Mao Tze-Tung touring the proposed capital of China with General Chu Teh. Mao Zedong (December 26, 1893 - September 9, 1976), also known as Chairman Mao, was a Chinese communist revolutionary who was the founder of the People's Republic of China (PRC), which he led as the chairman of the Chinese Communist Party from the establishment of the PRC in 1949 until his death in 1976. Chu Teh (1 December 1886 - 6 July 1976) was a Chinese general, military strategist, politician and revolutionary in the Chinese Communist Party