Mao Zedong

=== Beijing, anarchism, and Marxism: 1917–1919 ===
[[File:Mao Zedong in 1924.jpg|left|thumb|Mao Zedong in 1924]]
Mao moved to Beijing, where his mentor Yang Changji had taken a job at Peking University.<ref>{{harvnb|Schram|1966|p=48}}; {{harvnb|Pantsov|Levine|2012|pp=47, 56–57}}.</ref> Yang thought Mao exceptionally "intelligent and handsome",<ref>{{harvnb|Feigon|2002|p=18}}; {{harvnb|Pantsov|Levine|2012|p=39}}.</ref> securing him a job as assistant to the university librarian [[Li Dazhao]], who would become an early Chinese Communist.<ref>{{harvnb|Schram|1966|p=48}}; {{harvnb|Pantsov|Levine|2012|p=59}}.</ref> Li authored a series of ''New Youth'' articles on the [[October Revolution]] in Russia, during which the Communist [[Bolshevik Party]] under the leadership of [[Vladimir Lenin]] had seized power. Lenin was an advocate of the socio-political theory of [[Marxism]], first developed by the German sociologists [[Karl Marx]] and [[Friedrich Engels]], and Li's articles added Marxism to the doctrines in Chinese revolutionary movement.<ref>{{harvnb|Schram|1966|p=47}}; {{harvnb|Pantsov|Levine|2012|pp=59–62}}.</ref>

Becoming "more and more radical", Mao was initially influenced by [[Peter Kropotkin]]'s [[anarchism]], which was the most prominent radical doctrine of the day. [[Anarchism in China|Chinese anarchists]], such as [[Cai Yuanpei]], Chancellor of Peking University, called for complete [[social revolution]] in social relations, family structure, and [[Gender inequality in China|women's equality]], rather than the simple change in the form of government called for by earlier revolutionaries. He joined Li's Study Group and "developed rapidly toward Marxism" during the winter of 1919.<ref>{{harvnb|Schram|1966|pp=48–49}}; {{harvnb|Pantsov|Levine|2012|pp=62–64}}.</ref> Paid a low wage, Mao lived in a cramped room with seven other Hunanese students, but believed that Beijing's beauty offered "vivid and living compensation".<ref>{{harvnb|Schram|1966|p=48}}; {{harvnb|Pantsov|Levine|2012|pp=57–58}}.</ref> A number of his friends took advantage of the anarchist-organised ''[[Diligent Work-Frugal Study Movement|Mouvement Travail-Études]]'' to study in France, but Mao declined, perhaps because of an inability to learn languages.<ref>{{harvnb|Schram|1966|p=51}}; {{harvnb|Pantsov|Levine|2012|pp=53–55, 65}}.</ref> Mao raised funds for the movement, however.<ref name=":11" />{{Rp|page=35}}

At the university, Mao was snubbed by other students due to his rural Hunanese accent and lowly position. He joined the university's Philosophy and Journalism Societies and attended lectures and seminars by the likes of [[Chen Duxiu]], [[Hu Shih]], and [[Qian Xuantong]].<ref>{{harvnb|Schram|1966|p=48}}; {{harvnb|Pantsov|Levine|2012|pp=62, 66}}.</ref> Mao's time in Beijing ended in the spring of 1919, when he travelled to Shanghai with friends who were preparing to leave for France.<ref>{{harvnb|Schram|1966|pp=50–52}}; {{harvnb|Pantsov|Levine|2012|p=66}}.</ref> He did not return to Shaoshan, where his mother was terminally ill. She died in October 1919 and her husband died in January 1920.{{sfn|Pantsov|Levine|2012|pp=66–67}}