During the course of the anti-Japanese war, Mao's au-
thority in the Communist areas remained unchanged: he
was the theoretician of the Communist revolt. His speeches
and reports were usually recognized as final. There were party
discussions; there were elections; there were continual confer-
ences at Yenan; but the main brunt of working out essential
strategies had been left, as though by common accord, to him.
He invented slogans, and he was constantly called upon for
advice.

In 1940, northern Shensi suffered from a drought, and he
began a campaign for self-sufficiency in food. Soldiers, sent
out to till the land, complained of difficulties. He wrote back:
"Remember you work for the people. Enlist their enthusiasm.
Learn from their experience, and develop mutual benefit." The
last phrase was purely Confucian. The slogan, "Move your
own hands," and the later one, "Move your bottoms over"--re-
ferring to intellectuals who sat away from the peasants--were,
however, his own. For long periods during the war he was
concerned with discovering the theoretical solutions, while
Chu Teh and Peng Teh-huei were left in complete charge of
the Army.

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