How do rural civilians overcome governmental restrictions to mobilise themselves under authoritarian government? This has long been a vital puzzle for scholars in comparative politics. This research provides an in-depth analysis for this puzzle by theorising the use of localised ideology to overcome restrictions under authoritarian rules. This article provides a new scope to address the important juncture of Mao’s era and later reformation, theorising mobilisation strategy under “charismatic leadership”, which add value to contentious politics in highly centralised China. Through comparative case studies of two counties during the Cultural Revolution, this research illustrates how local mobilisation efforts used nationalism to express loyalty to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) while simultaneously undermining state authority to obtain their own interests. The research challenges conventional perspectives that view the Cultural Revolution primarily as national political infighting or local rebel elites opposing higher authorities for political stakes, viewing rural movements as a part of the factious conflicts. Instead, it posits that rural factions manipulated leaderships’ ideology to achieve local goals, often at odds with national interests and different from urban political movements. The localised ideological legitimisation essentially helped to overcome governmental restrictions on rural mobilisation. I argue that the ideology of the “charismatic leader” were localised to aid mobilisation legitimacy for diverse local interests before national repression due to the threats toward key interests and security of the party state.