Educational Principles of Yan’an
University
(May 24, 1944)
1. The purpose of our university is to meet the demands of the War of
Resistance and of construction in the border region and to train cadres engaged
in practical work in new democratic political, economic, and cultural
construction.
2. To increase the students’ knowledge of revolutionary theory and the
ideology of new democratic construction, our university will teach them the
history of the Chinese Revolution and its present situation; to foster the students’
revolutionary standpoint and their work style of seeking truth from facts, we also
will teach them an outlook on life and ideological methods.
3. In order to raise practical experience to the level of theory and to unify
theory and practice, learning and application, our university will carry out
education in the following various ways in combination with the actual working
experience of various departments in the border region:
a. Establishing links with various relevant practical work units in the
border region through specific organizations or work, and engaging the
leaders of the relevant practical work departments to participate directly
in the leadership of educational work of relevant schools and
departments at our university.
b. The various policies, principles, and summaries of experience from
construction of the border region are the principal contents of the
teaching and learning in our university. Technical classes are to be
determined by the present demands of construction in the border region.

c. In a planned and systematic manner, researchers in our university will
undertake research on the practical problems of border region
construction, and for specific periods and on concrete problems they
should also participate in the work of related departments on a regular
basis.
d. During their study at our university, students are to be assigned for
specific periods to various work departments for practical training on a
regular basis.
4. Our university combines education with production and through organized
labor we foster a spirit of construction and the habit and worldview of labor.
5. Education in our school adopts the work style of collective mutual assistance
based on teaching oneself, teachers and students learning from each other, and
mutually engaging the book learning and practical experience of the teachers and
students, while at the same time developing democracy in teaching and learning,
raising doubts and difficulties for discussion, and warmly welcoming vigorous
debate in order to cultivate independent thought and the ability to criticize.
Note
Our source for this document is Mao Zedong ji. Bujuan, Vol. 7, pp. 183–84, reprinted from Jiefang ribao, May
31, 1944.