For China's leaders, Mao fades from memory

At Beijing's iconic Great Hall of the People on Friday evening, Premier Wen Jiabao raised a glass in front of foreign journalists and diplomats to toast his nation ahead of the October 1 National Day.

“Let us rally closely around the Communist Party of China [CPC] Central Committee with Comrade Hu Jintao as the General Secretary,” said Mr. Wen.

“Let us hold high the great banner of socialism with Chinese characteristics,” he continued, “follow the guidance of Deng Xiaoping Theory and the important thought of Three Represents, and fully implement the Scientific Outlook on Development.”

Mr. Wen's speech, which invoked the theoretical concepts established by President Hu and his two predecessors, Jiang Zemin and Deng Xiaoping, did not make a single reference to Mao Zedong, China's founding father who is still regarded as the CPC's most influential political figure.

A decade ago, a National Day speech at the Great Hall that did not mention Mao would have been unthinkable.

Chinese analysts have noted that the CPC's leaders are invoking Mao and his ideology — known here as “Mao Zedong Thought” — less and less. This is a reflection, they say, of how far both the party and the country have moved away from the founding principles established by the Chairman.

“Mao Zedong Thought is a political buzzword already belonging to the past,” Qian Gang, an eminent Chinese journalist and fellow at the Hong Kong University-based China Media Project, wrote recently.

As Mr. Qian and other scholars have written, in Chinese politics, power, and the shifts in power and ideology, are closely reflected in the political lexicon in use.

For the CPC, Mao Zedong Thought, along with Deng Xiaoping Theory, Jiang Zemin's “Three Represents” (to represent productive forces, advanced culture and the interests of the majority), and Mr. Hu's emphasis on a scientific outlook on development, are the trademark theoretical concepts created by four generations of its leadership.

Up until the early 1990s, Mao Zedong Thought was often invoked. But after Deng's reforms and the move away from the Left gathered pace, these references became less frequent. For instance, as Mr. Qian notes, in Jiang Zemin's report on the 70th anniversary of the CPC in 1991, he mentioned Mao Zedong Thought 12 times. When the CPC marked its 80th and 85th anniversaries, Mao was mentioned less frequently.

In recent months, Mao Zedong Thought has all but faded from the lexicon, even denied the customary mentions it was accorded in the past.

When Mr. Wen delivered the annual government work report when the National People's Congress convened in March, he called for China to “hold high the great banner of socialism with Chinese characteristics, take Deng Xiaoping Theory and the important thought of Three Represents as our guide, and thoroughly apply the Scientific Outlook on Development.”

In July, Chinese Vice-President Xi Jinping, who will succeed Mr. Hu next year, also made no reference to Mao Zedong Thought in a landmark speech in Tibet, only echoing the formulation Mr. Wen used on Friday.

And, in August, Mr. Hu made no reference to Mao Zedong Thought in a preface he wrote for a textbook designed for training CPC officials. “Deng Xiaoping Theory, the Theory of the Three Represents and the Scientific Outlook on Development,” he wrote, “should be adhered to.”