On the Theory of Spiritual Emancipation and its Contemporary Significance by Mao Tse-tung

Marxism is a theoretical system pertaining to human liberation. Mao Tse-tung’s theory of emancipation is the result of combining Marxist emancipation theory with China’s emancipation struggle. Now, for the Chinese path to modernization, to achieve high-quality development depends heavily on spiritual emancipation and the development of human creativity. This requires strengthening the study of the theory of spiritual liberation. The development of human creativity is emphasized in Mao Tse-tung’s theory of spiritual emancipation, which is crucial for directing the creation of modern society. There are, however, relatively few specialized studies on Mao Tse-tung’s theory of spiritual emancipation; instead, most current scholarly research examines his emancipation theory from the viewpoints of women’s emancipation and peasant emancipation. This paper concentrates on the philosophical connotation of emancipation, the main content of Mao Tse-tung’s theory of emancipation, explains the specific meaning of spiritual emancipation, as well as the inherent logical relationship between spiritual emancipation and economic emancipation, national emancipation, emancipation of the productive forces and so on, and elaborates on the contemporary significance of Mao Tse-tung’s theory of spiritual liberation.