A Research On The Relationship Between Hunan Culture And The Formation Of The Lofty Personality Of Mao Zedong In His Early Years

It is widely admitted that Mao Zedong is one of the greatest politicians,thinkers and revolutionists.His great thought and lofty personality have profound influence on Chinese,even people beyond China.Though a native Chinese, Mao spent his first twenty plus years in Human province with a unique culture.Legendary as his life is and more profound and subtle as his thought is,Mao experienced what we common people will experience in our life time such as failure and success,agony and joy.It will be a new window on the research of Mao's personality should his outstanding achievements and unique Human culture are juxtaposed from the perspective of studies of the history of Communist Party(CPC),psychology and studies of culture,which is characteristically recognized in this dissertation.To conduct research on Human culture and the formation of the lofty personality of Mao Zedong in his early days,such long debated concepts as personality,lofty personality,the lofty personality of Mao Zedong in his early days,Hunan culture and the nature of Human people should be delineated. Personality can be defined as the whole nature,character, morality and competence of a particular person;the interaction between one's mental dynamics and his behavior; the combination of one's intelligence,morality,emotion, willpower and aesthetics.Lofty personality is considered as the refinement of the above mentioned components of one's personality,especially,one's attitude toward life,belief and values.In brief,lofty personality narrowed down to the fundamental guideline for one's value orientation,which is also the ultimate aim that a person seeks all his life.Thus, in this sense,lofty personality attaches much emphasis to one's morality orientation—the core of lofty personality. The formation of Mao's lofty personality can be traced back to his early days(from summer,1912 to the end of 1920),he taking part in various social activities and cultivating his moral character.To be more specific,lofty personality indicates the following connotations:constant pursuit of modes of reforming China and the whole world;following the virtues and morality of the previous sages and striving for the cultivation of unselfish morality;worshiping martial spirit,labor,firm determination;taking a simple,practical and aggressive attitude toward life.The components of personality and lofty personality are various and complex,which is true of the formation of Mao' s lofty personality in his early days,to which Hunan culture and the social background at that time contributed much. Hunan culture elaborates traditional Confucian thought as "Cultivating oneself,putting family in order,ruling the country and giving peace to the world" into the unique natures of Hunan people such as roughness,toughness perseverance and being pragmatic,forming Hunan people's unique nature following the virtues and morality of the previous sages, exploring the laws of historical evolution,holding the belief in applying theories to practice and constant change of the society,striving to improve themselves and volunteering to be the first in creation,which has a great influence on the formation of Mao's lofty personality in his early years,especially the establishment of lofty,the unselfish morality and the fearless self sacrifice spirit.The personalities of the great people of Hunan such as Tao Pen,Wei Yuan,Zeng Guofan,Zuo Zongtang,Tan Sitong and Yang Changji has contributed much to the formation of Mao' s lofty personality in his early years.For instance,Zeng Guofan advocated three criteria for a person's success: composing books,cultivating lofty morality and making some achievements,believed in golden mean of the Confucian school and constantly strived to cultivate his morality—baben八本(cf.Chapter Three.Tan Sitong advocated that the unreasonable traditional rules and customs should be broken and man's mentality should develop at his disposal..The tradition of worshiping of army forces of Hunan people saw a constant passing down among the generals and soldiers.Worship of steady and sure academic discipline in Hunan culture has contributed much to the formation of his work style in his lofty personality in his early years—performing work pragmatically,perseveringly and seriously no matter how great or small or how hard or easy the work is.?Emphasis placed by Hunan culture on the pursuit one's value of life by making achievements and the ability to give peace to the world has great influence on the formation of Mao's belief that even getting familiarity with worldly things was worth studying,Mao's outstanding politic competence and Mao's politic ambition of reforming China and the whole world.In a word,this dissertation has interdisciplinarily made interpretation of the components of Mao's lofty personality, his early life experiences and introduced the connotations of Hunan culture and the nature of Hunan people from different angles,which aims to reveal the secret of the formation of Mao's lofty personality.This dissertation is divided into six chapters:Chapter One is the introduction mainly introducing literature review of researches on Mao Zedong and Mao Zedong thought in his early-years,concerning issues as the starting point and content of researches on Mao Zedong and Mao Zedong school,Mao's early activities and researches on his early thought,Mao's personality and researches on his personality in his early years.The author introduces such key concepts as personality,lofty personality and Mao's lofty personality in his early years,and puts forward new perspectives of the elements affecting the formation of Mao's lofty personality.Chapter Two probes into the study of the nature of Hunan people,the key social-cultural background of the formation of Mao's lofty personality in his early years.To be specific, the chapter deals with elements promoting the formation of his lofty personality by introducing the origin and connotation of Hunan culture,the nature and evolution of Hunan culture.Furthermore,much space is given to the explanation of the nature of Hunan people and the introduction some elites of Hunan people such as Yang Changji,Li Jingxi, Xu Teli,Who played an important role in not only spreading knowledge to Young Mao Zedong but also establishing themselves as moral examples of him.Chapter Three deals with Mao's pursuit of morality,that is,following the virtues and morality of the previous sages. This chapter covers sections concerning such topics as the lofty personality and the tradition of Hunan culture,in which Hunan people have the tradition of worshiping the virtues and morality of the previous sages and exploring the laws of historical evolution,the lofty,unselfish morality of Hunan people,and the fearless self sacrifice spirit of Hunan people. Chapter Four deals with Mao's intelligence strategy in his lofty personality by following Zeng Guofan's three criteria for a person's success:composing books,cultivating lofty morality and making some achievements.This chapter covers sections concerning such topics as Mao's worship of the above mentioned Zeng Guofan's three criteria for a person's success, Mao's broad and profound knowledge of things ancient and modern,Mao's outstanding politics competence of volunteering to be the first and worrying about the future of the whole world,Mao's rich life experience,believing that even getting familiarity with worldly things was worth studying,and Mao's work style,performing work carefully and pragmatically.Chapter Five deals with the discipline of willpower in Mao's lofty personality in his early years—worship of military and physical exercise.This chapter covers sections concerning topics as the tradition of Hunan army:worshipping military force and hardworking,Mao's perseverance in encountering frustration and trouble,Mao's belief in well building his body by taking part in physical exercise actively.Chapter Six demonstrates the breakthrough of Mao's lofty personality in his early years by seeking "ism"(communism). This chapter covers sections concerning such topics as Mao' s making friends as broad as possible,Mao's disciplining of willpower,Mao's making modifications in his life direction,Mao's active participation in social practice for increasing social awareness and abilities to fight against enemies,and Mao's constant exploration of truth and pursuit of "ism"(communism).