Mao Zedong Thought

Not to be confused with Maoism.

"Strengthen the study of Marxism-Leninism-Mao Zedong Thought"

Mao Zedong Thought (Simplified Chinese: 毛泽东思想; Traditional Chinese:毛澤東思想; Pinyin: Máo Zédōng sīxiǎng) is a development of Marxism-Leninism adapted for the material conditions of China. MZT was originally developed by Mao Zedong and other members of the CPC during his time. Mao Zedong thought is ultimately the sinicization of Marxism. The belief that the Party should adapt the basic principles of Marxism to the material conditions of China's reality. China's material Marxism is the system of socialism with a scientific world outlook. It is a practical and open philosophy, and has been sinicized and meticulously put into practice in China.

That the CPC's understanding of the real conditions must be based on China's specific circumstances, and it should always seek truth from facts. Only in this way can the basic principles of Marxism be applied to solve the problems and address the contradictions within Chinese society. The basic principles of Marxism and China's fine traditional culture should be integrated. Fine traditional culture corresponds to the inherent values that Marxism advocates, and is fertile ground for the sinicization of Marxism.

Mao Zedong Thought is a fine example of integrating Marxist principles with Chinese culture. For example, the term "seeking truth from facts" first appeared in the ancient book History of Han Dynasty, but Mao gave it an ideological meaning by using it in his Marxist theoretical discourse. Similarly, Xiaokang (moderately prosperous) first appeared in The Book of Songs, but Deng endowed it with the meaning of Chinese-type modernization, and thus made it a pivotal term in the development of socialism with Chinese characteristics in the era of reform and opening-up.

Formation

The formation of the scientific concept of Mao Zedong Thought has gone through a process. In March 1941, Party theoretical worker Zhang Ruxin used the term 'Comrade Mao Zedong's thought'. In June of the same year, the Northern Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the Field Political Department of the Eighth Route Army instructed to publicize 'comrade Mao Zedong, the leader of our party, developed various theories and propositions of Marxism-Leninism on the Chinese revolution.' In September, the enlarged meeting of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee further affirmed Mao Zedong's theory on the Chinese revolution. On July 5, 1943, Wang Jiaxiang first used the concept of 'Mao Zedong Thought' in his article 'The Communist Party of China and the Road to China's National Liberation' and clearly stated: 'Mao Zedong Thought is China's Marxism-Leninism.' After the scientific concept of Mao Zedong Thought was put forward, it was quickly accepted by comrades in the whole party. Before and after this, Comrades Zhu De, Liu Shaoqi, Zhou Enlai, Chen Yi, and Deng Xiaoping published articles or speeches discussing Comrade Mao Zedong's thoughts. In April 1945, the Seventh Plenary Session of the enlarged Sixth Central Committee of the Party passed the 'Resolution on Certain Historical Issues', which fully affirmed and highly appraised Mao Zedong's theoretical contributions, and pointed out: 'Since the founding of the Communist Party of China in 1921, it has been based on Marxism The combination of the universal truth of Leninism and the concrete practice of the Chinese revolution is the guideline for all of our work, and Comrade Mao Zedong’s theory and practice of the Chinese revolution is the representative of this combination.”

Definition and Status

In 1981, at the Sixth Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, the "Resolution Concerning Certain Historical Issues of the Party Since the Founding of the People's Republic of China" summarized the content of Mao Zedong Thought, and believed that Mao Zedong Thought enriched and developed Marxism with original theories in six aspects. The living soul of Mao Zedong Thought, contains standpoints, viewpoints, and methods that are represented with the six components and the three basic aspects.

The six components:

1. On the New Democracy
2. On socialist revolution and socialist construction.
3. On the construction of revolutionary armies and military strategy.
4. On policy and strategy.
5. On ideological work, political work and cultural work.
6. On party building.

The three basic aspects:

1. Seek truth from facts: To link theory with practice, emancipate the mind, and test the truth with objective praxis.
2. The mass line: That is, everything is for the masses, everything depends on the masses, comes from the masses, and goes to the masses
3. Independence: That is to put the policy on the basis of the reality of the country and the power of the people of the country, and find out the way forward that suits the material conditions of the country.

Key Concepts

New Democracy

The New Democracy (Chinese: 新民主主义; Pinyin:Xīn mínzhǔ zhǔyì) is a revolutionary form of government developed by Mao Zedong, based on the alliance of 4 progressive classes (the proletariat as the ideological core, the peasantry, the urban petty bourgeoisie and the national bourgeoisie) in semi-feudal and semi-colonial countries. The goal of New Democracy is to advance to the dictatorship of the proletariat through the dictatorship of the 4 classes or the people's democratic dictatorship.

The Mass Line

The Mass Line (Simplified Chinese: 群众路线; Pinyin: qúnzhòng lùxiàn) is the political, organizational and leadership method developed by Mao Zedong and the Communist Party of China (CPC) during the Chinese revolution. The essential element of the mass line is consulting the masses, interpreting their suggestions within the framework of Marxism–Leninism, and then enforcing the resulting policies. It is a basic part of Mao Zedong Thought , one of the guiding ideologies of the Communist Party of China, and is declared by the Communist Party of China to be one of the three basic aspects of the "living soul" of Mao Zedong Thought. Summarized by Mao Zedong as "all for the masses, everything depends on the masses" and "from the masses, to the masses"

People's War

People's War (Simplified Chinese:人民战争; Traditional Chinese: 人民戰爭; Pinyin: rénmín zhànzhēng), officially called the Protracted People's War, is a military strategy developed by Mao Zedong and the Communist Party of China as an alternative to the conventional struggle brought by the Bolsheviks.

Holding that "political power grows out of the barrel of a gun", Mao Zedong thought emphasises the "revolutionary struggle of the vast majority of people against the exploiting classes and their state structures", which Mao termed a "people's war". Mobilizing large parts of rural populations to revolt against established institutions by engaging in guerrilla warfare, Mao Zedong Thought focuses on "surrounding the cities from the countryside".

The Sinicization of Marxism

The Sinicization of Marxism (Chinese: 中国化马克思主义; Pinyin: Zhōngguó huà mǎkèsī zhǔyì) was formally put forward by Ai Siqi in April, 1938 and firmly put forward in 1941. The sinicization of Marxism is simply applying dialectical materialism to China’s reality, develop the world outlook of dialectics and historical materialism on China’s own territory according to China’s own material conditions, so that it can become a way to create a new China.

In the process of Sinicization of Marxism, Mao Zedong’s philosophical thought and the philosophical thought of socialism with Chinese characteristics came into being. These two achievements play an important role in guiding China’s progress.

People's Democratic Dictatorship

People's democratic dictatorship (simplified Chinese: 人民民主专政; traditional Chinese: 人民民主專政; pinyin: Rénmín Mínzhǔ Zhuānzhèng) is a phrase incorporated into the Constitution of the People's Republic of China. The concept of people's democratic dictatorship is rooted in the "new" type of democracy promoted by Mao Zedong in Yan'an during the Chinese Civil War.

At its founding the PRC took the form of a people's democratic dictatorship. In the Chinese political framework, revolutionary consciousness and revolutionary activity distinguish "the people" from counter-revolutionaries. Within the PRC, the democracy includes united revolutionary classes and supportive political parties operating under the leadership of the CPC. It could include workers, peasants, intellectuals, petty bourgeoisie, and even national bourgeoisie who supported the revolutionary project.

Seek Truth from Facts

Seek Truth from Facts (simplified Chinese: 实事求是; traditional Chinese: 實事求是; pinyin: Shí shì qiú shì) is a slogan first used by Mao but was coined in the Book of Han. It describes a studious and educational attitude towards reality. By looking to the material conditions to see the reality of how things are, only then can a good communist. Mao Zedong first quoted "seeking truth from facts" at the Sixth Plenary Session of in 1938 :

"Communist Party members should be a model of seeking truth from facts and a model of foresight. Because only by seeking truth from facts can we complete the definite tasks; only with foresight can we not lose the direction of progress."

See Also

• Marxism-Leninism-Maoism
• Deng Xiaoping Theory
• Socialism with Chinese Characteristics

References