March 13, 1949

[This was part of Comrade Mao Tse-tung's concluding speech at the Second
Plenary Session of the Seventh Central Committee of the Communist Party of
China. ]


1. The secretary of a Party committee must be good at being a "squad
leader". A Party committee has ten to twenty members; it is like a squad
in the army, and the secretary is like the "squad leader". It is indeed not
easy to lead this squad well. Each bureau or sub-bureau of the Central Committee
now leads a vast area and shoulders very heavy responsibilities. To lead
means not only to decide general and specific policies but also to devise
correct methods of work. Even with correct general and specific policies,
troubles may still arise if methods of work are neglected. To fulfil its
task of exercising leadership, a Party committee must rely on its "squad
members" and enable them to play their parts to the full. To be a good "squad
leader", the secretary should study hard and investigate thoroughly. A secretary
or deputy secretary will find it difficult to direct his "squad" well if
he does not take care to do propaganda and organizational work among his
own "squad members", is not good at handling his relations with committee
members or does not study how to run meetings successfully. If the "squad
members" do not march in step, they can never expect to lead tens of millions
of people in fighting and construction. Of course, the relation between the
secretary and the committee members is one in which the minority must obey
the majority, so it is different from the relation between a squad leader
and his men. Here we speak only by way of analogy.

2. Place problems on the table. This should be done not only by the "squad
leader" but by the committee members too. Do not talk behind people's backs.
Whenever problems arise, call a meeting, place the problems on the table
for discussion, take some decisions and the problems will be solved. If problems
exist and are not placed on the table, they will remain unsolved for a long
time and even drag on for years. The "squad leader" and the committee members
should show understanding in their relations with each other. Nothing is
more important than mutual understanding, support and friendship between
the secretary and the committee members, between the Central Committee and
its bureaus and between the bureaus and the area Party committees. In the
past this point received little attention, but since the Seventh Party Congress
much progress has been made in this respect and the ties of friendship and
unity have been greatly strengthened. We should continue to pay constant
attention to this point in the future.

3. "Exchange information." This means that members of a Party committee should
keep each other informed and exchange views on matters that have come to
their attention. This is of great importance in achieving a common language.
Some fail to do so and, like the people described by Lao Tzu, "do not visit
each other all their lives, though the crowing of their cocks and the barking
of their dogs are within hearing of each
other".[1] The result is that they lack a common
language. In the past some of our high-ranking cadres did not have a common
language even on basic theoretical problems of Marxism-Leninism, because
they had not studied enough. There is more of a common language in the Party
today, but the problem has not yet been fully solved. For instance, in the
land reform there is still some difference in the understanding of what is
meant by "middle peasants" and "rich peasants".

4. Ask your subordinates about matters you don't understand or don't know,
and do not lightly express your approval or disapproval. Some documents,
after having been drafted, are withheld from circulation for a time because
certain questions in them need to be clarified and it is necessary to consult
the lower levels first. We should never pretend to know what we don't know,
we should "not feel ashamed to ask and learn from people
below"[2] and we should listen carefully to the
views of the cadres at the lower levels. Be a pupil before you become a teacher;
learn from the cadres at the lower levels before you issue orders. In handling
problems, this should be the practice of all bureaus of the Central Committee
and Party committees of the fronts, except in military emergencies or when
the facts of the matter are already clear. To do this will not lower one's
prestige, but can only raise it. Since our decisions incorporate the correct
views of the cadres at the lower levels, the latter will naturally support
them. What the cadres at the lower levels say may or may not be correct;
we must analyse it. We must heed the correct views and act upon them. The
reason why the leadership of the Central Committee is correct is chiefly
that it synthesizes the material, reports and correct views coming from different
localities. It would be difficult for the Central Committee to issue correct
orders if the localities did not provide material and put forward opinions.
Listen also to the mistaken views from below; it is wrong not to listen to
them at all. Such views, however, are not to be acted upon but to be criticized.

5. Learn to "play the piano". In playing the piano all ten fingers are in
motion; it won't do to move some fingers only and not others. But if all
ten fingers press down at once, there is no melody. To produce good music,
the ten fingers should move rhythmically and in co-ordination. A Party committee
should keep a firm grasp on its central task and at the same time, around
the central task, it should unfold the work in other fields. At present,
we have to take care of many fields; we must look after the work in all the
areas, armed units and departments, and not give all our attention to a few
problems, to the exclusion of others. Wherever there is a problem, we must
put our finger on it, and this is a method we must master. Some play the
piano well and some badly, and there is a great difference in the melodies
they produce. Members of Party committees must learn to "play the piano"
well.

6. "Grasp firmly." That is to say, the Party committee must not merely "grasp",
but must "grasp firmly", its main tasks. One can get a grip on something
only when it is grasped firmly, without the slightest slackening. Not to
grasp firmly is not to grasp at all. Naturally, one cannot get a grip on
something with an open hand. When the hand is clenched as if grasping something
but is not clenched tightly, there is still no grip. Some of our comrades
do grasp the main tasks, but their grasp is not firm and so they cannot make
a success of their work. It will not do to have no grasp at all, nor will
it do if the grasp is not firm.

7. "Have a head for figures." That is to say, we must attend to the quantitative
aspect of a situation or problem and make a basic quantitative analysis.
Every quality manifests itself in a certain quantity, and without quantity
there can be no quality. To this day many of our comrades still do not understand
that they must attend to the quantitative aspect of things -- the basic
statistics, the main percentages and the quantitative limits that determine
the qualities of things. They have no "figures" in their heads and as a result
cannot help making mistakes. For instance, in carrying out the land reform
it is essential to have such figures as the percentages of landlords, rich
peasants, middle peasants and poor peasants among the population and the
amount of land owned by each group, because only on this basis can we formulate
correct policies. Whom to call a rich peasant, whom a well-to-do middle peasant,
and how much income derived from exploitation makes a person a rich peasant
as distinct from a well-to-do middle peasant -- in all these cases too, the
quantitative limits must be ascertained. In all mass movements we must make
a basic investigation and analysis of the number of active supporters, opponents
and neutrals and must not decide problems subjectively and without basis.

8. "Notice to Reassure the Public." Notice of meetings should be given
beforehand; this is like issuing a "Notice to Reassure the Public", so that
everybody will know what is going to be discussed and what problems are to
be solved and can make timely preparations. In some places, meetings of cadres
are called without first preparing reports and draft resolutions, and only
when people have arrived for the meeting are makeshifts improvised; this
is just like the saying, "Troops and horses have arrived, but food and fodder
are not ready", and that is no good. Don't call a meeting in a hurry if the
preparations are not completed.

9. "Fewer and better troops and simpler administration." Talks, speeches,
articles and resolutions should all be concise and to the point. Meetings
also should not go on too long.

10. Pay attention to uniting and working with comrades who differ with you.
This should be borne in mind both in the localities and in the army. It also
applies to relations with people outside the Party. We have come together
from every corner of the country and should be good at uniting in our work
not only with comrades who hold the same views as we but also with those
who hold different views. There are some among us who have made very serious
mistakes; we should not be prejudiced against them but should be ready to
work with them.

11. Guard against arrogance. For anyone in a leading position, this is a
matter of principle and an important condition for maintaining unity. Even
those who have made no serious mistakes and have achieved very great success
in their work should not be arrogant. Celebration of the birthdays of Party
leaders is forbidden. Naming places, streets and enterprises after Party
leaders is likewise forbidden. We must keep to our style of plain living
and hard work and put a stop to flattery and exaggerated praise.

12. Draw two lines of distinction. First, between revolution and
counter-revolution, between Yenan and Sian. [3]
Some do not understand that they must draw this line of distinction. For
example, when they combat bureaucracy, they speak of Yenan as though "nothing
is right" there and fail to make a comparison and distinguish between the
bureaucracy in Yenan and the bureaucracy in Sian. This is fundamentally wrong.
Secondly, within the revolutionary ranks, it is necessary to make a clear
distinction between right and wrong, between achievements and shortcomings
and to make clear which of the two is primary and which secondary. For instance,
do the achievements amount to 30 per cent or to 70 per cent of the whole?
It will not do either to understate or to overstate. We must have a fundamental
evaluation of a person's work and establish whether his achievements amount
to 30 per cent and his mistakes to 70 per cent, or vice versa. If his
achievements amount to 70 per cent of the whole, then his work should in
the main be approved. It would be entirely wrong to describe work in which
the achievements are primary as work in which the mistakes are primary. In
our approach to problems we must not forget to draw these two lines of
distinction, between revolution and counter-revolution and between achievements
and shortcomings. We shall be able to handle things well if we bear these
two distinctions in mind; otherwise we shall confuse the nature of the problems.
To draw these distinctions well, careful study and analysis are of course
necessary. Our attitude towards every person and every matter should be one
of analysis and study.

The members of the Political Bureau and I personally feel that only by using
the above methods can Party committees do their work well. In addition to
conducting Party congresses well, it is most important for the Party committees
at all levels to perform their work of leadership well. We must make efforts
to study and perfect the methods of work so as to raise further the Party
committees' level of leadership.

NOTES


1. The quotation is from Lao Tzu, Chapter LXXX.

2. The quotation is from the Confucian Analects,
Book V, "Kungyeh Chang".

3. Yenan was the headquarters of the Central Committee
of the Communist Party of China from January 1937 to March 1947; Sian was
the centre of the reactionary rule of the Kuomintang in northwestern China.
Comrade Mao Tse-tung cited the two cities as symbols of revolution and
counter-revolution.

Transcription by the Maoist Documentation Project.