Chapter 49 Eternal Struggle[1]

(May 30, 1939) Comrades: I was very happy to hear that the model youth conference was held today, so I also came to participate. Just now Comrade Feng Wenbin [2] has spoken a lot, and he has spoken very well. There is a sentence in it, which is "We must struggle forever."This is what I want to talk about today. When I was studying in the past, I didn't have the good conditions you have now.At first, I read the books of Confucius, which is the set of "learning and learning from time to time, isn't it easy to say?"Later, he entered a foreign school and received some bourgeois education.Although I have heard some words of Sun Yat-sen and Marx in school, the real Sun Yat-senism and Marxism are learned only after leaving school.Now you can hear everything, but there is less of Confucius.You can read many books such as Sun Yat-sen's Three Principles of the People, the Prime Minister's will, etc., as well as books on Marxism and strategies and tactics of the War of Resistance Against Japan.I didn't see any of these books at the time.Nineteen years ago, the "Communist Manifesto" was rarely printed in the country. Where can I find such a good theory? How can you be as happy as you are now? The era when you grew up was very good and happy. Compared with the era when I was a student Come on, it's very different.

You model youths were elected to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the May 4th Movement, which is of great significance.Twenty years ago, the young people who participated in the May 4th Movement in Beijing were truly model youths, because they opposed the traitorous government, shed blood during the May 4th Movement, and participated in that kind of struggle.These young people are the vanguard of the revolution. They fought bravely for the liberation, independence, freedom and happiness of the Chinese nation.Many outstanding members of the Chinese National Liberation Vanguard[3] and the Northwest Youth Salvation Congress[4] are still left today.Many revolutionary youths at that time became members of the Communist Party.The Chinese youth movement has a very good revolutionary tradition, and this tradition is "perpetual struggle".Our Communist Party has inherited this tradition, and it has been passed down now, and it will be passed down even more in the future.However, there were also some people who fought heroically in Peking during the May Fourth Movement, but they changed later. One of them was Zhang Guotao[5], and there were Kang Baiqing, Luo Jialun[6] and others.They were all vanguards during the May 4th Movement, but now? They have become escape teams.

Wang Jingwei, before the "May 4th Movement", he impassionedly killed Emperor Xuantong's protector, the regent.He was very heroic at that time.But the news is not good these days. He sneaked from Hanoi to Shanghai, and from Shanghai to the capital of Japan to meet the Japanese emperor, discuss matters with the Prime Minister of the Japanese cabinet, Hiranuma, and discuss the "Jingwei Hiranuma Agreement."We don't talk about how many words there are in his agreement, and how many articles there are. In short, it is "Destroy China" in four big characters. Wang Jingwei 30 years ago, Kang Baiqing, Luo Jialun, and Zhang Guotao 20 years ago were all heroic, but they all had a shortcoming, that is, they struggled poorly and did not have the spirit of "permanent struggle".

What is a model youth? It is the one of perpetual struggle.Of course, there must be other things, such as the intellectual education, moral education, physical education, aesthetic education, group education, etc. mentioned by Comrade Feng Wenbin just now, but in my opinion, "perpetual struggle" is the most important one. are all empty.To what extent should we struggle? We must struggle for five years, ten years, forty years, fifty years, even sixty years, seventy years. The goal.Once upon a time, there was a poem that said: "When the Duke of Zhou was afraid of rumors, and Wang Mang was courteous to the corporal, if he died in the same year, who would know the authenticity of his life?" Only when a person dies can he be judged whether he is good or bad.If Duke Zhou had died when the rumors spread, people would have given him the title of "treacherous minister"; and if Wang Mang had died when he was humble and humble, then people in the future would have praised him.But we are not talking about history now, we don't care whether those two people are good or bad, but it shows that only when a person dies can he judge whether his merits and crimes are right or wrong.We say: To fight forever is to fight until death.This eternal struggle is very important. If you want to talk about morality, you should talk about this morality.A model youth must set an example in this regard.There are many other things to set an example for. For example, we must have a correct political direction, but this correct political direction alone is not enough. After three to five years, it will be lost. Isn’t it in vain? Therefore, after having a correct political direction, we must be firm, that is to say, we must have a “firm and correct political direction.”This direction is unshakable, and we must adhere to this direction with the backbone of "wealth and honor cannot be promiscuous, poverty and lowliness cannot be moved, and might cannot be bent".Such young people are the real model young people.This kind of morality is the real political morality.That's how we think about morality.There are some people who talk about morality and integrity for a while, but they are not firm in politics and will rebel halfway through. This is immoral and immoral.

I once said that there have always been two trends in the Chinese youth movement: one is the revolutionary trend; the other is the reactionary trend.In the era of the May 4th Movement, the trend was to demand national independence, realize democratic politics, improve people's lives, stand with the workers and peasants, and stand with the common people. Their stand is bright.Another trend is to compromise with imperialism. They also say to overthrow imperialism, but they only fight for three days. On the fourth day, they stop fighting imperialism and become friends with imperialism.They said they wanted revolution and democratic politics, but they only had three days, and on the fourth day they oppressed the common people. "Arouse the people" was what Mr. Sun Yat-sen said when he was dying. The ancients said that "when a person is about to die, his words are also good", but some people only called for three days and quit on the fourth day.As for improving people's livelihood, there is no trace of it.This is a reactionary trend, which we call "countercurrent".

In the era of the Great Revolution, Guangdong had two youth organizations: one was the Youth Soldiers Federation [8], and the other was the Sun Wenism Society [9]. These two organizations were representatives of those two trends.The former one is revolutionary, they are with the young people of the whole country, with the toiling masses of workers and peasants.The latter is anti-people and anti-Communist.They had opposed the Communist Party for ten years, and some of them made a fortune and became officials because of their anti-Communism.Now they are still raising two hands, one against Japan and the other against the Communist Party.They want to resist Japan and the Communist Party at the same time. Is this possible? Some people have done little research on history and don't know much about these things.From a historical point of view, Wang Jingwei struggled and struggled, but in the end he went to eat with the Emperor of Japan, against the whole nation.There are quite a lot of people who are anti-communist. On the one hand, they say that Japanese imperialism is abominable and must be overthrown; on the other hand, they say that the Communist Party must also be overthrown.When you come to Yan'an, someone will stop you and arrest you. You have worked very hard to come here, and you came to Yan'an only after "passing five passes and beheading six generals".They say you are not good, but I think you are pretty good, you are a model young man.They forbid you to come to Yan'an, saying that Yan'an is not good.Yan'an is indeed not good, with few trees and insufficient funds; but Yan'an has democratic politics and political freedom, which of course is not good in their view.Now they are fighting the Japanese with one hand and the Communist Party with the other. In the future, they may combine their two hands to attack the Communist Party.

"Anti-Communism is the destruction of China", this is what Generalissimo Chiang said.This statement must be made known to the whole world, so that the young people of the whole country know, and the common people of the whole country know that the Communist Party cannot be opposed.Now, our Communist Party eats millet and yellow rice, and we have to make food for ourselves and carry out production campaigns, while anti-communist experts eat a lot and are good, and do bad things as much as possible.Here is a good example. There are two county magistrates in Yan'an County. One is paid two yuan a month, and the other is paid one hundred and eighty yuan a month. is an anti-communist expert.However, there is only one cave dwelling under the management of anti-communist experts, and what they do is anti-communist, sabotage, and spy work.If they continue to oppose the Communist Party in this way, they will definitely become lackeys of imperialism.There is no dog who does not go away, and there is no anti-communist expert who does not surrender to Japanese imperialism.Model young comrades, everyone must know that insisting on anti-communism will turn you into a running dog of imperialism.

They are against the Communist Party, with the aim of destroying the Communist Party.It is said that the Communist Party is not good because the Communist Party advocates hard work.The Communist Party has a style of hard work, and can endure hunger and starvation to fight Japanese imperialism.In the past, when the Red Army marched across the grass, they had no food for fifty days and ate bark. Only the Communist Party can do this, and no one else can.We Communists "eat the bark", while local tyrants, evil gentry and corrupt officials "scrape the ground".So if the Communist Party is eliminated, China will not be good.Everyone must support the Communist Party, and the people of the whole country must also support the Communist Party.On the contrary, those bad guys who are anti-communist, make the country lose money, and eat friction should all be eliminated.

The model youth present here today must fight against these anti-communists, oppose compromise and surrender, and oppose anti-communism.Your future is bright. You must represent the majority of the people in the country, all patriotic people, those who resist Japan, and those who seek China's independence, freedom, and happiness, and you must represent them forever.In the future, when you are old, educate your sons to represent them. Sons will tell their sons, and grandsons will tell their grandchildren. This will be passed down from generation to generation, and it will be passed on from generation to generation. More than purpose.We must work hard in this way, do it for a long time, and we must make the revolution a success and carry it to the end.Model youths, you must remember this point - "eternal struggle".

Published based on the transcript of the speech kept by the Central Archives. -------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ note [1] This is Mao Zedong's speech at the Yan'an Celebration Model Youth Conference. [2] Feng Wenbin, born in 1910, is from Zhuji, Zhejiang.At that time, he was Deputy Secretary of the Youth Work Committee of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. [3] The Chinese National Liberation Vanguard, referred to as "Minxian" or "Minxian" for short, is a revolutionary youth group organized by advanced youths in the 129th Movement under the leadership of the Communist Party of China. It was established in February 1936 moon.After the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, many pioneers participated in the Anti-Japanese War and the establishment of anti-Japanese base areas.The Pioneers organization in the Kuomintang-ruled areas was forcibly disbanded by the Kuomintang government in 1938.The Pioneers organization in the anti-Japanese base areas was later merged into the broader youth group Youth Salvation Association.

[4] The Northwest Youth Salvation Association, also known as the Northwest Youth National Salvation Federation, was established in April 1937. It was a mass organization led by the Communist Party of China during the Anti-Japanese War to unite young people from all walks of life in Northwest China to carry out anti-Japanese activities. [5] Zhang Guotao (1897-1979), a native of Pingxiang, Jiangxi.During the May 4th Movement in 1919, he served as a member of the Student Council of Peking University, the Minister of Speech and the General Director of the Beijing Student Federation.In 1921, he participated in the First National Congress of the Communist Party of China.He once held leadership positions in the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, the Provisional Central Government of the Chinese Soviet Republic, and the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army.During the Long March, activities to split the Party and the Red Army were carried out, and a new Central Committee was established.After arriving in northern Shaanxi, he served as the vice chairman and acting chairman of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region Government.In April 1938, he escaped from the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region by offering sacrifices to the Mausoleum of the Yellow Emperor. He went to Wuhan via Xi'an, joined the Kuomintang spy group, became a traitor to the Chinese revolution, and was immediately expelled from the party. [6] Kang Baiqing (1896-1958), a native of Anyue, Sichuan.In 1918, together with Fu Sinian and Luo Jialun, he organized a new literary group, Xinchao Society, advocating a literary revolution.In the same year, he participated in the Youth Chinese Society.In March 1919, together with Deng Zhongxia and others, he initiated the establishment of the Lecture Group on Civilian Education.In 1920, he went to study in the United States.After returning to China, he served concurrently as a member of the army and a councilor in the armies and institutions of various warlords.Luo Jialun (1897-1969), a native of Shaoxing, Zhejiang.In 1919, together with Fu Sinian and others, he published the monthly magazine "Xin Chao" and devoted himself to the New Culture Movement.Participated in the May 4th Movement in May, and served as a representative of Beijing student circles to contact Nanjing, Shanghai and other places.He went abroad to study in 1920 and returned to China in 1926. He served as a councilor of the General Command of the National Revolutionary Army, chairman of the editorial committee, and director of the Education Division of the Field Political Affairs Committee. He supported Chiang Kai-shek in launching the April 12 counter-revolutionary coup. Served in the party and government organs of the Kuomintang. [7] This is a poem in "Fang Yan" written by Bai Juyi, a poet of the Tang Dynasty.The original poem reads: "Giving you a method to resolve doubts, you don't need to drill the tortoise and wish the yarrow; it takes three days to burn the jade, and it takes seven years to identify the talent. Zhou Gong was afraid of the day of rumors, and Wang Mang was humble before usurping; when Xiangshi was born If you die, who will know if it is true or not?" The Duke of Zhou here refers to Duke Zhou, the younger brother of King Wu of Zhou.When King Wu's son King Cheng of Zhou succeeded to the throne, his uncle Zhou Gongdan was regent because of his young age. [8] The Young Soldiers Federation was a revolutionary military group led by Zhou Enlai when he was in the Whampoa Military Academy.Established on February 1, 1925.With members of the Communist Party and the Communist Youth League of Whampoa Military Academy as the backbone, it is composed of young soldiers from Guangdong Army Lecture School, Dian Army Cadre School, Guangxi Army Officer Academy and other schools. The main members are Jiang Xianyun and Zhou Yiqun.The Federation actively promoted revolutionary theory and the Communist Party's united front policy, united the revolutionary forces, attacked the rightist forces of the Kuomintang, and fought tit-for-tat with the reactionary Sun Wenism Society.After the Zhongshan ship incident on March 20, 1926, it was disbanded. [9] The Sun Wen Doctrine Society is a reactionary organization established by a group of rightists within the Kuomintang to fight against the revolutionary group Youth Soldiers Federation.The main leaders are Dai Jitao, Wang Boling, Chen Cheng, He Zhonghan, Miao Bin and so on.