Comment on the Question of a Dogmatic Attitude
(April 18, 1956)

Comrade Zhang Jichun [1]:
This document [2] merits attention. Please ask the Propaganda Department of the Central Committee to discuss this question. When discussing it, invite responsible comrades from the Academy of Sciences and other relevant organs to participate. When Comrade Lu Dingyi [3] returns, show this document to him.

Mao Zedong
April 18

[1] Zhang Jichun was then a deputy director of the Propaganda Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.
[2] Refers to the summary minutes of a conversation on March 3 with Hager, director of the Propaganda Department of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany, as excerpted and reported on March 14, 1956, by Kang Sheng, a member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. Hager said that past dogmatic errors were mainly manifested in overemphasizing the advanced experience and scientific achievements of the Soviet Union. For example, we propagandized that everything about the theories of the Soviet agronomist Lysenko was good, completely negated Virchow, who had great authority in German scientific circles, and held that everything of the Austrian geneticist Mendel was reactionary, whereas the overwhelming majority of biologists in Germany were Mendelians. There can be various schools of thought in science. We believe that over time some who truly engage in scientific research can be led onto the path of materialism. We should learn from what is good in Soviet science, but we cannot regard every word from Soviet scientific circles as sacred. Hager also said that philosophy must also be re-examined, and that it is wrong for us, like certain Soviet philosophers, to adopt an attitude of completely negating Hegel.
[3] Lu Dingyi was then director of the Propaganda Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.