Chapter 53 Mao Zedong insisted not to mention Maoism

During the Yan'an period, the Communist Party of China gradually developed into a large national political party, and the revolutionary cause it led developed unprecedentedly: by the eve of the Seventh National Congress, the number of party members had grown from more than 30,000 to 1.2 million; the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army led by the party had reached 910,000 and 2.2 million militiamen; the bases are spread all over the north and south of the Yangtze River and up and down the Yellow River, with a population of nearly 100 million. At this time, the party has to deal with the multi-faceted relations between inside and outside the party, at home and abroad, between enemies, ourselves, and friends, which are far more complicated than in the past, and it is facing a heavy task of national democratic revolution.In order to guide the Chinese revolution well, the leaders of the party paid attention to using Marxist standpoints, viewpoints and methods to analyze and study the problems of the Chinese revolution, and wrote a large number of theoretical works.Among them, Mao Zedong is the most prominent. Of the 158 articles collected in "Selected Works of Mao Zedong" (Volumes 1-4), 112 were written during this period.A number of important papers published by Mao Zedong made systematic theoretical summaries and summaries of the Chinese revolutionary experience from the aspects of politics, military affairs, economy, ideology and culture, and philosophy.

At the same time, other leaders in Yan'an, including comrades who had made mistakes and been criticized, were also very active in ideology and theory, and wrote a number of very influential and important works.Such as Zhu De's "Practice the War Against Japan" (July 15, 1937); Liu Shaoqi's "Outline of the Report at the Party Activist Meeting" (November 1937), "On the Cultivation of Communist Party Members", "On the Party "Internal Struggle", "On the Party", etc.; Zhou Enlai's "How to Carry Out a Protracted War" (January 1938), "Research on the Party's "Sixth National Congress"", etc.; Zhang Wentian's "Departure and Return"; Wang Jiaxiang's "About The Three Principles of the People and Communism", "The Communist Party of China and the Road to China's National Liberation".In addition, Nie Rongzhen, the leader of the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei base area, wrote "Anti-Japanese Model Base Area Jinchaji Border Area", summarizing the experience of the Anti-Japanese base area; Peng Dehuai, deputy commander-in-chief of the Eighth Route Army, wrote "On Public Stores" and other articles on economic policy.All of these have promoted the prosperity of the party's theory, which shows that the stars in Yan'an are shining brightly.

As history entered the early 1940s, some theoretical workers of the Party and many important leaders of the Party felt that it was necessary to give appropriate names and correct evaluations to the revolutionary theories of the Communist Party of China in order to increase the party's cohesion and appeal. How to name it?The history of the international communist movement is named after the most outstanding and representative people, such as Marxism and Leninism.Everyone invariably thought of the name Mao Zedong. In March 1941, theoretical worker Zhang Ruxin published an article "On Bolshevik Educators" in the "Communist" magazine, using the term "Comrade Mao Zedong's thoughts" and pointing out that Mao Zedong's speeches and works "are Marxism-Leninism A typical crystallization of the combination of theory and Chinese revolutionary practice".He said: "Our party, especially Comrade Mao Zedong, based on the rich experience of the Chinese party's long-term struggle, based on his deep understanding of the characteristics of Chinese society and the laws of the Chinese revolution, has a comprehensive understanding of theories and strategies on various issues of the Chinese revolution. There are many Marxist contributions that cannot be denied and cannot be ignored."

On July 1, 1942, Zhu De, an old comrade-in-arms of Mao Zedong, published an article "Commemorating the 21st Anniversary of the Party" in the "Liberation Daily", pointing out that our Party has created a sinicized Marxist-Leninist theory to guide the Chinese revolution.He said: "Today, our party has accumulated a wealth of struggle experience, correctly grasped the theory of Marxism-Leninism, and created a sinicized Marxism-Leninism theory that guided the Chinese revolution in the practice of the Chinese revolution." He also said: "Our party already has its most brilliant leader, Comrade Mao Zedong. He is truly proficient in the theory of Marxism-Leninism, and he is good at using this theory to guide the Chinese revolution to victory step by step."

On July 4, 1943, Liu Shaoqi used the concept of "Comrade Mao Zedong's ideological system" in his article "Liquidating Menshevism in the Party". The next day, July 5th, Wang Jiaxiang clearly put forward the concept of Mao Zedong Thought for the first time. Wang Jiaxiang pointed out in the article "The Chinese Communist Party and the Road to China's National Liberation" written to commemorate the 22nd anniversary of the party's birth: "Mao Zedong Thought and the Chinese Communist Party's correct path of national liberation grew, developed, and matured in the struggle against foreign and domestic enemies, and at the same time in the struggle against erroneous ideas within the Communist Party."

"Chinese communism, represented by Mao Zedong Thought, is based on the theory of Marxism-Leninism, studied the realities of China, accumulated 22 years of practical experience of the CCP, and was formed through tortuous struggles inside and outside the party. ...it is Marxism-Leninism created, it is the development of Marxism-Leninism in China, it is Chinese Communism, Chinese Bolshevism." On July 16, Zhou Enlai returned to Yan'an from Chongqing. On August 2, the General Office of the Central Committee organized a grand welcome party.Zhou Enlai delivered a speech, proposing: "The direction of Comrade Mao Zedong is the direction of the Communist Party of China!"

In July 1942, Zhang Wentian highly praised Mao Zedong.He said: The past history of the Chinese revolution has proved that with the leadership of Mao Zedong, the revolutionary force will gradually grow, it will gradually move towards victory, and it will turn the corner; leadership, the revolution will encounter setbacks, it will turn victory into defeat, and it will turn from victory to difficulty. Bogu also published "Under the Banner of Mao Zedong, Fight to Defend the Chinese Communist Party!" on July 13, 1943! ", praised Mao Zedong as the "helmsman of the Chinese revolution", and expressed that they would unite more closely around the Central Committee headed by Comrade Mao Zedong and fight under Mao Zedong's banner!

This shows that Mao Zedong has won the heartfelt support of the whole party and has become the expected leader; Mao Zedong Thought is a dazzling red flag, representing the highest level of Chinese revolutionary theory. After the concept of Mao Zedong Thought was clearly put forward by Wang Jiaxiang, it was gradually accepted by most comrades in the party. In May 1944, under the leadership of the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Central Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, Deng Tuo edited and published 5 volumes of "Selected Works of Mao Zedong".This is the first set of "Selected Works of Mao Zedong" in the history of Chinese revolutionary publishing.

In this regard, Mao Zedong expressed his views. 1943 coincided with Mao Zedong's 50th birthday.Some comrades in Yan'an wanted to congratulate him on his birthday, and at the same time offered to promote his ideas.Kaifeng reported this opinion to Mao Zedong. Mao Zedong replied to Kaifeng, clearly opposing birthdays.Regarding the promotion of his thoughts, he sincerely stated: "My thoughts (Marxism-Leninism) are consciously immature, and it is still time to study, not to advocate; to advocate, it is only appropriate to advocate with certain fragments (such as a few pieces in the rectification document), not Advocate it as a system, because my system is not yet mature."

Mao Zedong acquiesced to the formulation of Mao Zedong Thought, but he insisted that Mao Zedong Thought "is not my own thought, it is written with the blood of millions of martyrs, and it is the collective wisdom of the party and the people." At the end of 1944, Stein, a reporter from the British "News Chronicle", visited. When Mao Zedong met him, he said: "I am also a pupil, a pupil of the masses. If we are to achieve victory in war and peace, the ideas and experiences of the masses must form the basis of our policies, because the common people can teach us a lot. Our task is to listen Their opinions, learning from their experiences, gaining insight into their wishes and criticisms, laying down the general outline of what they want, and giving it to them as policy."

At the Seventh Plenary Session of the Sixth Central Committee on April 20, 1945, Mao Zedong said in a speech: "The "Resolution" has put many good things on my account. My shortcomings and mistakes are not accounted for. It's not that I don't have them, but I haven't. It was not written for the benefit of the party. This is something everyone should understand clearly, first of all me.” At the preparatory meeting of the Seventh National Congress, he also said: "Several resolutions on historical issues put good things on my account, so I want to express some opinions on this. If it is written as a representative, it is okay. If it is only me, Then it wouldn’t be a party.” He further pointed out: "We are all people from semi-colonial society, with only so much knowledge and such great ability. If you say that I have no skills and don't understand Marxism-Leninism at all, then I disagree. If you say I am Marxist-Leninist Doctrines are piled up, and that’s not it.” Regarding the theory of the Communist Party of China named after Mao Zedong, there was another term at that time: "Mao Zedongism". In February 1942, Zhang Ruxin used the term "Maoism" in an article. On July 1, 1944, Xiao San published the article "Mao Zedong's Early Revolutionary Activities" in the "Liberation Daily", proposing to use "Mao Zedongism" to summarize Mao Zedong's thoughts, methods of thinking, strategic strategies and work style on the Chinese revolution. the whole system. On August 13, 1948, Wu Yuzhang, president of North China University, stated in a telegram to Zhou Enlai that he wanted to propose at the inauguration ceremony of North China University that "the main thing is to learn Maoism" and "change Mao Zedong Thought into Maoism." After seeing the telegram, Mao Zedong immediately wrote to Wu Yuzhang on August 15, saying: "Weiyuan Dianxi. It is very inappropriate to say that. There is no such thing as Maoism now, so it cannot be said to be Maoism. It is not about 'mainly learning Maoism', but students must be called on to learn Marxism, Marxism, and the theory of China. Revolutionary experience." "In addition, it is also wrong for some comrades to put my name in parallel with Marx, Enley, and Lies in the publications, saying that it is 'Mao'. Your statement and this latter statement are unrealistic, yes It is harmful and not beneficial, and we must resolutely oppose such sayings." Mao Zedong insisted not to mention Maoism, and insisted not to put himself on the same side as Ma, En, Lie, and Sz, thinking that he was only their student, which reflected that Mao Zedong in Yan'an period was very cautious and modest.Amidst the praises, Mao Zedong was able to keep a calm head, which showed everyone's demeanor.