I understand the circumstances, and perhaps that played in his decisions.
Also, I don't buy that it was not him directing policy. Mao was very much involved in policy, and if you read all accounts he was very enthusiastic in setting up communes etc. Deng Xiaoping, who I regard as the greatest Chinese leader, a true nationalist, was persecuted endlessly by Mao for standing up to his decisions.
Rather, after the disaster of his Great Leap Forward, Mao started getting sidelined in his own party, which is the reason he sidestepped his own party in starting the Cultural Revolution, which eventually led to the persecution of all kinds of people, including Deng Xiaoping, Xi Jingping and his father.
Cultural Revolution destroyed schools and colleges, stopped all education, and was perhaps the worst decision of the 20th century.
The appearance of communal farming is a natural step in an environment where the tools of production is limited. In these types of environment, the lands is concentrated under large entities to ensure there adequate material of production. Communal style of farming has appeared and disappeared throughout history, from ancient farmer where metal tools and beast of burden to limit to modern day farming companies where genetically treated seed and industrial automation allow the efficiency of farming under a large entity to exceed individual farming. There are also other factors at work. For example, when PRC is first founded, the land distribution followed individual farming from the land reform movements, however, a few years later, it is discovered that since farmers naturally have different skills between individual, land again begin to pass from less skillful farmer to more skillful one. While this is perfect fine in a country like modern day China or US and even encouraged somewhat, in early 1950s, such a trend would leave the less skilled farm with no possible venue of employment. It is literally a matter of life and death. Hence why communal farm is implemented to ensure that even the less skilled (and let's face it, lazy ones as well) farmer would survive. It has its problems, particularly with efficiency which is why it is abandon in 1970s, but in 1950s is very appropriate because inefficiency is preferable to death.
I do agree that culture revolution is a rather poorly executed. The original idea does have merit, but it run out of control which lead to disastrous results. I wouldn't actually call it worst decision of the 20th century by any stretch of imagination though. Considering 20th century has two world wars, a cold war, multiple brushes of total nuclear annihilation. Not to the mention all the regional wars, financial disasters which destroyed infrastructure of multiple nations and other events with world shaking results such as dissolution of USSR.
I wouldn't agree here with you my friend. Mao, due to his unique circumstances actually hated traditional Chinese life, and was actually very much sold on to Communist beliefs of tradition as bourgeois.
Why, my dear friend, else would Mao embark on his biggest sin, and something no Chinese can ever forget- The very destruction of his Civilization? Cultural Revolution. How many traditional relics were broken at that time? Confucius and his wise teachings, which were the base for thousands of years of Chinese states, was proclaimed as bourgeois and his teachings banished. Forbidden City would have been destroyed if not for the intervention of Zhou Enlai.
I wouldn't consider it a destruction of Chinese civilization. Funny thing you should mention it though, this aspect actually has a lot to do with one of the fundamental difference between Chinese civilization and, well, pretty much every other civilization in the world. The difference I speak of is the deeply ingrained atheism in Chinese culture.
For people less familiar with Chinese culture, they would like to believe that ancient Chinese are just as religious as everyone else because the long existence of Taosim and Buddhism in China. Some people also mistakenly believe Confucianism as a religion. Nothing can be farther from the truth.
Now, when talking about atheism, people may believe it means denial of the existence of god. That is not entirely accurate, because specific denials work just like affirmation of something's existence. Chinese atheism manifest in a lack of belief in something greater than the present world. This can be observed from Chinese mythology where gods and celestials are organized in a bureaucracy with strict rules for misconduct on god's part. In other worlds, gods in Chinese mythology is like government of another land instead objects of worship. The formation of such a trend is complex. In my personal opinion, it has to do with the long period of stability in Chinese dynasty as well as a highly developed absolute monarchy well ahead everyone else. Religion typically flourish in time of great need, because people naturally need support from somewhere, if they can't get it from the government, then they will turn to gods. Since a long, stable, powerful government can prove tangible aid over much longer period of time, the Chinese culture grow used to the help of fellow mortals than gods. Even today, when disaster happens a Chinese would first wonder if they can get help from police and government before thinking about god.
How is this related to our topic? Well, ingrained atheism in Chinese culture means it can freely changes in pretty much all its aspect with few restrictions. Chinese culture only concerns if the change is useful and even long traditions are rather easily abandon if it no longer proves to be useful. This is why Chinese culture has managed to absorb so many cultures in the past and this is why Chinese culture shift rather quickly in the recent times.
Culture revolution is such a change in Chinese culture. Its failure mainly lay in the fact during the time period, social stability is disrupted and the instability negatively impacted the development of nation. The fact it changed whatever traditions is a rather minor issue as far as Chinese culture is concerned.
