Comments on the Central Committee’s Notice Regarding the Organization of Lectures to Promote Materialist Ideology and Criticize Bourgeois Idealism [1] (January 24, 1955) May be used. Mao Zedong January 24th Printed from the manuscript. Notes [1] This notice, issued by the CPC Central Committee in January 1955, stated that the critique of Yu Pingbo’s erroneous ideas in his study of “Dream of the Red Chamber” had come to an end, that a preliminary campaign to criticize Hu Shi’s school of thought had already begun, and that a similar campaign against Hu Feng and his followers’ literary theories would soon follow. These ideological struggles are of utmost importance, as they serve to concretely propagate Marxist materialist thought by criticizing the bourgeois idealist ideas with which our intellectuals are familiar. Propagating materialist ideas among the masses to raise their consciousness is one of the Party’s most fundamental and ongoing tasks. Therefore, it is essential to carry out serious educational work among approximately five million literate Party members and non-Party intellectuals, specifically critiquing idealist ideas and establishing materialist ones, so that through them the broad masses can be educated. To this end, it is necessary to adopt the form of lectures, conducted in spare time, addressing these five million intellectuals both within and outside the Party, explaining the significance of the ongoing ideological critiques, and, in light of the ideological conditions prevailing among local cadres and

intellectuals, expounding in plain language the basic tenets of Marxist materialism. The specific measures are as follows: First, in major cities, the local provincial and municipal committees shall take charge, utilizing public venues to designate a group of capable lecturers to deliver talks, and organize all cadres and intellectuals to attend. Second, in addition to appointing suitable Party members as lecturers, non-Party Marxists may also be invited. Third, the content of the lectures may draw upon articles already published in Beijing’s newspapers and periodicals that criticize the bourgeois idealist ideas of Hu Shi, Yu Pingbo, Hu Feng, and others, employing Marxist materialism to refute bourgeois idealism. Fourth, outstanding articles on these ideological struggles published in Beijing’s newspapers and periodicals will be successively introduced in the Central Propaganda Department’s publication “Propaganda Bulletin.” Fifth, good lecture manuscripts may be published in local newspapers or sent to Beijing publications for publication. Sixth, this lecture campaign should begin in February. Seventh, the locations and schedules of these lectures should be gradually standardized, with new content added over time, so that they progressively develop into regular forums for disseminating materialist ideas, current affairs, and important policies to intellectuals and cadres.