Page 24 - SELECTED WORKS OF MAO TSE-TUNG Volume III.indd

22 MAO TSE-TUNG
assert that the absence of a scientific attitude, that is, the absence
of the Marxist-Leninist approach of uniting theory and practice,
means that Party spirit is either absent or deficient.
There is a couplet which portrays this type of person. It runs:
The reed growing on the wall — top-heavy, thin-stemmed and
shallow of root;
The bamboo shoot in the hills — sharp-tongued, thick-skinned
and hollow inside.
Is this not an apt description of those who do not have a scientific
attitude, who can only recite words and phrases from the works of
Marx, Engels, Lenin and Stalin and who enjoy a reputation un-
warranted by any real learning? If anyone really wishes to cure him-
self of his malady, I advise him to commit this couplet to memory
or to show still more courage and paste it on the wall of his room.
Marxism-Leninism is a science, and science means honest, solid
knowledge; there is no room for playing tricks. Let us, then, be honest.
Secondly, there is the Marxist-Leninist attitude.
With this attitude, a person applies the theory and method of
Marxism-Leninism to the systematic and thorough investigation and
study of the environment. He does not work by enthusiasm alone
but, as Stalin says, combines revolutionary sweep with practicalness.
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With this attitude he will not chop up history. It is not enough for
him to know ancient Greece, he must know China; he must know
the revolutionary history not only of foreign countries but also of
China, not only the China of today but also the China of yesterday
and of the day before yesterday. With this attitude, one studies the
theory of Marxism-Leninism with a purpose, that is, to integrate
Marxist-Leninist theory with the actual movement of the Chinese
revolution and to seek from this theory the stand, viewpoint and
method with which to solve the theoretical and tactical problems of
the Chinese revolution. Such an attitude is one of shooting the arrow
at the target. The “target” is the Chinese revolution, the “arrow” is
Marxism-Leninism. We Chinese Communists have been seeking this
arrow because we want to hit the target of the Chinese revolution
and of the revolution of the East. To take such an attitude is to seek
truth from facts. “Facts” are all the things that exist objectively,
“truth” means their internal relations, that is, the laws governing
them, and “to seek” means to study. We should proceed from the
actual conditions inside and outside the country, the province, county