Skip to main contentSkip to Xpert Chatbot

TsinghuaX: Introduction to Mao Zedong Thought | 毛泽东思想概论

Mao Zedong founded the People's Republic of China in 1949, but who was he and how did his theories, strategies and policies shape modern China? Mao Zedong Thought is the compass, microscope and telescope for the Chinese Communist Party's governance. This course will take you to explore the ins and outs, subtle implications, and practical implications of these political theories.

4 weeks
2–3 hours per week
Self-paced
Progress at your own speed
This course is archived

About this course

Skip About this course

With the world’s biggest population and second largest economy, China is a dynamic and ethnically diverse country with a history that spans more than 5,000 years. In 1949, revolutionary leader Mao Zedong founded modern China, or the People's Republic of China, as the leader of the Communist Party of China (CPC).

But who was Chairman Mao and how did his theories, strategies and policies shape modern China?

This course introduces Mao Zedong Thought and highlights how Chairman Mao’s theories dramatically shaped and influenced the political foundation what China has become today.

Introduction to Mao Zedong Thought gives learners around the world a rare peek into a course that millions of university students in China are required to take each year. Influenced by Marxism-Leninism Thought, Mao Zedong Thought incorporates ideological and political theories introduced by the first Chairman of the Communist Party of China.

This course is an ideological and political theory course. The course features "the combination of history and theory, the combination of thought and reality, the combination of online and offline, and the combination of elegance and popularity". It teaches the sinicization of Marxism and Mao Zedong Thought, and guides students to correctly grasp the basic content of Mao Zedong Thought. and spiritual essence, guide students to deeply understand the necessity, possibility and arduousness of reform and opening up, and guide students to firmly establish self-confidence in the path, theory, system and culture of socialism with Chinese characteristics.

This course implements the "customer-oriented" teaching model, that is, by setting up multiple teaching links to guide students to transform from "teaching object" to "teaching subject", from "passive learning" to "active learning", and from "listening to listening". Transformation from "focusing on listening, speaking, reading, writing and vocational education" to "focusing on listening, speaking, reading and writing" The course encourages and guides students to realize the "six modernizations": first, "turn ears into mouth", that is, not only listen, but also speak; second, "turn eyes into hands," that is, not only read, but also write; third, " "Transform knowledge into action", which requires not only knowledge but also practice; fourth, "transforming external knowledge into internal", that is, transforming external knowledge into internal qualities; fifth, "transforming hidden into explicit", i.e., "turning hidden qualities into explicit" Transform into explicit results; the sixth is to "transform others into one's own", that is, transform the qualities of others into the students' own qualities.

At a glance

  • Language: 中文
  • Video Transcripts: English, 中文
  • Associated skills:Writing, Political Philosophy, Active Learning, Literacy, Teaching

What you'll learn

Skip What you'll learn
  • Mao’s three major theories: New Democratic theory, Social Transformation theory and China’s Socialist Construction process
  • Impact of Mao Zedong Thought on modern-day China
  • An understanding of a political course required of undergraduate students in China

Interested in this course for your business or team?

Train your employees in the most in-demand topics, with edX For Business.