"The first is interest, the second is to change your mind, and the third is because of Marx."
Foreign language ability is one of the important qualities of today's talents. Perhaps less known is that Mao Zedong, the leader of the CCP, was exposed to foreign languages at an early age, still learning English in his later years.
Mao Zedong taught himself English when he was an administrator in the library of Peking University. After arriving in Yan'an, foreign reporters came to visit one after another, which created opportunities for him to come into contact with pure English and learn English. According to the famous American journalist Smedley recalled: "He learned Mandarin from my secretary and English from me." In the usual time, Mao Zedong's English level has improved to a certain extent.
After the founding of New China, with better learning conditions and environment, Mao Zedong often found time for self-study after heavy work, and more often advocated cadres to study. In 1958, he suggested that on a voluntary basis, the responsible comrades of the central and provincial and municipal governments should learn a foreign language, striving to reach an intermediate level within 5 to 10 years. At the beginning of the Lushan Conference in 1959, he reiterated this suggestion. In the 1970s, he also advocated that comrades under the age of 60 should learn English.
Mao Zedong once said that English will be the world language in the future, and it will be beneficial to learn a little bit. Someone once asked Mao Zedong why he wanted to learn English, and he replied, First, he was interested, second, he wanted to change his mind, and third, because of Marx.
Mao Zedong encountered many difficulties when he studied the English translation of the classic works of Marxism-Leninism. Because the English translations of these classics are more difficult than the English of general political essays. Therefore, he often used the English editions of Marxist-Leninist works as teaching materials, and even began to study English again in his later years."I have to study every day of my life, and learn as much as possible, otherwise, what should I do when I see Marx?"
After Mao Zedong's death, when the staff was cleaning the books on his bedside, they found six copies of the "Communist Manifesto". Two of them are in English.
Looking back on history, in the process of exploring the country's path and direction, generations of Chinese Communists, while adhering to their own cultural subjectivity, actively learn from the advantages of other civilizations, and combine them with China's specific reality to form the most suitable theory of its own characteristics.
Since the reform and opening up, China has responded to the general development trend at home and abroad, opened up to the world, learned and integrated through exploration and practice, and continued to grow through innovation; the construction of the “Belt and Road” has transcended the estrangement between civilizations and the mutual learning of civilizations to transcend the clash of civilizations. The coexistence of civilizations transcends the superiority of civilizations, and promotes mutual understanding, mutual respect and mutual trust among countries.
As General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "Exchange and mutual learning are the essential requirements for the development of civilizations." "Only by exchanges and mutual learning can a civilization be full of vitality."
Learning a language will enable the leaders of the Communist Party of China to open a window for a deeper understanding of Marxist theory and thus better governance of the country; and with an open mind, respect and tolerance of different civilizations in the world, it shows that the Communist Party of China does not forget its salary It is passed down from generation to generation, guarded from generation to generation, and constantly advancing with the times and learning from the cultural confidence of innovation.
It is this spirit that makes the CCP never forget its original intention, absorb all the excellent cultural achievements created by mankind, and continuously deepen its understanding of the rules of the Communist Party’s governance, socialist construction, and the development of human society, and provide new ideas for solving new problems. New ideas, new methods.
