Mao's Revolution and the Chinese Political Culture

Since its first publication in 1971, Mao's Revolution and the Chinese Political Culture has become a foundational text in China scholarship. Combining a psychological analysis of Chinese socialization with a narrative of Mao Zedong's political strategy, Richard Solomon traces the fault lines in the rise of one of the twentieth century's most influential political leaders. With great skill and insight, Richard Solomon delineates in parts I and II what might best be termed the living Confucian political culture. This is not the Confucianism of the classical texts, but the understanding and sentiments about politics produced by distinctive Chinese practices of child rearing and education, and the resulting structure of adult relationships. Proceeding from a solid basis of knowledge about the traditional Chinese family, Solomon draws on in-depth interviews with one hundred people of three generations and employes a battery of psychological tests to characterize Chinese adult orientations toward social and political life. These range from deeply ambivalent sentiments about authority to elaborate conventions for dealing with both friends and strangers and especially for avoiding controversy. In parts III and IV, Solomon then builds an account of Mao's political strategy, arguing that Mao appreciated the Chinese fear of social chaos and skilfully manipulated it. Behind the traditional ideal of harmony and of smooth, graceful interpersonal relationships lay powerful anxieties that any manifestation of of social disorder or political conflict can quickly lead to chaos and the collapse of the social order. Being of an assertive nature, Mao was prepared to push conflicts over the line of cultural restraint that inhibited his opponents. He believed social progress could be extracted from the chaos of the Cultural Revolution, though in the end, he could not manage what he had released.