Selected Works of Mao Tse-tung
September 4, 1964
[SOURCE: Long Live Mao Tse-tung Thought, A Red Guard Publication]
Is it easier to beat the snake by luring it to come out or by crawling into the dark snake hole? (We supported the release of Suslov’s report. It was not released, but it came out after eight commentaries were made.)
Ever since 1956, the Soviet Union has denounced Stalin.[1] After we have published our first and second comments,[2] they lost their own initiatives.
Not only have our two families taken this stand, but Eastern Europe has also begun to follow suit. (The Soviet Union criticized Romania for its self-reliance. Romania fought back, using our own criticisms against the Soviet Union.) This is no longer an internal affair, but has become publicly announced in radio broadcasts.
China is not the first to be involved in the conflict between control and anti-control; it is the countries of Eastern Europe. (Romania has already made preparations to sever her economic relations with the Soviet Union. She cannot make her own armaments, and has asked China to send someone to visit Romania. We won’t have to talk to make people scared; we don’t have to talk there. It would be very important if we only shake hands with them.)
We must get prepared, prepared for the break, and try to let the situation drag If anything should happen, it must not catch us by surprise. What happens in the world is that after a long union, there will be division, and after a long division, there will be union (Sino-Soviet relations).
The Nanchang Uprising[3] was a tremendous event, and in the wake of it, there were left only a few persons, growing later into an outfit of 3,00,000 men. After the Long March, a few thousand troops were left, and they were developed later. A mountain does not have to go very high. (The old Communist party of Brazil had 40,000 members, and a new party has been formed with only 6,000 members. Which is more reliable: 40,000 or 6,000 members?)
It is only with revisionism that there can be long live Leninism!
If one does not pay attention, there is bound to be revisionism. If one pays attention to it, it may appear or may not appear. When one is prepared for its appearance, it may not appear at all.
[1.] i.e. from the 20th congress to the C P S U.
[2.] In the period 1956-64 the CPC conducted a great ideological struggle under the personnel guidance of comrade Mao against modem revisionism and opportunism. During the course of this struggle which was conducted in the form of a great debate, and in which almost all the Communists parties in the world were involved, the CPC proposed a ‘General line’ for the International Communist Movement (June 14, 1963), and released 9 documents (9 comments). Here comrade Mao is refering to the first two documents of the 9 comments.
[3.] “Nanchang uprising”, see note 12 on p 60 of this volume.