Five Essays on Philosophy, by Mao Tsetung (soft cover, 1977, $2)
Printed in China, this little book has five chapter headings:
On Practice (1937)
On Contradiction (1937)
On the Correct Handling of Contradictions Among the People (1957)
Speech at the Chinese Communist Party's National Conference on Propaganda Work (1957)
Where Do Correct Ideas Come From (1963)
In reading Mao's Speech, I was surprised at how gentile he sounded. He wrote, "In leading our country, two alternative methods, or in other words two alternative policies, can be adopted- to "open wide" or to "restrict". 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 and anything poisonous; it means to encourage argument and criticism among people holding different views... To "restrict" means to forbid people to air differing opinions and express wrong ideas... To "open wide", or to "restrict"- we must choose one or the other of these two policies. We choose the former, because it is the policy which will help to consolidate our country and develop our culture."
I guess at some time he must have changed his mind, or was his speech always supposed to be only the "propaganda" that the title of his speech refers to? Which ever, it is instructive to read writings from the "other side", or do you disagree?
I will shelve this book in the Asia/ China section, avail. 9/27.
