Chapter 119 Comments on the Revolution of 1911[1]

(September 14, 1954) Take this opportunity to talk a little bit about the evaluation of the Revolution of 1911.A considerable number of friends felt that it was inappropriate for us to say that "the Revolution of 1911 was a bourgeois-democratic revolution" and felt a little emotionally offended.But speaking from the history of social development, the Revolution of 1911 was indeed a bourgeois democratic revolution. In the history of mankind, there have been several major revolutions of different nature. For the first time, it was the slave owners who overthrew the primitive communist society and brought human production and society a step further.The primitive communist society at that time was not the communist society we are talking about now, but a primitive society composed of clans and tribes. They fought with each other and killed all the captives they caught.The slave owner does not kill the captive, but takes the captive as a slave. Although he is blinded in one eye or wounded in one hand, he is still forced to work.Is it better to kill people, or not to kill them and let them work? Or slavery, which can accumulate wealth.The productivity of the original communist society was very low, and slavery was a big step forward.Now when we talk about slavery, people think it is bad. In fact, the emergence of slavery was a great progress at that time.

The second time, it was the feudal landlord who abolished the life of the slave owner.This revolution probably took place in China during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period.On this issue, historians are still debating. Some people say that the Western Zhou Dynasty was a feudal society.I think that the Central People's Government Committee may not draw a conclusion on this issue today.I personally believe in Guo Moruo[2] Vice Premier's claim that feudalism was born during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States Periods.Guo Moruo once used many materials to prove that Confucius[3] became a saint because he was a revolutionary party and participated in rebellion everywhere.It is Mencius who said that Confucius wrote the Spring and Autumn Annals "and the officials and thieves are afraid of chaos". That is what Mencius said[4].In fact, at that time Confucius traveled around the world, wherever he rebelled, he went wherever he wanted to revolutionize.Therefore, this person cannot be wiped out in one stroke, and it cannot be simply "downed by the Kong family shop".In short, during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, drastic changes took place, and great class struggles and revolutionary struggles took place. Since then, private ownership of land and rent collection have been allowed.It was probably in the era of Duke Xuan of Lu that "Chu Tax Mu" [5] began to collect land rent for the first time.Duke Ai of Lu also said something, "Second, I am still not enough, so how thorough is it?" [6], thorough, that is, one-tenth.It can be seen that the land rent collected at that time was about 20%.This proves that the social system at that time had already begun to change. Instead of implementing the well field system, the method of collecting land tax was adopted.In the past, it was "under the whole world, is it the land of the king; on the shore of the land, is it the king's subjects" [7], this time it is private.Private ownership used to be a good thing.Someone said something like this: There are 500,000 years of human history[8], but 495,000 of them did not understand the principle of private ownership, so they did not enter a civilized society.

The third time is the revolution of the bourgeoisie against the feudal landlord class, that is, the revolution of democracy against feudalism.In China, it was the Revolution of 1911. The Revolution of 1911 led by Sun Yat-sen and his group was a bourgeois-democratic revolution in human history.Before the Revolution of 1911, there were reformists in China.It should also be estimated that there is a progressive side to the reformers.The Reform Movement of 1898[9] was oppressed at the time. Why? It was because it was progressive, and it was hated by diehards.Sun Yat-sen went a step further than the reformers. He openly called for the implementation of the bourgeois democratic revolution, overthrew the rule of the Qing Dynasty, ended the feudal monarchy in China for more than two thousand years, established the Republic of China and a provisional revolutionary government, and formulated a "Temporary Agreement" [10].After the Revolution of 1911, whoever wanted to be an emperor would be unable to do so.So we say it has great historical significance.I myself also participated in this democratic revolution, became a soldier, and ate seven yuan and two [11].At that time, Mr. Cheng Qian [12] participated. He was the teacher. Although he was not my immediate superior, he had a higher status than me.

The Revolution of 1911 did not succeed, it failed.Why did it fail? It was because Sun Yat-sen's leadership group made mistakes and had shortcomings.On this point, Sun Yat-sen had self-criticism. The manifesto adopted by the first National Congress of the Kuomintang once said that it was wrong to compromise with Yuan Shikai at that time.[13]The KMT made criticisms at its first congress, so can't we criticize now? Are all of us here here saints? If we say we are saints, there are many saints; if we say we are not saints, I think there is not one saint.People always have shortcomings, and they always make mistakes, just don't make too many mistakes.For example, when you are the chairman, if you make six out of ten sentences wrong, or 60% of the mistakes, then you will not be able to be the chairman.It's not bad to say a word, there is no such thing.When writing an article, you always have to change it. If it is good, why bother to change it? To write an article, you often have to make a lot of mistakes.I have been to Shanghai in the past, and the place in Shanghai is very complicated. I often go the wrong way and make mistakes.Whenever I make mistakes, I hope to be criticized and corrected by my friends in time.A person always has many shortcomings.If you feel that you have no shortcomings at all, "the tiger's butt can't be touched", then it is not good.It is necessary to achieve "the one who speaks is innocent, and the one who hears it is a warning."We eat by being honest, not by putting on airs.Of course, it is still possible to "put on airs" in front of imperialism and Attlee[14] and others, but it is not good to rely on airs to eat.If the leaders of the Communist Party can't say no, and the leaders of the democratic parties and people's organizations can't say no, then it's not good.To Confucius, since Dong Zhongshu[15] it has been said that it is unacceptable, "If you are not a sage and slander the law, you will be the disaster of great chaos"[16].We can't do this, we have to seek truth from facts.We have to analyze everything; if it is good, we will affirm it; if it is not good, we will criticize it.

At the 30th meeting of the Central People's Government Committee, I once mentioned that the second article of the conclusion of the "History of the Communist Party of the Communist Party of China" criticized Marx and Engels.Some of Engels' theories were wrong and should be discarded and replaced by new ones.For example, Engels advocated the adoption of a parliamentary republic after the victory of the proletarian revolution, but Lenin believed that it would be better to adopt the form of a Soviet republic based on the experience of the October Revolution in Russia.It can be seen that Engels' view was wrong.In addition, both Marx and Engels said at the time that the British revolution could take the form of a peaceful revolution, and estimated that the British revolution would come sooner.Both Marx and Engels wanted the revolution to be victorious as soon as possible, but in fact the revolution has never been victorious, so what can be done.As the old saying goes, "People are not sages, and they can do nothing wrong."I think this sentence needs to be changed.People, including sages and sages, always have past, and it is good to have to correct the past.I also said at the last meeting of the Central People's Government Committee, don't create idols, that is, don't say that no one can be criticized, but that you can criticize, but the criticism must be correct, and the criticism must be analyzed.

The above is a little opinion I contributed to you, whether it is appropriate or not, please consider it. Published based on the transcript of the speech kept by the Central Archives. -------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ note [1] This is Mao Zedong's speech after the adoption of the draft constitution of the People's Republic of China at the interim meeting of the Central People's Government Committee. [2] Guo Moruo (1892-1978), a native of Leshan, Sichuan.At that time, he was the vice premier of the State Administration Council and director of the Culture and Education Committee.

[3] Confucius, that is, Confucius (551 BC - 479 BC), named Qiu, styled Zhongni, was born in Zouyi (now Qufu, Shandong).A thinker, statesman, educator, and founder of Confucianism in the late Spring and Autumn Period. [4] See "Mencius Teng Wen Gong Xia".The original text is: "Confucius became the Spring and Autumn Period, but the officials and thieves were afraid." [5] See "The Fifteen Years of Lu Xuangong in the Spring and Autumn Period".In the fifteenth year of Lu Xuangong, that is, in 594 BC. [6] See "The Analects of Confucius Yan Yuan". [7] See "The Book of Songs Xiaoya Beishan".

[8] Archaeological discoveries so far prove that the history of human beings is at least two million years old. [9] The Reform Movement of 1898, also known as the Reform Movement of 1898, refers to the reform movement that occurred in 1898 (the Year of 1898).At that time, China was facing a serious crisis of being carved up by the imperialist powers.Kang Youwei, Liang Qichao, Tan Sitong and others, with the support of Emperor Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty, attempted to gradually implement a constitutional monarchy system in China under the joint rule of the landlord class and the bourgeoisie through top-down reforms and develop national capitalism in order to save the country. The nation is in peril.However, this movement lacked the foundation of the masses, and was resolutely opposed by the diehards headed by Empress Dowager Cixi.More than three months after the reform, Empress Dowager Cixi launched a coup, imprisoned Emperor Guangxu, killed Tan Sitong and six other people, and the reform failed.

[10] Refers to the Provisional Constitution of the Republic of China, see note [3] on page 330 of this volume. [11] Refers to the silver dollar commonly used at that time. [12] Cheng Qian, joined the Tongmenghui in his early years.When the Revolution of 1911 broke out, he served as the commander of the Guishan artillery position in Wuchang, and later served as the chief of staff of the Governor's Office of the Hunan Army and the director of the Hunan Military Department.After the founding of the People's Republic of China, he served as a member of the Central People's Government and vice-chairman of the People's Revolutionary Military Commission.

[13] The "Manifesto of the First National Congress of the Chinese Kuomintang" said: "Although the revolution is called a success, what the revolutionary government can actually express is only national liberation. Once upon a time, it was forced by the situation and had to fight against the counter-revolution This kind of compromise was actually indirectly blended with imperialism, which was the root cause of the first failure of the revolution. The man who represented the counter-revolutionary autocratic class at that time was actually Yuan Shikai.” [14] Attlee (1883-1967), former British Prime Minister.He was the leader of the British Labor Party at the time.

[15] Dong Zhongshu (197 BC - 104 BC), a native of Guangchuan (now northeast of Zaoqiang, Hebei).A thinker in the Western Han Dynasty and the main representative of the Confucius School in the Western Han Dynasty.He proposed "abolishing all schools of thought and respecting Confucianism alone", which was adopted by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty and established the orthodox position of Confucianism. [16] See "Han Shu·Jin Ri Biography".