Mao should've followed the example of Wang Anshi, who introduced Legalist concepts and principles into the imperial bureaucracy while calling himself a Neoconfucian. There's the criticism by Confucians that the imperial dynasties were never actually Confucian (外儒内法), and I mostly see post-Mao CPC continuing the tradition of giving the airs of a Confucian society without actually being a Confucian society.
Mao should've followed the example of Wang Anshi, who introduced Legalist concepts and principles into the imperial bureaucracy while calling himself a Neoconfucian. There's the criticism by Confucians that the imperial dynasties were never actually Confucian (外儒内法), and I mostly see post-Mao CPC continuing the tradition of giving the airs of a Confucian society without actually being a Confucian society.