Stung by the enormous failure of the Great Leap Forward, Chairman Mao Zedong, discredited leader of Communist China, institutes a plan to regain his former popularity and erradicate his critics. The revolution's outward aim was to reinvigorate Marxist-Leninist ideology in the Chinese people. It's less publicized goal was to restore Mao's Cult of Personality--his unquestioned authority over the government and his adoration by the people. It resulted in the persecution of millions and the deaths of hundreds of thousands.