Statue of Mao Zedong in His Youth

Statue of Mao Zedong in His Youth

The Statue of Mao Zedong in His Youth is a cultural relic protection unit of Shaoshan City, a classic red tourism attraction, and a patriotic education base.

The statue of Mao Zedong in his youth is located on a small hill in front of Shaoshan Railway Station in Shaoshan City, Xiangtan.

The Mao Zedong statue was built in May 1967, with the statue area covering 21,345 square meters. It was originally named the Mao Zedong Youth Statue Platform. The project was led by the Shaoshan Railway Project Command, with a joint design team formed by Tsinghua University, the Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing Art Company, Beijing Institute of Architectural Design, and Beijing No.1 Construction Company. Construction was carried out with the participation of the Guangzhou Railway Fifth Engineering Section, the Fourth Engineering Team of the Hunan Provincial Communications Department, the Hunan Forestry Department, the Shaoshan Administration of Hunan Province, and the Shaoshan District Office of Xiangtan County. On December 28 of that year, the Preparatory Group of the Hunan Revolutionary Committee grandly held a celebration ceremony for the completion of the Mao Zedong statue in the square of Shaoshan Railway Station.

The statue faces southeast, stands 6 meters tall, and sits atop a 6.26-meter pedestal. The statue is made of reinforced concrete with a surface textured to resemble granite. Mao is depicted wearing a long gown, looking spirited, with his left hand on his hip and his right arm powerfully outstretched forward, while his right foot takes a firm step forward—vividly capturing the bold spirit of the young Mao Zedong as described in his poetry: “Pointing to the rivers and mountains, inspiring words flow, regarding the lords of a thousand households as mere dirt,” and “Rallying millions of workers and peasants, to strive together.” The pedestal is also made of reinforced concrete, with thin slices of granite cladding—“White Tiger Ravine” stone on the upper part and “Nankou Red” on the lower part. The platform is paved with marble, edged with fine granite. Eight torch-like lamp posts stand in the statue area, and about a hundred meters of cement steps lead from the front of the statue to the square of Shaoshan Railway Station, flanked by three large concrete poetry steles on each side. The surrounding hillsides of the statue area are planted with camphor trees, sweet gums, cedars, tangerine trees, and camellias.

After its completion and opening to the public, the Mao Zedong statue remained well-preserved for decades.

In 2004, the original statue platform was expanded into a statue park. The park area was enlarged to 53,400 square meters. A new plaza was built within the park, along with six garden paths totaling over 1,200 meters, and multiple rest platforms and benches were added. The park is planted with 8,000 trees including cedars, banyans, osmanthus, pines, ginkgos, black pines, metasequoias, and magnolia, as well as 1 million shrubs such as red loropetalum and azaleas.

In July 2010, the Statue of Mao Zedong in His Youth in Shaoshan was designated as a Hunan Provincial Patriotic Education Base by the Publicity Department of the CPC Hunan Provincial Committee.

Mao Zedong (December 26, 1893 – September 9, 1976), courtesy name Runzhi (originally Yongzhi, later changed to Runzhi), pen name Ziren. A native of Xiangtan, Hunan. He was the leader of the Chinese people, a Marxist, a great proletarian revolutionary, strategist, and theorist, as well as the principal founder and leader of the Communist Party of China, the People's Liberation Army, and the People's Republic of China. He was also a poet and calligrapher. From 1949 to 1976, Mao served as the paramount leader of the People's Republic of China. His contributions to the development of Marxism-Leninism, military theory, and... More details about Mao Zedong++

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