Understanding the nature of Chinese society is the crucial, central point[1]

(March 20, 1938)

What shall I talk about today? I will still talk about that letter. That letter was written by one of your fellow students. The letter said: "Before coming here, I read many books, newspapers, and magazines outside, all kinds of things, and understood quite a lot, but I could not grasp the center or find the direction. After arriving here, I learned what the nature of Chinese society is, and came to know that China is a semi-colonial and semi-feudal society. I only remember this one point." To only remember this point and forget the rest is a great pity—after learning so much, to only remember this one point. However, to be able to remember this point is not bad; it is the important, central point. If we want to make revolution here, we must first understand the conditions here, just as when you go on stage to perform in an opera, you cannot perform if you do not understand the conditions of the stage. Know that the nature of Chinese society is semi-feudal, but do not forget its semi-colonial nature; this is the most essential thing. After studying for three months, you understand this point; study for another three months, and you still need to understand this point.

This question is very big. Now many newspapers and magazines are discussing this question, and opinions are, of course, varied. There are opinions from the standpoint of the Kuomintang, opinions from the standpoint of the Communist Party, and various others.

Since we recognize that China is a semi-feudal society, then the task of the revolution is to oppose

[1] This is a speech by Mao Zedong to the graduating students of the Third Brigade of the Fourth Term of the Anti-Japanese Military and Political University.

feudalism, to transform feudalism, and to counter it with feudalism's opposite—democracy. Some people say, "China is a feudal society." This is incorrect. According to their conclusion, the current revolutionary task is only to oppose feudalism; such an error obviously needs no proof. The Trotskyites say that China is a capitalist society. The conclusion of this argument is: "We must overthrow the bourgeoisie, carry out a socialist revolution, and implement the dictatorship of the proletariat." They do not understand that China is a semi-colonial and semi-feudal society, and thus they neglect the revolutionary nature and tasks of opposing imperialism and feudalism.

The first slogan in the Three Principles of the People is national independence, and the second slogan is civil liberties. This is by no means nonsense from Mr. Sun Yat-sen, nor can it be said that he was "shooting at random." He also advocated using civil rights to break the shackles of feudalism. In fact, democracy has already been partially realized.

Since we understand that Chinese society still has a semi-colonial nature, we must then oppose imperialism. However, some people will be unhappy and will oppose this, namely those comprador elements. Since Chinese society has a semi-feudal nature, we must oppose feudalism, and then it is inevitable that some landlords will oppose it.

The point where Marxism and the Three Principles of the People converge lies precisely in the pursuit of national independence and civil liberties. From this point of view, today's Marxists are also followers of the Three Principles of the People. Socialist revolution, of course, is also Marxism, but now in China, in semi-colonial and semi-feudal China, the time is not yet ripe. If someone now advocates socialist revolution, he will become a counter-revolutionary.

Some may ask: "Now we are uniting with the Kuomintang, why did we fight them in the past?" Yes, it is truly a great pity; we fought them, fought for ten whole years. But at that time, we wanted to unite, they wanted to split, they wanted to attack us, and we had no choice; we were forced to go to Liangshan. At that time, it was not Liangshan but Jinggangshan; we were forced to fight.

Now an Eastern devil has come from outside to attack us, involving national interests. When national interests and class interests come into conflict, national interests must take the primary position; this is what is meant by class struggle submitting to national struggle. Some people say: China has no classes. Such a one-sided

way of looking at problems is extremely incorrect.

Landlords and peasants, capitalists and workers, rich and poor—they are contradictory, they are opposites, but at the same time they are together. Speaking in terms of dialectics, this is the unity of opposites. Men and women, philosophically speaking, can also be said to be a unity of opposites, although this cannot be said politically. All problems should be observed from this viewpoint. Some people think Marx's theory of the state is meaningless, but in fact it has great meaning, because the state is precisely the tool by which the ruling class oppresses the ruled class, fully manifesting the situation of class conflict.

Now, we have established the Anti-Japanese National United Front. Externally, it exploits the contradictions among the imperialists to isolate Japan. This also contains class significance; it is a united front uniting all classes. The past Soviet movement was a united front uniting workers and peasants.

Having this general political direction is extremely important. Without this political direction, one will waver when stepping into society.

This political direction is the method for observing society; the Marxist worldview is methodology. For example, the result of our study of China is that it is a semi-colonial and semi-feudal society. This is a law, a general and most essential law, so we must use this law to observe all things. This is the first question I want to talk about today.

Now I will talk about the second question, which is the style of hard work. One student wrote a letter saying that when he came here, he learned nothing else, only how to climb mountains. He also looks at things one-sidedly, seeing the part and forgetting the whole; at the same time, he does not know that "mountain-climbing-ism" is a part of Marxism. Marxism is not just empty talk without action. To act, one must have the spirit of bearing hardships and enduring hard work. The so-called mountain climbing is one form of training in bearing hardships and enduring hard work. Of course, there are other kinds of arduous training; this student just had a one-sided view, seeing only a tiny bit.

We oppose pure talkers of Marxism who only talk and do not act; this does not conform to

Understanding the Nature of Chinese Society is the Crucial, Central Point

Marxism. If we want to be true Marxists, we should act, and we should act with diligence and endurance.

Now let me talk about another question, the question of strategy and tactics. I said that when you go out to serve as company commanders or platoon leaders, you will encounter a problem: we do not understand strategy and tactics, what should we do? I say, it is good if you can learn strategy and tactics, but it does not matter if you have not learned them; you can still serve as platoon leaders and company commanders, and you must also go and serve as teachers. Your President Lin Biao only studied at the Whampoa Military Academy for four months, and he has forgotten what he learned, yet he often wins battles now. There is also He Long; he never attended a civil school or a military school. He started with a single kitchen knife and later built the Second Front Army. So, having studied for three months now, you are even more qualified to serve as platoon leaders, company commanders, and teachers. Learn a bit of strategy and tactics here, but even more, learn on the battlefield. You will teach others, and you must also learn from others.

Some people, when they see the enemy, become extremely fearful, dare not resist, and cling to non-resistance-ism or flight-ism. There is also another kind of impatience: seeing the land being lost piece by piece, they become anxious and raise questions—why haven't we counterattacked yet? Counterattack immediately! Both these tendencies are unacceptable. They only think in their minds, without seeing the actual situation, without going to observe the actual situation. This kind of idealism, we must oppose. Besides this, there is another viewpoint we must oppose, which is mechanism. We must wage a struggle on two fronts.

Some people only look at the present and not the future, only see one side and not the whole, only see the part and not the entirety. This non-dialectical way of looking at things is very dangerous. For example, suppose there are three divisions of troops here. Yesterday, a reconnaissance report came saying that one enemy division had just arrived in Ganquan. So, the army commander made a judgment today: he dispatched the first division to the left and another division to the right to attack the enemy's rear, while he himself led the main force straight ahead. Although such a disposition is useful under certain conditions, one must note that things change. Yesterday's enemy situation may change by today; perhaps many more enemy troops have been added today. If you make judgments based on the original situation, you will not win.

All existence is changing; one must judge things within change.

Some people come here, see that the mountains are still mountains, with no tall buildings, and criticize the lack of construction here. This is again a one-sided view, merely like a camera. They do not see the political construction, that political power is already in the hands of the masses; nor do they see the economic construction, that the land belongs to the masses—they only see that the land is still land; nor do they see the military construction, that the masses have already been armed. In all problems, it is necessary to link and unify the part and the whole, the particular and the general, and to link various things historically. Only in this way can problems be correctly resolved.

When students first entered here or the Shanbei Public School,[1] they came to study with a heroic spirit. This is the first step. Now that you are graduating and going out to work, you feel your own inadequacy. This is the second step. Both are correct and very good, because every person should have self-respect, except for those shameless ones with a slavish nature. Self-respect is the driving force that pushes people to progress. However, if one has self-respect but no humility, one will become a "this is the only shop, no other branch" type of number-one-under-heaven-ist. Therefore, when you came, the first step was self-respect, and the second step shows humility. Unify these two, and then things will be done well, and you yourselves will also progress.

[1] Shanbei Public School, namely the Northern Shaanxi Public School, was established in Yan'an in August 1937. It was a school for training cadres by the Chinese Communist Party during the War of Resistance Against Japan.