Mao Zedong's cult of personality was a prominent part of Chairman Mao Zedong's rule over the People's Republic of China from the state's founding in 1949 until his death in 1976. Mass media, propaganda and a series of other techniques were used by the state to elevate Mao Zedong's status to that of an infallible heroic leader, who could stand up against the West, and guide China to become a beacon of communism.[citation needed]
Mao Zedong himself recognized the need for personality cult, blaming the fall of Khrushchev on the lack of such a cult.[1][2] [failed verification] During the period of Cultural Revolution, Mao's personality cult soared to an unprecedented height, and he took advantage of it to mobilize the masses and attack his political opponents such as Liu Shaoqi, then Chairman of the People's Republic of China.[2][3][4] Mao's face was firmly established on the front page of People's Daily, where a column of his quotes was also printed every day; Mao's selected works were later printed in even greater circulation; the number of Mao's portraits produced (1.2 billion) exceeded the population of China at the time, in addition to a total of 4.8 billion Chairman Mao badges that were manufactured.[5] Every Chinese citizen was presented with the Little Red Book—a selection of quotes from Mao, which was required to be carried everywhere and be displayed at all public events, and citizens were expected to read the quotes from the book daily.[6] However, in the 1970s, Mao also criticized others for overdoing his own personality cult.[1][7]
After the Cultural Revolution, Deng Xiaoping and others launched the "Boluan Fanzheng" program which invalidated the Cultural Revolution and abandoned (and forbade) the use of a personality cult.[8][9][10]
In a January 9, 1965, interview with Edgar Snow, Mao claimed that Khrushchev fell "because he had no cult at all." ...... In the early 1970s he blamed others for overdoing his own personality cult, attacking his heir apparent Lin Biao and the senior Party theoretician Chen Boda.
Mao: We all adore someone. Would you be glad if nobody adored you? Would you be glad if nobody read your books and articles? We all need some personality cult, even you [need it]...... It was for the purpose of opposing Liu Shaoqi.
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