On statements

Mao Zedong, in his statements, talked about peasantry being the main force of Chinese revolution. Peasantry, and not the urban proletariat was the main character - in a stark contrast both to classic Marxism, and to the mainstream Marxism-Leninism of the era.Why? What was even his point?Surface reading: he was waging an abstract theoretical discussion, academic style, and made an abstract statement of abstract truth.Actual reading: no, it was not some kind of theorising into the void. It was a tactical move, a verbal attack & a counter-attack that makes sense only in the context of the intraparty power struggle of the 1920s - early 1930s.Mao was an early member of the Kungchantang, but he was a lowly, rather inconspicuous member. From its very beginnings, the party had tons of people who were of much higher status, better educated, and originally came from the much higher social standing than a rural bumpkin Mao.Mao was a son of a kulak, rich by the standards of his poor & backward…