Schram, Stuart. The Political Thought of Mao Tse-Tung. New York: Praeger, 1971.
Schram was an American researcher who was allowed access to Mao’s writings, as well as information referring to the political theory of the Chinese Communist Party. Within the preface provided in his work, it is clear that his personal ideals on Mao holding a sense of superiority over the party itself can be found; however, after taking into account of the bias of him being on the opposite side of the Cold War, the agenda for Mao’s political thoughts could be dramatized. The rest of the primary source notes on Mao Zedong’s personal accounts both during the Civil War and after his succession into the leading figure as Chairman and dictator of the working peasantry-proletariat. It is clear in this work that there is a shift in Mao’s ideology as well as the organization of the Party centralizing control over political-thought after their success in driving out Chiang-Kai Shek and the rightists in 1947-48. However, it is also clear that Schram believed Mao became more interested in controlling the Liberation Army’s organization and essentially holding onto a military state, when perhaps this was not Mao’s main focus. Apparently this group would become the key source for Mao’s vision of industrial growth as well as instituting social class removal throughout the early stages of policies that Mao had wanted to pass in name of the Party. Although there were massive developments and appraisals over the success of the Chinese development from Mao’s writings, the unspoken truth where almost 20 million people starved could not be found within this source. Indeed Mao Zedong and the Party at this time would not want to reveal these self-inflicted failures of the agricultural movement and land reform, or they may have perhaps been lied to by the lower levels of the bureaucratic system. In Mao’s “Correct handling of the contradictions,” he wrote on corruption and the failures of communication between the people and the leading government, as well as the social paradigm of attempting to achieve a purity in socialism. However this was written on a theoretical level that was discussing his perceptions of achieving the full Marxist-Leninist utopia that was not realistic. When it comes to researching governmental organization and the legislative ideology of the Chinese Communist regime it is essential to understand the works of Mao Zedong or the critiques of his work from outside perspectives that were not a part of the system which Mao’s works were propagated to. This primary source shows how Mao Zedong had direct and indirect influence over the political schema that was the Communist Party, as well as the theory that went into legislative policies.
Schurmann, Franz. Ideology and Organization in Communist China. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1966.
Schurmann’s body of work also tended to focus on the organization of the Communist governmental system. It provided a list of the writings from Mao Zedong as well as major speeches addressed in Congress during the announcement of policies such as: the First and Second “Five Year Plan,” as well as speeches from elected district members who spoke on topics on theoretical reforms and conduct of the Party. The main focus within this source was the Party’s purpose, and reasoning, behind what the Party represented to the People’s Republic of China. Within Mao’s works it is clear that the aims of the Party were to become a dictatorial power that was dictated from the mindset of the common people, or the ‘lower class’ peasantry. The reality may have been different when critically assessing the political dominance that Mao held; however, according to the works and speeches found within this source, the Communists were striving to succeed in their Revolution and surpass Western capitalism through advocating radical policies. These policies produced by the government were not only, heavily influenced by Mao Zedong’s personal writings throughout his dictatorship, but also through the conduct of the Party itself. The General Secretary, the district officials, and the communal bureaucrats that made up this regime were concurrently optimistic in the sense of removing China from its imperial past and increasing its potential for development. This development that they wrote on was addressing the major economic struggles of the previous decades as well as the frequent invasion and ‘molestation’ of China’s territories. As the years moved on the Party’s legislative control over the populace appeared to increase a centralized role over political thought and censorship, (especially after the Hundred Flowers Movement) while remaining to have a strong ‘anti-Rightest’ campaign. This source proved that the Communist governance of the state was heavily influenced in Maoist ideology but would also maintain its own independence that withdrew from the Mao-Soviet relationships. It was clear that there was a centralization of the government and increases in radical policies that would constrict any open criticisms or disapprovals of the current government in power that would begin to grow in power until the 1960s. The fact that ‘the Party’ was in control over the laws and institutions such as the justice system, while holding onto their Communist ideologies, saw a clear sensual divide between those who were ‘with them’ or ‘not’ in its political unison. This shows that even though Mao would have a muddled relationship with his Party, the recognition of his authority and influence can be found in the legislative ideologies and within the governmental bureaucratic organization.
Zedong, Mao. Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-Tung: New amplified ed. Edited by Stuart R. Schram and A. Doak Barnett. Toronto: Bantam Books, 1967.
This source was a translated work from the “Quotations from Chairman Mao Zedong”, the leading influential dictator over the Chinese Communist Party throughout the Chinese Revolution. In its original form, this material was clearly produced as a source of propaganda that provided an ideological description of the direction for which Mao desired the Revolution to take. Although this was translated and held an edited introduction that disclaimed Mao’s beliefs as a side note, the editors attempted to keep the text in its original format. This source is famously known as Mao’s little Red Book and would impact the growing revolutionary Youth populace, that would eventually claim to be a revived army for the revolution, or the Red Guard. The source is made up of Mao’s written works, quotes, and personal theories which pertained to the entire Chinese structure – and society – under the Communist regime. This source not only represents Mao’s radical ideologies and beliefs for a continuation of the revolution towards an absolutist admission to the Marxist-Leninist state, but also explains why the Culture Revolution that called for the society and its legislative policies to purge the supposed ‘impurities’ of the Chinese Communist state. Despite its length the basic ideas behind the book was to educate the masses on Maoist reactions to topics such as: the current state of the Communist Party, the constant class struggles, the People’s War, political work that was ahead, patriotism of being Chinese, correcting mistaken ideas or ‘non-leftist’ ones, reforms that educated the masses and the youth in China, etcetera. The cultural movement that materialized after this book’s publication was detrimental to the growing independent Party in the early 1960s, causing social chaos on the local level. The government would later be inclined to call Mao Zedong back to the leading political lime-light and take-on some of the theories into future policies, found in other sources. This works radical persuasion can also explain how Mao wanted a political war within his own party and almost caused the collapse of the entire system. In fact despite Mao’s call for the people to revolt through these radical actions, allowed his goals to be achieved. Since the publication the popularized outlook that was imposed towards Mao saw him as a sort-of deity figure. After his reclaim to power he would call for the removal and reorganization of the government as to how he wanted it.
Zedong, Mao. The Writings of Mao Zedong, 1949-1976. New York: M.E. Sharpe Inc., 1986.
This is a source that has translated various primary documents that provide a commentary of Chairman Mao’s perspective on the relevant events and policies that were passed throughout his time in power. The translated products used were telegrams, speeches, commentaries and congratulatory letters to various Communist Parties in other regions internationally. This was a valuable source of information and provided a synopsis before each document describing the historical setting on why Mao Zedong was writing it. However, despite this use of secondary information the “Writings of Mao Zedong” presented his direct opinions and official accounts. Although the letters and telegrams were official rather than personal, they were not addressed to the general populations unlike his edited speeches. This allows the source to have a practical level of credibility for his view on certain issues within Communist China at the time, as opposed to his theoretical doctrines. This source provided his orders that would explain Mao’s official uses for the People’s Liberation Army, rather than analyzing his “Little Red Book” or generalizing his theory as the practice. According to his letter to military commander Peng Dehuai the PLA not only needed to defend and control the violence throughout the state, those who were in peacetime needed to provide aid in the construction of the nation, both industrially and agriculturally.
This text would also provide explanations for what the committees and party members throughout the lower levels of governance were to do, and how they were meant to treat the previous oppressive land owners. In one telegram he describes exactly what he wanted in the land reform and began to deconstruct its theoretical meaning for the recipient-audience to understand how the policy would affect their lives. It provides his early optimistic aims while remaining realistically cautious about the possibility of resistance against ‘ultra-leftist’ ideals throughout the rural countryside. This work not only shows how Mao reacted to certain legislative decrees throughout the revolution, it also relays his orders on how he would unify the population of China, on a socio-political basis. Although this work by Mao was inherently biased in the sense that several letters, orders, and especially speeches all had an agenda that paralleled his ‘Marxist-Leninist’ ideology for the people to be in control and the state ,this would be paradoxical in his reign of power and not happen even later in China’s international affairs post-Mao. Overall, his insight on mobilizing the masses, eradicating those opposed to leftist ideals, constructing a new economy and establishing a bureaucracy that would help the masses achieve its self-control, Mao Zedong can be seen in this source as devotee to his cause for China to remain in a constant revolution that would bring about pure Marxist-Leninist ideologies into practice. However, the question remains for how credible this source is on how Mao thought or what he actually wanted.
Harvard University: Center for International Affairs. Communist China 1955-1959. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1962.
This source was written in the 1960s as an educational source of information regarding the numerous policies, acts, sessions of congress and legislation's produced by the CCP in the second half of the previous decade. The primary documents that were translated not only embodied Mao’s involvement, but also included other members of the party such as Li Fu-Chun, or Liu Shaoqi who were official leaders within the Communist regime at the time. The main purpose of this text was to provide readers the formal year by year socio-political blueprint of the People’s Republic of China. It includes policies like the Second Five Year plan as well as the land reform acts that addressed how the people must be ready to work and setup increased forms of production, while removing the restraints of the old landlords. The text also included one member’s speech that reflected of the PRC’s 1954 Constitution which was based off of the Chinese people’s Political Consultative Conference. Another component that was provided was the introduction of the Eighth Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, which discussed the increased ambitions for the upcoming “Great Leap Forward” providing an encouraged promise of further possibilities for the state. This was a sign of Mao’s direct influence over social and economic control, however, once his plan ultimately failed with millions of deaths, the party allowed him to note on the contradictions within the bureaucracy and the system (which he helped setup) rather than hold him responsible. This clearly shows that despite the tragic events of those on the ground level, the highest levels of power still idealized Mao in the sense that his ideology had good intentions but was ineffective in its methods. It would not be until after this decade that the Chairman would officially “retire” before he published his ‘Little Red Book’ as mentioned previously. It was definitely clear through the legislation created by this government that his influence impacted the nation in a massive way as such; his presence within the Party was seen as a necessity, so much so that the thought of holding him responsible for this calamity would have been unfathomable.
Conclusion
In conclusion the sources that were used for this sector of the research project provide a collective narrative that presents a general ideal behind the governmental organization and the legislative actions which it would take throughout Chairman Mao Zedong's lifetime. In the simplest of terms, the CCP government was formulated to centralize its power within the state against conflicting internal and external forces that opposed its position. The bureaucratic system that was established may have been constantly reformed by the members of the Party or by Chairman Mao himself, however, the aims to which this form of government wanted to achieve were reflective of Communist and eventually Maoist-communist ideologies. After Mao had secured himself as the central figure behind the state's socio-political dogma his use of force as well as his strong symbolic connection to the revolution made his power almost unstoppable. With so much social, economic, industrial, cultural, as well as political changes still left to be revolutionized, the single factor of Mao Zedong as the head of state remained until his death. His speeches, writings, and theoretical ideologies would be so important that even the legislative laws and policies would turn to his conviction. He may not have been the only man running the state, nor the only influence on China's communist history, but without him the direction of governance and policy would not have been the same.