Chinese Studies in Philosophy

ISSN: 0023-8627 (Print) (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/mcsp19

Mao Zedong on the "Negation of the Negation": A

Bibliographical Essay

Xu Kun

To cite this article: Xu Kun (1992) Mao Zedong on the "Negation of the Negation": A
Bibliographical Essay, Chinese Studies in Philosophy, 23:3-4, 190-218

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.2753/CSP1097-1467230304190

Published online: 23 Dec 2014.

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Mao Zedong on the "Negation of the

Negation": A Bibliographical Essay

Ironically, specific compilations regarding the dialectical

materialist principle of the negation of the negation cannot be
found in the corpora of Comrade Mao Zedong. And yet, in his
life of valiant struggle for the Chinese revolution and socialist
construction, the law informed to great effect Mao's
investigations of and attempts to transform China. Not only are
these thoughts encapsulated in numerous essays and speeches,
they are also naturally reflected therein. However, some
foreigners maintain that Mao Zedong's thought "paid no heed to
this law, either theoretically or practically". Such is not just
ignorance, it is nothing but nonsense. To be sure, his later
treatment of dialectics was marred by his perceptual deviations
vis-d-vis the law of the negation of the negation. However, in
light of his affiiation and application of, and elucidations on
the law of the negation of the negation, this was but a somewhat
non-harmonious finale to a "majestic" symphony.

Source: Mao Zedong zhexue sixiang yanjiu dongtai No. 2

(1982), pp. 1-10. Translated by Warwick Powell.
190
 XU KUN I91

The following collation and enunciation of Mao's basic

elaborations of the form and content of the law of the negation
of the negation is intended for the reference purposes of internal
research.

I. Mao Zedong's affirmation of the objective law of

the negation of the negation and its mobilisation to
guide, analyse and summarise the great practices of
the Chinese Party and people
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The materialist dialectical law of the negation of the

negation reveals primarily the law-like tendencies and patterns
of the processes of the development of nature, society and
human thought. It indicates that the movements of material
contradictions tend to be continually progressive and ascending,
and further, that the course of development always takes the
form of zigzags, an ascending helical negation of the negation.
Engels made the following generalisation regarding this law:
"development given rise to by contradictions, or the negation of
negation - the spirality of developmentW.l Mao's use of the
negation of negation in revolutionary practice manifested itself
in his own distinctive Marxist language. In "On the Chungking
Negotiations" (October, 1945) Mao indicated that:

There are no straight roads in the world; we must be

prepared to follow a road which twists and turns and not
try to get things on the cheap. It must not be imagined
that one fine morning all the reactionaries will go down
on their knees of their own accord. In a word, while the
prospects are bright, the road has twists and turns.
There are still many difficulties ahead which we must
not overlook. By uniting with the entire people in a
common effort, we can certainly overcome all
difficulties and win victory.2

The conclusion that "the prospects are bright, the road

has twists and turns" summarised succinctly the universal law
of the development of the people's revolution, and imbued the
people with confidence to move forward towards the
 192 XU KUN

"brightness", while spiritually preparing them for the arduous

twists and turns. Not only did this prevent "leftist"rectilinearity
and blindness, but moreover, avoided the cyclical theories and
pessimism of the right. Therefore, this conclusion can be
considered as Mao's conclusion on the laws of the Chinese
revolution, and an application of the negation of the negation to
the development of the people's revolution in China.
Within Mao's works on dialectics there are numerous
unequivocal affirmations of the law of the negation of the
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negation.
In 1937 he noted that this comprehensive materialist
dialectical theory of revolution embodied "the law of the unity of
contradictions, the law of transformation of quantity into
quality, and the law of the negation of the negation" and that
these "constituted the basic laws of materialist diale~tics".~ He
pointed out that these represented "the most fundamental
component of the methodology of the Marxist worldview".4
Moreover, he stated:

According to the law of struggle of opposites (the reason

for self motion), the form of each movement is
invariably the progression from previous forms to the
next higher stage. While it is a rectilineal progression, at
the same time, each individual form of movement (each
concrete process of development) can, nevertheless, be
subject to changes in direction or reversals. The
integration of forward and reverse motion constitutes the
complex spiral movement of the totality. For while the
new movement constitutes the antithesis of the old (from
which it had arisen), it inevitably preserves numerous of
its key elements. New phenomena arise from within old
phenomena. The emergence of new forms, new
properties and new attributes of phenomena is affected
through leaps made up of continual breaks, even conflict
and violent rupture (poju). However, at the same time,
the integration and interaction of phenomena cannot be
completely disrupted.5
 XU KUN 193

In "Beat Back the Attacks of the Bourgeois Rightists"

(July, 1957) Mao said:

Everything in the world develops in twists and turns.

For instance, when you walk, you never walk in a
straight line. Have you ever been to Mokan Mountain?
There are eighteen hairpin bends on the way up. Society
invariably moves forward in a spiral.6
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In the draft for "Sixty Points on Work Methods"

(February, 1958) Mao pointed out:

The law of the unity of opposites, the law of

transformation of quantity in quality, and the law of
affirmation and negation exist universally and eternall~.~

And, at the Second Plenum of the Eight Central

Committee convened in May of the same year, Mao said:

Objects invariably move towards their opposites ... The

dialectics of Greece, the metaphysics of the Middle Ages
and the Renaissance, it is the negation of the negation ...
China was the same. The hundred schools of thought in
contention during the Warring States period was a case
of dialectics. The study of Confucian classics during the
feudal era was metaphysics. And now, we once again
speak of dialectics ... Lenin's dialectics, Stalin's partial
metaphysics and today's dialectics are also the negation
of the negation."

Not only did Mao distinctly affirm the "negation of the

negation", he was also able to make incisive theoretical
conclusions and scientific predictions regarding the practice of
the Chinese revolution by the application of this very law.
In summarising the experience and lessons to be learned
from the second revolutionary war, Mao indicated in "Problems
of strategy in China's revolutionary War" (December, 1936)
that
 194 XU KUN

Going by the nature of our strategy, we may also say the

period from the days in the Chingkang Mountains to our
fourth counter-campaign was one stage, the period of
the fifth counter-campaign was another, and the period
of the Long March to the present is the third. During the
fifth counter-campaign the correct policy of the past was
wrongly discarded; today we have correctly discarded
the wrong policy adopted during the fifth counter-
campaign and revived the earlier and correct policy.
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However, we have not thrown out everything in the fifth

counter-campaign, nor revived everything that preceded
it. We have revived only what was good in the past,
and discarded only the mistakes of the period of the fifth
counter-campaign.9

In "On Contradiction" (August, 1937) he said:

To consolidate the dictatorship of the proletariat or the

dictatorship of the people is in fact to prepare the
conditions for abolishing this dictatorship and advancing
to the higher stage when all state systems are eliminated.
To establish and build the Communist Party is in fact to
prepare the conditions for the elimination of the
Communist Party and all political parties. These
opposites are at the same time complementary.10

In "On Protracted War" (May, 1938) Mao scientifically

foresaw the complete process and outcome of the Anti-Japanese
War:

Since the Sino-Japanese war is a protracted one and the

final victory will belong to China, it can reasonably be
assumed that this protracted war will pass through three
stages. The first stage covers the period of the enemy's
strategic offensive and our strategic defensive. The
second stage will be the period of the enemy's strategic
consolidation and our preparation for the counter-
offensive. The third stage will be the period of our
strategic counter-offensive and the enemy's strategic
 XU KUN 195

retreat. It is impossible to predict the concrete situation

in the three stages, but certain main trends in the war
may be pointed out in the light of present conditions.
The objective course of events will be exceedingly rich
and varied, with many twists and turns, and nobody can
cast a horoscope for the Sino-Japanese war;
nevertheless it is necessary for strategic direction of the
war to make a rough sketch of its trends.ll
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Mao indicated in "An Outline for Ppposition to

Capitulation" (June, 1939) that:

There are two possible futures to the Anti-Japanese War;

fmtly, more resistance and less capitulation or secondly,
more capitulation and less resistance .... The long term
twists and turns of the Chinese revolution can either be
subsumed by long term twists and turns, or be
subsumed by twists and turns of an even longer duration
.... We have never suggested that victory in the Anti-
Japanese War should be swift and straightforward. On
the contrary, we have continually advocated the theory
of long-term and oscillating struggles. Moreover, we
have never suggested that we could overcome
capitulationism and achieve victory without arousing the
people of the whole country, without initiating
democratisation of the nation.12

In his analysis of the destiny of the "state" in "On the

People's Democratic Dictatorship" (June, 1949), Mao said:

"Don't you want to abolish state power?" Yes, we do,

but not right now; we cannot do it yet. Why? Because
imperialism still exists, because domestic reaction still
exists, because classes still exist in our country. Our
present task is to strengthen the people's state apparatus
.... Given this condition, China can develop steadily,
under the leadership of the working class and the
Communist Party, from an agricultural into an industrial
country and from a new-democratic into a socialist and
 196 XU KUN

communist society, can abolish classes and realize the

Great Harmony.13

In so doing, he thus pointed out the dialectical law

whereby the abolition of "state power" and the future
"realization of the Great Harmony" necessarily presupposes the
present consolidation of state apparatuses.
Mao also pointed out in this talk "On the Ten Major
Relationships" (April, 1956) that:
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The Communist Party and the democratic parties are all

products of history. What emerges in history disappears
in history. Therefore, the Communist Party will
disappear one day, and so will the democratic parties ....
But at the present we cannot do without the proletarian
party and the dictatorship of the proletariat and, what is
more, it is imperative that they should be made more
powerful. Otherwise, we would not be able to suppress
the counter-revolutionaries, resist the imperialists and
build socialism, or consolidate it when it is built.14

This elaboration of the dialectical process of the

historical development of the "party" and "dictatorship" follows
the same principle as that elaborated previously vis-h-visthe
dialectic of the "abolition" and "consolidation" of state power.
In the same speech, when talking of the relationship
between heavy industry, light industry and agriculture, he
indicated that there was a need to appropriately restructure the
investment ratios between them so as to further develop
agriculture and light industry. He said:

Here the question arises: Is your desire to develop

heavy industry genuine or feigned, strong or weak? If
your desire is feigned or weak, then you will hit
agriculture and light industry and invest less in them. If
your desire is genuine and strong, then you will attach
importance to agriculture and light industry so that there
will be more grain and more raw materials for light
industry and a great accumulation of capital. And there
 XU KUN 197

will be more funds in the future to invest in heavy

industry.15

Here, Mao is extremely clear in explicating the dialectical

channels by which heavy industry was to be developed; and in
doing so, he negates the metaphysical fantasy of a straight
forward road.
In "On the Correct Handling of Contradictions among
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the People" (February, 1957) Mao mobilised the "negation of

the negation" to advance his famous formula on how to resolve
contradictions among the people:

This democratic method of resolving contradictions

among the people was epitomized in 1942 in the formula
"unity-criticism-unity". To elaborate, that means
starting from the desire for unity, resolving
contradictions through criticism or struggle, and arriving
at a new unity on a new basis.16

Manifestly, here, Mao promulgates the law of the

"negation of the negation" for the correct resolution of
contradictions among the people.
Particularly commendable was Mao's use of the
principle of cyclical ascent embodied in the law of the negation
of the negation when discussing the dialectical analysis of the
process of human cognition. In doing so, he was able to
summarise from different sides the law of the movement of
human knowledge.
In "On Practice" (July, 1937) Mao summarised for the
first time the dialectical relationship between practice and
knowledge saying:

Discover the truth through practice, and again through

practice verify and develop the truth. Start from
perceptual knowledge and actively develop it into
rational knowledge; then start from rational knowledge
and actively guide revolutionary practice to change both
the subjective and objective world. Practice,
 198 XU KUN

knowledge, again practice, and again knowledge. This

foxm repeats itself in endless cycles, and with each cycle
the content of practice and knowledge rises to a higher
level."

In "On Contradiction" (August, 1937) Mao incisively

pointed out that:

As regards the sequence in the movement of man's

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knowledge there is always a gradual growth from the

knowledge of individual and particular things to the
knowledge of things in general. Only after man knows
the particular essence of many different things can he
proceed to generalization and know the common essence
of things. When man attains the knowledge of this
common essence, he uses it as a guide and proceeds to
study various concrete things which have not yet been
studied, or studied thoroughly, and to discover the
particular essence of each; only thus is he able to
supplement, enrich and develop his knowledge of their
common essence and prevent such knowledge from
withering or petrifying. These are the two processes of
cognition: one, from the particular to the general, and
the other, from the general to the particular. Thus,
cognition always moves in cycles and (so long as a
scientific method is strictly adhered to) each cycle
advances human knowledge a step higher and so makes
it more and more profound. ls

Similarly, by raising the mass line to the level of

consciousness, in "Concerning Methods of Leadership" (June,
1943) Mao expressed the dialectical relationship between the
implementation of the mass line and the movement of the
development of knowledge:

In all the practical work of our Party, all correct

leadership is necessarily "from the masses, to the
masses". This means: take the ideas of the masses
(scattered and unsystematic ideas) and concentrate them
 XU KUN 199

(through study turn them into concentrated and

systematic ideas), then go to the masses and propagate
and explain these ideas until the masses embrace them as
their own, hold fast to them and translate them into
action, and test the correctness of these ideas in such
action. Then once again concentrate ideas from the
masses and once again go to the masses so that the ideas
are persevered in and carried through. And so on, over
and over again in an endless spiral, with the ideas
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becoming more correct, more vital and richer each time.

Such is the Marxist theory of knowledge.19

This comprehensive elaboration of the dialectical laws of

the movement of knowledge pertaining to practice and
knowledge, the particular and the general, and from the masses
to the masses, constitutes Mao's unique view on the negation of
the negation in the sphere of knowledge.

11. The "wave-likett form of development: Mao

Zedong's deepening of the content of the law of the
negation of the negation

The concept of "wave-like" development appears often

in Mao's works on the laws of the process and tendencies of the
development of objects. Indeed, on the odd occasion, Mao
used both "wave-like" and "spiral" in the same sense. For
instance: "accumulation proceeds in a wave-like manner or in
~pirals".2~ However, the term "wave-like" is for the most part
an independent concept in his work. In a sense, it can at times
be compared with the spiral form of the negation of the
negation. However, for those issues and problems that cannot
be explained by the spiral thesis, the wave-like principle can
render them explicit. As such, the latter formulation is far more
concrete than the spiral thesis, is more flexible and can easily
penetrate into the details of the negation of the negation. In
depicting the progression and the twists and turns of the
development of phenomena, the concept of a wave-like form of
advance is more universal, more regular and more easily
understood than the spiral theory. I believe that it was this
 200 XU KUN

reason that underpinned the basic use of the "wave-like" form of

development in the works of Mao. In his writings five basic
manifestations of the "wave-like" concept are discernible.

(i) The expansive wave

The expansive wave depicts the outward development of
phenomena, from a point to a whole surface, from the inside to
the outside.
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In "Why Is It That Red Political Power Can Exist in

China?" (October, 1928), Mao makes clear that one of the
policies of the Special Committee and the Military Committee
for the struggle in Jinggangshan was to:

Adopt the policy of advancing in a series of waves to

expand the area under the independent regime, and
oppose the policy of expansion by adventurist
advance.21

In "A Single Spark Can Start a Prairie Fire" (January,

1930), Mao pointed out that at that time, the adoption of the
correct policy of "advancing in a series of waves"22 was
necessary for the consolidation and development of political
power.
With respect to the consolidation and development of
guerrilla bases, Mao said in "Problems of Strategy in Guerrilla
War against Japan" (May, 1938):

At one time, the emphasis may be on expansion, i.e., on

expanding the guerrilla zones and increasing the number
of guerrillas. At another, the emphasis may be on
consolidation, i.e., on organizing the masses and
training the troops. As expansion and consolidation
differ in nature, and as the military dispositions and
other tasks will differ accordingly, an effective solution
of the problem is possible only if we can alternate the
emphasis according to time and circ~mstances.2~
 XU KUN 201

In "Essential Points in Land Reform in the New

Liberated areas" (February, 1948) Mao said in reference to the
expansion of land reforms that:

Do not start the work in all places at the same time, but
choose strong cadres to carry it out first in certain places
to gain experience, then spread the experience step by
step and expand the work in waves. This applies to a
whole strategic area as well as to a single county. It also
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applies to the old and the semi-old Liberated Areas.24

In "Talks at a Conference of Secretaries of Provincial,

Municipal and Autonomous Region Party Committees"
(January, 1957) Mao pointed out the demands posed by the
economic construction problem of accumulation:

Accumulate more in good years and less or none in

years when the crops half fail or totally fail. In other
words, accumulation proceeds in a wave-like manner or
in spirals. Since everything in the world is itself a
contradiction, a unity of opposites, its movement and
development is wave-like. The light emitted by the sun
is called light waves, the waves transmitted by radio
stations are called radio waves, and sound is carried by
sound waves. Water moves in water waves and heat in
heat waves. In a sense, walking also proceeds in
waves, the step-by-step movement constituting waves.
Opera-singing also proceeds in waves, with the singer
singing one line after another, never seven or eight lines
at a time. Handwriting too is done in waves, for people
write one word after another and not several hundred
words with the one stroke of the pen. Such is the
undulatory nature of the movement of opposites in all
things.25

(ii) The intermittent wave

The intermittent wave depicts the sporadic, intermittent
nature of the development of phenomena. In the progression of
 202 XU KUN

work, it is knowing when to pause, and when to take up an

opportunity.
When discussing policy questions regarding occupied
areas and the struggles against the enemy in "The Chinese
Revolution and the Chinese Communist Party" (December,
1939) Mao commented that:

It is also clear that the Communist Party must not be

impetuous and adventurist in its propaganda and
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organizational work in the urban and rural areas which

have been occupied by the enemy and dominated by the
forces of reaction and darkness for a long time, but that
it must have well-selected cadres working underground,
must accumulate strength and bide its time there. In
leading the people in the struggle against the enemy, the
Party must adopt the tactics of advancing step by step
slowly and surely, keeping to the principle of waging
struggles on just grounds, to our advantage, and with
restraint, and making use of such open forms of activity
as are permitted by law, decree and social custom;
empty clamour and reckless action can never lead to
success.26

In "Don't Hit out in All Directions" (June, 1950), Mao

said:

Social reforms in their [the minority nationalities'] areas

are a matter of great importance and must be handled
cautiously. On no account must we be impetuous, for
impatience will lead to trouble. No reform is to be
instituted unless the conditions are ripe. Neither should
any major reform be introduced where only one of the
conditions is ripe while the others are not. Of course,
this is not to say that no reform at all is to be carried out.
As stipulated by the Common Programme, customs and
folk-ways in the minority nationality areas may be
reformed. But the minority nationalities themselves
should do the reforming. Without popular support,
without the people's armed forces and without the
 XU KUN 203

minority nationalities' own cadres, no reform of a mass

character should be attempted.27

When discussing the rate of co-operativisation, in "The

Co-operative Transformation of Agriculture" (July, 1955) Mao
demanded that:

In every province or county, whenever a batch of co-

operatives is established, expansion must be halted to
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allow time for a check-up before setting up a new batch.

The idea of never allowing any pause, any intermission,
is wrong.28

In "The Debate on the Co-operative Transformation of

Agriculture and the Current Class Struggle" (October, 1955)
Mao noted in reference to the development of co-operatives that:

Plans for co-operative transformation should specify

different rates of development for different areas. There
are three kinds of areas. The first comprises the greater
part of our rural areas, the second a section of the
smaller part of our rural areas and the third the
remainder. For the greater part of our rural areas the
development should be in three waves, that is three
winters and springs. The three waves consist of this
winter and next spring, next winter and the following
spring, and another winter and spring. Three winters
and springs make three waves, one wave surging after
another, and in between there should be an interval.29

He pointed out, however, that in the establishment of

co-operatives

... there has to be an interval for rest and consolidation

between two waves and that after a batch of co-
operatives has been set up, there should be check-ups
and consolidation before more are established. It is like
fighting battles, there should be rest and consolidation
between two battles. It is entirely wrong to do without,
 204 XU KUN

leave no interval and allow no breathing space. There

was once a view in the army that rest and consolidation
were dispensable, that a respite was unnecessary and
that what was necessary was to march on and fight all
the time, which, as a matter of fact, is impossible. Men
must sleep. If the meeting we are holding today should
not adjourn but go on and on indefinitely, everybody
would be against this, including me. Men need a long
rest and consolidation every day - seven or eight, or at
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least five or six, hours of sleep, not counting the shorter

rests during the day. To say that the establishment of
ceoperatives, a matter of such importance, can dispense
with rest and consolidation is most naive.30

Further, he indicated that:

When there is an upsurge of enthusiasm among the

masses, when everyone asks to join the co-operatives, it
is impossible to envisage all kinds of difficulties and
every unfavourable condition conceivable, openly make
them known to the masses and let the masses consider
the matter fully .... We are opposed to boundless
anxiety and countless taboos and regulations .... It is
absolutely right to have the necessary anxiety, taboos
and regulations, and the necessary pauses,
intermissions, putting on of brakes and c u t - o f f ~ . ~ ~
\.

(iii) The advancing and retreating wave

This refers to the setbacks, resistance, or unfavourable
circumstances frequently encountered in the process of
advancement of things, and the temporary or partial wave of
retreat which results. Such retreats are imperative to progress;
they constitute a necessary condition for it. Without retreat,
there can be no progress. For the attainment of victory, it is
paramount that revolutionaries grasp the art of struggle
embodied in the dialectic of advancement and retreat.
In "Problems of Strategy in China's Revolutionary War"
(December, 1936), Mao pointed out that:
 XU KUN 205

The only entirely correct proposition is that a revolution

or a revolutionary war is an offensive but also involves
defence and retreat. To defend in order to attack, to
retreat in order to advance, to move against the flanks in
order to move against the front, and to take a roundabout
route in order to get on the direct route - this is inevitable
in the process of development of many phenomena,
especially military movements.32
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In "Win the Masses in Their Millions for the Anti-

Japanese National United Front" (May, 1937) Mao said with
regard to the then present peace situation that:

In saying that peace has been attained, we do not mean

that it is consolidated; on the contrary, we have said that
it is not consolidated. Bringing about peace and
consolidating it are two different things. History might
reverse its course for a while and peace might meet with
setbacks because of the existence of Japanese
imperialism, traitors and the pro-Japanese group.33

In "On Protracted War" (May, 1938) Mao commented:

Territory has been given up in order to preserve our

military forces and indeed to preserve territory, because
if we do not abandon part of our territory when
conditions are unfavourable but blindly fight decisive
engagements without the least assurance of winning, we
shall lose our military forces and then be unable to avoid
the loss of all our territory, to say nothing of recovering
temtory already lost .... Events have their twists and
turns and do not follow a straight line, and war is no
exception; only formalists are unable to comprehend
this t r ~ t h . 3 ~

Further, in discussing the characteristics of mobile

warfare, Mao pointed out that:
 206 XUKUN

Our strategy should be to employ our main forces to

operate over an extended and fluid front. To achieve
success, the Chinese troops must conduct their warfare
with a high degree of mobility on extensive battlefields,
making swift advances and withdrawals, swift
concentrations and dispersals. This means large-scale
mobile warfare, and not positional warfare depending
exclusively on defence work with deep trenches, high
fortresses and successive rows of defensive positions.
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It does not mean the abandonment of all the vital

strategic points, which should be defended by positional
warfare as long as profitable. But the pivotal strategy
must be mobile warfare. Positional warfare is also
necessary, but strategically it is auxiliary and
secondary.35

In "Don't Hit Out in All Directions" (June, 1950) Mao

said:

... we must not hit out in all directions. It is undesirable

to hit out in all directions and cause nation-wide tension.
We must definitely not make too many enemies, we
must make concessions and relax the tension a little in
some quarters and concentrate our attack in one
clire~tion.3~

(iv) The even and uneven waves

The alternating even and uneven development of
phenomena is also a form of wave-like progression. This is
often found in nature, society and thought. In the works of
Mao, the form of such waves is raised with particular reference
to the problems of the development of the Chinese revolution
and the construction of a socialist economy.
In "On Tactics Against Japanese Imperialism"
(December, 1935) Mao said:

The uneven political and economic development of

China gives rise to the uneven development of her
 XU KUN 207

revolution. As a rule, revolution starts, grows and

triumphs first in those places in which the counter-
revolutionary forces are comparatively weak, while it
has yet to start or grows very slowly in those places in
which they are strong. Such has long been the situation
for the Chinese revolution. It can be predicted that the
general revolutionary situation will grow further at
certain stages in the future but that the uneveness will
remain.37
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In "The Chinese Revolution and the Chinese Communist

Party" (December, 1939) Mao indicated that:

... because China's economic development is uneven

(her economy not being a unified capitalist economy),
because her temtory is extensive (which gives the
revolutionary forces room to manoeuvre), because the
counter-revolutionary camp is disunited and full of
contradictions, and because the struggle of the peasants
who are the main force in the revolution is led by the
Communist Party, the party of the proletariat; but on the
other hand, these very circumstances make the
revolution uneven and render the task of winning
complete victory protracted and arduous.38

In the "Speech at the Second Plenary Session of the

Eight Central Committee of the Communist Party of China"
(November, 1956) it was noted by Mao that:

Our planned economy is at once in equilibrium and in

disequilibrium. Equilibrium is temporary and
conditional. After equilibrium is temporarily
established, changes will take place. Equilibrium in the
first half of the year will become disequilibrium in the
second half; equilibrium in the current year will change
into disequilibrium in the next. It is impossible to have
equilibrium all the time without having it upset. We
Marxists hold that disequilibrium, contradiction,
struggle and development are absolute, while
 208 XU KUN

equilibrium and rest are relative. Relative means

temporary, conditional. Viewed in this light, is our
economy advancing or retreating? We should tell the
cadres and the masses that it is both advancing and
retreating, but mainly advancing, though not in a straight
line but in a wave-like manner. Although there are times
when we get off the horse, as a rule we get on more
often.39
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Once more analysing the wave-like patterns of the

eveness and uneveness of the planned economy, Mao said in
"On the Correct Handling of Contradictions among the People"
(February, 1957) that:

Every year our country draws up an economic plan in

order to establish a proper ratio between accumulation
and consumption and achieve an equilibrium between
production and needs. Equilibrium is nothing but a
temporary, relative, unity of opposites. By the end of
each year, this equilibrium taken as a whole, is upset by
the struggle of opposites; the unity undergoes a change,
equilibrium becomes disequilibrium, unity becomes
disunity, and once again it is necessary to work out an
equilibrium and unity for the next year. Herein lies the
superiority of our planned economy.40

During the revolutionary war, in appreciation of the

uneven nature of China's past political and economic
development, Mao was able to propose the strategy that the
revolution should initially be launched in areas where
reactionary forces were dominant, though weak. In doing so,
political power was to be forcefully captured by the encirclement
of the cities from the countryside. From the fact that the
uneveness of the strength of the counter-revolutionary forces
gave rise to the possibility of initial revolutionary victories in
weak areas, Mao was able to ascertain the uneven nature of the
development of the revolution. The Chinese revolution started
from the grassroots, from the liberated areas and spread wave-
like across the remainder of the country. However, it was not
 XU KUN 209

possible to mechanically transpose those correct policies

pursued in light of the uneveness of the war period for use in
the economic construction of socialism.
Economic construction is no stranger to problems of
disequilibrium. Yet, what is demanded by national economic
development is even, planned, proportionate economic
development. Between 1956 and 1957 Mao Zedong
theoretically expounded without error the wave-like nature of
the equilibrium and disequilibrium of economic construction.
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However, the effects of the correct policies pursued in view of

the uneveness of the war period spread towards economic
construction. That the respective conditions of the two periods
were not analogous meant that the effects would consequently
vary whereby positive economic results were not achieveable.
At the Eighth Party Congress reconvened in May 1958 Mao
pointed out:

The disruption of equilibrium is a leap forward; it is far

better than equilibrium. To think of greatly damaging
equilibrium is a good thing .... For everybody to exert
intense pressure will result in massive development.
This is g00d.41

Practice proved however that such was but a form of

"massive development" of proportionate dislocation. Added to
the already existing objective disequilibriums, artificial
disequilibriums resulted in more than twenty years of economic
hardship. The punishment dealt to us by objective economic
laws compelled us to recognise the wave-like nature of
economic equilibrium and disequilibrium, and to demand the
achievement of tendential equilibrium or "intense equilibrium".
In development one seeks equilibrium; in equilibrium one seeks
development. One cannot disrupt equilibrium nor can one
utilise artificial disequilibriums to promote economic
"development".
 210 XU KUN

(v) The wave of affirmation and negation

Affirmation and negation are a pair of basic dialectical
categories. In the works of Mao, affirmation and negation were
primarily used to carry out concrete analysis of concrete
conditions. We are told that when using the dialectic to analyse
problems, one should neither affirm everything, nor negate
everything. Such is the wave of affirmation and negation
constituted in our processes of knowledge and analysis of
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phenomena.
In "On New Democracy" (February, 1940) when
discussing the scientific mass culture of the nationalities, and
what parts of foreign and ancient Chinese cultures should be
retained, Mao indicated that:
To nourish her own culture China needs to assimilate a
good deal of foreign progressive culture, not enough of
which was done in the past. We should assimilate
whatever is useful to us today not only from the present-
day socialist and new-democratic cultures but also from
the earlier cultures of other nations, for example, from
the culture of the various capitalist countries in the Age
of Enlightenment. However, we should not gulp any of
this foreign material down uncritically, but must treat it
as we do our food - first chew it, then submitting it to
the working of the stomach and intestines with their
juices and secretions, and separating it into nutriment to
be absorbed and waste matter to be discarded - before it
can nourish us. To advocate "wholesale westernisation"
is wrong. China has suffered a great deal from the
mechanical absorption of foreign material.42

And further:
A splendid old culture was created during the long
period of Chinese feudal society. To study the
development of this old culture, to reject its feudal dross
and assimilate its democratic essence is a necessary
condition for developing our new national culture and
 XU KUN 211

increasing our national self-confidence, but we should

never swallow anything and everything uncritically. It
is imperative to separate the fine old culture of the people
which had a more or less democratic and revolutionary
character from all the decadence of the old feudal ruling
class. China's present new politics and new economy
have developed out of her old politics and old economy,
and her present new culture, too, has developed out of
her old culture; therefore, we must respect our own
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history and must not lop it off. However, respect for

history means giving it its proper place as a science,
respecting its dialectical development, and not eulogizing
the past at the expense of the present or praising every
drop of feudal poison.43

What is demanded of us in our analyses of foreign and

ancient cultures is the rejection of the dross and the assimilation
of what is worthy, as spoken of here. We must affirm what
should be a f f m e d and negate what should be negated; there
must be affirmation in the negation and negation in the
affirmation. To avoid blindness, scientificity is paramount.
Such an important mode of thought has universal significance.
Consequently, in "On the Ten Major Relationships" (April,
1956) Mao proposed the slogan of "learning from other
countries" and established that:

Our policy is to learn from the strong points of all

nations and all countries, learn all that is genuinely good
in the political, economic, scientific, and technological
fields and in literature and art. But we must learn with
an analytical and critical eye, not blindly, and we
mustn't copy everything indiscriminately and transplant
mechanically. Naturally, we mustn't pick up their
shortcomings and weak points.44

In summarising the historical experiences of the Party

Mao pointed out in "Our Study and the Current Situation"
(April, 1944) that we should:
 212 XU KUN

Treat all questions analytically; do not negate

everything. The question concerning the line of the
central leadership during the period from the Fourth
Plenary Session to the Tsunyi Meeting, for example,
should be analysed from two aspects. It should be
pointed out on the one hand that the political tactics, the
military tactics and the cadres policy which the central
leading body adopted during that period were wrong in
their main aspects, but on the other hand that on such
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fundamental issues as opposing Chiang Kai-shek and

carrying on the Agrarian Revolution and the struggle of
the Red Army there was no dispute between ourselves
and the comrades who committed errors. And even the
tactical side needs to be analysed. On the land question,
for instance, their error consisted in the ultra-Left policy
of allotting no land to the landlords and poor land to the
rich peasants, but these comrades were at one with us on
confiscating the land of the landlords for distribution
among peasants who had little or no land.45

He criticised metaphysical methods for the following

reason:

Lacking an analytical approach, many of our comrades

do not want to go deeply into complex matters, to
analyse and study them over and over again, but like to
draw simple conclusions which are either absolutely
affmtive or absolutely negative.46

And considered that:

In order to get rid of the practice of acting blindly which

is so common in our Party, we must encourage our
comrades to think, to learn the method of analysis and to
cultivate the habit of analysis.47

Here, to "encourage ... to think" and "to learn the

method of analysis" refer primarily to teaching the whole party
the scientific method of dialectical analysis. In Mao's criticism
 XU KUN 213

of the influence of Wang Ming's Left-deviationism, where there

was negation, there was affirmation; he drew distinctions
between mistakes and correct points and between similarities
and differences. He emphasised both criticism and assistance of
those comrades influenced by Wang Ming's Left-deviationism,
to teach them to be dialectical materialist members of the
Communist Party and to cultivate the necessary habits of
thinking and analysis; to set a worthy example for the whole
Party to follow, to show the correct way to address mistakes
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and mistaken comrades. However, in his later years dialectical

thought took a retreat and little was done to uphold this
principle.
Analysing the positive and negative aspects of our Party,
Mao said in his "Speech at the Chinese Communist Party's
National Conference on Propaganda Work (March, 1957) that:

Ours is a great Party, a glorious Party, a correct Party.

This must be affirmed as a fact. But we still have
shortcomings, and this, too, must be affirmed as a fact.
We should not affirm everything about ourselves, but
only what is correct; at the same time, we should not
negate everything about ourselves, but only what is
wrong. Achievements are the main thing in our work,
and yet there are not a few shortcomings and mistakes.
That is why we need a rectification movement.48

In discussing the one-sideness of ways of thinking he

also pointed out that, "In appraising our work, it is one-sided to
a f f m everything or to negate everythingM.49Not only does
this uphold dialectical materialism, it is also very correct.
Consequently, it was decided to carry out a great rectification
movement in the whole Party in the Spring of 1957. In actual
fact, however, the movement was not that dialectical nor that
open-minded.
In roughly dividing the "wave-like" principle into five
forms, I have only discussed certain comparatively obvious
characteristicsof each of them without mentioning that between
them exist definite demarcation lines that cannot be
transgressed. For instance, generally speaking, while
 214 XU KUN

affurnation and negation are applicable to all forms of the wave-

like principle, here, it has only been used as a narrow method of
analysis. Similarly, the wave-like principle has also only been
applied as a limited analytical tool. In the works of Mao
Zedong, the wave-like pattern is not necessarily restricted to the
five forms noted above. These five forms are not necessarily
perfect and indeed, further discussion and research is required.

111. Theoretical variations in Mao Zedong's

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treatment of the "negation of the negationtt in his

later years and lessons to derive from them

The above discussion has explicitly demonstrated that in

the protracted period prior to and including the 1950s, Mao
Zedong fully recognised and thoroughly comprehended the
dialectical law of the negation of the negation. He applied it
with great effect to the examination of objects and as a guide to
practice. However, following the anti-rightist campaign of
1957, while still correct on many occasions and on numerous
aspects, Mao's own left deviationist thought became further
manifest as a result of the ever-increasing seriousness of the
same trend within the Party; vacillations (qifu) in this thought
occurred, and by the commencement of the "Great Cultural
Revolution" his left deviationism had developed beyond the
point where it could be contained. The important law of the
negation of the negation was no longer raised in theory, and
consequently, the objective existence of the law was denied.
Further, it was no longer applied in practice to examine
phenomena, analyse problems and guide work, to the very
extent of abandoning his very own Marxist concept of "waves".
Rectilineal (zhixianshi) "negation", one-sidedness, superficiality
(biaomianxing) and subjectivism were increasingly apparent.
Some issues were explained by reference to a circular theory
(xunhuanlun), and many other positions became rigid and
ossified. Blindness and rectilinearity damaged the scientificity
and integrity of dialectical materialism and this bore serious
consequences for practical work. Mao Zedong's speeches in
denial of the law of the "negation of the negation" have never
 XU KUN 215

been made public. Two works of this nature are to be found in

internal resources.
The first of which, the "Talk on Questions of
Philosophy" delivered at Beidaihe on August 18,1964 stated:

Engels talked about three categories, but as for me, I

don't believe in two of those categories (the unity of
opposites is a basic law, the transformation of quantity
and quality into each other is also the unity of opposites,
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and there is no such thing as the negation of the

negation). ... Every link in a chain of events is both
affirmation and negation. Slave society negates
primitive society, but also affirms feudal society.
Feudal society negates slave society, but also affirms
capitalist society. Capitalist society negates feudal
society, but also affirms socialist society.50

The other, a speech at a meeting in Hangzhou on

December 21, 1965, stated:

Previously, dialectics posited three great laws; Stalin

posited four. For me, however, there is but one basic
law - the law of contradiction. Quality and quantity,
affirmation and negation, substance and phenomenon,
content and form, inevitability and freedom, possibility
and reality, etc ... are all cases of the unity of
opposites.51

Manifestly, both these speeches dismissed the

transformation of quantity into quality as a basic dialectical law.
As for the "negation of negation", he merely said, "basically, it
does not existW.52Thereafter, all that remained of dialectics in
the "late" Mao was the law of the unity of opposites.
In their comprehensive exegesis on dialectical
materialism, Marx and Engels, as the founders of dialectical
materialism, affirmed the inclusion of the law of the "negation
of the negation" as a basic law of dialectics. Lenin's
explications on the principle make a particularly important
contribution. It is proven by both theory and practice that the
 216 XU KUN

three basic laws of dialectics constitute a complete organic

totality; with its own objectivity and scientificity, it cannot be
disintegrated or forsaken at one's whim.
Mao Zedong was a great leader of the Chinese Party and
of the Chinese people. He was also a great teacher of
philosophy. For the most part, his life, which was devoted to
the revolutionary struggle, especially the 1930s and 1940s, was
a golden period for the dialectic; this was an outstanding
example of the application of Marxist dialectical materialism to
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the successful undertaking of the people's revolution, a brilliant

work in the whole history of the development of Marxist
dialectics. Mao's work, particularly on military dialectics and
methodology, raised him to a newer, higher level than the
Marxists of previous generations. This is one of Mao Zedong's
outstanding contributions to Marxism. But in his later years, in
the decade prior to his death, lured into the trap of left
deviationism, Mao was led to discard the dialectic in part, even
to the unprincipled abandonment of results achieved dialectically
through blood and sweat by himself and his compatriots of war
and Party comrades, to the extent of damaging and creating
chaos amid the socialist revolution and socialist construction,
and he theoretically transgressed the bounds set by Marxism,
and this is something in the history of Marxist dialectics from
which we should draw the appropriate lessons.

Notes

1. Engels. F.. The Dialectics of Nafure (Moscow: Progress Publishers.

1954). [Tr.]
2. Mao Zedong. Selected Works of Mao Tse-tung (Peking: FLP. 1961)
IV.p. 60. (Hereafter SW).
3 . Mao Zedong, Dialectical Materialism (lecture delivered at the Anti-
Japanese Military and Political College established in Yan'an during the War of
Resistance Against Japan). For a complete translation of Mao's "Lecture Notes
on Dialectical Materialism", see Nick Knight (ed.), Mao Zedong on Dialectical
Materialism: Writings on Philosophy, 1937 (New York: M.E. Sharpe, 1990),
pp. 84-131. [TI.]
 XU KUN 217

4. Ibid.
5. Ibid.
6. SW V, p ~ 462-3.
.
7. See Jerome Chen (ed.). Mao Papers: Anthology and Bibliography
(London: Oxford University Press. 1970). p. 65. [Tr.]
8. Joint Publication Research Service, Miscellany of Mao Tse-lung
Thought (1949-1968) (Arlington. Virginia: February. 1974). Part 1. p. 98.
Vr.1
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9. SW I, p. 243.
10. Ibid., p. 339.
1 1. SW II. pp. 136-7.
12. See Takeuchi Minoru (ed.), Mao Zedong ji bujuan [Supplements to
collected writings of Mao Zedong] (Tokyo: Sososha, 1983-6) VI, pp. 45-88.
Vr.1
13. SW IV. p. 418.
14. SW V, p. 297.
15. SW V. p. 297.
16. SW V. pp. 389-90.
17. SW I. p. 308.
18. SW I. pp. 320-1.
19. sw m.p. 119.
20. SW V. p. 382.
21. SW I. p. 68.
22. SW I. p. 118.
23. SW II. p. 101.
24. SW IV. p. 202.
25. SW V. p. 382.
26. SW II. p. 318.
27. SW V. p. 35.
28. SW V. p. 200.
29. SW V, p. 219.
30. SW V, p ~ 228-9.
.
3 1. SW V, p. 231.
32. SW I. p. 204.
33. SW I. p. 286.
 218 XU KUN

34. SW I , p. 183.
35. SW I. p. 119.
36. SW V . p. 35.
37. SW I , p. 162.
38. SWII.p.317.
39. SW V . p ~ 332-3.
.
40. SW V , p. 395.
41. The translation is my own. For an alternate translation, see
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Miscellany of Mao Tse-rung Thought, Part 1 , p. 112. [Tr.]

42. SW 11, p. 380.
43. SW 11, p. 381.
44. SW V . p. 303.
45. SW IV, pp. 164-5.
46. sw m.p. 165.
47. sw m.p. 175.
48. SW V.p.428.
49. SW V , p. 429.
50. See Schram, Mao Tse-tung Unrehearsed, p. 226. [Tr.]
5 1. See Ibid.. p. 240. [Tr.]
52. Ibid.. p. 226. [Tr.]