Abstract:

"This program looks at the life, the achievements, and the legacy of Mao Tse-tung; from his birth, education, and enlistment in the revolutionary army revolting against the Manchu dynasty; through the founding of the Communist Party and the first Chinese Soviet; the break with the Kuomintang and the Long March; the formulation of the rectification campaign adapting Marxism to Chinese culture; victory over the Nationalists in 1949; the Great Proletarian Revolution; the Cultural Revolution; to the opening of China to the West; the death of Chou En-lai; the death of Mao; the fall of the Gang of Four; and the Tiananmen massacre."