Maoism

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Maoism, also known as Mao Zedong Thought, is a rural version of Marxism-Leninism that advocates the rebellion of peasants. Ironically, the Chinese communists do not really understand Marxism-Leninism. Lin Biao said that there were very few CCP members who had really read the works of Marx or Lenin. The public considered Qu Qiubai to be an ideologue, but he admitted to having read very little of Marxist-Leninist theory.

Maoism is economically far-left, totalitarian, and culturally far-left. Maoism and Mao Zedong has committed countless atrocities, and destroyed China’s five-thousand year long traditions and culture.

History

Founding & Takeover in China

WIP

Rule in China

See also: People's Republic of China#毛泽东时代 (Maoist Era)

Eliminating the Landlord Class

Barely three months after the founding of communist China, the CCP, under Mao, called for the elimination of the landlord class, as one of the guidelines for its nationwide land reform program. The Party’s slogan “land to the tiller” indulged the selfish side of the landless peasants, encouraging them to struggle with the landowners by whatever means and to disregard the moral implications of their actions. The land reform campaign explicitly stipulated eliminating the landlord class and classified the rural population into different social categories. Twenty million rural inhabitants nationwide were labeled landlords, rich peasants, reactionaries, or bad elements. These new outcasts faced discrimination, humiliation, and loss of all their civil rights.

As the land reform campaign extended its reach to remote areas and the villages of ethnic minorities, the CCP’s organizations also expanded quickly. Township Party committees and village Party branches spread all over China. The local branches were the mouthpiece for passing instructions from the CCP’s central committee and were at the frontline of the class struggle, inciting peasants to rise up against their landlords. Nearly one hundred thousand landlords were killed during this movement. In certain areas, the CCP and the peasants killed the landlords’ entire families, disregarding gender or age, as a way to completely wipe out the landlord class. In the meantime, the Mao Zedong and the CCP launched their first wave of propaganda, declaring that “ Chairman Mao is the great savior of the people” and that “only the CCP can save China.” During the land reform, landless farmers got what they wanted through the Mao’s policy of reaping without laboring and robbing without concern for the means. Poor peasants credited the CCP and Mao Zedong for the improvement in their lives, and so accepted the Mao’s propaganda that the Party worked for the interests of the people.

For the owners of the newly acquired land, the good days of “land to the tiller” were short-lived. Within two years, the CCP imposed a number of practices on the farmers, such as mutual-aid groups, primary cooperatives, advanced cooperatives, and people’s communes. Using the slogan of criticizing “women with bound feet” — meaning those who are slow paced — the CCP drove and pushed, year after year, urging peasants to dash into socialism. With grain, cotton, and cooking oil placed under a unified procurement system nationwide, the major agricultural products were excluded from market exchange. In addition, the CCP established a residential registration system, barring peasants from going to the cities to find work or dwell. Those who were registered as rural residents were not allowed to buy grain at state-run stores, and their children were prohibited from receiving education in cities. Peasants’ children could only be peasants, turning the 360 million rural residents of the early 1950s into second-class citizens.

Eliminating the Capitalist Class

Another class Mao wanted to eliminate were the bourgeoisie, who owned capital in cities and rural towns. While reforming China’s industry and commerce, Mao told everyone that the capitalist class and the working class were different in nature: the former was the exploiting class while the latter was the class that did not exploit and opposed exploitation. According to this incorrect logic, the capitalist class was born to exploit and wouldn’t stop doing so until it perished; it could only be eliminated, not reformed.

Maoism used both killing and brainwashing to “transform” capitalists and merchants. If you surrendered your assets to the state and supported the CCP and Mao, you were considered just a minor problem among the people. If, on the other hand, you disagreed with or complained about Maoist policy, you would be labeled a reactionary and become target. During the reign of terror that ensued during these reforms, capitalists and business owners all surrendered their assets. Many of them couldn’t bear the humiliation they faced and committed suicide. Chen Yi (陈毅), then mayor of Shanghai, asked every day, “How many paratroopers did we have today?” — referring to the number of capitalists who had committed suicide by jumping from the tops of buildings that day. In only a few years, Mao Zedong eliminated private ownership in China.

Crackdown on Religion

Mao decided to committed another atrocity with his brutal suppression of religion and complete ban of all grass-roots religious groups, following the founding of the People’s Republic of China. In 1950, he instructed his local governments to ban all unofficial religious faiths and secret societies. He stated that those “ feudalistic” underground groups were mere tools in the hands of landlords, rich farmers, reactionaries, and special agents of the Kuomintang. In the nationwide crackdown, the government mobilized the classes they trusted to identify and persecute members of religious groups. Governments at various levels were directly involved in disbanding such “superstitious groups,” such as communities of Christians, Catholics, Taoists (especially believers of I-Kuan Tao), and Buddhists. They ordered all members of these churches, temples, and religious societies to register with government agencies and to repent for their involvement. Failure to do so would mean severe punishment. In 1951, the government formally promulgated regulations stating that those who continued their activities in unofficial religious groups would face a life sentence or the death penalty. Mao has officially set Communism as the state religion of China.