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How successful the Communists are in changing the old thought patterns, no one can say. Until its recent easing, the Red Guards' roving revolution suggested turmoil that reached the roots of the nation. Mao may be gambling with the mandate of heaven—or of history. Endurance is the greatest Chinese virtue. The Chinese express it by saying: "We know how to ch'ih-ku—to eat bitterness." Without doubt the bitterness of Communist rule will profoundly change China. In the process, China will also change Communism.