A Historical Examination of the Evolution of Mao Zedong’s Thought on Spiritual Initiative

Spiritual initiative refers to the positive and enterprising mental state that people possess in the practical activities of understanding and transforming the world. It falls within the category of subjective initiative and is an indispensable subjective condition for the subject to achieve the intended goals in practice. In his speech at the Symposium Commemorating the 130th Anniversary of Comrade Mao Zedong’s Birth, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that advancing the grand cause of Chinese-path modernization requires “fully arousing the historical initiative of the entire people.” [1]1 The “three great mountains” refers to imperialism, feudalism, and bureaucrat-capitalism, which the Chinese Communist Party identified as the main enemies of the Chinese people during the New Democratic Revolution. Historical initiative is the embodiment of people’s spiritual initiative in historical practice. Mao Zedong was a master and great figure in arousing the initiative of the people. In the long-term practice of revolution and construction, he repeatedly emphasized overcoming passive hired-hand thinking, avoiding pessimistic and slack emotions, and inspiring a positive and proactive mental state, thereby forming Mao Zedong’s thought on spiritual initiative. In July 1939, Mao Zedong pointed out in an inscription: “When the spirit arrives, what undertaking cannot be accomplished? In the War of Resistance Against Japan, if everyone strives and each advances, fighting for ten or eight years, there is no reason why victory cannot be achieved.” [2]2 The Great Leap Forward (1958–1961) was a campaign initiated by Mao Zedong aimed at rapid industrialization and collectivization of agriculture, which led to severe economic difficulties and a major famine. This emphasizes the significance of the positive mental state of the main body of the resistance for ultimately defeating Japanese imperialism. On March 23, 1949, on the eve of setting out for Beijing to “sit for the imperial examination,” Mao Zedong excitedly said to Zhou Enlai: “Today is the day we enter Beijing… We are going to Beijing to ‘sit for the imperial examination.’ How can we do without a good spirit?” [3]3 The “communist wind” was a term used during the Great Leap Forward to describe the practice of egalitarian distribution and the requisitioning of private property by people’s communes without compensation, violating the principle of exchange according to labor. Here, Mao Zedong demonstrated the optimistic mentality of the Communists as they welcomed the moment when the Party would assume nationwide governance with a positive mental state.

精神主动是指人们在认识世界和改造世界的实践活动中所具备的积极进取之精神状态，它属于主观能动性的范畴，是实践中主体达至预期目标不可或缺的主观条件。《在纪念毛泽东同志诞辰130周年座谈会上的讲话》中，习近平总书记指出，推进中国式现代化的宏伟事业，“要充分激发全体人民的历史主动精神”。历史主动精神是人的精神主动在历史实践中的体现。毛泽东是激发人民主动精神的大师和伟人，在长期革命和建设实践中，他反复强调要克服消极雇佣思想，避免悲观懈怠情绪，焕发积极主动精神状态，由此形成了毛泽东关于精神主动的思想。1939年7月，毛泽东题词时指出：“精神一到，何事不成。抗日战争中，人人努力，个个奋进，打上十年八年，没有不能胜利的道理。”这是强调抗战主体积极精神状态对最终打败日本帝国主义的意义。1949年3月23日，准备进京“赶考”的毛泽东临行前兴奋地对周恩来说：“今天是进京的日子，……进京‘赶考’去，精神不好怎么行呀？”这里，毛泽东展示了共产党人以积极精神状态迎接党在全国范围内执政时刻到来的乐观心态。

A comprehensive review of Mao Zedong’s relevant discussions throughout his life shows that the historical evolution of his thought on spiritual initiative can be roughly divided into three stages: its germination during his youth and student days, its gradual maturation during the period of the New Democratic Revolution, and its tortuous development during the period of the socialist revolution and construction. A concrete examination of the formation and development of this thought in the context of the times can provide valuable intellectual resources for the Chinese people to radiate a more proactive spiritual force on the new journey.

纵观毛泽东毕生的相关论述，其精神主动思想的历史演进，大体可以划分为青年求学时代破土萌生、新民主主义革命时期渐趋成熟、社会主义革命和建设时期曲折发展三个阶段。结合时代条件具体考察这一思想的形成和发展过程，可以为新征程上中国人民焕发更为主动的精神力量提供宝贵思想资源。

I. Germination: Spiritual Initiative Thought Dominated by the Esteem for the “Power of the Mind” during the Youth and Student Days

一、破土萌生：青年求学时代以崇尚“心之力”为主导的精神主动思想

Mao Zedong’s youth and student days, from the autumn of 1910 when he left his hometown of Shaoshan to study “new learning” at the Dongshan Higher Primary School, to the summer of 1920 when he stated that he had transformed into a Marxist, spanned about ten years. These ten years were a decade of diligent study and extensive reading for the young Mao Zedong, as well as a decade of rapid intellectual change. Facing the exploitation of feudal warlords and the aggression of imperialist powers, he developed the idea of using a positive and invigorating mental state to rescue the nation from crisis. Esteeming the “power of the mind,” emphasizing the tempering of will, and advocating an “upward life” were the concrete manifestations of the germination of his thought on spiritual initiative during this period.

毛泽东的青年求学时代，从1910年秋他离开家乡韶山赴东山高等小学堂学“新学”算起，到1920年夏其自述已转变为马克思主义者，其间大约十年。这十年是青年毛泽东勤奋好学、博览群籍的十年，也是其思想急速变化的十年。面对封建军阀的剥削和帝国列强的侵略，他萌发了以积极振奋的精神状态来救济时危的思想。崇尚“心之力”、强调砥砺意志和倡导“向上的生活”,是这一时期其精神主动思想萌生的具体体现。

Esteeming the “power of the mind.” In October 1936, when Mao Zedong spoke with Edgar Snow, he mentioned that during his studies at the Hunan Provincial First Normal School, he particularly revered his mentor Yang Changji. Under Yang’s influence, Mao Zedong read *The Principles of Ethics* by the German philosopher Friedrich Paulsen, translated by Cai Yuanpei, and, inspired by this book, wrote an essay titled “The Power of the Mind.” Yang Changji highly praised the essay and gave it a perfect score of 100. In the essay, Mao Zedong combined the traditional Chinese “Yangming School of Mind” [4]4 “Negative liberalism” refers to a tendency within the Party to avoid principled struggle, tolerate errors, and adopt a laissez-faire attitude, criticized by Mao in his 1937 article “Combat Liberalism.” with the then-popular theory of evolution, regarding the human mind as the “ultimate principle” of cosmic evolution, stating that “The universe is my mind, and my mind is the universe… The world, the universe, and even all things are driven by the power of the thinking mind.” What does “mind” refer to? In his essay “A Study of Physical Education,” written around the same time, Mao Zedong pointed out: “Bones and muscles constitute the human body. Knowledge, feelings, and will constitute the human mind.” [5]5 The Rectification Movement (1942–1944) was a Party-wide campaign to correct subjectivist, sectarian, and stereotypical tendencies in Party style, study, and writing, based on the study of designated documents and criticism/self-criticism. From this, it can be seen that what Mao Zedong called “mind” at this time was the unity of knowledge, feelings, and will. “The power of the mind” is a general term for the subjective spiritual power of people, based on knowledge, emotions, and will. Under conditions of material scarcity and the arduous task of rescuing the nation from crisis, Mao Zedong placed great importance on the function of the “power of the mind” in transforming the world and society. In his annotations while reading *The Principles of Ethics*, he repeatedly emphasized “fully developing the capacity of our spirit” and “fully developing the capacity of our body and spirit to the highest degree,” among other things. In August 1917, in a letter to his teacher and friend Li Jinxi, Mao Zedong further expressed his esteem for the power of the mind, arguing that “to move the world, one must first move the hearts of the world,” and “if the hearts of the world are all moved, is there anything in the world that cannot be accomplished?” In September of the same year, while chatting with close friends, he not only reiterated the view that “when a person’s mental power and physical strength are combined in one action, nothing is difficult to achieve,” which extolled the role of mental power, but also expressed dissatisfaction with the passive mental state of the Chinese people at the time, such as laziness, depression, stubbornness, and ingrained servility, and explicitly stated the need to “wash away the old ideas of the people” to invigorate the national spirit and unleash the mental power of the people as a whole. Thus, esteeming the “power of the mind” and valuing the role of people’s subjective spiritual power in transforming the world were the concentrated expressions of the young Mao Zedong’s thought on spiritual initiative.

崇尚“心之力”。1936年10月，毛泽东同斯诺谈话时讲到，他在湖南省立第一师范求学时，特别推崇其恩师杨昌济。在杨的影响下，毛泽东读了蔡元培翻译的德国哲学家泡尔生的《伦理学原理》,并在该书启发下写了一篇题为《心之力》的文章。杨昌济对该文高度赞扬，给了其满分一百分。文中毛泽东将中国传统“阳明心学”与当时流行的进化论思想相结合，将人心看作是宇宙进化的“极则”,认为“宇宙即我心，我心即宇宙。……世界、宇宙乃至万物皆为思维心力所驱使”。“人心”何所指？大约在同一时期撰写的《体育之研究》中，毛泽东指出：“筋骨者吾人之身。知识感情意志者吾人之心。”由此可知，毛泽东此时所谓的“心”,是知识、感情和意志的统一。“心之力”则是建基于知识、情感和意志基础上的人的主观精神力量的统称。在物质条件匮乏、救济时危任务艰巨的境况下，毛泽东对“心之力”改造世界、改造社会的功用极为看重。在读《伦理学原理》的批注中，他多次强调要“充分发展吾人精神之能力”,“充分发达吾人身体及精神之能力至于最高”等。1917年8月，在致师友黎锦熙的信中，毛泽东进一步表达了其对心力的推崇，认为“欲动天下者，当动天下之心”,“天下之心皆动，天下之事有不能为者乎？”同年9月，他与好友聊天时，不仅再次表达了“人之心力与体力合行一事，事未有难成者”这一张扬心力作用的观点，同时也对当时中国国民性情惰懒、沉郁固塞、奴隶性成等精神被动状态表达了不满，明言要通过“洗涤国民之旧思想”来振奋国民精神，发挥国民群体的心力作用。由此可见，崇尚“心之力”、看重人的主观精神力量对改造世界的作用，是青年毛泽东关于精神主动思想的集中体现。

Emphasizing the tempering of will. In the view of the young Mao Zedong, will is inherent in mental power, and emphasizing the tempering of will was a deepening and extension of his thought on esteeming the “power of the mind.” At this time, Mao Zedong recognized that “will is indeed the forerunner of human career,” and that characteristics such as fierceness, fearlessness, daring, and endurance, which mark human bravery, “are all matters of will,” while physical education has the special effect of “being sufficient to strengthen the will.” From the perspective of human development, Mao Zedong believed that “will originates from impulse,” and that this impulse, like human appetite and sexual desire, “is rooted in natural impulse,” and “our survival and development actually depend on it.” In terms of self-cultivation and self-discipline, the young Mao Zedong paid great attention to tempering his own will. In his *Lecture Hall Notes*, he demanded of himself “not to be confused by false praise” and “not to compete with vulgar trends,” in order to achieve the goals of “nurturing one’s strength” and “controlling one’s temperament.” In the autumn of 1915, using the pen name “Twenty-Eight-Stroke Student,” he issued a “Notice Seeking Friends” to various schools in Changsha, listing “firmness of will” as one of the conditions for making friends. These thoughts and actions fully demonstrated the young Mao Zedong’s emphasis on willpower.

强调砥砺意志。在青年毛泽东看来，意志内含于心力之中，强调砥砺意志，是其崇尚“心之力”思想的深化和延展。此时毛泽东认识到，“意志也者固人生事业之先驱也”,像猛烈、不畏、敢为、耐久等标识人类武勇的特性，“皆意志之事”,而体育则具有“足以强意志”的特殊功效。从人的发展来看，毛泽东认为，“意志本原于冲动”,且这种冲动与人类的食欲和性欲一样，“皆根于自然之冲动”,“吾人之生存发达则竟赖是矣”。在修身律己方面，青年毛泽东非常注重自身意志的磨砺。在《讲堂录》笔记中，他要求自己“不为浮誉所惑”,“不与流俗相竞”,以达到“养其力”和“制其气”的目的。1915年秋，他以“二十八画生”的笔名向长沙各校发出《征友启事》,提出交友的条件之一便是“意志坚定”。这些思想和行动，充分展现了青年毛泽东对意志力的重视。

Advocating an “upward life.” Starting in 1916, Mao Zedong often joined like-minded young people around him to point out the country’s problems and write stirring words. The central issue they discussed most at that time was “how to make the lives of individuals and humanity upward.” What is meant by an “upward life”? In terms of collective progress and mutual assistance, it meant transforming the country and society by “changing the quality of the people,” in order to realize the dream of “enriching the country and strengthening the military” that he had already proposed at the Dongshan Higher Primary School. How to “change the quality of the people”? The young Mao Zedong gave this deep thought. On the intellectual level, because “thought governs the human mind, and morality regulates human conduct,” he advocated transforming philosophy and ethics to create a “new learning” based on a “theory of civilization,” thereby transcending the “Western learning” based on a “theory of matter” and traditional Chinese “old learning.” In action, he spread progressive ideas, organized student progressive groups such as the New People’s Study Society [6]6 Mao Zedong, "The Tasks of the Chinese Communist Party in the Period of Resistance to Japan," in *Selected Works of Mao Zedong*, Vol. 1, Beijing: People's Publishing House, 1991, p. 278. The National Congress of the CPC referred to here is the National Congress of the Communist Party of China held in Yan'an in May 1937. together with Cai Hesen and others, and actively promoted the patriotic student movement in Hunan and the expulsion of feudal warlords, with the aim of “gathering comrades, creating a new environment, and engaging in common activities.” In terms of individual self-cultivation and self-discipline, in 1917, he specifically wrote an article calling on young people to “diligently exercise themselves and increase what they cannot do,” and even if one is “born weak,” “there is no need to feel sorry for oneself,” encouraging young people through physical education to “toughen their physique” and “civilize their spirit” to achieve “perfection of both body and mind.” At the handover meeting of the Student Association of the Hunan First Normal School, he also called on fellow society members to actively investigate graduates and create charts for display, with the aim of “guiding their upward development aspirations.” The charter of the New People’s Study Society, passed at the same time, explicitly included provisions such as “tempering conduct” and “no hypocrisy, no laziness, no waste, no gambling, no visiting prostitutes” to guide individual life upward

倡导“向上的生活”。自1916年开始，毛泽东经常与身边志同道合的青年一起指点江山、激扬文字。他们当时讨论最多的中心问题，是“如何使个人及人类的生活向上”。所谓“向上的生活”,体现在群体共进共济上，就是通过“变化民质”来改造国家和社会，以实现其在东山高等小学堂时就提出的“富国强兵”梦想。如何“变化民质”？青年毛泽东对此作了深入思考。在思维层面，由于“思想主人之心，道德范人之行”所以他主张通过改造哲学、伦理学，来创造一种建基于“文明论”的“新学”,以此来超越建基于“物质论”的“西学”和中国传统“旧学”。在行动上，他传播进步思想，与蔡和森等一道组织新民学会等学生进步社团，积极推进湖南地区学生爱国运动、驱逐封建军阀等，目的就是“集合同志，创造新环境，为共同的活动。”体现在个体修身律己上，1917年，他专门撰文号召青年要“勤自锻炼。增益其所不能”,即便体质“生而弱者”,也“不必自悲”,勉励青年通过体育“野蛮其体魄”“文明其精神”,来达至“身心并完”。在湖南一师学友会交接会上，他还号召学会同仁要积极调查毕业生，作成图表张览，目的是“引其向上发展之志”。同期表决通过的新民学会会章，专门列出了“砥砺品行”和“不虚伪、不懒惰、不浪费、不赌博、不狎妓”等引导个人生活向上的明文规定。在个人修为上，青年毛泽东还强调要“内而思维、外而行事，皆达正鹄”。由这些论述可知，倡导“向上的生活”,就是提倡一种乐天努进、积极进取的生活态度，是精神主动思想在青年毛泽东人生观上的体现。

During his youth as a student, Mao Zedong, influenced by traditional Chinese “Yangming School of Mind” [1]1 The “three great mountains” refers to imperialism, feudalism, and bureaucrat-capitalism, which the Chinese Communist Party identified as the main enemies of the Chinese people during the New Democratic Revolution. and “Western learning” currents of thought, strongly extolled the significance of subjective spiritual force, dominated by the “power of the mind,” for transforming the nation and society. Starting from personal self-cultivation and self-discipline, he put this into practice by advocating an “upward life,” thereby marking the sprouting and emergence of his thought on spiritual initiative. Although at this time this thought was still based on idealism and mind-matter dualism, as Mao soon transformed into a Marxist, the evolution of this thought also underwent a qualitative leap.

青年求学时代，毛泽东在中国传统“阳明心学”和“西学”思潮影响下，极力推崇以“心之力”为主导的主观精神力量对改造国家和社会的意义，并从个人修身律己出发，通过倡导“向上的生活”来践行，由此标志着其精神主动思想已破土萌生。虽然此时这一思想仍建基于唯心主义和心物二元论，但随着毛泽东很快转变为马克思主义者，这一思想的演进也迎来质的飞跃。

II. Gradual Maturation: The Thought on Spiritual Initiative Aimed at Seizing Practical Initiative during the New Democratic Revolution Period

二、渐趋成熟：新民主主义革命时期以掌握实践主动权为目标的精神主动思想

From the summer of 1920, when Mao Zedong transformed into a Marxist, to 1949, when New China was founded and China’s New Democratic Revolution achieved victory, this was the period of gradual maturation of Mao Zedong’s thought on spiritual initiative. From the perspective of intellectual history, the evolution of this thought during this period broadly includes the following three sub-stages: from the summer of 1920 to the defeat of the Great Revolution, it was the stage where Mao practiced the thought on spiritual initiative through active revolutionary action; from the defeat of the Great Revolution to the outbreak of the full-scale War of Resistance Against Japan, it was the stage where Mao, based on criticizing the passive hired-hand mentality within the Party, combined with revolutionary reality to initially expound the thought on spiritual initiative; from the outbreak of the full-scale War of Resistance Against Japan to the founding of New China, it was the stage where Mao’s thought on spiritual initiative completed its systematic and theoretical construction and gradually matured in practice.

从1920年夏天毛泽东转变为马克思主义者，到1949年新中国成立、中国新民主主义革命取得胜利，是毛泽东精神主动思想渐趋成熟时期。从思想史视角看，这一时期的思想演进大体包括如下三个小阶段：从1920年夏到大革命失败，是毛泽东以积极革命行动践行精神主动思想阶段；从大革命失败到全面抗战爆发，是毛泽东在批评党内消极雇佣思想基础上，结合革命实际初步阐发精神主动思想阶段；从全面抗战爆发到新中国成立，是毛泽东精神主动思想完成其系统化理论化建构，并在实践中渐趋成熟的阶段。

After transforming into a Marxist, Mao Zedong actively threw himself into the practice of the Chinese revolution. In the second half of 1920, he published several articles in the Changsha *Ta Kung Pao*, putting forward propositions such as “self-government by the Hunanese people,” opposing “making the rulers the masters and the ruled the slaves,” and promoting the master-spirit of the citizenry. In addition, he actively spread Marxism, participated in Party building, attended the First National Congress of the CPC, and organized and led the worker-peasant movement. In January 1924, Mao attended the First National Congress of the Kuomintang and was elected as an alternate member of the Central Executive Committee of the Kuomintang in his capacity as a CPC member. After the congress, he again actively threw himself into the torrent of the Great Revolution. During this stage, Mao’s thought on spiritual initiative was concentratedly embodied in his practical actions of actively engaging in the revolution.

转变为马克思主义者后，毛泽东积极投身中国革命实践。1920年下半年，他在长沙《大公报》发表多篇文章，提出“湘人自治”等主张，反对“把治者做主人，把被治者做奴隶”,张扬国民的主人公精神。此外，他还积极传播马克思主义，参与建党，出席中共一大，组织和领导工农运动等。1924年1月，毛泽东出席国民党一大，并以中共党员身份当选为国民党中央候补执行委员，会后又积极投身大革命洪流。这一阶段，毛泽东关于精神主动的思想，集中体现在其积极投身革命的实际行动上。

After the defeat of the Great Revolution, the situation of the Chinese revolution entered a low ebb. The White Terror of the Kuomintang and the successive setbacks of armed struggles such as the Nanchang Uprising, the Autumn Harvest Uprising, and the Guangzhou Uprising, on the one hand, gave rise within the CPC to a “Left” adventurist impatience eager to fight the Kuomintang to the death; on the other hand, the liquidationist trend of thought originating from the Second International and the Russian Social Democratic Party spread into China, making overly pessimistic estimates of the revolution’s future. Under these circumstances, in April 1929, in a letter drafted on behalf of the Front Committee of the Fourth Red Army to the Party Central Committee, Mao criticized the Party for having “a tendency towards liquidationism in some places” and for the problem that “the spirit of struggle is very weak,” emphasizing that “the propaganda and preparation for armed insurrection should adopt a positive spirit. … Only with positive slogans and a positive spirit can we lead the masses. The restoration of the Party’s fighting capacity can only be possible under such a positive spirit.” In December of the same year, the *Gutian Congress Resolution* [2]2 The Great Leap Forward (1958–1961) was a campaign initiated by Mao Zedong aimed at rapid industrialization and collectivization of agriculture, which led to severe economic difficulties and a major famine., drafted by Mao, criticized the individualist tendencies existing within the Red Army Party. Manifested in the spiritual state, this unhealthy tendency meant that “at the slightest dissatisfaction, one becomes passive,” giving rise to “a passive hired-hand revolutionary mentality” and “passive slackening,” emphasizing that these should be corrected by strengthening education, enforcing discipline appropriately, and improving the material life of the Red Army. Here, Mao used the concept of “positive spirit” to expound the proper spiritual state of the subject of the Chinese revolution, taking a crucial step towards clarifying the specific connotation of “spiritual initiative.”

大革命失败后，中国革命形势转入低潮。国民党的白色恐怖和南昌起义、秋收起义、广州起义等武装斗争连续受挫，一方面使中共党内出现了一种急于同国民党拼命的“左”倾冒险主义急性病；另一方面，源自第二国际和俄国社会民主党的取消主义思潮传入国内，这种错误思潮对革命前途作出过于悲观的估计。此种情况下，1929年4月，在起草中共红四军前委给党中央的信中，毛泽东批评党内“在一些地方颇有取消主义的倾向”,存在“战斗的精神非常之弱”的问题，强调“武装暴动的宣传和准备应该采取积极的精神。……只有积极口号积极精神才能领导群众。党的战斗力的恢复也一定要在这种积极精神之下才能有可能。”同年12月，由毛泽东起草的《古田会议决议》批评了红军党内存在的个人主义倾向。这种不良倾向体现在精神状态上，就是“稍不遂意，就消极起来”,出现“消极的雇佣革命的思想”和“消极怠工”等情况，强调要从加强教育、执纪得当和改善红军物质生活等方面予以纠正。这里，毛泽东用“积极精神”这一概念，来阐述中国革命主体的应有精神状态，为阐明“精神主动”的具体内涵迈出了关键性一步。

Around 1930, in response to some within the Party and the Red Army who displayed passive and pessimistic sentiments about the future of the revolution and raised the doubt “how long can the red flag keep flying?” [3]3 The “communist wind” was a term used during the Great Leap Forward to describe the practice of egalitarian distribution and the requisitioning of private property by people’s communes without compensation, violating the principle of exchange according to labor., Mao wrote classic works such as *A Single Spark Can Start a Prairie Fire* and *Oppose Book Worship*. Guided by Marxism-Leninism, he not only analyzed the objective inevitability of the rise of the Chinese revolution but also repeatedly emphasized the subjective spiritual conditions for the Chinese revolution to achieve victory. In early 1930, he successively used three metaphors—“a ship on the horizon whose mast can already be seen from the shore,” “the morning sun in the east whose rays are already dazzling from the mountain top,” and “a child about to be born, already stirring in the mother’s womb”—along with the old Chinese saying “a single spark can start a prairie fire,” to describe the proper spiritual state of the subject of the Chinese revolution, expressing a revolutionary spirit of optimism and confidence in victory.

1930年前后，针对党内和红军内一些人对革命前途表现出消极悲观情绪、发出“红旗到底打得多久”的疑惑，毛泽东撰写《星星之火，可以燎原》《反对本本主义》等经典名篇，以马克思列宁主义为指导，不仅分析了中国革命兴起的客观必然性，而且也反复强调了中国革命取胜的主观精神条件。1930年初，他连续用“站在海岸遥望海中已见脆杆尖头的航船”、“立于高山之巅远看东方已光芒四射的朝日”和“躁动于母腹中快要成熟的婴儿”这三个比喻，以及“星星之火，可以燎原”这句中国老话，来描述中国革命主体应有的精神状态，表达了一种革命的乐观精神和必胜信念。

After the Red Army arrived in northern Shaanxi, to summarize the experiences of the Agrarian Revolutionary War, Mao completed *Problems of Strategy in China’s Revolutionary War* at the end of 1936. This classic work emphasized that the commander of a war must not only study, learn, and master the objective laws of war, handling the relationship between the subjective and the objective, but also possess spiritual states such as being active, taking the initiative, being courageous, and having “overwhelming courage,” with the aim of winning the initiative in war. Even in a defensive war, one should adopt “active defense,” enabling it to “have active content within a passive form,” and to “be able to transition from a formally passive stage to a stage that is active in both form and content.” These expositions indicate that at this time, Mao’s thought on spiritual initiative began to take the subject’s seizure of practical initiative as its clear objective, marking a qualitative leap in this thought.

红军到达陕北后，为总结土地革命战争经验，毛泽东于1936年底撰成《中国革命战争的战略问题》。这部经典著作强调，战争的指挥者不仅要研究、学习和掌握战争客观规律，处理好主、客观之间的关系，而且还应具备积极、主动、勇敢和“压倒一切的勇气”等精神状态，目的是赢得战争主动权。即便是防御战，也应该“积极防御”,使其“在被动的形式中具有主动的内容”,“能够由形式上的被动阶段转入形式上内容上的主动阶段”。这些论述表明，此时毛泽东关于精神主动的思想，开始以主体掌握实践的主动权为明确目标指向，标志着这一思想有了质的跃升。

After the outbreak of the full-scale War of Resistance Against Japan, the great practices of the War of Resistance Against Japan and the War of Liberation prompted Mao Zedong to further enrich and develop his thought on spiritual initiative in terms of its ideological connotation, practical orientation, and path of realization.

全面抗战爆发后，抗日战争和解放战争的伟大实践，促使毛泽东从思想内涵、实践指向和实现路径等方面，进一步丰富和发展其精神主动思想。

Regarding the connotation and concrete manifestations of spiritual initiative. At this time, Mao elaborated in detail on the connotation and concrete manifestations of spiritual initiative from the levels of the Party, the military, and the masses of the people. Within the Party, starting from the degree of exertion of individual subjective initiative, he divided Party cadres into three types according to their spiritual state: “the active, enthusiastic, and correct; the ordinary; and the backward,” also referred to as activists, ordinary elements, and backward elements. So-called spiritual initiative mainly refers to the active spiritual state displayed by the activists. The release of this spiritual state must be achieved by “using the Marxist positive spirit to overcome negative liberalism.” [4]4 “Negative liberalism” refers to a tendency within the Party to avoid principled struggle, tolerate errors, and adopt a laissez-faire attitude, criticized by Mao in his 1937 article “Combat Liberalism.” In the article *The Role of the Chinese Communist Party in the National War*, he called on “Communist Party members to display the highest degree of activity in the national war,” and clearly stated: “So-called displaying activity must be concretely manifested in the creative ability, sense of responsibility, liveliness in work, daring to raise and good at raising questions, expressing opinions, and criticizing shortcomings of the leading organs, cadres, and Party members, as well as their supervisory role over the leading organs and leading cadres from the standpoint of protecting them. Without these, so-called activity is empty.”

关于精神主动的内涵和具体体现。此时毛泽东分别从党内、军队和人民群众等层面，详细阐发了精神主动的内涵和具体体现。在党内，他从个人主观能动性的发挥程度出发，将党内干部按精神状态分为“积极热心而又正确的，平常的，落后的”三种人，亦称之为积极分子、平常分子和落后分子。所谓精神主动，则主要指积极分子身上所展现的积极精神状态。这种精神状态的焕发，“要用马克思主义的积极精神，克服消极的自由主义”来实现。在《中国共产党在民族战争中的地位》一文中，他号召“共产党员应在民族战争中表现其高度的积极性”,并明确指出：“所谓发挥积极性，必须具体地表现在领导机关、干部和党员的创造能力，负责精神，工作的活跃，敢于和善于提出问题、发表意见、批评缺点，以及对于领导机关和领导干部从爱护观点出发的监督作用。没有这些，所谓积极性就是空的。”

After the Rectification Movement [5]5 The Rectification Movement (1942–1944) was a Party-wide campaign to correct subjectivist, sectarian, and stereotypical tendencies in Party style, study, and writing, based on the study of designated documents and criticism/self-criticism. began, Mao further used the “Bolshevik spirit” to expound the concrete manifestation of spiritual initiative within the Party, believing that “this spirit is as different as heaven from earth for those who sigh and wring their hands at the first difficulty, and for those who are not serious in their work, muddle along, and do things perfunctorily!” Manifested in the military, spiritual initiative means “to be active, to have political enthusiasm and political activity,” “to have vitality, to have a vigorous and upward-developing spirit,” which is the proper spiritual state for revolutionary soldiers. Manifested among the masses of the people, spiritual initiative during the War of Resistance Against Japan meant “to rouse the spirit of resistance to the end,” “to promote and develop the spirit of arduous struggle of the Chinese nation,” as opposed to “selfishness, fear of death, corruption, and listlessness”; by the time of the War of Liberation, the spiritual initiative of the masses of the people was mainly manifested in actively joining the army and participating in the war, warmly supporting the leadership of the Party, and other aspects.

整风运动开始后，毛泽东又用“布尔什维克的精神”来阐述党内精神主动的具体体现，认为“这种精神，对于那些一遇困难就唉声叹气，就缩手缩脚的人们，对于那些办事不认真，得过且过，敷衍了事的人们，真是一个天上，一个地下!”体现在军队中，精神主动就是“要积极，就是要有政治热情和政治积极性”,“要有朝气，就是要有蓬蓬勃勃向上发展之气”,这是革命军人应有的精神状态。体现在人民群众中，精神主动在抗战时期，就是要“振奋抗战到底的精神”,“提倡和发扬中华民族的艰苦奋斗精神”,与之相对的是“自私自利、贪生怕死、贪污腐化、萎靡不振等”;到解放战争时期，人民群众的精神主动则主要表现为积极参军参战、热烈拥护党的领导等方面。

On the practical orientation of spiritual initiative. During the War of Resistance against Japan, in order to defeat the Japanese aggressors, Mao Zedong delved deeply into the study of Marxist philosophy, successively reading and annotating the Soviet works *A Course in Dialectical Materialism* by Shirokov et al., *Dialectical and Historical Materialism* by Mitin et al., and *Philosophy and Life* by Ai Siqi, thereby recognizing the close relationship between the degree of exertion of the subject’s willpower and the realization of anticipated goals in practice. In September 1937, he wrote starkly in his reading notes: “The change of darkness and the attainment of light are proportional to effort; if one strives, it is so; if one does not strive, it is not so.” [6]6 Mao Zedong, "The Tasks of the Chinese Communist Party in the Period of Resistance to Japan," in *Selected Works of Mao Zedong*, Vol. 1, Beijing: People's Publishing House, 1991, p. 278. The National Congress of the CPC referred to here is the National Congress of the Communist Party of China held in Yan'an in May 1937. In May 1938, in *On Protracted War*, taking the War of Resistance against Japan as an example, he fully expounded the reasons for the subject’s spiritual initiative in practice. The anticipated goal of the subject of the War of Resistance was to defeat the Japanese invaders and strive for the final victory of the War of Resistance. To achieve this goal, Mao Zedong believed that seizing the initiative in war was key, because “initiative is inseparable from superiority in war strength,” and “superiority or inferiority in war strength is the objective basis for initiative or passivity. A strategic offensive naturally makes it easier to grasp and exercise the strategic initiative; however, an absolute initiative that is maintained throughout and extends everywhere is possible only when absolute superiority confronts absolute inferiority.” How could the Chinese military and people seize absolute initiative in war? On the basis of relying on objective material conditions and respecting the laws of war, Mao Zedong particularly emphasized the role of a positive mental state, holding that “advocating the spirit and actions of brave sacrifice and courageous advance in war is absolutely necessary under a correct operational plan.” Therefore, he not only called on military commanders to “know oneself and know the enemy,” to be adept at “turning inferiority into superiority and passivity into initiative,” but also stressed that “it is necessary to mobilize the entire Chinese people to fully develop their conscious initiative in the War of Resistance,” so that the people would have high “indignation against the enemy” and morale. In February 1941, he again emphasized the need to seize the initiative militarily and politically: “We must never lose the initiative. This is an important condition for victory or defeat.” During the War of Liberation, Mao Zedong’s thought of winning practical initiative through spiritual initiative was further developed. He repeatedly telegraphed commanders and fighters of the People’s Liberation Army, instructing them not to “mentally restrict themselves,” lest they lose the initiative in practice. Looking at Mao Zedong’s relevant discussions in this period, he took war practice as an example, guided by theoretical creations such as *On Practice* and *On Contradiction*, and premised on respecting objective laws. He established the thought on spiritual initiative on the basis of practice, with the clear goal of the subject seizing the practical initiative, clearly elucidating the subjective conditions required for the subject to achieve “successful practice” through the chain “spiritual initiative—practical initiative—goal realization,” thereby answering the question of why spiritual initiative is necessary.

关于精神主动的实践指向。抗战时期，为打败日本侵略者，毛泽东深入研习马克思主义哲学，先后阅读批注苏联西洛可夫等著的《辩证法唯物论教程》,米丁等著的《辩证唯物论与历史唯物论》,艾思奇著的《哲学与生活》等，认识到主体意志力的发挥程度，与实践中预期目标的实现存在紧密关系。1937年9月，他在读书摘录中赫然写着：“黑暗的变动和光明的取得，是和努力与否成比例的，努力则然，不努力则否”。1938年5月，在《论持久战》中，他以抗日战争为例，完整地阐释了实践中主体精神主动的缘由。抗战主体的预期目标是打败日寇、争取抗战最后胜利。为实现这个目标，毛泽东认为掌握战争主动权是关键，因为“主动是和战争力量的优势不能分离的”,“战争力量的优势或劣势，是主动或被动的客观基础。战略的主动地位，自然以战略的进攻战为较能掌握和发挥，然而贯彻始终和普及各地的主动地位，即绝对的主动权，只有以绝对优势对绝对劣势才有可能。”中国军民如何才能掌握战争的绝对主动权？在依靠客观物质条件和尊重战争规律基础上，毛泽东特别强调了积极精神状态的作用，认为“在战争中提倡勇敢牺牲英勇向前的精神和动作，是在正确的作战计划下绝对必要的东西”。所以他不仅号召军队指挥员要“知己知彼”,善于“变劣势为优势，变被动为主动”,而且强调“必须动员全中国人民，统统发扬其抗日的自觉的能动性”,使人民有昂扬的“敌忾心”和士气。1941年2月，他再次强调要掌握军事上、政治上的主动性，“我们决不能丧失主动性。这是胜利与失败的重要条件。”解放战争时期，毛泽东以精神主动赢得实践主动权的思想得以进一步发展，他多次电令解放军指战员，不要“在精神上将自己限制起来”,以免在实践中失去主动性。纵观这一阶段毛泽东的相关论述，他以战争实践为例，以《实践论》和《矛盾论》等理论创造为指引，以尊重客观规律为前提，将精神主动思想建立在实践基础上，以主体掌握实践的主动权为明确目标指向，清晰地阐明了“精神主动—实践主动权—目标实现”这一主体达至“成功实践”所需的主观条件，由此回答了为什么要精神主动的问题。

On the path to realizing spiritual initiative. How to realize spiritual initiative? Mao Zedong emphasized that identifying the reasons for the subject’s passivity and “applying the remedy to the case” was key. Regarding the spiritual passivity of the Chinese people caused by external factors such as the exploitation and oppression of the “three great mountains” [7]7 Mao Zedong, "The Role of the Chinese Communist Party in the National War," in *Selected Works of Mao Zedong*, Vol. 2, Beijing: People's Publishing House, 1991, p. 529. The Sixth Plenary Session of the Sixth Central Committee was held in Yan'an from September to November 1938. and imperialist cultural aggression, it was necessary to lift the spiritual shackles of the people through the revolutionary practice of overthrowing the “three great mountains.” For the spiritual passivity within the Party and among the masses caused by internal factors such as low theoretical level and insufficient capability, Mao Zedong’s relevant discussions can be summarized into the following key points:

关于精神主动的实现路径。如何实现精神主动？毛泽东强调，找准主体消极被动的缘由，“对症下药”是关键。针对由“三座大山”剥削压迫、帝国主义文化侵略等外因导致的中国人民精神被动，需要通过推翻“三座大山”的革命实践，来解除人民的精神枷锁。对于党内和人民群众因理论水平不高、本领不强等内因导致的精神被动，毛泽东的相关论述可以梳理出如下要点：

First, it was necessary to thoroughly study and understand Marxism-Leninism. The purpose of this was to cultivate the courage and confidence to understand and transform the world, enabling the subject to “see the shortcomings in the present situation while also seeing the future brightness and hope” in the face of difficulties. It was precisely because Marxism-Leninism could bring courage and confidence to the subject engaging in social practice, functioning as a “reassurance pill,” that in 1949, when expounding on the transformation of the Chinese people’s spiritual state since modern times, he said: “Since the Chinese learned Marxism-Leninism, the Chinese have spiritually moved from passivity to initiative.”

首先要学懂弄通马克思列宁主义。此举目的是培养认识世界和改造世界的勇气和底气，使主体在困难面前能够做到“在现状中看出缺点，同时看出将来的光明和希望”。正是建基于马列主义能够给主体从事社会实践带来勇气和底气，具备“定心丸”之功效，所以在1949年他阐述近代以来中国人民精神状态嬗变时说：“自从中国人学会了马克思列宁主义以后，中国人在精神上就由被动转入主动。”

Second, it was necessary to improve the ability of leading cadres to mobilize the enthusiasm of the masses. At the end of 1942, taking Yan’an County as an example, he believed that leading cadres should, through measures such as investigation and research, seeking truth from facts, and integrating with the masses, “learn the Marxist art of leading the masses to overcome difficulties, so that our work will be invincible.” When subsequently discussing leadership methods, he emphasized that Party organizations at all levels should be adept at combining the enthusiasm of leading cadres with the enthusiasm of the broad masses. In addition, regarding the spiritual passivity of leading cadres caused by heavy ideological burdens such as fear of making mistakes, or panic and lack of reflection in the face of problems, he advocated measures such as “putting down the burden” and “starting the machine” to invigorate the spirit and improve capability. He believed that leading cadres, by “examining the burden on their backs, putting it down, and liberating their spirit,” would achieve one of the necessary prerequisites for invigorating the spirit, closely connecting with the masses, and making fewer mistakes. “Starting the machine” emphasized that leading cadres “should be good at using the organ of thought” and “should think carefully about everything with their brains,” ultimately achieving the goal of “traveling light” in spirit and “being able to think” in thought.

其次要提高领导干部调动人民群众积极性的本领。1942年底，他以延安县为例，认为领导干部要通过调查研究、实事求是、和群众打成一片等举措，“学会领导群众克服困难的马克思主义的艺术，使我们的工作无往而不胜利”。在随后谈论领导方法时，他强调各级党组织要善于将领导干部的积极性与广大群众的积极性相结合。此外，针对领导干部怕犯错等思想负担重，或面对问题惊慌失措、欠思考带来的精神被动，他提倡通过“放下包袱”和“开动机器”等举措，来振奋精神和提高本领，认为领导干部通过“检查自己背上的包袱，把它放下来，使自己的精神获得解放”,这是振奋精神、紧密联系群众和少犯错误的必要前提之一。“开动机器”是强调领导干部“要善于使用思想器官”,“凡事应该用脑筋好好想一想”,最终达到精神上“轻装上阵”和思想上“会思索”的目的。

Third, it was necessary to cultivate a mode of thinking of mental preparation. Mental preparation was a repeatedly emphasized content when Mao Zedong strengthened inner-Party ideological construction after the failure of the Great Revolution. In 1939, summarizing the lessons of the failure of the Great Revolution, he pointed out: “At that time, the lack of mental preparation was the main reason for the failure; now, there must be preparation.” [8]8 “Lying flat” (躺平, tǎng píng) is a Chinese internet slang term referring to a passive, disengaged attitude of giving up on societal pressures such as work, consumption, and marriage, often seen as a form of protest or withdrawal. Subsequently, he again stressed: “How did the Great Revolution fail? The objective reason was the strength of the imperialist forces; the subjective reason was that we had no mental preparation, our thinking was confused, and our policies were wrong, so we failed.” To learn from historical lessons, at critical moments such as preventing unexpected events, overcoming major difficulties and setbacks, and historical turning points, Mao Zedong would repeatedly admonish the entire Party and army to strengthen mental preparation. For example, during the stalemate stage of the War of Resistance, facing the danger of the Kuomintang die-hards undermining the Anti-Japanese National United Front, Mao Zedong issued repeated warnings: “We must have sufficient mental preparation to deal with sudden incidents, to deal with the arrival of the most dangerous and darkest situation.” At the historical turning point when the War of Resistance was about to be victorious, he again repeatedly called on the entire Party: “We must have this kind of mental preparation, prepare to deal with major events”; “We must imagine all possible difficulties… Only by thinking through all of this in advance, having full mental preparation, and enabling cadres to have such preparation, can we then devise methods to overcome difficulties and move towards a bright future.” At the turning point when the War of Liberation was about to usher in victory, he reminded the entire Party: “As long as we are fully prepared mentally, we can defeat any monstrous Monkey King.” [9]9 The “second historical resolution” refers to the “Resolution on Certain Questions in the History of Our Party since the Founding of the People’s Republic of China,” adopted at the Sixth Plenary Session of the 11th Central Committee of the CPC in 1981, which provided a comprehensive evaluation of Mao Zedong’s role and the Cultural Revolution. Looking at Mao Zedong’s discussions on mental preparation, they mainly emphasize that in practice, the subject should improve predictive ability, establish a sense of urgency, cultivate bottom-line thinking, similar to General Secretary Xi Jinping’s statement: “Pro

再次要培养精神准备的思维方式。精神准备是大革命失败后毛泽东加强党内思想建设时反复强调的内容。1939年，他总结大革命失败教训时指出：“那时，精神上没有准备，是失败的主要原因；现在，必须要有准备。”此后，他再次强调：“大革命时期是怎样失败的？客观原因是帝国主义力量强大，主观原因是我们没有精神准备，思想糊涂，政策错误，就失败了。”为吸取历史教训，在预防突发事件、克服重大困难挫折，以及历史转折关头等重要时刻，毛泽东都会反复告诫全党全军要加强精神准备。如抗战相持阶段，面对国民党顽固派破坏抗日民族统一战线的危险，毛泽东多次发出警告：“要有足够的精神准备，来应付突然发生的事变，应付最危险最黑暗局面的到来。”在抗战即将胜利的历史转折关头，他又多次号召全党，“我们要有这种精神准备，准备应付大事变”;“凡事要设想一切可能的困难，……只有对这一切预先想透，有了充分精神准备，并使干部有此种准备，然后才能想出克服困难的办法，走向光明的前途”。在解放战争即将迎来胜利的转折关头，他提醒全党：“只要我们精神上有了充分的准备，我们就可以战胜任何兴妖作怪的孙行者。”纵观毛泽东有关精神准备的论述，主要强调实践中主体要提高预判能力，树立忧患意识，培养底线思维，类似于习近平总书记所说的“从最坏处着眼，做最充分的准备，朝好的方向努力，争取最好的结果”。有了这种思维方式，主体在实践中便能抢占先机、防患未然，从而促成精神主动和实践主动的良性互动和相互转化。

Finally, it was necessary to establish institutional guarantees for arousing the initiative of the entire Party and forever maintaining spiritual initiative. As early as 1937, when Mao Zedong delivered his concluding remarks at the National Congress of the Communist Party of China, he particularly emphasized the need to "arouse the initiative of the entire Party through the implementation of democracy." [6]6 Mao Zedong, "The Tasks of the Chinese Communist Party in the Period of Resistance to Japan," in *Selected Works of Mao Zedong*, Vol. 1, Beijing: People's Publishing House, 1991, p. 278. The National Congress of the CPC referred to here is the National Congress of the Communist Party of China held in Yan'an in May 1937. At the Sixth Plenary Session of the Sixth Central Committee of the CPC held the following year, he again pointed out that the arousal of the initiative of all Party members and leading cadres "depends on the democratization of inner-Party life," and for this purpose it was necessary "to carry out education on democratic life within the Party, so that Party members understand what democratic life is, what the relationship between democracy and centralism is, and how to practice democratic centralism." [7]7 Mao Zedong, "The Role of the Chinese Communist Party in the National War," in *Selected Works of Mao Zedong*, Vol. 2, Beijing: People's Publishing House, 1991, p. 529. The Sixth Plenary Session of the Sixth Central Committee was held in Yan'an from September to November 1938. Taking democratic centralism as an institutional guarantee can both invigorate the Party's overall mental state by expanding inner-Party democracy and at the same time prevent the emergence of laissez-faire liberalism. These expositions fully reflect Mao Zedong's thought of arousing the initiative of the entire Party and invigorating the subjective mental outlook by establishing rules and regulations, especially by perfecting democratic centralism.

最后要建立发挥全党积极性、永葆精神主动的制度保障。早在1937年，毛泽东在中国共产党全国代表会议上作结论时，就特别强调要“用民主制的实行，发挥全党的积极性”。次年召开的中共六届六中全会上，他再次指出，全体党员和领导干部积极性的发挥，“有赖于党内生活的民主化”,为此就“必须在党内施行有关民主生活的教育，使党员懂得什么是民主生活，什么是民主制和集中制的关系，并如何实行民主集中制”。以民主集中制作为制度保障，既可以通过扩大党内民主来振奋全党精神状态，同时又可以防止自由放任主义的出现。这些论述，充分体现了毛泽东通过建章立制，尤其是完善民主集中制，来发挥全党积极性、振奋主体精神面貌的思想。

During the period of the New Democratic Revolution, the Chinese Communists, with Mao Zedong as their main representative, had on the one hand to overthrow the “three great mountains”[1]1 The “three great mountains” refers to imperialism, feudalism, and bureaucrat-capitalism, which the Chinese Communist Party identified as the main enemies of the Chinese people during the New Democratic Revolution. and complete the tasks of the New Democratic Revolution under conditions of a weak economic base and deficient material conditions, and on the other hand to continuously struggle against “Left” and Right erroneous ideas within the Party. The completion of such arduous revolutionary tasks required the arousal of the subject’s active spiritual state and a high-spirited, militant morale. It was precisely in the great practice of fulfilling these revolutionary tasks that Mao Zedong integrated the basic principles of dialectical materialism’s theory of knowledge with the realities of the Chinese revolution, systematically expounding a series of questions such as what spiritual initiative is, why spiritual initiative is necessary, and how to realize spiritual initiative, thereby causing his thought on spiritual initiative to assume a systematic and theoretical mature form.

新民主主义革命时期，以毛泽东为主要代表的中国共产党人，一方面要在经济基础薄弱、物质条件匮乏的条件下推翻“三座大山”,完成新民主主义革命任务，另一方面还要同党内“左”的和右的错误思想不断作斗争。如此艰巨革命任务的完成，需要焕发出主体积极主动的精神状态和奋发向上的昂扬斗志。也正是在完成这些革命任务的伟大实践中，毛泽东将辩证唯物主义认识论基本原理与中国革命实际相结合，系统阐发了什么是精神主动、为什么要精神主动，以及如何实现精神主动等一系列问题，使其精神主动思想呈现出系统化理论化的成熟样态。

III. Tortuous Development: The Thought on Spiritual Initiative from Continuous Improvement to Encountering Setbacks during the Period of Socialist Revolution and Construction

三、曲折发展：社会主义革命和建设时期从不断完善到走向挫折的精神主动思想

From the founding of New China to Mao Zedong’s death in 1976, this was a period of tortuous development for Mao Zedong’s thought on spiritual initiative. This thought was improved in certain respects, while also encountering setbacks in practice. The content of the improvements is mainly reflected in the relevant expositions of the first seven years after the founding of New China, as well as in the correct expositions during the decade of comprehensive socialist construction, specifically including further clarifying the basic principles of spiritual initiative, broadening the paths for realizing spiritual initiative, and perfecting the institutional guarantees for spiritual initiative, among other aspects.

从新中国成立到1976年毛泽东逝世，是毛泽东关于精神主动的思想曲折发展时期。这一思想在某些方面得到完善，同时也在实践中遭遇挫折。完善的内容，主要体现在新中国成立头七年的相关论述，以及全面建设社会主义十年间的正确论述中，具体包括进一步明确精神主动的基本遵循、拓宽精神主动的实现路径和完善精神主动的制度保障等方面。

Further clarifying the basic principles of spiritual initiative. After becoming a Marxist, the spiritual initiative advocated by Mao Zedong was that of a dialectical materialist. As discussed above, respecting objective laws and adhering to seeking truth from facts were the basic principles of Mao Zedong’s thought on spiritual initiative during the New Democratic Revolution. For a period after the founding of New China, these basic principles were continued. In his farewell speech upon returning from his visit to the Soviet Union in 1950, he called for learning from the Soviet people’s “style of combining revolutionary spirit with practical spirit” and taking the Soviet Union as a model for building New China. In the same year, when learning about the situation of production and disaster relief in southern Jiangsu, he again telegraphed local leaders to conduct earnest investigation and research, “following the spirit of seeking truth from facts, saying there is if there is, saying there is not if there is not, affirming what is right, negating what is wrong.” After the successful completion of the socialist transformation, while Mao Zedong called on the entire Party to arouse its initiative, he also, in response to the “Left” errors existing in practice, proposed that “all work must strive to conform to reality, and strive to combine revolutionary enthusiasm with the spirit of seeking truth from facts. Ostentation, love of show, false reporting of achievements, inconsistency between appearance and reality—all these are unacceptable.” Subsequently, he further divided subjective initiative into two types: “subjectivist” and “conforming to reality.” Correspondingly, enthusiasm was also divided into “blind enthusiasm” and “enthusiasm based on seeking truth from facts,” holding that “the enthusiasm of the past period contained a certain degree of blindness.” By 1960, he clearly stated: “The initiative is an extremely important matter. Initiative means ‘standing on a commanding height and looking far ahead,’ ‘advancing with irresistible force.’ This comes from seeking truth from facts, from the true reflection of objective circumstances in people’s minds, that is, from people’s process of understanding the dialectics of the objective external world.” These expositions run materialism and dialectics through the subject’s cognitive practice, emphasize that seeking truth from facts is the basic principle for the subject to grasp the initiative in practice, and that spiritual initiative is the subjective condition for the subject to grasp the initiative in practice, thereby further clarifying the boundaries for the practice of spiritual initiative.

进一步明确精神主动的基本遵循。转变为马克思主义者后，毛泽东倡导的精神主动，是辩证唯物论者的精神主动。如前文所述，尊重客观规律、坚持实事求是，是新民主主义革命时期毛泽东精神主动思想的基本遵循。新中国成立后的一段时期内，这一基本遵循得以延续。1950年访苏回国的临别演说中，他号召学习苏联人民“革命精神与实际精神相互结合的作风”,以苏联为榜样建设新中国。同年，在了解苏南地区的生产救灾情况时，他又电令地方领导要认真调查研究，“按照实事求是精神，有则说有，无则说无，是则是，非则非”。社会主义改造胜利完成后，毛泽东号召全党焕发主动精神的同时，也针对实践中存在的“左”的错误，提出“一切工作都必须力求合乎实际，力求把革命的热情同实事求是的精神结合起来。浮而不实，爱好排场，谎报成绩，表里不一，这一切，都是要不得的。”随后，他又把主观能动性分为“主观主义的”和“合乎实际的”两种。相应地，积极性也被分为“盲目的积极性”和“实事求是的积极性”,认为“过去一段时间的积极性中带有一定的盲目性。”到1960年，他明确指出：“主动权是一个极端重要的事情。主动权，就是‘高屋建瓴’、‘势如破竹’。这件事来自实事求是，来自客观情况在人们头脑中的真实的反映，即人们对于客观外界的辩证法的认识过程。”这些论述，将唯物论和辩证法贯穿于主体的认识实践，强调实事求是是实践中主体掌握主动权的基本遵循，精神主动是实践中主体掌握主动权的主观条件，由此进一步廓清了精神主动的践行边界。

Broadening the paths for realizing spiritual initiative. After the establishment of the socialist system, with the transformation of the principal contradiction in society, Mao Zedong had already recognized at this time: “China’s economy is backward, its material foundation is weak, so that we are still in a passive state to this day, and we feel spiritually still constrained; in this respect we have not yet been liberated.” This exposition indicates that the factors causing the spiritual passivity of the practical subject include not only the exploitation and oppression of the aforementioned “three great mountains,” but also the constraints brought about by economic and material scarcity. Correspondingly, the path for realizing the subject’s spiritual initiative must not only achieve the replacement of the superstructure through revolutionary means, but also develop the economy, develop the productive forces, and enrich the material foundation. As Mao Zedong stated, “With more grain and more steel, our initiative will be even greater.” This also shows that, under conditions where an advanced social system has already been established, the path for realizing the people’s spiritual initiative also needs to be correspondingly broadened.

拓宽精神主动的实现路径。社会主义制度建立后，随着社会主要矛盾的转变，此时毛泽东已经认识到：“中国经济落后，物质基础薄弱，使我们至今还处在一种被动状态，精神上感到还是受束缚，在这方面我们还没有得到解放。”这一论述表明，导致实践主体精神被动的因素，不仅有前述“三座大山”的剥削压迫，还有经济和物质方面匮乏带来的制约。相应地，实现主体精神主动的路径，就不仅要通过革命手段实现上层建筑的更替，同时还要发展经济、发展生产力，丰富物质基础。如毛泽东所述，“粮食多了，钢铁多了，我们的主动就更多了”。这也表明，在先进社会制度已经建立的情况下，人民精神主动的实现路径也需相应地拓展。

Perfecting the institutional guarantees for spiritual initiative. After the establishment of the socialist system, Mao Zedong placed special emphasis on using institutional power to bring people’s enthusiasm into play. In 1956, when criticizing departmentalism, he pointed out: “It won’t do to solve problems only from the ideological perspective; we must also study and solve the problem of institutions. People live within institutions; with the same people, if one kind of institution is implemented, people are not enthusiastic; if another kind of institution is implemented, people become enthusiastic.” He also emphasized that “people obey institutions, not people.” Subsequently, he further affirmed the role of democratic centralism in arousing the initiative of the masses. While reading the Soviet textbook *Political Economy*, when he came across the textbook’s affirmation of “Lenin’s principle of democratic centralism in economic management,” emphasizing “the combination of the state’s planned centralized leadership over the economy with the socialist democratic system relying on the broad initiative of the masses,” Mao Zedong wrote the character “good” in the margin. When the textbook discussed using democratic centralism to develop local initiative and initiative, he again wrote the following in the margin: “The few sentences by Lenin quoted above are truly well said. … China’s people’s communes were created precisely under the conditions of developing local initiative and initiative.” These expositions and annotations fully reflect Mao Zedong’s thought of realizing spiritual initiative through institutional power.

完善精神主动的制度保障。社会主义制度建立后，毛泽东特别重视以制度力量来发挥人的积极性。1956年批评本位主义时，他指出：“光从思想上解决问题不行，还要研究解决制度问题。人是生活在制度之中，同样是那些人，实行这种制度，人们就不积极，实行另外一种制度，人们就积极起来了。”他还强调说“人是服制度不服人的”。随后，他又进一步肯定了民主集中制在焕发人民群众主动精神方面的作用。在阅读苏联《政治经济学教科书》时，当读到教科书中肯定“列宁的经济管理的民主集中制原则”,强调“国家对经济的有计划的集中领导同依靠广大人民群众的主动精神的社会主义民主制度的结合”时，毛泽东在旁边批阅了一个“好”字；当读到教科书中以民主集中制来发扬地方首创性和主动精神时，他又批阅了如下文字：“上面引的列宁这几句话讲得真好。……中国的人民公社，就是在发挥地方的首创性、主动精神下创造出来的。”这些论述和批注，充分体现出毛泽东以制度力量实现精神主动的思想。

Regrettably, after 1957, with the continuous development of “Left” erroneous ideas, the neglect of the laws of socialist construction, and the excessive exaggeration of arousing the subject’s enthusiasm, Mao Zedong’s thought on spiritual initiative encountered setbacks in practice. In 1958, in the face of the “Left” errors that emerged in the Great Leap Forward[2]2 The Great Leap Forward (1958–1961) was a campaign initiated by Mao Zedong aimed at rapid industrialization and collectivization of agriculture, which led to severe economic difficulties and a major famine. and the movement to establish people’s communes, Mao Zedong confidently believed: “The people’s spiritual state is even more aroused,” “We now see the masses’ enthusiasm and creativity on the production front rising to a height never seen before.” Little did he realize that this enthusiasm had seriously deviated from objective laws, leading to the rampant spread of high targets, arbitrary directions, boastfulness, and the “communist wind.”[3]3 The “communist wind” was a term used during the Great Leap Forward to describe the practice of egalitarian distribution and the requisitioning of private property by people’s communes without compensation, violating the principle of exchange according to labor. After 1959, even though he had already recognized that “blind enthusiasm” had emerged in practice, he was also afraid of dampening the enthusiasm of the masses that had been aroused with such difficulty, and thus failed to correct it according to the principle of seeking truth from facts that he himself had advocated. The combination of respecting objective laws and giving play to subjective initiative also could not be implemented in policy practice, thereby bringing painful lessons to the cause of socialist construction.

遗憾的是，1957年之后，随着“左”的错误思想不断发展，对社会主义建设规律的忽视，对发挥主体积极性的过分夸大，致使毛泽东精神主动思想在实践中遭到挫折。1958年，面对“大跃进”和人民公社化运动中出现的“左”的错误，毛泽东却自信地认为：“人民的精神状态是更加奋发了”,“我们现在看见了从来没有看见过的人民群众在生产战线上这样高涨的积极性和创造性”。殊不知这种积极性已严重背离客观规律，导致高指标、瞎指挥、浮夸风和“共产风”的泛滥。1959年之后，即便已经认识到实践中已经出现了“盲目的积极性”,他也因担心挫伤好不容易发动起来的人民群众的积极性，而没能按照自己所倡导的实事求是原则加以纠正。尊重客观规律与发挥主观能动性的结合，也没能落实到政策实践中，由此给社会主义建设事业带来沉痛教训。

IV. Summary

四、小结

Overall, Mao Zedong’s thought on spiritual initiative possesses important theoretical significance and practical value. Winning the practical initiative through spiritual initiative is the essence of this thought; respecting objective laws and adhering to seeking truth from facts are its basic principles. It not only provided theoretical guidance for the Chinese people’s transition from spiritual passivity to initiative in modern times, prepared indispensable subjective conditions for the Chinese Communist Party leading the people to win the great victory of the New Democratic Revolution, for China’s smooth launch of the socialist revolution and successful establishment of the socialist system, but also provides important intellectual resources for the Chinese people on the new journey of the New Era to overcome negative and pessimistic emotions, guard against the danger of spiritual slackening, and arouse the spiritual strength for realizing the Chinese Dream of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

总体上看，毛泽东关于精神主动的思想，具有重要的理论意义和实践价值。以精神主动赢得实践主动权是这一思想的精华，尊重客观规律和坚持实事求是，是这一思想的基本遵循。它不仅为近代以来中国人民在精神上由被动转入主动提供了理论指引，为中国共产党领导人民争取新民主主义革命的伟大胜利，为中国顺利开展社会主义革命和成功建立社会主义制度，准备了不可或缺的主观条件，同时也为新时代新征程上中国人民战胜消极悲观情绪、防范精神懈怠危险，焕发实现中华民族伟大复兴中国梦的精神力量，提供了重要思想资源。

At the same time, the above-mentioned positive and negative practices of Mao Zedong’s theoretical explorations also enlighten us: on the one hand, we must attach great importance to the active role of the subject’s positive mental state in transforming the objective world in practice, especially when facing sudden incidents, difficulties and setbacks, or at major historical turning points. Through paths such as establishing systems and regulations, theoretical study, and thinking training, we must overcome negative emotions such as passivity, pessimism and slackness, or “lying flat” [8]8 “Lying flat” (躺平, tǎng píng) is a Chinese internet slang term referring to a passive, disengaged attitude of giving up on societal pressures such as work, consumption, and marriage, often seen as a form of protest or withdrawal. within the Party or in society, be adept at turning passivity into initiative, and create conditions for winning the initiative in practice; on the other hand, the subject’s invigoration of an active and enterprising spirit must be premised on respecting objective laws, ensuring that the “extremely important matter” of the initiative comes from seeking truth from facts, while at the same time earnestly implementing and carrying out democratic centralism, and preventing the emergence of situations such as “exaggerating the role of subjective will and subjective efforts” as described in the Party’s second historical resolution [9]9 The “second historical resolution” refers to the “Resolution on Certain Questions in the History of Our Party since the Founding of the People’s Republic of China,” adopted at the Sixth Plenary Session of the 11th Central Committee of the CPC in 1981, which provided a comprehensive evaluation of Mao Zedong’s role and the Cultural Revolution.. If both of these aspects are properly grasped, the invigoration of the power of an active and enterprising spirit can proceed on the correct track.

与此同时，上述毛泽东理论探索正反两方面的实践也启示我们：一方面，要高度重视实践中主体积极精神状态对改造客观世界的能动作用，尤其在面对突发事变、困难挫折或身处重大历史转折关头时，要通过建章立制、理论学习和思维训练等路径，克服党内或社会上存在的消极被动、悲观懈怠或“躺平”等负面情绪，善于变被动为主动，为赢得实践主动权创造条件；另一方面，主体焕发积极主动精神要以尊重客观规律为前提，确保主动权这个“极端重要的事情”来自实事求是，同时切实贯彻落实民主集中制，防止出现如党的第二个历史决议所述的“夸大主观意志和主观努力的作用”的情形。这两个方面都把握好了，积极主动精神力量的焕发，便能行进在正确轨道上。

(Author bios: Wang Guanzhong, Professor and Doctoral Supervisor at the School of Marxism, Beijing Normal University; Deng Jiaojiao, Doctoral Candidate at the School of Marxism, Capital Normal University)

（作者简介：王冠中，北京师范大学马克思主义学院教授，博士生导师；邓姣姣，首都师范大学马克思主义学院博士研究生）

Online editor: Tongxin

网络编辑：同心