In June 1923, Mao Zedong was elected to the Central Executive Committee at the Three Congresses of the Communist Party of China. This was the first time Mao Zedong had entered the core of the central leadership, and this year he was just thirty years old and thirty years old!
At this meeting, Mao Zedong noticed two tendencies that existed in the party at that time. The first tendency, represented by Chen Duxiu, pays attention only to cooperation with the Kuomintang and forgets the peasants; this is "right" opportunism. The second tendency, represented by Zhang Guotao, pays only attention to the workers' movement, does not pay attention to uniting the revolutionary forces within the Kuomintang, and likewise forgets the peasants, which is "Left" opportunism. Both opportunisms feel inadequate, do not know where to find strength, where to gain a large ally, and at the same time do not really know who the "enemy" of the revolution is.
Mao Zedong, who was then secretary of the Central Bureau and directly assisted Chen Duxiu in his work, found that Chen Duxiu ignored the peasants and the peasant movement.
Mao Zedong was the son of a peasant, and he believed that there was a great power among the peasants, who made up the majority of the Chinese. At the three major meetings of the CPC, he solemnly raised the peasants' questions and was responsible for drafting the "Resolution on the Peasants' Problem." Mao Zedong pointed out in his article "Resolution on the Peasant Question": "Due to all kinds of oppression, the peasants naturally have a spirit of resistance, and the riots of the peasants in various places to resist rents and taxes are clear evidence. Therefore, the Resolution of the Third Congress of our Party holds that it is necessary to unite small peasant tenants and hired workers to resist the imperialists who are holding China hostage, to overthrow the warlords and corrupt officials, to resist the inferior gentry, to protect the interests of the peasants, and to promote the national revolutionary movement. ”
Zhang Guotao recalled that Mao Zedong raised a new issue at the meeting——— peasant movement, which was "a great contribution of this peasant son to the CCP." However, at this time, Chen Duxiu "only paid attention to cooperation with the Kuomintang and forgot about the peasants." During the period of the Great Revolution, seeing that the peasant movement was vigorously launched, Chen Duxiu said bitterly: "The peasant movement is 'very bad' and 'overheated.'" The peasant movement is a movement of lepers and should be stopped. This is a manifestation of not seeing the peasantry as a true ally.
Chen Duxiu's resistance to the peasant movement led to the CCP's ineffective leadership over the peasant movement and seriously affected the development of the peasant movement. More than ten years later, Mao Zedong is still worrisome about this matter: "I think today that if the peasant movement had been more thoroughly organized, armed and waged a class struggle against the landlords, the Soviets would have developed earlier and more vigorously throughout the country. ”
Chen Duxiu not only forgot about the peasants, but also made mistakes on the question of the leadership of the proletarian revolution. If Zhang Guotao did not support the Communist Party joining the Kuomintang, then Chen Duxiu, in order to unite the Kuomintang, made concessions everywhere and compromised everywhere, took the initiative to give up the leadership of the proletarian revolution and handed over the leadership to the bourgeoisie. The proletarian revolution, which has found neither a leading force nor a reliable revolutionary contingent, has become an empty phrase.
The three central topics of the CCP are the discussion of cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party. Also in August 1922, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, on the advice of the Communist International, held a special meeting at West Lake in Hangzhou and decided to cooperate with the Kuomintang. The bloody lessons left by the 1923 "February 7" massacre made the Communist Party of China further realize that China's national democratic revolution is not enough to rely solely on the working class to fight alone, and should win over all possible allies. Due to the success of sun yat-sen's leadership of the Xinhai Revolution, the Kuomintang had social prestige and established a base area in the south. After several setbacks after the founding of the Republic of China, Sun Yat-sen deeply felt that the Chinese revolution would change course and had a positive welcome attitude toward cooperation with communists. After the West Lake Conference, Li Dazhao, Chen Duxiu, and a number of other important leaders of the Communist Party joined the Kuomintang one after another in their own names. Mao Zedong was ideologically prepared for this. When he left Changsha in April, he published an article entitled "External Forces, Warlords and Revolution" in the inaugural issue of New Era sponsored by Hunan Self-Study University, in which he pointed out: China's reactionary forces are too great, external forces and warlords collude as evil, and the Communist Party and some "non-revolutionary democrats" will cooperate with the "revolutionary democrats" Kuomintang to "succeed a big democrat." After arriving in Guangzhou, he put forward the basic views of the Chinese revolution in an article published in the "Guide": the historical mission of the National Revolution was to "overthrow the warlords and overthrow foreign imperialism that is in cahoots with the warlords", and only by "establishing a strict united front can this revolution succeed". From advocating the great unity of the people during the May Fourth period to advocating the establishment of a united front at this time, Mao Zedong's line of thought was coherent. However, Zhang Guotao believes that the working class can only carry out revolution under the banner of its own party, and does not agree to all Communists, especially industrial workers, joining the Kuomintang and engaging in intra-Party cooperation; otherwise, it will abolish the independence of the Communist Party and do not agree to develop The Kuomintang organizations among the working masses. At the meeting, Zhang Guotao said: "If party members of our party join the Kuomintang, they are bound to cause many complicated and difficult problems, and the results will be harmful to the unity of the revolutionary forces. Mao Zedong's speech was in direct opposition to Zhang Guotao. On the basis of the experience of the hunan workers' movement, he explained the necessity of a united front, retorting: "The joining of a large number of workers and peasants in the Kuomintang is precisely the way to transform its class composition, to establish a united front with the bourgeoisie, and to jointly fulfill the needs of the national democratic revolution." "Two views, fierce confrontation, the atmosphere of the meeting seemed tense. After intense discussion, the meeting finally endorsed Mao Zedong's proposal, and Zhang Guotao's views were temporarily inferior.
The three major ccps adopted the decision of "intra-party cooperation", requiring all communists to join the Kuomintang in their personal names, but still maintain the independence of the communist organization. At the meeting, Mao Zedong was elected to the Central Executive Committee as the secretary of the Central Bureau, taking over Zhang Guotao's position, and Zhang Guotao was defeated. Nevertheless, there are still many people in the CCP who oppose the idea of kuomintang-communist cooperation! They have never been clear about the question of whether the Kmt is an enemy or a friend, and the question of the division within the KMT.
From January to December 1924, Mao Zedong worked in the Kuomintang for nearly a year. Entering the Kuomintang to work enabled him to have a more comprehensive understanding of the basic situation within the Kuomintang and to more truly grasp the ideological trends within the Kuomintang.
In January 1924, Mao Zedong participated in the First National Congress of the Chinese Kuomintang in Guangzhou as a representative of Hunan. On the 31st of the same month, the plenary meeting of the first Central Executive Committee and Supervision Commission of the Kuomintang was held, and it was decided to set up an executive department in Shanghai, Beijing, Hankou and other places to strengthen the work in these areas, and Mao Zedong was sent to the Shanghai Executive Department. At first, Mao Zedong's work in the Kuomintang was relatively smooth, and he was highly valued by the kuomintang leftist elders. At that time, the actual person in charge of the Shanghai Executive Department was Hu Hanmin, director of the Organization Department. Mao Zedong served as Hu Hanmin's secretary, and his duty was to "assist the minister and handle the affairs of the ministry." At the same time, Mao Zedong also served as the secretary of the Clerical Section, acting as the director of the Clerical Section before Shao Yuanchong, the director of the Clerical Section, took office.
Hu Hanmin was an elder of the Kuomintang, and Sun Yat-sen relied heavily on him, and many important things after the reorganization of the Kuomintang were inseparable from Hu Hanmin's participation. Therefore, the actual work of the Organization Department fell on Mao Zedong's shoulders, as can be seen in a letter from Hu Hanmin to Mao Zedong. When Mr. Juesheng came to write, he wanted to take ten copies of the "Declaration", ten copies of the "Party Constitution" and one copy of the "Special Issue of the Republic of China Daily", forty copies of the Party Entry Form, forty copies of the Registration Form, and twenty copies of the Volunteer Letter. This is my brother. The "Juesheng" mentioned in the letter of the younger hanmin was the Kuomintang elder JuZheng. At that time, Hu Hanmin was 45 years old and Mao Zedong was 31 years old, and the phrase "Run my brother" shows the degree of importance that Hu Hanmin attaches to him. With the support of Hu Hanmin, Mao Zedong achieved good results in his initial work. Mao Zedong also trusted the Kuomintang, and his work was enthusiastic and active, so much so that it caused dissatisfaction among some senior leaders of the Communist Party at that time, and Li Lisan once mocked him as "Hu Hanmin's secretary." With the transfer of Hu Hanmin, Mao Zedong began to be excluded by some sub-communist and anti-communist forces. In the fierce struggle with them, Mao Zedong felt more and more that the two factions in the Kuomintang that were divided ——— the left wing of the Kuomintang, supported the revolution, and advocated "uniting the communists" and "accommodating the communists"; the rightists of the Kuomintang opposed the revolution and secretly plotted despicable acts of anti-communism and division of the communists. The two factions are seriously opposed, and the internal "undercurrent is surging". Shortly after the establishment of the Shanghai Executive Department, Hu Hanmin returned to Guangdong, and Ye Chuling succeeded Hu Hanmin in charge of the work of the Executive Department. Ye Chuling had always disagreed with Mao Zedong's work and had always been wary of the Communists. In this state, Mao Zedong's work was extremely difficult. In July, Mao Zedong had to resign as secretary of the Organization Department, taking charge of only clerical work, and recommended Zhang Tinghao, a member of the Communist Party, to succeed him. On August 1, Zhou Songxi, Yu Yuzhi and others convened a meeting of party representatives from various districts at Southern University to discuss the issue of disposing of "communist elements." At the meeting, differences broke out between the two factions advocating "tolerance of the communist party" and opposing the "tolerance of the communist party." The next day, Yu Yuzhi went to the Shanghai Executive Department and demanded that he call the Kuomintang Central Committee in Guangzhou and beat up Shao Lizi, a "cross-party member." At that time, Ye Chuling, who was in charge of the work of the executive department, adopted the attitude of riding a wall, did not call the Kuomintang Central Committee according to the requirements of the rightists, and did not deal with Yu Yuzhi and others. Mao Zedong was extremely dissatisfied with this, and joined forces with Yun Daiying, Shi Cuntong, Deng Zhongxia, Liu Bolun, and other cross-party members to send a letter to Sun Yat-sen accusing Ye Chuling of "ineffective presidency and connivance." After that, the contradiction between Mao Zedong and Ye Chuling was almost well known in the executive department. In addition, after the contradictions between the left and right factions within the Kuomintang intensified, the funds could not be distributed, there was no one in charge, and the work was almost stagnant. Mao Zedong's work was difficult, thankless, and tiring, so he took a leave of absence in December to return to his hometown of Shaoshan in Hunan Province.
After Mao Zedong left Shanghai, Ye Chuling hosted a banquet to celebrate. At this point, the contradictions between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party had developed, but at this time, Chen Duxiu, the main leader of the Party, had unrealistic illusions about the Kuomintang. He was unconditionally tolerant of their anti-communist and sub-communist behavior, and for the sake of the united front, he accommodated and evaded everywhere, which further aggravated the arrogance of the Kuomintang counter-revolutionaries. The revolution is essentially in crisis. Mao Zedong was worried, and in order to make the party aware of the "state of contradiction and trepidation" of the revolution within the Kuomintang and the possible harm to the revolution, Mao Zedong's motivation to write "Analysis of the Classes of Chinese Society" was strengthened by a few points.
After returning to Shaoshan, Mao Zedong recuperated at ease while summing up the lessons of the revolution. He felt anxiously that the division within the Kuomintang was indeed a very serious problem, that the counter-revolutionaries could at any time raise the "white banner of counter-revolution", and that if they were not prepared to fight back, the revolution would suffer a heavy blow.
The experience of launching a peasant movement during his illness in Shaoshan laid the practical foundation for Mao Zedong to write the Analysis. This time, Mao Zedong stayed in Shaoshan for 203 days, the longest time Mao Zedong returned to his hometown after leaving Shaoshan in 1921. Although he was recuperating from illness, Mao Zedong was not idle, and he always had the idea of launching a peasant movement, and he used this precious time and the popularity of his hometown to launch a peasant movement. Mao Zedong once recalled: "That winter I returned to Hunan to recuperate——— I fell ill in Shanghai, but during my time in Hunan I organized the core of the great peasant movement in the province. ”
When Mao Zedong returned to Shaoshan, shortly after the Spring Festival, the people who came to visit and his relatives and friends flowed endlessly. Mao Zedong used this opportunity to reach out to the masses extensively. He also walked around the countryside with his wife, Yang Kaihui, and did extensive social research. On this basis, Mao Zedong relied on his wife Yang Kaihui and progressive intellectuals such as Pang Shukan, Liu Jungang, and Li Genghou to successively establish more than 20 peasant night schools in the Mao Ancestral Hall, the Mao Zhengong Ancestral Hall, and the Li Ancestral Hall. Night schools taught the peasants literacy and abacus, and conducted enlightenment education on the Three People's Principles and Marxism to the peasants to enlighten their class consciousness. After the class consciousness of the peasants was raised, they began to struggle for their own interests under the leadership of Mao Zedong, most notably the "Pingyu Obstruction" known as the "Shaoshan Myth". After the victory of the "Pingyu Obstruction of Transportation", Mao Zedong believed that the conditions for the establishment of peasant associations were basically ripe, so overnight, Shaoshan hung more than 20 wooden plaques of township peasant associations. In this way, Mao Zedong saw more clearly the great power hidden in the peasants.
In the autumn of 1925, the book "Analysis of the Classes of Chinese Society" was published. The Analysis begins with the message: "Who is our enemy?" Who are our friends? This question is the first question of the revolution. Mao Zedong profoundly realized that "the basic reason why all the revolutionary struggles in China in the past have achieved very little results is because we cannot unite real friends in order to attack the real enemies", that is, the problem of not finding the object and ally of the revolution, and "we must distinguish between real enemies and friends, and we must make a general analysis of the economic status of the various classes of Chinese society and their attitude towards the revolution."
Mao Zedong made the following analysis of the class situation in Chinese society: First, the landlord class and the comprador class. These classes represent the most backward and reactionary relations of production in China and hinder the development of the productive forces in China. Second, the middle class. It mainly refers to the national bourgeoisie. They have a contradictory attitude towards the Chinese revolution, and their political proposition is a state dominated by the national bourgeoisie. Because China's industry was not fully developed, the middle class was weak and had no strength to lead the revolution independently and win the victory of the bourgeois revolution. Third, the petty bourgeoisie. Fourth, the semi-proletariat. Including: most of the semi-self-employed farmers, poor farmers, small craftsmen, shop assistants, hawkers and other five kinds. The vast majority of semi-self-employed and poor peasants are a very large group in the countryside. The so-called peasant problem is mainly their problem. They are generally exploited by the landlords and the bourgeoisie, and their lives are difficult and bitter, so they are extremely receptive to revolutionary propaganda. Fifth, the proletariat. This part of the population was about 2 million people at that time, mainly workers in the five industries of railway, mining, shipping, textile, and shipbuilding, and a large number of them were enslaved by foreign industries. Although the number of this class is small, "it is the representative of China's new productive forces, the most progressive class in modern China, and the leading force in the revolutionary movement." Sixth, the homeless proletarians. It is mainly peasants who have lost their land and handicraft workers who have lost their jobs. They are the most unstable people in human life, with secret organizations everywhere. This group of people is very brave in their struggle, but they are destructive, and if they are guided to the Fa, they can become a revolutionary force.
After analysing the various classes and their attitude towards the revolution one by one, Mao Zedong made a general summary: "We can see that all the warlords, bureaucrats, comprador classes, big landlord classes and a part of the reactionary intellectual circles attached to them who collude with imperialism are our enemies. The industrial proletariat is the leading force of our revolution. All the semi-proletariat, the petty bourgeoisie, are our closest friends. The wavering middle class, whose right wing may be our enemy, whose left wing may be our friend——— but we must always beware of them and not let them disturb our front. This generalization is profound, comprehensive, and precise, and points out the path for how the revolution can find strength and how to win over the allies.
"Chen Duxiu refused to publish it in the newspapers and periodicals of the Party Central Committee"
In the autumn of 1925, under the dim oil lamp, Mao Zedong put the "Analysis" that had been carefully considered and revised many times into an envelope and wrote the words "Chen Duxiu Collection" on the envelope. It turned out that he was going to send his just-completed "Analysis" to Chen Duxiu, the party's top leader, for his recommendation to be published in the party's organ newspaper. Mao Zedong always had respect for Chen Duxiu. "Chen Duxiu was the commander-in-chief of the May Fourth Movement and a teacher of our generation." This idea has been throughout Mao's life. Mao Zedong said: "If Chen Duxiu's approval can be obtained and published in the party organ newspaper, it will be helpful for the party to clearly understand the 'problem of enemies and friends' and clarify the direction of the revolution." Mao's heart was full of hope, but he was a little nervous. Because, during the period of working with Chen Duxiu, he knew Chen Duxiu. Chen Duxiu was born in Shuxiangmendi and was 18 years old. Influenced by the Restoration Movement, he received a new education and once embraced the idea of restoration. After that, he went to Japan five times, especially studying the political doctrines that made Western countries rich and powerful——— bourgeois democracy, which was his life guide before he accepted Marxism before 1920. Because Chen Duxiu advocated the bourgeois revolutionary model in Europe and the United States and was influenced by his unforgettable influence, his transformation into a communist was incomplete. In Chen Duxiu's heart, the bourgeoisie is the most important, and the working class and peasants are ranked behind. Chen Duxiu said: "Although the social classes in the colonies and semi-colonies are one and the same, the power of the bourgeoisie is concentrated more than that of the peasants and stronger than that of the workers, so it is a great mistake for the national movement to despise the bourgeoisie. He believes that in the stage of the democratic revolution, the proletariat should help the bourgeoisie to unite with the peasants and realize the bourgeois revolution. Chen Duxiu's origin made him not understand farmers. Although he recognized the importance of the peasantry in theory, it was difficult to find in practical work ways and means to promote the peasant movement, and when the peasant movement was on the rise, he felt overwhelmed and even afraid, so much so that he prescribed a series of ways to limit the peasant revolution. Born into a peasant family, Mao Zedong knew the peasants, knew the strength of the peasants, and knew the way to mobilize the peasants. He and Chen Duxiu had different understandings of the peasant issue, and there were also differences in the policy toward the peasants they adhered to. In his attitude toward the bourgeoisie, Mao Zedong also distinguished himself from Chen Duxiu with the idea that the bourgeoisie has "two sides" of the bourgeoisie.
After the letter was sent, Mao Zedong waited nervously for several months in Shaoshan. A few months later, news that disappointed Mao Zedong was awaited——— Chen Duxiu refused to publish The Analysis in party publications. Mao Zedong has always remembered this experience. In 1939, Mao Zedong recalled the experience in a conversation with the American journalist Snow, saying: "I wrote more and more articles at that time, and within the Communist Party, I was particularly responsible for peasant work. On the basis of my research and my experience in organizing the peasants in Hunan, I wrote two pamphlets, one entitled "Analysis of the Classes in Chinese Society" and the other "The Class Basis of Zhao Hengti and Our Present Tasks." Chen Duxiu opposed the views expressed in the first pamphlet, which advocated a radical land policy under the leadership of the Communist Party and vigorous organization of the peasants. Chen Duxiu refused to publish it in the newspapers and periodicals of the Party Central Committee. "Mao Zedong further recognized Chen Duxiu and began to have no illusions about Chen." Around this time, I began to disagree with Chen Duxiu's right-leaning opportunist policies. Gradually, we parted ways. ”
Publication and three revisions of the Analysis
In the winter of 1925, after being rejected by Chen Duxiu, Mao Zedong sent the manuscript to other magazines. This time, Mao Zedong was full of confidence and determined, because he knew that the Analysis might not be recognized by Chen Duxiu, but the truth would certainly be accepted by the vast majority of people. In December, the fourth issue of the semi-monthly magazine "Revolution", edited by the Political Department of the Second Army Headquarters of the National Revolutionary Army, published the article "Analysis", and "Analysis" was officially published. The article begins with the inscription: "Who is our enemy? Who are our friends? Unable to distinguish between enemies and friends, one must not be a revolutionary. "The revolutionary party must have a certain grasp of not leading the wrong way and of certain success", "it is indispensable to make a general analysis of the economic status, class character, number of people and attitude of the various classes in Chinese society toward the revolution." This clearly raises the first question of who the proletariat must rely on, unite and attack in order to lead the revolution. Because of the importance of this statement, it immediately attracted widespread attention. In February 1926, the second issue of Chinese Farmers reprinted the analysis in full. "Chinese Peasants" is a national publication sponsored by the Peasant Department of the Kuomintang, and being reprinted by such a journal further proves the importance of the "Analysis" article. After reprinting, the impact of the article was even greater, and many comrades in the CCP, especially young comrades, became loyal readers of the Analysis. In view of the great influence of the Analysis, in March of the same year, the organ of the Chinese Socialist Youth League, China Youth, wrote to Mao Zedong proposing amendments to the article and deciding to publish the revised Analysis again that month. After receiving the news, Mao Zedong cautiously made the first revision of the Analysis. Mainly the structure and text of the article have been processed, such as the first paragraph from the original more than 440 words to less than 200 words. Replace the big bourgeoisie with "the sworn enemy of the national revolutionary movement" with "the representative of its political ideas is nationalism", and so on. After this revision, the Analysis was basically finalized and became the version we see today. Published in the organ journal of the Youth League, The Analysis became famous and formally established Mao Zedong's leadership position in the peasant movement. In May 1926, Mao Zedong hosted the Peasant Movement Seminar in Guangzhou, and in order to better train the backbone of the peasant movement, the Peasant Movement Institute reprinted the "Analysis" published in February 1926 and distributed it to the students for use as textbooks. "Comrade Mao Zedong is here to lecture on this topic," and the ideas in the Analysis were widely disseminated. After that, under the guidance of the Analysis, the Chinese revolution cleared the fog, took many detours, and added a lot of reason.
After the founding of New China, Mao Zedong still attached great importance to this article and revised the Analysis twice. The first time was in August 1951, when the "Selected Works of Mao Zedong" edited by the Central Committee was to be included in this article, and Mao Zedong deliberated on it word for word, deliberated it again, analyzed the classes, and abolished the original titles of "first" and "second". The conclusion section is refined and summarized. Secondly, replace "means of production" with "means of production", "working capital" with "capital", "main force" with "leading force", make it more detailed in paragraphs, and so on. The second time was in July 1952, when the Central Committee printed the first volume of the Selected Works of Mao Zedong for the second time, and Mao Zedong continued to improve and revised the Analysis again. As pointed out in a 1989 article in the Party Literature, the Selected Works of Mao Zedong "made many careful revisions and additions to the Analysis, and printed several revised drafts." Compared with the second revised draft, the language of this revision is more fluent and concise, the thinking is more accurate and profound, the text revision can be described as exquisitely crafted, and its ideological content reflects the mature form of Mao Zedong Thought.
The "Analysis" is an important symbol of the germination of Mao Zedong's basic thought on new democracy and one of the programmatic documents guiding the Chinese revolution.
Nowadays, the times are changing, practice is changing, and the new construction process calls for new theories. However, what the Analysis tells us is that we must correctly understand the new changes in the social class structure of our country and that the idea of solving the primary question of "who to rely on, who to unite and who to fight" is still of practical significance to us today. Only in this way can we properly handle the relations between various classes and strata in the process of socialist modernization and advance the grand cause of socialist modernization. The Analysis will continue to shine a great light in socialist modernization.
This article refers to the Chinese Communist Party History Society. A series of historical dictionaries of the Communist Party of China
Article by Wang Lianhua of the Chinese Communist Party News Network