The Philosophical Influences of Mao Zedong: Notations, Reflections and Insights

by Robert Elliott Allinson

Overview

This philosophical Mao is a fresh portrait of the mind of the ruler who changed the face of China in the twentieth century. The book traces the influences of both traditional Chinese and traditional pre-Marxist Western philosophy on the early Mao and how these influences guided the development of his thought. It reveals evidence of the creative dimensions of Mao's thinking and how he wove the yin/yang pattern of change depicted in the Yijing, the Chinese Book of Changes, into the Marxist dialectic to bring ancient Chinese philosophy to mark changes in twentieth century thought.

Mao's lifetime philosophical journey includes his interpretations of and comments on both Chinese and Western philosophers. His deep, metaphysical reflections, uncanny prognostications and pensive speculations from his early pre-Marxist period to his later philosophical years prove to be as startling as they are thought-provoking.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781350059870
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Publishing
Publication date:	09/19/2019
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	256
File size:	519 KB

About the Author

Robert Elliott Allinson is Professor of Philosophy at Soka University of America, USA and former Professor at The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
Robert Elliott Allinson is Professor of Philosophy at Soka University of America, USA and former Professor at The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.

He lived through, taught, wrote and researched during the day to day making of modern Chinese history, commencing the year after the death of Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai, experiencing first-hand the aftermath of the Cultural Revolution, through the period of Deng Xiaoping and through the era of others who were to take his place.

He was full professor at The Chinese University of Hong Kong, teaching both Chinese and Western Philosophy. He was one of the first Americans to visit and lecture in China. He was a Visiting Fellow to Yale University, Oxford University, and Erskine Fellow to the University of Canterbury. He was Visiting Professor at Fudan University, was personally invited by Sir Joseph Needham to be a Visiting Fellow at Cambridge University, and by the renowned Chinese scholar Tang Yijie to become Visiting Professor at Peking University.

He has written extensively in the field of Chinese philosophy, author of Understanding the Chinese Mind: The Philosophical Roots (1990) and co-editor of His Harmony and Strife: Contemporary Perspectives, East and West (1989).

Table of Contents

Foreword, Irene Eber, Louis Frieberg Professor Emerita of Chinese History and Philosophy and Senior Fellow, Harry S. Truman Research Institute for the Advancement of Peace, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
Preface
Acknowledgements
1. Introduction to the Philosophical Mao
2. Mao's Youthful Philosophical Development
3. Mao in the Margins: Mao's Philosophy of Egoism
4. Mao's Early Philosophical Influences and Reflections
5. The Blend of the Influence of Chinese and Western philosophy on Mao's Thought and Parallels in China's Social and Economic Development
6. Mao's Marxist Thought and the Yijing
7. Mao as Metaphysician and Literatus
8. Mao's Contributions to Philosophy
Notes
Selected List of References
Index

Editorial Reviews

Mao Ze Dong is celebrated (or cursed) as a revolutionary leader, but the philosophical foundation of his activity is largely ignored. In his superb study, Allinson fills in this lack. Mao's thought is not just located in its historical context; its complex references to the Chinese traditional thought, to Marx and Western philosophy, but also to modern sciences (quantum physics), are explored and documented. A new Mao thus emerges, a Mao whose radical acts are grounded in a thick texture of philosophical reflections. Allinson's Mao is indispensable for everybody who wants to understand not just Mao but the concatenation of philosophy and politics that characterized the twentieth century.” —Slavoj Žižek, International Director of the Birkbeck Institute for the Humanities, University of London, UK

“Through extensive research, involving not only Mao's writings themselves but also the marginal notes he made on books he read, Allinson is able to trace the development of Mao's thinking over the course of his lifetime and to demonstrate the degree to which he was actively engaged with both the Chinese and Western philosophical traditions throughout. This is an invaluable contribution to our understanding of the intellectual history of China.” —Michael Puett, Walter C. Klein Professor of Chinese History and Anthropology, Harvard University, USA

“Has it ever occurred to you to associate Mao with Aristotle or with the ancient Chinese Book of Changes, the Yijing? If you find it hard to believe, read this book by Robert Allinson who, in his own philosophical way, manages to inject new life and revived interest in this highly controversial but iconic figure which is still looming large behind the giant video screen of present day China.” —Anne Cheng, Chair of Chinese Intellectual History, Collège de France, Paris, France

“This is a most exciting and fascinating enterprise. A magnificent statement on behalf of East-West philosophy.” —Irene Eber, Former Director and Louis Frieberg Professor Emerita of Chinese History and Philosophy, Louis Frieberg Center for East Asian Studies, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel and Former Senior Fellow, Harry S. Truman Research Institute for the Advancement of Peace, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel

"As Irene Eber writes in her foreword to this book, “This is a ground breaking work”. She is right, for it is indeed a work of utmost importance. In addition, the book is essential because it deals with a highly topical issue, one that can certainly help us to improve our understanding of contemporary China . . . Allinson achieves his goals in this book by clearly demonstrating a thoughtfully elaborated case of a truly intercultural, and, at the same time, truly intersubjective philosophy with widely influential connotations. This volume will be of great value to anyone interested in Chinese or cross-cultural philosophy, political theory and recent history." — Jana Rošker, chief editor of Asian Studies and the founder and first president of the European Association of Chinese Philosophy (International Communication of Chinese Culture)

From the Publisher