Chapter 78 Correcting the "Left" slogans that have been followed for many years

The Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the Communist Party of China had just ended. On January 3, 1979, Hu Qiaomu made a rather important speech at a meeting of the Propaganda Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. His speech this time theoretically corrected many "left" slogans that had been followed for many years, and played a major role and had a considerable impact. For example, "Taking class struggle as the key link" was a widely popular slogan during the "Cultural Revolution". Hu Qiaomu rejected this slogan.He said:

"This will inevitably lead to the artificial expansion of class-struggle. Moreover, according to this inference, once society eliminates classes and loses the basis for class-struggle as the key link, social development will seem to have no program, no driving force, or suddenly have a different direction." Contradictions arise and replace them, and become the guiding principle and driving force.” Another example is the slogan "continuing the revolution under the dictatorship of the proletariat" which is also very popular. Hu Qiaomu also denied this slogan.he thinks: "This slogan was originally not proposed by Comrade Mao Zedong, but by the 'Gang of Four'. It was first published in writing in 1967, when the editorial department of two newspapers and one magazine wrote "Along the Development of the October Socialist Revolution" In the article "Road to Advance". Later, Kang Sheng wrote it in the political report of the Ninth National Congress, and he made full use of it when he conveyed the spirit of the Ninth National Congress to the Central Government. Since the slogan was put forward, it has been published in newspapers and periodicals There are many articles, but they have not been strictly scrutinized, and its scientific meaning and basis are clearly explained. …

"After the smashing of the 'Gang of Four', there was some publicity for the slogan, but what it meant is still a question... "In the future, such slogans with unclear meanings may still become a factor of instability in real life. Clarifying this issue is of great significance to the party's theory and practice, to the Chinese revolution and the international communist movement. As for what form to take to make it clear, that needs to be considered, at least not in the press for a period of time.” For another example, in socialist society, "in this historical stage, there are always classes, class contradictions, and class struggles," which is recorded in the party constitution adopted by the "Ninth National Congress" of the Communist Party of China.

Hu Qiaomu analyzed it as follows: "Comrade Mao Zedong never said the word 'always'. These two words were added by Kang Sheng. Adding these two words made Comrade Mao Zedong's words completely unrecognizable and logically unreasonable. Lenin said:' Socialism is the abolition of classes'. "If classes and class struggle always exist in a socialist society, how do you eliminate classes and enter communism? "Wouldn't that be the same as saying that socialism will never be socialism, or that socialism that eliminates classes will never be achieved? This 'always-existing' misnomer urgently needs to be corrected, and it can be easily corrected. But it has to be formally decided by the central government , and strive for certain procedures before it can be officially corrected.”

Also, at the "Ninth National Congress" of the Communist Party of China, Mao Zedong wrenched his fingers and counted the line struggles within the party, which left a deep impression on people.Therefore, it is often said that it is a line struggle, and it is said that it is the number of line struggles. Hu Qiaomu had this to say about it: "Are all struggles within the party a reflection of class struggle in society, are they all line struggles? Is the history of the party just the history of line struggles?  … "It is a fact that there are line struggles in the party. But the history of the party is not the same as the history of line struggles. If all struggles are line struggles, then there are line struggles in the party almost every day...

"For a long time, some comrades have formed such a mentality that it seems that any struggle in the party does not have a high level of line struggle, and it is of no significance. It is like eating without a full meal. It is never satisfying... "Marx, Engels, and Lenin carried out quite a few inner-party struggles throughout their lives, but they? Didn't say how many times they fought, and neither did others, because there is no need to classify and count them in this way. Complicated struggles have been simplified into a certain rigid pattern, is it necessary for us to continue to do so in the future?"

The reason why the author excerpts Hu Qiaomu’s original words in such detail is that these insights to set things right are the result of his nine years of repeated thinking during the "Cultural Revolution", which shows his theoretical level.These views of his were later accepted by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, and from then on he no longer used the "left" political slogans that were once popular. In November 1979, the Fourth National Cultural Congress was held in Beijing.Zhou Yang made a keynote speech at the conference entitled "Inheriting the Past and Opening Up the Future, Prospering Literature and Art in the New Era of Socialism".When drafting this report, Hu Qiaomu and Deng Liqun wrote to Hu Yaobang and Zhou Yang, agreeing to correct some "Left" literary slogans in the first draft of the report, and put forward their opinions:

After that, at the Fifth Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the Communist Party of China in February 1980, it was decided to re-establish the Secretariat of the Central Committee, and Hu Qiaomu was elected as the secretary.The members of the Secretariat are as follows— General Secretary: Hu Yaobang. Secretary: (in order of strokes of surnames in simplified Chinese characters) Wan Li, Wang Renzhong, Fang Yi, Gu Mu, Song Renqiong, Yu Qiuli, Yang Dezhi, Hu Qiaomu, Hu Yaobang, Yao Yilin, Peng Chong. At this time, Hu Qiaomu's position in the party was already higher than before the "Cultural Revolution"—at that time he was only an alternate secretary of the Central Secretariat.

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