MAO ZEDONG REVERED 50 YEARS AFTER DEATH AS CHINA MARKS ANNIVERSARY

Fifty years after Mao Zedong's death on 9 September 1976, his image and ideas remain deeply embedded in Chinese society, with his portrait still dominating Tiananmen Square in Beijing and Communist Party rhetoric continuing to draw on his thinking. The Chairman Mao Memorial Hall in Beijing will open for an extra three hours on Wednesday to mark the anniversary, with visiting slots for the week fully booked. Chinese authorities have not announced broader plans to mark the date, as former state leaders are typically commemorated on the anniversaries of their birth rather than death. Openly criticising Mao's legacy remains difficult in China.

Mao's appeal differs across generations. Retired Chinese people continue to gather in parks to sing revolutionary songs praising Mao, with participants describing how the "red songs" from their childhood mix nostalgia with patriotic feeling and help sustain them in retirement. Younger generations have rediscovered Mao as a life coach in recent years, organising online book clubs devoted to his works, spreading his teachings through artificial intelligence-narrated videos, and affectionately referring to him as jiaoyuan, or "teacher"—a title Mao himself said he preferred. For both older and younger cohorts, Mao retains his image as founder of the People's Republic of China and the leader credited with allowing the country to regain sovereignty after a century of invasions. This heroic memory largely leaves aside the famines of the Great Leap Forward and the violence of the Cultural Revolution.

Younger Chinese have cited Mao's views during periods of US-China tension. Last year, when the Trump administration imposed a 104 per cent tariff on Chinese goods, social media users searched for the term jiaoyuan, described imperialism as a "paper tiger"—one of Mao's best-known slogans—and quoted his collection of speeches, On Protracted War. Analysts have suggested that the trend of younger generations turning to Mao's teachings gives Beijing reason to be cautious. His enduring influence reflects how revolutionary ideology remains woven into Communist Party messaging and broader Chinese national identity.