Emperor Mao Zedong's beliefs changed the way that China exists to this day. His ideas revolutionized Chinese culture and lifestyle for decades. His changes resulted in the deaths of millions of people, wasted time and brainwashed the people of China to follow his often misguided lead.
A part of Mao's rise to power involved millions of people dying. Regularly land was taken from the landlords and given to the peasants who worked the land. This was a positive change in that it improved the lives of many Chinese people. Unfortunately, Mao also encouraged the public humiliation and murder of these landlords. Thousands of these men were put on stages, harassed and killed. Although the landlords made life miserable for the Chinese farmers and peasants, they were simply the children of a corrupt system. Had they chosen not to be landlords, they probably would have had to become farmers and suffered the same as the peasants. Mao's Great Leap Forward made an effort to push China ahead but it ended up hurting China more than it helped. For example, Mao's Great Sparrow Campaign caused famine which killed 20 to 30 million people [1]. Mao's Great Leap Forward did not work, but Mao refused to accept the failure and continued on with his plans. Mao is quoted [2] as saying "'Half of China may well have to die'" regarding the Great Leap Forward. Additionally, during Mao's Cultural Revolution, the Red Guards (a group of young people in China who supported Mao) humiliated, tortured and killed those who opposed Mao. Millions were killed, and they weren't even all against Mao. Schoolteachers who had taught children to support Mao were punished for representing authority. The Red Guards were merciless, even killing other Red Guards who they thought were not the true Red Guards.
Mao's intentions had always been to help improve China, and this is exactly why he ordered canals to be built for irrigation during the Great Leap Forward. The construction of the project took huge amounts of men, many of which died, and used many of the countries resources, like steel. When Mao decided to try to return to power in 1966, he enlisted the Red Guards would travel across China convincing people to support Mao and punishing those who didn't. This threw the country into turmoil and stopped it from progressing. This period is known as the "10 Wasted Years" because it suffered through so much violence and fighting that education and technology were set back and the economy was nearly destroyed. Another article[3] concludes, "The Cultural Revolution ruptured China's political system, maimed the nation's intelligentsia, disrupted the economy and, at times, brought Chinese society to the brink of civil war." When Mao first took power, he moved the country forward and saved time but he ended up wasting time later.
The people of China thoroughly believed that Mao could achieve the perfect society that he talked about and were willing to do everything they could to help him accomplish it. Whenever Mao asked the people of China to do something for the country, they almost instantly responded. The negative of this response is that many people stopped their regular work and jobs to try and help Mao, which was catastrophic. During the Great Leap Forward, Mao often asked for citizens to accomplish tasks to help improve the country, but these tasks frequently had bad outcomes. In 1958, Mao made the Great Sparrow Campaign where he asked for citizens to kill as many sparrows as possible to help crops. After years of killing sparrows, the Chinese realized that sparrows primarily ate insects that eat crops. This disruption of the food chain destroyed many crops and caused the Great Chinese famine. To assist in the building of canals, Mao asked citizens to produce steel for its construction. Villages set up steel furnaces all over and people melted down their pots and pans to help. In the end, after so many people had stopped working and sacrificed their possessions, it was discovered that this steel was brittle and could not be used. Mao had so much influence and control over the people of China, that even his bad orders were carried out by the mass of the population.
Although Mao had good intentions and in many ways helped improve the lives of the Chinese people, he should not be celebrated because he did more bad than good and as a result the country wasted time and resources and the lives of millions of people where lost during his rule over China.
Mao's intentions had always been to help improve China, and this is exactly why he ordered canals to be built for irrigation during the Great Leap Forward. The construction of the project took huge amounts of men, many of which died, and used many of the countries resources, like steel. When Mao decided to try to return to power in 1966, he enlisted the Red Guards would travel across China convincing people to support Mao and punishing those who didn't. This threw the country into turmoil and stopped it from progressing. This period is known as the "10 Wasted Years" because it suffered through so much violence and fighting that education and technology were set back and the economy was nearly destroyed. Another article[3] concludes, "The Cultural Revolution ruptured China's political system, maimed the nation's intelligentsia, disrupted the economy and, at times, brought Chinese society to the brink of civil war." When Mao first took power, he moved the country forward and saved time but he ended up wasting time later.
The people of China thoroughly believed that Mao could achieve the perfect society that he talked about and were willing to do everything they could to help him accomplish it. Whenever Mao asked the people of China to do something for the country, they almost instantly responded. The negative of this response is that many people stopped their regular work and jobs to try and help Mao, which was catastrophic. During the Great Leap Forward, Mao often asked for citizens to accomplish tasks to help improve the country, but these tasks frequently had bad outcomes. In 1958, Mao made the Great Sparrow Campaign where he asked for citizens to kill as many sparrows as possible to help crops. After years of killing sparrows, the Chinese realized that sparrows primarily ate insects that eat crops. This disruption of the food chain destroyed many crops and caused the Great Chinese famine. To assist in the building of canals, Mao asked citizens to produce steel for its construction. Villages set up steel furnaces all over and people melted down their pots and pans to help. In the end, after so many people had stopped working and sacrificed their possessions, it was discovered that this steel was brittle and could not be used. Mao had so much influence and control over the people of China, that even his bad orders were carried out by the mass of the population.
Although Mao had good intentions and in many ways helped improve the lives of the Chinese people, he should not be celebrated because he did more bad than good and as a result the country wasted time and resources and the lives of millions of people where lost during his rule over China.
References
- Judith Wyman "A Great Leader, Who Made Some Mistakes"
- Adi Ignatius "The Mao That Roared"
- "Mortalizing Mao"
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