Mao Tse-tung in many ways was both the political and spiritual leader of China, and the Cult of Mao developed as he led the Chinese people in the Chinese Revolution and in building a new and different China after 1949. Mao was revered far beyond what would be accorded a leader in the West. The Chinese have a history of mythologizing their heroes and of making them into near-gods, and Mao would both benefit from this tendency and make use of it to solidify his position and to nurture his power. In some ways, his role was similar to that of the Emperors who had gone before, but he avoided the trappings and lifestyle of the Emperor in order to remain one with the people. This fact alone added to his mystique and to the myths that abounded about him. In popular belief, Mao was not merely a human leader but a healer capable of feats beyond what would be expected of any human being. In the mythology of the people, Mao emerged as a god. As noted, this was partially because the Chinese tended to elevate their heroes in this fashion, and it was also partially because of the way mao made himself the spiritual center of the revolution and utilized the cult of Mao to mobilize the people to action in such endeavors as the Great Leap Forward.
Wills emphasizes that China was never a country that could be held together by force alone, and indeed in this century the increasing militarization tore the country apart. Mao fulfilled a need:
By 1920 many were groping for new ways to control the military and reunite the country. Among the pieces of a solution were discipline of troops and their indoctrination in one form or another of nationalism and public spirit; mobilization of ordinary tradespeople, farmers, and workers as active participants in politics; and new ways of disciplining and indoctrinating a civil and bureaucratic elite.
Mao's form of Communism was one of the answers raised, and he was effective as his concepts mobilized the...