Chapter 100 How to study the history of the Chinese Communist Party [1]

(March 30, 1942) Now everyone is studying the history of the party, and this research is necessary.If the history of the party is not clarified, and the path the party has taken in history is not clarified, then things cannot be done better.Of course, this does not mean that we must understand everything in history before we can do things, but that we must understand the historical development of the party's line and policies.This is necessary for studying today's line and policy, strengthening education within the Party, and advancing work in all fields.We have to study which are past successes and victories, which are failures, and what we have learned from others.We have not done this work in the past, but we are starting to do it now.From the publication of "Since the Sixth National Congress" to the present, the senior cadre study group and the Central Party School have been studying for half a year, and other units have also begun to study.That's a good thing, and we're starting to see good results today.Comrades suddenly realized after reading it, and it had the effect of inspiring thoughts.Now let's consider the paths and experiences we have traveled in the past, and we must think about it systematically.The road is walked step by step. Although every step is taken with consideration of how it was walked yesterday and how it should be walked tomorrow, no one in the entire history of the party has thought about it.In August and September of last year, after discussions at the central government, the book "Since the Sixth National Congress" was printed and studied in the central advanced study group.How do we study it? We use the entire development process of the Party as the object of our research, conducting objective research, not just studying a single step, but studying the whole; not studying individual details, but studying the line and policies.We need to use this kind of research to give us a better understanding of today's line and policies, so that we can do better work and make more progress.

How to study party history? The fundamental method has already been discussed by Marx, Engel, Lenin, and Stanley, and it is a comprehensive historical method.When we study the history of the Chinese Communist Party, we must of course follow this method.What I propose today is only one aspect of this method. In layman's terms, I want to call it "ancient and modern Chinese and foreign law", which is to find out the certain time and space in which the problem under study occurred, and treat the problem as a certain historical period. The historical process under the conditions to study.The so-called "ancient and modern" refers to the development of history, and the so-called "Chinese and foreign" refers to China and foreign countries, that is, one's own side and the other side.

According to the order of historical development, the history of our party, I think, can be divided into three stages: the period of the Great Revolution is the first stage; the period of the Civil War is the second stage; the period of the Anti-Japanese War is the third stage.Whether this division is appropriate, you can discuss, I just put forward as an opinion, not a resolution of the central government.It would be better if there is a division method that is more suitable for the historical process of the party. The task of the revolution is to oppose imperialism and its lackeys in all three stages.The first stage was directly manifested against the Beiyang warlords, the second stage was directly manifested against the Kuomintang, and the third stage was manifested against the Japanese invaders and the traitor Wang Jingwei.

The united masses, the first stage is the democratic classes in the country, which is the cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party; the second stage is the narrowed united front, the Kuomintang and the Communist Party split, and the country is divided into two major parts, one part is under the leadership of the Kuomintang, and the other part is under the leadership of the Communist Party. Under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, they confront each other and carry out civil war; the third stage is the whole nation resisting Japan and restoring the form of cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party.

The targets hit by the revolution were mainly the Beiyang warlords in the first stage, and our policy is a broad united front.The second stage is manifested as opposition to the Kuomintang. Our policy is a narrow united front, an alliance of the proletariat with the peasants and the lower petty bourgeoisie.The third stage is the current policy. The Japanese invaders and traitors are our targets.The revolutionary front is the cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, and all patriotic forces across the country.This is our route. In the first stage we had things that were right and things that were wrong.The correct place is to realize the cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, the target of the attack is correct, and the organization of the revolutionary team is correct.Then came the Chen Duxiu line, and in the first half of 1927 the Party's line was wrong.When the Kuomintang was preparing to carry out a treacherous revolution, to lose the proletariat and the peasants, and to lose us and the revolutionary masses, we still united with it. This is right opportunism.The situation has changed, but our policy line has not changed.The right tendency is all united against struggle.The fundamental feature of Chen Duxiu's line is that all united opposition struggles, that is, when the big landlords and the big bourgeoisie rebel, they must unite with them.The policy of the big landlords and the big bourgeoisie has changed, but ours has not.The big landlords and the big bourgeoisie have cracked down on the revolution, but our policy remains unchanged.This is a right mistake.In union we should unite with it on the one hand and struggle against it on the other.In the second stage, the country was divided into two camps.After the Ma-Ri Incident[2], there was a kind of putschism, saying that "everyone who has a land is a tyrant, and no gentry is not bad."The following Li San line is to riot when there should not be nationwide riots. From "September 18th" to the Zunyi Conference, when a national enemy invaded and the national bourgeoisie and the upper petty bourgeoisie had changed, our policies did not follow suit and remained the same as before. s things.The leadership line at that time was all struggles denying unity. The situation changed after September 18th. The upper petty bourgeoisie and the national bourgeoisie openly leaned towards us, such as Sun Ke and Huang Yanpei.But we say that they are reformists and that they are our main targets.It is wrong to regard these people as the main targets of attack.Also, the idea of ​​eradicating the rich peasants at that time was also too left.The third stage is neither all alliances without struggle, nor all struggles without alliances, but the synthesis of alliances and struggles, with unity as the main force and struggle as the auxiliary, requiring independence under unity.Unity is unity, independence is struggle.What is independence? When you stand here, no one asks you to stand away, so there is no problem of independence; if others want to stand where you stand, they want to drive you away, so there is a problem of independence up.Struggle and friction are for unification, and they are the means of unification. This is called hitting and pulling, hitting and pulling, and it is reasonable, beneficial, and restrained.Independence and self-reliance without hindering unity means that we hope to unite better.

The history of the CCP is divided into these three stages. In terms of the goals of the struggle, the targets of the attack, and the political line of the party, they all conform to the facts and make sense. Before the Great Revolution of 1925-27 there was still a preparatory stage.The period from 1921 to 1924 was the immediate preparation for the Great Revolution, which can be combined with the Great Revolution that began in 1925. Before the "July 7th" and after the Third Plenary Session of the Kuomintang Central Committee, the situation of cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party has generally been formed. This can be considered to be merged in the third stage, and there is no need to divide it.

Speaking of preparations for the revolution, the first stage that began in 1921 was actually prepared by the Revolution of 1911 and the May 4th Movement.Especially the May 4th Movement, the ideas of the Great Revolution, cadres, the masses, and young intellectuals all began to prepare at this time.So strictly speaking, when we study party history, we only start from 1921 and cannot fully explain the problem. I am afraid that the previous part of the material should explain the predecessor of the Communist Party.The previous part is too far away and too long. It is about the same from the 1911 Revolution, and it may be better to start from the May 4th Movement.

The Revolution of 1911 occurred when the Chinese proletariat had not yet awakened and the Communist Party of China had not yet been formed; after the failure of the Paris Commune, the proletariat of the world had no actual revolutionary action but was just preparing for revolution; When the bourgeois revolutionary reserve army.The May 4th Movement took place after the European War and the October Revolution. At this time, the revolutionary movement in the colonies and semi-colonies of the world was no longer the reserve army of the world bourgeois revolution, but the reserve army of the world proletarian revolution.The May 4th Movement was a response to the Russian October Revolution, so it was more profound than the Xinhai Revolution.The Revolution of 1911 only overthrew the Qing emperor politically, not completely.When we write history, we often say that the Revolution of 1911 was a failure. In fact, it cannot be said to be a complete failure. The Revolution of 1911 had its victories. It overthrew the Qing emperor who directly relied on imperialism.But then it failed, did not consolidate its victory, the feudal forces replaced the revolution, Yuan Shikai replaced Sun Yat-sen.At that time the proletariat did not enter the political arena as a class-conscious class.The May Fourth Movement took place under the influence of the October Revolution.The October Revolution had a great impact on the awakening of the world and China.During the May 4th Movement, the Chinese proletariat began to awaken. The May 4th Movement occurred in 1919 and the Communist Party of China was born in 1921. The May 4th Movement was a broad united front, with left-wing, right-wing and middle forces inside .One month after the "May 4th Movement", the June 3rd Movement occurred, and there were strikes, school strikes, and market strikes across the country.The strike at that time was still a spontaneous movement of the proletariat.We should study the attitude of the workers during the May 4th Movement.Although the strikes were not led by the Communist Party at that time, there were always leaders among them.In the May 4th Movement, some progressive intellectuals played the leading role.Although university professors don't go to the streets, they run around and do a lot of things.Chen Duxiu was the commander-in-chief of the May Fourth Movement.Now is not the time for us to publicize the history of Chen Duxiu. In the future, when we study Chinese history, we will talk about his contributions.The Kuomintang did not play a leading role in the May Fourth Movement, it stood by it.

The May Fourth Movement prepared the Great Revolution, and without the May Fourth Movement there would be no Great Revolution.The Communist Party of China was born after the "May 4th Movement", and the May 4th Movement was born after the Russian October Revolution.The Chinese Communist Party was organized under the call of Lenin, and the Communist International sent people to help organize it. At the first congress of the Communist Party of China, international representatives attended the meeting. To study the history of the Chinese Communist Party, one should also study the materials of the 1911 Revolution and the May 4th Movement before the founding of the Party.Otherwise, the development of history cannot be understood.There are many things now that are directly related to that time, such as the opposition to party stereotypes. If we do not contact the old stereotypes, old dogmas, Confucian dogmas, and classical Chinese during the "May Fourth Movement", I am afraid that the problem cannot be clarified.

The evaluation of the Revolution of 1911 and the May 4th Movement requires research.Was the Revolution of 1911 a complete failure or some success? Did the May 4th Movement have masses or no masses? I think the May 4th Movement had a broad mass character, which is naturally worse than the Great Revolution.At that time, the bourgeoisie, the petty bourgeoisie and the proletariat were the united front, and there were no peasants participating, only the broad masses of workers.By the time of the Great Revolution, peasants had participated.During the Agrarian Revolution, the number of peasants participating was much wider, but the united front was not wide enough.By the time of the Anti-Japanese War, peasants had participated more extensively than in the Great Revolution and the Agrarian Revolution. At the same time, there was a broader united front than in the past.

The May Fourth Movement was a united front of the national bourgeoisie and the proletariat, with a spontaneous nature.But this spontaneity is different from the previous ones, and it is somewhat awakened. Many people are in favor of the October Revolution and Lenin's revolution.Sun Yat-sen once said that Lenin is a saint of revolution and communism is a good friend of the Three People's Principles.He was in favor of communism as an ally.Under the influence of the October Revolution, people at that time had a great awakening.The May 4th Movement developed to the founding of the Communist Party, and the labor movement moved forward. Only then did the KMT-CPC cooperate.Therefore, without explaining the 1911 Revolution and the May 4th Movement, the establishment of the Communist Party and its subsequent history cannot be explained clearly. When talking about the Revolution of 1911, if we do not mention the domestic and international situation at that time, we cannot explain the occurrence of the revolution.Similarly, without explaining what kind of government the "May 4th" era was, it is also impossible to explain the occurrence of the May 4th Movement and the June 3rd Movement.Therefore, important political documents at that time, such as the edict of Emperor Xuantong's abdication, some documents of Yuan Shikai and Duan Qirui's government, and several important declarations of Sun Yat-sen, etc., must be studied. During the period from 1921 to 1927, the objects of struggle were imperialism and its lackeys, the Beiyang warlords.It would be difficult to understand the struggles at that time without explaining how landlords oppressed peasants, how capitalists oppressed workers, how imperialism divided China, and how the Beiyang warlords responded to the revolution.To study the cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party at that time, it is not enough to only look at the manifesto of the Communist Party without looking at the manifesto of the Kuomintang.The Communists joined the Kuomintang in their own name at that time, and the Kuomintang was a large group. If we did not understand this large group, we would not be able to understand the situation at that time and why Chen Duxiu made mistakes later.We should also read the materials about the "April 12" incident and the March 12 incident.During the civil war, we opposed the Kuomintang and the lackeys of imperialism. If we did not talk about how the Kuomintang surrendered to imperialism and how imperialism joined with the Kuomintang to oppress and exploit the Chinese people, we would not see the need for a civil war.If we don't know who owns the main means of agricultural production, land and cattle, and if we don't clarify the ownership relationship between landlords and farmers on the land, we won't know the necessity of the agrarian revolution.If we don't talk about the fact that the Kuomintang continued to attack the Communist Party and not Japan after the "September 18th", our opposition to the Kuomintang will appear to be unreasonable and groundless.The War of Resistance was a joint effort between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party to fight against Japan. The Kuomintang published many documents, and the Communist Party also published many documents.Some of the anti-Japanese documents of the Kuomintang are good, but they want to be anti-communist.We need to look at our own documents, as well as those of the Kuomintang.You need to read good documents from the Kuomintang, but you also need to read anti-communist documents.If you do not read these materials, you will not understand the grounds for opposing the Kuomintang and the Communist Party.Because they first published the "Measures for Preventing Alien Party Activities" and other things, causing friction. It is necessary for us to emphasize struggle on the condition that it does not harm unity or cause division. If we do not emphasize struggle, there will be another Chen Duxiu doctrine. When talking about China's anti-imperialist struggle, it is necessary to talk about how foreign capitalism and imperialism have viciously invaded China.When we talk about the Chinese proletariat, we must talk about the proletariat of the world, and when we talk about the struggle of the Chinese proletarian party—the Communist Party, we must talk about how Marx, Engel, Lenin, and Sri Lanka led the international proletariat to fight against capitalism and imperialism. struggle.This is called "Chinese and foreign law".China is "China" and foreign countries are "foreign".Borrowing this meaning, it can also be said that the Revolution of 1911 was “China” and the Qing government was “foreign”; the May 4th Movement was “China” and Duan Qirui and Cao Rulin were “foreign”; During the Civil War, the Communist Party was "China" and the Kuomintang was "Outside".If the "outer" is not clear, it will not be easy to understand the "middle".If there is no such aspect in the world, there will be no other aspect.So there is an "ancient and modern" and a "Chinese and foreign".Since the Revolution of 1911, the May 4th Movement, the Great Revolution, the Civil War, and the Anti-Japanese War, this is "ancient and modern."The Chinese Communist Party, the Kuomintang, peasants, landlords, workers, capitalists, and the proletariat and bourgeoisie of the world, etc., these are "Chinese and foreign".I think that in order to systematically study the history of the CCP, we will need to compile two kinds of materials in the future, one is within the party, including the international communist movement; the other is outside the party, including imperialism, landlords, and the bourgeoisie.Both materials are organized chronologically.The comparative study of the two materials is called "ancient and modern Chinese and foreign law", that is, the method of historicism.When we study party history, we must look at it comprehensively. Only in this way can we study party history scientifically.Our research on party history must be scientific and not subjectivist.To study the mistakes in the history of the party, we should not only hate a few people.If you only hate a few people, you will regard history as being created by a few people.The Marxist view of history is not subjectivism, it should find out the essence of historical events and its objective causes.Is it enough to only look at objective reasons? Not enough, we must also look at the role of leaders, which has a great effect.But leading figures also exist objectively. There are objective reasons for going "left", going right, or making mistakes, which can only be explained by finding the objective reasons. Now we oppose subjectivism, sectarianism, and party stereotypes. When studying history, we should also pay attention to whether these things exist in history.Only by clarifying these issues can we learn a scientific method.This scientific method is not subjectivism, sectarianism, or stereotyped Party writing.We should use this method to study our Party's strategic line in various periods and to study individual issues, such as military issues, the elimination of counter-revolutionaries, and the issue of peasants' land. Studying the history of the CCP should focus on China and sit on China.We also have to study capitalism and socialism in the world, but we have to figure out the relationship with the study of the history of the Chinese Communist Party. It depends on which side your butt is sitting on. If you are completely sitting on the side of a foreign country, it is not studying the history of the Chinese Communist Party. up.When we study China, we must take China as the center, and we must sit on China to study things in the world.Some of our comrades have a problem, that is, everything is centered on foreign countries, they make gramophones, mechanically swallow foreign things and bring them to China, and they do not study China's characteristics.It is impossible to solve China's problems by importing foreign things without studying China's characteristics.If we do not study the historical development of the Chinese Communist Party, the party's ideological and political struggles, our research will be fruitless.We have read "A Concise Course on the History of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (Bolsheviks)," which tells us that Bolshevism created the Soviet Union, a socialist country, using Marxism as its theory and method.This Bolshevism, this socialist country, never existed before. It was created in Russia by the party led by Lenin.Lenin combined the standpoint and method of Marxism with the concrete practice of the Russian Revolution and created a Bolshevism. Using this theory and strategy, he carried out the February Revolution and the October Revolution. Stalin followed up with three five-year plans , created the socialist Soviet Union.We're going to do it in the same spirit.We must apply the methods of Marx, Engel, Lenin, and Sri Lanka to China to create something new in China.There are only general theories, and if they are not used in China's reality, they will not be able to defeat the enemy.But if we apply theory to practice, use the standpoint and method of Marxism to solve China's problems, and create something new, then it will be useful.For example, our party created the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army without cannons and aircraft, and this was created by China itself. According to the first issue of "Party History Research" in 1980. -------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ note [1] This is Mao Zedong's speech at the Central Study Group. [2] For the Ma-ri incident, see note [3] on page 38 of this volume.