K. This is the 1st working draft of vol. VI. It still ... - From Marx to Mao

188 MAO TSE-TUNG
for the army, mitigate a painful and tedious existence, assist the
people in their own self-defense, and cause the armed force of the
popular masses to unite closely with us.
2. TRAINING IN ALL SUBJECTS
The consequence of training in all subjects, though it is difficult
to reduce it to uniformity, is, as regards methods in general, to proceed
from the superficial to the profound, first the broad and then
the rigorous, from the simple and easy to the complex and difficult,
first the partial and then the universal. In all fields, one must demonstrate
one’s theories by concrete experience, so as to strengthen
FROM MARX
TO MAO
the students’ confidence.
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3. CULTIVATING THE PEOPLE’S CAPACITY
FOR SELF-DEFENSE
The most pressing and most important task of a guerrilla unit is
to carry out guerrilla attacks without ceasing in the places occupied
by the enemy, to seize and kill all traitors and reactionaries, and to
protect the popular masses. At the same time, a guerrilla unit must
investigate the concrete NOT offenses of FOR the enemy and use every possible
method to discover and smash his tricks and plots. Therefore:
1. It is advantageous to make known our good government, to
make great efforts COMMERCIAL
to unite with the popular masses, and to support
the forces of the popular masses. Such actions can also be carried
out on the territory of the enemy. We should also use every possible
method and devote all our strength to encourage the people to
imitate our own DISTRIBUTION
actions, stimulate them to fight the enemy actively,
and guide their combat.
2. Our action in supporting the people’s capacity for self-defense
should be of long duration, and not ephemeral. We must do
the best we can to let people know that, at all times, a guerrilla unit
struggles and sacrifices itself for the popular masses and, even in
the case of the most dangerous crisis, will absolutely not harm the
popular masses. If the local population meets with a defeat in its
first military action, after we have drawn it into the war, its spirit of
struggle will necessarily be dissipated to some extent. When the
masses falter in this way, we must devise a way to rouse their en-