This text is an attempt to reflect on the image of Mao Zedong in People’s Republic of China and the politics of shaping his image. Mao Zedong, his politics, literary work, life, and other aspects of his long biography have been fairly well described by numerous researchers over the past few decades. However, far too little space has been devoted to the image of Mao Zedong in the consciousness of the Chinese.
Considering that Mao has been included into the set of deities and surrounded by a halo of divinity, the critical attitude to his figure verges on sacrilege. It is a surprising encounter of politics and religion, which Mao Zedong would not expect in his lifetime. In fact, only popular and avant-garde art, as well as individual oppositionists have made iconoclastic attempts to deconstruct the figure of Mao.

Birthday Anniversaries of the Veterans of Communist Party of China in the Internal Politics of the People’s Republic of China

This article analyses functions of birthday commemoration of veterans of Communist Party of China. Content analyses of official ceremonial speeches and case study was applied to research ceremonies of 120th anniversary of Mao Zedong birthday and 100th anniversary of Xi Zhongxun, Hu Yaobang and Liu Huaqing birthdays. The study is based on Maurice Halbwachs’s concept of collective memory. The results shows legitimizing function of those events – both of party rule over China and Xi Jinping leadership in the party.