Chapter 53 "Three Disciplines and Six Points of Attention"

"Three major disciplines, eight points of attention" is a glorious tradition of the people's army in enforcing mass discipline, and it is also an important content of Mao Zedong's strict management of the army.The concept of this complete system was formally proposed at the Seventh National Congress of the Communist Party of China held in May 1945, but its basic content was proposed by Mao Zedong during the Jinggangshan period. The ancient and modern Chinese and foreign armies must have military discipline in order to deal with internal and external relations. China's old-style military also pays attention to military discipline.However, the core of the military discipline of the old army is to require soldiers to obey the officers blindly and absolutely. It advocates and implements the stupid soldier policy of "generals value wisdom, soldiers value stupidity", and under the slogan "soldiers take obedience to orders as their bounden duty", soldiers are arbitrarily driven , so as to cultivate the supreme dignity of officials in the army, and to create the majesty of the people outside the army.As for the content involving military-civilian relations, it does not belong to the scope of the old-style military regulations.

Since Mao Zedong started working in the army building, he has been constantly exploring the issue of discipline.He knew very well that whether the weak revolutionary army could survive, the first condition was whether it could win the support and support of the local people.However, among the common people, there has been a saying that "good iron does not make nails, and a good man does not serve as soldiers", because the common people hate the old army that burned, killed and looted the most, calling them "Qiu Ba" (the word for "soldier" is split into " Qiuba").

The Communist Party of China accepted the legacy of the old army when it created the army, and the same is true in terms of discipline.The "Iron Army" during the Northern Expedition was famous for its strict military discipline, but it was an old-fashioned discipline after all.Especially when the revolution suffers setbacks, violations of discipline such as disobeying orders within the army and taking things from ordinary people abroad emerge in endlessly.Mao Zedong led the Autumn Harvest Uprising troops, which happened to be "ordered at a time of crisis". The troops were frustrated and retreated to the middle of the Luoxiao Mountains, and there was also a serious lack of discipline along the way.

In order to make the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army essentially different from the old-style army and truly win the trust of the people, Mao Zedong determined to make the rectification of military discipline the top priority of the Red Army's construction. On October 23, 1927, the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army was on its way to Jingzhu Mountain at the junction of Suichuan and Ling County, and met Zhu Chiliu, the captain of the reconnaissance team sent by Wang Zuo to the mountain to inquire about the whereabouts of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army.Under Zhu Chiliu's enthusiastic arrangement, the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army stayed overnight in Jingzhu Mountain.The next day, Zhu Chiliu sent someone to Dajing to report to Wang Zuo.

Wang Zuo sincerely welcomed the workers' and peasants' revolutionary army to Jinggangshan. In order to ensure a good relationship between the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army and Wang Zuo's troops after going up the mountain, and to prevent violations of mass discipline from happening, before the troops set off, Mao Zedong delivered a speech to everyone at the "Thunderbolt" in front of Jingzhushan Village. Proposed the "three major disciplines" of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army. Chen Shiju recalled the scene at that time in "Three Disciplines, the Origin of the Six Points of Attention": Committee Mao briefly introduced the situation in Jinggangshan, and he said: Today, we are going to Jinggangshan to establish a base there.We must have a good relationship with the masses on the mountain.To build a good relationship with Wang Zuo's troops and do a good job in mass work... So, he officially announced three disciplines: first, obey the command in action;

These three concise and concise disciplines define the basic principles of the army’s internal relations, relations with the masses, and survival. They not only reflect Chinese characteristics, but also reflect the characteristics of the struggle in Jinggangshan. . When Mao Zedong established the discipline of the people's army, it was precisely when the "Left" ideological trends in the party were flooded.This trend of thought is reflected in foreign relations, which is the policy of burning and killing.Mao Zedong firmly opposed this policy of burning and killing.After seeing the serious consequences of losing the masses due to the burning and killing policy implemented by the Hunan Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China, he paid special attention to safeguarding the interests of the masses when formulating disciplines, and further improved the discipline of the people's army on this basis.

On January 5, 1928, the Revolutionary Army of Workers and Peasants occupied Suichuan City.Due to the rumors and slanders of the landlords, evil gentry and reactionaries, the market was deserted.The decentralized actions taken by the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army after entering the city caused some problems in terms of discipline.For example, some soldiers borrowed the door panels of ordinary people and did not return them, and some even burned the houses of local tyrants. That was what happened when a squad of the Revolutionary Army was ordered to fight a local tyrant.

When the soldiers of the revolutionary army came to this local tyrant's house, the local tyrant had disappeared, leaving only the beautiful house that could not be moved.Seeing that the local tyrant could not be hit, the squad leader pasted a note on the gate, which said that the local tyrant was ordered to send 1,000 yuan within 3 days, otherwise, the house would be burned down. Three days later, the local tyrant did not send any money, so the squad leader led the soldiers to set the house on fire. While the fire was burning, the local tyrant asked someone to bring back a message: Please don't burn down his house, and send it as soon as the money is collected.

However, it was too late, the mansion was in ruins, only a few baskets of blackened silver cents were found among the broken walls. Such a major event was quickly reported to the front committee and to Mao Zedong. Mao Zedong was very disturbed and felt that it was necessary to make some practical regulations to all commanders and fighters of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army.Therefore, on January 25, Mao Zedong held a meeting of all commanders and fighters in Lijiaping, Suichuan County, and announced the "six points of attention" of the Workers and Peasants Revolutionary Army: (1) close the door panel; (2) bundle straw; (3) speak kindly; ( 4) Buying and selling is fair; (5) Don’t lavish, please ask the master to give you money; (6) Don’t hit or swear.

This is another disciplinary regulation on the building of the people's army after the "three major disciplines" proposed in Jingzhushan.Moreover, "every sentence of the six points of attention is the words of ordinary people, very popular and easy to understand", which is real and easy to operate. It is precisely because Mao Zedong and the former committee promulgated the "six points of attention" in a timely manner and strictly inspected the implementation of the situation, so the military discipline of the troops is strict.When the troops were divided in Suichuan, the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army was especially supported by the peasants and achieved gratifying results.At Caolinwei in Suichuan, more than 20,000 people went to the market, "unprecedented in history".

Due to the frequent battles and the influence of "Left" errors within the party, the burning and killing of the Workers and Peasants Revolutionary Army and violations of the interests of the masses still occurred from time to time. In late March 1928, Mao Zedong personally led the first regiment of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army to Guidong and Rucheng in order to meet and cover Zhu De's troops going to Jinggangshan.After arriving in Shatian, Eastern Guangxi, the Revolutionary Army of Workers and Peasants actively carried out mass work and achieved great results.However, there have also been some incidents of violations of the interests of the masses and acts of burning and killing: one time when the house of a local tyrant was burned, the houses of the common people next to it were destroyed; , Arrest the carpenter who worked for the door-to-door team leader, etc. Mao Zedong was very indignant about this.He severely criticized this behavior, pointing out that we must implement the consistent policy of our army and not be disturbed by those "left" tendencies.He said to the cadres and soldiers in the army: "What's the use of burning houses. What needs to be eliminated is feudal exploitation ideology and reactionary forces. If the houses are left behind, they can still be used to run schools after the victory of the revolution." In order to completely correct this phenomenon, on the morning of April 3, Mao Zedong concentrated his troops in the fields of the Thirty-Six Dan Hill in Tiger Chong, behind Shatianwei, East Guidong, and formally promulgated the "Three Great Disciplines, Six Points of Attention". Mao Zedong said solemnly: "Things like burning houses will not work. If houses are burned, the people will all leave. Now we must issue several disciplines. The first is to follow orders in all actions; the second is not to take anything from workers and peasants; Three rules, everything seized must be returned to the public. Six points of attention: 1. Lock the door panel; 2. Bind the straw; 3. Speak kindly; 4. Buy and sell fairly; Here, according to changes in the situation, Mao Zedong changed the three major disciplines announced by Jingzhushan from "don't take a sweet potato from the common people" to "don't take anything from workers and peasants"; "Don't beat and swear" was changed to "Repay what you borrow" and "Compensate what you damage". For the three major disciplines and six points of attention, Mao Zedong explained to the commanders and fighters one by one.Regarding the item of "compensation for damaged things", he said to everyone: If a water tank of the masses is broken, compensate him for a new one. Although the new tank is not as smooth as the old one, it is better to pay than not to pay. satisfying.He told everyone to memorize the three major disciplines and the six precautions after returning home, strictly abide by them, and no one should violate them. This is the first time since Mao Zedong established the Jinggangshan base area that he promulgated the "three major disciplines and six precautions" of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army in a relatively complete manner. In order to make it easy for the soldiers to remember, they began to teach and sing "Red Army Discipline Song" in the army. The lyrics are: put on the door panels, bales and lay grass, and sweep the house clean. Be kind in your speech, and be fair in your business. Damaged items must be compensated, and borrowed items must be repaid. Mao Zedong not only put forward the "Three Major Disciplines and Six Points of Attention", but also personally supervised their implementation.Zhang Lingbin recalled: "At that time, he moved with the army. When the situation permitted, he always followed the rear guard to check whether we had installed the door panels and tied the straw. He asked the family's name, family situation, Is there any firewood for the landlord, is the water in the water tank full, and is the floor cleaned? He will even ask where the money for the landlord is put. He said that it must be put in a proper place and not let others take it gone." "Three major disciplines and six points of attention" are the basic rules of the People's Army.It embodies a new type of military-civilian relationship in which the people's army is in harmony with the people and does not commit crimes, and has become an important part of the people's army's army-building principles.It has played an important role in building the people's army, in correctly handling the relationship within the army, especially between the army and the people, and in uniting the masses of the people and disintegrating the enemy army. Zeng Zhi, who went to Jinggangshan with the uprising troops in southern Hunan, had such a memory: "Before I went up the mountain, I heard that Chairman Mao's troops were strictly disciplined. Some of our troops from southern Hunan came from the old army, and the other part came from the countryside. The soldiers are loosely organized, and there are still some people who have the idea of ​​making money abroad. I remember when I was in Chenzhou, I saw some soldiers from the old army in the commander-in-chief Zhu's team have such a situation. When we go to a certain place, we just loot some big shops there, eat and take whatever we want. Chairman Mao believes that in order to train the team into a strong revolutionary force, we must establish a strict political work system. Two or three days after we arrived in Jinggangshan, When we arrived at Xiaojing, we visited a small exhibition there. The street of Xiaojing is very narrow, and there are only a few storefronts. We walked into a small shop, where there were some things: a few needles, a few threads, and a few sweet potatoes , a few pairs of socks, a few pairs of shoes, a few sheets of paper, and a few bunches of grass... Write an explanation next to it, explaining that these things cannot be taken even if they are a needle or a sweet potato; Also, you have to pay for broken things, and there is a door panel, a broken jar, and a broken bowl next to it; in order to illustrate that the Red Army wants to help the lonely, elderly and weak people carry water and sweep the floor, a bucket and a broom are placed next to it. In short, There are not many things, but they are all real objects, expressing the contents of the three major disciplines and the six points of attention one by one. These things are often placed there so that the troops can look at them at any time." The promulgation of "Three Major Disciplines and Six Points of Attention" has brought about a fundamental change in the discipline of the Red Army.At that time, when the troops marched across the rice fields, they had to send a person to open the way in front. When they encountered rice fallen on the ridge, the person walking in front was responsible for helping it to the field. They must not kick or step on the rice, otherwise , is a violation of mass discipline. What other army can compare to this level of discipline? Such an army was naturally welcomed by the people in Jinggangshan. They made up a jingle to praise it: The Red Army has strict discipline, acts according to orders, loves the people, and is popular everywhere. The content of "Three Disciplines and Six Points of Attention" has been constantly revised and enriched in the practice of revolutionary war.Later, during the period of the Central Soviet Area, due to the strong feudal forces in the Guangdong-Jiangxi border area, the masses were dissatisfied with the troops' casual urination in the wild and bathing in the river according to the old habits.According to this situation, Mao Zedong adopted Lin Biao's suggestion and added two items to the six points of attention, that is, "avoid women in the bath" and "find the toilet after unloading".Soon, the eight items were changed to ten items, that is, two items were added: "do not search the pockets of prisoners" and "do propaganda work when entering and leaving".Subsequently, the newly added four items were merged into two items: "avoid women in the bath" and "do not search the pockets of the enemy". Due to changes in the combat environment, some of the specific contents of the "Three Disciplines and Eight Points of Attention" were changed later.By October 10, 1947, according to the common needs of all units nationwide in the war environment, the Chinese People's Liberation Army Headquarters re-unified and promulgated the three major disciplines and eight points of attention: The three major disciplines are: (1) All actions (2) Do not take needles and threads from the masses; (3) Return everything seized to the public. The eight points of attention are: (1) speak kindly; (2) buy and sell fairly; (3) return borrowed things; (4) pay for damaged things; ) not molesting women; (8) not ill-treating captives. The "Three Great Disciplines and Eight Points of Attention" that have been gradually developed and perfected in the long-term practice of revolutionary struggle have become an important part of the People's Army's army-building principles.It uses easy-to-understand, vivid and specific language, integrates political discipline, military discipline, and mass discipline, and is easy for officers and soldiers to understand and implement.Its connotation is no longer a simple code of conduct, but a major event related to strategy, strategy and policy, and it is the embodiment of the essence of the proletarian people's army.