When would you be free today? I will come to see you then.

Mao Zedong: 2. The basic principle is correct, but the statement that “difference is not contradiction” is wrong.
It should be said that all things characterized by difference are contradictions under certain conditions.
When a person sits on a chair, picks up a brush, dips it in ink, and begins to write, it is because the two specific conditions—namely, the person and the act of writing—temporarily unite what are otherwise contradictory elements. It cannot be claimed that such differences do not constitute contradictions.
A chef cooking rice brings together firewood, rice, oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, and tea under particular conditions, thus unifying them.
Similarly, a shop assistant and a writer can be unified under certain conditions.
In a program of combining work with study, work and learning can be brought together.
In short, all things in the world, when viewed under specific conditions, are contradictions; therefore, difference itself is contradiction. This is what we call a concrete contradiction.
Ai’s view, however, is inappropriate.
(Opinion of Mao Zedong) Printed according to the manuscript.

--- Notes

Comrade Yisiqi [2]: Your “Philosophy and Life” [3] is the most profound work among your writings. I have gained much from reading it and have copied out some passages, which I am sending for your review to see if there are any errors in the transcription.


There is one point that raises a slight doubt [4] (though it is not a fundamental disagreement). Please consider it again; I can explain the details to you in person.