Five decades after Mao Zedong’s death, his image and ideas continue to dominate Chinese public life, with his portrait still displayed in Tiananmen Square and his thoughts frequently invoked in party discourse. While many older citizens recall his era through revolutionary songs, younger people view him as a more distant historical figure. Nevertheless, publicly criticizing his legacy remains fraught.
Mao died on September 9, 1976, after more than 25 years as China’s paramount leader.
In Beijing, numerous retirees congregate in parks to sing revolutionary songs that celebrate Mao, blending nostalgia with patriotic sentiment.
“We love life, our motherland, our party, our army, our people and our magnificent landscapes. All these themes are present in the songs we sing,” Ding Yinan, who regularly participates in park gatherings in Beijing, told RFI.
Revolutionary songs, known as “red songs,” have long been part of many Chinese retirees’ childhoods.
“When I have free time, I sing, which brings me joy,” Wang Liqun, born in the 1960s, explained. “These songs give meaning to my retirement and help me stay positive.”
The “red song” repertoire, which accompanied the formative years of many Chinese retirees, continues to convey a political message that ties individual lives to China’s collective strength.
“Only China, this great family, can support each of us,” he said. “Without China’s great happiness and the motherland’s prosperity, how could individual joys exist in China?”
Mao’s enduring appeal
For this cohort, Mao is remembered as the founder of the People’s Republic of China, the leader who restored national sovereignty after a century of invasions and humiliation.
“He gave us so much. Chairman Mao enabled the nation to rise, liberated the working masses and those who suffered. We have risen again,” Ding said, echoing the party’s narrative.
This heroic memory largely omits the famines of the Great Leap Forward and the violence of the Cultural Revolution.
Revolutionary songs also convey a political message that ties individual lives to China’s collective strength, a notion that persists in Communist Party rhetoric and among citizens such as Wang.
“Only China, this great family, can support each of us,” he said. “Without China’s great happiness and the motherland’s prosperity, how could individual joys exist?”
Famine and political chaos
Mao’s rule also encompassed mass purges during the Cultural Revolution, the burning of books, the persecution of teachers, and a decade of political turmoil. His Great Leap Forward and failed economic policies precipitated a famine that claimed roughly 40 million lives.
“He is a complex figure, embodying both Lenin’s revolutionary zeal and Stalin’s authoritarianism in the People’s Republic of China,” Jean‑Philippe Béja, an expert on China and retired senior researcher at France’s National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), told RFI.
“He is both the founder of the People’s Republic and the individual who committed grave, so‑called ‘mistakes’—acts that could be termed crimes,” he added.
These episodes now carry less prominence than the founding myth surrounding Mao. His uncertain declaration of the People’s Republic of China in 1949 remains central to both Chinese history and the Communist Party’s narrative.
For younger Chinese, Mao has become a more distant historical figure, yet he continues to be treated with respect.
“He is a great man, the founder of modern China,” a young man told RFI. “Although times have changed, the ideas he left behind can guide us in future circumstances.”
Risks of criticism
Mao’s central role in Communist China’s founding narrative makes public criticism of his record difficult.
“Anyone who dares to criticise him publicly now risks serious trouble, disappearance, or imprisonment,” Béja said.
Artist Gao Zhen provides an example. In the early 2000s, he created caricatures portraying Mao as a woman or kneeling in supplication for forgiveness.
Gao was recently sentenced to three years in prison.
