Principal Contradiction and Non-Principal Contradiction

A pair of philosophical categories that reveal the different positions, functions and interrelations of various contradictions within things.

Lenin put forward the idea that "the particular main link" must be discovered at any given point in the chain of a process and consequently the "main link" of a chain must be seized for success. In his Philosophical Notebooks, Lenin used the concept of "principal contradiction", believing that the individual act of exchange of one given commodity for another, already includes in an undeveloped form “all the main contradictions of capitalism”.

Mao Zedong systematically expounded distinction between the principal contradiction and the non-principal contradictions as the problem that must be specially raised and analyzed in the particularity of contradiction. He said: "There are many contradictions in the process of development of a complex thing, and one of them is necessarily the principal contradiction whose existence and development determine or influence the existence and development of the other contradictions.”

The principal contradiction is the contradiction that plays a leading and decisive role in the development of things. Meanwhile, other contradictions occupy a secondary and subordinate position; they are the non-principal contradictions.

In the development of things, the relationship between the principal contradiction and the non-principal contradictions often presents complex situations so a concrete analysis based on reality is needed.

However, at every stage in the development of a process, there is only one principal contradiction which plays the leading role. Because the status and function of the principal contradiction and the non-principal contradictions are different, thus, one must not treat all the contradictions in a process as being equal but must pay special attention to grasping the principal one. Once this principal contradiction is grasped, all problems can be readily solved. This is the way to grasp the principal contradictions.

The principal contradiction and the non-principal contradictions interact with each other. Although the non-principal contradictions are not dominant, but also not completely passive. The partial or temporary resolution of the non-principal contradictions would affect and restrict the resolution of major contradictions.

The distinction between the principal contradiction and the non-principal contradictions is not static. In the process of development of things, the opposites contained in them are interdependent and become transformed into one another. In a given process or at a given stage in the development of a contradiction, the principal and the non-principal aspects of a contradiction transform themselves into each other.

The principle of the relationship between the principal contradiction and the non-principal contradiction requires that when we observe and deal with problems, we should not only focus on grasping and solving the principal contradiction, but also accurately foresee the development and change trend of the contradiction in the change of the contradictory system and various contradictory forces, and pay attention to the solution of the non-principal contradiction, so as to achieve overall consideration.