This English formulation is attributed to Mao Zedong, including in Wikiquote’s Attributed section. No specific Mao speech, date or English translator was established here; related remarks about chaos do not verify this exact sentence.
“There is great chaos under heaven; the situation is excellent” Attributed to Mao Zedong; exact speech, date and English translator not established.
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Provenance
The source
Status
Attributed; original occasion not pinned down
Chinese form recorded by Wikiquote
天下大乱，形势大好。
English translator
Not identified
There is great chaos under heaven; the situation is excellent.
Wikiquote ↗ records the exact formulation as attributed, rather than attaching it to a dated primary document.
The ANU discussion ↗ supplies historical context and related formulations, not a verbatim source for this English sentence.
The exact English rendering has no identified translator or first publication in this check. Mao’s age and the dates of related Chinese remarks do not clear these English words for reuse.
Rights status is our research, not legal advice — and copyright varies by country and edition. For commercial or published use, confirm with the rightsholder. See terms.
Context
Why it mattered
Mao’s language about chaos reflected a revolutionary approach in which upheaval could be treated as politically productive. The ANU discussion contrasts that rhetoric with later emphases on control, but the broad historical fit cannot replace a source for the particular “situation is excellent” formulation.
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More provenance-checked quotes on the same theme, each with its reuse status.
Mao Zedong led the Chinese Communist Party to victory in the civil war and helped establish the People’s Republic of China in 1949. His later campaigns included the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution; the use of his name as a quotation authority needs to be distinguished from a source in his actual writings.
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Cite this
The primary source (Chicago)
Best-available attribution: Wikiquote, “Mao Zedong,” Attributed section, citing The Routledge Companion to Cross-Cultural Management (2015). Original speech and English translation not established.
This verification page
Quotle.info. “Who really said ‘There is great chaos under heaven; the situation is excellent’?” Last verified 9 Nov 2026. https://quotle.info/who-said/there-is-great-chaos-under-heaven-the-situation-is-excellent/