The Chinese Revolution and the Communist Party of China

This work is a textbook written by Mao Zedong and several other comrades in December 1939, in Yan'an. Included in the Selected Works of Mao Zedong, Volume 2. The first chapter, "Chinese Society", was drafted by other comrades and reviewed and revised by Comrade Mao Zedong. The second chapter, "The Chinese Revolution", was written by Mao Zedong himself. The views on new democracy discussed by Mao Zedong in this chapter were considerably developed in his work "On New Democracy", written in January 1940.

The chapters and sections of the whole text book included: Chapter 1: “Chinese Society”, with total 3 sections: (the current Chinese Nation), Old Feudal Society, Present-Day Colonial, Semi-Colonial and Semi-Feudal Society ;Chapter 2: “Chinese Revolution”, included total 7 sections as: the Revolutionary Movements in the last hundred years, the targets of the Chinese Revolution, the tasks of the Chinese Revolution, the motive forces of the Chinese Revolution, the character of the Chinese Revolution, the perspectives of the Chinese Revolution, the twofold task of the Chinese Revolution and the Communist Party of China.

Its basic contents include: (1) Using the basic principles of Marxism, the text book analyzed the social history and social class situation of China, demonstrated the main characteristics and main contradictions of colonial, semi-colonial and semi-feudal Chinese society, and pointed out that the contradictions between imperialism and the Chinese nation, and between feudalism and the masses of the people were the basic contradictions in modern Chinese society, and that the contradiction between imperialism and the Chinese nation is the principal one.“These contradictions and their intensification must inevitably result in the incessant growth of revolutionary movements.” (2) The book focused on the analysis of the history of the development of China's revolutionary movement in the past century, and profoundly expounded the targets, tasks, motive forces, character and future prospect of China's new democratic revolution. Mao Zedong pointed out that the chief targets or enemies of the Chinese revolution were imperialism and feudalism. The main task of the revolution is "to carry out a national revolution to overthrow foreign imperialist oppression and a democratic revolution to overthrow feudal landlord oppression, the primary and foremost task being the national revolution to overthrow imperialism.”

In terms of the motive forces of revolution, the textbook said: among all the classes in Chinese society, the peasantry is a firm ally of the working class, the urban petty bourgeoisie is a reliable ally, and the national bourgeoisie is an ally in certain periods and to a certain extent. In terms of the character of the revolution, the present Chinese revolution has already become a new democratic revolution led by the proletariat and its party, the Communist Party of China. This revolution is part of the world proletarian socialist revolution. The New-Democratic Revolution is vastly different from the democratic revolutions of Europe and America in that it results not in a dictatorship of the bourgeoisie but in a dictatorship of the United Front of all the revolutionary classes under the leadership of the proletariat.

The New-Democratic Revolution also differs from a socialist revolution in that “it overthrows the rule of the imperialists, traitors and reactionaries in China but does not destroy any section of capitalism which is capable of contributing to the anti-imperialist, anti-feudal struggle.” The future of the revolution is to establish a New-Democratic Republic after the victory of the revolution. “With the addition of a favourable international environment, these factors render it highly probable that China's bourgeois-democratic revolution will ultimately avoid a capitalist future and enjoy a socialist future.”

(3) The book further analyzed the twofold task of the Chinese revolution and the historical mission of the Communist Party of China.

It pointed out: we can see that the Chinese revolution taken as a whole involves a twofold task. That is to say, it embraces both the bourgeois-democratic revolution (the New-Democratic Revolution) and the proletarian-socialist revolution, i.e., both the present and future stages of the revolution. " The leadership in this twofold revolutionary task devolves on the Communist Party of China, the party of the proletariat, without whose leadership no revolution can succeed.” To complete China's bourgeois-democratic revolution (the New-Democratic Revolution) and to transform it into a socialist revolution when all the necessary conditions are ripe—such is the sum total of the great and glorious revolutionary task of the Communist Party of China. Mao Zedong finally emphasized that in order to accomplish the above tasks, which are both glorious and arduous, efforts should be made to strengthen Party building. Such a task cannot be accomplished, “without a bolshevized Communist Party of China which is national in scale and has a broad mass character, a party fully consolidated ideologically, politically and organizationally. Therefore every Communist has the duty of playing an active part in building up such a Communist Party.” This textbook further developed the theory of the New-Democratic Revolution and played a great role in ideological education of the Communist Party of China and among the Chinese people.