A man held up a portrait of Mao Zedong as he and others gathered to celebrate the 120th anniversary of the former leader’s birth in his hometown of Shaoshan.

    China marked Thursday’s 120th anniversary of Mao Zedong’s birth with relative restraint in a nod to the delicate balance President Xi Jinping must strike in using the revolutionary leader’s legacy even as he pursues market-oriented economic reforms.

    Mr. Xi and the six other members of the Politburo Standing Committee–the top decision-making body—bowed three times at the mausoleum holding Mao’s body in a glass sarcophagus on Beijing’s Tiananmen Square, state media said. Mr. Xi then addressed a symposium on Mao’s achievements, vowing to uphold his political principles.

    The commemorative activities in Beijing and elsewhere were broadly similar to those for the 100th and 110th anniversaries. One difference this time is that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe chose Thursday to visit the Yasukuni Shrine, the memorial in Tokyo that honors Japan’s war dead. Some Chinese noted the coincidence, saying on social media that both countries chose “to worship ghosts.”


    This year’s Mao anniversary comes amid renewed controversy over his record. Since taking power in November last year, Mr. Xi has frequently used rhetoric and tactics reminiscent of the Mao era to many Chinese.

    Mr. Xi has launched a “mass line” campaign—which requires officials to attend numerous sessions to make sure they serve public needs—and has revived the practice of “criticism and self-criticism” sessions among officials. He has also spoken out against attempts to re-examine the official history of the Mao era. The Communist Party’s longstanding official verdict is that Mao was 70% right and 30% wrong.

    At the same time, the leadership last month endorsed a package of reforms that would rely more heavily on markets to set interest rates and prices for land and other resources.

    Some party insiders and analysts say Mr. Xi is taking a hardline political stance early in his tenure to ensure he has the authority to take on powerful interest groups opposed to further economic liberalization.

    Critics say the party has yet to acknowledge the extent of the human suffering caused by Mao. Some historians estimate that his policies caused the death of more than 30 million people, mainly through man-made famine and political persecution.

    Bao Tong, the most senior official jailed over the 1989 pro-democracy protests around Tiananmen Square, was among those who criticized Mr. Xi’s tactics this week, arguing that the “myth of Mao Zedong still haunts China today.”

    “Mao’s legacy, at the very least, includes the silencing of public opinion, an unelected regime … and the mass manufacture of miscarriages of justice,” Mr. Bao, who remains under close surveillance, wrote in a commentary for Radio Free Asia.

    Mr. Xi’s moves have been welcomed by China’s “New Leftists” – a loose group of academics, officials, writers and overseas activists who advocate a stronger role for the state in the economy and a return to the social mores of the Mao era.

    A posting on the verified microblog of Kong Qingdong, a New Leftist professor at Peking University, said that members of the group had applauded loudly—and one burst into tears—when they heard about Mr. Xi and other leaders visiting Mao’s mausoleum.

    Mao’s legacy has been an especially sensitive topic in China since the downfall of Bo Xilai, a popular onetime party heavyweight who led a campaign to revive the spirit of the Mao era through mass performances of revolutionary songs.

    Mr. Bo was dismissed last year, and sentenced to life imprisonment in September for bribery, embezzlement and abuse of power. His wife was given a suspended death sentence last year for the murder of a British businessman.

    Retired female workers dressed as red army soldiers sang revolutionary songs during a performance to mark the 120th birth anniversary of Chairman Mao in Huaibei, Anhui province.

    Mr. Xi called in November for the Mao anniversary commemorations to be “solemn, simple and pragmatic” in what some party insiders and analysts saw as evidence of concern within the leadership about a backlash from critics of the Mao era.

    Since then, state media have reported of plans being scaled back by local governments, even as others pressed ahead, including Mao’s birthplace in the southern province of Hunan.

    The state-run Global Times newspaper reported Thursday that an event in Beijing titled “Reddest is the Sun and Dearest is Chairman Mao” had been rebilled as a “New Year Gala” and had an image of Mao taken off its poster.

    Still, the commemorations include the launch of a new history of his life between 1949-76, a 50-part television series on his life, two new films about him and a statue of him made of solid gold, according to state media.

    In a speech to the symposium on Thursday, Mr. Xi focused on Mao’s role in founding the party and leading it to victory in 1949, rather than his more controversial record during the 1950s and 60s.

    “Under the new situation, we should uphold and make good use of the living spirit of Mao Zedong thought,” he said. He said that Mao had made mistakes, but the party should evaluate historical figures based on the conditions at the time.

    “We cannot simply credit an individual for success in favorable historical circumstances, and we cannot simply blame an individual for mistakes in adverse circumstances,” he said.

    –Jeremy Page, with contributions from Yang Jie.

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