Asian Literature

Mao Zedong and his importance in East Asian History from 1800s to 1990

    There are political leaders and then, there too are great political leaders. The question is what differentiates the two The political leader undertakes his or her task simply, allowing for the continuity of leadership of politics and related aspects from one leader and tenure to the next. The great leader impacts the place of his or her rule with great intensity. That leader introduces radical change geared at leading the country towards an improved and better future. That leader is as much a doer as well as a thinker, a planner and a visionary. That leader defied the odds and made significant sacrifices in the name of that leaders political vision and goals, in the name of public service. The great leader makes his or her own mark in history and in the consciousness of the people based on what he or she has accomplished which is significantly appreciated by the people. In reviewing the history, there are selected individuals who belong in this particular elite group. One of these individuals is Chinas Mao Zedong. Mao impacted Chinese politics. More than that, he was important in transforming the life of the people in China through broad, radical steps. Mao combined his intellectual prowess with his decisiveness and his drive to implement change. His accomplishment placed Chinas destiny towards a path that it may not have had if it was not for the initiatives and actions of Mao. In return, history has glorified Mao because of what he was able to accomplish. More than leaving a legacy, Mao left a style of political leadership that has become the template of effectiveness for China. Mao Zedong indeed, has become one of the political personalities during his time which has gained prominence. This stature was something that Mao has earned not just simply because of superficial characteristics which he nonetheless was endowed with like charm, leadership, vision and strength in character, but because of how he impacted the communist movement in China, in East Asia and around the world. In turn, this allowed him to impact the socio-political, economic, military and cultural history of his country, the region it is in, and the world in general.

    A native of Hunan province of China, Mao was the son of humble worker. Born on the 26th of December 1893, Mao was, during his early life, diligent with both his work helping his father in the farm, as well as in his studies. He did not allow personal and political conditions to stop him from studying. While he answered to the call of his place for soldiers to take part in the Xinhai revolution, he made sure that he resumed his studies after his days as a soldier was over. His inclination to study and education shaped his being a future intellectual. He associated himself with people from the academe, and greatly involved himself in lectures and supplemented it with readings during his personal time. This kind of life led him eventually towards the learning and understanding of communism. This was important in his being able to write his own ideas later about communism, Marxism and his development of his Maoist ideas which will become an important set of doctrine in communist governance and political perspectives. Mao married Yang Kaihui, to whom he had a son named Anying. An important step in his direction towards being immensely involved in communism and communist thought is his first time attendance to the National Congress of the Communist Party of China. This event was held in Shanghai, where Mao has frequented during his adult years. Soon, Mao found himself holding a political position in the Communist Party, serving as a commissar. His growing influence and position as well as political stature in the Party was the reason why he was tapped to organize the Kuomintang group back in his own hometown, in Hunan. Working for the Party and for the nationalist Kuomintang, this landed Mao different positions. Many different tasks that honed his understanding of politics allowed him to develop his own understanding of effective governance based on his experiences interacting with different kinds of people with his line of political work (Mao Zedong 559).

    There are those who undermine the rise of Mao Zedong to power, influence, clout and status as a political leader. There are several criticisms regarding this aspect (1) some consider Mao as a mere poster boy for communism (2) others believe that he was a puppet who is pulled by a puppet master. That individual is the one who should be the person to be recognized with regards to what he has managed to accomplish in China and for communism not just in the country or in the region but also around the world. There are people like Zhe De who acted on the background but was significant in how Mao was able to be successful in his actions. People often wonder if Mao deserves the credit for what was accomplished or if other people deserve to be duly commended Others think that (3) Mao was overrated (Cohen 84) others (4) explored the possibility that Mao and his government underwent the process of curing and treating history so that they appear bigger than who they are (5) others simply believe that Mao did not do anything positive for China for which he should be hailed as the masterful ruler that he is seen by China and by followers of the communist doctrine.

    Is Mao simply a poster boy for communism Critics of Mao and his works belief such was the case. Communism and Mao appear to have even applied a very literal translation to being a poster boy considering how Mao and communism in China has saturated the country with his image - in posters, in paintings, in propaganda materials etc (Azrael, Johnson 99). It seems that the people only see the face of Mao everywhere they look. Political analysts believe that this is a strategy similar to media bombarding the consciousness of the people with a particular message. If Mao indeed has had a strong impact in China and in communism as he was portrayed by many Maoist historians, the people will remember him and who he is based on what he did especially if this impacted the people in general in a positive way. However, because of Mao and the communist partys actions regarding reproducing and distributing Maos image in many different places of China gives the people, especially the critics a reason to believe that Mao was no more than a poster boy for communism in China and for communism globally.    It may also be possible that there is someone bigger controlling Mao. If he was indeed a puppet, whatever he accomplished is not reflective of his capabilities especially if there was a bigger power in the background that made it happen. This is not surprising. Many political theories believe in the socio-political condition inside a place involving a significant political person who is in fact a mere puppet by a bigger entity. This is an individual who is being used for a particular goal, in the case of China the spread of communism among other things. It can be any military, political or even economic individuals, entity or group that has much to gain if and when Mao is able to accomplish what he did.

    This leads to the next criticism about Mao being an overrated political entity. This can be possible. The extent of the communist propaganda in China as well as in the East Asia region and in the world has been extensive. Oddly enough, most of this propaganda features only Maos face and a set of words and phrases meant to evoke emotion, but hardly any info regarding what Mao did, what he was doing and what he planned to do in the future, making people think he is overrated. In communist countries, it is not surprising to find historical text and content manipulated. This could have played a factor regarding how Mao is perceived by China and the world today, seriously distorting the real impact of Mao and the real actions he did during his reign. Mao was considered as overrated. This is because many people believed that he did not do anything positive as a whole and was guilty of many negative actions. He used force all throughout his political career to secure his place in the revolutionary and communist ranks, terrorizing not just his enemies but also those who appear as threat to his position and political abilities and privileges.

    Lastly, the main criticism directed at the idea of Maos political significance is the idea that he did not do anything positive for China that merits his status as significant. This pertains to the aspects like how China suffered under Mao, the socio-civic issues and the problems with internal and external politics during Maos time. Critics are reminding the people and the rest of the world how Mao was a monster in his own right considering his attack on human rights through his torture of suspected anti-Mao inside the ranks. This was identified through his acts of purging, torturing those found guilty, many of whom dying in the process while others were simply exterminated and terminated. All of these criticisms may have its own basis and proof that those who are in favor of these perspectives use to justify their position in this issue. These claims can be argued against. More importantly, the assessment and analysis of the extent and gravity of impact of Mao Zedong as a communist political leader will eventually prove to have a heavier and more significant weight and meaning, as well as bearing in the overall issue on Maos stature and his significance as a political leader. All of these criticisms undermine the real ability of Mao and the extent of actions and initiatives undertaken by Mao so that he can realize the vision and goal that he has for a better communist China. This paper will discuss how exactly he impacted China, Chinese history and communism  in China, in East Asia and around the world.

    To say that Mao is not a significant political figure because he did not contribute anything is a serious misunderstanding of the life of Mao. Even before he rose to political prominence in a nationwide scale, Mao was already a leader (Min 146) and was making a difference for groups of people in China. For example, Mao, during his younger years, was already leading several union struggles, helping workers and laborers fight for their rights even though there are many instances wherein his efforts and the efforts of unions and union groups were thwarted by government. Maos strength in character and potential for leadership is seen, before his victories, in his defeat and how he dealt with it - with an analytical and critical mind.

    For example, his defeats in the union and labor group struggle was something that he analyzed, looking at where he failed and what adjustments he has to make, assessing not just himself and his allies but also his enemies, and the battleground where they are fighting, alongside political conditions and economic implications of the possible course  of action to take in his next fight versus the feudal and imperialist practices of the ruling Chinese government prior to his ascension to national leadership. Mao was unafraid - he was not afraid to use violence to move towards change. It was the case of using a wolf to fight other wolves. The suppression of peasants, laborers and blue collar workers employed on menial jobs and are subjected to harsh working conditions, environment and terms is a status quo that hardly changed for years because of the failure and inability of the peaceful and unarmed revolution to bring about change. That was what Mao tried to address when he shifted his strategy from unarmed to violent protests.

    Mao successfully cultivated the image of an effective leader. He was educated, passionate, unafraid, but more importantly, he was from the same class of people. Historians believe that like in many cases around the world, it is the public, particularly those coming from the poor sector (which is often the majority of the population) that elevates a political leader to the pedestal, and not the rich elite. Other communist and non-communist leaders before, during and after the time of Mao was almost similar as Mao. However, they were not from the peasant class. They are trying to use and tap the poor people to help them and back them in their direction for social change, which, more often than not, is unsuccessful. Some of the reasons why this was the case including these considerations (1) the poor people finds it hard to sympathize with people who they know are above them in social status and (2) the rich elite do not know the pulse of the poor people and that is why they have difficult time establishing a genuine connection that can forge the union and alliance necessary for a strong movement towards the direction for change. This was not a problem for Mao, and as more and more peasants got to know of Maos humble background. They felt that he was one of them. They supported him which in turn allowed Mao to amass popular support which is significant in his victory later on in the biggest political arena in China.

    China was strongly impacted by two things  Maos political ideas and Maos actions. The political ideas of Mao were communicated to the people and to the world via his writings. Early in his immersion in political thought up to his later years, Mao strongly pursued writing. As a result of this endeavor, his political masterpieces like On Contradiction as well as On Practice were put in writing and were widely read by many individuals who had the same set of belief as Mao Zedong. These two essays, among his other works, contain his important insights on things affecting politics and political governance as well as communism, including issues such as strategies. It also includes ideas regarding the revolutionary movement and other information that Mao was able to synthesize, understand and elucidate in his essays through his first hand experience regarding this matters (Schram 61). Mao is an organizational leader. In the eventual revolution that will engulf China which will be led by Mao and some of his other fellow communist leaders, historians believe that Maos organization of the peasants in the lowest level working his way up and his identification of political as well as military leaders for each units strongly contributed to the victory of the revolution. The people were organized not just in among its leaders, but more importantly, among the peasants and poor people serving as foot soldiers for the revolution. Mao resorted to recruiting soldiers from rural areas and farmlands. He also went up the mountains and persuaded the guerrilla movement operating there to merge with Maos army, which will form what then was known as  the Workers and Peasants Red Army of China. Today, this is known simply by its shorter name, Red Army (Schram 59).

    From military tactics, Mao also took a political role. This is evident in his many actions including his role in the creation of the Soviet Republic of China. This refers to the area Mao and his army controlled somewhere in the Jiangxi, a place that operates under the doctrine and dogma of the Soviet communist. Here, Mao started his function as a political leader. From that small place, Maos political leadership was to spread inside key cities and towns in China where political power is located. His mettle as a political and military leader was again to be tested during this time in his political life, not just by his enemies but also by those who are on his side but are not fully supportive of what he wants to do and his directions. Fellow Communists and members of the Red Army soon was challenging and questioning Mao. Mao remained unperturbed by this development. Instead of cowering, he met this resistance by force, using many approaches to suppress his enemies and maintain a solid and united front under his leadership. Besides his writings, he also influenced China through his political actions. Under the leadership of Mao, China saw the creation of a new force that challenged Chiang Kai Shek and his Kuomintang who is ruling the government, and to challenge as well the communists who are against Mao. Some of the communist leaders in Russia supporting communism in China believe that Mao was going against some of the ideas of the party leadership. Over time, this proved to be a reason insufficient to remove the power and influence of Mao. Proof of this is the fact that the leadership of the opposing communist group was plagued by defection problems of its key leaders, like Zhou Enlai who went with Mao. Mao never lost the support of the peasant soldiers he created and his influence in his Soviet districts that he created inside China, which the Kuomintang tried to break for years but was unsuccessful overall (Schram 59).

    Mao created a new group of soldiers an army that was important in fighting Japan during the Sino-Japan War. This was viewed nonetheless by the regular government army and the government itself as a threat to national security, branding Mao and his soldiers as guerrillas, resulting to Mao being branded as Chinas father of guerilla warfare (Mao Zedong 559). The Sino-Japan War and the Second World War served as opening acts only to the inevitable showdown between the Nationalist Kuomintang and the communist Peoples Liberation Army led by Mao. In this battle and the political outcome resulting from this, will significantly define life in China in the next coming years. This will also be the defining years for Mao, wherein he will cement and galvanize all of the efforts that he started to undertake years ago. This will start the reign of the rule of Mao which will bring significant and important changes to life in China and will characterize a positive development in China for years. Mao and his PLA fought hard and strong versus Chiang and the Kuomintang, resulting to the defeat of the Kuomintang, the fleeing of Chang to Taiwan and the start of a new era in Chinese national leadership. When the Peoples Republic of China was officially created on October 1, 1949 after the defeat of Chang and the Nationalists, it was the culmination of the vision as well as actions of Mao. Mao has worked so hard for and sacrificed, undertook and carried as a burden while he was in the process of fighting to change the political system. He was s able to reap its rewards by seeing his vision come true. His election as the leader of the PRC was testament to the importance of Mao to China and testament to how the people believe that it was because of Maos effort that all of these things are now realized (Mao Zedong 559).

    One of the most important contributions of Mao to communism is his own set of political ideas which he developed. This leads to the creation of what is now known as Maoist ideas as well as other important ideas re-shaping communism (Azrael, Johnson 99). They are aligned with Communist and Marxist ideas but have their own characteristics separating Maoist theories and perspectives from that of Communism and Marxist ideas. The creation of the Maoist approach to communism is a significant contribution of Mao to communism. He gave Communism a new facet is his own way of giving back to communism, a form of political ideology that has inspired him and has helped shaped how he thinks and feels. Communism as a political perspective helped him identify his goals and directions politically, for himself and for China. At the realization of its success, what he has to say or write about it allowed for the creation of an entirely separate communist set of ideals known as Maoism. This was a political perspective that would be an important reading to future communist leaders who would come after Mao and would influence many individuals as well as leaders. Mao impacted communism by identifying some of the key aspects in the belief that are unsuitable, at least in the China setting, for it to be successful in shaping the country and becoming a popular political ideology in any country. During his time, many other countries are aspiring for a shift to communism. However, not every effort was successful. Maos effort was successful because he had the knowledge and understanding of the complexities of politics and governance to know, detect and transform some aspects of communism so that it fits better to the national condition inside which it is being applied.

    Mao has impacted not just China but also the East Asia region. His writing regarding communism and the actions necessary for his fellowmen to be able to defeat the enemy especially during the presence of the threat of Japanese invasion in some parts of the country are some of the text that helped educate the people. This provided the people with a sense of direction regarding how to deal with the problem, especially in rural and countryside areas of China. These areas are hardly reached by the national government and are often left to their own devices to deal with local problems which are nonetheless strongly connected with national issues and concerns. Mao and his own brand of communism known as Maoism impacted East Asia militarily and politically. What he established was either a new ally or a new enemy among its East Asian neighbors, based on how they are to react to Mao and the new PRC.

    How he impacted China, Communism and East Asia (as well as the rest of the world) is divided into two phases the impact he made during his time and the impact that resonated long after he was gone. It is not easy to fully quantify which between these two time lines reflect the most powerful manifestation of the impact and effect of Maos leadership and action. What is true is that Maos impact in both these time lines proves how strongly Mao has affected the political consciousness and status quo of China, of East Asia and the rest of the world. There are varying as well as similar effects and conditions found in comparison of these two time lines, both serving as testament to how Mao is seen as a political leader that designed, created, led, sustained and realized one of the most important revolutions in China, in East Asia and in the world during this particular era. During his time, Maos impact was seen in how things have changed in China, in East Asia and in the world. Chinese politics and the relation of China with other countries changed because of Mao. The political direction of other countries changed as a result of the impact. Neighboring countries in the East Asia region reconsidered the things that they wanted to do and pursue especially those involving China. Neighboring East Asian countries like Japan and Korea experienced the fall out resulting from the impact of Maos political power and the manifestation of such power in China.

    Mao and his Maoist ideas proved to be enduring. Long after he died, many leaders inspired by leftist understanding rely on the ideas of Mao and on the tenets of Maoism to develop their own political idea. Analysts continue to target Mao and his political ideas in analysis and discussion on politics. Students are being taught about Mao and his works. Several of them are inspired by what they read and what they learn about Mao and his ideas. Today, Maos ideas are still relevant and are not considered old, archaic and even anachronistic. Leftist groups all around the world and leftist movements still rely on what Mao has written and taught and still use this information to maintain an effective and sustainable movement geared at impacting socio political change as Mao himself has envisioned (Lowes 152). Today, Maoism remains one of the most enduring tactics of communist revolution (Lowes 152).

    Mao Zedong served China for many years. After the revolutionary era, Mao allowed for change to take place. Theres the Great Leap as well as the Cultural Revolution, among many things. These are contributions Mao made to China and its people. The most important aspect of Maos efforts still lies in how he strove and was successful in establishing and starting the movement that will change China forever. That alone is enough to say that Mao is a very important man in his own era based on what he did, what he accomplished and how he impacted not just China but East Asia and the world.