80 years ago, Mao Zedong solved the problem of China's socialist and
capitalist surnames[1]
(Above; Lei Jieqiong as a young women - see final paragraph)
Xu Mingming 2021-07-26
(Translator’s
preface: This article was taken from the
redchinacn.org website. I have explained in a footnote the meaning of the
phrase “socialist and capitalist surnames”.
We are not talking here about the names of individuals but of a social
system. As a direct translation it is
clumsy, but it retains the sense in which it was used. At the end, there is a
reference to an inscription that hangs in the Mao Zedong Relic Museum in
Shaoshan. The relic museum is a very moving testament to the sort of person Mao
Zedong was. His pyjamas with 73 patches
are on display, as are the threadbare shoes he continued to wear, and the
receipts he issued when paying for even the smallest items of personal use. All
the gifts he was sent are listed and were handed over to the state. This
article was posted in China on July 26, in the wake of the CCP’s centenary.)
The article the day before yesterday wrote about a 1937 speech by Lin Biao at the Resistance University[2] that said, ""Capitalism is for individuals to get rich, communism is for everyone to get rich".
People say that this is a perfect statement, answering a question that confuses many Chinese people in reality.
Why did Lin Biao have such a high theoretical level?
Why was the Communist Party, which was founded less than 20 years earlier in the midst of an arduous war, discussing the question of the capitalist and socialist surnames?
If you read the writings of Chairman Mao, you will know that 80 years ago, Mao Zedong creatively and systematically discussed the theory of the New Democratic Revolution, which solved the problem of the capitalist and socialist surnames in China today.
Lin Biao, as the president of the Resistance University, studied and comprehended Chairman Mao's theories and summarised them in that phrase.
The situation was very serious at that time, the Red Army had just completed the 25,000-mile Long March and settled in northern Shaanxi. The Central Red Army went from 100,000 men at the time of the Long March to only 8,000 men left after arriving in northern Shaanxi. The Fourth Front Army, the Second Red Front Army and others met in Shaanbei, and together they had only 30,000 men.
The war of resistance against Japan broke out in full force, ushering in the second communist cooperation, but Chiang Kai-shek did not give up his ambition to annihilate the Communist Party, suppressing the Communist Party, opposing the Communist Party, excluding the Communist Party, and dissolving the Communist Party, setting off a new anti-communist climax. Returning from the Soviet Union, Wang Ming again engaged in a full-scale reversal to the Guomindang, wanting everything to be obeyed and passed through the Guomindang. Wang Ming also went to Wuhan to take up office, directly defecting to the Guomindang and opposing the independent anti-Japanese policy and line proposed by Mao Zedong.
The Communist Party and the Red Army were again on the verge of danger and there was the possibility that they would repeat the failure of the first period of Communist Party-Guomindang cooperation.
At this time there was an urgent need to clarify who the Communist Party was? Where did it come from and where was it going?
These were very urgent questions. The theory of the Communist Party came from Marxism, but Marx spoke of socialism and communism on the basis of developed capitalism in Europe and America. Socialism in the Soviet Union was also built on capitalism. It was because capitalism was developed that there was an urban working class, that there was a proletariat.
Therefore, the revolution carried out by the Communist Party was actually an anti-imperialist and anti-feudal Western bourgeois democratic revolution. It had to be led by the bourgeoisie, and in China had to be led by the Chiang Kai-shek and the Guomindang.
This was the theory of those Marxists who had returned from their studies abroad. The party was then claimed to have had twenty-eight and a half Bolsheviks. In their eyes, Mao was a peasant, speaking of Marxism from the ravine.
To uphold the leadership of the Communist Party, to carry the revolution to the end, the CCP had to create a set of Chinese Marxist theories.
Most of the Communists, Red Army and Eighth Route Army at that time were uneducated, so they had to be told theories that they understood and revolutionary principles that they could understand.
In October 1939, Mao Zedong wrote “Introducing The Communist”[3] and in November he wrote “The Chinese Revolution and the Chinese Communist Party”[4].
“Introducing The Communist” speaks of the three great treasures of the united front, the armed struggle and the building of the Party. Why the united front? Because the bourgeoisie represented by Chiang Kai-shek's group was very strong and they also had demands against imperialism, so they could unite and resist Japan together. But the Chinese bourgeoisie, because it arose in a semi-feudal and semi-colonial soil, has two sides, a revolutionary side and a counter-revolutionary side that surrenders to imperialism, and they are inextricably linked to and represent the feudal landlord class, which makes them prone to counter-revolution. Therefore, the Chinese revolution could not be led by the bourgeoisie and with a very weak proletariat in China, the Chinese revolution had to mobilise the masses of peasants who had strong anti-imperialist and anti-feudal demands. In order to defend the leadership of the Communist Party against imperialism, feudalism and attempts at extermination by the bourgeoisie, it was necessary to wage armed struggle. Only with the leadership of the Communist Party can the Chinese Revolution be won; only by building the Party well can the Party's leadership of the Chinese Revolution be maintained.
“The Chinese Revolution and the Communist Party of China” sets out the theory of the "New Democratic Revolution". New democratic revolution refers to the bourgeois democratic revolution led by the proletariat in the colonial and semi-colonial countries during the era of imperialism and proletarian revolution. The term "new" refers to the old democratic revolution led by the bourgeoisie in Europe and the United States in the 17th and 18th centuries, which aimed at overthrowing the oppression of feudal absolutism and establishing the political rule of the bourgeoisie. The New Democratic Revolution in China began in 1919 with the May Fourth Movement, before which the bourgeois democratic revolution of modern times was the Old Democratic Revolution in China. The New Democratic Revolution is a proletarian-led, popular revolution against imperialism, feudalism and bureaucratic capitalism. Its goal is that the proletariat (through the Communist Party of China) firmly holds the leadership of the revolution, completes the tasks of the revolution, and, in time, realizes the transition from new democracy to socialism.
Mao Zedong pointed out that the nature of a semi-colonial and semi-feudal society determines that the Chinese revolution must be divided into two steps, the first step is the democratic revolution, and the second step is the socialist revolution. After the May Fourth Movement, the Chinese democratic revolution was no longer a democratic revolution led by the bourgeoisie, but a new democratic revolution. The new democratic revolution is an anti-imperialist and anti-feudal revolution led by the proletariat. The fundamental mark that distinguishes the nature of the new and old democratic revolutions is the issue of proletarian leadership.
Mao Zedong said: "Only by recognizing the nature of Chinese society, can we clearly recognize the objects of the Chinese revolution, the tasks of the Chinese revolution, the driving force of the Chinese revolution, the nature of the Chinese revolution, and the transformation of the future of the Chinese revolution. Therefore, we must clearly recognize the nature of the Chinese society. In other words, recognizing China's "national conditions" is the basic basis for recognizing all revolutionary issues."
Discussing the future of the Chinese revolution, Mao Zedong said: " There can be no doubt that the ultimate perspective of the Chinese revolution is not capitalism but socialism and communism."
"However, it is not at all surprising but entirely to be expected that a capitalist economy will develop to a certain extent within Chinese society with the sweeping away of the obstacles to the development of capitalism after the victory of the revolution, since the purpose of the Chinese revolution at the present stage is to change the existing colonial, semi-colonial and semi-feudal state of society, i.e., to strive for the completion of the new-democratic revolution. A certain degree of capitalist development will be an inevitable result of the victory of the democratic revolution in economically backward China. But that will be only one aspect of the outcome of the Chinese revolution and not the whole picture. The whole picture will show the development of socialist as well as capitalist factors. What will the socialist factors be? The increasing relative importance of the proletariat and the Communist Party among the political forces in the country; leadership by the proletariat and the Communist Party which the peasantry, intelligentsia and the urban petty bourgeoisie already accept or are likely to accept; and the state sector of the economy owned by the democratic republic, and the co-operative sector of the economy owned by the working people. All these will be socialist factors. With the addition of a favourable international environment, these factors render it highly probable that China's bourgeois-democratic revolution will ultimately avoid a capitalist future and enjoy a socialist future."
In January 1940, Mao Zedong wrote "On New Democracy" to systematically discuss the new democratic revolution led by the Communist Party of China.
The basic program of the new-democratic revolution is: politically, to overthrow the oppression of imperialism and feudalism, and establish a democratic republic in China led by the proletariat and based on the alliance of workers and peasants. Economically, large banks, large industries, and large commerce that manipulate the national economy and people's livelihood are confiscated to establish a state-owned economy; landlord’s land shall be confiscated for the peasants, and peasants shall be guided to develop a cooperative economy; the development of national capitalist economy and the existence of rich peasant economy shall be allowed. Culturally, abolish the feudal comprador culture and develop a national, scientific and popular culture. "All comrades in the party must firmly grasp the general line of the party. This is the line of the new-democratic revolution. The new-democratic revolution is not like any other revolution. It can only be and must be a revolution led by the proletariat, by the masses, against imperialism, feudalism and bureaucratic capitalism.".
When Mao Zedong proposed the theory of the new democratic revolution, the Communist Party had just been established for 18 years and the Second World War had just begun. At that time, Mao Zedong established such a systematic and complete revolutionary theory to guide the practice of the Chinese revolution. This was the core of Mao Zedong's ideological theory and the Sinicization of Marxism.
Some people say that Mao Zedong Thought is a product of collective leadership, but we must first recognize Mao Zedong’s commanding leadership and the originality of Mao Zedong’s theory. Who has contributed to this theory of thought?
Reading these works and expositions by Mao Zedong will solve all of today’s problems of capitalist and socialist surnames.
Some people say that socialism has been done prematurely and badly, that China needs capitalism to make up for it, etc., all of which deviate from Mao Zedong's path of the New Democratic Revolution. There is also the primary stage of socialism, where productivity is not yet high and life is not yet rich, which is also China's national condition and reality, but this reality must also be changed by socialism, not by going back to capitalism, let alone hoping for imperialism to help to develop the economy. China must be independent and struggle hard.
After the party was founded a hundred years ago, after rereading these great works of Chairman Mao, Mao Zedong is really a great leader and mentor, pointing out the path and direction of the Communist Party of China and the Chinese revolution.
Mao Zedong's "Snow (to the tune of Qinyuanchun)"[5]:
But alas! Chin Shih-huang and Han Wu-ti
Were lacking in literary grace,
And Tang Tai-tsung and Sung Tai-tsu
Had little poetry in their souls;
And Genghis Khan,
Proud Son of Heaven for a day,
Knew only shooting eagles, bow outstretched
All are past and gone!
For truly great men
Look to this age alone.
Mao Zedong’s greatness is that he not only conquered the world, but also created a set of theories for conquering the world, leading the people to conquer the world, and the masses of the people to create history. After conquering the world, he also created a system to govern the world, which is socialism. Sinicised Marxism.
Some people were very afraid of Mao's last decade because in his last decade, Mao foretold all the things that some people did. He said that some people would engage in capitalism, some people would be corrupt and engage in bureaucratic privileges to get rich first, they would be detached from the people, they would engage in capitulationism in the international arena, and so on. Mao Zedong also came up with solutions to these problems.
Now think about it, you can't but be convinced - Mao Zedong is a god.
After Mao Zedong, at any time and in no matter how many years, someone will read Chairman Mao’s books and study Mao Zedong’s thoughts and theories, and they will follow Mao Zedong’s path. To engage in capitalism, corruption and privileges in China is unpopular.
This is what Lei Jieqiong wrote (below) in the former residence of Mao Zedong in Shaoshan: The public is forever, the private is temporary.[6]
[1] One
of those Chinese expressions that doesn’t easily translate into English. The
Chinese is 姓社姓资, or “surnamed socialism, surnamed capitalism”. Its meaning is “to
be called”. It originated from comments made
by Deng Xiaoping in his 1992 Southern Tour. On 22 February 1990, the People's
Daily published a long article by Wang Renzhi, then head of the Propaganda
Department of the CPC Central Committee, "On opposing bourgeois
liberalisation", raising the issue: "To carry out capitalist reforms
or to carry out socialist reforms?" Deng bided his time while discussions
continued in the Party press, and then counter-attacked early in 1992, saying
that whether it was called socialist or capitalist would be decided by the “three
benefits”: The standard of judgment should be mainly on whether it is conducive
to the development of the productive forces of socialist society, whether it is
conducive to enhancing the comprehensive national strength of a socialist
country, and whether it is conducive to improving the living standards of the
people.
[2] The Resist Japan Military and Political
University was founded in 1931 in the revolutionary base area around the town
of Ruijin. It was moved to Yan’an at the end of the Long March and reopened
there in 1937 with Lin Biao as its President, and Mao Zedong was the chair of
its Board of Education.
[5] See: SNOW
(marxists.org)
[6] Lei
Jieqiong (12 September 1905 - 9 January 2011), was a Chinese sociologist,
jurist, social activist, educator and one of the main founders of the China
Association for Promoting Democracy. She was co-opted as the Chairman of the
Central Committee at the Fifth Plenary Session of the Seventh Central Committee
of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP); she was re-elected as the Chairman
of the Eighth and Ninth Central Committees of the DPP; she served as the
Vice-Chairman of the Sixth National Committee of the Chinese People's Political
Consultative Conference (CPPCC), Vice-Chairman of the Standing Committee of the
Seventh and Eighth National People's Congresses; and Executive Committee Member
and Vice-Chairman of the All-China Women's Federation.
One day in May 1994, Lei Jieqiong, then vice chairman
of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, visited Hunan and
arranged a special trip to Shaoshan, Mao Zedong’s birthplace. The exhibition of
Mao Zedong's relics caused Lei to think deeply. While drinking tea and
talking in the lounge, the Director of the Shaoshan Administration Bureau Mao
made a wish to Lei, asking her to write an inscription for the Mao Zedong
Relics Exhibition. She borrowed the famous saying, "The public is forever,
the private is temporary" which comes from the phrase used in the Ming
Dynasty by Wu Dacheng, a famous official in the late Qing Dynasty, in the Wuxi
Forest of Monuments, one of the three major monument forests in China. Lei
believed the words reflected the chairman's plain living style and his
differentiating between public and private interests.
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