How can dictatorship cope with the legacy of injustices and atrocities committed in its own name? This was one of the most pressing questions the Chinese Communist Party leadership faced after the death of Mao Zedong in September 1976 and the end of the Cultural Revolution. The Party’s attempt to survive politically, despite rampant factionalism and widespread political persecution, required answers to complex issues such as property restitution, reconciliation in local communities, and new standards of truth. These policies affected almost every individual in China, yet have received little scholarly attention. Ultimately, the post-Mao period provides a unique lens through which to view strategies of coping with a violent past under state socialism, highlighting how selectively applied approaches now associated with the concept of transitional justice may even serve to strengthen rather than subvert authoritarian rule.

Daniel Leese is Professor of Chinese History and Politics at the University of Freiburg. His publications include Mao Cult: Rhetoric and Ritual in China’s Cultural Revolution (Cambridge, 2011) & Mao’s Langer Schatten: China’s Umgang mit der Vergangenheit (C.H. Beck, 2020). He has recently published, with Amanda Shuman, Justice After Mao: The Politics of Historical Truth in the People’s Republic of China (Cambridge, 2023).