China, Confucian and Mao

Extract

[...] As a comparison with Stalin, Mao used violence in a much more open and selective manner. The open way in which he used terror strategies made it seem as though the regime had legitimized the use of terror tactics through the appeal of it various economic, political and social programs. Mao had done this in a way that proved to be far more effective than the Soviet's had previously done it. This success can be attributed in to the strict political control over the way that violence was utilized in the state at this time, as well as the careful way in which targets were selected for attack. [...]

[...] This is a presentation of a two-fold bio- social concept of the development of man in contemporary China that formed through the synthesis of the Confucian and Marxist theories of the self. John Garver's discussion of China as the ‘epicentre of the world revolution describes Mao's efforts to build an anti-imperialist united front. It will be discussed what were the basic elements in Mao's unified front strategy of the late 1950s and 1960s. To what extent was it a response to China's perceptions of a threatening environment as opposed to a policy driven by Marxist revolutionary ideology? [...]

[...] Mao and his followers also tried to develop a single- minded people through officially implemented teaching. Mao's teachings were focused on the notion of the right idea, and they were intended to motivate people toward gravitating toward socialism. A later idea that found its way in Maoist theory was that of egalitarianism in social status. This is a similarity that existed between the theory of Marxism that was to be implemented in China at a later time. Mao attacked a theory of humanism because it was said to be a Confucian- inspired belief in humaneness of level of compassion for humans that transcended the typical social classes. [...]