Editor's note: Zhao Zhenyu, a second-level professor at the School of Journalism of Huazhong University of Science and Technology and the chief expert of the Central Marxist Theory Research and Construction Project, has been engaged in news commentary practice, teaching and research for more than 40 years since he joined the Commentary Department of the Yangtze River Daily in 1982 and later transferred to Huazhong University of Science and Technology. During this period, he took the lead in opening news commentary classes and establishing a commentary research center in colleges and universities, and successively won the famous teacher of Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Huazhong Scholar, and the "Baosteel Education Award" Outstanding Teacher Award. He wrote two books, "News Report Planning" and "Modern News Review", which were included in the national planning textbooks of the "Eleventh Five-Year Plan" for general higher education. In order to allow more commentators to have an in-depth understanding of academic Xi, the Red Net Red Pepper Comment Channel regularly publishes a series of articles on the "Zhao Zhenyu Series of Memoirs".
Zhao Zhenyu (Second-level Professor, School of Journalism, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Chief Expert of the Central Marxist Theory Research and Construction Project)
Beijing is the center of China's political culture, and naturally there are many central media and influential media. In addition to publishing commentaries and theoretical articles in People's Daily and Guangming Daily, I also published some commentary and theoretical articles in newspapers and periodicals such as Workers' Daily, China Youth Daily, Science and Technology Daily, Economic Daily, Xinhua Daily Telegraph, China Culture Daily, China Reform Daily, Study Xi Times, News and Publications, Beijing Daily, Democracy and Science, and Qunyan.
Workers' Daily is a comprehensive newspaper sponsored by the All-China Federation of Trade Unions. Founded in Beijing on July 15, 1949, it is a national comprehensive central-level newspaper focusing on economic propaganda, for which Comrade Mao Zedong personally wrote two inscriptions. In the 80s of the 20 th century, the task was to popularize the principles and policies of the CPC Central Committee and to provide a public opinion position for the workers to know, discuss, and participate in the administration of the CPC. Publicize the new things, new achievements, new experiences, and new problems that have emerged in the course of reform and opening up. We should educate the workers in ideals, morality, education, and discipline to improve their political, cultural, and scientific qualities. Speak and act for the masses of workers, safeguard the democratic rights and legitimate rights of the masses of workers, and give play to the role of public opinion supervision. It was from this period that I began writing for the Workers' Daily.
The social situation since the reform and opening up and the practice of theoretical researchers have proved the importance of theoretical research work, but at the same time, a large number of facts have also told people that good theoretical research results are not easy to obtain, but there are still great difficulties. This is because although the air in the theoretical circles is comparatively more active, and the phenomenon of beating sticks, wearing hats, and putting bags on the basis of different opinions is rare (because the central government has explicit regulations, but even so, such phenomena are not extinct), the concept of holding an incorrect view of theoretical workers and their research results still exists, and one of the manifestations of this is that they are "problematic" with the new ideas, new concepts, and new developments discovered by theoretical workers in their explorations, and then that the spokesperson himself is also "problematic." I dare not say whether this is a new style of stick or hat, but the chain reaction caused by this has caused theoretical workers to feel insecure and unfree in their hearts, and then affects the healthy development of social science research. It is precisely for this reason that theoretical researchers must face up to this if they want to truly "dare to involve political issues in theoretical research."
As a result, I wrote an article entitled "The "Problematic" Debate, which was published in the "Meditations" column of the theoretical edition. The article reads -
What is a "problem"? A problem is the contradictions, difficulties, deficiencies, and mistakes that people make in the course of practice. As long as people live in the world and want to learn Xi and work, they will encounter various contradictions and difficulties, and will make mistakes and deficiencies of all kinds. No one is perfect, and nothing is perfect. The existence of contradictions is eternal, and there is no need to make a fuss about "problems". It is precisely in the midst of contradictions and problems that human society survives, and advances and develops in the process of resolving contradictions and problems. So far, what science, which great book (including the natural sciences) can say that it has no problems? No. Even Marxism, whose founders did not say that it had ended, but that it should continue to develop. To develop, there are still contradictions and problems that have not been resolved. It is in this sense that we can say that Marxism is also problematic. It is precisely because of this that it is necessary for us to study and study Marxism Xi Marxism, so as to enrich and develop Marxism. In this regard, Comrade Mao Zedong has set an excellent example for us. The series of principles and policies put forward by our party since the Third Plenary Session of the 11 th CPC Central Committee are the best illustration of this. Our theoretical workers should follow this path and make their own positive contributions to exploring and creating the Chinese model of socialism.
Reform is a completely new task, an arduous task. Exploring a new path among the thorns will inevitably lead to problems of one kind or another. It is appropriate to minimize problems or errors, but it is inappropriate to negate and criticize people's spirit of exploration, and to suppress and limit people's enthusiasm (objectively). Just because a certain formulation or phrase in an article is inappropriate or inappropriate (not to mention that some of the things that were judged to be "problematic" and later proved to be correct in practice) should not mean that the book or article is "problematic" and that the author is "problematic", and thus all the "problematic" articles, works, and authors are involved. In academic research and theoretical discussions, the practice of allowing only one formulation, one concept, and one model is not conducive to contention, competition, prosperity, and development of social sciences. Of course, we should oppose any form of grandstanding, and we should also allow different opinions and criticisms to be presented, but all this should be done in a state of equality and freedom. Only through comparison and discrimination can there be development -- only when the truth is more discerned and accepted by more people can theoreticians distinguish right from wrong, correct their understanding, and improve their theoretical and ideological quality in the course of exploration.
At the end of the article, he wrote: "Theoretical research should have a scientific and rigorous attitude, and bourgeois liberalization should not be allowed, but at present, it seems that the spirit and courage of bold exploration and innovation should be advocated all the more." It is not easy to create a relaxed environment, and we have suffered a lot in this regard, have learned extremely profound lessons, and have paid expensive 'tuition'. We need to be cautious about this!"
Meditations in the Workers' Daily, May 2, 1986
Nearly 40 years have passed since the publication of the article, and in theoretical research, the formulation of "problematic" and the practice of viewing and dealing with people according to the standard of "problematic" are still manifested in our academic research and political life from time to time, and we need to be highly vigilant.
According to the problems existing in theoretical research and propaganda at that time, I also wrote an article on the theoretical edition entitled "There is no forbidden area in theoretical research, and there is discipline in theoretical propaganda"——
I don't know when he began to pursue such a purpose in the theoretical circles and public opinion circles -- "there is no forbidden area for theoretical research and there is discipline in theoretical propaganda." This slogan seems to have been put forward as a sign of ideological emancipation. As far as theoretical workers are concerned, especially during the period of smashing the "Gang of Four," it did have an encouraging effect, and everyone can at least study some more questions and ask a few more whys. However, practice has shown that the formulation of this slogan is unscientific or at least incomplete. Its implementation does not serve the purpose of thriving social science research and propaganda, and may sometimes have the negative effect of suppressing suffocation theory.
Let's take a look at the first half of the sentence first, "there is no forbidden area for theoretical research". Is there no forbidden area for theoretical research? It is impossible to generalize. As a kind of theoretical research, its field should be very broad, and theoretical workers can say that there is no forbidden area in all fields that need to be studied. However, as a social science, under the current system, it is not possible or not advisable to open all fields of research to theoretical researchers, and at the same time, due to the lack of knowledge and literacy of theoretical workers themselves, they sometimes hesitate and retreat when they step into the door of certain new fields. In this sense, there is a forbidden area for theoretical research. There are both objective and subjective reasons for the existence of such forbidden areas. Whoever says that "there is no forbidden area for theoretical research" is that there is no forbidden area. Therefore, it seems inappropriate to put forward the slogan of "no forbidden areas" in theoretical research, because it is a kind of painting cake that cannot or cannot be realized, and cannot lead theoretical workers to a new realm. In my opinion, changing it to "theoretical research only in truth" seems more explicit and credible. In order to seek the truth and uphold the truth (including correcting mistakes), theoretical workers themselves should strengthen the tempering of their theoretical quality, ideological consciousness, and character; the ideological management system should also be reformed accordingly, and theoretical workers should be encouraged and a good environment and conditions should be created for them to boldly explore and open up new fields of research.
Let's take a look at the second half of the sentence "There is discipline in theoretical propaganda". Theoretical propaganda is to introduce, explain, and expound the results of theoretical research to the masses, so that they can understand their meaning, accept the truth, firm up their direction of action, and arouse their enthusiasm. Of course, theoretical propaganda must stress discipline, just as we must also stress discipline in other work, otherwise it will be chaotic. The problem now is that some people have made a one-sided or even distorted understanding and implementation of "discipline in theoretical propaganda." Everyone should be equal in the face of discipline. However, in real life, this is not the case in some public opinion and propaganda departments. There, theoretical propaganda is not carried out according to uniform discipline, but according to the will of the leaders. Whoever is an official is disciplined, and whoever is an official is a big official, whose discipline is great, and everyone else must abide by it, otherwise it is a violation of discipline. In fact, those who do not abide by discipline are often not theoretical researchers and propagandists, and most of their propaganda activities have gone through certain work procedures, and they are disciplined (of course, there are also undisciplined people). Those who do not abide by discipline are often certain leading comrades who are in charge of ideology and public opinion propaganda. When it comes to discipline, they are sometimes a little worse than the others. Their subjective arbitrariness is more manifested in theoretical propaganda, and why? Because they have power in their hands. In the past, we often emphasized the intellectual, cultural, ideological, and moral qualities of leaders, and opposed only books, supreme opinions, not seeking truth, and not speaking the truth. More importantly, however, it is necessary to reform the current ideological management system and the system of appointing leading cadres. The drawbacks brought about by this system are more harmful than the poor quality of individuals, and it is precisely this kind of malpractice that breeds and aggravates such inferior qualities of people.
In order to meet the needs of the reform situation and transform the propaganda work, it is necessary to change the phrase "theoretical propaganda is disciplined" to "theoretical propaganda seeks science." This is because science is a comprehensive reflection of the objective laws of nature, society, thinking, and other fields. It includes not only discipline, but also the laws of theoretical propaganda, art, morality, and the modernization of propaganda tools and means. In this way, we will be more comprehensive and accurate in carrying out theoretical propaganda, and the results of theoretical propaganda will naturally be greatly improved.
September 9, 1988, theoretical edition of "Weekly Forum", reprinted in Digest Daily, September 18, 1988
More than 30 years have passed since the publication of this article, and the above understanding and performance are still in theoretical Xi and academic research. General Secretary Xi Jinping's speech at the Philosophy and Social Science Work Forum pointed out: It is necessary to advocate theoretical innovation and knowledge innovation, encourage bold exploration, carry out academic contention that is equal, healthy, lively and fully reasonable, and enliven the academic atmosphere. This speech should become the criterion for the work of philosophy and social sciences in the new era.
I wrote in the article "On the Establishment of a Scientific and Effective Social Reward and Punishment Mechanism"——
In the past 10 years of reform, we have made extremely great achievements, which are universally recognized and obvious to all, and there is no doubt about it. However, there are a number of problems. In order to sum up the past, face up to the present, look forward to the future, do a better job in all aspects of our work, and make our pace of reform and opening up better, more stable, and even faster, I hereby put forward the idea of establishing a scientific and effective social reward and punishment mechanism for the guidance and reference of colleagues in the theoretical circles and leaders of policy-making organs.
The reward and punishment system consists of two main parts: rewards and punishments. The roles of the two in the social control system are not the same. A reward is a positive and positive feedback on people's good behavior or achievements (with the help of different information carriers). Under the influence of gravity and pressure, people's internal factors (mainly ideology) will change, produce a leap, form a strong spiritual force, and finally produce positive and effective actions, and punishment is a kind of negative information feedback (with the help of different information carriers) about people's bad behavior or achievements (in a broad sense). Its main role is to warn the individual, educate others, and guide and restrain the members of the whole system.
In the course of establishing a scientific and effective social reward and punishment mechanism, it is necessary to pay attention to grasping the beneficial, integral, commensurate, democratic, and legal nature.
March 9, 1990 "Voices of Society"
Many years ago, I saw a huge advertisement in the local provincial and municipal newspapers that published a full-page "Urban Design Plan along the High-tech Avenue" for the management committee of a development zone to solicit opinions from the general public, asking the citizens to express their opinions on the design of the avenue with an area of 1,000 hectares, involving municipal facilities such as water, electricity, gas, and communications, and taking into account the functions of office, business, residence, service, leisure, entertainment, and catering. I read the description of the advertisement carefully, and I couldn't really say a single comment in the face of the blurry pictures. The day before the deadline for comments, I called the reception staff and was told that no one had made any comments or suggestions on the matter. It seems that the original intention of asking the people in this way is good, but if the method is not appropriate, the effect will naturally not be good. So, I wrote a commentary "Asking the people is also very knowledgeable", and expressed the following opinions on this-
………
It is good to ask the people about their plans, but it should not become a wind, and some of these issues should be clarified.
For example, it is necessary to figure out what to ask the people. From the major policies of the state to the planning and construction of cities and communities, there are many things that need to be collected and investigated and studied. State organs and relevant departments shall, on the basis of the nature and scope of decision-making affairs, decide on the selection and scope of topics to be consulted by the people. If you don't ask about the size of the matter, don't ask about the difficulty of the plan, just want to be lively, or stay on the surface, and ask the people all about it, it is obviously unrealistic and lacks due efficiency. Because it is beyond the endurance of ordinary people. With regard to national plans and professional issues, public opinion can be reflected through the two sessions and various professional advisory committees of the National People's Congress and the National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China. However, for matters related to people's livelihood such as community construction, market prices, labor insurance and welfare, it is beneficial to listen to the opinions of the community public.
Another example is the question of multiple ways to ask the people. Asking the people is a regular task. In most places, there are mayor's hotlines, letters and visits offices, and other types of offices, most of which collect social conditions and public opinions, and specialize in the work of asking the people for advice; in many cases, as long as they work conscientiously, in a timely and effective manner, the situation can be grasped.
Asking the people is a science. It will consume a lot of manpower and financial resources, and it must be carried out in accordance with scientific and effective procedures according to the significance of the question, the size of the scope, the difficulty of the problem, and the urgency of implementation.
October 20, 2010, "News Watch", Workers' Daily,
In addition, I also wrote articles in the Workers' Daily, such as "Don't Ignore the Middle Layer" (July 28, 1988), "'Blind Stream' or 'Wise Stream'" (March 31, 1989), "Overcoming Short-term Behavior, Correcting Impatience" (January 4, 1990), "Wake Up Early, Get Up Early" (January 2, 1992), and "Seeking Development Between Ups and Downs" (April 30, 1997).
Founded on April 27, 1951, China Youth Daily is the central organ of the Communist Youth League of China. Since the 80s of the 20 th century, China Youth Daily has stepped up its propaganda on reform, reported on the advanced deeds of a number of young reformers in all walks of life who had the courage to open up, and conducted a realistic analysis of some new situations and new problems that have emerged in the course of reform at a deeper level.
After the Sixth Plenary Session of the 12 th CPC Central Committee adopted the "Resolution of the CPC Central Committee on the Guiding Principles for the Construction of Socialist Spiritual Civilization," I wrote "The Fundamental Task Is to Improve the Quality of the Nation." The article reads -
Since the Third Plenary Session of the 11 th CPC Central Committee, especially since the 12 th CPC National Congress, great achievements have been made in the building of spiritual civilization. However, in the building of spiritual civilization, sometimes we only pay attention to changing the phenomenon of "dirty, disorderly, and poor," adding cultural facilities, beautifying the environment, and so on (all of which are very important), but we do not have enough understanding of improving people's quality. It is now very timely to articulate this fundamental task.
Marx pointed out in Capital that communism is "the creation of a realistic basis for a form of society based on the comprehensive and free development of every human being". At the time of the October Revolution in the Soviet Union, when it was not victorious, Lenin pointed out that the new and higher social mode of production that we were to establish was to "guarantee the welfare and the all-round development of freedom for all members of society." The predictions of Marx and Lenin are about to become a reality in socialist China. However, the development of productive forces and economic prosperity only provide the most basic conditions for people's all-round development, and in order to truly realize people's all-round development, we must attach importance to the improvement and perfection of people's quality. In order to narrow the gap between the mainland and the advanced countries in the world and to achieve the grand goals set forth by the 12 th CPC National Congress, the people of the whole country are working hard and actively on all fronts. The key role of the modernization of science and technology in the construction of the four modernizations has been recognized and valued by more and more people. In order to master and manage well the advanced science and technology that has been introduced and will be introduced, it is not possible to rely only on past experience, and it is necessary to improve the quality of people (including all kinds of intellectual investment and training).
Cultivating a new generation of "four haves" and improving the ideological, moral, scientific, and cultural qualities of the whole nation is not only the fundamental task of building spiritual civilization, but also the fundamental task and purpose of all economic and social activities.
November 6, 1986, China Youth Daily
At the beginning of 1984, China Youth Daily opened an essay column on the second page of the news page, "Seeking Truth". At the time of its founding, China was entering an unprecedentedly active period of reform and opening up and ideological emancipation, and the collision of ideas and concepts was fierce and acute. The founders, Chen Xiaochuan, Mi Bohua, and Ma Licheng, "are only in their early 30s, and they are at the age of strong blood, and they feel that they can do their part for reform and opening up and ideological emancipation, so they are planning to create an essay column." (Chen Xiaochuan: "The Essence of Seeking Truth", page 4, Chinese University Press, 1998) "Seeking Truth" is first and foremost a speech column, published on the news page, focusing on timeliness. At the same time, it is also an essay column, a speech column that appears in the form of essays, and its articles are eclectic and flexible. Most of the works published in this column directly attack social reality and point directly to social evils. At that time, I was working in the Commentary Theory Department of the Yangtze River Daily, and I liked to read and learned to write some such articles, which were published in this column.
In real life, we all hope that if we have something in our hearts, it is best to speak it to people and things, so that we can communicate with each other, enhance understanding, make the speaker feel comfortable, and the listener will benefit from it. But sometimes people's ideas are not always correct, so there are things that are right, some things that are wrong, and some things that are only partially right. It is good to be right, but those who are partial should be welcomed, and those who are not right should be allowed. Without such an atmosphere, it is difficult to hear what is in your heart. To this end, I wrote an article entitled "The Courage of Advice and the Grace of Acceptance".
The article is brought up because of a past incident: Liang Shuming's struggle for "Yaliang" from Mao Zedong is a major public case in modern history ("Liang Shuming and Mao Zedong's "Yaliang" Dispute"). Reading such history, I wrote in the article after quoting the allusions of the introductory and the admonition:
Since ancient times, those who speak must have courage, and those who listen must have grace. Although many dynasties have also formulated a system to ensure the smooth flow of speech, due to the constraints of historical conditions, it cannot be thoroughly implemented, and there are those who lose their black hats and even their heads because of their words, and there are also those who lose their country because of their refusal to admonish, resulting in one historical tragedy after another.
The founding of New China has provided a good foundation for the people to speak their minds widely. However, due to the influence of the mainland's long feudal consciousness, people's sense of democracy is not strong, which has also caused some historical misunderstandings or tragedies, whether large or small, such as the case of Mr. Liang. Based on this, I believe that in order to ensure the courage of the speaker and the grace of the listener, it is not enough to improve the moral character of the individual, but it is necessary to formulate a feasible system for the speaker and the listener, and ensure its implementation with the authority of the law. People's criticisms and suggestions to the government and leaders are democratic rights protected by law, and no one may suppress or infringe upon them for any reason or form. That alone is not enough, but it is also necessary to enact specific legislation that guarantees the rights and freedoms of citizens under the Constitution and punishes abuses of them. Providing more places for people to speak their hearts, creating a social atmosphere in which people can make criticisms and suggestions, and constantly improving the quality and art of both sides of the dialogue are what the people hope and the country needs, and this is also the enlightenment that Liang Shuming's case has given us.
This should be true of those who speak and listen to the major affairs of the country and the collective, and between colleagues, family members, friends, and neighbors, should not the same be true of those who speak and listen to the words?
June 2, 1988 "China Youth Daily" "Truth-seeking"
On April 29, 1989, I wrote an essay "Dog Bites, News", and participated in the "Seeking Truth" essay contest for the whole country, and there were ten first-class prizes, and in front of me were Feng Yingzi, Shang Ziyong, and Li Gengchen.
I wrote in the article -
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What is the definition of journalism is something that journalists study, and I don't understand it, and it's not convenient for me to comment on it. But as a citizen, I always think that it is better not to take things like dogs bite people and people beat dogs as news. On March 8, 1989, the "Wuhan Evening News" published a letter from Comrade He of the Education, Science, and Culture Working Committee of the Qingshan District People's Congress, saying: "Located near the Wuchang Railway Station, the Wuhan Railway Junction Defense Station has reached the five stations of the Second Fengyun Company, less than 400 meters away, and has recently added a number of dog babies (it can be described as a lot of children). During the day, people walk cautiously, and at night the barking is terrifying. This is really "the dog problem is not eliminated, and the people are not safe"!
You must know that the mainland has a tradition of fighting tigers, not to mention Wu Song of Jingyanggang, who also killed and maimed many big tigers and small tigers, real tigers, fake tigers, iron tigers, and paper tigers during the "three antis and five antis," "anti-rightist," and "Cultural Revolution." That's a good point. You don't see, there are a lot of people who beat dogs and make dogs-
According to the Chuncheng Evening News, a farmer in Qiubei County, Yunnan Province, beat to death a flower dog belonging to the secretary of the party branch of the county's winery. As a result, the dog beater wore linen and filial piety, went to the grave for the dead dog, and learned to crawl along the street from the east gate to the west gate, is this a heroic achievement?
According to the China Youth Daily, Liang, director of the Standing Committee of the People's Congress of Pei County, Jiangsu Province, raised a dog and bit many people, and was intervened by the public security, epidemic prevention and news departments. As a result, he was even more experienced than the branch secretary - "The masses are something." "I'm still in power, as long as I stomp my feet, you don't want to go out of Peixian County!" - I don't know if he stomped out the hero.
In his early years, Mr. Lu Xun had an essay on "On the Slow Movement of "Fei Eplai". Half a century has passed, and those dogs that were not killed back then do not know how many generations of descendants have been bred and how many new breeds have been alienated. But what Mr. said that "dog nature is not likely to change" and "dogs that bite people, I think they are all among the fightable" is always right. I think this is probably not just for the flower dog of the branch secretary and the yellow dog of the director of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, right?
On April 29, 1989, "China Youth Daily" "Seeking Truth"
On June 10, 1987, the "China Youth Daily" launched the "I offer good ideas for spiritual civilization" essay selection was announced, and the news report wrote: "Comrade Zhao Zhenyu of the Theory Department of Hubei "Yangtze River Daily" has devoted himself to opening up new fields of theoretical research in recent years, and has made useful explorations in reward science. In his manuscript "Establishing a Reward with Chinese Characteristics," he wrote analyzed the positive significance of rewards and the tendencies that should be avoided in the implementation of rewards in light of the mainland's national conditions. He pointed out that studying the science of rewards and doing a good job in rewards is undoubtedly very important for improving people's ideological and moral qualities. This paper was awarded the first prize of the essay competition, and won a "Huaguang" brand SZ1 135 camera produced by North China Optical Instrument Factory and a bonus. In the field of reward research, I have published "The Mystery of Reward" (Hubei People's Publishing House, 1986), "The Science and Art of Reward" (Science Popularization Press, 1989), "Incentive Theory: Exploring the Mystery of Human Resources" (editor-in-chief, Huaxia Publishing House, 1994), "The Magic Lever: Incentive Theory and Method" (Hubei People's Press, 2000) and other works. The Dictionary of Social Sciences (edited by Zhang Guangzhong, China Youth Publishing House, 1990) introduces my research with the entry of "reward science".
On 1 November 1999, the newspaper launched an opinion section entitled "Youth Topics". The publication "Listening" was planned by the editorial department and written by Mr. Ma Shaohua: "'Youth Topic' is a place to express opinions, an ear that opens to listen to you. We welcome views and opinions of all forms, long or short. The key is 'different'. The value of 'difference' lies in the fact that it not only contains the operation of the news media in seeking novelty and difference and the reading law of readers seeking novelty and difference, but more importantly, the significance is that ideological progress may be bred in 'difference', and similarity can only make us stop in the same place. "Around this time, I wrote some reviews and theoretical articles for the newspaper.
As 2006 marks the 40th anniversary of the Xingtai earthquake and the 30th anniversary of the Tangshan earthquake in China, the Chinese government will hold a series of commemorative activities to remember those unforgettable days and those who lost their lives. More than 242,000 people died and more than 164,000 were seriously injured in the Tangshan earthquake. The Xingtai earthquake killed 8,064 people and injured more than 38,000. (Xinhua News Agency, May 23, 2006) For this reason, I have written a commentary entitled "Please Fly the Flag at Half-mast for the Compatriots Who Have Passed Away," suggesting that in the above-mentioned commemorative activities, the relevant departments should consider adding a content, that is, to fly the flag at half-mast for the compatriots who died in that disaster, so as to express the remembrance of the people of the whole country.
More than 60 years ago, when Mao Zedong was commemorating the sacrifice of Comrade Zhang Side in Yan'an, he said the following: In the future, no matter who dies in our ranks, whether it is a cook or a soldier, as long as he has done some useful work, we will give him a funeral and hold a memorial service. It's going to be a system. At that time, New China had not yet been founded, and there was no "National Flag Law", so it was impossible for the thousands of soldiers and people who died in the war to fly the flag at half-mast for them, needless to say, as a sacrifice of one person.
It has been more than 50 years since the founding of the People's Republic of China, and it has been more than 15 years since the "National Flag Law of the People's Republic of China" came into effect on October 1, 1990. The second paragraph of Article 14 of the National Flag Law clearly stipulates: "In the event of an unfortunate event with particularly serious casualties or a serious natural disaster resulting in serious casualties, the flag may be flown at half-mast in mourning." Although the word "may" is used here, it means that it is not "uniform", not "must", and it is not mandatory. However, since it is "can", there are always standards that can be implemented and examples that can be implemented, and unfortunately, there are none. A provision that is "enforceable", but there are no rules that can be enforced, and examples that have been enforced, both from the perspective of the law-maker and the law-enforcer, need to think about it.
Various natural disasters and social disasters still hit us from time to time, and after each storm, some or a large number of people leave us. In order to express our sorrows and unite the entire people, it is possible to fly the flag at half-mast at the right time, in the appropriate manner and in accordance with the provisions of the National Law. In the early years, some people wrote articles calling for it, but it was not implemented. It is hoped that this will be used as an opportunity to form a system in which such ceremonies will be held at any event or time when the flag can be flown at half-mast. It is also hoped that the journalists of our news units will work creatively to choose the right events and timings to facilitate and report such ceremonies, so as to better learn Xi and implement the National Flag Law.
June 23, 2006, China Youth Daily, "Youth Topic"
In today's era, there are many "international conferences", including meetings held in Chinese mainland and a certain region or school abroad, as well as meetings held in a neighboring country or a place abroad. To this end, I wrote an article "Academic Innovation and Quotations of Foreigners" -
The extent to which such an "international conference" can represent a truly international standard may be well understood by many organizers. However, our system is clear that such "international conferences" can be funded and that the results of participation in such conferences are often recognized. It is of course a good thing that an academic research, an innovative achievement, can be recognized by an international conference attended by people from many countries. If China wants to go global, of course, it must pay attention to the world, and of course it must attach importance to all kinds of meaningful and valuable international conferences. However, it is undeniable that there are some foreign institutions that are now trying to find ways to send invitations to people from some developing countries in order to make money in the name of "international conferences"! Under such circumstances, is it necessary for us to take this as the only criterion for evaluation and awards?
Undoubtedly, academic research and innovation is a painful matter, and communication is necessary, and learning Xi learn from the achievements of predecessors and others. However, when meaningless exchanges become the criterion for evaluation, and when copying and copying other people's documents becomes fashionable, exchanges will become a formality, and excerpting documents will become simple manual labor! If academic innovation only depends on publishing some papers in foreign languages, participating in some "international conferences," and quoting some foreigners' "academic quotations," it will not only bring shame on academics, but also cause the country to suffer huge losses, and even more make some people who conduct research in a down-to-earth manner become impetuous, and people will be busy and unsure of what to do, and they will become "academic oilers." ”。
Xi from the world with an open mind and sincerely ask others for advice is always the premise of our academic research and innovation. I just hope that policy makers will always adhere to seeking truth from facts, proceed from China's national conditions and reality, and make our academic system and policies more conducive to the growth of Chinese talents.
June 1, 2009 China Youth Daily "Words of the Family"
In order to improve the quality of teaching, the Ministry of Education's evaluation of undergraduate teaching in ordinary colleges and universities is being carried out intensively in some colleges and universities. What is the purpose of the "teaching evaluation" is to enable mainland colleges and universities to "improve their standards and characteristics, and earnestly improve the quality of personnel training." It seems that "teaching assessment" makes sense. However, in order to really do this work well, it is necessary to sort out the problems existing in Chinese universities. So, I wrote "What Teachers Do to Have a Good Class" -
What is the purpose of a university, it is a place to cultivate high-quality talents, what is the purpose of teachers, and it is its unshirkable mission to teach and educate people. However, a very serious fact is also in front of us: what do teachers do for classes except for classes? As long as we go to the university and investigate a little, we can find that teachers actually have very little time for classes and teaching. They are more busy with working on topics, they are more busy writing papers and books, and they are more busy participating in various social activities such as award ceremonies, symposiums, and consultation meetings. It cannot be said that the above activities are not important, the question is that the teachers have gone to do things outside the classroom, and how much time and energy are left to attend and teach well.
In order to have a good lesson, teachers first need to strengthen the knowledge Xi of this course.
In order to have a good class, it is indispensable to prepare for the class carefully. It takes time and effort to understand the students, listen to their feedback, and listen to the lectures, learn from peers, and communicate with peers.
In order to have a good class, it is also necessary to mingle with the students, grasp and understand the extracurricular activities of the students they teach, answer their questions, correct their homework, and help them choose appropriate club activities and engage in effective academic research and social practice, all of which require the time and energy of the teacher.
The ongoing "Teaching Assessment" activity may increase the attention of teachers to classroom teaching and motivate them to work hard to create beautiful student business cards. However, I believe that this is by no means a matter of short-term teaching evaluation, and it is not just a matter for the teachers themselves, and it is necessary to rethink and reform the education system from the macro level. For example, can we ensure that universities are aimed at "teaching and educating people," can we evaluate schools and teachers based on the results of classroom teaching and personnel training, and can we formulate and improve a system for evaluating and promoting teachers that is conducive to teaching? Only in this way can we fundamentally change the current mode of running schools that actually emphasizes scientific research over teaching.
December 18, 2014 China Youth Daily
In the new era of the Internet, it is an inevitable trend to build a "trusted" network environment on the basis of "usability". In order to build trust and security online, it is necessary to create an ethical atmosphere in the spirit of "telling the truth" and integrity. I published a theoretical article on "Telling the Truth in the Internet Age" in the special edition of the "Thinker" theory——
Telling the truth is a common way to assert civil rights, an expression of sincere personality, and is closely related to the awakening of civic consciousness. Only by telling the truth more can we win the trust of others, and others will reciprocate with sincerity; only then can we confide in our true hearts, assert our own rights, provide reference for policy formulation, and "contribute to the building of a good faith atmosphere".
First of all, to tell the truth, you need to grasp the facts.
Second, tell the truth in a timely manner.
Thirdly, telling the truth should take a correct position.
Finally, to tell the truth, we must adhere to the spirit of independence and cultivate a tolerant character.
Under the new situation of deepening networking and the unstoppable tide of democratization, telling the truth is not only about courage and courage, but also requires the laying of corresponding systems. A relaxed institutional environment and an open public opinion will contribute to the normalization of telling the truth. At the same time, adhering to the spirit of independence and cultivating a tolerant character are also social nourishment for maintaining the "petals" of truth. When the cultural soil of tolerance is fertile and independent ideas continue to sprout, the truth will bloom and society will be closer and closer to harmony.
March 23, 2015, China Youth Daily, "Thinker" Theory Edition
The truth of news is the premise and foundation of news reporting, and telling the truth and reporting the truth is also the professional ethics that journalists should abide by at all times. Over the past 30 years, I have published "Dialogue with the Soul" (published by Changjiang Literature and Art Publishing House in 1999), "What We Said: A Historical Review of a Journalism Professor" (Wuhan University Press, 2009) and "Telling the Truth" (published by Huazhong University of Science and Technology Press, 2019). "Telling the Truth" has been listed as a joint project of the Propaganda Department of the Hubei Provincial Party Committee, Huazhong University of Science and Technology and Zhongnan University of Economics and Law, and has won the Hubei Provincial Social Welfare Publishing Special Fund Award Project.
The report of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China pointed out that leading cadres at all levels should take responsibility for their actions, dare to say new things that have not been said by their predecessors, dare to do things that their predecessors have not done, and guide new practice with new theories. General Secretary Xi Jinping once again stressed at the meeting of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee on democratic life, "Encourage grassroots cadres and masses to tell the truth, tell the truth, and speak from the heart." For the problems discovered, it is necessary to analyze the causes, pinpoint the crux of the problem, and study and solve them in a targeted manner. (Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, December 27, 2022)
In today's era, in the context of the rapid increase in knowledge and information, in the situation of faster and faster dissemination and more and more diversified media forms, we should not blindly encourage "think and say", but strive to "think and speak". Only those who have unique perspectives, unique insights, thorough reasoning, novel thinking, and constructive truth, truth, and heartfelt words will be favored by people and promote changes in work. In the process of developing whole-process people's democracy, it is necessary to tell the truth well, and in the practice of constantly improving the ability and level of grassroots cadres to govern the country, telling the truth, telling the truth, and speaking from the heart is an important task.
It is precisely because of the difficulty that we all need to work hard to practice and actively strive to tell the truth as soon as we discover problems or when problems are at the beginning of problems; we must dare to tell the truth when people are hesitant to move forward and speak in a whisper; we must tell the truth well when people can tell the truth; we must always keep the truth on our lips and always tell the truth; and we must admit and correct our mistakes after telling the truth and it has been proved to be incorrect or wrong in practice. Telling the truth starts from me, from now, from the place and time that can be done, and tells the truth that is in line with the local situation at that time. Practice is the only criterion for testing truth, and time ultimately judges the merits and demerits of cognition and practice, as well as the merits and demerits of truth and falsehood.