Continuing the Revolution: The Political Thought of Mao

by John Bryan Starr

Overview

The author investigates the internal logic and evolution of Mao's theory in terms of various themes. Beginning with a consideration of conflict, which in Mao's view is a given and permanent component of society, Professor Starr then takes up the individual concepts of knowledge and action, authority, class and class conflict, organization, participation and representation, political education, political history, and political development.

Originally published in 1979.

The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780691612485
Publisher:	Princeton University Press
Publication date:	03/08/2015
Series:	Princeton Legacy Library , #1731
Pages:	384
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 2.70(d)

Read an Excerpt

Continuing the Revolution

The Political Thought of Mao

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By John Bryan Starr

PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS

Copyright © 1979 Princeton University Press
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-691-07596-9

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CHAPTER 1

ON CONFLICT

Contradiction exists in the process of the development of all things, and ... in the process of the development of each thing a movement of opposites exists from beginning to end.!

The central idea around which the political thought of Mao Zedong was constructed was that of conflict or contradiction and the change to which it gives rise. Each of the important political themes with which he dealt in his political writings was grounded in his view of conflict and change as aspects of the natural or given state of the political realm, as they are in the realm of nature. Because his theory of knowledge was based on this central idea, he regarded his political ideas not only as an explication of, but also as an example of this view of conflict and change, and thus as subject to the same laws of development that govern natural and political phenomena. In order, therefore, to understand the logic of Mao's theory of "continuing the revolution under the dictatorship of the proletariat," we must begin by exploring this fundamental concept of conflict.

Mao's view of contradiction, conflict, and change can usefully be considered in terms of four aspects: first, as I have suggested, he took conflict to be a given, natural condition in society and nature alike; second, he regarded it as a ubiquitous condition; third, he viewed conflict as a beneficial characteristic of the world, in that the change it promotes is positive and progressive; and finally, he believed that conflict is a permanent condition of nature and society. It is the purpose of this chapter to use these four aspects as a means for organizing our exploration of the origin, nature, and implications of the idea of conflict and change that lay at the heart of Mao's political thought.

Conflict as Given

Although it contravenes certain very fundamental principles underlying contemporary Western social and political thought, a view of the interaction of opposing forces as the natural state of society and nature is nevertheless very old and very widespread. It is found in the historical antecedents of modern Chinese thought, as well as in the historical antecedents of modern thought in Europe and America. Its pervasiveness may be explained by the fact that it is a view that can occur quite spontaneously to anyone who observes the natural world closely, and who entertains a sense that men and women are a part of that world, subject to its laws of change. This view of nature and of the relationship of men and women to nature — a view that we might think of as "pre-Promethean" — was common to pre classical Greek thought in the European intellectual tradition, and to pre-Confucian thought in the Chinese tradition.

In order to explore these early views of the interaction of opposing forces and their relationship to Mao's use of the concept of conflict, we must first make some rather basic linguistic distinctions. At a very general level, we might think of opposition as one of several possible relationships between two items. In turn, it is useful to think of conflict as one of two possible types of relationships between opposites, the other being complementarity. Whether one regards conflict or complementarity as the appropriate way to conceive of the relationship between opposites affects, and is in turn affected by, one's concept of and attitude toward change. The idea of opposition and that of change are, of course, conceptually distinguishable, but they appear closely linked in both early Greek and early Chinese thought. In both cases, a view of opposition as involving, most importantly, the interrelationship of complementary elements lent itself naturally to a view of change as repetitive, preordained, and cyclical. By contrast, a view of opposition as involving most importantly the relations of conflicting elements can give rise to a view of change as linear and progressive.

In the writings of Heraclitus of Ephesus one finds evidence of a view of the natural world as characterized by the interaction of opposed forces: "Living and dead, waking and sleeping, youth and age are one in the same; for they undergo change into one another." The primary emphasis in Heraclitus' treatment of opposition appears to be on the complementarity of, rather than on the conflict between opposites. Despite this emphasis, he does not ignore the occurrence of conflict: "Things taken together ... and especially extremes or 'opposites' ... are in one sense wholes or continua, in another sense not wholes, but separate and opposed. In one sense they tend together, to unity, while in another sense they tend apart, to plurality." To the extent that he treats opposed elements as complementary, he sees change as cyclical in nature. To the extent that opposed elements are treated as being in conflict with one another, change of a different sort is implied: "One must know that conflict is common and right and that all things are necessarily brought about through conflict."

This view of nature as involving the often complementary and occasionally conflictual relationship of opposing forces was largely abandoned, or at least thoroughly transformed, as Greek thought developed into its maturity. By contrast, the association of opposition with nature in ancient Chinese thought was both more pervasive and more influential in shaping succeeding modes of thought in the Chinese tradition than it was in the Greek case.

The earliest manifestation of the widespread interest in the relationship of opposing forces in Chinese thought is found in the Yi ling — the Book of Changes. The dates of the various parts of this classic are the subject of considerable scholarly debate, but the system of divination on which the commentary is based is traditionally held to date from the eleventh century B.C. This system of trigrams and hexagrams is based on combinations of solid and broken lines, the solid representing the dominant or strong principle, the broken representing the recessive or weak principle. All possible combinations of three solid or broken lines form the eight trigrams. Two trigrams combined into a single six-line figure form a hexagram, of which there are sixty-four possible combinations.

In the commentaries that accompany the hexagrams, the treatment of opposing forces is one that emphasizes their complementarity and, consequently, holds to a cyclical view of change: "The way of the Creative works through change and transformation, so that each thing receives its true nature and destiny and comes into permanent accord with the Great Harmony; this is what furthers and what perseveres." Indeed, the hexagrams themselves are often shown arranged in a circle, suggesting that each gives rise to another in a cyclical sequence.

The complementary relationship between dominant and recessive forces symbolized by the broken and solid lines was further developed and formalized through the use of the terms, yin and yang. Among the earliest antecedents of the school of thought devoted to the study of these terms and the concepts for which they stood is the comment in the fifth chapter of the Xi Ci or "Great Appendix" of commentary on the Yi ling: "One yin and one yang: that is the Dao." The character yin, standing for the recessive principle, coldness, darkness, femaleness, that which is inside or hidden, depicts the shadows of hills and clouds, and originally referred to the shady side of a mountain or valley. The character yang, standing for the dominant principle, warmth, light, maleness, that which is outside or manifest, depicts either a flag fluttering in the sunshine, or a figure (possibly a male ritual dancer) holding up a perforated jade disk, symbol of heaven and thus of light, and referred originally to the sunny side of a mountain or valley. The relationship of the two forces was symbolically represented by the tai ji tu-a circle divided into light and dark segments, each of which in turn contains a spot of the other.

Although conflict of opposing forces is not ignored in the I Jing, the principle emphasis there is on their complementarity. Deriving from this emphasis, as Wilhelm has pointed out, are three types of change that are distinguished from one another in the classic: "nonchange, cyclic change, and sequent change. Nonchange is the background, as it were, against which change is made possible." Harmony and order are seen in the I Jing as transitory conditions, giving way in each instance to change.

Daoist thought emphasizes particularly clearly the interrelationships of opposites in nature as found in yin-yang thought. Daoist writings are filled with references to opposites in nature and to the cyclical change that results from the complementarity of these opposing forces, as is suggested in this passage from the Zhuang Zi: "Light came from darkness, order from the formless. ... Life springs into existence without a visible force and disappears into infinity. ... Such is the operation of the Dao. ... Awe-inspiring, beginning again in cycles ever new." In the Dao De ling the implications of this emphasis on the complementary relationship of opposing forces and the resultant cyclical nature of change are spelled out yet more clearly: "Prosperity tilts over to misfortune and good fortune comes out of bad. Who can understand this extreme turning point? For it recognizes no such thing as normality. Normality changes into abnormality."

As Needham convincingly argues, the result of this concern over opposition is a focus on the relationship of the opposite forces rather than on their separate qualities. Another passage from the Dao De Jing illustrates this point:

Being and non-being produce each other;
Difficult and easy complete each other;
Long and short contrast each other;
High and low distinguish each other;
Sound and voice harmonize with each other;
Front and back follow each other.

The dominance of the idea of the complementarity of opposing forces is suggested by the fact that none of the relationships described here can, strictly speaking, be conceived of as conflictual.

Of the various schools of thought that emerged in the sixth and fifth centuries B.C., however, it was Confucianism which, through its many transmogrifications, became the dominant philosophical school in the public realm in China. As compared with Daoist thinkers, Confucius was less inclined to view man as a part of nature, subject to its forces. Taken as a whole, his teachings were less concerned with natural relations than with human relations, and less concerned with conflict than with harmony. Such an interpretation is called into question by those who hold to the traditional view that Confucius not only studied the I Jing closely, but also wrote the Tuan Zhuan or "Commentary on the Decisions" — the first two of the ten "wings" or sets of commentary that subsequently became a part of the classic.

Whichever position one takes, however, one must acknowledge that Confucianists attempted to integrate the ideas on opposition contained in the Yi Jing with Confucius' own teachings. Among others, the philosopher most responsible for the elevating of Confucianism to the position of state ideology that it subsequently held, Dong Zhongshu, undertook this integration. Associated with what has subsequently come to be called the "Yin-yang School" of Confucianism: Dong interpreted the inter-relational logic of the Yi Jing through the framework of a Confucian emphasis on harmony and stability. Opposition there was in the natural world, Dong argued, but the opposite forces represented in the hexagrams were complementary, not contradictory, and together they comprised unity, wholeness. Since the achievement of harmony and balance was the desired goal of the Confucian, the opposite forces of yin and yang were to be harnessed by men and women to achieve that harmony and balance. Dong's explicit incorporation of yin-yang theory into the corpus of Confucianism resulted in a subtle but important modification both of the Confucian concept of harmony and of the yin-yang concept of opposition: harmony was now regarded as a goal to be striven for by human endeavor rather than simply a natural characteristic of the world. By treating harmony as the result of the actions of moral men and women, Dong and his followers left open the implication that, left to itself, the world would be naturally conflictful and, according to the values assigned by the Confucianist, evil. Thus, while Confucianism came to the point of conceding the givenness of conflict, it did not go so far as to accept an assessment of that natural conflict as being productive of social growth and development, nor the idea that, in the very process of resolving conflict, new conflicts are produced.

Thus we see that both of the major schools of philosophy in traditional China took cognizance of the problem of opposition and its relationship to change. Confucianism, which became in Han times the dominant philosophy in the public and political realm, resolved whatever ambiguity existed in yin-yang thought between the conflict or complementarity of opposites in favor of what we might term an enforced complementarity. This tendency was enhanced as Confucianism became transformed into a kind of state doctrine or ideology that served both to explain and to justify the existing political order. The elevation of Confucianism to a position of dominance in the political realm did not result in the weakening of Daoist thought, however. Indeed, the latter, with its relatively more ambiguous response to the question of whether relationships between opposed forces in the natural world were to be conceived of as primarily conflictual or primarily complementary, and with its advocacy of the position of wu-wei, or nonaction, for human beings confronted with this natural opposition, continued to thrive. Just as Confucianism became associated with the function of statecraft, so Daoism became associated with the functions of other, generally more private realms of life. Popular religious practices, moreover, many of which antedated the formal elaboration of these philosophical schools, came to be associated with both of them, resulting in the popularization (and often the bastardization) of the philosophical position on which each rested.

Consequently Confucianism and Daoism, and the ideas of opposition and change incorporated in each, survived well into the nineteenth century and beyond, as much-modified but nonetheless still viable modes of philosophical inquiry. In a similar fashion, these ideas also survived in the popular culture as much-modified but still viable sources of moral and ethical principles and of religious practices. Western thought, by contrast, lacked this continuity of concern with a view of opposition as a given condition of the natural world.

Two ideas basic to the development of Western thought after Heraclitus and his contemporaries contravene the assumptions underlying a view of nature as characterized by the interaction of opposite forces. The first is the Aristotelian concept of identity, on which logic is based. The second is the Newtonian concept of motion, on which foundation not only the physical sciences but also much contemporary social thought rests. The idea of identity, developed by Aristotle as a fundamental element of his theory of logic, postulates that an object cannot at the same time possess or manifest opposite qualities or characteristics. In these terms, it is logical to say that the object is either x or non-x. It cannot be both at once. This exactly contravenes a view such as that of Heraclitus who, looking for internal conflicts within every aspect of the natural and social worlds, argued that every item must at the same time be both x and non-x. It is the Aristotelian and not the Heraclitan view that prevailed in the development of Western logic.

(Continues...)

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Excerpted from Continuing the Revolution by John Bryan Starr. Copyright © 1979 Princeton University Press. Excerpted by permission of PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS.
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Table of Contents

• Frontmatter, pg. i
• CONTENTS, pg. vii
• PREFACE, pg. ix
• Chapter One. On Conflict, pg. 1
• Chapter Two. On Knowing and Doing, pg. 46
• Chapter Three. On Authority, pg. 72
• Chapter Four. On Class and Class Conflict, pg. 97
• Chapter Five. On Organization, pg. 129
• Chapter Six. On Participation and Representation, pg. 188
• Chapter Seven. On Political Education, pg. 223
• Chapter Eight. On Political History, pg. 248
• Chapter Nine. On Political Development, pg. 275
• Glossary of Chinese Names and Terms, pg. 309
• List of Abbreviations, pg. 319
• Bibliography, pg. 321
• Index, pg. 355