Mao still powerful in modern China

By Jill McGivering
BBC Asia analyst

Mao is still revered as the founder of modern China

The death of the last remaining member of the "Gang of Four", Yao Wenyuan, ends one of the most troubled chapters in China's modern history.

But many in China, especially those are too young to remember it themselves, know very little about the persecution and bloodshed orchestrated by Mao Zedong's Gang of Four.

Mao is still hailed by the authorities in China as an inspiring symbol.

Chinese officials have given no reason for their two-week delay in announcing Mr Yao's death.

Mao paraphernalia is still widely available

Their caution might relate though to the political sensitivity which still surrounds the violent period with which he is associated.

It is now 40 years since the start of the Cultural Revolution.

The West has published increasingly stark accounts of the cruelty of the period - indeed the latest, published last year, is proving a bestseller.

But within China, attempts at revision have been cautious.

Mao is still revered as the father of modern China.

His vast portrait still dominates Tiananmen Square. Schools still teach Maoist thought - but not the bloodshed and suffering of the Cultural Revolution.

Unifying figure

In some ways, it might seem irrelevant. Today, the excesses of Mao's Red Guards seem a long way from China's consumerism and new social freedoms. China has changed beyond recognition.

But today's leaders seem gripped with fresh resolve to maintain public respect for Mao.

One of the greatest challenges facing the Communist Party now is to oversee rampant reform and economic boom without losing political control.

Mao and his stature is a key part of that. In his New Year's speech this week, President Hu Jintao emphasised the need to bear Maoist principles in mind as China faces its current challenges and the threat of fragmentation and social unrest.

Just a week ago, an ambitious multi-million dollar plan was announced to build a special museum in Mao's hometown. The Chinese official media said the project would create "a national base of patriotic education".

Last week, a different official article featured a 30-year-old man who had devoted his childhood pocket money and adult earnings to collecting more than 80,000 badges depicting Mao.

Not many people nowadays would choose to do that. But for the leadership, an untarnished Mao could prove an important weapon in the battle for unity and stability.