Mao Tse Tung - Hero or Villain Programme Notes

Mao Tse Tung – Channel 4 Television

Heroes or Villains

Programme Outline

The key issue which underpins the programme, and indeed the series, is the extent to which Mao should be regarded as a hero or villain. At one level, the answer to this is simple and obvious — his supporters see him as a hero and his critics don’t! For instance, are many Chinese people simplistic fools for continuing to respect Mao? Or, is it that they accept Mao’s flaws but are nonetheless grateful for his achievements and the changes he brought to China?

Introduction
0.00 — 1.39
The programme opens with Mao’s funeral, an appropriate enough way to establish the extent to which millions in 1976 regarded him as a hero, and his death as an immense loss. The scenes are very reminiscent of the scenes at the funeral of Lenin in 1924 in the USSR. An interesting discussion question to raise here might be the extent to which the grief was genuine and how far it was orchestrated. Another interesting point is how difficult it would be to gauge such a judgement precisely. Finally, for the UK audience a comparison between the reaction to Mao’s death and the recent death of Diana Princess of Wales might be useful.

Mao and the Communist Revolution
1.40 — 8.10
The Civil War
This fairly long section details China’s troubled history in the period c. 1900-1949, and with it the rise of Mao from unknown to Communist leader. The footage and commentary outlines the backwardness of China in the early 20^th century and the terrible hardships endured by China’s peasants. Their lives were short and harsh, and their landlords had an almost complete mastery over them. The situation began to change with the revolution in 1911 which overthrew the Imperial regime. The country collapsed into civil war, or more accurately a collection of local conflicts. During this process, Mao arrived in Beijing. He was soon involved in left-wing politics and deeply influenced by the events of the Russian Revolution and the success of the Communists there. He became a founder member of the Communist party. By this time the Nationalists (Kuomintang) under Sun Yat Sen had taken control of China. Sun was impressed by the Communists in Russia and worked with Mao and the Chinese Communists. However, when Sun died in 1925 he was followed by the anti-Communist Chiang Kai-shek.

The Long March
The programme then describes how the Communists fled and set up their own soviets in Jianxgi Province. The footage showing the peasants taking their revenge on landlords makes it much easier to understand why the peasants supported the Communists. Revenge against the hated landlord class was probably enough to guarantee support, but the Communists also offered a positive vision in which people worked for themselves and their communities. This spirit must be part of the explanation for the extraordinary achievement of the Long March. It is important to recognise that the Long March was a triumph of the Communists over their enemies and adversity, but it was also a reflection of the incredible loyalty which Mao was able to inspire. The writer Hong Ying describes how history lessons subsequently credited Mao as the hero of the Long March. An interesting discussion point with students would be to compare a landmark event like the Long March with a landmark from UK history. Is the Long March comparable to, say, the Battle of Britain in terms of its importance to the people?

The Revolution
The remainder of this section describes how the Communists used their new base in Yunan Province to build their support in a bitter war against Chiang’s Nationalists. Mao used the same guerrilla tactics which the IRA had used in their war against the British in Ireland (Mao was an admirer of Michael Collins). It was a vicious conflict, but the Communists won because the majority of the peasant population felt that the Communists represented their interests, rather than the interests of the landlords. Chiang and his remaining supporters fled to Taiwan and the new Communist Republic of China was declared in 1949.

Mao and the People’s Republic of China
8.10 — 13.50
This section of the programme describes Mao’s efforts to modernise China. It is here that Mao’s errors and failing begin to emerge most powerfully. At the same time, the management of information and control of the people becomes apparent as well. The failings (and successes) of the Five Year Plans and the Great Leap Forward are described. The collapse of the Great Leap Forward led to Mao being marginalised, but the footage of Mao swimming in the River Yangtze announces his return with the Cultural Revolution.

The Cultural Revolution
13.50 — end
More than any other development, the Cultural Revolution undermines Mao’s claim to hero status. The writer Hung Ying describes how her adulation of Mao turned to horror during this period. Essentially Mao appears to have unleashed a tide of anarchy via the Red Guards and the young people of China in order to secure his own position. However, it has to be said that few of his rivals did much to prevent or fight the process until total anarchy threatened. It may have suited them also to see potential opponents rooted out among the innocent victims of the Cultural Revolution.

The programme concludes by returning to the footage of Mao’s funeral. It asks the question as to whether history will judge Mao harshly. The students using the programme may have to make that very decision.