Zhou Enlai's reading and study career

From setting up the lofty ambition of "reading for the sake of the rise of China," to adhering to the cultivation requirements of "stepping up study," "living to be old, learning from the old, and transforming into the old," and then carrying forward the fine study style of "learning from the masses," "learning from books," and "learning in the course of practical struggle," Zhou Enlai set for us a brilliant example of attaching importance to study, studying diligently, and being good at studying. Reliving his past of reading and studying, and understanding why he learned, what he learned, and how to learn, is of great enlightening significance for correcting his learning attitude and improving his learning skills.

(i)

Zhou Enlai loved to read since childhood and laid a solid foundation in culture. Zhou Yigeng, who was working in the northeast at the time, judged that this nephew was very talented and learned through correspondence, so he arranged for him to follow him. From 1910 to 1913, Zhou Enlai successively entered the Yingang Academy (primary school) and the Fengtian Sixth and Second Grade Primary School (renamed Dongguan Model School after the Xinhai Revolution), and the results of each subject were among the best. His compositions are especially praised by teachers, and he is often criticized with the word "chuanguan" and pasted in the school's grade exhibition for students to watch.

At this time, China's national crisis was becoming more and more serious, and the northeast was the focus of the imperialist powers' contention in China. Under the influence of teachers with progressive ideas, Zhou Enlai successively read Chen Tianhua's "Alarm Clock", "Sharp Return", Zou Rong's "Revolutionary Army" and other revolutionary books. He also subscribed to the Shengjing Times and developed the habit of reading newspapers and caring about state affairs every day. How to save the people from the depths of the waters? How to revitalize the Chinese nation? Zhou Enlai's thinking became deeper and deeper, and he also gained a new understanding of the study problem. In 1911, during a self-cultivation class, the teacher asked the students: What is the purpose of reading? Some of the students said that it was to help their parents keep accounts, and some said that it was to seek a personal future. Zhou Enlai solemnly replied: "For the rise of China!" Later, he also wrote a message for his classmate Guo Sining, "I wish to meet when China takes off in the world".

In October 1912, Zhou Enlai wrote "Speech on the Second Anniversary of the Dongguan Model School", proposing that the purpose of teaching and learning is to cultivate talents for the country and make the country rich and strong. He wrote: "All my classmates in the school. Who are we, who are not the citizens who will bear the responsibility of the future state? Where is this place, not the school that has created my perfect nation? Sage books, all kinds of science, what is for me to study deeply? The mouth of the master talks about finger painting, and the friend looks at Ximo, what is the love between me and the three? Do we not want to be fully educated and become great people, and to shoulder the arduous responsibilities of the country in the future? With the heavy burden promised in the future, based on the three or four years of primary school, how should classmates and classmates work hard and start to be unashamed?" This is the earliest article of Zhou Enlai that has been preserved, which fully expresses his understanding of why he read and governed. After reading this, the Chinese language teacher happily commented: "Teaching is not so enough to speak, learning is not so enough to speak, school is not so not enough to speak of school, articles are not so not enough to speak of articles."

"Reading for the rise of China", the lofty ambition set by his youth, was Zhou Enlai's persistent pursuit throughout his life, and it was also his ardent expectation for the younger generation. In January 1939, Zhou Enlai spoke at the alumni forum held by Nankai Middle School on the responsibilities of young people in the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, pointing out: "Young people must be concerned about the survival of the nation, and at the historical juncture when the Chinese nation is facing life and death, they must shoulder the rise and fall of the world on their shoulders, and they must regard the interests of the nation above all else." Everything conducive to the War of Resistance must be supported and supported; Anything that is not conducive to the War of Resistance must be resisted and opposed. In February 1951, he returned to his alma mater, Nankai Middle School, to inspect and encouraged the students: "I hope you will study hard and exercise seriously." If you learn, you can use what you have learned, serve the workers and peasants, and serve the country's economic construction and cultural construction. You will certainly learn better than we do, and the hopes of the motherland are pinned on you. ”

(ii)

Learning is important, and learning what is also important. In July 1963, Zhou Enlai made a report at the beijing municipal conference of fresh graduates of colleges and universities, summarizing the content that should be learned and mastered from six aspects. Although this is said to college students, it has universal guiding significance in many ways.

The first is to master learning tools. Zhou Enlai believed that in study, we must first lay a good foundation and master the basic tools, that is, to "make the Chinese Chinese literature well, not only can speak but also write; It is also necessary to learn the basic mathematics well, not only to learn the natural sciences well, but also to learn the social sciences; High school students, especially university students, must also learn one or two foreign languages." "If a worker desires to do good, he must first use it." After nearly half a century, Zhou Enlai's view has been fully proved by practice.

The second is to study philosophy well. Marxist philosophy is a scientific worldview, methodology and values that provide a powerful weapon for understanding and transforming the world. Zhou Enlai believed that no matter whether studying liberal arts, science, engineering, etc., we should study philosophy, because "philosophy solves the problem of our world outlook and methods of thought", and "without learning dialectical materialism, we cannot criticize idealism and metaphysics." Marxist philosophy should be "taken as a weapon in our daily analysis of problems and applied to practical life." Studying and applying philosophy is a good tradition of our party and a successful experience of our party.

The third is to study social sciences. Zhou Enlai believes that the most important thing in this regard is to study politics, because daily life is inseparable. At the same time, it is necessary to study economics and understand economic laws, which is inseparable from the construction of the motherland; It is also necessary to study history, draw on historical experience, and carry forward the fine traditions of the nation. In his view, studying social sciences "can enable us to better grasp historical materialism, better understand the law of development of the national economy, integrate the universal truth of Marxism with China's actual situation, and form China's development path."

The fourth is to learn production knowledge. In view of the defects in school teaching that do not attach importance to the production of labor knowledge, especially the poor vocational education, Zhou Enlai pointed out that this will inevitably lead to "the average youth always want to develop in the direction of further education", and the parents of primary, junior high school, and high school graduates are "anxious for their children's further education". He stressed: "Not only should we strengthen specialized vocational education, but we must also enable our graduates at the three levels of high school, junior high school, and high school to master production knowledge to varying degrees, and "in school we can learn a production skill, so that they can participate in productive labor when they enter society." Labor is the source of all happiness, and labor education is an important part of the socialist education system. The problems pointed out by Zhou Enlai in those years still exist to varying degrees today, and some of them are even more serious, and we must make up our minds to solve them.

Fifth, strengthen scientific research. This is Zhou Enlai's demand on students in secondary professional schools, especially in science, engineering, agriculture, medicine, and other disciplines, stressing that "we must delve into our own disciplines, conduct scientific experiments in laboratories and production, and then use them in production," and also put forward the expectation of striving to "break through the cutting edge of science and technology and catch up with the world's advanced level." Zhou Enlai devoted a great deal of painstaking efforts to the development of new China's scientific and technological undertakings, especially the cutting-edge science and technology of national defense, and made great achievements.

Sixth, learn some revolutionary literature and art. Zhou Enlai believed that literary and artistic accomplishment is very closely related to a person's ideological, emotional, and moral qualities. Studying revolutionary literature and art is conducive to enhancing personal cultivation and cultivating communist morality and the fighting spirit of the proletariat. Regarding the phenomenon that "some young people feel that imported films are better and American films are better," he clearly pointed out: "We can look at these things, but we must analyze them and learn to distinguish between good and bad, and we cannot watch the victims." It should be said that drawing scientific lessons from foreign countries and vigorously guarding against blindly admiring the foreign world is not only an inevitable requirement for studying literature and art, but also a basic requirement for doing a good job in studying in all aspects.

(iii)

Attaching importance to the building of a study style is the fine tradition of our party. Zhou Enlai has always stressed the need to cultivate a good style of study, especially to be good at learning from the masses, books, and practice.

First of all, we must be good at learning from the masses. The people are the creators of history, and the masses are the source of wisdom. By respecting the masses and being willing to be students, we will be able to obtain the "True Scriptures" from the masses of the people and learn useful things. Zhou Enlai stressed: "We must rely on the masses, follow the mass line, and learn from the masses. Wisdom comes from the masses, you just have to pay attention to learning, among the working people are talents everywhere, and everywhere are our teachers. ”

Zhou Enlai set strict demands on himself: "Never isolate yourself from the masses, learn from the masses, and help them." Live a group life, pay attention to research, and observe discipline. On April 22, 1943, he made a report to the cadres of the Southern Bureau on how to be a good leader, emphasizing that leaders should have the spirit of learning, and profoundly expounded the problem of learning from the masses. Why should we learn from the masses, "Because the leaders themselves are not full of knowledge, experience is not enough, and the leadership position does not enable you to gain knowledge and experience, so it is very necessary to face the masses and learn from the experience of the masses." "How to learn from the masses," we ask the comrades: (1) to be close to and in touch with the masses, and to a certain extent to be in harmony with them; (2) to listen to the opinions of the masses; (3) to learn from the masses; (4) to educate the masses, not to be the tail of the masses. ”

Second, be good at learning from books. Books are the ladder of human progress and the key to the door of wisdom. Reading is the main way to learn, but reading books can not read dead books, dead books, but to think, distinguish between right and wrong, so as to turn the knowledge in books into their own knowledge. Zhou Enlai pointed out: "Some things in books are right, some things are wrong, and even if they are not right, we must understand them, so that our knowledge can be enriched."

After the founding of New China, our party carried out arduous explorations in order to find a road of socialist construction that suited the national conditions. Mao Zedong proposed that the "second integration" of the basic tenets of Marxism with China's specific reality should be realized. From the first Zhengzhou Conference in November 1958 to the Central Work Conference in June 1961, he advocated four times for leading cadres to study political economy. Zhou Enlai actively responded to the call, and in February 1960, he convened a meeting of some leading cadres in Conghua, Guangdong Province, and formed a reading group to systematically study the Soviet Union's "Political Economy (Textbook)". He conscientiously participated in the study and discussion, and talked about the study method when summing up the study, saying that the study is long-term, and that it is necessary to analyze this book, affirm and develop what is right, and negate and criticize what is wrong.

Third, be good at learning from practice. Practice is the basic source of human knowledge and the only criterion for testing truth. To strengthen study, we must read both the book with words and the book without words, that is, learn from practice. According to Zhou Enlai, "This includes studying in the practice of production, learning in the revolutionary struggle, and studying in scientific experiments, thus combining theory with practice."

Conducting in-depth and practical investigation and research is the basic method of learning from practice. Zhou Enlai stressed that the formulation of realistic plans and instructions "must go through the most practical investigation and study and link these practical materials with the principles and principles of the Party." After the founding of New China, he served as premier for 26 years, and every year he had to go down to the grassroots level to understand the situation and make decisions on this basis. In May 1961, Zhou En went to Boyan Commune in Wu'an County, Hebei Province, to conduct research, visited dozens of poor and lower-middle-class peasant families, inspected the collective canteen of the production team, and also went to the commune store to understand the price of goods. Based on the first-hand situation he has grasped, he believes that the opening of canteens and the maintenance of a partial supply system do not conform to the actual situation in the rural areas, and are two issues in which the opinions of the vast number of rural cadres and members of the society are relatively concentrated and the reaction is relatively strong. Zhou Enlai truthfully reported the investigation to Mao Zedong and proposed ways to deal with it, which provided an important basis for the central government to correctly formulate rural policies, especially to solve the canteen problem.

(iv)

There is no end to practice, and there is no end to learning. When Zhou Enlai was in the first grade of Nankai Middle School, he wrote an article entitled "The Plan of a Lifetime Lies in Diligence", and said bluntly: "If you want to plan for a lifetime, you can't give up studying." But if you don't study diligently, why is it expensive to learn? Therefore, it is expensive to study, and diligence is enough for a lifetime. He also listed vivid examples in Chinese history, such as "smelling the chicken dancing" and "reading with snow", which fully demonstrated the importance of diligent study.

Zhou Enlai's life was a life of diligent study. Whether in the revolutionary years or during the construction period, he always insisted on studying and squeezing time to study in his heavy work. On March 18, 1943, he wrote "My Cultivation Rules" in the study of rectification, the first of which was: "Step up study, grasp the center, rather than miscellaneous, rather than specialized." The third is the method for resolving the contradiction between engineering and study: "To integrate study and work, we must pay attention to time, space, and conditions, so that they can be properly coordinated, we must pay attention to reviewing and sorting out, and we must discover and create."

Later, Zhou Enlai repeatedly talked about "living to be old, learning from old age, and transforming into old age", and also said: "People are not born to know, but to learn and know." The old Chinese saying makes a lot of sense. We must go further now, to live to be old, to learn from old, to be old, to change to old. The more we learn, the more we feel that there are too many things we don't know, and we know too few things. On September 29, 1951, Zhou Enlai gave a report at the teachers' study meetings of beijing and Tianjin colleges and universities, and answered the question of how intellectuals learned and carried out ideological transformation with his own personal experience. He said: "The purpose of learning is to transform themselves. I think that everyone who asks to learn should have such a minimum understanding. "Personally, I have been participating in the May Fourth Movement for more than thirty years, and I have also made continuous progress and constantly transformed. Maybe some comrades will say: Now that you are the leader of the government, do you still want to study and transform? Yes, I still have to learn and transform. Because there are still many things I don't know, and there are many truths that I don't understand, I must continue to learn and understand, so that I can make progress. Zhou Enlai's report was sincere and left a deep impression on those present.

"The cloth is warm, the vegetables are fragrant, and the reading taste is long." This is a sentence that Zhou Enlai exhorted his nephew Zhou Rongqing to exercise at the grassroots level in 1958. Zhou Enlai's way of learning has injected new connotations into it, which is worth savoring.

(The author is deputy director and researcher of the Seventh Research Department of the Central Academy of Party History and Literature)

Source: Learning Times