Sailing the seas depends on the helmsman, waging revolution depends on Mao Zedong Thought, 1969

The Mao cult involved a lot of sloganeering that served to bolster the myth surrounding the Chairman and to ascribe super-human qualities to him. During the first reception of millions of Red Guards on Tiananmen Square on 18 August 1966, Chen Boda first used the slogan of the ‘Four Greats’, with which he termed Mao as the great teacher, the great leader, the great (or supreme) commander, and the great helmsman. The image of Mao as the great helmsman not only inspired poster designers, but gave birth to a song, "Sailing the seas depends on the helmsman, waging revolution depends on Mao Zedong Thought".

Sailing the seas depends on the helmsman, waging revolution depends on Mao Zedong Thought, 1969

Other slogans revolved around the people’s loyalty that Mao deserved. Particular mention must be made of the ‘Three Loyalties’, which called for boundless loyalty to Chairman Mao, loyalty to Mao Zedong Thought and loyalty to Chairman Mao’s revolutionary line. The Chinese character for loyalty, zhong (忠, visible on the sunflower below), played an important role in the images devoted to these slogans.

Boundlessly loyal to the great leader Chairman Mao, boundlessly loyal to the great Mao Zedong Thought, boundlessly loyal to Chairman Mao’s revolutionary line, 1966

These and other slogans (‘The Four Boundlessness’, ‘Long Live ...’, ‘Eternal Life ...’) were shouted in public by leaders and led alike, used in the print media and wall papers, and became part of everyday speech.

Great teacher, Great leader, Great commander, Great helmsman - Long live chairman Mao, 1967