Cultural Revolution in China - Essay Example

Mao Tse Tung was born into a peasant family in the Shaoshan Valley in Hunan province in China to a Buddhist mother and a hard-working, well-educated father.  His name was more of a formality than a name to identify a person.  Mao was his surname and Tse was given to all the boys of his generation.  Tung was his name.  Altogether his name means: “to shine on the east”.  Moa’s formal name is impressive and was meant to represent the great aspirations of the parents for their son. But it was his pet name, Shisan Yazi, which he preferred to be called thru adulthood.

Why is his name important?

It is important to note that Mao had a name.  Many peasant children did not receive a name per se but rather a description.  At this point, it’s not so much that his name was important but rather the fact that he was given a name at all.  This will be important to keep in mind when we explore his actions during the Cultural Revolution.  Mao’s mother was simply known as Seventh Sister Wen because she was the seventh girl born in the Wen clan.

Mao lived with his mother’s clan until he was eight.  He moved back to Shaoshan to begin his schooling. He was a good student and had a good memory.  Mao was an avid reader and whilst he was in power it was not unusual for him to share his bed with many books.  He often had meetings in his room with him lying down while his politburo members sat in chairs around the bed. 

Moa was not a good student in the sense that he argued with his tutors and was asked on numerous occasions to leave and not return.  Mao’s father did not like Mao’s laziness and often would strike (hit) him.  Mao’s father stopped paying for Mao’s education and Mao had to work as a peasant.

It was during this time that Mao married (an arranged marriage).  She, like many other peasant children, was not given a name but was called Woman Luo after her clan.  She died after a year of marriage.

Why is this background information so important?

We often hear that child are products of their environments and as adults, their behavior is thus based upon how they were treated as children.  Mao is no exception.  Much of his adult actions are a result of his beliefs developed in childhood.  Because he was a peasant does not mean that he grew to feel for the plights of the peasants.  It is quite possible he took his observations of the treatments of peasants to a greater level and treated the Chinese people as if all were peasants to be treated badly and without an identity.  According to Jung Chang, in his book The Unknown Story of Mao, “Mao’s peasant background did not imbue him with idealism about improving theta of Chinese peasants”.