Editing Mao Zedong (section)

== Death and aftermath ==
{{Main|Death and state funeral of Mao Zedong}}
{{Further|Chairman Mao Memorial Hall}}{{external media|video1=[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=raZmROeAo1o Official Chinese documentary on Mao's funeral]|width=210px|float=right}}[[File:Mao Zedong with Z Bhutto.jpeg|left|thumb|upright=0.8|Ailing Mao with Pakistani prime minister [[Zulfikar Ali Bhutto]] during a private visit in May 1976]]
[[File:Mubarak_and_Mao_Zedong.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|With Egyptian vice-president [[Hosni Mubarak]] during the latter's visit to Beijing in 1976]]
Mao's health declined in his final years, probably aggravated by his chain-smoking.<ref>Heavy smoker:
*{{cite book |first=Rebecca E. |last=Karl |title=Mao Zedong and China in the Twentieth-Century World: A Concise History |year=2010 |publisher=[[Duke University Press]] |isbn=978-0822393023 |page=79 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uqOhYRUITWwC&pg=PA79 |access-date=28 July 2015}}
*{{cite news |first=Heather |last=Timmons |title=The End of China's 'Ashtray Diplomacy' |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/china/archive/2013/12/the-end-of-chinas-ashtray-diplomacy/282703/ |access-date=28 July 2015 |work=[[The Atlantic]] |date=30 December 2013}}
*{{cite news |first=Johan |last=Nylander |title=Stubbing out Mao's smoky legacy |url=http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2014/02/stubbing-out-mao-smoky-legacy-2014255326672545.html |access-date=28 July 2015 |publisher=[[Al Jazeera Media Network|Al Jazeera]] |date=9 February 2014}}
*{{cite news |first=Jamie |last=Florcruz |title=China clouded in cigarette smoke |url=http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/01/07/florcruz.china.smokers/ |access-date=28 July 2015 |work=[[CNN]] |date=7 January 2011}}</ref> It became a [[Classified information|state secret]] that he suffered from multiple lung and heart ailments during his later years.<ref name="KissengerTrans">{{cite web |title=The Kissenger Transcripts: Notes and Excerpts |url=http://nsarchive.gwu.edu/nsa/publications/DOC_readers/kissinger/notes.htm |website=nsarchive.gwu.edu |access-date=28 July 2015}}</ref> There are unconfirmed reports that he possibly had [[Parkinson's disease]]<ref name="Parkinsons">Parkinson's disease:
*{{cite web |title=Mao Zedong |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/commandingheights/shared/minitext/prof_maozedong.html |access-date=28 July 2015 |publisher=[[PBS]]}}
*{{cite web |title=Mao Tse-tung Biography |url=http://www.biography.com/people/mao-tse-tung-9398142 |access-date=28 July 2015 |website=biography.com}}</ref><ref name="NYT1" /> in addition to [[amyotrophic lateral sclerosis]] (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease.<ref name="LouGehring">Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis:
*{{cite book |first=Zhisui |last=Li |title=Private Life Of Chairman Mao: The Memoirs of Mao's Personal Physician |year=2010 |publisher=[[Random House]] |isbn=978-1407059228 |page=581 |edition=illustrated, reprint |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sAOHE8xK4OEC&pg=PA581 |access-date=28 July 2015}}
*{{cite book |first=Nicholas |last=Griffin |title=Ping-Pong Diplomacy: Ivor Montagu and the Astonishing Story Behind the Game That Changed the World |year=2014 |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] |isbn=978-0857207371 |page=163 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sXStAAAAQBAJ&pg=PP163 |access-date=28 July 2015}}
*{{cite book |first=Eugene |last=Sadler-Smith |title=The Intuitive Mind: Profiting from the Power of Your Sixth Sense |year=2010 |publisher=[[John Wiley & Sons]] |isbn=978-0470685389 |page=223 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Zf94TfWkbSAC&pg=PT223 |access-date=28 July 2015}}
*{{cite book |first=William C. |last=Triplett, II |title=Rogue State: How a Nuclear North Korea Threatens America |year=2004 |publisher=Regnery Publishing |isbn=978-0895260680 |page=[https://archive.org/details/roguestate00will/page/224 224] |edition=illustrated |url=https://archive.org/details/roguestate00will |url-access=registration |access-date=28 July 2015}}</ref> He suffered two major [[heart attack]]s, one in March and another in late June, then a third on 2 September, rendering him an invalid. He died nearly one week later, on 9 September 1976, at the age of 82.{{sfn|Spence|1999|pp=176–177}} The Communist Party delayed the announcement of his death until 16:00, when a national radio broadcast announced the news and appealed for party unity.<ref name="NYT1">{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0909.html#article |title=Mao Tse-Tung Dies In Peking At 82; Leader Of Red China Revolution; Choice Of Successor Is Uncertain |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=25 October 2014}}</ref>

Mao's embalmed body, draped in the CCP flag, lay in state at the [[Great Hall of the People]] for one week.<ref name=Mummy1>{{cite book |first=Christine |last=Quigley |title=Modern Mummies: The Preservation of the Human Body in the Twentieth Century |year=1998 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-0786428519 |pages=40–42 |edition=illustrated, reprint |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VP2JxzGGlNwC&pg=PA40 |access-date=28 July 2015 |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref> One million Chinese filed past to pay their final respects, many displaying sadness, while foreigners watched on television.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1976/09/18/Chinese-bid-Mao-sad-farewell/3331505529812/ |title=Chinese bid Mao sad farewell |website=UPI |language=en |access-date=29 March 2020}}</ref><!-- Video 7: "funeral-of-mao-1978"--><ref>{{cite web |first=S. L. |last=James |title=China: Communist History Through Film |url=https://archive.org/details/china-communist-history |publisher=[[Internet Archive]] |access-date=28 July 2015}}</ref> Mao's official portrait hung on the wall with a banner reading: "Carry on the cause left by Chairman Mao and carry on the cause of proletarian revolution to the end".<ref name=Mummy1/> On 17 September, the body was taken in a minibus to the 305 Hospital, where his internal organs were preserved in [[formaldehyde]].<ref name=Mummy1/>

On 18 September, guns, sirens, whistles and horns across China were simultaneously blown and a mandatory three-minute silence was observed.<ref>{{cite news |title=1976: Chairman Mao Zedong dies |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/september/9/newsid_3020000/3020374.stm |access-date=28 July 2015 |work=[[BBC News]] |date=9 September 1976}}</ref> [[Tiananmen Square]] was packed with millions of people and a military band played "[[The Internationale]]". Hua Guofeng concluded the service with a 20-minute-long eulogy atop Tiananmen Gate.<ref>{{cite news |title=Chinese Bid Farewell to Nation's Leader |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1842&dat=19760915&id=lBwsAAAAIBAJ&pg=2059,3249975&hl=en |access-date=8 October 2015 |work=Florence Times + Tri-Cities Daily |agency=United Press International |date=18 September 1976}}</ref> Despite Mao's request to be cremated, his body was later permanently put on display in the [[Mausoleum of Mao Zedong]], in order for the [[Zhonghua minzu|Chinese nation]] to pay its respects.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lu |first=Xing |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Qby8DgAAQBAJ&pg=PT50 |title=The Rhetoric of Mao Zedong: Transforming China and Its People |year=2017 |publisher=[[University of South Carolina Press]] |isbn=978-1611177534 |page=50 |quote=In 1956 Mao signed a proposal for cremation along with 151 other high-ranking officials. According to hearsay, Mao wrote in his will that he wanted to be cremated after his death. Ironically his successors decided to keep his dead body on display for the nation to pay its respects. |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref>

On 27 June 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]],'' which assessed the legacy of the Mao era and the party's priorities going forward.<ref name=":62">{{Cite book |last=Karl |first=Rebecca E. |title=Mao Zedong and China in the Twentieth-Century World: a Concise History |year=2010 |publisher=[[Duke University Press]] |isbn=978-0-8223-4780-4 |series=Asia-Pacific series |location=Durham, NC |doi=10.2307/j.ctv11hpp6w |jstor=j.ctv11hpp6w}}</ref>{{Rp|page=166}} The ''Resolution'' describes setbacks during the period 1957 to 1964 (although it generally affirms this period) and major mistakes beginning in 1965, attributing Mao's errors to individualist tendencies which arose when he departed from the collective view of the leadership.<ref name=":62" />{{Rp|page=167}} Regarding Mao's legacy, the Resolution concludes Mao's contributions to the Chinese Revolution far outweigh his mistakes.<ref name=":13">{{Cite book |last=Meisner |first=Maurice J. |title=Mao's China and After: a History of the People's Republic |title-link=Mao's China and After |date=1999 |publisher=Free Press |isbn=978-0-684-85635-3 |edition=3rd |location=New York, NY |author-link=Maurice Meisner}}</ref>{{Rp|page=445}}