Abstract
To understand Mao Zedong’s ideology (Maoism) and actions, it is essential to delve into his philosophy. His two major philosophical essays, namely, “On Contradiction” and “On Practice,” are implicitly and explicitly reflected in the policies he formulated. In China, these essays are highly regarded for having creatively developed Marxism. However, in spite of this praise there are significant pitfalls in his philosophies, perhaps even concealed tricks, that have not received much attention until now. By dissecting the structure of Mao’s philosophy, we can elucidate the characteristics of his ideology and actions.
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Notes
- 1.
That he was a great reader is attested to by Lin Ke, who was one of his secretaries (see Lin and Ling 1994).
- 2.
Formally, this resolution is called “Resolution on Certain Questions in the History of Our Party Since the Founding of Our Country,” which was passed by the Sixth Plenum of the 11th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.
- 3.
Wang Ming’s real name is Chen Shaoyu. He took lead for a time, but later fell out of favor with Mao Zedong and was ousted.
- 4.
The term “bagu” refers to the stereotyped format for writing answers for imperial examinations in traditional China.
- 5.
This statement can be found in Mao Zedong Wenji (Collected Works of Mao Zedong), Vol. 8, 1993.
- 6.
This resolution was issued at the enlarged Seventh Plenary Session of the CPC Sixth Central Committee in April 1945.
- 7.
It was Mao Zedong who said, “Landlords must be killed, but not too many, for unlike a Chinese chive, a human head does not grow back after it is cut off.” See Chap. 3.
- 8.
To avoid misunderstanding, I should emphasize that I am not ignoring Mao’s tremendous contributions to the Chinese Revolution. As I will later point out, I cite his revolutionary achievements as the primary basis for his charisma (see Chap. 10).
- 9.
During the Mao era the term “people” carried a specific meaning. Therefore, I use ‘people’ to distinguish it from ordinary “people”. See Chap. 4 for more details.
- 10.
See Chap. 4 for a description of how the “internal contradictions” text of February and that of June differed and how shocking that difference was to the intellectuals.
- 11.
The term elite here does not necessarily mean a small number of highly educated and well-born people. It is used in the sense of “selected people or group,” or “jingying” in Chinese.
- 12.
After the reform and opening-up, a similar privilege was secretly granted to Deng Xiaoping. When Mikhail Gorbachev visited Beijing just before the Tiananmen Square incident, the Party secretary, Zhao Ziyang, who was subsequently purged, leaked this secret to him and this act was listed as one of Zhao’s “charges.”
- 13.
Li Lisan became the party leader in 1930 and led the uprising of urban workers, but failed and subsequently fell from power in the Party. Zhang Guotao, alongside Mao Zedong, was a Central Committee member at the First National Congress of the Communist Party of China in 1921 and participated in the Long March, but later came into conflict with Mao and defected to the Kuomintang.
- 14.
On the evening of July 11, in the middle of the Lushan Conference, that is, just before Mao was outraged by Peng Dehuai’s letter (see Chap. 6), Mao joined a peaceful gathering with Li Rui and others and confessed, “Before I was 40 years old, I was short-tempered, feeling that justice and truth were always in my hands. I am still short-tempered, though” (Li 1999a, p. 75). In fact, a few days later he exploded in anger before Peng. The point is, he believed that “justice and truth are always in his hands” not only before the age of 40, but throughout his life.
- 15.
Marx, in practice, did not speak such words of wisdom, but it is undeniable that he strongly encouraged a critical attitude toward existing doctrine and authority.
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Nakagane, K. (2024). Mao Zedong’s Philosophy and Thought: Pitfalls of His “Contradiction” and “Practice” Theories. In: Mao Zedong and Contemporary China. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-97-1761-3_1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-97-1761-3_1
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