• PointAndClique [they/them]
    ·
    edit-2
    3 months ago

    So the translated quote above elides the lines

    我们镇反。还没有杀掉反革命的知识分子吗?我与民主人士辩论过

    We suppressed counter-revolutionaries. Have we not also killed anti-revolutionary intellectuals? I've debated this with members of the democratic (parties/groups)...

    Which puts the rest of the quote in context of the work China put in to secure the gains of the revolution, rather than engage in anti-intellectualism for its own sake. The mocking tone Mao strikes here is also reinforced by the final parenthetical (大笑) laughter

    At least this is my interpretation of the quote based on my own shitty translation/understanding. Thanks for finding it