Young Chinese turn to Mao Zedong for life advice, 50 years after his death

When you are denied a pay rise, when you feel anxious about your children’s education, or when you are alienated by colleagues, Chairman Mao can help.

At least, that is what China’s online influencers and their hundreds of thousands of followers believe.

Wednesday marks the 50th anniversary of the death of Mao Zedong, founding father of the People’s Republic of China. Chinese authorities have not announced any plans to mark the date, as former state leaders are usually commemorated on the anniversaries of their birth.

The only special arrangement in place is at the Chairman Mao Memorial Hall in Beijing, which will open for an extra three hours on Wednesday. Visiting slots for the week are fully booked.

Despite the official silence ahead of the anniversary, it is hard to ignore the quiet comeback of Mao’s popularity in the country.

In recent years, younger generations of Chinese have rediscovered Mao as their life coach. They organise online book clubs devoted to his works, spread the gospel through artificial intelligence-narrated videos, and affectionately refer to him as jiaoyuan, or “teacher”, a title Mao himself once said he preferred.

His views are regularly cited in times of US-China tensions. Last year, when the Trump administration imposed a 104 per cent tariff on Chinese goods, social media users searched for the term jiaoyuan, described imperialism as a “paper tiger” – one of Mao’s best-known slogans – and quoted his collection of speeches, On Protracted War.