Mao Zedong

Mao Zedong
毛泽东
Mao in 1957
Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party
In office 20 March 1943 – 9 September 1976
Deputy	Liu Shaoqi Lin Biao Zhou Enlai Hua Guofeng
Preceded by	Zhang Wentian (as General Secretary)
Succeeded by	Hua Guofeng
1st Chairman of the People's Republic of China
In office 27 September 1954 – 27 April 1959
Premier	Zhou Enlai
Deputy	Zhu De
Succeeded by	Liu Shaoqi
Chairman of the Central Military Commission
In office 8 September 1954 – 9 September 1976
Deputy	Zhu De Lin Biao Ye Jianying
Succeeded by	Hua Guofeng
Chairman of the Central People's Government
In office 1 October 1949 – 27 September 1954
Premier	Zhou Enlai
Preceded by	Office established Li Zongren (as President of the Republic of China)
Chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference
In office 9 October 1949 – 25 December 1954
Preceded by	Office established
Succeeded by	Zhou Enlai
Personal details
Born	(1893-12-26)26 December 1893 Shaoshan, Hunan, Qing China
Died	9 September 1976(1976-09-09) (aged 82) Beijing, China
Resting place	Chairman Mao Memorial Hall
Political party	CCP (from 1921)
Other political affiliations	Kuomintang (1925–1926)
Spouses	Luo Yixiu ​ ​ (m. 1907; died 1910)​ Yang Kaihui ​ ​ (m. 1920; died 1930)​ He Zizhen ​ ​ (m. 1928; div. 1937)​ Jiang Qing ​ (m. 1938)​
Children	10, including: Mao Anying Mao Anqing Mao Anlong Yang Yuehua Li Min Li Na
Parents	Mao Yichang Wen Qimei
Alma mater	Hunan First Normal University
Signature
Chinese name
Simplified Chinese	毛泽东
Traditional Chinese	毛澤東
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Máo Zédōng Bopomofo ㄇㄠˊ   ㄗㄜˊ   ㄉㄨㄥ Wade–Giles Mao2 Tse2-tung1 Tongyong Pinyin Máo Zé-dong IPA [mǎʊ tsɤ̌.tʊ́ŋ] ⓘ Wu Suzhounese Máu Zéh-ton Hakka Romanization Mô Chhe̍t-tûng Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization Mòuh Jaahk-dūng Jyutping Mou4 zaak6 dung1 IPA [mɔw˩ tsak̚˨ tʊŋ˥] Southern Min Hokkien POJ Mô͘ Te̍k-tong Tâi-lô Môo Ti̍k-tang
Courtesy name
Simplified Chinese	润之
Traditional Chinese	潤之
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Rùnzhī Bopomofo ㄖㄨㄣˋ   ㄓ Wade–Giles Jun4-chih1 Tongyong Pinyin Rùn-jhih IPA [ɻwə̂n.ʈʂɻ̩́] Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization Yeuhn-jī Jyutping Jeon6 zi1 IPA [jɵn˨ tsi˥] Southern Min Hokkien POJ Lūn-chi
Central institution membership 1964–1976: Member, National People's Congress 1954–1959: Member, National People's Congress 1938–1976: Member, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th Politburo 1938–1976: Member, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th Central Committee Other offices held 1954–1959: Chairman of the People's Republic of China 1954–1976: Chairman, CPC Central Military Commission 1954–1959: President and Chairman, National Defence Council 1954–1976: Honorary Chairman, CPPCC National Committee 1949–1954: Chairman, Central People's Revolutionary Military Commission 1949–1954: Chairman, CPPCC National Committee 1949–1954: Chairman, PRC Central People's Government 1943–1956: Chairman, CPC Central Secretariat 1936–1949: Chairman, CPC Central Military Commission
Paramount Leader of the People's Republic of China (Inaugural holder) Hua Guofeng →

This article is part of a series about Mao Zedong
Personal Early life Former Residence Death and state funeral Memorial Hall Ideology Maoism Third Worldism Marxism–Leninism–Maoism Gonzalo Thought Prachanda Path Leadership Tenure Revolution Land Reform Movement Proclamation Korean War Campaign to Suppress Counterrevolutionaries Three-anti and Five-anti Campaigns First five-year plan Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence Bandung Conference Sufan movement Hundred Flowers Campaign Anti-Rightist Campaign Canton Fair Great Leap Forward Great Chinese Famine Two Bombs, One Satellite Seven Thousand Cadres Conference Socialist Education Movement Third Front Cultural Revolution Abolition of the presidency UN representation Richard Nixon visit Works Bombard the Headquarters A Critique of Soviet Economics On Contradiction On Guerrilla Warfare On New Democracy On Practice On Protracted War On the Correct Handling of Contradictions Among the People On the People's Democratic Dictatorship Oppose Book Worship Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-tung Reply to Li Shuyi Report on an Investigation of the Peasant Movement in Hunan Selected Works of Mao Tse-Tung The Shian Kian Weekly Review Ten Major Relationships Poetry Changsha The Double Ninth Loushan Pass Legacy Cult of personality Chairman Mao en route to Anyuan Portraits overlooking Tiananmen 1989 vandalism incident Statues Young Fuzhou Chengdu Long Live the Victory North Park Commune inspection
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Mao Zedong^[a] (26 December 1893 – 9 September 1976) was a Chinese politician, revolutionary, and political theorist who founded the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1949 and led the country from its establishment until his death in 1976. Mao served as chairman of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from 1943 until his death, and as the party's de facto leader from 1935. His theories, which he advocated as a Chinese adaptation of Marxism–Leninism, are known as Maoism.

Born to a peasant family in Shaoshan, Hunan, Mao studied in Changsha and was influenced by the 1911 Revolution and ideas of Chinese nationalism and anti-imperialism. He was introduced to Marxism while working as a librarian at Peking University, and later participated in the May Fourth Movement of 1919. In 1921, Mao became a founding member of the CCP, and began to develop his distinctive interpretation of Marxist theory, which held that the rural peasantry- then the vast majority of China's population- would be the main revolutionary force. After the start of the Chinese Civil War between the Kuomintang (KMT) and CCP, Mao led the failed Autumn Harvest Uprising in 1927, and in 1931 he founded the Jiangxi Soviet and Chinese Soviet Republic. He helped establish the Chinese Red Army, and developed a strategy of guerilla warfare. In 1935, Mao became leader of the CCP during the Long March, a military retreat to the Yan'an Soviet in Shaanxi, where it began rebuilding its forces. The party allied with the KMT in the Second United Front by the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937, but the civil war resumed after Japan's surrender in 1945. In 1949, Mao's forces defeated the Nationalist government, which withdrew to Taiwan.

On 1 October 1949, Mao proclaimed the foundation of the PRC, a one-party state controlled by the CCP. He initiated land redistribution and industrialisation campaigns, suppressed political opponents, intervened in the Korean War, and oversaw the ideological Hundred Flowers and Anti-Rightist Campaigns. In 1958, Mao launched the Great Leap Forward, which aimed to rapidly collectivise agriculture and industrialise the country. It resulted in the Great Chinese Famine, which killed millions. In 1966, Mao launched the Cultural Revolution, which was marked by violent class struggle, destruction of historical artifacts, and the peak of Mao's cult of personality. From the late 1950s, Mao's foreign policy was dominated by a political split with the Soviet Union, and in the 1970s he began establishing relations with the United States. In 1976, Mao died of a heart attack. He was initially succeeded by Hua Guofeng, then in 1978 by Deng Xiaoping. The CCP's official evaluation of Mao's legacy both praises him and acknowledges mistakes in his later years.

Mao's legacy is deeply controversial. His policies resulted in a vast number of deaths, with tens of millions of victims of famine, political persecution, prison labour and executions, and his regime has been described as totalitarian. Mao has also been credited with transforming China from a semi-colony to a major world power and advancing literacy, women's rights, basic healthcare, education, and life expectancy. In modern China, he is widely regarded as a national hero who liberated the country from imperialism, while in Western nations, he is widely regarded as a tyrant whose policies led to the deaths of millions. He became an ideological leader within the international communist movement, inspiring various Maoist organisations.

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