Zhou Enlai

"The third of the “Moutai Six Principles”: Quality above all as faith At the Moutai Distillery, if there is corporate faith, then quality is the only belief. Even in extremely harsh and tumultuous times, this faith was not abandoned. During those years of “movements,” the leadership of the distillery experienced turmoil, yet the three technical deputy directors appointed in 1956 worked stably until retirement. This was not the result of active perseverance by the company but was due to a special case: because of the special connection of the “Three Crossings of the Chishui River,” Moutai was favored by Premier Zhou Enlai and high-ranking generals. As early as during the founding ceremony of the nation, it was one of the designated national banquet wines. Moreover, in the fields of Chinese diplomacy and foreign trade, Moutai once played a unique role."

"Mao Zedong was not an engineer. He was a librarian at Peking University who then helped found the Communist Party, after which he became a warlord. After he established the People’s Republic in 1949, Mao’s stature became nearly godlike. He spent much of his time reading literature and philosophy, leaving the details of running the state to technocratic deputies like Zhou Enlai, Deng Xiaoping, and Chen Yun. Mao’s gifts in military leadership as well as poetry collided in a folksy slogan he was fond of repeating: *Ren duo, li liang da*. With people come power."