Read and Study Conscientiously and Get a Good Grasp of Marxism

#PUBLICATION NOTE

This edition of Read and Study Conscientiously and Get a Good Grasp of Marxism has been translated, prepared, and revised for digital publication by the Institute of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism under the Central Committee of the Communist Party in Switzerland on the basis of the following editions:

  • Quotation in Political Report to the 11th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, in The 11th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (Documents), First English Edition, Foreign Languages Press, Beijing, 1977.
  • Comments on Yao Wenyuan's Report on Recent Studies and Other Issues, in the Collected Writings of Mao Zedong Since the Founding of the People's Republic of China, First Chinese Edition, Vol. 13, Central Party Literature Publishing House, Beijing.

#INTRODUCTION NOTE

This is a comment written by Comrade Mao Zedong on a report by Yao Wenyuan on the 29th of December, 1970. It was first published in the Collected Writings of Mao Zedong Since the Founding of the People's Republic of China.

Yao Wenyuan's report, dated the 29th of December, 1970, stated:

In addition to studying the classical works designated by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, I have also studied a little bit of history and the natural sciences, in the hope that I may gradually improve my understanding. I read Huxley's Evidence as to Humanity's Place in Nature, in which he fought for Darwinism. It is a very interesting book, much better than Yan Fu's translation of Evolution and Ethics, because he devoted all his efforts to proving that human beings descended from apes, which caused all the theologians to panic and curse him. He used the method of anatomical comparison. However, once he enters the field of history, it becomes clear that his arguments are insufficient. He is incapable of understanding historical materialism, nor does he understand the qualitative difference between human beings and other animals, people's conscious dynamic role, nor the historical process of the emergence and development of this role. Thus, he answered only half of the question as to humanity's place in nature. This book, however, is very popular among Darwinists. It is probably not possible to popularize a more progressive doctrine of evolution without criticizing it.


#Workers and oppressed people of the world, unite!

#READ AND STUDY CONSCIENTIOUSLY AND GET A GOOD GRASP OF MARXISM

#COMMENT ON A REPORT BY YAO WENYUAN

#Mao Zedong
#29th of December, 1970

#

I agree completely. Your learning process seems to be faster and better than that of others. If you can persist in your studies for several years, you will obtain good results.

In my opinion, all the 274 members of the Central Committee and the 1'000 or so high- and middle-ranking cadres at their posts should conscientiously read and study according to their differing levels and get a good grasp of Marxism. Only thus can they stand up to political swindlers like Wang Ming, Liu Shaoqi, and Chen Boda.

Please find me a copy of Evidence as to Humanity's Place in Nature. The first half of Evolution and Ethics is materialist, the second half is idealist.

#29th of December, 1970