Wang Zhezhong | The "old three" are not old

Written by Wang Zhezhong

The old three articles refer to the three popular classic articles in the "Selected Works of Mao Zedong": "Serving the People", "In Memory of Bethune" and "Yugong Moves the Mountain", collectively known as the "Old Three".

When it comes to Chairman Mao's "three old articles," people like our generation who came from the fifties and sixties of the last century have unforgettable memories.

I first studied Chairman Mao's writings and the old three articles when I was a soldier in the Xinjiang Border Guards. When the company organized us to learn from Lei Feng, it said that Lei Feng was a good soldier of Chairman Mao, that he loved to read Chairman Mao's books the most, and that Chairman Mao's idea of serving the people guided Lei Feng's words and deeds. Company instructors and squad and platoon commanders have repeatedly led the soldiers to study Chairman Mao's "Serving the People" and "Yugong Moves Mountains" and other articles, and have also asked to write down their study experiences, and have taken this as a condition for selecting the "Five Good Soldiers."

In the late 60s and 70s, there was an upsurge in the study of Chairman Mao's writings throughout the country. All the commanders and fighters of the unit have "Selected Works of Mao Zedong" and "Quotations of Chairman Mao," among which the "three old articles" are compulsory courses for officers and men of the troops, and they are not only required to study and read every day, but also to memorize them. Back then, I was able to recite it word for word.

"Serving the People" in the "Old Three Articles" is a speech delivered by Chairman Mao at a memorial service held in 1944 for an ordinary guard soldier Zhang Side in Zaoyuan, Yan'an, and was later included in the third volume of (Mao Zedong's Selected Works). In this speech, Chairman Mao highly praised Comrade Zhang Side's noble spiritual sentiment of serving the people, and proposed that "our Communist Party and the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army under the leadership of the Communist Party are revolutionary troops. Our contingent is entirely for the liberation of the people and works thoroughly for the interests of the people. Chairman Mao also borrowed the words of the Han Dynasty historian Sima Qian in the article, "People are inherently dead, or heavier than Mount Tai, or lighter than Hongmao", and then expounded the life values of "dying for the interests of the people is heavier than Mount Tai". At the Seventh National Congress of the Communist Party of China, "serving the people wholeheartedly" was written into the party constitution, which became the fundamental purpose of our party and the starting point and end point of all work for communist party members.

Chairman Mao's article "In Memory of Bethune" was written in December 1939. Bethune was a member of the Communist Party of Canada and a prominent surgeon. In order to help China's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, he was appointed by the Comintern to come to China thousands of miles away, and unfortunately died in the process of rescuing the wounded and sick of the Eighth Route Army. Mao Zedong was very sad when he heard the news, and wrote a special article to commemorate Bethune. In the article, he spoke highly of Dr. Bethune's communist and internationalist spirit, and called on every member of the Communist Party of China to learn from Dr. Bethune's noble character of benefiting others without self-interest and his work attitude towards excellence in business and technology, and to "be a noble person, a pure person, a moral person, a person who is free from low-level interests, and a person who is beneficial to the people." In fact, Chairman Mao set a benchmark for Communist Party members.

"The Fool Moves the Mountain" is Mao Zedong's closing speech at the Seventh National Congress of the Communist Party of China on June 11, 1945. As we all know, "Yugong Moves Mountains" is an ancient fable and mythological story in the mainland, from the "Liezi Tangwen Chapter". In his closing speech at the Seventh National Congress of the Communist Party of China, Chairman Mao briefly described the achievements of the congress and the main work after the session, and then called on the whole party and the people of the whole country to carry forward the spirit of Yugong by telling the story of Yugong moving mountains, firmly implement the political line set by the Seventh National Congress of the Communist Party of China, unleash the masses, strengthen the people's strength, defeat the Japanese invaders, liberate the people of the whole country, and establish a new democratic China. Chairman Mao firmly believed that as long as the Communist Party of China leads the people of the whole country to unite, like the "foolish man", "make up their minds, are not afraid of sacrifice, overcome all difficulties, and strive for victory", persist in "digging mountains without stopping", and are indomitable and struggle endlessly, victory will definitely be achieved. Although "Yugong" is a mythical figure, the spirit of Yugong advocated by Chairman Mao is the embodiment and visualization of the revolutionary spirit of the communists who stick to their faith, are brave and fearless, dare to struggle, and dare to win. During the war years, we relied on this spirit to go forward one after another, were not afraid of bloodshed and sacrifice, dug down the three mountains that weighed down the heads of the Chinese people, and built a modern socialist power.

These three articles have been widely circulated since the 50s and 60s of the 20 th century, and have not only become compulsory subjects for the whole party, the whole army, and the people of the whole country in political study, but also are important items in various school textbooks, and have played an important role in propaganda, education, and guidance for the broad masses of cadres and masses.

The core force leading our cause is the Communist Party of China, and the theoretical basis guiding our thinking is Marxism-Leninism-Mao Zedong Thought. As an important part of Mao Zedong Thought, the "three old articles" have a tremendous and far-reaching impact on our party, army, and people. During the years of the Beacon War, Chairman Mao's writings and Chairman Mao's heroic images such as Zhang Side, Bethune, and "Yugong" inspired and inspired Communist Party members and the masses to work in unity, be willing to contribute, seek benefits for the people, seize power, and establish New China. The victory of the Chinese revolution was actually the victory of Mao Zedong Thought, which can also be said to be the victory of the "Old Three Articles". During the period of socialist construction and development, the "Old Three Articles" still played a tremendous role in education, organization, encouragement, and motivation, and nourished generation after generation of outstanding Communist Party members and heroic and exemplary figures, such as Lei Feng, Wang Jie, Wang Jinxi, Jiao Yulu, Kong Fansen, and so on. Even after entering a new historical period after the reform and opening up, the "Old Three Articles" are still the classic articles that people love to read, and people can get a lot of inspiration and realize a lot of truths from them. The fine style and precious spirit of "serving the people", "benefiting others without self-interest" and "working hard" are important contents in our party's spiritual pedigree, which are in line with and highly consistent with the core values of socialism, and are the moral norms and behavioral norms for the self-cultivation of all party members and cadres and the people.

It can be seen that the "old three articles" are not old and will last for a long time. At a time when the whole party is carrying out the theme education of "not forgetting the original intention and remembering the mission", and deeply studying the history of the party and the history of new China, revisiting these classic chapters in Chairman Mao's works and works is not only conducive to understanding the development process of the party's ideology and theory, but also deeply understanding the original intention and mission of the communists, and constantly enhancing the confidence and determination to realize the Chinese dream of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

September 8, 2021 Reading Diary