1. The phrase is Snow's, Edgar, see The Long Revolution (London: Hutchinson and Co., 1971, 1972), p. 206Google Scholar.

2. Cohen, Arthur A., The Communism of Mao Tse-tung (Chicago and London; University of Chicago Press, 1964), pp. 22–28Google Scholar.

3. “On Contradiction in the Light of Mao Tse-tung's Essay on Dialectical Materialism,” The China Quarterly (CQ), No. 19 (07–09 1964), pp. 38–64CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

4. Schram, Stuart R., “Mao Tse-tung as Marxist Dialectician,” CQ, No. 29 (01–03 1967), pp. 155–65Google Scholar; see also The Political Thought of Mao Tse-tung (Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1969 revised edit.), pp. 84–88Google Scholar.

5. Wittfogel, Karl A., “Some Remarks on Mao's handling of Concepts and Problems of Dialectics,” Studies in Soviet Thought, Vol. III, No. 4 (12 1963), pp. 251–69CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

6. Schram, , Political Thought, p. 87Google Scholar.

7. Schram, , “Mao Tse-tung as Marxist Dialectician,” p. 157Google Scholar.

8. In the footnoting which follows, this volume is referred to as BZF, Vol. 1.

9. Guillermaz, Jacques, A History of the Chinese Communist Party 1921–1949 (London: Methuen and Co. Ltd., 1972)Google Scholar, see the historical maps showing the extent of Communist influence, pp. 377, 385, 399, 402. Dalien had, in fact, been under Russian control following the Soviet occupation of Manchuria in the closing stages of the Second World War. The Russians refused to allow the Nationalist Government to land its troops at Dalien, and despite negotiations on this issue, Dalien remained under effective Russian control during the campaign for Manchuria. The Russian claims to Dalien were based on the Sino-Soviet Treaty of Friendship and Alliance of 14 August 1945. For further information on the status of Dalien, see United States Relations with China with Special Reference to the Period 1944–1949, Department of State Publication 3573, Far Eastern Series 30, pp. 125–26, 147, 233, 589–90Google Scholar.

10. Hereafter in footnoting, BZF, Vol. II. On Practice also appears in BZF, Vol. I, pp. 40–57, but BZF, Vol. II is utilized for reference purposes throughout this paper.

11. Snow, C. P., Preface to Strangers and Brothers (London: Macmillan, 1972 Omnibus ed.), Vol. I, p. xviGoogle Scholar.

12. Ch'en, Jerome, Mao Papers: Anthology and Bibliography (London: Oxford University Press, 1970), pp. xiii–xxxiGoogle Scholar. It is, I believe, a pity that this fruitful methodological approach has not been more widely utilized and developed. Richard Baum's tart criticism of Ch'en's methodology as an “exercise in linguistic overkill,” is firmly rejected here. Although of no interest to Baum, scholars involved in the analysis of Mao's work may benefit substantially from the application of such heuristic devices. For Baum's, review, see American Political Science Review, Vol. 65 (1971), pp. 1200–202CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

13. Ch'en, , Mao Papers, p. xxiiGoogle Scholar.

14. Wittfogel, , “Some Remarks,” pp. 257–63Google Scholar.

15. Hsiung, James Chieh, Ideology and Practice: The Evolution of Chinese Communism (New York: Praeger Publishers, 1970), pp. 68–69Google Scholar. Hsiung regards the entire debate concerning the dating of On Contradiction as “fruitless.” However, for those engaged in the close analysis of Mao's works during the Yan'an period, the dating of On Contradiction can be of crucial significance.

16. Mao Zedong lunwen ji (Collection of Articles by Mao Zedong) (Shanghai: Dazhong chubanshe, 1937), pp. 18–37 (hereafter Lunwen ji)Google Scholar; also in Minoru, Takeuchi (ed.), Mao Zedong ji (Collected Writings of Mao Zedong), Vols. I to X (Tokyo: Hokubasha, 1970–1972), Vol. V, pp. 189–205 (hereafter Ji)Google Scholar; the official versions can be found in Selected Works of Mao Tse-tung (Beijing: FLP, 1967), Vol. I, pp. 263–283 (hereafter SW)Google Scholar; and in Mao Zedong xuanji (Beijing: Renmin chubanshe, 1966), Vol. I, pp. 232–48 (hereafter XJ)Google Scholar.

17. “Guanyu Zhong-Ri wenti ji Xian shibian de tanhua” (“A talk on the problem of China and Japan, and the Xian incident”), in Ji, Vol. V, p. 182. It is worth noting in passing that Mao regarded this interview with Agnes Smedley as significant in that he utilized it as a medium to publicize the “new policy” which the CCP had recently decided upon. A copy of this interview was sent to Edgar Snow with a covering letter written by Mao requesting that he make known this new direction in policy. For a summary of Mao's letter of 10 March 1937, see Hsueh, Chun-tu, The Chinese Communist Movement 1921–1937 (Stanford: The Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace, 1960), p. 110Google Scholar.

18. “Lun kangri minzhu yu beifang qingnian” (“On Anti-Japanese democratic Northern Youth”), Ji, Vol. V, p. 225; also in Lunwenji, p. 144.

19. “Bianzhengfa weiwu lun” (“On Dialectical Materialsim”), Ji, Vol. VI, p. 278. Schram argues that this piece probably dates from late 1936 or early 1937. See Schram, , Political Thought, p. 87Google Scholar.

20. “Guoji xin xingshi yu woguo kangzhan”) “The new international situation and China's War of Resistance”), Ji, Vol. VII, p. 17.

21. “Lun xin jieduan” (“On the New Stage”), Ji, Vol. VI, p. 238.

22. “Current problems of Tactics in the Anti-Japanese United Front,” SW, Vol. II, pp. 423–24; also XJ, Vol. II, pp. 704–705.

23. “Zhonggong zhongyang guanyu kangri genjiudi tudi zhengce de jueding” (“Resolution of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party with regard to the land policy in the anti-Japanese base areas”), Ji, Vol. VIII, p. 49.

24. “Jingji wenti yu caizheng wenti” (“Economic and Financial Problems”), Ji, Vol. VIII, p. 189.

25. “Oppose Stereotyped Party Writing,” SW, Vol. III, pp. 61–62; XJ, Vol. Ill, p. 796; Ji, Vol. VIII, p. 100.

26. BZF, Vol. 1, p. 81; SW, Vol. I, pp. 323–24; XJ, Vol. I, p. 287. The following interesting passage has been excised from Mao's discussion of studying a problem: “In the countryside if two families or clans are engaged in a conflict, the mediator must recognize the reasons for the conflict on both sides, the bone of contention, the present situation, demands, and so on; only then will he be able to think out a method of resolving the dispute. There are such people in the countryside who are good at mediation, and they are constantly invited to mediate when a dispute arises; these people actually understand the dialectic of which we speak, the need to understand the particular characteristics of the various aspects of a contradiction,” BZF, Vol. I, p. 81.

27. BZF, Vol. I, p. 95 et seq. The term yuanjia has a second meaning, and it is possible that Mao employs the term for the nuance which this second meaning provides. Yuanjia can refer to a love-hate relationship, to a lover to whom one always returns despite quarrels.

28. BZF, Vol. I, p. 82; SW, Vol. I, pp. 325–26; XJ, Vol. I, pp. 289–90.

29. BZF, Vol. I, p. 85; SW, Vol. I, p. 328; XJ, Vol. I, p. 293.

30. BZF, Vol. I, p. 87; SW, Vol. I, pp. 331–32; XJ, Vol. I, pp. 296–97.

31. BZF, Vol. I, p. 87; cf. SW, Vol. I, p. 331.

32. BZF, Vol. I, pp. 88–89; cf. SW, Vol. I, p. 332.

33. Lunwenji, p. 18; Ji, Vol. V, p. 189; SW, Vol. I, p. 263; XJ, Vol. 1, p. 232.

34. Lunwenji, p. 21; Ji, Vol. V, p. 191; SW, Vol. I, p. 265; XJ, Vol. 1, p. 234.

35. Lunwenji, pp. 18, 22; Ji, Vol. V, pp. 189, 192; SW, Vol. I, pp. 263, 265; XJ, Vol. I, pp. 232, 234.

36. “Conclusions on the Repulse of the Second Anti-Communist Onslaught,” SW, Vol. II, pp. 463–64; XJ, Vol. II, pp. 739–40.

37. BZF, Vol. I, pp. 67, 90, 94, 103, 104; cf. SW, Vol. I, pp. 313, 333, 336.

38. SW, Vol. II, pp. 313, 287; XJ, Vol. II, pp. 594, 567; Ji, Vol. VII, pp. 72, 109. Also SW, Vol. III, p. 83; XJ, Vol. III, p. 819; Ji, Vol. VIII, p. 130.

39. “On Protracted War,” SW, Vol. II, p. 118; XJ, Vol. II, p. 412; Ji, Vol. VI, p. 55.

40. “The Chinese Revolution and the Chinese Communist Party,” SW, Vol. II, p. 317; XJ, Vol. II, p. 598; Ji, Vol. VII, p. 114.

41. “Lun xin jieduan” (“On the New Stage”), Ji, Vol. VII, p. 204.

42. “Resolution on some Questions in the History of our Party,” in Selected Works of Mao Tse-tung (London: Lawrence and Wishart Ltd., 1956), Vol. IV, p. 190Google Scholar.

43. BZF, Vol. I, pp. 88–89; cf. SW, Vol. I, p. 333.

44. SW, Vol. I, p. 311; XJ, Vol. I, p. 274.

45. BZF, Vol. I, pp. 64, 73, 94, 101, 106, 107, 109, 110.

46. BZF, Vol. 1, p. 109.

47. Ji, Vol. VI, p. 300; also p. 302, where it appears in a quote from Engels.

48. See Zhongguo zhexue (Chinese Philosophy) (n.p.: San lian shudian, 08 1979), Vol. 1, pp. 26, 27, 28, 29Google Scholar. The recent publication of this document and its attendant commentaries by Chinese analysts represents an important contribution to the problem of the dating of On Contradiction and On Practice. For a fuller discussion of the importance of this publication, see note 122 below.

49. BZF, Vol. I, p. 70.

50. BZF, Vol. I, p. 72.

51. For example, compare this section with Siqi, Ai et al. (trans.), Xin zhexue dagang (Outline of New Philosophy) (Beijing: Dushu shenghuo chubanshe, 1936), pp. 78–80, 367–68, 413–18Google Scholar. Also compare pp. 236–37 with the selection II of the Appendix to this article.

52. BZF, Vol. I, p. 105; see also p. 96.

53. Selected Works of Mao Tsetung (Beijing: FLP, 1977), Vol. V, p. 368Google Scholar; also Mao Zedong xuan ji (Beijing: Renmin chubanshe, 1977), Vol. V, p. 348Google Scholar. Mao's limitations as a biologist are indicated here by his confusion of non-living and dead matter. The example of life and death as contradictory categories does remain in the official text of On Contradiction, but in muted form, and is not utilized as a major example as it is in the original; see SW, Vol. I, 338.

54. Cohen, , The Communism of Mao Tse-tung, p. 23Google Scholar. In his 1950 essay Marxism and Problems of Linguistics, Stalin had asserted that the superstructure is an “exceedingly active force, actively assisting its base to take shape and consolidate itself, and doing its utmost to help the new system to finish off and eliminate the old base and the old classes” (Beijing: FLP, 1972), p. 5Google Scholar. However, the locus classicus for Stalin's views on this subject is Dialectical and Historical Materialism (September 1938), in which Stalin asserts inter alia: “Thus social ideas, theories and political institutions, having arisen on the basis of the urgent tasks of the development of the material life of society, the development of social being, themselves then react upon social being, creating the conditions necessary for completely carrying out the urgent tasks of the material life of society, and for rendering its further development possible” [Problems of Leninism (Beijing: FLP, 1976), p. 852Google Scholar; also in History of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (Bolshevik): Short Course (Moscow: FLPH, 1939), p. 117Google Scholar].

55. BZF, Vol. I, p. 93; cf. SW, Vol. 1, pp. 335–36; XJ, Vol. 1, p. 300. In this passage there is a literary variation between the official and the original texts. In the original text, Mao utilizes the term zhudao to indicate the principal aspect of a contradiction. This has been replaced by zhuyao in the official text.

56. SW, Vol. I, pp. 311, 316, 321, 322, 323, 324, 330.

57. SW, Vol. I, pp. 311–12.

58. SW, Vol. I, pp. 315, 327.

59. SW, Vol. I, p. 315.

60. SW, Vol. I, p. 324.

61. BZF, Vol. I, p. 92.

62. SW, Vol. I, p. 321.

63. SW, Vol. I, p. 325. This definition is actually Stalin's, but it is not given as a quote, nor is its source identified in the official text. See Problems of Leninism, pp. 3, 160.

64. SW, Vol. I, pp. 329–30.

65. BZF, Vol. I, p. 89; “Lenin and Stalin in their study of the economics of the transitional period in the Soviet Union have taught us this method (grasping the principal contradiction).”

66. BZF, Vol. I, pp. 108–109.

67. BZF, Vol. I, p. 76.

68. BZF, Vol. II, p. 44; cf. SW, Vol. I, p. 304.

69. BZF, Vol. II, pp. 46–47; cf. SW, Vol. I, pp. 306–307.

70. See SW, Vol. I, p. 341; XJ, Vol. I, p. 305. For the quote in context, see Marx, Karl, Grundrisse: Foundations of the Critique of Political Economy (Rough Draft) (Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1973), pp. 110–111Google Scholar.

71. See Martin Nicolaus' Foreword to ibid. p. 7.

72. See Makesi Engesi quanji (Collected Works of Marx and Engels) (Beijing: Renmin chubanshe, 1962), Vol. XII, p. 841Google Scholar. For the text of the “Introduction,” see this volume, pp.733–62.

73. Joint Publications Research Service, Miscellany of Mao Tse-tung Thought (1949–1968) (Arlington, Virginia: 02 1974) Pt. I, p. 234Google Scholar. Here, as in the official text of On Contradiction, it is cited as the “Introduction” to A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy. The Chinese have recently published this “Introduction” together with the famous “Preface” of 1859 as a pamphlet in English. See Marx, Karl, Preface and Introduction to a Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy (Beijing: FLP, 1976)Google Scholar.

74. See also Compton, Boyd, Mao's China: Party Reform Documents, 1942–44 (Seattle and London: University of Washington Press, 1952, 1966), pp. 6–7Google Scholar. The pages of Jiefang ribao (Liberation Daily) were also strangely silent between February and April 1942 in recommending Marxist texts for study. This is probably related to the attempt at this stage to elevate Mao's thought at the expense of “foreign dogma.” However, for a list of Mao's works recommended for study, see Zhang Ruxin's article of 18 and 19 February 1942.

75. Mao is referring here to the change in Soviet-German relations from the cordiality of the Rapollo alliance of the 1920s to the hostility of the 1930s. Another historical “clue”can be found BZF; Vol. I, p. 88, where Mao refers to the “present war in Spain,” to which is appended an editorial note which states “the Spanish Civil War lasted from 1936–1939.”

76. Although this legend is titled correctly in the official text, Mao appears to have made an error in describing it in the original text. It is in fact called “Gua Fu's race with the sun.” The entry in the Ci hai gives the following information about this legend: “Gua Fu was a mythical person. He pursued the sun with determination until he reached the sun's entrance, where dying of thirst, he swallowed the water from the Huang and Wei Rivers. This being insufficient, however, he finally expired from thirst. His staff was transformed into the ‘forest of Deng,’ to afford men of a later time shelter from the heat. See ‘Shan hai jing—hai wei beijing’ and ‘Shan haijing—da huang beijing.’”

77. BZF, Vol. I, pp. 102–103; cf. SW, Vol. I, p. 341.

78. See SW, Vol. I, pp. 316–17; XJ, Vol. I, pp. 280–81. Note the discrepancy in the English translation; an extra part of a sentence has been added. For the quotes in context, see Engels, Friedrich, Anli-Dühring (Beijing: FLP, 1976), pp. 152–53Google Scholar.

79. Zhongguo chuban shiliao, pubian (Materials on the History of Publishing in China) (Beijing: Zhonghua shujiu chuban, 1957), p. 445Google Scholar. See also Liping, Wu, “Mao zhuxi guanxin ‘Fan Dulin lun’ de fanyi” (Chairman Mao's Interest in the Translation of “Anti-Duhring”), in Zhongguo zhexue, Vol. I, p. 44Google Scholar. In this article, Wu Liping, who translated the 1940 edition of Anti-Dühring, states that Mao had taken a close personal interest in its translation; also that Mao had referred frequently to an earlier translation of Anti-Dühring during the writing of On Contradiction and On Practice.

80. See Compton, , Mao's China, p. 63Google Scholar.

81. BZF, Vol. I, pp. 73, 74.

82. BZF, Vol. I, pp. 64, 73, 75, 77, 82, 93, 94–95, 103, 106, 108; cf. SW, Vol. I, pp. 311, 316, 317, 319, 324, 336, 337, 341–42, 343, 345.

83. Lenin, V. I., Collected Works (London: Lawrence and Wishart, 1961), Vol. XXXVIII (Philosophical Notebooks), p. 13Google Scholar.

84. Zhongguo chuban shiliao, p. 459.

85. SW, Vol. I, p. 337; XJ, Vol. I, p. 302. For the source of this quote see Lenin, , Collected Works, Vol. XXXVIII, p. 109Google Scholar; also Liening quanji (Beijing: Renmin chubanshe, 1959), Vol. XXXV11I, p. 111Google Scholar; see also BZF, Vol. I, pp. 94–95.

86. Zhongguo chuban shiliao, pubian, pp. 452–466, passim.

87. Siqi, Ai et al. , Xin zhexue dagang, pp. 235, 240, 243, 403Google Scholar; cf. BZF, Vol. I, pp. 64, 77, 94–95, 103; also SW, Vol. I, pp. 311, 337, 341–42, 319.

88. This interesting volume, which is available in the Hoover Library, was published by Jiefang she, and bears the publication date January 1950. However, it has a first preface dated 22 April 1942 and this preface makes clear that it was published for the use of cadres during the Rectification Movement. For the quotes in question, see pp. 186, 187, 191, 203.

89. BZF, Vol. I, p. 108; cf. SW, Vol. I, p. 345.

90. Zhongguo chuban shiliao, pp. 462–63.

91. Wittfogel, , Some Remarks, p. 263Google Scholar, See Siqi, Ai et al. , Xin zhexue dagang, p. 241Google Scholar.

92. BZF, Vol. I, p. 93; cf. SW, Vol. I, p. 336.

93. BZF, Vol. II, p. 44; cf. SW, Vol. I, p. 304.

94. SW, Vol. II, p. 382; Ji, Vol. VII, p. 203.

95. SW, Vol. I, p. 324.

96. BZF, Vol. I, p. 82.

97. SW, Vol. II, p. 340; Ji, Vol. VII, p. 149.

98. SW, Vol. I, p. 312; cf. BZF, Vol. I, p. 65.

99. Ma En Lie Si sixiang, pp. 186–87.

100. SW, Vol. I, p. 323, also p. 328; cf. BZF, Vol. I, p. 80.

101. Cf. SW, Vol. I, pp. 195–96; Ji, Vol. V, pp. 103, 167.

102. SW, Vol. III, p. 165.

103. BZF, Vol. II, pp. 36, 38, 44, 45; cf. SW, Vol. I, pp. 297, 299, 304, 305.

104. Su Dongpo (AD. 1036–1101); Chinese poet, essayist, painter and calligrapher. This quote comes from Su Dongpo's Fan Zeng lun (On Fan Zeng).

105. Analects; Book XII, Chap. IV. I have used Legge's translation; see The Four Books (Hong Kong; Wei Tung Book Store, 1973), p. 95Google Scholar.

106. Mao, also uses this quote in On Protracted War (1938)Google Scholar; see Ji, Vol. VI, p. 138. Here, as in On Contradiction, this sentence has been deleted from the Selected Works.

107. BZF, Vol. I, p. 68; excised from SW, Vol. I, p. 315.

108. This quotation from Su Dongpo is taken from the first of two prose poems entitled Chi bi fu (Poems on the Red Cliff). For the context in which Su Dongpo wrote these beautiful poems and an alternate translation of the quotation, see Yutang, Lin, The Gay Genius: The Life and Times of Su Tungpo (Melbourne, London and Toronto: William Heinemann Ltd., 1948), pp. 197–204, esp. p. 202Google Scholar; For two alternate translations, see Clark, C. D. Le Gros, Selections from the Works of Su Tung-p'o (London: Jonathan Cape, 1931), pp. 48–51Google Scholar; and Watson, Burton, Su Tung-p'o: Selections from a Sung Dynasty Poet (New York and London: Columbia University Press, 1965), p. 89Google Scholar.

109. BZF, Vol. I, p. 86; cf. SW, Vol. I, p. 330.

110. Although Mao has separated these two sentences with quotation marks, they are part of the same quotation from the Kongzi jiayu, Book VI.

111. This quotation is from Lao Zi, Chap. 58. I have followed Lau's translation; see Tzu, Lao, Tao Te Ching, trans. Lau, D. C. (Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1963), p. 119Google Scholar.

112. This quote comes from the Da xue (The Great Learning), commentary of the philosopher Zeng, Chap. VIII. I have adapted Legge's translation. Mao uses the quote out of context and the full passage runs: “What is meant by ‘The regulation of one's family depends on the cultivation of his person,’ is this: Men are partial where they feel affection and love; partial where they despise and dislike, partial where they stand in awe and reverence; partial where they feel sorrow and compassion; partial where they are arrogant and rude. Thus it is that there are few men in the world who love (hao; Mao uses ai) and at the same time know the bad qualities of the object of their love, or who hate and yet know the excellences of the object of their hatred.” (Legge, , The Four Books, pp. 10–11Google Scholar.)

113. BZF, Vol. I, p. 101; excised from SW, Vol. I, pp. 339–40.

114. Cf. SW, Vol. I, p. 313; BZF, Vol. I, p. 66.

115. Ji, Vol. VI, p. 285.

116. Cf. SW, Vol. I, p. 343; BZF, Vol. I, p. 106.

117. Cf. SW, Vol. I, p. 323; BZF, Vol. I, p. 81.

118. See Tzu, Sun, The Art of War, trans. Griffith, Samuel B. (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1963), p. 80Google Scholar. Also BZF, Vol. I, p. 100.

119. Tse-tung, Mao, Basic Tactics, trans. Schram, Stuart R. (New York: Frederick A. Praeger, 1966), p. 84Google Scholar.

120. SW, Vol. I, p. 190; XJ, Vol. I, p. 166; Ji, Vol. V, p. 97; also SW, Vol. II, p. 164; XJ, Vol. II, p. 458; Ji, Vol. VI, p. 113.

121. Cf. SW, Vol. I, p. 324; BZF, Vol. I, p. 81.

122. See Mao's 1965 interview with Snow, Edgar in The Long Revolution, p. 206Google Scholar. Not only have the Chinese consistently maintained that On Contradiction and On Practice were originally written by Mao, in 1937Google Scholar, they have also recently begun to discuss the variations between the official and original versions of these documents. Guo Huaruo, in his article “Mao zhuxi kangzhan chuqi guanghui de zhexue huodong” (“The glorious philosophical activities of Chairman Mao during the early stage of the War of Resistance”), asserts that the original text of On Practice is very similar to that published in the Selected Works: “When On Contradiction is compared to the record of the original lecture,” he continues, “there are comparatively major revisions, the most important deletion being Chapter Two ‘The Law of Identity of Formal Logic and the Law of Contradiction of Dialectics,’ which included an explanation and criticism of the ‘law of identity,’ ‘the law of contradiction’ and the ‘law of excluded middle’” (Zhongguo zhexue, Vol. I, pp. 35–36) Wu goes on to list some of the sections which have been revised and added to on republication. It would appear probable from the description given by Wu that he is referring to the same document which I have been analysing in some depth in the course of this paper. Wu's article is also significant in that he refers to the contents of Mao's Lecture Notes on Dialectical Materialism (although he does not refer to them by name); Mao had previously thrown doubt on his authorship of this document in his 1965 interview with Edgar Snow. The publication of Wu's article and the previously unknown notes by Mao on Siqi's, AiPhilosophy and Life (in Zhongguo zhexue, Vol. I, pp. 5–30)Google Scholar may presage a greater willingness on the part of the Chinese to reveal the existence and texts of documents previously kept secret during Mao's own lifetime. Such a change in policy would certainly be greatly welcomed by all scholars working in this field.

* Characters from the Sanguo zhi yanyi.