Chapter 21 Chapter 20 Summarizing Historical Experience

From early September to late October 1943, Zhang Wentian attended the meeting of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee held during this period, criticizing the mistakes of Wang Ming's Rightist capitulationism in the early days of the Anti-Japanese War.From October 10th, Zhang Wentian participated in the re-study and research of the party's history and line by senior party cadres.The study of the two-line struggle in the history of the party organized by the Central Committee is the deepening and improvement of the rectification movement.More than 700 representatives and senior cadres attending the Seventh National Congress participated in the study and discussion. At the beginning of December, the Politburo of the Central Committee held a meeting to further discuss the historical issues of the party since the Sixth National Congress, especially to review the line of the four years from the Fourth Plenary Session of the Sixth Central Committee to the Zunyi Conference.Zhang Wentian was in a study group with Li Fuchun, Yang Shangkun, Nie Rongzhen and others.The place of discussion was Zhang Wentian's cave in Yangjialing.The atmosphere is serious and peaceful.At the September-October Politburo meeting, Mao Zedong emphasized that reviewing mistakes must adopt historical methods, proceeding from reality, criticism and self-criticism, and that comrades who have made mistakes must implement the policy of "learn from past mistakes to avoid future ones, and heal the sickness to save the patient."The study of party history by senior cadres is carried out in accordance with this policy.

Before this concentrated study, the whole party rectification movement that started in 1942 had already passed, and important documents such as "Since the Sixth National Congress", "Before the Sixth National Congress" and "Two Lines" had been compiled successively. Therefore, through this study, Looking back and discussing, the understanding and evaluation of the right and wrong of the line since the Sixth National Congress, especially since the Fourth Plenary Session of the Sixth Central Committee, is more complete, in-depth and comprehensive than the understanding and evaluation of the Politburo meeting in September 1941.On this basis, the central government requires every representative of the Seventh National Congress and senior cadres to write an "autobiography".Zhang Wentian performed a ruthless autopsy on himself.After a painful process of inner conflicts, remorse and injustice, he wrote an autobiography of nearly 40,000 words on December 16, 1943, titled "Reflection Notes".The notes are divided into ten parts: 1. Before joining the party; 2. Joining the party; 3. During the study period in Moscow; To the Sixth Plenary Session; Seventh, From the Sixth Plenary Session to the Politburo meeting in September; Eighth, one year of departure; Ninth, 1943; Tenth, the last few words.

Zhang Wentian's "Reflection Notes" was later called "1943 Yan'an Rectification Notes".In his notes, Zhang Wentian briefly described his own experience and ideological development process, almost never talking about his contribution to the revolutionary cause; he made a systematic review of the "Left" line mistakes he made after the Fourth Plenary Session of the Sixth Central Committee. , Profound exposure and criticism, unambiguously assuming due responsibilities, showing a high degree of self-criticism.In his notes, he responsibly explained the truth of the historical events he had participated in and the comrades related to them, and objectively evaluated his merits and demerits.This note is not only an "autobiography" written by Zhang Wentian from the perspective of self-criticism, but also a precious historical material that reflects the tortuous development of the party from the side of an important leader.

After Zhang Wentian finished writing this note, he sent it to Mao Zedong for his review.Mao Zedong came to Zhang Wentian's cave immediately after reading it, and said: I read it all in one sitting, it is very well written!Interview with Liu Ying (October 22, 1985).Zhang Wentian also mentioned in a material written on June 28, 1969 that his "oral and written self-criticism, and self-criticism at the 'Seventh National Congress' were all encouraged by Chairman Mao". On December 28, 1943, the Political Bureau of the Central Committee issued the "Instructions on the Article "Opposing Opportunism in the United Front", which clearly stated, "Since the Zunyi Conference, the leadership line of the Central Committee headed by Comrade Mao Zedong in the nine years has been completely Correct", "Now, except for Wang Mingbogu, all leading comrades are united."Bogu also changed soon, and on May 19, 1944, he participated in the "Preparatory Committee for the Party's Resolution on Historical Issues".These conclusions include the affirmation of Zhang Wentian's historical achievements, as well as his self-criticism and rectification notes.

The Political Bureau of the Central Committee discussed many issues raised during the study of the two routes.Zhang Wentian participated in these discussions. In March 1944, the Politburo addressed several important issues, such as what attitude should be adopted in the study of historical experience; the evaluation of the Sixth National Congress of the Party; the central leadership line from the Fourth Plenary Session of the Sixth Central Committee to the Zunyi Conference The problem should be analyzed in two aspects; the issue of whether the Shanghai Provisional Central Committee in 1931 and the Fifth Plenary Session convened by the Provisional Central Committee was legal;On April 12, 1944, Mao Zedong gave speeches on line study, current situation and work style at the Yan'an senior cadre meeting and May 20 at the First Department of the Central Party School (the two speeches were later compiled into an article "Learning and Current Situation") , conveyed the conclusions of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee, and discussed the several discussions on the history of the party since the Politburo meeting in September 1941 and the study and discussion of the two-line issue of the senior cadres of the whole party since October 1943. A summary.The discussion on the two lines of party history, which lasted for nearly four years, greatly helped the unity of thought within the party on the basis of Marxism-Leninism, and made important preparations for the convening of the Seventh National Congress of the Communist Party of China in 1945.

Originally, when the Politburo meeting was held in September and October of 1941, the Central Committee organized the "Committee to Clear the Past History" and drafted the "Draft Conclusions on the Central Leadership Line since the Fourth Plenary Session" (hereinafter referred to as the "Draft Conclusions") .The Commission for Clearing the Past History was organized by the Central Secretariat meeting on October 13, 1941. It was composed of Mao Zedong, Wang Jiaxiang, Ren Bishi, Kang Sheng, and Peng Zhen. Headed by Mao Zedong, Wang Jiaxiang was entrusted to draft the document.The archives contain a document drafted at that time, titled "Draft Conclusions on the Central Leadership Line since the Fourth Plenary Session".Since the whole party had not yet started the rectification movement at that time, the senior party cadres had not yet studied the party's historical issues in depth, and the "Draft Conclusion" also needed to be enriched and revised, so it was temporarily shelved.In the spring of 1944, after Mao Zedong presided over a meeting of the Politburo and made conclusions on several important issues, the Party Central Committee again raised the issue of drafting historical resolutions. On May 10, 1944, the meeting of the Secretariat of the Central Committee decided to organize a "Preparatory Committee for Resolutions on the Party's History Issues", with members: Ren Bishi (convener), Liu Shaoqi, Kang Sheng, Zhou Enlai, Zhang Wentian, Peng Zhen, and Gao Gang. On May 19, Qin Bangxian was added. On May 21, the Seventh Plenary Session of the Sixth Central Committee of the Party began.From then on, the drafting of the resolution on historical issues took nearly a year until April 20, 1945, when the "Resolution on Certain Historical Issues" was passed in principle at the Seventh Plenary Session of the Sixth Central Committee (later revised by the First Plenary Session of the Seventh Central Committee, It was unanimously approved at the second session of the First Plenary Session of the Seventh Central Committee on August 9 of the same year).

The Resolution on Certain Historical Questions is an important historical document.It sums up the historical experience since the founding of the party, draws formal conclusions on several major historical issues, and criticizes the "Left" leadership line of the Central Committee during the period from the Fourth Plenary Session of the Sixth Central Committee to the Zunyi Conference politically, militarily, organizationally, and ideologically. ; Highly appraised Mao Zedong's outstanding contribution to solving the problems of the Chinese revolution by using Marxism-Leninism; systematically summarized the theory, line, principles, and policies of China's new democratic revolution.It is an important achievement of the rectification movement, which made the whole party, especially the senior cadres of the party, achieve unity and solidarity on the basis of Marxism-Leninism and Mao Zedong Thought, and made full ideological preparations for the Seventh National Congress of the Communist Party of China. "Resolution on Certain Questions of History" is a collective creation.It is guided by Mao Zedong Thought and completed under the direct guidance and participation of Mao Zedong.As a member of the preparatory committee responsible for drafting the "Resolution", Zhang Wentian not only seriously participated in the discussion of summarizing historical experience, but also played an active role in the process of repeated revisions of the historical resolution.

As mentioned above, Zhang Wentian accepted Mao Zedong’s criticism in his speech at the enlarged meeting of the Politburo in September 1941, and reviewed the mistakes of the "Left" line from the four aspects of politics, military affairs, organization, and ideology.This is generally consistent with the content of the "Draft Conclusions" drafted after October 1941 and the historical resolutions finally adopted in this regard.As mentioned earlier, after the Politburo meeting in September 1941, Zhang Wentian studied the Party’s historical documents, studied Mao Zedong’s works, and realized that Mao Zedong was a representative of the correct line, not only a statesman, a military strategist, but also a theorist ; when commemorating the 21st birthday of the party in the rural survey in 1942, he discussed Mao Zedong's great role in the Chinese revolution from the bottom of his heart; Facts both positive and negative give concrete accounts of the same subject.This is also consistent with the spirit of the historical resolution.Zhang Wentian's main role in the drafting of the historical resolution was that he revised a draft of the historical resolution, making it the basis for the "Resolution" passed later.Mao Zedong's revision of the draft "Resolution" in the spring of 1945 began with the copy of Zhang Wentian's revised draft.Zhang Wentian's role in the drafting of "Resolution Concerning Certain Historical Issues" and the drafting process described below adopt Feng Hui's point of view.

Judging from the existing relevant files of the "Resolution", Zhang Wentian started to revise the draft of the "Resolution" after the work of re-drafting the historical resolution had gone through a stage.Prior to this, Ren Bishi drafted a manuscript in May 1944, which was mainly derived from the 1941 "Draft Conclusions", which was basically the same as the "Draft Conclusions" in terms of structure, content and text.After the "Ren Draft", there is a draft of the "Resolution" drafted by Hu Qiaomu.There are four questions in this manuscript, of which the second question (the third "Left" line error) and the third question (the root of the third "Left" line error) some basic ideas are also derived from "Conclusion draft".In terms of structure and writing, the "Hu Manuscript" is quite different from the "Ren Manuscript", and the main frame is somewhat similar to the later "Resolution".Ren Bishi revised the "Hu Draft" twice, mainly focusing on the opinions raised in the collective discussion, and wrote an outline of seven key points for the third "Left" line error.

Zhang Wentian's modification was carried out after this.There is a manuscript revised by Zhang Wentian in the archives. The manuscript he used for revision was copied with a brush (except for two pages, which are copies of the "Hu manuscript"), without a title.It is a pity that the revised manuscript by Zhang Wentian stored in the file is missing the second half, only the first three questions.The first question outlines the history of the revolutionary struggle from the first Kuomintang-Communist cooperation in 1924 to the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War in 1937 and the party's struggle against Chen Duxiu's right-leaning capitulationism and Zhang Guotao's separatism.At the end of this question, Zhang Wentian added three paragraphs, giving a high-level summary and full evaluation of Mao Zedong's historical status.The most important of these is the first paragraph: "What we are particularly proud of is that the ten-year civil war has combined the theory of Marxism-Leninism of our party with the reality of China. The theory of Marxism-Leninism represented by Comrade Mao Zedong is unified with the reality of China." During the civil war, Mao Zedong thought greatly developed, pointing out the correct direction of action for the Chinese Communist Party. Comrade Mao Zedong finally established his leadership in the central government in the final period of the civil war. This leadership will undoubtedly ensure that the Chinese Communist Party will continue to Complete victory in the future." The second question describes the history of the party during the period from the failure of the Great Revolution to the outbreak of the War of Resistance. Central Plenary Session, Provisional Central Committee, Fifth Plenary Session, Zunyi Conference, etc.Zhang Wentian also added a paragraph at the end, pointing out Mao Zedong's historical achievements: "The Congress is pleased to point out that the party has gone through all its own successes and failures, and finally under the leadership of Comrade Mao Zedong, it is ideologically, politically, and organizationally the first. Such unanimity and unity have been achieved once! This is a party that wants to win, a party that cannot be defeated by any force!" The third question is about the third mistake of the "Left" line, which changed the previous manuscript from thinking to Instead of writing analysis in four aspects: political, political, military, and organizational, it comprehensively talks about seven points, which are basically written in accordance with the seven points of the outline (later, some manuscripts increased it to eight points).On this issue, Zhang Wentian made many revisions and additions.

There is a copy of Zhang Wentian's revised manuscript, with five questions in total, including the fourth question (the social roots of the third "Left" line) and the fifth question (overcoming the party's wrong attitude and approach).As for these two issues, what revisions and additions Zhang Wentian made are unknown due to lack of materials.However, one thing is certain, the five issues mentioned in Zhang Wentian's revised manuscript are basically the second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth parts of the later "Resolution". In the spring of 1945, Mao Zedong personally revised the "Zhang Manuscript".He set the title "Resolution on Certain Historical Issues (Draft)", revised the content, structure, and text six times, added important content, added the first part of the "Resolution", and added the sixth part to the last part. The two paragraphs are separated into the seventh part, which rewrites the mistake of the third "Left" line, and restores the original eight points to analyze from the three aspects of politics (including military), organization, and ideology (by July The printed draft on the 24th separates the military aspect into four aspects), and so on.In the meantime, Mao Zedong wrote a short note to Ren Bishi on the front page of the manuscript on March 24, 1945 after making the second revision: "Please invite Zhou, Zhu, Luo, and Liu (for example, at this time) to have a look. Change in this way, and then print several copies, numbered and distributed to more than 40 comrades, and then gather them for a discussion, and a resolution can be reached, and then submitted to the Seventh Central Committee for approval." It can be seen that Zhang Wentian was also a major participant in the final stage of the "Resolution". one. Zhang Wentian admired Mao Zedong's work from 1941 to 1945 to solve historical problems within the party through rectification.He said that Comrade Mao Zedong had always adopted a solemn and prudent attitude towards the study of Marxism; he also adopted the same attitude towards every problem in the Chinese revolution.He always keeps a clear head, he is not dominated by his own and the momentary emotional impulse of the masses; he is good at investigation and research, good at absorbing various opinions on a certain issue from all sides, without being affected by any prejudice; Good at repeatedly considering the contradictory aspects of a problem, weighing the importance of each aspect, and being good at waiting for it to mature before dealing with it.The process of solving the historical problem within the party this time is an example of how he solved an important problem.