[This issue of Peking Review is from massline.org. Massline.org has kindly given us permission to to place these documents on the MIA. We made only some formatting changes to make them congruent with our style sheets. Note from massline.org: This article is reprinted from Peking Review, Volume 9, #30, July 22, 1966, pp. 6-11. Thanks are due to the www.wengewang.org web site for some of the work done for this posting.]
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FROM CHAIRMAN MAO’S WORKS: “The force at the very core that leads our cause is the Communist Party of China. — Opening Address Delivered at the First Session of the First |
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“The East is red and the sun rises; in China there emerges Mao Tse-tung.” This is a cause of pride and happiness to the Chinese people and all revolutionary people of the world. Shaoshan is sacred soil which all revolutionary people aspire to visit, because Comrade Mao Tse-tung, the great leader of the Chinese people and the great standard-bearer in the revolutionary struggle of all the people of the world, was born there. Many thousands of foreign friends have expressed their boundless love and admiration for Chairman Mao during their visits to Shaoshan over the last few years.
They have gone to Shaoshan not just to recall the history of the Chinese revolution, but also to seek the revolutionary truth. All people who desire revolution draw inspiration and encouragement from Comrade Mao Tse-tung’s revolutionary activities.
In the most vivid terms, revolutionaries from different countries have expressed boundless love for Chairman Mao and infinite belief in the thought of Mao Tse-tung. They describe him as “the greatest Marxist-Leninist of our time” and say, “We love him more than we do our own lives.” They acclaim Mao Tse-tung’s thought as “the beacon of revolution for the people of the world” and as “the unsetting sun.”
The love of the revolutionary people of all countries for Chairman Mao is so ardent and their belief in Mao Tse-tung’s thought is so wholehearted because Chairman Mao has carried Marxism-Leninism forward to an entirely new stage. Mao Tse-tung’s thought reflects the objective laws of the domestic and international class struggle and the fundamental interests of the proletariat and other working people. It is living Marxism-Leninism at its highest. Standing in the forefront of our epoch, and with his incomparably rich revolutionary experience and his outstanding revolutionary theory, which is a work of genius, Chairman Mao has shown the way to victory for all the oppressed people and oppressed nations of the world.
In the course of the great polemics in the international communist movement over the last few years, Mao Tse-tung’s thought has spread to wider and wider areas across the world. More and more revolutionary people of the world have grasped it and armed themselves with it. And this has laid the strongest foundation for the victory of the world revolution. It can be stated categorically that in face of the ever-victorious thought of Mao Tse-tung, imperialism, reaction and modern revisionism have no way of averting their inevitable doom, however frantically they may struggle.
The sun rises from Shaoshan;
When the sun comes up, the east is red.
Today its red glows in all directions,
And the East Wind prevails everywhere.
—A poem by two friends from Vietnam
The brilliant thought of Mao Tse-tung rises like the morning sun and spread its splendid rays over every part of the earth. It is like an East Wind blowing across the entire globe. The revolutionary people of the world yearn for Shaoshan, Chairman Mao’s birthplace. Regardless of great distances and defying many difficulties, more and more foreign friends have been coming to China to visit Shaoshan with the aim of seeking the revolutionary truth and learning from revolutionary experience.
Among friends from five continents visiting Shaoshan are to be found leaders of state, responsible leaders of political parties, activists, and representatives of trade unions and of women’s, peasants’ and youth organizations. They also include writers, poets, artists, teachers, scholars, doctors, military experts, newspapermen, lawyers, athletes, and foreign experts, students and trainees residing in China.
Filled with boundless respect, many foreign friends laud Shaoshan as “sacred soil for the revolution,” “the cradle of revolution” and “the university of revolution.” They say, “Shaoshan is like a glittering pearl in the depths of the sea”; “Shaoshan is inscribed with the finest chapters of Marxism-Leninism”; “Shaoshan symbolizes the brilliant future of the oppressed people of Asia, Africa and Latin America”; “the revolutionary spark of Shaoshan has started a fire throughout New China and illuminated the whole world!”
Friends from five continents regard their visit to Shaoshan, the birthplace of the great revolutionary leader of the proletariat of the world, as “a great honour,” “the greatest happiness” and “an unforgettable moment in one’s life.”
A Vietnamese student studying in China said, “We feel exceptionally honoured and proud to have the opportunity to visit Chairman Mao’s birthplace. Although it is cold, we feel very warm at heart, and the warmth seems to have spread to the air around us.” Some of the visitors bought Chairman Mao’s portrait, others when having their pictures taken put on the coir raincoat and the straw hat used by Chairman Mao for farm work during his early days. Still others bought flutes inscribed with the two characters Shao and Shan, saying, “I will play tunes praising the Chinese Communist Party and Chairman Mao.”
A Laotian friend said, “We have studied the thought of Mao Tse-tung, and now that we have visited his birthplace, we feel even more attached to this thought and our understanding of it has became still deeper. We will never forget Chairman Mao as long as we live. We are determined to carry the revolution through to the end. We wish still greater prosperity to Chairman Mao’s birthplace. May Mao Tse-tung’s thought shine with everlasting brilliance!”
A friend from Uganda said, “I regard this as an historical day in my life.... What I have seen here, been taught and advised — has deeply convinced me that our struggle at home will be crowned with victory.” When the host presented him with a picture book of Shaoshan and a Shaoshan memorial badge, he stood erect with his chest out and declared that he would have the Shaoshan memorial badge pinned higher than all others. He respectfully received the picture book with both hands, saying, “What you have given me is not so much a picture book as a weapon.”
The delegation of the Cambodia-China Friendship Association had wanted to visit Chairman Mao Tse-tung’s birthplace at the time they left Phnom Penh for China. As soon as they arrived in Changsha, the leader of the delegation inquired, “How far is Shaoshan from here?” The host told him that it was a little over 100 kilometres. “I’ll go even it is 1,000 kilometres away!” The leader had only one leg. Supported by a stick, he was shown round the place. More than once the host asked him to rest, but he persisted and said with deep feeling, “In the course of our visit, we take this day as one of great happiness.”
A friend from Brazil said, “It is of special significance to visit Shaoshan at the present time when the struggle against modern revisionism has become so fierce.”
Dennis, a friend from France, said, “Filled with deep emotion, I revisit Chairman Mao’s birthplace.”
A friend from Britain said, “There are many memorial revolutionary centres in the world, but none of them is comparable to Shaoshan which leaves an everlasting memory in the hearts of the people. It is my firm belief that tens of thousands of people will come from every part of the world to visit here. This place will go down in history for ever and ever.”
Many foreign friends were so excited over the opportunity to visit Shaoshan that they could hardly sleep on the previous night. They got up very early the next morning and put on their best clothes. They were told in the car that they were travelling on the very road taken by Chairman Mao when he returned from Changsha to Shaoshan to make his rural investigations. Some of them said joyfully. “What a happy event to travel on the road once traversed by Chairman Mao!” At Shaoshan, many foreign friends picked stones at places where Chairman Mao had worked, and wrapped them up as souvenirs. When visiting the house of Chairman Mao which is part of the museum, some, with tears streaming down their cheeks, stood silent before the photographs of six martyrs in his family. On the way back to Changsha, many foreign friends lustily sang The East Is Red, A Ship Can’t Sail Without a Helmsman and other songs. Back at the guest house, some foreign friends looked at the Hunan embroidery work Shaoshan on a screen and said, “Every time I see this, I receive new encouragement.”
The journalists’ delegation from Laos gave utterance to the inner feelings shared by the revolutionary people of all countries, “Shaoshan is a great place. It belongs to the Chinese people and it belongs to the people of the world as well. Shaoshan is a place which not only the Chinese people but also the revolutionary people of the world look up to!”
Mao Tse-tung,
Sage of the common man.
Giant of the revolution.
Leader of the Chinese people.
Beacon for the people of the world!
The spark that kindled the Chinese revolution
Now sets the world ablaze!
This is American friend Sidney Rittenberg’s poem in praise of our great leader Chairman Mao.
The following is a poem by a poet from Ecuador in praise of Chairman Mao.
Here he was born,
Now he lives in every place where people are fighting!
Here he called the earliest revolutionary meetings.
Now he has rallied the people of all countries!
Here he read his first books.
Now he is the teacher of all the revolutionaries of the world!
Here he learned to work hard like the peasants.
Now he brings happy life to the working people!
Filled with noble belief in Chairman Mao and showing boundless love for him, all friends from the five continents who visit Shaoshan enthusiastically compose poems or leave inscriptions, or sing and applaud to express their deep affection for Chairman Mao.
A friend from Australia said, “Here in Shaoshan the revolutionary peasants gave birth to a great leader who has won the love and affection not only of his own Chinese people but of all people throughout the world who find that the thought of Mao Tse-tung is a weapon of world revolution. Long live the Chinese Communist Party and its great leader Chairman Mao.”
A Spanish friend wrote, “Chairman Mao is the greatest Marxist-Leninist of our time.”
A friend from Bechuanaland said, “So long as mankind exists, the light of Chairman Mao will shine like a beacon over mankind.”
Members of the Malian handicraft delegation wrote, “Chairman Mao belongs to China and to the whole world. Like the sun, he belongs to all mankind.”
A Cuban friend said, “Chairman Mao gives expression to the highest human wisdom. Great revolutions give birth to great leaders. It is only natural for a revolution of world significance such as China’s to give rise to a leader of world significance such as Mao Tse-tung. The fact that he was born in this place is a glory to his country and to the world too. Mao Tse-tung is the staunchest standard-bearer of Marxism-Leninism in the world. He is the hope of the world revolution.”
The people of the world have boundless respect and admiration for Chairman Mao because he represents the fundamental interests of the proletariat and other working people the world over, and always has faith in the masses, relies on them, and establishes the closest links with the people. He has the highest wisdom, the greatest courage, the loftiest character and the most modest style of work. He is devoting his whole life to the liberation of the labouring people of China and the world.
A Colombian friend said, “Chairman Mao has worked for the revolution all his life, devoting himself to the revolution heart and soul, and has set a brilliant example for all revolutionaries.”
A friend from Lebanon wrote, “Chairman Mao stands staunch, dauntless and firm as a mighty mountain.”
Members of a cultural delegation from Algeria wrote, “Chairman Mao is a man with unlimited knowledge, but at the same time he is very modest. One could hardly have imagined his plain way of living.”
A friend from Vietnam wrote, “From his childhood. Chairman Mao has taken part in productive labour, stayed close to the oppressed and exploited poor peasants and dedicated his life to the working people. Since the founding of the Chinese Communist Party, Chairman Mao has consistently struggled against opportunist tendencies of all descriptions and defended the purity of Marxism-Leninism.”
A Vietnamese friend wrote a poem:
So many years of eager longing have passed.
Although the distance is great, my feelings travel far.
And here at last I have come to Chairman Mao’s birthplace.
The earth is deep, the sea is wide, the sky is high;
But Chairman Mao’s warm affection knows no bounds....
A Korean friend said, “The Khrushchev revisionists direct all their slanders at Chairman Mao. We do not believe a single sentence, a single word, they utter. We will always follow Chairman Mao!”
A friend from Laos said. “Chairman Mao is the great leader of the Chinese people and the people of the world. We love him more than our own lives!”
A friend from the Dominican Republic wrote, “It is the blessing of the people of the world to have Chairman Mao.”
An Algerian cultural delegation wrote, “The whole world is now deeply in need of Chairman Mao. May he never grow old! The Algerian people will always hold Mao Tse-tung in the very core of their hearts. Long live great Mao Tse-tung!”
The sports delegation of the Albanian Ministry of Internal Affairs expressed the common desire of the revolutionary people throughout the world as follows, “For the benefit of the great Chinese people, the glorious Chinese Communist Party and the revolutionary people throughout the world fighting for emancipation, may Comrade Mao Tse-tung enjoy long life as everlasting as the towering mountains of our country!”
During their visit to Shaoshan friends from Vietnam wrote in the visitors’ book: “Mao Tse-tung’s thought has been proved to be completely correct by the practice of the Chinese revolution. It has been proved and is being proved to be completely correct and objective truth by the practice of the world revolution.” “Mao Tse-tung’s thought represents the new development of Marxism-Leninism. It is the weapon of the people of the world in their revolutionary struggle and is guiding them to win new and more glorious victories.” “Mao Tse-tung’s thought has demonstrated its unrivalled power in the great land of China. Chairman Mao led the Red Army in climbing the snow-clad mountains, crossing the marshlands and victoriously completing the Long March of 25,000 li, thus planting the revolutionary red flag over the length and breadth of China. Today the long-tested thought of Mao Tse-tung is victoriously leading the Chinese people step by step on the road to a communist society. The Chinese people armed with Mao Tse-tung’s thought are working revolutionary miracles every minute in their motherland.” “The 650 million Chinese people armed with Mao Tse-tung’s thought are 650 million spiritual atom bombs.”
Leng Ngeth, head of the delegation of the Cambodia-China Friendship Association, said, “Chairman Mao Tse-tung is the greatest thinker of our time, the wise and revered guide of the 650 million people of China and the inspirer of noble ideals. It is thanks to his thought that the Chinese people have made such tremendous advances, and become the enemy’s nightmare.”
A Greek friend said, “Mao Tse-tung’s thought has enriched and developed Marxism-Leninism. Chairman Mao is the greatest Marxist-Leninist of our era, whose ideas and experience are valuable for the people of the whole world. Many great figures have emerged in the world, but none have studied the peasant question so thoroughly as Chairman Mao, nor has anyone such a versatile mind as he has in the political, economic, military, and literary and artistic fields.”
A Burmese friend said, “In his early years Mao Tse-tung already embraced the ideas of prolelarian internationalism,” “Mao Tse-tung’s thought is developed Marxism-Leninism,” “Mao Tse-tung’s thought has provided the people of all countries with theoretical weapons.”
A friend from the Ivory Coast wrote, “The significance of Mao Tse-tung’s thought has gone far beyond China’s boundaries, far beyond the limits of Asia. Today all progressive people in the world want to read Chairman Mao’s works and visit the places where Chairman Mao once worked or carried on activities. The revolutionary activities of Chairman Mao have indicated a definite direction for the revolution of the Ivory Coast.”
A Cameroon friend declared, “Chairman Mao is the successor to Marx, Engels, Lenin and Stalin — the great teachers and guides of the international proletariat and all revolutionary people — and their representative in our times.... In the struggle against Khrushchev revisionism he has defended and developed Marxism-Leninism. Mao Tse-tung’s thought is the beacon light which illuminates the road of resistance for the oppressed people of all countries.”
A friend from Rwanda said, “Comrade Mao Tse-tung is the greatest Marxist-Leninist of our era, enjoying the highest international prestige, and it is on him that the people of the world lay their hopes. Mao Tse-tung has become the correct teacher of the proletarian revolutionaries of the world. We should carry out revolution in the direction charted by Mao Tse-tung’s thought.”
Many foreign friends told us that people in all countries are avidly studying Mao Tse-tung’s thought. In their revolutionary struggles they suffered setbacks and paid dearly — even in blood — before they found the truth, became acquainted with the great thought of Mao Tse-tung and realized that the revolution is victorious whenever they act in accordance with Mao Tse-tung’s thought and fails whenever they act counter to his thought. They speak very highly of Mao Tse-tung’s thought as a powerful ideological weapon in the struggle against imperialism and modern revisionism. It is the radiant sun lighting up the road of world revolution.
Many foreign friends always keep Chairman Mao’s works close by and study them even in the course of visiting Shaoshan.
One day a friend from Malawi arrived at Changsha at three o’clock in the afternoon. From the airport he went directly to Shaoshan, visited Chairman Mao’s birthplace at five and spent the evening discussing the peasant movement with some local comrades. Back at the hotel in the evening, he read Chairman Mao’s Report on an Investigation of the Peasant Movement in Hunan until 4:00 a.m.
After they return to Changsha from Shaoshan, many foreign friends work late into the night to sort out their notes, ask their interpreters to help check supplementary material and, with the aid of these data, study the Selected Works of Mao Tse-tung. Some try to find time to study Mao Tse-tung’s works even when they are travelling by bus, train or aeroplane or at their meals. Many foreign friends ask for translation of Chairman Mao’s works into still more languages. Some who understand Chinese time and again express their willingness to contribute to this noble task.
A Japanese friend said, “It is our belief that for a revolution to be successful, it is necessary to make a really good study of Mao Tse-tung’s thought and apply it in practice.”
A friend from Thailand stated, “We should learn from the glorious life of Chairman Mao, remould our outlook on life and our world outlook, and serve the people.”
A friend from Ecuador declared, “I had read Chairman Mao’s writings before I came to China; and I relied on Mao Tse-tung’s thought as my guide during the most difficult times in the struggle against the enemy. Now I realize that we should not only act in accordance with Mao Tse-tung’s thought in difficult times, but also take it as our guide in everything we do in day-to-day activities. We must study Chairman Mao’s works well and always act in accordance with Mao Tse-tung’s thought.”
A friend from Somalia said, “When we return home, we will organize still more people in Somalia to study Chairman Mao’s works.”
A Vietnamese friend said, “The attitude towards Mao Tse-tung’s thought is a touchstone for distinguishing true Communists from false ones. All who oppose Mao Tse-tung’s thought are sham revolutionaries. They are all counter-revolutionaries. We want always to be honest students of Chairman Mao Tse-tung. All our lives we will study Marxism-Leninism and Mao Tse-tung’s thought and be faithful workers serving the cause of world revolution.”
An Indonesian friend stated, “Chairman Mao Tse-tung holds aloft the banner of Marxism-Leninism. He is the great fighter against modern revisionism. In order to oppose modern revisionism we must learn from the revolutionary spirit of Chairman Mao Tse-tung.”
A Sudanese friend said, “The extremely rich revolutionary experience of Chairman Mao is an asset of the people of the world. We have learned from it the experience of struggle for people’s liberation and against imperialism of all descriptions. This experience is the seed of revolution. When we go back to Sudan, we will sow this seed and let it take root and germinate in our country.”
An Italian friend said, “I thought that the situation in Italy was different from that in China and that therefore Italy had no need for protracted armed struggle. But through my visit and study in China I have come to understand that Italy must also take the road of protracted armed struggle. Comrade Mao Tse-tung’s great theoretical contributions to the development of Marxism are a source from which revolutionaries of all countries can draw inspiration and lessons.... To make revolution in Western Europe it is imperative to study Mao Tse-tung’s works systematically.”
With deep emotion a Peruvian friend said “Armed struggle is the only way out, and the peasant question is the principal one. We must take the road of encircling the cities from the countryside and study China’s experience.” He said he would earnestly study Chairman Mao’s works after returning to his country.
After summarizing what it had learned from the study of Chairman Mao’s works, the journalist delegation of the patriotic forces of Laos wrote. “We must carry what we have learned into practice and do what is beneficial to the people,” and added, “We will learn from Chairman Mao’s staunch revolutionary spirit and revolutionary thought and do all we can to fight resolutely against the U.S. imperialist aggressors and their lackeys and to win final victory in the struggle for national liberation.”
A friend from southern Vietnam, the anti-imperialist forefront, said, “Mao Tse-tung’s thought is towering. Not only can it defeat the reactionaries at home, it can defeat all imperialists as well.”
A friend from Colombia declared, “We will hold high the red banner of Mao Tse-tung’s thought, and from our fighting posts, we will thoroughly eliminate imperialism and modern revisionism.”
While on a visit to Chairman Mao’s home town, the actors and actresses of the National Djoliba Dance Ensemble of Guinea sang with deep feeling:
Your work is gigantic,
Your thought immortal;
They are China’s sun.
They are the sun of all struggling peoples!
I sing Mao, I sing
Your gigantic work,
Your immortal thought.
When I go to Africa,
I will sing them
To the black masses.
If I go to Europe or America,
I will sing them
To the white masses.
Wherever I go,
I will proclaim
The truth of your thought,
The truth of your fight for liberty.
For it is all that and more,
More than I can say.
The feelings of revolutionary friends from the five continents on their visit to Shaoshan is shared by the Chinese people. Let us join hands in our fight and cry out with one voice: Workers and oppressed people of the world, unite, hold higher the great red banner of Mao Tse-tung’s thought, and fight together to the end for the complete defeat of imperialism, modern revisionism and reaction, and for the final victory of socialism and communism in the whole world!
— by HUAN CHIU-CHIH