MASSES

March 1957

[Section 1 is part of a speech at a conference of Party cadres in Tsinan
on March 18, 1957, and Section 2 is part of a speech at a conference of Party
cadres in Nanking on March 19 of the same year.]


1

Our Party is going to unfold a rectification movement. This is a way of resolving
contradictions within the Party through criticism and self-criticism and
also of resolving contradictions between the Party and the people. This time
the movement will be aimed at three bad styles, bureaucracy, sectarianism
and subjectivism. Through rectification we must strive to carry forward our
Party's tradition of plain living and hard struggle. Since our victory in
the revolution, the revolutionary will of some of our comrades has been waning,
their revolutionary enthusiasm has been ebbing, their spirit of whole-hearted
service to the people has been flagging, and so has the death-defying spirit
they displayed in the days of fighting against our enemies; at the same time,
they are clamouring for position and for the limelight, becoming particular
about what they eat and wear, competing for salary and scrambling for fame
and gain -- all these tendencies are growing. I have heard that during the
grading of cadres last year, some people burst into tears and made terrible
scenes. People have two eyes, haven't they? Drops of water welling up in
them are called tears. When the grading doesn't meet their wishes, tears
begin to stream down their cheeks. They never shed a single tear during the
war against Chiang Kai-shek, the movement to resist U.S. aggression and aid
Korea, the agrarian reform and the suppression of counter-revolutionaries,
nor have they shed a tear during the building of socialism, but as soon as
their personal interests were affected, rivers of tears began to flow. I
have even heard of someone refusing to eat for three days. I would say, it
doesn't matter much if one doesn't eat for three days, but it would be a
little dangerous if that went on for a week. In short, the tendency has emerged
of contending for fame and position, of comparing salaries, food, clothing
and comforts. To go on hunger strike and shed tears on account of one's personal
interests may be considered a kind of contradiction among the people. There
is an opera scene called Lin Chung Flees at Night,
[1] in which one line goes, "A man does
not easily shed tears until his heart is broken." Now some of our comrades
are men (and probably women too) about whom it can be said that they do not
easily shed tears until it comes to grading. Such behaviour must be rectified
too, mustn't it? It is right not to shed tears easily, but when is one's
heart broken? When the destiny of the working class and the masses of the
working people is at stake. Then one may shed a few tears. Whatever rank
you are given, you should take it even if you are graded incorrectly, and
you should not let your tears out but keep them in. There is much that is
unfair in this world, and maybe you have been improperly graded, but even
so there is no reason to make a fuss about it, for it is inconsequential
and you should rest content as long as you have enough to eat. After all,
we are a revolutionary Party, so we make it a principle not to allow anybody
to starve to death. As long as one isn't starving to death, one should do
revolutionary work and exert oneself. Even ten thousand years from now people
should work hard. A Communist is supposed to work hard and to serve the people
with his whole heart, not with half or two-thirds. Those whose revolutionary
will has been waning should have their spirits revived through rectification.

2

We should maintain the same vigour, the same revolutionary enthusiasm and
the same death-defying spirit we displayed in the years of the revolutionary
wars and carry our revolutionary work through to the end. What is meant by
death-defying? In the novel Water Margin there is a character called
Death-Defying Third Brother Shih Hsiu, whose spirit is exactly what we have
in mind. It was with this spirit that we made revolution in the past. A man
has but one life to live, and he may live to sixty, seventy, eighty or ninety,
it all depends. At least you should do some work as long as you can. And
you should do it with revolutionary enthusiasm and a death-defying spirit.
Some comrades are lacking in this enthusiasm and spirit and have stopped
making progress. This is not a wholesome phenomenon, and education should
be conducted among them.

The whole Party should strengthen political and ideological work. Quite a
number of comrades present at today's conference are from the army. How are
things in the army? Isn't there some difference between political work in
peace-time and in wartime? In wartime close ties must be forged with the
masses, the officers must be integrated with the men and the army with the
people. In such times the people excuse us if we have some shortcomings.
Now it is peace-time, we have no battles to fight and all we have to do is
to train; if we do not persist in maintaining close ties with the masses,
they will naturally find it hard to excuse our shortcomings. Although the
system of military ranks [2] and other systems
have been instituted, those with higher rank should still be at one with
their subordinates and the cadres with the soldiers, and subordinates should
still be allowed to criticize their superiors and soldiers to criticize cadres.
For instance, a Party conference can be convened to provide an opportunity
to make criticisms. During the movement against the "three evils", Comrade
Chen Yi put it aptly when he said, "It was all right for us to issue orders
for so many years, wouldn't it be all right now to let our subordinates criticize
us for a while, say for a week?" What he meant was that it ought to be all
right. I agree with him, let our subordinates have one week to criticize
us. Before the criticisms begin, make some preparations, then give some sort
of report and say something about your own shortcomings, which probably won't
amount to more than one, two, three, or four points. Then let the comrades
speak, adding some points and making criticisms. The masses are fair-minded,
they won't write off our record. Company and platoon commanders should also
offer their men an opportunity to make criticisms, and it would be best to
do so once a year by holding criticism meetings for several days in a row.
In the past we practiced democracy of this kind in the army, and with good
results. Don't let the close relations between the higher and lower levels,
between officers and men, between the army and the people and between the
armed forces and the local authorities be impaired as a result of the adoption
of the system of military ranks and other systems. It goes without saying
that the higher levels should maintain close relations with the lower levels
and that these should be comradely. Cadres should forge close ties with soldiers
and be integrated with them. The armed forces should likewise maintain close
relations with the people and with the local Party and government organizations.

Our comrades should take note: Don't live on the power of your office, your
high position or seniority. Speaking of seniority, we have been making revolution
for many years, and while this record of ours does count, still we must not
live on it. True, you are a veteran who has worked for several decades. For
all that, when you do something foolish and talk nonsense, the people won't
excuse you. No matter how many your good deeds in the past and no matter
how high your post, if today you are not doing a good job, not solving problems
correctly and thus harming the people's interests, they won't forgive you.
Therefore our comrades should rely not on seniority but on being correct
in solving problems. What counts here is correctness, not seniority. Since
you cannot rely on your seniority, you might as well forget about it, as
if you had never been an official at all, that is, you must stop putting
on the airs of an overlord, of a bureaucrat, you must put aside your airs
and go among the people and among your subordinates. This is a point our
cadres, and particularly our old cadres, must keep in mind. Generally speaking,
new cadres are not so burdened are less encumbered. Old cadres should treat
new cadres on an equal footing. In many ways old cadres are not as good as
new cadres and should learn from them.
NOTES
1. Lin Chung Flees at Night is a scene
in the Kunchu opera The Story of a Sword composed in the Ming Dynasty.
The Kunchu opera originated in Kunshan, Kiangsu.
2. The system of military ranks was initiated in September
1955 and abolished in May 1965.

Transcription by the Maoist Documentation Project.