Chapter 34 The third section is about Deng Xiaoping's speech at the closing meeting

Deng Xiaoping's speech is a document of great historical significance.So much has been said and written about this speech that it seems superfluous to write more.But it seems impossible not to write something here.Because I participated in the drafting and finalization of the document, and I listened directly to his speech at the closing meeting, and I was a participant in the Central Work Conference, it seems that I should talk about my impressions and experiences at that time and the experiences and experiences in my future studies. First of all, I remember that the topic of this speech was chosen by Deng Xiaoping himself.In the three-page outline, there was no speech topic, and in the three-page outline, there were no 19 words written together in the later speech "emancipate the mind, use the brain, seek truth from facts, and look forward in unity."These 19 characters were added when the draft was finalized.I remember that Lin Jianqing and others wrote the first draft that I read and took to Deng Xiaoping's place, and it didn't have these 19 characters. In the first part of the 3-page outline, Deng Xiaoping wrote an 8-character title "Emancipate the Mind, Start the Machine".Below it was written a sentence "the whole party and the whole people use their brains", and another sentence "seek truth from facts".The title of the third part of the outline is "Looking backward in order to look forward", with the sentence "Stability and unity are very important". Thoughts and languages ​​such as "emancipating the mind", "using the brain", "seeking truth from facts", "unity", and "looking forward" are included in the outline, but these 19 words have not been synthesized.These 19 words were added later in the manuscript, and appear in two places—first in the introductory part at the beginning, and then in the first part of the manuscript, where they are repeated verbatim.It seems that in the process of finalizing the draft, when discussing the introduction, Deng Xiaoping asked if it was possible to use this sentence as the title of the article.Both Hu Yaobang and I said it was very good. We were able to summarize the three most important points in our future work, and we were completely out of the loop.It also discussed the omission of 4 words "use your brain" in the title to 15 words.

I don't remember exactly what the final manuscript looked like, but I saw that the speeches of Hua Guofeng, Ye Jianying, and Deng Xiaoping at the closing meeting had no titles, probably for the sake of standardization, and Deng Xiaoping's speeches also had no titles.As for when the title was added later, I don't know about it.All this is subject to the "discovery" of written material.It can be seen that not only archaeology is a science, but "examination of the present" is also a science.Human memory is of high value, but only with written materials can people remember more accurately and correct errors in memory.Some written materials were not useful at the time, but they can come in handy when researching problems. The 3-page outline that I have kept for more than 20 years is very useful today.

Let's go back to the content of Deng Xiaoping's speech.The title of the first part was finally set as "emancipating the mind is a major political issue at present", which immediately pointed out the fundamental point why he paid special attention to emancipating the mind.After writing those 19 words in this part, he clearly wrote "First of all, emancipate the mind", pointing out: "Only when our minds are emancipated can we correctly follow the guidance of Marxism-Leninism and Mao Zedong Thought, solve the problems left over from the past, solve a series of new problems that have emerged, and correctly reform the relations of production and the superstructure that are not compatible with the rapid development of productive forces. According to the actual situation of our country, determine the specific road, principles, methods and measures to realize the four modernizations."

Here, Deng Xiaoping emphasized that the general spirit of my country's reform is to make the reform of production relations meet the needs of the rapid development of productive forces, and to achieve this, the first point is to emancipate the mind.In my opinion, Comrade Jiang Zemin's report at the 15th National Congress of the Communist Party of China called this speech "a manifesto to open up a new path in a new era and create a new theory of socialism with Chinese characteristics", which is completely appropriate. At the same time, I think it is very good to combine the emancipation of the mind with seeking truth from facts, emphasizing the emancipation of the mind without departing from the foundation of materialism-this also left a deep impression on me.

When Deng Xiaoping explained how to let go of the mind, he affirmed the discussion that practice is the only criterion for testing truth.For the discussions that have been going on for more than half a year and the confrontation at the Central Work Conference, Deng Xiaoping needs to say this last word.When talking about this issue, he pointed out that this discussion is "actually a debate on whether to emancipate the mind", thus further emphasizing the significance of emancipating the mind.Deng Xiaoping raised the significance of discussing the standard of truth in his speech, saying:

"A party, a country, or a nation, if everything is based on books, thinking is rigid, and superstition prevails, then it will not be able to advance, its vitality will stop, and the party and the country will perish.... In this sense, about The debate on the standard of truth is indeed an issue of ideological line, a political issue, and an issue related to the future and destiny of the party and the country." The second part of Deng Xiaoping's speech is about democracy.It is easy to talk about democracy in general terms, but Deng Xiaoping's talk is different.The content of this section is summarized by the current subtitle "Democracy is an important condition for emancipating the mind." Talking about democracy in this way was relatively rare in the past.In this section, he once again highlighted the item "emancipating the mind".In this speech, he wrote the "Tiananmen Incident" in this paragraph, which I think is particularly appropriate.Many people at the Central Working Conference called for the nature of the "Tiananmen Incident" to be rehabilitated in order to achieve justice.Only when justice is upheld will the socialist enthusiasm of the broad masses be greatly enhanced.He said:

"The masses should be allowed to raise some opinions. Even if a few dissatisfied people want to use democracy to make trouble, there is nothing to be afraid of. To handle it properly, we must believe that the vast majority of the masses have the ability to judge right from wrong. A revolutionary party is I am afraid that the voice of the people will not be heard, the most frightening thing is the silence.” Deng Xiaoping was very dissatisfied with such an approach, that is, some people and some institutions: "As soon as you hear some comments from the masses, especially sharp ones, you must investigate the so-called 'political background' and 'political rumors', file a case, and crack down on them. This bad style must be resolutely stopped."

This passage was what Deng Xiaoping said when he was finalizing the draft at home, and Hu Yaobang and I both agreed.On the second day after the speech was finalized, Deng Xiaoping called me to his home alone, and asked me to give some examples and write a paragraph to him. Tell this paragraph.I wrote a thousand-character essay to him, but he didn't say that at the closing meeting. In this section Deng Xiaoping also talked about the issue of economic democracy.He disapproved of the over-centralization of my country's economic management system at that time, and advocated bold decentralization, giving full play to the enthusiasm of the state, localities, enterprises and individual workers.He advocated the expansion of local autonomy, especially in enterprises and rural production teams, under unified leadership.He said that with autonomy, workshop directors, production team leaders, workers, and farmers will be responsible, think of ways, and use their brains.He also talked about the material interests of the masses.Many comrades also talked about these issues at the Central Work Conference, but only Deng Xiaoping's speech was comprehensive and profound.

The subtitle of the third part of Deng Xiaoping's speech is "Dealing with Remaining Issues in order to Look Ahead".In the three-page outline he gave me, there was originally a sentence: "Looking backward is to look forward." The scope of what he said was wider than the scope of what he said now, and it was a fundamental attitude towards historical issues. That is to say, we must pay attention to history, face history squarely, and never forget the past, the valuable experience and important lessons it has given us, especially the painful lessons of the "Cultural Revolution".Studying history also has the meaning of mastering the laws of historical development. Never forget the past. If you forget the past, you will not be able to grasp the future.When drafting the manuscript, the scope of this sentence was intentionally narrowed down to mainly talking about dealing with the remaining issues, and only talking about the merits and demerits of some people and the problem of correcting unjust, wrong, and false cases.The consideration at that time was to narrow the scope so that the speech could be more focused on the more urgent issues at present, and it was also convenient for expressing the desire for unity, expressing Deng Xiaoping’s broad mind, and expounding the policy of unity and looking forward.

We admired Deng Xiaoping's thought of "looking forward" and using the language of "looking forward" at that time. He used this language to lead our eyes to the goal of progress.In this part of Deng Xiaoping's speech, he said: "Our principle is 'Wrong must be corrected'. Anything that was wrong in the past should be corrected." "Solutions should be done as soon as possible and realistically, simply and neatly, and not sloppy. Problems left over from the past should be solved well. It is not good if they are not resolved. It is not good for comrades who have made mistakes not to criticize themselves, and it is not good not to deal with them properly. .”

However, Deng Xiaoping took into account the actual possibility and the solution to the problem, and pointed out: "Some problems cannot be solved at once", and some problems "cannot and should not be solved completely. It is necessary to focus on the big picture, and it can be rough, and it is impossible and unnecessary to clarify every detail." Consistent with the formulation of "it can be thicker", Deng Xiaoping also said verbally that "it should be thicker than finer", because if the requirements are too detailed, people who make mistakes are likely to get entangled in some details and cannot focus on the big picture. , figured out the problem.Later, some people misunderstood or deliberately used this sentence, misinterpreting it as saying that we should not study historical issues carefully.The study of history should strive to return the true colors of things, and should not be careless and caricatured, let alone cover up history, so that future generations cannot know the truth of history, and cannot gain profound historical experience and lessons.This is an extremely irresponsible attitude towards history and future generations.This is especially true for the history of the "Cultural Revolution", and it cannot be done for the history before and after the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee.There is no historical research in the world that "should be coarse rather than detailed". I like the fourth part of his speech "Researching New Situations and Solving New Problems".He pointed out that to look forward, we must study new situations and solve new problems in a timely manner, and pay special attention to research and solve problems in the three aspects of management methods, management systems, and economic policies.Regarding the question of what to study, he said that the fundamental thing is to study Marxism-Leninism and Mao Zedong Thought. He also said that most cadres still need to study economics, science and technology, and management.He proposed that special attention should be paid to strengthening the responsibility system, and through strict rewards and punishments, an atmosphere of chasing after each other, striving to be advanced, and striving for progress should be formed on all fronts. Deng Xiaoping expressed a very important economic policy thought in this speech: "It is necessary to allow some areas, some enterprises, and some workers and peasants to earn more income and improve their lives first because of their hard work and hard work. If some people's lives get better first, it will inevitably have a great demonstration force and affect the neighbors. , and drive people in other regions and units to learn from them." In this way, the entire national economy will continue to develop.Later, people summarized his proposition as "let some people get rich first", and Deng Xiaoping also used the phrase "let some people get rich first". The clarion call for reform at the Third Plenary Session was concentrated in Deng Xiaoping's speech.His thoughts were first written in the three-page outline, and then in the three days after the final draft, he added a lot to the original outline and greatly enriched the content.Those who wrote the manuscript and those who expressed their opinions when it was finalized were not ineffective at all, but the penetrating insights in the speech can be said to be entirely Deng Xiaoping's.Some new ideas and viewpoints were not covered in the speeches at the Central Work Conference.At that time, I was really surprised: how could he think about things so deeply, so much, and so carefully. Deng Xiaoping's speech at the closing meeting of the Central Work Conference was too rich and profound.Wang Huide, Yang Xiguang, and I only selected a few points to talk about our own experience in the speech on December 14. Now we have written a little more than that day, and we only talked about part of it, and it is impossible to talk about it all.At the same time, I also want to add that when speaking, we must consider the acceptance level of many people at that time, and there may be situations where some words may not be said in the same way today. On February 22, the third day after the death of Comrade Deng Xiaoping, Comrade Zheng Hui and I went to the home of the famous scholar Comrade Yu Guangyuan to ask for a manuscript.During the conversation, Mr. Yu happened to talk about the drafting of Comrade Xiaoping's speech at the closing meeting of the Central Work Conference in December 1978, and said that he kept the outline manuscript of this speech that Xiaoping personally drafted.What an unexpected and important discovery!Because this speech by Comrade Xiaoping is a famous article included in the second volume of "Selected Works of Deng Xiaoping" under the title "Emancipate the Mind, Seek Truth from Facts, and Look Ahead in Unity". Thematic Report of the Plenary Session".This is an extremely important guiding document for our party and country at a historical turning point.We know that there are some different opinions on the drafting of this manuscript at home and abroad, but we have never heard that Comrade Xiaoping himself wrote an outline, which makes us want to see this outline and understand the origin of this speech. Passed by with great interest. It's a pity that after more than ten years of "deep hiding in a secret cellar", the outline manuscript has disappeared.In the old room full of manuscripts and materials, we sighed "only in this mountain, and the clouds are deep."Helpless, I had no choice but to ask Mr. Yu to look for it carefully. A week later, Mr. Yu told us on the phone: He and his wife rummaged through boxes and cabinets for several days. The original manuscript of the outline has not been found, but a copy has been found.The next day we rushed to his house to see the copy, and it was indeed Comrade Xiaoping's handwriting.Despite the excitement, we still feel a little regretful: after all, it is not the original manuscript, and the photocopying effect is not very good.Just when we hoped that Mr. Yu would continue to work hard to find the original, Mr. Yu's wife who had been looking for it suddenly came out from another room, holding a few pieces of paper and said happily: "The original has been found!"This really made us overjoyed. This outline was written by Comrade Xiaoping with a pencil on a 16-carat white paper, with a total of 3 pages and nearly 500 words.Due to the passage of time, the paper has turned slightly yellow.Comrade Deng Xiaoping's outline listed seven issues: 1. Emancipate the mind and start the machine; 2. Promote democracy and strengthen the legal system; 3. Looking backward is to look forward; Allow some to get better first; Sixth, strengthen the responsibility system and make certain; Seventh, new problems.At the very front, a sentence of "evaluation on the meeting" was added.This of course refers to the evaluation of the Central Work Conference. I found the outline, and it aroused some old memories.He suggested that we also interview other comrades who know the situation, such as Lin Jianqing.Through interviews with these comrades, we basically figured out how Comrade Deng Xiaoping's speech was produced. It turned out that Comrade Deng Xiaoping's speech was completed during the Central Work Conference.At first, another comrade was asked to draft a manuscript, but Xiaoping was not satisfied after reading it.He drafted the outline himself, and summoned Hu Yaobang, Yu Guangyuan and others to discuss the drafting of the speech.According to this outline, Comrade Xiaoping talked about several parts of the speech to be written, and explained the ideas, viewpoints, principles and policies that need to be clarified one by one, and explained them very specifically.Comrade Guangyuan clearly remembered that the title of the speech was also proposed by Comrade Xiaoping.Comrade Xiaoping asked if this topic was good. Yaobang said yes, and Guangyuan also said yes. They felt that the topic was very fresh and eye-catching.At that time, Hu Yaobang was the head of the Organization Department of the Central Committee, and Yu Guangyuan was one of the heads of the Research Office of the State Council. They were very active figures in the Central Work Conference.Comrade Xiaoping gave them the outline and instructed them to be responsible for re-drafting the manuscript.At this time, the Central Work Conference was being carried out in a warm atmosphere of promoting democracy, half of the agenda was over, and time was running out.Hu Yaobang and Yu Guangyuan hurried to find Lin Jianqing and others from the Research Office of the State Council to write the draft.Two days later, the first draft was formed and sent to Comrade Xiaoping.He once again summoned Yaobang, Guangyuan and other comrades to read it word by word while revising it.Later, after some text polishing, the final speech was formed.After the drafting of the speech was completed, this outline manuscript was left in Yu Guangyuan's hands and has been preserved to this day. After comparing it with "Selected Works of Deng Xiaoping", it can be seen that the speech drafts are all written according to the outline, from ideological viewpoints, logical structure to the written expression of main concepts. The first question of the outline talks about "practice is the criterion for testing truth - the necessity of debate", reaffirms adherence to the party's ideological line of "seeking truth from facts, combining theory with practice, and proceeding from reality", and calls on "the whole party and the people to use their brains ".This question was written into the first part of the speech: "Emancipation of the mind is a major political issue at present." The second question of the outline emphasizes that "democracy is the center of democratic centralism", requires the implementation of "democratic elections and democratic management (supervision)", adheres to the "unity of politics and economy", proposes "the current period mainly opposes empty politics", and advocates "Decentralization".These views are concentrated in the second part of the speech: "Democracy is an important condition for emancipating the mind." The third question of the outline puts forward the policy of "looking backward in order to look forward", pointing out that "resolving the remaining problems must be done quickly and neatly, and the time should not be long"; at the same time, it emphasizes the evaluation of Chairman Mao and the "Cultural Revolution" They all "focus on the overall situation", "stability and unity are very important", "give opportunities" to those who make mistakes, and "summarize experience and correct it".These spirits were specifically elaborated and developed in the third part of the speech, "Dealing with Remaining Issues in order to Look Forward". The fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh questions of the outline were synthesized into the fourth part in the speech: "Study new situations and solve new problems." Most of these issues are actually about reform.This shows that it was Comrade Deng Xiaoping who put forward a new idea of ​​China's reform and opening up. Based on the idea of ​​shifting the focus of work to economic construction, Comrade Deng Xiaoping highlighted the necessity of reforming economic management methods and management systems in his outline, and clearly advocated "overcoming bureaucracy and overstaffing", "learning to manage, selecting talents, Simplify procedures, reform the system (regulations)", "use economic methods to manage the economy", and propose to carry out pilot projects, "with a group of enterprises to demonstrate".It advocates "strengthening the responsibility system" and "making a few decisions" in operation and management, and "starting with the introduction of projects" and "inviting experts", that is, we must learn from foreign advanced management methods.Considering the problems that may arise after the reform of the economic system, Comrade Xiaoping emphasized the reform of the enterprise party committee in the outline, and proposed to "expand the power of managers", "the party committee must be good at leadership, and the organization should be small", and also proposed "personnel assessment Standards” and “relocation of excess personnel” should be found out through the method of “opening up new industries”, which actually puts forward new ideas for the reform of unreasonable management, personnel system and industrial structure. The two most striking ideas in the outline, one is "allowing some to get better first", which clearly states that "this is a big policy".This is a basic policy to change the egalitarian distribution system that has been formed for a long time and has become a chronic disease, and promote the development of the entire national economy and the improvement of people's lives with the demonstration role of "get well first".The second is "the contradiction between autonomy and national planning, which is mainly adjusted from the supply and demand relationship (product quality) of the law of value."Comrade Deng Xiaoping, while emphasizing the decentralization of autonomy and giving full play to the enthusiasm of the state, localities, and enterprises, has soberly foreseen the contradiction between autonomy and national planning, and boldly proposed the relationship between supply and demand through the value law (in fact, it is market) to adjust the point of view.In the outline, the words "importance of the domestic market" are also written.This was extremely valuable under the historical conditions at that time.It can be said that this was the earliest germination of Deng Xiaoping's later idea of ​​establishing a socialist market economic system. When the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee was held, the whole Party focused on bringing order out of chaos ideologically, politically, and organizationally, as well as economic recovery and development.Reform has not yet become the center of the party's attention.Compared with setting things right, reform is a much more complex, arduous, and profound revolution.Deng Xiaoping's series of creative viewpoints and proposals on reform in the Outline are the result of his careful consideration of the historical experience since the founding of the People's Republic of China, showing his extraordinary wisdom and advanced consciousness. The newly discovered outline manuscript itself and the drafting process of the speech both show that the speech was written under the careful design and direct guidance of Comrade Deng Xiaoping.There is no doubt that this outline manuscript provides a very important first-hand document for the study of Deng Xiaoping's theoretical thoughts and the great turning point in the history of the party and the country since the founding of the People's Republic of China.This is exactly where its value was found.