Page "History of the People's Republic of China (1949–1976)" Paragraph 23

The disaster of the Great Leap Forward decreased Mao's stature as national leader and even more so as an economic planner.

Mao was subject to criticism within the Central Committee.

Few were as vocal as Peng Dehuai had been, but the general consensus was that the chairman's grand experiment had failed completely.

In the early 1960s, President Liu Shaoqi, Party General Secretary Deng Xiaoping, and Premier Zhou Enlai took over direction of the party and adopted pragmatic economic policies at odds with Mao's communitarian vision, and disbanded communes, attempting to rework the system to pre-Leap standards.

Private handicrafts and street vendors were permitted, and peasants could sell surplus crops for profit after meeting their state production quotas.

Living in semi-retirement, Mao continued to make occasional public appearances and voice his opinion on various issues, but played little active part in the daily management of the country from 1961-1964.

Newspapers printed sarcastic comments about the chairman and frequently used his name in the past tense.

Deng, Zhou, and Liu all seem to have concluded that Mao's policies were irrational and so they would run things while using him as an empty symbol for the people to rally around.

Dissatisfied with China's new direction and his own reduced authority, Mao became increasingly annoyed.

He complained that " They're invoking my name like a dead ancestor.

" and that landlords and capitalists were regaining power.

The fall of Khrushchev in the Soviet Union also left Mao concerned that that might eventually be his fate.