Absolutely not, the cult of Mao was significant, even if Mao took several measures to oppose aspects of it (with mixed success), and continued to be politically expedient even after his death. There was a period where things were somewhat more about “the Party,” though I’d argue that some of it was just a different mask for Deng since he continued to be an influential figure after leaving office and has been upheld much more emphatically than Jiang Zemin or Hu Jintao, but now Xi is again very emphasized. Nothing post-Mao is as ridiculous as the late Stalin period, but that’s not saying much.
I’m not really sure about how Mao compares to Stalin, because Mao definitely did more to fight the cult than late Stalin did, but China still wound up with masses of people treating portraits of Mao like shrines to saints and using Quotations as a religious symbol (not just the content, but the physical book itself)
Well at least the first part is true - party leadership over individual leadership.
Absolutely not, the cult of Mao was significant, even if Mao took several measures to oppose aspects of it (with mixed success), and continued to be politically expedient even after his death. There was a period where things were somewhat more about “the Party,” though I’d argue that some of it was just a different mask for Deng since he continued to be an influential figure after leaving office and has been upheld much more emphatically than Jiang Zemin or Hu Jintao, but now Xi is again very emphasized. Nothing post-Mao is as ridiculous as the late Stalin period, but that’s not saying much.
I’m not really sure about how Mao compares to Stalin, because Mao definitely did more to fight the cult than late Stalin did, but China still wound up with masses of people treating portraits of Mao like shrines to saints and using Quotations as a religious symbol (not just the content, but the physical book itself)