On Practice
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| On Practice | |
|---|---|
| Title | On Practice |
| Author | Mao Zedong |
| Original title | 实践论 |
| Language | Chinese |
| Published | 1937 |
| Genre | Political philosophy |
| Publisher | People's Daily (serial) / Red Flag |
| Pages | 6 (essay) |
| Preceded by | Report on an Investigation of the Peasant Movement in Hunan |
| Followed by | On Contradiction |
On Practice
"On Practice" is a 1937 essay by Mao Zedong addressing epistemology and the relationship between theory and empirical activity within the context of Chinese Communist Party strategy and Second Sino-Japanese War mobilization. It elaborates a materialist conception of knowledge tied to revolutionary practice and organizes arguments about cognition, verification, and social transformation. The essay has been cited in debates within Communist Party of China policy, Marxist philosophy, and Cold War ideological conflicts involving Soviet Union and Chinese Communist Party relations.
Overview
"On Practice" argues that human knowledge originates from sensory experience and is verified through practice, linking perception to cognition and practice to truth. Mao frames knowledge acquisition within historical struggles involving actors such as peasants and workers in regions like Hunan and engages with the legacies of Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin. Written during the Long March aftermath and before intensified clashes with Imperial Japan, the essay functions as a theoretical guide for cadres in Yenan. It situates epistemology in service of revolutionary objectives endorsed by the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party.
Historical Development
The essay emerged amid debates within the Chinese Communist Party about strategy following setbacks and reorganizations associated with the Encirclement Campaigns and the protracted Jiangxi conflicts. Mao composed "On Practice" while consolidating influence in Yanan, drawing on prior writings like Report on an Investigation of the Peasant Movement in Hunan and presaging later theoretical works such as On Contradiction. Its publication intersected with broader Sino-Soviet exchanges, including ideological critiques from figures linked to the Comintern and responses from cadres educated in Moscow Sun Yat-sen University. The text circulated among party schools and influenced curriculum at institutions such as the Central Party School and study groups organized by the Red Army.
Key Concepts and Theories
Central to the essay is a two-stage model: knowledge arises from practice and is tested through further practice. Mao reinterprets themes from Dialectical Materialism and Historical Materialism, invoking epistemological positions akin to those debated by Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, Friedrich Engels, and Antonio Gramsci. He emphasizes the unity of theory and practice, drawing a line against what he portrays as scholasticism linked to segments of the Chinese Communist Party and opposing forms of empiricism associated with uncritical appeals to immediate sensation. The essay distinguishes stages of cognition—sensory perception, abstraction, and verification—and insists truth is proven by transformative capacity in contexts like land reform experiments carried out by landlords and tenant farmers in liberated zones.
Methods and Applications
"On Practice" prescribes methods for party cadres: investigation, fieldwork, and iterative policy adjustment. It endorses techniques practiced during mass campaigns such as door-to-door surveys in districts influenced by Autumn Harvest Uprising veterans and land redistribution trials modeled after successful experiments in Jiangxi Soviet. The essay informed pedagogical approaches in Yanan Rectification Movement study sessions and guided research methods for cadres dispatched to rural counties and Soviet border areas. Its recommendations affected administrative practices in organizations like the New Fourth Army and in local soviets where cadres combined data collection, participatory inquiry, and corrective action.
Critiques and Debates
Scholars and political actors have critiqued both the philosophical coherence and political deployment of the essay. Critics associated with the Soviet Union and some Comintern advisors charged Mao with deviations from orthodox Marxism-Leninism, while later critics within Chinese intellectual circles debated the essay’s elevation of practice over theoretical systematization. Western commentators in journals connected to Columbia University and London School of Economics analyses questioned the empirical basis of some field reports cited in the text. Debates also arose over how the essay was mobilized during campaigns such as the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution, where opponents argued that the concept of practice was sometimes abstracted into political justification for coercive measures.
Influence and Legacy
The essay became a staple in People's Republic of China ideological education and influenced leaders beyond China, including movements within Southeast Asia and Africa where People's Republic of China provided cadre training. It was incorporated into curricula at the Peking University and referenced in policy debates within the State Council and party organs. Translations and commentaries circulated in institutions aligned with Third Worldism and anti-colonial networks that engaged with Ho Chi Minh-era northern Vietnamese cadres. Its legacy persists in contemporary discussions of praxis in institutions such as the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and among scholars studying the intersections of epistemology and political practice.