Mao Zedong

Mao Zedong (1893-1976) was Chairman of People's Republic of China. He was the first chairman. He was also called the 'Great Helmsman'. He was a revolutionary. He not only helped in founding Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in 1921, but also set up "people's republic" (a soviet) in Jiangxi (southern China) during 1931-34.

Chiang Kai-shek's forces attacked him and he was forced to leave the place and went underground. He undertook a two years "Long March" to Shaanxi province in southern China.

He was elected CCP chairman in 1935. Yanan became his new base where he developed philosophy of re-eduction and "rectification". He led a rural based guerilla warfare to resist Japanese attacks (1937, 1945) and to eventually overthrow Chiang Kai-shek's nationalist government. He founded People's Republic in 1949 but resigned chairmanship in 1959. However, he remained chairman of the CCP's Central Committee.

His influenced decreased during 1958-1960 mainly due to failure of the Great Leap Forward, which was an attempt to make China grow industrially and agriculturally through huge communes. However, he rebounded during Cultural Revolution of 1966-69, which was a campaign against 'revisionist forces'. He lost political clout in later years. His Little Red Book is famous for his sayings.

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