Mao Zedong: The Good and the Bad - Essay Example

As an initial matter, from a historical context, Mao was responsible for helping to unify China after a long period of domination and interference from such countries as England, Russia, and Japan.  He used the communist ideology as a rallying point for the Chinese people and prevailed against Chiang Kai-Shek in the Chinese Civil War.  Although China became more insular in the early years, it was able under Mao’s leadership to gain a greater degree of political and economic independence.  It would never again become a colony of foreign powers, it would decide its own internal affairs, and it would begin the political process of reclaiming lost territories such as Macau and Hong Kong.  It is hard to argue that Mao’s unification of China, and his role in reestablishing sovereignty and political independence, were not beneficial for China and the Chinese people.

Negative Features of Mao Zedong’s Rule

            Despite these superficial achievements, however, the methods employed by Mao to achieve certain goals have been heavily criticized.  From 1958-1960, for example, Mao spearheaded a national economic campaign designed to transform a predominantly agrarian Chinese economy into a more modernized industrial economy.  He called this the Great Leap Forward and it has been judged an utter failure by historians.  This program was pursued by collectivizing agricultural production, relying on low-cost labor rather than capital assets to industrialize, and pursuing programs on a grand scale without a careful reference to economic realities or the careful management of raw materials and economic inputs.  Criticism was suppressed, failures were covered up, and Mao relied upon propaganda and idealistic communist slogans rather than facts.  The results, for China and the Chinese people, were devastating.  It has been estimated, for instance, that more than twenty million people starved as a result of mismanagement and incompetence (Xizhe, 1987: 645).  In addition, the economy suffered because there were food shortages and industrial resources were badly mismanaged.  Mao’s single-minded idealism and his refusal to examine issues analytically rather than ideologically led to much suffering in China.

            The Great Leap Forward was not the only negative feature of Mao’s reign; indeed, the Cultural Revolution has been described as a major humanitarian tragedy.  Because Mao had lost some of his power and influence following the failures of the Great Leap Forward he initiated the Cultural Revolution in order to reestablish China according to his ideological vision and to expose and punish his enemies or his political and ideological competitors (Lu, 2004: 88).  The basic premise was stated as follows:

Although the bourgeoisie has been overthrown, it is still trying to use the old ideas, culture, customs, and habits of the exploiting classes to corrupt the masses, capture their minds and endeavor to stage a comeback. The proletariat must do just the opposite: It must meet head-on every challenge of the bourgeoisie in the ideological field and use the new ideas, culture, customs, and habits of the proletariat to change the mental outlook of the whole of society. At present, our objective is to struggle against and crush those persons in authority who are taking the capitalist road, to criticize and repudiate the reactionary bourgeois academic "authorities" and the ideology of the bourgeoisie and all other exploiting classes and to transform education, literature, and art, and all other parts of the superstructure that do not correspond to the socialist economic base, so as to facilitate the consolidation and development of the socialist system (Harding, 1987: 98).

            In effect, Mao sought to force the Chinese to choose sides and fight against each other.  Chinese people who spied on their neighbors, intellectuals, and artists were labeled traitors and imprisoned or killed, and dissent became a crime whereas conformity became a national virtue.  At the same time that Mao was creating divisions and competition among Chinese of different classes and political philosophies, he was also trying to destroy his political competition.  In short, the Cultural Revolution became a giant purge in which diversity of opinion was stifled in favor of obedient conformity. 

Conclusion

            In the final analysis, judging Mao Zedong is complicated by the fact that, despite his excesses and errors, he did reign over some positive developments in China.  The country was able to expel foreign powers and unify its many people.  On the other hand, his rule and his policies led to mass starvation, economic stagnation, and the suppression of ideas and knowledge.  One wonders if the same goals, unification, and independence, might have been attained through less extreme measures.  It is a question that may never be answered.