Mao Zedong - Oppose Book Worship

Selected Works of Mao, Volume VI
May 1930
Transcription by the Maoist Documentation Project.
HTML revised 2004 by Marxists.org
Formatted to EPUB by Ian Schlom 12 September 2020

Unless you have investigated a problem, you will be deprived of the right to speak on it. Isn't that too harsh? Not in the least. When you have not probed into a problem, into the present facts and its past history, and know nothing of its essentials, whatever you say about it will undoubtedly be nonsense. Talking nonsense solves no problems, as everyone knows, so why is it unjust to deprive you of the right to speak? Quite a few comrades always keep their eyes shut and talk nonsense, and for a Communist that is disgraceful. How can a Communist keep his eyes shut and talk nonsense?

It won't do!

It won't do!

You must investigate!

You must not talk nonsense!

You can' t solve a problem? Well, get down and investigate the present factsand its past history! When you have investigated the problem thoroughly,you will know how to solve it. Conclusions invariably come after investigation,and not before. Only a blockhead cudgels his brains on his own, or togetherwith a group, to "find solution" or "evolve an idea" without making anyinvestigation. It must be stressed that this cannot possibly lead to anyeffective solution or any good idea. In other words, he is bound to arriveat a wrong solution and a wrong idea.

There are not a few comrades doing inspection work, as well as guerrillaleaders and cadres newly in office, who like to make political pronouncementsthe moment they arrive at a place and who strut about, criticizing this andcondemning that when they have only seen the surface of things or minor details.Such purely subjective nonsensical talk is indeed detestable. These peopleare bound to make a mess of things, lose the confidence of the masses andprove incapable of solving any problem at all.

When they come across difficult problems, quite a number of people in leadingpositions simply heave a sigh without being able to solve them. They losepatience and ask to be transferred on the ground that they "have not theability and cannot do the job"; These are cowards' words. Just get movingon your two legs, go the rounds of every section placed under your chargeand "inquire into everything''[] as Confuciusdid, and then you will be able to solve the problems, however little is yourability; for although your head may be empty before you go out of doors,it will be empty no longer when you return but will contain all sorts ofmaterial necessary for the solution of the problems, and that is how problemsare solved. Must you go out of doors? Not necessarily. You can call afact-finding meeting of people familiar with the situation in order to getat the source of what you call a difficult problem and come to know how itstands now, and then it will be easy to solve your difficult problem.

Investigation may be likened to the long months of pregnancy, and solvinga problem to the day of birth. To investigate a problem is, indeed, to solveit.

Whatever is written in a book is right such is still the mentalityof culturally backward Chinese peasants. Strangely enough, within the CommunistParty there are also people who always say in a discussion, "Show me whereit's written in the book." When we say that a directive of a higher organof leadership is correct, that is not just because it comes from "a higherorgan of leadership" but because its contents conform with both the objectiveand subjective circumstances of the struggle and meet its requirements. Itis quite wrong to take a formalistic attitude and blindly carry out directiveswithout discussing and examining them in the light of actual conditions simplybecause they come from a higher organ. It is the mischief done by this formalismwhich explains why the line and tactics of the Party do not take deeper rootamong the masses. To carry out a directive of a higher organ blindly, andseemingly without any disagreement, is not really to carry it out but isthe most artful way of opposing or sabotaging it.

The method of studying the social sciences exclusively from the book is likewiseextremely dangerous and may even lead one onto the road of counter-revolution.Clear proof of this is provided by the fact that whole batches of ChineseCommunists who confined themselves to books in their study of the socialsciences have turned into counter-revolutionaries. When we say Marxism iscorrect, it is certainly not because Marx was a "prophet" but because histheory has been proved correct in our practice and in our struggle. We needMarxism in our struggle. In our acceptance of his theory no such formalisationof mystical notion as that of "prophecy" ever enters our minds. Many whohave read Marxist books have become renegades from the revolution, whereasilliterate workers often grasp Marxism very well. Of course we should studyMarxist books, but this study must be integrated with our country's actualconditions. We need books, but we must overcome book worship, which is divorcedfrom the actual situation.

How can we overcome book worship? The only way is to investigate the actualsituation.

Do you doubt this conclusion? Facts will force you to accept it. Just tryand appraise the political situation or guide the struggle without makingany investigation, and you will see whether or not such appraisal or guidanceis groundless and idealist and whether or not it will lead to opportunistor putschist errors. Certainly it will. This is not because of failure tomake careful plans before taking action but because of failure to study thespecific social situation carefully before making the plans, as often happensin our Red Army guerrilla units. Officers of the LiKuei[] type do not discriminate when they punishthe men for offenses. As a result, the offenders feel they have been unfairlytreated, many disputes ensue, and the leaders lose all prestige. Does thisnot happen frequently in the Red Army?

We must wipe out idealism and guard against all opportunist and putschisterrors before we can succeed in winning over the masses and defeating theenemy. The only way to wipe out idealism is to make the effort and investigatethe actual situation.

This is our answer to the question: Why do we have to investigate social and economic conditions? Accordingly, the object of our investigation is all the social classes and not fragmentary social phenomena. Of late, the comrades in the Fourth Army of the Red Army have generally given attention to the work of investigation, [] but the method many of them employ is wrong. The results of their investigation are therefore as trivial as a grocer's accounts, or resemble the many strange tales a country bumpkin hears when he comes to town, or are like a distant view of a populous city from a mountain top. This kind of investigation is of little use and cannot achieve our main purpose. Our main purpose is to learn the political and economic situation of the various social classes. The outcome of our investigation should be a picture of the present situation of each class and the ups and downs of its development. For example, when we investigate the composition of the peasantry, not only must we know the number of owner-peasants, semi-owner peasants and tenant-peasants, who are differentiated according to tenancy relationships, but more especially we must know the number of rich peasants, middle peasants and poor peasants, who are differentiated according to class or stratum. When we investigate the composition of the merchants, not only must we know the number in each trade, such as grain, clothing, medicinal herbs, etc., but more especially we must know the number of small merchants, middle merchants and big merchants. We should investigate not only the state of each trade, but more especially the class relations within it. We should investigate the relationships not only between the different trades but more especially between the different classes. Our chief method of investigation must be to dissect the different social classes, the ultimate purpose being to understand their interrelations, to arrive at a correct appraisal of class forces and then to formulate the correct tactics for the struggle, defining which classes constitute the main force in the revolutionary struggle, which classes are to be won over as allies and which classes are to be overthrown. This is our sole purpose.