It Satmmm itu
percral antoacct
Mo mailerf variousovernment'
m oaf
arbaa and rural aUrdiiini the criteria defined are the arc Mrongly ia favorto Ihal the defin eurreat system ef dcpartmcatif Uai te them is whoriteria arc |aj the su auumc the basb of both (ii ii !i i The frowned onornprtheriiin Snd malicr. The percent,nd vinage*
iO
popvlatioa. The
rural
Wtslcver
township* willeifTercnlareas. Hand take even paratoiliiy j
face orihe ihe Stale to be used, it peling interest* iHraiive bodies defmilion of io urn-it" are ihetnsdves They by administrative onsbleni with the The sutiiiie* of the criteriampor-
and
it impossible . tsirstic on the. and standard bed Com minion alio bringu from dlies.therefore, not links on urbi r.
llaiiiti-
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KaeaavJ aa Truth Crileriea, Theory Research
tijtnt WEI RENDAO 7JIVYI UANtlV mt Cktnne 1Mb
Knapter from booh "In Defence of Humaniun" by "Wang Ruoshui; Sanlbnages: iranserip. taoapeech deliveredorum held in Shanghai on
]
^Thtwryjf SeSewtlflchawM Be
Troth Crherkw aad Theory Research
actke
First. Fd bke to talk about the bsue of (raih rriKrion. Bringing up thb issue at th*f nol only domestic but she ttueraatawa] Mgmficancr Minne hat been tested ra twnetkt Inrratary sane* il was miro-duced. How do we look at il now? In the beginning ofnhe October revolutionreal viclory. la Ihe aiiddk ofh Century, the Chinese revolution alsonrai victory. These great events brilliantly proved the currsciaesa of Marsbm aadar-rrachini influence in ihe vorld. Ins. ihe repute-of the baperialbt camp was aoiorious wbik ibe
tafluenee of Ih* socialist camp was trowing amongho placed hope in ihe Soviei Ui
people of the world woo piacco nope in the soviet Union and China. However, in the pastean or to, using)changed. Firn. the Soviet Union had problems ImrnruY atdy after ihal, the aerialm camp span. There followedears of turmoil in China. Contrary to what happenrd onaide, capital ura had overearsgoldenhathink perhaps duringean Man:ii rheory hat failed to develop along with theof pracntr. Ibereforr.robably already behind aV International reality.
Marsbt iheory has three nans, and the mod detailedolitical economy "Da* KaanaT was ia lane with the ae. Later in iheeriod, ihingt In theh Century. Lenin wrote the Highest Stage of Capiialbm" and thereby solved the prohtemt of thai period NoweaiHry has paiaed Mace tarn, the amaaiiondrastically, and raaay new Hluationi aaJ phenonvrna have appeared in capiiatisi dcvclopmeni. However, many of our conn ades mil ley to andeniand ranitalitm osuy by reading book* Of course, we need lo read Man'* "Da*and Lrnin'ithe llighru Stage ofa* what (hctc bout* dVrmn.l
Approved for
if
leSfjeeober issn
tiiuaiion* in Ihe Ian ceniurye early pan of ihii century amihanges have occurred since then. Alihoogh rucniial and baiic contradiction* remain the tame, many situations have indeed changed Dueaiutny yean of isolation (mwhtog firs! from an impcu-^in btockadc aad then from our own doseddoor poJ-*ykenr did no* esderslnnd ihe ouiwk wearld. Due tond lark of Uudy. we knew very little aboutf carnltliii countries Even if weere too afraid to talk aboal h. Now lhat our door it we find that Using* arc dilTerenl from books, aaaancana nave raited many rraettiont. aod the anrorawral Viafc aho fed* Ihe need to think about manye stowook-not one book but many books-thairom afiew nbrmomena whichwneared in capitalist ccvniriei during ihr past few decade* since Ihe mlrodtartion of -Imperialam. theSiagrof
to new quntiom and on new situations.ot have anolher Lenin; nor did Chairman Mao writeook. Then whathink. instead of wait inr Tor some talenthow up, we should rely on collectivecollective power of theoreticalcaplore snd study and sain new knowledge from years of research and discussion, which is also devclopmiolitical economy.
Lenin laid imperialism wai moribund capitalism. He even then predicted lhat Ihe capitalUl *ysiem was dying. Of course, several dacades could also beying- period in hiiiory. ll lakes not just one or two decade*ystem to die; it could lake several decade* oreniury. Thi* is underuandable- But Ihe question i* lince Lenin? book -Imperialism, ihe Highest Suae ofspecially since World War II. the cspiial.il economy, in general, has had many cnsei as well Mi rapid developments, resulting in higher "living aiandards for -orkcrao-called -goldenowying systemgoldenn addition, some new capitalist count tie* have emerged in some areas and ihcy are developing very rapidly. For instance. Singapore and Soulh Korea are making rapid economic progress. This Ciplain* that Chairman Mao's Ihesit ia -The Theory of New Democracy- lhat there could nol be another Kcmil ii proved incorrect in practice. Then, i* it ju*lif"icd to describe ihe present capitalist world with tach adjectives as rapidly declining and moribound? There arc two estimate* and bated on ihem we can develop two kind* of foreign nrategic principles. If we think Ihe capiuliil system it dying, we should hurry up and get prepared foe the world revolution. Didni we use to aay during the "cultural revoluiion" that "now it the lime for imperialism to headomplcic collapse and for wcialiim io headorld-widein biao alto ihought Hut way. He believed lhai cities were surrounded by rural anal all over the world and he wanted lo overthrow VS.Soviei revruon-ia*a. and everything else. He was an terne "Leftist" Another estimate r* that io ipile ofapitaliim it ill hat tome life iaave been abroadew times Lasteni to the United States and saw mere were indeed manyadiortudmg economicinflaiion. and an energyhhem greatil ihcy arc far from dying or rapidly aVctintng.ystem it dying, it thoukl he fairly easy to detect. Even if juu are Ibere only foray*win, you ibouU be able to find trace* of decline in social condition* and the raycrofogical cooditiont of ihe gwople Lake Comrade Ba lin said ia hi* novel1 amying system', lhat tystem i* indeed trying for teudai ihing* are wilhering one after anolher. iadged from Ibe current situation. Ihe force of life ts inowing ia the rramwork of capitalonder rf the life of capitalism itthan what Lenin predicted or if it was probably too carry for Lenin to tay thai capittliam wasying Stage We should be able to study these question i. At lhat fl was imrjossiblc for Lenin to make accuralr think Lenin probably not imagine or predict Ihe rapid development* in the science, technology, and productive force, of today'* capitalist world. Take polariiaiion for instance. Mars taid in "Das Kapitar lhat as capiialiim develops, there wiQ be an irKreasingly Urge number of poor proletarian* On the one Side and millionaire, on ihe other. In olherhe entire society will be polarired into the ihape of aon one end. small on ihe other, and very skinny in thethe middle clan and petty bourgeoisie will be drawn to boih ends What it the current situation of capKalisl society? There arc large uumbera of middle-das. people. Under ihi* cirrum-stance, we should forgel aboutroceed tlriclly from rraliiy. aad let! theory with practice,heory contradicts reality, we should revise it. We should never distort facu io accommodale theories by taying thai ihe peoples of capiulisi countries are impoverished, thai they wiQ rebel any minute, lhat Ihey aretillingowder magaiinc lhat will esplode any time, and lhat they will be doomed as soon at ilccauvc. tt would be unrealistic. American workers strike, loo. but ihcy are nM opposing ihe capilalislcm. They wanl lusher wages Wc viiited (he United Auto Workers union innion officii! (old ut that ihcy were willing lo cooperate wrth eapiialhMs. hut capitalmt refused to cooperate, to Ihry hid to fight He believed that everything could be solved through legal struggle and he had no intention trf overthrowing ihr capitals tyuem. Wc -annul Jusi tay you American worker* haveow level of das* consciousness, yuu areandhink we should do more lhan make critical remark* oa tint issue, fur il retted* Ihe ohjcviitr esiweneriiuaiion: whereat the task of Maniust i% toacta a* Ihcy are in an iihycetive manner and to amwer *uch qucilinm through Maiaist analyuv Wr thouhl not be afraid of such things Now that our foreign relation have been etlablished and more aod more people have tome in and oui of out country, our youth aegia to have problems thinking thai eapitaliim i* larpcrior. In thehese young people did nnt undci-atand and tbouglil capitalismompirie imi
J4 It
iiue aboul lhe surface of capiuliim. but not enough, so they think thai capiuliim is supeitcu and that our socialism, ia comparison, has failed.
ocialism exactly? Il was impossible to have atheory of socialism during Man' timean waryoundation for icicguTsc tocialism. ll isBpeaBsbk tosay thai lhe theory of tcieallfic socialism is complete because socialism has not been carried out. Ho* ran thereomplete theory on socialismDae practice' We have letted and developed tbe ^theory through Soviet aad Chinese practicej the past sevcrsl decades. Even today, atany questions liave yet to be resolved, many cenective laws are wailingbe sttabed aad capcriencet reviewed. As the central .govern rncnl pointed out, we shouldocialism ioChtni's naiional cooditioni and devctop productive form as toon at possible. This includes absorbing the good ex periences of other couni ries.
This involves the question of howpholdFirst, we should undentand what is real and whai is fake socialism. Oaly by thoroughly criticizing the fake social-itm of Ihe "Gang ofan we uphold real socialism. Second, socialism hat more lhan one model. As long ai the general principle it the tame, tocialism could be carried outundred dincrent wsys. Before we only knew bow lo copy ibe Soviet Union. We did ii because
Ihe Soviet Union was the only socialitl eounlry at the time, later we critkited the Soviet Union bul we were (till thinking in Ihe same way. We ihoughl Ihere was only one way to achieve socialitm. no allematim. Only by comparing can one distinguish and recognise. Only after romps rini our methods with those of Other count net tuch as Yugoslavia and Romania did we find oui lhat there could be different methods. Therefore, to uphold socialism, we shouldlear understanding oT ibete issues. This also eiplains thai we cannot upholduflksi we emancipate our thinking. Upholding socialism does not mean maintaining the tiaiut quo and copying everything indiscriminately. We should not copy theean of lhe -culturalor should we copy theean before Ihe "cultunlOf count, certain things should still be done in accordance wilh Ihe methods used during thatears, bul they are noi sufficient. We mutt erealc new method! to solve new peobiemv Failing lo solve these problem) win make upholding tocialism impossible. Becaaie of ibis, we should not advocate emancipating our thinking under Ihe prerequisite of the fourisagree with tart riew. We should reverse ii-only by pending in emancipating ihinking can we uphold tocialism. You say we need io uphold tocialism. bsn whai kind of socialism? There is no fixed model foren whai is the method moil suited to China'i conditions? We should let the public discuss Ihese questions. How can Ihey discusi anything if ihcir Ihinking is not enun-Cipzied? Some erroneous and popular views of the pan aee mistaken for the only way to socialism, rar instance, socialitm does nol allow rccrurti to everybody mini he assigned under socialism: otherwise, if workers are recruited, it would nol be socialism. Whai it IbisFor anoiher instance, lhe planned economy, which is abo wailing lo be studied, may be practiced in difTerea* ways. Only by so doing can we develop lhe tbeory of socialism. How can we develop the theory of aorialism if we ao wot emanopaie our ihinking? Many practices cannot be continued. Since Stalin's problems cropped ap. the Soviet Union realired that they could ao) succeed by copying all of Stalin' methods and thai Cbey bad to make tome caanges. Chairman Maoenliecd ihis fact and Iried to create tome newetalt. when Chairman Mao criticired dogmatism before the, he arged ut to think before copyi ng the Soviet Union ao thai we could team from their positive experiences and draw lessons from their nega* live ones. The Soviet Union also ranged. They attached importance to material incentive or tnaterialdifference between the meaningswo phrases after consulting wilh manyThe Soviet Union hat indeed laken Ihis road.l we pul politics in command, later we engaged in riast struggle, using ii to determine everything, as lhe key link, and lo promote production. After all these yean, if we look back and use practice io lest ibe several theories which guided ut through these yean, we would findneed noi io beiheean of lurmoil has pushed the national economy to the brink of collapse. How can you afford noi io review this theory? How can you refuse io recogniseractice?
to change il? revisionism. I
Many people at home and abroad say lhat we have turned inWreviiionisti" and lhat our line has changed. It it true that our line has changed. Il was lhe ulira-lcfl guiding ideology thatominant position during the -culturalow can we affordhe line it not Ihe tame as line" is not an appropriate term. Why? Revisionism initially was referred io ihe theory of Bernstein and his like, llheoeciical issue.heory contradicis ihe basic tencis of Marxism, it it called revisionism. As for lhe issue of line, ll neither Left or Right opportunist line; there it no revisionist line. The basic tenets of Maraism arecr-sal iniih whichriterion for the whole wide world. "Revising"riterion ii ihe same ai opposing Marxism and ihus should be objected. We cannot say a
is no good loday itery long period of lime. Ai for the line ii tell, il should change as situations change. We had one line for lhe period of democratic revoluiion and anoiher for the period of toeialisi revolution. We even had difrercnt lines for different stages uf lhe socialist period. Therefore, the term, the revisiooiit line, gives people an illusion ai if ihere ought ioermaru-ni line thai win say the tame forever like "doing everything according lu existing principlei" which was advocated, by the "Gang ofou have to du everything according to existing principles and lines; iHherwise. you arch lhe exact logic liangsed in his article tarried hv ihrtl says: After Mara died, IvngeK waged a
i:
against rapponuiusm accordingaisling pnn-eunes.Engcls died. Lrum followed Man' and bffeb'canting pnocipio; laterSlalm fonowcd Lenin'* eirwim principles; aad Chairman Mao too foudwrdpfuteiplet, Asresuli. our current prisurintcsn* Man1 pnacrpara. Ian ii atssoiutrly abatird nan*
sworldh can be acoompl,iSrdtKal and other -orten in Ui> field. To do to.
7Vrtfore'1 Maoooiptrte an ofevotu-tjoo. Ho* can inertomplete Utcory of socialism before tocialii! construction ti completed'll ii of coane non-b* for tbeor, lo precede practice, but theory could not be completed before practice it completed Do wc bavea complete undemanding of capitalism? No. are do aot. After -Dai KapuaT we had lo study -imperialiim the Highest Sure offter-im pen^ the Highest Sugee tod to itudy oihe. aspect* ofcapitalitm. When will we be able lo complete oar uisdrrstanJing of capitalism' After the death of ythencaaaret
etaprttlisnt. Only thea can we study the whole process of earth, dewtoprnent. and deaib and thereby complete our tsndemami.ng of capUaliim. We cannot even complete
an7 '
oVvctop Marxism. People gied to think in the"ue waiieiponiibitity. Thil adca came from the Soviet Union and Chinese imdii-oa Each dynaityt* inch ai Yao. Shun, Vu Tana. Wen.Confucius, andnry their wordt can be used for criterion or ibe localled "Confuciannd other people* word, are wortheory thould be developed by thee mctwding ihe masses of people and theoreticalnd everybody canontribution and helpe are all fooli. butool can ocrasKsn-ally hitpod dca. By adding such ideal together.ould be able to improve our theory. For mlriy Wf were not utcd lo thinking for ourtdvei: we used to wall tor the craual gove^untnt and Chairman Mao lo aay tr.meth.ng and then wc would do whatever Chairman Mao.iold uio. New we cannot irly on Ihem anymore. Wc need to ttudy many leaching* of Chairman Mao. but there are no ready-made aniwert to many newna force, at in think for ourselves, ihuic and hope back io our theoretical work. There still may be great drvcfopmcnl ia China'i ihcorcl-leal
ladh'arkes
I'd likedd mi another issue: how to ireat Marxism andZedong Thoughi When we bring upf the mare nkawkd not an it against
bbcraiion of our thinking brcaute we need to crruncinaic our ihlaking to aphold Mara urn and Mao Zedong nottthi; cehrrwiie. we cannot uphold Marnim and Mao Zedong Thought.
1 th.nk ihal afire yean of practice. ChairmanT eneech aa corrmly haadling coniradiaioni among the neoptt hat been proved baocalty correct. Rettoring tome a/ the theaea in tiui apeech which have been kbrgoitrn andxacUy what we nerd to do now. For nuance. Ihe phrase thai the clan struggle has beena long-forgotien aentence and we
he tame tucumsihrTd thai ihe das* atruggle wa* basrcatly completed and lairr hr<early.jroothly. Intl
every aeoience to be the truth; neither ia it possible for at to follow every mstruction. Since the teamom-
Rnxu^ coMlructioo and revolution ha* not been eompleird. Chairman Mao urjrd ut2 to understand Ihe realm of necesaity-the social, tt coos, runof China aad we have not beer able to accompl.sh fce compkie our undenunding of democratic revolution? At far ai the theoretical srstf
led by the prohrtarsai and the mane* of people to oppose imperialism,and bureaucratic8 nghi beforeory of Ihe democrat re revolution. Later tbe anarte "On ihe Peoples Democratice was sttll reviewing thii experience, but by thai lime
of demo-
tetied to be correct. Now we have this problem. Some mitructions contradict when and we cannot follm. every one of them. Whai do we oo? There it only oar thing we canresolutely follow those instruction* which have been proved correct in practice tn tnw-dance wiih ihe criterion of practice. So,raience from Chairman7 sprrvh-ihe largr-nm* -asirns mas, oWw nraggl. haa her- MeZEthe 3rd Plenary Session of iheh fan* Central Commitiee does not mean lhat we (tick to each andaean. that Ihi. msiruc-
yean of
practice. Why dd we not quote other words' Wr dtd not quote other words because they have ae- been tested in prtei.ee- These oacst.ons me* onlv concern war all.luoV
the tnecess and failure and the life aad death nftsscialism tn oar TOnlry_Some people still canawrr ihe hngxnng fear The, say yoa are prnhaMy raghl rmw. -hn -hat happensnotheralay. inhere is another -csrliuenlrilse, or not yoa will he crilK-ired would BM consinute anbecavse the isw^woasUhe whether i- not Ihrnataiaand
MeatrwWr iks
Ulnar* prrmrtt cnitoim wasn idea, adneed by Chairman hlxv la7 report on conlradKtiOtu amoni lhe people. Chairman Mao said' Manism hat heen corrudrrrduiding ideology ia our country, then ran anr cnltciic il* Of course Mamimhe swekts ifil were afraid la be criticized. Inilead uf be in* .fraxl of uii.mi. Manillaa order develop awring the itrsttalr. In tact, ihe pettr aoar-aeortie. aoargarouvic. aad other people are criticizing Manhunt every day. area') they? They crilicixe it every day. aome are bsrcriticisms and others are act. Can you sue ihe-oiiiciiini? No. it it impossible.
fc
job. If you opposeroup of people, or calling on i
the people uld be
r- We have tat gastiagaiili between ocpovag socialisra and t apposing Matnsataa and between deaimia* ie<ialitm and ,', etstsoaoagction, la China, toeraieun itasic svstrsataaasl the nmwwrlm.ni majority nt*upportSo you cannot oppose il Nowadays,eople are confuted. They doubt tocialism andh) not understand whai socialism it They thought tbe iron nee bowl and eating from ihe same bit potear meant socialitm. Whai docs that have anything so do with socialitm? They do not know and we cannot blame them. We should Mame ourselves, lor we did notpod job If you oppose socialism in action, like aome kind of an
to overthrow aocialiim, then, sorry, you wouldihe criminal law, ll It of course allowed to have tome doubts about tocialism. Ii Is alto allowed to have tome doubtt about Hinltm. Why can'i we have doubts about il since Chairman Mao said il wai Okay to criticize if? We should distinguish between party and non-party members.arty memberon't
believe in Min ism or Mao Zedong Thought at all, tve should aik: Why did you join the parts'? It it not strange for the mattes outside the party to have different kinds of thinking. We shouldroletarian world outlook to educate aad reform ihem. whichong-term task. All not prole limn thinkings including the ante Mar ust thinking win eiiuong lime to come. We shojld educate or criticize people with such thoughts bul we cannoi prohibit tuch thoughts, according to Chairman Mao, What can we do about the aaii-Maraist thinking? If our enemies have such thoughts, it win beforbid their talking. What happen! if il it one of our people? We can only let him talk first and then educate and crilkiic him by reasoning with and talking to him.
Therefore, first, we should not be afraid of cniicism: second, we cannot pottici- nop them from criticizing; and third we should permit criticism. Il criticism good or bad to Maoism* It is good. Many people are scared to death as if aBunng enitcrsm cc aad Mao Zedongay Chairsnaa Mao himself though! differently He said: Man run develops during the processtruggle and it slops when people stop eri licit lag. To prevent Manism from lurmng mlo dog. Baalism, an impartial measure is so alowhundred schools io ctwitcnd.
1 can tell you something else. Inet Chairman Mao aad heard bin say face to nee thai Manism. Istehtdiag the base lessen of Manism. permits criticism. He aaid is did not sound good to saykay to criticize the individual theories of Manism but not the basic tenets ofSo, whea he wrote bis Speech, he jwsi tasdtrttcra! term thai Manism cm she critic tied.
flt; we did not follow his iarstnset>on. Later al awork coeJcrrace. someone saidundred ssrhooh referred to only two tcwools capitalist and asrractarian. that confuting lhe issue ofsm-tired schools to cars lead Ah* thinkings acre caiegorired aaio either boaugrou sir aaraaetariaa. In other words, if you were act bowrgroit. yoa must be peoleunin. Whai Aeloriged to the bourgeoisie? everything lhat was wrong, an if the pro! eta nan ideology was so purr Ihel it could not bare any mistake at all whereai the bourgeoisie had all the mistakes.esult, every ideology was bbeled This practice may be traced funher back to "The Theory of Practice" wfcerc ihereralrncc laying lhat alt wilh the brandlass Of were stamped with the brandvery ideologylass nature? Later she "Greathis sentence for the theory of blood reaiionship. You were brandedais as soon at you were bom. The brands of certain Classes were especially deep, tuch BS the "tonitch" class and the four black categories The several red categories were also brandedlass which waa bora red. These brands of dasses could never be erased. Can we catenonre allinto either Many ideologieson't What kindlass nature does tbe thinking of natural science such as Einttein'i theory of relativity have? What class does social science such as Morgan's ancient sociology belong to? Another question be Are Ihere only two da net? Can landlords bea dasi? Can farmen and small producers bea dais? How about lhe petty bourgeoisie in urban areas? How come we only tingled out theSinceo daises were noticed, someone later put forward lhe slogan of eliminating bourgeois ideology and fostering proletarian ideology at if on lhe ideological front all we had to fight was only oneideology. When did we Cniicirc Ihe influence of feudalism and petly prodaciion over all these years? Never, la fact, we saw that feudal influence was much greater aad worse than bourgeois influence. What we did antt let dip by tbe thinkings of tbe Ilord chut and feudalism.etail, feudal tluakiisg acrged during the criticism of ihe bourgeoisie. For atsiaace. during the "Cecal Cmlirralomen were not allowed skins orltoag-character potter swimming lugrthcr and say-a's awiaswiii looked ndtrulous ta thehink ia the pastean a* have failed lo raise ant i- feudal ismroper level oa oar ideological front. The lael that the go vera meal work report al this people's rangeru mealKHved thr issue nfaali feudalism indicates
* StftMbrr
rogress.nentioned before, someone al al conference aaldand red schools referred to OtUy Iwc achocsis, wh,cfc waa.a the "May lii. we were toad thai vsrtdui cisoaeous ifortkings among iht people ihoUd be <rh ri red tad corrected thrraagh persuasion and rruson-igmy aol by coercion Probtenu ia the ideological spherentrcd by Inkling one or twg useetiagr. Ibey tht aad be nptved by preaeniiat the farts andater, the "May It Circular" oiucued the lhatqual before the train, laecould not rafoy ecnaaliiy and they be aupprcaicd. It demanded thai Ihe profetarial
bcairfcouue ia the fidcoksakal inhere.oes hundred schooli to
n mil g
became iwo achoolt crm tending, which later became one school uTjri sou. What waa tbe Last artooP Wat it ManismTas the aehool of Lia Bio andang of Four."
The movement of combating and preventing rrvision-ism originally waa to oppose changing the basic icneti of Marxism Later, il Iurivedovement to establish abtoUtr authorityeader and ensuriag ihal China will never change in political color alsoeant toeader's absolute authority Every word this authority said was absolutely correct and did not need to be tested through practice. Whoever criticised or vio-lated some of Kua words before or after he died woukl be likened tn lUtnucbev. aerated of opposing Mao Zedong Thought, andad guy to be punished by the whole party and nation.esult, ia the process of combating and prevtmingersonality cult gained ground.c drew lessoni from Soviet experiences and wrote an article. "On the Historical Experience of Proletarianin'i peiult, srhich was the right thing io do. In the report to the Eighth National People'i Congress on Ibe amendment of the Party Cooniiutkw. Comrade Deng Xiaoping tad thereeflect oa of acall hsaadc oar party. Later, this view wai changed On the ratwc of Stalin. Ihe second criueum of Ihe "Ninehich was adapted from the apeechertainnever even mentioned th* mtalakes of hit personality cull. Instead, il at id criticisingcull was completely wrong for it violated Lcnin't
personality cult and resulting ia consequences These views all violatedr mm of truth Lenin's teachings on Use masses, cuts, poniical parties and leaders is that the masses are nf different daises the party represent! classes, and leaders rrnre-aeai the party, ll ht true that leaders represent the party, classes and ihe masses bat we cannot ay that everyeader does mast reprraem the masses, Ihal believing in leaders meant bdi-ving ir. the mattes, aad lhat Ihe personality cult does not caul. Leaders can also depart from the people, therefore, not every woid and deed of leaders absolutely, undoubtedly conform to Ihe people's interests. Leaders sometimes can mikeClatrman Mao himself once taid: "No party or person can atoid makingin Biao advocated that "everything Chairman Maohe'd like to ask him: Isn't this remark of Chairman Mao alto
the truth? Chairman Mao said no one. ioduding himself mt mistakes. This i
at* coarse, ran avoid commiung mistakes Thst remark BMit aho he the truth if whaJcrr Chairman Mao taid it the truth as Lin lino advocated. However, if this remark at the truth, "whatever he taad ft the truth" would become impow.bav. Due to many years of propaganda. Ibis view has beenherefore, trying to an asanas right, tolvlng these problems, and emancipating oui Utaking hasery arduous task. Thisum procrai. Of coarse, we should also realize and notice that some people oppose our efforts to art things right beeaett ihcy are on ihe tide of Ihe "Gang ofarge number of esastct have ao bad mlcalion. They are against the "Gang ofut aiacc Ihcy have had too much of this propapnda and have not pad much aiteatiot. to Iheir political study, ihey resent what mm are trying to do now. Our RENMIN RIBAO has received many fetters, especially from PLA soldiers protesting: Don't attack people here and there by innnrndo and nop doing such thing* These comrades are good comrades They do aot necessarily think that Chairman Mao had made no mistakes ll it just lhat they can nol accept this psychologically. We need io carry oui propaganda steadily. Propaganda needt discipline, but what kind? Il it very hard so tay.rocess. We cannot tay certain thinpertain period; buthile, it will be all right Maybe we can not tay (his today, but wc mil be note to say itertain period Therefore, we need to advance steadily and help tome people by working with them to change ihdr thinking, bui never hurt their fedings
We should advance steadily not only in propaganda hul also in all fields induding democratic and reform issues. Old bad practices die hard. Wc bow have so many problems which are formingileountain. So. when we son out these problems we can only workteady pace. We should nol vacillate. Vacillation it noacillate, advance steadily. Thli it why we diieusa certain things now but ar will he able la while. Take ihe issue of sham hrftisi and real rightist, for eaample. Some people tay that this still has aot been corrected,gree. When aa Bflide on this issue was (mi published, it was risky to talk about an issue which wasorbidden zone. Chairman Mao taid himtelf ihal Lin Biao was an extreme rightiit. The only way to indicate sham kflin. ml rightisi was hy placing quotation markt around ihe wordou now tay he was an eatrcme leftist, ao now an uaquoird leftist has come io mean sham,uoted leftist" nseaas real Later after the situation developed, it was aU rightbout the eatretne hrftisi line. Therefore, ttures are developing and ideological liberationrocess Dim mating the forbaJdrn rone ahorocess For instance, the Lia Shaoqi foriMildvn rone hat
l*Scalrrabrr ini
to be eliminated aooncr or Uter aed ii wiH involve even boot ami Many people have slrrady had loo raarh of shu They tar: We red mi mishandled caan everyday Why are ihere to aaaay caiei lo bef lhe mi un ihink Ihe same war. Whai do youat Uvii ihiakiag?ertain seme, their think ins- is still assdec ibe peraiesosis (nfhaence of lheof she -Caae of Four"ssothcr sense,alntg ia hanging behiad the sitssaiion Theai developed and tbe focus has been ahifsed. batatill stay in ihe sttst talking aboul things like taking the run struggle this and thai at lhe key liak. So based onaassal. their lhankiag it eswacrvaiive. There arr i* seirtJH two cosssmon defiaiisons lor Teftisas" aad right-ants as Chairman Use poiaied out. One definition rt Osse who rsnphaitm lerssggk. excessive NruggJc. leftist: nae who hscks Use spirit of struggleether drfiniiion tn One who does thine, which should be done ia the faturc. going too far. isleft isiosse who refutes to do things which aboutd have beea done andhe past is railedlthough practlee bat chanted, many people with ossified thinking, have failed so change their thinking, along with the change of practice, so ia ihis sense they are considered as conservative! who have fallen behiad.
The lata* ssf Sacudlit Disatcrncy Swatshl thr gseaalvid
Many tocialiti countries have not yet resolved ihit issue. Failure to resolve thisas caused many problems tor the Soviet Union What aboul as? We have mot reserved rt either. We always thought democracy was aa issue of work style. For aaaay yean we advertised: Democracy is lo let she people speak, refrain from bludgeoning and pulling labels oo people, and heed the opinions of theWe thought shit was what democracy was all about. It is of course democracy butmajor meaning of democracy should not beail formula lion it to urge I
lo thisis sormutiuon at to urge leaden to heed the opinions of the masses, let the people apeak, aad allow them to rt press their opinions. According to this formulation which it bated on lhe viewpoint of Ihe leaders', democracy is possible eveneudal society. Due to the deep ianoence of feudal ideology, outof Democracy hat beea limited to how leaders should understand the peossk. Aa upoghi feudal officialood emperor could be democratic if ihey acceptedadvice. Of course we hope that leaden arc like this, but the question is what do we do if they aren't Nothing, Now we have to correct thism. democracy is Use systemountry under which thr people have the right not only to critkiic bul alto lo supervise, vote, recall, aadttended Ihe people's congress aad felt lhat tome progress has beea made Atepresentatives cruicired siate leaden by name and shear criticisms were sharp and unnrrrc-aVnlcd Many rrprcscaiaiivet responded to Ihe issue of personal privileges, whichood phcaooscaoo.all this is jutl preliminary The important qm-umn is the ari acinar of the Pant Coaaaaaac. iVtbrc whendisesisaed the prraciptt aad experience of tin Paris
. Canssnaaoc. peopte like Yao Weayaaa and Chen boda always wrote articles to blame ihe feilere on the lack erf lupprrttjaw on the rttrmy. Today when we discuss tbe principlr of Ibe Pant Commune, we concentrate on how to prevent leaden from changing from the peoplei public servants taio the aeoptci aaasten. Tbe I'aris aTcassmuae had two aacthods:eneral election and aar other. She ayw-wage system The haw. wage system, atader which leaden are paid Ihe tame amcasai of wage as wcrt.ii. is not leasibke Mday. but at feast personal pnnk-gei should be eliminated
.aaaex npevt "wprighto do alt this for us We have as refy aa otsrselves and fight Whether it is ccsmuwiic reform, political democracy, ar iaVeaogscal kibcratsrat,ight and many things afemaad of aiet up and fsght. Tailery important experience and lesson. If there were more comradet like Zhangn ihe past, aaaay things woald not have beea iaess. Zhaag Zhiainero of the social isi period and we aeed aach an example. In the cad dayt. things were simple. Whoever opposed the Kssomintangere, of course, and whoever got shotartyr who wil be remembered by the people. Under the ne*hoever has differing viewsrrat who wifl go down in historyyword of tnfamy and whoever opposes Mao Zedong Thoughtisgraced clement or lhe three rvili who cannot even gam the undemanding of the people, ll it not very easy so take Ihis kind of meats! pressure. None of ut Is mentally prepared fortraggle in lhe socialist period, la she pan. when we fought ihe Kuo-miataag and Japanese, we could easily IriJ right from wrong and we fell superior to our enemies if we died and became heroes. However, in the aoeialiil period, since the party and leaden have high prcsiisr, anr always feel like we are wrong, wcatderiag if we tack soeologieal cook outness, if we are wrong after aD. tad if we win" go down la history libelledyword of la'amr and humiliBlion. This indeed posesmental pressure. So IComrade Zhang ZhUin wai wonderful. She noticed the problems very early. She wai alto alone because al the lime everybody else, not knowing the problems, was BiH talking about the "three bests" and lhe "redomrade Zhang /hum's cnttcmn aw Chairman Man came from love and respect not viciouseard thai comradet of Uaoning Province decided inComrade Zhang ZJiuin alter Ihey read theenu of the ideological svork conference and found lhat"ere criticisms oa Chairraaa Mao becauseZhang Zhisia's criticism svas aot at serious at ihov at the ideologies: work conference She was great hcvaiivwai alone and many good comrades ami pnsplr around her did mt understand and upranrd her. ll stov nnl easy for bet to persist asufervnrmumr Zhang /Jt sin was the vanguard of adeiaugsca) luVraiiei
Idcotoaxal lib nan ma n, to free at fromLatah ag idenliigiet savh at idealism. old dogmatism. vups'iMi-turns, aad prejudice lhat prevent ui fnms un.l'i"' '
so
trash so that we on seekdc island lheawl teatepeadeuily. The purpose ofii lo andersund lhe trash and lhe cnienonh ftvcltce. Ai long as we recognue ihii rule,Twoald act hare in -eery aboul itv probkm ofSberatioo.aBI weed to liberate
iooac lwl. *Jcl ask
Oa the lttae af Thinking
ow lo explain democracyfT-cans, ao is dieraUsrship We BO ftaaoaeiUlle lhe importance of acrrocracy pea because weeans. Iiaeaal? Yes,eant. Ai Man tjedian, lo aliimaldy efiminaie classes. If "can Wrest ihr meant cf dictatorship, why can, 'tV mean, of rfcnvacracy? ThbblbeiVtecood Question iiearti and aa and can be transformed. For eopoiini the Kuominitng. we fought for dertsocracy which wai our end; after we won democracy, we trtcd il to build tocialitm at ihe present, democracy, end because we Hillevelop wcialill democncy ao we can ute ii io aroute ihe people't enih utuum for lhe caute of lhe four roodernixalions.
Chairman Mae's PkMiii|hlcal
How do we look ai Chairman Mao'i philosophicalhat are hu contribuisoni andan only Ulk about it briefly beesm not prepared ind don't have any referencean onlyew things bated on my memory.
a)
Wmkditcussinglhese issues, including Chairman Mao'i theories en cpbtemology and coniradtctkioj, we should go far back lo lhe philosophical difference between Chairman Mao and Slalin. Lenin wrote -Malerialiim and Emmrio-Criticiim" which was the first Miraui classic lo discuss mainly epiiltmology. No book was devoted to lhe discussion of epittemology before then. However, this book ii to resolve Ihe bloc of materialism and criiicirc idealism, ll also Ulki about the dialectics of episiemotogy. but not much. Il mainly am wen questionsprimary arid what it tecondary. UtCfhe began to write -Notes on Philosophy" and learned Headsof logic. He finished writing outline* and i. trod need many thinkings. It lookedo write anoiher book oa philosophy, bul he did not have eaough time to do to. In hit -Notes onenin had Iwo Ideas: one is lo tummarire the gist of dialectics into the unity of oppositet. thus getting to lhe heart of lhe issue, which however should be esplained and cipanded on; theo apply dialectics lo lhe theory of reflection. In addition, he alto aaid thai the road iorom vivid perception to abstract thinking and then from thinking lo practice.ong lime in lhe Sovietdeas like this failed lo allsad Sulin'i attention. Since Stalin looked down on Hegel and dbtccticvong lime Ihe Soviet Union attached much importance io "Malerialiim and Empino-f'nli-ettm" abut did not give due aiieniion lo "Notes on nutbasspby- Under Soviet influence. China abo attached imjxxlancc to "Materialism andi* seism- and ignored -Notes onNotes on trailosophy" rt only aoiesook bat il coniami lhe eaabryos of many valuable ideas. However. Chairman Mao inherited and developed these ideas fini by expanding oo Lenia's remark on lhe anrty of Ihe oppo-aries iaio an article, essliued The Theory of Contradic-ind. second, by espandiag Lenin'i idea on lhe of cognition into an article, entitled "The Theory oftairman Mao'i an ides were writtennd The Short History of the Communist Party of ibe Soviet Union" -as publishedI. Slalin wrote sine of ibe chapters, entitled -Dialectical and Historical Materialism" which exerted great infiiienee and payed a
real part. Thb article expound! on the generalof the tenets of Marabt philosophy in simple andertain amount of weight. However, il abo has several mbuketill not discuss at length today. One of Ihe miiiakes is, as everybody knows, that when he ditcwiied the four char-acteriuics of dialectics, he only mentioned that lhe Hrugglc of opposite! in cooiradictioni pushes ihingi to move forward. Lenin's original remarks were two ten-lencet: one washe identity of oppu-silrs" and the other was -development it the struggle oflalin used only the second sentence and dropped the first one. Anoiher ihinj about hit article it that il did noi give enough coverage lo lhe issue of epblcmology. At if cpiilemology ii merely an Issue nf lhe hnowabiliiy and unknowability of the world, he said thai lhe materialism Ihinkl Ihe world it kno-able and idealism thinks Ihenknowable. Andll he said about the issue of epitlemology. Earlierhairman Mao already cUborated on ihii blue: to it it In these areas thai Chairman Mao inherited andLenin'i thinking and these are also Chairman Mao'i cemlributions.
Lenin'i original remarks on the process from vividto abstract thinking and ihen from abstract ihinking to practice bin aroused some cwntions. For example, how many ataget are there ia ihe process of cognition? One group tayt ihere are two:erceptual and the other, rational. They say according lo The Theory oferceptual ia the lower stage and raitonat in the higher stage; to ihere are iwonother gnsup say. ihere are three ttagev contending thai rational knoal-edge it aot the end of ihr process and thai there should he ssnother stage for the Kiting of ptnciice.lu. -hat Chairman Mao said. Rational krowVedxe. which isthe half point in Ihe process of cognition, needs to go hack to ihe tuge of practice. Thit ii the conlinuous dcrrlup-of knowledge.
ur answer lo thbaiiman Man etc bora led on Ihrt btoe in hitan's Correct Thinking Come Irons" where he sanl thai one
f-Seatr-be. IMS
nugr fi from practice le kaenrledgr and another tugckacnvkrdar to practice, la lhrt araie. the proceukaa tana nagri iaar froaa the beginningto knowkstgc aad tae other, tac relarnid aaacucr. Tail ia Par aWeioprarntlees becameearn theperception, abtfact thinking, aadorder. Since tail put* gtracticc al the endofaraetiee oadj atari the roarla fan. araet.ee Ibef Parefii act only the beginning bataf the proceii Tail thowi the sboticeeniBglaemeiatJoa. la additioo, aiace theaarreepiioa.hseory at aatoLeaia aaad thai proceeding froaatear the road of aubjeeiivitru hading to sdeal-
" Tarn ar aaateriaiism. Therefore, are ahoold aay that the gaocaaa WgaM (roan practice aad that there are mo ataget between practice and knowledge:erceptual aad the ather. rational bnowkdge.y atrai. Kaennedge ahovld of coane return to practice aa be anted, hvt Ihere are only two formi of knowledge: aefccptiialandnlinoal arec ao. How ran I
perceptual and rational. Arc Ihere any otheray ao. How cm fcnendedge return lo practice lo be leurd?imple. First we gain perceptual Inemlcdgc in practice
and then derate it to rational knowledge Practice ittelf don not eoeal kaowledge. For aastaaec.year "Greateal for oar basic line, or the theory of continuous revolution, and Ihe theory of sharpening the class straggle.year period wai ased lo test thli theory. How?aid before, fi nt we di trove red through perceptual knowledge many wrongedcowoemc arrablenrs. aad lower hviag sundardi ande elevated and combined atany di(Tereai hindi of perceptual knowledge, turned ihem into rational knowledge, and then conduded lhat the theory ofthe clan ttruggle it wrong. When we review our etpcriences, we tho ate practice as the criterion for tvdgrnscnt which il formulated on the basts ofand rational knowledge,ar at the form of knowledge it concerned, there arc only two stages. In aim. we should affirm Chairman Mao'i philosophical development and achievements.ot right to ignore "The Theory of Practice" and siress only "htatenatitraEmpirio-Cnlicrsra."
Then, ia Chairman Mao'l philosophical ihiaking per-feii' Of courseink "The Theory of Prefer" ataa hot aasafficvrni areas or theeicomiagtin dttevts only one question: what is prrceptaal and rational krwwlcdgc? Acrording to "The Theory of T< at tier, perceptual knowledge reflect! the appearance of things andtage of tense pcrcepttont and imprev stocs. after Ihis tuge repeait lor aeveraludden change ail take place aad form conception, judgement, ui fere ace. ar ntional kaawiedgc. which reflecii lhe absence of ahiagt. So perceptual kivowtrdgr is different from rational kr.rwiedge Owe diflerencr is thai raifonilo-eepuon and aadgeawrrt sagagt aercea-taol anowVOge at rmperruoa aod arnseol he'hai perceptual knowledge reflecii
andcepii and judges
appearance while rational kansnVdec reflects essence Thii (brmulaiion is asset) kmuMc. Does il mean that iWreconcept orn the tinge of prrrep-taal kaowardge? Let ate gne you ana> ihn cap ta white. It ihit prrveptual or rational kramlcdge? It) earing thai this cap itrflevied the appeaiaate. Butefteci aay concept or judgcrwcal? The rapianccut aad to is the color while. That theadaexacM bat Ait radge me nl dues aot reflectaacace af the cap.hink there it coaeepiion and badge meat ia the atage of perceptual knowledge aad weatcenaiically aaoertiind lhe essence of things at aooo at we gala concepts. Let alook at one of Chairman Mao'i owa eaarupir The firn pan of Ihr Chrnetr peoplei struggle agamii imperialism wat the atage of swrccptual knowledge aod so wai tbe long-term tponit-aavjus flrugrir of the aroning class agaiatl eapilaliim. "Were there aay concept or judgement during thai ttege* Of course there were, batxeptt andbe appearance of things We often use io our daily life, but many of reflect only lac appear-
ante not the essence of things. So we cannot lay lhat the Ibrasatioaoncepteads to the essence ofot in anil) Tbe differenceonceptente perception it thai Ihe former matien the common characteristics and appearances of things aad sammarires Ihe common characteristics of things. Of course, essence can be reflected only byut tb it does aot mean thai ail concepti reflect Ihe essence of things. We now have aaaay concept* For instance. Ih: concept of capitalism ctisted before Mamsm. bul then it did not reflect the essence of eapilaliim. The concept of the noun commodity caitted long time ago. but il look economtitt several ihousaad years to study, fromeconomics to Man. before ihey finally underwood the etirnce of commodity. Therefore,oncept it formed, we asoally have to goairly long development tuge before we can matter the cstrncc of things. For another instance, since, there have been people reporting lhat Ihey saw (lying objects which did not look like airplanes or aaylhing die. Mure and more people taw them but nobody knew what ihey weie. So after railing to find their name after much reteardi. we named ihem "flying tauccra" which foreigners calledawadealified flying ahjccit- Itoncept' "Flying flying obycttt oncer* mil whati Ihis anflying object or Tyingt si arrrl by lhe peopleot her planet or an tflusma? We doni know. We need So conduit research and prolonged studies ami cnAeci data before weudge whatflying uercr" and aasderuaad at mrar Ivar sliO asaoiher xistance, when did we arara lhe esvrme nf sssen? Man did. He said men's eaarwrr is ihe cMiihinalniN ofor.s. to he grasped the essence of men. Hut. didn't ihe concept of men eiist heforr ihei" Ansnale said mea are rational animals aad When said men arrwere many concepts. Franklia tasd mra air tool-making ammali. which was aflicmnl hv Man. Therefore, the process uf learn tag ihe
ii
KHJTICAL
Seminar Dlscsrsses Crisis.
fit It, SnanjhalI BAG Im Chi/ 'ft*
. Afle* the banning of the reform and thehina, people are moreeomic activities snsichirecikveteprnenL and have the feeting ihal nailotapfty Uxtrncs aod far removed from Ihe realities of da, Iy ane TVsrhv nUtongxa* haso
road
apc^ication (such aa appticatk* of the snnatftncnl. aahikisopby of: so that phudaoph. sriM he asofb dose 1
.of social life. IUrasW-ia then
He able t. ruan Hs proper ntace ha ihe presesr/aoeiety.
ype or ines of social mil of crisis in
C Tbe aoeaaeAcrrsis ta Marxist ia< aoJitfcal crisis,onnitt betweenondit rocs and u> eld ideology. Weolitical criais befarr we caa removehilosophy frominds
fTe.Il
1 JJJ71
af Crisis la
. rirsl-term
Fadan University's fiisi-tcrm graduate studenii special-brio, ha smikWy discussed Martin philosophyecent srsnsaaA Most of them aafeed lhat in Ihe devri-aprnenl of themes in China,criais actually exhli in Marxisto Ihe cause of this crisis and ihe way loovrever. ihe parlicipenli had many difterenlVpiniOp
In Chinnt
fiIJl-Raise the il/for Theorists-]
I real work is nol rich or tl causes may be ihe for Ihe theorists
Some were of the Marsisi philoaophy of cstrrrei publication ystem of Marxist books is mottiy ism. The same ased to captain ophy. and Iheducation tosophy. km. The
baric used is ihe use' fartherugnaiion 10
oat af Ibe cnunglement lo searchew sun
thai the so-called crisisrescnl ace is caused by ihe (books on this snbjeci.ccording to ihese text-old liihceniary maierial-of knowledge is still ries of Marxistoviet model of these textbooks in lions Ms Marsisi phi-ihe study of Mara-eno let lh old material, nt. In other
lo nuder-
: mutt Uudy Marxism afreshnd bia philosophy.
srxdlrd crisis in Marxistf the aar can also be iiiribvled to thin cause:Marxism _ enjoys iu supreme positionystem of and faith in peoples minds To ovcrrnmVre should combine oar nationalhe brimtrend of Western pbuosonny 'and setew system of valors aad taiik thai needed by Chinese people in order loehminatelhei af an impending crisis.
as shownocial Some iheoriits did limes Vertically and ups and downs ious when "dais situation. Ihough is Via by no mean.
denty be da good targei of climate.
The position of iheorisu cross-section, is nol by occupy eminent position* al ecru individually, Their posi lions were uruggle ii taken as iht keyuch improved in/eceni years, tranquil. Normal
charged as indicatibni of political diss hook just published may become Ihe sjervtiny. occaui/ of Use changes in the tatpentioo of
priming ptaie/ replacement of pages common sightsertain year,asecture. The script In advanc/ Ihe delivery of the leciure
aim. people cordially shookews report oo Ihis event.
accused of -opposing ihegain,ertainhe -mass criticism" according to a" .nid wiih powerful backing accused him of ihe same mistakes which he himseir critics sat aad tome others did not know whether rhcy ltd laugh or cry.
Original document.
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