Table Of ContentSELECTED WORKS
OF
MAO TSE-TUNG
Volume V
Distributed throughout the world by
PERGAMON PRESS
OXFORD · NEW YORK · TORONTO · SYDNEY
PARIS · FRANKFURT
U.K. Pergamon Press Ltd., Headington Hill Hall,
Oxford OX3 OBW, England
U.S.A. Pergamon Press Inc., Maxwell House, Fairview Park,
Elmsford, New York 10523, U.S.A.
CANADA Pergamon of Canada Ltd., 75 The East Mall,
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
AUSTRALIA Pergamon Press (Aust.) Pty. Ltd., 19a Boundary Street,
Rushcutters Bay, N.S.W. 2011, Australia
FRANCE Pergamon Press SARL, 24 rue des Ecoles,
75240 Paris, Cedex 05, France
FEDERAL REPUBLIC Pergamon Press GmbH, 6242 Kronberg-Taunus,
OF GERMANY Pferdstrasse 1, Federal Republic of Germany
Copyright© 1977 Foreign Languages Press
All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means: electronic, electro
static, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without
permission in writing from the copyright holders.
First Edition 1977
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Mao Tse-tung
Selected works of Mao Tse-tung.
Vol. V
1. China - History -1900- - Addresses, essays,
lectures 2. China - Politics and government -
1912-1949 - Addresses, essays, lectures 3. China
- Politics and government -1949- - Addresses,
essays, lectures
951.04Ό8 DS775 77-30663
ISBN 0-08-022984-0
ISBN 0-08-022262-5 Set of 5 vols
This volume is the authorized English translation of the first Chinese edition of the
fifth volume of the Selected Works of Mao Tse-tung, published in April 1977 by the
People's Publishing House, Peking.
Printed in the People *s Republic of China
PUBLICATION NOTE
The works of our great leader and teacher Chairman Mao Tsetung
are immortal monuments of Marxism-Leninism. In accordance with
the decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of
China, Volume V of the Selected Works of Mao Tsetung has now been
published and the subsequent volumes will come out in succession.
The previously published Volumes I to IV of the Selected Works
of Mao Tsetung contain important writings from the period of the
new-democratic revolution. Volume V and succeeding volumes con
tain important writings from the period of the socialist revolution and
socialist construction.
In the new historical period since the founding of the People's
Republic of China, Comrade Mao Tsetung, consistently upholding the
principle of integrating the universal truth of Marxism-Leninism
with the concrete practice of the revolution, inherited, defended and
developed Marxism-Leninism as he led our Party and our people in
a series of struggles; these were struggles to carry out the socialist
revolution and socialist construction, to oppose the revisionist lines
of Kao-Jao, Peng Teh-huai, Liu Shao-chi, Lin Piao and Wang-Chang-
Chiang-Yao, to fight against imperialism and the reactionaries of all
countries and to combat modern revisionism with the Soviet revi
sionist renegade clique as its centre. During this period Comrade Mao
Tsetung's greatest contributions to theory were to sum up system
atically the historical experience of the dictatorship of the proletariat
in China and abroad, analyse the contradictions, classes and class
struggle in socialist society by means of the fundamental concept of
materialist dialectics, the unity of opposites, and thereby to reveal
the law of development of socialist society and create the great theory
of continuing the revolution under the dictatorship of the proletariat.
The new ideas, new theses, of Comrade Mao Tsetung concerning the
proletarian revolution and the dictatorship of the proletariat have
greatly enriched the treasure-house of Marxist-Leninist theory in the
realms of philosophy, political economy and scientific socialism. They
not only chart the Chinese people's true road for consolidating the
5
6 MAO TSETUNG
dictatorship of the proletariat, preventing capitalist restoration and
building socialism, but are also of great and lasting world significance.
Volume V of the Selected Works of Mao Tsetung contains im
portant writings from September 1949 through 1957. It was in these
writings that Comrade Mao Tsetung for the first time put forward:
the scientific thesis that the struggle between the proletariat and the
bourgeoisie, between the socialist road and the capitalist road, will
still exist for a long time after the basic completion of the socialist
transformation of the ownership of the means of production; the
teachings about correctly distinguishing and handling the two types of
contradictions in socialist society that are different in nature, those
between ourselves and the enemy and those among the people; the
great theory of continuing the revolution under the dictatorship of
the proletariat; and the ideas underlying the general line for building
socialism. Later, particularly during the Great Proletarian Cultural
Revolution, Comrade Mao Tsetung continued to enrich and develop
this body of brilliant thought on the basis of the practical experience
of the revolution.
Comrade Mao Tsetung was the greatest Marxist-Leninist of our
time. Mao Tsetung Thought is the victorious banner under which our
Party, our army and our people will fight in unity and continue the
revolution; it is a treasure shared in common by the international
proletariat and the revolutionary people of all countries. Comrade Mao
Tsetung's thought and teachings will live for ever.
Some of Comrade Mao Tsetung's writings from the period of the
socialist revolution and socialist construction contained in the Selected
Works have been published before; others have not, and they include
documents drafted by him, his manuscripts and official records of his
speeches. Some necessary technical editing of the records of the
speeches was done in the course of compilation.
Committee for Editing and Publishing
the Works of Chairman Mao Tsetung,
Central Committee of the Communist
Party of China
March 1,1977
THE CHINESE PEOPLE HAVE STOOD UP !
September 21, 1949
Fellow Delegates,
The Political Consultative Conference so eagerly awaited by the
whole nation is herewith inaugurated.
Our conference is composed of more than six hundred delegates,
representing all the democratic parties and people's organizations of
China, the People's Liberation Army, the various regions and na
tionalities of the country and the overseas Chinese. This shows that
ours is a conference embodying the great unity of the people of the
whole country.
It is because we have defeated the reactionary Kuomintang gov
ernment backed by U.S. imperialism that this great unity of the whole
people has been achieved. In a little more than three years the heroic
Chinese People's Liberation Army, an army such as the world has
seldom seen, crushed all the offensives launched by the several million
troops of the U.S.-supported reactionary Kuomintang government and
turned to the counter-offensive and the offensive. At present the field
armies of the People's Liberation Army, several million strong, have
pushed the war to areas near Taiwan, Kwangtung, Kwangsi, Kwei-
chow, Szechuan and Sinkiang, and the great majority of the Chinese
people have won liberation. In a little more than three years the
people of the whole country have closed their ranks, rallied to support
the People's Liberation Army, fought the enemy and won basic vic
tory. And it is on this foundation that the present People's Political
Consultative Conference is convened.
Our conference is called the Political Consultative Conference
because some three years ago we held a Political Consultative Con
ference with Chiang Kai-shek's Kuomintang.1 The results of that
Opening address at the First Plenary Session of the Chinese People's Political
Consultative Conference.
15
16 MAO TSETUNG
conference were sabotaged by Chiang Kai-shek's Kuomintang and
its accomplices; nevertheless the conference left an indelible impres
sion on the people. It showed that nothing in the interest of the
people could be accomplished together with Chiang Kai-shek's Kuo
mintang, the running dog of imperialism, and its accomplices. Even
when resolutions were reluctantly adopted, it was of no avail, for as
soon as the time was ripe, they tore them up and started a ruthless
war against the people. The only gain from that conference was the
profound lesson it taught the people that there is absolutely no room
for compromise with Chiang Kai-shek's Kuomintang, the running dog
of imperialism, and its accomplices — overthrow these enemies or be
oppressed and slaughtered by them, either one or the other, there is
no other choice. In a little more than three years the Chinese people,
led by the Chinese Communist Party, have quickly awakened and
organized themselves into a nation-wide united front against impe
rialism, feudalism, bureaucrat-capitalism and their general representa
tive, the reactionary Kuomintang government, supported the People's
War of Liberation, basically defeated the reactionary Kuomintang
government, overthrown the rule of imperialism in China and restored
the Political Consultative Conference.
The present Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference is
convened on an entirely new foundation; it is representative of the
people of the whole country and enjoys their trust and support. There
fore, the conference proclaims that it will exercise the functions and
powers of a National People's Congress. In accordance with its agenda,
the conference will enact the Organic Law of the Chinese People's
Political Consultative Conference, the Organic Law of the Central
People's Government of the People's Republic of China and the
Common Programme of the Chinese People's Political Consultative
Conference; it will elect the National Committee of the Chinese
People's Political Consultative Conference and the Central People's
Government Council of the People's Republic of China; it will adopt
the national flag and national emblem of the People's Republic of
China; and it will decide on the seat of the capital of the People's
Republic of China and adopt the chronological system in use in most
countries of the world.
Fellow Delegates, we are all convinced that our work will go
down in the history of mankind, demonstrating that the Chinese
people, comprising one quarter of humanity, have now stood up. The
Chinese have always been a great, courageous and industrious nation ;
THE CHINESE PEOPLE HAVE STOOD UP! 17
it is only in modern times that they have fallen behind. And that was
due entirely to oppression and exploitation by foreign imperialism
and domestic reactionary governments. For over a century our fore
fathers never stopped waging unyielding struggles against domestic
and foreign oppressors, including the Revolution of 1911 led by Dr.
Sun Yat-sen, our great forerunner in the Chinese revolution. Our
forefathers enjoined us to carry out their unfulfilled will. And we
have acted accordingly. We have closed our ranks and defeated both
domestic and foreign oppressors through the People's War of Libera
tion and the great people's revolution, and now we are proclaiming
the founding of the People's Republic of China. From now on our
nation will belong to the community of the peace-loving and freedom-
loving nations of the world and work courageously and industriously
to foster its own civilization and well-being and at the same time to
promote world peace and freedom. Ours will no longer be a nation
subject to insult and humiliation. We have stood up. Our revolution
has won the sympathy and acclaim of the people of all countries.
We have friends all over the world.
Our revolutionary work is not completed, the People's War of
Liberation and the people's revolutionary movement are still forging
ahead and we must keep up our efforts. The imperialists and the
domestic reactionaries will certainly not take their defeat lying down;
they will fight to the last ditch. After there is peace and order through
out the country, they are sure to engage in sabotage and create
disturbances by one means or another and every day and every minute
they will try to stage a come-back. This is inevitable and beyond all
doubt, and under no circumstances must we relax our vigilance.
Our state system, the people's democratic dictatorship, is a power
ful weapon for safeguarding the fruits of victory of the people's
revolution and for thwarting the plots of domestic and foreign enemies
for restoration, and this weapon we must firmly grasp. Internationally,
we must unite with all peace-loving and freedom-loving countries
and peoples, and first of all with the Soviet Union and the New
Democracies, so that we shall not stand alone in our struggle to safe
guard these fruits of victory and to thwart the plots of domestic and
foreign enemies for restoration. As long as we persist in the people's
democratic dictatorship and unite with our foreign friends, we shall
always be victorious.
The people's democratic dictatorship and solidarity with our for
eign friends will enable us to accomplish our work of construction
18 MAO TSETUNG
rapidly. We are already confronted with the task of nation-wide
economic construction. We have very favourable conditions: a popu
lation of 475 million people and a territory of 9,600,000 square kilo
metres. There are indeed difficulties ahead, and a great many too.
But we firmly believe that by heroic struggle the people of the country
will surmount them all. The Chinese people have rich experience in
overcoming difficulties. If our forefathers, and we also, could weather
long years of extreme difficulty and defeat powerful domestic and
foreign reactionaries, why can't we now, after victory, build a pros
perous and flourishing country? As long as we keep to our style of
plain living and hard struggle, as long as we stand united and as
long as we persist in the people's democratic dictatorship and unite
with our foreign friends, we shall be able to win speedy victory on
the economic front.
An upsurge in economic construction is bound to be followed by
an upsurge of construction in the cultural sphere. The era in which
the Chinese people were regarded as uncivilized is now ended. We
shall emerge in the world as a nation with an advanced culture.
Our national defence will be consolidated and no imperialists
will ever again be allowed to invade our land. Our people's armed
forces must be maintained and developed with the heroic and steeled
People's Liberation Army as the foundation. We will have not only
a powerful army but also a powerful air force and a powerful navy.
Let the domestic and foreign reactionaries tremble before us! Let
them say we are no good at this and no good at that. By our own indom
itable efforts we the Chinese people will unswervingly reach our goal.
The heroes of the people who laid down their lives in the People's
War of Liberation and the people's revolution shall live for ever in
our memory!
Hail the victory of the People's War of Liberation and the people's
revolution !
Hail the founding of the People's Republic of China!
Hail the triumph of the Chinese People's Political Consultative
Conference!
NOTES
1 "Smash Chiang Kai-shek's Offensive by a War of Self-Defence", Note 2,
Selected Works of Mao Tsetung, Vol. IV.
LONG LIVE THE GREAT UNITY OF
THE CHINESE PEOPLE !
September 50, iç4ç
Fellow-Countrymen,
The First Plenary Session of the Chinese People's Political Con
sultative Conference has successfully fulfilled its tasks.
This session has been attended by delegates from all the dem
ocratic parties and people's organizations of China, the People's
Liberation Army, the various regions and nationalities of the country,
the overseas Chinese and other patriotic democrats; it represents
the will of the people of the whole country and demonstrates their
unprecedented great unity.
This great unity of the whole people has been achieved only after
long years of heroic struggle, only after the Chinese people and the
People's Liberation Army, led by the Communist Party of China,
defeated Chiang Kai-shek's reactionary Kuomintang government
backed by U.S. imperialism. For over a century, the pioneers of the
Chinese people, including such outstanding men as the great revolu
tionary Dr. Sun Yat-sen who led the Revolution of 1911, have guided
the masses in their unceasing struggles to overthrow oppression by the
imperialists and reactionary Chinese regimes; this goal has now been
finally attained through their dauntless and persistent efforts. We are
holding this session at a time when the Chinese people have triumphed
over their enemies, changed the face of their country and founded the
People's Republic of China. We the 475 million Chinese people have
now stood up and the future of our nation is infinitely bright.
The First Plenary Session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Con
ference entrusted Comrade Mao Tsetung with the drafting of this declaration. On
the proposal of the delegates the phrase "under the leadership of Chairman Mao
Tsetung, the leader of our people" was inserted in the declaration at the time of its
adoption.
19
