why does everybody hate Mao ? without Mao's Cultural Revolution there might be no modern China.
it very difficult for society to jump for 'feudal' to 'modern' because existence of 'landlord class' who control economy and government. monopoly of wealth (usually land) and political asset (vote and government jobs) need to broken up to enable raise of healthy middle class and industrial progress. sometime it needed to be extremely violent and bloody.
Japan (WWII and America occupation), SK (Korean war and military dictatorship), Taiwan (massive immigration of mainlander and terror of Chiang rule), Singapore (eviction and war with Malaysia)and most Europe (Napoleon, 1844, WW) achieve it through national trauma and bloodshed too. and there indication that Mao is more thorough with his revolution, destroying old class. Enabling modern Chinese to rise 'rags to riches' with more empty opportunity above.
I am not endorsing massive scale class war, purge and massacres for economic progress. But to acknowledge modern China success without its historical past is unrealistic.
Note : America had lot of free land that enable to give people Capital without big societal violence (and even here it took Civil War to restridibute wealth, which slave is to planter class). and Scandinavia does appear to be exception.