"The 1,000-year-old Yuelu Academy is where Mao went to high school."
 Qing Hua / China Photo Press www.chinadaily.com.cn

Mao's Background

Picture
"Young Mao" thegiant.org
"Born to Mao Yichang and Wen Qimei, Mao Zedong was one of the four children of the couple. Coming from a wealthy family of farmers, life had been easier for [Mao] Zedong in the initial years than most of the other children."
-The Famous People

Mao was born in December 29, 1893 in Shaoshan, China. He learned as a child what little power peasants had against the rich and the government. This influenced his communist beliefs later in his life.

"Communism was supposed to be the great equalizer-no rich, no poor, and the government owns it all!"
-China Part 2- Great Leap Forward And Cultural Revolution Enduring Understanding

"Mao Shunshung [Mao's father] wanted the boy to receive some education because a son who knew enough reading, writing, and arithmetic to draw up contracts and keep accounts would be useful to him in his business. But school enlarged [Mao] Zedong's world in unexpected ways."
-Rebecca Stefoff, Mao Zedong: Founder Of The People's Republic of China

"At the age of 11, [Mao] Zedong attempted to flee away from home to distance himself from Confucian upbringing but in vain. His father soon brought him back. Two years henceforth, [Mao] Zedong completed his primary education."
-The Famous People

"From an early age, Mao was a voracious reader. He particularly liked popular historical novels concerning rebellions and unconventional military heroes. At age thirteen, after five years of education in the local primary school, he was forced by his father to leave school and return to the farm. Mao continued to study on his own and at age sixteen left home to complete his elementary school training in the Hunanese capital of Changsha."
-Asia For Educators, Mao Zedong: Biographical and Political Profile
Picture
"Young Mao" thegiant.org

At age eighteen, Mao joined the Guomindang (Nationalist) Army. Later, he heard of the communist revolution in the Soviet Union, which motivated him to pursue Communism. By 1921, Mao became one of the founders of the CCP.

"It was here that Mao began to experience the powerful revolutionary waves engulfing Chinese society. He read the works of nationalist reformers such as Kang Yuwei (Kang You-wei). He developed an admiration for the strong emperors in earlier periods of Chinese history and for certain Western statesmen including George Washington. Mao watched as China's last dynasty crumbled."
-Asia For Educators, Mao Zedong: Biographical and Political Profile