Red Star over China

Red Star over China: The Classic Account of the Birth of Chinese Communism by Edgar Snow

In the 1930s, Mao was a mystery to the west. Edgar Snow traveled up to the areas held by Red China to talk with Mao and see what was going on. At the time, Mao was far from taking full control over China. He was originally a teacher and had helped in a Communist rising in China. They were influenced by the Russian communism and hoped to set up a true peasant-based communism in China. 

The book is a journalistic story. We hear Mao's story. In this story the peasants hate the ruling "White" Chinese, but jump to the support of the Communist "Red" Chinese. The ruling Whites treat the Reds as bandits. However, the Reds realize they are fighting for a noble cause. They want democracy and rights for everyone. They advocate freedom, including religious and minority freedom. They are primarily against the Japanese imperialist and want to have a China rules by the Chinese. Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek is often portrayed as a poor leader who is too supportive of the rich and imperialists.

It is interesting to see how Mao wanted to portray himself. He thought of himself as an idealist. He may well have been. He may well have been. However, rebelling may have been quite different from actually leading. It is hard to see how the cultural revolution and great leap forward would come about. However, some of Mao's early criticisms of his education give some hints. He felt he was right and was upset about other classes (like art) that he felt were a waste of time. He wanted to be a teacher, but ended up a leader of a billion people.