Mao Ze Dong

MAO ZE DONG (1893-1976) Maoism like Marxism and Leninism was one of the most debated subjects of the 20th century and is most likely to remain so in the 21st century in the face of the expanding process of capitalist globalization. This is because the formulations advanced by Mao and the later Maoists, challenge some of the dominant assumptions relating to the basic issues of struggle for liberation , equality, justice and self- development in course of social transformation in all societies. Born at Shaoshan in Hunan province of China in 1893 Mao is the second Marxist revolutionary ( Lenin being the first) who brought about a successful revolution in a backward country like China. Mao, like Lenin, was both a theoretician and a practitioner. Mao Zedong thought initiated several innovative formulation on revolution and social transformation which continuer to reverberate leading to intense political debates on the nature of democracy, socialism and human future in the 21st century through out the world.

Mao was the son of a rich peasant who was intellectually restless by nature and was the profoundly dissatisfied with Chinese society. After graduating from college in 1918 in Chiangsha, he became a librarian at Peking university where he founded a Marxist student circle. However, he left the job and returned to Changsha and became active in the communist party of China. He travelled to various parts of China which gave him a first hand impression about the exploitative conditions under which the Chinese peasantry was reeling at that time. By 1927 the relations between Kuo mintang (KMT) and the Communist Party of China (CPC) became so bitter that the KMT and the CPC, Mao was asked  to organize a rebellion of Hunan peasants. During the course of this rebellion, Mao wrote his first major work - Analysis of Chinese Society.  Here, he identified the various strata of

Chinese peasantry - small  marginal middle and the big peasant and the

revolutionary potential of each of them.

He highlighted  the  contradiction between the peasantry and feudal lords. He attempted the Harvest Uprising of peasants in 1928, but the uprising was

crushed and Mao had flee along with his supporters to nearby mountains. From these mountains, Mao started guerrilla warfare tactics. By these tactics, CPC was able to capture various parts of South East China. Mao set up a number of peasant soviets in the captured areas. However, the KMT tried to crush these guerrilla attacks and encircled the areas where peasan tsoviets had been set up. Finally, the KMT armies drove out of the revolutionaries who took shelter in the north-west hills of China. This escape became famous as Mao’s stay in the north- west was the most fruitful period for the CPC. It was here that Mao began an extensive study of Marxist philosophy.

His well known pieces of work

namely “on Pracitce” and ‘On contradiction' were written during this

period. In the 1940’s, he gave a blue- print of the future Chinese’s government titled New Democracy.” He also advocated a strategy of mass mobilization of peasants which is known as Mao’s Mass – Line Popullism. Basis of Mao’s power was the success of party strategies and policies after the on set of the Sino- Japanese war in 1937 the conclusive success of these strategies and policies from 1945 to 1949 further bolstered his ultimate authority. Mao’s authority was further enhanced by his major initiatives in the 1949-57 period. In the 1950s, Mao gave his famous call of “Let Hundred Flowers Bloom” which allowed different view points in the CPC to be expressed freely and openly.

CONTRADICTION

Maoism does not figure prominently either in the Western discourses on Marxism or the discourses on development and transformation in the west . Paradixically, communist movements and discourses on social transformation in the Asian, African and Latin American countries derive a lot of insights and inspirations from the Maoist tradition. This is because they find the ideological creativity in Mao Zedong’s theory and political practice as attractive. In the two philosophical essays of Mao, On practice and On contradiction, both written in 1937, the essential point made by Mao is that theory has to be derived from practice.

The doctrine “Contradiction” occupies an important aspect in the political philosophy of Mao. In an essay entitled “On contradiction” Mao wrote thus: the law of contradiction in things, that is, the law of the unity of opposites, is the basic law of materialist dialectics. This choose the traditional Marxist notion of dialectics. In several places Mao stressed that the unity of opposites is the essence of dialectics. According to Mao, changes in nature as well as society take place primarily as a result of the development of internal contradictions. As Mao said: External causes are the condition of change and internal causes are the basis of change.’ According to this law , contradictions in the society can be resolved mainly within the society. A revolutionary movement in a country can succeed only if it is backed by the masses of that country and if it is self- reliant. The principle of self- reliance in China’s revolutionary people’s war was manifestation of this law. In recent decades China’s essentially self reliant strategy of economic development and particularly policies related to the Great Leap Forward which seek to generate resources within each sector, reflect the some approach. Mao’s discussion on contradiction is profusely loaded quotations from Engels, Lenin and Stalin. Mao accepts Engel’s assertion that” motion itself is a contradiction.” Engels said that et was even more true of the highest forms of motion of matter Mao repeats Lenin’s examples of unity of opposites given in Lenin’s philosophical Note Books.

PRINCIPAL CONTRADICTION

In the long process of development of things there are specific stages and in each stages some contradictions are more powerful than the others. According to Mao, “ one of them is necessarily the principal contradiction whose existence and development determines or influences the existence and development determines or influences the existence and development of other contradictions. “ Mao also insists that there is only one principal contradiction at every stage of the development of the process and when another stage emerges a new principal contradiction also emerges. He gives three

major instances to explain this. In a  capitalist society, the proletariat and the bourgeoisie form the principal contradiction society, the proletariat and bourgeoisie form the principal contradiction and the other contradictions like the one between the remnant feudal class and the bourgeoisie are non- principal . During a war of imperialist aggression the principal contradiction is between imperialism and the country which is attacked. In this situation all the classes except the traitors temporarily unite against the national enemy for the contradictions among them are non- principal. But there are instances where imperialism operates through the ruling classes of a country and the principal contradiction comes to be the one between the masses on the one hand and the alliance of imperialists and the domestic ruling class on the other.

ANTAGONISTIC AND NON ANTAGONISTIC CONTRADICTIONS

At different stages of development of a thing, its contending forces have different degrees of intensity in their confrontation. In the 1937 essay “ On contradiction” Mao Zedong discussed this question and pointed out that antagonism was a particular manifestation of the struggle of opposites” It is true that contradictions between the oppressor and the oppressed classes are bound to contain an element of antagonism. But some of these contradictions remain latent and only at definite stages do they manifest antagonism. As Mao put it, “some contradictions which were originally non antagonistic develop into anta agonistic ones, while others which were originally antagonistic develop into non- antagonistic ones”.

On the basis  of this perspective, Mao formulated  his theory of new democracy and under it  the strategy of a four- class united front with the national bourgeoisie,

in it. The contradiction between the proletarian and the national bourgeoisie which had  an element of antagonism in it was basically understood as non – antagonistic at that time so that there could be a united front on the other were antagonistic. This approach  was further clarified in Mao’s essay “On the people’s

 Democratic Dictatorship” published in June 1949. Methods of dictatorship were to be applied to the handling of antagonistic contradictions where as democratic methods of persuasion and education were to be used in case of non- antagonistic contradictions.

In his 1957 speech, ‘On the Correct Handling of Contradictions Among the People Mao analyzed deeper into these concepts and explained their application to the contemporary problems facing China. He remarked that to deny the existence of contradictions is to deny dialectics. Society at all times develops through contradictions. Party leaders should recognize contradictions which exist between government and society, between the leaders and the led. These contradictions should be correctly handled. “ By antagonistic contradictions he meant the contradictions between ourselves and the enemy while the contradictions among the people varies in content in different countries and in different periods of history. Mao said that those who supported the building of socialism in China at that point were among the ‘ people’ and those who opposed it were ‘ the enemies of the people.’

Mao’s 1957 speech criticized two erroneous lines of thinking. First was the rightist view point within and outside the Communist Party of China (CPC) which thought that class contradictions had disappeared with the socialist transformation which had taken place in the People’s Republic of China(PRC). As against this, Mao emphasized the existence of numerous non antagonistic contradictions and also some continuing basis of antagonistic contradictions in the socialist society. The second view point

which Mao criticized exaggerated the threat of counter revolution in China and showed excessive alarm at the Hungarian uprising in 1956. He pointed out that they underrated the achievements of long years of popular revolutionary struggle and the success in the suppression of counter revolutionaries in China. Between these two extremes Mao asked for clearly distinguishing between the antagonistic and non antagonistic contradictions and correctly handling them.

Among the examples of non- antagonistic contradictions that Mao gives are: The contradictions between the working class and the peasantry, between the workers and peasants on the one hand and the intellectuals on the other, and so on. Correct handling of contradictions among the people’s demands the practice of democracy under centralized guideance3 and not dictatorship. The 1942 formula of ‘unity, criticism, unity’ was applicable in resolving these contradictions.

An important aspect of this notion is the transformation of a non – antagonistic contradiction into an antagonist one

and vice versa. The Chinese national bourgeoisie moved from its original antagonistic  position vis-à-vis China’s working classes and came to be included in the united front:   it was generally co-operative with the ‘people’s democratic and then the

socialist transformation of China’s economy. It continued to have

a dual character, containing both

antagonism and non- antagonism. The role of the party policy is extremely significant in guiding the development of contradictions form one stage to another. If contradictions among the people are not handled properly, antagonism may arise. This many appear in the form of sharp difference between workers and peasants in terms of wages, living standards and cultural level, between the government and the people in the forms of bureucratism and elitism, and between the party and the masses also in the same form.

Role of Peasantry in Revolution

Mao tried to apply Marxism- Leninism in China with reasonable modifications and changes to keep pace with changes in the Chinese society and polity. Thus he modified Marxism Leninism by relying heavily on the peasantry’s revolutionary potential. It should be noted that Marx has treated the peasantry with some degree of contempt. For the most part, peasantry for him was conservative and reactionary; it was no more than a bag of potatoes unable to make a revolution . Even Lenin had relied mainly on the proletariat in the urban centers of Russia for mass insurrections and had not placed much faith in the peasantry’s revolutionary potential. Mao’s fundamental contribution, therefore, was to bring about a successful revolution in China mainly with the help of the peasantry’s revolutionary potential. Mao’s fundamental contribution, therefore was to bring about a successful revolution in China mainly with the help of the peasantry. More than any thing else, his revolutionary model became inspiration for several Afro-Asian peasant societies. Further, Mao in his cultural revolution phase drew some lessons from the course of post revolutionary reconstruction in the soviet Union and warned against the emergence of new bourgeoisie class who were beneficiaries of the transitional period.

New Democracy

Mao raised that the peasantry in China was not strong enough to win the revolutionary struggle against imperialism and feudalism. Therefore, it was necessary to seek the help of the other

classes of Chinese society.  It

was in this context that Mao emphasized the concept  of a united front It was seen as an alliance between different partners who had some common interest like opposition to imperialism. Its object would be to pursue the resolution of the principal contradiction. Such a united front strategy was employed by Mao by establishing the alliance of Chinese peasantry with the proletariat, the petty bourgeoisie and even the national bourgeoisie. It also intended the non- party elements among the Chinese intellectinals. The united front is a broad alliance of the Chinese people against Japanese imperialism and western powers.

Mao published On New Democracy in January 1940 in the midst of Sino- Japanese war. In this essay he defined the nature of the current stage of the Chinese revolution most explicitly and discussed the crucial questions arising out of it . It is this essay and the writings on strategy and philosophy by Mao during the three preceding years which acquired a distinct character for the CPC’s revolutionary out look. In 1945 the CPC constitution acknowledged Marxism- Leninism and the “ combined principles derived from the practical experience of the Chinese revolution- the ideas of Mao Ze dong- as the guiding principles of all its work” This revolutionary outlook assumed legitimation in the international communist movement.

In Pursuance of his united front strategy, Mao gave a call for a new democratic Republic of China. It was to be a state under the joint dictatorship of several classes . He proposed a state system which is called New Democracy. Mao wrote thus: Our present task is to strengthen the people’s apparatus- meaning principally the people’s army, the people’s police and the people courts safeguarding national defense and protecting the people interests. Given these conditions, China under the leadership of the working class and the communist party, can develop steadily from an agricultural into a socialist and eventually, communist society, eliminating classes and realizing universal harmony”.

New Democracy, according to Mao, meant two things. Firstly, democracy for the people and secondly, dictatorship for the reactionaries. These two things combined together constitute the people’s democratic dictatorship. In New Democracy the henchmen of imperialism- the landlord class and bureaucratic capitalist class as well as the reactionary clique of the Kuomintang, will be completely suppressed under the leadership of working class. It will allow them to behave properly and prevent them from acting irresponsibly. Democracy shall be practiced by the ranks of the people and will be allowed freedom of speech, assembly and association. According to Mao, “the people’s state is for the protection of the people once they have a people’s state, the people then have the possibility of applying democratic methods on a nationwide and comprehensive scale to educate and reform themselves, so that they may get rid of the influences of domestic and foreign reactionaries. Thus the people can reform their bad habits and thoughts drived from the old society, so that they will not take the wrong road pointed out to them by the reactionaries, but will continue to advance and develop toward a socialist and then communist society”.

In New Democracy, the supremacy of the communist party will remain fundamental. In its revolutionary struggle towards dictatorship, the party will act as a vanguard of the working class. The communist party is an organization of the working class which is filled with revolutionary fervour and zeal. The history of revolution every where proves that without the leadership of the working class, a revolution will fail, but with the leadership of the working class a revolution will be victorious.

According to Mao, in an era of imperialism no other class in any country can lead any genuine revolution to victory.

The society of New Democracy will be classless without which democracy and socialism cannot be established. A democratic and scientific culture shall be evolved in a new democracy. Mao is convinced that without this new culture, new democracy cannot be maintained. The new culture is of and for the Chinese people which, although possessing characteristics and peculiarities of its own, yet seeks to interlink and fuse itself with the national- socialist culture and the new democratic culture of other lands, so that they mutually become the component parts of the new world culture.

Cultural Revolution

The period of the Great Leap Forward (GLF) from mid- 1958 till the end of 1960 saw both successes and setbacks for the Maoist line. The enthusiastic mass upsurge of 1958 confirmed the popularity of the new line. But severe economic difficulties had begin to appear by the end of 1958. The great leaf strategy entailed significant changes in the political situation. It stripped considerable power from the central government bureaucracy and transferred it in many cases to local party cadres. And it introduced important new strains into Sino- Soviet relations. The 1959 - 60 period saw great economic difficulties causing more modernization of the 1958 strategy. In 1959 the CPC experienced an intense inner party struggle with Defense Minister Pong Dehuai attacking the 1958 line and policies frontally.

The Great Proletarian cultural revolution which started in 1966 was “one of the most extraordinary events of this century”. From a purely narrative perspective, the cultural revolution can best be understood as a tragedy, both for the individual who launched it and from the society that endured it. The movement was largely the result of the decisions of Mao. Mao’s restless quest for revolutionary purity in a post revolutionary age provided the motivation for the cultural revolution, his unique charismatic standing in the Chinese communist movement gave him the resources to get it under way, and his populist faith in the value of mass mobilization lent the movement its form. Mao’s quest for revolutionary purity “led him to exaggerate and misappraise the political and social problem confronting China in the mid- 1960s. His personal authority gave him enough power to unleash potent social forces but not enough power to control them.

As Roderick Macfarquhar has rightly remarked in the Politics of China, the “ Cultural Revolution, which Mao hoped would be his most significant and most enduring contribution to China and to Marxism- Leninism instead became the monumental error of his latter years”, China’s present leadership now describe the “ Cultural Revolution as nothing less than a calamity for their country”. Although the economic damage done by the cultural Revolution was not as severe as that produced by the Great Leap Forward the effects of the cultural revolution in terms of careers disrupted, spirits broken, and lives lost were ruinous indeed. The impact of the movement on Chinese politics and society may take decades finally to erase.

The cultural revolution provided the form and the focus to the idea of continuing revolution. It established the need for revolutionary class struggle involving the masses to uphold proletarian line. The central committee circular of 16 May 1966 which launched an attack on the outline Report on the current Academic Discussion of the Group of five in

charge of the cultural revolution,

initiated the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution (GPCR).  The Eleventh  Plenum of the Central Committee passed the 16-point decision concerning the GOCR on 8 August 1966 which laid down the theory, strategy, and policies of the GPCR. It explicitly links the new campaign to the Basic Line. This document declares that a new stage has been reached in socialist revolution. This stage can be described as the stage of ‘consolidation of the socialist system’. The document clearly identifies the focus of the new movement as the” work in the ideological sphere”. It quotes form Mao’s speech at the Tenth Plenum that “to over throw a political power, it is always necessary, first of all to create public opinion, to do work in the ideological sphere’. This is true for the revolutionary class as well as for the counter - revolutionary class. The Maoists believed that revisionists like Liu Shaoqi and Peng Zhen had used their high offices to support anti- proletarian ideas. Therefore, it was necessary to create a revolutionary public opinion to counter that. That is why the political report at the Nineth Congress described the GPCR as “ great political revolution personally initiated and led by great leader chairman Mao under the conditions of the dictatorship of the proletariat, a great revolution on the realm of superstructure”.

Form mid- January 1967, the cultural revolution became a nation – wide political movement aimed at drastic changes in the educational, social, cultural and administrative system of Chinese society and polity. The role of the Army escalated steadily throughout 1966 and 1967. Now , once the Cultural Revolution entered the stage of the seizure of power, the military played an even greater part in the Chinese politics. Its job was not only to help seize power from the party establishment , but also to ensure thereafter that order was maintained. It was estimated that altogether 2 million officers and troops of the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) participated in civilian affairs during the cultural revolution.

Mao’s ideas on building socialism which led him to launch the Great Leap Forward in 1958 and the Cultural Revolution in 1966 have been subjected to much criticism in China during the reform period and also by development analysts in the liberal and neo- liberal mould all over the world. These mass campaigns caused enormous hardships to millions of people. Yet it is important to understand the Maoist perspective which guided those initiatives. Essentially these campaigns, especially the Cultural Revolution raised qualitative questions about achieving high growth of production as in case of capitalist systems, but it was to be based on the socialist vision of creating an egalitarian society with socialist values and moving towards a classless society.

The Deng leadership (after the death of Mao) had four major criticisms against Mao’s theory of Cultural Revolution. Firstly, socialism was not about poverty, but improving material conditions of people to achieve an egalitarian society. Second, mass campaigns in the name of fighting class enemies suspended all institutions, led to arbitrary use of power and harassed and killed many innocent people. Third, the theoretical premise that treats culture or ideology as autonomous is an idealist deviation of Mao which put superstructure independent of the economic base, thus violating the tenets of dialectical and historical materialism. Fourthly, the egalitarianism promoted during of equality irrespective of the contribution made by a worker. It is beyond dispute that Mao Zedong thought initiated several innovative formulations on revolution and social reformation which continue to reverberate leading to intense political debates on the nature of democracy, socialism and human future in the 21s tcentry throughout the world.