Mao Zedong

Have you ever heard of Mao Zedong? Mao Zedong is a communist leader and founder of The People’s Republic of China (PRC). He also is responsible for the disastrous policies of “The Great Leap Forward” and “The Cultural Revolution”. The “Great Leap Forward “ was aimed to improve agriculture and industrial production . Instead ,  this disastourous action lead to a massive depression in China’s economy and lad to famine. In result , millions died . Mao’s position in society then weakened  .

Mao Zedong was born on December 26, 1863 into a peasant family in Shaoshan , in central China . After training as a teacher ,  Mao traveled to Beijing and began to work in the university  library . He then traveled as a professor in Yang Changji .  Two years after in 1920 , he developed his theory of violent revolution . His theory was inspired by The Russian Revolution and Chinese literary works . Some of these literary works include “Outlaws of Marsh” and “ Romance of the Three Kingdoms “ . On July 23 , 1921, Mao attended the first session of the National Congress of the Communist Party of China in Shanghai . Two years later , he was elected as one of the five commissioners of the Central Committee of the party during the third congress session . After that, Mao returned to Hunan at the instruction of the Central Committee . He then organized the Hunan Branch Kuomintang . In October ,1925 , Mao was selected as Director of the Kuomintang .

Mao had many political ideas. Many of them were encouraged by his father . Mao sought to over throw the alliance of imperialism and feudalism in China . He thought that the Nationalists to be both economically and  politically vulnerable and thus that the revolution could not be steered by Nationalists . In the 1920s , Mao led several struggles . However , these struggles were successfully subdued by the government , and Mao Zedong fled from the Changsha after he was labeled a radical activist . He studied these failures and finally realized that industrial workers were unable to lead the revolution because they made up only a small portion  of the Chinese population . Mao began to depend on Chinese peasants who later became staunch supporters of his theory of violent revolution.

On 1927, Mao conducted the famous “Autumn Harvest Uprising” in Changsha ,Hunan, as commander and chief . Mao led a small army of peasants to fight the landlords of Hunan . The Autumn Harvest Uprising was a insurrection that took place . His army was later known as “The Revolutionary Army of Workers and Peasants “  . The “Revolutionary Army of Workers and Peasants “ was then defeated after fierce battles .

More over , Mao Zedong lead more small marches such as the “Long March” before he reached victory . After World War II on October 1, 1949 , Mao Zedong had finally established “ The People’s Republic of China (PRC). It was the culmination of over two decades of civil and international war. The People’ Republic of China is a Socialist republic ruled by the Communist party of China under a single-party system. The party has jurisdiction over twenty -two provinces ,five regions ,two special Administrative regions , and four municipalities . The capital of The People’s Republic of China is now Beijing .

Mao ruled as first president of the People’s Republic of China until he retired in 1958 . Mao was then succeeded by Liu Shaogi  . Years after that, at five o’clock in the afternoon of September 2 ,1976 , Mao Zedong suffered a heart attack that was far more critical than his previous two. His heart x-rays indicated that his lung infection had worsened . Mao was conscious and alert throughout the crisis and asked several times if he was in danger .  His condition continued while his life was on the line . Three days later, Mao’s condition stayed the same . On the afternoon of  September 7th , Mao’s condition took a turn for the worst. His wife, Jiang Qing , came to building 202 where she had heard bad news . Mao had just fallen asleep and needed to rest , but she insisted on rubbing his back and moving his limbs . Then after that, she began sprinkling powder on him. The medical team said powder wasn’t good for him, but yet , she continued . The next morning on September 8th , she instructed the nurses to change his sleeping position , so they did. When they exited the room near 12:00 AM , Mao’s face had turned blue and his breathing stopped. The great Mao was dead. His wife’s simple decision may had caused death to Mao Zedong a little after 12:00AM on September 9, 1976.

Mao Zedong contributed many things to the Chinese society . One of his great contributions was the People’s Republic of China . The constitution of The People’s Republic of China states there is Fundamental rights . Fundamental rights include freedom of speech, freedom of the press, right to a fair trail , freedom of religion , and property rights  . However , with this new system , the government has more power over the land . The government has administrative control over twenty -three provinces including Taiwan . After that , the government has a population policy . The government’s goal is to have one child per family . But, if the first child is a girl or physically disabled , there is an exception of having another . Mao definitely affected China’s society in good and bad ways.

The world would be much different without Mao Zedong . China would be especially different . China’s population would be doubled if not tripled to 3.3 million people. Thank goodness the PRC established the population growth policy ! Many peasants would still be hounded by land owners if it wasn’t for Mao’s “Autumn Harvest Uprising” . The People of China wouldn’t have freedom of the press nor freedom of speech if it wasn’t for the PRC constitution which Mao created .

In conclusion , I myself learned much about Mao Zedong . Before I wrote this essay , I had no idea that he founded the People’s Republic of China . In fact , I didn’t even know what the People’s Republic of China was ! Know I know much about Mao Zedong and his contributions to society . Mao’s legacy will live on forever.