Chapter 37 Persist in hard work and keep in touch with the masses[1]

(March 1957) one Our party is now preparing to launch a rectification movement.The rectification movement is a method of resolving contradictions within the Party by means of criticism and self-criticism, and it is also a method of resolving contradictions between the Party and the people.This rectification is to rectify the three styles, to rectify bureaucratism, sectarianism and subjectivism.We must go through rectification and carry forward our party's tradition of hard work.Because of the victory of the revolution, some comrades have lost their revolutionary will and lacked revolutionary enthusiasm. , pay attention to clothing, compete with salary, compete for fame and fortune, these things have increased.I heard that during the rating last year, some people made a fuss and cried bitterly.Don't people have two eyes? The water in the two eyes is called tears.When the rating was not right with him, tears flowed down my face.During the fight against Chiang Kai-shek, during the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea[2], during the land reform[3], and when suppressing counter-revolutionaries[4], he never shed a single tear. For personal interests, tears flow.I heard that there are still three days without food.I said that it is not important to go without food for three days, but it is a bit dangerous to go without food for a week.All in all, the idea of ​​fighting for reputation and status, comparing salary, food and clothing, and enjoying life came out.Going on a hunger strike for personal gain and shedding tears is also a kind of contradiction among the people.There is a play called "Lin Chong Runs at Night"[5], and the libretto says: "When a man has tears, he does not flick them lightly, because he has not yet reached the place where he is sad." Some of our comrades are also men (maybe there are also daughters), and they It's a man who doesn't cry easily because it's not time for rating.This wind should also be rectified.It is right not to shed tears lightly. What is the sad place? It is when the working class and the working people are in crisis. At that time, a few tears can be shed.As for your level, even if the evaluation is wrong, you have to swallow it. The tears should not flow outside, but flow inside.There are many injustices in the world, and the rating may be wrong, so there is no need to make a fuss, it has nothing to do with the overall situation, as long as there is food to eat.The revolutionary party is based on the principle that no one will die from starvation.If people are not starved to death, they must do revolutionary work and struggle.Ten thousand years from now, we will have to struggle.The Communist Party has to struggle and serve the people wholeheartedly, not half-heartedly or with two-thirds of the heart.Those whose revolutionary will has declined must go through a rectification movement to regain their strength.

(March 18) two We must maintain the vigor, the revolutionary enthusiasm, and the desperate spirit of the previous revolutionary war period, and carry out the revolutionary work to the end.What is Desperate? There is a person named Desperate Saburo Shixiu, who is "Desperate".When we made revolution in the past, we had a desperate spirit.Everyone has one life, or sixty years old, or seventy years old, or eighty years old, or ninety years old, depending on how long your life is.Work more or less as long as you can.And when you work, you must have a revolutionary enthusiasm and a desperate spirit.Some comrades lack this kind of enthusiasm and spirit, and have stagnated.This phenomenon is not good, and these comrades should be educated.

The whole party must strengthen political and ideological work.Many comrades from the army attended the meeting today.How is it in the army? Is political work in peacetime different from political work in wartime? In wartime, it is necessary to maintain close ties with the masses, to unite officers and soldiers, and to unite the army and the people.At this time, we have some shortcomings, and the people still forgive us.It is normal now, and we are not fighting wars, we are just training. If we do not maintain close ties with the masses, the people will naturally find it difficult to forgive us for our shortcomings.Now that the military rank system[6] and some other systems have been implemented, superiors and subordinates must still be united, cadres and soldiers must still be united, and subordinates must still be allowed to criticize their superiors and soldiers to criticize cadres.For example, hold a party congress and give them a chance to criticize.Comrade Chen Yi[7] made a good point when he said about the "Three Antis"[8]. He said that we can issue orders for as many years as we want, but now let the subordinates criticize us for a week. Is it okay? is allowed.I agree with this statement, which is to let the subordinates criticize us for a week.Before everyone criticizes, make some preparations, make a little report, and talk about your own shortcomings, nothing more than one, two, three, four, there are so few.Then the comrades made speeches, made some additions, and made some criticisms.The masses are fair and they will not throw away our history.Even the platoon leader should give the soldiers a chance to criticize, preferably once a year, for several days.We have practiced this kind of democracy in the military, and the results are beneficial.Don't damage the close relationship between superiors and subordinates, officers and men, soldiers and civilians, and the army with localities because of the military rank system and other systems.There is no doubt that the relationship between superiors and subordinates should be close and should be a comradely relationship.The relationship between cadres and soldiers should be close and they should become one.The relationship between the army and the people and with local party and government organizations should also be close.

Our comrades should be careful not to rely on officials, high positions, or seniority.It is said that qualifications are old, how many years of revolution, this qualification is also reliable, but at the same time we should not rely on it.You are old, decades old, that's true.However, one day you did some stupid things and said something stupid, and the people still don't understand you.No matter how many good deeds you have done in the past and how high your position is, the people will not forgive you for not doing things well or handling them properly and harming the people.Therefore, our comrades should not rely on their seniority to make a living, but should rely on solving problems correctly.Rely on correctness, not qualifications.If you can't live on your qualifications, if you don't rely on it, it means that you still don't do any official work. You just don't put on the airs of a master or a bureaucrat.Our cadres, especially veteran cadres, must pay attention to this point.Generally speaking, new cadres do not have this kind of burden and are relatively free.Veteran cadres should be treated on an equal footing with new cadres.There are many things that old cadres are not as good as new cadres, and we should learn from them.

(March 20) Published based on the transcript of the speech kept by the Central Archives. -------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ note [1] The first part of this article is part of Mao Zedong's speech at the meeting of party members and cadres in Jinan; the second part of this article is part of Mao Zedong's speech at the meeting of party members and cadres in Nanjing. [2] Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, see note [2] on page 45 of this volume. [3] Land reform, see note [2] on page 3 of this volume. [4] For suppressing counter-revolutionaries, see note [11] on page 46 of this volume.

[5] "Lin Chong Night Run", formerly known as "Night Run", is a twist in the Ming Dynasty legend "The Story of the Sword". [6] The Chinese People's Liberation Army began to implement the military rank system in September 1955, abolished it in May 1965, and resumed it in July 1988. [7] Chen Yi (1901-1972), a native of Lezhi, Sichuan.He was then a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and vice premier of the State Council. During the "Three Antis" Movement, he served as Secretary of the Shanghai Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China, Mayor of Shanghai, and Commander of the East China Military Region.

[8] "Three Antis", see note [3] on page 172 of this volume.