 24th, he presided over the Ninth National Congress of the Communist Party of China, approved the theories and practices of the "Cultural Revolution", and designated Lin Biao as his successor in the party constitution.[26]
On April 28, he was re-elected as the chairman of the Central Committee at the First Plenary Session of the Communist Party of China.
1970
On April 24, China's first artificial earth satellite was successfully launched.
On May 20, published the statement piece "People of the World Unite, Defeat the U.S. Aggressors and All Their lackeys !"
From August 23rd to September 6th, hosted the Second Plenary Session of the Ninth Central Committee of the Communist Party of China in Lushan, and wrote "My Opinion", exposing and defeating Lin Biao and Chen Boda's conspiracy to seize power
On December 18, he met with American friend Snow and expressed his welcome to the visit of US President Nixon to China.
The Cultural Revolution and Mao's twilight years (1971 - 1976)[edit | edit source]
1971
From August to September, during his tour in the south, he had many conversations with the local party, government and army leaders to expose Lin Biao's conspiracy. On the way, he vigilantly changed his action plan several times, and returned to Beijing on September 12 to smash the counter-revolutionary armed coup plot of the Lin Biao clique.
On September 13, Zhou Enlai and others decisively dealt with Lin Biao's defection. When Zhou Enlai asked whether to intercept Lin Biao's landline, Mao Zedong said: "Let him do it."
On October 25, the 26th UN General Assembly overwhelmingly passed a resolution to restore all legal rights of the People's Republic of China in the UN and expel the representatives of the Chiang Kai- shek clique.
On November 14, he received comrades who participated in the symposium in Chengdu, and rehabilitated the so-called " February Adverse Current ".
1972
On January 10, attended Chen Yi 's memorial service.
On February 21, met with US President Nixon who was visiting China; on the 28th, China and the United States issued a joint communiqué in Shanghai, deciding to realize the normalization of Sino-US relations.
On September 27, he met with Japanese Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka ; on September 29, the Chinese and Japanese governments issued a joint statement announcing the normalization of diplomatic relations between China and Japan and the formal establishment of diplomatic relations.
1973
In March, it was proposed to restore Deng Xiaoping's position as vice premier of the State Council.
From August 24th to 28th, he presided over the Tenth National Congress of the Communist Party of China, allowing a group of older generation proletarian revolutionaries to re-enter the Central Committee, but at the same time, the power of Jiang Qing Group was also strengthened.
On August 30, he was elected chairman of the Central Committee at the First Plenary Session of the Communist Party of China.
In December, Deng Xiaoping was proposed to serve as a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and chief of staff of the People's Liberation Army. He also proposed to rehabilitate He Long , Luo Ruiqing , Yang Chengwu , Yu Lijin , and Fu Chongbi .
1974
On January 18, it was approved to forward the materials of " Lin Biao and the Way of Confucius and Mencius". The campaign of " criticizing Lin Piao and Confucius " began.
On February 22, met with Zambian President Kaunda , during the conversation he proposed the idea of " three worlds ".
On July 17, he criticized Wang Hongwen , Zhang Chunqiao , Jiang Qing , and Yao Wenyuan for engaging in gang activities at a meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee , raising the issue of the " Gang of Four " for the first time.[27]
On September 29, with the approval of Mao Zedong, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China rehabilitated He Long
On October 4, Deng Xiaoping was proposed to be the first vice premier of the State Council.
On November 12, he issued instructions to Jiang Qing 's letter, criticizing her ambition of " forming a cabinet ", and clearly pointed out that "don't let you form a cabinet (be the backstage boss) ".
1975
From January 13th to 17th, the first meeting of the Fourth National People's Congress was held in Beijing. The meeting reaffirmed the realization of the four modernizations within this century, elected members of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress with Zhu De as the chairman , appointed The State Council consisted of Zhou Enlai as Premier and Deng Xiaoping as Vice Premier. After the meeting, Zhou Enlai became seriously ill, and the work of the State Council was actually presided over by Deng Xiaoping.
In February, with the support of Mao Zedong, Deng Xiaoping began to lead the adjustment and rectification of railways and education.
On May 3, the members of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China were convened in Beijing to talk, emphasizing the need to practice Marxism-Leninism , to unite, to be aboveboard, and to criticize the "Gang of Four" again.
On July 14, he made a speech on literature and art issues, pointing out that the party's literature and art policy should be adjusted.
In late November, after reviewing and approving the "Speech Points for Greetings", the so-called "Criticizing Deng and Countering the Rightist Overturning the Verdict" campaign was launched.[28]
1976
On January 8, Zhou Enlai passed away in Beijing.
On January 21 and 28, Hua Guofeng was proposed to be the acting premier of the State Council and to preside over the daily work of the central government.
From late March to April 5, millions of people in Beijing spontaneously came to Tiananmen Square for several days, laying wreaths and poems, mourning Zhou Enlai, and denouncing the " Gang of Four ." Mao Zedong mistakenly approved the report trying to cover up the Tiananmen incident
On April 7, according to Mao Zedong's proposal, the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee passed the "Resolution of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Comrade Hua Guofeng's Appointment as the First Vice Chairman of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and Premier of the State Council" and "Resolution on Removing Deng Xiaoping from All Posts Inside and Outside the Party".
On September 9, Mao died in Beijing.
Library works[edit | edit source]
- (1926) Analysis of the classes in Chinese society
- (1927) Report on an Investigation of the Peasant Movement In Hunan
- (1928) Why is it That Red Political Power Can Exist in China
- (1930) Oppose Book Worship
- (1937) On guerrilla warfare
- (1937) Win the Masses in Their Millions for the Anti-Japanese National United Front
- (1937) On practice
- (1937) On contradiction
- (1937) Combat liberalism
- (1940) On New Democracy
- (1942) Talks at the Yenan Forum on Literature and Art
- (1943) Some Questions Concerning Methods of Leadership
- (1945) The Destiny of Two Chinas
- (1947) The Three Main Rules of Discipline and the Eight Points for Attention
- (1963) Where do correct ideas come from?
- (1963) Statement supporting the American Negroes in their just struggle against racial discrimination by U.S. Imperialism
- (1964) On Khrushchov’s Phony Communism and Its Historical Lessons for the World
- (1964) Talk On Questions Of Philosophy
- (1966) Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-tung
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ M. Meissner (1996). The Deng Xiaoping Era. An Inquiry into the Fate of Chinese Socialism, 1978-1994. Hill and Way.
- ↑ Guo Shutian (2004). Can China Feed Itself? Chinese Scholars on China’s Food Issue: 'China’s Food Supply and Demand Situation and International Trade'. Beijing: Foreign Languages Press.
- ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 3.14 3.15 3.16 3.17 Pang Xianzhi and Jin Chongji (2011). Mao Zedong, a Biography. Volume 1. 1893–1949, vol. 1: 'Leaving Home'. CCCPC Party Literature Research Office, Translated by Foreign Languages Press.
- ↑ December 26: Mao Zedong was born in Shaoshanchong, Xiangtan, Hunan - Central People's Government of the People's Republic of China.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 Chronology of Mao Zedong's Life (1893-1925) Party History Channel - People's Daily Online
- ↑ 6.00 6.01 6.02 6.03 6.04 6.05 6.06 6.07 6.08 6.09 6.10 Pang Xianzhi and Jin Chongji (2011). Mao Zedong, a Biography. Volume 1. 1893–1949, vol. 1: 'The College Student'. CCCPC Party Literature Research Office, Translated by Foreign Languages Press.
- ↑ "Mao Zedong". Peking University Library. Retrieved 2023-07-19.
- ↑ Work-Study Scholars in France - Xinhua.net
- ↑ Chronology of Mao Zedong's Life (1926-1931) News of the Communist Party of China
- ↑ Fourth Red Army Big Nines - Guangming.com
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Chronology of Mao Zedong's Life (1926-1931) - News of the Communist Party of China
- ↑ Xi'an Incident - People's Daily Online
- ↑ Chronology of Mao Zedong's Life (1932-1936) - News of the Communist Party of China
- ↑ Chronology of Mao Zedong's Life (1937-1940) News of the Communist Party of China
- ↑ Chronology of Mao Zedong's Life (1937-1940) News of the Communist Party of China
- ↑ Chronology of Mao Zedong's Life (1941-1945) News of the Communist Party of China
- ↑ Chronological table of Mao Zedong's life (1941-1945) . People's Daily Online
- ↑ Chronology of Mao Zedong's Life (1946-1950) . People's Daily Online
- ↑ Chronology of Mao Zedong's Life (1951-1956) - News of the Communist Party of China
- ↑ Chronology of Mao Zedong's Life (1957-1961)
- ↑ Chronology of Mao Zedong's Life (1957-1961) Communist Party News Network
- ↑ Chronology of Mao Zedong's Life (1957-1961) News of the Communist Party of China
- ↑ Chronology of Mao Zedong's Life (1962-1968) News of the Communist Party of China
- ↑ Chronology of Mao Zedong's Life (1962-1968) News of the Communist Party of China
- ↑ Chronology of Mao Zedong's Life (1962-1968) News of the Communist Party of China
- ↑ Chronology of Mao Zedong's Life (1969-1976) News of the Communist Party of China
- ↑ Mao's Last Revolution, page 397
- ↑ Chronology of Mao Zedong's Life (1969-1976) News of the Communist Party of China