Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments

react_dev t1_je2cgf0 wrote

Reply to comment by Bring_Back_Feudalism in TIL that in Chinese Folk Religion, a mortal human being could ascend into godhood not through the decisions of a clergy/church, but by the sheer number of people who believe that their extraordinary achievements led to apotheosis, which forced Confucian/Taoists clerics to canonize a person as a God. by Khysamgathys

Close. But luckily his powers were eventually dissipated and his clique dissembled. Unlike the Kims, nobody saw Mao as a literal God who invented stuff, smashed Olympic records, or whatnot. I think Mao goes down in a bucket of leaders who conquered but could not rule.

8

godisanelectricolive t1_je3abnx wrote

Mao's still worshipped today and his status as the founder of modern China is still pretty much unassailable. The Gang of Four was toppled and the Cultural Revolution was rebuked but Mao is personally exonerated from all crimes. The official line on the Cultural Revolution is that it was a mistake but Mao was mislead by bad advisors and it's mostly his fault. He's a bit flawed but still ultimately a great man and worthy of admiration.

There's still the massive mausoleum for his preserved corpse. Mao's image is still very ubiquitous in China, he's on money and his portrait still hangs at Tiananmen. People still buy Mao memorabilia and the government still talks about him in a positive light.

1

react_dev t1_je3dpc6 wrote

Mao isn’t worshipped. Maybe in very rural areas. Maybe literally today today as the politics have shifted a bit since Xi wanted to glorify the past again and that has brought out a bunch of MCGA crowd. But a decade ago you could buy a lot of Mao memed tshirts in cities.

Mao is still recognized as the conqueror. His reputation as the person who united modern China and established the communist party is unassailable and that won’t ever change because that narrative is baked into the legitimacy of the CCP. However his policies from long time ago is no longer heralded as successful in public opinion.

5