A revolution is not a dinner party, or writing an essay, or painting a picture, or doing embroidery. It cannot be so refined, so leisurely and gentle, so temperate, kind, courteous, restrained and magnanimous. A revolution is an insurrection, an act of violence by which one class overthrows another.
• Chapter 2, originally published in Report on an investigation of the peasant movement in Hunan (March 1927), Selected Works, Vol. I, p. 28." - Meaning and context.">
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A revolution is not a dinner party, or writing an essay, or painting a picture, or doing embroidery. It cannot be so refined, so leisurely and gentle, so temperate, kind, courteous, restrained and magnanimous. A revolution is an insurrection, an act of violence by which one class overthrows another.
• Chapter 2, originally published in Report on an investigation of the peasant movement in Hunan (March 1927), Selected Works, Vol. I, p. 28.

— Mao Zedong

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "A revolution is not a dinner party, or writing an essay, or painting a picture, or doing embroidery. It cannot be so refined, so leisurely and gentle, so temperate, kind, courteous, restrained and magnanimous. A revolution is an insurrection, an act of violence by which one class overthrows another.
• Chapter 2, originally published in Report on an investigation of the peasant movement in Hunan (March 1927), Selected Works, Vol. I, p. 28." in the context of "https://www.marxists.org/chinese/big5/nonmarxists/mao/19270300.htm. 湖南農民運動考察報告" to mean that wisdom is timeless.

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Source: Wikiquote: "Mao Zedong" (Quotes, Quotations from Chairman Mao Zedong (The Little Red Book)) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
Mao Zedong

About Mao Zedong

Mao Zedong (or Mao Tse-tung in Wade-Giles; Simplified Chinese: 毛泽东; Traditional Chinese: 毛澤東; December 26, 1893 – September 9, 1976) was the Chairman of the Communist Party of China from 1943 until his death. He was also a founder of the People's Republic of China.