Speech at the Forum on the Reform of
Liberation Daily
(March 31, 1942)
The Communist Party’s line is the people’s line. Currently, the policy of the anti-Japanese National United Front pursued by the Chinese Communist Party is the
policy which is in accordance with the public will of the people. In carrying out
this policy, we will often encounter many obstacles, such as subjectivism,
sectarianism, and Party formalism.1 To correct these unhealthy work styles, we
have brought up the rectification of the Three Work Styles. However, our
objective cannot be achieved without collective action and coordinated steps. At
today’s meeting, we have all presented many ideas and will be able to advance
together with a common goal.
Using Liberation Daily should be part of the daily work of all units. After they
are spread by the newspapers, the experiences of one department can propel
other departments to reform their work. As we rectify the Three Work Styles
today, we must make good use of newspapers.
Various departments have already started spirited discussions on the question
of rectification of the Three Work Styles. This is a very good thing, but a few
people still speak from an erroneous standpoint, namely, the concept of absolute
equality and the methods of cold irony and hidden arrows. Recently, a few people
have demanded absolute equality, but this is an illusion that cannot become real.
Our work system has many defects which should be corrected. But the demand
for absolute equality cannot be reached either now or in the future. We should
reject the utopian socialism of the petty bourgeoisie.
Criticism should be serious and penetrating, as well as sincere, straightforward,
above-board, and well-intentioned. This is the only attitude that is conducive to

unity. Cold irony and clandestine attacks are, in contrast, corrosive and
detrimental to unity.
Notes
Our source for this text is Mao Zedong xinwen gongzuo wenxuan, pp. 90–92, which is reproduced from
Jiefang ribao, April 2, 1942. This text contains only the main points of Mao’s speech to the concluding
session of a forum of some seventy leading cadres held in the Central Party offices at Yanjialing village near
Yan’an. The title of the original text in Jiefang ribao is “Zai benbao zuotanhui shang, Mao Zedong tongzhi
haozhao, zhengdun sanfeng yao liyong baozhi, piping juedui pingjun guannian he lengchao anjian banfa”
(At This Paper’s Forum, Comrade Mao Zedong Calls for Using Papers in the Rectification of the Three Styles
and Criticism of the Concept of Absolute Equality and the Methods of Cold Irony and Clandestine Attacks).
1. On Party formalism, or dang bagu (literally “Party eight-legged essays”), as well as subjectivism and
sectarianism, see above, Mao’s report of February 1, 1942, “Rectify Our Study Style, Party Style, and Writing
Style,” note 10.