Adopt New Organizational Forms and
New Work Methods1
(September 5, 1944)
Yesterday, our newspaper published the Border Region Government’s decision on
the election and methods of award for labor heroes and model workers. This
decision clearly points out the importance of electing and awarding labor heroes
and model workers. Furthermore, it provides detailed and specific rules for the
methods of election and award. It will surely play a very significant role this
winter at the conference for labor heroes and model workers for the entire border
region and in future undertakings of comprehensive construction in the border
region. This is the solidification and legalization of a new organizational form
and new work methods, which deserve our attention.
Since the Party and the government mobilized production movements and
various construction projects in the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region, and
following the development of this production and construction, we have
continually produced all kinds of labor heroes and model workers. These labor
heroes and model workers are created in mass movements, and they stand at the
forefront of these movements and push them forward. They have become the
force that promotes various construction projects in the border region. In the
past, however, we did not have a self-conscious understanding of this and were
even blind to it. As a result, we did not pay attention to and did not discover
labor heroes and model workers. Since we left them as they were without giving
them any prestige or fame, they could not give full play to their intended role.
After we discovered Wu Manyou and Zhao Zhankui and carried out the Wu
Manyou and Zhao Zhankui movements, and through the conference for labor
heroes last winter, we gradually understood the role played by labor heroes and

model workers in various kinds of production and construction undertakings.
And the election and promotion of labor heroes and model workers also began to
spread gradually. More than a year of experience has proven to us that in the
development of various kinds of production and construction projects, labor
heroes and model workers exist everywhere and are growing everywhere. If only
we consciously discover them, then award them after their discovery, publicize
them widely, let their influence go deep among the masses, and call on the
masses to learn from them, then they can play a very important role in the mass
production and construction movements. From this, we further recognized that
electing and awarding labor heroes and model workers constitute an extremely
important organizational form and work method for comprehensive construction
in the border region at present. This organizational form and work method were
created by the masses, and now we accept them and make them an important
method to develop production and construction movements in the future.
The primary purpose of electing and awarding labor heroes and model workers
is to promote and improve work, because labor heroes and model workers have
created labor and work standards that surpass those of ordinary people. Since
these standards are possible for labor heroes and model workers, they should,
under the same conditions, also be possible for all laboring people and working
staff. Furthermore, the reason that they have not reached the standards set by
labor heroes and model workers is inevitably the result of residual shortcomings
in their production or work. If we can further publicize and praise the standards,
as well as the conditions and methods, of the labor heroes and model workers
among the ordinary masses and working staff, not only can we stimulate their
initiative, but they can also discover their shortcomings through mutual
comparison. They can further set the standards of labor heroes and model
workers as the standards toward which they are working and use the experience
of labor heroes and model workers as their own method for improving work. All
this will improve their production and work, allow more people to emulate labor
heroes and model workers, and popularize the standards of labor heroes and
model workers. In the past year, whether in villages, factories, the army, or
government offices, if a labor hero or model worker appeared there among the
masses, through our discovery, awarding, and making propaganda about him,
and calling on everyone to learn from him, the production and work in that place

improved, increased, and developed. This proves that this method is the best one
and can be widely used to promote and improve work.
Second, electing and awarding labor heroes and model workers are good
methods for producing and cultivating cadres because, truly, they have
toughened themselves among the masses and in actual work and have proven
themselves in practice to be outstanding elements among the masses. They
worked hard in production or work and achieved success in their production or
work, demonstrating their creative talent. Furthermore, most of them are
upstanding, are in close touch with the masses, and have a relatively good
understanding of politics. These are all primary qualifications for a cadre. If we
can systematically work hard to cultivate them, increase their literacy, and
strengthen their education, their fine character and talent for creation will be
developed further and more quickly. Currently, labor heroes and model workers
in some places are already beginning to be absorbed into various work
departments and are gradually becoming important cadres in various kinds of
undertakings. In the past, we produced a large number of outstanding cadres in
revolutionary struggle. These cadres are still the backbone of our border region
today. Nonetheless, in the environment of the sustained and comprehensive
construction facing the border region today, these veteran cadres alone are far
from enough. If we fail to recruit a group of new cadres into our various
construction projects and organizations, our construction projects will not be
accomplished smoothly. The addition of these new cadres does not occur in some
other place but precisely in these construction projects themselves and precisely
among the masses as a whole. They are precisely the labor heroes and model
workers who have been produced by the various construction projects in these
mass movements. Leaders in various organizations of the Party, the government,
the army, and mass organizations must fully understand this point and carry out
the necessary organizational work.
Third, in the comprehensive construction projects in the border region carried
out together by the Party, the government, the army, and the mass organizations,
labor heroes and model workers have another extraordinary role. It is that they
can become the bridge that closely connects Party and government leaders with
the masses as a whole. These labor heroes and model workers are scattered in
every corner and in every department, and they are closely integrated with the

broad masses. Yet they are not the ordinary masses; they are the active elements
among the masses. Naturally, they become the leaders of the masses within a
certain range. Through them, the Party and the government can gather the
opinions of the masses to improve their leadership. Furthermore, the policies and
instructions of the Party and the government can be spread among the masses
and be promoted and realized through them. In this way, the Party and the
government and the masses can be more closely integrated. We have seen this
point quite clearly in the production movement and in other construction work
this year. Many labor heroes returned to their villages, publicized the production
and construction policies of the Party, the government, and the military, and
actively promoted and organized production by the masses. They automatically
became the propagandists and organizers of various Party, government, and army
policies. It is said that whichever townships and villages had labor heroes, Party
and administrative work in these townships and villages seemed to become
considerably stronger and was much more easily accomplished.
These three points are objectively the important roles of labor heroes and
model workers. Once we consciously understand and master these objective
roles, they will become our best method to improve our work, cultivate cadres,
and link up with the masses. They will become an organizational form and work
method that can be widely deployed in our various endeavors at present. And
only by clearly understanding these points can we do a better job in the election
and awarding of labor heroes and model workers in the entire border region this
year. Thus, this should first be widely propagandized and taught among all Party,
administrative, military, and civil affairs cadres.
In order to do a good job in the election and awarding of labor heroes and
model workers, apart from the above questions of thinking and understanding,
we have to conduct a variety of organizational work in which we should
guarantee the realization of the following three items.
The first: conscientious leadership. Last year, the selection of labor heroes in
some places was not done conscientiously. There was no prior preparation. Labor
heroes were arbitrarily appointed at the last minute without discussion and
election by the masses. We must completely correct this defect in elections this
year. From now on, all leading departments and work units of the Party, the
government, the army, and mass organizations at every level should discuss in

detail the decision of the Border Region Government and should begin making
arrangements within their jurisdictions. These include passing on and
propagandizing this work, discussing and setting rules for the specific
qualifications of labor heroes and model workers in every area and department,
investigating achievements, examining work records, and preparing and dividing
up the various tasks in election work. Furthermore, they should make inspections
at appropriate times. If any defects are discovered, they must correct them
immediately and not treat them with a perfunctory and careless attitude.
Second: mobilizing the masses. The selection of labor heroes in many places
last year did not undergo the processes of discussion and election by the masses.
Instead, they were simply appointed from above after being discovered. This year
we must conscientiously rely on democratic election by the masses according to
the government’s decision. We must begin propaganda and consultation among
the masses as early as possible and mobilize the masses as a whole to participate
in elections. By doing so, the election of labor heroes and model workers will
truly become a conscious movement of the masses, and the mistake of formalism
will be avoided.
Third: cautiously ensuring the selection of good candidates. In the selection of
labor heroes last year, some of the candidates were not qualified. Consequently,
not only were they unable to play the positive roles of labor heroes but they had
a negative effect among the masses and rendered the election of labor heroes
meaningless. We must pay serious attention to this in this year’s elections. To
prevent this mistake, we must widely publicize the qualifications for labor heroes
and model workers set by the Border Region Government. The candidates should
be nominated jointly by the Party and the government in coordination with the
masses. Every candidate must be further examined and investigated by the
masses according to the qualifications and should be elected by secret ballot.
Only conscientious democratic election by the masses can generate truly good
labor heroes and model workers. And only truly good labor heroes and model
workers can play a positive role among the masses, which will allow us to
achieve the goals of improving work, nurturing cadres, and linking with the
masses.
The points discussed above are not only appropriate in the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region; they can also apply in all the base areas behind enemy

lines. However, in the areas behind enemy lines, combat heroes and militia
heroes must be emphasized together with labor heroes and model workers. In
fact, combat heroes and militia heroes should be given first priority. The reason is
self-evident. The key slogan behind enemy lines is the combination of combat
and production. The election and awarding of combat heroes in the army and of
militia heroes in the militia should be held simultaneously with the election and
awarding of labor heroes and model workers. Some places behind enemy lines do
not have much experience in this organizational form and work method, whereas
others still have no experience. Nevertheless, we hope that they can swiftly adopt
it in order to help develop fighting, develop various construction tasks, and
overthrow Japanese imperialism.
Notes
Our source for this document is Mao Zedong ji. Bujuan, Vol. 7, pp. 199–203, where it is reproduced from the
September 4, 1944, editorial in Jiefang ribao.
1. Text revised and finalized by Mao.