On Contradiction

On Contradiction is a 1937 essay by the Chinese Communist revolutionary Mao Zedong. Along with On Practice it forms the philosophical underpinnings of the political ideology that would later become Maoism. It was written in August 1937, as an interpretation of the philosophy of dialectical materialism, while Mao was at his guerrilla base in Yanan. Mao suggests that all movement and life is a result of contradiction. Mao separates his paper into different sections: the two world outlooks, the universality of contradiction, the particularity of contradiction, the principal contradiction and principal aspect of contradiction, the identity and struggle of aspects of contradiction, the place of antagonism in contradiction, and finally the conclusion. Mao further develops the theme laid out in On Contradiction in his 1957 speech On the Correct Handling of Contradictions among the People.

Mao describes existence as being made up of constant transformation and contradiction. Nothing is constant as in metaphysics and can only exist based on opposing contradictions. He uses the concept of contradiction to explain different Chinese historical time periods and social events. Mao’s form of talking about contradiction creates a modified concept that brought forth the ideal of Chinese Marxism. This text continues to influence and educate Chinese Marxists.

Mao initially held views similar to a reformist or nationalist. He later said that he became a Marxist in 1919 when he took a second trip to Peking, although he had not declared his new belief at that time. In 1920, he met Chen Duxiu in Shanghai and discussed the Marxist philosophy. Mao finally officially moved toward his new ideology when the Movement of Self-Government of Hunan failed. Mao found a more reasonable approach to fixing society’s problems in Marxism. He once said, “Class struggle, some classes triumph, others are eliminated.” He understood the need for Marxist ideas and struggles in order to more effectively take on the developing world. Some of the points made in "On Contradiction" were drawn and expanded from lecture notes that Mao presented in 1937 at the Counter-Japanese University in Yan'an. The paper generated much controversy and debate, and some thought that Mao had not written the paper at all. Mao’s research was concentrated on pieces from Chinese Marxist philosophers. The most influential philosopher that Mao studied was Ai Siqi. Mao not only read Ai's works but also knew him personally. Mao studied Marxism diligently in the year before he wrote his "Lecture Notes on Dialectical Materialism." He reviewed and annotated the Soviet Union’s New Philosophy in order to actively understand the dialectical materialism concept.

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