Chinese Studies in Philosophy

ISSN: 0023-8627 (Print) (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/mcsp19

The Study of Philosophy by Mao Zedong and His

Philosophical Initiatives

Li Yongtai

To cite this article: Li Yongtai (1992) The Study of Philosophy by Mao Zedong and His
Philosophical Initiatives, Chinese Studies in Philosophy, 23:3-4, 96-116

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.2753/CSP1097-146723030496

Published online: 23 Dec 2014.

Submit your article to this journal

View related articles

Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at

http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=mcsp19

Download by: [Florida State University] Date: 11 November 2017, At: 16:43
Downloaded by [Florida State University] at 16:43 11 November 2017

The Study of Philosophy

by Mao Zedong and His
Philosophical Initiatives

Comrade Mao Zedong was an outstanding Marxist philosopher.

During the long years of the practice of revolution and
construction in China, he applied dialectical and historical
materialism to all the work of the proletarian Party and
formulated his own stand, viewpoint and methodology, thus
enriching and further developing Marxist philosophy. He was
responsible for making important contributions to Marxist
philosophy. "His distinguished works on China's
revolutionary war, in particular, provide outstanding shining
examples of applying and developing the Marxist theory of
knowledge and dialectics."'
Mao Zedong's contributions to Marxist philosophy are
inseparable from the special emphasis he paid to study and the
initiatives he took in Marxist philosophy throughout his life.
However, this article will concentrate on Mao's theoretical study
of Marxist philosophy during the period of the democratic
revolution. The brilliant example Mao provided in his study of

Source: "Mao Zedong tongzhi dui zhexue de xuexi he

changdao", Xinan shifan xueyuan xuebao No. 2 (1985),
pp. 9-16. Translated by Debbie Cao.
 W YONGTAI 97

Marxist philosophy and the initiatives he took in it can be a

constant source of inspiration and encouragement to us in our
application of Marxist philosophy in construction of the four
modernisations.

Mao and philosophy: study and sources

Mao Zedong studied and carried out research in Marxist

Downloaded by [Florida State University] at 16:43 11 November 2017

philosophy throughout his entire life. His persistent theoretical

exploration provided him with a strong foundation for his
conclusions concerning the lessons and experiences of the
Chinese revolution and also for his practical application and
development of Marxist philosophy.
In modern times, China was turned into a semi-colonial
and semi-feudal society as a result of the invasion by imperialist
powers. Under the social and historical conditions which then
prevailed in China, it was impossible to produce a dialectical
materialist world view and methodology here. Such a world
view and methodology could only be learnt from Marxism by
Chinese communists and the Chinese proletariat. The outbreak
of the October Revolution in Russia brought Marxism to the
Chinese. From that moment on, the Chinese communists began
to study and apply Marxism in China. To be well versed in the
dialectical materialist world view and methodology has always
been the orientation of the Chinese communists, something they
have always adhered to. With Mao as their representative, the
Chinese communists diligently studied Marxist philosophical
works and other related writings. They studied and researched
the philosophy of Marxist dialectical materialism. From their
initial contact with and study of Marxist works, and in
conformity with the historical demands of the transformation of
Chinese society, Chinese communists first accepted Marxist
materialism in the realm of social investigation, and
subsequently applied their materialist observations of society to
all other areas of knowledge. They mastered this instrument by
which the proletariat could know and transform the whole
world.
As early as prior to the establishment of the Communist
Party of China (CPC), Mao had started to collect Marxist books
 98 LI YONGTAI

and articles, and had studied the Communist Manifesto, The

History of Socialism, Class Struggle, and other works in
translation. He read Report on the Party Program (entitled
Minzhu zhijue in translation)? The Economy and Politics of the
Proletarian Dictatorship (entitled Guodu shiqi de jingji in
t r a n ~ l a t i o n )in~ the journal New Youth, and Marx's Wage
Labour and Capital (entitled h d o n g yu ziben in translation)?
and Economic Theory by Kautsky (entitled Mashi ziben lun
Downloaded by [Florida State University] at 16:43 11 November 2017

shiyi in Chinese tran~lation)~ in the Morning Paper of Beijing,

Marx's Materialist Conception of History by Kawa Kami
Hajime, and Outline of Marx's Materialist Conception of
History edited by the Japanese journal Socialist Study,6 and
other important works. When organizing the Cultural Society
(wenhua shushe), Mao sold works such as An Introduction to
Marx's Capital, Marx's Communist Manifesto, Marx's
Economic Theory, Scientific Socialism, and The History of
Socialism. These works were compulsory reading for the
members of the Marxist Study Society in Changsha in which
Mao participated, and he read them all very carefully. He also
gave two lectures in Changsha, on Marx's theory of surplus
value and socialist revolution, which was based on the spirit of
these works. Mao carefully read the magazine Communist
started in Shanghai by Chen Duxiu, and studied a number of
important classics in its pages, including Lenin's "Speech
Delivered to the Ninth Party Congress of the Russian
Communist Party" and the first chapter of his The State and
Revolution. He was greatly inspired by these, and he spoke
highly of the Communist as a magazine "demonstrating that it
has a clear-cut standW.7Mao not only studied himself, he also
recommended works which introduced Marxism and historical
materialism to the newspaper Da Gong Bao in Changsha for
publication and to members of the New People's Study Society.
Mao, Cai Hesen and others discussed the knowledge they had
learnt from these writings on historical materialism. Mao
believed that "the materialist conception of history is the
philosophical basis of our partyU,8and that the "methodology
acquired in the initial stage of understanding" is the
methodology of "the unity of opposites and class struggle".g
 LI YONGTAI 99

After the establishment of the CPC, Mao set up the

Hunan Self-study University in order to further spread
Marxism, to organize the strength of the Party, and to improve
the theoretical level of the Party. He invited Li Da, the CPC
Propaganda Director, to take charge of this University in which
basic Marxist theories such as the materialist conception of
history were taught, and its journal New Age (Xin shidai) also
commenced publication. The first issue of New Age published
Downloaded by [Florida State University] at 16:43 11 November 2017

the Chinese version of Marx's "Critique of the Gotha Program"

(entitled Deguo laodong dung gangli Ian wai piping in
translation), translated by Li Da. The third and fourth issues
published Communism and Economic Evolution by the French
communist and Marx's son-in-law Paul Lafargue, translated by
Luo Xuezhan. Mao studied these works in depth. At this time,
in the journal Vanguard (Xianqu) he also read "Preliminary draft
of theses on the national and colonial questions" delivered by
Lenin to the second congress of the Communist International.
The spirit of these important writings and documents was
reflected in Mao's works written during this period. In these
works, he was already consciously applying Marx's historical
dialectics to the analysis of important issues of Chinese society
and the Chinese revolution, such as the root cause of the internal
divisions of China's semi-colonial and semi-feudal society, the
distinctions between nationalist revolutions of a different nature,
analysis of the inevitability of a split among the right-wing of
the Kuomintang (KMT), the causes of the hostility between
revolution and counter-revolution, and so on.
Apart from an extensive study of the philosophy of
dialectical materialism from the works of Marx and Lenin, Mao
also paid special attention to the study and discussion of other
philosophical ideas. From his student days, he had shown a
passion for philosophy. Together with Cai Hesen and Xiao
Zhisheng, he organized study groups devoted to philosophy;
and he invited Yang Changji, Xu Teli and other people to give
advice. In the second half of 1918 after he had arrived in
Beijing, he became more fascinated by the study of philosophy
than ever, and joined the Beijing University Philosophy
Research Society. He invited Cai Yuanpei and others to give
three lectures on "Academia, world outlook, and other
 100 W YONCTAI

problems" to the members of the New People's Study Society

in Beijing at the time.1° Mao acquired a more extensive
knowledge of both Chinese and foreign philosophies through
these activities.
The New People's Study Society initiated by Mao, with
its common faith in "struggle and progressive outlook", was a
philosophy research group in a sense. He and his comrades
often had heated discussions about world outlook and other
Downloaded by [Florida State University] at 16:43 11 November 2017

important issues. He said, "My friends and I preferred to talk

only of large matters - the nature of men, of human society, of
China, the world and the universe!"ll It was through these in-
depth discussions of various philosophies and doctrines that
Mao summarized the experience and lessons that modem
Chinese progressive forces had gone through in their quest for
the truth to save China and its people. This also strengthened
his faith in materialiwn and his stand in following the example
of the Russian October Revolution. For example, in the New
Year seminar of 1921 convened by Mao in Changsha for the
New People's Study Society, the topic for discussion was "The
driving force of world development". During the meeting
various views were expressed and "the debates and arguments
were heatedW.l2 Setting out from the basic viewpoint that "a
theory which has not been proved is easy to be overtumed",l3
Mao approved of Xie Juezai's view that the unity of opposites is
the driving force of the evolution of the universe. He believed
that to view contemporary China from this perspective, class
struggle and the proletarian dictatorship constituted the only
future and evolutionary force for society. He expressed the
view that it was essential to find the way out for China from the
"study of philosophy". Mao based himself on the law of the
unity of opposites to point out that if the revolutionaries longed
for comfort and leisure their revolutionary will would weaken.
He believed that "an easy and comfortable life is not particularly
beneficial and can be harmful".l4
In the Hunan Self-study University, Mao specifically
offered a course on philosophy for his students, set up the
philosophy study society and organized his students to explore
philosophical problems, such as the materialist conception of
history, centred around the goal of "transforming present
 U YONGTAI 101

society". He integrated the study of Marxist philosophy with

that of traditional Chinese philosophy and set up a Philosophers
of the Warring States Period Study Society. Mao began to use
Marxist philosophy to criticise and transform Chinese
philosophy from his early years.
Mao also combined the study of Marxist dialectics with
that of Hegel. He used Marxist theory to criticise Hegel's
metaphysical dialectics and absorbed the rational elements from
Downloaded by [Florida State University] at 16:43 11 November 2017

Hegel's theory. In his 1964 talk with Edgar Snow, Mao

recalled that before 1937 he "had read Hegel and before that he
had also read EngelsW.l5 He was referring to the theoretical
preparation for the formation of his philosophical thought. As
early as his study at the Hunan Number One Teachers' College,
he read articles about Hegel's works in New Youth and other
journals, for instance Hegel and Monist Philosophy, translated
by Ma Junwu. After Mao became a Marxist, he did not give up
the study of Hegel's philosophy; he continued to study Hegel
and Monist Philosophy and other works; he also sold and
recommended this work to his readers in the "Cultural Society".
The work Science of Logic (Lunlixue yuanli), translated by Cai
Yuanpei, had many comments on Hegel's philosophical ideas
and Mao intensively studied the book and wrote a commentary
of about ten thousand words full of philosophical insights; he
also sold this book as an important volume for the "Cultural
Society". The History of Western Theories of Logic, (Xiyang
lunli xueshuo shi) translated by Yang Changji, had several
chapters devoted to an introduction to Hegel's philosophy. Mao
made a careful study of this book and copied the whole book by
hand in seven notebooks, which was then passed on to be read
and discussed by Cai Hesen, Luo Xuezhan, Li Weihan and
other good friends;l6 this aroused great interest among them.
Cai Hesen, when preparing in Beijing to leave for part-work
part-study in France, wrote to Mao and asked for the notebook
as follows: "please bring your important notesW.l7Later on the
"Cultural Society" also recommended the book to its readers.
Mao Zedong and his friends integrated the discussion of
Hegel's philosophy into their study program. In Numbers 1
and 2 of Volume One of New Age, Li Weihan, in his article
"Critique of the history of the concept" (guannian shiguan
 102 LI YONGTAI

piping) systematically evaluated the good points of Hegel's

metaphysical dialectics and also its shortcomings. This article
embodied the results of the joint discussions and group study of
Hegel's philosophy by the author with Mao and Cai Hesen over
the years; and some of the important ideas in the article were
adopted and improved on twenty-four years after its publication
in Mao's "On Practice" and "On Contradiction". This shows
that Mao and his comrades were of a like mind on these
Downloaded by [Florida State University] at 16:43 11 November 2017

questions. Take for example the relationship between relative

and absolute truth. In his article Li stated, "So-called absolute
truth means that its value is paramount, supreme and its truth is
unconditional. Such absolute truth is of course what
humankind is trying to achieve, but the conclusion of the
efforts, i.e. the residues left over in the limitless process of life,
is that value and truth are relative and conditional". Mao in his
"On Practice" reaffirmed the above argument and stated even
more precisely: "Marxists recognise that in the absolute and
general process of development of the universe, the
development of each particular process is relative, and that
hence, in the endless flow of absolute truth, man's knowledge
of a particular process at any given stage of development is only
relative truth. The sum total of innumerable relative truths
constitutes absolute truth". On the contradiction between
dialectics and metaphysics, Li's article stated that "Scientific
methodology pays special attention to objective experiments and
takes nature as the whole historical process and makes special
study of its internal relationships; ... the methodology of
metaphysics (xuanxue) lays emphasis on subjective ideals and
regards nature and society as an unchangeable circulation of the
same object". "The methodology of previous metaphysics
(xuanxue), in its analysis of an object, took that object as fixed
and static, carved rigidly in people's mind." "Such thinking has
dominated the field of metaphysics over the years". In his "On
Contradiction" Mao also pointed out that "... another name for
metaphysics is xuanxue". "This view regards all things in the
universe, their forms and their species, as eternally isolated
from one another and immutable. Such change as there is can
only be an increase or decrease in quantity or a change of
place". "The world outlook of materialist dialectics holds that in
 LI YONGTAI 103

order to understand the development of a thing we should study

it internally and in its relations with other things". The
statement from "On Contradiction" cited above shows that Mao
adopted and expanded Li's arguments, and his mode of
expression was basically the same as Li's. This indicates that
Mao and his comrades gradually improved their knowledge of
materialistic dialectics from their study of Hegel's dialectics; it
also shows that Mao's philosophical thinking was formed as a
Downloaded by [Florida State University] at 16:43 11 November 2017

result of his theoretical study over a long period of time.

During the Agrarian Revolution, amidst the harsh
conditions of war, Mao Zedong never neglected the study of the
basic principles and philosophy of Marxism-Leninism. In the
harsh conditions of the Jinggangshan base area during the
formative years of the Red Army, Mao requested the Central
Committee of the CPC to send him the internal publications of
the CPC and Marxist and Leninist works, such as On Leninism
(Foundations of Leninism by Stalin), so that he could satisfy his
"desire for study"; "Please do not ignore this as a trivial
matter", he wrote.18 He stated in his letter to the Central
Committee that "I am immersed in study at the mornent".lg
Elsewhere, he wrote, that "the hunger for knowledge is
enormous",20 for he felt an urgent need to improve his
theoretical knowledge. Mao studied Marxism and materialist
dialectics from the perspective of the reality of the Chinese
revolution. Peng Dehuai recalls that during the battles against
the "Encirclement campaigns", Mao studied Lenin's Left-Wing
Communism: An Infantile Disorder in order to fight against
Left opportunists and reckless metaphysical thinking. He
recommended Lenin's work to the high-level commanders of
the Red Army. In the turbulent years of war, Mao always tried
hard to collect the works of Marxism. It was when the Red
Army captured Zhangzhou in 1931 that Mao himself found the
Chinese translation of Anti-Diihring. He particularly treasured
this copy and carried it with him throughout the Long March
from the Central Soviet areas to Yan'an. In 1932 when the
translator of the book arrived in the Central Soviet area, Mao
was very pleased and had several meetings with him to discuss
the theoretical aspects of the book. He applied the Marxist
dialectical principles embodied in Anti-Diihring to the actual
 I04 W YONGTAI

arguments about the military problems of the Anti-Encirclement

Campaign. He pointed out that the strategy put forward and
carried out by the opportunists represented by Wang Ming
during the campaign was "an extremely stupid tactic of benefit
to the enemy", one contrary to Marxist materialist dialectics and
detrimental to the interests of the Chinese people. Mao spoke
highly of Anti-Diihring and believed that its criticism was
comprehensive, thorough, deep and forceful. He was not only
Downloaded by [Florida State University] at 16:43 11 November 2017

interested in the study of the content of the book, but also paid
special attention to the quality of the translation; for example, he
praised highly the lucid translation of one sentence at the end of
the eleventh section of the chapter on philosophy.21
Articles on the Chinese revolution by Marx and Engels
were full of the insight of historical dialectics and they acted as
guidance for Chinese communists in their "clear analysis" of
Chinese society.22 Mao consequently paid special attention to
them in his study. As early as 1924, the Communist Central
Committee newspaper for Northern China, Zhengzhi shenghuo
(Political Life), published in its 76th issue Mam's 1853 article
"Revolution in China and in Europe", written as an editorial of
the American newspaper New York Daily Tribune; this was
translated by Li Dazhao under the title "Marx's Views on the
Chinese National Revolution". At this time, Mao was the
secretary (mishu) of the Communist Party in Shanghai and he
had the opportunity to read this important article. On July 21st
1934, the 68th issue of Douzheng (Struggle), the newspaper of
the Central Bureau of the Soviet Area, again published Marx's
"Revolution in China and in Europe" together with an important
commentary by Engels, "Persia and China" written in May
1875. At this juncture, Mao was concentrating on the economic
development of the Soviet areas, and relevant investigation and
study, and paid special attention to these articles. In his articles
Marx called the law of the unity of opposites "the omniscient
principle" in the observation of the history of societies. He
emphasised that this principle is not only the fundamental
principle for knowledge of the "civilised world", but also the
principle for comprehension of "the decayed and semi-civilised
system" of China, "this most ancient country of the world". In
the field of political economy, Marx had applied the law of the
 LI YONGTAI 105

unity of opposites to analysis of the dual character of

commodities; in the same way, Marx analysed the dual
character of the imperialist invasion of China. Mam pointed out
that the invasion by the imperialist powers, on the one hand,
brought untold calamities to the Chinese nation; on the other, it
helped to awaken the Chinese people and initiate the Chinese
revolution. Later on, Mao, on many occasions applied Marx's
methodology of analysing the dual character of objects to the
Downloaded by [Florida State University] at 16:43 11 November 2017

analysis of the relationship between the imperialist invasion of

China and the Chinese revolution. He summarised the
dialectical viewpoint that bad things contain good aspects, and
that bad things can turn into good things.
During the Yan'an period, the relatively stable situation
gave Mao more time to study systematically Marxism and its
writings on philosophy. In order to summarise the historical
experience of the revolutionary struggles under the Party
leadership in a systematic manner, to eradicate the harmful
effects exercised by leftist dogmatism in ideological spheres and
in Party ideology, and to arm the Party with a dialectical
materialist worldview, Mao studied the theory of dialectical
materialism in depth. He spent a great deal of time and energy
reading Capital, Anti-Diihring, On Questions of Dialectics
(Tantan bianzhengfa wenti), and "The Part Played by Labour in
the Transition from Ape to Man" (Cong yuan dao ren), and
other classic works. At the end of 1936 or the beginning of
1937, Mao got hold of Capital Volume One, newly translated by
Hou Wailu and Wang Xinhua who delivered it via the Red
Army representative in Taiyuan. He was very pleased and read
it repeatedly. Mao paid special attention to the study of
philosophy. He requested Ye Jianying and others who were
working for the united front in KMT controlled areas to
purchase philosophy books that were "truly popular and
valuable", and a copy of Sun zi bing fa (The art of war).23 In
his letters to He Zhigan, he said his present study and research
"should centre around philosophy", and hoped others "would
earnestly do the samen.24 In order to study historical
materialism, he wrote to Hu Qiaomu asking him to "collect
books in Yan'an on the materialist conception of history and the
history of social development, either in translation or written in
 106 L.I YONGTAI

C h i n e ~ e " .Mao
~ ~ also introduced the books he found on the
materialist conception of history to Liu Shaoqi and others.
Apart from the classic works, Mao also read widely specialist
works on Marxist philosophy; for instance, Elements of
Sociology by Li Da, Philosophy for the Masses by Ai Siqi, and
by Soviet authors, Outline of New Philosophy, A Course on
Dialectical Materialism, Dialectical and Historical Materialism,
Materialist Sociology, The Philosophy of the Materialist
Downloaded by [Florida State University] at 16:43 11 November 2017

Conception of history, etc., in all more than ten works on

philosophy. He made concise summaries and annotations on
these books. In 1937, Mao read ten times Elements of
Sociology sent by Li Da, and praised the book as the first text-
book written by a Chinese on Marxist philosophy. He
recommended it to the Yan'an Philosophy Society and the Anti-
Japanese Military and Political university in Yan'an. In
September of the same year and shortly after he had published
(fabiao) "On Practice" and "On Contradiction", Mao wrote
extracts of 19 pages after careful study of the popular text
Philosophy and Life written by Ai Siqi. In the extracts, he
carefully checked the points on dialectical materialism and made
corrections where mistakes had occurred. He put forward the
argument that "things that are different are under certain
conditions in contradiction". He further elaborated this point in
"On Contradiction" and argued against the fallacy by Zhang
Dongxun which denied the universality of contradictions
because of the existence of differences between objects. Mao
also commented on Methodology of Thought by Ai Siqi (second
edition of January, 1937). Through correspondence and
dialogue, Mao discussed important issues of dialectical
materialism with the authors for the purpose of helping them to
propagate dialectics more accurately. After he had read The
Biography of Zu Yuanzang by Wu Han, Mao noted some
problems of basic viewpoint and methodology and he pointed
out that "you still have not completely accepted the methodology
of historical materialism to observe history". He encouraged the
author to "make a special effort" in this respect.26
Mao regarded the basic principles of Marxist philosophy
as his guiding line and made critical analysis of ancient Chinese
traditional philosophy, and did so persistently. He set a good
 W YONGTAI 107

example with his scientific attitude towards China's cultural

heritage. From 1939 to 1940, Chen Boda published a series of
articles, such as "Mo Zi's philosophical thought", "Confucius'
philosophical thought" and "Lao Zi's philosophical thought", in
the Yan'an journal Jiefang (Liberation). Mao made a careful
study of these writings and read them several times. He
suggested a change of the titles and expressed his opinion on
many other fundamental issues, such as the relationships
Downloaded by [Florida State University] at 16:43 11 November 2017

between quality and quantity, between quantity and difference,

between excess and moderation, between inevitability and
accident, and the relationships between name and object,
between writing and essence, between words and actions. He
also made thorough explanations using the philosophies of
Confucius, Lao Zi, and Mo Zi and made a dialectical and
accurate analysis of the above-mentioned problems, and
faithfully evaluated their strong and weak points. He repeatedly
emphasised that in evaluating the ancient cultural heritage, "it is
essential to have a critical view based on historical materialism
and place this heritage in its appropriate position".27 It is also
necessary, he believed, to analyse dialectically the academic
works of bourgeois scholars, "making it clear that they have
made their contributions to Chinese scholarship, but their
thinking is fundamentally different from oursU.28He subjected
Chen Boda to serious criticism for quoting bourgeois scholars
exactly without providing any comments.
Mao made a careful comparison and analysis of the
philosophical works written during the 1930s in the Soviet
Union and the new works on philosophy written by Chinese.
In accordance with the special historical conditions of Chinese
society and the special political and economic requirements of
the Chinese revolution, Mao scrutinised the useful views and
thoughts contained in these works from a dialectical perspective.
With the practice of the Chinese revolution as his criteria and
Marxist dialectical materialism as his basic guiding principles,
he examined their ideas and conclusions from the perspective of
the entire experience of the Chinese revolution. He corrected,
added and perfected them so as to enable these ideas to be
recognised and developed. He also transformed these new
achievements of dialectical materialism from the "world of
 108 W YONGTAI

forms" to the "world of reality", that is, he achieved a form of

scientific expression in which theoretical research was
transformed into an integration of theory and practice. He
carefully distinguished their one-sided metaphysical
conclusions, and thoroughly explored the logical system of
dialectics. It was with a strict scientific attitude that he was able
to summarize the results of a systematic and scientific manner.
Mao studied Marxist philosophy over a long period,
Downloaded by [Florida State University] at 16:43 11 November 2017

combining theory with practice. He was thus able to have a

profound understanding and command of dialectical
materialism. In 1937 when he wrote "On Contradiction" and
"On Practice", he had already undertaken a comprehensive
preparation in Marxist theory. In "On Contradiction", he talked
about his personal experience in studying Marxist theory as
follows: "...by assiduous study, ignorance can be transformed
into knowledge, scanty knowledge into substantial knowledge,
and blindness in the application of Marxism into mastery of its
application".
All this shows that it is no coincidence that Mao Zedong
made a great contribution to Marxist philosophy in
systematically expounding and developing the law of the unity
of opposites, the central law of dialectics, and in applying and
developing Marxist philosophy in the practice of the Chinese
revolution.

Mao and philosophy: dissemination and application

Mao Zedong regarded the study and application of the
philosophy of dialectical materialism as an important task for the
entire CPC. He believed that to arm Party members and the
masses with philosophy was a fundamental guarantee for the
victory of the Chinese revolution. He always advocated and
agitated for the teaching of the philosophy of dialectical
materialism within the Party and unswervingly applied the
Marxist ideological line to revolutionary practice so that Marxist
dialectical materialism could become the material strength for
countless millions of people in their efforts to change the world.
During the period of the Great Revolution (1925-1927),
Mao was the head of the Sixth Peasant Movement School.
 W YONGTAI 109

When he gave lectures about the peasant movement, he was

very careful to teach the philosophy of dialectical materialism to
his students. He used his essay "The analysis of the classes in
Chinese society", a work replete with the spirit of the dialectics
of history, as teaching material, and also gave lectures on it. In
1927 when organizing the Wuchang Central Peasant Movement
School, he compiled and proof-read the teaching materials, and
specifically invited Li Da to teach Marxist dialectics and the
Downloaded by [Florida State University] at 16:43 11 November 2017

materialist conception of history.

During the formative years of the Red Army, Mao was
specially careful in educating Party members in the Red Army
and its soldiers about dialectical materialism. In 1929, in the
resolution of the Ninth Party Congress of the Fourth Army
which he drafted, social investigation and the importance of the
education of Party members on the methodology of Marxist
dialectical analysis were given particular emphasis. Among the
ten items listed under "The question of intra-Party education",
many were concerned with the training of Party members on the
use of a dialectical analysis; for instance, " 1. political analysis;
2. circulation of the discussion of the higher authorities";
"8. the study of Marxism-Leninism; 9. the study of social
and economic science; 10. the present stage of the revolution
and its futureW.29In relation to the political training of soldiers,
Mao stressed the method of comparison to help them understand
the fundamental differences between the CPC and KMT. He
believed that it was necessary to use popular stories of the
evolution of society to popularise historical materialism amongst
the soldiers. In May 1930, Mao published his well-known
"Oppose book worship", in which he put forward a Marxist
epistemological line based on dialectical materialism. He
contrasted it with the subjective metaphysical epistemological
line and criticised the attitude and method of dogmatic
metaphysics in its treatment of Marxism. He stressed that "we
need Marxism in our st~uggle",3~ and that revolutionaries must
study Marxist theory according to the actual conditions of
China. During his chairmanship of the Chinese Soviet
Republic, Mao was very serious about popularising Marxism.
Many of his articles discussed the historical materialist view that
it is the people and the masses that are the driving force
 propelling the development of history, that they are the master
of history, and that the victory of the war is dependent upon the
people. He stressed the importance of arming the people with
the stand, viewpoint and method of Marxism.
After the Red Army reached Yan'an, on numerous
occasions Mao called upon the entire Party to study carefully
and master dialectical materialism and to eradicate the influence
of the dogmatic metaphysical world view. He stated that "For
Downloaded by [Florida State University] at 16:43 11 November 2017

us, therefore, the spreading and deepening of the study of

Marxism-Leninism presents a big problem demanding an early
solution which is possible only through concentrated effort.
Following on this plenary session of the Central Committee, I
hope to see an all-Party emulation in study which will show
who has really learned something, and who has learned more
and learned better".31 He and other leaders in the Central
Committee took the lead and he personally oversaw the study
movement of the entire Party.
In July 1937, Mao proceeded to give lectures on Marxist
philosophy at the Northern Shanxi Public School, the Anti-
Japanese Military and Political university, and other
institutions. He spent three days and four nights in careful
preparation of his lecture outline, "A talk on the law of the unity
of contradictions".32 At the end of 1937 and the beginning of
1938, Mao also held seminars on philosophy in his office in
Yangjialing. Mao personally organised these seminars which
focused on discussion of the dialectical issues touched on in his
"On Contradiction", and he asked participants to integrate theory
with practice. All seminars were related to the war being waged
by the Red Army, the struggles in the KMT-occupied areas, and
other immediate problems encountered during the Anti-Japanese
war.
After an enthusiasm for the study of philosophy was
established among Party, administrative and military cadres, a
New Philosophy Society was established in Yan'an at the
initiative and with the support of Mao. He attended the opening
meeting and delivered a speech to encourage the participants.
On the 22nd of August 1938, Mao gave a lecture, entitled "To
be a student, to be a teacher, and to be a leader in the war", at
the Central Party School, in which he further called for the
 LI YONGTAI I l l

study of theory and the research of reality. On 20 May 1939, in

his report to the meeting in Yan'an of education and
mobilisation cadres, Mao stressed the importance of the
movement to study Marxism. In order to push forward the
entire Party's study, and with his personal involvement, Anti-
Diihring was once again proof-read and published by the
Yan'an Liberation Press. The "Critique of the Gotha Program"
was re-translated and published. Supplementary introductions
Downloaded by [Florida State University] at 16:43 11 November 2017

were also written for Marx's The Civil War in France, "On
Questions of Dialectics" and "Sixteen Points on Dialectics",
from Lenin's Notebooks on Philosophy and Engels' The Part
Played by Labour in the Transitionfrom Ape to Man. Study of
The Dialectics of Nature was also given special attention. The
Poverty of Philosophy was accurately re-translated between
1942 and 1944. Under Mao's instructions, On the
methodology of Thought of Marx, Engels, Lenin and Stalin (Ma
En Lie Si sixiang fangfalun) was prepared and compiled, and
the entire Party was requested to study it. Mao also gave
instructions for the establishment of a translation department,
"to translate the works by Marx, Engels, Lenin and Stalin,
works from the Soviet Union and classics from Britain, France
and German~".3~ In May 1941, Mao gave an important report,
entitled "Reform Our Study", to the Yan'an cadres meeting.
The report was full of the spirit of Marxist materialism; it raised
the task of the struggle to oppose subjectivism. In July, Mao
organized a meeting of the CPC Political Bureau and it adopted
the "Resolution of the Party centre on the strengthening of Party
spirit". In September, Mao gave an analysis of CPC history
using the scientific method of dialectical materialism at a meeting
of the Politbureau. In the same month, Mao also organized and
directed the Central Research Group and the Advanced Research
Group in their study of philosophical theory, "with the aim of
connecting theory and practice", "focussing on the study of the
methodology of thought". The following volumes were
prominent on the reading list: 1. Left-wing Communism: An
Infantile Disorder, published in 1939 by Liberation Press;
2. Chapter Eight of Outline of New Philosophy, "The process
of cognition" translated by Ai Siqi (that is, the fourth chapter of
Selected Writing on Philosophy); 3. Chapter Six of A Course
 112 W YONGTAI

on Dialectical Materialism, "Dialectical materialism and formal

logic", translated by Li Da; 4. "Preface to Outline of Economic
Theory by Kawakami Hajime (which already had been
published as a mimeo-graphed thread-bound volume).34 In
1942, Mao organized the rectification movement among Party
cadres. This movement was a great movement for the
emancipation of thought, aimed at opposing idealism, and with
the purpose and metaphysics of popularising materialism and
Downloaded by [Florida State University] at 16:43 11 November 2017

dialectics. This was a great competition in the study of

Marxism. Mao called on everyone to combine theory with
practice and conscientiously study the Marxist-Leninist classics,
including such monumental works as Capital. He said, "Capital
is long, and what can you do? It's easy. You just keep on
readingW.35 He called on the entire Party to master the
dialectical method in the analysis of problems.
In his "Reform our study", Mao once again requested
the CPC to apply dialectical materialism as Marx did when he
wrote Capital, "appropriate the material in detail and subject it to
scientific analysis and synthesisn.36 In "Rural Surveys" and
"Rectify the Party's Style of Work", he again pointed out the
scientific methods used by Marx in writing Capital, and stated
that Marx's method was entirely opposed to the method of
idealism and metaphysics. He requested everyone "to analyse
carefully objective reality and class; they should not turn a blind
eye to the real problems. It was essential to destroy
'boastfulness', and to integrate theory with reality through
careful thinking and analysis".
In order that the entire Party was able to master the
method used in Capital, Mao made a thorough elaboration of the
dialectical method of analysis employed in Capital as early as
when he wrote "On Contradiction". From the winter of 1943 to
April 1944, together with other high-level Party leaders, Mao
concentrated on an in-depth discussion of Party history. He
organised and edited two documents, "Before the Sixth Party
Congress" and "Since the Sixth Party Congress", calling all
high-level leaders to study Party history with a comprehensive
and developmental view based on dialectical materialism,
"taking the whole process of development of the Party as the
subject of our carefully summarising historical
 W YONGTAI 113

experience, eradicating the harm done to the revolution by Left

and Right opportunist and metaphysical world views, and
improving awareness of the study and application of materialist
dialectics. On the 24th of April 1945, Mao in his report to the
Seventh Congress of the CPC, once again requested the Party
cadres to read the Communist Manifesto, Socialism: Utopian
and Scientific, "Two Tactics", Left-wing Communism: An
Infantile disorder, and History of the Communist Party of the
Downloaded by [Florida State University] at 16:43 11 November 2017

Soviet Union (Bolsheviks); they should, he said, f m l y master

the dialectical materialist theory of knowledge and develop a
good style of work of seeking truth from facts. Lenin once
pointed out that only a mature Marxist political party can carry
out a large-scale philosophical movement, and that "such a
philosophical 'rectification"' is the symbol of the "complete
maturity" of an advanced political party.38 Mao Zedong
personally initiated and led the Yan'an rectification campaign,
thus signifying that the CPC had already become a completely
mature party, a party armed with a worldview based on Marxist
dialectical materialism. This ensured that the Chinese revolution
took the road of successful development.
After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War in 1945, the
Chinese revolution was faced with a watershed of enormous
dimensions and the Party was confronted with new tasks.
"Judging from the overall situation, we can see that the stage of
the Anti-Japanese is over, and the new situation and task is the
internal struggle".39 "Under such circumstances, what is the
current status of class relations inside China, what is the
relationship between the KMT and CPC, what is the future of
these things, and what should be our policy?"40 These were
questions of great concern to the CPC and the Chinese people.
Faced with this complex situation, Mao Zedong called on the
whole Party to f m l y grasp the potent weapon of materialist
dialectics and to keep a cool head. "China's problems are
complex, and our thinking should match this complexity". We
should use the viewpoint of the unity of contradictions to
analyse problems and "look at things from every perspective,
not just oneW.4l The more than three year war of Liberation
passed quickly and it educated the people, for the people
achieved victory in the war; the entire Party and the masses
 114 W YONGTAI

took a great leap forward in terms of their knowledge. When

summarising the great historical victory of the Chinese
revolution, Mao pointed out that the Marxist worldview based
on dialectical materialism was the ideological guarantee of
China's victory. "The communists throughout the world are
more intelligent than the bourgeoisie. They understand the laws
of existence and development of things; they understand
dialectics and can see further".42
Downloaded by [Florida State University] at 16:43 11 November 2017

Comrade Mao Zedong expended his energy throughout

his entire life advocating Marxist dialectical materialism to the
CPC and Chinese people. Facts from the democratic revolution
period recounted above tell us that he made an indelible
contribution to the popularisation and application of dialectical
materialism in China; he did so by formulating the ideological
line of the CPC based on this philosophy, and in guiding the
Chinese revolution to its victory. Today we are faced with the
much more difficult task in the construction of the four
modernisations of socialism. The arming of the people with
dialectical materialism, the conscientious study of Marxist
theory as Comrade Mao did, and the diligent application of the
basic stand, viewpoint and methodology of Marxism, Leninism
and Mao Zedong Thought to solve the various problems
encountered in the drive for modernisation, all of these remain
the fundamental guarantee of our victory. Comrade Deng
Xiaoping has repeatedly called on us to "encourage study,
mainly the study of Marxist philosophy, with the focus on Mao
Zedong's philosophical works". "Now many of our cadres are
ignorant of philosophy. It is necessary to improve the present
situation in the area of the methodology of ideology and
workn.43 At present, we are carrying out the Party's new
rectification movement. To review the history of Comrade Mao
Zedong's initiatives in and study of Marxist dialectical
materialism during the period of the democratic revolution is
extremely beneficial to our success in Party rectification and in
the smooth development of the drive for the four
modernisations.
 W YONGTAI 115

Notes

1. "Resolution on certain questions in the history of our Party since

the founding of the People's Republic of China". Resolution on CPC History
(Beijing: FLP, 1981). p. 69.
2. Xin Qingnian [New Youth] Vol. VIII. No. 4.
3 . Ibid.
4. Serialized in Chen Bao [Morning Paper]. Beijing. May 9 to June 1,
Downloaded by [Florida State University] at 16:43 11 November 2017

1919.
5. Ibid., June 2 to November 11, 1919.
6. Ibid., May 7 to June 1. 1919.
7. Xin min xuehui xianhuibian [Documents of the New People's Study
Society] (Hunan: Hunan renmin chubanshe. 1980). p. 116.
8. Ibid.
9. On Rural Investigation. September 13. 1941.
10. Documents of the New People's Study Society. p. 122.
11. Edgar Snow. Red Star Over China (Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1937),
p. 172.
12. The Diary of Xie Juezai, January 3, 1921.
13. Documents of the New People's Study Society. p. 118.
14. Ibid., p. 157.
15. Edgar Snow In China. p. 284.
16. Diary of Luo Xuahan, September 26, 1917.
17. Documents of the New People's Study Society, p. 5.
18. Mao Zedong shuxin xuanji [Selected letters of Mao Zedong]
(Beijing: Renmin chubanshe. 1983). p. 27.
19. Mao Zedong junshi lunwen xuan [Selected military writings of Mao
Zedong] (Chinese edition), p. 6.
20. Selected Letters of Mao Zedong. p. 20.
21. Wu Liping. "Fifty Years Since the Chinese Translation of Anti-
Diihring". Wenhui Daily. May 12. 1982.
22. Zhengzhi shenghuo [Political Life] No. 78. 1924.
23. Selected Letters of Mao Zedong, p. 80.
24. Ibid.. p. 136.
25. Ibid., p. 219.
26. Ibid.. p. 310.
27. Ibid.. p. 148.
 116 LI YONGTAI

28. Ibid., p. 150.

29. See Takeuchi Minom (ed.). Mao Zedong Ji [Collected works of Mao
Zedong] (Tokyo: Hokubasha, 1970-1972), Vol. 11, pp. 100-101. [Tr.]
30. "Oppose Book Worship". in Selected Readings of Mao Tsetung
(Peking: FLP, 1971). p. 42. [TI.]
31. Selected Works of Mao Zedong [Mao Zedong xuanji] (Beijing
renmin chubanshe, 1968). Vol. II, p. 499.
32. Guo Huaruo, 'The Brilliant Philosophical Activities of Chairman
Downloaded by [Florida State University] at 16:43 11 November 2017

Mao at the Beginniig of the Anti-Japanese War", Zhongguo zhexue, Vol. I .

pp. 31-38.
33. Selected letters of Moo Zedong. p. 202.
34. Ibid., p. 189.
35. Selected Works of Mao Zedong, Vol. III, p. 835.
36. Selected Works of Mao Tse-tung, Vol. 111, p. 21. [Tr.]
37. "Zenma yang yanjiu Zhong gong dang shim[How to study the
history of the Chinese Communist Party]. No. 1. 1979.
38. The Collected Works of k n i n (Chinese edition), Vol. XVII, p. 59.
39. Selected Works of Moo Zedong, Vol. IV, p. 1130.
40. Ibid.. p. 1123.
41. Ibid., p. 1158.
42. Ibid., p. 1432.
43. Selected Works of Deng Xiaoping. pp. 267-268.