Mao Zedong

Author: Zhao Dayi
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-05-01
Features: In the 1937 of 20 years later, the comprehensive war of China broke out, and all the results were within the expectation of this 24-year-old normal school student. After Yuan Shikai's death, China's political situation was turbulent, with all sorts of demons running wild. Some advanced individuals actively sought ways to save the country. Many believed that the reason for the failure of the republic system was that there was no thorough critique of old ideas, old culture, and old morals; the repeated failures of the saviors' struggle to save the country were because the public regarded it as "a fire across the river, watching with indifference and without concern." Clearly, these advanced individuals turned their attention to the fields of thought, culture, and morality, advocating for the fundamental transformation of national character. How to transform national character? Mao Zedong believed: "Ethical awakening is the last awakening of us." Feeling that "the accumulated vices of the nation are deep, and the thoughts are too old, and the morals are too bad," to change this situation, one must start with "ethics and philosophy." Because philosophy is convenient for studying thought, and ethics is convenient for elaborating on morality, "thought governs the heart, and morality regulates action." In this way, transforming philosophy and ethics was linked to transforming the quality of the people and changing the destiny of the nation. In the understanding of things, Mao Zedong paid attention to grasping the "origin" or "great foundation." This means that one must grasp the fundamental nature of things; once the foundation is grasped, the branches and leaves will naturally resolve themselves. From this fundamental meaning, Mao Zedong proposed the fundamental strategy for saving the country and the people: "Today's reforms all start from the branches and leaves, such as parliament, constitutionalism, president, cabinet, military, industry, and education—all are branches and leaves. Branches and leaves are indispensable, but these branches and leaves must have a foundation. Without the foundation, these branches and leaves are like tumors, disjointed, and fragmented." He loudly called out: "Now I call on the great foundation, will the hearts of the world not be moved? If the hearts of the world are moved, will there be anything in the world that cannot be done? If there is something that can be done, will the country not be prosperous and happy?" This was the profound truth explained in the letter Mao Zedong wrote to Li Jinxi on August 13, 1917. After receiving this letter, Li Jinxi was deeply moved and wrote in his diary that day: "I received Ruzhi's letter, and it was very insightful, not ordinary." In 1917, the exceptionally talented Mao Zedong, signed with the name "Twenty-Eight Character Youth" (the three characters of Mao Zedong are written as 28 strokes in traditional Chinese), publicly published his life's first paper—Research on Physical Education. The full text is over 7,000 characters, recommended by Yang Changji, and published in New Youth, edited by Chen Duxiu. The article discussed the relationship between physical education, national strength, and the cultivation of personal will and courage, showing Mao Zedong's broad and unique way of thinking. The article contains two interrelated logical threads: one is national strength—martial customs—physique—physical education. This is clearly reverse logical thinking. The article pointed out: the weakness of national strength, the decline of martial customs, and the increasingly delicate physique of the nation are a deeply concerning phenomenon, so physical exercise should be promoted. The other is physical education—martial courage—will. This is forward-thinking logic. He pointed out: if a person does not have a strong body, they will lack courage, resilience, and perseverance, which will greatly affect their achievements in studies and careers. "The body is the carrier of knowledge and the abode of morality. It carries knowledge like a carriage, and it lodges morality like a house."