Oppose Subjectivism and Sectarianism
(September 10, 1941)¹

In the past our Party was dominated for a very long time by subjectivism. Both the
[Li] Lisan line and the "Left" opportunism in the latter period of the soviet movement were subjectivist. The manifestations of subjectivism in the latter period of
the soviet movement were more serious, their form was more complete, they were
dominant for a longer time, and their consequences were more tragic. This is because these subjectivists claimed to represent the "international line"; they took on
the outward appearance of Marxists, but they were sham Marxists.
In the latter period of the soviet movement, the spirit of the Fifth Plenum² advocated carrying out a socialist revolution, denied the imbalance in the development of the revolution, and held that the struggle at the time was a decisive battle
between two roads. All these things were manifested more completely in the political domain than the "leftist" tendency of the Lisan line.
In military affairs, the Lisan line did not influence the soviet area completely,
but "leftist" opportunism in the latter period of the soviet movement did achieve
complete influence over the soviet area, and caused the Red Army to suffer greater
losses.
As regards organization, the latter period of the soviet movement attacked the
cadres, disrupted the campaign for the elimination of counterrevolutionaries, and
so on; it was more terrible than the Lisan line.
The subjectivists proposed tasks incompatible with objective circumstances.
For example, they demanded the expansion of the Red Army to a million men,
attacks on the central cities, and so on.
Hitherto, the Party's line for the period of more than three years from 1932 to
December 1935 has never been summed up. Now we must prepare to summarize
it at the Party's Seventh Congress.
The resolution by the Central Bureau of the soviet area on May 11, 1932, was a
totally subjectivist thing.

Our source for this text is Mao Zedong wenji, Vol. 2, pp. 372-77.
In 1933 an article opposing the "Right opportunism" of Deng, Mao, Xie, and
Gu was actually a case of making oblique accusations.³ At that time it was considered that the "Luo Ming line" was to be found in Fujian and Jiangxi, in Jianning,
Lichuan, and Taining; the entire Central Soviet Area was imagined to be the
domain of the "Luo Ming line." This programmatic article directed against the
"Luo Ming line" held that the principal errors of the "Luo Ming line" in Jiangxi
were: (1) eliminating the anti-imperialist movement, (2) giving up the soviet area,
(3) the rich peasant line, and (4) bureaucratism.
The Zunyi Conference actually changed the political line. After the Zunyi Conference, the previous line could no longer be applied in the political, military, and
organizational arenas, but the residual poison of subjectivism continued to exist in
the realm of thought.
The Sixth Plenum⁵ waged a struggle against subjectivism, yet subjectivism still
exists among some of our comrades and mainly manifests itself in every kind of
work in Yan'an. Subjectivism and dogmatism still exist in the schools and among
cultural workers in Yan'an. This kind of subjectivism stands in an antagonistic
relationship to the Marxism of seeking truth from facts. Its sources are:
1. Chinese tradition, "leftist" tradition.
2. Foreign tradition, and the past influence of the Communist International, as
represented by people such as Bukharin, Zinoviev, and so on.
3. China is a country where science is not highly developed and where there
exists a large and extensive petty bourgeoisie.
At present in Yan'an there is subjectivism in the style of study and sectarianism
in the Party style.
The methods for overcoming these incorrect styles are:
1. To understand the seriousness of subjectivism. Yan'an is situated in a peaceful environment in the rear area, and the manifestation of subjectivism is serious,
but subjectivism exists throughout the country as well.
2. To distinguish creative Marxism from dogmatic Marxism.
3. To propagate creative Marxism.
4. We oppose subjectivism in order to raise the level of theory, not to diminish
Marxism. We must Marxify⁶ the rich reality of the Chinese revolution.

5. For those whose theory is detached from reality, we propose that their status
as "theoreticians" be abolished. Only those who study actual problems from a
Marxist viewpoint, and can solve actual problems, can be regarded as real theorists. Stalin said that theory detached from reality is hollow theory. I consider that
hollow theory is utterly absurd theory.
More should be paid for those articles which study actual problems. Only those
teachers who can sinify Marxism are good teachers, and they must be paid more.
6. There is sectarianism now, too. In Yan'an only leading cadres are respected,
and many scientists and men of letters are looked down upon. Sectarianism is a
style which rejects non-Party cadres, it is exclusivism. At the same time, it also
rejects insiders. Phenomena such as asserting one's independence, failure to obey
decisions, and lack of discipline must be rectified.
The line is the "kingly way" [wangdao]; discipline is the "way of the tyrant"
[badao]. Both are indispensable.8
In the past, a responsible person in the health department violated the policy
toward the experts, [engaging in] selfish departmentalism, and violated Communist morality, so he was removed from his post.
7. It is necessary to wage a principled fight against sectarianism and selfish
departmentalism. We must carry out a struggle on two lines, opposing subjectivism and sectarianism, and also opposing dogmatism and routinism.
8. The newspapers should publish more articles, reward dialectical materialist
articles, oppose subjectivist articles.
9. Carry out a reform of the educational system, and thoroughly smash all the
norms of the past. The study of the methods of thought of Marx, Engels, Lenin,
and Stalin, the study of the History of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union,
will constitute the heart of our studies, and we should read more antisubjectivist
writings.
Organize study groups on methods of thought, beginning with the comrades
from the Politburo.
The fundamental professional concerns of the Politburo include thought, politics, policy, military affairs, and organization.
In politics we must pay attention to the trend in the current situation. Central
Committee members must increase their political knowledge.
Military affairs are a task that must be studied during the present wartime period.
To master ideological education is our foremost task.
10. The method of analysis should be used to solve problems. This is the scientific method put forward by the bourgeoisie in the past, but we must also carry out
synthesis. We must use the method of analysis and synthesis, choose a topic from
among our work as a whole, analyze, and then synthesize.
11. Study the Central Committee resolutions from the Sixth to the Seventh
Congress.
The Central Committee Study Group will study Marxist methods of thought on
the one hand, and on the other hand, the resolutions since the Sixth Congress. Mao
Zedong will be the group leader, and Wang Jiaxiang will be the deputy group
leader.
12. The work of the education committee (headed by Luo Fu9) will begin by
carrying out an investigation before undertaking reform.
13. Hold a mass meeting to mobilize people in Yan'an. All the comrades of the
Politburo of the Central Committee must go into action, everybody should get up
on the platform and speak, gathering all our forces to oppose subjectivism and
sectarianism.
14. Down with these two isms, but keep the person. Oppose subjectivism and
sectarianism, but keep those cadres who have made such mistakes safe and sound.
15. Telegraph [Liu] Shaoqi and [Zhou] Enlai and ask for their opinions.
16. Carry out a mobilization campaign in the whole Party. Apart from the Decision on Strengthening the Party Spirit and the Decision on Investigation and Study,10
we should also write some articles.

--- Notes

1. This is Mao's address at the opening session of the Enlarged Plenum of the Politburo,
which took place from September 10 to October 22, 1941.

2. The reference is to the Fifth Plenum of the Sixth Central Committee, held in January
1934.


3. Deng is Deng Xiaoping; Mao is Mao Zedong's brother, Mao Zetan (1905-1935); Xie
is Xie Weijun (1908-1935); Gu is Gu Bo (1906-1935). Mao's statement about "oblique
accusations" (using the Chinese expression "to point at the chicken and abuse the dog")
refers to the fact that these attacks were in reality directed against him.

4. Regarding the "Luo Ming Line" see the Introduction to Volume IV, pp. lxi-lxiii.
Jianning and Taining in Fujian, and Lichuan in Jiangxi were xian controlled by the Chinese
Communist Party in 1933.

5. This refers to the Sixth Plenum of the Sixth Central Committee, held from September
29 to November 6, 1938.

6. The Chinese term is Makesizhuyihua. Thus Mao establishes a grammatical as well as
a logical parallelism between the "sinification of Marxism," and the "Marxification of Chinese reality."

7. The reference is probably to Stalin's statement, in Part III of Foundations of Leninism,
that "theory becomes purposeless if it is not connected with revolutionary practice."

8. In other words, Mao, like many Chinese rulers, espoused both Confucianism and
Legalism.

9. Luo Fu was the pen name of Zhang Wentian, who was at this time the secretary of
the Central Committee and the head of the Propaganda Department.

10. The first of these resolutions was adopted on July 1, 1941, and the second on August
1, 1941. Both were drafted by Mao and are translated above.