Chapter 59 Speech at the Enlarged Central Working Conference[1]

(January 30, 1962) Comrades, I would like to make a few comments now. (Enthusiastic applause) There are six points in total, the center of which is the issue of democratic centralism, but also some other issues. The first point is the method of holding this meeting. More than 7,000 people attended this enlarged Central Work Conference.At the beginning of this meeting, Comrade Liu Shaoqi and several other comrades prepared a draft report.This manuscript has not been discussed by the Political Bureau of the Central Committee, so I suggested to them not to hold a meeting of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee to discuss it, but to immediately distribute it to comrades who participated in the meeting, and invite everyone to comment and give their opinions.Comrades, you have people from all walks of life, people from various places, people from various provincial, prefectural and county committees, people from enterprise party committees, and people from various departments of the central government. Most of you are relatively close to the lower levels. , You should understand the situation and problems better than our comrades in the Standing Committee of the Central Committee, the Political Bureau of the Central Committee, and the Secretariat of the Central Committee.Also, you stand in various positions and can ask questions from various angles.Therefore, I would like to invite your comments.The manuscript of the report has been sent to you, and indeed there is a lot of discussion. Apart from agreeing with the basic policy put forward by the Central Committee, you also put forward many opinions.Later, under the chairmanship of Comrade Shaoqi, a 21-member drafting committee was organized, in which responsible comrades from various central bureaus participated. After eight days of discussion, the second draft of the written report was written.It should be said that the second draft of the report was the result of discussion by more than 7,000 people gathered by the central government.This second draft would not have been possible without your input.In the second draft, the first and second parts have been greatly revised, which is your credit.I heard that everyone's comments on the second draft were not bad, and they thought it was better.If this method is not adopted, but the usual method of holding meetings is adopted, that is, a report is first presented, followed by discussion, and everyone raises their hands in favor, then it is impossible to do so well.

This is a question of how to hold meetings.Distribute the draft report first, invite those present at the meeting to comment, make revisions, and then make a report.When reporting, it is not to read from the book, but to make some supplementary comments and give some explanations.In this way, democracy can be fully promoted, wisdom from all sides can be concentrated, different views can be compared, and meetings can be held more lively.Our meeting this time is to summarize twelve years of work experience, especially the work experience of the past four years. There are many problems and many opinions, so this method is suitable.Can this approach be used for all meetings? Not really.With this method, there must be plenty of time.This method may sometimes be used in meetings of our people's congresses.Comrades from provincial, prefectural and county party committees, you can also use this method to convene meetings in the future if conditions allow.Of course, you are busy with your work, and generally you cannot spend a long time in meetings, but you might as well give it a try when you have the conditions.

What kind of method is this method? It is a method of democratic centralism, a method of the mass line.Democracy first, then centralization, come from the masses, go to the masses, and combine leadership with the masses.This is my first point. The second point is the issue of democratic centralism. It seems that some of our comrades still don't understand the democratic centralism mentioned by Marx and Lenin.Some comrades are already old revolutionaries, of the "March 8th style", or of other styles. In short, they have been members of the Communist Party for decades, but they still don't understand this issue.They are afraid of the masses, they are afraid of their speech, they are afraid of their criticism.How can there be any reason why Marxist-Leninists are afraid of the masses? When they make mistakes, they don't speak up for themselves, but they are also afraid of the masses.The more afraid you are, the more ghostly you are.I don't think you should be afraid.What is there to be afraid of? Our attitude is: stick to the truth and correct mistakes at any time.Questions of right and wrong, right and wrong, in our work are problems of contradictions among the people.To resolve conflicts among the people, you cannot use curses, fists, or knives. You can only use methods of discussion, reasoning, criticism and self-criticism. In a word, you can only use democratic methods to let the masses speak. Methods.

Both inside and outside the party must have a full democratic life, that is to say, democratic centralism must be conscientiously practiced.We must really open up the issue and let the masses speak, even if they scold themselves, let others speak.The result of scolding is nothing more than one's downfall, unable to do this job, being relegated to a lower-level organization to do work, or transferred to another place to do work, so why not? Why can a person only go up and not down? Why? Why can I only do the work in this place and not be transferred to another place? I think this kind of descent and transfer, no matter whether it is correct or not, is beneficial. It can exercise the revolutionary will and can investigate and study many new ideas. situation, increase useful knowledge.I have had this experience myself and benefited greatly.If you don't believe me, you might as well give it a try.Sima Qian once said: "Wen Wang detains Zhou Yi, and Zhong Nier writes Spring and Autumn. Qu Yuan was exiled, but Fu Lisao. Zuoqiu was blind, but Jue had a national language. Sun Tzu had a foot, and the art of war was revised. Bu Wei moved to Shu, and passed down Lu Lan. Han Fei imprisoned Qin, saying that it is difficult to be alone and angry. The three hundred poems are mostly written by the sages." [2] Among these few sentences, the so-called King Wen played the Book of Changes, and Confucius wrote the Spring and Autumn Annals. People around me have doubts, we can ignore it and let experts solve it, but Sima Qian believes that there is something to it.King Wen's arrest and Zhong Ni'er's case are true.Except for the case of Zuoqiu's blindness, the things Sima Qian said all refer to the wrong handling of them by the superior leaders at that time.We have also mishandled some cadres in the past. Whether all or part of these people were mishandled, we should identify and rehabilitate them according to the specific situation.But, generally speaking, this kind of mishandling, letting them down, or transferring them to work is always a kind of tempering of their revolutionary will, and they can absorb a lot of new knowledge from the masses of the people.I declare here that I am not advocating that cadres, comrades, or anyone can be treated indiscriminately and wrongly, just like the ancients detained King Wen, punished Confucius, exiled Qu Yuan, and removed Sun Bin's kneecap.I'm not advocating this, I'm against it.What I mean is that in all historical stages of human society, there are always such facts of dealing with mistakes.In class society, such facts abound.In a socialist society, it is inevitable.Whether it is a period of leadership by the correct line or a period of leadership by the wrong line, it is inevitable.But there is one difference.In the period of leadership of the correct line, once it is found that there is a wrong handling, it can be identified and rehabilitated, and an apology can be made to them, so that they can feel at ease and raise their heads again.In the period of leadership by the wrong line, it is impossible to do so. Only people representing the correct line can correct mistakes at the right time and through the method of democratic centralism.As for those who have been demoted or transferred because they have made mistakes and corrected them after being criticized by their comrades and appraised by their superiors, this kind of relegation or transfer will benefit them in correcting their mistakes and acquiring new knowledge. Needless to say.

Now some comrades are very afraid of discussions among the masses, they are afraid that they will put forward opinions that differ from those of the leading organs and leaders.As soon as a problem is discussed, the enthusiasm of the masses is suppressed and people are not allowed to speak.This attitude is very bad.Democratic centralism is included in our party constitution and our constitution, but they just don't implement it.Comrades, we are revolutionaries. If we really make mistakes, which are detrimental to the cause of the Party and the cause of the people, we should seek the opinions of the masses and comrades, and conduct our own self-criticism.This kind of review sometimes needs to be done several times.If it doesn’t work once, if everyone is dissatisfied, do it a second time;Some provincial party committees do just that.Some provinces are more proactive and let everyone speak.The early ones started self-criticism in 1959, and the late ones also started self-criticism in 1961.There are also some provinces that were forced to conduct self-criticism, such as Henan, Gansu, and Qinghai.In other provinces, some people reported that it seems that self-criticism has only just begun.Regardless of whether it is active or passive, self-criticism early or late, as long as we face up to our mistakes, are willing to admit them, correct them, and let the masses criticize us, as long as we adopt this attitude, we should all welcome it.

Criticism and self-criticism is a method, a method of resolving contradictions among the people, and it is the only method.Other than that, there is no other way.But the method of criticism and self-criticism cannot be practiced without a full democratic life, without the real practice of democratic centralism. Don't we have many difficulties now? It is impossible to overcome difficulties without relying on the masses and mobilizing the enthusiasm of the masses and cadres.However, if you don't explain the situation to the masses and cadres, don't talk to the masses and cadres, and don't allow them to express their opinions, and they are still afraid of you and dare not speak out, it is impossible to mobilize their enthusiasm.I said this in 1957 that "a political situation should be created where there are both centralism and democracy, both discipline and freedom, unity of will, and personal ease of mind and liveliness"[3] ].There should be such a political situation both inside and outside the party.Without such a political situation, it is impossible to mobilize the enthusiasm of the masses.Overcoming difficulties cannot be achieved without democracy.Of course, it would be even worse without centralization, but without democracy there would be no centralization.

Without democracy, there can be no correct centralization, because everyone has different opinions, and without a unified understanding, centralism cannot be established.What is concentration? First of all, it is necessary to concentrate correct opinions.On the basis of concentrating correct opinions, achieving unified understanding, unified policy, unified planning, unified command and unified action is called centralization and unity.If everyone still doesn't understand the problems, has opinions and hasn't expressed them, and has not vented his anger, how can you establish centralization? Without democracy, it is impossible to sum up experience correctly.Without democracy and opinions not coming from the masses, it is impossible to formulate good lines, guidelines, policies and methods.Our leading organ is only a processing factory in terms of formulating lines, guidelines, policies and methods.We all know that a factory cannot process without raw materials.Without raw materials in sufficient quantity and proper quality, it is impossible to make a good finished product.If there is no democracy, if you don't understand the situation at the bottom, if the situation is unclear, if you don't fully collect opinions from all sides, if you don't communicate with the upper and lower levels, and only let the higher-level leading organs decide issues based on one-sided or untrue materials, then it is inevitably not subjectivism. It is also impossible to achieve unified understanding and unified action, and it is impossible to achieve true concentration.Isn’t the main topic of our meeting to oppose decentralization and strengthen centralization and unity? If we depart from fully promoting democracy, this centralization, this unity, is it true or false? Is it real or empty? Is it correct? Or is it wrong? Of course it can only be false, empty, wrong.

Our centralism is a centralism based on democracy.Centralization of the proletariat is centralization on a broad democratic basis.Party committees at all levels are organs that implement centralized leadership.However, the leadership of the party committee is collective leadership, not the first secretary's personal discretion.Only democratic centralism should be practiced within the party committee.The relationship between the first secretary and other secretaries and committee members is that the minority obeys the majority.Take the Standing Committee of the Central Committee or the Politburo as an example, there is often such a thing, no matter what I say, whether it is right or wrong, as long as everyone disagrees, I have to obey their opinions, because they are the majority.I heard that some provincial, prefectural, and county committees now have such a situation: everything is said by the first secretary alone.This is very wrong.How can there be a truth that what a person says counts? I am referring to major events, not the daily work after a resolution is made.As long as it is a major event, it must be discussed in groups, carefully listen to different opinions, and carefully analyze complicated situations and different opinions.To think of several possibilities of things, to estimate several aspects of the situation, good and bad, smooth and difficult, possible and impossible.Be as deliberate and thoughtful as possible.If this is not the case, it is one-man domination.Such a first secretary should be called the overlord, not the "squad leader" of democratic centralism.Once upon a time there was a Xiang Yu, called the Overlord of Western Chu, who didn't like to listen to other people's opinions.He had Fan Zeng there, who gave him some advice, but Xiang Yu didn't listen to Fan Zeng's words.The other person is Liu Bang, Emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty. He is more able to accept various opinions.An intellectual named Li Shiqi went to see Liu Bang.On the first day of the lunar new year, it was said that they were scholars, from the Confucian school.He replied that in the current military period, there are no Confucian scholars.This Li Shiqi lost his temper. He said to the porter, get out and report to me. Lao Tzu is a drunkard of Gaoyang, not a Confucian scholar.The person in charge of the porter went in and reported an article.ok please.Please go in, Liu Bang is washing his feet, and he hastily got up to welcome him.Li Shiqi was still angry because Liu Bang didn't see Confucian scholars, so he criticized Liu Bang.He said, do you want to conquer the world? Why do you despise the elders? At this time, Li Shiqi was already in his sixties, and Liu Bang was younger than him, so he called himself an elder.Upon hearing this, Liu Bang apologized to him, and immediately adopted Li Shiqi's opinion of seizing Chenliu County.See "Historical Records" for the biography of Li Sheng Lu Jia.Liu Bang was a hero who was called "open-minded and magnanimous" by historians in the feudal era.Liu Bang fought Xiang Yu for several years, and it was no accident that Liu Bang won and Xiang Yu lost.Some of our first secretaries are not even as good as Liu Bang in the feudal era, but they are a bit like Xiang Yu.If these comrades do not change, they will eventually collapse.Isn't there a play called it? If these comrades don't change, it's inevitable that one day they will just "Farewell My Concubine". (Laughter) Why did I speak so loudly? I wanted to speak sarcastically, to poke some comrades a little painfully, to make these comrades think carefully, and it would be best if they could not sleep for two days.I'm not happy if they sleep because they haven't been poked yet.

Some of our comrades cannot listen to contrary opinions or criticize them.This is very wrong.In the midst of our meeting, there was a province where the meeting was originally lively. When the secretary of the provincial party committee sat there, there was no sound, and everyone stopped talking.Comrade Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, what are you doing sitting there? Why don’t you sit in your own room and think about the problem, and let others discuss it? If you want to talk, then you should avoid it for a while.When mistakes are made, self-criticism must be made, and others must be allowed to speak out and be criticized.On June 12 last year, the last day of the Central Beijing Work Conference, I talked about my shortcomings and mistakes.I said, comrades, please spread the word to all provinces and localities.Afterwards, I know that many places have not been conveyed.It seemed that my mistakes could and should be concealed.Comrades, you cannot hide.I am directly responsible for all mistakes made by the central government, and I am also responsible for the indirect ones, because I am the chairman of the central committee.I am not asking others to shirk their responsibilities. Some other comrades are also responsible, but I should be the first to take responsibility.Our provincial party secretary, prefectural party secretary, county party secretary, district party secretary, enterprise party secretary, and commune party secretary, since they have served as first secretaries, must take responsibility for shortcomings and mistakes in their work.Irresponsibility, fear of responsibility, no one is allowed to speak, and a tiger's buttocks can't be touched. Ten out of ten people who adopt this attitude will fail.People always have to say, is your tiger's butt really hard to touch? You want to touch it!

In our country, if people's democracy and inner-party democracy are not fully developed, and proletarian democracy is not fully implemented, there will be no real proletarian centralism.Without a high degree of democracy, it is impossible to have a high degree of centralization, and without a high degree of centralization, it is impossible to build a socialist economy.If our country does not establish a socialist economy, what kind of situation will it be? It will become a revisionist country, a bourgeois country in fact, and the dictatorship of the proletariat will be transformed into a dictatorship of the bourgeoisie. And it will be a reactionary, fascist dictatorship.This is a very vigilant issue, and I hope comrades will think about it carefully.

Without democratic centralism, the dictatorship of the proletariat cannot be consolidated.The implementation of democracy among the people and the implementation of dictatorship over the enemies of the people are inseparable. Combining these two aspects is the dictatorship of the proletariat, or the people's democratic dictatorship.Our slogan is: the people's democratic dictatorship led by the proletariat and based on the alliance of workers and peasants.How does the proletariat exercise leadership? It leads through the Communist Party.The Communist Party is the advanced army of the proletariat.The proletariat unites all classes and strata that approve, support and participate in the socialist revolution and socialist construction, and exercises dictatorship over the reactionary classes, or in other words, over the remnants of the reactionary classes.In our country, the system of man-to-man exploitation has been eliminated, the economic base of the landlord class and the bourgeoisie has been eliminated, and the reactionary class is not as powerful as it used to be. For example, it is not as powerful as it was when the People's Republic was established in 1949. It is not as strong as it was in 1957 when the bourgeois rightists rampantly attacked[4].So we say it is the remnant of the reactionary class.However, this remnant must not be underestimated, and the struggle against them must continue.The reactionary class that has been overthrown is still trying to restore it.In a socialist society, new bourgeois elements will also emerge.Throughout the socialist stage, there are classes and class struggles.This kind of class struggle is long-term, complicated, and sometimes even very intense. [5] Our tools of dictatorship cannot be weakened, but should be strengthened.Our public security system is in the hands of correct comrades.There may also be some local public security departments that are in the hands of bad guys.There are also some comrades in public security work who do not rely on the masses or the Party, and do not implement the line of eliminating counter-revolutionaries under the leadership of the party committee through the masses in the work of eliminating counter-revolutionaries, but only rely on secret work and so-called professional work.Professional work is necessary. For counter-revolutionaries, investigation and interrogation are absolutely necessary. However, the main thing is to implement the mass line under the leadership of the party committee. Especially for the dictatorship of the entire reactionary class, we must rely on the masses and the party.The implementation of dictatorship over the reactionary class does not mean the elimination of all members of the reactionary class, but the transformation of them, using appropriate methods to transform them and make them new people.Without extensive people's democracy, the dictatorship of the proletariat cannot be consolidated and the political power will be unstable.Without democracy, without the mobilization of the masses, without the supervision of the masses, it is impossible to implement effective dictatorship over the reactionaries and bad elements, and it is impossible to carry out effective transformation of them. They will continue to make trouble, and there is a possibility of restoration.We should be vigilant about this issue, and I hope that comrades will think about it carefully. The fourth point concerns the understanding of the objective world. There must be a process for people's understanding of the objective world to leap from the realm of necessity to the realm of freedom.For example, with regard to the question of how to carry out the democratic revolution in China, from the founding of the Party in 1921 to the Seventh Party Congress in 1945[6], a total of 24 years, our entire Party did not fully understand it. unite.In the middle, there was a party-wide rectification[7], which lasted three and a half years from the spring of 1942 to the summer of 1945.It was a meticulous rectification movement, and the method adopted was a democratic method. That is to say, no matter who made a mistake, as long as he recognized it and corrected it, he would be fine. ", "Starting from the desire for unity, through criticism or struggle, distinguish right from wrong, and achieve a new unity on a new basis." The formula "unity-criticism-unity" was born at that time.That rectification movement helped comrades in the whole party unify their understanding.What should be done about the democratic revolution at that time, how should the party's general line and various specific policies should be determined, all these problems were completely resolved during that period, especially after the rectification movement. From the establishment of the party to the Anti-Japanese period, there were the Northern Expedition and the Ten Years Agrarian Revolutionary War.We've had two wins and two losses.The Northern Expedition was victorious, but by 1927 the revolution had failed.Great victories were won in the Agrarian Revolutionary War. The Red Army grew to 300,000 men, but later suffered setbacks. After the Long March, the 300,000 men shrunk to just over 20,000. After arriving in northern Shaanxi, we added a little more, but still not enough. To 30,000 people, that is to say, less than one-tenth of the 300,000 people.Is the army of 300,000 men stronger or the army of less than 30,000 men stronger? After suffering such great setbacks and sufferings, we have been tempered, gained experience, and corrected our mistakes. The route has been restored to the correct route, so this army of less than 30,000 is stronger than the army of 300,000 in the past.Comrade Liu Shaoqi said in his report that in the past four years, our line has been correct, and achievements are the main thing. We have made some mistakes in our actual work, suffered a lot, and gained experience. Therefore, we have become stronger, not Weaker.That's exactly what happened.During the period of the democratic revolution, after victories, defeats, victories and defeats, and two comparisons, we came to know the objective world of China.On the eve of the Anti-Japanese War and during the Anti-Japanese War, I wrote some papers, such as "Strategic Issues in China's Revolutionary War", "On Protracted War", "On New Democracy", "Communist's Introductory Statement", and drafted for the Central Committee. Some documents on policies and strategies are summaries of revolutionary experience.Those papers and documents could only be produced at that time. It was impossible before, because there were no great storms, no comparison between two victories and two defeats, no sufficient experience, and no full understanding of the laws of the Chinese revolution. Generally speaking, the objective world of China is understood by the Chinese, not by the comrades in charge of the Chinese question in the Communist International[8].These comrades of the Communist International do not understand or do not understand Chinese society, the Chinese nation, and the Chinese revolution.For the objective world of China, we ourselves have not understood clearly for a long time, let alone foreign comrades? During the Anti-Japanese War, we formulated the Party's general line and a set of specific policies that suited the situation.At this time, the inevitable kingdom of the Chinese democratic revolution was recognized by us, and only then did we have freedom.By this time, we have been engaged in revolution for more than twenty years.The revolutionary work in the past so many years has been carried with a lot of blindness.If someone says that there is any comrade, such as any comrade in the Central Committee, such as myself, who fully understood the laws of the Chinese revolution from the very beginning, it is bragging, you must not believe it, there is no such time thing.In the past, especially in the beginning period, we only wanted to make revolution with one single energy. As for how to reform laws, what to reform, which ones to reform first, which ones to reform later, and which ones to be reformed in the next stage, in a rather long period of time, It's not clear, or not completely clear.The purpose of my talk about the historical situation that we Chinese Communists struggled but succeeded in understanding the laws of the Chinese revolution during the period of the democratic revolution is to guide comrades to understand the following: There must be a process in understanding the laws of building socialism. .We must proceed from practice, from inexperienced to experienced, from less experienced to more experienced, from building socialism, an unrecognized inevitable kingdom, to gradually overcoming blindness, understanding objective laws, and thus To be free, to take a leap in awareness, to reach the realm of freedom. For the construction of socialism, we still lack experience.I have spoken to delegations of fraternal parties in several countries on this issue.I said that we have no experience in building a socialist economy. I also talked about this issue with journalists from some capitalist countries, and one of them was an American named Snow[9].He always wanted to come to China, and he was allowed to come in 1960.I had a conversation with him once.I said: "You know, we have a set of experience, a set of principles, policies and methods for politics, military affairs, and class struggle; as for socialist construction, we have never done it before and have no experience. You will say that it has not been done." Have you worked for eleven years? You have worked for eleven years, but you still lack knowledge and experience, and even if you have a little bit at the beginning, it is not much." Snow asked me to talk about the long-term plan for China's construction.I said, "I don't know." He said, "You are too cautious in your speech." I said, "It's not that you are cautious or not. I just don't know, or I have no experience." Comrades, I really don't know. There is still a lack of experience, and indeed there is no such long-term plan.In 1960, that was the time when we hit many snags.In 1961, I talked with Montgomery [10], and I also mentioned the above opinions.He said: "In fifty years, you will be great." What he meant was that after fifty years, we will grow stronger and "invade" others, but we will not be able to do so in fifty years.This view of his was told to me when he came to China in 1960.I said: "We are Marxist-Leninists. Our country is a socialist country, not a capitalist country. Therefore, we will not invade others in a hundred or ten thousand years. As for building a strong socialist economy, we will In China, fifty years will not work, it will take a hundred years or more. In your country, the development of capitalism has gone through hundreds of years. Not counting the sixteenth century, it was still in the Middle Ages. From the seventeenth century to the present , It has been more than 360 years. In our country, I estimate that it will take more than 100 years to build a strong socialist economy.” What era was the 17th century? It was the end of the Ming Dynasty and the beginning of the Qing Dynasty in China year.Another century later, the first half of the eighteenth century will be the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty. Cao Xueqin, the author of the novel, lived in that era, and it was the era when novel characters like Jia Baoyu who were dissatisfied with the feudal system were produced.In the Qianlong era, China already had some sprouts of capitalist production relations, but it was still a feudal society.This is the social background of the group of characters in the novel that appeared in the Grand View Garden.Before that time, in the seventeenth century, some countries in Europe were already developing capitalism. After more than three hundred years, the productive forces of capitalism have become what they are today.Compared with capitalism, socialism has many advantages. The economic development of our country will be much faster than that of capitalist countries.However, China has a large population, a weak foundation, and a backward economy. It will take less than a hundred years for China to greatly develop its productive forces and catch up with and surpass the most advanced capitalist countries in the world. I don't think it will be possible.Perhaps it could be done in a few decades, say fifty as some imagine.Sure enough, thank God, wouldn't it be great.But I advise comrades rather to think more about the difficulties and thus to envision a longer period of time.After building a strong capitalist economy for more than three hundred years, what is wrong with building a strong socialist economy in our country within fifty to one hundred years? From now on, within fifty years or so One hundred years or so will be a great era of complete changes in the world's social systems, an era of earth-shaking changes, and it will be unmatched by any historical era in the past.Living in such an era, we must be prepared to wage a great struggle that has many characteristics different from the forms of struggle of previous eras.For this cause, we must combine the universal truth of Marxism-Leninism with the concrete reality of China's socialist construction and with the concrete reality of the future world revolution as well as possible, and understand the objective laws of struggle step by step from practice. .Be prepared to suffer many failures and setbacks due to blindness, so as to gain experience and win the final victory.From this point of view, it is beneficial to imagine a longer time, but it is harmful to imagine a shorter time. In socialist construction, we still have a lot of blindness.A socialist economy, for us, still has many unrecognized realms of necessity.Take me as an example, I still don't understand many problems in the work of economic construction.I don't know much about industry and commerce.I know a little about agriculture.But it is only a comparative understanding, or not much understanding.To know more about agriculture, you must also understand soil science, botany, crop cultivation, agricultural chemistry, agricultural machinery, etc.; , tea, sugar, vegetables, tobacco, fruit, medicine, miscellaneous, etc.; and animal husbandry, as well as forestry.I believe in the soil science of Williams[11] of the Soviet Union. In Williams' soil science works, he advocated the combination of agriculture, forestry and animal husbandry.I think this kind of triple combination is necessary, otherwise it will be bad for agriculture.I advise comrades to seriously study all these problems in agricultural production in their spare time. I also want to study some more.But so far, in these areas, my knowledge is very little.I have paid more attention to the problems of the system and the relations of production.As for productivity, I have very little knowledge.From the point of view of our entire party, the knowledge of socialist construction is very insufficient.In the next period of time, we should accumulate experience, study hard, gradually deepen our understanding of it in practice, and clarify its laws.We must put in a lot of hard work, investigate and study it in a down-to-earth manner.To go to the production team, to the production team, to the factory, to the store, to stay.Investigation and research, we used to do better, but after entering the city, we didn't do it seriously.We advocated it again in 1961, and now the situation has changed.However, among leading cadres, especially among senior leading cadres, there are some localities, departments and enterprises that have not yet formed an atmosphere.There are some provincial party committee secretaries who haven't gone down for a while yet.If the secretary of the provincial party committee does not go, how can the secretary of the prefectural party committee and the secretary of the county party committee be called to stay there.This phenomenon is not good and must be changed. It has been twelve years since the founding of the People's Republic of China.The twelve years are divided into the first eight years and the last four years.The period from 1950 to the end of 1957 was the first eight years.From 1958 to now, it is the last four years.Our meeting has initially summed up the experience of past work, mainly the experience of the last four years.This summary was reflected in Comrade Liu Shaoqi's report.We have formulated, or are formulating, or will formulate specific policies in various aspects.For example, sixty articles for rural communes[12], seventy articles for industrial enterprises[13], sixty articles for higher education[14], and fourteen articles for scientific research[15]. It will be tried out, and will be revised in the future, and some may even undergo major changes.are being developed, such as commercial work regulations [16].To be enacted, such as primary and secondary education regulations [17].We should also formulate some regulations for the work of our party and government organs and mass organizations.The army has established some regulations[18].In short, the work in the seven fields of industry, agriculture, commerce, academia, military affairs, government and the party should sum up experience and formulate a set of principles, policies and methods to keep them on the right track. It is not enough to have a general line. Under the guidance of the general line, there must be a set of specific principles, policies and methods suitable for the situation in the fields of industry, agriculture, commerce, education, military, politics, and the party. Only then can it be possible to persuade the masses and cadres, and use these as teaching materials to educate them so that they have a unified understanding and unified action, only then will it be possible to win the cause of revolution and construction, otherwise it will be impossible.We had a deep understanding of this point during the Anti-Japanese War.At that time, we did so, so that the cadres and the masses had a unified understanding of the set of specific principles, policies and methods during the democratic revolution period, and thus had unified actions, which made the cause of the democratic revolution at that time achieve great success. Victory, everyone knows that.During the period of socialist revolution and socialist construction, our revolutionary task in the first eight years is to complete the reform of the feudal land system in the countryside and to realize agricultural co-operatives; remodel.In terms of economic construction, the task at that time was to restore the economy and realize the first five-year plan[19].不论在革命方面和建设方面，那时候都有一条适合客观情况的、有充分说服力的总路线，以及在总路线指导下的一整套方针、政策和办法，因此教育了干部和群众，统一了他们的认识，工作也就比较做得好。这也是大家知道的。但是，那时候有这样一种情况，因为我们没有经验，在经济建设方面，我们只得照抄苏联，特别是在重工业方面，几乎一切都抄苏联，自己的创造性很少。这在当时是完全必要的，同时又是一个缺点，缺乏创造性，缺乏独立自主的能力。这当然不应当是长久之计。从一九五八年起，我们就确立了自力更生为主、争取外援为辅的方针。在一九五八年党的八大二次会议[20]上，通过了“鼓足干劲，力争上游，多快好省地建设社会主义”的总路线，在那一年又办起了人民公社，提出了大跃进的口号。在提出社会主义建设总路线的一个相当时间内，我们还没有来得及、也没有可能规定一整套适合情况的具体的方针、政策和办法，因为经验还不足。在这种情形下，干部和群众，还得不到一整套的教材，得不到系统的政策教育，也就不可能真正有统一的认识和统一的行动。要经过一段时间，碰过一些钉子，有了正、反两方面的经验，才有这样的可能。现在好了，有了这些东西了，或者正在制定这些东西。这样，我们就可以更加妥善地进行社会主义革命和社会主义建设。在总路线指导之下，制定一整套的具体的方针、政策和办法，必须通过从群众中来的方法，通过作系统的周密的调查研究的方法，对工作中的成功经验和失败经验，作历史的考察，才能找出客观事物所固有的而不是人们主观臆造的规律，才能制定适合情况的各种条例。这件事很重要，请同志们注意到这点。 工、农、商、学、兵、政、党这七个方面，党是领导一切的。党要领导工业、农业、商业、文化教育、军队和政府。我们的党，一般说来是很好的。我们党员的成分，主要的是工人和贫苦农民。我们的绝大多数干部都是好的，他们都在辛辛苦苦地工作。但是，也要看到，我们党内还存在一些问题，不要想像我们党的情况什么都好。我们现在有一千七百多万党员，这里面差不多有百分之八十的人是建国以后入党的，五十年代入党的。建国以前入党的只占百分之二十。在这百分之二十的人里面，一九三○年以前入党的，二十年代入党的，据前几年计算，有八百多人，这两年死了一些，恐怕只有七百多人了。不论在老的和新的党员里面，特别是在新党员里面，都有一些品质不纯和作风不纯的人。他们是个人主义者、官僚主义者、主观主义者，甚至是变了质的分子。还有些人挂着共产党员的招牌，但是并不代表工人阶级，而是代表资产阶级。党内并不纯粹，这一点必须看到，否则我们是要吃亏的。 上面是我讲的第四点。就是讲，我们对于客观世界的认识，要有一个过程。先是不认识或者不完全认识，经过反复的实践，在实践里面得到成绩，有了胜利，又翻过斤斗，碰了钉子，有了成功和失败的比较，然后才有可能逐步地发展成为完全的认识或者比较完全的认识。到那个时候，我们就比较主动了，比较自由了，就变成比较聪明一些的人了。自由是对必然的认识和对客观世界的改造。只有在认识必然的基础上，人们才有自由的活动。这是自由和必然的辩证规律。所谓必然，就是客观存在的规律性，在没有认识它以前，我们的行动总是不自觉的，带着盲目性的。这时候我们是一些蠢人。最近几年我们不是干过许多蠢事吗? 最后一点，第六点，要团结全党和全体人民。 要把党内、党外的先进分子、积极分子团结起来，把中间分子团结起来，去带动落后分子，这样就可以使全党、全民团结起来。只有依靠这些团结，我们才能够做好工作，克服困难，把中国建设好。要团结全党、全民，这并不是说我们没有倾向性。有些人说共产党是“全民的党”，我们不这样看。我们的党是无产阶级政党，是无产阶级的先进部队，是用马克思列宁主义武装起来的战斗部队。我们是站在占总人口的百分之九十五以上的人民大众一边，绝不站在占总人口百分之四、五的地、富、反、坏、右那一边。在国际范围内也是这样，我们是同一切马克思列宁主义者、一切革命人民、全体人民讲团结的，绝不同反共反人民的帝国主义者和各国反动派讲什么团结。只要有可能，我们也同这些人建立外交关系，争取在五项原则[21]基础上和平共处。但是这些事，跟我们和各国人民的团结是不同范畴的两回事情。 要使全党、全民团结起来，就必须发扬民主，让人讲话。在党内是这样，在党外也是这样。省委的同志，地委的同志，县委的同志，你们回去，一定要让人讲话。在座的同志们要这样做，不在座的同志们也要这样做，一切党的领导人员都要发扬党内民主，让人讲话。界限是什么呢?一个是，遵守党的纪律，少数服从多数，全党服从中央。另一个是，不准组织秘密集团。我们不怕公开的反对派，只怕秘密的反对派，这种人，当面不讲真话，当面讲的尽是些假的、骗人的话，真正的目的不讲出来。只要不是违反纪律的，只要不是搞秘密集团活动的，我们都允许他讲话，而且讲错了也不要处罚。讲错了话可以批评，但是要用道理说服人家。说而不服怎么办?让他保留意见。只要服从决议，服从多数人决定的东西，少数人可以保留不同的意见。在党内党外，容许少数人保留意见，是有好处的。错误的意见，让他暂时保留，将来他会改的。许多时候，少数人的意见，倒是正确的。历史上常常有这样的事实，起初，真理不是在多数人手里，而是在少数人手里。马克思、恩格斯手里有真理，可是他们在开始的时候是少数。列宁在很长一个时期内也是少数。我们党内也有这样的经验，在陈独秀[22]统治的时候，在“左”倾路线统治的时候，真理都不在领导机关的多数人手里，而是在少数人手里。历史上的自然科学家，例如哥白尼、伽利略、达尔文[23]，他们的学说曾经在一个长时间内不被多数人承认，反而被看作错误的东西，当时他们是少数。我们党在一九二一年成立的时候，只有几十个党员，也是少数人，可是这几十个人代表了真理，代表了中国的命运。 有一个捕人、杀人的问题，我还想讲一下。在现在的时候，在革命胜利还只有十几年的时候，在被打倒了的反动阶级分子还没有被改造好，有些人并且企图阴谋复辟的时候，人总会要捕一点、杀一点的，否则不能平民愤，不能巩固人民的专政。但是，不要轻于捕人，尤其不要轻于杀人。有一些坏人，钻到我们队伍里面的坏分子，蜕化变质分子，这些人，骑在人民的头上拉屎拉尿，穷凶极恶，严重地违法乱纪。这是些小蒋介石。对于这种人得有个处理，罪大恶极的，也要捕一些，还要杀几个。因为对这样的人，完全不捕、不杀，不足以平民愤。这就是所谓“不可不捕，不可不杀”。但是绝不可以多捕、多杀。凡是可捕可不捕的，可杀可不杀的，都要坚决不捕、不杀。有个潘汉年[24]，此人当过上海市副市长，过去秘密投降了国民党，是个CC派人物，现在关在班房里头，我们没有杀他。像潘汉年这样的人，只要杀一个，杀戒一开，类似的人都得杀。还有个王实味[25]，是个暗藏的国民党探子。在延安的时候，他写过一篇文章，题名，攻击革命，诬蔑共产党。后头把他抓起来，杀掉了。那是保安机关在行军中间，自己杀的，不是中央的决定。对于这件事，我们总是提出批评，认为不应当杀。他当特务，写文章骂我们，又死不肯改，就把他放在那里吧，让他劳动去吧，杀了不好。人要少捕、少杀。动不动就捕人、杀人，会弄得人人自危，不敢讲话。在这种风气下面，就不会有多少民主。 还不要给人乱戴帽子。我们有些同志惯于拿帽子压人，一张口就是帽子满天飞，吓得人不敢讲话。当然，帽子总是有的，刘少奇同志的报告里面不是就有许多帽子吗?“分散主义”不是帽子吗?但是，不要动不动就给人戴在头上，弄得张三分散主义，李四分散主义，什么人都是分散主义。帽子，最好由人家自己戴，而且要戴得合适，最好不要由别人去戴。他自己戴了几回，大家不同意他戴了，那就取消了。这样，就会有很好的民主空气。我们提倡不抓辫子、不戴帽子、不打棍子，目的就是要使人心里不怕，敢于讲意见。 对于犯了错误的人，对于那些不让人讲话的人，要采取善意帮助的态度。不要有这样的空气:似乎犯不得错误，一犯错误就不得了，一犯错误，从此不得翻身。一个人犯了错误，只要他真心愿意改正，只要他确实有了自我批评，我们就要表示欢迎。头一、二次自我批评，我们不要要求过高，检讨得还不彻底，不彻底也可以，让他再想一想，善意地帮助他。人是要有人帮助的。应当帮助那些犯错误的同志认识错误。如果人家诚恳地作了自我批评，愿意改正错误，我们就要宽恕他，对他采取宽大政策。只要他的工作成绩还是主要的，能力也还行，就还可以让他在那里继续工作。 我在这个讲话里批评了一些现象，批评了一些同志，但是没有指名道姓，没有指出张三、李四来。你们自己心里有数。(笑声)我们这几年工作中的缺点、错误，第一笔账，首先是中央负责，中央又是我首先负责；第二笔账，是省委、市委、自治区党委的；第三笔账，是地委一级的；第四笔账，是县委一级的；第五笔账，就算到企业党委、公社党委了。总之，各有各的账。 同志们，你们回去，一定要把民主集中制健全起来。县委的同志，要引导公社党委把民主集中制健全起来。首先要建立和加强集体领导。不要再实行长期固定的“分片包干”的领导方法了，那个方法，党委书记和委员们各搞各的，不能有真正的集体讨论，不能有真正的集体领导。要发扬民主，要启发人家批评，要听人家的批评。自己要经得起批评。应当采取主动，首先作自我批评。有什么就检讨什么，一个钟头，顶多两个钟头，倾箱倒箧而出，无非是那么多。如果人家认为不够，请他提出来，如果说得对，我就接受。让人讲话，是采取主动好，还是被动好?当然是主动好。已经处在被动地位了怎么办?过去不民主，现在陷于被动，那也不要紧，就请大家批评吧。白天出气，晚上不看戏，白天晚上都请你们批评。(笑声)这个时候我坐下来，冷静地想一想，两三天晚上睡不着觉。想好了，想通了，然后诚诚恳恳地作一篇检讨。这不就好了吗?总之，让人讲话，天不会塌下来，自己也不会垮台。不让人讲话呢?那就难免有一天要垮台。 我今天的讲话就讲这一些。中心是讲了一个实行民主集中制的问题，在党内、党外发扬民主的问题。我向同志们建议，仔细考虑一下这个问题。有些同志还没有民主集中制的思想，现在就要开始建立这个思想，开始认识这个问题。我们充分地发扬了民主，就能把党内、党外广大群众的积极性调动起来，就能使占总人口百分之九十五以上的人民大众团结起来。做到了这些，我们的工作就会越做越好，我们遇到的困难就会较快地得到克服，我们事业的发展就会顺利得多。(热烈鼓掌) 根据人民出版社一九八六年出版的《毛泽东著作选读》下册刊印。 -------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ note [1]毛泽东这个讲话共六点，本篇收入第一、二、四、六点。 [2]见司马迁《报任安书》。 [3]这段话见毛泽东一九五七年七月在青岛召开的省市委书记会议期间写的《一九五七年夏季的形势》。 [4]一九五七年四月，中共中央决定在全党进行一次反对官僚主义、宗派主义和主观主义的整风运动。极少数资产阶级右派分子乘机向共产党和新生的社会主义制度进攻，妄图取代共产党的领导。六月，中共中央发出指示，决定对右派进攻实行反击。当时对极少数资产阶级右派分子的进攻进行反击是必要的，但在斗争中犯了严重的扩大化的错误。一九七八年，中共中央决定对被划为右派分子的人进行复查，把错划的改正过来。 [5]这四句话是一九六二年九月二十八日中共八届十中全会公报中提出的关于社会主义社会阶级和阶级斗争的论断。一九六六年二月中共中央将毛泽东这个讲话印发给党内领导干部阅读时，经他本人审阅同意，加进了这四句话。一九八一年中共十一届六中全会通过的《关于建国以来党的若干历史问题的决议》在评述毛泽东的错误时指出：“在一九六二年九月的八届十中全会上，毛泽东同志把社会主义社会中一定范围内存在的阶级斗争扩大化和绝对化，发展了他在一九五七年反右派斗争以后提出的无产阶级同资产阶级的矛盾仍然是我国社会的主要矛盾的观点，进一步断言在整个社会主义历史阶段资产阶级都将存在和企图复辟，并成为党内产生修正主义的根源。” [6]党的第七次代表大会，见本卷第279页注[16]。 [7]见本卷第278页注[15]。 [8]共产国际，见本卷第142页注[15]。 [9]斯诺，见本卷第218页注[1]。 [10]蒙哥马利，见本卷第193页注[1]。 [11]威廉斯，见本卷第102页注[3]。 [12]指《农村人民公社工作条例（修正草案）》，共六十条。 [13]指中共中央一九六一年九月制定的《国营工业企业工作条例（草案）》，共七十条。 [14]指中共中央一九六一年九月原则批准的《中华人民共和国教育部直属高等学校暂行工作条例（草案）》，共六十条。 [15]指国家科学技术委员会党组和中国科学院党组一九六一年六月提出、中共中央七月批准试行的《关于自然科学研究机构当前工作的十四条意见（草案）》。 [16]中共中央一九六一年六月十九日下达了《关于改进商业工作的若干规定（试行草案）》，共四十条。随后，中央根据调查研究的情况，准备拟定一个比较全面的商业工作条例，一九六二年着手起草，后因故没有形成正式文件。 [17]指教育部拟定的《全日制中学暂行工作条例（草案）》和《全日制小学暂行工作条例（草案）》。一九六三年三月二十三日，中共中央将这两个工作条例草案发给各地讨论和试行。 [18]指中华人民共和国国防部一九六一年六月十九日命令颁布的《中国人民解放军连队管理教育工作条例》和同年十一月十七日在全军政治工作会议上通过的《中国人民解放军连队政治指导员工作条例》、《中国共产党连队支部工作条例》、《中国共产主义青年团连队支部工作条例》、《中国人民解放军连队革命军人委员会工作条例》。 [19]第一个五年计划，见本卷第145页注[30]。 [20]八大二次会议，指一九五八年五月五日至二十三日在北京召开的中国共产党第八次全国代表大会第二次会议。 [21]五项原则，指和平共处五项原则，包括互相尊重主权和领土完整、互不侵犯、互不干涉内政、平等互利、和平共处。一九五三年十二月至一九五四年四月，中国政府代表团同印度政府代表团就两国在中国西藏地方的关系问题在北京举行谈判。这五项原则是谈判开始时周恩来总理同印度政府代表团的谈话中提出的，后来正式写入双方达成的《关于中国西藏地方和印度之间的通商和交通协定》的序言中，一九五四年六月周恩来总理和印度尼赫鲁总理的联合声明以及此后的许多国际性文件中都采用了和平共处五项原则的提法。五项原则作为国与国之间关系的准则，已在世界上得到广泛的承认和使用。 [22]陈独秀，见本卷第206页注[7]。 [23]哥白尼（一四七三——一五四三），波兰天文学家。在《天体运行论》一书中，证明地球绕自己的轴旋转，并和其他行星一起，围绕着太阳旋转，推翻约两千年来的地球不动学说。伽利略（一五六四——一六四二），意大利物理学家、天文学家。一六三二年发表《关于托勒玫和哥白尼两大世界体系的对话》，支持和发展了哥白尼的地动说，次年被罗马天主教法庭判罪。达尔文（一八○九——一八八二），英国生物学家。在等著作中，提出了进化论的学说，说明了生物的演变和人类的起源。 [24]潘汉年（一九○六——一九七七），江苏宜兴人。一九二五年加入中国共产党。一九三六和一九三七年，曾任中国共产党同国民党谈判的代表。抗日战争和解放战争时期，在上海等地领导对敌隐蔽斗争和开展统一战线工作。一九四九年夏至一九五五年春，先后任中共中央华东局和上海市委的社会部部长、统战部部长，上海市委第三书记、副市长等职。一九五五年因所谓“内奸”问题被关押审查，一九六三年被错定为“内奸分子”，并被判刑。一九八二年八月，经过法律程序并由中共中央发出通知，对潘汉年被错定为内奸平反昭雪。 [25]王实味（一九○六——一九四七），河南潢川人。翻译家，还写过一些文学评论和杂文。曾在延安中央研究院文艺研究室任特别研究员。因发表等文章，一九四二年在整风中受到批判，同年十月被开除党籍，年底被关押。一九四六年被定为“反革命托派奸细分子”。一九四七年七月，在战争环境中被处决。据查，关于他是暗藏的国民党探子、特务一事，不能成立。关于反革命托派奸细问题，一九九一年二月七日，公安部《关于对王实味同志托派问题的复查决定》中说，“在复查中没有查出王实味同志参加托派组织的材料。因此，一九四六年定为'反革命托派奸细分子'的结论予以纠正，王在战争环境中被错误处决给予平反昭雪。”