The Place of the Theory of Continuing Revolution in Mao Zedong Thought
In commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary of Chairman Mao's death and the sixtieth anniversary of the outbreak of the Cultural Revolution
By Hao Guisheng. Utopia (Wuyou zhi Xiang), May 2, 2026. Translated by Vero Publishing.
The biggest question in dispute in theoretical circles today is how to understand scientifically the "theory of continuing the revolution under the dictatorship of the proletariat" that Chairman Mao put forward in his later years: whether it is scientific, and what place it holds in the system of Mao Zedong Thought. Differing views of this theory involve differing understandings of a whole series of basic tenets of Marxism-Leninism, differing understandings of the history of the Chinese revolution and especially of the major events since the founding of the People's Republic, and the question of what theory should guide China's socialist modernization today. This year marks the fiftieth anniversary of Chairman Mao's death, and the sixtieth anniversary of the outbreak of the Cultural Revolution that he launched under the guidance of the theory of continuing revolution. As a Marxist scholar, I would therefore like once again to offer my personal views on this major theory. I will address two questions.
Marxism-Leninism and Mao Zedong Thought are our Party's guiding ideology, as the Twentieth Party Congress reaffirmed. But what exactly is the basic content of Mao Zedong Thought? Is the theory of Mao's later years, the theory of continuing revolution, part of that basic content? On this question, the whole Party may not be of one mind. I recall that a certain important Resolution defined the basic content of Mao Zedong Thought as follows: "The living soul of Mao Zedong Thought is the stand, viewpoint and method which run through all its component parts. They have three basic aspects: seeking truth from facts, the mass line, and independence."[1] I consider these three basic aspects correct, but to speak only of them is neither accurate, complete nor profound. The theory of continuing revolution is also the soul and core of Mao Zedong Thought, and in a certain sense even more important than the other three. It should be stated alongside them. Why do I say this?
Chairman Mao's theory of continuing revolution consists mainly of six points: (1) the law of the unity of opposites; (2) the "three existences";[2] (3) the fundamental question of revolution is the question of political power; (4) the main target of the revolution is those in power within the Party who are taking the capitalist road; (5) the main form of the revolution is extensive democracy; and (6) the program in the ideological sphere is "fight selfishness, criticize revisionism." (See the People's Daily editorial of November 7, 1967, "Advance Along the Road Opened Up by the October Socialist Revolution: In Commemoration of the Fiftieth Anniversary of the October Revolution.")
I. The Importance of the Theory of Continuing Revolution, Seen from the Relationship Between Mao Zedong Thought and Marxism-Leninism
Nearly every dictionary entry on "Mao Zedong Thought," every leader's speech and every important document says that Mao Zedong Thought is the product of integrating the universal truth of Marxism-Leninism with Chinese practice. To clarify the basic content of Mao Zedong Thought, then, we must first be clear about the essence and basic content of Marxism. Which basic principles of Marxism did Mao integrate with Chinese practice? Only by answering this can we be clear about the basic content of Mao Zedong Thought.
On the essence of Marxism, I have argued in many articles that "Marxism is the open and developing scientific system, founded by Marx and Engels on the theoretical basis of historical materialism, concerning the opposition and struggle between socialism and capitalism, the ultimate victory over capitalism and the realization of communism, through which the proletariat emancipates itself." This summary of mine comes from the Communist Manifesto, several passages of which make the essence of Marxism especially clear:
"The exploited and oppressed class (the proletariat) cannot attain its emancipation from the sway of the exploiting and ruling class (the bourgeoisie) without, at the same time, and once and for all, emancipating society at large from all exploitation, oppression and class struggles."
"The history of all hitherto existing society [that is, all written history] is the history of class struggles."
"The theory of the Communists may be summed up in the single sentence: Abolition of private property."
"The Communist revolution is the most radical rupture with traditional property relations; no wonder that its development involves the most radical rupture with traditional ideas."
"In short, the Communists everywhere support every revolutionary movement against the existing social and political order of things."
"The Communists disdain to conceal their views and aims. They openly declare that their ends can be attained only by the forcible overthrow of all existing social conditions. Let the ruling classes tremble at a Communist revolution. The proletarians have nothing to lose but their chains. They have a world to win."
(Selected Works of Marx and Engels, Vol. 1, People's Publishing House, 1995, pp. 252, 272, 286, 293, 307.)
From these passages one can conclude with certainty that Marxism is the scientific theory of how the proletariat overthrows the system of exploitation and oppression by revolutionary means, abolishes private property and classes, and finally realizes communism. The abolition of private property, revolution, class struggle and the dictatorship of the proletariat run through the whole of Marxism. And this revolution is not a revolution that stops halfway, but a continuous, sustained revolution until private property and classes are completely abolished. Marx wrote: "It is our task to make the revolution permanent, until all more or less possessing classes have been forced out of their position of dominance."[3] And: "This socialism is the declaration of the permanence of the revolution, the class dictatorship of the proletariat as the necessary transit point to the abolition of class distinctions generally, to the abolition of all the relations of production on which they rest, to the abolition of all the social relations that correspond to these relations of production, to the revolutionizing of all the ideas that result from these social relations."[4]
Building on this idea of Marx's, Lenin turned Marxism from book learning into reality. Through the October Revolution he established the first socialist state power in human history, and he pointed out that after the proletariat takes power, classes and class struggle continue to exist, there remains a danger of being overthrown, and the revolution to consolidate power must be carried through to the end. Mao Zedong inherited the very essence of Marxism-Leninism, integrated it with the practice of the Chinese revolution, and put forward and elaborated the theory of continuing the revolution under the dictatorship of the proletariat. Without the theory of continuing revolution, one cannot explain how Mao integrated the most essential content of Marxism-Leninism with the practice of Chinese revolution and construction. Mao first set out this theory systematically in fifteen points in the Ninth Commentary of 1964,[5] and the People's Daily editorial for the fiftieth anniversary of the October Revolution in 1967 condensed them into six. This thought deepened and developed the Marxist theories of permanent revolution and of revolution by stages, and it is the third milestone in the development of Marxism.
II. The Importance of the Theory of Continuing Revolution, Seen from the Party's Century of Struggle
This year marks the 105th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China. What is the essence of the Party's more than one hundred years of struggle? We must begin with the Party's original aspiration and mission as laid down in the program adopted at its First Congress. In many articles I have stressed that, according to that program, the original aspiration and mission of Chinese Communists is to abolish private property and abolish classes. The representative works of Mao Zedong Thought from the period of the democratic revolution, such as "Analysis of the Classes in Chinese Society," "Report on an Investigation of the Peasant Movement in Hunan," "The Chinese Revolution and the Chinese Communist Party," "On New Democracy" and "On Coalition Government," all center on revolution: "political power grows out of the barrel of a gun," and "a revolution is not a dinner party ... A revolution is an insurrection, an act of violence by which one class overthrows another." But China's specific conditions meant that it could not carry out a proletarian revolution directly, as described in the books of Marx and Engels, for China was a semi-colonial and semi-feudal country. The revolution had to proceed in two steps: the new-democratic revolution and the socialist revolution. The twenty-eight years of the Chinese revolution were a history of class struggle waged by the proletariat and the masses, led by the Communist Party, against imperialism, feudalism and bureaucrat-capitalism.
The founding of the People's Republic by no means meant the end of class struggle; it meant its continuation under new historical conditions. In his speech to the Second Plenary Session of the Seventh Central Committee in 1949, Mao stated plainly that "after the enemies with guns have been wiped out, there will still be enemies without guns," and that the victory of the democratic revolution was only the first step in the ten-thousand-li long march of Chinese Communists toward their original aspiration and mission; the road ahead would be longer, harder and greater. This idea was set out at the point where the two revolutions met, which was also the point where Mao's two theories, of the democratic revolution and of the socialist revolution, met. The "two musts"[6] summed up the theory of the democratic revolution and were also the new starting point and the seed of all Mao's later theory. The theory of continuing revolution was developed systematically, deepened and extended on the basis of the "two musts." That speech already made clear that once the proletariat has seized power, the principal contradiction is the contradiction between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie.
The class struggle of the early years of the People's Republic proved Mao's judgment correct. The corruption case of Liu Qingshan and Zhang Zishan, who were executed in 1952, was a concrete expression of class struggle after the victory of the revolution. The great War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea that followed was not simply a struggle to defend the homeland; it was a sharp and fierce international class struggle between the two opposing camps of socialism and capitalism, in defense of the great cause of socialism. The "Three Antis" and "Five Antis" campaigns, the criticism of the film The Life of Wu Xun, the cooperative movement and the Anti-Rightist struggle that followed were all prominent manifestations of class struggle in the historical stage of socialism. In 1957, in "On the Correct Handling of Contradictions Among the People" and "Speech at the Chinese Communist Party's National Conference on Propaganda Work," Chairman Mao explained repeatedly that although the large-scale, turbulent class struggles of the masses were over, class struggle in the ideological field still existed, and the question of which would win out, socialism or capitalism, had not yet been fundamentally resolved. In 1962, against the mistaken tendency within the Party and in society to deny the objective existence of class struggle, Mao issued to the whole Party at the Tenth Plenary Session of the Eighth Central Committee the great call: "Never forget class struggle." He pointed out at the same time that socialism is a fairly long historical stage, throughout which there are classes and class struggle, the danger of capitalist restoration, and struggle between two classes, two roads and two lines. Class struggle must be talked about every year, every month, every day.
Meanwhile, after the Twentieth Congress of the Soviet Communist Party, Khrushchev's renegade clique began to pursue internationally a line of capitulation to imperialism, the "three peacefuls and one less,"[7] while at home it launched a great campaign against Stalin and pursued a revisionist line across the board, taking the capitalist road. The Chinese Communists published the Nine Commentaries and other texts, opening the great struggle against modern revisionism. The Socialist Education Movement launched at home in 1963, and the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution begun in 1966, were the great continuation of class struggle under the dictatorship of the proletariat.
In its more than one hundred years of history, our Party has nurtured the spirit of the Red Boat, of Jinggangshan, of the Long March, of Yan'an, of the War of Resistance, of Xibaipo, of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, of Lei Feng, of Daqing, of Dazhai, of the "Two Bombs and One Satellite," of Jiao Yulu, and more. The red thread, the main line, the core running through all these spirits is the spirit of class struggle. Apart from class struggle and revolutionary practice, the essence of none of these spirits can be clearly explained. And the theory of continuing the revolution under the dictatorship of the proletariat is the theory of class struggle under the historical conditions of socialism. Chairman Mao once said that in studying the Communist Manifesto he held fast to the two words "class struggle," but that the books said nothing about class struggle in China, nor did they study class struggle after the proletariat had seized power. He set out to study not only class struggle in China but also class struggle after the establishment of socialism. It was after the new socialist state had been established, under historical conditions of extremely sharp class struggle at home and abroad, that Chairman Mao systematically put forward and elaborated the great theory of continuing the revolution under the dictatorship of the proletariat. This theory is a scientific summing-up, under new historical conditions, of the facts of class struggle at home and abroad, and especially of class struggle and line struggle within the Party.
III. The Central Place of the Theory of Continuing Revolution, Seen from Its Relationship to Seeking Truth from Facts, the Mass Line and Independence
In my view, the basic content and soul of Mao Zedong Thought should be summed up in four aspects: seeking truth from facts, the mass line, independence, and continuing revolution. Chairman Mao's theory of continuing revolution must on no account be excluded. Indeed, it is the most central, most brilliant and most essential part of Mao Zedong Thought. As everyone knows, the Communist Manifesto sets out a number of basic principles of Marxism. I once wrote an article titled "Ten Basic Principles Set Out in the Communist Manifesto," but I do not regard these ten principles as equal and undifferentiated; their core is the "abolition of private property" and the theory of the dictatorship of the proletariat. By the same token, the four aspects of Mao Zedong Thought also have a core and a fundamental point, and that is the theory of continuing revolution. In substance it is the continuation, deepening and development of the "abolition of private property" and the theory of the dictatorship of the proletariat in the Communist Manifesto. Seeking truth from facts, the mass line and independence provide continuing revolution with its ideological line, the forces it relies on and its material basis.
First, seeking truth from facts provides the ideological line for continuing revolution, but it cannot take the place of the goal and road of revolution. Materialism is the most basic standpoint of Marxism, but materialism is not the ultimate goal for which Marxism strives. Marx and Engels founded historical materialism in order to provide a scientific theoretical basis for the ultimate goal and the strategy of the proletarian struggle. In the same way, seeking truth from facts provides the theoretical and factual basis for all of Mao's thought, and especially for his theories of the two revolutions. Without seeking truth from facts, there would be none of Mao's revolutionary theories, strategies, principles and policies. But if one stresses only seeking truth from facts and cannot derive from it the goal, road, means and methods of revolution, such "seeking truth from facts" is meaningless.
Second, the mass line is the force on which the realization of the revolutionary goal relies, but it cannot take the place of the material path and the ultimate goal of class struggle. The Communist Manifesto speaks of the "two immense majorities": "The proletarian movement is the self-conscious, independent movement of the immense majority, in the interest of the immense majority." This is undoubtedly the Marxist theoretical basis of Mao's mass line. But why do Communists speak of the "two immense majorities"? Because only in the immense majority did Communists find the material force and material means to abolish private property and realize communism. Chairman Mao's mass line and mass viewpoint are the most fundamental material force and material path for realizing China's two revolutions. The Chinese revolution could never have succeeded without material force and material means. But what is the purpose of finding this material force? It is revolution: the abolition of private property and of classes, and in the end the realization of communism. The essence and core of the theory of continuing revolution is precisely the Communists' ultimate goal of abolishing private property and classes. A so-called "mass line" cut off from this great goal loses its meaning.
Third, independence is likewise a material path, means and basis for realizing the Communists' aims. It has two meanings: revolution must rely on one's own strength rather than outside forces, and so must construction. Its philosophical basis is the principle of internal and external causes. Independence undoubtedly serves the Communists' great goal of abolishing private property and classes and realizing communism. But if one stresses only independence as a means, without the great goal of revolution and without the dictatorship of the proletariat, it is impossible truly to keep to the road of self-reliance. During the War of Resistance against Japan, Yan'an relied on its own efforts in the great production campaign because the great goal of the war demanded it. In the 1950s and 1960s, Chairman Mao held up Daqing and Dazhai as models of self-reliance and hard struggle because we were building a new socialist China and striving for the lofty goal of communism. Chairman Mao's theory of continuing revolution stresses the ideal and great goal of uninterrupted revolution, the dictatorship of the proletariat, and the abolition of private property and classes; only thus can the greatest enthusiasm of the whole Party and people for self-reliance truly be aroused.
The theory of continuing revolution is the essence and core of seeking truth from facts, the mass line and self-reliance. It is the deepening, enrichment and development, in a new historical era, of the "abolition of private property" and the theory of the dictatorship of the proletariat in the Communist Manifesto. The theory of continuing revolution itself includes seeking truth from facts, the mass line and self-reliance, but it cannot be reduced to them. Seeking truth from facts, the mass line and independence can never be separated from the theory of continuing revolution, nor can they take its place.
IV. The Importance of the Theory of Continuing Revolution, Seen from Practice as the Criterion of Truth
Any discussion of Chairman Mao's theory of continuing revolution must settle two questions. First, is the theory true? Some in the Party regard it as a "serious error" of Mao's later years, and hold that, being a "serious error," it should be excluded from the system of Mao Zedong Thought. Second, does the importance of the theory need to be tested in practice? According to Marxist epistemology, both questions must of course be tested in practice.
The repudiation of Mao's theory of continuing revolution began with the great debate on "practice as the criterion of truth." But that debate committed two serious theoretical errors. First, it distorted practice as the fundamental and ultimate criterion of truth into the "sole" criterion, completely denying the important role of theories already proved correct in practice in demonstrating whether new knowledge is true. Second, the "practice" it invoked became a subjectivist, empiricist epistemology rather than a theory of practice guided by scientific theory. It substituted surface appearances, minor details and isolated instances for the scientific Marxist view of practice, and such "practice" cannot serve as a criterion of truth. For example, the Nanjing University philosophy teacher who wrote the "Criterion" article for the Guangming Daily,[8] when he later explained why he wrote it, cited as "practice" his own isolated experience of being criticized and attacked during the Cultural Revolution, as proof that the theory behind the Cultural Revolution was wrong. That attempt to prove Chairman Mao's theory of continuing revolution wrong in the name of the "Marxist criterion of truth" was therefore an absurd farce.
We too must always uphold the Marxist view of the criterion of truth. First, the process of testing by practice must be guided by scientific Marxist theory, and especially by the theory of class struggle. Second, the "practice" that tests truth is the people's struggle for production, class struggle and scientific experiment. The so-called practice of "reform and opening up" was in essence a process of changing socialist public ownership and the planned economy into privatization and marketization. It is precisely this so-called "practice" that has led to official corruption throughout society, severe polarization, rampant private-ownership thinking and moral collapse, while housing, education and healthcare have become the "new three great mountains" weighing on working people. The Xu Jiayin case[9] is a typical product of this revisionist line of privatization and marketization pursued under the slogan of "reform and opening up." A great mass of objective facts, independent of anyone's will, has proved from the negative side the foresight and truth of Chairman Mao's theory of continuing revolution: on capitalist restoration, on capitalist-roaders in the Party, on political power as the fundamental question of revolution, on extensive democracy, and on fighting selfishness and criticizing revisionism. At the same time they prove the absurdity of so-called "reform and opening up" and the "theory of socialism with Chinese characteristics."
These "objective facts" came about because "reform and opening up" and the theory of "socialism with Chinese characteristics" completely repudiated the six basic points of the theory of continuing revolution in Mao Zedong Thought. Because they repudiated these six points, although their proponents talk at length about seeking truth from facts, the mass line and self-reliance, anyone who thinks normally can see that they have not practiced any of them. In the early period of "reform and opening up" in particular, Chairman Mao's line of self-reliance in building socialism was abandoned altogether, and the mistaken line of "building is not as good as renting, and renting is not as good as buying" was promoted. This did extremely serious harm to China's socialist economic construction; the cancellation of the Yun-10 airliner[10] is a typical product of that line. A certain great personage once stressed that Mao Zedong Thought must be understood and grasped completely and accurately.[11] Those words were correct. But this same personage directly repudiated Mao's theory of continuing revolution, which was itself the greatest one-sidedness and fragmentation of Mao Zedong Thought. He too shouted loudly about seeking truth from facts, the mass line and independence. But because he utterly repudiated the theory of continuing revolution, none of his theories truly carried out the seeking of truth from facts or the mass line in Mao Zedong Thought, and he was a direct opponent of the idea of self-reliance.
This year marks the 105th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, the 133rd anniversary of Chairman Mao's birth, the fiftieth anniversary of his death, and the sixtieth anniversary of the Cultural Revolution. One extremely important part of our commemorations is to restore Mao Zedong Thought to its true face. We must give Chairman Mao and Mao Zedong Thought a scientific and accurate assessment of their place and role in the more than one hundred years of struggle of the Communist Party of China, in the Chinese nation's struggle against foreign aggression and to overthrow the three great mountains, and in the great socialist modernization. We must strive to wash away all the mud and filth thrown at Mao Zedong and Mao Zedong Thought, clear Mao Zedong's name, and restore his supremely important place and role in the history of the development of Marxism, in the history of the international communist movement and in the history of human civilization. Without Chairman Mao and Mao Zedong Thought, there would be no Communist Party of China, no founding of New China, and none of the incomparably glorious achievements of the Party and the Chinese nation over more than a century. And Chairman Mao's theory of continuing revolution is the most brilliant, most essential and most outstanding part of Mao Zedong Thought. Only by understanding Chairman Mao and Mao Zedong Thought in this way can we truly carry on Chairman Mao's unfinished cause, hold high forever the great banner of Mao Zedong Thought, and carry the great cause of Chinese socialism that Chairman Mao began through to the end!
Translator's Notes
1. The Resolution. The 1981 Resolution on Certain Questions in the History of Our Party since the Founding of the People's Republic of China.
2. The "three existences" (三个存在). The formulation, from 1962 onward, that throughout the socialist period there exist classes and class struggle, the struggle between the socialist and capitalist roads, and the danger of capitalist restoration.
3. Marx, "Address of the Central Committee to the Communist League" (March 1850).
4. Marx, The Class Struggles in France, 1848 to 1850.
5. The Ninth Commentary. "On Khrushchov's Phoney Communism and Its Historical Lessons for the World" (July 14, 1964), the last of the Nine Commentaries on the Open Letter of the Central Committee of the CPSU, which ends with fifteen points on preventing capitalist restoration.
6. The "two musts" (两个务必). From Mao's 1949 report to the Second Plenary Session of the Seventh Central Committee: the comrades must preserve modesty, prudence and freedom from arrogance and rashness, and must preserve the style of plain living and hard struggle.
7. "Three peacefuls and one less" (三和一少). A label coined in 1962 for a foreign-policy line of reconciliation with imperialism, revisionism and reaction and less aid to revolutionary movements. Khrushchev's own line was usually summed up in Chinese polemics as the "three peacefuls": peaceful coexistence, peaceful competition and peaceful transition.
8. The "Criterion" article. "Practice Is the Sole Criterion for Testing Truth," published in the Guangming Daily on May 11, 1978. Its first draft was written by Hu Fuming, a philosophy teacher at Nanjing University.
9. Xu Jiayin (许家印). Founder of the Evergrande property group, detained in 2023 amid the company's collapse.
10. The Yun-10 (运-10). China's first domestically designed large jet airliner, which first flew in 1980 and was cancelled in the mid-1980s.
11. "A certain great personage." An allusion to Deng Xiaoping, who in 1977 called for understanding Mao Zedong Thought "completely and accurately" as an integral whole.