How is Mao viewed in China?

[xuechengfeng]

I can't really say I know a vast amount of information about him, but what I've read about him and his policies with literature, he doesn't sound like a very respectable man, or even one who makes sense.

[galitonwu]

一言难尽。 Different people has difficult opinion.

[pazu]

Yes, some people thought he was god, or think he's God, put his photo in the front mirror of car to gain some protection power (or maybe they can make it as powder for aphrodisiacs because his private doctor said he took a lot?)

Some just think he's a bastard.

[holyman]

official viewpoint is '30/70'. 30% of the time he made mistakes and 70%of the time he did a good job. unofficial viewpoints vary... but still, he is the man that is largely responsible for making china into what it is today, so his influence, good or bad, canot be overlooked.

[holyman]

he's more of a 'politician', so looking from the literature point of view doesnt really say much. even on literature there are 2 things to bear in mind:

1, mao isnt 'highly educated' in today's standards. compared to some of his colleagues in the early ccp like zhou enlai, who had studied abroad, mao graduated only as a high school student. there are instances that he felt sour when talking to some intellects who were great scholars during the late qing era or kmt era.

2, but that doesnt mean he looked down on educated people. mao himself was also a very good poet, in classic chinese, comparable to any famous poet in chinese history. he would be a great poet if he hadnt been a politician.

and i remembered these words someone describe him, mao never do anything for himself, he's always concerned with political effects.

[shibo77]

I think he was very intellectual, and very ambitious. He wrote some very memorable poems. But I don't like the way he's portrayed (as a demi-god). I didn't like the change to place his portrait on all the yuans, before it was truly 人民币Ren Min Bi, now it's just 毛币Mao Bi.

-Shibo

[wix]

but still, he is the man that is largely responsible for making china into what it is today, so his influence, good or bad, canot be overlooked.

I disagree. I would say Deng Xiaoping, Zhou Enlai, Jiang Zemin (even Sun yat-Sen) have done more to make China what it is today. If the CCP was still following Mao's teachings religiously China would be a lot more backward in every respect than it is today.

[holyman]

i mean good or bad...

the good things he did and the bad things... anyway if it wasnt for him ccp would be destroyed by kmt b4 the long march, then we will probably see a different china. deng would've been dead long ago.

[beirne]

When I went to China we stopped by Mao's mausoleum, although we couldn't go in that day. Our tour guide talked a bit about Mao. Tour guides, of course, aren't going to be controversial, but his comment was that Mao was a great military leader but not such a good political leader. That gave me a hint of how one side thinks. The other side comes from an older Chinese man I know who thinks Mao was good because he made China strong again. China does not at the mercy of the western powers like it used to be.

[holyman]

the mausoleum was quite a piece of crap, esp compared to sun's zhongshan ling in nanking. it was said that mao didnt wanted to built one, but at the last days of the cultural revolution mdm mao would like to use him as an icon, so the mausoleum was built hastily. the site was actually the second gate to the forbidden city, the 'da qing gate', which was demolished when they built the tian'anmen square.

the 3 front(southern) gates of the old beijing city were qian men, daqing men and tian'an men respectively.

[pazu]

I've been to Beijing quite a few times but I haven't never been to Jinianguan because I think the whole idea of worshipping a body was totally insane (oh if not worshipping then why did people have to go visiting a body??)

[TSkillet]

i think really just to see it. Shoot, I've now seen three dead Communist leaders - Lenin, Mao and Ho Chih Minh. I certainly wasn't there to worship the wax figure.

[holyman]

its not open everyday i think, some say bcos of 'maintainance job'. and dont be surprise, people do get into long queue just to take a look.

[wushijiao]

Holyman- did you know the whole 70/30 thing is based on Mao's view of Stalin right after he died? it's still the equation they use today. Wacky.

Personally, I think most people, including me, have mixed feelings about Mao.

[holyman]

then what do u expect the official statement to say? probably have to be that way for years to come. kicking him aside would render the 'hardwork' ccp done for china as crap. dont think they'll ever slap their own mouth or deny their legitimacy.

[wix]

Tour guides, of course, aren't going to be controversial, but his comment was that Mao was a great military leader but not such a good political leader.

I think any intelligent reading of history would come to a similar conclusion. The only difference might be the strength of the final adjective in the above statement.

[bhchao]

Deng was pragmatic, his quote: "It doesn't matter if the cat is black or white, as long as it catches mice."

Mao was the opposite and ideological. His philosophy would be something like "It doesn't matter if the cat catches mice, it matters if the cat is black or white."

History has shown that Deng was right. His pragmatic approach moved China forward, while China lagged 30 years behind other countries during Mao's tenure.

[shengmar]

I think his works is the best Chinese textbook.

Its language is simple, clear, and persuasive.

[Guest dingo]

Mao ze Dong ruined China's image, and made china poor.

thank god for the Open Door Policy laid down by jiang kai shek

if it wasnt for mao, china today would be more advanced than USA.

therefore i think Mao ruined china.

[ananda]

Mao ze Dong ruined China's image, and made china poor.

thank god for the Open Door Policy laid down by jiang kai shek

if it wasnt for mao, china today would be more advanced than USA.

therefore i think Mao ruined china.

I think less people would understand your meaning, would you

mind provide more to help me?