Chairman Mao loved to watch Peking Opera , especially modern model operas that reflected the Chinese revolution.
Once, Chairman Mao watched " Taking Tiger Mountain by Wisdom ". There was a scene in it: Yang Zirong, who was disguised as a bandit, met little furnace maker Luan Ping who escaped from our army's cell. He was almost exposed by this guy. Yang Zirong pretended to be innocent and wanted to leave the village. The bandits started to To dissuade him, the mountain eagle also shouted: "Lao Jiu can't leave!"
When Chairman Mao saw this, he recited this line meaningfully: "Old Nine can't leave...Old Nine can't leave..."
So, why does Chairman Mao attach so much importance to this line? Just because it aroused Chairman Mao's concern for intellectuals.
During those turbulent years, intellectuals were widely persecuted. Some people even arranged a hierarchy of reactionaries with ulterior motives: landlords, rich, counterattacks, bad, right, agents, traitors, capitalist roaders, and intellectuals. Therefore, intellectuals were contemptuously called the "Smelly Nine."
This evil trend has had a very bad impact on society. Many students who were bewitched also criticized their teachers in school and insulted them as "stinky old nine".
This phenomenon aroused Chairman Mao's concern and worry, so he took the opportunity of watching a theater to express his concern for intellectuals by shouting "Lao Jiu can't leave".
In fact, Chairman Mao, Premier Zhou, Deng Xiaoping and the older generation of revolutionaries were themselves the first generation of intellectual youths to awaken in old China. They were "new talents" who were thoughtful, educated and revolutionary. Among the comrades who followed Chairman Mao to open up the Jinggangshan base area, there were 218 intellectuals who had received higher cultural education.
As we all know, Chairman Mao once proposed the famous saying "Political power comes from the barrel of a gun." In fact, Chairman Mao also put forward another "pen barrel" statement, that is, "the pen barrel should be combined with the barrel of the gun." He also wrote a poem: "Who can compare with a slim pen? Three thousand Mauser elite soldiers." fully reflects the importance of the "pen barrel".
On December 1, 1939, Chairman Mao wrote a special article " Absorbing a Large Number of Intellectuals", which wrote: "All party comrades must realize that the correct policy towards intellectuals is one of the important conditions for the victory of the revolution. During the Agrarian Revolution period, our party's incorrect attitude towards intellectuals in many places and many armies should never be repeated in the future; and the proletariat own intellectual division The creation of a son can never be separated from the help of the original intellectuals in society. The Central Committee hopes that party committees at all levels and all comrades in the party will pay serious attention to this issue. "
On the eve of the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, Chairman Mao once again elaborated on the Communist Party's intellectual policy in " On Coalition Government": "China is a culturally backward country caused by national oppression and feudal oppression. The liberation of the Chinese people The struggle urgently needs intellectuals, so the issue of intellectuals is particularly important. In the people's liberation struggle over the past half century, especially the struggle since the May 4th Movement and the eight-year Anti-Japanese War, the vast number of revolutionary intellectuals played a great role in the cause of the Chinese people's liberation. They will play a greater role in future struggles. Therefore, in the future, the people's government should plan to train various types of intellectual cadres from among the people, and pay attention to uniting and educating all existing useful intellectuals. Intellectuals. "
After the founding of New China, the purpose and direction of the Chinese revolution have undergone tremendous changes. However, some old revolutionary cadres with great military exploits but low cultural level did not realize this change. They always disliked intellectuals, especially those who grew up in old China, whose words and deeds were different from their own. They felt that the revolution could be carried out without them.
Chairman Mao criticized these views, saying "This is a very unwise thing to say" and "What kind of revolution are we revolutionizing now? It is the revolution of technology and the revolution of culture. We must engage in science and revolutionize the revolution of stupidity and ignorance. technical revolution , cultural revolution, it can be done without you, but it can’t be done without them! "
Chairman Mao not only expressed these opinions at various intra-party meetings, but also often elaborated similar views when meeting with foreign guests. For example, when meeting with the East German delegation, he said: "Without them, we cannot carry out our work. There would be no engineers, professors, teachers, journalists, doctors, writers, and artists." "
When meeting the Cuban cultural delegation, Chairman Mao also said: "We should win over the intellectuals of the old society, otherwise we will not be able to continue our cause. "
Regarding historical issues such as the origins and background of some senior intellectuals studying abroad, and even holding positions in the National Government, Chairman Mao said many times: "Intellectuals must be trusted. If they are only based on their origin, then Ma, En, Lenin, and Sri Lanka will not work. Socialist theory can only be produced through intellectuals, and workers themselves cannot produce Marxism . "
In January 1956, the central government also held a special meeting on Intellectual Issues in Beijing, and Premier Zhou made a "Report on the Issue of Intellectuals."
In this report, Premier Zhou proposed: "Intellectuals have become an important factor in all aspects of life in our country, and most of them are already part of the working class. Correctly solving the problem of intellectuals and more fully mobilizing and exerting their strength to serve the great socialist construction has become an important condition for us to strive to complete the overall task of the transition period. "
At the end of the conference, a historic slogan was put forward: "March to modern science! "
Subsequently, Chairman Mao proposed the cultural policy of "letting a hundred flowers bloom and a hundred schools of thought contend". There was an ideological upsurge in the country that respected knowledge and valued culture. Many senior intellectuals and democrats actively contributed to various projects. People today may not be able to imagine that the "class character" in people's consciousness was very prominent at that time. The class differentiation, class oppression, and class antagonism in old China were all rare in human history. Therefore, class struggle was inevitable. It's very harsh.
After the founding of New China, although the exploiting class has disappeared, people's consciousness of class struggle is still very sharp. This is an inevitable and inevitable phenomenon in historical development.
However, correct policy guidance will mitigate its negative impact, while unbalanced policy guidance will exaggerate class contradictions and class struggle.
For the "harsh criticism" of some intellectuals, it was difficult for the masses and leading cadres with generally low education levels to accept it. Therefore, the situation of "letting a hundred flowers bloom and a hundred schools of thought contend" soon disappeared. Instead, there was a movement to "lead the snake out of its hole" and "fight back against right deviation", and many intellectuals were labeled as "rightists".
In March 1962, the State Science and Technology Commission, the Ministry of Culture and the China Drama Association successively held the National Scientific Work Conference and the National Forum on Literary and Art Creation in Guangzhou. Premier Zhou and Chen Yi made a special trip from Beijing to "take off their hats and crown" the majority of intellectuals, once again expressing our party's policy towards intellectuals.
But it is a pity that after the movement was launched, some people distorted the policy wantonly, causing intellectuals to suffer unprecedented unfair treatment. The chairman's meaningful words "Lao Jiu can't leave".
However, in the context of that crazy era, Chairman Mao's words did not attract attention. It was not until the reform and opening up that Deng Xiaoping put forward slogans such as "respect knowledge and respect talents" and "science is the primary productive force", and finally ushered in a cultural prosperity that values knowledge and respects intellectuals.
(Reference materials: "Mao Zedong's Studying Life" and "China's Intellectual Circle from 1958 to 1962")
