As one of living souls of Mao Zedong Thought,independence and self-reliance is an important princi-ple for building the Party and the country.Mao Zedong's thought on independence and self-reliance has a complete content system,which can be divided into three parts of target,principle and path according to their di-rectivity and function.It is characterized by succession,adaptability and universality.The historical start,logical start and evolutional drive of Mao Zedong's thought on independence and self-reliance are deeply exhibited in adapting the party founding theory of Marxism to the Chinese context,ensuring the actual validity of revolutionary strategies and tactics,and accomplishing the historical mission of Chinese communists.Mao Zedong's thought on independence and self-reliance enlightens us that we must always be confident and self-reliant to pass new tests on the road ahead,take a global vision to plan national developmentstrategies,and adopt creative thinking to promote the exchanges and mutual learning with other civilizations,so as to create great achievements of the times by exhibiting greater historical initiative.