Abstract
This thesis investigates the cult of personality surrounding Joseph Stalin as represented in Renmin Ribao, the official newspaper of the Chinese Communist Party, between 1946 and 1969. While existing scholarship has focused extensively on Stalin’s image in the Soviet Union—particularly during the 1930s—this study explores the projection and adaptation of his cult in China during the postwar period. Drawing on a dataset of 328 articles, it combines quantitative and qualitative analysis to examine how Stalin’s portrayal evolved in tandem with the shifting trajectory of Sino-Soviet relations and the Chinese Communist Party’s domestic priorities. The findings reveal two major spikes in coverage: his 70th birthday in 1949 and his death in 1953, after which his image persisted—though in declining frequency—unlike the radical de-Stalinization in the Soviet Union. Qualitatively, the articles framed Stalin as a revolutionary mentor, theoretician, and anti-imperialist symbol, closely aligned with Mao Zedong’s rise and China’s emerging socialist identity. This study argues that China’s selective and sustained invocation of Stalin’s cult served not only to legitimize the CCP’s ideological lineage but also to assert autonomy from Soviet leadership during the Cold War. In doing so, it offers new insights into transnational cults of personality and the symbolic politics of communist regimes.