I agree with you that Mao was the one responsible for much of the human suffering in China, but this isn't the way most mainland Chinese feel about him. Even for recent immigrants from China I've spoken with, at worst he was just a poor administrator who was taken advantage of by unscrupulous men. Talking to them, I get the impression that they believe he was naive; there is no acknowledgment that he didn't get to be leader of the party because of cheery good-fellowship or honest plain dealing. My impression is that they only remember the dottering old chubby guy with unfocused eyes and not the ruthless, ambitious megalomaniac. True he didn't personally apply the pistol to foreheads, report on neighbors or relatives, or take food from peoples' mouths with his bare hands, but he set up an atmosphere where such was allowed and encouraged. Of course, I don't argue about Mao with them, but it is fascinating to see such willful collective amnesia. Fascinating and disheartening.