“Friendship First” Argument
“Friendship First”: This is a line spoken by the bandit leader Zuo Shandiao in the revolutionary modern Peking opera “The Heroic Eagle Mountain,” and it is also a common way of making friends promoted by representatives of exploitative classes throughout history.
In a class society, is there a “friendship” that transcends classes? Can we abstractly talk about “friendship first”? Different classes have different answers.
From a Marxist perspective, making friends and forming other social relations are always stamped with various class marks in a society with classes. Friend relationships, in essence, are a kind of class relation. People often say that good friends are “like-minded,” but this “mind” and “way” are not abstract, super-class concepts. In fact, a person’s “mind” and “way” are always determined by their class status, political stance, and worldview.
The reason two people can be “like-minded” and become friends is that they must have some common political ideals and goals, be in similar social positions, and share certain class interests. This is what is usually called the common basis of friendship. Without this common foundation, it is impossible to establish genuine friendship.
Between the exploiting class and the exploited class, there exists a life-and-death class struggle relationship. “In the world, only cats make friends with cats; there are no friends between cats and mice.” Just as cats and mice cannot be friends, landlords and peasants, capitalists and workers, revolutionaries and counter-revolutionaries, Marxists and revisionists cannot form friendships.
However, the exploiting class claims that people can love each other regardless of class, advocating “friendship first.” They promote slogans like “doors rely on friends” and “brothers across the four seas,” selling abstract “righteous brotherhood” to deceive the masses. Lin Biao also promoted “harmony and friendship,” which is just this kind of thing. This super-class friendship approach is not only extremely reactionary but also utterly hypocritical.
Take Zuo Shandiao as an example.
Everyone who has seen “The Heroic Eagle Mountain” remembers: in the Tiger Hall, when Yang Zihong said he got Luán Píng drunk to get the contact map, Zuo Shandiao blurted out and shouted, “Kill him!” At that moment, Yang Zihong cleverly used the so-called “righteous brotherhood” among bandits and calmly said, “No, we are old friends!” Zuo Shandiao suddenly realized he had spoken out of turn and hurriedly changed his tone, saying, “Yes, yes, friendship first, friendship first!”
This scene vividly shows us that Zuo Shandiao’s talk of “friendship first” is merely a cover-up for his heartless and treacherous nature, a counter-revolutionary trick used interchangeably with “kill him.” Reactionary exploiters are extremely selfish, greedy, and dishonest—these are their class characteristics. This determines that when they make friends, they only consider their own利益. When interests align, they exploit each other and collude, singing “friendship first” in unison; when interests conflict, they turn against each other, betray, and even harm their friends: “kill him,” putting “friends” to death.
In their scramble for the secret contact map, Zuo Shandiao used any means necessary, regardless of consequences. Although he might mouth some words about “friendship first,” when he openly advocated killing Luán Píng, the colorful soap bubbles of “friendship first” promoted by the exploitative class burst completely.
In fact, Zuo Shandiao’s “friendship first” is the same as some people’s talk about “righteous brotherhood” among friends. Therefore, we need to analyze the character “义” (righteousness).
“义” (righteousness) is a moral concept of the exploitative classes. In a class society, “morality is always class morality.” In feudal society, the so-called “righteousness” towards friends was the same as loyalty to the king, filial piety to parents, and brotherly love—part of feudal ethics, incorporating friendship into the维护封建统治秩序的“君君臣臣父父子子”的伦理纲常, so that under the slogan of “义,” friends could form alliances and factions, serving the feudal dynasty, preventing “rebellion,” and maintaining the feudal ruling order.
However, in many peasant uprisings in history, forming brotherhoods and alliances was also a way to mobilize and organize revolutionary troops. During the early days of the Liangshan peasant army in “Water Margin,” under Chao Gai’s leadership, “义” was a rallying cry to “kill all the unjust” and “eliminate all unfairness.”
On one hand, in the practical struggle, “义” mainly expressed the simple desire of the insurgents for unity and mutual aid, becoming a spiritual bond that united farmers from all over the country. But on the other hand, it must be recognized that using feudal moral concepts like “义” as a rallying cry could also be exploited by landlords and bourgeoisie agents infiltrating the peasant army, confusing and distorting the revolutionary line of Chao Gai with Confucian “义.” Song Jiang is a typical example. After Chao Gai’s death, he hurriedly changed the “Brotherhood Hall” to the “Loyalty and Righteousness Hall,” altering and revising Chao Gai’s revolutionary line. He placed “忠” (loyalty) before “义” (righteousness), turning “义” into a tool subordinate to “忠” (“loyalty to the monarch”).
Song Jiang used this “义” that obeyed “忠” (“loyalty”) to corrupt and poison the Liangshan uprising, making the heroes unable to see his true traitorous nature, and retreat step by step in the face of his surrenderist line, ultimately leading to the failure of the peasant uprising. Even the resolute opponent of surrender, Li Kui, was blinded by “义,” bound hand and foot, and finally became a victim of Song Jiang’s surrender route.
From this, we can clearly see the虚伪性 (hypocrisy),反动性 (reactionary nature), and the harm of Confucian “义” to revolutionary forces.
The super-class “义” promoted by the exploitative classes still has lingering influence today. For example, some young people emphasize “brotherhood” in friendship. They believe that as long as someone is a “good friend,” they can disregard principles, ignore policies, and indulge in “fellowship”—sharing blessings and hardships, covering each other’s faults and mistakes, even committing crimes together, forming alliances, and advocating “cutting through the ribs for friends” and “sharing weal and woe.”
Such friendship is not only vulgar but also extremely dangerous. Under the proletarian dictatorship, some enemies of the class use the guise of making friends to promote super-class “friendship” and “brotherhood” to腐蚀 (corrode) cadres and masses, undermine revolutionary unity, and harm the revolutionary cause. If one is迷住 (blinded) by super-class “friendship,” they will be unable to distinguish truth from falsehood, enemies from friends, and may even lose their stance. “Friendship” then becomes an airbag for villains to do harm to revolutionary interests.
Therefore, we revolutionary youth must criticize super-class “friendship first” and thoroughly break with traditional ideas.
The proletariat has always opposed such super-class slogans. As early as the 1840s, a European workers’ secret organization called the “Alliance of Justice” proposed a political slogan: “Everyone is a brother.” When Marx and Engels were invited to join this organization in 1847, they immediately transformed its ideological line, replacing the old slogans with the great slogan “Workers of the world, unite!” and renamed it the “Communist League,” turning it into an international proletarian revolutionary organization.
Under capitalism, the proletariat suffers the deepest oppression and exploitation. They share the same social status, the same hardships, and have common class interests and enemies. This determines that they shoulder a shared historical使命 (mission).
Thus, “Workers of the world, unite!” became the slogan for proletarian unity and struggle worldwide. Like the proletariat’s battle hymn “The Internationale,” it inspires millions of proletarians and oppressed peoples to unite and fight bravely to overthrow capitalist exploitation. As Lenin said when commemorating the author of “The Internationale,” Baudelaire: “An awakened worker, no matter which country he comes from, no matter where fate throws him, no matter how much he feels like a foreigner, speaks a different language, has no relatives or friends nearby, can find comrades and friends through the familiar tune of ‘The Internationale.’”
The proletariat firmly believes that its cause is entirely just, aligned with the fundamental interests of the vast majority of the people. Therefore, it is selfless, upright, and does not need to make friends based on personal or minority interests, nor does it speak of abstract “义气” (righteous brotherhood) or super-class “friendship.”
Of course, proletarian revolutionary fighters also develop revolutionary friendship in their共同斗争 (common struggle) to实现自己历史任务 (fulfill their historical mission). This friendship is precious because it is built on a common revolutionary ideal and developed through fierce class struggle.
In the film “The Second Spring,” Feng Tao and Qi Daitong are comrades who fought life and death together during the revolutionary war. They formed a deep friendship in struggle. Qi Daitong once proudly told others: “Feng Tao and I are two bodies, one mind.” But when these close comrades had serious disagreements over building the new “Sea Eagle” warship, Feng Tao did not tolerate or indulge Qi Daitong’s mistakes because they were good friends. He seriously and sharply criticized him, helping him return to Chairman Mao’s revolutionary line. This friendship reflects their identity as revolutionary comrades, not bourgeois friends.
Today, what we need is this kind of proletarian revolutionary friendship, not super-class “friendship” and “brotherhood.”
Proletarian revolutionary friendship manifests in comrades encouraging each other politically, helping each other in学习 (learning), promoting each other’s work, and caring for each other’s生活 (life). When comrades achieve success, it is not vulgar praise but a motive for mutual progress; when they have shortcomings or errors, it is not protection or indulgence but serious criticism and self-criticism; when comrades fall behind, it is not alienation but enthusiastic help to catch up with the times.
In short, proletarian revolutionary friendship is based on the最高原则 (highest principle) of the fundamental interests of the proletariat: frankness, sincerity, and selflessness. It embodies proletarian class love.
We revolutionary youth should establish such proletarian revolutionary friendship, guided by Chairman Mao’s revolutionary line, advancing shoulder to shoulder toward a common revolutionary goal.What is suffering? What is happiness? Different classes have different answers, and each class’s outlook on suffering and happiness reflects their distinct views on life and the world.
Here, let us first look at the answer of the revolutionary martyr Comrade Fang Zhiming:
“I do not covet those magnificent buildings, but would rather live in a simple, damp thatched hut; I do not covet delicious Western dishes, but prefer to chew on prickly corn and vegetable roots; I do not covet soft, comfortable wire beds, but would rather sleep in a pigsty-like house! I do not covet leisure, but am willing to work sixteen hours a day! I do not covet wealth, but prefer poverty!”
These words, written by Comrade Fang Zhiming in the face of temptations from high-ranking enemies, fat salaries, money, and beautiful women, are full of righteous indignation and grandeur. They demonstrate the lofty spiritual realm of a Communist and profoundly elucidate the proletariat’s outlook on suffering and happiness.
In front of revolutionary fighters of the proletariat, all the luxuries—gourmet meals, fine clothes, gold and banknotes, luxurious residences, soft wire beds—are all “not sought after.” This is because, in the old society, these things enjoyed by landlords, bourgeoisie masters, wives, young masters, and young ladies are soaked with the blood and tears of the working people. “Fine wine in golden goblets, delicacies on jade plates—these are the blood of the people,” and the revolutionary proletariat, tasked with burying all exploitative systems, despises parasitic lives that are gained without labor. The decadent, indulgent lifestyle of the exploiting class is considered extremely shameful and contemptible by the proletariat. Conversely, living in a thatched hut, eating coarse grains, enduring various hardships for the revolution, and leading a simple, plain, and pure life—these are all “willingly accepted.” Why? Because in the hearts of proletarian revolutionary fighters, only two words matter: “Revolution.” Everything they do is “for the liberation of the class and the nation, for the success of the Party’s cause.”
The lofty revolutionary ideal makes proletarian fighters regard wealth and luxury as dirt; it also inspires them to endure hardships without fear, to bear suffering as if it were sweet. The proletariat’s outlook on suffering and happiness is built upon this noble communist ideal.
Only by liberating all mankind can the proletariat finally liberate itself. Therefore, proletarian revolutionary fighters always prioritize the interests of the people and the revolution in their attitude toward suffering and happiness—fearless of hardship, fearless of death, fighting for the cause of communism for a lifetime.
Zhang Jincai, an old Communist Party member from Dazhai, once used a 38-pound hammer to break stones, hitting over a hundred times in one go, causing blood to flow from his palm, but he never uttered a word and always worked happily. One night, with a foot of snow covering the ground, at dawn, Zhang Jincai arrived at the stone pit. When the sun rose in the east, the villagers brought him breakfast. When they uncovered the clay pot, the rice inside had frozen into ice shards. They wanted to warm it up before eating, but he said, “What’s the point of warming it? We, who grew up in hardship and poverty, aren’t delicate. Let’s sweat it out, and let it warm in our stomachs.” The people of Dazhai all have this spirit of enduring hardship—old and young alike—saying, “Without a broad-hearted mind and the spirit to suffer for the revolution, how can we create a new world?”
In contrast, all exploitative classes are extreme egoists. Their secret to life is two words: “For myself.” This determines that their outlook on suffering and happiness is also self-centered. They find “joy” in extracting the sweat and blood of workers, and “happiness” in living extravagantly and indulgently. When they lose these, they consider it “suffering.”
How to view suffering and happiness is a fundamental issue that every revolutionary youth must correctly resolve. Engaging in revolution requires hard struggle. During the period of democratic revolution as well as socialist revolution, this remains true. We must take class struggle as the main line, adhere to the Party’s basic line, and build our homeland into a modern socialist power within this century—how can we do that without hard work? Therefore, today, whether we dare to endure hardships for the revolution or not is one of the important standards to measure whether we are firm proletarian revolutionaries.
In early 1975, Wei Yao Sheng, a young Communist soldier from Shanghai in Wang Jie’s former unit, was about to demobilize. According to regulations, he could return to Shanghai for a job, but after carefully studying Chairman Mao’s important instructions on theory, he clarified his direction to continue revolution under the proletarian dictatorship. On the eve of demobilization, he expressed his resolve to the Party: “Break the small personal circles, think of the entire revolutionary cause,” and resolutely requested not to return to Shanghai but to go to the arduous countryside to do revolution. The organization approved his revolutionary request. Now, he has settled in Sanwan Brigade, Yongxin County, Jiangxi, the revolutionary old base area.
He could have returned to Shanghai, but chose to go to the countryside; knowing it would be tough, yet he still rooted himself there. Some think this is “too foolish.” No, this is not “foolish,” but exactly the path all revolutionary youth should choose. Why can Wei do this? Because he is not thinking about personal comfort or the ease of his small family, but about the needs of the class, the revolution, and the Party. Going to the countryside—yes, it’s tougher materially and culturally than the city. But these differences are caused by the remnants of the old society—between workers and peasants, urban and rural, physical and mental labor—and the bourgeois legal rights reflecting these differences. Should we shrink from or expand and admire these remnants? This is not a trivial question but a crucial one related to whether the proletarian dictatorship can be consolidated and whether socialism can advance. Wei’s decision is based on the needs of the entire revolutionary cause—willing to endure hardships himself, to be a sharp sword limiting bourgeois legal rights, and to unhesitatingly abandon the privileges brought by bourgeois legal rights. This selfless and fearless revolutionary spirit fully embodies the broad-mindedness of a proletarian fighter with a lofty outlook on suffering and happiness. Wei’s revolutionary action is beyond the understanding of those filled with bourgeois philosophy or small-producer mentalities.
Among young comrades, there are also a very few who have low political standards, work carelessly, and pursue material pleasures. They are caught up in small personal circles, fussing over clothing and food, seeking comfort and a happy family life, believing that this is “happiness.” To them, the Party’s cause and human liberation are others’ affairs; they see no need to care. Their concern and effort are only for their “little world”: these comrades follow a philosophy of life called “practical benefits” or “small happiness.”
Where is this wrong?
We have always believed that as the socialist cause develops, the material and cultural living standards of the broad masses will continue to improve: under favorable conditions, it’s okay for individuals and small families to have a better life. But those who purely pursue material comfort lack lofty revolutionary ideals and the ambitions of the proletariat, and are easily captured by bourgeois ideas. Lu Xun once praised “those who endure hardships yet remain in revolution,” and despised those “who enjoy comforts while claiming to be revolutionaries.” He warned: “Life is too comfortable, and work is burdened by life.” The philosophy of “practical benefits” and pursuit of “small happiness” reflect petty-bourgeois ideas of a small-producer’s well-off mentality. In the old society, small farmers and some artisans could barely sustain themselves; if they couldn’t climb higher, they would advocate “contentment brings happiness, endurance brings peace,” fantasizing about maintaining their small prosperity and living peacefully. During the socialist period, these old ideas still influence society. Lack of revolutionary ideals, pursuit of material pleasures, and a desire to make personal life comfortable and small family life a haven are manifestations of this mindset.
Fundamentally, this philosophy still belongs to bourgeois ideology because it centers on individualism, benefits only oneself and one’s small family, and is completely opposed to the selfless, all-embracing proletarian ideology of liberation for all mankind. It is worth noting that during the socialist period, all class enemies, especially revisionist figures like Lin Biao, constantly sought to corrupt youth with bourgeois worldviews, lure them with bourgeois material pleasures, and confuse them with bourgeois legal rights. Lin Biao openly advocated “诱：以官、禄、德” (“诱”: with official positions, salaries, and virtue). For those who are indifferent to proletarian politics and obsessed with “small happiness,” it’s easy to fall for such deception, unwittingly falling into the revisionists’ trap—how dangerous is that!
Some young comrades do not understand the dialectical relationship between suffering and happiness. They think that since revolutionary struggle is hard, there’s no “happiness” to speak of. To clarify this, let’s see what the revolutionary youth of Dazhai say. Over the years, the young revolutionaries of Dazhai, together with the old poor and lower-middle peasants, have fought in building the new Dazhai. They are not afraid of hardship, fatigue, blood, or sweat. They not only listen to the older generation talk about the suffering of the old society but also consciously endure hardships in the fight to build a socialist new countryside. They say, “Enduring this hardship is to prevent the poor and lower-middle peasants from suffering twice, and to free all the working people in the world from exploitation and oppression. So, although it’s bitter, it’s also sweet, and happiness is within it.”
“Although bitter, it’s still sweet; happiness is within it,” this sentence profoundly explains the dialectical unity of the proletariat’s outlook on suffering and happiness. The proletarian fighters endure hardships themselves to enable millions of people to be liberated and happy; they endure hardships today to build a beautiful future and realize the great goal of communism as soon as possible. Difficulties and hardships are everywhere; for proletarian fighters, facing difficulties, going to the most arduous places, fighting against nature, against the class enemies, and against wrong ideas—this is endless joy. Therefore, on the revolutionary journey, no matter how tough the environment or how difficult the material conditions, their revolutionary fighting spirit remains vigorous, their revolutionary spirit always inspiring, and their outlook optimistic.
Look, during the difficult times of the revolutionary era, the Red Army’s Long March of 25,000 li, singing along the way, “More joy in the snow of Mount Min, after the three armies cross, all smiles.”
Listen, the heroic words of the builders of the Kunming–Dali Railway between the vast southwestern mountains and rivers: “Ask me if life is bitter or sweet, I have over 800 million in my heart. To build the railway for the motherland, the more arduous, the happier.”
Do you know what the soldiers patrolling the snowy borders are thinking? They face the blizzard, thinking of countless hearths; stepping on three-foot-thick ice, dreaming of spring in ten thousand miles; eating a handful of roasted rice and snow, thinking of the fragrant Dazhai valley and golden waves; living in a tent or a snow den, dreaming of the oilfield derricks of Daqing…
Old Red Army veteran Fang Heming, who fought with Mao Zedong during the democratic revolution and traveled the world, and after the national liberation, took up the hoe to persist in rural revolution—let’s listen to his experience: “There is sweetness in suffering. I’ve dealt with mud in the countryside for more than twenty years, and I can say, I suffer every day, but I taste sweetness every day. For example, two years ago, we faced the biggest drought in history. To fight against the heavens, we guarded the water channels day and night, trying every method to transfer water and fight the drought. It was bitter, yes. But during the autumn harvest, when the grain exceeded the ‘Outline,’ and we carried the grain to deliver to the state, the feeling in my heart—how sweet it was!”
Such simple words, such lofty thoughts—only those with a proletarian outlook on suffering and happiness, that is, a communist outlook, can have such spiritual realm! Ordinary people will never have such broad-mindedness.
Chairman Mao taught us: “The establishment of the socialist system has opened a path for us to reach the realm of ideals, and the realization of these ideals still depends on our diligent labor.” To achieve the grand goal of communism, our generation of revolutionary youth must establish a proletarian outlook on suffering and happiness—like Comrade Wei Yao Sheng, “break the small personal circles, think of the entire revolutionary cause,” and seek hardships for the revolution, fear no suffering, go wherever the burden is heaviest, settle wherever it’s tough, and strive to strengthen the proletarian dictatorship and build our country into a socialist modernized power!