Editor's note: Mao Zedong's democratic theory during the Yan'an period was an important aspect and important content of the sinicization of Marxism. In a modern China with a semi-colonial and semi-feudal nature lacking independence and democracy, how to strive for people's democracy to achieve national independence and people's liberation and establish a true people's republic, Marxism does not provide ready-made answers. Therefore, China's affairs must be explored and resolved independently by the Chinese people themselves. The Communist Party of China needs to apply Marxist-Leninist theory according to China's characteristics and make Marxist-Leninism concretize Marxism-Leninism in China. The systematic discourse of Mao Zedong's democratic theory on "democracy in all aspects" during the Yan'an period has both the foundation of Marxist theory, as well as theoretical creation and discourse innovation in Chinese experience, Chinese practice, and Chinese style. It is a model creation of the sinicization of Marxism and provides very valuable experience for continuously promoting the sinicization of Marxism.
Marxism discovered the universal laws of human society, established the scientific socialist theory, and provided a "great tool of understanding" for proletarian and the entire cause of human liberation. After Marxism was introduced to China, it triggered a fundamental change in Chinese thought, and the power hidden in the Chinese people was greatly stimulated. "The reason why Marxism-Leninism came to China was because of this need in China's social conditions, because it had connections with the practice of the Chinese people's revolution, and because it was mastered by the Chinese people."
Marxism-Leninism is not a fantasy outside the world, nor is it a mysticism, but a "correct explanation of history" and a scientific answer to real and contemporary issues. "Any thought, if not related to objective actual things, without objective existence needs, and if not mastered by the people, even the best things, even Marxism-Leninism, will not work." For modern China, which lacks independence and democracy and is suffering from the dual oppression of imperialism and feudalism, how to scientifically use Marxism to solve China's problems still depends on the Chinese people's own independent exploration. The Communist Party of China needs to creatively use Marxist views and methods to achieve the sinicization of Marxism. Mao Zedong's democratic theory during the Yan'an period was an important aspect and important part of the sinicization of Marxism. It is precisely such a theoretical creation that has both the theoretical foundation established by Marxism, China's experience and Chinese practice, which has become a model for the sinicization and concretization of Marxism.
1. Mao Zedong's preliminary thinking and exploration on the issue of China's democracy
The Xinhai Revolution ended the imperial system and established a nominal bourgeois republic. This is a progress made in modern China, but the old democratic revolution led by the bourgeoisie did not fundamentally touch the rule of imperialism and feudalism, failed to fundamentally touch the foundation of feudal society, and failed to deeply understand the nature of imperialism. The bourgeoisie can no longer implement democracy, so the Republic of China is in name but not real, even that little pitiful bourgeois democracy. It has disappeared in the Kuomintang authoritarian government led by Chiang Kai-shek . This is the issue of democracy in China - Mao Zedong summarized that China lacks two things, one is the lack of independence and the other is the lack of democracy. In the "Communist Manifesto", Marx and Engels put forward the demand for the proletariat to win democracy. The Russian Revolution led by Lenin established a democratic regime. This theory and practice, which is completely different from bourgeois democracy, is urgently needed for the old China that lacks independence and democracy, and is extremely attractive to the Chinese people who are looking for a way out and can meet the actual needs. But China still has a very special situation, that is, Chinese society is an extremely vast society with peasant bourgeoisie, with farmers who account for 80% of the country's population and have extremely difficult lives.Therefore, how to make the democratic thoughts and practice of Marxism-Leninism concrete in China based on China's social nature and specific national conditions, explore a Chinese democratic revolutionary path that solves China's democratic problems and realizes the people's desire to be masters of their own country, unite the people and establish a true people's republic, become a arduous historical task facing the Communist Party of China as soon as it was founded. Mao Zedong began to think about and explore the way out for China's democracy by summarizing the lessons of the failure of the Xinhai Revolution.
In 1925, Mao Zedong wrote in the "Reasons for Publication of the Political Weekly" that the real purpose of the revolution was "to liberate the Chinese nation, to realize the rule of the people, and to enable the people to obtain economic happiness." This is Mao Zedong's earlier thoughts and discussions on the issue of democracy. In order to achieve this revolutionary purpose, Mao Zedong firmly grasped the issue of Chinese peasants and put forward the conclusion that "peasant issues are the central issues of the national revolution" for the first time within the party. Mao Zedong pointed out that without a big rural change, the National Revolution could not be completed. This big rural change was to organize the peasants. The Xinhai Revolution did not trigger this big rural change, so it failed. Based on this scientific understanding, Mao Zedong took action and went deep into the vast rural areas to understand the real situation of all classes in Chinese society. He used the language and methods familiar to Chinese farmers to promote Marxism, mobilize farmers to start a vigorous peasant movement. But because the right-leaning opportunism within the party at that time gave up the leadership of the cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, and because the Communist Party of China did not establish its own armed forces and workers' and peasants' regime, the Great Revolution was strangled. The harsh reality made Mao Zedong clearly realize that in order to liberate peasants and achieve national independence and people's liberation, the Communist Party of China must lead the people to establish its own armed forces and a regime belonging to the vast majority of workers and peasants. This is the unique path of the Chinese revolution that Mao Zedong moved to the countryside after the failure of the National Revolution and opened up to "surround the cities in the countryside and seize power with armed forces".
Mao Zedong’s thoughts on the issue of democracy during the Agrarian Revolution were mainly reflected in how to implement intra-party democracy, how to carry out democracy within the army to create a new type of people’s army, and how to build a Soviet democratic regime. Although Mao Zedong was not the main leader of the Party, he began to explore how to expand intra-party democracy and intra-party democratic life within the rural revolutionary base areas established by Mao Zedong, the Soviet regime of the Workers and Peasants, and the Red Army of Workers and Peasants. He integrated democratic centralism into party building, military building and government building, and achieved extensive democracy in rural revolutionary base areas.
From the perspective of intra-party democracy, because China is a society with a very deep ideological tradition of small peasants, the main sources of Communist Party members are farmers and other petty bourgeoisie, and many party members have brought the scattered nature of small peasants' economic and social society into the party. In order to overcome all kinds of non-proletarian ideas within the Party, especially extreme democratization ideas, to promote the centralization and unity of the Party, and to improve the Party's combat effectiveness in a complex struggle environment, Mao Zedong realized that it is necessary to introduce democratic spirit and democratic style into the Party, and democratic education must be carried out for local organizations at all levels of the Party, party organizations in the army, and party organizations in the democratic regime of workers and peasants, to establish the theory and principles of democratic centralism, and to explore the establishment of a democratic operation mechanism that conforms to the Party's reality. Especially within the Red Army at the beginning of its establishment, the problems of various non-proletarian ideas and insufficient democratic life within the Red Army Party are still relatively serious, because most of the Red Army soldiers are from peasants or transformed from the old army and are deeply influenced by the feudal hierarchy. Therefore, the most urgent problem within the Red Army Party is how to improve democratic life within the Party. During this period, the democratic lifestyle and democratic operation mechanisms of intra-party exploration and formed intra-party groups, branch meetings, party members' meetings, political seminars and other intra-party democratic lifestyles and intra-party democratic operation mechanisms were summarized and confirmed in the "Resolution of the Ninth Congress of the Fourth Army of the Red Army" drafted and passed by Mao Zedong for the Ninth Congress of the Red Fourth Army. This is the famous " Gutian Conference Resolution ".The "Gutian Conference Resolution" reflects Mao Zedong's profound understanding of intra-party democracy and intra-party democratic life during the Agrarian Revolution. His main ideas were expressed in a more theorized and concretized way after the Party Central Committee arrived in Yan'an, northern Shaanxi, and became a consensus of the whole party.
Implementing democracy within the army is an important part of building the people's army under the leadership of the Party. After the failure of the Autumn Harvest Uprising, Mao Zedong made up his mind to establish a new type of people's army, which was fundamentally different from the old army and the old warlords. It mainly establishes a democratic system within the army, and through the establishment of soldier committees at all levels, the democratic rights of soldiers, including economic and political rights, and establishes a new type of relationship between officers and soldiers and military-civilians. Mao Zedong's adaptation of the Autumn Harvest Uprising troops in Sanwan Village, Yongxin, Jiangxi Province is the source of living water for the new type of people's army and military democracy. In order to correct bad ideological tendencies, the Gutian Conference further improved the democracy within the military and proposed specific methods to improve the relationship between the military and government, military and civilians, implement equality between officers and soldiers in the military, do not beat and scold soldiers, resolutely abolish corporal punishment, strictly implement democratic life under centralized guidance in the organization, and oppose extreme democratization and absolute egalitarianism; in military and political relations, eliminate banditism ideas, the troops help local governments establish revolutionary regimes and local armed forces, respect local governments, and mobilize local parties to criticize the Red Army Party and mass regime organs to criticize the Red Army; strictly implement the three major disciplines and eight points of attention in military and civilian relations. These democratic systems and democratic policies implemented during the Agrarian Revolution provided an important empirical basis for the systematicization of Mao Zedong's military democratic thought during the Yan'an period.
In terms of the construction of democratic regimes of workers and peasants, the Party "should be determined to establish a regime of workers, peasants and soldiers in Guangdong, Hunan, Hubei and Jiangxi provinces immediately." "When the Soviet Union of Workers, peasants and soldiers, we should no longer fight the flag of the Kuomintang. We should raise the flag of the Communist Party high." The Chinese peasants liberated from the land were not only united under the Soviet democratic regime, but also organized their own powerful forces to consolidate and expand the Soviet regime in the practice of agrarian revolution. After the hard work of the party, government, military and civilians, the Chinese Soviet Republic was established in 1931, the Central Soviet Government was established, the " Outline of the Constitution of the Chinese Soviet Republic ", and the National Congress of Workers, Peasants and Soldiers of the Chinese Soviet Republic was established. This was the first time in Chinese history that the people were masters of their own country. "The experience of the ten-year civil war period is the best and closest reference for the current anti-Japanese period." The vivid practice and exploration of the construction of the Soviet regime during the Agrarian Revolution accumulated experience for the people's democratic regime during the Yan'an period and laid the foundation for the practice of the anti-Japanese democratic regime. These practical experiences and theoretical explorations created conditions for the maturity of Mao Zedong's democratic theory during the Yan'an period.
2. Mao Zedong's democratic theory during the Yan'an period was a concrete manifestation and important aspect of the sinicization of Marxism
After the Zunyi Conference, Mao Zedong's leadership position in the Communist Party of China and the Red Army was established, which provided favorable conditions for the maturity of Mao Zedong's democratic theory. Mao Zedong's democratic theory during the Yan'an period was the product of the combination of Marxist-Leninist democratic thought with China's specific reality. Its major theoretical innovations are specifically reflected in: theories on people's democracy and the people's congress system, theories on the party's democratic centralism, theories on the implementation of democracy within the army, theories on the united front, and theories on the "new path of democracy".
First, people's democracy and the mass line. Based on Marx's thought on the people's subjective thought, Mao Zedong connected the people's subjective thought with the mass line and proposed a democratic theory with "people's democracy" as the core concept. "People's democracy" is a concept that unites Marxist historical view, epistemology and methodology, and is a concept of practical wisdom of state and social governance. Compared with Marx and Lenin's concept of proletarian democracy, the content is more specific and the connotation is more profound. In Mao Zedong's historical view, "the people, only the people, are the driving force for creating world history."The masses are real heroes and "romantic figures", so the mass line and democratic method of the people who are masters of their own country and closely connect with the masses are inevitable requirements of the people's historical view. Therefore, Mao Zedong's "people's democracy" must be understood from the perspective of ontology and methodology of historical materialism. "First, in the sense of ontology, that is, the people are the driving force of revolution and the creators of history; second, in the sense of methodology, that is, we must rely on the masses, concentrate the wisdom of the masses, and see them in all work. This methodological thinking of the mass line is closer to the institutional design of democratic politics." According to the materialist view of history, the people are the subject of practice, history, value, and therefore the subject of democracy. However, according to China's reality, as a political category, in the new democratic stage, the "people" includes workers, peasants, petty bourgeoisie and national bourgeoisie. The main body of the people is the masses of workers and peasants, the vast majority of peasants and small producers, and the joint formation of the revolutionary classes constitutes the "people". Such "people" jointly establish the People's Republic, and its leadership class is the working class and its political party, and its future is socialism. The social nature of modern China's semi-colonial and semi-feudal, the revolutionary tasks of opposing imperialism and feudalism, and the goal of striving for national independence and people's liberation all require that the peasants who account for the majority of the Chinese population must be regarded as the main part of the people. The peasant issue is the central issue of the Chinese revolution, and the peasants have infinite power to fight imperialism and feudalism. In the process of anti-imperialism and feudalism, we must also use democratic methods to educate farmers, help farmers continuously overcome and overcome various non-proletarian ideas, mobilize farmers to directly participate in the practice of democratic revolution, and promote national democracy by developing grassroots rural democracy. Mao Zedong's people's democracy and mass line are the product of combining Marxist theory with China's democratic practice. It reflects China's reality and the people's democratic requirements. Therefore, Mao Zedong created a democratic theory that is more suitable for the vast number of oppressed nations and people.
Second, creatively apply and develop Marxist-Leninist ideas on democratic centralism. Both Marx and Lenin raised the issue of the relationship between democracy and centralization within the proletarian party, but in different environments of the proletarian movement, how to deal with the relationship between democracy and centralization, and how to make systematic theoretical explanations, relying on the repeated practice and theoretical improvement of the proletarian party for continuous improvement. Mao Zedong not only systematically discussed the party's principle of democratic centralism, but also established democratic centralism as the political system of the People's Republic, that is, the organizational form of the government.
The Party’s democratic centralism is the fundamental principle of the Party’s democratic political life. In accordance with the principle of democratic centralism, on the one hand, we should fully carry forward intra-party democracy, safeguard the democratic rights of party members such as the right to vote and supervision, and create an environment and atmosphere for fully discussing issues and expressing opinions within the party; on the other hand, we should implement democratic centralism to better realize and maintain the unity of the party, better realize and maintain the centralized and unified leadership of the party, and enhance the cohesion and leadership of the whole party. As a government organizational form, democratic centralism is essentially people's democracy, which is to achieve and ensure that the people are better masters of their own affairs, and is the unity of democracy and efficiency.
Mao Zedong believed that although the party's democratic centralism is different from the democratic centralism as the political system of the People's Republic and is realized through different institutional arrangements, it is both "high degree of democracy and high degree of concentration" and the unity of democratic values and democratic methods. Democracy and concentration appear to be opposite and conflicting on the surface, but in a certain form they can be unified, and there are no irrefutable barriers between them. The relationship between democracy and centralization is "centralization based on democracy and democracy under centralized guidance". One side should not be emphasized one side and the other side should be negated. It is difficult to form a unified understanding and guidance when democracy leaves centralization. Centralization without democracy is a breeding ground for bureaucracy and authoritarianism, a manifestation of being separated from the masses, and nothing can fail. How to unify democracy and concentration in a specific environment is to rely on the mass line.Mao Zedong pointed out: "In all practical work of our party, all correct leadership must come from the masses and go to the masses. This means that the opinions of the masses (dispersed and unsystematic opinions) are concentrated (after research, they are turned into concentrated and systematic opinions), and then the masses are promoted and explained, and turned into opinions of the masses, so that the masses can persist, see them in action, and test whether these opinions are correct in action."
Third, the system of people's democracy and the people's congress. Mao Zedong's "people's democracy" is not only a broad "people" subject that enjoys democratic rights, but also a broad and authentic content of democracy. The forms, channels and methods of democracy are also rich and diverse, and the authenticity, substantiveness and effectiveness of people's democracy are fully reflected from the subject, content, form, channels and methods. From the perspective of the broadness of the people's subject, in the new democratic stage, both the workers and peasants, intellectuals and national bourgeoisie, they all belong to the category of the people, have the right to speak, have the right to do their jobs and powers, and each has its own right to do so; from the perspective of democratic rights, the people have the right to vote and supervise, economic democracy, political democracy, and cultural democracy. Democracy runs through the entire political process and decision-making process, and there is no "dormant period of democracy." The Party and the government have a democratic style and a democratic life, and the entire society has democratic education, which is a comprehensive democratic society. In order to achieve full people's democracy, we need to have the guarantee of the people's congress system to achieve the adaptation of the political system of the People's Republic to the state system. People's democracy is the soul of the people's congress system. Delegates to the people's congress are elected by the people. The people's congress system takes democratic centralism as the fundamental principle. This democracy is more conducive to realizing the common will of the people and more effectively realizing people's democracy. Mao Zedong pointed out: "There is no deep gap between democracy and centralization that cannot be overcome. Both are necessary for China. On the one hand, the government we require must be a government that can truly represent the public opinion; this government must have the support and support of the vast majority of the people in China, and the people must be able to support the government freely and have all opportunities to influence the government's policies. This is the significance of democracy. On the other hand, the centralization of administrative power is necessary; once the policies required by the people pass the public opinion machine, When the government is delivered to the government that is elected by itself, it will be implemented by the government. As long as the policy adopted by the public is not violated during the implementation, its implementation will be smooth and unhindered. This is the meaning of centralization. Only by adopting democratic centralism can the government be particularly powerful. The government of the nature of China's defense in the War of Resistance Against Japan must adopt this democratic centralism. "The history of the Chinese people's experience in the country without democracy and independence and disorderly social life proves that only the people's democracy and the people's congress system are reasonable and correct choices.
Fourth, military democratic thought. Mao Zedong comprehensively considered military issues in the complex situation of domestic and international politics, economy and culture and the general trend of the world. By coordinating the democratic relations within and outside the army, specific and detailed provisions have been made on all aspects of democracy within the army and the unity between the military and the military and civilians. In the practice of military struggle, a profound military democratic idea with distinct people-oriented nature and unique characteristics has been formed, which greatly enriched the connotation and value of democracy.
Mao Zedong's military democratic thought began and was nurtured during the Jinggangshan period. After the forging of the Long March, it reached maturity and completeness in the Yan'an period. Mao Zedong's military democratic thought not only achieved a qualitative leap in human military thought and military culture, but also highlighted and reflected the profoundness of Mao Zedong's democratic theory. First of all, Mao Zedong's military democratic thought has unique characteristics, which is both a military culture and a democratic culture. It not only develops military thought, but also enriches the connotation and value of democracy, because democratic theories from ancient times to the present have not paid attention to the basic democratic rights and subjectivity of ordinary soldiers.Secondly, Mao Zedong's military democratic thought has distinct practical characteristics, and is sincerely committed to implementing a certain form of democracy within the army, truly respecting the soldiers' subjective spirit, creative spirit and management rights, and is a democratic system and democratic principle that has always been adhered to and implemented, rather than being ready to discard it at any time. Finally, Mao Zedong's military democratic thought has the characteristics of being broad and subtle. He considers military with political, economic, cultural, and international systems, coordinates democratic relations within and outside the military, and creates the most macro-level military science. At the same time, it is also specific and subtle. The provisions on political democracy, economic democracy, military democracy and military-civilian relations within the military have reached the level of "one needle and one thread", which can be regarded as refined management, rewriting people's understanding of military democratic life, military democratic system, and military tasks. It is no longer something that can be understood by the simple military viewpoint and the military professional thinking that is separated from society and the people.
Fifth, deliberative democracy was launched in the form of a united front. During the Yan'an period, the united front and multi-party cooperation led by the Communist Party of China became increasingly mature, and a rich idea of democratic consultation was developed, and a new type of party system of multi-party cooperation was created. The Communist Party of China has a good democratic style, can cooperate sincerely with various democratic parties, and can allow everyone to fully express their opinions and discuss together when encountering problems. Democrats outside the Party have real positions and real power in the anti-Japanese democratic regime. The People's Republic is a state power in the form of a united front.
Sixth, a new path to democracy. China has a deep tradition of bureaucracy and privileged ideas, which is exactly the historical and cultural background of Huang Yanpei having the question of "historical cycle" and Mao Zedong having the answer to "a new path to democracy". Neither Marx nor Mao Zedong remained at treating democracy as a formal or limited to the political field, nor did he hollow out the actual and substantial content of democracy like the modern bourgeoisie, but instead made arguments from the laws of society and history and the fundamental avenue of national governance. Therefore, the opposition between democracy and autocracy is not the whole of democracy. Anti-privileges and anti-bureaucracy are also important contents of Mao Zedong's democratic theory. The democratic spirit pursued by the Chinese people is not only aimed at feudal autocracy, but also at the privileged ideas, bureaucracy and formalism formed under the influence of this feudal economic and political situation. Therefore, we must use democratic methods to educate the people, and use the power of people's democracy and democratic methods to oppose privileged ideas, bureaucracy, and formalism. Bureaucracy is separated from the people and is opposed to democratic style and mass views. It is essentially a privileged idea and a "anti-people style." The people are the main body of anti-bureaucracy and privileged ideas. By expanding democracy and relying on the supervision of the people, we will prevent and stop the breeding of bureaucracy and privileged ideas. This is an important function of people's democracy.
To sum up, Mao Zedong's democratic theory is a mature and reasonable form of democratic theory produced in the Chinese context, the practice of building a people's democratic regime based on Marxist democratic thought. This democratic theory form includes rich content such as people's democracy, democratic centralism, military democracy, and inter-party democracy. It is masters of the people, cracks the historical cycle rate, and creates a "new path to democracy". These theoretical contents ultimately condense into a democratic discourse system with Chinese style and Chinese style. Under the guidance of Mao Zedong's democratic theory, through the joint efforts of the Chinese people, the People's Republic of China was established, national unity and national unity were achieved, the history of the old Chinese semi-colonial and semi-feudal society was completely ended, the unequal treaties imposed by imperialism on the Chinese people were completely abolished, all the privileges of imperialism in China were abolished, and all the great leap from feudal autocratic politics to people's democratic politics for thousands of years was achieved. The Chinese people stood up from then on and became the masters of the country, society and their own destiny.
3. The experience of Mao Zedong's democratic theory in the Yan'an period on realizing the sinicization of Marxism
The sinicization of Marxism is the combination of the universal principles of Marxism and the reality of China. It can also be said that it is the use of Marxist standpoints, views, and methods to solve China's problems, summarize China's experience, and create new theories. "What is a problem? The problem is a contradiction between things." China's problem is the contradiction between Chinese society. The main contradiction in Chinese society is the contradiction between imperialism and the Chinese nation, feudalism and the masses of the people. The main task of the Chinese revolution is to overthrow the rule of imperialism and feudalism in China and realize that the Chinese people are masters of their own affairs. Therefore, the relationship between Marxism and the Chinese revolution is the relationship between "arrow" and "the". Using Marxism to guide the Chinese revolution is "targeted". This is the connotation of the proposition "Sinicization of Marxism" proposed by Mao Zedong. "'Change' means thoroughly and thoroughly." This kind of "Change" is not simplification or reduction, but systematic rather than fragmentary. It is to integrate Marxist theory into the hearts of the proletariat and the working people and into the movement of real things, that is, the combination of theory and practice will be the guide to action. The Marxist-Leninist democratic thought, which is an important component of the Marxist-Leninist ideological system, must also be combined with China's reality, and constantly open up the path of understanding the truth and realizing people's democracy in democratic practice, so that it has Chinese characteristics, conforms to China's reality and people's needs, and has a Chinese style and Chinese style. Mao Zedong's democratic theory is a reasonable theoretical form of sinicization of Marxist-Leninist democratic thought. It is this theoretical form that has given Marxist-Leninist democratic thought a successful practice and systematic theoretical expression in colonial semi-colonial countries, enriched, enriched and developed Marxist-Leninist democratic thought, and realized that the people were masters of the country with the most populous people in the world.
Mao Zedong's democratic theory during the Yan'an period provided us with precious experience in the continuous realization of the sinicization of Marxism. The reason why Mao Zedong's democratic theory can become the democratic theory of sinicization of Marxism, comprehensively transcend capitalist limited democracy, and realize people's democracy is mainly the following three aspects of experience enlightenment:
First, we must establish a correct Marxist view and be good at using historical materialism and dialectics of materialism to analyze and solve problems in practice. What is Marxism and how to view Marxism is a major issue of principle. If you treat Marxism dogmatically and talk about Marxism emptyly without reality, there will be no Marxism at all. Mao Zedong compared Marxism to microscopes and telescopes that observe society and analyze problems, and believed that Marxism is a scientific explanation of history. The basic contents of Mao Zedong's Marxist view include: First, from the perspective of guiding ideology, using the materialist historical view as the "foundation of our party's philosophy" and "smart skills", and using the materialist historical view as an advanced theoretical weapon to analyze and solve the practical problems of the Chinese revolution; second, from the perspective of epistemology, it believes that Marxist theory is a materialist reflection theory that leads to scientific conclusions from reality, and summarizes this cognitive line as "seeking truth from facts"; third, it believes that Marxism is a scientific methodology for analyzing and solving Chinese problems, so Chinese comrades should understand China's situation under the guidance of the materialist historical view and provide specific paths and solutions to Chinese problems. It is precisely based on this Marxist view that Mao Zedong proposed to the whole party in Yan'an: "If our party has 100 to 200 comrades who have learned Marxism-Leninism systematically rather than fragmentary, practically rather than empty, it will greatly improve the combat power of our party."
Second, we must have a deep grasp of national conditions and independently explore the path of the Chinese revolution. The most basic research method of Marx's " Capital " is to "fully possess the material, analyze its various development forms, and explore the inner connections of these forms."Mao Zedong's profound grasp of China's national conditions is also Marx's method. He attaches importance to investigation, research and study, and has earnestly penetrated and connected with the people, investigated and studied China's class conditions and class struggles, and studied Chinese history. Investigation and research on actual situations becomes the basis for the combination of theory and practice. Mao Zedong was born and grew up at the bottom of Chinese society. He had personal feelings and experiences about the basic national conditions of small peasant economy and society. He was familiar with social life, understood the people's psychology and language, and sympathized with the people's suffering. He was deeply influenced by the pragmatic academic style of seeking reason in the Hunan School. He actively studied and stored energy, cultivated the ability and habit of independent thinking, and consciously formed a knowledge structure and practical wisdom that conformed to the Marxist worldview. He surpassed the times with outstanding publicity and organizational abilities in his youth. After Marxism was introduced to China, Mao Zedong quickly became a staunch Marxist with his goal consistent. He has both the theoretical armed Marxism and the spirit and style of seeking truth from facts. He understands the actual situation and is good at uniting all forces and is not afraid of difficulties and is full of belief in victory. He has rich revolutionary experience and outstanding theoretical creativity. Therefore, just as the emergence of Marxism is inseparable from Marx and Engels' personal subjective genius efforts, Mao Zedong Thought is also inseparable from Mao Zedong's personal subjective conditions. "Investigation is to solve problems." Investigation is to understand the real situation in China and help solve the real problems faced by the Chinese revolution. During the Great Revolution, Mao Zedong wrote reports such as "Analysis of All Classes in Chinese Society" and "Inspection Report of Hunan Peasant Movement" based on field investigations and research; during the Agrarian Revolution, Mao Zedong personally conducted famous field investigations such as Xunwu Investigation, Xingguo Investigation, Changgang Township Investigation, and Caixi Township Investigation, and wrote investigation reports that can deeply explain the problem. In the article "Opposing Booksism", he proposed the proposition that "no investigation will have no right to speak"; during the Yan'an period, Mao Zedong pointed out in "Reforming Our Study" that "does not pay attention to the current situation, do not pay attention to the study of history, and do not pay attention to the application of Marxism-Leninism. These are all extremely bad styles." Mao Zedong attached great importance to investigation and research, and the Communist Party of China was in line with nothing. He warned the whole party and the army that not doing correct investigation and research is a "shame for Communist Party members" and "we must ruin things, lose the masses, and cannot solve the problem." Based on in-depth investigation and research and profound understanding of national conditions, Mao Zedong emphasized the need to explore his own path independently and combine Marxism with China's reality.
Third, we must continuously improve our practical wisdom and theoretical thinking ability. "Mao Zedong's practical wisdom can be said to be the 'intermediate term' between the universal principles of Marxism and the reality of the Chinese revolution." Through investigation and research, deeply grasping China's reality is the premise for the sinicization of Marxism. With this premise, it does not mean that Marxism with Chinese style and Chinese style can be formed. The Communist Party of China also needs to creatively apply Marxism in the practice of the new democratic revolution of anti-imperialism and feudalism, and explore a unique path for the semi-colonial and semi-feudal countries to achieve national independence and people's liberation. This requires the collective practical wisdom of the Communist Party of China, theoretically summarize the experience and practice of the Chinese revolution, write new works, and form a sinicized Marxist discourse system. This is the development of Marxism. When Mao Zedong answered what kind of theorists we needed during the Yan'an Rectification Movement, he said that the theorists we need were "be able to correctly explain the practical problems that occurred in history and in the revolution based on the position, viewpoint and method of Marxism-Leninism, and be able to give scientific explanations and theoretical explanations on various issues of China's economy, politics, military and cultural." Mao Zedong's practical wisdom is concentratedly reflected in grasping the interconnection and transformation of various contradictions in Chinese society, emphasizing the use of different methods to resolve different contradictions. "The contradiction between the masses of the people and the feudal system is solved by the method of democratic revolution; the contradiction between colonies and imperialism is solved by the method of national revolutionary war... The contradictions within the Communist Party are solved by the method of criticism and self-criticism."Mao Zedong correctly grasped and handled contradictions in things, paid attention to the practical wisdom of investigation and research, and fully possessed materials to summarize and innovate practical experience in discourse expression, and then formed a scientific theoretical system, which is the basic experience that should be followed in realizing the sinicization of Marxism.
(Author: Peng Zhen, associate researcher at the School of Marxism, Xiangtan University; Source: Journal of Hunan University of Science and Technology (Social Science Edition)" 2020 Issue 2)
