should not have a heart of his own, but have the heart of the people,
and the needs of other people as his own. As the saint’s mind is the
world’s mind, people all over the world give him their ears and eyes
(Wagner, 2003 : 280–286). Chapter 66 admonishes that one must
follow and serve the people in order to lead and master them (Wagner,
2003 : 347–349). Chapter 81 teaches that the saint does not serve
himself; the more he gives, the more he has. Nature flourishes at the
expense of no one; so the sage benefits all men and contends with none
(Wagner, 2003 : 384–387). Thus, ‘‘serving the people’’ is often given as
a central precept inDao de jing.
The influence of Chinese history and classical Chinese philosophy
on Mao remains verifiable despite Mao’s public dissociation of his
ideology from China’s past, especially during the Cultural Revolution.
However, also verifiable is the occasional discrepancy between Mao’s
public statements and his private practices (see, for instance, Li [ 1994 ]
on Mao’s personal sentiments toward the United States and his public
statements about this same nation; and Deng [ 1984 : 276–296], on
Mao’s deviation from the Thoughts of Mao Zedong in his post-1949
leadership practice).
Furthermore, according to Dow ( 1977 ), it is important to note the
congruence between the two major influences on Mao’s philosophy,
Marxism and Confucianism. Dow enumerated four areas of con-
gruence between Confucianism and Marxian dialectical materialism:
(1) the Marxian assertion of matter as the primary source of know-
ledge and the Confucian principle of the investigation of things as
the main means of knowledge acquisition; (2) the Marxian universal
law on quality and quantity and the Confucian conception ofli-zhi
(principle–matter); (3) regarding laws of dialectics, the Marxian stress
on polarity and struggle and the Confucian stress on the complemen-
tarity of opposites; and (4) the unity of theory (knowledge) in both
Marxism and Confucianism. Dow’s arguments show there is clear
coherenceamongtheoriginalinfluencesonMao’sleadershipphilosophy.
Mao’s leadership style and methodology
Mao’s leadership style was largely derived from his leadership philo-
sophy. His belief in ‘‘seeking truth from facts’’ and ‘‘serving the people’’
led to his ‘‘mass line.’’ His belief in the dialectics of contradiction led
to his ‘‘democratic centralism.’’
Leadership theories and practices of Mao and Deng 217