Chapter 9 Section 2 Discussion on Emphasis Shifting Issues

During the first day or two of group discussions, the speakers almost all followed the requirements of Hua Guofeng's speech, expressing their positions on the issues that had been shifted from January 1979 onwards. With regard to the issue of focus shift, many people present at the meeting—including me—viewed that, from the perspective of the development stage of the entire work, it was necessary to shift the focus to construction, so we adopted the idea of ​​supporting this formulation. position.However, people must be reminded that there are still many problems left over from exposing and criticizing the "Gang of Four": the nature of the "Tiananmen Incident" has not been rehabilitated; ) has not yet been clarified; many major unjust, false and wrongly decided cases have not been rehabilitated; those who did many bad things during the "Gang of Four" rule are likely to hide themselves, avoid criticism and exposure, and may regain their airs in the future.The solution to these problems still has to go through a struggle and must not be ignored.

In this regard, Hua Guofeng also said in his speech: "We must continue to carry out meticulous work and properly solve these problems in the movement that have not been dealt with in time." He also mentioned systematically criticizing Lin Biao, "Gang of Four "It's going to take longer.But what he said was too abstract, and the problems that had to be solved were all avoided in his speech, and the weight was too light. There was indeed a danger that exposing and criticizing the "Gang of Four" could not be fully completed.Therefore, after listening to Hua Guofeng's speech, the people attending the meeting expressed their support on the one hand, but on the other hand they were a little worried and expressed dissatisfaction.

On November 13, Hu Yaobang gave a speech in our Northwest Group about shifting the focus.He believes that the nature of the shift of focus raised by Hua belongs to the issue of work policy and work deployment.He quoted Mao Zedong's saying that "if one wave is not settled, there will be another wave", and don't wait for the wave to be settled before starting a new task.Then he said that the "wave" of exposing and criticizing the "Gang of Four" had not yet leveled off, but had reached its crest, and that this was the time to put forward construction tasks.At the same time, he pointed out that the shift of focus does not mean that the work of exposing and criticizing the "Gang of Four" has been completed.He also cited major issues of right and wrong such as the "Tiananmen Incident" that must be thoroughly resolved.I totally agree with him.

When discussing the shift of focus, many speakers held a similar position, agreeing to shift the focus to modernization from next year, but must solve the problems that should be solved. Here I would like to interject a question about "decisively stop using the slogan 'taking class struggle as the key link'". The "Resolution Concerning Certain Issues Concerning the History of the Party Since the Founding of the People's Republic of China" quoted at the beginning of this article, when summarizing the results of the plenary session, said: "Stop using the slogan 'taking class struggle as the key link' that is not applicable to socialist society decisively, and make a It made a strategic decision to shift the focus of work to socialist modernization."When discussing the draft resolution, this is a line that I feel does not quite fit the context of the meeting.

Now I would like to share my views on the materials I have come across about this conference and my own memories. As I have written above, Hua Guofeng's speech about shifting the focus did not express this meaning.He only said that he would "decisively" end the nationwide mass movement to expose and criticize the "Gang of Four", but he did not say that he would "decisively" stop using the slogan "taking class struggle as the key link".Regarding class struggle, he said that "the three major revolutionary movements of class struggle, production struggle, and scientific experiment should be grasped together."Still put "class struggle" at the forefront.Of course, he did not say that "class struggle should be the key link", but not saying it does not mean "decisively stop using it".In the group discussion, no one interpreted Hua Guofeng's speech as "stop using the slogan of 'taking class struggle as the key link'".

Perhaps at the Third Plenary Session of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, some people advocated decisively stopping the use of the slogan of "taking class struggle as the key link", which was echoed by many people, and then it was written into the communiqué when it was discussed and adopted.But I don't recall anyone making such a statement either.The long passage on the issue of class struggle in the communiqué of the Third Plenum of the Central Committee does not mean this either.The passage written in the communique of the Third Plenary Session of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China is:

"There are still a very small number of counter-revolutionaries and criminals in our country who are hostile to and sabotage our country's socialist modernization drive. We must not relax our class struggle against them, and we must not weaken the dictatorship of the proletariat. But as Comrade Mao Zedong said, the big The large-scale stormy mass class struggle has basically come to an end. As for the class struggle in socialist society, it should be resolved in accordance with the policy of strictly distinguishing and correctly handling two types of contradictions of different nature, and should be resolved in accordance with the procedures stipulated by the Constitution and laws. It is permissible to confuse the boundaries between two types of contradictions of different natures, and it is absolutely not allowed to damage the political situation of stability and unity needed for socialist modernization."

Now the communique of the Third Plenary Session has become a document more than 20 years ago. At the time, I did not participate in the drafting of the communiqué, nor did I participate in the discussion of the opinions on the communiqué at the group meeting of the Third Plenary Session (I did not want to make any comments on this at the group meeting. Speech), I didn't take it seriously when I saw this paragraph in the communiqué.The passage in the communiqué was quoted from Mao Zedong's speech "On the Correct Handling of Contradictions Among the People" made in February 1957. The main meaning is to point out that "the ideological class struggle is long-term, tortuous, Sometimes even very violent", there is no contradiction with "taking class struggle as the key link", and cannot be understood as stopping the use of the slogan "taking class struggle as the key link". The slogan "Take class struggle as the key link" was put forward a few years after this speech (1963).

As for the attendees of this meeting who resolutely stopped using the idea of ​​​​"taking class struggle as the key link", I think there are quite a few.But I don't recall anyone speaking on this point.At the meeting, people only opposed the "two whatevers" in general. In fact, the connection only involved the most urgent problems that needed to be solved at that time. Don't touch it.And "taking class struggle as the key link" is a question that falls within the scope of basic theories, basic concepts, and basic slogans.On the premise of not wanting to publicly criticize Mao Zedong's mistakes in his basic views, it is of course best not to involve such issues.

I do not agree to attribute all erroneous viewpoints to Kang Sheng and the "Gang of Four".Some people think that this method can be used to protect Mao Zedong.To do so reluctantly will only result in confusion of mind. For example, on January 3, 1979, less than 20 days after the closing of the Third Plenary Session of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, Hu Qiaomu gave a speech titled "Some Issues Concerning the Formulation of Class Struggle in the Socialist Period." method problem.For example, in the speech, he raised the question of "how should we understand 'taking class struggle as the key link'" and pointed out that "this formulation is meaningful only in what sense and within what scope. and confusion in actual work", "will inevitably cause the artificial expansion of class struggle".

Another example is that the "Gang of Four" and Kang Sheng said in the speech that Mao Zedong said at the Tenth Plenary Session of the Eighth Central Committee that "in the historical stage of socialism, there are still classes, class contradictions and class struggles, and there are socialism and capitalism. The struggle between the two roads, there is the danger of the restoration of capitalism" This passage has been tampered with, and the word "existence" in the sentence "In the historical stage of socialism, there are still classes, class contradictions and class struggle" The word "always" was added in front of it, thus making Mao Zedong's words "unrecognizable".I think it is bad to add these two words, but it is not necessarily correct not to add these two words.Since Hu Qiaomu's article was written in the communique of the Third Plenary Session less than two weeks after it was passed, it can also be used as circumstantial evidence that the Third Plenary Session did not make a decision to stop using the slogan "Taking class struggle as the key link." Hu Qiaomu later wrote about the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee in this way: This plenary session resolutely stopped using the slogan "Taking class struggle as the key link" which is not applicable to a socialist society.However, less than two weeks after the closing of the Third Plenary Session and the Third Plenary Session of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, he said in his speech "Some Issues Concerning the Formulation of Class Struggle in the Socialist Period": "Comrade Mao Zedong said at the Tenth Plenary Session of the Eighth Central Committee: 'In the society In the historical stage of socialism, there are still classes, class contradictions and class struggles, the struggle between the two roads of socialism and capitalism, and the danger of capitalist restoration. A group of people distorted and falsified it. The general outline of the party constitution of the Ninth National Congress presided over by Kang Sheng also adopted this statement, saying that in the socialist society, "in this historical stage, there are always classes, class contradictions and class struggles." Comrade Mao Zedong did not say The two words "always" were added by Kang Sheng. The addition of these two words completely changed Comrade Mao Zedong's words, and it did not make sense logically. Lenin said: "Socialism is the elimination of classes." .' If we say that in a socialist society, classes and class struggle always exist, how do we eliminate classes and enter communism? Doesn’t that mean that socialism will never be socialism, or that socialism that eliminates classes will never be realized? It is a misrepresentation of 'always there' that urgently needs to be corrected, and is easily corrected." There is no point in making a big fuss about "always there" and "always there".He quoted Lenin's words about "socialism is the elimination of classes", saying that if class struggle always exists in the stage of socialism, how can classes be eliminated?In fact, the meaning of Lenin's words can be understood logically as the actions of constantly eliminating classes in the socialist stage, changing the classes that have always existed before, and finally achieving the result of class elimination.It is also untenable for Hu Qiaomu to refute others in this way.It is meaningless for Hu Qiaomu to explain to the Tenth Plenary Session of the Eighth Central Committee in such a literal way. Then, he also proposed: "How should we understand 'taking class struggle as the key link'? This formulation is meaningful only in what sense and within what scope. If it is not clearly stated, it will cause ideological and practical work. The chaos in the middle.” The meaning of this slogan is clear to everyone in practice.The resulting problems did not "cause confusion in thinking and practical work" because they were not explained clearly.It is clear that this formulation should be discarded in practice, not only now, but it did not play any positive role when it was introduced.Hu Qiaomu still wanted to defend this slogan in 1979, trying to defend this slogan by "clarifying" its meaning, and did not "resolutely" oppose the mention of this slogan again. One understanding of "taking class struggle as the key link" that he wants to correct is that "as long as there are residual forms of class struggle, this struggle will still be the driving force for social progress."He believes that it is this understanding rather than the slogan of "taking class struggle as the key link" itself, which "will inevitably lead to the artificial expansion of class struggle." Following the discussion of "taking class struggle as the key link", he raised the question of whether the contradiction between the working class and the bourgeoisie will still be the main contradiction after the socialist transformation is basically completed.He expressed his disagreement with this statement on the grounds that ""On the Correct Handling of Contradictions Among the People" does not say so." In this speech, Mao Zedong said that the contradiction between productive forces and production relations is the basic contradiction in a socialist society. Hu Qiaomu said: "After 1966, Lin Biao and the 'Gang of Four' opposed socialist construction and shifted the focus of the party's work to the realization of the four modernizations under the pretext of grasping the main contradiction and keynote. The confusion on this issue is now It can't go on any longer." Not to mention that the main contradiction and the basic contradiction are two different concepts here, just remind people to pay attention to the discussion in the Tenth Plenary Session of the Eighth Central Committee of the Party in 1962 after the article "On the Correct Handling of Contradictions Among the People". , we can know that Mao Zedong also emphasized that "in the historical stage of socialism, there are still classes, class contradictions and class struggles, there is a struggle between the two roads of socialism and capitalism, and there is the danger of the restoration of capitalism" ?I really can't figure out how Hu Qiaomu "correctly" understood this article.