Speech at the Meeting of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China[1]

(May 20, 1941)

During the Great Revolution, Yun Daiying led the Youth League in developing extensive mass movements. During the Soviet period, the formation of narrow organizations was an erroneous policy of a second party. During the War of Resistance Against Japan, youth work has achieved results, but there are shortcomings in organizational matters. Now that the mass movement has developed, our viewpoints still lag behind. The life of the masses is vast, yet we understand very little of it; the main error is insufficient reflection of the life of the masses. We attach importance to youth work. The main task of the Central Youth Work Committee is political leadership. In the past, insufficient attention was paid to grasping policy, and attention must also be paid to understanding what policies the masses want. Youth work must be raised to a higher level, not by establishing core organizations—this discussion has rejected core organizations—but by strengthening ties with the masses and raising the backward masses to a higher level.

[1] This is part of Mao Zedong's speech after hearing He Kaifeng's report on youth work at the meeting of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.