Mao Zedong (/ˈmaʊ (d)zəˈdʊŋ/; 26 December 1893 – 9 September 1976), also known as Chairman Mao and Mao Runzhi (courtesy name), was a Chinese communist revolutionary who became the founding father of the People's Republic of China (PRC), which he ruled as the Chairman of the Communist Party of China from its establishment in 1949 until his death in 1976. Ideologically a Marxist–Leninist, his theories, military strategies, and political policies are collectively known as Maoism.