Letter to Zhou Yang[1]

(November 7, 1939)

Comrade Zhou Yang:

I have read the article,[2] and it is very well written; it is bound to have a great impact. In a few minor places, where I thought something was not quite appropriate, I have candidly written my comments on the paper. Regarding the point about "old China," I feel there is a risk of conflating ancient China with modern China, and of mixing up the old and new elements within modern China. It is worth further consideration. At present, it is not appropriate to say in general that the cities are new while the countryside is old, nor is it appropriate to say that the same peasant has only one particular aspect. In terms of economic factors, the countryside is older than the cities; in terms of political factors, the reverse is true, and the same applies to culture. As I have discussed with you, Lu Xun, in portraying the peasants, emphasized their dark side, the feudalistic aspect, while neglecting their heroic struggle and resistance against the landlords, that is, the democratic aspect. This is because he had never experienced peasant struggles. From this, it can be seen that it is not appropriate to regard the entire countryside as old. The content of so-called democracy, in China, is fundamentally peasant struggle, as it has been even in the past, and as it is in all colonies and semi-colonies. The present anti-Japanese struggle is in essence a peasant struggle. The peasants are fundamentally democratic, that is to say, revolutionary. Their economic forms, way of life, certain ideologies, customs, and habits, which carry strong feudal remnants, are only

[1] Zhou Yang, then Vice President of the Lu Xun Academy of Literature and Art.

[2] Refers to the article "A View on the Utilization of Old Forms in Literature" written by Zhou Yang. Mao Zedong made revisions when reviewing it. The article was published in the inaugural issue of *Chinese Culture*, published in Yan'an on February 15, 1940.

one aspect of the peasants, so it is not necessary to say that rural society is entirely old China. At present, it is precisely the countryside alone that remains of the new China. Whether this is appropriate, I ask you to consider further.

I shall attend to the writing of the essay[1] as requested.

If you have time, please come and talk.

Salutations!

Mao Zedong

November 7

[1] Refers to the essay "The Politics of New Democracy and the Culture of New Democracy" that Mao Zedong was preparing to write. In January 1940, Mao Zedong delivered a speech on this topic at a conference. This speech was published in the inaugural issue of *Chinese Culture*, published in Yan'an on February 15, 1940. When reprinted in the combined 98th and 99th issues of *Liberation*, published in Yan'an on February 20, 1940, the title was changed to "On New Democracy."