Mao Zedong

American  

[mou zuh-doong, dzuh-, mou zuh-dawng] / ˈmaʊ zəˈdʊŋ, dzə-, ˈmaʊ ˈzʌˈdɔŋ /

Wade-Giles, Mao Tse-tung

noun

1. 1893–1976, Chinese Communist leader: chairman of the People's Republic of China 1949–59; chairman of the Chinese Communist Party 1943–76.

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Mao Zedong Cultural  

1. A Chinese revolutionary leader of the twentieth century. He led an army of workers and peasants on the Long March in the 1920s and used guerrilla warfare techniques successfully on both the Japanese invaders and the forces of the Chinese government under Chiang Kai-shek. In 1949, his armies took over the country and established the People's Republic of China. Mao continued as chairman of China's Communist party and as premier. His “Little Red Book,” Quotations from Chairman Mao, was standard reading for schoolchildren of the country. Toward the end of his life, he brought about the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, in which all capitalist or elitist culture was to be purged. Mao died in 1976.

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Example Sentences

China’s Mao Zedong forced party officials to give self-corrective monologues in which they asked forgiveness for their own stupidity and failing to follow his wise leadership.

From Salon • Mar. 19, 2026

Mao Zedong, the founder of communist China, regularly purged his top lieutenants, sometimes more than once, after bringing them back.

From BBC • Mar. 13, 2026

The historical parallels to the era of Mao Zedong are unmistakable, Chinese historians say.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 20, 2026

Mao Zedong once said that China must wield both the pen and the gun against its adversaries.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 20, 2025

And immediately beyond Korea's borders, Chinese Communists led by Mao Zedong seized control of the mainland in 1949, following a four-year-long civil war with the nationalist forces of Chiang Kai-shek.

From "Spies: The Secret Showdown Between America and Russia" by Marc Favreau