See The Brief Profile Of Foremost China Leader, Chairman Mao Tse-tung

Mao Tse-tung 

Mao Zedong also transliterated as Mao Tse-tung and commonly referred to as Chairman Mao (December 26, 1893 – September 9, 1976), was a Chinese Communist revolutionary and the founding father of the People's Republic of China, which he governed as Chairman of the Communist Party of China from its establishment in 1949 until his death in 1976. 

His Marxist–Leninist theories, military strategies, and political policies are collectively known as Marxism–Leninism–Maoismor Mao Zedong Thought.

Born the son of a wealthy farmer in Shaoshan, Hunan, Mao adopted a Chinese nationalist and anti-imperialist outlook in early life, particularly influenced by the events of the Xinhai Revolution of 1911 and May Fourth Movementof 1919. 

Mao converted to Marxism–Leninism while working at Peking University and became a founding member of the Communist Party of China (CPC), leading the Autumn Harvest Uprisingin 1927. 

During the Chinese Civil War between the Kuomintang (KMT) and the CPC, Mao helped to found theRed Army, led the Jiangxi Soviet's radical land policies and ultimately became head of the CPC during theLong March. 

Although the CPC temporarily allied with the KMT under the United Frontduring the Second Sino-Japanese War(1937–45), after Japan's defeat China's civil war resumed and in 1949 Mao's forces defeated the Nationalists who withdrew toTaiwan.

On October 1, 1949, Mao proclaimed the foundation of thePeople's Republic of China(PRC), aone-party statecontrolled by the CPC. In the following years Mao solidified his control throughland reform campaigns against landlords, and perceived enemies of the state he termed as "counter-revolutionaries". 

In 1957 he launched a campaign known as the Great Leap Forward that aimed to rapidly transform China's economy from anagrarian economy to an industrial one, which led to a widespread famine whose death tollis estimated at between 18 and 45 million. 

In 1966, he initiated theGreat Proletarian Cultural Revolution, a program to remove "counter-revolutionary" elements of Chinese society that lasted 10 years and which was marked by violent class struggle, widespread destruction of cultural artifacts and unprecedented elevation of Mao'spersonality cult.

In 1972, Mao welcomed U.S. president Richard Nixonin Beijing, signal linga policy of opening China, which was furthered under the rule of fDeng Xiaoping(1978–1992). Mao suffered a series of heart attacks in 1976, dying in that September, aged 82. 

He was succeeded as Paramount Leader by Hua Guofeng (1976–1978), who was quickly sidelined and replaced by Xiaoping.

A controversial figure, Mao is regarded as one of the most important individuals in modern world history.

Supporters credit him with drivingimperialismout of China, modernising China and building it into a world power, promoting the status of women, improving education and health care, and increasing life expectancy as China's population grew from around 550 million to over 900 million during the period of his leadership. 

He is also known as a theorist, military strategist, poet and visionary.

In contrast, critics consider him a dictator comparable to Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin who severely damaged traditional Chinese culture, as well as a perpetrator of systematic human rights abuses who was responsible for an estimated 40 to 70 million deaths through starvation, forced labour and executions, ranking his tenure as the top incidence of democide in human history.

Credit: wiki 

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