Mao: The Unknown Story (review)

No matter how people judge him, no one can deny the importance of Mao Zedong (1893-1976) in twentieth-century Chinese history; indeed, he also holds a significant position in twentieth-century world history. Mao studied the Soviet Union, led the Chinese communist revolution, overthrew the regime of the Nationalist Party (Guomindang), and constructed an unparalleled centralized party-state system. He made great efforts to create a country distinguished from capitalist countries and tried thoroughly to eliminate the competitive market economy based on private property. All of these practices influenced China's destiny. Even though the Mainland of China today is an inseparable part of the world economic system, we can still see there the continuation of the political system of Mao's era. Although Mao's thought was reinterpreted by Deng Xiaoping (1904-97), it remains the source of legitimacy for the Chinese Communist Party (hereafter, CCP). Hu Jintao's (胡錦濤 1942- ) first step after he was appointed General Secretary of the CCP was to visit Xibaipo (西柏坡), the site of some of Mao's toughest experiences before Mao entered Beijing. [In China], many people who have not benefited from the policy of Reform and Opening (改革開放 Gaige kaifang) still yearn for the social status and welfare system of Mao's era. Some intellectuals also long for the equality of Mao's era and criticize today's wide gap between rich and poor. Of course, some intellectuals also fear the return of political struggle and thought control.

Regarding such an important historical figure, one cannot help but have a little curiosity. In the era of Taiwan's anti-communist and anti-Soviet (反共抗俄 fangong kang'e) policies [approximately 1949 to 1964], because of political propaganda, we did not have a concrete understanding of Mao. Some people regarded Mao as a dictatorial emperor. Others condemned him as a contemporary Qinshi Huangdi (秦始皇帝 260 BCE-210 BCE), while some denigrated him as a Chinese Stalin or Hitler.

Even in Mao's era, however, Hitler was regarded on the Mainland as a vicious criminal. Qinshi Huangdi and Stalin, conversely, were persons who deserved eulogies. The former established the basis of China's territory and political system and the latter not only brought about thorough change in an undeveloped Russia, but also offered a paradigm for socialist construction. When Chinese experts on CCP history narrate the life of Mao, they always emphasize his role as "being the teacher and being the emperor (作之師，作之君 zuo zhi shi, zuo zhi jun)." They point out that Mao was the pioneer who discovered the truth of Marxism-Leninism. He not only sinicized Marxism-Leninism and transformed it into a scientific tool that was more suitable for the practice of revolution; based on it, he also analyzed Chinese society and framed a strategy of revolution. In different stages, Mao led the Chinese people to defeat Japanese aggression, to overthrow the rule of the Guomindang, and to construct a new socialist China.

The broad narrative developed by experts on CCP history especially emphasizes the universalism of Marxism-Leninism. It was Mao who inherited the legitimacy of Marx, Engels, Lenin, and Stalin. In a country in which capitalism was little developed, Mao organized, led, mobilized, and liberated peasants. Then, in the process of converting China to a progressive socialist country, [in this view,] he made them into a stable foundation. This macro-narrative especially emphasizes Mao's creative reinterpretation of Marxism-Leninism. Although it does not stress Mao's belief in nationalism, it crowns Mao by crediting him with the creation of Chinese nationalism.

Conversely, some overseas Chinese studies experts have underscored Mao's persistent nationalism in order to refute the views that Mao was a puppet following Stalin and that the Chinese Communist revolution represented a continuation of the Russian revolution. They not only give prominence to Mao's sinicization of Marxism Leninism-they also depict Mao's promotion of nationalism. They consider this tendency to be the most important reason for the bifurcation and later irreconcilability...