Editing Maoism (section)

=== After Mao Zedong's death ===
[[File:Deng Xiaoping and Jimmy Carter at the arrival ceremony for the Vice Premier of China. - NARA - 183157-restored(cropped).jpg|thumb|[[Deng Xiaoping]]]]
The CCP's ideological framework distinguishes between political ideas described as "Thought" (as in Mao Zedong Thought) or as "Theory" (as in [[Deng Xiaoping Theory]]).<ref name=":02">{{Cite book |last=Hu |first=Richard |title=Reinventing the Chinese City |date=2023 |publisher=Columbia University Press |isbn=978-0-231-21101-7 |location=New York |doi=10.7312/hu--21100}}</ref>{{Rp|page=2}} Thought carries more weight than Theory and conveys the greater relative importance of a leader's ideological and historical influence.<ref name=":02" />{{Rp|page=2}} The process of formalizing a leader's political thinking in the Marxist tradition is important in establishing a leader's ideological legitimacy.<ref name=":02" />{{Rp|page=3}}

Mao Zedong Thought is frequently described as the result of collaboration between the [[Generations of Chinese leadership#First generation|first-generation leaders]] of the Party and is principally based on Mao's analysis of Marxism and Chinese history.<ref name=":6">{{Cite book |last=Karl |first=Rebecca E. |title=Mao Zedong and China in the Twentieth-Century World: A Concise History |date=2010 |publisher=[[Duke University Press]] |isbn=978-0-8223-4780-4 |series=Asia-pacific |location=Durham, NC |doi=10.2307/j.ctv11hpp6w |jstor=j.ctv11hpp6w}}</ref>{{Rp|page=53}} It is often also described as the adaptation of Marxism to the Chinese context.<ref name=":6" />{{Rp|page=53}} Observing that concepts of both Marxism and Chinese culture were and are contested, academic Rebecca Karl writes that the development of Mao Zedong Thought is best viewed as the result of Mao's mutual interpretation of these concepts producing Mao's view of theory and revolutionary practice.<ref name=":6" />{{Rp|page=53}}

Mao Zedong Thought asserts that class struggle continues even if the proletariat has already overthrown the bourgeoisie and there are capitalist restorationist elements within the CCP itself. Maoism provided the CCP's first comprehensive theoretical guideline regarding how to continue the socialist revolution, the creation of a socialist society, and socialist military construction and highlights various contradictions in society to be addressed by what is termed "socialist construction". While it continues to be lauded to be the major force that defeated "imperialism and feudalism" and created a "New China" by the Chinese Communist Party, the ideology survives only in name on the Communist Party's Constitution as Deng Xiaoping abolished most Maoist practices in 1978, advancing a guiding ideology called "[[socialism with Chinese characteristics]]".<ref>{{Cite web |title=Xinhua: Constitution of the Communist Party of China |url=http://news.xinhuanet.com/ziliao/2002-11/18/content_633225_1.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111017214011/http://news.xinhuanet.com/ziliao/2002-11/18/content_633225_1.htm |archive-date=17 October 2011 |access-date=10 November 2011 |website=news.xinhuanet.com}}</ref>{{Request quotation|date=January 2024}}

Shortly after [[Death and state funeral of Mao Zedong|Mao died]] in 1976, Deng Xiaoping initiated socialist market reforms in 1978, thereby beginning the radical change in Mao's ideology in the People's Republic of China (PRC).<ref>{{Cite web |title=UC Berkeley Journalism -Faculty - Deng's Revolution |url=http://journalism.berkeley.edu/faculty/schell/schelldeng.html |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090104132630/http://journalism.berkeley.edu/faculty/schell/schelldeng.html |archive-date=4 January 2009 |access-date=22 August 2007}}</ref> Although Mao Zedong Thought nominally remains the state ideology, Deng's admonition to "[[seek truth from facts]]" means that state policies are judged on their practical consequences, and in many areas, the role of ideology in determining policy has thus been considerably reduced. Deng also separated Mao from Maoism, making it clear that Mao was fallible, and hence the truth of Maoism comes from observing social consequences rather than by using Mao's quotations dogmatically.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Exploring Chinese History :: Culture :: Philosophy :: Maoism |url=http://www.ibiblio.org/chinesehistory/contents/02cul/c04s07.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210124035536/http://www.ibiblio.org/chinesehistory/contents/02cul/c04s07.html |archive-date=24 January 2021 |access-date=17 January 2019 |website=ibiblio.org}}</ref>

On June 27, 1981, the Communist Party's Central Committee adopted the ''[[Resolution on Certain Questions in the History of Our Party since the Founding of the People's Republic of China]]''.<ref name=":6" />{{Rp|page=166}} The ''Resolution'' assesses the legacy of the Mao era, describing Mao as first among equals in the development of Mao Zedong Thought before 1949 and deeming Mao Zedong Thought as successful in establishing national independence, transforming China's social classes, the development of economic self-sufficiency, the expansion of education and health care, and China's leadership role in the Third World.<ref name=":6" />{{Rp|pages=166–167}} The ''Resolution'' describes setbacks during the period 1957 to 1964 (although it generally affirms this period) and major mistakes beginning in 1965.<ref name=":6" />{{Rp|page=167}} The ''Resolution'' describes upholding the guidance of Mao Zedong Thought and Marxism-Leninism as among the Communist Party's cardinal principles.<ref name=":6" />{{Rp|page=168}}

Contemporary Maoists in China criticise the social inequalities created by the revisionist Communist Party. Some Maoists say that Deng's ''[[Reform and Opening]]'' economic policies that introduced market principles spelled the end of Maoism in China. However, Deng asserted that his reforms were upholding Mao Zedong Thought in accelerating the output of the country's productive forces. A recent example of a Chinese politician regarded as neo-Maoist in terms of political strategies and mass mobilisation via red songs was [[Bo Xilai]] in [[Chongqing]].<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Brown |first1=Kerry |url=https://archive.org/details/chinanewmaoists0000brow |title=China and the New Maoists |last2=Nieuwenhuizen |first2=Simone van |date=2016-08-15 |publisher=Zed Books Ltd. |isbn=978-1-78360-762-4 |language=en}}</ref>

Although Mao Zedong Thought is still listed as one of the [[Four Cardinal Principles]] of the People's Republic of China, its historical role has been re-assessed. The Communist Party now says that Maoism was necessary to break China free from its feudal past, but it also says that the actions of Mao led to excesses during the Cultural Revolution.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Exploring Chinese History :: Culture :: Philosophy :: Maoism |url=http://www.ibiblio.org/chinesehistory/contents/02cul/c04s07.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210124035536/http://www.ibiblio.org/chinesehistory/contents/02cul/c04s07.html |archive-date=24 January 2021 |access-date=26 February 2018 |website=ibiblio.org}}</ref>

The official view is that China has now reached an economic and political stage, known as the [[primary stage of socialism]], in which China faces new and different problems completely unforeseen by Mao, and as such, the solutions that Mao advocated are no longer relevant to China's current conditions. The 1981 ''Resolution'' reads:
<blockquote>Chief responsibility for the grave 'Left' error of the 'cultural revolution,' an error comprehensive in magnitude and protracted in duration, does indeed lie with Comrade Mao Zedong [...] [and] far from making a correct analysis of many problems, he confused right and wrong and the people with the enemy [...] herein lies his tragedy.<ref>{{Cite web |title=China the Four Modernizations, 1979-82 |url=http://www.country-studies.com/china/the-four-modernizations,-1979-82.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210211032140/https://www.country-studies.com/china/the-four-modernizations,-1979-82.html |archive-date=11 February 2021 |access-date=10 November 2011 |website=country-studies.com}}</ref></blockquote>

Scholars outside China see this re-working of the definition of Maoism as providing an ideological justification for what they see as the restoration of the essentials of capitalism in China by Deng and his successors, who sought to "eradicate all ideological and physiological obstacles to economic reform".<ref>S. Zhao, "A State-Led Nationalism: The Patriotic Education Campaign in Post-Tiananmen China", Communist and Post-Communist Studies, 1998, 31(3): p. 288.</ref> In 1978, this led to the [[Sino-Albanian split]] when Albanian leader [[Enver Hoxha]] denounced Deng as a revisionist, stating "The events and facts are demonstrating ever more clearly that China is sinking deeper and deeper into revisionism, capitalism and imperialism"<ref>{{Cite web |title=Enver Hoxha: Imperialism and the Revolution (1979) |url=https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/hoxha/works/imp_rev/imp_ch1.htm |access-date=2025-02-05 |website=www.marxists.org}}</ref> and formed [[Hoxhaism]] as an anti-revisionist form of Marxism.

[[File:Tsinghua University (Tsinghua Southern Road).jpg|right|thumb|"[[Ten thousand years|Long live]] [[Mao Zedong|Chairman Mao]]! Long live [[Abimael Guzmán|Chairman Gonzalo]]! Long live the theory of [[People's war|protracted people's war]]!" (毛主席万岁！贡萨罗主席万岁！持久人民战争理论万岁！) [[Chinese New Left|New Leftist]] graffiti on a wall at Qinghua South Road, Beijing, 6 December 2021.]]
The CCP officially regards Mao himself as a "great revolutionary leader" for his role in fighting against the [[Japanese fascism|Japanese fascist invasion]] during the Second World War and creating the People's Republic of China, but Maoism, as implemented between 1959 and 1976, is regarded by today's CCP as an economic and political disaster. In Deng's day, support of radical Maoism was regarded as a form of "left deviationism" and based on a [[cult of personality]], although these "errors" are officially attributed to the [[Gang of Four (China)|Gang of Four]] rather than Mao himself.<ref>For a newest expression of the official judgment see 中国共产党历史第二卷下册，中共中央党史研究室著，中共党史出版社，第二八章对"文化大革命"十年的基本分析(History of China Communist Party, Vol. 2, Party History Research Centre (November 2010), Chap. 28 Analysis on Cultural Revolution).</ref> Thousands of Maoists were arrested in the [[Hua Guofeng]] period after 1976. The prominent Maoists [[Zhang Chunqiao]] and [[Jiang Qing]] were sentenced to death with a two-year-reprieve, while others were sentenced to life imprisonment or imprisonment for 15 years.{{citation needed|date=January 2024}}

After the [[Tiananmen Square protests and massacre]], Mao's influence continued to be weaker. Although not very influential, some radical Maoists, disgruntled by the injustices suffered by migrant workers, organized a number of protests and strikes, including the [[Jasic incident]]. In the 2020s, influenced by the [[income inequality in China|growing wealth gap]] and the [[996 working hour system]], Mao's thoughts are being revived in China's [[generation Z]], as they question authority of the CCP. The Chinese government has censored some Maoist posts.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Yuan |first=Li |date=8 July 2021 |title='Who Are Our Enemies?' China's Bitter Youths Embrace Mao |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/08/business/china-mao.html |access-date=29 October 2022 |work=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Lau |first=Mimi |date=10 August 2018 |title=Chinese Maoists join students in fight for workers' rights |url=https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2158991/chinese-maoists-join-students-fight-workers-rights |access-date=4 May 2023 |work=South China Morning Post |language=en}}</ref>

The 2021 The [[Resolution on the Major Achievements and Historical Experience of the Party over the Past Century|''Resolution'' ''on the Major Achievements and Historical Experience of the Party over the Past Century'']] describes Mao Zedong Thought as "a summation of theories, principles, and experience on China's revolution and construction that has been proven correct through practice, and [having] put forward a series of important theories for socialist construction."<ref name=":Hou">{{Cite book |last=Hou |first=Xiaojia |title=China under Xi Jinping: A New Assessment |publisher=[[Leiden University Press]] |year=2024 |isbn=9789087284411 |editor-last=Fang |editor-first=Qiang |chapter=China's Shift to Personalistic Rule: Xi Jinping's Centralization of Political Power |jstor=jj.15136086 |editor-last2=Li |editor-first2=Xiaobing}}</ref>{{Rp|page=91}}