Geburtstag: 26. Dezember 1893
Todesdatum: 9. September 1976
Mao Zedong war als Vorsitzender der Kommunistischen Partei Chinas , als Vorsitzender der Zentralen Volksregierung sowie als Staatspräsident der Volksrepublik China der führende Politiker der Volksrepublik China im 20. Jahrhundert. Die politische Bewegung des Maoismus ist nach ihm benannt.
Die Ablösung Maos durch Deng Xiaoping nach 1976 führte im Rahmen der Reform- und Öffnungspolitik zu einer wesentlichen Abkehr von Maos Prinzipien in China selbst. Dennoch wird sein Vermächtnis als bedeutender Revolutionär, militärischer Stratege und politischer Anführer nach wie vor geehrt. Unter anderem ist er auf chinesischen Banknoten und an prominenter Stelle am Tor des Himmlischen Friedens abgebildet, wo er am 1. Oktober 1949 die Volksrepublik China proklamiert hatte.
Dass sich die Kommunisten im langen Chinesischen Bürgerkrieg letztlich gegen die Kuomintang durchsetzten, verdanken sie wesentlich dem Langen Marsch, bei dem Mao 1934/35 die geschlagenen Truppenreste nach Nordwestchina führte. In Shaanxi gründete Mao mit russischer Unterstützung eine Sowjetrepublik. Nach 1945 wendete er in Zentralchina erfolgreich eine Guerillataktik an.
Nach seiner Machtübernahme begann Chinas Veränderung von einem rückständigen agrarischen Feudalstaat zu einer politischen und wirtschaftlichen Großmacht. Andererseits hatten die von Mao vorangetriebenen Kampagnen und Programme, insbesondere der Große Sprung nach vorn sowie die Kulturrevolution, den Tod von Millionen Menschen und wesentliche wirtschaftliche Schäden, Verluste an kulturellem Erbe und verfehlte gesellschaftliche Strukturen zur Folge. Laut westlicher Literatur starben während seiner Herrschaft ungefähr 44 bis 72 Millionen Menschen an den Auswirkungen politischer Kampagnen, diktatorischer Machtausübung und verfehlter Wirtschaftspolitik.
Ungeachtet der nach wie vor um seine Person geführten Kontroversen gilt Mao als einer der einflussreichsten Politiker der Geschichte und wurde 1998 vom Time Magazine als einer der 100 wichtigsten Menschen des 20. Jahrhunderts dargestellt.
— Mao Zedong, buch Worte des Vorsitzenden Mao Tsetung
Worte des Vorsitzenden Mao Tsetung, Peking 1967, S.74; Probleme des Krieges und der Strategie, 6. November 1938; Ausgewählte Werke Mao Tse-tungs, Bd. II
Original: 枪杆子里面出政权。 (Qiānggǎnzi lǐmiàn chū zhèngquán.)
— Mao Zedong, buch Worte des Vorsitzenden Mao Tsetung
Worte des Vorsitzenden Mao Tsetung, Peking 1967, S. 13; Die Lage nach dem Sieg im Widerstandskrieg gegen die japanische Aggression und unser Kurs, 13. August 1945; Ausgewählte Werke Mao Tse-tungs, Bd. IV
— Mao Zedong, buch Worte des Vorsitzenden Mao Tsetung
Worte des Vorsitzenden Mao Tsetung, Peking 1967, S.321; Der Platz der Kommunistischen Partei Chinas im nationalen Krieg, Oktober 1938; Ausgewählte Werke Mao Tse-tungs, Bd. II
Original: 凡是敵人反對的，我們就要擁護；凡是敵人擁護的，我們就要反對。- Worte des Vorsitzenden Mao Tsetung, Peking 1967, S.19; Gespräch mit drei Korrespondenten der Zentralen Nachrichtenagentur und der Zeitung Saodang Bao und Hsinmin-Bao, 16. September 1939; Ausgewählte Werke Mao Tse-tungs, Bd. II
— Mao Zedong, buch Worte des Vorsitzenden Mao Tsetung
Worte des Vorsitzenden Mao Tsetung, Peking 1967, S.182; Über den langwierigen Krieg, Mai 1938; Ausgewählte Werke Mao Tse-tungs, Bd. II
— Mao Zedong, buch On Contradiction
On Contradiction (1937)
Kontext: Contradiction and struggle are universal and absolute, but the methods of resolving contradictions, that is, the forms of struggle, differ according to the differences in the nature of the contradictions. Some contradictions are characterized by open antagonism and others are not. In accordance with the concrete development of things, some contradictions, which were originally non-antagonistic, develop into antagonistic ones, while others which were originally antagonistic develop into non-antagonistic ones.
Changsha (1925)
Kontext: Alone I stand in the autumn cold
On the tip of Orange Island,
Xiang flowing northward;
I see a thousand hills crimsoned through
By their serried woods deep-dyed,
And a hundred barges vying
Over crystal blue waters.
Eagles cleave the air,
Fish glide under the shallow water;
Under freezing skies a million creatures contend in freedom.
Brooding over this immensity,
I ask, on this bondless land
Who rules over man's destiny?
Such an army will be invincible....
On Protracted Warfare (1938)
The Foolish Old Man Who Removed the Mountains (1945)
Kontext: There is an ancient Chinese fable called "The Foolish Old Man Who Removed the Mountains". It tells of an old man who lived in northern China long, long ago and was known as the Foolish Old Man of North Mountain. His house faced south and beyond his doorway stood the two great peaks, Taihang and Wangwu, obstructing the way. He called his sons, and hoe in hand they began to dig up these mountains with great determination. Another graybeard, known as the Wise Old Man, saw them and said derisively, "How silly of you to do this! It is quite impossible for you few to dig up those two huge mountains." The Foolish Old Man replied, "When I die, my sons will carry on; when they die, there will be my grandsons, and then their sons and grandsons, and so on to infinity. High as they are, the mountains cannot grow any higher and with every bit we dig, they will be that much lower. Why can't we clear them away?" Having refuted the Wise Old Man's wrong view, he went on digging every day, unshaken in his conviction. God was moved by this, and he sent down two angels, who carried the mountains away on their backs. Today, two big mountains lie like a dead weight on the Chinese people. One is imperialism, the other is feudalism. The Chinese Communist Party has long made up its mind to dig them up. We must persevere and work unceasingly, and we, too, will touch God's heart. Our God is none other than the masses of the Chinese people. If they stand up and dig together with us, why can't these two mountains be cleared away?
Chapter 5 https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/mao/works/red-book/ch05.htm, originally published in Problems of War and Strategy (November 6, 1938), Selected Works, Vol. II, p. 224.
Original: (zh) 枪杆子里面出政权
Kontext: Every Communist must grasp the truth: Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun.
Chapter 2 https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/mao/works/red-book/ch02.htm, originally published in Report on an investigation of the peasant movement in Hunan http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/mao/selected-works/volume-1/mswv1_2.htm (March 1927), Selected Works, Vol. I, p. 28.
https://www.marxists.org/chinese/big5/nonmarxists/mao/19270300.htm.湖南農民運動考察報告
Kontext: A revolution is not a dinner party, or writing an essay, or painting a picture, or doing embroidery. It cannot be so refined, so leisurely and gentle, so temperate, kind, courteous, restrained and magnanimous. A revolution is an insurrection, an act of violence by which one class overthrows another.
The Foolish Old Man Who Removed the Mountains (1945)
Kontext: There is an ancient Chinese fable called "The Foolish Old Man Who Removed the Mountains". It tells of an old man who lived in northern China long, long ago and was known as the Foolish Old Man of North Mountain. His house faced south and beyond his doorway stood the two great peaks, Taihang and Wangwu, obstructing the way. He called his sons, and hoe in hand they began to dig up these mountains with great determination. Another graybeard, known as the Wise Old Man, saw them and said derisively, "How silly of you to do this! It is quite impossible for you few to dig up those two huge mountains." The Foolish Old Man replied, "When I die, my sons will carry on; when they die, there will be my grandsons, and then their sons and grandsons, and so on to infinity. High as they are, the mountains cannot grow any higher and with every bit we dig, they will be that much lower. Why can't we clear them away?" Having refuted the Wise Old Man's wrong view, he went on digging every day, unshaken in his conviction. God was moved by this, and he sent down two angels, who carried the mountains away on their backs. Today, two big mountains lie like a dead weight on the Chinese people. One is imperialism, the other is feudalism. The Chinese Communist Party has long made up its mind to dig them up. We must persevere and work unceasingly, and we, too, will touch God's heart. Our God is none other than the masses of the Chinese people. If they stand up and dig together with us, why can't these two mountains be cleared away?
On Protracted Warfare (1938)
Kontext: Weapons are an important factor in war, but not the decisive factor; it is people, not things that are decisive. The contest of strength is not only a contest of military and economic power, but also a contest of human power and morale. People necessarily wield military and economic power.
Chapter 2 https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/mao/works/red-book/ch02.htm, originally published in Report on an investigation of the peasant movement in Hunan http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/mao/selected-works/volume-1/mswv1_2.htm (March 1927), Selected Works, Vol. I, p. 28.
https://www.marxists.org/chinese/big5/nonmarxists/mao/19270300.htm.湖南農民運動考察報告
Kontext: A revolution is not a dinner party, or writing an essay, or painting a picture, or doing embroidery. It cannot be so refined, so leisurely and gentle, so temperate, kind, courteous, restrained and magnanimous. A revolution is an insurrection, an act of violence by which one class overthrows another.
Chapter 9 https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/mao/works/red-book/ch09.htm, originally published in the Problems of War and Strategy (November 6, 1938), Selected Works, Vol. II, p. 224.
Original: (zh) 我们的原则是党指挥枪，而决不容许枪指挥党。
Combat Liberalism (1937)
Original: (zh) 革命的集体组织中的自由主义是十分有害的。它是一种腐蚀剂，使团结涣散，关系松懈，工作消极，意见分歧。它使革命队伍失掉严密的组织和纪律，政策不能贯彻到底，党的组织和党所领导的群众发生隔离。这是一种严重的恶劣倾向。
Chapter 9 https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/mao/works/red-book/ch09.htm, originally published in On Coalition Government (April 24, 1945), Selected Works, Vol. III, pp. 296-97.
Original: (zh) 没有一个人民的军队，便没有人民的一切。
Chapter 19 https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/mao/works/red-book/ch19.htm; originally published in The Foolish Old Man Who Removed the Mountains (June 11, 1945), Selected Works, Vol. III, p. 321.
Original: (zh) 下定决心，不怕牺牲，排除万难，去争取胜利。
Speech at the Lushan Conference (23 July 1959)
Original: (zh) 假如办十件事，九件是坏的，都登在报上，一定灭亡。那我就走，到农村去，率领农民推翻政府，你解放军不跟我走，我就找红军去。【在庐山会议上的讲话（１９５９年７月２３日）】
