A fuller study of Mao Zedong's talk at the Yenan Forum

A Fuller Study of Mao Zedong’s Talk at the Yenan Forum
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A Fuller Study of Mao Zedong’s Talk at the Yenan Forum
Mao Zedong’s writings are some of the most widely read literary works in China and the whole world. He has shared his ideas on politics, history and Chinese literature in different works, but the most memorable is his Talk at the Yenan forum. His speech at the conference has also attracted intense scrutiny in China and from scholars in other parts of the world. Despite the importance of the talks to Chinese history and literature, there are no thorough examinations conducted with respect to various elements including political myths such as revolution and the myth of the left and Marxism. Mao’s main concern and the primary topic during the talks was the examination of the relationship between artistic and literary fields and revolutionary work. He insisted that the two must work hand in hand to ensure that they follow the correct path toward development and national liberation.
In terms of analyzing the western literature, Zedong was a few steps ahead of most scholars who criticized his literary works and other Chinese writers who did not agree with his ideas. Unlike modern writers from China who have changed due to the depo influence from western theories such as Marxism, Mao chose to continue following the traditional way of thought. In his talks at the Yennan forum, Mao avoids following the western patterns of thought that are mostly characterized by literal interpretations and assumptions. Writers and scholars who had been deeply influenced by the western way of thought would consciously assume and made their speech targeting the elite listeners or potentially elite listeners without taking time to confirm their status. The assumption of elite status indicated that the western-influenced scholars indirectly accepted that there was a huge difference between popular audience and elite audience for literature (Aron, 2017). Mao Zedong also seemed not to acknowledge the harmony between popular culture and the traditional Chinese elite population, a connection that might have been present in the western traditional past but are non-existent in the modern times.
As Mao talks about the culture and the military or the pen and the gun and their importance on revolutionary work, he seems to understand the Marxism struggles for mind and matter. Like Carl Marx, Zedong does not seem to feel constrained or troubled to create a regular material basis for different phenomenal in the nonmaterial superstructure. Mao also follows traditional practices in poetry, practices that do not need explicit theoretical justifications unlike most contemporary writers who followed the foundation of limited school and defined justifications. Based on the Yenan speech and his idea of revolution on the context of the relationship between art and the military, he tries to imply that he only uses traditional literary practice (Aron, 2017). Mao’s traditional style gives him the freedom to come up with new literary judgements and ideas on non-dogmatic and instinctual level while modern writers under western influence chose to rationalize their ideas based on precise theoretical evidence and theories. Also, Mao’s freedom to easily explain his experience without getting affected by contemporary models of western theory and literature explains his mixture of general thinking and ontological simplicity on literature and the profound perceptions on specific questions.
There are various works and discussions on Mao Zedong’s talks, but most of them focus on his political ideas without addressing the importance of a strong culture and on revolution and defeating the enemy. Marxism is one of the problems addressed in Mao Zedong’s speech. Raymond Aaron’s article on the scourge of Marxism explains some of the problems addressed in Mao Zedong’s speech during the Yenan forum. He claims that Marxism is the opium of the intellectuals, a statement that can be compared to Mao Zedong’s statement that Chinese reactionaries are rich individuals who have exponential capacity to influence different areas including politics. However, he continues to claim that although the reactionaries are wealthy individuals, they do not have the capacity to produce something good; instead they choose to produce substandard goods in large quantities (Mao, 1972). Zedong reiterates the significance of literature and art as part of the Chinese culture especially after the May fourth movement. It was during the civil war that revolutionary literature saw an upsurge in popularity, a development that also boosted the growth of art movements. Although the revolutionary war and art movement seemed to have been moving in a similar direction, they did not have a strong link for harmonious operation in practical work since had been cut off from each other by the Chinese reactionaries. Since the war of resistance against Japan began, a huge number of revolutionary artists and writers began visiting Yenan and various areas dominated by anti-Japanese groups.
Mao Zedong’s talks were published in May 1942, an era when most countries were engaged in the anti-fascist war. During the publishing of Mao’s works, it was the fifth year since the beginning of the resistance war against Japan. Japanese imperialism had also boosted their efforts for mopping out the liberated areas. Reactionaries known as Kuomintang supported their passivity policies in the resistance war but lively disapproval against the Communist party in China (Mao, 1972). The reactionaries also sent thousands of soldiers to surround and blockade areas that had been liberated in an attempt to attack people and the army. They had also secretly placed a large number of soldiers who had surrenders to the Japanese invaders; the troops actively directed the troops to attack revolutionary bases inside enemy territory. In the revolutionary camp and party, the Right capitulationism line and the Rightist opportunist line from the early resistance war were represented by Wang Ming and were serious threats to the Chinese revolution and the party in general.
Since the audience for literary works done by Mao Zendong and other Chinese writers are meant for the general population including the soldiers, peasants and workers, there is an issue of the level of understanding among this population (Mao, 1972). Most modern writers believe that the elite audience is the best audience for which to address during talks like the Yenan forum since most are educated and can simply understand the ideologies. Zedong insists that there is a huge problem that needs to be addressed, the issue of identifying different types of audiences and understanding the difference in understanding between the groups. Some of the individuals who needed to understand Zedong’s talks and use it to understand culture and its importance to revolution were groups who believed in different religions that their judgements on politics and reality were too crowded to understand literary works. As Karl Marx indicates, religion provides a sigh for creatures that are overwhelmed by misfortune and also the opium of the people. Therefore, understanding the different audience and devising different means of making them understand the connection between culture. Politics and revolution is one of the most important points made by Mao Zedong in his talks.
According to Aron (2017) Marxism is a form of religion which exists in the lowest sense or an inferior form of religion as an opiate for the masses. Most of the new intellectuals during the era in which the talks were published were not aligned to the realities of the Chinese government and culture at that time. The old genera...