In 1960 The Fourth Volume Of The Selected Works Of Publishing And Promotion

Since the Selected Works of Mao Zedong (Volume IV)published in1960, a climax of nationwide study and propaganda ofthis masterpiece has quickly set off in China. The masses of thepeople energetically read the Selected Works of Mao Zedong (VolumeIV) through various ways. All of the people, no matter they are fromurban or rural areas, workers or farmers, intellectuals or the masses ofofficers and soldiers in army, the democratic parties or ethnicminorities, have devoted great passion, published a large number ofarticles and interpretative works according to their study, covering thefields of politics, military, economics, philosophy, culture, education,literary, and so forth. This study and propaganda greatly enriched thespirit of the people all over the country, encouraging people to strivefor the Great Leap Forward in production, and laying the ideologicalfoundation for the realization of this event. In the learning andpropagandizing process, the concept of "Mao Zedong Thought" wasmentioned again and spread all over the country quickly, whichoffered an in-depth and extensive baptism to the spirit of the thinkingof the masses. On the other hand, due to the combined effect ofvarious factors at home and abroad, blind exaggeration and vulgartendency appeared in this climax of the study and propaganda of MaoZedong Thought, deviating from the original intention of this activity,and gradually turning to astray under the incitement inspired by LinBiao and other people.This paper is mainly divided into three parts. The first part discusses the background of the publication andthe editing of the Selected Works of Mao Zedong(Volume IV) in1960.The second part focuses on the learning climax since the publish ofthe fourth volume of the Selected Works of Mao Zedong, andanalyzes how the people in the theoretical circles of the central andlocal, as well as military and ethnic minority areas, have carriedout this climax of study. Especially as the advance of the activity, theconcept of " Mao Zedong Thought" was mentioned again, the blindstudy exaggeration and the vulgar tendency became increasinglyapparent, which significantly deviated from the original objective ofthe learning and propaganda activities. The three part focuses on thecharacteristics, significance and revelation of Mao Zedong Thoughtin the boom since the fourth volume of Selected Works of MaoZedong was published in1960. As to the characteristics, firstly, thisevent takes the learning methods of combination, actively launchedthe participation of the masses, rather than relying on the in-houselearning by the central theoretical circles. Secondly, the masses ofpeople actively participated in the learning activity by writing articles,organizing lecture groups, to, rather than just passively learning thefiles of central theory. Thirdly, the majority of army soldiers took partin the learning activity, arming their minds with the military thinkingof Mao Zedong to improve the army’s combat strength. As to thesignificances, firstly, the activity of universal learning upgraded theideological quality and cultural quality of the masses; Secondly, inthe situation of the ideological struggle at that time, the widely spreadof the Selected Works of Mao Zedong(Volume IV),mobilized theenthusiasm of the masses, resulting in a relatively positive influence; Thirdly, this nationwide study of Mao Zedong Thought protected thisprecious spiritual wealth from vanishing, which contributes a lot inguiding us in today’s socialist modernization. Through theinvestigation to this nationwide study, several conclusions can bedrawn: First of all, the learning of theory is necessary tomobilize the enthusiasm of the masses in the right way; Secondly,the learning of theory needs multi-pronged with various forms.Thirdly, the learning of theory must be combined with practice and becautious of over-promotion.