{'fraction_non_alphanumeric': 0.016412661195779603, 'fraction_numerical': 0.0011723329425556857, 'mean_word_length': 5.188405797101449, 'pattern_counts': {'":': 0, '<': 0, '<?xml version=': 0, '>': 0, 'https://': 0, 'lorem ipsum': 0, 'www.': 0, 'xml': 0}, 'pii_count': 0, 'substrings_counts': 0, 'word_list_counts': {'cursed_substrings.json': 0, 'profanity_word_list.json': 0, 'sexual_word_list.json': 0, 'zh_pornsignals.json': 0}}
The Mao Cult as Communicative Space 1

Abstract The article discusses different ways of approaching the personality cult of Mao Zedong, former Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). It proposes to analyse the leader cult as a form of authoritarian political communication that affected both CCP politics and popular reaction. Intended as a loyalty‐creating device to ease the identification with the communist movement for its often illiterate supporters, the cult merged the success of the revolution with the fate of a single person. Controlling the leader’s image and writings thus became a formidable task. While the cult came to assume quasi‐religious forms temporarily, it will be argued that these were not necessarily part of a political religion, but often demonstrations of loyalty in a climate of fear and utmost political volatility.