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Ta Kung Pao October 14, 1967
Red Flag editorial
A great revolution to achieve the
ascendency of Mao Tse-tung's thought
Peking, October 8
The latest issue of Red Flag, theoretical journal of the Central Committee of 'A Great Revolu- the Chinese Communist Party, carries an editorial entitled:
The tion to Achieve the Complete Ascendency of Mao Tse-tung's Thought'. full text follows:
The Great Proletarian Cultural Revo- lution in our country is moving forward triumphantly along the brilliant road of Mao Tse-tung's thought. Significance
Our great leader Chairman Mao recently tructed us: 'It is imperative to combat self-interest and criticise and repudiate revisionism'. This is the basic programme generalised for us by Chair- man Mao to guide the Great Proletarian Cul- tural Revolution.
Comrade Lin Piao said: 'By combating self- interest, we mean to use Marxism-Leninism, Mao Tse-tung's thought to fight selfish ideas in one's own mind. By criticising and repudiating revi- sionism, we mean to use Marxism-Leninism, Mao Tse-tung's thought to combat revisionism and struggle against the handful of Party persons in authority taking the capitalist road.'
The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution is a great revolution which touches people to the soals. This revolution is intended to topple the handful of Party persons in authority taking the capitalist road, destroy bourgeois ideology, foster Mao Tse-tung's thought, change people's world outlook die out the roots of revisionism 'en ne ta
གན་ཤོམ་པhད་དང་དག པ"གཞན བ
Only by seriously studying and profoundly understanding Chairman Mao's great programme for combating self-interest and criticising and re- pudiating revisionism', only by correctly under- standing the fundamental aim of the Great Prole- tarian Cultural Revolution, is it possible to com- prehend the far-reaching significance of this re- volution, to understand and master Chairman Mao's theory, line, principles and policy concern- ing continued revolution under the dictatorship of the proletariat. Only in this way is it possible to reduce blind faith, raise conscientiousness and carry the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution through to the end.
In ideological field
The dictatorship of the proletariat extends over a very long historical period full of acute struggle between the two classes of the proletariat and the bourgeoisie, between the two roads of socialism and capitalism.
It need not take a very long period of time for the proletariat to seize power and overthrow the ownership of the exploiting classes. But it re- quires a very very long period of time to eliminate the old ideas, culture, customs and habits left over by the exploiting classes for thousands of years. We have confiscated the property of the landlord class and the bourgeoisie, but we cannot confiscate their reactionary ideas. In the ideological field, they still retain a considerable influence which in certain periods even outweighs that of the prole-
tariat.
The core of the ideological system of the ex- piting classes is egoism, selfishness. As a result of the thousands of years of existence of the sys- tem of private ownership, such egoism has a deep- rented influence. The old social system has been eliminated, but as our great leader Chairman Mao has observed, “invariably, remnants of old ideas relecting the old system remain in people's minds for a long time, and they do not easily give way.” The bourgeoisie makes use of precisely this trash to demoralise the masses and the younger genera- th, to try to conquer the hearts of the people, and to fight against the proletariat.
Class struggle of all kinds is actually political struggle. In the final analysis, class struggle in the ideological field is aimed at seizing political power and consolidating it. The ruling classes in China's feudal society used the doctrines of Cou-
fucius and Mencius to consolidate their power. The bourgeoisie also uses the capitalist ideological system to consolidate its power. After their power is overthrown, the landlord class and the bour- geoisie inevitably do their utmost to use their de- gree of idcological superiority to undermine the dictatorship of the proletariat and attempt a capi- talist restoration.
Chairman Mao has correctly warned: 'It will take a fairly long period of time to decide the issue in the ideological struggle between socialism and capitalism in our country. The reason is that the influence of the bourgeoisie and of the intel- lectuals who come from the old society will re- main in our country for a long time to come, and so will their class ideology. If this is not sufficient- ly understood, or is not understood at all, the gravest mistakes will be made and the necessity of waging the struggle in the ideological field will be ignored."
The tremendous and active role of the ideolo. gical factor in social progress cannot be under- estimated. Old ideas serve the old economic base, reflect the needs of reactionary classes and ham- per the advance of society, whereas new ideas serve the new economic base, reflect the needs of progressive classes and promote and accelerate the advance of society.
portance of the economic Tactor Un
lopment. Later some people tried to distort their thesis to say that the economic factor was the only decisive one, which was absurd, Engels pointed out: 'Political, juridical, philosophical, religious, literary, artistic, etc., development is based on economic development. But all these react upon one another and also upon the economic basis.*
Chairman Mao's thesis
Using thoroughgoing materialist dialectics. Comrade Mao Tse-tung, the greatest proletarian thinker of genius in our time, has for the first time made a most penetrating and most incisive exposi- tion of the active role of the ideological factor in the progress of history.
Chairman Mao says: ‘Any given culture (as an ideological form) is a reflection of the politics and economics of a given society, and the former in turn has a tremendous influence and effect upon the latter; economics is the base and politics the concentrated expression of economics.' This is one of Chairman Mao's very important generali- zations on historical dialectics.
In his brilliant work ‘On Contradiction,' Chair- man Mao pays great attention to the role of the spiritual aspect. He says: 'The productive forces, principal and decisive role; whoever denies this is practice and the economic base generally play the
not a materialist. But it must also be admitted that in certain conditions, such aspects as the rela- tions of production, theory and the superstructure in turn manifest themselves in the principal and decisive role. He also says: "We recognize that in the general development of bistry the material determines the mental and social being determines social consciousness, we also--and indeed must→ recognize the reaction of mental on material things, of social consciousness on social being and of the superstructure on the economic base. This does not go against materialism; on the contrary, it avoids mechanical materialism and firmly up- holds dialectical materialism.”
This important thesis which Chairman Mao put forth decades ago remains a powerful ideological weapon for us to use in carrying on revolutionary struggles under the dictatorship of the proletariat. Fundamental question resolved
In the past 18 years since the founding of the People's Republic of China, our Party under the
leadership of Chairman Mao has waged a number of movements of criticism, repudiation and strug- gle against the bourgeoisie in the realm of ideology and has won great victories. With the deepening of class struggle, it is becoming increasingly clear to the bourgeoisie that it is difficult for them to command the fight to seize power from the prole- tariat. They have found it ever more necessary to find and cultivate their agents in our Party in order to attain their criminal end. Now it is very clear to all that the handful of Party persons in authority taking the capitalist road headed by China's Khrushchov are the agents in our Party of the forces attempting a restoration of capitalism. In order to turn the dictatorship of the proletariat into a dictatorship of the bourgeoisie, they have tried in every way to take hold of the ideological field. They have done their utmost to spread and defend the ideas and culture of the exploiting classes which serve to prepare the way for a res- toration of capitalism, and have gone out of their way to protect the reactionary bourgeois academic "authorities'.
The long period of class struggle from the cri- ticism and repudiation of the 'Inside Story of the Ching Court up to the criticism and repudiation of 'Hai Jui Dismissed from Office' is ample proof of this.
In many of his great works and in the docu- ments 'Some Current Problems Raised in the So- cialist Education Movement in the Rural Arcas', "The Circular of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party on May 16, 1966' and 'The Decision of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party Concerning the Great
the proletariat and the socialist system, it is neces- sary to criticise, repudiate and overthrow the hand- ful of Party persons in authority taking the capi- talist road. Chairman Mao has also told us that it is necessary to fully mobilize the masses, raise their consciousness, thoroughly expose, criticise and repudiate the reactionary bourgeois academic 'authorities', expose, criticise and repudiate reac- tionary bourgeois ideas in academic, educational, journalistic, literary and art and publication cir- cles and seize back leadership in these positions of culture.
The great theory on the Great Proletarian Cul- tural Revolution put forward by Chairman Mao and the great practice of this revolution personally, initiated and led by him have solved the funda- mental question of how to carry on the revolution under the dictatorship of the proletariat, thus opening the way for the international communist movement to carry the socialist revolution through to the end and to go from socialism to communism and erecting a new and great mile- stone in the history of the development of Mar- xism-Leninism.
Under the guidance of Chairman Mao's prole- tarian revolutionary line, the tempestuous Prole- tarian Cultural Revolution over the past year has already won great victories, exposing and over- throwing the handful of top Party persons in au- thority taking the capitalist road headed by China's Khrushchov and smashing the bourgeois headquarters. Hence, the greatest hidden danger in the organs of the dictatorship of the proletariat and the biggest obstacle for carrying out the thorough criticism and repudiation of the ideology of the exploiting classes have been removed. The great call
At present, we must firmly respond to the great call of Chairman Mao 'to combat self-interest and criticize and repudiate revisionism', and, guided by this great policy, carry the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution through to the end.
We have already smashed the bourgeois head- quarters. In order to consolidate and develop this victory, we must continue to criticize penc tratingly, repudiate thoroughly and discredit com pletely these bourgeois representatives politically, ideologically and theoretically. At the same time, we must closely link the mass movement of re- (Continued on page 3)
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