Against Suicide (November 23,1919)
I have placed the blame for Miss Zhao’s suicide on the circumstances that forced
her to this. I have said nothing so far about “suicide” itself. On the question of suicide,
scholars of ethics, ancient and modern, Eastern and Western, have presented who
knows how many arguments. Whether extolling or condemning suicide, their point of
departure has always been their philosophies of life, how they viewed human life. My
attitude toward suicide is to reject it, on several levels.
1. Ethics is the science of defining the objectives of human life and the methods for
attaining the objectives of human life. Aside from a small number of pessimistic
moral philosophers, the majority hold that the goal of man is “life.” Some may
define that as meaning “for the public good, freely develop the individual,” and
others may define it as meaning “the life and development of the individual and
all mankind.” But Paulsen says it is “developing all the human bodily and mental
powers without exception to their highest, with no apologies for doing so.”163 I
feel that Paulsen’s words, as a concrete expression of the objective of human
life, are most apt. But this objective is definitely not attainable through suicide.
Not only is suicide not a means for “developing to their highest the powers of
the human body and spirit, with no apologies for doing so,” it is ultimately the
opposite of “developing to their highest the powers of the human body and spirit,
with no apologies for doing so.” This principle is very easy to understand.
2. As to what is going through the mind of the person who commits suicide, we
cannot really judge, since we have not had the experience of committing suicide.
Living persons generally reject the concept of “death” and welcome the concept
of “life.” The vast majority of human beings welcome the concept of “life” and
reject the concept of “death.” Thus we have to say that those few who welcome
“death” and reject “life” are exceptions to the rule. These exceptions
may be seen as persons having a kind of mental abnormality.
1. Physiologically, a person’s body is composed of cells, and the life of the person as
a whole is the composite of the lives of the individual cells. The natural condition
of cellular life is to continue living until a certain age, at which time one dies
of old age. Suicide is a revolt against this natural physiological condition. This
natural physiological condition falls under the control of a kind of abnormal mentality, and is thereby terminated. We may say that this is a kind of physiological
irregularity.
2. In the world of living things, very few of them commit suicide. Although there
are tales about so-called loyal dogs or animals who have been faithful unto death,
these are not common occurrences. Ordinarily animals delight in life, are adapted
to their environments, and strive in every way to seek life.
To summarize the above, suicide has no place in ethics, in psychology, in physiology,
or in biology. Thus the criminal law of many nations includes prohibitions against
suicide. Social custom, too, celebrates life and grieves at death, and both of these
attitudes are rooted in the “principle of seeking life.”
Today we are concerned with why there are, after all, suicides in human society,
and why they are not altogether rare, and also with the question of why we invariably
express a feeling of respect for heroic suicides, and sometimes even suggest that it was
“a good suicide.” What is the reason for this?
My response to these two points is:
1. Before the idea of committing suicide develops, a person does not want to commit suicide, but rather wants to seek life. Moreover, his hope for life is unusually
strong. Such an unusually strong hope as this can only be fulfilled under conditions which are at least adequate. If one’s environment or poor treatment causes
one’s hopes to be repeatedly frustrated and turn into disappointment and loss of
hope, then one will invariably seek death. Thus a criminal cannot be told that he
has been given a death sentence very many days before the sentence is actually
executed. Therefore, we know that the motivation for a person’s suicide is absolutely not to seek death. Not only is it not to seek death, but it is actually an
urgent striving toward life. The reason why there are suicides in human society is
that society has robbed that person completely of his “hope” and has left him “in
utter despair.” When society robs someone completely of his hope, leaving him in
despair, then that person will surely commit suicide. Such was the case of Miss
Zhao. If society robs a group or clan of people completely of hope, and leaves
them in utter despair, then this group or clan will inevitably commit suicide, as
in the case of the 500 Tianheng martyrs who all committed suicide at the same
time,164 or of Hong and Yang’s army of
100,000 who set fire to themselves,165 or the beginning of the Dutch war with a
certain other state when they declared that if pressed too hard they would breach the
sea dikes and drown themselves. If society in a certain place leaves more people in
despair, then there will be more suicides in that society. If society in a certain place
leaves fewer people in despair, then there will be fewer suicides in that society.
1. We respect the heroic suicide for the following two reasons. First, because that
person dares to do what others dare not do, we recognize that his spirit surpasses
our own, and thus a feeling of respect arises unwittingly within us. Second, because of his spirit of rebellion against oppression, we recognize that although his
body is dead, his aspirations live on (they do not actually continue to exist, but
his suicide makes us feel as if they do), and the powers oppressing him are thus
foiled. We derive a feeling of happiness and comfort from this, which turns into
respect for the person who has committed suicide. Consequently, we respect only
heroic suicides, which represent the triumph of righteousness over treachery.
At this point, I would like to explain the topic under discussion, “against suicide.”
First, as has been proved in many ways, our goal is the search for life, so we ought
not turn around and seek death. Therefore I am “against suicide.”
Second, the condition of suicide is that society robs a person of hope. In such
circumstances, we ought to advocate struggle against society, to take back the hope
that has been lost. To die in struggle is to “be killed,” it is not “suicide.” So I am
“against suicide.”
Third, we do not feel respect for “suicide” as such, so if we respect a heroic suicide, it
is because he has “performed a difficult action,” and “resisted oppression.” If it were not
for these two aspects, suicide would be easy. Furthermore, if there were no oppression
in this world, there would be no need to resist it; in that case, even though suicides
might take place, how could they inspire a feeling of respect? Since we have no feeling of
respect for “suicide” as such, we ought to oppose this thing called “suicide.” Regarding
the first point, respect for a “difficult action,” we should look elsewhere for it, rather
than in the callous act of suicide. As for the second point, “resistance to oppression,”
we should seek it in struggle. Thus I am “against suicide.”
Finally, let me return to Miss Zhao. It is already clear that suicide in general is not
proper. Miss Zhao committed suicide and therefore is among those who did something
improper. As I see it, there were four ways in which Miss Zhao herself might have dealt
with her situation:
1. By living her life in terms of her own personality.
2. By being killed in struggle.
3. By suicide.
4. By submission.
She was not willing to bend in submission. To live life in terms of her own personality, she would first have had to create a new society for herself. Miss Zhao had
neither the strength nor the preparation to accomplish this. Had she fled somewhere
else, she would have been shamed and forced into submission. This is why Miss Zhao
preferred not to flee. The fulfillment of the personality by suicide is not a natural
turn of events psychologically, physiologically, ethically, or biologically and was not
her original intention. It is better to be killed in struggle than to die by suicide. The
goal of struggle lies not in “wanting someone to kill me,” but rather in “making it
possible to live life in terms of one’s own personality.” In the end this was impossible,
and despite all her efforts, a final heart-rending struggle led to her destruction like a
shattered piece of jade.166 This was a real-life act of true courage and a tragedy most
capable of imprinting itself on people’s minds. Thus I say that in order to preserve her
personality, fulfill her free will, and conform to the natural laws of human life, Miss
Zhao had four options which can be ranked as follows in terms of their value:
First, to live life in terms of her own personality.
Second, to be killed in the course of struggle.
Third, to commit suicide.
Fourth, to bend in submission.
There is no place in the personality or free will for submission. There is no place
among the natural laws of human life for suicide. As for being killed in the course of
struggle, although there is no place for the result among the natural laws of human
life, there is a place for the motivation that leads to it. In the case of living one’s life
in terms of one’s own personality, both motivation and result are good. Unfortunately,
this is inconceivable in the case of contemporary Chinese society and Miss Zhao. So in
the end Miss Zhao dealt with her situation by killing herself. Therefore, my conclusion
concerning Miss Zhao is:
“Her suicide had only ‘relative’ value in terms of ‘preserving the personality.’ ”
The above article, drafted in haste, presents my own personal views. The reader
is invited to judge whether, in the last analysis, I am right or wrong. I do find it

--- Notes

163 This is the term used after 1946 to characterize the transformation of the lives of the peasants
as a result of land reform, which William Hinton took as the title of his book on the subject.


164 For this precise statement in Paulsen’s System of Ethics, see our translation of Mao’s marginal
annotations to the book, pp. 185—86. Mao himself said something very similar in his marginal notes to
another passage: “Self-realization means to develop fully both our physical and spiritual capabilities to
the highest” (our translation, p. 285.) It is most likely that Mao consulted his annotated copy of Paulsen
in writing this article, for his notes included an extensive commentary on the meaning of suicide (our
translation, pp. 286–87) which is not without relation to his argument here.


165 Tianheng (?-202 B.C.) was a nobleman of the state of Qi and a supporter of the king of Qi
during the war between Chu and Han. When Liu Bang became king, Tianheng was unwilling to act as
his subject, so committed suicide. Five hundred of his followers, on hearing of this incident, also took
their own lives.

166 The “army of Hong and Yang” refers to the forces of the Taipings. In July 1864 the capital of
the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was taken by Zeng Guofan’s forces, after the campaign for which Mao
earlier expressed such admiration. On the day the city fell, the Xiang Army ravaged the city, looting
shops and killing many people. On seeing this, officers of the Taiping army gathered up all remaining
valuables and set fire to the lot, including themselves. As indicated in the note to Mao’s letter of August
23, 1917, Yang Xiuqing had, in fact, died in 1856, though the supreme leader Hong Xiuquan was still
alive.