Mae Zedong (December 26, 1893 -- November 22, 1980) was an actress, writer and communist revolutionary famous for her daring double entendres and her belief that proletarian revolution could come from the peasant classes. After winning control of mainland China in 1949, Zedong modernized the country through a series of risque comedies and films, filled with quips, one-liners and denunciation of "reactionary" elements. These were later collected into the "Little Black Book," which became a standard text for revolutionaries into the 1960s.