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# mao

«mao» in Mova's school dictionary: **Mao Zedong, the leader of the Communist Party who ruled…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 2 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

proper noun (Mao — a name); Mandarin pinyin (mao)

### meaning for a pupil

1) (a name) Mao usually means Mao Zedong, the leader of the Communist Party who ruled the People's Republic of China from its start until his death. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/mao/#m1)

2) (Mandarin, pinyin) «Máo» (毛) means hair, fur or feather, and is also a small unit of Chinese money: ten mao make one yuan. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/mao/#m2)

3) (Mandarin, pinyin) «Māo» (猫) means cat. It sounds like "mow" (rhymes with "cow"). It is not an English word. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/mao/#m3)

4) Mao is also the name of a showy, boastful peacock in Kipling's Jungle Book stories. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/mao/#m4)

### sense in the lessons

In history lessons, Mao is a key figure of modern China: he led the Communists to power, and his rule is remembered both for uniting the country and for campaigns in which millions of people died of famine and persecution; historians and Chinese people today judge him in different ways. In Mandarin lessons and on Chinese streets, «máo» is used for money (like ten pence), and «māo» is a cat; the tone changes the meaning. Phrases: «Chairman Mao», «yí kuài wǔ máo» (one yuan fifty).

### examples

- (a name) Chairman Mao led China for many years. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/mao/#x1)
- (a name) Mao's picture hangs over the gate in Tiananmen Square in Beijing. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/mao/#x2)
- (Mandarin, pinyin) Wǔ máo means five mao, half a yuan. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/mao/#x3)
- (Mandarin, pinyin) Wǒ yǒu yì zhī māo — I have a cat. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/mao/#x4)
- (Mandarin, pinyin) In Chinese, «máo» can mean fur or feathers. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/mao/#x5)
- Historians still argue about Mao's rule. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/mao/#x6)
- He dances like Mao the Peacock. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/mao/#x7)

### note

Capital M for the person. In pinyin the tone marks matter: māo (cat, high level tone) vs máo (hair, money, rising tone). In speech the money unit is called «máo»; on notes it is written «jiǎo». It is not an English word apart from the name.

### In the corpora

- [In 1949 Mao Zedong won the civil war and declared the People's Republic; the Nationalists went to Taiwan.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/history/58-china-1911-1949-and-mao/5/)
- [Mao's Great Leap Forward caused a terrible famine, and his Cultural Revolution closed schools and hurt millions.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/history/58-china-1911-1949-and-mao/8/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «mao» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/mao/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.