Primary Source Document
with Questions (DBQs)
F R O M “ T H E D I C T A T O R S H I P O F T H E P E O P L E ’ S D E M O C R A C Y ” : O N
L E A N I N G T O O N E S I D E ( S P E E C H , J U L Y 1 , 1 9 4 9 )

 B y M a o Z e d o n g 

Introduction
In July 1949 the Chinese Communist Party was on the verge of pushing Chiang Kai-shek’s Nationalist forces
completely out of mainland China. Victory was all but assured. Mao Zedong (1893-1976) and the other Communist
Party leaders were thinking forward to the tremendous task ahead of them: stabilizing the country, restoring
production, and establishing a new socialist state and economy.
On July 1, 1949, Mao spoke on the occasion of the twenty-eighth anniversary of the founding of the Chinese
Communist Party. He took the opportunity to reflect on the tasks that lay ahead and the approach that the Party
would take in resolving China’s problems and establishing the new socialist system. In the following excerpt from
that speech on “The Dictatorship of the People’s Democracy,” Mao discusses “leaning to one side.”
Document Excerpts with Questions (Longer selection follows this section)
From Sources of Chinese Tradition: From 1600 Through the Twentieth Century, compiled by Wm. Theodore de Bary and Richard
Lufrano, 2nd ed., vol. 2 (New York: Columbia University Press, 2000), 452-453. © 2000 Columbia University Press. Reproduced
with the permission of the publisher. All rights reserved.




From
“The
Dictatorship
of
the
People’s
Democracy”:

On
Leaning
to
One
Side
(Speech,
July
1,
1949)

by
Mao
Zedong



“You
are
leaning
to
one
side.”
Exactly.
The
forty
years’
experience
of
Sun
Yat‑sen
and

the
twenty
eight
years’
experience
of
the
Communist
Party
have
taught
us
to
lean
to
one
side,

and
we
are
firmly
convinced
that
in
order
to
win
victory
and
consolidate
it
we
must
lean
to
one

side
of
socialism.
Sitting
on
the
fence
will
not
do,
nor
is
there
a
third
road.
…

“Victory
 is
 possible
 even
 without
 international
 help.”
 This
 is
 a
 mistaken
 idea.
 In
 the

epoch
 in
 which
 imperialism
 exists,
 it
 is
 impossible
 for
 a
 genuine
 people’s
 revolution
 to
 win

victory
 in
 any
 country
 without
 various
 forms
 of
 help
 from
 the
 international
 revolutionary

forces,
and
even
if
victory
were
won,
it
could
not
be
consolidated.
This
was
the
case
with
the

victory
and
consolidation
of
the
Great
October
Revolution
as
Stalin
told
us
long
ago.
This
was

also
 the
 case
 with
 the
 overthrow
 of
 the
 three
 imperialist
 powers
 in
 World
 War
 II
 and
 the

establishment
of
the
people’s
democracies.
And
this
is
also
the
case
with
the
present
and
the

future
of
People’s
China.



Primary Source Document, with Questions (DBQ) on
FROM “THE DICTATORSHIP OF THE PEOPLE’S DEMOCRACY”: ON LEANING TO ONE SIDE
(SPEECH, JULY, 1, 1949), BY MAO ZEDONG
Asia for Educators | Columbia University | http://afe.easia.columbia.edu Page 2 of 2
Questions:
1. Explain more fully — what does Mao Zedong mean by “leaning to one
side”?
2. Mao notes that one could lean either to the side of “imperialism” or to the
side of “socialism.” What about China’s historical experience since the time
of Sun Yat-sen would justify the argument that China must lean toward the
side of socialism?