Comment on the Report on Future Work [I]
(May 29, 1955)
In addition to continuing to publish articles, efforts should simultaneously be made to conduct lectures well. 2. Attention should be paid to targeting the erroneous views exposed by old scholars during the criticism, and further organizing articles to conduct in-depth analysis and criticism of the so-called methods of scholarly research within Hu Shi’s thought, which are the most deceptive, most confusing, and most widely influential. 3. For academic fields where criticism has already been fully launched, directions for further deepening should be proposed; for academic fields where criticism has not yet been fully launched, key points should be identified, plans formulated, and criticism resolutely launched. 4. The scope should be gradually expanded to include criticism of other representatives of bourgeois thought from recent decades who still exert influence today. 5. In publishing articles in newspapers and periodicals, advocate concentrating the analysis on one problem in a single article, rather than superficially generalizing about all problems; advocate full and positive elucidation, not merely exposure and criticism; advocate popular, concise, clear, and easily understandable writing; advocate scientific rigor and accuracy; advocate thorough reasoning and strict argumentation; advocate in-depth research and strive for theoretical achievements. 6. Regular discussion meetings should be persisted in, but need not be too numerous; they should be planned, prepared, and focused in topic, so as to genuinely raise the level through discussion, and should not be held merely for the sake of discussion. 7. From now on, begin preparing several relatively substantial summative essays to serve as the conclusion of this phase of concentrated criticism.
[2]

--- Notes

Comrade Liu[1]: Circulate after reading.
Mao Zedong
May 29
[I]
In this report submitted to the Central Committee on May 11, 1955, the Propaganda Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China stated that the criticism of the bourgeois idealism of the Hu Shi clique, which began in November last year and has continued to the present, has developed into a nationwide movement. This is the first nationwide ideological struggle against bourgeois idealism led by our Party. Through this criticism movement, the poisonous effects of bourgeois idealism have been preliminarily exposed, beginning to draw people’s attention to the question of world outlook and arousing interest in studying Marxist philosophy. It has had a profound impact in China’s academic circles and has played a positive role in promoting the formation of the Party’s theoretical contingent. The majority of old scholars have also taken part and have received a certain degree of education. Under the direct leadership of the Party Central Committee, the development of the movement from its inception to the present has generally been healthy, but there still exist some problems and shortcomings: First, the influence on the broad ranks of cadres and intellectuals is not yet deep or extensive enough. Second, development across various academic disciplines is still uneven. Third, owing to the weak foundation of theoretical work, although many articles have been published and their quality has gradually improved, there are too few good articles; some articles lack sufficient argumentation, are inadequately reasoned, and reach arbitrary conclusions. In light of the above circumstances, the following tasks should be carried out: 1. Expand the influence of this criticism movement among the broad ranks of intellectuals.


Liu refers to Liu Shaoqi.