Act Consistently in the Interests of the Revolution

#PUBLICATION NOTE

This edition of Act Consistently in the Interests of the Revolution has been prepared and revised for digital publication by the Institute of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism under the Central Committee of the Communist Party in Switzerland on the basis of the following editions:

  • Quotation in the Quotations From Chairman Mao Zedong, First English Edition, Foreign Languages Press, Beijing, 1967.
  • Congratulatory Speech at the Mass Meeting Sponsored by the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party to Celebrate the Sixtieth Birthday of Comrade Wu Yuzhang, in Mao's Road to Power, First English Edition, Vol. 7, M.E. Sharpe, Armonk and London, 2005.

#INTRODUCTION NOTE

This is a speech delivered by Comrade Mao Zedong at a rally sponsored by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China celebrating the 60th birthday of Comrade Wu Yuzhang in Yan'an, Shaanxi, China on the 15th of January, 1940. It was first published in the Xin Zhonghua Bao (24th of January, 1940).

#Workers and oppressed people of the world, unite!

#ACT CONSISTENTLY IN THE INTERESTS OF THE REVOLUTION

#SPEECH DELIVERED AT THE RALLY CELEBRATING THE 60TH BIRTHDAY OF COMRADE WU YUZHANG

#Mao Zedong
#15th of January, 1940

#★

Today, as we are all gathered in this hall to honour the venerable Wu Yuzhang on his birthday, I am reminded of what I felt when we were celebrating the birthday of the venerable Xu Teli two years ago. On that occasion, I emphasized that it was not without reason that we congratulated him on his birthday. I remember that, when I was small, I did not like the elderly, because they treated young people highhandedly. Who does not err when young? But you could not afford to err; they were so overbearing when you did. Children and youth had no say about anything. China's youth suffered very bitterly from feudalism in the family and in society. But now, the world has changed, and the youth love the elderly. Thus, our venerable Wu Yuzhang, Lin Boqu, Xu Teli, Dong Biwu, and Xie Juezai, for example, are all extremely popular with the youth. Why has this change taken place? Because these senior comrades, far from treating the youth highhandedly, are very warmhearted in helping them. They act in a way that has made them models for the youth, so they are respected by the youth. Ma Xiangbo, for example, is one of them. When he was celebrating his birthday, the Communist Party sent him a congratulatory telegram, because he favoured resistance to Japan and democratic politics. All people will grow old alike. Why are the elderly valuable? If they were valuable simply because they were elderly, there would be too many valuable people. So, we must have a criterion. That is, a person is valuable if they have done good things all their life, and not bad things; if they have done things that are beneficial to humanity, and not things that are harmful to humanity. If one does good things at first, and bad things later, then one is inconsistent. It is not hard for one to do a bit of good. What is hard is to do good all one's life and never do anything bad, to act consistently in the interests of the broad masses, the youth, and the revolution, and to engage in arduous struggle for decades on end. That is the hardest thing of all!

Our venerable Comrade Wu Yuzhang is precisely such a person who has been consistent for decades. He is turning 60 years old this year. From the time of the Chinese Revolutionary Alliance until today, he has been making revolution for 40 years. He has remained resolute and unchanging, despite the misery of all kinds he suffered in a homeless and drifting life. That is truly not easy. Of the people who joined the Chinese Revolutionary Alliance, very few are still alive today. Fewer still are those who have persisted in working for the revolution and under no circumstances have given up their revolutionary aspirations. To do this, one must not only have a firm and correct political orientation, but also a spirit of hard struggle. Without this, one can never succeed in fighting evil forces or conquering dangers of all kinds, such as threats of death, starvation, and failure of the revolution. Our Comrade Wu Yuzhang has survived numerous such threats and dangers. So, we should emulate all his good points and learn from him his persistence in revolution in particular. That is a quality that cannot be praised enough, which brings honour to our Party and to the Chinese revolution. In my opinion, it is here that the main significance of our most joyful meeting to celebrate his 60th birthday lies.