Mao Zedong’s Thinking and Practice on the “Second Integration” during the Yan’an Period

Mao Zedong Thought is an important theoretical achievement in adapting Marxism to the Chinese context. Its formation and development were inseparable from Mao Zedong’s respect for, absorption of, and critical inheritance of the history and culture of the Chinese nation. During the Yan’an period, Mao Zedong Thought “reached maturity through systematic summation and multifaceted development.” Standing on the foundation of the profound accumulation of several thousand years of Chinese national history and culture, Mao Zedong put forward the proposition of adapting Marxism to the Chinese context and demanded that Marxism be “deeply integrated with Chinese history and Chinese culture,” embodying the theoretical consciousness and practical initiative of the “Second Integration.” [1]1 The reference is to Mao’s move to northern Shaanxi after the Long March (1934–1935) and his subsequent writing of *Problems of Strategy in China’s Revolutionary War* (1936), a key text on military strategy. Sorting out and exploring the specific paths, methods, forms of expression, and main characteristics of Mao’s “deep integration” of Marxism with Chinese history and culture during this period has important enlightening significance for us today in strengthening our historical confidence and cultural confidence, and in continuing to promote cultural prosperity and build a culturally strong nation from a new starting point.

毛泽东思想是马克思主义中国化的重要理论成果，其形成与发展离不开毛泽东对中华民族历史文化的尊重、吸收和扬弃。延安时期，毛泽东思想“得到系统总结和多方面展开而达到成熟”。毛泽东站在数千年中华民族历史文化深厚积淀的基础上提出马克思主义中国化的命题，并要求把马克思主义同“中国历史、中国文化深相结合”，体现了“第二个结合”的理论自觉和实践主动。梳理和探究毛泽东在这一时期把马克思主义同中国历史和文化“深相结合”的具体路径、方式方法、表现形式及主要特点，对于我们今天坚定历史自信、文化自信，在新的起点上继续推动文化繁荣、建设文化强国，具有重要启示意义。

I. Mao Zedong’s Proposition of Adapting Marxism to the Chinese Context during the Yan’an Period Contained the Meaning of Integrating the Basic Principles of Marxism with the Finest Traditional Chinese Culture

一、延安时期毛泽东提出马克思主义中国化命题，内含把马克思主义基本原理同中华优秀传统文化相结合之意

After the Central Red Army arrived in northern Shaanxi, having experienced “two victories and two defeats” during the Great Revolution and the Agrarian Revolutionary War, and on the basis of “fully understanding the laws of the Chinese revolution” and summing up the Party’s historical experience and the practical experience of the War of Resistance Against Japan, Mao Zedong engaged in deep reflection on how to apply and develop Marxism-Leninism in China. He put forward the proposition of adapting Marxism to the Chinese context, which contained the meaning of integrating the basic principles of Marxism with the finest traditional Chinese culture.

中央红军到达陕北后，毛泽东在经历了大革命时期和土地革命战争时期“两次胜利和两次失败的比较”，“充分认识中国革命的规律”并总结党的历史经验及抗日战争实践经验的基础上，对马克思列宁主义如何在中国运用和发展问题进行了深入思考，提出马克思主义中国化命题，其中含有把马克思主义基本原理同中华优秀传统文化相结合之意。

(A) Mao Zedong Put Forward the Proposition of Adapting Marxism to the Chinese Context Standing on the Foundation of the Profound Accumulation of Several Thousand Years of Chinese National History and Culture

（一）毛泽东是站在数千年中华民族历史文化的深厚积淀基础上提出马克思主义中国化命题的

In October 1938, Mao Zedong first put forward the proposition of adapting Marxism to the Chinese context at the Enlarged Sixth Plenary Session of the Sixth Central Committee of the Party. He proposed three learning tasks for “all Communist Party members with considerable research ability”: “studying the theories of Marx, Engels, Lenin, and Stalin,” “studying our national history,” and “studying the situation and trends of the current movement.” He said: “A political party that guides a great revolutionary movement, if it has no revolutionary theory, no historical knowledge, and no deep understanding of the actual movement, cannot possibly achieve victory.” This effectively placed Marxist theory, the concrete reality of the Chinese revolution, and Chinese history and national culture side by side and linked them together.

1938年10月，毛泽东在党的扩大的六届六中全会上第一次提出马克思主义中国化命题。他向“一切有相当研究能力的共产党员”提出了三项学习任务，即“研究马克思、恩格斯、列宁、斯大林的理论”、“研究我们民族的历史”、“研究当前运动的情况与趋势”。他说：“指导一个伟大的革命运动的政党，如果没有革命理论，没有历史知识，没有对于实际运动的深刻的了解，要取得胜利是不可能的。”这就实际上把马克思主义理论、中国革命具体实际、中国历史和民族文化并列提出并联系在一起。

What is more noteworthy is that in the specific elaboration of the part on “learning our historical heritage,” Mao Zedong purposefully put forward the concept of “the Sinicization of Marxism.” He pointed out: “Our large nation has several thousand years of history, with its own laws of development, its own national characteristics, and many precious treasures. Regarding this, we are still primary school students.” Therefore, we must not only “not cut off history” but also “inherit the heritage.” On this basis, Mao Zedong clearly stated: “Communist Party members, who are part of the great Chinese nation and are flesh and blood with this nation, if they talk about Marxism divorced from Chinese characteristics, it is only abstract, empty Marxism. Therefore, the Sinicization of Marxism, making it in every manifestation carry Chinese characteristics, that is, applying it according to Chinese characteristics, has become a problem that the entire Party urgently needs to understand and solve.” It can be seen that the proposition of adapting Marxism to the Chinese context put forward by Mao Zedong was not only aimed at the particularity of the concrete reality of the Chinese revolution but was also based on the broad background of Chinese history, national characteristics, and cultural traditions.

更值得一提的是，在“学习我们的历史遗产”这部分内容的具体阐述中，毛泽东有针对性地提出了“马克思主义的中国化”的概念。他指出：“我们这个大民族数千年的历史，有它的发展法则，有它的民族特点，有它的许多珍贵品。对于这个，我们还是小学生”，因此不仅不能“割断历史”，而且还要“承继遗产”。在此基础上，毛泽东明确提出：“成为伟大中华民族之一部分而与这个民族血肉相联的共产党员，离开中国特点来谈马克思主义，只是抽象的空洞的马克思主义。因此，马克思主义的中国化，使之在其每一表现中带着中国的特性，即是说，按照中国的特点去应用它，成为全党亟待了解并亟须解决的问题。”由此可见，毛泽东提出的马克思主义中国化命题，不仅针对的是中国革命具体实际的特殊性，而且也基于中国历史、民族特点和文化传统的宏阔背景。

(B) The “First Integration” Proposed and Considered by Mao Zedong Contained the Dual Implication of Integrating the Basic Principles of Marxism with China’s Concrete Reality and with the Finest Traditional Chinese Culture

（二）毛泽东提出和思考的“第一个结合”，包含有把马克思主义基本原理同中国具体实际相结合、同中华优秀传统文化相结合的双重寓意

Following the statement at the Sixth Plenary Session that “Marxism must be realized through combining with the specific characteristics of our country and through a certain national form,” in October 1939, Mao Zedong, in his article “Introducing The Communist,” for the first time in a relatively complete form put forward “combining the theory of Marxism-Leninism with the practice of the Chinese revolution.” Mao Zedong pointed out that for Party cadres to “learn more” about this integration, they must have “a further understanding of China’s historical conditions and social conditions, the characteristics of the Chinese revolution, and the laws of the Chinese revolution.” This further clarified that understanding Chinese history and traditional culture was one of the necessary conditions for achieving the “First Integration.” In February 1942, in his article “Rectify the Party’s Style of Work,” Mao Zedong explicitly divided “reality” into “historical reality” and “revolutionary reality,” arguing that Chinese Communists must “further, from serious study of China’s historical reality and revolutionary reality, make theoretical creations in all aspects that meet China’s needs,” so as to truly achieve “linking theory and reality.”

继在六届六中全会上提出“马克思主义必须和我国的具体特点相结合并通过一定的民族形式才能实现”之后，1939年10月，毛泽东在《〈共产党人〉发刊词》中第一次以比较完备的形式提出“将马克思列宁主义的理论和中国革命的实践相结合”。毛泽东指出，党的干部要想“更多地学会”这一结合，就必须有“对于中国的历史状况和社会状况、中国革命的特点、中国革命的规律的进一步的了解”。这就进一步阐明了了解中国历史和传统文化，是做到“第一个结合”的必要条件之一。1942年2月，毛泽东在《整顿党的作风》一文中明确把“实际”分成了“历史实际”和“革命实际”，认为中国共产党人必须“进一步地从中国的历史实际和革命实际的认真研究中，在各方面作出合乎中国需要的理论性的创造”，从而才能真正做到“理论和实际相联系”。

On May 26, 1943, Mao Zedong presided over a meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, which adopted the “Decision of the CPC Central Committee on the Proposal of the Presidium of the Executive Committee of the Communist International to Dissolve the Communist International,” which he had reviewed and revised and which was conveyed at the meeting, formally raising the issue of “deeply integrating” the basic principles of Marxism with Chinese history and culture. The Decision clearly stated that “Chinese Communists are the most outstanding descendants of the Chinese nation” and “the inheritors of the finest traditions of all our nation’s culture, thought, and morality,” emphasizing that “the rectification movement against subjectivism, sectarianism, and Party stereotypical writing carried out by the Chinese Communist Party in recent years is precisely to make this revolutionary science of Marxism-Leninism further deeply integrate with the practice of the Chinese revolution, Chinese history, and Chinese culture.” At the meeting of Yan’an cadres convened by the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee that same evening, Mao Zedong further put forward the task of “making the Chinese Communist Party more nationalized.”

1943年5月26日，毛泽东主持中共中央政治局会议，通过由其审改并在会上传达的《中共中央关于共产国际执委主席团提议解散共产国际的决定》，正式提出把马克思主义基本原理同中国历史和文化“深相结合”的问题。《决定》明确“中国共产党人是中华民族最优秀的子孙”，“是我们民族一切文化、思想、道德的最优秀传统的继承者”，强调“中国共产党近年来所进行的反主观主义、反宗派主义、反党八股的整风运动就是要使得马克思列宁主义这一革命科学更进一步地和中国革命实践、中国历史、中国文化深相结合起来”。在当晚中共中央书记处召集的延安干部大会上，毛泽东进一步提出“使中国共产党更加民族化”的任务。

Therefore, although Mao Zedong did not make a clear and accurate theoretical summary and systematic exposition of the “Second Integration” during this period, it can be seen that the inherent meaning of the “Second Integration” was embedded in the proposition of adapting Marxism to the Chinese context that he put forward.

因此，尽管毛泽东在这一时期并没有对“第二个结合”作出清晰准确的理论概括和系统阐释，但可以看出，“第二个结合”的内在涵义寓于他所提出的马克思主义中国化的命题之中。

II. Reasons Why Mao Zedong Focused on Studying Chinese History and Cultural Traditions during the Yan’an Period and Found Points of Convergence with Marxism

二、毛泽东在延安时期注重研究中国历史和文化传统，并找到与马克思主义融通之处的原因

During the Yan’an period, Mao Zedong consistently focused on studying Chinese history and cultural traditions in the process of adapting Marxism to the Chinese context, for a variety of profound considerations. The reason he was able to successfully find the inherent points of convergence and mutual integration between Marxism and the finest traditional Chinese culture was also closely related to his high regard for and deep understanding of both.

延安时期，毛泽东在马克思主义中国化的过程中始终注重研究中国历史和文化传统，具有多方面的深刻考虑。而他之所以能成功找到马克思主义与中华优秀传统文化的内在契合点和相融互通之处，也与对二者的高度重视和深入了解密切相关。

(A) Mao Zedong’s Emphasis on Chinese History and Chinese Culture Was Closely Related to Opposing the “Left” Dogmatism within the Party Represented by Wang Ming

（一）毛泽东对中国历史和中国文化的强调，同反对党内以王明为代表的“左”倾教条主义密切相关

Mao Zedong considered and put forward the issue of integrating the basic principles of Marxism with China’s concrete reality in the course of struggling against the erroneous tendency to dogmatize Marxism and to sanctify the resolutions of the Communist International and the experience of the Soviet Union. The dogmatists not only failed to proceed from China’s reality; they also did not understand or pay attention to studying Chinese history and cultural traditions. In this regard, Mao Zedong gave a vivid depiction: “Many scholars of Marxism-Leninism also talk about Greece at every turn, but as for their own ancestors, sorry, they have forgotten them.” “They have no interest whatsoever in studying today’s China or yesterday’s China.” “They are completely in the dark about China’s yesterday and the day before yesterday.” Precisely because “they have no knowledge of their own things, all that is left are Greek and foreign stories, and even those are pitifully few, picked up piecemeal from foreign piles of old papers.” Mao Zedong also criticized the dogmatists for “knowing nothing about their own history, or knowing very little, not considering it shameful, but rather taking pride in it.”

毛泽东是在同把马克思主义教条化、把共产国际决议和苏联经验神圣化的错误倾向作斗争的过程中，思考并提出马克思主义基本原理同中国具体实际相结合的问题的。教条主义者不光是不从中国实际出发，他们也不懂得且不注重研究中国历史和文化传统。对此，毛泽东曾作了这样生动的刻画：“许多马克思列宁主义的学者也是言必称希腊，对于自己的祖宗，则对不住，忘记了。”“他们对于研究今天的中国和昨天的中国一概无兴趣”，“对于中国昨天和前天的面目漆黑一团”。正是因为“对于自己的东西既无知识，于是剩下了希腊和外国故事，也是可怜得很，从外国故纸堆中零星地检来的”。毛泽东还批评教条主义者“对于自己的历史一点不懂，或懂得甚少，不以为耻，反以为荣”。

On October 20, 1938, Wang Ming requested an impromptu long speech at the Sixth Plenary Session of the Sixth Central Committee of the CPC, and in the final part of his speech expressed his attitude toward traditional Chinese culture and his “concern” about “the Sinicization of Marxism.” He placed the question of “the Sinicization of Marxist-Leninist theory — the nationalization of Marxist-Leninist theory” under the subheading “Strengthening the study of Marxism-Leninism and raising the Party’s theoretical level” for discussion. Although on the surface he had to admit that “only by making Marxism-Leninism deeply and broadly Sinicized, making it a thing of flesh and blood to the Chinese people, making it the inevitable product of Chinese historical development and social evolution, and making it inherit the excellent traditions of Chinese culture (from Confucius to Sun Yat-sen), can it truly become known to every household and deeply rooted in people’s hearts,” what he emphasized first and foremost was still “the particular importance of theory under present conditions,” “first of all we must study Marxism-Leninism,” and so on. In this speech, which frequently quoted long passages from the works of Marx, Engels, Lenin, and Stalin and from Comintern reports, he showed a rare “caution” toward Chinese history and culture, raising four “points for attention” in one breath, namely: “it must not be vulgarized or forced into analogies,” “Confucius’s eclecticism and trivial philosophy must not replace materialist dialectics,” “Chinese old cultural doctrines must not be used to distort Marxism-Leninism; rather, Marxism-Leninism must be used to understand and develop Chinese culture,” and “under the misunderstanding of ‘nationalization,’ the study and application of international experience must not be neglected.”

1938年10月20日，王明在党的六届六中全会上临时要求作长篇发言，并在发言的最后部分表达了他对中国传统文化的态度和对“马克思主义的中国化”的“担忧”。他把“马列主义理论中国化问题——马列主义理论民族化”问题放在“加强马列主义的学习提高党的理论水平”的小标题下来进行讨论。尽管他表面上不得不承认“只有使马列主义深广的中国化，成为中国人民血肉之亲的东西，成为中国历史发展和社会进化的必然产物，成为继承中国文化的优秀传统（从孔子到孙中山），才能够真正家喻户晓和深入人心”，但他第一位强调的仍然是“现时条件下理论特别重要性”，“首先须学习马列主义”等等。在这篇动辄大段引用马恩列斯著作和共产国际报告的讲话中，对中国历史和中国文化则表现出少有的“谨慎”，一口气提出了4条“注意事项”，即：“不能庸俗化和牵强附会”、“不能以孔子的折衷和烦琐哲学代替唯物辩证法”、“不能以中国旧文化学说来曲解马列主义，而要以马列主义来了解和开发中国文化”、“不能在‘民族化’的误解之下，来忽视国际经验的研究和运用”。

(2) It reflected Mao Zedong’s major reflections on the future of Chinese culture at a critical juncture when Japanese imperialist aggression was intensifying and the national crisis was becoming increasingly severe.

（二）反映了毛泽东在日本帝国主义加紧侵略、民族危机愈益严重的紧要关头对中华民族文化前途的重大思考

Since the May Fourth New Culture Movement, Chinese intellectual and cultural circles had been plagued by two erroneous tendencies in dealing with the issue of traditional culture: cultural nihilism, which held a completely negative attitude, and cultural restorationism, which held a completely affirmative attitude. In the 1930s, faced with the relentless advance of the Japanese invaders, the questions of where China was going and where Chinese culture was going became increasingly prominent and serious. On May 4, 1938, the Cultural Salvation Association of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region issued “Our Views on the Current Cultural Movement,” which clearly stated that “Chinese culture, like our own nation, is encountering an unprecedented great calamity,” “we must, in the War of Resistance, in the war to defend the motherland, defend our culture and develop a new culture for the motherland,” “we are the true inheritors of the traditions of Chinese culture and Eastern culture. We must not only ‘open up the future’ but also ‘carry on the past,’” and emphasized the need to “understand one’s own national history and pay attention to one’s own national characteristics, while at the same time must reject restorationism, arbitrariness, dogmatism, superstition, and blind obedience.”

自五四新文化运动以来，中国思想文化界在对待传统文化问题上，一直存在着持完全否定态度的文化虚无主义和持完全肯定态度的文化复古主义两种错误倾向。20世纪30年代，面对日寇的步步紧逼，中国向何处去、中国文化向何处去的问题日趋凸显和严重。1938年5月4日，陕甘宁边区文化界救亡协会发出《我们关于目前文化运动的意见》，鲜明指出“中国文化正如自己民族一样，是遭逢着旷古未有的大灾难”，“我们要在抗战中，在保卫祖国的战争中，来保卫祖国的文化，发展祖国的新文化”，“我们是真正的中国文化和东方文化的传统的继承者。我们不但要‘开来’而且是要‘继往’的”，并强调要“理解自己民族的历史，注意自己民族的特点，但是同时必须排斥复古、武断、独断、迷信和盲从”。

Shortly thereafter, in *On New Democracy*, Mao Zedong explicitly regarded “building a new culture for the Chinese nation” as “our goal in the cultural sphere.” He disagreed with the “‘wholesale Westernization’ proposition” that had emerged since the May Fourth New Culture Movement, considering it “a mistaken viewpoint. Formally absorbing foreign things has caused great losses in China’s past.” He also opposed “the advocacy of venerating Confucius and reading the classics, promoting old rites and old thoughts,” and “all feudal thoughts and superstitious ideas.” He emphasized that this new culture was “national, scientific, and popular,” that it “combined with the characteristics of the nation,” “gave history a certain scientific status,” and was “led by the proletarian cultural thought, i.e., communist thought.” This demonstrated Mao Zedong’s rationality and maturity on the issue of national culture, from which he could recognize the historical responsibility he bore of integrating the basic principles of Marxism with the fine traditional Chinese culture.

稍后，毛泽东在《新民主主义论》中明确把“建立中华民族的新文化”看作是“我们在文化领域中的目的”。他既不同意五四新文化运动以来“‘全盘西化’的主张”，认为“乃是一种错误的观点。形式主义地吸收外国的东西，在中国过去是吃过大亏的”；也反对“主张尊孔读经、提倡旧礼教旧思想”和“一切封建思想和迷信思想”。他强调这种新文化是“民族的科学的大众的”，既“和民族的特点相结合”，“给历史以一定的科学的地位”，又“由无产阶级的文化思想即共产主义思想去领导”。这表明毛泽东在对待民族文化问题上的理性和成熟，由此才可能认识到自身所肩负的把马克思主义基本原理同中华优秀传统文化结合起来的历史责任。

(3) Having deeply grasped the essence of Marxism-Leninism and being thoroughly versed in Chinese history and cultural traditions, Mao Zedong possessed the conscious awareness and theoretical ability to find the points of convergence between the two.

（三）既深得马克思列宁主义精髓，又深谙中国历史和文化传统，使得毛泽东具备了找到二者契合点的自觉意识和理论能力

In 1936, Mao Zedong left Edgar Snow with the impression of “a scholar of considerable attainment in Chinese classical learning.” Smedley, who arrived in Yan’an a little later, also believed: “Mao Zedong is known to the world as a theoretician, and his set of ideological theories are deeply rooted in Chinese history and military experience.” Zhao Chaogou, who participated in the Chinese and Foreign Journalists’ Northwest Visiting Group to Yan’an in 1944, also pointed out: “Mao Zedong is a communist activist most capable of mastering Chinese historical traditions. Mao Zedong is proficient in communist theory, and at the same time familiar with Chinese history.” Similarly, “how familiar he is with Chinese history,” “erudite and well-versed in both ancient and modern knowledge,” “profound in classical learning,” and “making reading and studying Chinese literature and history an indispensable part of work and life” were deep impressions Mao Zedong left on many comrades within the Party during the Yan’an period.

1936年的毛泽东留给斯诺的印象是：“一个精通中国旧学的有成就的学者”。稍晚一点到访延安的史沫特莱也认为：“毛泽东以理论家闻名于世，而他的一套思想理论深深扎根于中国历史和军事经验之中。”1944年参加中外记者西北参观团到访延安的赵超构也指出：“毛泽东是一个最能熟习中国历史传统的共产党行动家。毛泽东精通共产党理论，而同时熟悉中国历史。”同样的，“对中国的历史是多么熟悉啊”、“博古通今”、“旧学渊博”、“把阅读和研究中国文史作为工作生活中不可缺少的东西”等，是毛泽东在延安时期留给党内很多同志的深刻印象。

It is worth mentioning that when applying Marxism to China’s concrete reality and reflecting on and implementing the Party’s theories and policies, Mao Zedong was able to understand Chinese social customs and popular psychology, respect the values that the broad masses of the people used daily without conscious awareness, and paid attention to “the relationship between Confucius’s Way and peasant culture.” As early as the Great Revolution period, Mao Zedong taught the course on the Chinese peasant question to students of the Sixth Peasant Movement Training Institute. By sorting through peasant uprisings from the end of the Qin Dynasty to the late Qing Dynasty, he concluded in summarizing the reasons for the failure of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom: “When Hong Xiuquan raised his troops, he opposed Confucianism and advocated Catholicism, failing to cater to the psychology of the Chinese people. Zeng Guofan used this very means to defeat him. This was Hong Xiuquan’s mistake in method.” This profound understanding and respect for China’s historical and cultural traditions and national conditions enabled Mao Zedong, who was also proficient in Marxism, to possess the conscious awareness and theoretical ability to find the points of convergence between the two, thereby further opening up the innovative space for “integration.”

值得一提的是，毛泽东在把马克思主义运用于中国具体实际、思考和践行党的理论和政策时，能够理解中国社会习惯和民众心理，尊重广大人民群众日用而不觉的价值观念，注重“孔子之道与农民间文化的关系”。早在大革命时期，毛泽东曾为第六届农民运动讲习所学员讲授中国农民问题。通过对秦末至晚清历朝农民起义的梳理，他在总结太平天国运动失败的原因时指出：“洪秀全起兵时，反对孔教提倡天主教，不迎合中国人的心理，曾国藩即利用这种手段，扑灭了他。这是洪秀全的手段错了。”这种对中国历史文化传统和国情的深刻了解与尊重，使同时精通马克思主义的毛泽东具备了找到二者契合点的自觉意识和理论能力，从而进一步打开了“结合”的创新空间。

3. Using the Marxist Standpoint, Viewpoint, and Method to Analyze, Summarize, Inherit, and Transform China’s Historical and Cultural Heritage

三、用马克思主义立场观点方法分析、总结、承继和改造中国历史文化遗产

Based on the reality of the War of Resistance, Mao Zedong put forward the attitudes, principles, methods, and approaches for dealing with China’s historical and cultural heritage under the guidance of Marxism, and realized the inheritance and transformation of the fine traditional Chinese culture in the practice of adapting Marxism to the Chinese context, thereby using Marxism to activate the vital excellent factors in Chinese culture and endow them with new contemporary connotations.

毛泽东立足抗战实际，提出以马克思主义为指导对待中国历史文化遗产的态度、原则、方法和途径，并在马克思主义中国化的实践中实现对中华优秀传统文化的承继和改造，从而用马克思主义激活中华文化中富有生命力的优秀因子并赋予新的时代内涵。

(1) Attitude: “Respect one’s own history; never cut off history”

（一）态度：“尊重自己的历史，决不能割断历史”

Mao Zedong had a confident and clear understanding of the splendid civilization created by the Chinese nation. He called the five-thousand-year history of Chinese civilization “the history of the development of the Chinese nation,” emphasizing that the Chinese nation “has a well-developed agriculture and handicraft industry, many great thinkers, scientists, inventors, statesmen, military strategists, writers, and artists, and a rich collection of cultural classics,” and possessed the four great inventions of papermaking, gunpowder, printing, and the compass, “therefore, China is one of the earliest countries in the world to develop civilization.” At the same time, Mao Zedong also noted the great spirit and excellent traditions of the Chinese nation. He said: “The Chinese nation is not only known to the world for its hard work and endurance, but is also a nation that loves freedom and is rich in revolutionary traditions.” “In the several thousand years of Chinese history, many national heroes and revolutionary leaders have emerged. Therefore, the Chinese nation is also a nation with a glorious revolutionary tradition and an excellent historical heritage.”

毛泽东对中华民族创造的灿烂文明有着自信而清醒的认识。他把五千年中华文明史称为“中华民族的开化史”，强调中华民族“有素称发达的农业和手工业，有许多伟大的思想家、科学家、发明家、政治家、军事家、文学家和艺术家，有丰富的文化典籍”，有造纸术、火药、印刷术、指南针四大发明，“所以，中国是世界文明发达最早的国家之一”。同时，毛泽东还注意到中华民族的伟大精神和优秀传统。他说：“中华民族不但以刻苦耐劳著称于世，同时又是酷爱自由、富于革命传统的民族。”“在中华民族的几千年的历史中，产生了很多的民族英雄和革命领袖。所以，中华民族又是一个有光荣的革命传统和优秀的历史遗产的民族。”

Based on historical materialism, Mao Zedong further emphasized the continuity of Chinese history and cultural development and opposed cutting off history. He said: “We must understand not only China’s present but also China’s yesterday and the day before yesterday.” “Today’s China is a development of historical China. We are Marxist historicists; we should not cut off history. From Confucius to Sun Yat-sen, we should sum it up; we should inherit this precious legacy.” He quoted Han Yu’s ancient poem, “If a man does not understand the past and present, he is like a horse or an ox wearing clothes,” to illustrate that “if a person does not know the past and present, it is like a horse or an ox wearing clothes,” emphasizing that “it is not enough for us to only understand the present; we must also understand the past,” “especially we Communist Party members must know more about the past and present.” Similarly, Mao Zedong also noted the continuous characteristics of Chinese civilization and Chinese culture, emphasizing that “China’s current new culture also develops from the ancient old culture; therefore, we must respect our own history and never cut off history.”

毛泽东基于历史唯物主义进一步强调中国历史和文化发展的连续性，反对割断历史。他说：“不但要懂得中国的今天，还要懂得中国的昨天和前天。”“今天的中国是历史的中国之一发展，我们是马克思主义的历史主义者，我们不应该割断历史。从孔夫子到孙中山，我们应该给以总结，我们要承继这一份珍贵的遗产”。他引用韩愈“人不通古今，马牛而襟裾”的古诗，说明“人不知道古今，等于牛马穿了衣裳一样”，强调“我们单通现在是不够的，还须通过去”，“尤其是我们共产党员，要知道更多的古今”。同样的，毛泽东还注意到中华文明和中国文化所具有的连续性特征，强调“中国现时的新文化也是从古代的旧文化发展而来，因此，我们必须尊重自己的历史，决不能割断历史”。

(2) Principle: “Make the past serve the present” and “weed through the old to bring forth the new”

（二）原则：“古为今用”“推陈出新”

Mao Zedong was the first to introduce the term “weed out the old to let the new emerge” (推陈出新) within the category of Marxist philosophy. In his essay “On Contradiction,” he used it to describe the mutual transformation of the two sides of a contradiction. In October 1942, he inscribed these four characters for the newly established Yan’an Pingju Research Institute, and they gradually became one of the important guidelines for the Chinese Communist Party’s development of culture. Although Mao did not explicitly put forward concepts such as “learning from the ancients is for the sake of living people today” and “make the past serve the present” (古为今用) until after the founding of New China, during the Yan’an period he already placed great emphasis on excavating “beneficial things” from historical and cultural heritage to serve the needs of practical struggle, stressing that “the purpose is still to serve the masses of the people.”

毛泽东最早是在马克思主义哲学范畴内引入“推陈出新”一词的。他曾在《矛盾论》一文中用其描述矛盾双方的相互转化。1942年10月，他把这四个字题赠给新成立的延安平剧研究院，后来逐渐成为中国共产党发展文化的重要方针之一。尽管毛泽东直到新中国成立后才明确提出“向古人学习是为了现在的活人”和“古为今用”等概念，但他在延安时期就非常重视从历史文化遗产中挖掘“有益的东西”，服务现实斗争需要，强调“目的仍然是为了人民大众”。

After the War of Resistance Against Japan entered the stage of strategic stalemate, Mao Zedong put forward a new requirement for the historian He Ganzhi, who was intent on studying national history with historical materialism: “If in your book you can prove which is right and which is wrong between the line of national resistance and the line of national capitulation, and can vigorously denounce the group of national capitulationists of the Southern and Northern Dynasties, the Southern Song, the late Ming, and the late Qing, while praising the group of national resisters, this will be helpful to the current War of Resistance.” On January 9, 1944, Mao Zedong watched the pingju play *Forced to Liangshan* (逼上梁山), adapted from *Water Margin*, in the auditorium of the Central Party School. This play not only took peasant struggle as its main thread but also satirized Chiang Kai-shek’s passive resistance against Japan, active opposition to the Communist Party and the people, and his visage of “holding great power in hand, wanting everything to be dictatorial,” making it a model of “making the past serve the present” in old opera. Mao was “very pleased” after watching it and that very evening wrote an enthusiastic letter to the playwright and director, praising the play as “the epoch-making beginning of the revolution in old opera.” He also said: “History is created by the people, yet on the old opera stage (in all old literature and art that depart from the people), the people have become dregs, with the stage ruled by lords, ladies, young masters, and young misses. This reversal of history is now reversed by you, restoring the true face of history, and from now on old opera has opened a new life.”

抗日战争进入战略相持阶段后，毛泽东对有志于用唯物史观研究民族史的历史学家何干之提出了新的要求：“如能在你的书中证明民族抵抗与民族投降两条路线的谁对谁错，而把南北朝、南宋、明末、清末一班民族投降主义者痛斥一番，把那些民族抵抗主义者赞扬一番，对于当前抗日战争是有帮助的。”1944年1月9日，毛泽东在中央党校大礼堂观看了根据《水浒传》改编的平剧《逼上梁山》。这部戏不仅以农民斗争为主线，而且还讽刺了蒋介石消极抗日、积极反共反人民、“大权握在手，一切要独裁”的面目，成为旧戏“古为今用”的范例。毛泽东看后“十分高兴”，当晚提笔给编导写了一封热情洋溢的信，称赞该剧“将是旧剧革命的划时期的开端”。他还说：“历史是人民创造的，但在旧戏舞台上（在一切离开人民的旧文学旧艺术上）人民却成了渣滓，由老爷太太少爷小姐们统治着舞台，这种历史的颠倒，现在由你们再颠倒过来，恢复了历史的面目，从此旧剧开了新生面”。

(3) Method: “Give it a critical summation using Marxist methods”

（三）方法：“用马克思主义的方法给以批判的总结”

Historical traditions and cultural heritage, having undergone long accumulation, possess a certain complexity, in which the essence and the dross often interpenetrate each other. Mao Zedong proposed to critically inherit historical and cultural heritage on the basis of historically and dialectically distinguishing between them. In July 1944, he said to Chinese and foreign journalists who had come to Yan’an: “We critically accept China’s long-standing traditions, adopt those good traditions, and discard those bad traditions.” He used the analogy of human digestion of food, arguing that all foreign things “must go through our own oral chewing and gastrointestinal movement, sending in saliva, gastric juice, and intestinal fluid to decompose them into two parts, the essence and the dross, then excrete the dross and absorb the essence, so that they can be beneficial to our bodies; we must never swallow them whole and uncritically absorb them.” Thus, “with regard to ancient Chinese culture, likewise, we neither entirely reject it nor blindly copy it, but critically accept it.” Proceeding from historical materialism, he believed that ancient Chinese culture was rooted in “China’s long feudal society.” Distinguishing “essence” from “dross” meant using the Marxist stand, viewpoint, and method to distinguish which were “feudal dross” and which were “democratic essence”; which were “all the decadent things of the ancient feudal ruling class” and which were “the excellent ancient popular culture, that is, things with a certain degree of democratic and revolutionary character,” and to find from among them “treasures” to inherit.

历史传统和文化遗产经过长久的积淀，具有一定的复杂性，其中精华和糟粕往往会相互渗透在一起。毛泽东提出要在历史地辩证地加以区分的基础上批判地继承历史文化遗产。1944年7月，他对前来延安的中外记者表示：“我们批判地接收中国长期的传统，继承那些好的传统，而抛弃那些坏的传统。”他曾以人类消化食物为类比，认为一切外国的东西“必须经过自己的口腔咀嚼和胃肠运动，送进唾液胃液肠液，把它分解为精华和糟粕两部分，然后排泄其糟粕，吸收其精华，才能对我们的身体有益，决不能生吞活剥地毫无批判地吸收”。由此，“对于中国古代文化，同样，既不是一概排斥，也不是盲目搬用，而是批判地接收它”。他从唯物史观出发，认为中国古代文化是扎根于“中国的长期封建社会中”。区分“精华”与“糟粕”，就是要用马克思主义立场观点方法，区分哪些是“封建性的糟粕”、哪些是“民主性的精华”；哪些是“古代封建统治阶级的一切腐朽的东西”、哪些是“古代优秀的人民文化即多少带有民主性和革命性的东西”，并从中找出“珍贵品”给以承继。

On the one hand, Mao Zedong actively promoted using historical materialism to “settle accounts with classical studies” (清算经学) [7]7 “Settling accounts with classical studies” (清算经学) refers to a critical re-examination and repudiation of the traditional Confucian canon (the “classics” or *jingxue*), which had served as the ideological foundation of imperial rule for over two millennia. and guided the compilation of a general history of China. In early 1940, Fan Wenlan gave a lecture at the annual meeting of the Yan’an New Philosophy Society on a brief history of Chinese classical studies, using historical materialism to sort out the developmental thread and stage characteristics of Chinese classical studies since Confucius, proposing that “the classics were an important tool for the feudal ruling class to oppress the people ideologically,” but “within classical studies there are things with a certain degree of democratic and revolutionary character (quite a few in the *Zuo Commentary*), especially maxims on the principles of being a person… If transplanted into the culture of the proletariat, they can equally become useful.” Fan Wenlan also tentatively expressed the Chinese Communist Party’s attitude toward traditional culture, including classical studies: “Use the yardstick of Marxism-Leninism to assess the value of Chinese traditional culture, critically adopt the excellent parts to enrich the new culture of the Chinese proletariat.” Mao Zedong was very pleased after reading Fan Wenlan’s lecture outline, praising him for “using Marxism to settle accounts with classical studies, this is the first time,” and, linking it to “the current rampant restorationist reaction of the big landlords and big bourgeoisie,” proposed that “if you continue your historical work, it will certainly have a great influence on this struggle.”

一方面，毛泽东积极推动用唯物史观“清算经学”，指导编纂中国通史。1940年初，范文澜在延安新哲学会年会上作了关于中国经学简史的讲演，用唯物史观梳理了中国经学自孔子以来的发展脉络和阶段特征，提出“经是封建统治阶级在思想方面压迫人民的重要工具”，但“经学里面多少含有民主性革命性的东西（《左传》里颇多），尤其是讲做人道理的格言……如果移植到无产阶级文化中来，一样可变为有用。”范文澜还尝试着表达了中国共产党对待包括经学在内的中国传统文化的态度：“用马列主义的尺度，估量中国传统文化的价值，批判地采取优秀部分来丰富中国无产阶级的新文化”。毛泽东在读到范文澜的讲演提纲后非常高兴，称赞他“用马克思主义清算经学这是头一次”，并联系到“目前大地主大资产阶级的复古反动十分猖獗”，提出“你的历史学工作继续下去，对这一斗争必有大的影响”。

Entrusted by Mao Zedong and encouraged by him, Fan Wenlan devoted himself fully to the compilation of *A Concise General History of China* (中国通史简编). In this work, considered “the first historical work to systematically narrate Chinese history using a Marxist viewpoint,” Fan Wenlan summarized several points of “essential difference” compared to “old historical books written from the viewpoint of the feudal landlord class or the bourgeoisie”: “affirming that the masters of history are the working people”; “dividing the periods of Chinese history according to the general laws of social historical development”; “writing about class struggle, focusing on narrating how the corrupt and brutal ruling class oppressed the peasants and how the peasants were forced to rise in revolt”; “paying attention to collecting materials on the struggle for production”; and so on. After the book was published, Mao Zedong commented: “This shows that our Chinese Communist Party has gained the right to speak about our country’s history of several thousand years and has also produced a scientific work.”

受毛泽东的委托并在其鼓励下，范文澜全力投入《中国通史简编》的编撰工作。在这套被认为是“第一部运用马克思主义观点系统地叙述中国历史的著作”中，范文澜曾总结了“比起旧的以封建地主阶级或资产阶级观点来写的历史书”的几点“本质上不同”：“肯定历史的主人是劳动人民”；“按照一般社会历史发展的规律，划分中国历史的段落”；“写阶级斗争，着重叙述腐化残暴的统治阶级如何压迫农民，和农民如何被迫起义”；“注意收集生产斗争的材料”；等等。该书出版后，毛泽东评价说：“这表明我们中国共产党对于自己国家几千年的历史有了发言权,也写出了科学的著作了。”

On the other hand, Mao Zedong personally participated in a series of discussions analyzing ancient Chinese philosophical thought using dialectical materialism. In February and March 1939, during the process in which Chen Boda, responding to the call, wrote articles such as “Confucius’s Philosophical Thought,” “Laozi’s Philosophical Thought,” and “Mozi’s Philosophical Thought,” Mao not only reviewed the drafts multiple times and put forward specific revision opinions but also provided key guidance on correctly making dialectical materialist analyses of some important issues. Regarding Confucius’s philosophical thought, Mao first put forward the general principle of “giving it a historical materialist critique and placing it in its proper position.” On “Confucius’s moral theory,” he proposed “giving it a materialist observation and subjecting it to more critique, so as to make a principled distinction from the Kuomintang’s moral view (in which the Kuomintang most likes to cite Confucius)”; on Confucius’s “epistemology” and “social theory,” Mao pointed out that “it has many dialectical factors” and the characteristic of “emphasizing subjective initiative,” arguing that “we should speak of this strength of Confucius.” He advocated using the principle of the mutual transformation of quantity and quality in dialectical materialism as a guide to re-evaluate the “problem of the Mean” (中庸) and “going beyond the mark is as bad as falling short” (过犹不及). A few months later, while reading Ai Siqi’s compiled book *Selected Works on Philosophy* (哲学选辑), Mao further proposed that “the thought of the Mean originally has elements of eclecticism,” “the thought of the Mean is anti-dialectical,” and “it is only one element of dialectics, just as the law of identity in formal logic is only one element of dialectics, not dialectics itself.”

另一方面，毛泽东亲自参加用唯物辩证法评析中国古代哲学思想的一系列讨论。1939年二三月间，在陈伯达响应号召撰写《孔子的哲学思想》《老子的哲学思想》《墨子的哲学思想》等文章的过程中，毛泽东不仅多次审看过程稿，提出具体修改意见，还在对一些重要问题正确作出辩证唯物主义的评析方面给予关键指导。对于孔子的哲学思想，毛泽东首先提出了“应给以历史的唯物论的批判，将其放在恰当的位置”的总原则。在“关于孔子的道德论”方面，他提出“应给以唯物论的观察，加以更多的批判，以便与国民党的道德观（国民党在这方面最喜引孔子）有原则的区别”；在孔子的“认识论”与“社会论”方面，毛泽东指出“有它的辩证法的许多因素”和“强调主观能动性”的特点，认为“我们对孔子的这方面的长处应该说到”。他主张以唯物辩证法中质量互变原理为指导重新评判“中庸问题”和“过犹不及”。几个月后，毛泽东在读艾思奇编写的《哲学选辑》一书时，进一步提出“中庸思想本来有折衷主义的成分”，“中庸思想是反辩证〔法〕的”，“他只是辩证法的一要素，如同形式论理之同一律只是辩证法一要素一样，而不是辩证法”。

(4) Pathway: Use Marxism to carry out “transformation” and “creation,” turning it into “something revolutionary that serves the people”

（四）途径：用马克思主义给予“改造”和“创造”，使之“变成革命的为人民服务的东西”

Mao Zedong opposed “uncritically copying and imitating” the ancients, arguing that “inheritance and reference can never replace one’s own creation.” He particularly emphasized using Marxism to transform “old forms,” add “new content,” and create new “revolutionary things that serve the people,” thereby “turning these legacies into one’s own things.”

毛泽东反对“毫无批判的硬搬和模仿”古人，认为“继承和借鉴决不可以变成替代自己的创造”。他特别强调用马克思主义改造“旧形式”，加进“新内容”，创造出新的“革命的为人民服务的东西”，从而“把这些遗产变成自己的东西”。

First, Mao Zedong used the basic principles and methodology of dialectical materialism to endow certain essences of traditional culture with new meanings and new interpretations, thereby elevating and transforming them, so that they exhibited new vitality and influence.

首先，毛泽东用辩证唯物主义基本原理和方法论，赋予传统文化中某些精髓新的含义和新的解释，使其得到提升和改造，从而呈现出新的生命力和影响力。

For example, the Eastern Han historian Ban Gu once used the phrase “seeking truth from facts” (实事求是) to praise Liu De, son of Emperor Jing of Han, for his rigorous scholarly attitude of not relying on baseless associations but seeking the true meaning of ancient texts based on facts, calling him “one who cultivated learning and delighted in antiquity, seeking truth from facts.” Mao Zedong was familiar with this historical material and once said at a work conference of the Party Central Committee: “There is a Hejian County in Hebei Province. In the Han dynasty a king was enfeoffed there called Hejian Xianwang. Ban Gu said of him in the *Book of Han: Biography of Liu De, King of Hejian* that he ‘sought truth from facts.’ This phrase has been passed down to the present day.”

比如，东汉史学家班固曾用“实事求是”一词，赞誉汉景帝之子刘德不依托附会，依据事实探求古书真义的严谨治学态度，称之为“修学好古，实事求是”。毛泽东熟悉这段史料，曾在中共中央工作会议上说：“河北省有个河间县，汉朝封了一个王叫河间献王。班固在《汉书·河间献王刘德》中说他‘实事求是’，这句话一直流传到现在。”

What attitude should Chinese Communists adopt toward Marxism? After March 1941, Mao Zedong read the fourth edition of the Chinese translation of *A Course in Dialectical Materialism*. Several years earlier, he had carefully read the third edition three or four times and written over 12,000 characters of marginal notes. Reading it again this time, Mao deeply pondered how to link “Marxism-Leninism and the Chinese revolution” in a “targeted” (有的放矢) manner. On May 19, he delivered the report “Reform Our Study” at a cadre meeting in Yan’an. Moving from “targeted” to “seeking truth from facts,” he redefined the concepts of “target” (的), “arrow” (矢), “fact” (实事), “seek” (求), and “is” (是) using the Marxist view of the unity of subject and object, and of knowledge and practice. By reinterpreting “seeking truth from facts,” he not only summarized the scientific attitude, correct method, and sound style of study that Chinese Communists should adopt toward Marxism but also developed it into the Party’s ideological line, making it one of the three basic components of the living soul of Mao Zedong Thought.

中国共产党人应该用怎样的态度对待马克思主义呢？1941年3月以后，毛泽东读到了《辩证法唯物论教程》中译本第四版。几年前，他曾认真地把这本书的第三版看了三四遍，写下了12000字的批注。此番再读，毛泽东深入思考了怎样把“马克思列宁主义和中国革命”联系起来“有的放矢”的问题。5月19日，他在延安干部会上作《改造我们的学习》的报告，从“有的放矢”到“实事求是”，他以马克思主义关于主观与客观、认识与实践相统一的观点重新定义了“的”“矢”“实事”“求”“是”等概念，并重新解释“实事求是”，不仅概括出中国共产党对待马克思主义的科学态度、正确方法和良好学风，而且将其发展成为党的思想路线，成为毛泽东思想活的灵魂的三个基本方面之一。

Another example: In the *Book of Han: Treatise on Literature*, Ban Gu used the phrase “opposites yet each completes the other” (相反而皆相成也) to evaluate the various schools of thought during the pre-Qin period, noting that although their doctrines differed, they reached the same goal by different paths and possessed an inherent identity. Mao Zedong introduced the Marxist theory of the identity and struggle of opposites, defining “opposition” (相反) as “the mutual exclusion or mutual struggle of two contradictory aspects” and “completion” (相成) as “the mutual connection of two contradictory aspects under certain conditions, achieving identity.” He thereby elucidated the Marxist philosophical principle that “struggle is inherent in identity, and without struggle there is no identity.” In 1939, when Ai Siqi discussed the “law of the negation of the negation” in his book *Selected Works on Philosophy*, he regarded “the idea of opposites completing each other in old Chinese thought (as Laozi said, ‘Reversal is the movement of the Way’)” as “a way of promoting forward movement through backward steps.” Mao Zedong disagreed with this view, arguing that such “backward phenomena” should be concretely analyzed to determine whether they were “quantitative changes within a process” or “qualitative changes in which a new process replaces an old one,” so as to identify the process of transformation from “opposition” to “completion.”

再比如，班固在《汉书·艺文志》中曾用“相反而皆相成也”评价诸子百家的学说虽然内容不一样，但殊途同归，具有内在的同一性。毛泽东引入马克思主义关于矛盾同一性和斗争性理论，将“相反”定义为“两个矛盾方面的互相排斥，或互相斗争”，将“相成”定义为“在一定条件之下两个矛盾方面互相联结起来，获得了同一性”，阐释说明“斗争性即寓于同一性之中，没有斗争性就没有同一性”的马克思主义哲学原理。1939年艾思奇在《哲学选辑》一书中论述“否定之否定法则”时，曾把“中国旧思想中的相反相成（老子说的，‘反者道之动’）”看成是“以后退的方式来促成前进运动”。毛泽东不同意这种观点，认为应该具体分析这种“后退现象”究竟是“过程内部”的“量变现象”，还是“新过程代替旧过程的质变现象”，从而找出从“相反”到“相成”的过程转化。

Second, combining the characteristics of the War of Resistance era and the demands of the New Democratic Revolution, Mao Zedong derived and transformed from traditional culture new propositions, concepts, and formulations that met the needs of Marxist practical struggle. Mao borrowed the concepts of “knowledge and action” (知行) and “practice” (践履) from traditional Chinese philosophy, transforming them into Marxist propositions on knowledge and practice. He borrowed the story of the Chu man “selling shields and spears” from Han Feizi to expound the most fundamental law of the unity of opposites in dialectical materialism through the “law of the contradiction of things.” He extended the “subtlety” (妙) in the phrase “the subtlety of application lies in the mind” from the *History of the Song: Biography of Yue Fei* to mean the commander’s “flexible use of troops” based on objective circumstances in the anti-Japanese guerrilla war, “a talent for ‘judging the hour and sizing up the situation’ (this ‘situation’ includes the enemy’s situation, our own situation, the terrain, etc.) and adopting timely and appropriate methods of disposition.” He critically extended Laozi’s saying “Without leaving the door, one knows the world,” arguing that only through others’ “acquisition of ‘knowledge’ in practice, transmitted through writing and technology to the hands of the ‘scholar,’ can the scholar indirectly ‘know the affairs of the world.’”

其次，毛泽东结合抗战时代特征和新民主主义革命的要求，从传统文化中引申、转化出合乎马克思主义实践斗争需要的新命题、新概念、新提法。毛泽东借用中国传统哲学中“知行”“践履”等概念，将其转化为马克思主义认识和实践的命题；借用韩非子讲述的楚人“鬻盾与矛”的故事，以“事物的矛盾法则”阐述唯物辩证法最根本的对立统一法则。他把《宋史·岳飞传》中“运用之妙，存乎一心”的“妙”，引申为在抗日游击战争中指挥员基于客观情况“灵活地使用兵力”，“‘审时度势’（这个势，包括敌势、我势、地势等项）而采取及时的和恰当的处置方法的一种才能”。他对老子“不出户，知天下”作了批判的引申，认为只有通过他人“实践中间取得了‘知’，经过文字和技术的传达而到达于‘秀才’之手，秀才乃能间接地‘知天下事’”。

IV. Using Fine Traditional Chinese Culture to Enrich and Develop Marxism

四、用中华优秀传统文化丰富和发展马克思主义

Mao Zedong repeatedly compared the “Chinese nation” and the “Chinese Communist Party” to the relationship between ancestors and descendants, or parents and children, holding that “without the Chinese nation, there would be no Chinese Communist Party.” He explicitly stated, “We believe Marxism is the correct method of thinking; this does not mean we neglect China’s cultural heritage.” He strongly emphasized drawing ideological essence and cultural nourishment from fine traditional Chinese culture, using the great spirit and rich wisdom of the Chinese nation to more deeply enrich, nourish, and develop Marxism.

毛泽东多次把“中华民族”和“中国共产党”比作是祖先和子孙、父母和孩子的关系，认为“没有中华民族，就没有中国共产党”，明确提出“我们信奉马克思主义是正确的思想方法，这并不意味着我们忽视中国文化遗产”。他非常强调从中华优秀传统文化中汲取思想精华和文化营养，用中华民族的伟大精神和丰富智慧更深层次地充实、滋养、丰富和发展马克思主义。

(1) Summarizing and refining the unique spiritual symbols of the Chinese nation from fine traditional Chinese culture, and combining this with the practice of the War of Resistance, to enrich the spiritual genealogy of Chinese Communists

（一）从中华优秀传统文化中总结提炼中华民族独特的精神标识，并结合抗日战争实践，丰富中国共产党人的精神谱系

Fine traditional Chinese culture embodies the deepest spiritual pursuits of the Chinese nation and represents its unique spiritual symbols. The great national spirit cultivated, inherited, and developed by the Chinese people through long struggle is precisely the most fundamental, core, and enduringly valuable part of this. Mao Zedong paid special attention to highlighting, absorbing, and integrating the national spirit of the Chinese nation in the process of adapting Marxism to the Chinese context.

中华优秀传统文化积淀着中华民族最深层的精神追求，代表着中华民族独特的精神标识。中国人民在长期奋斗中培育、继承、发展起来的伟大民族精神，正是其中最根本、最内核、最具永久价值的部分。毛泽东特别注意在马克思主义中国化的过程中突出、吸收、融入中华民族的民族精神。

As Japanese aggression intensified, in order to promote national self-respect and self-confidence, Mao Zedong emphasized promoting the spirit of resistance and patriotic tradition that the Chinese nation had always possessed. He used the millennia-long history of the Chinese nation to prove: “Our Chinese nation has the spirit to fight to the death against its enemies, the determination to recover lost territory on the basis of self-reliance, and the ability to stand on its own among the nations of the world.” Facing a powerful enemy, he stressed that “the Chinese nation is by no means a flock of sheep” and that “our method is war and sacrifice, using war to counter war, using revolutionary just war to counter barbaric aggressive war.” He praised Wen Tianxiang and Yue Fei as “sages who were loyal to the state and filial to the nation” and praised the “unyielding spirit of resistance of the Chinese people, who have refused to submit to imperialism and its running dogs” since modern times. Mao also linked the spirit of patriotism with the spirit of internationalism and communism, arguing that “we must unite with the proletariat of all capitalist countries” to “liberate our nation and people, and liberate the nations and peoples of the world.”

随着日本侵略的日益加剧，为发扬民族自尊心和自信心，毛泽东注重弘扬中华民族历来具有的反抗精神和爱国传统。他以中华民族数千年源远流长的历史证明：“我们中华民族有同自己的敌人血战到底的气概，有在自力更生的基础上光复旧物的决心，有自立于世界民族之林的能力。”面对强敌，他强调“中华民族决不是一群绵羊”，“我们的方法就是战争与牺牲，拿战争对抗战争，拿革命的正义战对抗野蛮的侵略战”。他称赞文天祥、岳飞等是“为国家尽忠，为民族行孝的圣人”，称赞近代以来“中国人民不甘屈服于帝国主义及其走狗的顽强的反抗精神”。毛泽东还把爱国主义精神与国际主义精神、共产主义精神联系起来，认为“我们要和一切资本主义国家的无产阶级联合起来”，“解放我们的民族和人民，解放世界的民族和人民”。

Facing the difficult and arduous struggle of the War of Resistance, Mao Zedong vigorously promoted the glorious tradition of hard struggle of the Chinese nation. On April 1, 1938, at the opening ceremony of the second session of the Northern Shaanxi Public School, he made a vivid analogy: comparing “Marxism” to the Communist’s “head” and “our nation’s tradition of diligence, frugality, and hard struggle” to the Communist’s “feet.” He also gave the students “an unswerving political direction” and “a hard-working style of work” as two gifts. On May 1, 1939, Mao attended the Yan’an conference commemorating International Workers’ Day and again stressed: “Our nation has always had a style of hard struggle; we must carry it forward. We must fundamentally change the selfishness, fear of death, corruption, and listlessness that are prevalent among many people today.” He further discussed the relationship between the Marxist political direction and the national tradition of hard struggle: “Without a firm and correct political direction, one cannot inspire a hard-working style of work; without a hard-working style of work, one cannot carry out a firm and correct political direction.”

面对抗日战争艰难困苦的斗争环境，毛泽东大力提倡中华民族艰苦奋斗的光荣传统。1938年4月1日，他在陕北公学第二期开学典礼上打了一个生动的比喻：把“马克思主义”比作共产党人的“头”，把“我们的民族有一种勤俭的艰苦奋斗的作风”比作共产党人的“脚”。他还把“坚定不移的政治方向”和“艰苦奋斗的工作作风”当作两件礼物送给学员们。1939年5月1日，毛泽东出席延安各界纪念五一劳动节大会，再次强调：“我们民族历来有一种艰苦奋斗的作风，我们要把它发扬起来。要把现在许多人中间流行的那种自私自利，贪生怕死，贪污腐化，萎靡不振的风气，根本改变过来。”他进一步论述了马克思主义的政治方向与艰苦奋斗的民族传统之间的关系：“没有坚定正确的政治方向，就不能激发艰苦奋斗的工作作风；没有艰苦奋斗的工作作风，也就不能执行坚定正确的政治方向。”

From 1938 onward, up to the Seventh National Congress of the CPC held on the eve of the victory of the War of Resistance, Mao Zedong repeatedly told the fable of the Foolish Old Man Who Removed the Mountains on various occasions, calling on the entire Party to learn the spirit of the Foolish Old Man. On April 30, 1938, at the graduation ceremony of the second brigade of the third session of the Anti-Japanese Military and Political University, he called on Communist Party members to “practice Marxism in reality” and must “learn the spirit of the Foolish Old Man who removed the mountains,” to move away the three mountains of imperialism, feudalism, and capitalism. Later, he summarized the spirit of the Foolish Old Man as “be resolute, fear no sacrifice, and surmount every difficulty to win victory,” which became a powerful spiritual force guiding the Party and the people to victory in the War of Resistance and even the New Democratic Revolution, and also became a bright spiritual foundation for Chinese Communists to unite, struggle, and overcome difficulties.

从1938年开始，一直到抗战胜利前夕召开的党的七大上，毛泽东在不同场合反复讲述愚公移山的寓言故事，号召全党学习愚公移山精神。1938年4月30日，他在抗大第三期第二大队毕业典礼上，号召共产党员要在“实际中去实行马克思主义”，就必须“学习愚公挖山的精神”，把帝国主义、封建主义和资本主义三座山统统移掉。后来他还把愚公移山精神概括为“下定决心，不怕牺牲，排除万难，去争取胜利”，这成为指导党和人民夺取抗战胜利乃至新民主主义革命胜利的强大精神动力，也成为中国共产党人团结奋斗战胜困难的亮丽精神底色。

(2) Excavating and drawing wisdom and ideological essence from fine traditional Chinese culture, enriching the connotation of Mao Zedong Thought, and thereby enriching and developing Marxism

（二）从中华优秀传统文化中挖掘汲取智慧结晶和思想精华，丰富毛泽东思想的内涵，从而丰富和发展马克思主义

In the military strategy of the revolutionary army, Mao Zedong during the Yan’an period placed particular emphasis on studying and absorbing ancient Chinese experience in warfare, military thought, and the wisdom of military science. In September and October 1936, Mao wrote twice to comrades working in Xi’an, asking them to purchase *The Art of War* by Sunzi on his behalf. He later recalled: “After arriving in northern Shaanxi, I read eight books, including *The Art of War* by Sunzi”; “At that time I read them in order to write *Problems of Strategy in China’s Revolutionary War*, in order to sum up the experience of the revolutionary war.”[1]1 The reference is to Mao’s move to northern Shaanxi after the Long March (1934–1935) and his subsequent writing of *Problems of Strategy in China’s Revolutionary War* (1936), a key text on military strategy. When discussing how military commanders should study and apply the laws of war, comprehensively understand the war situation, and conduct military operations to seize strategic initiative, he repeatedly stressed the line from Sunzi’s “Planning for Attack” that “know the enemy and know yourself, and you will never be imperiled in a hundred battles,”[2]2 A well-known maxim from Sunzi’s *The Art of War*, chapter 3 (“Planning for Attack”). holding that “Sunzi’s rule, ‘know the enemy and know yourself, and you will never be imperiled in a hundred battles,’ remains a scientific truth”; “we must not take this saying lightly.” He used Sunzi’s “Avoid the enemy’s sharpness, strike when they are weary and returning” and “Wait at ease for an exhausted enemy” from “Military Contention” to explain the importance of strategic retreat during the third counter-encirclement campaign.[3]3 The third counter-encirclement campaign (1931) was a military operation by the Chinese Red Army against the Nationalist forces in Jiangxi. He also drew on “what Sunzi called ‘showing form’ and the like (showing form in the east while striking in the west, that is, making a feint to the east while attacking to the west),” proposing that in the anti-Japanese guerrilla war “one can artificially create the enemy’s errors” to achieve strategic retreat. Mao conducted in-depth research on famous examples of warfare in Chinese history, creatively and flexibly applying them to the military practice of the Agrarian Revolutionary War and the Anti-Japanese War, and from this he summed up “a series of strategies and tactics for people’s war, such as concentrating superior forces to annihilate the enemy one by one,” making “extremely outstanding contributions” to “Marxist-Leninist military theory.”

在革命军队的军事战略方面，毛泽东在延安时期特别注重对中国古代战争经验、军事思想和兵学智慧的研究和吸收。1936年9月和10月，毛泽东两次致信在西安工作的党内同志，要求代为购买《孙子兵法》一书。他后来回忆说：“到陕北，我看了八本书，看了《孙子兵法》”，“那时看这些，是为了写《中国革命战争的战略问题》，是为了总结革命战争的经验”。他在论述军事指挥员学习和使用战争规律、全面了解战争情况及战争行动以争取战略主动时，多次强调《孙子·谋攻》中“知彼知己，百战不殆”，认为“孙子的规律，‘知彼知己，百战不殆’，仍是科学的真理”，“我们不要看轻这句话”。他用《孙子·军争》中“避其锐气，击其惰归”、“以逸待劳”说明第三次反“围剿”战略退却的重要性。他还借鉴“孙子所谓‘示形’之类（示形于东而击于西，即所谓声东击西）”，提出在抗日游击战中“可以人工地造成敌军的过失”实现战略退却。毛泽东深入研究中国历史上著名的战争实例，创造性地灵活运用于土地革命战争和抗日战争的军事实践，并由此总结出“集中优势兵力、各个歼灭敌人等一系列人民战争的战略战术”，对“马克思列宁主义的军事理论”作出“极为杰出的贡献”。

Another example: in Party building, Mao borrowed the term “having both ability and moral integrity” (才德兼备), often used in the Yuan-dynasty zaju play *Marrying Xiao Qiao* and the Ming-dynasty novel *The Tale of the Heroes* to describe heroic figures, to summarize the Chinese Communist Party’s cadre standard. He said: “The Chinese Communist Party is a party leading a great revolutionary struggle in a nation of several hundred million people; without a large number of leading cadres who have both ability and moral integrity, it cannot fulfill its historical task.” On the question of employing cadres, he took history as a mirror and proposed the cadre line of “appointing people on their merit” (任人唯贤): “In our national history there have always been two lines that represent the opposition between the upright and the evil: one is ‘appointing people on their merit,’ the other is ‘appointing people by favoritism.’ The former is the method of enlightened rulers and worthy ministers in employing people; the latter is the method of benighted rulers and treacherous ministers. Today, when we discuss the question of employing cadres, we stand on the revolutionary standpoint, which is fundamentally different from ancient times, but we cannot depart from the standard of ‘appointing people on their merit.’” Mao focused on borrowing the moral concept of “cultivating oneself as the foundation” from traditional culture to enhance the Party spirit cultivation of Chinese Communists and strengthen the transformation of their subjective world. He used Sima Qian’s famous line “Though death befalls all men alike, it may be weightier than Mount Tai or lighter than a feather”[4]4 From Sima Qian’s *Records of the Grand Historian* (c. 94 BCE), in the biography of Ren An. to introduce the Communist value that “to die for the interests of the people is weightier than Mount Tai.” He called on young comrades to have the moral backbone of Mencius’s “not to be corrupted by wealth and rank, not to be swayed by poverty and lowliness, not to be bent by power and force.”[5]5 From Mencius, *Mencius*, “Teng Wen Gong II.” He also quoted Zhu Bailu’s *Maxims for Managing the Household* — “Rise at dawn, sweep the courtyard and steps”[6]6 From Zhu Bailu’s *Maxims for Managing the Household* (17th century), a Confucian moral guide. — to liken Communist Party members to being revolutionary activists. When discussing the issue of criticism and self-criticism, he proposed implementing “the beneficial sayings of the Chinese people: ‘Say all you know and say it without reserve,’ ‘Blame not the speaker but be warned by his words,’ and ‘Correct mistakes if you have made them and guard against them if you have not,’” in order to “resist the erosion of all kinds of political dust and political microbes.”

再比如，在党的建设方面，毛泽东借用元杂剧《娶小乔》和明代长篇小说《英烈传》中形容英雄人物时常常用到的“才德兼备”一词，概括出中国共产党的干部标准。他说：“中国共产党是在一个几万万人的大民族中领导伟大革命斗争的党，没有多数才德兼备的领导干部，是不能完成其历史任务的。”在使用干部问题上，他以史为鉴，提出“任人唯贤”的干部路线：“我们民族历史中历来有两个表现邪正两派互相对立的路线，一个是‘任人唯贤’，一个是‘任人唯亲’。前者是明君贤臣用人的方针，后者是昏君奸臣用人的方针。我们今天来说使用干部问题，是站在革命立场上的，根本与古代有区别，但也离不开‘任人唯贤’这个标准。”毛泽东注重借用传统文化中“修身立本”的道德观念，来提高中国共产党人的党性修养和加强主观世界的改造。他以司马迁的名句“人固有一死，或重于泰山，或轻于鸿毛”引出“为人民利益而死，就比泰山还重”的共产党人价值观，他号召青年同志要有孟子“富贵不能淫，贫贱不能移，威武不能屈”的骨气，他还引用朱柏庐《治家格言》中“黎明即起，洒扫庭除”来比喻共产党员要做革命的行动派。在论述批评与自我批评问题时，他提出要“实行‘知无不言，言无不尽’，‘言者无罪，闻者足戒’，‘有则改之，无则加勉’这些中国人民的有益的格言”，来“抵抗各种政治灰尘和政治微生物侵蚀”。

(3) Drawing from fine traditional Chinese culture national forms that the people readily accept, so that Marxism adapts to the Chinese nation’s mode of thinking, linguistic forms, cultural habits, and popular psychology

（三）从中华优秀传统文化中借鉴人民易于接受的民族形式，使马克思主义与中华民族的思维方式、语言形式、文化习惯、大众心理等相适应

When Mao Zedong put forward the proposition of adapting Marxism to the Chinese context, he noted that the first issue to be resolved was the problem of national form — the problem of adapting Marxism to the Chinese nation’s mode of thinking, linguistic forms, cultural habits, and popular psychology. He said: “Marxism must be realized through national form.” “Foreign stereotyped writing must be abolished, hollow and abstract tunes must be sung less, and dogmatism must be given a rest; instead, they must be replaced by a fresh, lively Chinese style and Chinese manner that the common people of China love to see and hear.” He stressed that “Chinese Communists’ application of Marxism in China” must “combine with the characteristics of the nation and pass through a certain national form to be useful; it must never be applied subjectively and formulaically,” and that “the content of internationalism” or “the content of the New Democracy” must be combined with “the national form.”

毛泽东在提出马克思主义中国化命题时，就注意到马克思主义中国化首先要解决民族形式问题，解决马克思主义同中华民族的思维方式、语言形式、文化习惯、大众心理等相适应的问题。他说：“马克思主义必须通过民族形式才能实现。”“洋八股必须废止，空洞抽象的调头必须少唱，教条主义必须休息，而代替之以新鲜活泼的、为中国老百姓所喜闻乐见的中国作风与中国气派。”他强调“中国共产主义者对于马克思主义在中国的应用”，必须“和民族的特点相结合，经过一定的民族形式，才有用处，决不能主观地公式地应用它”，要把“国际主义的内容”或“新民主主义的内容”与“民族的形式”结合起来。

Mao Zedong placed great importance on using historical allusions, literary stories, poetry and song, Chinese idioms, folk proverbs, and other national languages that the Chinese common people love to see and hear and find easy to understand, to express and explain grand and profound Marxist principles concisely, vividly, and graphically. Such linguistic expressions, which can be found everywhere in Mao’s writings, were extremely necessary for helping comrades at the time, whose general cultural level was not high and whose theoretical cultivation was generally insufficient, to study, understand, and master Marxism. Beyond leading by example, he also called on the entire Party not only to “learn language from the masses of the people” but also to “learn from the language of the ancients what is still alive.” He vigorously promoted the Lu Xun Academy of Fine Arts’ new opera *The White-Haired Girl*, the Central Party School’s Beijing Opera troupe’s *Forced to Join the Liangshan Rebels*, and the Yan’an Pingju Theater’s *Three Attacks on the Zhu Family Village*, using traditional art forms that the common people love to see and hear to vividly explain profound Marxist truths about class struggle, proletarian revolution, armed struggle, and the people creating history.

毛泽东非常重视使用历史典故、文学故事、诗词歌赋、中华成语、民间谚语等中国老百姓喜闻乐见、通俗易懂的民族语言，言简意赅、生动形象地表达和阐释宏大而深刻的马克思主义原理。在毛泽东著作中俯拾皆是的此类语言表达，对于帮助当时党内文化水平普遍不高、理论修养普遍不够的同志们学习、理解、掌握马克思主义，是十分必要的。除了身体力行，他还号召全党不仅“要向人民群众学习语言”，“还要学习古人语言中有生命的东西”。他大力推动鲁艺新歌剧《白毛女》、中央党校京剧队的《逼上梁山》、延安平剧院的《三打祝家庄》等，要用老百姓喜闻乐见的传统艺术形式，形象阐释马克思主义关于阶级斗争、无产阶级革命、武装斗争、人民创造历史等深刻道理。

V. Conclusion

五、结语

Mao Zedong’s “adapting Marxism to the Chinese context” included both the integration of the basic tenets of Marxism with “the concrete practice of the Chinese revolution” and their “deep integration with Chinese history and Chinese culture.” In Mao’s view, the latter was subordinate to and served the former. His series of reflections and explorations on integrating the basic tenets of Marxism with Chinese history and Chinese culture were aimed at better solving the problem of how Marxism could “take root and sink deep into people’s hearts” in China, at further overcoming the influence of dogmatism, and at realizing the genuine integration of Marxism with China’s concrete reality, thereby better serving the great practice of the New Democratic Revolution and the Anti-Japanese War.

毛泽东提出的“马克思主义的中国化”，既包含马克思主义基本原理同“中国革命的具体实践相结合”，也包含同“中国历史、中国文化深相结合”。在毛泽东看来，后者是从属且服务于前者的。他把马克思主义基本原理同中国历史、中国文化结合起来的一系列思考和探索，是为了更好地解决马克思主义怎样在中国“落地生根”“深入人心”的问题，是为了更进一步克服教条主义的影响，实现马克思主义真正与中国具体实际相结合，从而更好地服务于新民主主义革命斗争和抗日战争的伟大实践。

Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, the Chinese Communist Party’s understanding of the laws of its own theoretical innovation and the laws of the development of Chinese civilization has continuously deepened. In contemporary China, where Marxism has taken deep root and flourished, facing new cultural missions, the Chinese Communist Party urgently needed to separate “the Second Integration” from “the First Integration” and emphasize it, clearly endowing it with basic connotations, major significance, and practical requirements. Thus, Xi Jinping creatively put forward the entirely new proposition of “the Two Integrations,” scientifically, completely, and accurately pointing out the fundamental path for adapting Marxism to the Chinese context and the needs of the times. “The Second Integration” is our Party’s profound summation of the historical experience of adapting Marxism to the Chinese context and the needs of the times, a profound grasp of the laws of the development of Chinese civilization. It shows that our Party’s understanding of the Chinese path, theory, and system has reached a new height; it shows that our Party’s historical confidence and cultural confidence have reached a new height; it shows that our Party’s consciousness in promoting cultural innovation while inheriting fine traditional Chinese culture has reached a new height.

党的十八大以来，中国共产党对自身理论创新规律和中华文明发展规律的认识不断深化。在马克思主义已根深叶茂的当代中国，面对新的文化使命，中国共产党迫切需要把“第二个结合”从“第一个结合”中剥离出来予以强调，并明确赋予其基本内涵、重大意义和实践要求。由此，习近平创造性地提出“两个结合”的全新命题，科学完整准确地指明了实现马克思主义中国化时代化的根本途径。“第二个结合”，是我们党对马克思主义中国化时代化历史经验的深刻总结，是对中华文明发展规律的深刻把握，表明我们党对中国道路、理论、制度的认识达到了新高度，表明我们党的历史自信、文化自信达到了新高度，表明我们党在传承中华优秀传统文化中推进文化创新的自觉性达到了新高度。

The major task of opening up new horizons for adapting Marxism to the Chinese context and the needs of the times is the solemn historical responsibility of contemporary Chinese Communists. On the new journey of the New Era, we must continue to link the essence of Marxist thought with the essence of fine traditional Chinese culture, and to connect it with the common values that the people use daily without being fully aware of them, constantly endowing scientific theory with distinct Chinese characteristics, and constantly writing a new chapter in adapting Marxism to the Chinese context and the needs of the times.

开辟马克思主义中国化时代化新境界的重大任务，是当代中国共产党人的庄严历史责任。新时代新征程，我们要继续把马克思主义思想精髓同中华优秀传统文化精华贯通起来、同人民群众日用而不觉的共同价值观念融通起来，不断赋予科学理论鲜明的中国特色，不断谱写马克思主义中国化时代化的新篇章。

(Author: Zhu Wei, Researcher at the Institute of Party History and Literature of the CPC Central Committee)

（作者：朱薇，中共中央党史和文献研究院研究员）

Online Editor: Jing Mu

网络编辑：静穆