Speech at the Communist Party of China’s National Conference on Publicity Work

Mao Zedong's speech at the National Publicity Work Conference of the Communist Party of China on March 12, 1957 is an important document on the issue of intellectuals and culture and art. The speech was published in Selected Readings of Mao Zedong's Works (Edition A), in 1964. It was included in the Collected Works of Mao Zedong, Volume 7.

The speech pointed out that the establishment of a new socialist system is a great struggle. A new social system has just been established. “To achieve its ultimate consolidation, it is necessary not only to bring about the socialist industrialization of the country and persevere in the socialist revolution on the economic front, but also to carry on constant and arduous socialist revolutionary struggles and socialist education on the political and ideological fronts.”

The speech analyzed the attitude of intellectuals towards Marxism. Mao Zedong believed that the situation of about 5 million intellectuals towards Marxism is that those who are in favor of and familiar with Marxism are in the minority; those who are against Marxism are also in the minority; the majority are in favor of but unfamiliar with Marxism, and the degree of their approval is very different, among which there are three kinds of positions: firm, wavering and opposing. This situation will still exist for a long time.

The speech stressed the need to unite and transform intellectuals. Mao Zedong pointed out that for a vast country like ours, five million intellectuals are too few. Without intellectuals our work cannot be done well, and we should therefore do a good job of uniting with them. As far as the majority of the intellectuals are concerned, they can serve the New China. Unless they rid their minds of what is unsound, intellectuals cannot shoulder the task of educating others. We must help them in an appropriate way and must not resort to compulsion and force them to study. We encourage intellectuals to go among the masses, go to factories and villages. If the intellectuals integrate themselves with the workers and peasants and make friends with them, the Marxism they have learned from books can become truly their own.

The speech emphasized the policy of "liberalization" in the field of ideology and culture. Mao Zedong stressed that the opinions of the Party Central Committee cannot be accepted but can only be released. To "open wide" means to let all people express their opinions freely, so that they dare to speak, dare to criticize and dare to debate; it means not being afraid of wrong views or anything poisonous; it means to encourage argument and criticism among people holding different views, allowing freedom both for criticism and for counter-criticism; it means not coercing people with wrong views into submission but convincing them by reasoning.

“Let a hundred flowers blossom” is the way to develop the arts, and “let a hundred schools of thought contend” is the way to develop science. Not only is this a good method for developing science and the arts, but, applied more widely, it is a good method for all our work.

“Letting a hundred flowers blossom and a hundred schools of thought contend” is a basic and long-term policy. The speech made arrangements for the upcoming Rectification Movement. Mao Zedong stressed that rectification means rectifying the style of thought and work, mainly criticizing subjectivism, bureaucracy and sectarianism.