Comments on Organizing Senior Cadres to Study the Works of Marx, Engels, Lenin, and Stalin〔1〕 (February 15, 1964) Comrade Lu Dingyi〔2〕: (1) I have read this document〔3〕; it is very good and may be circulated immediately. (2) Please expedite arrangements for the production of thirty books〔4〕 in large print, bound in the traditional Chinese style, with each volume divided into sections—i.e., a single large book would be split into ten or eight volumes, while smaller books would remain undivided, and medium-sized ones would still be broken down into several parts. It is hoped that this can be completed this year. Do you think that feasible? Please consider it and let me know at your earliest convenience. Should each set be printed in ten thousand, twenty thousand, or thirty thousand copies? I am eager to see these large-print editions. Mao Zedong February 15 Based on the manuscript. Notes 〔1〕 These comments were written on a request report submitted by the Central Propaganda Department of the CPC on December 31, 1963, proposing that the Central Committee approve and circulate two documents related to organizing senior cadres to study the works of Marx, Engels, Lenin, and Stalin. 〔2〕 Lu Dingyi was then a member of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee and Minister of the Central Propaganda Department. 〔3〕 Refers to the two documents proposed by the Central Propaganda Department for central approval and distribution, along with a draft of the central leadership’s comments and a tentative list of selected readings from the works of Marx, Engels, Lenin, and Stalin for cadre study (draft).

The two documents are: a report dated June 18, 1963, by Li Mancun, Head of the Propaganda Department of the General Political Department of the People’s Liberation Army, and Zhang Boxiang, Deputy Head of the Cadre Department of the General Political Department, on the progress of a study class for senior officers at the Higher Military Academy; and a briefing dated November 1, 1963, by a joint working group from the PLA General Political Department’s Propaganda Department and the Air Force Political Department on the study activities of senior cadres in several air force units. The June 18 report stated that the study method employed in the Higher Military Academy’s class for senior officers consisted primarily of individual reading and reflection, supplemented by necessary guidance and informal discussions, all linked to a deeper understanding of Mao Zedong Thought. Emphasis was placed on thoroughly reading four texts: “On Marx, Engels, and Marxism,” “Lenin on Cooperatives,” “The Communist Manifesto,” and “Socialism: From Utopia to Science.” Through this study, the participants achieved the following gains: (1) a further appreciation of certain laws governing social development, particularly the law of class struggle; (2) a deeper understanding of how Mao Zedong had creatively applied and developed Marxist–Leninist theory; (3) a clearer grasp of the relationship between old and new revisionism, thereby strengthening their confidence in the ultimate victory of the anti-revisionist struggle; and (4) an increased interest in learning, which laid a solid foundation for the subsequent study of thirty additional works. The November 1 briefing noted that the air force organs of the Nanjing and Shenyang Military Regions, as well as the leadership of several air force corps, had conducted their studies quite effectively. The specific approach involved: (1) reading with questions in mind, integrating the study of Marxist–Leninist theory with current practical struggles, especially the anti-revisionist campaign; (2) systematically comparing and contrasting the relevant teachings of Marx, Engels, Lenin, Stalin, and Mao Zedong on similar issues; (3) employing a combination of individual self-study, regular study days, and short-term study classes, adapted flexibly to the circumstances of each unit and each individual; and (4) combining independent study with appropriate guidance and discussion, ensuring thorough self-examination before engaging in guided instruction and group deliberations. As a result, all participants experienced varying degrees of enrichment. The main outcomes were: first, a more comprehensive understanding of the fundamental content and principles of Marxism–Leninism; second, a clearer vision of the victorious future of the anti-revisionist struggle as seen against the backdrop of the historical development of Marxism–Leninism; third, a deeper and more concrete comprehension of Mao Zedong’s creative elaboration of Marxism–Leninism and the profound significance of Mao Zedong Thought; and fourth, substantial education and inspiration drawn from the revolutionary style and fighting spirit of the great mentors. On April 15, 1964, the CPC Central Committee, in its comments accompanying the circulation of

these two documents, pointed out that many of our Party’s senior cadres, despite their rich combat experience, lacked the requisite theoretical grounding, making them ill-equipped to draw generalizations from their experiences and often limiting their ability to fully grasp the directives issued by the CPC Central Committee and Comrade Mao Zedong. At present, the international communist movement finds itself at an extremely critical juncture. It is imperative that senior cadres resolutely set aside time to sit down and earnestly study the works of Marx, Engels, Lenin, and Stalin, mastering this sharp weapon of Marxism–Leninism so as to bolster their confidence and strength in the struggle against modern revisionism. Party committees at all levels should, like certain leading organs within the military, vigorously promote and facilitate such study activities among senior cadres. 〔4〕 Refers to the thirty selected works of Marx, Engels, Lenin, Stalin, and others intended for cadre study. Among these, there are eight works by Marx: “The Communist Manifesto” (co-authored with Engels), “Wage-Labor and Capital,” the Preface and Introduction to “A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy” (with Engels’ essay “On Marx’s ‘A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy’”), “The Class Struggles in France During One Year,” “Wages, Prices, and Profits,” “The Civil War in France,” “Critique of the Gotha Program,” and “Letters of Marx and Engels.” There are three works by Engels: the Introduction, Notes, and Fragments to “Dialectics of Nature,” “Anti-Dühring” (with the English-language edition’s Introduction titled “Socialism: From Utopia to Science”), and “Ludwig Feuerbach and the End of Classical German Philosophy” (accompanied by Marx’s “Theses on Feuerbach”). Lenin’s oeuvre comprises eleven items: “What Is to Be Done?”, “Two Tactics of Social Democracy in the Democratic Revolution,” “Materialism and Empirio-Criticism,” an abstract of Hegel’s “Science of Logic,” “Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism,” “The State and the Revolution,” “The Proletarian Revolution and the Traitor Kautsky,” “Left-Wing Childishness in the Communist Movement,” “On Marx, Engels, and Marxism,” three essays on war and peace (“Socialism and War,” “The Military Program of the Proletarian Revolution,” and “Bourgeois Pacifism and Socialist Pacifism”), and three papers addressing the national-colonial question (“The Socialist Revolution and the Right of Nations to Self-Determination,” “Preliminary Draft Outline of Questions Concerning National and Colonial Problems,” and “Report of the Commission on National and Colonial Questions at the Second Congress of the Communist International”). Stalin’s contributions include five works: “On the Opposition,” “Questions of Leninism,” “A Concise History of the CPSU(b),” “Marxism and the Question of Linguistics,” and “Problems of the Soviet Socialist Economy.” Plekhanov’s output consists of three pieces: “On the Development of the Monistic View of History,” “On the Role of the Individual in History,” and “On Art” (“An Unaddressed Letter”).