Japanese & Chinese Literature

Mao Zedong is one of the most controversial leaders of the twentieth century. He has been known both as a savior and a tyrant to the Chinese people. From his tactical success of the Long March to his embarrassing failure of the Great Leap Forward, Mao has greatly influenced the result of what China is today. Most of Mao's major successes have been in the CCP's rise to power, while Mao's failures have come at a time when the CCP was in power. Mao Zedong was born on December 26, 1893 is Shaoshan village in Hunan. He experienced a middle peasant upbringing with a very conservative father. Ironically Mao went to an old-fashioned school where he learned the traditional Chinese curriculum. At this time in his childhood, the whole country could foresee the fall of the previous dynasty. Mao studied to be a teacher at The First Provincial Normal School , in Ch'ansha, which influenced his future thinking and beliefs. Mao believed that the Chinese way of thinking needed reform, therefore focused on younger people and peasants to build his political career. Mao ruled one quarter of the worlds population for one quarter of a century, and the way in which he was brought up and studied influenced his future decisions greatly. Mao was known t

All the businesses and services turned into co-operatives. This was a campaign that Mao started to, "lift restrictions on the expressions of views by educated people and intellectuals, and to encourage more variety in art and literature. The Civil in war in China from 1946 to 1949 would see the fall of Chiang and the appointment of Mao as the head of China. Mao kept a firm grasp of all politics happening around him. Mao had studied Marxism and other socialist ideas and by 1919 considered himself to be a Marxist. After the long March, and mainly the Tsunyi conference, Mao emerged as the unquestionable leader of the CCP. For a couple of years Mao wrote on his beliefs and even began organizing groups to share their ideas. " This proved an unsuccessful campaign for Mao, because too many people were attacking the policies of the regime itself, when Mao thought they would discretely be used to criticize the way things were done, not why things were done. The Cultural Revolution, 1966-1969, was a power struggle between Mao and the older officers in the government. These scholars had to participate in land reform and study Leninism, Marxism, and Mao's thought. The workers were paid the same amount of money and could not get tips or work more for extra money. These publications compete with the New Testament in circulation. Mao seeing an opportunity in millions of leaderless peasants presented the CCP as a refuge and successful resistance against the invaders. Mao also had a system of thought put in place, especially for the scholars and professors from Japan and the West.