Chapter 18 Mao Zedong criticized Deng Tuo as "a dead man running a newspaper"

Mao Zedong successively delivered lengthy speeches at the Eleventh Enlarged Supreme State Conference and at the National Propaganda Work Conference of the Communist Party of China. His original intention was to ignite a fire in China, so that the majority of democrats and intellectuals could "speak loudly." Let it go"... He is a man who never leaves his books and newspapers.However, when he opened the People’s Daily, the official newspaper of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, he was greatly disappointed: in his opinion, the People’s Daily should publish an editorial for his speech at the Supreme Enlargement Meeting, and quickly convey his “ "New thinking", but "People's Daily" only published very simple news; as for the CCP National Propaganda Work Conference, "People's Daily" didn't even publish any news!

Mao Zedong was angry! Mao Zedong was a person who attached great importance to newspapers.When he talked to Snow in 1936, he said: "In the few years I was in Changsha Normal School, I only spent a total of 160 yuan - including my many registration fees! Of this money, one-third must be spent on newspapers, because subscriptions The fee is one yuan a month. I often buy books and magazines at the newsstand. My father scolded me for wasting money. He said it was squandering money on waste paper. But I developed the habit of reading newspapers. Until I went to Jinggangshan in 1927, I never stopped reading the daily newspapers in Beijing, Shanghai and Hunan..."①

Since becoming the leader of the Communist Party of China, Mao Zedong has widely read various newspapers every day, especially "People's Daily" - "People's Daily" was named by him in April 1946, and he wrote five consecutive The masthead of "People's Daily" in horizontal script is for newspaper offices to choose.Since the "People's Daily" was upgraded from the official newspaper of the North China Bureau of the Communist Party of China to the official newspaper of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China in August 1949, Mao Zedong paid more attention to this largest newspaper in China, which is the mouthpiece of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.

Mao Zedong selected an emaciated Fujian "scholar" to serve as the president and editor-in-chief of the "People's Daily".This person's name is Deng Tuo, and he can be said to be the best candidate: Deng Tuo not only has a stylus in his hand, but also joined the CCP as early as 1930.He is the predecessor of "People's Daily" - "Jinchaji Daily" editor, and has written hundreds of editorials.As early as 1944, Deng Tuo compiled and printed China's first "Selected Works of Mao Zedong" in the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Border Region.His respect for Mao Zedong and his admiration for Mao Zedong Thought made Mao Zedong feel relieved to entrust him with the important post of president and editor-in-chief of "People's Daily".

Gradually, Mao Zedong became dissatisfied with Deng Tuo running the "People's Daily", and in 1956 he criticized him as "a scholar running a newspaper" for being too gentle and too rigid. On January 27, 1957, Mao Zedong criticized the People's Daily in his speech at a meeting of party secretaries of provinces, municipalities, and autonomous regions: "For some harmful remarks, it is necessary to give a strong refutation in a timely manner. For example, the article "Say 'Inevitable'" published in "People's Daily" said that mistakes in our work are not inevitable, and we use the phrase "inevitable" This is a kind of harmful speech. It seems that this article can not be published. Since it is going to be published, we should be ready to refute it in time and sing a counter-drama. When we engage in revolution and construction, we will inevitably make some mistakes , This is proven by historical experience. The article "Revisiting the Historical Experience of the Dictatorship of the Proletariat" is a theory of inevitability. Who among our comrades is willing to make mistakes? Mistakes are only realized later, and at the beginning they all think they are 100% self-righteous Marxism..."①

This passage from Mao Zedong shows that he read the "People's Daily" very carefully.Of course, he only had an opinion on an article published in the "People's Daily", and the problem was not very serious. In the middle and late March of 1957, the "People's Daily" had no response to Mao Zedong's two important speeches, and Mao Zedong was furious.As the organ of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, how can it be so indifferent to the leader's major "new thinking"?Deng Tuo at that time, although not a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (at the "Eighth National Congress" of the Communist Party of China, many people nominated Deng Tuo as a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. They", thank you), but as the top leader of the "People's Daily", he was present when Mao Zedong gave a report.He listened to Mao Zedong's report with his own ears, but "stand still", although he had conveyed Mao Zedong's report inside the newspaper.

On April 1, 1957, several cars filed into the "People's Daily" office.Out of the car were Deng Xiaoping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, Wang Jiaxiang, secretary of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee, Hu Qiaomu, alternate secretary of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee, and Lu Dingyi, director of the Propaganda Department of the CPC Central Committee.It goes without saying that there is an important matter to convey to the "People's Daily". Deng Tuo urgently summoned some editorial board members of People's Daily to attend the meeting.The meeting was chaired by Hu Qiaomu.Hu Qiaomu conveyed Mao Zedong's sharp criticism of the "People's Daily" verbatim, and the atmosphere of the meeting suddenly became extremely tense.

Mao Zedong's criticism came eleven years later—on September 1, 1968, the editorial "Two Newspapers and One Magazine" of "People's Daily", "Liberation Army Daily" and "Red Flag" magazine "Carry out the revolution on the news front to the end" ——A Thorough Criticism of China’s Khrushchev’s Counter-Revolutionary Revisionist News Line”, which was published in bold typeface for the first time: "The party's newspapers should publicize the party's policies in a timely manner. It was a mistake not to publish the news of the propaganda work meeting. This meeting was held jointly by people inside and outside the party. Why didn't it publish the news? Why didn't the Supreme State Council publish an editorial? The policy is kept secret? There are ghosts in it, where are the ghosts? In the past, it was said that scholars run newspapers, but now it should be said that dead people run newspapers. policy."

This criticism is heavy enough!It is still bearable to upgrade from "scholars running newspapers" to "dead people running newspapers"-"dead people" means nothing more than loss of feeling and no response.The most powerful sentence is "Most of you are opposing the policies of the Central Committee". As an organ newspaper of the Party Central Committee, it is not bad to be opposing the Party Central Committee! Mao Zedong also asked: "Whose newspaper is the "People's Daily"? Is it the "People's Daily" or the "National Daily?"

Deng Tuo and the editorial board members of "People's Daily" looked at each other in blank dismay, speechless. Hu Qiaomu then announced that the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China decided to establish a newspaper committee, led by members of the Politburo, to strengthen the work of the People's Daily. Then, Lu Dingyi, Wang Jiaxiang, and Deng Xiaoping spoke successively.Their speeches, according to Deng Tuo's manuscripts, also said some good things, not as sharp as Mao Zedong's: "The comrades in the newspaper office have done a lot, very hard, and good work. The secretariat did not care enough before. Everyone should Concerned, reminded. In the past two years, the chairman often mentioned that the work of "People's Daily" has not improved much. In the future, the working method must be changed, not buried in piles of paper, often run outside, listen to opinions, and strive for great progress. "They He urged Deng Tuo to "accept the lesson, work hard, and reform the newspaper, as long as the reform is done."

Deng Tuo seemed to be slapped hard.Although he realized that Mao Zedong's sharp criticism would cause him to be transferred from the People's Daily (as it later did), he only announced the strengthening of leadership at the time, not his dismissal.He obeyed the central government's decision as a matter of course, and seriously promoted Mao Zedong's "new thinking" in the "People's Daily"...