Author: 禹賀之声 Date：2018-11-13 08:41:40 Source：民族复兴网
(Translator’s preface: the title of this article from 2018 is taken from a poem which is available on the internet in Chinese, but which may not have been translated into English before. They are the first two lines of a poem written by Mao in August 1966 in the wake of his posting up a big-character poster of his own called “Bombard the Headquarters”. Also included is a poem written by Mao in 1975 to Zhou Enlai expressing heartfelt concern for the future of the socialist nation they had founded. The author of this article is rather too pessimistic, in my opinion, for the betrayals of socialism in the Soviet Union and China will provide Communists all over the world with important lessons with which they may enthusiastically strive for revolutionary change, and just as enthusiastically undertake the building of socialism. In the first image, the captions read “the wealthy” – at the top in yellow and about to collapse the system in their pursuit of the renminbi, the Chinese yuan; “the middle class” halfway up the pole; and the “common people” who are left behind at the bottom. The words at the bottom translate into the title above.)
In July 1921, Chairman Mao and 12 other delegates gathered
in Shanghai to attend the First Congress of the Communist Party of China.
From having not a single soldier to having more than four
million troops, the Chinese Communist Party had gone through 28 years of blood
and fire. In these 28 years, the Communist Party had sacrificed countless
outstanding members, sacrificed countless outstanding fighters, and countless
comrades had fallen in pools of blood.
Chairman Mao once said, "We are all survivors".
But Chairman Mao was often the only one who was clear-headed.
At a meeting of the Politburo in January, Chairman Mao
pointed out: "Don't let victory overwhelm you". He said "The
greater the victory, the greater the burden, and the easier it is to unite in
times of tension and difficulty. This must be guarded against, and cadres must
be educated, first and foremost by making senior cadres understand that after
the war is over, what really needs to be done will only begin, and then it may
well feel easier to fight the war". At the Second Plenary Session of the
Seventh Central Committee, Chairman Mao foresaw that: "With victory, certain moods may grow
within the Party -- arrogance, the airs of a self-styled hero, inertia and
unwillingness to make progress, love of pleasure and distaste for continued
hard living. With victory, the people will be grateful to us and the
bourgeoisie will come forward to flatter us. It has been proved that the enemy
cannot conquer us by force of arms. However, the flattery of the bourgeoisie
may conquer the weak-willed in our ranks. There may be some Communists, who
were not conquered by enemies with guns and were worthy of the name of heroes
for standing up to these enemies, but who cannot withstand sugar-coated
bullets; they will be defeated by sugar-coated bullets."
Still at the Second Plenary Session of the Seventh Central
Committee, Chairman Mao once again admonished the Party: "To win countrywide victory is only the
first step in a long march of ten thousand li. Even if this step is worthy of pride, it is
comparatively tiny; what will be more worthy of pride is yet to come. After
several decades, the victory of the Chinese people's democratic revolution,
viewed in retrospect, will seem like only a brief prologue to a long drama. A
drama begins with a prologue, but the prologue is not the climax. The Chinese
revolution is great, but the road after the revolution will be longer, the work
greater and more arduous." "The comrades must be taught to remain modest, prudent and
free from arrogance and rashness in their style of work. The comrades must be
taught to preserve the style of plain living and hard struggle."
And they said firmly, "We will never be Li
Zicheng".[3]
It was natural that Chairman Mao would not be Li Zicheng,
but what about the others?
When he entered Beijing in March 1949, Liu Shaoqi went to
Tianjin in May and said something about "exploitation has merit".
There may have been a subjective desire to stabilise order
and increase employment at the time, but as a proletarian party, its ultimate
aim was to eliminate private ownership.
Was there any objective fact that capitalists had increased
employment before liberation?
If exploitation had been allowed, the Chinese revolution
would have been totally unnecessary.
Certainly, allowing exploitation would have enabled some
people to get rich first.
If exploitation was allowed, what was the original intention
of the revolutionaries?
Was it to bring down the old exploiters and become the new
exploiters themselves?
To bring down the old bureaucrats and become new bureaucrats
themselves?
To bring down the old warlords and become new warlords themselves?
But what about the others?
At the beginning of the country, how many meritorious
officials were busy repudiating their wives and marrying again after entering
the city? I can cite several such examples.
At an enlarged meeting of the military commission, Chairman
Mao said to the generals, "You have led the soldiers for 12 months, can
you not let the soldiers lead you for a month and go down to the company and
eat, live and train with the soldiers?"
The generals had no choice, but to go ahead!
In 1958, when Chairman Mao visited Anhui, Zeng Xisheng asked
Chairman Mao how to improve the efficiency of the authorities, and Chairman Mao
said, "One third of the authorities should stay on the line, and the rest
should go to the workshops and the countryside to investigate and participate
in production work.”
In 1974, Chairman Mao heard from the staff around him that
Premier Zhou had more than forty secretaries. Chairman Mao later politely told
Premier Zhou not to let his secretaries lead him by the nose, but to do his own
work, and that he must write his own scripts.
Premier Zhou went back and sacked the forty and kept four
more.
The beloved Premier Zhou also intentionally forgot his
original intention!
According to Qi Benyu's recollection, few senior Party
cadres talked about communism, but were keen to talk about playing cards and
drinking; did these people still remember their original intention?
Chairman Mao once said helplessly, "If you don't come
with me, I'll go to find the Red Army."
How lonely and sad the old man was!
The comrades-in-arms felt that the boat had arrived at
Jiangxin and the train had arrived at the station[4],
but Chairman Mao also demanded to continue the revolution and to make new
contributions to the people. The glory of the past belongs to history and
cannot be endured.
Only the Red Army has the original intention. Therefore, the
old man made up his mind to go back to Jinggang Mountain.
In his later years, Chairman Mao said to his staff.
"Who has seriously thought about how many people have
died in building the new China? I have thought about this" "In the
future, will this country, this Party, change its colour in the future and take
the road of socialism or not?" "I have no selfishness, I think of the
suffering of the common people in China, they do want to take the socialist
road, so I rely on the masses and cannot let them go backwards again."
"I don't want that day to come when there will be hired labour and
exploitation, prostitutes and opium smoking on Chinese soil again, in which
case the blood of countless martyrs will have been shed in vain."
Chairman Mao had realised that his comrades could not be
relied on anymore, being big officials with houses, cars, and waiters, and
being more powerful than the capitalists. They would only protect the interests
of the big officials, so he could only rely on the people.
A look at the sadness of Chairman Mao in his later years
Bombard the Headquarters[5]
-
To the tune of seven-character Ju jue
(August 1966)
Where is the people's victory today?
The road is full of upstarts[6]
and eyes are full of decay.
The nuclear bomb[7]
is placed high on the top of Kunlun[8].
The rottenness is destroyed without regret.
Chairman Mao's original intention is something that the
people only understand today.
(The author then quotes all of Mao’s Where do correct
ideas come from?[9]. )
Pouring Out Heartfelt Emotions
When I was a loyal soldier for my country
Were we ever afraid of losing our heads?
Now the world is red.
Who will defend the kingdom?
I have not yet finished my work
My body is tired.
And my temples are already autumnal.[11]
You and I,
Can we bear to give up our long-cherished wish
As it flows to the east?[12]
…………………….
[1] Before 1949, Beijng (“Northern
capital”) was known as Beiping (“Northern Peace”)
[2] When
Mao left Xibaipo for Beijing, he stepped into the jeep and excitedly said to
Zhou Enlai, “Today we’re going to Beijing for the civil service exam. We can’t
be like Li Zicheng!” He was referring to the tests that the Party would be
subjected to as it began the task of governing China.
[3] Li Zicheng headed a rebel army the army which overthrew the Ming Dynasty. After Li Zicheng entered Beijing, he was appointed Prime Minister and used the position to gain personal power, appointing all his friends and relatives as officials. The would-be emperor failed to keep power because he and his colleagues alienated the masses by adopting an aristocratic lifestyle. His rule lasted less than a year.
[4] This phrase is a succinct seven-character expression in Chinese, and is a metaphor for it being time to relax one’s efforts – the boat has arrived at the docks and the bus or train is at the station. The big tasks have been finally completed, and everyone now can relax and have fun.
[5] I
am not sure whether this poem has been made available in English before. The
title refers to the big-character poster Mao wrote on August 5. This is my
translation of the poem. Here is the Chinese original if anyone can improve on
my efforts:
七绝。炮打司令部
（1966年8月）
人民胜利今何在？
满路新贵满目衰。
核弹高置昆仑巅，
摧尽腐朽释怀。
[6]
The Chinese original is “xingui” referring to a person who in feudal times had
recently become a high official, a new nobleman.
[7]
China’s first nuclear test explosion occurred on 16 October 1964. The nuclear
bomb may here be a metaphor for the destructive power of the Great Proletarian
Cultural Revolution which aimed at sweeping away the “four olds” – old ideas,
old habits, old culture and old customs.
[8]
Kunlun Shan is a mountain or mountain range in Chinese mythology. According to
myth, Kunlun was the dwelling place of
various gods and goddesses (eg the Queen Mother of the West) where fabled
plants and mythical creatures may also be found. Many important events in
Chinese mythology were based around Kunlun. Mao wrote a poem, Kunlun, in
1935.
[10] Mao uses the Chinese
expression 江山 (jiangshan),
meaning rivers and mountains, which refers to the territory or power of a
country.
[11] The reference to autumnal temples
appears first in the Song Dynasty poet Lu You’s works and means that he has
aged and his hair is turning white.
[12] “Flowing to the east” is from
another Song Dynasty poet, and is a metaphor for the loss of hope, the loss of
achievement and the abandonment of previous work.
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