f dozen Communist-led base areas, each with a guerrilla army, in Central and South China. These bases existed mainly by virtue of the efforts of the local Communist leadership to satisfy the serious economic and social grievances of the local civilians, often violently, through such means as redistribution of land at the expense of landlords and the reduction of interest rates at the expense of moneylenders. Of these base areas, or soviets, the most important was the one led by Mao Tse-tung and centered in the southeastern city of Kiangsi. Correspondingly, in return for such service Mao was elected chairman of a Central Soviet Government, who supposedly controlled all the Communist base areas in 1931. Before I tell about Mao Tse-tung, I will tell you about Maoism. By Maoism or "the thought of Mao Tse-tung" as the CPC would put it is the entire evolving complex of patterns of official thought and behavior that CPC has developed while under Mao's leadership. It was very difficult to unscramble Mao's individual contribution while not confusing it with other thinkers of this time period as many have done and are still doing to this date. It is also difficult to separate the pre-1949 and the post-1949 aspects and the domestic from the international aspects. The first basic and most important characteristic that I believe is a deep and sincere nationalism that has been merged with the strictly Communist elements. Then closely resembling nationalism was his populism approach so full of strain that the CPC saw itself not merely as the Vanguard of the common people, plus as the progressive side of the middle class, but as representative of the people. This was important as it played the opposite position of the " three big mountains" (imperialism, feudalism, and bureaucratic capitalism) and still yet accept the passively the leadership CPC. Maoism still possessed two other points that are significant in understanding this ideology, it recognizes...
