Peerless is level 1 of 4 in the China Hall of Fame: changed the field itself. Tell the country's story without them and the story breaks. See how the levels work.
Why they are here
The Communist leader who led his party to victory in the civil war and proclaimed the People's Republic of China in 1949, ruling it until his death in 1976.
Mao rose to the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party during the Long March of 1934 and 1935 and led it through the war against Japan and the civil war with the Kuomintang. On 1 October 1949 he proclaimed the People's Republic in Beijing.
His portrait still hangs over Tiananmen Gate, and his thought remains part of the official ideology of the Communist Party.
His rule also brought immense suffering. The Great Leap Forward of 1958 to 1962 led to a famine in which tens of millions of people died, and the Cultural Revolution he launched in 1966 brought persecution, violence and the deaths of very many more. Assessments of his legacy remain deeply divided.
His portrait still hangs over Tiananmen Gate, and his thought remains part of the official ideology of the Communist Party.
His rule also brought immense suffering. The Great Leap Forward of 1958 to 1962 led to a famine in which tens of millions of people died, and the Cultural Revolution he launched in 1966 brought persecution, violence and the deaths of very many more. Assessments of his legacy remain deeply divided.
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