Philosophical Foundations
For Mao Zedong, the process of socialist revolution was a lifelong commitment. Mao believed in permanent revolution. After Stalin's death in 1953, Mao began to question the purity of Soviet Marxist-Leninist ideology. In Mao's eyes, Kruschev's visit to the United States in 1959 demonstrated that Kruschev was only interested in preserving the Soviet sphere of influence rather than inculcating the global proletarian revolution that Marx had envisioned.
As a result, Mao began to see himself as the true successor of Stalin as the champion of the Socialist revolution. This philosophical distinction between Mao's goals of continual revolution and Soviet leadership's willingness to accept the status quo of spheres of influence created an increasingly wide rift in Sino-Soviet relations. The Sino-Soviet split became firmly settled by 1966 when Mao's revolution cut off almost all contact with the outside world, including the USSR and the United State.
Mao fiercely rejected what he perceived as the reversal of the dictatorship of the proletariat in the USSR:
As a result, Mao began to see himself as the true successor of Stalin as the champion of the Socialist revolution. This philosophical distinction between Mao's goals of continual revolution and Soviet leadership's willingness to accept the status quo of spheres of influence created an increasingly wide rift in Sino-Soviet relations. The Sino-Soviet split became firmly settled by 1966 when Mao's revolution cut off almost all contact with the outside world, including the USSR and the United State.
Mao fiercely rejected what he perceived as the reversal of the dictatorship of the proletariat in the USSR:
The Soviet Union, Yugoslavia, and all those counties where the modern revisionist clique is in power have either changed colour or are in the process of doing so. Capitalism has been or is being restored there, and the dictatorship of the proletariat has been or is being transformed into the dictatorship of the bourgeoisie. Against this adverse current of counter-revolutionary revisionism, heroic socialist Albania has stood firm. (Mao Zedong in "The Soviet Leading Clique is a Mere Dust Heap"(1966)).
Mao's hard line refusal of diplomatic relationship with the Soviet Union indicated the sincerity of Mao's statement and confirmed the radically unilateral nature of the CCP. It was clear that Mao had formed his own idealistic vision of the methods and goals of Socialism in China. Soon China became inundated with millions of copies of a new bestseller: Quotations from Chairman Mao. By the time of the Cultural Revolution, "the thought(sixiang) of Mao Zedong" had been canonized as the orthodox ideology of the Chinese Communist Party(K.K. Yeo 108). This was indicative of the sinification of Marxism into a new philosophical system that would be come to be called "Maoism."
Sinification of Marxism
Like Marx, Mao rejected socialist utopianism but the Maoist framework of cyclical history meant that utopia was always out of reach for the the revolution. Class struggle was the fundamental truth of the past and the future, and thus Mao's anti-utopian thought highlighted the "uninterrupted revolution of the now"(K.K. Yeo 216). Revolutions must continue, or they will become "counterrevolutionary," like the Soviets. K.K. Yeo describes this consequence as the result of the sinification of Marxism, in which the yin-yang cyclical worldview merges with the dialectics of Marxism. The application of dialectical materialism to Maoism can be clearly seen in the introductory pages to The Little Red Book:
Classes struggle, some classes triumph, others are eliminated. Such is history, such is the history of civilization for thousands of years. To interpret history from this viewpoint is historical materialism; standing in opposition to this viewpoint is historical idealism(Quotations from Chairman Mao 8).
This vision of history informed Mao's vision of the present, leading to the multiple attempts to reincarnate revolution and perpetuate the class struggle in the 1950s, 60s, and 70s.
Maoist anti-utopian eschatology flatly contradict the eschatology of the apostle Paul in the New Testament, and this is just one of several contentions between Christianity and Maoism. The fact that Maoism had no space for the eschatology of 2 Thessalonians, in which believers are brought into heaven at the end of history meant that the Bible was fundamentally contradictory in the general as well as the specific teachings of Maoism. This led to a controversy among Christians who supported the TSP, which attempted to synthesize Communist ideology and Christianity, and others, like Wang Mingdao, who insisted that materialism and the cyclical view of of history were incompatible with Christianity. This debate, however, preceded the Cultural Revolution––whatever accommodations to Maoism were made by the registered orthodox, Catholic and Protestant churches became irrelevant by 1966. By this point, all forms of religious practice were strictly outlawed as "counterrevolutionary," or anti-Maoist.
Maoist anti-utopian eschatology flatly contradict the eschatology of the apostle Paul in the New Testament, and this is just one of several contentions between Christianity and Maoism. The fact that Maoism had no space for the eschatology of 2 Thessalonians, in which believers are brought into heaven at the end of history meant that the Bible was fundamentally contradictory in the general as well as the specific teachings of Maoism. This led to a controversy among Christians who supported the TSP, which attempted to synthesize Communist ideology and Christianity, and others, like Wang Mingdao, who insisted that materialism and the cyclical view of of history were incompatible with Christianity. This debate, however, preceded the Cultural Revolution––whatever accommodations to Maoism were made by the registered orthodox, Catholic and Protestant churches became irrelevant by 1966. By this point, all forms of religious practice were strictly outlawed as "counterrevolutionary," or anti-Maoist.
The most obvious problem for Christians was that Maoism required the destruction of religious "systems of authority," and this philosophy finally went into effect in full force in 1966 with the Cultural Revolution. Although the Constitution of the People's Republic of China grants freedom of religious belief, from the beginning, the CCP has been violently opposed to evangelism, printing of Bibles, publishing of Christian literature, and any other means of preserving or growing the strength of religious authority. Daniel Bays dispels some of the more extreme claims about censorship in today's China, but the fact remains that any religious book must be pre-approved by the government, members in unregistered churches face the threats of arrest, and the government has been routinely demolishing churches and removing crosses as it sees fit.
This history shows that the anti-religious praxis of the Chinese government today is an invention of the Communist state. Prior to Mao, Confucius was the preeminent philosopher and his writings were the orthodox ideology of the emperors and of the Republic. Confucius himself discusses junzi or "humanity" as full alignment with the "Will of Heaven"(2.4). However, in Mao's adaptation of dialectical materialist vision of history, even Confucius could be ignored in favor of an interpretation of human progress in strictly materialist, anti-religious terms. In 1929, Mao had already identified the four authorities that had to be rejected in the process of revolution:
This history shows that the anti-religious praxis of the Chinese government today is an invention of the Communist state. Prior to Mao, Confucius was the preeminent philosopher and his writings were the orthodox ideology of the emperors and of the Republic. Confucius himself discusses junzi or "humanity" as full alignment with the "Will of Heaven"(2.4). However, in Mao's adaptation of dialectical materialist vision of history, even Confucius could be ignored in favor of an interpretation of human progress in strictly materialist, anti-religious terms. In 1929, Mao had already identified the four authorities that had to be rejected in the process of revolution:
A man in China is usually subjected to the domination of three systems of authority [political authority, clan authority and religious authority]. . . . As for women, in addition to being dominated by these three systems of authority, they are also dominated by the men (the authority of the husband). These four authorities — political, clan, religious and masculine — are the embodiment of the whole feudal-patriarchal ideology and system, and are the four thick ropes binding the Chinese people, particularly the peasants(Quotations from Chairman Mao 264).
Maoist thought was therefore anti-religious, in spite of granting religious "freedom of belief." The testimony of numerous Chinese survivors of the Cultural Revolution confirm the duplicity of this claim in practice as well as ideology.
Far from being merely a proletarian revolution in industry, Mao's Cultural Revolution sought to re-invent Chinese Culture itself. The destruction of Buddhist temples and monasteries; the seizure of Christian seminaries, hospitals, churches and schools; and the destruction of old art and artifacts of traditional Chinese culture––all these were direct actions based on the recreation of Chinese Culture around the presentist materialist thought of Mao Zedong. Mao wrote, "The thought, culture, and customs which brought China to where we found her[in 1949]must disappear, and the thought, customs, and culture of proletarian China, which do not yet exist, must appear(qtd. in K.K. Yeo 217).
In this new system, correct thinking was defined by adherence to Maoism. The name Zedong means "of the east," which is the origin of the sunrise. In his own name, Mao Zedong incarnated the idea that he was the embodiment of the dawning light of progress for Chinese Civilization. By his definition, correct thought only comes through social realities defined by Maoism:
In this new system, correct thinking was defined by adherence to Maoism. The name Zedong means "of the east," which is the origin of the sunrise. In his own name, Mao Zedong incarnated the idea that he was the embodiment of the dawning light of progress for Chinese Civilization. By his definition, correct thought only comes through social realities defined by Maoism:
Where does man's correct thought come from? Does it fall down from heaven? No. Is it imbedded in his own mind? No.[...]Man's correct thought only can come from social reality, only can come from three realities: production struggles in society, class struggles, and scientific investigation(qtd. in K.K. Yeo 220).
Conclusion
Even Christians who supported the three-self model and proclaimed anti-foreign, anti-imperialist slogans could not escape the cultural revolution. Maoism motivated incalculable damage to Christian institutions, as well as relics and institutions of traditional culture. As the posters of Mao illustrate, Mao was portrayed as the incarnation of the light of truth.Jesus of Nazareth similarly claimed to be "the way, the truth, and the life"(John 14:6). Both claims cannot be true at the same time: thus Christianity and Maoism ultimately came into conflict because of the claim to authority by their respective leaders. Following Mao and following Jesus were seen as opposite systems, and as Human Rights Watch has shown, the fear of losing authority continues to motivate the CCP today.