Some of the most interesting philospohical concepts over the centuries have come from Chinese who were considered
radical thinkers in their day. Communist Party Chairman Mao Zedong is perhaps best known to Americans. Here are
some ideas put forth by various Chinese radicals.
GREAT MOVEMENTS
No political party can possibly lead a great revolutionary movement to victory unless it possesses revolutionary
theory and a knowledge of history and has a profound grasp of the practical movement.
"The Role of the Chinese Communist Party in the National War" (1938), Selected Works of Mao Zedong, Vol.
II, p. 208.
STRENGTH THROUGH MILITARY FORCE
According to the Marxist theory of the state, the army is the chief component of state power. Whoever wants to
seize and retain state power must have a strong army. Some people ridicule us as advocates of the "omnipotence
of war". Yes, we are advocates of the omnipotence of revolutionary war; that is good, not bad, it is Marxist.
"Problems of War and Strategy" (1938), Selected Works, Vol. II, p. 225.
COMPARE PEOPLE, MAKE ENEMIES
The Rat is first in the Chinese Zodiac. The Rat (referring to people born under that sign) is said to like to criticize,
nag, and compare one to another. The Rat is high-strung and clever, but too secretive, and will alienate people
by constantly comparing them to others. So said Xiao Xing, Mao's astrologer.
STONE LIONS
Lin Piao, a follower of Mao, noted that the two huge stone lions standing at the end of the Jinshui (Golden Water)
Bridge in front of Tiananmen Gate, and used them to describe two well-matched forces. This is how he viewed Communism
and Capitalism.
ICE COLDER THAN WATER
Mao referred to Deng Xiaoping, his one-time protege who was imprisoned during the Cultural Revolution (but who
emerged later to become the most powerful Chinese leader after Mao), as "ice that comes from water, but is
colder than water." This is an old Chinese saying that means the apprentice surpasses the master.
OX FOR SHEEP
The Book Mengzi is a collection of the teachings of Master Meng Ke (Mencius). "The king was sitting aloft
in the hall, when a man appeared, leading an ox past the lower part of it. The king saw him, and asked 'Where is
the ox going?' The man replied, 'We are going to consecrate a bell with his blood.' The king said, 'Let it go.
I cannot bear its frightened appearance, as if it were an innocent person going to the place of death.' The man
answered, 'Shall we then omit the consecration of the bell?' The king said, 'How can that be omitted? Change it
for a sheep.'"
STAKE PROTRUDES
Jiang Qing, Mao's wife, leader of the Gang of Four, and the most ultra-radical of the Chinese Communists decried
the passive Japanese way of thinking embodied in the well-known Japanese saying "The protruding stake is hammered down." Learn from these Chinese radicals.