Trivia

Considered by many to have been the single most powerful leader in the world's history, as absolute ruler of one-fourth of humankind, whose voice was revered as divine revelation and who has successfully brainwashed/convinced most of his dissidents into believing that it was they, not he, who were wrong, during the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), a period in which his "Little Red Book" outsold the Bible.

Henry Kissinger, when he learned of the death of Mao, commented that if Mao were to join God in Heaven, it would be "too powerful a combination".

Following his death it was disclosed that he had large "pleasure gardens" stocked with hundreds of women.

Contrary to popular belief, Mao did not oppose to the right to bear arms. In fact, during his rule, many adult Chinese joined militia organizations and kept at least one rifle at home. It was after his death the Chinese government started implementing gun restrictions.

Attended the Hunan First Normal School (early 1910s).

As a reaction to the Maoist insurrection in Paris and Lyon in May, 1968, the Charles de Gaulle administration decided to reorganize tertiary education in France. During the reorganization, the prestigious architecture school of Ecole Nationale Superieure des Beaux Arts was split from the school and divided into several smaller schools.

Still worshipped as a god by some Chinese, especially peasants and taxi drivers, with his photos being used as charms.

When once compared to the first Chinese emperor Quin Shi Huang, he bragged that "Quin had amounted to burying alive only 460 scholars whilst the communist party during its anti-rightist campaigns had purged or even buried alive 46000 intellectuals, thereby outdoing the emperor by a hundredfold".

Chairman (chief of state) of the People's Republic of China (1949-1959).

Officially hailed "the Great Leader, great mentor, great helmsman and great commander" of the Chinese people during the Cutural Revolution (1966-1976).

His radical ideology has inspired countless revolutions far beyond China's borders, including guerilla activities in Nepal, Peru, Philippines, and student protests/demonstrations/riots in Europe during the late 60s, the most prominent one in France, between May and August, 1968.

A personal pal of French Existentialist philosopher and Nobel Laureate Jean-Paul Sartre, who got arrested for distributing inflammatory Maoist newspapers in 1970.

Inspired countless European film directors, including Jean-Luc Godard (aka "Jean Luc Godard"), a professed Maoist in the late '60s.

Received Soviet Chairman of the Council of Ministers (i.e. Prime Minister) Nikita Khrushchev (1894-1971) in his swimming pool to show his defiance for the latter. During the meeting, Mao asked Khrushchev to jump into the pool and swim with him. Khrushchev was extremely embarrassed as he didn't have a swimming suit with him at the time.

His "great leap forward" campaign of 1959-1962 created what is considered the worst man-made disaster--a mass famine due to the attempt to turn China into a planned agrarian economy, which resulted in the deaths of over 20 million people by starvation.

He launched the Cultural Revolution in 1966, which caused widespread chaos throughout China and led to purges of "disloyal elements" at all levels of society.

Mao once worked as an assistant to the chief librarian of the University of Peking. He was passed over for advancement, which spurred him to join the Chinese Communist Party, where he hoped to get ahead faster.

Upon receiving Richard Nixon during the American president's historic visit to China in February 1972, Mao welcomed and greeted Nixon at the Great Hall Of People in Beijing, quoting that he had "voted for him", much to Nixon's humourous delight.

Standing at 5 feet 11 inches, which is considered in the "relatively tall" category in global standards for males, he was significantly taller than the average Chinese man of his era who generally stood at 5'4" or even shorter. He was also the second tallest communist ruler of the 20th century after Cuba's Fidel Castro who stood a gigantic 6'4" at his peak. However, Mao shrunk significantly owing to his obesity and other health issues as he aged, making him appear an inch and a half shorter than Richard Nixon, who was of the same height, during the American president's visit to Beijing in February 1972.

Henry Kissinger, who in his capacity as Richard Nixon's national security advisor had arranged for Nixon's diplomatic overtunes to Chinese People's Republic, once commented in a documentary that whilst Mao had killed millions of Chinese people in the pursuit of his fanatical ideology, he was surprisingly very pragmatic when it came to foreign policy where global commentators and analysts were of the opinion he might be a "cold blooded Machiavellian".

His health had worsened to such an extent in his penultimate years that his staff detail frequently hid medical backup equipment, including oxygen tanks, behind plants at the halls where he received foreign dignitaries.

Post his demise in 1976 and the end of the Cold War in 1991, there have been multiple conspiracy theories surrounding the death of his designated successor and then head of the Chinese military forces Lin Biao in a plane crash in 1971, with some believing Mao was aware of Lin's desire for more power than what he was already allocated with and therefore had Lin alongside his wife assassinated in Beijing itself with the plane crashing in Mongolia being a mere fabrication, whilst others believe Mao was well aware in advance of Lin's attempted plot to topple or even kill him which led him to become emotionally shattered and insisted his intelligence officials upon their reports of Lin's arrangements for a military passanger jet for flying into exile to "let him go".

Author Jung Chang, a former Red Guard who later became a harsh critique of Mao and his regime, in her bestseller MAO: THE UNKNOWN STORY, mocked Mao's criticism of the West's abuse of monetary power to pursue it's "imperial goals" under the farce of industrialising the poor third world nations when Mao, as per Chang, at the peak of the Cultural Revolution was China's "only millionaire" owing to the unprecedented sales of his Little Red Book.

Like fellow communist dictator Joseph Stalin who, despite his hatred for the Romanov dynasty of Russia, was nick-named the "Red Czar", Mao's near totalitarian influence on his government compelled historians to refer to him as "China's peasant emperor" despite Mao's literal disgust for the erstwhile Quin dynasty.

Cat owners not infrequently name their cats "Chairman Meow" as a joke.