How far will the Chinese take their Mao Zedong cult?

[Iwasamwillbe]

It's a pretty obvious observation that the personality cults that surrounded (and in some cases, still surround) various socialist/communist/Marxist dictators are little more than modernized versions of the imperial cults and sacred kings of ancient and medieval times.

However, China seems to go above and beyond even North Korea in the regards of glorification of "nation heroes". In China, "Lord" Mao Zedong is regarded as:

The "Celestial Deity Buddha"
The "New Jade Emperor" (basically a manifestation of the Chinese God)
The source of Buddhism and Taoism with his teachings
The "Red Sun" in the metaphorical center of the yin-yang (representing duality)

Keep in mind, many temples to Taoism, Buddhism, etc. had been constantly harassed by CCP officials...until they put Mao idols in their temples and started (at least when in public) worshipping Mao. So the Chinese Communist Party clearly approves of this burgeoning Mao cult.

What I'm wondering is how far the CCP will take this Mao worship. Will they make it a state religion, de facto or de jure, and outlaw all others? It sure looks that way to me, with how things are developing.

 

[James Mason]

they already take muzzie kids from their parents and put them into orphanages where they're taught to worship Xi as a god, Mao is a spiritual leader but the cult of personality is based around Xi

 

[protec cat]

Doing the same in churches or chapels. Picture of Mao or closure.

 

[SIGSEGV]

dong cult

lol

 

[Super-Chevy454]

Doing the same in churches or chapels. Picture of Mao or closure.

I guess the CCP will be angry if we draw a picture of Mao showing him doing unorthodox things.

Btw, would a big disaster like for example, the Three Gorges Dam collapsing could bring the cult of Mao to an abrupt end?

 

[millais]

I imagine it will only get worse as President Xi tries to play up the benefits and historical precedent of his one-man autocracy. Before Xi's rise, when the Politburo was still in full control of the political power in the country, they were rightfully wary of the resurgence of the Maoist cult of personality. A lot of the older Party cadres lived through the Cultural Revolution when the cult got really out of hand to the detriment of the entire country, and afterwards they even had to concede that Mao was not infallible. I think it was Deng Xiaoping who paraphrased Krushchev's critique of Stalin in saying that in the final analysis, Mao's actions were "50% good, 25% neutral, and 25% bad".

But now that there has been over 50 years since the worst excesses of the Cultural Revolution, those bitter memories are no longer so sharp and it will only get easier to deify Mao as an idealized image of everything great about the CCP. Especially since Xi wants to make himself out to be the new emperor of the Red Dynasty, it makes sense to play up Mao as well. He can very easily claim a direct line of succession to Mao, since none of the other CCP leaders that ruled the country between Mao and Xi ever aspired to emulate the one-man autocracy.

 

[bot_for_hire]

It's soon to be replaced by the cult of Xi.

 

[Ghost88]

I imagine it will only get worse as President Xi tries to play up the benefits and historical precedent of his one-man autocracy. Before Xi's rise, when the Politburo was still in full control of the political power in the country, they were rightfully wary of the resurgence of the Maoist cult of personality. A lot of the older Party cadres lived through the Cultural Revolution when the cult got really out of hand to the detriment of the entire country, and afterwards they even had to concede that Mao was not infallible. I think it was Deng Xiaoping who paraphrased Krushchev's critique of Stalin in saying that in the final analysis, Mao's actions were "50% good, 25% neutral, and 25% bad".

But now that there has been over 50 years since the worst excesses of the Cultural Revolution, those bitter memories are no longer so sharp and it will only get easier to deify Mao as an idealized image of everything great about the CCP. Especially since Xi wants to make himself out to be the new emperor of the Red Dynasty, it makes sense to play up Mao as well. He can very easily claim a direct line of succession to Mao, since none of the other CCP leaders that ruled the country between Mao and Xi ever aspired to emulate the one-man autocracy.

Do you think Xi has a string of virgins and STI'S as well?

 

[Smurfskii]

Unless something happens like the De-Stalinization era of the USSR in the late 50s or a change of goverment (more than unlikely), I doubt

 

[Hellbound Hellhound]

I think Xi's premiership is a lot more analogous to Putin's than Mao's, personally.

The China of the 2020s is very different to the China of the 1970s, much like the Russia of the 1990s was very different from the Russia of the 1940s. China is perhaps two or three decades behind Russia, but in a lot of ways the two countries share a remarkably similar trajectory: they both started off the 20th century as decaying, dysfunctional aristocracies, subsequently experiencing violent communist revolutions which were marked by massive social upheaval and starvation, only to then emerge as Orwellian dictatorships, gradually liberalizing following some reforms, and then beginning to roll back on the reforms once the potential became clear for the ruling elite to lose out.

Like Putin, Xi is a cynical autocrat, not an idealist revolutionary. Though China is still nominally communist, in reality it's been a mercantile autocracy for the past 40 years, with Beijing now boasting more billionaire residents than every other city on the planet.

The way that the current Chinese regime wants to mythologize Mao isn't really all that different to the way that the current Russian regime wants to mythologize Tchaikovsky, or, for that matter, the way that many Americans like to mythologize the founding fathers. It's a kind of nationalist sentimentality which naturally seems odd to anyone on the outside, but which has far more to do with collective self-worship than truth or intent.

 

[CAPTAIN MATI]

The way that the current Chinese regime wants to mythologize Mao isn't really all that different to the way that the current Russian regime wants to mythologize Tchaikovsky, or, for that matter, the way that many Americans like to mythologize the founding fathers. It's a kind of nationalist sentimentality which naturally seems odd to anyone on the outside, but which has far more to do with collective self-worship than truth or intent.

Difference here would be that some of those have valid reasons and accomplishemets to be praised for, the one other has absolutely negative reasons to be deified instead of being brought back to life with evil commie techno magic just to bet drowned in a pit of shit.

 

[Hellbound Hellhound]

Difference here would be that some of those have valid reasons and accomplishemets to be praised for, the one other has absolutely negative reasons to be deified instead of being brought back to life with evil commie techno magic just to bet drowned in a pit of shit.

There's a difference between honest praise and sentimental fabrication, and the reality of the founding fathers has been no less distorted than the reality of Mao Zedong by their respective nations. Tchaikovsky is arguably the outlier here since his masterful accomplishments in music transcend national disagreements, although this hasn't stopped the current Russian state from distorting the facts of his life (such as denying his homosexuality).

 

[CAPTAIN MATI]

There's a difference between honest praise and sentimental fabrication, and the reality of the founding fathers has been no less distorted than the reality of Mao Zedong by their respective nations. Tchaikovsky is arguably the outlier here since his masterful accomplishments in music transcend national disagreements, although this hasn't stopped the current Russian state from distorting the facts of his life (such as denying his homosexuality).

No less is no less than a huge stretch comparing a psycho fucktard like Mao to the FFs. The similarity ends when in America you can spit on George Washington, tear downs statues of Thomas Jefferson and at worst you'll be called an asshole. In China you blink the wrong way and you'll credit score is void.
Tchaikovsky was just a bad example.
I get what you're saying and you're absolutely right. But I think this self aggrandizement is common to all nations and ideologies. You can even look at Joe Biden and his bullshit, fantasy stories about himself and the media praising him for literally no reason. Still, you can for the most part still say Let's Go Brandon anywhere you want, but if you're in China and you even say that you disslike Mao, you just might get a visit from a pissed off local authority. The extend of aggrandizement of this cult of personality bullshit is far different, although the reasons why would be similar. And I'd also think that the harshesh the aggrandizement, the more fragile the system is. Folk in and around Russia talk about Putin leaving office soon, but who'll come after him, who could actually replace a monumental figure like him to any success and that's a real problem.
I also wanted to post this: