How Chiang Kai-shek and Mao Zedong Ruled China

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By Yu-Long Ling

Professor Yu-Long Ling, a Franklin resident, an expert in foreign policy

George Friedrich Hegel, one of the great philosophers of the 18th century, divided individuals into two categories: (i) ordinary and (ii) heroic. To him, ordinary individuals were pieces of meat lying on the slaughtering table of history while heroes were leaders, inventors, and philosophers who shaped the course of history. Prof. Tai’s book, How Chiang Kai-shek and Mao Zedong Ruled China, covers these two “heroes.” Chiang Kai-shek ranks as one of the most despised leaders of the 20th century. Mao Zedong was another historical figure of the 20th century and one of the founders of the communist party in China. He led the communist revolution and established the People’s Republic of China.

Chiang Kai-shek and Mao Zedong were indeed the two great leaders of 20th century China, and had impacted not only on China but also on the world. Because of their personalities, leadership styles, and visions, thousands of books and articles have been published that analyze and condemn them, but none have been written comparing these two leaders. Professor Tai is the first scholar to analyze them by using a comparative approach.

Tai’s book is divided in four major sections: (i) the first discusses each man’s personal background and his respective steps within the political arena; (ii) the second discusses each man’s leadership skills; (iii) the third discusses each man’s ruling philosophy and skills; and (iv) the last discusses how each man attempted to make China rich and powerful. The book has a total of 430 pages and is rich in sources, very detailed and objectively written.

Even though there are four main parts, because the title of the book focuses on how Chiang and Mao ruled China, I decided to focus on parts two and three. How one “rules” is a factor of one’s leadership. In my many years, I taught several courses dealing with leadership. As such, I am quite familiar with all of the literature regarding leadership. After much thinking, I think that Italian philosopher Niccole Machiavelli’s leadership theory, as explained in his book “The Prince,” is a good source for analyzing these two influential leaders.

Machiavelli lived in a turbulent era in Italian politics, similar to Chiang and Mao in their troubled China. In order to survive, Machiavelli suggested that a ruler must master the practical statecraft which is underscored by leadership skills. Machiavelli believed that a successful leader should possess the mentalities of both a lion and a fox.   The lion can intimidate and scare with its big roar, while the fox is cunning. Both Chiang and Mao demonstrated they were willing to use force (military) and intelligence (propaganda) to achieve their goals.

Another Machiavellian theory is that the “ends justify the means.” In Professor Tai’s book, he describes how these two leaders repeatedly followed this in both their private and public lives. Each man determined what the end should be and did whatever necessary to accomplish it. As a result, both men committed personal scandals (including serious criminal acts) and believed that public morality and private morality should be separated. In other words, based on their actions, they showed the world they believed that they deserved more latitude in their private actions than anyone else. In this regard, this applied to Mao more than Chiang.

Machiavelli understood the positive aspects of the republic form of government, but he also understood politics deal with reality. In his time, Italy was disunited and torn with strife by a powerful leader who could crush all oppositions attempting to unite the country. Chiang and Mao lived in very similar but worse conditions in China. Based on their different revolutionary theories, in the case of Mao, he created a communist totalitarian government for China while Chiang created an authoritarian government for China. Both leaders enjoyed absolute power during the time they ruled China. They may have different titles, but the fact was that they were dictators.

In the last chapter, Prof. Tai analyzes Chiang’s and Mao’s leadership styles. Chiang’s leadership characteristics were to strictly guard his positions, and if necessary, willing to compromise and self confidence in his decisions. Mao’s leadership characteristics were thorough planning, flexibility and persuasiveness. Machiavelli’s lion and fox theory again fits beautifully with these two leadership styles. When I read this book I cannot help but think about Machiavelli.

A great leader not only can solve present challenges, but also can influence his country in the future. Since this book has written two great leaders, thus, it is appropriate to raise the following question: Whose vision of China’s future has taken hold? Is it Chiang’s dream of a more democratic, progressive China or is it the new China based on revolutionary communist ideology? The answer is clear. The rise of China was under Deng Xiaoping’s reform policies and not under Mao’s rule. While the success of Taiwan has a lot to do with Chiang’s visions and policies.

That is why a unique phenomenon has occurred in China. Chiang was long denounced as a bandit and lap dog of the American Imperialists in China. However, in China today, Chiang is widely regarded as a Chinese patriot who made valuable contributions to the modern nation. On the other hand, the praising of Mao’s has softened while the voice of criticism is getting louder. Even through Professor Tai did not expressly state this in his book, you can sense this outcome.

In conclusion, I would like to stress three unique and distinguishing features of this book. First, generally, autobiographies or biographies of famous people only focus on that particular individual, but Professor Tai focuses on two, Chiang and Mao by comparing them in various aspects. His book provides a different outlook of these two leaders. Second, the facts in the book are reliable because of the thorough and time consuming research. Third, the writing is extremely good not only because of Professor Tai’s great writing skill, but also because of the use his rich knowledge and wisdom and ability to analyze the two leaders.   As such, readers will not only able to see historical events, but also be able to learn much political theory. Lastly, Professor Tai’s book is written in both Chinese and English. Because of this, it will have a broad reach of readers.

As previously stated, the style of writing, the arrangement, and the subjects including author’s analysis and comments, is super. I highly recommend this book to the academic community as well as the general public.