Classes and Class Struggle

Classes struggle, some classes triumph, others are eliminated. Such is history, such is the history of civilization for thousands of years. To interpret history from this viewpoint is historical materialism; standing in opposition to this viewpoint is historical idealism.

Source: "Cast Away Illusions, Prepare for Struggle" (August 14, 1949), Selected Works, Vol. IV, p. 428.

階級鬥爭，一些階級勝利了，一些階級消滅了。這就是歷史，這就是幾千年的文明史。拿這個觀點解釋歷史的就叫做歷史的唯物主義，站在這個觀點的反面的是歷史的唯心主義。

In class society everyone lives as a member of a particular class, and every kind of thinking, without exception, is stamped with the brand of a class.

Source: "On Practice" (July 1937), Selected Works, Vol. I, p. 296.

在階級社會中，每一個人都在一定的階級地位中生活，各種思想無不打上階級的烙印。

On Practice — A July 1937 philosophical lecture: knowledge comes from practice and is tested by it; a main source of Chapter 22.

Changes in society are due chiefly to the development of the internal contradictions in society, that is, the contradiction between the productive forces and the relations of production, the contradiction between classes and the contradiction between the old and the new; it is the development of these contradictions that pushes society forward and gives the impetus for the supercession of the old society by the new.

Source: "On Contradiction" (August 1937), Selected Works, Vol. I, P. 314.

社會的變化，主要地是由於社會內部矛盾的發展，即生產力和生產關係的矛盾，階級之間的矛盾，新舊之間的矛盾，由於這些矛盾的發展，推動了社會的前進，推動了新舊社會的代謝。

On Contradiction — August 1937, alongside 'On Practice'. On the universality and particularity of contradiction; the other pillar of the book's method.

The ruthless economic exploitation and political oppression of the peasants by the landlord class forced them into numerous uprisings against its rule… It was the class struggles of the peasants, the peasant uprisings and peasant wars that constituted the real motive force of historical development in Chinese feudal society.

Source: "The Chinese Revolution and the Chinese Communist Party" (December 1939), Selected Works, Vol. II, p. 308.*

地主階級對於農民的殘酷的經濟剝削和政治壓迫，迫使農民多次地舉行起義，以反抗地主階級的統治。……在中國封建社會里，只有這種農民的階級鬥爭、農民的起義和農民的戰爭，才是歷史發展的真正動力。

In the final analysis, national struggle is a matter of class struggle. Among the whites in the United States it is only the reactionary ruling circles who oppress the black people. They can in no way represent the workers, farmers, revolutionary intellectuals and other enlightened persons who comprise the overwhelming majority of the white people.

Source: "Statement Supporting the American Negroes in Their Just Struggle Against Racial Discrimination by U.S. Imperialism" (August 8, 1963), People of the World, Unite and Defeat the U.S. Aggressors and All Their Lackeys, 2nd ed., pp. 3-4.*

民族鬥爭，說到底，是一個階級鬥爭問題。在美國壓迫黑人的，只是白色人種中的反動統治集團。他們絕不能代表白色人種中佔絕大多數的工人、農民、革命的知識分子和其他開明人士。

It is up to us to organize the people. As for the reactionaries in China, it is up to us to organize the people to overthrow them. Everything reactionary is the same; if you don't hit it, it won't fall. This is also like sweeping the floor; as a rule, where the broom does not reach, the dust will not vanish of itself.

Source: "The Situation and Our Policy After the Victory in the War of Resistance Against Japan" (August 13, 1945), Selected Works, Vol. IV, p. 19.

人民靠我們去組織。中國的反動分子，靠我們組織起人民去反他打倒。凡是反動的東西，你不打，他就不倒。這也和掃地一樣，掃帚不到，灰塵照例不會自己跑掉。

The Situation and Our Policy After the Victory in the War of Resistance — 13 Aug 1945, the judgement just after Japan's defeat; source of Chapter 21's first entry.

The enemy will not perish of himself. Neither the Chinese reactionaries nor the aggressive forces of U.S. imperialism in China will step down from the stage of history of their own accord.

Source: "Carry the Revolution Through to the End" (December 30, 1948), Selected Works, Vol. IV, p. 301.

敵人是不會自行消滅的。無論是中國的反動派，或是美國帝國主義在中國的侵略勢力，都不會自行退出歷史舞臺。

A revolution is not a dinner party, or writing an essay, or painting a picture, or doing embroidery; it cannot be so refined, so leisurely and gentle, so temperate, kind, courteous, restrained and magnanimous. A revolution is an insurrection, an act of violence by which one class overthrows another.

Source: "Report on an Investigation of the Peasant Movement in Hunan " (March 1927), Selected Works, Vol. I, p. 28.*

革命不是請客吃飯，不是做文章，不是繪畫繡花，不能那樣雅緻，那樣從容不迫，文質彬彬，那樣溫良恭儉讓。革命是暴動，是一個階級推翻一個階級的暴烈的行動。

Report on an Investigation of the Peasant Movement in Hunan — March 1927, a 32-day field study; an early source of the book's investigation and mass viewpoints.

Chiang Kai-shek always tries to wrest every ounce of power and every ounce of gain from the people. And we? Our policy is to give him tit for tat and to fight for every inch of land. We act after his fashion. He always tries to impose war on the people, one sword in his left hand and another in his right. We take up swords, too, following his example… As Chiang Kai-shek is now sharpening his swords, we must sharpen ours too.

Source: "The Situation and Our Policy After the Victory in the War of Resistance Against Japan" (August 13, 1945), Selected Works, Vol. IV, pp. 14-15.

蔣介石對於人民是寸權必奪，寸利必得。我們呢？我們的方針是針鋒相對，寸土必爭。我們是按照蔣介石的辦法辦事。蔣介石總是要強迫人民接受戰爭，他左手拿著刀，右手也拿著刀。我們就按照他的辦法，也拿起刀來。……現在蔣介石已經在磨刀了，因此，我們也要磨刀。

The Situation and Our Policy After the Victory in the War of Resistance — 13 Aug 1945, the judgement just after Japan's defeat; source of Chapter 21's first entry.

Who are our enemies? Who are our friends? This is a question of the first importance for the revolution. The basic reason why all previous revolutionary struggles in China achieved so little was their failure to unite with real friends in order to attack real enemies. A revolutionary party is the guide of the masses, and no revolution ever succeeds when the revolutionary party leads them astray. To ensure that we will definitely achieve success in our revolution and will not lead the masses astray, we must pay attention to uniting with our real friends in order to attack our real enemies. To distinguish real friends from real enemies, we must make a general analysis of the economic status of the various classes in Chinese society and of their respective attitudes towards the revolution.

Source: "Analysis of the Classes in Chinese Society" (March 1926), Selected Works, Vol. I, p. 13.

誰是我們的敵人？誰是我們的朋友？這個問題是革命的首要問題。中國過去一切革命鬥爭成效甚少，其基本原因就是因為不能團結真正的朋友，以攻擊真正的敵人。革命黨是群衆的嚮導，在革命中未有革命黨領錯了路而革命不失敗的。我們的革命要有不領錯路和一定成功的把握，不可不注意團結我們的真正的朋友，以攻擊我們的真正的敵人。我們要分辨真正的敵友，不可不將中國社會各階級的經濟地位及其對於革命的態度，作一個大概的分析。

Our enemies are all those in league with imperialism - the warlords, the bureaucrats, the comprador class, the big Landlord class and the reactionary section of the intelligentsia attached to them. The leading force in our revolution is the industrial proletariat. Our closest friends are the entire semiproletariat and petty bourgeoisie. As for the vacillating middle bourgeoisie, their right-wing may become our enemy and their left-wing may become our friend - but we must be constantly on our guard and not let them create confusion within our ranks.

Source: Ibid., p. 19.*

一切勾結帝國主義的軍閥、官僚、買辦階級、大地主階級以及附屬於他們的一部分反動知識界，是我們的敵人。工業無產階級是我們革命的領導力量。一切半無產階級、小資產階級，是我們最接近的朋友。那動搖不定的中產階級，其右翼可能是我們的敵人，其左翼可能是我們的朋友——但我們要時常提防他們，不要讓他們擾亂了我們的陣線。

I hold that it is bad as far as we are concerned if a person, a political party, an army or a school is not attacked by the enemy, for in that case it would definitely mean that we have sunk to the level of the enemy. It is good if we are attacked by the enemy, since it proves that we have drawn a clear line of demarcation between the enemy and ourselves. It is still better if the enemy attacks us wildly and paints us as utterly black and without a single virtue; it demonstrates that we have not only drawn a clear line of demarcation between the enemy and ourselves but achieved a great deal in our work.

Source: To Be Attacked by the Enemy Is Not a Bad Thing but a Good Thing (May 26, 1939), 1st pocket ed., p. 2.*

什麼人站在革命人民方面，他就是革命派，什麼人站在帝國主義封建主義官僚資本主義方面，他就是反革命派。什麼人只是口頭上站在革命人民方面而在行動上則另是一樣，他就是一個口頭革命派，如果不但在口頭上而且在行動上也站在革命人民方面，他就是一個完全的革命派。在中國人民政治協商會議第一屆全國委員會第二次會議上的閉幕詞（一九五零年六月二十三日），一九五零年六月二十四日《人民日報》我認為，對我們來說，一個人，一個黨，一個軍隊，或者一個學校，如若不被敵人反對，那就不好了那一定是同敵人同流合污了。如若被敵人反對，那就好了，那就證明我們同敵人劃清界線了。如若敵人起勁地反對我們，把我們說得一塌糊塗，一無是處，那就更好了，那就證明我們不但同敵人劃清了界線，而且證明我們的工作是很有成績的了。

We should support whatever the enemy opposes and oppose whatever the enemy supports.

Source: "Interview with Three Correspondents from the Central News Agency, the Sao Tang Pao and the Hsin Min Pao" (September 16, 1939), Selected Works, Vol. II, p. 272.

凡是敵人反對的，我們就要擁護；凡是敵人擁護的，我們就要反對。

Our stand is that of the proletariat and of the masses. For members of the Communist Party, this means keeping to the stand of the Party, keeping to Party spirit and Party policy.

Source: "Talks at the Yenan Forum on Literature and Art" (May 1942), Selected Works, Vol. III, p. 70.

我們是站在無產階級的和人民大衆的立場。對於共產黨員來說，也就是要站在黨的立場，站在黨性和黨的政策的立場。

Talks at the Yenan Forum on Literature and Art — May 1942, proposing that art serves the workers, peasants and soldiers; the main source of Chapter 32.

After the enemies with guns have been wiped out, there will still be enemies without guns; they are bound to struggle desperately against us, and we must never regard these enemies lightly. If we do nor now raise and understand the problem in this way, we shall commit the gravest mistakes.

Source: "Report to the Second Plenary Session of the Seventh Central Committee of the Communist Party of China " (March 5, 1949), Selected Works, Vol. IV, p. 364.

在拿槍的敵人被消滅以後，不拿槍的敵人依然存在，他們必然地要和我們作拚死的鬥爭，我們決不可以輕視這些敵人。如果我們現在不是這樣地提出問題和認識問題，我們就要犯極大的錯誤。

The imperialists and domestic reactionaries will certainly not take their defeat lying down and they will struggle to the last ditch. After there is peace and order throughout the country, they will still engage in sabotage and create disturbances in various ways and will try every day and every minute to stage a come-back. This is inevitable and beyond all doubt, and under no circumstances must we relax our vigilance.

Source: Opening address at the First Plenary Session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (September 21. 1949).

帝國主義者和國內反動派決不甘心於他們的失敗，他們還要作最後的掙扎。在全國平定以後，他們也還會以各種方式從事破壞和搗亂，他們將每日每時企圖在中國復辟。這是必然的，毫無疑義的，我們務必不要鬆懈自己的警惕性。

In China, although in the main socialist transformation has been completed with respect to the system of ownership, and although the large-scale and turbulent class struggles of the masses characteristic of the previous revolutionary periods have in the main come to an end, there are still remnants of the overthrown landlord and comprador classes, there is still a bourgeoisie, and the remoulding of the petty bourgeoisie has only just started. The class struggle is by no means over. The class struggle between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie, the class struggle between the different political forces, and the class struggle in the ideological held between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie will continue to be long and tortuous and at times will even become very acute. The proletariat seeks to transform the world according to its own world outlook, and so does the bourgeoisie. In this respect, the question of which will win out, socialism or capitalism, is still not really settled.

Source: On the Correct Handling of Contradictions Among the People (February 27, 1957), 1st pocket ed., pp. 51-52.

在我國，雖然社會主義改造，在所有制方面說來，已經基本完成，革命時期的大規模的急風暴雨式的群衆階級鬥爭已經基本結束，但是，被推翻的地主買辦階級的殘餘還是存在，資產階級還是存在，小資產階級剛剛在改造。階級鬥爭並沒有結束。無產階級和資產階級之間的階級鬥爭，各派政治力量之間的階級鬥爭，無產階級和資產階級之間在意識形態方面的階級鬥爭，還是長時期的，曲折的，有時甚至是很激烈的。無產階級要按照自己的世界觀改造世界，資產階級也要按照自己的世界觀改造世界。在這一方面，社會主義和資本主義之間誰勝誰負的問題還沒有真正解決。

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 intellectuals who come from the old society will remain in our country for a long time to come, and so will their class ideology. If this is not sufficiently 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.

Source: Ibid., pp. 52-53.

我國社會主義和資本主義之間在意識形態方面的誰勝誰負的鬥爭，還需要一個相當長的時間才能解決。這是因為資產階級和從舊社會來的知識分子的影響還要在我國長期存在，作為階級的意識形態，還要在我國長期存在。如果對於這種形勢認識不足，或者根本不認識，那就要犯絕大的錯誤，就會忽視必要的思想鬥爭。

In our country bourgeois and petty-bourgeois ideology, anti-Marxist ideology, will continue to exist for a long time. Basically, the socialist system has been established in our country. We have won the basic victory in transforming the ownership of the means of production, but we have not yet won complete victory on the political and ideological fronts. In the ideological field, the question of who will win in the struggle between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie has not been really settled yet. We still have to wage a protracted struggle against bourgeois and petty-bourgeois ideology. It is wrong not to understand this and to give up ideological struggle. All erroneous ideas, all poisonous weeds, all ghosts and monsters, must be subjected to criticism; in no circumstance should they be allowed to spread unchecked. However, the criticism should be fully reasoned, analytical and convincing, and not rough, bureaucratic, metaphysical or dogmatic.

Source: Speech at the Chinese Communist Party's National Conference on Propaganda Work (March 12, 1957), 1st pocket ed., pp. 26-27.*

在我國，資產階級和小資產階級的思想，反馬克思主義的思想，還會長期存在。社會主義制度在我國已經基本建立。我們已經在生產資料所有制的改造方面，取得了基本勝利，但是在政治戰線和思想戰線方面，我們還沒有完全取得勝利。無產階級和資產階級之間在意識形態方面的誰勝誰負問題，還沒有真正解決。我們同資產階級和小資產階級的思想還要進行長期的鬥爭。不瞭解這種情況，放棄思想鬥爭，那就是錯誤的。凡是錯誤的思想，凡是毒草，凡是牛鬼蛇神，都應該進行批判，決不能讓它們自由氾濫。但是，這種批判，應該是充分說理的，有分析的，有說服力的，而不應該是粗暴的、官僚主義的，或者是形而上學的、教條主義的。

Both dogmatism and revisionism run counter to Marxism. Marxism must certainly advance; it must develop along with the development of practice and cannot stand still. It would become lifeless if it remained stagnant and stereotyped. However, the basic principles of Marxism must never be violated, or otherwise mistakes will be made. It is dogmatism to approach Marxism from a metaphysical point of view and to regard it as something rigid. It is revisionism to negate the basic principles of Marxism and to negate its universal truth. Revisionism is one form of bourgeois ideology. The revisionists deny the differences between socialism and capitalism, between the dictatorship of the proletariat and the dictatorship of the bourgeoisie. What they advocate is in fact not the socialist line but the capitalist line. In present circumstances, revisionism is more pernicious than dogmatism. One of our current important tasks on the ideological front is to unfold criticism of revisionism.

Source: Ibid., pp. 27-28.

教條主義和修正主義都是違反馬克思主義的。馬克思主義一定要向前發展，要隨著實踐的發展而發展，不能停滯不前。停止了，老是那麼一套，它就沒有生命了。但是，馬克思主義的基本原則又是不能違背的，違背了就要犯錯誤。用形而上學的觀點來看待馬克思主義，把它看成僵死的東西，這是教條主義。否定馬克思主義的基本原則，否定馬克思主義的普遍真理，這就是修正主義。修正主義是一種資產階級思想。修正主義者抹殺社會主義和資本主義的區別，抹殺無產階級專政和資產階級專政的區別。他們所主張的，在實際上並不是社會主義路線，而是資本主義路線。在現在的情況下，修正主義的比教條主義更有害的東西。我們現在思想戰線上的一個重要任務，就是要開展對於修正主義的批判。

Revisionism, or Right opportunism, is a bourgeois trend of thought that is even more dangerous than dogmatism. The revisionists, the Right opportunists, pay lip-service to Marxism; they too attack "dogmatism". But what they are really attacking is the quintessence of Marxism. They oppose or distort materialism and dialectics, oppose or try to weaken the people's democratic dictatorship and the leading role of the Communist Party, and oppose or try to weaken socialist transformation and socialist construction. After the basic victory of the socialist revolution in our country, there are still a number of people who vainly hope to restore the capitalist system and fight the working class on every front, including the ideological one. And their right-hand men in this struggle are the revisionists.

Source: On the Correct Handling of Contradictions Among the People (February 27, 1957), 1st pocket ed., pp. 56-57.

修正主義，或者右傾機會主義，是一種資產階級思潮，它比教條主義有更大的危險性。修正主義者，右傾機會主義者，口頭上也掛著馬克思主義，他們也在那裡攻擊「教條主義」。但是他們所攻擊的正是馬克思主義的最根本的東西。他們反對或者歪曲唯物論和辯證法，反對或者企圖削弱人民民主專政和共產黨的領導，反對或者企圖削弱社會主義改造和社會主義建設。在我國社會主義革命取得基本勝利以後，社會上還有一部分人夢想恢復資本主義制度，他們要從各個方面向工人階級進行鬥爭，包括思想方面的鬥爭。而在這個鬥爭中，修正主義者就是他們最好的助手。