John Fredrick Parker
Donor
How can Mao die after the Great Leap Forward ends (1962) but before the Cultural Revolution begins (1966)? While I imagine the Chairman Liu Shaoqi would succeed Mao, so what would his rule be like?
2) Transition begins more or less immediately after Mao's death. The economy at the time was ran by Liu Shaoqi and Deng Xiaoping. With the disaster of the great leap forward fresh in everyone's mind the agricultural sector reverts back to something like the household responsibility system very quickly... Deng and Liu recognizes how behind China is compared to the west and adopts "free market" policies a decade earlier at the end of the 60s.
Even if Mao Zedong passed away circa 1964, you still have some pretty strong hardline factions led by Lin Biao, who would be allied with the infamous Gang of Four: Jiang Qing, Zhang Chunqiao, Yao Wenyuan, and Wang Hongwen. As such, Cultural Revolution would still have happened, but its effects would be vastly shorter, since Zhou Enlai, Deng Xiaopeng, and Liu Shaoqi would have a created strong faction to put the Gang of Four out of business a lot sooner.
It won'tHow far could the Cultural Revolution actually go, though, with a real power struggle going on behind the scenes?
Since I am thinking about the "how" myself -- .... I'm thinking now that the leader's sexual activity might be the best opening -- either to catch something incurable even for his standard of medical care, or (and this is weirdly looking most likely) for Mao to be assassinated.
By one of those underage girls he liked, iis that what you mean?
A pretty likely possibility is a triumvirate of Zhou Enlai, liu Shoaqi and Deng Xiaoping running the country. All three are highly competent statesmen (ok the first and the last at least) and without Mao, Lin Biao could be contained by playing army politics, there were plenty of officers who did not share Lin's viewpoints. They might even be able to get someone like Peng Dehuai back in charge of the army.
Also another note: the CCP leadership of TTL will be a lot less nervous about change and popular movements without the experience of the cultural revolution, and might be alot more willing to give up power ala Hungary or Poland or Czechslovkian parties when the equivalent of 1989 rolls around.