Abstract
The guiding ideology of the People’s Republic of China is Marxism—Leninism—Mao Zedong Thought and although one might question the extent to which the ideology serves as a guide to action, or as a post-facto justification for policies, an understanding of political life in China is impossible without some knowledge of its proclaimed ideology. Even after Mao’s death, at a time when the leadership has stressed the collective role in the development of Mao Zedong Thought and the need to develop it in accordance with changing reality, justification for policies is still sought from the writings of Mao himself. However, particularly since the Third plenum of the Eleventh CC, the role of Mao’s thought has been downplayed.
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References
K. Wittfogel, ‘The Legend of Maoism’ in China Quarterly (CQ), nos 1 and 2 (January–March and April–June 1960) pp. 72–86 and 16–34.
B. Schwartz, ‘The Legend of the “legend of ‘Maoism”’ in CQ no. 2 (April–June 1960), pp. 35–42.
J. Fairbank, The United States and China (Harvard University Press, 1948).
S. Schram, ‘The Marxist’ in D. Wilson (ed.), Mao Tse-tung in the Scales of History (Cambridge University Press, 1977), p. 67.
See, for example, N. Harris, The Mandate of Heaven: Marx and Mao in Modern China (Quartet Books, 1978), pp. 283–94.
Ibid., p. 287.
A. Walder, ‘Marxism, Maoism and Social Change’ in Modern China, vol. 3, nos 1 and 2 (January and April 1977), pp. 101–16 and 125–60.
R. Pfeffer, ‘Mao and Marx in the Marxist-Leninist Tradition. A Critique of “the China Field” and a Contribution to a Preliminary Reappraisal’ in Modern China, vol. 2, no. 4 (October 1976), p. 426.
S. Schram, ‘The Marxist’ in D. Wilson (ed.), Mao Tse-tung in the Scales of History, p. 35.
See F. Schurmann, Ideology and Organisation in Communist China (University of California Press, 1968), chapter 1.
J. Starr, Continuing the Revolution, the Political Thought of Mao (Princeton University Press, 1979), p. 65.
Ibid,
Ibid., p. 70.
S. Schram, ‘Chinese and Leninist Components in the Personality of Mao Tse-tung’ in Asian Survey, vol. 3, no. 6 (June 1963), p. 268.
See, for example, S. Schram, The Political Thought of Mao Tsetung (Penguin Books, 1969), pp. 84–110; F. Schurmann, Ideology and Organisation in Communist China, pp. 53–7, and J. Starr, Continuing the Revolution, the Political Thought of Mao, pp. 3–45.
For an interesting analysis of this influence and its differences with the Western philosophical tradition, see J. Starr, Continuing the Revolution, the Political Thought of Mao, chapter 1.
J. Starr, Continuing the Revolution, the Political Thought of Mao, p. 9.
S. Schram, ‘The Marxist’ in D. Wilson (ed.), Mao Tse-tung in the Scales of History, p. 60.
Mao Zedong, ‘On the Correct Handling of Contradictions Among the People’ in Selected Works (Beijing: Foreign Languages Press, 1977), vol. 5, pp. 384–421.
Ibid., p. 384.
Mao Zedong, ‘On the Ten Major Relationships’ in Selected Works, vol. 5, pp. 284–307. The ten major contradictions that Mao outlines are those between: heavy industry and light industry and agriculture; coastal industry and inland industry; economic construction and defence construction; the state, the units of production and the producers; central and local authorities; Han nationality and minority nationalities; Party and non-Party; revolution and counter-revolution; right and wrong; and China and other countries.
S. Schram, ‘The Cultural Revolution in Historical Perspective’ in S. Schram (ed.), Authority Participation and Cultural Change in China (Cambridge University Press, 1973), p. 41.
Mao Zedong, ‘Some Questions Concerning Methods of Leadership’ in Selected Works, vol. 3, p. 119.
Mao Zedong, ‘The Foolish Old Man Who Removed the Mountains’ in Selected Works, pp. 271–4.
Mao Zedong, ‘Talks at Three Meetings with Comrades Chang Ch’un-ch’iao and Yao Wen-yuan’ in S. Schram (ed.), Mao Unrehearsed (Penguin Books, 1974), p. 277.
‘Correctly Understand the Role of the Individual in History’ in People’s Daily (Renmin Ribao RMRB) (4 July 1980).
Ibid.
J. Starr, Continuing the Revolution, the Political Thought of Mao, p. 303.
In S. Schram (ed.), Mao Unrehearsed, p. 94.
Peking Review (PR), no. 9 (1975), p. 5.
Yao Wenyuan, ‘On the Social Basis of the Lin Piao Anti-Party Clique’ in PR, no. 10 (1975), p. 6.
Zhang Chunqiao, ‘On Exercising All-Round Dictatorship Over the Bourgeoisie’ in PR, no. 14 (1975), p. 7.
Ibid.
‘Refuting Lin Piao’s Claim: Every Sentence is Truth’ in PR, no. 39 (1978), p. 15.
Communique of the Third plenum of the Eleventh CC in PR, no. 52 (1978), p. 15.
‘Correctly Understand the Role of the Individual in History’ in RMRB (4 July 1980).
Ibid. This reiterates the point made in Ye Jianying’s speech on the Thirtieth Anniversary of the Founding of the PRC. In the speech he stated, ‘Of course, Mao Zedong Thought is not the product of Mao Zedong’s personal wisdom, it is also the product of the wisdom of his comrades-in-arms, the Party and the revolutionary people, and, as he once pointed out, it emerged from the “collective struggles of the Party and the people”.’ In BR, no. 40 (1979), p. 8.
‘A Fundamental Principle of Marxism’ in PR, no. 28 (1978), p. 6.
Notice from the First Plenary Session of the Central Committee for Inspecting Discipline Under the Party Central Committee in Guangming Daily (Guangming Ribao GMRB) (25 March 1979).
‘Fundamental Change in China’s Class Situation’ in Beijing Review (BR), no. 47 (1979), p. 15.
Mao Zedong, ‘On the Correct Handling of Contradictions Among the People’ in Selected Works, vol. 5, p. 397.
BR, no. 47 (1979), p. 16.
Ibid., p. 17.
Selected further reading
The major collections of Mao’s writings are as follows: Selected Works of Mao Zedong (Beijing: Foreign Languages Press), 5 vols. Selected Readings from the Works of Mao Zedong (Beijing: Foreign Languages Press, 1967). Selected Military Writings of Mao Zedong (Beijing: Foreign Languages Press, 1963). Miscellany of Mao Tse-tung Thought 1949–1968 (Arlington, Va: Joint Publications Research Service, 1974). Unselected Works of Mao Tse-tung 1957 (Hong Kong: Union Research Institute, 1976).
J. Chen, Mao Papers (London: Oxford University Press, 1970).
S. R. Schram (ed.), Mao Tse-tung Unrehearsed (Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1974).
C. Johnson (ed.), Ideology and Politics in Contemporary China (Seattle, Wash.: University of Washington Press, 1973).
M. Meisner, ‘Leninism and Maoism: Some Populist Perspectives on Marxism-Leninism in China’ in China Quarterly, no. 45, pp. 2–36.
R. Pfeffer, ‘Mao and Marx in the Marxist-Leninist Tradition’ in Modern China, vol. 2, no. 4, pp. 421–60.
S. R. Schram, ‘Mao Tse-tung and the Theory of Permanent Revolution’ in China Quarterly, no. 46, pp. 221–44.
S. R. Schram, The Political Thought of Mao Tse-tung (Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1969).
B. Schwartz, ‘The Legend of the “Legend of Marxism”’ in China Quarterly, no. 2, pp. 35–42.
B. Schwartz, Communism and China: Ideology in Flux (New York: Atheneum, 1970).
J. B. Starr, Continuing the Revolution: the Political Thought of Mao (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1979).
A. Walder, ‘Marxism, Maoism and Social Change’ in Modern China, vol. 3, nos 1 and 2, pp. 101–16 and 125–80.
K. Wittfogel, ‘The Legend of Maoism’ in China Quarterly, no. 1, pp. 72–86 and no. 2, pp. 16–34.
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© 1981 Tony Saich
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Saich, T. (1981). Marxism—Leninism—Mao Zedong Thought. In: China: Politics and Government. China in Focus series. Palgrave, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-16590-2_4
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