From the Founding to the Ruling Party: The Identity Crisis of Mao Zedong and the Communist Party of China

Abstract

Over the course of the epochal 30 years, i.e., from the founding of People’s Republic of China in 1949 till the launching of Chinese economic reform in 1978, the Communist Party of China (CPC) underwent a tremendous transformation from the founding to the ruling party of the country. The present research examines the historical, social as well as political aspects of the identity crisis and the CPC was suffering from in its adventurous efforts to chart a course for the socialist transformation of China. It was tempted to resume its leadership role in the revolution given the mounting tension generated by the Cold War and the prevailing revolutionary beliefs within the Party. Nevertheless, it was obliged to restore the country’s social and political order after the sweeping national reform. In search of an adequate interpretation for the various attempts the Party made in exploring its refreshed identity, hence resolving the crisis, the study focuses on a similar crisis which befell the Party leader, Mao Zedong, in his own struggle against the confusion caused by his potentially double role as the head of both a founding and a ruling party. The study suggests that Mao’s misidentification of his own political role inevitably led to the Party’s dysfunctions, and closer investigation into the leader’s personal dilemma offers new insight into such tragic events as the Anti-Rightist Movement, the Great Leap Forward, and the Cultural Revolution.