ABSTRACT
A persistent feature of Chinese philosophical thought is its non-divorce from the rest of life. This belief is itself a manifestation of a bedrock assumption in the Chinese outlook, that the universe is a whole before it is its parts, and that its ideal state is harmony. Thus philosophers in China have always been expected to live their philosophy, and the subject has not, at least until very recently, been divorced from religion or academized as it has largely been in the West. Daoists, Confucians and Buddhists all put their philosophy into practice. With this in mind it is to that extent understandable that Marxism, as filtered through the experience of Russian revolutionaries, should have been found acceptable in China. Of course, it provides a justification for political revolution and a programme for modernization, but Marxism does more than that. It is a philosophy involving a set of ethical and political goals which can be striven for, and so touches almost every area of existence. It supplies its adherents with a vision of the future and a mission to fulfil. Were it not for its denial of the reality of mind or spirit, it would invite classification as an atheistic religion. Mao Zedong became convinced of its truth as a young man, and lived by its light throughout his entire political career. He did not simply accept Marxism with Leninist additions, however, but added emphases and interpreted key concepts in such a way that it is legitimate to speak of Maoism as a special variant of Marxism.
