The Cult Of Chairman Mao: The Cult Of Chairman Mao

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After the Cult of Personality of Joseph Stalin was shattered in 1956, the Chinese Communist Party had to create a new way of achieving Marxism. It explored collective communist leadership for several years, but soon created a personality cult of its own, the cult of Chairman Mao. Mao Zedong Thought, which was seen as a quicker way to Marxism, became elevated throughout China, and subsequently so did Mao 's image. However, cults of personality existed in modern China before Mao, beginning with Sun Yat-sen during the republican era. In fact, Mao began cultivating a cult of personality before the founding of the People 's Republic of China so that he could compete with the cult Chiang Kai-shek began creating around himself, but the Cult of Mao …show more content…

Lin Biao began to promote everything that Mao did, proclaiming that Mao Zedong Thought represented "the peak of modern-day thought" and provided a shortcut to Marxism (Leese, 2011, p. 93). Although the effects of the Great Leap Forward were widely known, Mao became adept at protecting his reputation from it, convincing the People 's Liberation Army to blame Chiang Kai Shek for the disaster. (Leese, 2001, pp. 100-101) This shows how Mao was able to protect his reputation, encourage the spread of his ideologies and cult figure, while still enraging people against the enemy. Initially Mao 's cult of personality was confined to advocating new ways of studying and applying Mao Zedong Thought. The messages were spread throughout the media in papers run by the CCP or the PLA, like the People 's Daily and the Liberation Army News. The Cultural Revolution was declared by the Chinese Communist Party in 1966 with the goals to: 1. struggle against and overthrow those persons in authority who were taking the capitalist road; 2. criticize and repudiate the reactionary bourgeoisie and all other exploiting classes; and 3. transform education, literature, arts, and all other parts of the super structure that did not harmonize well with the socialist economic base (Communist Party of China, 1967, pg.

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