The 48 Laws Of Power

China.Withtheirsmall
numbers,
limited
funds,
lackof
military
experi-

ence,
andsmallarsenalof
weapons,

the

Party

hadno

hope

ofsuccessun-

lessitwonover China’simmense

peasantpopulation.

Butwhointhe

worldwasmore
conservative,

morerootedin

tradition,

thantheChinese

peasantry?

The

oldestcivilizationonthe

planet

hada

history

thatwould

never
loosen
its
power,

no

matterhowviolenttherevolution.Theideasof

Confuciusremainedasaliveinthe 19203 as

they

hadbeeninthesixthcen-

tury

B.C.,

whenthe

philosopher

wasalive,

Despite

the

oppressions

ofthe

current
system,

wouldthe

peasantry

ever

giveup

the

deep~rooted

valuesof

the
past

forthe

great

unknownof

Communism?

The

solution,

asMaosaw

it,

involveda

simple

deception:

Cloakthe

revolutioninthe

clothing

ofthe

past,

making

it

comforting

and

legitimate

in

people’seyes.

OneofMao’sfavoritebookswasthe

verypopular

me

dievalChinesenovel77::Water

Margin,

whichrecountsthe

exploits

ofa

ChineseRobinHoodandhisrobberbandas

theystruggleagainst

acor-

rupt

andevilmonarch.InChinainMao’s

time,

family

tiesdominatedover

any

other

kind,

fortheConfucian

hierarchy

offatherandoldestsonre-

mained
firmly

in

place;

butTheWitter

Marginpreached

a

superior

value-

thefraternalties
of
the
band
of
robbers,
the
nobility

of

the

causethatunites

peoplebeyond

blood.Thenovelhad

great

emotionalresonanceforChi~

nese

people,

wholovetorootforthe

underdog.

Timeand

again,

then,

Maowould
present

his

revolutionaryarmy

asanextensionoftherobber

bandinThe
I'V1terMargz'n,likening

his

struggle

tothetimelessconflictbe-

tweenthe

oppressedpeasantry

andanevil

emperor.

He

madethe

past

seemto

envelop

and

legitimize

theCommunist

cause;

the

peasantry

could

feelcomfortablewithandeven
support

a

group

withsuchrootsinthe

past.

Evenoncethe

Party

cameto

power,

Maocontinuedtoassociateitwith

the
past.

He

presented

himselftothemassesnotasaChineseLeninbutas

a.modemChuko

Liang,

thereal»life

third-centurystrategist

who

figures

prominently

inthe

popular

historicalnovelTheRomance

of

theWtree

King~

dams.

Liang

wasmorethana

greatgeneral—he

wasa

poet,

a

philosopher,

anda

figure

ofstemmoralrectitude.SoMao

represented

himselfasa

poet-

wanior like

Liang,

a man who mixed

strategy

with

philosophy

and

preached

anew

ethics.Hemadehimself

appear

like

a

herofromthe

great

Chinesetraditionofwarriorstatesmen.

Soon,

everything

inMao’s

speeches

and

writings

hadareferencetoan

earlier

period

inChinese

history.

He

recalled,

for

example,

the

great

Em-

peror

Ch’in,

whohadunifiedthe

country

inthethird

century

B.C.Ch’in

hadburnedtheworksof

Confucius,

consolidatedand

completed

thebuild-

ing

oftheGreat

Wall,

and

given

hisnametoChina,Like

Ch’in,

Maoalso

had

brought

the

countrytogether,

andhad

sought

boldreforms

against

an

oppressive

past.

Ch’inhad

traditionally

beenseenasaviolentdictator

whose

reign

was

short;

thebrillianceofMao’s

strategy

wastoturnthis

around,

simultaneouslyreinterpreting

Ch’in,

justifying

hisruleinthe

eyes

of

present-day

Chinese,

and

using

himto

justify

theviolenceofthenew

orderthatMaohimselfwas

creating.

AfterthefailedCulturalRevolutionofthelate

1960s,

a

powerstruggle

LAW 45 395