Marx in Mao Zedong's Eyes

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Mao Zedong admired Marx and believed in Marxism. After reading the Communist Manifesto, he firmly believed that Marxism had never wavered. After comparing various theories, thoughts, and doctrines, he firmly said: Marx's theory is the most effective, one is the needs of Chinese society, the other is the needs of the Chinese revolution, and the third is that once it is mastered by Chinese Marxists, China will have a big effect. Mao Zedong used a series of specific figures to emphasize: China must build a strong Marxist team if it wants to win a great victory. He worships Marx and firmly believes in Marxism, but he does not blindly worship or superstition. He said figuratively, "looking at Marx thousands of years later is like looking at Confucius now". Mao Zedong is the pioneer of the Sinicization of Marxism. Xi Jinping's thought of socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era is the Marxism of contemporary China and the Marxism of the 21st century. This latest achievement of the Sinicization of Marxism is the best commemoration of the 200 anniversary of Marx's birth.

 
Marx's theory is the most suitable, and it cannot be done without a strong contingent of Marxists in China.

According to the chronicle of Mao Zedong, on July 21, 1919, Mao Zedong mentioned Marx for the first time in his article "the great unity of the people. It is also clear when Mao became a Marxist. In 1936, Mao Zedong said in a conversation with Snow: "There are three books that are particularly deeply engraved in my heart and have established my belief in Marxism. Once I accepted Marxism as the correct interpretation of history, my belief in Marxism never wavered. The three books are: Manifesto of the Communist Party, translated by Chen Wangdao, which is the first Marxist book published in Chinese; class struggle, by Kautsky; and history of socialism, by kokap. By the summer of 1920, in theory and to a certain extent in action, I had become a Marxist, and I have considered myself a Marxist ever since." Mao Zedong admired Marx and believed in Marxism.

Mao Zedong said: "We must treat Marxism as a tool. There is no mystery, because it is suitable for use and other tools are not suitable. The materialism of the bourgeoisie is not useful. Only when Marx's historical materialism, that is, dialectical materialism, is applied to social problems and becomes historical materialism, can it be useful. Marx created many theories, such as the theory of the party, the theory of ethnology, the theory of class struggle, the theory of the dictatorship of the proletariat, the theory of literature and art, etc., which should also be treated as a useful tool."

Tools cannot be monopolized by a few people, and cannot be the private "treasure" of a few people. They must be mastered by the majority to play a role. Mao Zedong emphasized: "The reason why Marxism-Leninism came to China to have such a great effect is because China's social conditions have this need, because it has been connected with the practice of the Chinese people's revolution, and because it has been mastered by China."
 

The key to the application of Marx's theory and the "three reasons" is to forge a strong team of Marxists in China. Let's look at some of Mao's numbers.

One of the numbers: "If our party has one hundred to two hundred comrades who have learned Marxism-Leninism systematically rather than piecemeal, practically rather than empty, it will greatly increase the fighting strength of our party."
 

Number two: "to strengthen theoretical study, we should read at least five books. I would like to recommend these five books: Manifesto of the Communist Party, the development of socialism from utopian to scientific development, two strategies of the Social Democratic Party in the democratic revolution, the infantile disease of the 'leftist' in the communist movement, and a concise course on the history of the United Communist Party (cloth). If 5,000 to 10,000 people have read it and have a general understanding, it will be very good and beneficial."
 

Number three: "It would be nice to be able to fight for 1/3 in about three five-year plans -1.5 million people sincerely accept Marxism."

Number four: "We have to make a plan to form such a strong theoretical team. There are millions of people who read the theoretical basis of Marxism, that is, dialectical materialism and historical materialism, and oppose all kinds of idealism and mechanical materialism. We now have many cadres doing theoretical work, but we have not yet formed a theoretical team, especially a strong theoretical team. Without this team, the cause of our whole party, the study of our socialist industrialization, socialist transformation, modern national defense, and atomic energy will not work, and the problem cannot be solved."

The first set of figures, with 100 to 200 Marxists, can lead tens of millions of Chinese nation to defeat Japanese imperialism, and accelerate the victory. In the second set of figures, as long as 5,000 to 10,000 people have read the "five books", even if they have a general understanding, it is very good and very beneficial. In the third set of figures, it will take 15 years to win 1.5 million people to sincerely accept Marxism. In the fourth group of figures, millions of people have read the basic theories of Marxism and established a strong theoretical team. Without this team, the problems of industrialization, socialist transformation, modern national defense and atomic energy cannot be solved.

Several sets of numbers, several hopes. From 100 or 200, 5,000, 10,000, 1.5 million, and several million, the numbers have long exceeded; from defeating Japanese imperialism to solving industrialization, socialist transformation, and atomic energy, Mao Zedong's hopes have long been realized. Our new great dream has not yet been realized and requires contemporary Marxists to continue to struggle.
 

Looking at Marx thousands of years later is like looking at Confucius now.

There is no perfect thing in the world, so there can be no perfect ideological theory. Marx did not end the truth and could not exhaust it. The life span of a thinker is limited, and the colorful social practice is infinite; the thought of a thinker is limited; the endless new things are infinite. Mao Zedong said: "Human thought is historically occurring and developing. It is not complete from the beginning, and it will never be complete." Mao Zedong said vividly: "Looking at Marx thousands of years later is like looking at Confucius now." How did Mao Zedong recognize some of the imperfections of Marx's ideas?
 

First, Marx's individual conclusions and assertions are imperfect. On February 14, 1959, Mao Zedong said in an interview with Arturo Matt Alesandri, the president of the Chilean newspaper "Last O'Clock": "As for the inappropriate conclusions of Marx and Lenin on individual issues, this The situation is possible because it is limited by the conditions at the time." The shortcomings and deficiencies in the conclusive, conclusive, and specific policy measures in Marxist theory were long proposed and resolutely corrected by the founders of Marxism. Mao Zedong mainly explained that the reasons for these imperfections were limited by the conditions of the time. The reason is very simple. If things are not fully developed and the conditions are not mature, the conclusions drawn will inevitably be insufficient and immature.

Second, Marx could not exhaust the truth. Mao Zedong said: "When Marx was alive, he could not see all the problems that came later, and he could not solve all the problems at that time. The problems of Russia can only be solved by Lenin, and the problems of China can only be solved by the Chinese." Therefore, Mao Zedong said: "There are no born saints in the world. In a socialist society, there is no" foresight '. Why was the textbook (referring to the Soviet Union's "Textbook of Political Economy") not published in the past, and why did it have to be revised again and again after it was published? Is it not because the understanding was not clear in the past, and the understanding is not perfect now? Taking our own experience as an example, we did not know how to practice socialism at first, but we gradually gained understanding in practice. Know some, also can't say know enough. If you know enough, then there is nothing to do."

Third, the theory is gray and the tree of practice is evergreen. Using the things of the past tense and looking at the world of the present tense will always be "pale and powerless"; looking at the past tense and gray ideological theories with vivid social practice will always be "full of loopholes". Mao Zedong said: "Our minds and thoughts reflect objective reality, and no one can reflect it completely and correctly at any time. The objective reality is complex and constantly evolving. The reflection of our minds and thoughts on objective reality is a process of development and change from incomplete to more complete, not very clear to more clear, not in-depth to more in-depth, and at the same time, it also develops and changes with the development and changes of objective reality."
 

If there are imperfections in Marx's thought, it needs to be perfected, perfected must be developed, and development is innovation. Innovation is to continuously inject fresh blood into Marxism, and fresh blood is the foundation for Marxism to maintain its youthful vitality!
 

 
Marx's books must be read, the basic principles must be observed, but new theories must be created.

On February 14, 1959, when Mao Zedong was reading the Soviet "Textbook of Political Economy", he said: "The books of Marx's ancestors must be read, and their basic principles must be observed. This is the first. However, the Communist Party of any country and the ideological circle of any country must create new theories, write new works, and produce its own theorists to serve the current politics. It is impossible to rely solely on the ancestors. Only Marx and Engels, without Lenin, without writing works such as" Two Tactics ", cannot solve the new problems that appeared in 1905 and after. The 1908 Materialism and Empirical Criticism alone is not enough to deal with the new problems that occurred before and after the October Revolution. To meet the needs of the revolution in this period, Lenin wrote" On Imperialism "," State and Revolution "and other works. When Lenin died, it was necessary for Stalin to write such works as" On the Basis of Leninism "and" On Several Questions of Leninism "to deal with the opposition and defend Leninism. We wrote" On Practice "and" On Contradiction "at the end of the Second Civil War and the beginning of the Anti-Japanese War. These were all adapted to the needs of the time and had to be written. Now that we have entered the era of socialism, a series of new problems have emerged. If the" On Practice "and" On Contradiction "alone do not meet the new needs, it will not work to write new works and form new theories."
 

After Mao Zedong, on the road of Sinicization of Marxism, our party has successively created Deng Xiaoping Theory, the important thought of "three represents" and the scientific concept of development. in particular, Xi Jinping's thought of socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era and other latest achievements in the Sinicization of Marxism. These latest achievements are the best commemoration of the 200 anniversary of Marx's birth by the Chinese Communists. Mao Zedong stressed: "Marxism must move forward, develop with the development of practice, and cannot stand still. If it stops, it will have no life." General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: This is an era that requires theory and must be able to produce theory. This is an era that requires thought and must be able to produce thought. Xi Jinping's thought of socialism with Chinese characteristics for a new era is Marxism in contemporary China and Marxism in the 21st century.

Source: People's Daily Online