Selected Works of Mao Zedong

An important carrier and a concentrated embodiment of Mao Zedong Thought. It is one of the most influential book collections in China in the 20th century. During the Yan'an Rectification Period, the CPC Central Committee edited two collections of the party literature titled Before the Sixth National Congress of the CPC and Since the Sixth National Congress of the CPC, which included some of Mao's writings and documents drafted for the Central Committee. Then, the first edition of Selected Works of Mao Zedong was published by the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Daily News, founded in Handan City (Hebei) in 1944. The 7th Party National Congress of the CPC defined Mao Zedong Thought as the guiding ideology of the Party, thereon several different editions of Selected Works of Mao Zedong were published in various Liberated Areas, playing an important role in the study, propagation and research of Mao Zedong Thought. The two editions of Selected Works of Mao Zedong (Volumes 1-4), which were compiled after the founding of New China and published by the People's Publishing House, include the major works of Mao Zedong during the New-Democratic Revolution. The first edition of Selected Works of Mao Zedong (Volumes 1-4), edited by Mao Zedong himself, contained 158 articles and was published respectively in the early 1950s and early 1960s. As for the second edition, it was revised by the Editorial Committee of the Central Committee of the CPC to make changes on the title, timing of the articles, inscriptions, texts, and notes, with the addition of the article "Oppose Book Worship", which was officially published and released in 1991, with the title inscribed by Deng Xiaoping.

The editorial revision of Selected Works of Mao Zedong (Volumes 1-4) followed the principles of seeking truth from facts and respecting history, possessing detailed information, grasping sufficient and reliable sources, insisting on the combination of historical materials, editions and investigations, and comprehensively and objectively commenting on people and events. Hence, the Selected Works of Mao Zedong (Volumes 1-4) is a rich and inclusive work covering the armed struggle led by the Party during the New-Democratic Revolution, the United Front and the Party's own construction and including the subjects on military, economy, organization, strategy and tactics, ideology and politics, culture, diplomacy and other issues. Among them, Volume 1 includes writings from the periods of the First and Second Internal Revolutionary War; Volumes 2 and 3 include writings from the period of the Anti-Japanese War; and Volume 4 includes writings related to the period of the Third Civil Revolutionary War.

China's New-Democratic Revolution experienced a long and tortuous road. The Selected Works of Mao Zedong (Volumes 1-4) is both a historical record and a summary of the experience of this great people's revolution and a concentrated reflection of the tortuous historical process of this revolution. Mao Zedong's application of dialectical and historical materialism to all the work of the CPC reflects Mao Zedong's skills in combining the universal truths of Marxism-Leninism with the concrete practice of the Chinese revolution, which are the theoretical line of beginning from reality, linking theory with practice and seeking truth from facts. He also formulated the positions, viewpoints and methods that have been the characteristics of the Chinese Communists, which are, in short, seeking truth from facts, the mass line and independence. It was by adhering to the living soul of Mao Zedong Thought that Mao Zedong could creatively enrich and develop Marxism-Leninism and put forward a systematic and complete scientific theory, strategy and tactics, and a series of lines and policies about the Chinese revolution. As Mao Zedong said, "It took us 28 years of struggle to achieve the final victory. During that time, we also experienced several defeats and ups and downs. The article I have written reflects the process of these decades of struggle and is the product of the people's revolutionary struggle, not a product of my own mind.”

The publication and distribution of Selected Works of Mao Zedong (Volumes 1-4) created a fervor among the Party members, cadres, intellectuals and people from all walks of life to study the works of Mao Zedong. Through this collection, Mao Zedong Thought was widely disseminated throughout the country. They had a profound impact on the ideological changes of the Chinese people and the development of various undertakings of the PRC. From past to present, it has great significance and value for the study of Mao Zedong Thought, the history of the Chinese Revolution and the CPC, and the study of Mao's life.