Mao Zedong Thought

Author: Schram
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-01-01
Features: The ideas originate from history, and ideas also determine the course of history. Mao Zedong's most universal, perhaps also the most enduring contribution to the Chinese revolution is Mao Zedong Thought. It must be admitted that it was the qualities that made him a great military and political leader during the struggle for power that limited his ability to create a new socialist China. However, in other fundamental aspects, Mao Zedong has not become outdated, and he has not become outdated even today. Undoubtedly, one of the most decisive points is his single-minded determination to make China prosperous and strong and to restore her position in the world. — Stuart R. Schram
Schram is a key representative of Western scholars studying the life and thought of Mao Zedong, and this book is his most representative and mature work. Based on years of dedicated research, Schram absorbs and digests new documents, historical materials, and ideas, using the historical process of China's reform and opening-up as a reference framework to conduct a relatively in-depth examination of the intellectual journey of Mao Zedong's life from the perspective of theoretical thought. Schram argues that modern Chinese history is inconceivable without the role of Mao Zedong and his thought. The theoretical goal for which Mao Zedong dedicated his entire life is to adhere to the reality of China, summarize practical experience, and enrich and develop Marxism. This is both the basic trajectory of Mao Zedong's theoretical activities and the main thread for grasping his thought.