The Confucian concept of the Great Unity, which refers to a utopian vision of the ideal world in which everlasting peace and harmony prevail, has been for centuries a reference point for the most illustrious Chinese thinkers and emperors in their reflection about the Middle Kingdom and its society. The paper examines understanding and interpretation of the concept of the Great Unity by the two most influential Chinese leaders of the 20th century, Jiang Jieshi and Mao Zedong, who were inspired by this Confucian concept in building a new society and state in the times of the epochal transitions and creation of a new order. The paper begins with an analysis of the political doctrine of Sun Yat-sen, the Three Principles of the People, which was aimed at realization of the Great Unity and had a strong influence on Jiang Jieshi’s political thought. The fi rst part of the paper examines the concept of the Great Unity in the political thought of Jiang Jieshi. It concerns, i.a., economical, political, and social ideal of the concept of the Great Unity, and Jiang’s interpretation of Sun Yat-sen’s principle of people livelihood and the theory of the Confucian scholar Kang Youwei, both of which infl uenced Jiang’s understanding of the concept of the Great Unity. The second part of the paper examines the concept of the Great Unity in the political thought of Mao Zedong. It concerns Mao’s interpretation of history with its division into three periods and links between Mao’s thought, the theory of Kang Youwei and the Marxist tradition. The signifi cance of the concept of the Great Unity in contemporary offi cial ideology of the Communist Party of China is also analyzed in the paper.