To be complacent and conceited, to refuse to apply Marxist dialectical, analytical method, i.e. the method of splitting one into two (both achievements
and shortcomings); to work in one’s own field, studying only the achievement
but not the shortcomings and mistakes, to like flattering but dislike critical
words; to have no interest in organizing competent high and middle cadres to
learn and investigate the work of other provinces, cities, regions, or departments

so as to link the result with one’s own circumstances and improve the work of
one’s own province, city, region, or department; to be blindly conceited, i.e.
to limit oneself to one’s own district, the small world of one’s department, the
inability to widen one’s scope, and the ignorance of other spheres of work; to
show and talk to foreigners, visitors from other places, and people sent by the
Center only about the achievements, not the weaknesses; in one’s own area of
work; to talk only superficially and perfunctorily [these are the faults common
to all our comrades]. The Center has more than once raised this problem to
our comrades: a communist must have at his disposal the Marxist dialectical
method of “splitting one into two”: achievements and shortcomings, truth and
mistakes. All matters (economic, political, ideological, cultural, military, party,
and etc.) are always in a process of development; this is common sense to a
Marxist. However, many of our comrades in the Center and regions do not use
this method of thinking and working. There is a formal logic deeply planted
in their minds which they cannot uproot. Formal logic denies the unification
of the opposites of things, the contradiction of opposites (“splitting one into
two”), and under given conditions the transformation of one pair of opposites
into another. Therefore, these comrades become complacent, conceited, observant of achievements only, blind to weaknesses, capable of hearing only favorable words but not criticisms, unwilling to criticize themselves (i.e. splitting
into two), and afraid of other people’s criticism The old saying, “Conceit courts
harm while modesty is beneficial” still holds good from the point of view of the
proletariat and the interest of the people.
1. Conceit grows under all circumstances and in all forms. Generally, it is
likely to grow with success and victory. This is because under adverse
condition one can easily see one’s own weaknesses and is comparatively
more cautious. Under the pressure of difficulties, modesty and caution
are the only attitudes to adopt. But with success comes the gratitude of
other people. Even onetime enemies may turn round and pay tribute
[to one’s prowess]. One can therefore easily lose one’s head in favorable
circumstances following success and feel light enough to fly. “From now
on the empire will be at peace,” one believes. We are fully aware that the
Party is more vulnerable to attack by the virus of conceit at a time of
victory and success.
2. Conceit grows under conditions of victory—i.e., the conceit of swollen-headedness and an inflated ego. This is one kind of conceit. Another kind grows under normal conditions with neither spectacular victory

nor ignominious defeat, when people intoxicate themselves with such
thoughts as “Not as good as the better but better than the worse” and “To
have served as a daughter-in-law for twenty years automatically makes
one a mother-in-law.”
There is a third kind which flourishes in backward conditions. Some
people take pride in being backward, because they think “Our work is
not all that good, but it is better than in the past,” or “So and so are even
XX worse than us.” Whenever they want to show off their history, they
make a quick switch from any other subject, their faces light up, and
they begin thus: “Once upon a time…”
3. We become conceited as soon as we overlook the strength of the masses; as
soon as our subjective understanding lags behind the development of the
objective reality; as soon as we overrate our own achievement.
4. Essentially, conceit is derived from individualism and nurses the growth
of individualism. It is individualistic.
5. Speaking from a class analytical point of view, conceit comes first from the
ideology of the exploiting class and then from that of small producers.
6. As workers, small producers have many good qualities. They are industrious, thrifty, not afraid of hardships, cautious, and realistic. But as small
owners, they are individualistic and what is more important, limited by
their working conditions and methods and their use of outdated means
of production, they are scattered, narrow-minded, and ill-informed.
They are often blind to the strength of the collective; they see only that
of the individual. Furthermore, they are easily satisfied. A small achievement may induce them to think: “That’s not bad at all,” “This is super,”
“Ah, let’s enjoy a bit,” and “Not as good as the better but better than the
worse.”
7. Conceit is based on the bourgeois, idealist world view. It can lead people
to XX, to a way of dealing with reality which is against the laws of the
development of reality and eventually to failure. The materialist historical
view provides that the history of social development is not the history
of big men, but of the laboring masses. None the less, conceited people
always exaggerated the role of the individual, take [undue] credit, and
become proud of themselves. They underestimate or completely overlook
the strength of the masses.
8. Hence, conceit is against Marxism-Leninism, against the dialectical and
historical materialist worldview of our Party.

9. Conceited people cannot forget their merits. They hide their own shortcomings and disregard other people’s strong points. They often compare
their own merits with other people’s demerits, thereby drawing satisfaction. When they see the strong points of others, they say: “Not much,”
or “Nothing to make a song and dance about.”
10. In fact, the more one overrates oneself, the worse the result is likely to be.
Leo Tolstoy, the great Russian writer, put it humorously:
“A man is like a mathematical fraction, whose actual talent can be compared to a numerator and his own estimate of it to a denominator. The
bigger the denominator, the smaller the fraction.”
11. Modesty is a necessary virtue for every revolutionary. It benefits the people’s cause whereas conceit leads the people’s cause to defeat. Therefore
modesty is an expression of one’s responsibility to the people’s cause.
12. A revolutionary in name and practice must be able to: First, respect the
creativeness of the masses, listen to their views, and regard himself as one
of the masses. He must not have a single grain of selfishness or exaggerate
his own role, and must work honestly for the masses. This is the spirit
which Lu Xun describes as “Head-bowed, like a willing ox I serve the
children.”22 This is modesty.
13. Second, he must have an indefatigable progressive spirit and must be
forever alert and clear-minded. He must be observant of new things and
consider them well. He must therefore have modesty so that he does not
accredit himself with undeserved merits; nor be satisfied with his own
achievements. This is a realistic attitude, the noble virtue of modesty.
14. If a man can learn seriously from work, life and actual struggles, if he
can regularly sum up his thought and action in an effort to find out his
deficiencies, shortcomings, and errors, if he can ruthlessly and resolutely
fight against his conceit and self-satisfaction and unreservedly overcome
them, it is absolutely within his powers to train himself to be a man of
humility.
15. A truly modest man is also a man who enthusiastically, unconditionally,
loyally, and actively works for the cause of the party, the people, and the
collective. He works not to show off or for awards and fame, not for any
selfish desire, but whole-heartedly for the happiness and interests of the
people. Therefore, he is always buried in hard work for the benefit of the
22  This couplet is from Lu Xun’s “In Mockery of Myself” in The Collection Outside the Collection, Complete Works, Vol. VII.

party and people, never giving a thought to his own distinction, status,
reputation, or salary. He does not brag about his achievements to other
people; he does not ever entertain such thoughts in his mind. He considers nothing more than how to serve the people better.
16. Why must a true collectivist demand humility from himself?
First, because he understands that although he plays a part in the achievements of knowledge or other results, the part the masses play is far greater. Without the help and support of the masses, he would not be able to
have knowledge; nor would his work be successful. As a collectivist, he
must not discount the merits of the masses, or “rob other people of their
merits.” He knows that it is shameful to be conceited.
Second, he understands that what he has learnt and done forms only a
tiny drop in the ocean of revolutionary knowledge and work: it is infinitesimal. Moreover, revolutionary knowledge and work are incessantly developing. As a collectivist, he must do his utmost to acquire the
knowledge which is useful to the people and to devote his ability to the
revolution. Therefore, he must feel that there is no room for complacency, for becoming stagnant.
Third, he knows that work is constructed like a huge machine with its
wheels, screws, steel frames, and other parts of different sizes and shapes,
each being indispensable. As a collectivist, he should respect each man’s
work and each man’s achievement. For the perfection of the revolutionary work, he must co-ordinate his own work with that of others. He
must feel that he cannot bear to be left out of the collective, and that he
passionately loves his colleagues. Because of this, he must treat people
with modesty, never with pride or conceit.
Fourth, he understands that the scope of an individual view is narrow
and limited, whereas the scope of revolutionary work and knowledge is
broad and their contents extremely rich and complex. Thus he understands that it is inevitable for an individual to have faults and be likely to
commit mistakes. These faults and mistakes often escape his full attention. Since he is a collectivist, he would demand of himself a deeper and
wider vision to detect his own faults and mistakes in time and to correct
them quickly, so that he can do revolutionary work well and be responsible to the people. Because of this, he is modest, humbly learns from
others, and sincerely welcomes other people’s criticism.

From these points [we] may see a true collectivist possesses humility, a
fact that reflects his progressive spirit and realistic attitude.
17. Another method of overcoming one’s conceit and nurturing one’s humility is to heighten one’s communist consciousness. This requires more
intensive study of Marxism-Leninism. Why?
18. Because the theories of Marxism-Leninism can help us to understand
scientifically the world and the relationships between individuals and
the masses, individuals and collectives, individuals and organization, and
individuals and the party.
[They also help us to] understand correctly the roles of the masses and
individuals in revolutionary struggles. Marxism-Leninism tells us that
the working people are the creators of social wealth and the mainstay in
a revolutionary struggle. In order to build socialism and communism in
China, we must depend on the creative power of the working class and
the millions of laboring people under the leadership of their vanguard.
As for an individual, he is no more than a small screw in the revolutionary works. Marxism-Leninism tells us: all achievement is the result of the
strength of the collective, no individual can detach himself from a collective, and an individual, without the party to lead him or an organization
and the masses to support him, cannot accomplish anything. If we do
really understand the part played by the masses and the individual in
history and their mutual relationship, we automatically become modest.
Marxism-Leninism can raise our understanding of the future and the
destination we are going to, can widen our scope, and can free our
thought from parochialism. When people see only what is under their
feet, not what lies above the mountains and beyond the seas, they are
likely to be as boastful as “the frog at the bottom of a well.” But when
they raise their heads to see the immensity of the world, the kaleidoscope
of man’s affairs, the splendor and magnificence of the cause of humanity,
the richness of man’s talents, and the breadth of knowledge, they become
modest. What we are dedicated to is a world-shaking task. We must
focus not just on the work and happiness in front of our eyes, but also
on the work and happiness of all of us in the distant future. Marxism-Leninism helps us to overcome self-satisfaction of a small producer due to
a small success or a small achievement. It arouses our desire for ceaseless
progress. At the same time, it helps us to eliminate our idealistic, subjective way of thinking.

19. Modesty and self-abasement are not synonymous. Modesty does not
mean belittling oneself; it is an expression of a realistic attitude and the
progressive spirit which enables one to see facts objectively, whereas
self-abasement is an expression of unrealism, a lack of self-confidence,
and a fear of difficulty.
Self-abasement and self-advertisement or a feeling of superiority are
based on subjectivism and wrong. They represent two extreme and erroneous subjective estimates of oneself. The boastful person detaches himself from reality and overestimates himself, exaggerates his actual ability
and role. He feels superior, out of the ordinary, and therefore stops making progress or learning new things. Inevitably, he must make mistakes.
The self-abasing person is apparently the opposite of the boastful, but he
is just as unrealistic. He underestimates himself, forgets that he can be
improved and disciplined in his work, and belittles the part he has played
and will play in the revolution. Consequently, he loses his courage and
confidence in making progress and relaxes his fighting spirit.
In short, both self-abasement and conceit are wrong, because both represent an erroneous assessment of one’s part in the revolution, and an
unrealistic and unscientific attitude. Both can do harm to the revolution.
That is why we must resolutely oppose conceit and boastfulness, and also
strictly distinguish modesty from self-abasement. In this way we may
avoid drifting from one extreme to another.
On Opposing Bureaucracy23
1963
Source: Long Live Mao Zedong Thought (Wansui), 1968, Vol. 5, page 76-77.
Translation: Foreign Languages Press, Paris, 2020.
With our administrative offices so out of touch with reality, bureaucratism
is an easy illness to catch. Bureaucratism inevitably lead to separatism. We
23  There is much confusion around this document: some sources say that it was written by
Zhou Enlai, others says by Mao. It is also oftentimes incorrectly dated as February 1970,
the date on which the Joint Publications Research Services released its translation, or 1967,
the date it was released in the Wansui. However, the original document in the Wansui is
dated 1963 and cites Mao as the author.

discovered a clear example of this with the “Yuejin” incident.24 There is also
regionalism below. The roots are all in bureaucratism. The year before last,
many cadres were sent down [into production]. I drafted the document that
resulted in them being sent down. Some people say they want to oppose it—
that they can’t stand it. The problem is bureaucratism.
Bureaucratism is a legacy left over by the exploiting class. We and the external party minister hope to rely on your advice.
Bureaucratism as a way of thinking manifests a combination of individualism, decentralism, selfish departmentalism, liberalism, commandism, routinism and organizational sectarianism. Therefore, bureaucratism is bound to be
linked to these “isms.” In short, we must concentrate on opposing the ideological style of the exploiting class. On March 1st, the Five-Antis directives of the
Central Committee said: “Bureaucratism is on the rise.” I think it is universal.
I’ll try to summarize 20 manifestations of bureaucracy:
1. At the highest level there is very little knowledge; they do not understand
the opinion of the masses; they do not investigate and study; they do
not grasp specific policies; they do not conduct political and ideological
work; they are divorced from reality, from the masses, and from the leadership of the Party; they always issue orders, and the orders are usually
wrong, they certainly mislead the country and the people; at the least
they obstruct the consistent adherence to the party line and policies; and
they cannot meet with the people. The bureaucratism is divorced from
leadership and from the masses.
2. They are conceited, complacent, and they aimlessly discuss politics. They
do not grasp their work, they are subjective and one-sided; they are careless; they do not listen to people; they are truculent and arbitrary; they
impose orders; they do not care about reality; they maintain blind control. This is authoritarian bureaucratism.
3. They are very busy from morning until evening, they labor bitterly the
whole year long. But they work without investigation, they don’t study
people, they do not prepare before speaking and they don’t do any planning for their work. This is a headless, brainless, bureaucratism without
direction.
24  The Yuejin was a freighter that sank in May 1963 after hitting rocks. Investigations led
by Zhou Enlai showed that three reports on the danger of the route of the Yuejin were filed
and ignored because of the complicated bureaucracy of the Ministry of Transport.

4. They operate as an officialdom, where they are the only ones who count.
No one can get close; they are intimidating and arrogant to cadres and
curse at will. This is the bureaucratism of lordship.
5. They don’t learn and are useless, ashamed to ask others; they exaggerate
and lie and make a fool of themselves; they deceive the top and hide
things from others; they write off their own wrongs, and take all the credit, blaming others for mistakes. This is dishonest bureaucratism.
6. They don’t study politics, don’t engage in their work, push work off onto
others and in case of trouble they fear taking responsibility; they procrastinate and have long-term indecision; they engage in haggling in their
work and are politically insensitive. This is irresponsible bureaucratism.
7. They work in a perfunctory manner just to subsist, muddling along, stirring up discord with others and make many mistakes; they flatter those
above and pull down those below, are two-faced and smooth and slick.
This is the bureaucratism of working just to feed yourself.
8. They can’t grasp politics, they can’t master their work, they say what they
think people want to hear and talk to everyone in the same tone; they
take their pay without doing work; they make up things for the sake of
appearances and are indiscriminate in their leadership. This bureaucratism that is satisfied with incompetence.
9. They are confused and chaotic, and don’t have a mind of their own; they
muddle through, they are idle all day wasting time. This is confused and
useless bureaucratism.
10. They submit approval for documents without reading them;  if their
approval is wrong, they don’t admit it; They read by letting others do the
reading, and when others are reading, they are asleep. They have countless thoughts but don’t discuss things with others, pushing everything off
onto others so that they don’t have to take responsibility. They pretend to
understand those below them, even if they don’t by criticizing and giving
orders summarily; they go along to get along with those on the same
level. This is lazy bureaucratism.
11. Government offices grow bigger and bigger, personnel is enormously
complex, there’s redundancy in the hierarchy, assets are wasted, there’s
a lot of people, they have many trouble, and they are running around
in circles frantically while neglecting their proper duties. There are too
many people for too little work and the level of efficiency is low. This is
institutional bureaucratism.

12. They don’t read instructions and don’t approve reports; they don’t circulate meetings or use reports that have been submitted and they don’t
communicate or discuss. This is bureaucratism of formalism.
13. They want to enjoy themselves and engage in back door deals. They’re
afraid of hardships. If one person is promoted, then all his cronies will
also ascend. If one person is made an official, the whole family will enjoy
the benefits. Internally and externally everyone is being treated to meals
and given gifts. This is bureaucratism of special favors.
14. The bigger the official gets, the worse his temperament, the bigger his
house, the better the furnishings, the higher his living requirements. The
more the supplies they receive, the more they dispense and the lower the
price. This is the bureaucratism of putting on official airs.
15. They do everything for self and selfish profit; they use their public office
for private interests; they embezzle from the public, knowingly breaking
the law; they eat a lot and earn a lot and don’t give anything back. This is
selfish, individualist bureaucratism.
16. They compete for acclaim and power while reaching out to the Party;
they haggle over every penny, find fault in all of the work, they are cozy
when it comes to their comrades, and are indifferent to the masses. This
is the bureaucratism for power struggles.
17. These are leaders of many different minds who can’t unite with each other; they have multiple political lines and their work disorganized; the top
and the bottom are divorced from each other, and they try to push each
other out; there is no centralization, nor is there any democracy. This is
disunited bureaucratism.
18. There’s don’t heed any organization and appoint personal friends; they
form cliques to further their own private interests and protect each other, individual and factional interests stand above all else; they harm the
larger public for the sake of small individual interests. This is sectarian
bureaucratism.
19. Their revolutionary will has deteriorated and their political life has
degenerated. They relying on old accomplishments to “eat,” putting on
official airs. They love leisure and hate work, taking scenic tours. They
don’t use their brains nor their hands; they don’t care about the interests
of the country or the people. This is degenerate bureaucratism.
20. They encourage harmful tendencies, indulge bad people and bad things,
retaliate, suppress democracy, oppress the masses, protect bad people;

they don’t differentiate between the enemy  and ourselves and flout the
law. This is bureaucratism that encourages harmful tendencies.
In short, cadres divorced from reality, divorced from the masses, and ignoring the interests of the masses will harm the party’s line and policy. To not
work as ordinary workers, to not be with the masses and share their joys and
hardships; to give politically empty talk, be dishonest, irresponsible, incapable,
useless, immersed in transactionism, special favors, selfishness, disunity, sectarianism—will finally end in degeneration.
The ideological, social, historical, and ideological roots of bureaucratism are
the ideological ways of the exploiting class, including bourgeois individualism
and pragmatism, as well as feudal patriarchy. (The four major families in the
Dream of the Red Chamber included forty serf owners, two-thirds of whom
were bureaucrats.)
The roots of class society: the new bourgeoisie, the old bourgeoisie, and
urban and rural feudal forces. There is capitalist siege internationally, and
imperialism and revisionism are united.
Historical roots: Our revolution smashed the old state apparatus and established a new state apparatus, but the old ruling power, traditional influence,
and the old personnel were retained. The policy was correct, but it brought
side effects. In 1951, the focus of the “Three Antis” was against corruption. In
1957, the focus was against Rightism. Last year, was mainly criticizing decentralism, so bureaucratism has not been the focus for many years. The soil for
breeding bureaucratism is fertile, which is also the soil for revisionism and
dogmatism.