Chapter 42 He Xiangning publicly pointed out the term "rightist" for the first time

It was the first time that the word "rightist" was publicly mentioned in a newspaper. It was not Mao Zedong, but He Xiangning, a famous leftist in the Kuomintang and Mrs. Liao Zhongkai! This is because the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China instructed on May 20: "The speeches of some left-wing elements should be gradually increased." Therefore, He Xiangning, a highly respected "leftist", was selected to reveal Mao Zedong's meaning. That was on June 1, 1957, the United Front Work Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China held the last symposium for leaders of various democratic parties and personages without party affiliation.It was at this meeting that Chu Anping made a speech on the "party world", and He Xiangning made a long written speech after Chu Anping.

He Xiangning's written speech was in stark contrast to Chu Anping's. He Xiangning said: "Because I have been in poor health for the past few months, and the doctor advised me not to hold more meetings, so I couldn't come to attend, please forgive me." To this end, He Xiangning wrote a long letter as a written statement. In her letter, He Xiangning mentioned her late husband Liao Zhongkai's analysis of the Kuomintang, that is, there were "revolutionaries, non-revolutionaries, fake revolutionaries, and counter-revolutionaries" in the Kuomintang. She pointed out that revolutionaries are leftists, non-revolutionaries are centrists, and fake revolutionaries will become counter-revolutionaries, and counter-revolutionaries are rightists.

He Xiangning recalled the history and said: At that time, there were indeed leftists and rightists within the Kuomintang, and there was no need for others to create them.I have always admitted that I am a leftist of the Kuomintang, because I firmly support Mr. Sun's three major policies.The right wing of the Kuomintang is opposed to uniting with the Soviet Union, uniting with the Communist Party and implementing the worker-peasant policy.Even people's livelihood is opposed.The revolution must unite the left, win over the middle and isolate the right. This truth did not start today, it has existed since ancient times.At the beginning of the Anti-Japanese War, Chairman Mao's policy, according to my memory, was to unite the progressive forces, win over the middle forces, and oppose and isolate the die-hard forces.Naturally, in every period of revolution between the old and the new, those who were relatively progressive yesterday may become relatively stubborn today; conversely, those who were backward yesterday may also become progressive today. When the revolutionary party unites with its friends, I think of course it should unite the progressive forces, win over the middle forces, and isolate the conservative and stubborn forces.This is not surprising at all.If it didn't, it wouldn't be a revolutionary party.

After talking about the leftists and rightists in history, He Xiangning turned the topic to the "new era": The question is not whether a revolutionary party should do this.The question is that people in this revolutionary trend should decide to join the ranks of the revolution and be a leftist who follows the trend?Are you still a centrist, or are you willing to be a rightist all your life? Today is a new era. Under the leadership of the Communist Party and Chairman Mao, we are on the road to socialism.Could it be that in this era, everything is uniform, and there will no longer be left, center, and right?No, everyone is loyal and willing to help and lead the party sincerely under the leadership of the Communist Party.I guess that's what leftists are.China has the largest population in the world, so we should be determined to be with the working class and jump out of the suffering of the oppressed and poor people all over the world. This is the revolutionary leftist.I think that in the democratic parties, every person who is willing to make progress must strive to be a leftist and show it in action.Secondly, there are basically people who have a patriotic conscience, but are vague in their thinking and can't grasp their own direction. There are many people in the middle. I believe that our leading party and the leftists of various democratic parties should try their best to help these people. But there are a very small number of people who say nothing about socialism. What they yearn for is capitalism, and what they yearn for is European-style politics. I think these people are rightists.I hope that people with this kind of thinking and attitude will not be content to be rightists for a long time, but should constantly remould themselves and improve themselves, then they will have a bright future.

He Xiangning finally issued a warning to the rightists: I hope that during the rectification campaign, we can help the leading party to correct its mistakes and shortcomings. I also hope that the democratic parties can improve themselves during the rectification campaign. First of all, I hope that a very small number of people on the right can completely reform themselves. Therefore, if the leading party unites our leftists now , win and help our middle elements, educate and criticize the rightists, that can only benefit our democratic parties, and we welcome the leading party to do so. The next day—June 2, 1957, He Xiangning's written speech was published in the People's Daily.

This was the first time in 1957 that the term "rightist" appeared in the "People's Daily", and it was the first time that "criticism and education of the rightists" was proposed. Logically, He Xiangning's speech should attract widespread attention.However, since she is not a leader of the CCP, but a democrat, many people don't think so.Almost no one noticed that in He Xiangning's written speech, the basic point of Mao Zedong's "Things Are Changing" was expressed!