Mao Zedong’s “Four-Dimensional” Positioning of Adapting Marxism to the Chinese Context

Mao Zedong was the great trailblazer in adapting Marxism to the Chinese context. He not only creatively put forward the scientific proposition and major task of adapting Marxism to the Chinese context, but also, in the course of advancing it, gave a clear positioning to this adaptation. However, for a long time, scholarly attention to and discussion of this theoretical issue has either focused on its subordinate “integration” without grasping the positioning of adapting Marxism to the Chinese context itself, or has been confined to the “history” and “achievements” of this adaptation, without giving it a scientific positioning based on the leadership of the Communist Party of China. In fact, Mao Zedong consistently placed the proposition of “adapting Marxism to the Chinese context” under “Party leadership” and answered the major question of “what kind of Marxist political party to build and how to build it” from four dimensions. This was Mao Zedong’s pioneering contribution to adapting Marxism to the Chinese context, and it points the way for continuously opening up new horizons in adapting Marxism to the Chinese context and the needs of the times on the new journey of the New Era.

毛泽东是马克思主义中国化的伟大开拓者，不仅创造性地提出了马克思主义中国化的科学命题和重大任务，而且在推进过程中给予马克思主义中国化以明确定位。但长期以来，学界对于这一理论问题的关注和探讨，或者聚焦于其下位的“相结合”而未把握马克思主义中国化自身的定位，或者局限于马克思主义中国化的“历史”和“成果”，而未基于中国共产党的领导给予其科学定位。实际上，毛泽东始终将“马克思主义中国化”命题置于“党的领导”之下，并从四个维度对“建设什么样的马克思主义政党、怎么样建设马克思主义政党”的重大问题进行回答。这是毛泽东对马克思主义中国化的开创性贡献，为新时代新征程不断开辟马克思主义中国化时代化新境界指明了方向。

I. As the Party’s Fine Style of Study: The Soul-Forging Foundation of Adapting Marxism to the Chinese Context

一、作为党的优良学风：马克思主义中国化的铸魂本位

In the process of pioneering the adaptation of Marxism to the Chinese context, Mao Zedong treated this adaptation as the Party’s fine style of study. This not only prevented the separation of adapting Marxism to the Chinese context from the Party’s style-building, but also established the dimension of style-building for this adaptation, occupying a fundamental soul-forging position in the building of a Chinese Marxist political party.

毛泽东在开拓马克思主义中国化过程中，将马克思主义中国化作为党的优良学风，不仅避免了马克思主义中国化同党的作风建设相分离，而且确立了马克思主义中国化的作风建设之维，在中国马克思主义政党建设中处于根本的铸魂地位。

The Party’s style of study is an important dimension of Party building, bearing on the Party’s nature and soul. “The Party’s style of study” is a modifier-head phrase; the headword is “style of study,” referring to the atmosphere, style, and manner of learning, which addresses the question of how to learn; the modifier is “the Party’s,” which specifies the subject, object, and requirements of learning. In 1942, in his speech “Rectify the Party’s Style of Work,” Mao Zedong clearly stated: “What is called the style of study is not only the style of study in schools, but also the style of study of the whole Party.” Thus, “the Party’s style of study” not only possesses the general characteristics of a style of study, but also has the specific particularities of Party style; it cannot be simplified or weakened into a general style of study. As the atmosphere of intra-Party learning, “the Party’s style of study” is juxtaposed with intra-Party “style of work” and “style of writing,” all of which are concrete manifestations and important contents of “Party style,” yet it differs from “Party style.” In the same speech, Mao Zedong pointed out: “The style of study and the style of writing are also Party styles, both are Party styles.” In 1943, he further stated: “The style of study is a question of method of thinking; Party style is a question of practice.” It can be said that in the history of the international communist movement and the Communist Party of China, Mao Zedong was the “first person” to pay attention to and study the issue of the Party’s style of study. In 1941, at an enlarged meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, Mao Zedong pointed out: “At present, the style of study in Yan’an is afflicted with subjectivism.” In the process of the formation and implementation of the Party’s ideological line, the Party’s style of study is a prerequisite and fundamental issue, “a very important issue, indeed the first important issue.” The status of the issue of the Party’s style of study is determined by its nature; specifically: first, the Party’s style of study is a question of the method of thinking for all Party organs, every cadre, and all Party members; second, the Party’s style of study is a question of the attitude of Chinese Communists toward correctly treating Marxism-Leninism; third, the Party’s style of study is a question of the work attitude of Chinese Communists.

党的学风是党的建设的重要维度，关乎党的性质和灵魂。“党的学风”是个偏正词组，中心词为“学风”，指学习的风气、风格、作风，解决的是如何学习、怎样学习的问题；限定词为“党的”，规定着学习的主体、对象、要求等。1942年，毛泽东在《整顿党的作风》的演说中明确指出：“所谓学风，不但是学校的学风，而且是全党的学风。”因而“党的学风”不仅具有学风的一般特征，更具有党风的特殊规定性，不能简化或弱化为一般的学风。“党的学风”作为党内学习的风气，与党内“作风”“文风”并列，都属于“党风”的具体体现和重要内容，但又与“党风”存在区别。毛泽东在该演说中指出：“学风和文风也都是党的作风，都是党风。”1943年，他进一步指出：“学风是思想方法问题，党风是实践问题。”可以说，在国际共产主义运动和中国共产党历史上，毛泽东是关注和研究党的学风问题的“第一人”。1941年，毛泽东在中共中央政治局扩大会议上指出：“现在，延安的学风存在主观主义。”在党的思想路线形成和贯彻过程中，党的学风是一个前提性、根本性问题，“就是一个非常重要的问题，就是第一个重要的问题”。党的学风问题的地位是由其性质决定的，具体而言：其一，党的学风是党的所有机关、每位干部、全体党员的思想方法问题；其二，党的学风是中国共产党人能否正确对待马克思列宁主义的态度问题；其三，党的学风是中国共产党人的工作态度问题。

From the day of its founding, the Communist Party of China established Marxism-Leninism as its guiding ideology and also stipulated the proper attitude and style for studying Marxism-Leninism within the Party. How one studies Marxism-Leninism determines the effect of one’s knowledge, belief, and practice of Marxism-Leninism. Marxism-Leninism must be treated with a Marxist-Leninist attitude; otherwise, a subjectivist style of study toward Marxism-Leninism will arise. In his article “Rectify the Party’s Style of Work,” Mao Zedong criticized “subjectivism as an incorrect style of study,” because it “opposes Marxism-Leninism” and is incompatible with the nature of the Communist Party of China. In 1941, Mao Zedong delivered the report “Reform Our Study,” contrasting the subjectivist attitude with the Marxist-Leninist attitude, though there he called it “style” rather than “style of study.” During the Yan’an Rectification Movement period, Mao Zedong classified subjectivism as an issue of “the Party’s style of study” because subjectivism had changed its field of manifestation. In 1929, Mao Zedong drafted a resolution for the Ninth Congress of the Fourth Red Army, criticizing the subjectivism existing within the Party of the Fourth Red Army, but this mainly concerned subjectivism in analyzing the situation, carrying out work, and intra-Party criticism, and thus was primarily an issue of “the Party’s style of work.” Of course, this subjectivist “style of work” was also incorrect and had to be overcome and replaced by Marxist-Leninist methods. In Mao Zedong’s view, subjectivism was primarily a question of attitude and method, specifically existing within the methods of thinking, leadership, and work of Party cadres and members. In “On Contradiction,” Mao Zedong deeply analyzed the two subjectivist methods of dogmatism and empiricism. In 1943, in “On Methods of Leadership,” Mao Zedong prominently criticized “subjectivist and bureaucratic methods of leadership” and proposed that they “must be overcome at all times by taking up the Marxist scientific method of leadership.”

中国共产党自成立之日起即确立马克思列宁主义为指导思想，也规定党内要有学习马克思列宁主义的应有态度和作风。怎么学习马克思列宁主义，对马克思列宁主义的知信行就能达到什么样的效果。必须以马克思列宁主义的态度对待马克思列宁主义，否则就会产生对待马克思列宁主义的主观主义学风。毛泽东在《整顿党的作风》一文中，批评“主观主义是一种不正派的学风”，因为它是“反对马克思列宁主义的”，与中国共产党的性质不相容。1941年，毛泽东作《改造我们的学习》的报告，将主观主义态度与马克思列宁主义态度对照，只是在此毛泽东称之为“作风”而非“学风”。延安整风时期，毛泽东之所以将主观主义归为“党的学风”问题，是由于主观主义更换了表现场域。1929年，毛泽东为红四军第九次代表大会撰写决议，批评了红四军党内存在的主观主义，但主要是形势分析、开展工作、党内批评的主观主义，因而主要是“党的事风”问题。当然这种主观主义的“事风”同样是不正派的，必须用马克思列宁主义的方法去克服和替代。在毛泽东看来，主观主义主要是态度和方法问题，具体存在于党员干部思想方法、领导方法、工作方法之中。毛泽东在《矛盾论》中深入剖析了教条主义和经验主义两种主观主义方法。1943年，毛泽东在《关于领导方法的若干问题》中，突出批评了“主观主义的和官僚主义的领导方法”，提出“必须随时拿马克思主义的科学的领导方法”去加以克服。

Subjectivism in the study of Marxism-Leninism takes subjective consciousness as its root, foundation, and essence, making the study of Marxism-Leninism subjective and arbitrary, rather than serving the objective need of the proletariat to transform the “two worlds,” and thus may bring harm to Party building and the revolutionary cause. In 1941, Mao Zedong pointed out: “In the past, our Party was for a long period dominated by subjectivism.” Subjectivists do not understand China’s realities and conditions, history and culture, opportunities and challenges; they proceed from the subjective, take the subjective as the standard, and act according to the subjective. Subjectivism does not accept Marxism-Leninism, is divorced from the concrete realities of the Chinese revolution, and is an idealism that leads to the separation of theory from practice. Regarding the study of Marxism-Leninism, they simply “study theory for the sake of studying theory,” without studying Marxism-Leninism with problems and purposes, causing the study of Marxism-Leninism to shoot without a target, and failing to guide correct action through the study of Marxism-Leninism; thus it is a bad style of study that violates Marxism-Leninism and lacks Party spirit and Party style. Regarding the study of the concrete realities of the Chinese revolution, the classical writers of Marxism-Leninism created theory based on their own realities, but subjectivists did not study Chinese history and revolutionary reality according to the basic principles of Marxism, “failing to raise the rich reality to the proper theoretical level,” so that they could not correctly explain the practical problems in history and revolution. It can be seen that whether it is dogmatism, where theory is divorced from reality, or empiricism, where reality is divorced from theory, both are subjectivisms that must be overcome and replaced by Marxism-Leninism.

马克思列宁主义学习中的主观主义，以主观意识为本根、本位和本质，使马克思列宁主义的学习主观而随意，而非为着无产阶级改造“两个世界”的客观需要，因而可能会给党的建设和革命事业带来危害。1941年，毛泽东指出：“过去我们的党很长时期为主观主义所统治。”主观主义者不懂得中国的现实和条件、历史和文化、机遇和挑战，从主观出发，以主观为准，由主观而行。主观主义不接纳马克思列宁主义，与中国革命具体实际相脱节，是导致理论与实践相脱离的唯心主义。就马克思列宁主义的学习而言，他们单纯地为了“学理论而去学理论”，不是带着问题和目的学习马克思列宁主义，致使马克思列宁主义的学习无的放矢，更不能通过对马克思列宁主义的研究指引正确的行动，因而是违反马克思列宁主义、缺乏党性党风的不良学风。就中国革命具体实际的研究而言，马克思列宁主义经典作家根据其实际创造出理论，而主观主义者没有根据马克思主义基本原理来研究中国历史和革命实际，“没有把丰富的实际提高到应有的理论程度”，以致不能对历史和革命中的实际问题作出正确解释。可见，不论是理论脱离实际的教条主义，还是实际脱离理论的经验主义，都是必须以马克思列宁主义加以克服和替代的主观主义。

Advocating the style of study of Marxism-Leninism was not merely to oppose the subjectivist style of study; in essence, it was to treat Marxism-Leninism with a Marxist-Leninist attitude. On the question of how to treat Marxism, Engels clearly pointed out that it should be taken as “a starting point for further study and a method for such study”; Lenin went further, stating that its application must vary according to nation and country. Mao Zedong, for his part, stressed that in discussing and solving problems, “one should proceed from reality, not from definitions.” Therefore, the Yan’an Rectification Movement [3]3 The Yan’an Rectification Movement (1942–1945) was a Party-wide campaign to study Marxism-Leninism and correct subjectivist, sectarian, and stereotypical styles of work, consolidating Mao Zedong’s leadership., in forging and uniting the entire Party with Marxism-Leninism, first had to resolve this fundamental question of the Party’s style of study. A 1942 document, “Propaganda Points of the Propaganda Department of the Central Committee,” pointed out that since the Zunyi Conference [4]4 The Zunyi Conference (January 1935) was a pivotal meeting of the CPC Politburo during the Long March that established Mao Zedong’s leading position in the Party and the Red Army., the remnants of subjectivism “had not been eliminated, or still existed quite seriously.” Mao Zedong’s reports and speeches, such as “Reform Our Study” and “Rectify the Party’s Style of Work,” not only directly established a scientific attitude toward Marxism-Leninism but also advanced the Marxist-Leninist style of study theoretically by a significant step. The question of what constitutes a scientific attitude toward Marxism-Leninism is not a question of what Marxism-Leninism is, but rather a question of how Marxism-Leninism is possible. Whereas the classical Marxist-Leninist writers, mainly from a “universalizing” perspective, focused on the former, Mao Zedong, mainly from a “sinicizing” perspective, focused on the latter, so as to transform the expositions of the classical Marxist-Leninist writers from the abstract into the concrete, from the universal into the particular. The attitude of “shooting the arrow at the target,” which Mao Zedong proposed using the metaphor of the “arrow” and the “target,” was in fact the style of study of adapting Marxism to the Chinese context regarding how to treat Marxism. Of course, Mao Zedong did not use the concept of “adapting Marxism to the Chinese context,” but rather profoundly expressed the connotation of adapting Marxism to the Chinese context from the perspective of the style of study.

倡导马克思列宁主义的学风，不仅仅是为了反对主观主义学风，本质上是要以马克思列宁主义的态度对待马克思列宁主义。对于如何对待马克思主义的问题，恩格斯明确指出，要将其作为“进一步研究的出发点和供这种研究使用的方法”；列宁更进一步指出，对其加以运用要因民族和国家而异。毛泽东则强调讨论和解决问题“应当从实际出发，不是从定义出发”。因此，延安整风以马克思列宁主义锻造和团结全党，首先必须解决全党学风这个根本问题。1942年的《中宣部宣传要点》一文指出，遵义会议以来，主观主义的残余“并没有肃清，或者还很严重地存在着”。毛泽东发表《改造我们的学习》《整顿党的作风》等报告和演讲，不仅直接确立了马克思列宁主义的科学态度，而且将马克思列宁主义的学风从理论上向前推进了一大步。关于什么是对待马克思列宁主义的科学态度的问题，并非马克思列宁主义是什么的问题，而是马克思列宁主义何以可能的问题。与马克思列宁主义经典作家主要以“普遍化”视角着眼于前者不同，毛泽东主要以“中国化”视角着眼于后者，以使马克思列宁主义经典作家的论述由抽象化为具体、由普遍化为个别。毛泽东以“箭”和“靶”作比喻提出的“有的放矢的态度”，实际上就是如何对待马克思列宁主义的马克思主义中国化学风。当然，毛泽东并未使用“马克思主义中国化”这个概念，而是从学风上深刻表达了马克思主义中国化的内涵。

In the study and research of Marxism-Leninism, adhering to the style of study of adapting Marxism to the Chinese context means, in the revolutionary cause of the Party leading the people in unremitting struggle, integrating Marxism-Leninism with China’s specific realities, so that the two “mutually adapt” each other “thoroughly, from top to bottom, inside and out.” The style of study of adapting Marxism to the Chinese context stands in opposition to the subjectivist style of study. It requires both a systematic and comprehensive understanding of the history and current situation of the Chinese revolution, and a deep and accurate grasp of the essence of Marxism-Leninism, and it unites the two for the purpose of winning victory in the Chinese revolution. In his article “Reform Our Study,” Mao Zedong called this “the Marxist-Leninist style of study that unifies theory and practice.” The key to unifying theory and practice lies in their interconnection, and the prerequisite for this is truly possessing both sides of the interconnection. This requires that those who possess book knowledge should not stop at books but should develop toward practical aspects to avoid dogmatic errors; those who have work experience should not neglect serious study but should elevate their work experience into universal theory to avoid empiricist errors. In his speech “Rectify the Party’s Style of Work,” Mao Zedong further pointed out that ready-made book knowledge and ready-made work experience are both one-sided; “only by combining the two can good, relatively complete knowledge be produced.” The interconnection of theory and practice is not a one-way connection of one side to the other, but a process of mutual objectification, interdependence, and mutual promotion. To solve the practical problems facing the Chinese revolution, it is necessary to use Marxism-Leninism to “sinicize” China, to discover the inherent laws of the concrete development of the Chinese revolution, and to use them as a guide for action to win victory in the Chinese revolution; to consolidate the Marxist-Leninist style of study, it is necessary to use China to “sinicize” Marxism-Leninism, to find the points of integration and compatibility between Marxism-Leninism and China, and to strengthen the historical and cultural foundation for Marxism-Leninism to guide the Chinese revolution. Therefore, establishing the style of study of adapting Marxism to the Chinese context is both a resistance to and overcoming of the subjectivist style of study, and a practice of the methodology of historical materialism.

在马克思列宁主义的学习研究上，坚持马克思主义中国化的学风，就是要在党领导人民不懈奋斗的革命事业中，将马克思列宁主义同中国具体实际相结合，使两者“彻头彻尾彻里彻外”地“互化”。马克思主义中国化的学风与主观主义的学风相对立，它既系统全面了解中国革命的历史和现状，又深入准确把握马克思列宁主义的精髓，还为着夺取中国革命胜利而将两者统一起来。毛泽东在《改造我们的学习》一文中，将其称为“理论和实际统一的马克思列宁主义的作风”。理论和实际相统一的关键在于两者相联系，其前提在于真正占有相联系的双方。这就要求，掌握书本知识的人不能止于书本，而要向实际方面发展以避免教条主义错误；拥有工作经验的人不能不认真学习，而应将工作经验提升为普遍性的理论以避免犯经验主义错误。毛泽东在《整顿党的作风》的演说中进一步指出，现成书本知识和现成工作经验都具有片面性，“只有使二者互相结合，才会产生好的比较完全的知识”。理论和实际联系并非一方单向联系另一方，而是相互依存、相互促进的互为对象化的过程。为着解决中国革命面临的实际问题，就必须用马克思列宁主义“化”中国，找出中国革命具体实际发展的内在规律，作为夺取中国革命胜利的行动向导；为着巩固马克思列宁主义学风，就必须用中国“化”马克思列宁主义，找出马克思列宁主义同中国相融相通之处，筑牢马克思列宁主义指导中国革命的历史文化根基。因此，树立马克思主义中国化的学风，既是对主观主义学风的抵制和克服，又是对历史唯物主义方法论的践行。

“Adapting Marxism to the Chinese context,” as the Party’s fine style of study, not only established the fundamental direction of the Party’s style of study but also achieved an innovative development of the Marxist-Leninist style of study, playing an important role in forging the Party’s soul and consolidating its foundation. Xi Jinping repeatedly emphasizes correcting and improving the style of study, solving problems in the style of study, and requires cadres at all levels to “carry forward the Marxist style of study that integrates theory with practice” and to establish the fine style of study of adapting Marxism to the Chinese context and the needs of the times. Precisely because the Party has fundamentally solved the problem of the style of study among Party members and cadres, it has been able to consciously integrate the basic principles of Marxism with China’s specific realities, thereby continuously opening up new realms of adapting Marxism to the Chinese context as the dimension of the revolutionary cause.

“马克思主义中国化”作为党的优良学风，不仅确立了党的学风的根本方向，而且实现了对马克思列宁主义学风的创新性发展，对于党铸魂固本起着重要作用。习近平反复强调端正和改进学风、解决好学风问题，要求各级干部“发扬理论联系实际的马克思主义学风”，树立马克思主义中国化时代化的优良学风。正是因为从根上解决了党员干部的学风问题，我们党才能自觉将马克思主义基本原理同中国具体实际相结合，从而不断开辟马克思主义中国化作为革命事业之维的新境界。

II. As the Party’s Revolutionary Cause: The Leading Position of Adapting Marxism to the Chinese Context

二、作为党的革命事业：马克思主义中国化的先导地位

In the process of promoting adapting Marxism to the Chinese context, Mao Zedong treated adapting Marxism to the Chinese context as the Party’s revolutionary cause, avoiding the separation of adapting Marxism to the Chinese context from the Party’s revolutionary cause, establishing the dimension of scientific guidance for adapting Marxism to the Chinese context, and playing a key leading role in continuously achieving victory for the Party’s cause.

毛泽东在推动马克思主义中国化过程中，将马克思主义中国化作为党的革命事业，避免了马克思主义中国化同党的革命事业相脱离，确立了马克思主义中国化的科学指导之维，对于不断夺取党的事业胜利起到了关键性的先导作用。

Mao Zedong struggled for the revolutionary cause of the Party and the people throughout his life; the term “revolutionary cause” runs through the entire body of Mao Zedong Thought literature. “Revolutionary cause” is a modifier-head phrase, in which “cause” is the headword, referring to “regular activities engaged in by people that have certain goals, scale, and system and that have an impact on social development”; “revolutionary” is the modifier, specifying the direction, nature, content, and subject of the “cause.” The Communist Party of China leads the people in engaging in revolution; revolution itself is the great cause of the Party and the people. In 1925, Mao Zedong published the article “The Reasons for the Split among the Kuomintang Rightists and Its Impact on the Future of the Revolution,” criticizing that most of those who had participated in the Xinhai Revolution [5]5 The Xinhai Revolution (1911) overthrew the Qing dynasty and ended imperial rule in China, leading to the founding of the Republic of China. “abandoned the revolutionary cause because they feared the current revolution.” This was the first time Mao Zedong used the term “revolutionary cause,” referring to the then National Revolution as a revolutionary cause, which was more specific and concrete than the “revolutionary cause” referred to by Chen Duxiu in his 1923 article “Revolution and Counterrevolution.” Thus, rather than saying that the revolutionary cause shares the common characteristics of causes in general, it is more accurate to say that the revolutionary cause is a revolution that advances and promotes other causes. Marx, Engels, and especially Lenin not only frequently used the term “revolutionary cause,” but they also struggled throughout their lives for the revolutionary cause of human liberation. The Chinese Communists, with Mao Zedong as the main representative, carried forward and expanded the Marxist-Leninist revolutionary cause based on the national conditions of modern China, fully demonstrating the dimension of guiding ideology of adapting Marxism to the Chinese context as a revolutionary cause.

毛泽东为党和人民革命事业奋斗终生，“革命事业”一词贯穿整个毛泽东思想文献。“革命事业”是一个偏正词组，其中“事业”为中心词，指“人所从事的，具有一定的目标、规模和系统而对社会发展有影响的经常性活动”；“革命”是限定词，规定“事业”的方向、性质、内容和主体等。中国共产党领导人民从事革命，革命本身就是党和人民的伟大事业。1925年，毛泽东发表《国民党右派分离的原因及其对于革命前途的影响》一文，批评曾参加辛亥革命的大多数人“都因为畏惧现在的革命把革命事业放弃了”。这是毛泽东首次使用“革命事业”一词，即将当时的国民革命理解为革命事业，相较于1923年陈独秀在《革命与反革命》一文中所指的“革命事业”更加具体明确。因而与其说革命事业具有一般事业的共同特征，不如说革命事业是推进和促进其他事业的革命。马克思、恩格斯特别是列宁不仅经常使用“革命事业”一词，而且他们毕生都在为人类解放的革命事业而奋斗。以毛泽东为主要代表的中国共产党人，基于近代中国国情将马克思列宁主义革命事业发扬光大，充分展现了马克思主义中国化作为革命事业的指导思想维度。

From his youth, Mao Zedong had developed a consciousness of saving the nation and the people. In his 1919 article “The Great Union of the Popular Masses,” he formally used the term “liberation,” stating that at that time “all aspects are in need of liberation.” After becoming a Marxist, Mao Zedong devoted himself wholeheartedly to the revolutionary cause of the Chinese people seeking liberation, aiming to completely overthrow the rule of the three great mountains [6]6 The “three great mountains” is a standard CPC term for imperialism, feudalism, and bureaucratic capitalism, which Mao Zedong argued oppressed the Chinese people before 1949. over the Chinese people. The Second National Congress of the CPC, held in 1922, based on positive goal pursuit, established the maximum program of “gradually reaching a communist society” and the minimum program of “establishing a genuine democratic republic.” The minimum program was to save the nation from subjugation under the domination of imperialism and feudalism, but establishing a democratic republic was not a revolutionary cause with a blueprint already drawn; the maximum program was an ideal pursued by humanity for millennia, but it was not a social blueprint pre-planned by Marx and Engels for later generations. The Party’s maximum and minimum programs anchored the lofty ideals and realistic goals of the Chinese Communists, situating the Party’s revolutionary cause within a temporal-spatial realm that moves from the distant to the near and from the near to the distant. Therefore, the revolutionary cause of the Chinese Communists is not located elsewhere, but in the flow of time between the realization of the Party’s maximum and minimum programs. Only by closely integrating the two can it be scientifically established and the two extremes of “excess” and “deficiency” be avoided. “Excess” manifests as “Left,” and “deficiency” manifests as Right. The Party’s revolutionary cause is neither the Right’s “deficiency” nor the “Left’s” “excess,” but rather the “holding fast to the mean” [7]7 “Holding fast to the mean” (允执厥中) is a classical Chinese phrase from the *Analects* and the *Book of Documents*, referring to the Confucian virtue of maintaining balance and avoiding extremes. that is neither Left nor Right in the course of revolution.

毛泽东自青年时期即萌生救国救民的解放意识。他在 1919年发表的《民众的大联合》一文中正式使用“解放”一词，指出于今“种种方面都要解放了”。毛泽东自转变为马克思主义者之后，全身心投入中国人民求解放的革命事业，以彻底推翻三座大山对中国人民的残酷统治。1922年召开的党的二大基于正面的目标追求，确立“渐次达到一个共产主义的社会”的最高纲领和“建立一个真正民主共和国”的最低纲领。最低纲领是摆脱帝国主义和封建主义支配的救亡图存，但建立民主共和国并非一个已经绘就蓝图的革命事业；最高纲领是千百年来人类不懈追求的理想，但又非马克思、恩格斯为后人谋划好的社会图样。党的最高纲领和最低纲领锚定中国共产党人远大理想和现实目标，将党的革命事业确定在向远而近、由近及远的时空境域之中。因而中国共产党人的革命事业不在其他地方，而在实现党的最高纲领和最低纲领之间的时间流中，只有将两者紧密结合起来方能科学确立，并避免“过”与“不及”的两个极端。“过”表现为“左”，“不及”表现为右。而党的革命事业既非右的“不及”，又非“左”的“过度”，而是革命进程中不“左”不右的“允执厥中”。

Mao Zedong established the revolutionary cause of the Party leading the people to achieve liberation, giving full play to the scientific guiding role of Marxism-Leninism, and adapting Marxism to the Chinese context thereby became the action guide for the revolutionary cause. The revolutionary cause involves the relationship between theory and practice, in which theory occupies a leading position. In the article “Rectify the Party’s Style of Work,” Mao Zedong explained the reason for studying Marxism-Leninism, because “it is the science that leads the proletarian revolutionary cause to victory.” [8]8 Mao Zedong, “Rectify the Party’s Style of Work,” February 1, 1942, in Selected Works of Mao Zedong, Vol. 3, p. 820. [9] V. I. Lenin, “What Is to Be Done?” 1902, in Collected Works, Vol. 5, p. 369. [10] Mao Zedong, “Be Concerned with the Well-Being of the Masses, Pay Attention to Methods of Work,” January 27, 1934, in Selected Works of Mao Zedong, Vol. 1, p. 139. [11] Mao Zedong, “On the People’s Democratic Dictatorship,” June 30, 1949, in Selected Works of Mao Zedong, Vol. 4, p. 1477. [12] V. I. Lenin, “Party Organization and Party Literature,” November 13, 1905, in Collected Works, Vol. 10, p. 44. [13] Mao Zedong, “Talks at the Yan’an Forum on Literature and Art,” May 1942, in Selected Works of Mao Zedong, Vol. 3, p. 867. [14] Ibid., p. 869. [15] Mao Zedong, “Opening Address to the Eighth National Congress of the Communist Party of China,” September 15, 1956, in Selected Works of Mao Zedong, Vol. 5, p. 295. [16] “Two worlds” refers to the objective world (nature and society) and the subjective world (human consciousness). [17] Mao Zedong, “Rectify the Party’s Style of Work,” February 1, 1942, in Selected Works of Mao Zedong, Vol. 3, p. 816. [18] Mao Zedong, “The Chinese Revolution and the Chinese Communist Party,” December 1939, in Selected Works of Mao Zedong, Vol. 2, p. 641. [19] Mao Zedong, “Oppose Dogmatism,” May 1941, in Selected Works of Mao Zedong, Vol. 2, p. 758. [20] Mao Zedong, “The Sinicization of Marxism,” October 1939, in Collected Works of Mao Zedong, Vol. 2, p. 209. [21] Xi Jinping, “Speech at the Ceremony Marking the Centenary of the Communist Party of China,” July 1, 2021, in Selected Works of Xi Jinping, Vol. 1, p. 10. The victory of the October Revolution in Russia fully proved what Lenin said: “Without revolutionary theory, there can be no revolutionary movement.” [9]9 “Chinese style and Chinese manner” (中国作风和中国气派): A phrase used by Mao Zedong in his 1938 report “The Role of the Chinese Communist Party in the National War” to call for a Sinicized form of Marxism that would be accessible and appealing to the Chinese people, as opposed to foreign dogmatic formulations. Marxism-Leninism was the revolutionary theory brought to the Chinese people, providing them with an ideological weapon to guide the revolution. Mao Zedong figuratively said that this weapon was not a “machine gun,” but the “world outlook” for the Chinese proletariat to observe the destiny of the nation. Mao Zedong cited Lenin’s famous saying five times, but he placed greater emphasis on the foundational status of practice relative to theory, stressing that without a revolutionary movement there would be no revolutionary theory. In 1934, Mao Zedong pointed out that to solve the problem of “crossing the river,” the first thing was to “solve the problem of the bridge or the boat.” [10]10 Quotation from Mao’s 1938 report “The Role of the Chinese Communist Party in the National War.” Marxism-Leninism proposed building the “bridge or boat” to “cross the river,” and to construct the “bridge or boat” to complete the task of “crossing the river,” it was necessary to adapt Marxism-Leninism to the Chinese context from the ideological line. Mao Zedong’s proposal of the scientific proposition of adapting Marxism to the Chinese context was an ideological revolution in how Chinese Communists treated Marxism-Leninism. Through the revolutionary cause of adapting Marxism to the Chinese context, the Chinese proletarian revolutionary cause continuously achieved victories, finding the only possible path “through the people’s republic to socialism and communism,” [11]11 Yan’an Rectification Movement: A Party-wide ideological education campaign (1942–1944) that targeted subjectivism, sectarianism, and stereotyped Party writing, aiming to establish Mao Zedong Thought as the guiding ideology. and opening up the prospect of the Marxist revolutionary cause of human freedom and liberation. Therefore, without mastering the ideological method of adapting Marxism to the Chinese context, the Chinese proletarian revolutionary cause could not succeed.

毛泽东确立党领导人民实现解放的革命事业，充分发挥了马克思列宁主义的科学指导作用，马克思主义中国化由此成为革命事业的行动指针。革命事业涉及理论与实际的关系问题，而理论在其中处于先导地位。在《整顿党的作风》一文中，毛泽东阐述了学习马克思列宁主义的理由，因为“它是领导无产阶级革命事业走向胜利的科学”。俄国十月革命胜利充分证明了列宁所说的“没有革命的理论，就不会有革命的运动”。马克思列宁主义就是给中国人民送来的革命的理论，使中国人民从此有了指导革命的思想武器。毛泽东形象地说这武器不是“机关枪”，而是中国无产阶级观察国家命运的“宇宙观”。毛泽东曾5 次引用列宁这句名言，但又更加注重实践之于理论的本源性地位，强调没有革命的运动则不会有革命的理论。1934年，毛泽东指出解决“过河”的任务问题，首先是要“解决桥或船的问题”。马克思列宁主义提出要制造“过河”的“桥或船”，而建构“桥或船”以完成“过河”的任务，就必须从思想路线上将马克思列宁主义中国化。毛泽东提出马克思主义中国化的科学命题，就是中国共产党人对待马克思列宁主义的一场思想革命。通过马克思主义中国化的革命事业，中国无产阶级革命事业不断取得胜利，找到了“经过人民共和国到达社会主义和共产主义”的唯一可能道路，开辟了人类自由解放的马克思主义革命事业前景。因而不掌握马克思主义中国化的思想方法，中国无产阶级革命事业就不可能取得成功。

The leadership of adapting Marxism to the Chinese context over the Chinese proletarian revolutionary cause indicates that it is an important component of the Chinese proletarian revolutionary cause and occupies a leading position within it. The Chinese proletarian revolutionary cause is systematic, complete, and comprehensive, and ideological and theoretical construction is its foremost important content. In 1905, Lenin, in the article “Party Organization and Party Literature,” compared the entire proletarian cause to a huge revolutionary machine, and the proletarian literary cause to its “cog and screw,” arguing that the literary cause should be regarded as part of the entire proletarian cause and should not be rigidly equated with other parts of the Party’s cause. [12]12 May Fourth Movement: A Chinese anti-imperialist, cultural, and political protest movement that began on May 4, 1919, often seen as a watershed for the introduction of Marxism into China. The proletarian literary cause is essentially the cause of studying Marxism-Leninism. Mao Zedong not only affirmed Lenin’s theoretical views on the literary cause but also grasped the political nature of proletarian revolutionary literature and art accordingly. In 1942, when giving a speech at the Yan’an Forum on Literature and Art, Mao Zedong regarded revolutionary literature and art as the “cog and screw” of the entire Chinese proletarian revolutionary cause, considering it indispensable to the entire revolutionary machine of the Chinese proletariat. [13]13 First National Congress of the Party: The founding congress of the Communist Party of China, held in Shanghai in July 1921. Mao Zedong opposed the erroneous view of overemphasizing literature and art, arguing that the revolutionary and political direction of literature and art should be guided, because “in art theory we are Marxists, not art-for-art’s-sake advocates.” [14]14 Quotation from Friedrich Engels’s speech at Marx’s graveside (1883). Mao Zedong’s positioning of writers and artists established the guiding role of Marxism in thought for literature and art, and thereby opened up the Sinicization of Marxist literary theory. In short, unlike Lenin, who elevated Marxism to the “primary place in the entire life of the Party” but placed it alongside other revolutionary causes, adapting Marxism to the Chinese context is the action guide for the entire Chinese proletarian revolutionary cause. In his opening address to the Eighth National Congress of the CPC, Mao Zedong pointed out: “Closely integrating the theory of Marxism-Leninism with the practice of the Chinese revolution is the consistent ideological principle of our Party.” [15]15 Quotation from Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, “Address of the Central Authority to the League” (1850). Lenin made an objective exposition of the theoretical sources, content, and characteristics of Marxism, while Mao Zedong placed greater emphasis on the source of its strength in combining with the concrete reality of the Chinese revolution.

马克思主义中国化对中国无产阶级革命事业的领导，表明它是中国无产阶级革命事业的重要组成部分，并且在其中处于先导地位。中国无产阶级革命事业是系统的、完整的、全面的，而思想理论建设是其头等重要的内容。1905年，列宁在《党的组织和党的出版物》一文中，将整个无产阶级事业比喻为一部巨大的革命机器，而将无产阶级的写作事业比喻为其“齿轮和螺丝钉”，认为应当把写作事业视为整个无产阶级事业的一部分，不能将其同党的事业的其他部分刻板地等同起来。无产阶级的写作事业本质上就是马克思列宁主义的研究事业。毛泽东不仅肯定列宁对写作事业的理论观点，而且据此把握无产阶级革命文艺的政治本性。1942年，毛泽东在延安文艺座谈会上作讲演时，将革命文艺视为中国无产阶级整个革命事业的“齿轮和螺丝钉”，认为其对于中国无产阶级整个革命机器不可或缺。毛泽东反对过分强调文艺的错误观点，认为应引领文艺的革命性、政治性发展方向，因为“我们在艺术论上是马克思主义者，不是艺术至上主义者”。毛泽东对文艺家的定位，确立了马克思主义对文艺的思想引领作用，并由此开拓了马克思主义文艺理论的中国化。总而言之，与列宁把马克思主义提升到“党的整个生活的首要地位”，但又与其他革命事业并列不同，马克思主义中国化是中国无产阶级整个革命事业的行动指针。毛泽东在党的八大开幕词中指出：“把马克思列宁主义的理论和中国革命的实践密切地联系起来，这是我们党的一贯的思想原则。”列宁对马克思主义的理论来源、内容和特点作了客观阐述，而毛泽东则更加强调其同中国革命具体实际相结合的力量之源。

The important position of adapting Marxism to the Chinese context in the Chinese proletarian revolutionary cause indicates that adapting Marxism to the Chinese context both serves the Chinese proletarian revolutionary cause and is itself an important revolutionary cause. Adapting Marxism to the Chinese context plays a leading role, requiring it to grasp the times and lead the times, to come from the people and serve the people, and to become a powerful force guiding the people in transforming the “two worlds.” [16]16 Liu Shaoqi’s praise of Mao Zedong from his report on the revision of the Party Constitution at the Seventh National Congress (1945). To advance the development of the revolutionary cause of adapting Marxism to the Chinese context, it is necessary both to master Marxist theory and to be familiar with the concrete reality of the Chinese revolution. Mao Zedong emphasized: “To do the revolutionary cause well, incomplete knowledge will not do.” [17]17 Liu Shaoqi’s description of Mao as a student of the Marxist classics, from the same 1945 report. Complete knowledge usually includes theoretical knowledge and experiential knowledge, but sometimes the two types of knowledge become separated and do not integrate with each other. Education is the main way to learn and master knowledge, which relies on intellectuals playing a central role. For example, the spread of Marxism in China was first accomplished among intellectuals. Mao Zedong criticized some cadres for not understanding the importance of mastering knowledge, not knowing that “without the participation of revolutionary intellectuals,” the Chinese revolutionary cause could not succeed. [18]18 Wu Yuzhang: A senior CPC member and educator who proposed renaming Mao Zedong Thought as “Maoism” in 1948; Mao rejected this. Of course, if intellectuals do not form close ties with workers and peasants, they cannot form an indestructible force. In particular, intellectuals who dogmatize Marxism, unable to use the Marxist-Leninist stand, viewpoint, and method to analyze and solve Chinese problems, not only fail to adapt their theoretical level to and guide the Chinese revolutionary cause, but also create “those dogmatist ideas that are detrimental to our revolutionary cause.” [19]19 Second Plenary Session of the Seventh Central Committee: A key Party meeting held in March 1949, on the eve of the founding of the People’s Republic of China, which discussed the shift from rural to urban focus and economic policy. Therefore, unlike Lenin, who advocated attracting old intellectuals to build the socialist cause, Mao Zedong emphasized that intellectuals should undergo self-transformation in the proletarian revolutionary cause, thereby strengthening the main force of the revolutionary cause of adapting Marxism to the Chinese context, and rooting the proletarian revolutionary cause in the place where Marxism-Leninism is combined with the concrete reality of the Chinese revolution.

马克思主义中国化之于中国无产阶级革命事业的重要地位，表明马克思主义中国化既服务于中国无产阶级革命事业，同时其本身就是一项重要的革命事业。马克思主义中国化发挥先导作用，要求其把握时代、引领时代，来自人民、为了人民，成为指导人民改造“两个世界”的强大力量。推进马克思主义中国化革命事业发展，既要精通马克思主义理论，又要熟悉中国革命具体实际。毛泽东强调：“要把革命事业做好，没有比较完全的知识是不行的。”完整的知识通常包括理论知识和经验知识，但有时两种知识会相互分离、互不融合。教育是学习和掌握知识的主要途径，这依赖于知识分子发挥中坚作用。例如，马克思主义在中国的传播首先是在知识分子中完成的。毛泽东批评一些干部不懂得掌握知识的重要性，不知道“离开革命的知识分子的参加”，中国革命事业是不能成功的。当然，知识分子不同工人、农民形成紧密联系，也不可能形成无坚不摧的力量。特别是把马克思主义教条化的知识分子，不能运用马克思列宁主义立场观点方法分析解决中国问题，不仅导致理论水平不能适应和指导中国革命事业，而且造成了“不利于我们的革命事业的那些教条主义的思想”。因此，与列宁主张吸引旧知识分子建设社会主义事业不同，毛泽东强调知识分子要在无产阶级革命事业中进行自我改造，从而壮大马克思主义中国化革命事业的主体力量，将无产阶级革命事业扎根于马克思列宁主义同中国革命具体实际相结合的地方。

The Chinese proletarian revolutionary cause promotes adapting Marxism to the Chinese context, while at the same time adapting Marxism to the Chinese context constitutes the Chinese proletarian revolutionary cause, and is a long-term cause. In 1939, when discussing the issue of adapting Marxism to the Chinese context, Mao Zedong pointed out that “it cannot be fully Sinicized all at once.” [20]20 Mao’s 1952 instruction to avoid equating Mao Zedong Thought with Marxism-Leninism, reflecting his modesty and concern for theoretical orthodoxy. In his speech at the ceremony marking the centenary of the CPC, Xi Jinping pointed out that “we have continued to adapt Marxism to the Chinese context and the needs of the times, guiding the Chinese people in advancing our great social revolution.” [21]21 Liu Shaoqi (1898–1969) was a senior leader of the CPC and, at the time, a key figure in the Party’s theoretical work. The report on the revision of the Party Constitution was delivered at the Seventh National Congress of the CPC in 1945. This also shows that adapting Marxism to the Chinese context and the needs of the times is not merely a tool for realizing the Chinese proletarian revolutionary cause, but is itself an important revolutionary cause that continuously expands the revolutionary cause as an innovative theory.

中国无产阶级革命事业促进马克思主义中国化，同时马克思主义中国化又构成中国无产阶级革命事业，并且是一项长久事业。1939年，毛泽东谈及马克思主义中国化问题时指出，“不能一下子就完全中国化”。习近平在庆祝中国共产党成立100周年大会上的讲话中指出，“不断推进马克思主义中国化时代化，指导中国人民不断推进伟大社会革命”。这也说明，马克思主义中国化时代化并非仅仅是实现中国无产阶级革命事业的工具，而且是自身作为创新理论不断开拓革命事业的一项重要革命事业。

III. As the Party’s Innovative Theory: The Source-Flow Position of Adapting Marxism to the Chinese Context

三、作为党的创新理论：马克思主义中国化的源流方位

In the process of pioneering adapting Marxism to the Chinese context, Mao Zedong treated adapting Marxism to the Chinese context as the Party’s innovative theory, not only avoiding the separation of adapting Marxism to the Chinese context from Marxism, but also establishing the theoretical source-flow dimension of adapting Marxism to the Chinese context, placing the adherence to and development of Marxism in a prominent position.

毛泽东在开拓马克思主义中国化进程中，将马克思主义中国化作为党的创新理论，不仅避免了马克思主义中国化同马克思主义割裂，而且确立了马克思主义中国化的理论源流之维，将坚持和发展马克思主义摆在了突出地位。

Adapting Marxism to the Chinese context as the ideological dimension of an innovative theory does not refer to the theoretical innovation outcomes of adapting Marxism to the Chinese context. “Innovative theory” is a modifier-head phrase, not a verb-object structure; “theory” is the head word, indicating the form in which adapting Marxism to the Chinese context is presented; “innovative” is the modifier, indicating the theoretical character of adapting Marxism to the Chinese context. In 1938, when Mao Zedong put forward the scientific proposition of adapting Marxism to the Chinese context, he emphasized its dimension as an innovative theory, proposing the theoretical mission of replacing dogmatism with a “Chinese style and Chinese manner.” [9]9 “Chinese style and Chinese manner” (中国作风和中国气派): A phrase used by Mao Zedong in his 1938 report “The Role of the Chinese Communist Party in the National War” to call for a Sinicized form of Marxism that would be accessible and appealing to the Chinese people, as opposed to foreign dogmatic formulations. Because the latter, lacking vividness and not being loved by the people, not only fails to provide scientific guidance for the Chinese revolutionary cause, “but also very easily suffocates the revolutionary spirit,” [10]10 Quotation from Mao’s 1938 report “The Role of the Chinese Communist Party in the National War.” it therefore also became one of the three major targets criticized during the Yan’an Rectification Movement. [11]11 Yan’an Rectification Movement: A Party-wide ideological education campaign (1942–1944) that targeted subjectivism, sectarianism, and stereotyped Party writing, aiming to establish Mao Zedong Thought as the guiding ideology. Mao Zedong also criticized this in his 1942 speech “Oppose Stereotyped Party Writing.” The proposal of the scientific proposition of adapting Marxism to the Chinese context confirms the historical fact that adapting Marxism to the Chinese context serves as the dimension of an innovative theory. In 1940, Yang Song, editor-in-chief of *Liberation Daily*, pointed out that since the May Fourth Movement, the achievements in adapting Marxism to the Chinese context had been great, “having Sinicized and Sinicizing Marxism-Leninism.” [12]12 May Fourth Movement: A Chinese anti-imperialist, cultural, and political protest movement that began on May 4, 1919, often seen as a watershed for the introduction of Marxism into China. In 1943, Wang Jiaxiang published an article in *Liberation Daily* titled “The Communist Party of China and the Path of China’s National Liberation,” which for the first time used “Mao Zedong Thought” to summarize the Party’s innovative theory, calling it “creative Marxism-Leninism.” The Seventh National Congress of the Party formally established Mao Zedong Thought’s guiding position in the entire Party, making the dimension of adapting Marxism to the Chinese context as an innovative theory a consensus.

马克思主义中国化作为创新理论的思想维度，并非指马克思主义中国化的理论创新成果。“创新理论”是一个偏正词组，而非动宾结构；其中“理论”是中心词，表明马克思主义中国化的呈现形态；“创新”是限定词，表明马克思主义中国化的理论品格。1938年，毛泽东提出马克思主义中国化的科学命题时，即强调了其作为创新理论的维度，提出以“中国作风和中国气派”替代教条主义的理论使命。因为后者缺乏生动活泼而不为人民喜爱，不仅不能给予中国革命事业以科学指导，“而且非常容易使革命精神窒息”，因此也成为延安整风批判的三大内容之一。毛泽东于1942年作《反对党八股》的讲演时也对此进行了批判。马克思主义中国化科学命题的提出，即确证马克思主义中国化作为创新理论维度的历史事实。1940年，《解放日报》总编辑杨松指出，五四运动以来的马克思主义中国化成绩很大，“把马列主义中国化了和中国化着”。1943年，王稼祥在《解放日报》发表《中国共产党与中国民族解放的道路》一文，首次用“毛泽东思想”概括党的创新理论，称其为“创造的马克思列宁主义”。党的七大正式确立毛泽东思想在全党的指导地位，使马克思主义中国化的创新理论维度成为共识。

The dimension of adapting Marxism to the Chinese context as an innovative theory manifests the theoretical consciousness of the Communist Party of China in leading the revolutionary cause. From the day of its founding, the Communist Party of China firmly believed in Marxism and consciously undertook the theoretical innovation task of adapting Marxism to the Chinese context, achieving a theoretical leap from Marxism-Leninism to adapting Marxism to the Chinese context. The Communist Party of China, as the subject of adapting Marxism to the Chinese context, is beyond doubt both in Party history and in academic theory. The convening of the First National Congress of the Party was an epoch-making event, establishing the subject and object of adapting Marxism to the Chinese context. [13]13 First National Congress of the Party: The founding congress of the Communist Party of China, held in Shanghai in July 1921. When Mao Zedong delivered the report “Reform Our Study,” he used the “integration” connotation of adapting Marxism to the Chinese context to summarize the 20-year struggle history of the Communist Party of China. In 1945, when Liu Shaoqi delivered a report on the revision of the Party Constitution at the Seventh National Congress of the Party, he pointed out that Mao Zedong Thought, as Chinese Marxism, had “already had a history of twenty-four years” in its growth, development, and maturation.

马克思主义中国化作为创新理论维度，彰显了中国共产党领导革命事业的理论自觉。中国共产党自成立之日起即坚定马克思主义信仰，自觉担当起马克思主义中国化的理论创新重任，实现从马克思列宁主义到马克思主义中国化的理论飞跃。中国共产党作为马克思主义中国化的主体，不论在党史还是学理上皆毫无疑义。党的一大的召开是一件开天辟地的大事，确立了马克思主义中国化的主体和客体。毛泽东在作《改造我们的学习》的报告时，以马克思主义中国化的“相结合”内涵，概括中国共产党20年的奋斗历史。1945年，刘少奇在党的七大上作关于修改党章的报告时指出，毛泽东思想作为中国的马克思主义，其生长、发展、成熟“已经有了二十四年的历史”。

Adapting Marxism to the Chinese context, as the Party’s innovative theory, is both a continuation of the development of Marxism-Leninism and possesses characteristics that distinguish it from Marxism. Marx spent his life studying capitalism as his object, discovering historical materialism to reveal the laws of human social development, and discovering surplus value to reveal the laws of movement of capitalist society; thus, he was “first and foremost a revolutionary.” [14]14 Quotation from Friedrich Engels’s speech at Marx’s graveside (1883). Marx’s doctrine has universal theoretical guiding significance, providing a worldview and methodology for the workers’ movements of various countries; the key lies in “seeking the real basis of one’s agitation from the actual factors of the class movement.” [15]15 Quotation from Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, “Address of the Central Authority to the League” (1850). Mao Zedong proposed and unremittingly advanced adapting Marxism to the Chinese context, founded Chinese Marxist theoretical achievements, led the Chinese people to revolutionary victory, and established New China. Liu Shaoqi praised him as the “greatest revolutionary and statesman” and the “greatest theoretician and scientist” in Chinese history. [16]16 Liu Shaoqi’s praise of Mao Zedong from his report on the revision of the Party Constitution at the Seventh National Congress (1945). Mao Zedong Thought is the guide to action for leading the Chinese people in revolution and construction, and is the product of the integration of Marxism with China’s concrete realities. “Marxism is something universal,” a universal theory suitable for human society; adapting Marxism to the Chinese context, based on China’s special conditions, is a special theory suitable for Chinese society. Both possess a certain “abstractness,” rather than being a distinction between a theoretical “void” and a practical “entity,” nor a difference between “theoretical thinking” and “engineering thinking,” nor a disparity between a “single perspective” and a “non-single perspective.” On the contrary, the successful practice of adapting Marxism to the Chinese context proves that the globalization of Marxism cannot spontaneously yield the fruits of nationalization, whereas the nationalization of Marxism can open up a future for its globalization.

马克思主义中国化作为党的创新理论，既是对马克思列宁主义的继续发展，又具有区别于马克思主义的特点。马克思毕生以资本主义为研究对象，发现唯物史观从而揭示了人类社会发展规律，发现剩余价值从而揭示了资本主义社会运动规律，因而其“首先是一个革命家”。马克思的学说具有普遍的理论指导意义，为世界各国工人运动提供了世界观和方法论，关键在于“从阶级运动的实际因素中去寻找自己的鼓动的现实基础”。毛泽东提出并不懈推进马克思主义中国化，创立了中国马克思主义理论成果，领导中国人民革命胜利并建立新中国。刘少奇赞誉其为中国历史上“最伟大的革命家和政治家”“最伟大的理论家和科学家”。毛泽东思想是领导中国人民革命和建设的行动指南，是马克思主义同中国具体实际相结合的产物。“马克思主义是普遍的东西”，是适合人类社会的普遍理论；马克思主义中国化基于中国的特殊情况，是适合中国社会的特殊理论。两者都具有一定的“抽象性”，而非理论“虚体”与实践“实体”之分，亦非“理论思维”与“工程思维”之别，也非“单一视角”和“非单一视角”之殊。相反，马克思主义中国化的成功实践证明，马克思主义的世界化不能自行生长出民族化硕果，而马克思主义民族化却能开辟出世界化的未来。

Adapting Marxism to the Chinese context, as the Party’s innovative theory, Mao Zedong, while continuously promoting its formation, development, and maturation, also had a very clear understanding of its relationship with Marxism-Leninism. For the Communist Party of China to continuously achieve victory in leading the Chinese revolutionary cause, it must adhere to the guiding ideology of Marxism-Leninism. Since adapting Marxism to the Chinese context is the product of the integration of the universal truth of Marxism-Leninism with the concrete realities of the Chinese revolution, the relationship between Marxism-Leninism and it is that of “source” and “flow.” In 1945, when Liu Shaoqi delivered the report on the revision of the Party Constitution, he pointed out that Mao Zedong Thought was created by Comrade Mao Zedong “as a student of Marx, Engels, Lenin, and Stalin.” [17]17 Liu Shaoqi’s description of Mao as a student of the Marxist classics, from the same 1945 report. Mao Zedong believed that Marxism-Leninism is the theoretical foundation guiding our thinking, and that we cannot simply equate our innovative theory with Marxism-Leninism. In 1948, regarding Wu Yuzhang’s idea of “changing Mao Zedong Thought to Maoism,” Mao Zedong replied by telegram, “Maoism cannot be said,” and it must be resolutely opposed; later, he emphasized that one cannot “put my name on a par with Marx, Engels, Lenin, and Stalin,” considering this erroneous and unhelpful. [18]18 Wu Yuzhang: A senior CPC member and educator who proposed renaming Mao Zedong Thought as “Maoism” in 1948; Mao rejected this. At the Second Plenary Session of the Seventh Central Committee of the Party, Mao Zedong profoundly elaborated on the reasons why Chinese Communists could not be placed on an equal footing with Marx, Engels, Lenin, and Stalin: first, our theoretical level is not high and cannot compare with that of Marx, Engels, Lenin, and Stalin; second, we are not “inviting Marx, Engels, Lenin, and Stalin to be our guests,” but inviting them to “be our teachers, and we are their students”; third, if our Chinese revolutionary thought were turned into an ism, there would be several Marxisms-Leninisms in the world. [19]19 Second Plenary Session of the Seventh Central Committee: A key Party meeting held in March 1949, on the eve of the founding of the People’s Republic of China, which discussed the shift from rural to urban focus and economic policy. In 1952, Mao Zedong again proposed: “Do not juxtapose the term ‘Mao Zedong Thought’ with Marxism-Leninism.” [20]20 Mao’s 1952 instruction to avoid equating Mao Zedong Thought with Marxism-Leninism, reflecting his modesty and concern for theoretical orthodoxy. Mao Zedong’s sober understanding of the theoretical nature and theoretical positioning of Mao Zedong Thought, always standing at the height of the nationalization and globalization of Marxism, constitutes a strategic reflection on adapting Marxism to the Chinese context as the Party’s innovative theory.

马克思主义中国化作为党的创新理论，毛泽东在不断推动其理论形成、发展、成熟的同时，对于其与马克思列宁主义的关系有着十分清醒的认识。中国共产党要领导中国革命事业不断取得胜利，就必须坚持马克思列宁主义的指导思想。马克思主义中国化既然是马克思列宁主义普遍真理同中国革命实际相结合的产物，那么马克思列宁主义与它就是“源”与“流”关系。1945年，刘少奇作修改党章的报告时指出，毛泽东思想是毛泽东同志“作为马克思、恩格斯、列宁、斯大林的学生”所创造的。毛泽东认为，马克思列宁主义是指导我们思想的理论基础，不能简单地将我们的创新理论同马克思列宁主义相提并论。1948年，就吴玉章提出的“把毛泽东思想改成毛泽东主义”的想法，毛泽东复电“不能说毛泽东主义”，必须坚决反对这么提；后又强调，不能“将我的名字和马恩列斯并列”，认为这是错误而无益的。毛泽东在党的七届二中全会上深刻阐述了中国共产党人不能和马、恩、列、斯并列的原因：一是我们的理论水平并不高，不能同马、恩、列、斯的理论水平相比；二是我们不是“请马、恩、列、斯来做陪客”，而是请他们来“做先生的，我们做学生”；三是我们中国革命思想如果搞成主义，世界上就会有几个马克思列宁主义。1952年，毛泽东再次提出：“不要将‘毛泽东思想’这一名词与马列主义并提。”毛泽东对毛泽东思想理论性质和理论定位的清醒认识，始终站在马克思主义民族化和世界化的高度，是对马克思主义中国化作为党的创新理论的战略思考。

The reason why adapting Marxism to the Chinese context remains Marxist-Leninist is that it consistently adheres to Marxism-Leninism and continuously creates new theories of Chinese Marxism. Between Chinese Marxism and classical Marxism, Mao Zedong emphasized, “It is better for us to remain a branch store of Marxism-Leninism,” affirming his own theoretical lineage without losing his theoretical standing, and treating his revolutionary cause as an integral part of the international communist movement. Chinese Marxism emerged from the Chinese revolutionary cause, “guiding and continuing to guide the Chinese people toward complete liberation,” and solved Chinese revolutionary problems that Marxism-Leninism could not or had not resolved. In 1945, when Liu Shaoqi delivered the report on the revision of the Party Constitution, he pointed out that Mao Zedong Thought “provides an independent and brilliant supplement to Marxism-Leninism.” [21]21 Liu Shaoqi (1898–1969) was a senior leader of the CPC and, at the time, a key figure in the Party’s theoretical work. The report on the revision of the Party Constitution was delivered at the Seventh National Congress of the CPC in 1945. The term “supplement” highlights the theoretical creativity of Mao Zedong Thought; Liu Shaoqi summarized it into nine major aspects to concretely elucidate its theoretical contributions. The “supplement theory” implies that Mao Zedong Thought takes Marxism-Leninism as its subject, foundation, and criterion, aiming to highlight it as “one of the greatest achievements” in the world Marxist movement, but it cannot yet fully demonstrate its guiding ideological status for the Chinese revolutionary cause, nor can it easily manifest its independent theoretical standing relative to Marxism-Leninism. The “supplement theory” presupposes and is based on the “branch store theory”; hence Liu Shaoqi emphasized that Mao Zedong Thought is “Chinese Marxism,” thereby distinguishing it from Marxism in other countries. The “branch store theory” is both an affirmation and adherence to adapting Marxism to the Chinese context as an innovative theory, a commitment to continuously creating new theories, and a support for the nationalization of Marxism, because “the forms of manifestation of the basic principles of Marxism-Leninism in practice should differ from country to country.” Adapting Marxism to the Chinese context as an innovative theory is not only a matter of particularity concerning the creation of Chinese Marxism but also a matter of universality concerning the nationalization of Marxism on the journey toward communism.

马克思主义中国化之所以是马克思列宁主义的，就在于其始终坚持马克思列宁主义，并不断创造出中国马克思主义的新理论。在中国马克思主义与原典马克思主义之间，毛泽东强调“我们还是作为马克思列宁主义的分店好”，在肯定自身理论渊源时又不失自身的理论地位，并将自身革命事业作为国际共产主义运动的重要组成部分。中国马克思主义是在中国革命事业中产生的，“指导了与正在指导着中国人民去获得彻底的解放”，解决了马克思列宁主义所不能和未能解决的中国革命问题。1945年，刘少奇作修改党章的报告时指出，毛泽东思想“对于马克思列宁主义作独立的光辉的补充”。“补充”一词突出了毛泽东思想的理论性创造，刘少奇将其概括为九大方面，以具体阐明毛泽东思想的理论贡献。“补充说”意味着毛泽东思想以马克思列宁主义为主体、根本、准绳，旨在彰显其是世界马克思主义运动中“最伟大的功绩之一”，但尚不能突显其对中国革命事业的指导思想地位，也难以彰显其相对于马克思列宁主义的独立理论地位。“补充说”以“分店说”为前提和基础，因而刘少奇强调毛泽东思想是“中国的马克思主义”，从而与其他国家的马克思主义相区分。“分店说”既是对马克思主义中国化作为创新理论的肯定和坚持，又是对不断创造新的理论的责任担当，还是对马克思主义民族化的肯定和支持，因为“马列主义的基本原理在实践中的表现形式，各国应有所不同”。马克思主义中国化作为创新理论，不仅是关涉创造中国马克思主义的特殊性问题，而且是通达共产主义征途中关涉马克思主义民族化的普遍性问题。

Adapting Marxism to the Chinese context as the Party’s innovative theory both enriches and develops the treasure trove of Marxist-Leninist thought and advances the nationalization and globalization of Marxism. The report to the 20th National Congress of the CPC pointed out: “Constantly writing new chapters in adapting Marxism to the Chinese context and the needs of the times is the solemn historical responsibility of contemporary Chinese Communists.” [22]22 The 20th National Congress of the CPC was held in October 2022. Opening up new horizons for adapting Marxism to the Chinese context and the needs of the times on the new journey requires our Party to use extraordinary practical wisdom to continuously create new thoughts, new concepts, and new judgments, to continuously promote the systematic and theoretical construction of the Party’s innovative theories, and to lead Marxism in demonstrating new vitality in the 21st century.

马克思主义中国化作为党的创新理论，既丰富和发展了马克思列宁主义思想宝库，又推进了马克思主义民族化和世界化。党的二十大报告指出：“不断谱写马克思主义中国化时代化新篇章，是当代中国共产党人的庄严历史责任。”新征程开辟马克思主义中国化时代化新境界，就是要求我们党以非凡超群的实践智慧，不断创造出新思想新理念新论断，不断推动党的创新理论体系化学理化建设，引领马克思主义在21世纪展现出新的生命活力。

IV. As the Party’s Practical Wisdom: The Core Locus of Adapting Marxism to the Chinese Context

四、作为党的实践智慧：马克思主义中国化的核心部位

In the process of pioneering adapting Marxism to the Chinese context, Mao Zedong consistently treated it as practical wisdom, preventing it from becoming detached from its subject, thereby establishing its dimension of virtue, which plays a core safeguarding role in continuously improving the Party’s leadership capacity.

毛泽东在开拓马克思主义中国化的过程中，始终将马克思主义中国化作为实践智慧，避免马克思主义中国化同其主体相脱离，确立了马克思主义中国化的德性之维，对于不断提升党的领导水平具有核心保障作用。

Adapting Marxism to the Chinese context as practical wisdom is an objective determination of its subject. “Practical wisdom” is a modifier-head phrase, where “wisdom” is the head word, referring to “the ability to analyze, judge, invent, and create”; “practical” is the modifier, delimiting the domain and scope of “wisdom,” distinguishing it from “theoretical wisdom.” Although the term “practical wisdom” does not appear in Mao Zedong’s writings, he frequently used the concepts of “practice” and “wisdom.” Mao Zedong pointed out that Marx was “a most complete intellectual representing the highest wisdom of humanity.” The Chinese nation is a hardworking, courageous, and wise people, whose wisdom is mainly manifested in the practical domains of “self-cultivation, family regulation, state governance, and world peace.” [23]23 This phrase (修身、齐家、治国、平天下) originates from the Confucian classic *The Great Learning* (*Daxue*), outlining a sequence of moral cultivation and social governance. Mao Zedong used the ancient Chinese saying “a frown, and a plan comes to mind” to vividly explain what “wisdom” means; he cited Mencius’s “the office of the heart is to think” to encourage the people to “start their mental engines” to win the revolution. Mao Zedong drew on the practical wisdom of the Chinese nation and Marxist practical wisdom, adhered to the combination of individual wisdom and collective wisdom, and successfully pioneered and advanced the historical process of adapting Marxism to the Chinese context. This is a precious asset for continuously opening up new horizons in adapting Marxism to the Chinese context and the needs of the times.

马克思主义中国化作为实践智慧，是对马克思主义中国化主体的对象性规定。“实践智慧”是一个偏正词组，其中“智慧”是中心词，指“辨析判断、发明创造的能力”；“实践”是限定词，限定“智慧”的领域和范围，使其与“理论智慧”相区分。毛泽东著作中不曾使用“实践智慧”一词，但经常使用“实践”和“智慧”概念。毛泽东指出，马克思是“一个代表人类最高智慧的最完全的知识分子”。中华民族是勤劳、勇敢、智慧的民族，其智慧主要体现在“修、齐、治、平”的实践领域。毛泽东用中国古语“眉头一皱，计上心来”，形象地解释何谓“智慧”；用孟子“心之官则思”，鼓励人民“开动机器”夺取革命胜利。毛泽东汲取中华民族实践智慧和马克思主义实践智慧，坚持个人智慧与集体智慧相结合，成功开拓和推进了马克思主义中国化的历史进程。这是不断开辟马克思主义中国化时代化新境界的宝贵财富。

Understanding adapting Marxism to the Chinese context as practical wisdom reflects a scientific attitude toward it. The premise for proposing and advancing adapting Marxism to the Chinese context is to correctly understand it. History before and after the scientific proposition of adapting Marxism to the Chinese context was put forward proves that when it was regarded as a creative practical activity of Chinese Communists, they could successfully advance and realize it with their practical wisdom; conversely, when it was regarded as a mechanical fabrication by Chinese Communists, adapting Marxism to the Chinese context encountered setbacks and failures. This law of the development of adapting Marxism to the Chinese context involves, in theoretical terms, the fundamental distinction between “practice” and “production.” “Practice” is an ancient and long-standing philosophical concept; in ancient Chinese philosophy, it was called “action” (xing), meaning acting according to circumstances within the context of life, requiring the practical wisdom of a “sage of the times.” [24]24 “Sage of the times” (圣之时者) is a phrase from Mencius, praising Confucius as the sage who adapted to the circumstances of his era. “Practice” is also a core category in ancient Greek philosophy. Aristotle pointed out in the Nicomachean Ethics: “Practice is not a kind of production, nor is production a kind of practice.” Productive activity takes skill as its virtue, with its origin in sensory desire; practical activity takes prudence as its virtue, with its origin in practical wisdom. Marx inherited and developed the concept of “practice” from Western classical philosophy, understanding it as the communist movement that “abolishes the existing state of affairs.” In 1937, Mao Zedong wrote the famous work “On Practice,” which achieved a philosophical fusion and innovation of Marxism, Chinese tradition, and Western thought in terms of practice theory, providing a new perspective for advancing adapting Marxism to the Chinese context. Adapting Marxism to the Chinese context belongs, in its practical form, to productive activity; it is a creative activity of the spiritual production of Chinese Communists, with no ready-made standards or answers to follow, but rather a process of continuously opening up a path forward toward the ideal shore. Regarding this perceptual objective activity of adapting Marxism to the Chinese context, Mao Zedong repeatedly emphasized the need to integrate the universal truth of Marxism-Leninism with the concrete realities of the Chinese revolution. This both contains the internal logic of realizing the ideal of scientific socialism based on China’s actual conditions and highlights the practical wisdom of the subject of adapting Marxism to the Chinese context.

将马克思主义中国化理解为实践智慧，体现了对待马克思主义中国化的科学态度。提出并推进马克思主义中国化的前提，是正确理解马克思主义中国化。马克思主义中国化科学命题提出前后的历史证明，当其被视为中国共产党人的创造性实践活动时，中国共产党人就能以其实践智慧成功推进和实现；反之，当其被视为中国共产党人的机械制作时，马克思主义中国化就会遭遇挫折和失败。马克思主义中国化发展的这条规律，在学理上涉及“实践”与“制作”的根本区别。“实践”是一个古老而长期沿用的哲学概念，中国古代哲学称之为“行”，即在生活境域之中因时因势而动，需要“圣之时者”的实践智慧。“实践”也是古希腊哲学中的一个核心范畴。亚里士多德在《尼各马可伦理学》中指出：“实践不是一种制作，制作也不是一种实践。”制作活动以技术为品德，其始因在于感性的欲求；实践活动以明智为德性，其始因在于实践的智慧。马克思继承并发展西方古典哲学中的“实践”概念，将其理解为“消灭现存状况的现实”的共产主义运动。1937年毛泽东创作的名篇《实践论》，在实践论方面实现了马、中、西三者的哲学融合创新，为推进马克思主义中国化提供了新的视域。马克思主义中国化在实践形式上属于生产活动，是中国共产党人精神生产的创造性活动，不可能有现成的标准和答案可循，而是向着理想彼岸不断开辟前进道路的过程。对于马克思主义中国化的感性对象性活动，毛泽东反复强调要将马克思列宁主义普遍真理同中国革命具体实际相结合，这既蕴含着立足中国实际实现科学社会主义理想的内在逻辑，又彰显了马克思主义中国化主体的实践智慧。

Adapting Marxism to the Chinese context as practical wisdom is concretely embodied in its subject. With respect to adapting Marxism to the Chinese context and the Chinese proletarian revolutionary cause, the latter depends on the Party’s leader using practical wisdom to establish fundamental purposes and aims, while the former depends on the Party’s leader using practical wisdom to choose the correct means to realize the latter. At the Second Plenary Session of the Seventh Central Committee of the CPC, [25]25 The Second Plenary Session of the Seventh Central Committee of the CPC was held in March 1949, on the eve of the nationwide victory of the Chinese revolution. Mao Zedong pointed out, “There were once people within the Party who wanted to remold the Party according to their own tastes,” and “if they had achieved their goal, it would have been disastrous.” This “disaster” lies in the lack of legitimacy of their purpose, intending to use the Party’s organizational strength to realize narrow personal interests, which would block the path connecting Marxism-Leninism with the Chinese revolutionary cause. Fundamentally, it is because they lacked the political virtue and practical wisdom to advance adapting Marxism to the Chinese context. The Party’s leader should be “the most authoritative, most influential, and most experienced” and be elected to hold the most important positions—this is an important view in Lenin’s “Left-Wing” Communism: An Infantile Disorder, a work Mao Zedong read repeatedly. As the Party’s leader, Mao Zedong not only possessed the practical wisdom to solve China’s problems through adapting Marxism to the Chinese context but also spent his entire life practicing the fundamental purpose of serving the people wholeheartedly.

马克思主义中国化作为实践智慧，具体体现在马克思主义中国化主体方面。就马克思主义中国化与中国无产阶级革命事业而言，后者依赖于党的领袖以其实践智慧确立根本目的和宗旨，前者依赖于党的领袖以其实践智慧选择实现后者的正确手段。毛泽东在党的七届二中全会上指出，“党内曾经有些人想按照他们的口味来改造党”，“要是他们达到了目的，那就坏了”。这个“坏”就在于其目的不具有正当性，意图以党的组织力量实现狭窄的个人利益，这会封闭马克思列宁主义与中国革命事业的通达之道。在根本上来说，还是因为其缺乏推进马克思主义中国化的政治品德和实践智慧。党的领袖应该“最有威信、最有影响、最有经验”而被选出担任最重要职务，这是毛泽东反复阅读的列宁所作《共产主义运动中的“左派”幼稚病》一书中的重要观点。毛泽东作为党的领袖，不仅具有以马克思主义中国化解决中国问题的实践智慧，而且毕生都在践行全心全意为人民服务的根本宗旨。

Whether the two ends of adapting Marxism to the Chinese context can mutually reach each other directly manifests the practical wisdom of the subject of adapting Marxism to the Chinese context. Adapting Marxism to the Chinese context is essentially a sensuous object-oriented activity, internally comprising two aspects that are objects of each other: Marxism-Leninism and the concrete reality of the Chinese revolution. The mutual reach of these two ends lies not in what each is or includes, but in how they mutually accept each other, or how the two “use the mean” to mutually reach each other. [26]26 “Three great mountains” refers to imperialism, feudalism, and bureaucratic capitalism, which Mao Zedong identified as the main oppressors of the Chinese people before 1949. Wang Fuzhi glossed “mean” (zhong) as follows: “Its character derives from ‘mouth,’ and it

马克思主义中国化的两端能否相互通达，直接体现了马克思主义中国化主体的实践智慧。马克思主义中国化本质上属于感性对象性活动，内在地包括互为对象的两个方面：马克思列宁主义与中国革命具体实际。这两端的通达不在于它们各自是或包括什么，而在于它们如何相互接纳，或者两者如何“用中”地相互通达。王夫之训“中”曰：“其字从口，而上下贯通，调和而无偏胜，适与相宜。”在马克思主义中国化之中，马克思列宁主义属于思想理论，是具有普遍性的形而“上”部分；中国革命具体实际属于现实生活，是具有特殊性的形而“下”部分。1937年毛泽东所作的《矛盾论》一文，从矛盾的普遍性和特殊性的对立统一出发，创造了马克思主义哲学与中国传统哲学精华有机结合的辩证法体系。教条主义将“相结合”两端视为独立的“实体”，却并未以实践智慧把握“相结合”两端，这就必然造成“相结合”两端各自封闭而不能上下贯通的问题。毛泽东强调必须抛弃教条主义，“必须不停止在现成书本的字句上”。因为“字句”不是马克思列宁主义的活的灵魂，相反是对其活的灵魂的封闭和窒息，致使其不能成为“共产主义的幽灵”而通达全党全国人民。列宁将马克思主义活的灵魂概括为“对具体情况作具体分析”。毛泽东自1936年在《中国革命战争的战略问题》一文中首次引述列宁这一论断后，又多次教育全党并批判教条主义，就是要以马克思列宁主义的精神实现中国革命具体实际的“上下通达”。

The penetration of adapting Marxism to the Chinese context throughout the entire Party in the course of the Chinese revolution depended on the practical wisdom of the whole Party centered on the Party’s leader. The key to modern China’s ability to overthrow the rule of the three great mountains [26]26 “Three great mountains” refers to imperialism, feudalism, and bureaucratic capitalism, which Mao Zedong identified as the main oppressors of the Chinese people before 1949. lay in the fact that the masses, under the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party, formed an invincible force. This first required the Party’s leader to achieve the whole Party’s sincere unity through collective wisdom. Shortly after the outbreak of the full-scale War of Resistance Against Japan, Mao Zedong pointed out: “Unity and solidarity within the Party are the prerequisite for defeating the Japanese aggressors.” [27]27 Mao Zedong, “The Tasks of the Chinese Communist Party in the Period of Resistance Against Japan” (May 1937), Selected Works of Mao Zedong, Vol. 1. Unity within the Party is unity on the basis of Marxism-Leninism, and it must be unified under the banner of adapting Marxism to the Chinese context. Therefore, while criticizing the ideological errors of dogmatism and demanding that adapting Marxism to the Chinese context put an end to its dominant position, it was also necessary to eliminate its organizational dominance as factionalism and build our Party into a mass-based national proletarian party of the greatest scale. Lenin pointed out: “The working masses support us. Therein lies our strength.” [28]28 V. I. Lenin, “Report on the Party Programme at the Eighth Congress of the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks)” (March 1919), Collected Works, Vol. 29. Mao Zedong was the principal founder of the Chinese Communist Party; with his superb practical wisdom, he developed Lenin’s theory of Party building and achieved unprecedented great unity of the whole Party and the entire Chinese people. In 1949, Zhou Enlai pointed out in his article “Learning from Mao Zedong” that Mao’s fundamental focus was “not to shrink himself into the smallest circle to talk about revolution in the abstract,” but to unite the broadest masses of the people around the proletariat, thereby achieving the revolutionary victory of transforming China with Marxism. [29]29 Zhou Enlai, “Learning from Mao Zedong” (1949), Selected Works of Zhou Enlai, Vol. 1.

马克思主义中国化在中国革命事业中通达全党，依赖于以党的领袖为核心的全党的实践智慧。近代中国能推翻三座大山统治，关键在于人民群众在中国共产党领导下形成了战无不胜的力量。这首先要求党的领袖以集体智慧实现全党精诚团结。全面抗战爆发不久，毛泽东即指出：“党内的团结一致是战胜日寇的先决条件。”党内的团结是马克思列宁主义基础上的团结，必须在马克思主义中国化旗帜下统一起来。因而，批判教条主义的思想错误，要求以马克思主义中国化结束其统治地位的同时，必须清除其作为宗派主义在组织上的统治地位，并把我们党建设成为群众性的全国无产阶级大党。列宁指出：“劳动群众拥护我们。我们的力量就在这里。”毛泽东是中国共产党的主要缔造者，以高超的实践智慧发展了列宁建党学说,实现了全党全国人民前所未有的大团结。1949年，周恩来在《学习毛泽东》一文中指出，毛泽东的根本着眼点“不是把自己缩小到最小的圈子里来空谈革命”，而是把最广大人民群众团结在无产阶级周围，因而能够取得用马克思主义改造中国的革命胜利。

The reason why “the Second Integration” is “not a simple ‘physical reaction,’ but a profound ‘chemical reaction’” stems from the fact that, like “the First Integration,” it imposes the subjective requirement of practical wisdom on adapting Marxism to the Chinese context and the needs of the times. In the process of advancing adapting Marxism to the Chinese context, Mao Zedong both grasped its practical wisdom on the basis of comprehending its historical significance and, in elevating his own practical wisdom, inaugurated its new historical journey, fully demonstrating the historic contribution of Mao Zedong Thought to adapting Marxism to the Chinese context.

“第二个结合”之所以“不是简单的‘物理反应’，而是深刻的‘化学反应’”，源于其与“第一个结合”一样，对马克思主义中国化时代化提出了实践智慧的主体性要求。毛泽东在推进马克思主义中国化过程中，既在领会其历史意义的基础上把握其实践智慧，又在提升自身实践智慧中开启其历史新征程，充分彰显了毛泽东思想对马克思主义中国化的历史性贡献。

In summary, Mao Zedong, focusing on the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party and the practice of revolution and construction, formed a “four-dimensional” positioning of adapting Marxism to the Chinese context, enabling Marxism to display powerful vitality in the course of the Chinese Communist Party’s struggle. The “four-dimensional positioning” not only provides theoretical guidance for our comprehensive grasp of adapting Marxism to the Chinese context, but also points the direction of effort for continuously opening up new horizons in adapting Marxism to the Chinese context and the needs of the times on the new journey of the New Era. The 20th National Congress of the CPC emphasized continuing to advance theoretical innovation on the basis of “practice,” pushing Mao Zedong’s “four-dimensional” positioning of adapting Marxism to the Chinese context onto a new journey, and highlighting the extreme importance of grasping the scientific positioning of adapting Marxism to the Chinese context for building a Marxist political party.

总之，毛泽东着眼于中国共产党的领导以及革命和建设实践，形成了对马克思主义中国化的“四维”定位，使马克思主义在中国共产党奋斗征程中展现出强大生命力。“四维定位”不仅为我们全面把握马克思主义中国化提供了理论指导，而且为新时代新征程不断开辟马克思主义中国化时代化新境界指引了着力方向。党的二十大强调继续推进“实践”基础上的理论创新，将毛泽东马克思主义中国化的“四维”定位推向了新征程，彰显了把握马克思主义中国化科学定位对于建设马克思主义政党的极端重要性。

Web editor: Jing Mu

网络编辑：静穆