Discussion Board "World Civilization"

Mao Tse Tung

Quotations from Mao Tse Tung

Chapter 30 “Youth”

The world is yours, as well as ours, but in the last analysis, it is yours. You young people, full of

vigor and vitality, are in the bloom of life, like the sun at eight or nine in the morning. Our hope

is placed on you. The world belongs to you. China's future belongs to you.

Talk at a meeting with Chinese students and trainees in Moscow (November 17, 1957).

We must help all our young people to understand that ours is still a very poor country, that we

cannot change this situation radically in a short time, and that only through the united efforts of

our younger generation and all our people, working with their own hands, can China be made

strong and prosperous within a period of several decades. The establishment of our socialist

system has opened the road leading to the ideal society of the future, but to translate this ideal

into reality needs hard work.

On the Correct Handling of Contradictions Among the People (February 27, 1957), 1st pocket ed., pp. 44-45.

Because of their lack of political and social experience, quite a number of young people are

unable to see the contrast between the old China and the new, and it is not easy for them

thoroughly to comprehend the hardships our people went through in the struggle to free

themselves from the oppression of the imperialists and Kuomintang reactionaries, or the long

period of arduous work needed before a happy socialist society can be established. That is why

we must constantly carry on lively and effective political education among the masses and

should always tell them the truth about the difficulties that crop up and discuss with them how to

surmount these difficulties.

Ibid., p. 63.

The young people are the most active and vital force in society. They are the most eager to learn

and the least conservative in their thinking. This is especially so in the era of socialism. We hope

that the local Party organizations in various places will help and work with the Youth League

organizations and go into the question of bringing into full play the energy of our youth in

particular. The Party organizations should not treat them in the same way as everybody else and

ignore their special characteristics. Of course, the young people should learn from the old and

other adults, and should strive as much as possible to engage in all sorts of useful activities with

their agreement.

Introductory note to "A Youth Shock Brigade of the No. 9 Agricultural Producers' Co-operative in Hsinping

Township, Chungshan County" (1955), The Socialist Upsurge in China's Countryside, Chinese ed., Vol. III.

How should we judge whether a youth is a revolutionary? How can we tell? There can only be

one criterion, namely, whether or not he is willing to integrate himself with the broad masses of

workers and peasants and does so in practice. If he is willing to do so and actually does so, he is

a revolutionary; otherwise he is a nonrevolutionary or a counter-revolutionary. If today he

integrates himself with the masses of workers and peasants, then today he is a revolutionary; if

tomorrow he ceases to do so or turns round to oppress the common people, then he becomes a

nonrevolutionary or a counter revolutionary.

"The Orientation of the Youth Movement" (May 4, 1939), Selected Works, Vol. II, p. 246.

The intellectuals often tend to be subjective and individualistic, impractical in their thinking and

irresolute in action until they have thrown themselves heart and soul into mass revolutionary

struggles, or made up their minds to serve the interests of the masses and become one with them.

Hence although the mass of revolutionary intellectuals in China can play a vanguard role or

serve as a link with the masses, not all of them will remain revolutionaries to the end. Some will

drop out of the revolutionary ranks at critical moments and become passive, while a few may

even become enemies of the revolution. The intellectuals can overcome their shortcomings only

in mass struggles over a long period.

"The Chinese Revolution and the Chinese Communist Party" (December 1939), Selected Works, Vol. II, p. 322.*

Apart from continuing to act in co-ordination with the Party in its central task, the Youth League

should do its own work to suit the special characteristics of youth. New China must care for her

youth and show concern for the growth of the younger generation. Young people have to study

and work, but they are at the age of physical growth. Therefore, full attention must be paid both

to their work and study and to their recreation, sport and rest.

Talk at the reception for the Presidium of the Second National Congress of the Youth League (June 30, 1953).

Chapter 31 “Women”

A man in China is usually subjected to the domination of three systems of authority [political

authority, family authority and religious authority].... As for women, in addition to being

dominated by these three systems of authority, they are also dominated by the men (the authority

of the husband). These four authorities - political, family, religious and masculine - are the

embodiment of the whole feudal-patriarchal ideology and system, and are the four thick ropes

binding the Chinese people, particularly the peasants. How the peasants have overthrown the

political authority of the landlords in the countryside has been described above. The political

authority of the landlords is the backbone of all the other systems of authority. With that

overturned the family authority, the religious authority and the authority of the husband all begin

to totter.... As to the authority of the husband, this has always been weaker among the poor

peasants because, out of economic necessity, their womenfolk have to do more manual labour

than the women of the richer classes and therefore have more say and greater power of decision

in family matters. With the increasing bankruptcy of the rural economy in recent years, the basis

for men's domination over women has already been undermined. With the rise of the peasant

movement, the women in many places have now begun to organize rural women's associations;

the opportunity has come for them to lift up their heads, and the authority of the husband is

getting shakier every day. In a word, the whole feudal-patriarchal ideology and system is

tottering with the growth of the peasants' power.

"Report on an Investigation of the Peasant Movement in Hunan" (March 1927), Selected Works, Vol. I, pp. 44-46.*

Unite and take part in production and political activity to improve the economic and political

status of women.

Inscription for the magazine, Women of New China, printed in its first issue, July 20, 1949.

Protect the interests of the youth, women and children - provide assistance to young students

who cannot afford to continue their studies, help the youth and women to organize in order to

participate on an equal footing in all work useful to the war effort and to social progress, ensure

freedom of marriage and equality as between men and women, and give young people and

children a useful education....

"On Coalition Government" (April 24, 1945), Selected Works, Vol. III, p. 288.*

[In agricultural production] our fundamental task is to adjust the use of labour power in an

organized way and to encourage women to do farm work.

"Our Economic Policy" (January 23, 1934), Selected Works, Vo1. I, p. 142.*

In order to build a great socialist society it is of the utmost importance to arouse the broad

masses of women to join in productive activity. Men and women must receive equal pay for

equal work in production. Genuine equality between the sexes can only be realized in the process

of the socialist transformation of society as a whole.

Introductory note to "Women Have Gone to the Labour Front" (1955), The Socialist Upsurge in China's

Countryside, Chinese ed., Vol. I.

With the completion of agricultural cooperation, many co-operatives are finding themselves

short of labour. It has become necessary to arouse the great mass of women who did not work in

the fields before to take their place on the labour front.... China's women are a vast reserve of

labour power. This reserve should be tapped in the struggle to build a great socialist country.

Introductory note to "Solving the Labour Shortage by Arousing the Women to Join in Production" (1955), The

Socialist Upsurge in China's Countryside, Chinese ed., Vol. II.

Enable every woman who can work to take her place on the labour front, under the principle of

equal pay for equal work. This should be done as quickly as possible.

Introductory note to "On Widening the Scope of Women's Work in the Agricultural Co-operative Movement"

(1955), The Socialist Upsurge in China's Countryside, Chinese ed., Vol. I.