Biography Zone

Mao Zedong Biography

Mao Zedong (Hanzi: 毛泽东) (born in Shaoshan, Hunan, December 26, 1893 - died in Beijing, 9 September 1976 at the age of 82 years), was a prominent philosopher and founder of the People's Republic of China. He is one of the most important figures in the history of modern China

Born in a poor peasant family, Mao since childhood to work hard and life is concerned. Although in later life increased family economic circumstances, but the misery in childhood that influenced later life. When small, Mao was sent to study at the elementary school. Childhood education also includes classical Confucian teachings. But at age 13, his father told him to stop going to school and working in the fields.

Mao rebellious and determined to complete his education so that he was desperate to run away from home and continue their education elsewhere.

In 1905, he joined the state exam at that time began removing the old Confucian ideologies; replaced by Western-style education. This marks the beginning of an intellectual uncertainty in China.

In 1911, Mao engaged in the Xinhai Revolution was a revolution against the Qing dynasty that resulted in the collapse of the Chinese empire that has ruled over 2000 years since 221 BC. In 1912, the Republic of China was proclaimed by Sun Yat-sen and China officially entered the era of the republic. Mao then continue their education and learn a lot of things, among other western cultures. In 1918 he graduated and then attended the University of Beijing. There he will meet with the founders of the Marxist CCP.

Mao and the party is
Mao in Yan'an in 1946

The party was founded in 1921, Mao and Mao are increasingly vocal. Between the years 1934 - 1935 he held the lead role and lead the Chinese Red Army undergoing "Mars Long". Then, since the year 1937 he joined the Army to help fight the Dai Nippon occupied many regions of China. Finally, World War II ended and the civil war flared up again. In the war against the nationalists, Mao became the leader of the Reds and eventually it won in 1949. On October 1, 1949, the People's Republic of China was proclaimed and the nationalist Chinese leader; Chiang Kai-shek fled to Taiwan.

In Mao CCP itself since 1943 and is chairman of the secretariat of the party Politburo but in fact it controls the rest of the party until his death in 1976. Leadership may not be vulgar cruel as Stalin but violence and behavior policies that arbitrarily himself brought the Chinese people plunged into ruin and misery incredible.

Philosophy of Mao
Mao Zedong in 1936

Mao is actually not an original philosopher. The ideas are based on socialism fathers such as Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, Lenin and Stalin. But he had a lot to think about dialectical materialism is the basis of socialism and the application of these ideas in practice can be regarded as Mao done original. Mao could also be said of a Chinese philosopher whose influence is greatest in this 20th century.

Mao's most important philosophical concept is conflict. He said: "The conflict is universal and absolute, it is in the process of development of all goods and possess all the process from beginning to end." Model of history Karl Marx was also based on the principle of conflict: the oppressed class and the oppressed class, capital and jobs are in a eternal conflict. At some point this will lead to a crisis and the workers will win. In this new situation will eventually lead to a crisis yet, but logically all processes ultimately by Mao, will lead to a stable and harmonious balance. Mao thus argues that all conflicts are universal and absolute, so in other words are timeless. Mao's concept of conflict no resemblance to the philosophical concept of yin-yang. It all sounds like a dogmatic belief. Below is a snippet of his thoughts on the conflict.

In science everything is broken down by a particular conflict inherent to the objects of their research. Conflict thus constitute the basis of some form of scientific disciplines. Here can be presented a few examples: positive and negative numbers in mathematics, action and reaction in mechanics, electricity and negatifa positive in the physical sciences, attraction and repulsion in chemistry, class conflict in the social sciences, attack and defense in science war, idealism and materialism and dialectical perspective in metaphysics and philosophy of science, and so on. It's all research object science disciplines in different because each discipline has a specific conflict and the essence or gist of each.

Examples given by Mao Zedong on 'conflict' in different disciplines took from Lenin. Some of the analogies are appropriate but others do not. Numbers of positive and negative is a bad example of the dialectics of Marxism because of their differences are not dynamic: there are only the numbers of positive and negative that have emerged. Opinion Mao into doubt when he says that 'konflik'-' conflict 'is the' essence 'rather than science discipline concerned. Positive and negative numbers are not the essence of mathematical sciences, as well as metaphysics and dialectics is not the essence of philosophy. Mao is someone who is educated and understanding-understanding can be explained by the wrong because he was obsessed with the concept conflicts. This obsession also affect his political decisions as will be discussed in more detail below.
The concept of Yin Yang affect philosophical view of Mao Zedong.

Mao second important concept is the concept of the knowledge which he also took from Marxism. Mao found an advanced knowledge of the physical experience and that experience was the same as the engagement.

If you seek knowledge then you have to engage with the state of the changed situation. If you want to know how it feels a cashew, guava then it should be changed by way of eating. If you want to know the structure of the atom, then you must perform experiments of physics and chemistry to change the status of this atom. If you want to know the theory and metoed revolution, then you should follow. All true knowledge comes from direct experience.

Only after someone get experience, then he could jump to the front. After that pengathuan practiced back that makes people get to experience it again and so on. Here it was shown that Mao Marxism not only recognize but also understand neokonfusianisme as suggested by Wang Yangmin who lived in the 15th century to the 16th century.

The politics and policies of Mao

Mao distinguish two types of conflict; conflict of antagonistic and non-antagonistic conflicts. Antagonistic conflict can only be solved according to the battle alone while the non-antagonistic conflict can be resolved by a discussion. According to Mao conflict between the workers and the workers with the capitalists is an antagonist of the conflict while the conflict between the people of China to the party is a non-antagonistic conflict.

In 1956, Mao introduced a new policy in which intellectuals should expend their opinion as compromises to the party who pressed for wanting to avoid the violent suppression accompanied by the motto: "Let a hundred flowers flourish and hundred different thoughts contend." But ironically policy This political failure: the intellectuals are not satisfied and spend a lot of criticism. Mao himself argued that he had been betrayed by them, and his revenge. Approximately 700,000 members of the intelligentsia ditangkapinya and forcibly put to work in rural areas.

Mao believed in the eternal nature of a revolution. He also believes that every revolution inevitably produce the counter-revolutionaries. Therefore, he regularly combating and capturing what he considers his political opponents and the traitors or the counter-revolutionaries. The most dramatic event and the tragic events of the Cultural Revolution is the heart that occurred in 1966. In 1960 students around the world are in happy-happy rebel against what they consider the Establishment or the ruling. Similarly, in China. The difference in China they are supported by their teachers and dignitaries of the Party, including Mao himself. The students and faculty set up what is called the Red Guard, a paramilitary unit. Equipped with the Red Book of Mao, they attack the minions of capitalism and Western influences, and other counter-revolutionaries. As an example of their fanaticism, among other they refuse to stop on the highway when the red light is on because they believe that the color red, which is a symbol of socialism might not mean something to stop. So the members of the Red Guard in 1966 so blindly in combating the counter-revolutionary that the Chinese state in an extremely precarious and almost destroyed; ekonominyapun beaten path. Mao finally forced to People's Liberation Army to tackle them and block their fanaticism. The result was a civil war that only ended in 1968.

Mao Zedong Biography

Failure Mao

In 1958 Mao launched what he called the Great Leap Forward in which reorganized rural areas in total. Everywhere established associations villages (communes). Economically it turns out it's all failed. These communes into units that are too large and can not be terurusi. Estimated to be nearly 20 million people died in China at that time wasted

Mao Zedong and the UN
Mao Zedong proclaimed the People's Republic of China on October 1, 1949.

People's Republic of China was proclaimed by Mao since in 1949 was not recognized by the United States. United States continue to recognize the Nationalist Republic of China since 1949 only controlled island of Formosa or Taiwan and beyond. China since the founding of the United Nations in 1945 has become a permanent member of the Security Council along with the United States, United Kingdom, France and the Soviet Union (Russia) as the winner of World War II, continued to be represented as well. Just who is representing the nationalist government that ruled Taiwan is now only just. It is a strange time for the Chinese mainland was inhabited approximately 800 million people are not represented in the United Nations; representing only course which at that time Taiwan has a population of probably no more than 10 million people.

So at the end of the 1960s the president of the United States, Richard Nixon, began to approach the People's Republic of China and the Soviet Union ended with the approval of PRC to the UN Security Council began in 1972 and replaced Taiwan.

Legacy of Mao and the People's Republic of China is currently

In 1976 Mao Zedong died. After that the People's Republic of China to be more open. Normalization of diplomatic relations with Indonesia are also realized in 1992. At this time China appears as a giant just woke up from his sleep and rapid economic growth. Even China could surpass Russia in its development. Things contested now is whether all this can be achieved thanks to Mao services or because the effect is thin.