The Patient Dictator

The Evolution of Despotism, from Mao to Now

The China Mao grew up in was feudal, poor, and run by a king who was run by a queen who, if anything, proved to be a ruinous despot. By his nineteenth birthday, he had successfully partnered with Sun Yat-sen, a Christian dissident, in the Xinhai Revolution. Their outfit was called Tongmenghui and it was just one of several that participated. The uprisin…