Mao Zedong was a leader in politics.
Mao Zedong . Mao adopted Marxism -- Leninism while working at Peking University and became a founding member of the Communist Party of China ( CPC ) , leading the Autumn Harvest Uprising in 1927 . During the Chinese Civil War between the Kuomintang ( KMT ) and the CPC , Mao helped to found the Chinese Workers ' and Peasants ' Red Army , led the Jiangxi Soviet 's radical land policies and ultimately became head of the CPC during the Long March .