I will now turn for a look at Mao’s contribution in terms of China’s national revitalization. Mao declared at the founding ceremony of the People’s Republic of China on October 1, 1949, “Chinese people have stood up”. The resounding effect of this statement is still as powerful as when it was first made, because it was, and still is , extremely difficult for oppressed nations to really stand up, and for China to accomplish what Mao pronounced would entail none less than the revitalization of the Chinese nation. But by the Time Mao passed away in 1979, it was universally agreed that Chinese people had indeed stood up. Internationally, china was greeted by big powers with respect and by small countries with most friendly feeling.

In 1971, Qiao Guanhua, the head of the delegation of PROC made his debut at the United Nations General Assembly; the kind of welcome, support and admiration expressed to him and the Chinese delegation and the thunderous applause to his speech made for a scene that was unprecedented in the history of UN. Among other things, Assessments of Mao Zedong given by cotemporary leaders of developed countries are invariably couched in highly respectful terms; they often expressed awe at Mao’s vision, insight or his very presence. Henry Kissinger called him a giant. In Richard Nixon Memorial Library,Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai’s statues were exibited along with a few other major world leaders whom Nixon had dealt with—with Mao and Zhou seated, and others all standing. Japanese premier Tanaka was utterly respectful in Mao’s presence. All this stands in sharp contrast to the contempt and disrespect with which the Chinese people and their head of state before 1949：President Truman and General Stilwell used to refer to Mr. Chiang Kai-shek by the nickname Peanut. The Japanese Militarists considered Chinese as of an inferior race, calling them Chinese pigs. Why did these racist leaders of big powers, who had been accustomed to acts of aggression, comported themselves so differently in dealing with the PROC, their former attitude of arrogance and superiority being transformed to that of respect and courtesy? Because the Chinese people have stood up. Led by Mao Zedong, the Chinese people had crafted a most brilliant page in Chinese history. Mao once praised Lu Xun as a person free of any trace of sycophancy or obsequiousness in the face of reactionary ruling class or imperialists. This characterization applies equally well to Mao himself. For the Chinese people to really stand up, the most daunting test is to find a way to regain national dignity and self-confidence. When a nation had been so repeatedly beat up and knocked down by foreign powers that they were afraid to stand up, and an inferiority complex had become an entrenched part of the national psyche, people like Mao and Lu were indeed very rare. But Mao had gone further in that he was able to inspire and mobilize Chinese people at large to embark on a Herculean struggle to rid themselves of inferiority complex and regain national dignity and self-confidence. From this perspective, one cannot but be awed by Mao’s stupendous resolve, enormous perseverance in such an unthinkably hard struggle. Indeed “larger than life”"hugeness”, “colossalness” and word like these are the first that come to mind, when I think of Mao Zedong, his immense vision, his huge resolve and ambition, his extra-broad perspective and his colossal revolution are what set him apart. But he was not just an idealist who thought up big ideas he practiced what he preached and was able to put grand vision within people’s reach, because the hugeness that marks Mao’s lifework is rooted in the inherent greatness, or vast potential of the Chinese nation. Only China could have produced such an extraordinary leader as Mao; and only Mao with his “huge” revolutionary project could have turned the world upside down and led the Chinese nation to stand up once again. A comparative study of world’ s nation-states today and what they were like at a century ago clearly shows that only China’s international standing has prominently changed; all the other oppressed nations remain subjugated and dominated and have not been able to really stand up.

As mentioned in the beginning of this piece, the event in Chinatown to mark the 110th birthday of Mao Zedong included the screening of documentary movie about the history of China’s development of nuclear bombs and satellites. China’s successful nuclear and satellite programs have in a way encapsulated nicely the hugeness of Mao’s vision and mission, and explained how Chinese people had stood up. Many people have heard this story: the Chinese American Physicist and Nobel Laureate, Professor C.N. Yang, went to China in 1972. When he learned that No foreign scientist took part in China’s nuclear bomb project, and everything was made locally by Chinese themselves, he was moved to tears. He knew how hard it was to accomplish that; and he knew what China was like before 1949. It was truly incredible that despite the Korea war, the US embargo, the hostility of Soviet Union, the devastating Great Leap Forward, China succeeded in the development of its own nuclear weapons to break the nuclear monopoly and blackmail of the two super powers.

In this light, it is perhaps fairly easy to understand why almost three decades after he passed away, today most Chinese people continue to view Mao Zedong with profound respect and a sense of national pride. Indeed, looking back at the Maoist era, how can any self-respecting Chinese not feel proud of what the Chinese people had accomplished under Mao’s leadership?

Chinese people will continue to revere Mao, because the Maoist era will always be remembered as one in which the Chinese people had stood up!