Statues, Banknotes and Portraits: Mao’s Myth Endures 50 Years After His Death

A 20.5-meter statue of Mao Zedong in Shenyang captures the Chinese leader’s enduring presence as China approaches the 50th anniversary of his death. Mao stands above soldiers, workers, miners and peasants, his arm extended over a scene of revolutionary China.

Built in 1970, the monument is called “Long Live the Victory of Mao Zedong Thought.” Its pedestal shows fierce-looking soldiers, the hammer and sickle, a figure holding the Communist Manifesto and another breaking a traditional lion statue. The imagery refers to the Cultural Revolution campaign against the “old customs, old culture, old habits and old ideas.”

A young man surnamed Yang, viewing the monument, said Mao would be surprised if he could walk through present-day Shenyang. Current housing prices would displease him, Yang said, compared with a period when state-owned companies provided workers with homes. Yang said Mao should be judged through several roles, including politician, military leader, poet, calligrapher and teacher. He also expressed gratitude to Mao as the founder of the People’s Republic and credited him with beginning a period of peace enjoyed by his generation.

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He would be surprised.

Yang sees a generational divide. Older people display stronger admiration, he said, while younger people show less fervor. Even so, he believes Mao’s status as founder means he still deserves respect.

The Shenyang monument is among the largest Mao sculptures preserved in China, but hundreds of smaller representations remain in squares, universities and parks. Mao’s portrait still dominates Tiananmen Gate in Beijing, where he proclaimed the People’s Republic in 1949, and his embalmed body remains on display in the mausoleum built after his death on September 9, 1976. His face also appears on every yuan banknote, although mobile payments have made cash less common. Other statues did not survive. Many erected during his lifetime were removed after his death and the beginning of economic reforms, while authorities have intervened against tributes viewed as excessive, including a 37-meter golden seated statue demolished in Henan in 2016.

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Gratitude