Playing hide and seek with Mao
When the death of Mao Zedong was announced on the afternoon of September 9th 1976 the nation was plunged into mourning, people wept on the streets and public institutions were closed for more than a week. His death, and the subsequent arrest of the Gang of Four, marked the end of the Cultural Revolution - an act of insanity that defies justification, which, during three three years at it's height, resulted in an estimated half a million deaths. During the 'Three Bitter Years' (1959-1962) of the ill-advised Great Leap Forward up to 20 million people starved to death.
Mao, The Great Helmsman, was deified. in the late eighties statues such as this still dominated city squares across China, posters of the 'great leader' were sold in book shops.
"Chief responsibility for the grave 'Left' error of the 'Cultural Revolution,' an error comprehensive in magnitude and protracted in duration, does indeed lie with Comrade Mao Zedong".
"under the mistaken leadership of Mao Zedong, which was manipulated by the counterrevolutionary groups of Lin Biao and Jiang Qing, and brought serious disaster and turmoil to the Communist Party and the Chinese people." (From the "Resolution on Certain Questions in the History of Our Party Since the Founding of the People's Republic of China")
Playing hide and seek with Mao
When the death of Mao Zedong was announced on the afternoon of September 9th 1976 the nation was plunged into mourning, people wept on the streets and public institutions were closed for more than a week. His death, and the subsequent arrest of the Gang of Four, marked the end of the Cultural Revolution - an act of insanity that defies justification, which, during three three years at it's height, resulted in an estimated half a million deaths. During the 'Three Bitter Years' (1959-1962) of the ill-advised Great Leap Forward up to 20 million people starved to death.
Mao, The Great Helmsman, was deified. in the late eighties statues such as this still dominated city squares across China, posters of the 'great leader' were sold in book shops.
"Chief responsibility for the grave 'Left' error of the 'Cultural Revolution,' an error comprehensive in magnitude and protracted in duration, does indeed lie with Comrade Mao Zedong".
"under the mistaken leadership of Mao Zedong, which was manipulated by the counterrevolutionary groups of Lin Biao and Jiang Qing, and brought serious disaster and turmoil to the Communist Party and the Chinese people." (From the "Resolution on Certain Questions in the History of Our Party Since the Founding of the People's Republic of China")