Mao's reading notes

1. Mao's reading notes 2 <; Investigation report on Hunan peasant movement >

Author: maggie published date: February 12, 27, and listen to Feng Yin published at 21: 22: on November 2, 25

Comrade Mao Zedong wrote the article "Investigation Report on Hunan Peasant Movement" in March 1927. At that time, there were many disputes about the peasant revolutionary struggle inside and outside the Party. Comrade Mao Zedong specially visited Hunan for 32 days and wrote this report.

The peasant movement in Hunan was organized into several periods at that time. The first period was the organizational period, which started with secret activities and then went public. The second is the revolutionary period, when the number of members of peasant associations soared and the mass base expanded.

The main targets of the peasant movement are local tyrants and evil gentry, illegal landlords, various patriarchal ideology and systems, established corrupt officials and bad habits in rural areas. As soon as the landlord's rights fall, the peasant association becomes the only organ, and all rights belong to the peasant association. The vigorous peasant movement throughout the country was described as "very bad" by the middle class and above to the Kuomintang Rightists. But this is a revolution, a overthrow of feudal forces for thousands of years, and the real goal of the national revolution.

Some people say that in the peasant movement, the peasant associations have supreme rights, and the landlords are not allowed to speak, thus sweeping away the prestige of the landlords. The peasant movement has gone too far. On this issue, Comrade Mao Zedong pointed out that the peasant revolution is a revolution in which the peasant class overthrew the feudal landlord's right to annihilate. Without great strength, the peasants can never overthrow the landlord's power that has been ingrained for thousands of years.

Comrade Mao Zedong made a summary of the peasant movement in Hunan for several months, and * * * did 14 important things: 1. Organize peasants in peasant associations; 2. politically crack down on landlords; 3. economically attack the landlord; 4. Overthrow the feudal rule of local tyrants and evil gentry-overthrow the overseers; 5. Overthrow the landlord armed forces and establish the peasant armed forces; 6. Overthrow the regime of the county magistrate's yamen attendants; 7. Overthrow the clan power of the ancestral hall patriarch and the theocracy of the land bodhisattva of the city god and even the male power of the husband; 8. Popularize political propaganda; 9. Farmers' prohibitions; 1. clear bandits; 11. Waste exorbitant donations; 12. Cultural movement; 13. Cooperative movement; 14. Repair roads and dams.

By reading this article, I understand that the influence of Hunan peasant movement on the whole country and the revolution in China at that time corrected some people's wrong views on peasant movement, and praised Hunan peasant movement as "very good".

second, the exploration of $ found a good Mao's thoughts after reading

Classification: Reading Notes

Thoughts after reading

Mao Zedong's "Speech at Yan 'an Forum on Literature and Art" (hereinafter referred to as "Speech") is not only an important document in the development history of China's * * * production party, but also in the development history of China's modern literary theory. A correct understanding of the historical rationality and limitations of The Speech is of great practical significance for us to correctly understand and evaluate Mao Zedong's literary thought, develop socialist literary theory, and clarify people's confused understanding of literary concepts. This paper attempts to expound the position, rationality and limitations of The Speech as a rich text in the history of the development of modern literary theory in China from the perspective of the development of literary theory.

First, the establishment of the scientific literature and art system

In the history of the development of China's modern literary theory, The Speech gave a systematic and in-depth explanation of the nature and characteristics of China's literary theory for the first time. From a macro point of view, it is a sign that China's modern literary theory is moving towards a scientific form, and it is also the embryonic form of the scientific literary theory system. It is systematic because it involves many basic problems in literature and art, and describes and explains the internal relations between them. It is scientific because it uses Marxist viewpoints and methods to sum up and generalize the laws of the development of China's new literature, develop the literary concepts of Marxist classic writers, make a reasonable explanation of the relationship between literature and social life and other superstructure factors other than literature, and also put forward important opinions on the basic theory of literature. In terms of the depth and breadth of the theory, it was beyond the reach of any theorist at that time.

First of all, the Speech summarized and solved the experiences and lessons in the development of new literature since the May 4th Movement. Since the May 4th literary revolution, there have been some problems in the new literary camp, such as the "theory of human nature" in literature, the popularization of literature and art, the left-leaning mechanism and literary dogmatism that have always existed in the revolutionary literary camp, and the "praise" and "exposure" that have not been solved in the Kuomintang-controlled areas and the liberated areas during the Anti-Japanese War. The Speech made a realistic analysis and evaluation of one of them and put forward it.

during the may 4th literary revolution, bourgeois humanitarianism was once a powerful banner offered by enlightenment thinkers when they attacked feudal literary thoughts. However, with the development of the revolutionary situation, humanitarian thought has shown its limitations more and more. In the 194s, when class struggle and national struggle were extremely fierce, it played a role in paralyzing people's ideological understanding and will to struggle to a certain extent. The Speech pointed out that "there is only concrete humanity, but there is no abstract humanity". In a class society, humanity is inevitably branded with class, that is, "there is only class humanity, but there is no super-class humanity", "humanity advocated by some petty-bourgeois intellectuals" and "in essence, it is just bourgeois individualism" [1]. This understanding in The Speech fundamentally points out the essence of the abstract theory of human nature, and plays a radical role in clearing the fog barrier in the understanding of writers and artists.

the popularization of literature and art is, to put it bluntly, a question of who literature and art are. This problem is not only a problem of literary axiology, but also a problem of literary reception theory. The "civilian literature" advocated by the pioneers of the literary revolution during the May 4th Movement, the literary popularization movement launched in the revolutionary literary camp in 193, the dispute between "China Putonghua" and "Latinization" in the literary language in 1932, the popular language debate in 1934, the resurgence of the popularization of literature and art after the Anti-Japanese War and the subsequent discussion on the "national form" are all centered around the question of why literature and art are people. Because previous writers and artists, including left-wing writers and artists, didn't know clearly the nature and motivation of China's new-democratic revolution, and couldn't understand why the problem of literature and art is first and foremost a problem of class stance and class feelings, the discussion of the problem stopped at the level of literary form, so it was difficult to solve it in essence. On the basis of pointing out the nature, motive force, object and task of China's new-democratic revolution, the Speech defined the scope of "the masses of the people" during the new-democratic revolution, that is, the revolutionary masses of workers, peasants and soldiers. It is pointed out that "popularization" is not only a problem of literary language or literary form, but also a problem of "the thoughts and feelings of literary and art workers are integrated with those of workers, peasants and soldiers" [2]. The reason why the popularization of literature and art has not been completely solved is that the writers and artists are "still a kingdom of petty-bourgeois intellectuals in their hearts". If literature and art really serve the broad masses of workers, peasants and soldiers, they must first stand on the side of the people in their positions and feelings, that is, "move their foothold" and "move to the workers, peasants and soldiers and the proletariat". Only in this way can we have real literature and art for workers, peasants and soldiers, and real proletarian literature and art "[3]. The problem of "praising and exposing" was originally caused by an article by Mao Dun. In July 1937, Mao Dun published the article "On Strengthening Criticism" in Volume 2, No.1 of the Anti-Japanese War Literature and Art. In view of the tendency that literary works at that time mainly focused on expressing the enthusiasm of the anti-Japanese soldiers and civilians and lacked in-depth and comprehensive understanding of real life, he pointed out that literary works should not only praise the light, but also expose the darkness, that is, give bold exposure to those corrupt elements who plundered and fished the people in the name of the Anti-Japanese War. The discussion on this issue in Kuomintang-controlled areas lasted until the second half of 194, and spread to Yan 'an Liberated Area. It is also in this situation that some confused concepts such as "all literary and artistic works are written with equal emphasis on light and darkness, half to half" and "the task of literature and art is to expose" have emerged. It stands to reason that truly reflecting social life, including the dark side in social life, is not only the proper meaning of realistic literature, but also the characteristic of literature under the literary proposition that "literature is the reflection of social life". However, the goal of literary creation is not to expose for the sake of exposure, let alone to expose indiscriminately. The Speech pointed out that "literature and art never only lie in exposure". For progressive writers, "the exposed objects can only be aggressors, exploiters, oppressors and their bad influence among the people, not the people. The masses of the people also have shortcomings, and these shortcomings should be overcome by criticism and self-criticism among the people. In short, "all the dark forces that endanger the masses of the people must be exposed and all the revolutionary struggles of the masses must be praised" [4].

The Speech also gives a corresponding explanation and play to the literary theories of Marxist classic writers. Judging from the influence of Marxist literary thought on the literary world at that time, Engels' realistic literary judgment and Lenin's relevant literary thought should be taken as the greatest. On the understanding of realistic literary creation methods, The Speech puts forward the concept of typicality, and interprets its spiritual essence as "gathering everyday phenomena", on the basis of which artistic fiction and imagination can and should be higher, more intense, more concentrated, more typical and more ideal than ordinary real life, so it is more universal [5]. On the basis of Lenin's two national cultural thoughts, the Speech puts forward the inheritance of literary heritage. "We must inherit all the excellent literary and artistic heritage and critically absorb all the beneficial things in it as a reference for us to create works from the literary and artistic raw materials in people's lives here and now. There is a difference between having this reference and not having this reference. There are differences in literary field, thickness, height and speed. Therefore, we must never refuse to inherit and learn from the ancients and foreigners, even those belonging to the feudal class and the bourgeoisie. However, inheritance and reference can never be replaced by their own creation, which can never be replaced. " [6] The Speech criticized that in literary and artistic creation, "uncritical hard copying and imitation of the ancients and foreigners is the most unproductive and harmful literary dogmatism and artistic dogmatism" [7]. We should not only inherit the literary heritage of our own nation, but also inherit the literary heritage of foreign nations. In this respect, the Speech embodies a broader sense of compatibility, which is a manifestation of the unique self-confidence mentality of the culturally strong, and also shows the broad mind of the increasingly powerful China * * * producers. The Speech fully affirmed the party spirit principle of literature put forward by Lenin, pointing out that "in the present world, all culture or literature and art belong to a certain class and a certain political line. Art for the sake of art, art beyond class, and art parallel to or independent of politics actually do not exist "[8]. The Speech also quoted Lenin's metaphor that the party's literary career is a "cog and screw" in the whole revolutionary machine, emphasizing that "proletarian literature and art are a part of the whole revolutionary career of the proletariat" and "the position of the party's literary and artistic work in the whole revolutionary work of the party is determined and set; It is subject to the revolutionary tasks stipulated by the party in a certain revolutionary period "[9]. On this basis, the Speech put forward the proposition that "literature and art are subordinate to politics" [1].

The location and understanding of the relationship between literature and politics in The Speech is the most easily misunderstood place in the world. In particular, the literary proposition that "literature is subordinate to politics" was used by a few people in the development of literature after the founding of the People's Republic of China, which really brought disastrous consequences to the literary cause. It is necessary for us to clean up and analyze it accordingly.

The positioning and understanding of the relationship between literature and politics in the Speech is based on the party spirit principle of literature, which is carried out within such a scope, namely, "an inner-party relationship, the relationship between the party's literary and artistic work and the party's whole work, and another non-party relationship, the relationship between the party's literary and artistic work and non-party literary and artistic work-the United front of the literary and artistic circles" [11]. Therefore, the so-called "obedience of literature and art to politics" in the Speech is mainly a requirement for writers within the party, not for all writers to unconditionally regard it as the golden rule that must be followed in their creation. For the meaning of politics, the definition of "Speech" is, "What we mean by literature and art is subordinate to politics, which refers to the politics of class and the politics of the masses, not the politics of a few politicians" [12]. Obviously, the term "literature and art are subordinate to politics" in the Speech means that writers and artists should proceed from the overall perspective, obey the overall and directional requirements of the revolutionary line and policy, and artistically describe the general trend of social development and the overall task of the revolution, rather than asking writers and artists to obey the specific political tasks in one place at a time, let alone the will of some people. In addition, the Speech also reveals the particularity of literature and art serving politics from the aesthetic characteristics of literary creation. "Politics is not equal to art, and the general view of the world is not equal to artistic creation." "Works lacking artistry, no matter how politically advanced, are powerless" [13]. This also shows that the meaning of "literature and art are subordinate to politics" in the Speech means that literature and art should reflect the trends and characteristics of social development in a specific historical period in time, and writers should adjust their aesthetic viewpoints and creative goals at any time according to the needs of social and people's life development, rather than asking writers to be yes-men to illustrate political principles and policies.

The conceptual creative tendency in the literary and art circles after the founding of the People's Republic of China is related to the ultra-left tendency of the literary and art circles at that time to prescribe creative themes for writers and even impose certain policy concepts. This situation is undoubtedly a departure from the spirit of the Speech. Later, the formulation of "leading people out of ideas, people out of life and writers out of skills", which is extremely harmful to creation, deviates far from the spiritual essence of the speech and is the extreme expression of idealism in the field of creation.

The Speech also summarizes the most basic problems of literary theory. Based on Marxist dialectical materialism and historical materialism, it makes a popular explanation of the characteristics of literary reflection theory. "The Speech" holds that "literary and artistic works, as ideological forms, are the products of the reflection of certain social life in human minds. Revolutionary literature and art are the products of people living in the minds of revolutionary writers, and social life based on the masses of the people is the only inexhaustible source of all literature and art. This is the only source, because there can only be such a source, and there can be no second source "[14]. The Speech also discusses the hypothesis of literary and artistic creation from the requirements of typicalization of literary and artistic creation.