Editing Mao Zedong (section)

=== Public image ===
Mao gave contradicting statements on the subject of [[personality cults]]. In 1956, as a response to the [[On the Cult of Personality and Its Consequences|Khrushchev Report]] that criticised [[Joseph Stalin]], Mao stated that personality cults are "poisonous ideological survivals of the old society", and reaffirmed China's commitment to [[collective leadership]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Mao Zedong: A Political and Intellectual Portrait |first=Maurice |last=Meisner |publisher=Polity |year=2007 |page=133}}</ref> At the 1958 party congress in Chengdu, Mao expressed support for the personality cults of people whom he labelled as genuinely worthy figures, not those that expressed "blind worship".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://library.thinkquest.org/26469/cultural-revolution/cult.html |title=Cult of Mao |publisher=library.thinkquest.org |access-date=23 August 2008 |quote=This remark of Mao seems to have elements of truth but it is false. He confuses the worship of truth with a personality cult, despite there being an essential difference between them. But this remark played a role in helping to promote the personality cult that gradually arose in the CCP. |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080601001246/http://library.thinkquest.org/26469/cultural-revolution/cult.html |archive-date=1 June 2008}}</ref>

In 1962, Mao proposed the [[Socialist Education Movement]] (SEM) in an attempt to educate the peasants to resist the "temptations" of feudalism and the sprouts of capitalism that he saw re-emerging in the countryside from Liu's economic reforms.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://chineseposters.net/resources/landsberger-paint-it-red.php |title=Stefan Landsberger, Paint it Red. Fifty years of Chinese Propaganda Posters |website=chineseposters.net |access-date=7 November 2017}}</ref> Large quantities of politicised art were produced and circulated—with Mao at the centre. Numerous posters, [[Chairman Mao badge|badges]], and musical compositions referenced Mao in the phrase "Chairman Mao is the red sun in our hearts" ({{lang-zh|labels=no |t=毛主席是我們心中的紅太陽 |p=Máo Zhǔxí Shì Wǒmen Xīnzhōng De Hóng Tàiyáng}})<ref name="WangMaoBadgesChapter5">{{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090808123527/https://www.britishmuseum.org/pdf/2%20-%20Part%202%20-%20Mao%20badges%20with%20low%20res%20image%20of%20poster.pdf|date=2009-08-08}} [https://www.britishmuseum.org/pdf/2%20-%20Part%202%20-%20Mao%20badges%20with%20low%20res%20image%20of%20poster.pdf Chapter 5: "Mao Badges – Visual Imagery and Inscriptions"] in: [[Helen Wang]]: ''[[Chairman Mao badge]]s: symbols and Slogans of the Cultural Revolution'' (British Museum Research Publication 169). The Trustees of the British Museum, 2008. {{ISBN|978-0861591695}}.</ref> and a "Savior of the people" ({{lang-zh|labels=no |c=人民的大救星 |p=Rénmín De Dà Jiùxīng}}).<ref name="WangMaoBadgesChapter5"/>

In October 1966, Mao's ''[[Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-tung]]'', known as the ''Little Red Book'', was published. Party members were encouraged to carry a copy with them, and possession was almost mandatory as a criterion for membership. According to ''[[Mao: The Unknown Story]]'' by [[Jung Chang|Jun Yang]], the mass publication and sale of this text contributed to making Mao the only millionaire created in 1950s China (332). Over the years, Mao's image became displayed almost everywhere, present in homes, offices and shops. His quotations were [[Emphasis (typography)|typographically emphasised]] by putting them in boldface or red type in even the most obscure writings. Music from the period emphasised Mao's stature, as did children's rhymes. The phrase "Long Live Chairman Mao for [[ten thousand years]]" was commonly heard during the era.<ref>{{cite book |last=Lu |first=Xing |title=Rhetoric of the Chinese Cultural Revolution: the impact on Chinese thought, Culture, and Communication |year=2004 |publisher=[[University of South Carolina Press]] |isbn=978-1570035432 |page=65 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GO5HrrJC_aMC&q=Long+Live+Chairman+Mao+for+ten+thousand+years&pg=PA65 |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref>

[[File:Mao mausoleum queue.jpg|thumb|center|<div style="text-align: center">Visitors wait in line to enter the Mao Zedong Mausoleum.</div>|alt=|300x300px]]

Mao also has a presence in China and around the world in popular culture, where his face adorns everything from T-shirts to coffee cups. Mao's granddaughter, [[Kong Dongmei]], defended the phenomenon, stating that "it shows his influence, that he exists in people's consciousness and has influenced several generations of Chinese people's way of life. Just like [[Che Guevara in popular culture|Che Guevara's image]], his has become a symbol of revolutionary culture."<ref name="Reut09">[http://in.reuters.com/article/entertainmentNews/idINIndia-42756920090928?sp=true Granddaughter Keeps Mao's Memory Alive in Bookshop] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210104030930/https://in.reuters.com/article/entertainmentNews/idINIndia-42756920090928?sp=true |date=4 January 2021 }} by Maxim Duncan, [[Reuters]], 28 September 2009</ref> Since 1950, over 40 million people have visited Mao's birthplace in [[Shaoshan]], Hunan.<ref name="ShaoShan">{{cite web |url=http://www.shaoshan.gov.cn/Article/ShowArticle.asp?ArticleID=14617 |script-title=zh:韶山升起永远不落的红太阳 |language=zh |title=Sháoshān shēng qǐ yǒngyuǎn bù luò de hóng tàiyáng |trans-title=The red sun that never sets rises in Shaoshan |publisher=Shaoshan.gov.cn |access-date=25 October 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141107235535/http://www.shaoshan.gov.cn/Article/ShowArticle.asp?ArticleID=14617 |archive-date=7 November 2014}}</ref>

A 2016 survey by [[YouGov]] survey found that 42% of American [[millennials]] have never heard of Mao.<ref>{{cite news |title=Poll: Millennials desperately need to bone up on the history of communism |url=https://www.marketwatch.com/story/poll-millennials-desperately-need-to-bone-up-on-the-history-of-communism-2016-10-17 |work=MarketWatch |date=21 October 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Poll Finds Young Americans More Open to Socialist Ideas |url=https://www.voanews.com/a/young-americans-seen-less-opposed-to-socialist-ideas/3562681.html |work=[[Voice of America|VOA News]] |date=23 October 2016}}</ref> According to the [[Centre for Independent Studies|CIS]] poll, in 2019 only 21% of Australian millennials were familiar with Mao Zedong.<ref>{{cite news |first=Tom |last=Switzer |title=Opinion: Why Millennials are embracing socialism |url=https://www.smh.com.au/national/anxiety-plus-ignorance-why-millennials-are-embracing-socialism-20190222-p50zj5.html |work=[[The Sydney Morning Herald]] |date=23 February 2019}}</ref> In 2020s China, members of [[Generation Z]] are embracing Mao's revolutionary ideas, including violence against the capitalist class, amid rising social inequality, long working hours, and decreasing economic opportunities.<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 |work=[[The New York Times]] |location= |access-date=8 July 2021}}</ref> As of the early 2020s, surveys conducted on [[Zhihu]] frequently rank Mao as one of the greatest and most influential figures in Chinese history.<ref name=":11" />{{Rp|page=58}}