develop earlier and others later,there is a difference between the local cadres of a district and those from outside it.Cadres who come from a more developed to a less developed district are also outside cadres in relation to that locality,and they,too,should pay great attention to fostering and helping local cadres.Generally speaking,in places where outside cadres are in charge,it is they who should bear the main responsibility if their relations with the local cadres are not good.And the chief comrades in charge should bear greater responsibility.The attention paid to this problem in some places is still very inadequate.Some people look down on the local cadres and ridicule them, saying,"What do these locals know?Clodhoppers!"Such people utterly fail to understand the importance of local cadres;they know neither the latter's strong points nor their own weaknesses and adopt an incorrect,sectarian attitude.All outside cadres must cherish the local cadres and give them constant help and must not be permitted to ridicule or attack them.Of course,the local cadres on their part must learn from the strong points of the outside cadres and rid themselves of inappropriate,narrow views so that they and the outside cadres become as one,with no distinction between"them"and "us",and thus avoid sectarian tendencies. The same applies to the relationship between cadres in army service and other cadres working in the locality.They must be completely united and must oppose sectarian tendencies.The army cadres must help the local cadres,and vice versa.If there is friction between them,each should make allowance for the other and carry out proper self-criticism.Generally speaking,in places where army cadres are actually in positions of leadership,it is they who should bear the main responsibility if their relations with the local cadres are not good.Only when the army cadres understand their own responsibility and are modest in their attitude towards the local cadres can the conditions be created for the smooth progress of our war effort and our work of construction in the base areas. The same applies to the relationship among different army units,different localities and different departments.We must oppose the tendency towards selfish departmentalism by which the interests of one's own unit are looked after to the exclusion of those of others.Whoever is indifferent to the difficulties of others,refuses to transfer cadres to other units on request,or releases only the inferior ones,"using the neighbour's field as an outlet for his overflow",and does not give the slightest consideration to other departments,localities or people-such a person is a selfish departmentalist who has entirely lost the spirit of communism.Lack of consideration for the whole and complete indifference to other departments,localities and people are characteristics of a selfish departmentalist.We must intensify our efforts to educate such persons and to make them understand that selfish departmentalism is a sectarian tendency which will become very dangerous, if allowed to develop. Another problem is the relationship between old and new cadres.Since the beginning of the War of Resistance,our Party has grown enormously,and large numbers of new cadres have emerged;that is a very good thing.In his report to the Eighteenth Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union(B.),Comrade Stalin said,".there are never enough old cadres,there are far less than required,and they are already partly going out of commission owing to the operation of the laws of nature."Here he was discussing the cadres situation and not only the laws of nature.If our Party does not have a great many new cadres working in unity and co-operation with the old cadres,our cause will come to a stop.All old cadres,therefore,should welcome the new ones with the utmost
develop earlier and others later, there is a difference between the local cadres of a district and those from outside it. Cadres who come from a more developed to a less developed district are also outside cadres in relation to that locality, and they, too, should pay great attention to fostering and helping local cadres. Generally speaking, in places where outside cadres are in charge, it is they who should bear the main responsibility if their relations with the local cadres are not good. And the chief comrades in charge should bear greater responsibility. The attention paid to this problem in some places is still very inadequate. Some people look down on the local cadres and ridicule them, saying, "What do these locals know? Clodhoppers!" Such people utterly fail to understand the importance of local cadres; they know neither the latter's strong points nor their own weaknesses and adopt an incorrect, sectarian attitude. All outside cadres must cherish the local cadres and give them constant help and must not be permitted to ridicule or attack them. Of course, the local cadres on their part must learn from the strong points of the outside cadres and rid themselves of inappropriate, narrow views so that they and the outside cadres become as one, with no distinction between "them" and "us", and thus avoid sectarian tendencies. The same applies to the relationship between cadres in army service and other cadres working in the locality. They must be completely united and must oppose sectarian tendencies. The army cadres must help the local cadres, and vice versa. If there is friction between them, each should make allowance for the other and carry out proper self-criticism. Generally speaking, in places where army cadres are actually in positions of leadership, it is they who should bear the main responsibility if their relations with the local cadres are not good. Only when the army cadres understand their own responsibility and are modest in their attitude towards the local cadres can the conditions be created for the smooth progress of our war effort and our work of construction in the base areas. The same applies to the relationship among different army units, different localities and different departments. We must oppose the tendency towards selfish departmentalism by which the interests of one's own unit are looked after to the exclusion of those of others. Whoever is indifferent to the difficulties of others, refuses to transfer cadres to other units on request, or releases only the inferior ones, "using the neighbour's field as an outlet for his overflow", and does not give the slightest consideration to other departments, localities or people-such a person is a selfish departmentalist who has entirely lost the spirit of communism. Lack of consideration for the whole and complete indifference to other departments, localities and people are characteristics of a selfish departmentalist. We must intensify our efforts to educate such persons and to make them understand that selfish departmentalism is a sectarian tendency which will become very dangerous, if allowed to develop. Another problem is the relationship between old and new cadres. Since the beginning of the War of Resistance, our Party has grown enormously, and large numbers of new cadres have emerged; that is a very good thing. In his report to the Eighteenth Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (B.), Comrade Stalin said, ". there are never enough old cadres, there are far less than required, and they are already partly going out of commission owing to the operation of the laws of nature." Here he was discussing the cadres situation and not only the laws of nature. If our Party does not have a great many new cadres working in unity and co-operation with the old cadres, our cause will come to a stop. All old cadres, therefore, should welcome the new ones with the utmost
enthusiasm and show them the warmest solicitude.True,new cadres have their shortcomings.They have not been long in the revolution and lack experience,and unavoidably some have brought with them vestiges of the unwholesome ideology of the old society,remnants of the ideology of petty- bourgeois individualism.But such shortcomings can be gradually eliminated through education and tempering in the revolution.The strong point of the new cadres,as Stalin has said,is that they are acutely sensitive to what is new and are therefore enthusiastic and active to a high degree-the very qualities which some of the old cadres lack.[6 Cadres,new and old,should respect each other, learn from each other and overcome their own shortcomings by learning from each other's strong points,so as to unite as one in the common cause and guard against sectarian tendencies.Generally speaking,in places where the old cadres are mainly in charge,it is they who should bear the chief responsibility if relations with the new cadres are not good. All the above-relations between the part and the whole,relations between the individual and the Party,relations between outside and local cadres,relations between army cadres and other cadres working in the locality,relations between this and that army unit,between this and that locality, between this and that department and relations between old and new cadres-are relations within the Party.In all these relations it is necessary to enhance the spirit of communism and guard against sectarian tendencies,so that the ranks of our Party will be in good order,march in step and therefore fight well.This is a very important problem which we must solve thoroughly in rectifying the Party's style of work.Sectarianism is an expression of subjectivism in organizational relations;if we want to get rid of subjectivism and promote the Marxist-Leninist spirit of seeking truth from facts,we must sweep the remnants of sectarianism out of the Party and proceed from the principle that the Party's interests are above personal or sectional interests,so that the Party can attain complete solidarity and unity. The remnants of sectarianism must be eliminated from the Party's external as well as its internal relations.The reason is this:we cannot defeat the enemy by merely uniting the comrades throughout the Party,we can defeat the enemy only by uniting the people throughout the country. For twenty years the Communist Party of China has done great and arduous work in the cause of uniting the people of the whole country,and the achievements in this work since the outbreak of the War of Resistance are even greater than in the past.This does not mean,however,that all our comrades already have a correct style in dealing with the masses and are free from sectarian tendencies.No.In fact,sectarian tendencies still exist among a number of comrades,and in some cases to a very serious degree.Many of our comrades tend to be overbearing in their relations with non-Party people,look down upon them,despise or refuse to respect them or appreciate their strong points.This is indeed a sectarian tendency.After reading a few Marxist books,such comrades become more arrogant instead of more modest,and invariably dismiss others as no good without realizing that in fact their own knowledge is only half-baked.Our comrades must realize the truth that Communist Party members are at all times a minority as compared with non-Party people. Supposing one out of every hundred persons were a Communist,then there would be 4,500,000 Communists among China's population of 450,000,000.Yet,even if our membership reached this huge figure,Communists would still form only one per cent of the whole population,while 99 per cent would be non-Party people.What reason can we then have for not co-operating with non-Party people?As regards all those who wish to co-operate with us or might co-operate with us,we have only the duty of co-operating and absolutely no right to shut them out.But some Party members do
enthusiasm and show them the warmest solicitude. True, new cadres have their shortcomings. They have not been long in the revolution and lack experience, and unavoidably some have brought with them vestiges of the unwholesome ideology of the old society, remnants of the ideology of pettybourgeois individualism. But such shortcomings can be gradually eliminated through education and tempering in the revolution. The strong point of the new cadres, as Stalin has said, is that they are acutely sensitive to what is new and are therefore enthusiastic and active to a high degree-the very qualities which some of the old cadres lack. [6] Cadres, new and old, should respect each other, learn from each other and overcome their own shortcomings by learning from each other's strong points, so as to unite as one in the common cause and guard against sectarian tendencies. Generally speaking, in places where the old cadres are mainly in charge, it is they who should bear the chief responsibility if relations with the new cadres are not good. All the above-relations between the part and the whole, relations between the individual and the Party, relations between outside and local cadres, relations between army cadres and other cadres working in the locality, relations between this and that army unit, between this and that locality, between this and that department and relations between old and new cadres-are relations within the Party. In all these relations it is necessary to enhance the spirit of communism and guard against sectarian tendencies, so that the ranks of our Party will be in good order, march in step and therefore fight well. This is a very important problem which we must solve thoroughly in rectifying the Party's style of work. Sectarianism is an expression of subjectivism in organizational relations; if we want to get rid of subjectivism and promote the Marxist-Leninist spirit of seeking truth from facts, we must sweep the remnants of sectarianism out of the Party and proceed from the principle that the Party's interests are above personal or sectional interests, so that the Party can attain complete solidarity and unity. The remnants of sectarianism must be eliminated from the Party's external as well as its internal relations. The reason is this: we cannot defeat the enemy by merely uniting the comrades throughout the Party, we can defeat the enemy only by uniting the people throughout the country. For twenty years the Communist Party of China has done great and arduous work in the cause of uniting the people of the whole country, and the achievements in this work since the outbreak of the War of Resistance are even greater than in the past. This does not mean, however, that all our comrades already have a correct style in dealing with the masses and are free from sectarian tendencies. No. In fact, sectarian tendencies still exist among a number of comrades, and in some cases to a very serious degree. Many of our comrades tend to be overbearing in their relations with non-Party people, look down upon them, despise or refuse to respect them or appreciate their strong points. This is indeed a sectarian tendency. After reading a few Marxist books, such comrades become more arrogant instead of more modest, and invariably dismiss others as no good without realizing that in fact their own knowledge is only half-baked. Our comrades must realize the truth that Communist Party members are at all times a minority as compared with non-Party people. Supposing one out of every hundred persons were a Communist, then there would be 4,500,000 Communists among China's population of 450,000,000. Yet, even if our membership reached this huge figure, Communists would still form only one per cent of the whole population, while 99 per cent would be non-Party people. What reason can we then have for not co-operating with non-Party people? As regards all those who wish to co-operate with us or might co-operate with us, we have only the duty of co-operating and absolutely no right to shut them out. But some Party members do
not understand this and look down upon,or even shut out,those who wish to co-operate with us. There are no grounds whatsoever for doing so.Have Marx,Engels,Lenin and Stalin given us any grounds?They have not.On the contrary,they have always earnestly enjoined us to form close ties with the masses and not divorce ourselves from them.Or has the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China given us any grounds?No.Among all its resolutions there is not a single one that says we may divorce ourselves from the masses and so isolate ourselves.On the contrary, the Central Committee has always told us to form close ties with the masses and not to divorce ourselves from them.Thus any action divorcing us from the masses has no justification at all and is simply the mischievous result of the sectarian ideas some of our comrades have themselves concocted.As such sectarianism remains very serious among some of our comrades and still obstructs the application of the Party line,we should carry out extensive education within the Party to meet this problem.Above all,we should make our cadres really understand how serious the problem is and how utterly impossible it is to overthrow the enemy and attain the goal of the revolution unless Party members unite with the non-Party cadres and with non-Party people. All sectarian ideas are subjectivist and are incompatible with the real needs of the revolution;hence the struggle against sectarianism and the struggle against subjectivism should go on simultaneously. There is no time today to talk about the question of stereotyped Party writing;I shall discuss it at another meeting.Stereotyped Party writing is a vehicle for filth,a form of expression for subjectivism and sectarianism.It does people harm and damages the revolution,and we must get rid of it completely. To combat subjectivism we must propagate materialism and dialectics.However,there are many comrades in our Party who lay no stress on the propaganda either of materialism or of dialectics. Some tolerate subjectivist propaganda and regard it with equanimity.They think they believe in Marxism,but make no effort to propagate materialism and do not give it a thought or express any opinion when they hear or read subjectivist stuff.This is not the attitude of a Communist.It allows many of our comrades to be poisoned by subjectivist ideas,which numb their sensitivity.We should therefore launch a campaign of enlightenment within the Party to free the minds of our comrades from the fog of subjectivism and dogmatism and should call upon them to boycott subjectivism, sectarianism and stereotyped Party writing.Such evils are like Japanese goods,for only our enemy wishes us to preserve them and continue to befuddle ourselves with them;so we should advocate a boycott against them,just as we boycott Japanese goods.[Z]We should boycott all the wares of subjectivism,sectarianism and stereotyped Party writing,make their sale difficult,and not allow their purveyors to ply their trade by exploiting the low theoretical level in the Party.Our comrades must develop a good nose for this purpose;they should take a sniff at everything and distinguish the good from the bad before they decide whether to welcome it or boycott it.Communists must always go into the whys and wherefores of anything,use their own heads and carefully think over whether or not it corresponds to reality and is really well founded;on no account should they follow blindly and encourage slavishness Finally,in opposing subjectivism,sectarianism and stereotyped Party writing we must have in mind two purposes:first,"learn from past mistakes to avoid future ones",and second,"cure the sickness to save the patient".The mistakes of the past must be exposed without sparing anyone's sensibilities
not understand this and look down upon, or even shut out, those who wish to co-operate with us. There are no grounds whatsoever for doing so. Have Marx, Engels, Lenin and Stalin given us any grounds? They have not. On the contrary, they have always earnestly enjoined us to form close ties with the masses and not divorce ourselves from them. Or has the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China given us any grounds? No. Among all its resolutions there is not a single one that says we may divorce ourselves from the masses and so isolate ourselves. On the contrary, the Central Committee has always told us to form close ties with the masses and not to divorce ourselves from them. Thus any action divorcing us from the masses has no justification at all and is simply the mischievous result of the sectarian ideas some of our comrades have themselves concocted. As such sectarianism remains very serious among some of our comrades and still obstructs the application of the Party line, we should carry out extensive education within the Party to meet this problem. Above all, we should make our cadres really understand how serious the problem is and how utterly impossible it is to overthrow the enemy and attain the goal of the revolution unless Party members unite with the non-Party cadres and with non-Party people. All sectarian ideas are subjectivist and are incompatible with the real needs of the revolution; hence the struggle against sectarianism and the struggle against subjectivism should go on simultaneously. There is no time today to talk about the question of stereotyped Party writing; I shall discuss it at another meeting. Stereotyped Party writing is a vehicle for filth, a form of expression for subjectivism and sectarianism. It does people harm and damages the revolution, and we must get rid of it completely. To combat subjectivism we must propagate materialism and dialectics. However, there are many comrades in our Party who lay no stress on the propaganda either of materialism or of dialectics. Some tolerate subjectivist propaganda and regard it with equanimity. They think they believe in Marxism, but make no effort to propagate materialism and do not give it a thought or express any opinion when they hear or read subjectivist stuff. This is not the attitude of a Communist. It allows many of our comrades to be poisoned by subjectivist ideas, which numb their sensitivity. We should therefore launch a campaign of enlightenment within the Party to free the minds of our comrades from the fog of subjectivism and dogmatism and should call upon them to boycott subjectivism, sectarianism and stereotyped Party writing. Such evils are like Japanese goods, for only our enemy wishes us to preserve them and continue to befuddle ourselves with them; so we should advocate a boycott against them, just as we boycott Japanese goods. [7] We should boycott all the wares of subjectivism, sectarianism and stereotyped Party writing, make their sale difficult, and not allow their purveyors to ply their trade by exploiting the low theoretical level in the Party. Our comrades must develop a good nose for this purpose; they should take a sniff at everything and distinguish the good from the bad before they decide whether to welcome it or boycott it. Communists must always go into the whys and wherefores of anything, use their own heads and carefully think over whether or not it corresponds to reality and is really well founded; on no account should they follow blindly and encourage slavishness. Finally, in opposing subjectivism, sectarianism and stereotyped Party writing we must have in mind two purposes: first, "learn from past mistakes to avoid future ones", and second, "cure the sickness to save the patient". The mistakes of the past must be exposed without sparing anyone's sensibilities;
it is necessary to analyse and criticize what was bad in the past with a scientific attitude so that work in the future will be done more carefully and done better.This is what is meant by "learn from past mistakes to avoid future ones".But our aim in exposing errors and criticizing shortcomings, like that of a doctor curing a sickness,is solely to save the patient and not to doctor him to death.A person with appendicitis is saved when the surgeon removes his appendix.So long as a person who has made mistakes does not hide his sickness for fear of treatment or persist in his mistakes until he is beyond cure,so long as he honestly and sincerely wishes to be cured and to mend his ways,we should welcome him and cure his sickness so that he can become a good comrade.We can never succeed if we just let ourselves go,and lash out at him.In treating an ideological or a political malady,one must never be rough and rash but must adopt the approach of"curing the sickness to save the patient",which is the only correct and effective method. I have taken this occasion of the opening of the Party School to speak at length,and I hope comrades will think over what I have said.(Enthusiastic applause.) NOTES 1.Stereotyped writing,or the "eight-legged essay",was the special form of essay prescribed in the imperial examinations under China's feudal dynasties from the 15th to the 19th centuries;it consisted in juggling with words,concentrated only on form and was devoid of content. Structurally the main body of the essay had eight parts-presentation,amplification,preliminary exposition,initial argument,inceptive paragraphs,middle paragraphs,rear paragraphs and concluding paragraphs,and the fifth to eighth parts each had to have two "legs",i.e.,two antithetical paragraphs,hence the name "eight-legged essay".The "eight-legged essay"became a byword in China denoting stereotyped formalism and triteness.Thus"stereotyped Party writing", characterizes the writings of certain people in the revolutionary ranks who piled up revolutionary phrases and terms higgledy-piggledy instead of analysing the facts.Like the "eight-legged essay", their writings were nothing but verbiage. 2.This was the decision on recruiting intellectuals adopted by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China in December 1939,which is printed under the title "Recruit Large Numbers of Intellectuals"in the Selected Works of Mao Tse-tung,Vol.II. 3.See J.V.Stalin,"The Foundations of Leninism",Problems of Leninism,Eng.ed.,FLPH Moscow, 1954.p.31 4.This is the opening sentence of the Confucian Analects,a record of the dialogues of Confucius and his disciples. 5.Chang Kuo-tao was a renegade from the Chinese revolution.In early life,speculating on the revolution he joined the Chinese Communist Party.In the Party he made many mistakes resulting in serious crimes.The most notorious of these was his opposition in 1935 to the Red Army's northward march and his defeatism and liquidationism in advocating withdrawal by the Red Army to the minority-nationality areas on the Szechuan-Sikang borders;what is more,he openly carried out traitorous activities against the Party and the Central Committee,established his own bogus
it is necessary to analyse and criticize what was bad in the past with a scientific attitude so that work in the future will be done more carefully and done better. This is what is meant by "learn from past mistakes to avoid future ones". But our aim in exposing errors and criticizing shortcomings, like that of a doctor curing a sickness, is solely to save the patient and not to doctor him to death. A person with appendicitis is saved when the surgeon removes his appendix. So long as a person who has made mistakes does not hide his sickness for fear of treatment or persist in his mistakes until he is beyond cure, so long as he honestly and sincerely wishes to be cured and to mend his ways, we should welcome him and cure his sickness so that he can become a good comrade. We can never succeed if we just let ourselves go, and lash out at him. In treating an ideological or a political malady, one must never be rough and rash but must adopt the approach of "curing the sickness to save the patient", which is the only correct and effective method. I have taken this occasion of the opening of the Party School to speak at length, and I hope comrades will think over what I have said. (Enthusiastic applause.) NOTES 1. Stereotyped writing, or the "eight-legged essay", was the special form of essay prescribed in the imperial examinations under China's feudal dynasties from the 15th to the 19th centuries; it consisted in juggling with words, concentrated only on form and was devoid of content. Structurally the main body of the essay had eight parts-presentation, amplification, preliminary exposition, initial argument, inceptive paragraphs, middle paragraphs, rear paragraphs and concluding paragraphs, and the fifth to eighth parts each had to have two "legs", i.e., two antithetical paragraphs, hence the name "eight-legged essay". The "eight-legged essay" became a byword in China denoting stereotyped formalism and triteness. Thus "stereotyped Party writing", characterizes the writings of certain people in the revolutionary ranks who piled up revolutionary phrases and terms higgledy-piggledy instead of analysing the facts. Like the "eight-legged essay", their writings were nothing but verbiage. 2. This was the decision on recruiting intellectuals adopted by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China in December 1939, which is printed under the title "Recruit Large Numbers of Intellectuals" in the Selected Works of Mao Tse-tung,Vol. II. 3. See J. V. Stalin, "The Foundations of Leninism", Problems of Leninism,Eng. ed., FLPH Moscow, 1954. p. 31. 4. This is the opening sentence of the Confucian Analects,a record of the dialogues of Confucius and his disciples. 5. Chang Kuo-tao was a renegade from the Chinese revolution. In early life, speculating on the revolution he joined the Chinese Communist Party. In the Party he made many mistakes resulting in serious crimes. The most notorious of these was his opposition in 1935 to the Red Army's northward march and his defeatism and liquidationism in advocating withdrawal by the Red Army to the minority-nationality areas on the Szechuan-Sikang borders; what is more, he openly carried out traitorous activities against the Party and the Central Committee, established his own bogus
central committee,disrupted the unity of the Party and the Red Army,and caused heavy losses to the Fourth Front Army of the Red Army.But thanks to patient education by Comrade Mao Tse-tung and the Central Committee,the Fourth Front Army and its numerous cadres soon returned to the correct leadership of the Central Committee of the Party and played a glorious role in subsequent struggles.Chang Kuo-tao,however,proved incorrigible and in the spring of 1938 he slipped out of the Shensi-Kansu-Ningsia Border Region and joined the Kuomintang secret police. 6.See J.V.Stalin,"Report to the Eighteenth Congress of the C.P.S.U.(B.)on the Work of the Central Committee",Problems of Leninism,Eng.ed.,FLPH,Moscow,1954,pp.784-86. 7.Boycotting Japanese goods was a method of struggle frequently used by the Chinese people against Japanese imperialist aggression in the first half of the 20th century,as in the patriotic May 4th Movement of 1919,after the September 18th Incident of 1931,and during the War of Resistance Against Japan. Transcription by the Maoist Documentation Project. HTML revised 2004 by Marxists.org Selected Works of Mao Tse-tung OPPOSE STEREOTYPED PARTY WRITING February 8.1942 [This speech was delivered by Comrade Mao Tse-tung at a cadres'meeting in Yenan.] Comrade Kai-feng has just stated the purpose of today's meeting.I now want to discuss the ways subjectivism and sectarianism use stereotyped Party writing(or the Party"eight-legged essay")[1] as their instrument of propaganda or form of expression.We are fighting against subjectivism and sectarianism,but they will still have a hiding-place to lurk in if at the same time we do not get rid of stereotyped Party writing.If we destroy that too,we shall "checkmate"subjectivism and sectarianism and make both these monsters show themselves in their true colours,and then we shall easily be able to annihilate them,like "rats running across the street with everyone yelling:Kill them!Kill them!" It does not matter much if a person produces stereotyped Party writings only for himself to read.If he passes them on to someone else,the number of readers is doubled,and already no small harm is
central committee, disrupted the unity of the Party and the Red Army, and caused heavy losses to the Fourth Front Army of the Red Army. But thanks to patient education by Comrade Mao Tse-tung and the Central Committee, the Fourth Front Army and its numerous cadres soon returned to the correct leadership of the Central Committee of the Party and played a glorious role in subsequent struggles. Chang Kuo-tao, however, proved incorrigible and in the spring of 1938 he slipped out of the Shensi-Kansu-Ningsia Border Region and joined the Kuomintang secret police. 6. See J. V. Stalin, "Report to the Eighteenth Congress of the C.P.S.U. (B.) on the Work of the Central Committee", Problems of Leninism,Eng. ed., FLPH, Moscow, 1954, pp. 784-86. 7. Boycotting Japanese goods was a method of struggle frequently used by the Chinese people against Japanese imperialist aggression in the first half of the 20th century, as in the patriotic May 4th Movement of 1919, after the September 18th Incident of 1931, and during the War of Resistance Against Japan. Transcription by the Maoist Documentation Project. HTML revised 2004 by Marxists.org Selected Works of Mao Tse-tung OPPOSE STEREOTYPED PARTY WRITING February 8, 1942 [This speech was delivered by Comrade Mao Tse-tung at a cadres' meeting in Yenan.] Comrade Kai-feng has just stated the purpose of today's meeting. I now want to discuss the ways subjectivism and sectarianism use stereotyped Party writing (or the Party "eight-legged essay") [1] as their instrument of propaganda or form of expression. We are fighting against subjectivism and sectarianism, but they will still have a hiding-place to lurk in if at the same time we do not get rid of stereotyped Party writing. If we destroy that too, we shall "checkmate" subjectivism and sectarianism and make both these monsters show themselves in their true colours, and then we shall easily be able to annihilate them, like "rats running across the street with everyone yelling: Kill them! Kill them!" It does not matter much if a person produces stereotyped Party writings only for himself to read. If he passes them on to someone else, the number of readers is doubled, and already no small harm is