Mao Tse-Tung - Quotations From Chairman Mao Tse-Tung Review

This is the famous/infamous "Little Red Book" that has been a handbook of far-left political activists around the world. It's also essential reading for anyone who wants to understand Chinese history in the 20th century and Chinese society today. Having just had the opportunity to stroll through Tiananmen Square, I can state without hesitation that Mao's influence is still a powerful force in modern China.
The collection of quotations is organized into chapters on specific subjects such as "Class and Class Struggle", "The People's Army", "Serving the People", and "Criticism and Self-Criticism".

My first impression of Mao's writing was how much he loved to categorize. Mao had to fit everything into its own little box, and he had plenty of boxes to go around. He would invent subcategories for his categories, distinguishing the "industrial proletariat", "semi-proletariat", "petty bourgeoisie", and "middle bourgeoisie". As an organizer, Mao seems in love with the very act of organizing, and he feels the need to explain and lay out his organizational schemes for his audiences.

The Little Red Book also contains a fair amount of practical military and political strategy, the former clearly influenced by Sun Tzu, who is actually quoted at one point.

Interestingly, a great number of quotes are devoted to the qualities of humility, self-criticism, and mercy. Mao repeatedly admonishes soldiers against looting and mistreatment of prisoners, just as he warns officers against the use of corporal punishment on their troops. Knowing the history, it is easy to feel a sense of irony reading these statements, as Mao clearly refused to accept criticism of himself during his long reign.

But there are some powerful insights here as well, especially considering the many decades over which these quotations span, and the tumultuous events taking place in China during that time span. Mao was there for the beginnings of Chinese communism, and he saw it through a brutal war with Japan, civil war, and then the Cold War. Mao's personal perspective on all of this history is by far the most fascinating aspect of the Little Red Book.