(1) In all the practical work of our Party, all correct leadership is necessarily "from the masses, to the masses". This means: take the ideas of the masses (scattered and unsystematic ideas) and concentrate them (through study turn them into concentrated and systematic ideas), then go to the masses and propagate and explain these ideas until the masses embrace them as their own, hold fast to them and translate them into action, and test the correctness of these ideas in such action. Then once again concentrate ideas from the masses and once again go to the masses so that the ideas are persevered in and carried through. And so on, over and over again in an endless spiral, with the ideas becoming more correct, more vital and richer each time. Such is the Marxist-Leninist theory of knowledge, or methodology.

(2) In any task, if there is no general and universal call, the broad masses cannot be mobilized for action. But if the leadership personnel limit themselves to a general call—if they do not personally, in some of the organizations, go deeply and concretely into the work called for, make a breakthrough at some single point, gain experience and then use this experience to guide other units—then they will have no way of testing the correctness or of enriching the content of their general call, and there will be the danger that it may be prove of no avail. For example, in the rectification movement of 1942, where this method of combining a general call with particular guidance was used, success was achieved, whereas in places where it was not used, no success was achieved. In the rectification movement of 1943, all the central bureaus, sub-bureaus, area Party committees and prefectural Party committees, in addition to issuing a general call (the plan for the whole year's rectification), must gain experience by selecting two or three units (but not too many) from their own organization and from nearby organizations, schools or army units, studying them thoroughly, acquiring a detailed understanding of the course of the rectification study in those units and a detailed understanding of the historical background, ideological characteristics, and studiousness and work performance of a number of typical individuals (again, not too many) in those units, and personally guiding the responsible personnel in those units to find concrete solutions for the practical problems there. Within an organization, a school or an army unit, which is composed of many sub-units, the leading personnel must do likewise. This is also the method of combining learning with guidance for the leading personnel. No one in a leading position is competent to give general guidance to all the units unless he has studied the concrete individuals, the concrete events and the concrete sub-units. This method must be promoted everywhere so that leading cadres at all levels learn to apply it.

(3) The experience of the 1942 rectification movement also proves that, for the rectification in each unit to succeed, it is necessary to form a leading group of a small number of activists with the head of the given unit as its nucleus, and to have this leading group closely link itself with the broad masses taking part in the study. The activism of the leading group alone will end up as the futile busy-work of a handful of people, unless it is combined with the activism of the broad masses. But the activism of the broad masses in turn cannot be sustained, nor can it be directed in the right course or raised to a high level, unless there is a strong leading group to organize it properly. In any given place, the masses are generally composed of three parts, the relatively active, the intermediate and the relatively backward. The proportions are also roughly the same, with the two ends being small and the middle being large. The leaders must therefore be skilled in uniting the small number of active elements around the leadership and must rely on them to raise the level of the intermediate elements and to win over the backward elements. A leading group that is genuinely united and linked with the masses can be formed only gradually in the process of mass struggle, and not in isolation from it. In the process of a great struggle, the composition of the leading group in most cases should not and cannot remain entirely unchanged throughout the initial, middle and final stages; the activists who come forward in the course of the struggle must be continually promoted to replace those original members of the leading group who are inferior by comparison or who have degenerated. One fundamental reason why the work in many places and many organizations cannot be pushed ahead is the lack of a leading group which is sound, united and linked with the masses. If such a leading group is not formed in a school, for instance, the school will be run badly. This principle must be applied in all work. The criteria for such a leading group are the four which Dimitrov enumerated in his discussion of cadres policy (absolute devotion, contact with the masses, ability to work independently, and observance of discipline). Whether in carrying out the central tasks of war, production or education (including rectification), or in the work of checking up on work, examining cadres or other work, it is necessary to adopt the method of combining the leading group with the broad masses, in addition to the method of combining a general call with particular guidance.

(4) In all the practical work of our Party, all correct leadership is necessarily "from the masses, to the masses". This means: take the ideas of the masses (scattered and unsystematic ideas) and concentrate them (through study turn them into concentrated and systematic ideas), then go to the masses and propagate and explain these ideas until the masses embrace them as their own, hold fast to them and translate them into action, and test the correctness of these ideas in such action. Then once again concentrate ideas from the masses and once again go to the masses so that the ideas are persevered in and carried through. And so on, over and over again in an endless spiral, with the ideas becoming more correct, more vital and richer each time. Such is the Marxist-Leninist theory of knowledge, or methodology.

(5) The concept that the correct relationship between the leading group and the broad masses in an organization and in a struggle is one in which correct ideas for leadership can only be concentrated from the masses and then persevered in among the masses, and the concept that, in carrying out the ideas of the leadership, it is necessary to combine a general call with particular guidance—these concepts must be widely propagated in the present rectification movement in order to correct the mistaken viewpoints among our cadres on these questions. Many comrades do not see the importance of, or are not good at, uniting the activists to form a nucleus of leadership, and they do not see the importance of, or are not good at, linking this nucleus of leadership closely with the broad masses, and so their leadership becomes bureaucratic and divorced from the masses. Many comrades do not see the importance of, or are not good at, summing up the experience of mass struggles, but are fond of subjectively and self-righteously issuing a lot of opinions, and so their opinions become impractical and empty talk. Many comrades are content with a general call on a task, and do not see the importance of, or are not good at, following it up immediately with particular and concrete guidance, and so their call remains on their lips, on paper or in the conference room, and their leadership becomes bureaucratic. The present rectification movement must correct these shortcomings, and in the course of rectification study, checking up on work and examining cadres, our comrades must learn to use the methods of combining the leadership with the masses and combining the general with the particular, and apply them to all their future work.

(6) To take the ideas of the masses and concentrate them, then go to the masses, persevere in the ideas and carry them through, so as to form correct ideas of leadership—such is the basic method of leadership. In the process of concentrating ideas and persevering in them, it is necessary to use the method of combining the general call with particular guidance, and this is a component part of the basic method. Formulate general ideas (a general call) out of the particular guidance given in a number of cases, and then test these general ideas in many different units (not only doing so yourself, but by telling others to do the same); then concentrate the new experience (sum it up) and draw up new directives for the general guidance of the masses. Our comrades must do this in the present rectification movement, and also in all other work. Better leadership is acquired only by being good at doing this.

(7) In any task (war, production, education, or rectification study, checking up on work, examining cadres, or propaganda work, organizational work, anti-espionage work, etc.), the leading bodies at a higher level should, through the principal responsible persons of the lower-level organizations concerned, enable them to assume responsibility, so as to achieve the aim of division of labor and unified leadership (centralization). It should not be that an individual department at the higher level only contacts an individual department at the lower level (for example, the higher-level organization department only contacts the lower-level organization department, the higher-level propaganda department only contacts the lower-level propaganda department, the higher-level department for eliminating traitors only contacts the lower-level department for eliminating traitors), leaving the chief responsible person at the lower level (for example, the secretary, the chairman, the director, the school principal, etc.) in the dark or without responsibility. Both the chief responsible person and the persons with specific responsibilities should be kept informed and given responsibility. This centralized method, combining division of labor with unified leadership, makes it possible, through the chief responsible person, to mobilize a large number of cadres, and sometimes even the entire personnel, to carry on a piece of work, and thus to overcome the shortage of cadres in individual departments and to turn many people into cadres for the work in hand. This is also a form of combining the leadership with the masses. Take the examination of cadres, for instance. If it is conducted solely by a few people from the organization department of the leading body in isolation, it certainly cannot be done well. But if it is conducted through the administrative head of a particular organization or school, who mobilizes many of its staff and students, and sometimes even all of them, to take part, while the leading personnel of the higher-level organization department give correct guidance to the examination, acting on the principle of combining the leadership with the masses, then the aim of examining cadres will certainly be fully achieved.

(8) In any given area, organization, school, or army unit, there cannot be a multitude of central tasks at the same time. There can only be one central task at a time, supplemented by other tasks of a second or third order of importance. The chief responsible person in that area, organization, school, or army unit must take into account the history and circumstances of the struggle there and put the different tasks in their proper order; he should not act upon each instruction as it comes from the higher organization without any planning of his own, and thereby create a multitude of "central tasks" and a state of confusion and disorder. Nor should a higher organization simultaneously assign many tasks to a lower organization without indicating their relative importance and urgency or which is central, for that will lead to confusion in the steps taken by the lower organization in its work and render it unable to achieve the expected results. It is a leading art for the leading personnel, in accordance with the historical conditions and existing circumstances of each specific locality, to take the whole situation into account, correctly determine the central task and the order of work for each period, and steadfastly carry this out and make sure that definite results are achieved. This is also a problem of the method of leadership that must be solved in applying the principles of combining the leadership with the masses and combining the general with the particular. (9) We shall not go into the details of the methods of leadership here. It is hoped that comrades in all localities will themselves think them through and bring out their own creativity in accordance with the principles and policies set forth in this decision. The more arduous the struggle, the more necessary it is for Communists to link their leadership closely with the demands of the broad masses, and to combine general calls closely with particular guidance, so as to smash the subjectivist and bureaucratic methods of leadership. All leading comrades of our Party must at all times counterpose the scientific method of leadership to the subjectivist and bureaucratic method of leadership and use the former to overcome the latter. Subjectivists and bureaucrats do not know the principles of combining the leadership with the masses and combining the general with the particular; they greatly impede the development of the Party's work. To oppose the subjectivist and bureaucratic methods of leadership, we must extensively and deeply promote the scientific method of leadership.