Zedong Research Articles

A Brief Analysis of "On the Correct Handling of Contradictions Among the People" and Its Contemporary Value

Mao Zedong's original theoretical contribution to Marxism has had a profound impact on the exploration and development of socialism with Chinese characteristics. This work plays an important role in providing theoretical guidance for national construction, covering a wide range of topics, including the differentiation and resolution of socialist contradictions, issues of political repression, and the relationship between the development of agriculture and industry in China. This paper aims to explore the historical context and core ideas of this article, as well as its historical significance and contemporary value in the development of socialism with Chinese characteristics.

When a Literary Translator Took an Activist Turn: Lin Yutang’s Translation of New Democracy

ABSTRACT Lin Yutang, a world-famous writer and translator, has long been known as an apolitical cultural ambassador. This study reveals, however, that beginning from the early 1940s, Lin turned from apolitical to passionately political and his political activism found expression in translation. This article employs narrative theory to examine how Lin, as an activist translator, reframed Kuomintang-Communist conflict in China when translating Mao Tse-tung’s New Democracy. I argue that Lin’s translation was part of a public opinion warfare aimed to win American aid. Lin rendered Mao’s text in a way that could drive a wedge between Americans and Communists of China. Strategies employed included intentional mistranslation, selective appropriation, disambiguating and repositioning. This study shows that attempts to understand what motivates a translator to turn away from his or her well-beaten path can be theoretically productive.

China’s Modern Ecological History: Bringing the Politics Back In

Stevan Harrell’s systems approach contributes a revelatory metaphor for our understanding of modern Chinese ecological history, upending traditional periodization and geographic conventions. There are risks to this approach, however, in that we lose some of the centrality of the state as an environmental actor. By moving the analysis up a level of abstraction as Harrell does, we risk depoliticizing the environmental history of the Mao Zedong years and beyond.

Tracing Political Implications of the Color Red in China From 1919 to 1976

This study explores the political implications of the color red in China from 1919 to 1976, analyzing its usage and significance within published literature through the lens of historical events and ideological shifts. Utilizing the Google Book Ngram Viewer and Voyant tools, this research traces patterns in the frequency and context of the term "红色" (red) in Chinese texts. The analysis identifies significant peaks in usage corresponding to key historical moments, including the Nanchang Uprising, the Marco Polo Bridge Incident, the establishment of the People's Republic of China, and the Cultural Revolution. The study finds that the color red is uniquely intertwined with political discourse in China, contrasting with other politically charged colors such as black, white, and yellow. Despite the color’s symbolic prominence, its direct references in pivotal political texts like Mao Zedong’s Quotations are relatively sparse, suggesting a complex interplay between visual symbolism and textual representation. The findings highlight the color red’s profound role in reflecting and shaping political ideologies during this transformative period in Chinese history.

Chinese Funding: A Curse to Africa

The role of China in the liberation of Africa from colonial rule cannot be down played as I laid a foundation to Africa today. Most African countries were aided by China militarily and ideologically in the fight against Western colonial rule. Though some scholars would suggest that China`s contribution was as a result of the hostility that was there in the times of the cold war between the self-acclaimed democrats of the Western bloc and the Communist Eastern bloc. Philosophers like Marx Engel, Karl Marx, Lenin and Mao Zedong had a major influence on the liberation of Africa. The purpose of this paper is to show how the relationship that started as sincere has become a curse for the poor and unconnected Africans. In recent years the Chinese has overtaken the Briton hood Institutes of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank as the major lenders of loans to African States. Kwame Nkrumah warned us of the danger of Africa being recolonised in what he termed neo colonialism where the colonisers will come as investors. Neo colonialism is no longer a theory but has become a reality as will be exposed in this article using empirical, qualitative and quantitative research methods to show how a friendship with China has benefited the elite politicians at the cost of citizens affairs. Africa is endowed with natural resources yet it has the poorest population per Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita. The paper will show how it is easy for a Chinese to own a business in Africa compared to the native Africans using the case of Shurugwi in Zimbabwe.

Research on the Inheritance and Development of the Mean Thought

The origin of mediocrity is Shangzhong, and Confucius first made a systematic exposition of mediocrity. "Mediocrity" means moderation, reasonableness, impartiality, and equilibrium between two opposing sides of a contradiction, and emphasizes the practicality of mediocrity. Mao Zedong highly valued Confucius's idea of the middle ground, and on the basis of critical inheritance, he gave it a brand new interpretation, firstly, from the perspective of "two fronts", he made a new interpretation of "the middle ground", and secondly, from the social significance of the middle ground, he characterized the eclectic nature of the middle ground. Mao Zedong's interpretation of the "middle ground" can be summarized in two aspects: first, he paid special attention to discovering the practical significance of the idea of the "middle ground," and second, he believed that the idea of the "middle ground" had a dual nature, both in line with the dialectical side and in line with the social significance of the "middle ground". The second is that the idea of "the middle ground" has a dual nature, both in line with the dialectical side and contrary to the dialectical side. The wisdom and charm of traditional philosophy contained in the idea of the "middle ground", as developed by Mao Zedong, has become even more instructive in guiding the practical development of socialism with Chinese characteristics.

Loyalty Signaling, Bureaucratic Compliance, and Variation in State Repression in Authoritarian Regimes

In autocracies, why are certain bureaucrats more heavy-handed in their use of force than others during repression? In this article, we propose an incentive-compatible theory that explains the uneven compliance of bureaucrats in repressive campaigns. We argue that bureaucrats from less trusted backgrounds tend to implement repressive tasks more fervently to credibly display loyalty and bolster their career prospects. We provide evidence for our theory using China’s Anti-Rightist Campaign (1957‐1959), a repressive campaign launched by Mao Zedong against alleged critics of his rule. We find that officials who were former undercover partisans, a faction considered untrustworthy by Mao, tended to prosecute more “rightists” in their jurisdictions and imposed harsher penalties on them. This study contributes to the literature by revealing the motivations of coercive agents.

Losing consent – the evolution of the danwei management policies from a Maoist perspective

ABSTRACT The danwei (work unit) system is a unique political and economic institution in China; inside a danwei, all aspects of workers’ activities are taken care of. The transformations of the danwei system’s management have long been a hot topic in academia. Many scholars have shared their views on understanding the transformations of the danwei’s management. However, very few of them have understood danwei’s management transformations from the perspective of Mao Zedong. Mao, as one of the most important founders of the danwei system, had conducted numerous studies on Marxist theories and Soviet practices of socialist enterprise management and had formed a unique understanding of how a genuine socialist enterprise operates. By setting up a triangular comparison model, this article compares Maoist thoughts on management with danwei’s management policies before and after 1978. This article concludes that, from a Maoist perspective, the pre-1978 danwei system had set up a management system in which workers drew their ‘self-generated consent’ through democratic mechanisms. In contrast, the post-1978 danwei management has abnegated most of the democratic mechanisms and replaced workers’ ‘self-generated consent’ with cadre-controlled ‘manufactured consent.’ The entire danwei system is gradually ‘losing its consent’ from the working class unless multiple reform initiatives take place in the future.

Historical Materialist Approach to Literature and Art

This article explores the basic features of the historical materialist approach to literature and art. It aims to highlight the core of this approach to literature and art and make a contrast to other approaches. The article addresses the research problems concerning the view of the historical materialist approach to the primacy of being or consciousness, the relationship of literature and art with the objective world, the free or class partisan literature and art, and the role of literature and art in changing the existing society. The research methodology adopted for this study is the review-based analysis of some of the major critiques of the historical materialist approach to literature and art. The researcher has included the critiques of Karl Marx, Frederick Engels, V.I. Lenin, and Mao Tsetung as they represent the founding figures of the approach and widely named this approach the Marxist approach too. The article reveals that the historical materialist approach views being as primary over consciousness, observes the literature and art as the reflection of the objective world, believes in the class partisan literature and art in a class-based society, and sees the prime utility of literature and art in bringing a radical change in society. The historical materialist approach favors the revolutionary literature and art that takes sides with the majority of working-class people, the revolutionary force of the future capable of establishing the scientific communist society.

Interpretating and Performing the Musical Styles of Selected Chinese Art Songs Based on Mao Zedong's Poetry

Interpretating and Performing the Musical Styles of Selected Chinese Art Songs Based on Mao Zedong's Poetry

Religious Freedom “with Chinese Characteristics”

Abstract China’s approach to religious freedom is unique. Heavy State regulation and the involvement of the Chinese Communist Party often invite external critique of Chinese religious freedom based on legal commitments outside of China. However, China’s rich legal tradition and textual commitments to religious freedom suggest there is more to learn. Analyzing religious freedom in legal texts and in practice from Chairman Mao Zedong to President Xi Jinping, this article offers a dialectic account of religious freedom with Chinese characteristics. Chinese text and practice regarding religious freedom suggest three enduring constitutional commitments: non-discrimination in religious belief, normalization of religious practices, and resistance to foreign religious influence. Each of these textual commitments correspond to the values found in Daoism, Legalism, and Confucianism—the pillars of traditional Chinese culture. With this understanding of China’s religious freedom approach, the article then offers three implications for strengthening China’s commitment to its own theory of religious freedom by (1) separating State and Party policy on religious registration, (2) removing cult designations from criminal law, and (3) accommodating non-traditional religious organizations to help address social issues.

Historical Interpretation and Modern Analysis of Mao Zedong's on the Ten Relationships based on the Construction of Socialist Road with Chinese Characteristics

As Mao Zedong's representative ideological work, On the Ten Relationships has not been practiced and tested in Chinese society, but it still plays an important role in guiding the development of China's development in terms of ideology and theory. In addition to studying and exploring the historical background at that time, this paper also carries out a comprehensive analysis and exploration of some of Mao's personal problems, especially in the interpretation of the "On the Ten Relationships" article by article, which is connected to some of the social events. In terms of research methodology, this paper mainly adopts the reverse reasoning of logic of thought as the method of reverse research, in addition to the use of the main axis of time and causal variables as a mixed analysis.

CONTINUITY IN POLITICAL AUTHORITY OF THE PRC: FEATURES OF THE FIRST GENERATION FOREIGN POLICY

The issue of succession to political power in the People's Republic of China is a frequently discussed topic in academic research. The fifth generation of Chinese power, the Xi Jinping administration, without opposing the political views of previous generations, continues its political course adhering to the basic foreign policy principles since the time of Mao Zedong. Therefore, the issue of continuity of China's foreign policy concepts is of particular interest. The main goal of the work is to consider the conceptual foundations of the foreign policy of the first generation of Chinese power and its evolution of development associated with changes in international relations of that time. The novelty of the study lies in the fact that foreign policy concepts formed during the time of Mao Zedong create optimal conditions for rationalizing the foreign policy of today's China. Objectives include assessing certain historical events in Chinese foreign policy and diplomacy and determining how they influenced the subsequent development of Chinese foreign policy. The research topic was considered based on the theory of political realism using methods of historical-comparative, structural, content analysis, and systematization methods. These methods helped to consider the problem and systematize the research results comprehensively. The results of the study provide an opportunity to deeply understand the issues of succession of Chinese political power and China's current foreign policy positions in a historical context. In addition, the results of the study can be widely used in research in the field of international relations, political science, Chinese studies, and history.

China's Cultural Revolution and Mao's External Threat Inflation: Crushing Soviet-Style Capitalist Restoration, 1966–1969

Abstract Stoking fear and hatred of foreign countries to serve internal needs has been a recurring pattern in Communist China. This article examines Chinese discursive treatment of the Soviet Union in 1966–1969 in textual, visual, and audio outlets. During the height of the Cultural Revolution, radical followers of Mao Zedong deliberately choreographed anti-Soviet propaganda in accordance with their evolving political agenda at home. By emphasizing the need to forestall “capitalist restoration” in China, the propagandists alleged that capitalism had already been restored in the USSR. In the face of strong inner-party objection to the terror and destruction of the Cultural Revolution, Maoist polemicists discredited and attacked their domestic foes by accusing them of disloyalty and collaboration with Soviet “revisionists” to subvert China's Communist system. The radical Maoists sought to justify the chaotic violence of the Cultural Revolution by conjuring up the threat of a Soviet invasion, hoping to refocus domestic mass struggle on alleged sympathizers of the USSR. Yet Mao's invocation of this war scare triggered a dangerous security dilemma and turned the USSR into a strategic enemy, a striking example of a self-fulfilling prophecy in world politics.

Mao's Cambodian Legacy: An “Ideological Victory” and a Strategic Failure

Abstract Drawing on untapped Chinese primary sources, including archival documents, the biographies and memoirs of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials involved in managing policy toward the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia, and, in particular, the memoirs of members of Huayun (an ethnic Chinese revolutionary movement) in Cambodia, this article shows that under Mao Zedong the CCP's policies toward the Khmer Rouge were subordinated to Mao's political needs and indistinguishable from his domestic policies. The Khmer Rouge's victory in Cambodia was significant to Mao in light of the tense relations between the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the Soviet bloc. In 1973 and 1974, Chinese leaders rejected U.S. proposals to restore Prince Sihanouk to power in Cambodia and later refrained from any criticism of the mass slaughter perpetrated by the Khmer Rouge, including the systematic killing of ethnic Chinese in Cambodia. As a result, the post-Mao leaders were unable to disengage from Cambodia or to restrain the Khmer Rouge. Mao's “ideological victory” eventually translated into a strategic debacle for the PRC.

Interplanetary Revolutions

The paper introduces the transhumanism and cosmic communism of Mao Zedong and discusses its relation to a Marxian conception of human nature and analogous Soviet visions. Having shown that the two-sided understanding of human nature in Marx opened doors for its transhumanist interpretations, the article identifies instances of the latter in the ideal of the New Soviet Man, the views of Trotsky, and the communist (or at least Sovietized) cosmism of Tsiolkovsky and Bogdanov. In parallel to and prior to his contact with Marxism, Mao became occupied with the problems of immortality, alternative spaces, the destruction of the Earth, and the power of human will, and his early transhumanism only revived after 1949. It is shown that based on his revision of historical materialism and belief in the limitless potential of human powers, Mao envisaged that technological and cultural revolutions would still and endlessly occur under communism(s), including their cosmic phases, and even after a global nuclear catastrophe. This would be, however, a future of “something more advanced” than humans, free from their current physical limitations.

江西宁都红色资源特征及其可持续发展对策研究

As the political and military center in the early stage of the Central Soviet Area, Ningdu in Jiangxi was one of the command centers and main battlefields of the anti encirclement and suppression war in the Central Soviet Area. It was the famous birthplace of the Ningdu Uprising and the birth of the Red Fifth Army Corps, and is known as the “cradle of the Soviet Area”. Mao Zedong, Zhu De, Zhou Enlai, Wang Jiaxiang, Ren Bishi, Xiang Ying, Deng Xiaoping and other older generation proletarian revolutionaries carried out arduous and magnificent revolutionary practices in Ningdu, Jiangxi. Through long-term revolutionary practice and struggle history, they have accumulated rich red resources. This article categorizes the basic types of red resources in Ningdu, Jiangxi, and analyzes their typical characteristics such as wide distribution, diverse forms, spiritual education, and political distinctiveness. It also proposes sustainable development strategies such as firmly establishing the correct concept of protection and development, exploring resources to promote the construction of red cultural brands, extending the red resource industry chain and increasing the integration of business formats, and using full media to increase the publicity and promotion of red resources.

Perplexity Games: Maoism vs. Literature through the Lens of Cognitive Stylometry

The arrival of large language models (LLMs) has provoked an urgent search for stylistic markers that could differentiate machine text from human text, but while the human-like appearance of machine text has captivated public attention, the reverse phenomenon—human text becoming machine-like—has raised much less concern. This conceptual lag is surprising given the ample historical evidence of state-backed attempts to regulate human thought. The present article proposes a new comparative framework, Perplexity Games, to leverage the predictive power of LLMs and compare the statistical properties of Maospeak, a language style that emerged during the Mao Zedong’s era in China (1949-1976), with the style of canonical modern Chinese writers, such as Eileen Chang (1920-1995) and Mo Yan (1955-). The low perplexity of Maospeak, as computed across different GPT models, suggests that the impact of ideologies on language can be compared to likelihood-maximization text-generation techniques which reduce the scope of valid sequence continuations. These findings have cognitive implications: whereas engineered languages such as Maospeak hijack the predictive mechanisms of human cognition by narrowing the space of linguistic possibilities, literature resists such cognitive constraints by dispersing the probability mass over multiple, equally valid paths. Exposure to diverse language data counters the influences of ideologies on our linguistically mediated perceptions of the world and increases the perplexity of our imaginations.

Written directives and ministerial tenure in China: a novel gauge for political performance?

ABSTRACT While prior research on Chinese political elites has predominantly centred on local officials, assessing the performance of ministers may pose significant challenges. This paper uses written directives (WDs), a pivotal form of elite communication, as a metric for evaluating ministers’ political performance. We posit that a higher frequency of WDs received by ministers from top leaders signifies increased attention and enhanced political success, potentially bolstering their longevity in office and career advancement. To test this hypothesis, we analyse ministerial tenure in China from 1949 to 1976, a period characterized by the unparalleled influence of Chairman Mao Zedong, which facilitated the measurement of WDs. Our findings indicate that ministers who received a greater number of WDs, on average, enjoyed longer tenures, while those with a shared historical background with Mao did not. These results align with previous historical analyses demonstrating Mao’s adept consolidation of power within political elites. Moreover, the recent release of historical Chinese materials has unveiled a wealth of political communication among Chinese political elites, with WDs offering a novel avenue for gauging political performance. This research contributes empirical insights from China to the global literature on ministerial tenure, enriching the landscape of contemporary Chinese bureaucratic studies.

China's Space Programme: From the Era of Mao Zedong to Xi Jinping by S. Chandrashekar (review)

China's Space Programme: From the Era of Mao Zedong to Xi Jinping by S. Chandrashekar (review)