Mao Zedong and the Outstanding Characteristics of Chinese Civilization

Chinese-path modernization is a modernization that continues and extends Chinese civilization, a modernization that has grown out of the soil of China, endowing Chinese civilization with modern strength and possessing a profound foundation in fine traditional Chinese culture. It is directly linked to the five outstanding characteristics of Chinese civilization that Xi Jinping has refined and summarized. In these respects, Mao Zedong, with his rich historical knowledge and deep foundation in traditional culture, made many incisive expositions that are worth revisiting and pondering. We must uphold fundamental principles and break new ground, continue the historical lineage, and write the contemporary chapter.

中国式现代化是赓续中华文明的现代化，是从中华大地生长出来的现代化，赋予中华文明以现代力量，具有深厚的中华优秀传统文化底蕴，与习近平提炼和总结的中华文明五大突出特性有直接的关联。在这些方面，毛泽东以丰富的历史知识、深厚的传统文化功底，做过许多精辟论述，值得重温与深思。我们要坚持守正创新，赓续历史文脉，谱写当代华章。

I. Chinese civilization has outstanding continuity

一、中华文明具有突出的连续性

Mao Zedong’s enlightenment in historical studies began with reading the *Three Character Classic* [1]1 The *Three Character Classic* (*Sanzi Jing*) is a classic Chinese children’s primer, traditionally attributed to Wang Yinglin (1223–1296) of the Song dynasty, which presents Confucian teachings and Chinese history in three-character verses.. The *Three Character Classic* contains ninety lines about history, condensing Chinese history from Fuxi and Shennong through the two Song dynasties [2]2 Fuxi and Shennong are legendary cultural heroes and early rulers in Chinese mythology, often considered among the “Three Sovereigns.” The two Song dynasties refer to the Northern Song (960–1127) and Southern Song (1127–1279).. In the days that followed, he also read historical works such as the *Records of the Grand Historian*, the *Records of the Three Kingdoms*, and the *Comprehensive Mirror for Aid in Government*, laying a deep foundation in Chinese historiography [3]3 The *Records of the Grand Historian* (*Shiji*) by Sima Qian (c. 145–86 BCE) is the first comprehensive history of China. The *Records of the Three Kingdoms* (*Sanguozhi*) by Chen Shou (233–297 CE) covers the Three Kingdoms period. The *Comprehensive Mirror for Aid in Government* (*Zizhi Tongjian*) by Sima Guang (1019–1086) is a monumental chronological history of China from 403 BCE to 959 CE..

毛泽东的史学启蒙是从读《三字经》开始的。《三字经》中有九十句是关于历史的内容，浓缩了从伏羲、神农至两宋期间的中国历史。在以后的日子中，他又读了《史记》《三国志》《资治通鉴》等历史著作，打下了中国史学的深厚根基。

On this, Mao Zedong made a classic statement in 1938 in “The Role of the Chinese Communist Party in the National War”: “Our nation has a history of several thousand years, has its characteristics, and has many precious things. Regarding these, we are still primary school students. 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 up and inherit this precious legacy. This is of great help in guiding the great movement of the present.” In December 1939, Mao Zedong published “The Chinese Revolution and the Chinese Communist Party” in Yan’an, pointing out that “China is one of the countries with the earliest developed civilizations in the world; China has had a recorded history of nearly four thousand years” and “in the history of the development of the Chinese nation, there have been well-developed agriculture and handicrafts, many great thinkers, scientists, inventors, statesmen, military strategists, writers and artists, and a wealth of cultural classics.” On April 15, 1955, Mao Zedong stated: “The experience of Chinese medicine is very rich; it has a history of several thousand years. We need comrades to organize it.”

对此，毛泽东在1938年《中国共产党在民族战争中的地位》中有段经典表述，“我们这个民族有数千年的历史，有它的特点，有它的许多珍贵品。对于这些，我们还是小学生。今天的中国是历史的中国的一个发展，我们是马克思主义的历史主义者，我们不应当割断历史。从孔夫子到孙中山，我们应当给以总结，继承这一份珍贵的遗产。这对于指导当前的伟大的运动，是有重要的帮助的”。1939年12月，毛泽东在延安发表《中国革命和中国共产党》，指出“中国是世界文明发达最早的国家之一，中国已有了将近四千年的有文字可考的历史”“在中华民族的开化史上，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”。1955年4月15日，毛泽东指出：“中国医学的经验是很丰富的，它有几千年的历史了，要有同志去整理它。”

In northern Shaanxi, Mao Zedong frankly admitted in a conversation with American journalist Edgar Snow that he had read Confucius’s *Analects* as a child. On October 9, 1938, at a meeting of the Shanbei Public School commemorating the second anniversary of Lu Xun’s death, he said, “Confucius was a sage of feudal society.” On February 20, 1939, in a letter to Zhang Wentian, Mao Zedong stated that Confucius’s strengths in the realm of idealism “should be discussed.” In his 1956 poem “Swimming—to the tune of Shui Diao Ge Tou,” he included the famous line “The Master by the stream said: ‘Thus it passes on, like this!’” [4]4 This line quotes Confucius from the *Analects* (9.17): “The Master stood by a stream and said, ‘Thus it passes on, like this! It does not cease day or night.’” In November of the same year, in his article “In Commemoration of Dr. Sun Yat-sen,” Mao affirmed that Sun Yat-sen “left us many useful things in political thought. Modern Chinese, except for a handful of reactionaries, are all successors to Mr. Sun’s revolutionary cause.”

在陕北，毛泽东与美国记者斯诺谈话时坦承，小时候读了孔夫子的《论语》。1938年10月9日，他在陕北公学纪念鲁迅逝世两周年大会上说，“孔夫子是封建社会的圣人”。1939年2月20日，毛泽东在给张闻天的信中说，对孔子在观念论方面的长处“应该说到”。他在1956年写的《水调歌头·游泳》一诗中有“子在川上曰：逝者如斯夫”的著名诗句。同年11月，毛泽东在《纪念孙中山先生》一文中肯定孙中山“在政治思想方面留给我们许多有益的东西。现代中国人，除了一小撮反动分子外，都是孙先生革命事业的继承者”。

After the victory of the Long March, Mao Zedong, in expounding its historical significance, said: “The Long March is the first of its kind in the historical record… Since Pan Gu created heaven and earth and the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors [5]5 Pan Gu is the creator god in Chinese mythology. The “Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors” are a group of legendary rulers and cultural heroes in ancient Chinese mythology and historiography, preceding the Xia dynasty., has history ever seen a Long March like ours?” His second mention of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors came in the spring of 1964, in the poem “Reading History—to the tune of He Xin Lang,” where he wrote from “the sacred deeds of the Five Emperors and Three Sovereigns” to “King Chen rose, brandishing his yellow battle-axe” [6]6 “King Chen” refers to Chen Sheng (d. 208 BCE), leader of the first major peasant uprising against the Qin dynasty..

红军长征胜利后，毛泽东在阐述长征的历史意义时说：“长征是历史记录上的第一次，……自从盘古开天地，三皇五帝到于今，历史上曾经有过我们这样的长征吗？”他第二次提到三皇五帝已经是1964年春，在《贺新郎·读史》中从“五帝三皇神圣事”写到“陈王奋起挥黄钺”。

On March 1, 1936, Mao Zedong stated in the “Proclamation of the Chinese People’s Red Army’s Anti-Japanese Vanguard”: “China’s greatest enemy is Japanese imperialism. All those who live on this land and are of the Yan and Huang descent [7]7 “Yan and Huang descent” refers to the legendary ancestors Yandi (the Flame Emperor) and Huangdi (the Yellow Emperor), considered the progenitors of the Chinese nation. should rise up together and unite for the country.” On April 5, 1937, Mao Zedong, Chairman of the Central Executive Committee of the Chinese Soviet Republic, and Zhu De, Commander-in-Chief of the People’s Anti-Japanese Red Army, sent representative Lin Zuohan, Chairman of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region Government, to offer sacrifices with fresh flowers and fruits at the mausoleum of the Yellow Emperor, the ancestor of the Chinese nation. The funeral oration written by Mao Zedong read: “Glorious and illustrious ancestor, who founded our China. Descendants flourish, sacrifices continue; mountains are lofty, rivers vast. Intelligent and wise, your light shines on distant lands. You established this great enterprise, standing majestically in the East.” Previously, on March 29, 1937, in a letter to Fan Changjiang, Mao Zedong specifically enclosed a transcript of his conversation with American journalist Agnes Smedley and the funeral oration for the Yellow Emperor, asking him to “publish it if possible.” Against the backdrop of national crisis, this funeral oration was in fact a declaration of the Chinese Communist Party calling the entire nation to war, a “memorial to the throne” for the descendants of Yan and Huang to march to the front lines of the Anti-Japanese War, and also expressed the Chinese Communist Party’s attitude toward the nation and its ancestors. In February 1936, in his famous poem “Snow—to the tune of Qin Yuan Chun,” Mao Zedong enumerated successive historical figures: “Pitying the First Emperor of Qin and Emperor Wu of Han, slightly lacking in literary grace; Tang Taizong and Song Taizu, somewhat deficient in poetic refinement. The proud son of heaven, Genghis Khan, only knew how to draw his bow and shoot at eagles.” In fact, Mao Zedong still highly affirmed the First Emperor of Qin (see below) and Emperor Wu of Han. On June 13, 1957, in a conversation with Wu Lengxi and others, Mao affirmed that “Emperor Wu of Han was a man of great talent and bold vision.”

1936年3月1日，毛泽东在《中国人民红军抗日先锋军布告》中说：“我中华最大敌人为日本帝国主义，凡属食毛践土之伦，炎黄华胄之族,均应一致奋起，团结为国。”1937年4月5日,中华苏维埃中央政府主席毛泽东、人民抗日红军总司令朱德，敬派代表陕甘宁边区政府主席林祖涵，以鲜花时果之仪致祭于我中华民族始祖轩辕黄帝之陵。毛泽东撰写的祭文曰：“赫赫始祖，吾华肇造。胄衍祀绵，岳峨河浩。聪明睿知，光被遐荒。建此伟业，雄立东方。”此前即1937年3月29日，毛泽东在给范长江的信中，专门附上与美国记者史沫特莱的谈话记录稿和祭黄帝陵文，请他“可能时祈为发布”。在民族危亡的时代背景下，该祭文实为中国共产党号召全民族抗战的宣言书，也是炎黄子孙奔赴抗日前线的“出师表”，同时表明了中国共产党对民族和祖先的态度。1936年2月毛泽东在著名诗篇《沁园春·雪》中历数历代风流人物：“惜秦皇汉武，略输文采；唐宗宋祖，稍逊风骚。一代天骄，成吉思汗，只识弯弓射大雕。”其实毛泽东还是高度肯定秦皇（详后）汉武的。1957年6月13日，毛泽东在同吴冷西等人的谈话时肯定“汉武帝雄才大略”。

In May 1941, in “Reform Our Study,” Mao Zedong criticized some comrades within the Party for “being unfaithful to their own ancestors, forgetting them” and that “the economic history of the last hundred years, the political history of the last hundred years, the military history of the last hundred years, the cultural history of the last hundred years—hardly anyone has yet seriously set about studying them.” He proposed: “Do not cut off history… Not only must we understand China’s present, but also China’s yesterday and the day before yesterday” and “For the history of China in the last hundred years, we should gather personnel, divide labor and cooperate to do the work, and overcome the state of disorganization. We should first do analytical studies of the economic history, political history, military history, and cultural history in several departments, and only then can we do comprehensive research.” On June 24, 1964, in a conversation with visiting friends from Mali, Mao Zedong revisited this topic: “Chinese people like to write history. We are organizing the writing of China’s history of the last hundred years, a general history of the last hundred years, that is, a comprehensive history. We are also writing the military history, political history, economic history, philosophical history, and art history of the last hundred years. Some people have also proposed writing Party history; the writing of Party history has not yet been arranged.”

1941年5月，毛泽东在《改造我们的学习》中批评党内一些同志“对于自己的祖宗，则对不住，忘记了”“近百年的经济史，近百年的政治史，近百年的军事史，近百年的文化史，简直还没有人认真动手去研究”。他提出：“不要割断历史。……不但要懂得中国的今天，还要懂得中国的昨天和前天”“对于近百年的中国史，应聚集人材，分工合作地去做,克服无组织的状态。应先作经济史、政治史、军事史、文化史几个部门的分析的研究，然后才有可能作综合的研究。”1964年6月24日，毛泽东与来访的马里朋友谈话时旧事重提：“中国人喜欢写历史。我们正在组织写中国近百年史，写近百年通史，即综合性的历史，还在写近百年的军事史、政治史、经济史、哲学史和艺术史。也有一些人提议写党的历史，写党史还没有布置好。”

After interviewing Mao Zedong in Yan’an, Canadian journalist Mark Gayn wrote an article titled “Mao Zedong Who Will Not Fail.” The article said that Mao Zedong was well versed in China’s historical statesmen and philosophers. He talked about the Red Eyebrows, the Yellow Turbans, and the Boxers [8]8 The Red Eyebrows were a peasant rebel group during the Xin dynasty (9–23 CE). The Yellow Turbans led a massive religious rebellion at the end of the Eastern Han dynasty (184–205 CE). The Boxers (Yihetuan) were a secret society that led an anti-foreign, anti-Christian uprising in 1899–1901., knew their successes and failures, and while speaking eloquently about past social revolutions, repeatedly emphasized that the revolution he led would not fail because this revolution had a disciplined Party and wise policies. During the Yan’an Rectification Movement [9]9 The Yan’an Rectification Movement (1942–1944) was a Party-wide ideological education campaign to correct deviations in study, style of work, and political line, emphasizing the study of Mao Zedong Thought and the application of Marxism-Leninism to Chinese conditions., to draw lessons from the peasant wars of successive dynasties and avoid repeating the mistakes of Li Zicheng [10]10 Li Zicheng (1606–1645) was a peasant rebel leader who overthrew the Ming dynasty in 1644 but was soon defeated by the Qing forces, partly due to internal corruption and disunity., Mao Zedong proposed that the Party Central Committee print and distribute the famous historian Guo Moruo’s “Commemorating the 300th Anniversary of the Fall of the Ming Dynasty.” This article introduced the entire process of the peasant rebel army led by Li Zicheng in the late Ming Dynasty entering Beijing and overthrowing the Ming Dynasty, after which its main leaders became arrogant due to victory, degenerated in life, engaged in factional struggles politically, and ultimately led to defeat in 1645. Mao Zedong pointed out: “In the history of our Party, there have been several instances of great arrogance, and we have suffered for them each time… We should take warning from them. Recently we have printed Guo Moruo’s article on Li Zicheng, also to call on comrades to take warning and not to repeat the mistake of arrogance in the hour of victory.” In the spring of 1949, on the road from Xibaipo to Beijing, when talking with Zhou Enlai about “sitting for the imperial examination on entering the capital,” Mao Zedong clearly stated that we would not become Li Zicheng.

加拿大记者马克·盖恩（Mark Gayn）在延安访问毛泽东后，写了一篇《不会失败的毛泽东》。文章说，毛泽东熟知中国历史上的政治家和哲学家。他谈到赤眉、黄巾、义和团，熟知他们的成功和失败，在侃侃谈论过去的社会革命时反复强调他领导的这场革命不会失败，因为这场革命有一个有纪律的党和英明的政策。延安整风时，为吸取历代农民战争的教训，避免重蹈李自成覆辙，毛泽东提议党中央印发著名历史学家郭沫若写的《甲申三百年祭》。该文介绍了明朝末年李自成领导的农民起义军进入北京推翻明王朝后，其主要首领因为胜利而骄傲起来，生活腐化堕落，政治上进行宗派斗争，最终导致1645 年失败的全过程。毛泽东指出：“我党历史上曾经有过几次表现了大的骄傲，都是吃了亏的。……要引以为戒。近日我们印了郭沫若论李自成的文章，也是叫同志们引以为戒，不要重犯胜利时骄傲的错误。”1949年春，在从西柏坡出发的进京路上，毛泽东与周恩来谈起“进京赶考”时，明确表示我们不做李自成。

During the period of socialist construction, Mao Zedong enthusiastically praised the broad masses of the people as sages like the legendary Yao and Shun of ancient history: “The six hundred million people of the divine land are all Yao and Shun” [11]11 This line is from Mao Zedong’s 1958 poem “Farewell to the God of Plague—to the tune of Qi Lu.” Yao and Shun are legendary sage-kings in ancient Chinese history, models of virtuous rule..

在社会主义建设时期，毛泽东热情歌颂广大人民群众都是古代历史传说尧舜一样的圣人，“六亿神州尽舜尧”。

II. Chinese civilization has outstanding innovativeness

二、中华文明具有突出的创新性

Historically, China’s four great inventions made tremendous contributions to the progress of human civilization. In *The Chinese Revolution and the Chinese Communist Party*, Mao Zedong discussed the “four great inventions” as follows: “In very early times China had the invention of the compass. The art of paper-making was invented as early as 1,800 years ago. Block-printing was invented 1,300 years ago, and movable type 800 years ago. The use of gunpowder also preceded its use in Europe.” [1]1 The *Three Character Classic* (*Sanzi Jing*) is a classic Chinese children’s primer, traditionally attributed to Wang Yinglin (1223–1296) of the Song dynasty, which presents Confucian teachings and Chinese history in three-character verses. Marx held that gunpowder, the compass, and the printing press were the three great inventions that heralded the arrival of bourgeois society. China historically possessed many great thinkers, scientists, and inventors, enabling Chinese philosophy, medicine, silk, porcelain, and tea to spread to the West, and ensuring that China’s traditional agriculture and handicraft industry long remained at the forefront of the world. Mao Zedong highly praised the “merits of Yu the Great in controlling the floods” from the time of Emperor Shun, saying, “Yu the Great controlled the floods by the method of dredging and channeling, letting water in and letting it out.” [2]2 Fuxi and Shennong are legendary cultural heroes and early rulers in Chinese mythology, often considered among the “Three Sovereigns.” The two Song dynasties refer to the Northern Song (960–1127) and Southern Song (1127–1279). On July 9, 1954, in his instructions on work in traditional Chinese medicine, Mao further stated: “Our Chinese medicine has the longest history and a rich content… The fact that China’s population has reached 600 million is in part due to the contribution of Chinese medicine.”

历史上中国的四大发明为人类文明进步作出了巨大贡献。在《中国革命和中国共产党》中，毛泽东对“四大发明”有这样论述：“在很早的时候，中国就有了指南针的发明。还在一千八百年前，已经发明了造纸法。在一千三百年前，已经发明了刻版印刷。在八百年前，更发明了活字印刷。火药的应用，也在欧洲人之前。”马克思认为，火药、指南针、印刷术是预告资产阶级社会到来的三大文明。中国历史上拥有许多伟大的思想家、科学家、发明家，使中国哲学、医药、丝绸、瓷器、茶叶等传到西方，保证了中国传统的农业、手工业长期处于世界前列。毛泽东高度评价舜帝时期“大禹治水之功”，说“大禹治水是用疏导的办法，有进有出”。1954年7月9日，毛泽东在对中医工作的指示中又说：“我们中国的医学，历史是最久的，有丰富的内容，……中国人口能达到六亿，这里面中医就有一部分功劳嘛。”

In Mao Zedong’s view, innovation meant, under the guidance of Marxism, truly making the past serve the present, making foreign things serve China, discarding the old and creating the new, and developing a school of one’s own. [3]3 The *Records of the Grand Historian* (*Shiji*) by Sima Qian (c. 145–86 BCE) is the first comprehensive history of China. The *Records of the Three Kingdoms* (*Sanguozhi*) by Chen Shou (233–297 CE) covers the Three Kingdoms period. The *Comprehensive Mirror for Aid in Government* (*Zizhi Tongjian*) by Sima Guang (1019–1086) is a monumental chronological history of China from 403 BCE to 959 CE. Regarding the form of the state, considering that the total population of ethnic minorities in New China accounted for six percent, he did not adopt the Soviet method of establishing union republics and autonomous republics, but instead “implemented the method of regional ethnic autonomy.” On August 24, 1956, Mao Zedong said to the heads of the Chinese Musicians’ Association that music work “must always have national characteristics, must have its own special style, and develop a school of its own,” and that “socialist content, national form—this applies in politics as well as in art.”

在毛泽东看来，创新就是在马克思主义指导下真正做到古为今用、洋为中用、推陈出新、独树一帜。在国体方面，考虑到新中国少数民族总人口占百分之六，因此没有采用苏联实行加盟共和国、自治共和国的办法，而是“实行民族区域自治的办法”。1956年8月24日，毛泽东对中国音乐家协会负责人说，音乐工作“总要有民族特色，要有自己的特殊风格，独树一帜”“社会主义的内容，民族的形式，在政治方面如此，在艺术方面也是如此”。

After the establishment of the basic system of socialism, Mao Zedong proposed: taking the Soviet Union’s experiences and lessons as a mirror, “create new theories, write new works… relying solely on the ancestors will not do.” [4]4 This line quotes Confucius from the *Analects* (9.17): “The Master stood by a stream and said, ‘Thus it passes on, like this! It does not cease day or night.’” From the end of 1959 to the beginning of 1960, after the “Great Leap Forward” and the People’s Commune movement had suffered serious setbacks, [5]5 Pan Gu is the creator god in Chinese mythology. The “Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors” are a group of legendary rulers and cultural heroes in ancient Chinese mythology and historiography, preceding the Xia dynasty. while reading the Soviet *Textbook of Political Economy*, Mao Zedong explicitly stated: “The stage of socialism may itself be divided into two stages. The first stage is underdeveloped socialism, and the second stage is relatively developed socialism. The latter stage may require a longer period than the former. After the latter stage, when material products and spiritual wealth are both extremely abundant and people’s communist consciousness is greatly heightened, it will be possible to enter communist society.” In his view, Chinese society at that time was still only in the “underdeveloped socialism” stage, and of course could not immediately enter communist society. Marx and Lenin proposed that socialism is the primary stage of communism. Mao Zedong’s theoretical innovation regarding the possible division of socialist society into stages provided the ideological foundation for the basic theoretical premise of socialism with Chinese characteristics—the theory of the “primary stage of socialism.”

社会主义基本制度确立以后，毛泽东提出：要以苏联的经验教训为鉴，“创造新的理论，写出新的著作，……单靠老祖宗是不行的”。1959年底1960年初，在“大跃进”、人民公社运动遭受严重挫折后，毛泽东在读苏联《政治经济学教科书》时明确提出：“社会主义这个阶段，又可能分为两个阶段，第一个阶段是不发达的社会主义，第二个阶段是比较发达的社会主义。后一阶段可能比前一阶段需要更长的时间。经过后一阶段，到了物质产品、精神财富都极为丰富和人们的共产主义觉悟极大提高的时候，就可以进入共产主义社会了。”在他看来，当时的中国社会还只是处在“不发达的社会主义”阶段，当然不能立即进入共产主义社会。马克思、列宁提出社会主义是共产主义的初级阶段，毛泽东关于社会主义社会可能分阶段的理论创新，为中国特色社会主义的基本理论前提——“社会主义初级阶段”论，提供了思想基础。

III. Chinese Civilization Possesses Outstanding Unity

三、中华文明具有突出的统一性

Unity was something Mao Zedong consistently valued. In 1957, in his speech *On the Correct Handling of Contradictions Among the People*, Mao said: “The unity of the country, the unity of the people, and the unity of all ethnic groups within the country—these are the basic guarantees for the sure victory of our cause.”

统一性是毛泽东一贯看重的。1957年，毛泽东在《关于正确处理人民内部矛盾》的讲话中说：“国家的统一，人民的团结，国内各民族的团结，这是我们的事业必定要胜利的基本保证。”

In this sense, Mao Zedong highly appraised Qin Shi Huang and Cao Cao, repeatedly expressing his approval of them. [6]6 “King Chen” refers to Chen Sheng (d. 208 BCE), leader of the first major peasant uprising against the Qin dynasty. At the Zhengzhou Conference on November 10, 1958, Mao said that it was completely wrong to regard Qin Shi Huang and Cao Cao as bad people. In the summer of 1954, at Beidaihe, Mao said to his staff: “Cao Cao was a statesman, a military strategist, and also a poet, capable in both civil and military affairs. At that time, there were feudal warlords and

在这个意义上，毛泽东高度评价秦始皇与曹操，多次表达对他们的赞许。1958年11月10日郑州会议上，毛泽东说，把秦始皇、曹操看作坏人是完全错误的。1954年夏,毛泽东在北戴河对身边的工作人员说：“曹操是政治家、军事家，还是个诗人，能文能武,那时封建军阀,天下大乱,三国时代魏蜀吴的魏国就是他建立的，他统一了北方，打击了豪强,施行屯田制，开荒生产，提倡节约，改革东汉的弊制，使社会稳定，促进了社会进步难道不该肯定吗？”并写下了“往事越千年，魏武挥鞭，东临碣石有遗篇”的著名诗句。他在读卢弼《三国志集解》卷一《魏书·武帝纪》时批注：李太白云:“魏帝营八极，蚁观一祢衡。”此为近之。

On June 24, 1964, Mao Zedong said to visiting friends from Mali: "Qin Shi Huang has always been spoken of badly... We think we should speak fairly of him. Qin Shi Huang was far greater than Confucius. Confucius talked empty words; Qin Shi Huang was the first person to unify China. He not only unified China politically, but also unified China's script, China's various systems such as weights and measures, and some of these systems have been used continuously down to the present. No other Chinese feudal monarch in the past has surpassed him." On July 4, 1973, Mao Zedong said in a conversation with Zhang Chunqiao and Wang Hongwen, "One cannot curse Qin Shi Huang too much," and quoted Li Bai's poem "The King of Qin swept the six states, how majestic his tiger's gaze." He affirmed Qin Shi Huang's historical achievements of "standardizing the gauge of chariots, unifying the script, and unifying weights and measures." On July 17, 1973, when Mao Zedong met with Chinese-American Yang Chen-Ning, Yang asked, "Did Qin Shi Huang make a contribution to China?" Mao replied: "He was the first person to unify China." On September 23, 1973, Mao Zedong said in a conversation with Egyptian Vice President Shafi, "I am in favor of Qin Shi Huang," "because Qin Shi Huang was the first to unify China, unify the script, build broad roads, not allow states within the state but use a centralized system, send people from the central government to various places, change them every few years, and not use a hereditary system."

1964年6月24日，毛泽东对来访的马里朋友说：“秦始皇，历来说他不好，……我们认为应该讲公道话，秦始皇比孔夫子伟大得多。孔夫子是讲空话的，秦始皇是第一个把中国统一的人物。他不但政治上统一中国，而且统一了中国的文字、中国的各种制度如度量衡等，有些制度后来一直沿用下来。中国过去的封建君主还没有第二个人可以超过他的。”1973年7月4日，毛泽东在与张春桥、王洪文谈话时说，“不能大骂秦始皇”，引用李白诗“秦王扫六合，虎视何雄哉。”肯定了秦始皇“车同轨，书同文，统一度量衡”的历史功绩。1973年7月17日，毛泽东在会见美籍华人杨振宁时，杨问“秦始皇是不是对中国有贡献？”毛泽东回答说：“他是统一中国的第一个人。”1973年9月23日，毛泽东在同埃及副总统沙菲的谈话中说，“我是赞成秦始皇”，“因为秦始皇是第一个统一中国的、统一文字，修筑宽广的道路，不搞国中有国而用集权制，由中央政府派人去各个地方，几年一换，不用世袭制度”。

While reading the textual research on the twenty-three histories of the Wuying Palace edition of Ouyang Xiu's *New History of the Five Dynasties*, he was moved to write a marginal note: "China's unification is a matter of two things: the river and foreign invasion. When divided, neither of these two things can be accomplished." On one place in the *Book of Jin: Biography of Xie An*, Mao wrote "Xie An is good," while on the *Book of Jin: Biography of Huan Wen* he wrote the four characters "is putting on a show." In 1975, Mao reread the *Book of Jin*, highly praising Xie An for safeguarding the unification of the Eastern Jin, while considering Huan Wen a careerist who fomented division. He believed that the *Old Book of Tang* was better written than the *New Book of Tang*, and that Li Yanshou, the author of the *History of the Southern Dynasties* and the *History of the Northern Dynasties*, had a tendency toward unification, making it even better than the *Old Book of Tang*. He pointed out that the *History of the Southern Dynasties* and the *History of the Northern Dynasties* had great practical use in upholding unification and opposing division: "Our country is the country with the longest history of unification among all the countries of the world. There have been several periods of division in between, but they were always brief. This shows that the people of all ethnic groups love unity, uphold unification, and oppose division. Division has no popular support. Li Yanshou, the author of the *History of the Southern Dynasties* and the *History of the Northern Dynasties*, was inclined toward unification."

他在读欧阳修撰的《新五代史》武英殿本二十三史考证时有感而发，批注道：“中国统一,为河与外族进攻二事。分裂则二事皆不能办。”毛泽东在《晋书·谢安传》上一处批了“谢安好”，而在《晋书·桓温传》上则写了“是作样子”四个字。1975年，毛泽东再读《晋书》，高度评价谢安维护了东晋的统一，而认为桓是搞分裂的野心家。他认为《旧唐书》比《新唐书》写得好，《南史》《北史》的作者李延寿有倾向统一的思想，比《旧唐书》更好些，指出《南史》《北史》具有维护统一反对分裂的经世大用：“我们的国家，是世界各国中统一历史最长的大国。中间也有过几次分裂，但总是短暂的。这说明各族人民热爱团结，维护统一，反对分裂。分裂不得人心。《南史》和《北史》的作者李延寿，就是倾向统一的。”

In 1949, after the victory of the three great campaigns [12]12 The three great campaigns — the Liaoshen Campaign (September–November 1948), the Huaihai Campaign (November 1948–January 1949), and the Pingjin Campaign (November 1948–January 1949) — were the decisive military engagements of the Chinese Civil War that secured Communist control of mainland China. of the War of Liberation, some people at home and abroad proposed that the People's Liberation Army should stop at the northern bank of the Yangtze River and that the Chinese Communist Party and the Kuomintang should rule separately, divided by the river. Mao Zedong ignored this "plan for a Southern and Northern Dynasties" and issued the call to "carry the revolution through to the end," "pursue the tottering foe with the remaining courage of the chase, and not seek the empty fame of the tyrant who learned from the overlord." [13]13 A reference to Xiang Yu, the "Hegemon-King of Western Chu," who spared his rival Liu Bang at a banquet only to be defeated and killed by him later; Mao used this allusion to reject any compromise with the Kuomintang. After the founding of the People's Republic, to achieve national unification, Mao Zedong also put forward the idea of a third round of Kuomintang-Communist cooperation and a peaceful resolution of the Taiwan issue, pointing out that only by achieving unification would there be a way out for the Kuomintang military and political personnel who had fled to Taiwan.

1949年，解放战争“三大战役”胜利后，国内外有人提出人民解放军应止步长江北岸，中国共产党与国民党划江而治。对于这一“南北朝方案”毛泽东不予理睬，并发出“将革命进行到底”的号召，“宜将剩勇追穷寇，不可沽名学霸王”。新中国成立后，为实现国家统一，毛泽东还提出国共第三次合作，和平解决台湾问题的设想，指出只有实现统一，才是逃到台湾的国民党军政人员的唯一出路。

In domestic real political life, Mao Zedong proposed that "the Party exercises leadership over everything" — east, west, south, north, center; workers, peasants, merchants, students, soldiers. In 1962, at the "Seven Thousand Cadres Conference," [14]14 The "Seven Thousand Cadres Conference" (January–February 1962) was an enlarged Central Work Conference of the CPC, attended by about 7,000 cadres, convened to review the failures of the Great Leap Forward and restore collective leadership and democratic centralism. he demanded "achieving unified understanding, unified policy, unified planning, unified command, and unified action, which is called centralized unification," and used the metaphor of Marx plus Qin Shi Huang to illustrate the relationship between democracy and centralism.

在国内现实政治生活中，毛泽东提出，东西南北中，工农商学兵，“党是领导一切的”。1962年他在“七千人大会”上要求“做到统一认识，统一政策，统一计划，统一指挥，统一行动，叫做集中统一”，并用马克思加秦始皇比喻民主与集中的关系。

IV. The Outstanding Inclusiveness of Chinese Civilization

四、中华文明具有突出的包容性

Politically, the name of the interim constitution formulated by the new Political Consultative Conference in 1949 was the “Common Programme.” In the early period after the founding of New China, our Party and government adopted a policy of “taking over” old personnel by providing for their livelihoods. Later, it advocated letting a hundred flowers bloom in the arts and letting a hundred schools of thought contend in academia. In February 1956, Mao Zedong proposed that differing opinions on academic questions should not be prohibited from discussion. “If one attempts to prohibit them, that is completely wrong.” Culturally, in his instruction on a letter of opinion from the Central Conservatory of Music, he endorsed “making the past serve the present, and making foreign things serve China.” The same approach was taken toward Chinese and Western medicine, and toward Chinese and Western painting. In July 1956, he also issued a special directive on the use of models in painting and sculpture.

在政治上，1949年新政协制定的临时宪法的名称就是“共同纲领”。新中国成立初期，我们党和政府对旧人员在生活上采取“包下来”的政策。后来又在艺术上提倡百花齐放、在学术上提倡百家争鸣。1956年2月，毛泽东提出，对学术问题的不同意见不应禁止谈论。“如果企图禁止，那是完全错误的。”在文化上，他在对中央音乐学院的意见来信的批示中赞成“古为今用，洋为中用”。在对待中医与西医、中国画与西洋画的问题上都是如此。1956年7月，他还就绘画、雕塑使用模特问题作出专门指示。

On 7 February 1953, Mao Zedong said at the Fourth Session of the First National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference: “Our nation has always accepted advanced foreign experience and excellent culture. In the feudal era, during the flourishing Tang dynasty, our country had close relations with India. Our Master Xuanzang of the Three Baskets went on a long march of ten thousand li to obtain scriptures… Most of our present musical instruments come from the Western Regions, that is, from the area west of Xinjiang. Our nation has never refused to accept the fine traditions of other nations. When imperialism oppressed us, especially… during the period from 1894 to 1911, there was a great upsurge throughout the country in learning from Western capitalist culture, learning bourgeois democracy, and learning their science. At that time, our forebears enthusiastically participated in activities to learn from the West, and many students went to Japan and to the West.” Western capitalist culture “was of great help to our country’s progress, especially in the natural sciences.”

1953年2月7日，毛泽东在政协一届四次会议上说：“我们这个民族，从来就是接受外国先进经验和优秀文化的。在封建时代,唐朝兴盛的时候,我国曾经和印度发生密切的关系。我们的唐三藏法师，万里长征去取经，……我们现在的乐器大部分是西域来的，就是从新疆以西的地区来的。我们这个民族，从来不拒绝接受别的民族的优良传统。在帝国主义义压迫我们的时候，特别是……一八九四年到一九一一年那一段时间，全国学习西方资本主义的文化，学习资产阶级的民主主义，学习他们的科学，有一个很大的高潮。那时，我们的先辈很热诚地参加学习西方的活动，许多留学生到日本、到西洋去。”西方资本主义文化“对我们国家的进步是有很大的帮助的,特别是在自然科学方面”。

In philosophy and the social sciences, the Chinese people, who did not submit after the Opium War, vigorously explored the path to national rejuvenation. In his article “On the People’s Democratic Dictatorship,” Mao Zedong said: “Advanced Chinese, after untold hardships, sought truth from the West. Hong Xiuquan, Kang Youwei, Yan Fu, and Sun Yat-sen represented the group of people who sought truth from the West before the birth of the Chinese Communist Party.” [15]15 Wang Yizhe (1896–1937) was a senior commander of the Northeastern Army (the forces of the warlord Zhang Xueliang) who secretly corresponded with the Communist Party in the mid-1930s to promote a united front against Japan.

在哲学、社会科学方面，鸦片战争以后并没有屈服的中国人民，在奋力探索民族复兴之路。毛泽东在《论人民民主专政》一文中说：“先进的中国人，经过千辛万苦，向西方寻找真理，洪秀全、康有为、严复和孙中山，代表了中国共产党出世之前向西方寻找真理的一派人物。”

Mao Zedong opposed severing history and advocated taking the essence and discarding the dross in cultural inheritance. He said, “China’s several-thousand-year culture… contains things of the people and things that oppose feudalism,” and “China’s cultural heritage should be fully utilized and critically utilized,” while at the same time “a large amount of progressive foreign culture should be absorbed as raw material for our own cultural food.” After the founding of New China, Mao Zedong proposed: “Our policy is to learn from the strengths of all nations and all countries, to learn all that is truly good in politics, economy, science, technology, literature, and art,” and this should be combined with the concrete realities of our own country. He explicitly proposed learning the advanced science and technology and scientific enterprise management methods of the capitalist countries, and envisioned expanding Sino-foreign economic and technological exchanges, including developing trade relations with some capitalist countries, and even introducing foreign capital and joint ventures, and so on.

毛泽东反对割裂历史，主张在文化传承上要取其精华，去其糟粕。他说，“中国几千年的文化……有人民的东西，有反封建的东西”，“对中国的文化遗产，应当充分地利用，批判地利用”，同时“应该大量吸收外国的进步文化，作为自己文化食粮的原料”。新中国成立后，毛泽东提出：“我们的方针是，一切民族、一切国家的长处都要学，政治、经济、科学、技术、文学、艺术的一切真正好的东西都要学”，而且应当与本国具体实际相结合。他明确提出要学习资本主义国家先进的科学技术和科学的企业管理方法，设想扩大中外经济技术交流，包括同一些资本主义国家发展贸易关系，甚至引进外资、合资经营，等等。

Of course, inclusiveness has principles: it means choosing the good and following it, and not following what is not good. Only in this way can we not forget our origins, absorb from outside, and face the future.

当然，包容是有原则的，是择善而从，不善不从。只有这样，才能不忘本来，吸收外来，面向未来。

V. Chinese Civilization Has a Prominent Commitment to Peace

五、中华文明具有突出的和平性

On 5 May 1936, Mao Zedong, in the name of the Chairman of the Central Government of the Chinese Soviet Republic, together with Zhu De, Chairman of the Revolutionary Military Committee of the Chinese People’s Red Army, jointly issued the “Telegram on Ceasing Hostilities and Negotiating Peace for United Resistance Against Japan,” advising the gentlemen of the Nanjing government authorities: “At this critical juncture of national subjugation and racial extinction, you should repent and reform, and in the spirit of ‘brothers quarreling at home unite against aggression from without,’ [16]16 *On Protracted War* (1938) is Mao’s strategic analysis of the Sino-Japanese War, arguing that China would eventually defeat Japan through a long, drawn-out struggle. first stop the civil war throughout the country, especially in Shaanxi and Gansu, and send representatives on both sides to consult on concrete methods for resisting Japan and saving the nation.” On 26 October of the same year, Mao Zedong and others, in a letter to Chiang Kai-shek and the generals of the National Revolutionary Army in the Northwest, held: “The national situation is critical, and there can be no more conflict like beans burning in the same pod.” [17] After the victory in the War of Resistance Against Japan in 1945, to strive for peace and democracy, Mao Zedong went to Chongqing for negotiations with the Kuomintang. Before leaving Chongqing, he said: “The purpose of the Chongqing negotiations is to achieve peaceful nation-building. China today has only one road, and that is peace. Peace is most precious. All other calculations are wrong.”

1936年5月5日，毛泽东以中华苏维埃人民共和国中央政府主席的名义，与中国人民红军革命军事委员会主席朱德联名发出《停战议和一致抗日通电》，向南京政府当局诸公进言：“在亡国灭种的紧急关头,理应幡然改悔，以‘兄弟于墙外御其侮’的精神,在全国范围首先在陕甘停止内战，双方互派代表，磋商抗日救亡具体办法。”同年10月26日，毛泽东等人在致蒋介石及国民革命军西北各将领书中认为：“国势垂危,不容再有萁豆之争。”1945年抗战胜利后，为争取和平民主，毛泽东赴重庆与国民党谈判，他离开重庆前说：重庆谈判的目的“是要实现和平建国。中国今天只有一条路,就是和，和为贵，其他的一切打算都是错的”。

After the founding of New China, Mao Zedong proposed cooperating and uniting with all countries willing to pursue peace. On 28 January 1955, while accepting the credentials of the first Finnish ambassador to China, he stated: “Countries with different social systems can coexist peacefully and cooperate in friendship.” In December 1959, Mao Zedong again emphasized: “We hope there will be no world war; we hope for peace. … Striving for ten or twenty years of peace was the earliest proposal we put forward.” On 23 June 1964, he said to visiting friends from Chile: “China wants

新中国成立后，毛泽东提出，同一切愿意和平的国家团结合作。1955年1月28日，他在接受芬兰首任驻华大使递交国书时表示：“不同社会制度的国家是可以和平共处和友好合作的。”1959年12月，毛泽东又强调：“我们是希望不打世界大战的，我们是希望和平的。……争取十年、二十年和平，是我们最早提出的主张。”1964年6月23日，他对来访的智利朋友说：“中国要和平，凡是讲和平的我们就赞成。”

Mao Zedong held that “peace—war—peace” constitutes the “dialectics of war.” In 1936, in a letter to Wang Yizhe, a general of the Northeastern Army, he wrote of the need to “mobilize the broad masses on a large scale to form a peace and national salvation front” to oppose aggression. In 1938, in *On Protracted War*, he pointed out: “Our War of Resistance Against Japan partakes of the character of a struggle for perpetual peace”; “Our war is sacred, just, progressive, and seeks peace. It seeks not only peace for one country but peace for the world, not only temporary peace but perpetual peace. To achieve this goal, we must fight to the death, must be prepared to make every sacrifice, and must persevere to the end without stopping until the goal is reached.” In 1955, when accepting the credentials of Finland’s first ambassador to China, Mao stressed: “We have two principles: first, we do not want war; second, if anyone invades us, we will resolutely strike back.”

毛泽东认为，“和平—战争—和平”是“战争辩证法”。1936年，他在给东北军将领王以哲的信中就说，要“大规模动员广大民众，组成和平与救国的阵线”来反对侵略。1938年，他在《论持久战》中指出：“我们的抗日战争包含着为争取永久和平而战的性质”“我们的战争是神圣的、正义的，是进步的、求和平的。不但求一国的和平，而且求世界的和平，不但求一时的和平，而且求永久的和平。欲达此目的，便须决一死战，便须准备着一切牺牲，坚持到底，不达目的，决不停止。”1955年，毛泽东在接受芬兰首任驻华大使递交国书时强调：“我们有两条：第一，我们不要战争；第二，如果有人侵略我们，我们就予以坚决回击。”

Online editor: Huihui

网络编辑：慧慧