The Brilliance of Mao Tse-tung’s
Thought Illuminates the Whole World
[This article is reprinted from Peking Review, Vol. 9, #27, July 1,
1966, pp. 11-14. Thanks are due to the WWW.WENGEWANG.ORG
web site for some of the work done for this posting.]
This is the second and concluding part of a report which appeared in “Peking Review,” No. 26. —Ed.
CHAIRMAN MAO’S works enjoy the same high reputation among the many freedom fighters of Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Angola and Azania [South Africa]. Africa’s sons and daughters who are fighting heroically for national independence and liberation have come to see more and more clearly from their own experience that armed struggle is the only correct way for them to achieve victory. They have realized the universal truth of Chairman Mao’s maxim that “political power grows out of the barrel of a gun.” They appreciate the wisdom of his theory of the people’s army and people’s war. That is why many ask for a copy of Chairman Mao’s military writings whenever they meet a Chinese friend.
The fighters of “Portuguese” Guinea, waging an armed struggle for national liberation against Portuguese colonialist rule, carry Chairman Mao’s military works in their packs and study them when they go into battle. Applying Chairman Mao’s theory on people’s war, they have built vast revolutionary bases in the rural areas of their country, and have formed militia units, guerrilla units, and regular forces. They have been conducting a guerrilla war, constantly attacking and wiping out the enemy, and encircling the Portuguese colonialists in a few cities, thus achieving great victories. In 1964 one of our correspondents met Alpha Diallo, vice-commander of a military zone of the patriotic armed forces of “Portuguese” Guinea, and presented him with a badge with a replica of Chairman Mao. Alpha Diallo warmly embraced him, saying that he had been longing for this for many years and would show it to his comrades-in-arms at the front.
Chairman Mao’s Works Are Indispensable
Textbooks for RevolutionariesWe have been in Latin America too. As everyone knows, on this vast continent which has been regarded as the “backyard” of the United States, the flames of the struggle for national liberation are raging and spreading. There, too, we have seen the brilliant rays of Mao Tse-tung’s thought. In February 1963, an electrifying incident shook the whole Western world. Nine young Venezuelan patriots, having seized the ship Anzoatequi by force of arms, fearlessly frustrated interception by U.S. warships and aircraft and sailed it to Brazil. A month later we met these warriors at an international conference in Brazil and one of them told us the story in detail. His name was Jesus, and it was he who had acted as the captain of the captured ship. The soul-stirring battle fought by these courageous Venezuelan youths aroused our boundless admiration. What still lingers in our minds is the deep and burning affection of the Venezuelan revolutionaries for the Chinese people and for our great leader. Before bidding him goodbye, we pinned a dark-red badge of Tien An Men on this fighter’s chest. Excited, he said, “That’s great! This is just what I wanted. When I go back to Venezuela. I’ll wear it on my chest in battle, whether in the mountains or on the plains. I’ll tell my comrades-in-arms that I’ve seen Chinese comrades, shaken their hands and talked with them. We Venezuelan revolutionary fighters have always had tremendous feelings for the Chinese comrades. For we know that revolutionary China with its seven hundred million people is the strongest force backing our struggle, and we are proud of having a staunch comrade-in-arms like China.” He added, “In Venezuela, the works of Comrade Mao Tse-tung have become the most popular of textbooks, indispensable for every Venezuelan revolutionary.” Clasping our hands firmly, he said, “Please allow me to convey the warm respects of the entire Venezuelan people to the great Comrade Mao Tse-tung and to the great Chinese people.”
The revolutionary people in other Latin American countries have the same fervent desire to study Mao Tse-tung’s thought — living Marxism-Leninism at its highest in our era. In Chile, the study of Mao Tse-tung’s works was a frequent topic of discussion between us and a group of young progressives. They said they studied the works together on Sundays because they were busy during the week. They had studied “Analysis of the Classes in Chinese Society” and other writings of Chairman Mao over and over again with revolutionary passion, and in terms of actual social conditions in Chile. One of them once told us that, as Chairman Mao says, the way to judge whether a youth is a revolutionary is to see whether or not he is willing to integrate himself with the broad masses of worker’s and peasants and actually does so in practice; hence Chilean revolutionaries must first of all go among the workers and peasants and integrate themselves with these classes. They also said that, after studying Mao Tse-tung’s works, they had come to realize that the Chilean Marxists, while participating in a united front with the representatives of the national bourgeoisie, must work independently and maintain their leadership of the united front. During our stay in Chile, Ana Eugenia Ugalde, President of the Chile-China Cultural Institute, often expressed to us her yearning to visit China. Recently her cherished dream came true, and at last she went to China. No sooner did she get off the plane than she asked us to convey her warm regards to Chairman Mao. She said that the great revolutionary image of China had been deeply imprinted on the hearts of the Chilean people and nothing in the world could shake the genuine affection and boundless love of the Chilean people for our beloved Chairman Mao and for the Chinese people.
Mao Tse-tung Gives People Inspiration And Confidence
In every corner of Brazil, a country of more than eight million square kilometres, people often asked. “China is a big country, and so is Brazil. But China is liberated; why isn’t Brazil liberated? Why is it that China was able to defeat the eight million troops of Chiang Kai-shek, who were armed to the teeth by the U.S., and to smash the crack U.S. troops in Korea while we in Brazil still remain under the jack-boots of the Americans?” Many gave the answer themselves, “It is because China has a great Marxist-Leninist Communist Party; it is because China has the great people’s leader Mao Tse-tung!” In the towns or in the countryside, whenever we were recognized as correspondents from Peking, many Brazilians warmly extended their hands to us saying, “Welcome to you, friends from the nation of Mao Tse-tung!” They milled around us asking about the construction of New China and wishing Chairman Mao Tse-tung good health. In Belo Horizonte, an old man named Jaime whom we had never met before insisted that we go to his home to meet a group of his relatives and friends whom he had invited for a party. When we entered his living room, all present rose to their feet and the song The East Is Red was played on a gramophone. Jaime said, “This is our greeting to New China, to Chairman Mao Tse-tung and to the friends from the nation we look up to!” The Selected Works of Mao Tse-tung has been published in Portuguese in Brazil. Before the coup in 1964, Mao Tse-tung’s writings in pamphlet form were widely sold in the towns. In the faculties of philosophy in some Brazilian universities, the students organized themselves into groups to study Chairman Mao’s philosophical works. They applied Chairman Mao Tse-tung’s thought in heated polemics against the local Khrushchevites. The working people of Brazil show an especial love for Chairman Mao. Once a worker carefully cut out a picture of Chairman Mao from a copy of China Pictorial he had bought and told us, “I want to frame it and put it on my wall. I have the greatest respect for Mao Tse-tung!”
Groups to study Chairman Mao’s works have been formed in a number of Mexican schools. Some Mexicans said, “U.S. imperialism is the No. 1 enemy of the people of the world. We Mexicans understand this most clearly. The U.S. imperialists have seized half our territory, we can never forget this debt owing to us!” At a reception given in honour of Chinese guests and attended by dozens of Mexicans, a Mexican girl recited a poem which she had written and which was aflame with enthusiasm. One stanza reads:
Raise your eyes to the East,
The brilliant dawn is glowing,
Its warm rays inspire us,
Breathing hope and confidence.
Mao Tse-tung, your name is on our lips
And beats in our hearts.A trip to Ecuador took us to the home of a leader of an Indian organization in the northeastern part of the country. When we got there, it was already dark. Like many other Indians, the host was a tenant farmer working on a latifundist’s land. His was a small low thatched hut under a round roof where the family lived with the cattle, sheep and chickens. He came out to give us a warm welcome when we arrived. The families living in neighbouring huts also turned out to welcome us. They eagerly shook our hands, embraced us and called us brothers. The leader said that although they had never seen Chinese brothers before, they had heard about them and knew they had achieved liberation under the leadership of Chairman Mao Tse-tung and had built their nation into a powerful country. He lit a small oil-lamp, the only one he had (being in abject poverty, the Indians do not use lamps on ordinary occasions), and asked us to sit down on the mat beside the cattle. They eagerly asked us to tell them how the Chinese people under Chairman Mao Tse-tung’s leadership overthrew the Chiang Kai-shek clique, the landlords and the bureaucrat capitalists. They listened elatedly and raised many questions. All beamed with pleasure and excitement when they learnt that the Chinese peasants, through their struggles, had beaten down the landlords, seized their own land and organized themselves into people’s communes. The leader said, “The Chinese people love Chairman Mao, and so do we Indians. Our Chinese brothers are an example for us. Like China’s peasants, we must rise to our feet to win liberation.”
Mao Tse-tung’s Thought Shakes The Capitalist World
Our people still remember the statements made by the American Negro leader Robert Williams during his visit to China several years ago, statements which were so full of militant sentiment. This American Negro leader thought so highly of Chairman Mao Tse-tung’s statement in support of the American Negroes’ struggle that he printed it in bold type in the publication he edited and sent copies to his Negro brothers in the United States and Africa. This American Negro leader hung Chairman Mao’s signed photograph in his living room and often spoke eloquently about his memorable interview with Chairman Mao. Once when he heard that the imperialists and the reactionaries of various countries were making slanderous attacks against China, he immediately refuted them. Afterwards, he indignantly told us, “Who is it that most firmly supports us? We Negro brothers know best. It is Chairman Mao Tse-tung who most resolutely supports the struggle of our Negro brothers the world over.”
From the success of the Chinese pavilion at the Paris Fair, one can see how ardently the French people love New China and how deeply they respect Chairman Mao. A continuous stream of people flowed into the pavilion every day from morning till night. After their visit, many people cheered China’s achievements. Some people described their visit as “a vista of hope for our youth,” while some others said that “the Chinese are very good; they are setting us examples.” Still some others wrote down in the visitors’ book the slogans: “Long live China which holds high the banner of Marxism-Leninism!” “Long live Mao Tse-tung!” Once, when a Chinese troupe performed in an old French city, an old lady came up after the performance to ask if they could give her a badge with a replica of Chairman Mao Tse-tung as a souvenir. When they gave her one, she carefully held it in hand and joyfully looked it over and over again. Then she warmly embraced the Chinese actress who had given it her. During a second performance, the old lady was again seen in the audience. She said she had a daughter, so she wished to get another medal of Chairman Mao Tse-tung.... When a Chinese art troupe visited Bologna, Italy, people in the streets often asked them whether they came from China. When this was confirmed, they gaily made a thumbs-up gesture of approval and said, “Mao Tse-tung! Mao Tse-tung!” The Chinese troupe visited the famous Italian cultural city of Florence. A white-haired lady was copying a noted painting in a famous gallery. Upon learning that the guests came from China, she looked at the members of the troupe, her eyes expressing deep feelings, and said, “China, what a wonderful place! China, the native land of Mao Tse-tung!” A French friend named Marie-Joseph put into words the thoughts of the revolutionary people. She said, “What I like best are the works of Mao Tse-tung, your great leader, because I love and respect him so much.” She added, “I am very anxious to learn from Mao Tse-tung’s thought. For he is a great man, a man really faithful to the struggle against imperialism. His great thought is shaking the capitalist world, and U.S. imperialism in particular.”
Mao Tse-tung Is the Great Helmsman of the World Revolution
From one continent to another, the revolutionary peoples, regardless of differences in nationality, language and colour, are united in their love for Chairman Mao and their earnest desire to study his works. We need hardly call attention to the profound revolutionary affection cherished for Chairman Mao by the heroic Albanian people who are holding aloft the revolutionary banner of Marxism-Leninism, or to the high respect shown to our great leader by the Korean and Vietnamese peoples who share the same destiny with us in good times and bad. All this is obvious to everyone. We cannot forget the remarks of a progressive Burmese friend who ardently loves China and deeply respects our great leader, Chairman Mao. The Burmese friend said, “Peking is the symbol of the world revolution. Mao Tse-tung is the great helmsman of the world revolution. Mao Tse-tung’s works shine with a brilliance that lights up the road of revolution for the people of the world. Those who desire revolution must seriously study Chairman Mao’s works.” Nor can we forget the young Japanese in Tokyo who formed a “study group on Mao Tse-tung’s thought” in January 1964. Since then, they have consistently followed the rule of meeting once a week to read Chairman Mao’s works collectively. They recently told us about the understanding they have gained from their study of Mao Tse-tung’s thought. A girl student of Chinese literature at a university in Tokyo said that Chairman Mao Tse-tung’s theory on the intermediate zone is perfectly correct. The most important point in the idea that U.S. imperialism is a paper tiger lies in belief in the strength of the people, she said. A Japanese youth said that the road China has taken and is following, under the leadership of Chairman Mao Tse-tung, serves as an example to the peoples of the world. Today the road to capitalism is not open to the Asian, African and Latin American countries, whereas China’s road of the building of socialism through self-reliance points the way for their peoples. A young man doing scientific research at a university said that Chairman Mao was not only a great statesman and military expert, but also a great scientist. Chairman Mao Tse-tung is very wise in putting forward the three revolutionary tasks of class struggle, struggle for production, and scientific experiment, he said.
In our conversations with revolutionary friends from different lands about the vigorous growth and great victories of the anti-imperialist, anti-colonialist national-liberation movements in Asia, Africa and Latin America, they all attributed these victories to the adoption of Mao Tse-tung’s thought as a guide. The Swedish writer Jan Myrdal in his article commenting on the Selected Military Writings of Mao Tse-tung pointed out that Mao Tse-tung’s greatness as a great commander is indisputable and even his early opponents recognized this. His works give revolutionaries in Asia, Africa and Latin America the grounding of theory for the revolutionary wars now in process or those yet to be launched.
It is precisely for this reason that the revolutionary people of all countries study Mao Tse-tung’s works with immense revolutionary enthusiasm. Many have searched high and low for Chairman Mao’s works and read them in secret at the risk of their lives. Many have mimeographed or copied articles or paragraphs from Chairman Mao’s works and passed them on to others. Many staunch revolutionaries have not ceased to read Chairman Mao’s books, even while confined in enemy prisons. A revolutionary arrested in Venezuela got two copies of Chairman Mao Tse-tung’s works for his friends who were also in jail. As there was not enough copies to go round, they divided into small groups for reading and discussion and some of them read the books by a feeble light at night, giving up their sleep. We have met with many friends whose treasured copies of the Selected Works of Mao Tse-tung and clippings of Chairman Mao’s articles had become worn out from being read over and over again. They said they got new inspiration from each reading. Some friends said, “The books written by Chairman Mao are an inexhaustible theoretical treasure, and to master them requires reading them every day.”
The Spread of Mao Tse-tung’s Thought Is Irresistible
As is well known, after usurping political power the Right-wing generals’ clique in Indonesia has carried out sanguinary massacres and mass arrests in this country of a thousand islands, and has perpetrated unbridled atrocities against China, against the Indonesian Communist Party and people. But even amid this fascist white terror, when we were in Indonesia we still felt the ardent love of the Indonesian people for the Chinese Communist Party and our respected and beloved leader Chairman Mao. Last October, our correspondent in Indonesia returned to Djakarta from Peking. He carried a plaster statue of Chairman Mao, and when this was noticed by some Indonesians at the Djakarta airport, they shouted the name of Mao Tse-tung with deep emotion. Once when our comrade driver was studying the Selected Works of Mao Tse-tung in the automobile, an Indonesian soldier saw the photo of Chairman Mao on the book cover, he raised his thumb and said repeatedly, “Mao Tse-tung, very good!” These incidents took place in Indonesia, a country suffering under a reign of terror. They show how far-reaching is the influence of the Chinese revolution and Mao Tse-tung’s thought among the Indonesian people. It is an influence which the Indonesian reactionaries can never obliterate.
We cannot fail to mention the Soviet Union and a number of East European countries. The modern revisionists, who have betrayed Marxism-Leninism, are letting loose an anti-Chinese adverse current there, in collusion with the imperialists and the reactionaries of various countries. They fear the truth and Mao Tse-tung’s thought; so they have tried by hook or by crook to ban the works of Mao Tse-tung in a vain attempt to bar the dissemination of his thought. But the truth can never be banned. The spread of Mao Tse-tung’s thought is likewise irresistible. The more the modern revisionists try to ban the works of Mao Tse-tung, the more the people want to study them, the more the modern revisionists attack our respected and beloved leader Chairman Mao, the more the people love him. During the lime we were assigned to the Soviet Union and a number of East European countries, we discovered that the broad masses of the people there wanted to carry on the revolution. They unswervingly defended Marxism-Leninism and firmly opposed revisionism. They pinned their hopes on the Chinese Communist Party and Chairman Mao. They said. “Peking is the lighthouse of the world revolution, and Mao Tse-tung is its helmsman.”
Mao Tse-tung’s Thought Is a Never-Setting Sun
The warm feeling and admiration of the people in all countries for Chairman Mao and his works defy description. On our travels, when people knew that we came from New China, they put their thumbs up and cheered, “Mao Tse-tung!” When they saw an article made in China, they exclaimed, “Mao Tse-tung!” When they saw Chairman Mao appearing in a Chinese film, they immediately greeted him with a prolonged outburst of thunderous applause. Some shouted, “Long live Mao Tse-tung!” We will always remember the moving scenes at the Chinese exhibition in Somalia in November 1965. Many Somalians posed for photographs before the large portrait of Chairman Mao in the Chinese pavilion. People vied in trying to get a badge with a portrait of Chairman Mao on it, which they immediately pinned on their chests with a feeling of pride. Many people left stirring words in the visitors’ book, such as “We salute you, Mao Tse-tung!” “Thank you, Mao Tse-tung, for pointing out the road for our advance!” and “Long live Mao Tse-tung!” We met a singer from Guinea who sang with deep emotion on the stage a song he had composed himself: “Fighting Africa — Homage to Chairman Mao.” Although he had not seen Chairman Mao, he felt that he could not help singing in his praise, he said. Chairman Mao’s works are gigantic and Mao Tse-tung’s thought is immortal, he declared. In Africa, he would dedicate this song to the black masses; in Europe and America, he would sing the song to the white masses. He said he would “spread the truth of Mao Tse-tung’s thought, the truth of the fight for liberty.”
Endless moving scenes of this kind tell us that in the eyes of the revolutionary people of the world, Chairman Mao is not only the great leader who has guided the Chinese people from victory to victory but also the revolutionary leader of the people of the world. He is supported and loved by the Chinese people and by the people of the world as well. Mao Tse-tung’s thought is the beacon light of the world revolution. The brilliance of Chairman Mao’s thought lights up the entire globe, and his works have gained world popularity. Let the imperialists, all the reactionaries, and the modern revisionists at home and abroad bark madly. Their slanderous attacks against our great leader cannot in the least harm the glowing radiance of Mao Tse-tung’s thought.
— HSINHUA CORRESPONDENTS
Contents page for this Peking Review issue.
Peking Review article list (in date order).
Peking Review article list (by subject).