When speaking about China’s past dictators, such as Chairman Mao, we often overlook the important question of how Mao became a dictator. When he became a powerful leader, his followers and officials lavished praise upon him, creating a cult of hero worship centered on Mao, and in doing so they hid from him the truth and realities that existed beyond the veil of his built-up persona. It was the bureaucrats that made him a dictator. After the end of the Cultural Revolution, one of the important lessons the Party drew from the tragedy was the dangers of a cult of personality. But the role of bureaucracy in creating that problem remained unaddressed.
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