Chapter 34 Conversation with Representatives of the Literary and Art Circles [1]

(March 8, 1957) How long did your meeting last? How did it go? I read all the thirty-three questions [2] collected.Do you have any other questions? Someone suggested that writers hate bureaucrats so much, can they write their ending as failure and death? Of course bureaucracy should be criticized.There is a movie called "Where the Honor Belongs", in which there is a railway bureau chief who is a bureaucrat, but his bureau chief is still the same. Such a cadre should be dismissed.In order to cure diseases and save lives, he can be sent to study.The director is written like that in this movie, which is called incomplete, lack of thoroughness, and anti-bureaucracy should be thorough.

Criticism of subjectivism, bureaucracy, and sectarianism has been mentioned in the party, but it has not yet been launched.The Central Committee needs to hold a meeting and issue a directive[3] to prepare for this year and start next year. There will also be a period of gestation.The resolution will be made in the first half of this year.At present, there is no unified thinking within the party. What is bureaucracy and how to criticize it is not consistent.When the rectification movement starts, it will be easy to criticize at that time.Now just after criticism, Chen Qitong and others published articles [4], nothing more than to prevent a hundred flowers from blooming and a hundred schools of thought contending.

To rectify the style of work, to rectify subjectivism, the focus is on dogmatism; to rectify sectarianism, they always want to be monopolized by one family, and they always feel that 600 million people are too many, and less is better; to rectify bureaucracy, there is a lot more.There has been no rectification for several years. Some of you here are inside the party, and some are outside the party. You also understand the truth of the Communist Party, which is to promote, to unify thinking, and to have a common language.Otherwise, if you say bureaucracy, he says no.You say that a hundred flowers are blooming and a hundred schools of thought are contending, but he will not let it go; if you let it go a little bit, something bad will come out, and you will panic.All in all, just be afraid to let it go.We advocate the blooming of a hundred flowers. Some people are afraid of a hundred flowers. The environment for a hundred flowers to bloom has not yet been created.

From the 33 questions collected and issued, it can be seen that there are many problems.Ask for an answer, how can one person answer it? I think it’s better for everyone to report to the public, read it alone, discuss it with everyone, and answer it with everyone. There is a kind of view that actually thinks that ideas cannot guide creation. This view is related to the incorrect view of socialist realism.It is impossible to ask all writers to accept the Marxist worldview.It may take decades for most writers to accept the Marxist worldview.Before accepting the Marxist worldview, as long as you don’t form secret cliques, you can write your own, each with its own truth.Here, of course, there must be help.There are those who really agree with Marxism, and those who agree with it reluctantly.The same is true for changing the social system. For example, the national bourgeoisie, if you take his means of production into communism, is he willing? There is always some reluctance, and of course there are some not too much reluctance.There is always reluctance to change the social system, from private to public, from individual to collective, with hundreds of millions of people.

All in all, the change of the system is a big change.Due to the general trend of the whole of China, some people have to reluctantly agree.Now that thinking is so chaotic, many of the problems raised in the collection are the reflection of changes in the social foundation.Our country was not a socialist country in the past, but a semi-colonial and semi-feudal country. After imperialism, bureaucratic capitalism, and feudalism are overthrown, there will still be a national bourgeoisie and a petty bourgeoisie with a population of hundreds of millions who want to change their ownership systems.Eighty percent of intellectuals are children of landlords, rich peasants, and capitalists according to their origins. Of course, there are differences between big, middle, and small.Based on the national population of 600 million, if one percent of them are intellectuals, then there are 6 million people.Not all intellectuals have gone to college, and Xiao Chunv[5] has never been to any formal school. He is self-taught, and he is also an intellectual.Let’s say there are five million intellectuals in the country. How many of the five million people believe in the Marxist world view? Is there one-tenth? One-tenth is half a million.They believe in Marxism, and understand it quite well, and use it to guide their actions.Engaging in subjectivism and dogmatism does not count as understanding Marxism.If there is a tenth, that is a good thing.How many people like this are there in the literary and art world? A tenth of them would be fine.There are also some people who are against the Marxist worldview. Some of them are hostile to the socialist system. Write some articles.Is there a tenth of such people? Most of these people do not speak and resist silently.I am afraid that there is no one-tenth of these two ends. There is no tenth of those who believe in Marxism, and there is no one-tenth of those who believe in Marxism.Some inside the Party do not believe in Marxism, but some outside the Party believe in it.Now remove the two ends, leaving about 80% of the middle, or the majority.Among them, most people support the socialist system, but they don't necessarily believe in Marxism, and even fewer use it to guide their creation.Therefore, socialist realism cannot be compelled to be accepted by others.Then, what about works that are not socialist realism? We have to let them be published, as long as they are not hostile to the socialist system.If the works of Marxist writers are dogmatic, people should not read them.Dogmatism is not Marxism, but anti-Marxism.Good, truly Marxist, truly socialist realist works, even if there are a few, are well written, and it will take decades to influence the 80% of intellectuals, because these The works serve the workers, peasants and soldiers.

Some people say that the direction of serving the workers, peasants and soldiers is no longer necessary. I think it is good to serve the workers, peasants and soldiers.If you don’t serve the workers, peasants and soldiers, who else would you serve? The bourgeoisie must be transformed into the working class, and the intellectuals must also be the working class. If you say not to serve them, there will be no one else in China. Some people say that literature and art don't need a purpose, and if there is a purpose, it will be conceptualized.In my opinion, it is possible to produce some literary and artistic works that do not have any purpose.There are two kinds, one with purpose and one without purpose, is that okay? In short, educating the people is a long-term process.To solve ideological problems, we cannot use autocratic, arbitrary, or oppressive methods. If we want people to be convinced, we must persuade them, not subdue them.Literary artists may also go through a process of tempering, and some people are still unconscious and have not been tempered.Some who advocate that literature and art should not have a purpose actually want a purpose, but they don’t want your purpose. Under the cover of no purpose, there are other purposes, that is, they want petty bourgeois and bourgeois purposes.

Someone asked about the difference between bourgeois ideology and petty bourgeois ideology, but I couldn't tell the difference.The bourgeoisie and the petty bourgeoisie belong to the same category economically.As far as family background is concerned, people of petty bourgeois background are also very reactionary.Intellectuals of bourgeois origin accept Marxism, and they are quite revolutionary, and I am also included in this category.For bourgeois intellectuals, I don’t just look at their backgrounds. I mean they received bourgeois school education, and the bourgeoisie educates people according to its interests. Some people later accepted Marxism.I find it difficult to distinguish between bourgeois ideology and petty bourgeois ideology.

Newspapers, broadcasting, cultural troupes, theater troupes, and literature and art all serve to educate the people.Some people say, "It's better to talk about entertainment instead of education", and that's okay, but when you act, you always have to influence people.Therefore, educators should be educated first, which is what Marx said. [6] We people should be educated, and it is untenable to say that we should not be educated.Generally speaking, the work these educators are engaged in is a process of educating people, and it will take decades to educate 600 million people well.

After the October Revolution in the Soviet Union, dogmatism was also very strong. At that time, the literary group "Rapp" [7] used to adopt commandism to writers, forcing others to write.But I heard that there was still some freedom of speech in that period, and there were "fellow travelers", "fellow travelers" and publications.Can we ask someone to set up a publication that is against the tune? We might as well be open against the tune.At that time, some people in the Soviet Union openly admitted that they were "fellow travelers", which shows that this is different from what we have today.In the first few years, it was still possible to sing the opposite tune, and there was some freedom of speech, but in the future, only good things about the party and the government are allowed, not bad things, no criticism, no cult of personality.Stalin often confused the two contradictions.Our cultural and educational policies do not adopt their methods, we adopt the leadership of letting a hundred flowers bloom and a hundred schools of thought contend.At present, the environment has not been created to release, and there is still not enough release. It is because the hundred flowers want to release but dare not, and the hundred schools want to sing but dare not.I have read the articles written by Chen Qitong and the four of them twice. They are nothing more than "worried", lest there will be chaos in the world.We should take into account the situation in China, where the two ends are small and the middle is large, and there are so many petty bourgeoisie, it is nothing more than confusion of thoughts and demands for answers to questions.

I say these words because I want to exchange opinions with comrades and see if this is the case objectively.Those who believe in Marxism account for one-tenth of the intellectuals—500,000. Are there so many? Those who don’t believe, so many, this cannot be forced.If after three or four five-year plans, one-third of the people believe in the Marxist world outlook and are not dogmatic or opportunistic, that would be fine. Lu Xun was not a member of the Communist Party, but he understood the Marxist world outlook.After a lot of research and practice, he believed that Marxism is the truth.Especially his late essays are very powerful.The power of his essays lies in his Marxist world outlook.I think Lu Xun can still write essays while he is still alive, and I am afraid that he will not be able to write novels. He is probably the chairman of the Federation of Literary and Art Circles, and he will talk about it during meetings.These thirty-three topics, he will solve the problem as soon as he talks or writes essays.He must have something to say, and he will say it, and he is very brave.

A true Marxist is afraid of nothing, and not of anyone.Don't be afraid of being punished by others, at most there will be no food to eat, begging for food, being punished, sitting in prison, beheading, and being wronged.I have never begged for food.It is impossible to make a revolution without preparing to beheaded.It is not wrong to be killed by the enemy.It's not good to be killed by one's own people by mistake, so there is a rule in our party: don't kill one.But it's hard to say that it's hard to say if you sit in the classroom and receive a point.Last time I talked about Xue Rengui[8] and Sun Xingzhe.Xue Rengui fell ill and won the battle, and the credit rests on others.It's not fair to Sun Xingzhe. He is naturally very heroic. He claims to be the Monkey King, and the Jade Emperor only named him "Bi Mawen", so he made a big disturbance in the heavenly palace and opposed bureaucracy.I see both sectarianism and subjectivism, and Zhang Shigui [9] has both sectarianism and bureaucratism. What happened to literary and art criticism? It also depends on the basic situation that intellectuals are small at both ends and big in the middle. This is why the policy of letting a hundred flowers bloom and a hundred schools of thought contend is adopted.Why are some people afraid of letting it go? They just don’t see that most intellectuals want to take the road of socialism, hope that the country will be prosperous and strong, the people’s life will be better, and their culture will be improved. They must educate hundreds of millions of Chinese people through them.If you check the composition, 80% of college students are children of landlords, rich peasants, and capitalists, and 50% to 60% of middle school students. Who do you want? These people can be educated, the question is whether we have confidence .I would like to bring up the issue of literary criticism.I haven’t read many articles in this area. After reading a little, I feel that there are not many appropriate criticisms. The ones that have been researched, analyzed, and discussed with the writer beforehand are really helpful to the writer, not scolding. , not a lot, right? Some criticisms are very rough.Lu Xun had a way of dealing with this kind of criticism, which was to ignore it.Now there are three types of literary and art criticism: one is scratching the itch, not dogmatic, but helpful; , brutal, beat people to death with a stick, and hindered the development of literary criticism.Is it this way? I saw that Wang Meng was besieged by literary and art critics[10], so I want to hold this propaganda work meeting.Judging from the matter of criticizing Wang Meng, the people who wrote the article did not investigate how tall and how big Wang Meng is. He lives in Beijing, and if he wants to write a critical article, he does not discuss it with him. Let’s help him! To criticize a person’s article, it’s best to talk to the person being criticized and show him the article. The purpose of criticism is to help the person being criticized.This ethos can be promoted. There is an article in "New Observation" called "Drinking Tea in Huiquan", have you read it? You can read it in the second issue in January. The author is Yao Xueyin[11].I am somewhat interested in his description of tea drinkers. His article says that the people who drink tea there don't know how to drink tea, but they still drink it very vigorously.He also criticized the poor management of the teahouse cooperative and its shortcomings. This criticism is correct. There are many such things. After the public-private partnership and cooperative transformation, many of the original advantages have been lost.But it is wrong for him to belittle those who drink tea. This is the point of view of "gentlemen" and "villains". The "gentleman" is drinking tea there, and the "villain" is also here, and the article appears that the writer is an outlier among the masses.I have also read some of the articles refuting him. There is Yao Wenyuan[12], which is quite convincing, and I can still read it.I still have to help Yao Xueyin.Regardless of whether it is bourgeois or petty bourgeois ideology, intellectuals still constitute the majority, and they have not yet become one with the masses.I think the only way out is to become one with the workers, peasants and soldiers. If you can’t be one, what do you write about? Just write about the five million intellectuals, and the trivial things around you? You can’t just write about these people forever, and these people will change.Literary and artistic works always have to write about the relationship between this group of people and that group of people.Writers in Shanghai can also write about Shenxin No. 9 Factory and about the capitalist Rong Yiren[13]. If you want to write about Rong Yiren, you have to write about his relationship with the workers.It is also possible to allow some people to write about their own trivial matters. They don’t want to mingle with workers, peasants and soldiers, but they can write. What can you do? There will always be such people in such a big country, and this is also an objective existence.But we still have to help him and influence him. If he doesn’t accept it, there is nothing he can do. We can publish his book. There are also various ways to experience life. Maybe the common people just don’t give their hearts to intellectuals.Now when some intellectuals go to experience life, common people feel that it is a disaster, especially the famous factories and agricultural cooperatives. I am afraid that you will investigate me, but I will not tell you.The common people have various ways to deal with you.In some places, "reporters are in trouble." Where did the history of China’s self-conscious literary criticism begin? It started with Cao Pi’s [14]’s “Dianlun·Dissertation” and Cao Zhi’s [15]’s “Book with Yang Dezu”! There will be more later.Han Yu [16] advocated ancient prose, but in fact his ancient prose is a new ancient prose, so there is no reason for it, as long as the article is new.What others say is good, he says bad, and what others say is bad, he says good. There are also criticisms in "Selected Works of Zhaoming". In the preface of Zhaoming Prince Xiao Tong[17], he said that "things come from contemplation", which is ideological;He doesn't want theory alone. It must be ideological and artistic. Everyone reported that after the professionalization of writers, some books were printed slowly or could not be printed due to lack of paper, which affected the lives of writers.Can the Writers Association set up a printing factory by itself? Allocate some machines to you, and get some raw materials.The works of professors and scientists cannot be printed for a while, and they still have salaries from universities and academies of sciences to maintain their lives.Writers are different. They live on royalties. If books and magazines cannot be printed without paper, they cannot live without income from royalties.When I said that the Writers Association should set up a printing factory by itself, of course I didn’t want Lao She and Mr. Ba Jin[18] to run it, but Zhou Yang and Shen Yanbing[19] planned to do it. Last year, we shot more than 30 feature films a year, which is too few.Japan has a population of more than 80 million and released more than 300 feature films last year.With a population of 600 million in China, only more than 30 films have been produced, so you'd better produce more than 300 films. Zhao Dan[20], Sun Yu[21] didn't make arrangements, right? You worked with him before.It's good to have an arrangement.The film "The Legend of Wu Xun" that you two collaborated on was criticized, so that's okay. If a work is not well written, just write it again. You should write it well. The spirit of this propaganda work conference should be communicated and implemented as soon as you go back. Don’t wait for the Third Plenary Session[22] to make a decision.There are more than 10,000 cadres above prefectural party committee secretaries and district commissioners. It is hard to say whether a thousand of them are in favor of letting a hundred flowers bloom and a hundred schools of thought contend. The issue of socialist realism cannot be clarified at this meeting for a while, and no conclusions can be drawn. There is no need to be nervous, and it can be studied and discussed. With regard to the issue of inheriting cultural heritage, I am not in favor of monsters and ghosts. I can let it be staged and criticize it.There are many toxins and dross in cultural heritage! We banned some traditional operas for several years in the past, and others were a little disgusted. Now that they are open, they can also be criticized, but the criticism must be reasoned.It’s okay to watch some plays with ghosts and ghosts. Aren’t we watching ghosts and ghosts? There are ghosts and ghosts in society, and it’s not uncommon for scripts to have them.Chinese people don't necessarily believe in ghosts very much, and there is nothing scary about performing them.Many young people don't understand what ghosts and monsters are, so it doesn't matter if you let them see.It is of course good to replace it with something better, but if you can’t get it out, let it be played! For ghosts and snakes, the show is for watching, and the ghosts don’t necessarily believe it. To make a fuss after putting it aside for a while is to distrust the people and their ability to discern.do not be afraid.I was so panicked when I published some "Grass and Trees"[23]? You said, "Chu Ci" also has grass and trees? Is the first one a work like [24]? But it can't be published now? What about the first one? , I don't think there is any poetic flavor.Don't be terrified just because there are some ghosts and monsters in "Grass and Trees"! Published based on the transcript of the conversation kept by the Central Archives. -------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ note [1] This is the main part of Mao Zedong's conversation with some representatives of the literary and art circles during the National Propaganda Work Conference of the Communist Party of China. [2] Refers to the "Collection of Some Issues Concerning Ideological Work" issued by the Office of the Propaganda Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on March 6, 1957, which collected 33 issues in total. [3] On April 27, 1957, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China issued the "Instructions on the Rectification Movement", deciding to "renew a general and in-depth anti-bureaucratism, anti-sectarianism, and anti-subjectivism throughout the party." rectification movement". [4] Refers to the article "Our Opinions on the Present Literature and Art Work" published by Chen Qitong, Chen Yading, Ma Hanbing, and Lu Le in the "People's Daily" on January 7, 1957. [5] Xiao Chunv, see note [4] on page 248 of this volume. [6] See Marx's "Theses on Feuerbach".The original text is: "The educator himself must be educated." ("Selected Works of Marx and Engels", Volume 1, People's Publishing House, 1995 edition, p. 55) [7] "Lapp", the transliteration of the abbreviation of "Russian Proletarian Writers Union".Founded in 1925.In 1932, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (Bolsheviks) made the "Decision on Reorganizing Literary and Art Organizations", disbanded "Lapp" and established the Soviet Writers Association. [8] Xue Rengui (614-683), that is, Xue Li, was born in Longmen, Jiangzhou (now Hejin, Shanxi), and was a general of the Tang Dynasty. [9] Zhang Shigui (?—about 656), whose real name is Huyou, was born in the Lu family of Guozhou (now part of Henan), and was a general of the Tang Dynasty. [10] Wang Meng, born in 1934, native of Nanpi, Hebei, born in Beiping (now Beijing), writer.At that time, he worked in the Committee of the Beijing Third District (East Fourth District) of the Chinese New Democratic Youth League.In 1956, he published the short story "A New Young Arrival in the Organization Department", which was wrongly criticized. [11] Yao Xueyin (1910-1999), a native of Dengzhou, Henan, writer.At that time, he worked in Wuhan Writers Association. [12] Yao Wenyuan, born in 1931, is from Zhuji, Zhejiang.At that time, he worked in the Shanghai Luwan District Committee of the Communist Party of China. [13] Rong Yiren was the general manager of the General Management Office of Shanghai Shenxin Textile Printing and Dyeing Company at that time. [14] Cao Pi (187-226), born in Peiguoqiao (now Hao County, Anhui), son of Cao Cao, Emperor Wen of Wei, literary theorist and poet during the Three Kingdoms period. [15] Cao Zhi (192-232), born in Peiguoqiao (now Hao County, Anhui), son of Cao Cao, writer and poet during the Three Kingdoms period. [16] Han Yu, a writer and philosopher in the Tang Dynasty. [17] Xiao Tong (501-531), born in Lanling (now northwest of Changzhou, Jiangsu), son of Xiao Yan, Emperor Wu of Liang in the Southern Dynasty.In 502 A.D., he was established as the crown prince, but died before he ascended the throne, and his posthumous title was Zhaoming.He compiled the earliest extant collection of poems and essays in China, "Selected Works", later known as "Selected Works of Zhaoming". [18] Lao She (1899-1966), formerly known as Shu Qingchun, courtesy name Sheyu, was born in Beijing, a writer, and served as the vice chairman of the Chinese Writers Association at that time.Ba Jin, born in 1904, formerly known as Li Yaotang, courtesy name Fugan, was born in Chengdu, Sichuan, a writer, and was the vice chairman of the Chinese Writers Association at that time. [19] Zhou Yang (1908-1989), born in Yiyang, Hunan, was the deputy director of the Propaganda Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the vice chairman of the Chinese Writers Association.Mao Dun (1896-1981), formerly known as Shen Dehong, courtesy name Yanbing, was born in Tongxiang, Zhejiang. He was Minister of Culture and Chairman of the Chinese Writers Association at that time. [20] Zhao Dan (1914-1980), a native of Feicheng, Shandong.At that time, he was an actor in Shanghai Film Studio and starred in the movie "The Legend of Wu Xun". [21] Sun Yu (1900-1990), a native of Zigong, Sichuan.At that time, he was the director of Shanghai Film Studio, and he once wrote and directed the film "The Legend of Wu Xun". [22] Refers to the Third Plenary Session of the Eighth Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.This meeting was held in Beijing from September 20 to October 9, 1957. [23] "Grass and Trees", a group of prose poems written by Liushahe, published in the first issue of "Stars" in January 1957. [24] A poem written by Yue Bai was published in the first issue of "Stars" in January 1957.