THIS SYMPOSIUM GREW out of a series of lectures presented by James Townsend, George Yu, Allen Whiting, Maurice Meisner, and Robert Scalapino at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln (UN-L) for the 1977 Montgomery Lectureship on Contemporary Civilization. The lectureship was established in 1946 by the James Henry Montgomery Memorial, an endowment provided in 1941 by the Ora Clair Montgomery Estates. The lectureship brings to the University eminent authorities to discuss topics of current interest to the faculty, the students, and the public. The purpose of the endowment is to generate constructive on contemporary problems. Mao's legacy was selected as the 1977 lectureship theme. It was conducted under the auspices of Asian Studies Committee (UN-L) and the Union Program Council Human Potential and Talks and Topics Committee (UN-L), in conjunction with the UN-L Research Council. At 4:00 p.m. on September 9, 1976, loudspeakers throughout China announced that Mao Tse-tung, Chairman of the Central Committee of the Communist Party, had passed away at the age of 82, despite all treatment and meticulous medical care. Within minutes of the announcement, China was in mourning. The signs of grief were genuine enough. Mao was, after all, the only leader that China had known since October 1, 1949 when he stood on the balcony of the Tien An Men in Peking and announced Today, Chinese people have stood up to proclaim the People's Republic. His thought on China's socialist revolution was accepted by millions with faith as the guide for their country's rebirth to greatness. An official version of Mao's legacy was presented by Comrade Hua Kuo-feng in a memorial speech at a mass memorial meeting in Peking on September 18, 1976. He said: