Mao Zedong (1893-1976), styled Run Zhi and with a literal name Zi Ren, was born into a family of peasants in Xiangtan in Hunan Province on December 26, 1893. He received his education at No. 1 Normal School in Changsha City in his early life. When he grew up, he devoted himself to revolutionary activities, believed in Marxism-Leninism, and started to introduce it among the Chinese people. In 1921, Mao Zedong became one of the founders of the Communist Party of China. Later he was elected successively Chairman of the Central Committee of the CPC, Chairman of the Central Military Committee, and Chairman of the People's Republic of China. Besides dealing with political and military affairs, Mao Zedong was very interested in poetry and calligraphy, and very industrious in practicing them. The great works of Mao Zedong include five volumes of Mao Zedong Florilegium, Analogy of Mao Zedong's Scripts, Analogy of Mao Zedong's Epigraphs, Collections of Poetry and Lyric Scripts of Mao Zedong, and Analogy of Mao Zedong's Poems and Lyrics.    

 

Starting in 1951, Mao initiated two successive movements in an effort to rid urban areas of corruption, by targeting wealthy capitalists and political opponents, known as the three-anti/five-anti campaigns. Following his consolidation of power, Mao launched the First Five-Year Plan (1953-1958). The plan aimed to end Chinese dependence upon agriculture in order to become a world power. The success of the First Five Year Plan was to encourage Mao to instigate the Second Five Year Plan, the Great Leap Forward, in 1958. Mao also launched a phase of rapid collectivization. The CPC introduced price controls as well as a Chinese character simplification aimed at increasing literacy. Land was taken from landlords and wealthier peasants and given to poorer peasants. Large scale industrialization projects were also undertaken. 

 

Cultural Revolution
Mao launched the Cultural Revolution in 1966. Under the pretext that certain liberal "bourgeois" elements of society, labeled as class enemies, continued to threaten the socialist framework under the existing dictatorship of the proletariat, the idea that a Cultural Revolution had to continue after armed struggle allowed Mao to circumvent the Communist hierarchy by giving power directly to the Red Guards, groups of young people, often teenagers, who set up their own tribunals. Chaos reigned over the country, and millions were prosecuted, including a famous philosopher, Chen Yuen. During the Cultural Revolution, Mao closed the schools in China and the young intellectuals living in cities were ordered to the countryside. They were forced to manufacture weapons for the Red Army. The Revolution led to the destruction of much of China's cultural heritage and the imprisonment of a huge number of Chinese citizens, as well as creating general economic and social chaos in the country. Millions of lives were ruined during this period, as the Cultural Revolution pierced into every part of Chinese life, depicted by such Chinese films as To Live, The Blue Kite and Farewell My Concubine. It is estimated that hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions, perished in the violence of the Cultural Revolution. When Mao was informed of such losses, particularly that people had been driven to suicide, he blithely commented: "People who try to commit suicide — don't attempt to save them! China is such a populous nation. It is not as if we cannot do without a few people." In 1969, Mao declared the Cultural Revolution to be over.
 
Mausoleum of Mao Zedong
The Chairman Mao Memorial Hall, commonly known as the Mausoleum of Mao Zedong, or the Mao Mausoleum, is the final resting place of Mao Zedong, Chairman of the Politburo of the Communist Party of China from 1943 and the chairman of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China from 1945 until his death. This highly popular attraction is located in the middle of Tiananmen Square, in Beijing, the capital of China. On this site had previously stood the Gate of China, the southern (main) gate of the Imperial City during the Ming and Qing dynasties. People line up for hundreds of yards every day to see the former chairman, many paying tribute to him with flowers that can be rented at the entrance on the north side.
Although the embalming of the body was solved by learning the Soviet trade from Vietnam, displaying the body proved a more difficult problem to solve. Because the crystal coffin for Ho Chi Minh was directly provided by the USSR, Vietnam could not pass on the necessary expertise to China. As a result, China was forced to develop the know-how indigenously. This proved to be a much greater task with huge difficulties.
 
History of China's National Day
On October 1st in 1949 the Chinese people, under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, declared victory in the War of Liberation against the Nationalist forces of Chiang Kai Shek. The grand ceremony for the founding of the People's Republic of China was held on this day in Tiananmen Square in Beijing. Mao Zedong, Chairman of the Central People's Government, solemnly declared the founding of the P.R.C. at the ceremony and raised the first national flag of China himself. 300,000 soldiers and people gathered in the square for the grand parade and procession. October 1st is the anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949 and is celebrated as China’s National Holiday. An important occasion, the holiday is celebrated all over the People's Republic of China.