The Question of Stationing Oneself
(1964)
For a period after the revolution’s failure, there was no investigation or study whatsoever—utterly maddening. Whenever the Red Army arrived in a place, it could never settle down; they’d eat and then move on. At that time, Comrade Lin Biao proposed adopting “flexible tactics,” but everyone opposed it, calling it a new gimmick: “It’s not mentioned in the infantry manual. That manual was written with bloodshed by others. Why invent new tricks?”
Whether one stations oneself or not—if you don’t know what industry is, if you neither consult the workers nor the technical staff, how can that be acceptable? You don’t understand the situation, so why not learn? You ought to have some understanding. After several years, it seems that precisely because people haven’t been stationing themselves, they remain completely ignorant. One could go to the Silver Factory to learn, yet instead of going to the factory, learning from the workers, and seeking advice from the technicians, they remain internally directionless. Even when stationing oneself, one should employ the method of comparison—learning from others, catching up, helping each other; above all, it is a matter of comparison. Marxism and revisionism are, after all, also compared.

On Seeking Truth from Facts
(1964)
All Marxists-Leninists must adopt a serious, combative, and scientific attitude—one that is honest and pragmatic.
First, to seek truth from facts means, under the guidance of the Marxist-Leninist stance, viewpoint, and methodology, to start from objective reality, to study and grasp the laws governing the development of objective things, and to use these as the basis and guide for our actions.
Second, to seek truth from facts requires starting from actual conditions, skillfully conducting concrete analysis of specific matters, and determining policies, lines, and strategies according to particular times, places, and circumstances. In light of new revolutionary situations, we must put forward new revolutionary tasks and work plans, and effectively transform the Party’s policies and lines into the conscious actions of the masses.
Third, to seek truth from facts means that all work must proceed from the real needs and interests of the people. Any reforms undertaken should be entirely based on the people’s own conscious and voluntary participation. We must patiently await the masses’ awakening, allowing them to compare and choose for themselves before making their own decisions. At the same time, we need to actively create favorable conditions, set examples, carry out propaganda, and persuade the people. We must both recognize the tremendous initiative latent within the masses at its core, and conduct all our work in accordance with the specific sentiments and moods they manifest under particular circumstances.
Fourth, to seek truth from facts entails viewing and resolving problems objectively, comprehensively, and essentially. We must distinguish between the phenomena of things and the boundless creative power of the working people; as for any individual’s revolutionary endeavors, they are merely a small cog in the machine. Marxism-Leninism teaches…