IV. THE PRINCIPAL CONTRADICTION AND THE PRINCIPAL ASPECT OF A
CONTRADICTION
There are still two points in the problem of the particularity of
contradiction which must be singled out for analysis, namely, the principal
contradiction and the principal aspect of a contradiction.
There are many contradictions in the process of development of a
complex thing, and one of them is necessarily the principal contradiction whose
existence and development determine or influence the existence and development
of the other contradictions.
For instance, in capitalist society the two forces in
contradiction, the proletariat and the bourgeoisie, form the principal
contradiction. The other contradictions, such as those between the remnant
feudal class and the bourgeoisie, between the peasant petty bourgeoisie ant the
bourgeoisie, between the proletariat and the peasant petty bourgeoisie, between
the non-monopoly capitalists and the monopoly capitalists, between bourgeois
democracy and bourgeois fascism, among the capitalist countries and between
imperialism and the colonies, are all determined or influenced by this
principal contradiction.
In a semi-colonial country such as China, the relationship between
the principal contradiction and the non-principal contradictions presents a
complicated picture.
When imperialism launches a war of aggression against such a
country, all its various classes, except for some traitors, can temporarily
unite in a national war against imperialism. At such a time, the contradiction
between imperialism and the country concerned becomes the principal
contradiction, while all the contradictions among the various classes within
the country (including what was the principal contradiction, between the feudal
system and the great masses of the people) are temporarily relegated to a
secondary and subordinate position. So it was in China in the Opium War of
1840, the Sino-Japanese War of 1894 and the Yi Ho Tuan War of 1900, and so it
is now in the present Sino-Japanese War.
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