Selected Works of Mao Zedong (four volumes in total) Volume I

Oppose bookishness

(1May 930)

Mao Zedong's article was against dogmatism in the Red Army at that time. At that time, the name "dogmatism" was not used, but "bookishness"

Famous saying: No investigation, no right to speak.

Dogmatism and revisionism are both against Marxism. Marxism must advance, develop with the development of practice, and cannot rest on its laurels. If it stops, it will be lifeless. However, the basic principles of Marxism cannot be violated, and mistakes will be made if they are violated. It is dogmatism to treat Marxism from a metaphysical point of view and treat it as a dead thing. Denying the basic principles of Marxism and the universal truth of Marxism is revisionism. Revisionism is a bourgeois ideology. Revisionists obliterate the difference between socialism and capitalism, and the difference between proletarian dictatorship and bourgeois dictatorship. What they advocate is actually not the socialist line, but the capitalist line. Under the present circumstances, revisionism is more harmful than dogmatism. Now an important task of our ideological front is to criticize revisionism.

Revisionism, or right opportunism, is a bourgeois trend of thought and more dangerous than dogmatism. Revisionists and right opportunists also talk about Marxism, and they also attack dogmatism there. But what they attacked was the most fundamental thing of Marxism. They oppose or distort materialism and dialectics, oppose or attempt to weaken the people's democratic dictatorship and leadership, and oppose or attempt to weaken socialist transformation and construction. After the basic victory of the socialist revolution in China, there are still some people in the society who dream of restoring the capitalist system. They want to fight against the working class in all aspects, including ideological struggle. Revisionism is their best assistant in this struggle.

All the above are excerpts from Quotations from Chairman Mao.