The conception of man in Mao Tse-tung thought

In 1940, long before the People's Republic of China came into being, Mao Tse-tung declared: The aim of all our efforts is the building of a new society and new nation of the Chinese people. In such a new society and new nation, there will be not only a new political organization and new economy, but a new culture as well. Twenty-six years later, the world witnessed the Great Cultural Revolution (GCR), in which Mao himself took an active leading role. The very idea of a cultural revolution is revolutionary enough. Never before in history has there been such an ambitious attempt to create a new man, with a new culture, in a new society. Unparalleled in both its scope and intensity, the GCR is a unique social experiment that has directly involved a fifth of mankind, and has profound implications for mankind as a whole. What are the philosophic assumptions about man embodied in Mao Tse-tung Thought, the guide to action in the Chinese revolution? How are these assumptions linked to Mao's political ideology? What is the relevance that Mao's conception of man has for contemporary psychology? The present essay is an attempt to answer these questions.