The Reign of Mao Zedong

Mao Zedong was the founding father of communist China, The People's Republic of China. This name would eventually conflict with Taiwan's Republic of China. Mao was a peasant and eventually went on to become a teacher. When reading and learning to become a teacher, he came across Marxism and was so fascinated in it that he founded the Chinese Communist Party. Mao Zedong is probably the most remembered for the "Great Leap Forward." This can be compared to the Soviet Union's change from a Tsar to a communist party. The whole point of the "Great Leap Forward" was to focus on and enhance industrialization and agriculture in China in the late 1950s through the expansion and use of laborers. However, he received much backlash because during this time, the people had suffered from famine. Again compared to the Soviet Union, like Joseph Stalin, Zedong purged China in 1966. This purge is known as the Cultural Revolution. Regardless of the harshness of his reign, Mao is still revered as one of the most important leaders of China. His picture can be found in many Chinese homes just as Stalin and Lenin are patronized by many Russians.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/mao_zedong.shtml