THE village of Shaoshan in the green hills of Hunan province in east-central China is gearing up for a big party on December 26th: the 120th birthday of its most famous son, Mao Zedong. Debate rages in China over Mao’s historical role. Some call him a tyrant for the violence he put at the heart of his rule, causing the deaths of tens of millions of people. Others worship him almost as a god. In Shaoshan he is a money-spinner, with the farmhouse where he was born attracting millions of Chinese tourists every year.
For President Xi Jinping evaluating Mao’s legacy is especially tricky. On the anniversary he must tread a careful line. Since he took over as Communist Party chief a year ago Mr Xi has shown a fondness for Maoist rhetoric. He calls, for instance, for a “mass line” campaign to restore the party’s traditional values and a “rectification” movement to purge it of corruption. Mr Xi’s willingness to show off his grip on power suggests a leadership style more evocative of the Mao era than of the grey consensus of recent years. Earlier this year he is reported to have told Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, that “you and I have very similar characters”.
Yet in ideological terms, Mr Xi is no Maoist. This month’s anniversary is probably a headache he could do without. In November, at a landmark plenum, the party’s central committee adopted a resolution which, in economic terms, aims to shift China even further from Maoism than the late reformer, Deng Xiaoping, attempted. Market forces, it ruled, would henceforth play a “decisive role” in the economy.
Still, Mao continues to exert a powerful influence over the party and public opinion. Mr Xi dares not play down Mao’s “contributions” for fear that outright de-Maoification could fatally weaken the party’s grip. A recent article in the party’s mouthpiece, the People’s Daily, said that a big reason for the collapse of the Soviet Union—an unadulterated tragedy, it was naturally understood—was the “negation of Lenin and other [historical] leaders”. As Communist China’s founder as well as the leader most noted for brutal excess, Mao is Lenin and Stalin rolled into one.
At December’s birthday celebrations, some sense an opportunity. At one end of the political spectrum are liberals who want Mr Xi and China’s new generation of leaders to repudiate Mao as a prelude to far-reaching political reform. At the other end are diehard or born-again Maoists who revere the late chairman as an embodiment of anti-Western nationalism. They want Mao to be, in effect, sanctified, with December 26th declared a national holiday. In recent months, both ends of the spectrum have been trying to push their cases. They will be paying close attention to what Mr Xi has to say.
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