Revisions and Annotations to He Qifang’s Preface to “Stories About Not Being Afraid of Ghosts” [1] (January 23–24, 1961)  I. There are no ghosts in the world as depicted in old tales; yet there do exist many things that resemble ghosts. On a grand scale, these include international imperialism and its lackeys in various countries, modern revisionism exemplified by Tito’s clique in Yugoslavia, severe natural disasters, and certain untransformed elements of the landlord and bourgeois classes who have usurped leadership in some grassroots organizations to carry out counter-revolutionary restoration. On a smaller scale, they encompass the difficulties and setbacks commonly encountered in our work. All of these may be regarded as ghost-like phenomena. [2]  II. Therefore, in the eyes of thoroughgoing dialectical materialists and genuine proletarian revolutionaries, nothing in the world is to be feared. Imperialism, reactionaries, revisionism, the restored or aspiring-restored classes, colossal natural calamities, and the general difficulties and setbacks in our work and struggle—none of these inspire fear. Overall, strategically speaking, we can and must treat them with utter contempt.

Printed in the People’s Daily on February 5, 1961. (Includes Mao Zedong’s revised manuscript.)  III. Could it be that the more we fear “ghosts,” the more kindly they will regard us, take pity on us, and refrain from harming us, thereby suddenly smoothing the path of our cause until everything becomes bright and flourishing, with springtime warmth and blooming flowers? Printed in the People’s Daily on February 5, 1961. (Based on Mao Zedong’s handwritten draft.)  IV. Comrade Mao Zedong’s assertion during the Third Domestic War—that “all reactionaries are paper tigers”—spiritually armed the entire nation, strengthened the people’s confidence in victory, and played an immensely significant role in the People’s Liberation War. In the future struggles against imperialism and for world peace, as well as in the great campaign to finally vanquish the remnants of the domestic reactionary classes and build a socialist motherland, Mao Zedong’s strategic principle of despising the enemy continues to inspire us, ensuring that we shall once again achieve resounding victories.  V. The difficulties and setbacks in all revolutionary endeavors are merely temporary phenomena.

--- Notes

They are nothing more than obstacles and detours on the road ahead, all of which can be overcome and reversed. Things invariably undergo transformation through struggle: under specific conditions, they exchange positions with their opposites and move toward the latter’s state. Printed in the People’s Daily on February 5, 1961. (Includes Mao Zedong’s revised manuscript.)  VI. This book was initiated by the Institute of Literature of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in the spring of that year, at a time when imperialist powers worldwide, reactionary forces in various nations, and revisionist organizations were launching a massive anti-China chorus. By summer, the compilation was essentially complete. It was precisely then that domestic revisionists rose up in response to their international counterparts, mounting a furious assault against the Party’s leadership. We accordingly decided to carefully select and expand upon the initial draft of the book and entrusted me with writing a preface. By the end of the year, the international situation had undergone a major shift: eighty-one communist and workers’ parties convened a conference of representatives in Moscow and issued a declaration opposing imperialism, reactionaries, and revisionism. This “Not Afraid of Ghosts” declaration greatly boosted the morale of revolutionary peoples around the world, demoralizing the forces of darkness and effectively dismantling the anti-China chorus. Nevertheless, readers should understand that there remain countless sinister forces in the world, and eradicating them will require considerable time. Domestic difficulties persist as well, with remnants of China’s own brand of “demons” still causing trouble, and numerous obstacles yet to be surmounted on the road to building a socialist society. Under these circumstances, the publication of this book has become highly necessary. When the Ninth Plenary Session of the Eighth Central Committee of the Party adopted a resolution endorsing the Moscow Conference Declaration [3] and formulated policies for the coming period covering politics, economics, and ideology, making the strategy and tactics of the current revolutionary struggle more widely known, our publication of “Stories About Not Being Afraid of Ghosts” would likely no longer seem so startling. Printed in the People’s Daily on February 5, 1961. (Based on Mao Zedong’s handwritten draft.)  VII. To Comrade He Qifang of the Institute of Literature, Chinese Academy of Sciences: ···I have reviewed this document and approve it for printing as is. Before going to press, please submit a proof copy for review by Comrades Liu, Zhou, Deng, Zhou Yang, and Guo Moruo [4], and ascertain whether they have any further suggestions for revision. Upon publication, the preface may be printed in both Red Flag and the People’s Daily ······[ ]. Furthermore, please arrange for translations into several foreign languages, beginning with the preface and then the main text. The English version of the preface should be published first in the Beijing Review. It would be ideal if this book could appear in February, so that cadres currently engaged in the nationwide rectification movement might read it. Please proceed accordingly. Mao Zedong January 24th There is one minor revision on page eight, line two [ ]. Printed according to the manuscript. Included in Selected Letters of Mao Zedong. Notes [1] “Stories About Not Being Afraid of Ghosts” is a small booklet compiled by the Institute of Literature of the Chinese Academy of Sciences at Mao Zedong’s suggestion and published by the People’s Literature Publishing House in February 1961. On January 16, 1961, He Qifang, director of the institute, submitted the preface he had written for the book to Mao Zedong for review, and Mao made several revisions. The passages marked in Song typeface in sections I, II, IV, and V represent text added or rewritten by Mao Zedong; sections III and VI consist of two additional paragraphs penned by him. Moreover, Mao also changed the date of composition of the preface to January 23, 1961. On the morning of January 24, He Qifang transcribed Mao’s revised draft and resubmitted it for final approval. Mao made further minor textual adjustments and appended a brief annotation, namely section VII. [2] In He Qifang’s submission of January 16, 1961, the original wording of this passage read: “There are no ghosts in the world as depicted in old tales; yet there do exist many things that resemble ghosts. On a grand scale, these include imperialism and reactionaries, while on a smaller scale they comprise difficulties and setbacks in our work.” During his initial review, Mao revised “imperialism and reactionaries” to “international imperialism and its lackeys in various countries, international revisionism, domestic natural and man-made disasters, and certain landlord-bourgeois elements attempting restoration and seizing local political and economic organs.” When the People’s Daily officially published the text, it underwent some further minor textual adjustments. [3] Refers to the Declaration of the Conference of Representatives of Communist and Workers’ Parties of Various Countries, adopted at the meeting held in Moscow in November 1960. [ ] Liu refers to Liu Shaoqi. Zhou refers to Zhou Enlai. Deng refers to Deng Xiaoping, who at the time served as General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee. Zhou Yang was then Deputy Minister of the CPC Central Committee’s Propaganda Department, Vice Chairman of the All-China Writers Association, and Vice Chairman of the All-China Federation of Literary and Art Circles. Guo Moruo was then President of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Chairman of the All-China Federation of Literary and Art Circles. [ ] This preface was subsequently published in the combined third and fourth issues of Red Flag magazine in 1961 and in the People’s Daily on February 5, 1961. [ ] This was merely a minor textual adjustment; a previous revision had already been made on January 23. The present change represents a consolidation of those two revisions, as noted in section V.