May 11, 1978
"Practice is the only criterion for testing truth" was published
Han Xue Zhou Yifan
On May 11, 1978, Guangming Ribao published an article entitled "Practice is the Only Criterion for Testing Truth" on the front page of Guangming Daily, which pointed out that the criterion for testing truth can only be social practice, and any theory must be constantly tested by practice. Hu Fuming, the main author of the article and then 43-year-old deputy director of the Department of Philosophy at Nanjing University, recalled that on February 7, 1977, an editorial published by two central newspapers and one journal entitled "Studying Documents and Grasping the Outline" aroused his high vigilance.
On May 11, 1978, "Practice is the Only Criterion for Testing Truth" was published in Guangming Daily.
Hu Fuming, the main author of "Practice is the Only Criterion for Testing Truth".
Hu Fuming: I came from a journalism background, and after I read it, I felt that something was wrong with this editorial, and after repeated scrutiny, I found that two sentences were unacceptable, one was "We will resolutely defend all decisions made by Chairman Mao; We have unswervingly followed Chairman Mao's instructions."
In Hu Fuming's view, the idealistic viewpoint of the "two whatevers" is the same as that of the "Gang of Four", and once a consensus is reached in society, it will become a stumbling block to putting things right. However, "whether to criticize or not" made Hu Fuming entangled.
Hu Fuming: When I thought of putting things in order and carrying out modernization, I felt that we had to criticize the "two whatevers"; Thinking of its danger, I tied my hands. After more than a month, I thought about it again and again, and I couldn't sleep well, and finally made up my mind: I want to approve, and I feel responsible.
"Two whatevers" had to be approved, but "how to approve" became the biggest problem that troubled Hu Fuming, and he decided to make a detour after careful consideration.
Hu Fuming: There can be a stand-in in the movie, and I will also get a stand-in for you here. I have replaced it with a critique of the "theory of genius," "every sentence is the truth," and a criticism of the "pinnacle theory," because "two whatevers" is a copy of the "genius theory" and "every sentence is the truth," and they are all anti-Marxist and engage in personality cult and dogmatism.
In 1978, Hu Fuming went to Beijing to revise the manuscript and took a group photo with Wang Qianghua, editor of Guangming Daily
At the end of July 1977, Hu Fuming's wife was hospitalized due to illness, and during the few days he spent in bed at the bedside, Hu Fuming completed the first draft of nearly 8,000 words in one go, entitled "Practice is the Criterion for Testing Truth." In early September, Hu Fuming sent the article to Wang Qianghua, editor of the theory department of Guangming Daily, who had asked him for a manuscript. After that, the article went through many rounds of revision and approval, and before publication, Yang Xiguang, then editor-in-chief of Guangming Daily, added the word "unique" to the title, and this article that profoundly affected the course of Chinese history was born.
Revised version of "Practice is the Only Criterion for Testing Truth".
After the publication of "Practice is the Only Criterion for Testing Truth," a nationwide debate on the issue of the criterion of truth was immediately triggered, and at the same time, this discussion also opened the prelude to the emancipation of the mind and the reform and opening up.
Deng Xiaoping: Emancipating the mind, using one's brains, seeking truth from facts, and looking forward in unity are, first of all, emancipating the mind. Only when our minds are emancipated can we correctly take Marxism-Leninism and Mao Zedong Thought as our guide to resolve the problems left over from the past and a series of new problems that have emerged.
Deng Xiaoping's inscription: Practice is the only criterion for testing truth
Deng Xiaoping's speech, entitled "Emancipating the Mind, Seeking Truth from Facts, and Looking Forward in Unity," became the leading content of the subsequent report on the theme of the Third Plenary Session of the 11 th CPC Central Committee, and "emancipating the mind and seeking truth from facts" eventually became a distinctive ideological imprint that ran through the entire process of China's reform and opening up.
Practice is the only criterion for testing truth
Special commentator of Guangming Daily
What is the test of truth? This is a problem that has long been solved by the revolutionary teachers of the proletariat. But over the years, the issue has been confusing due to the sabotage of the "Gang of Four" and the massive distortion and propaganda of the public opinion tools under their control. In order to deeply criticize the "Gang of Four" and eliminate its poison and influence, it is very necessary to set things right on this issue.
The criterion for testing truth can only be social practice
In 1845, Marx raised the question of the criterion for testing truth: "Whether or not human thinking has objective truth is not a theoretical question, but a practical one. People should prove the truth of their thinking in practice, that is, the reality and power of their thinking, that is, the nature of their thinking. The debate about the reality of thinking detached from practice is a matter of pure scholasticism. (Selected Works of Marx and Engels, Vol. 1, p. 16) This tells us very clearly that whether a theory correctly reflects objective reality and whether it is true can only be tested by social practice. This is a basic principle of Marxist epistemology.
Practice is not only the criterion for testing truth, but the only criterion. Chairman Mao said: "There is only one truth, and whoever discovers the truth does not rely on subjective exaggeration, but on objective practice." Only the revolutionary practice of millions of people is the yardstick for testing the truth. "The criterion of truth can only be the practice of society. It is said here: "only" and "is", that is, there is only one standard, and there is no second. This is because the truth mentioned by dialectical materialism is an objective truth, and it is the correct reflection of human thought on the objective world and its laws. Therefore, as the criterion for testing truth, we cannot look for it in the subjective realm, nor can we look for it in the realm of theory, and ideas, theories, and ourselves cannot be the criteria for testing whether they conform to objective reality, just as in law the plaintiff is true or not, he cannot be based on his own lawsuit. As a criterion for testing truth, it must have the characteristic of connecting the human mind with the objective world, otherwise it cannot be tested. Human social practice is an activity to transform the objective world, and it is something that is subjectively seen in the objective. Practice has the property of linking ideas with objective reality. Therefore, it is practice, and only practice, that can accomplish the task of testing the truth. Numerous facts in the history of science illustrate this problem.
Mendeleev, based on changes in atomic weight, developed the periodic table, which was agreed upon, doubted, argued. Later, several elements were discovered according to the periodic table, and their chemical properties were just in line with the predictions of the periodic table. In this way, the periodic table is confirmed to be true. Copernicus's theory of the solar system had been a hypothesis for 300 years, and when Le Verrier deduced not only the existence of an unknown planet from the data provided by this theory of the solar system, but also the position of this planet in space, when Galle did discover the planet Neptune in 1846, Copernicus's theory of the solar system was confirmed and became the accepted truth.
The reason why Marxism is recognized as the truth is precisely the result of the long-term practice of millions of people. Chairman Mao said: "The reason why Marxism-Leninism is called truth is not only when Marx, Engels, Lenin, Stalin and others scientifically formulated these theories, but also when they were confirmed by the practice of the class struggle and national struggle of the subsequent revolution." Marxism was originally a faction in the workers' movement, and it was not well known at first, with reactionaries besieging it, bourgeois scholars opposing it, and other socialist schools attacking it, but the long-term revolutionary practice proved that Marxism was the truth, and finally became the guiding ideology of the international communist movement.
The same is true for checking whether the route is correct or not. When formulating its own line, a Marxist political party must naturally proceed from the actual situation of class relations and class struggle, and act on the guidance of revolutionary theory and make arguments about it. However, the correctness of the line of the international communist movement and the revolutionary parties must also be tested by social practice. At the beginning of the 20th century, there was a fierce struggle between Lenin's Marxist line and the revisionist line of the Second International in both the international communist movement and the Russian workers' movement. The practice of the October Revolution in Russia and the proletarian revolutions in various countries proved that Leninism was the truth and declared the bankruptcy of the revisionist line of the Second International.
Mao Zedong Thought is the product of the combination of the universal truth of Marxism-Leninism and the concrete practice of the revolution. Chairman Mao's revolutionary line waged a long-term struggle against the "left" and right-leaning opportunist lines. For a period of time, Chairman Mao's revolutionary line did not dominate. The protracted revolutionary struggle, the successful experience, and the lessons of defeat have proved that Chairman Mao's revolutionary line is correct from both positive and negative aspects, while the "left" and right-leaning opportunist lines are wrong. What are the criteria? There is only one: that is, the social practice of millions of people.
The unity of theory and practice is one of the most basic principles of Marxism
Some comrades are worried that insisting on practice as the criterion for testing truth will weaken the significance of theory. Such worries are unnecessary. All scientific theories will not be afraid of the test of practice. On the contrary, only by insisting that practice is the criterion for testing truth can pseudo-science and pseudo-theories be able to show their original form and thus defend real science and theory. This point is of particular significance for clarifying the theoretical issues that have been very confusing by the "Gang of Four."
Out of the counterrevolutionary needs of usurping the party and seizing power, the "Gang of Four" advocated all kinds of idealistic transcendental theories and opposed practice as the criterion for testing truth. For example, they concocted the "theory of genius," fabricated the theory of the "dictatorship of the black line" on various fronts, such as literature, art, and education, forged the "law" that old cadres are democrats and that democrats will inevitably become capitalist roaders, falsely defuted the fallacy that socialist relations of production "are the economic basis for the emergence of new bourgeois elements," and fabricated nonsense that the struggle against Confucianism and law has continued, and so on. All these were once enshrined as sacrosanct so-called "theories," and whoever opposed them would be labeled as opposing Marxism-Leninism and Mao Zedong Thought. However, these various fallacies could not stand the test of revolutionary practice at all, and they and the "standard of truth" set up by the "Gang of Four" quickly burst like a soap bubble. This fact eloquently shows that their boasting cannot prove the truth, large-scale propaganda cannot prove the truth, and power cannot prove the truth. They claim to be Marxist-Leninist and anti-Mao Zedong Thought, and practice has proved that they are anti-Marxist-Leninist and anti-Mao Zedong Thought political liars.
The reason why Marxism-Leninism and Mao Zedong Thought are powerful is precisely because they are objective truths that have been tested by practice, and precisely because they highly summarize practical experience, elevate it to theory, and use it to guide practice. It is for this reason that we attach great importance to revolutionary theory. Lenin pointed out: "Without revolutionary theory, there can be no revolutionary movement." (Lenin's Selected Works, vol. 1, p. 241) The reason why theory is important is that it comes from practice and can correctly guide practice, and whether theory correctly guides practice and how to correctly guide practice is inseparable from the test of practice. Without grasping this spiritual essence, it is impossible to truly bring into play the role of theory.
Some comrades said: When we criticize revisionism, don't we use Marxism-Leninism and Mao Zedong Thought to measure it, so as to prove that revisionism is wrong? We say, yes, Marxism-Leninism and Mao Zedong Thought are our sharp weapons for criticizing revisionism and the basis for our arguments. We use the basic principles of Marxism-Leninism and Mao Zedong Thought to criticize revisionism, which were summarized by Ma, En, Lenin, Sri Lanka and Chairman Mao from the practical experience of revolutionary struggle, and they have been proved by long-term practice to be hard-won truths. But at the same time, when we use these principles to criticize revisionism, we still cannot depart from the current (and past) practice at all, and only by proceeding from practical experience can these principles show great vitality; Our critique is only convincing if it is combined with a large amount of factual analysis. Without studying practical experience and proceeding from practical experience, revisionism cannot be refuted in the end.
The objective world is constantly evolving, and practice is constantly evolving. New things and new problems are emerging one after another, and this requires us to study new things and new problems under the guidance of the general principles of Marxism, constantly make new generalizations, and push forward the theory. What is the test of whether these new theoretical generalizations are correct? It can only be tested by practice. For example, Lenin's theory that individual countries or a small number of countries can achieve the victory of the socialist revolution in the era of imperialism is a new conclusion, and whether this conclusion is correct or not cannot be tested by the general Marxist theory of capitalism, and only the practice of the imperialist era, the practice of the First World War and the October Revolution can prove the truth of Lenin's theory.
Chairman Mao said: "The unity of theory and practice is one of the most basic principles of Marxism." (Selected Works of Mao Zedong, Vol. 5, p. 297) Insisting that practice is the criterion for testing truth is to uphold Marxism and dialectical materialism.
The revolutionary mentor is an example of insisting on testing the truth with practice
The revolutionary teachers not only put forward that practice is the criterion for testing truth, but also personally set a glorious example of using practice to test all theories, including those put forward by themselves. The attitude of Marx and Engels towards the famous Marxist scientific document "The Communist Manifesto", which they co-created, is a vivid example of many examples. After the publication of the Manifesto in 1848, Marx and Engels have been testing it in practice for 45 years. The seven preambles to the Declaration document this fact in detail. First of all, Marx and Engels pointed out: "No matter how much the situation has changed in the last 25 years, the general basic principle of this "Manifesto" is completely correct in the end." At the same time, they point out that "the practical application of these basic principles, as stated in the Declaration, must be transferred at all times and at all times to the historical conditions of the time." (Selected Works of Marx and Engels, Vol. 1, p. 228) Marx and Engels revised individual theses of the Manifesto in the light of the constant tests of new practice, including the discovery of new historical facts. For example, the first sentence of the first chapter of the Manifesto reads: "The history of all societies up to the end is the history of the class struggle". Engels added a note to the English version of the 1888 Manifesto, "To be exact, this refers to the history that is written." (Selected Works of Marx and Engels, Vol. 1, p. 251) This is because after the publication of the Manifesto, people have a further understanding of the prehistory of society, especially Morgan's investigation and research proves that before class society, there was a long classless society; Class is the product of the development of society to a certain historical stage, and it has not always existed. It can be seen that it is not accurate to say that "the history of all societies is the history of class struggle". Engels made this explanation in the light of the newly discovered historical facts, revising the old formulation of the Declaration. The Manifesto also says that the proletariat will seize power by violent revolution in order to overthrow the bourgeoisie. In 1872, in the last preface signed by the two revolutionary mentors, they clearly stated: "This programme is in some respects obsolete because of the great development of big industry and the consequent development of the party organisation of the working class in the last 25 years, and because of the practical experience of the February Revolution and then especially of the Paris Commune, when the proletariat first seized power for two months." The Commune, in particular, has shown that 'the working class cannot simply take hold of the ready-made state apparatus and use it for its own ends. (Selected Works of Marx and Engels, Vol. 1, p. 229) Lenin attached great importance to this explanation of Marx and Engels, and considered it an "important revision" of the Communist Manifesto. (Lenin's Selected Works, Vol. III, p. 201)
As Chairman Hua pointed out: "Chairman Mao has always taken an extremely serious and cautious attitude towards ideological and theoretical issues, and he always has to let his works pass the test of practice for a period of time before compiling his anthology." Chairman Mao has always demanded that the theories and lines he put forward should be constantly tested by revolutionary practice. In 1955, when Chairman Mao was editing the book "The Socialist Upsurge in Rural China", he wrote 104 commentaries. The new developments in the class struggle that took place after 1956 at home and abroad were not anticipated. Therefore, in 1958, when reprinting some of the notes, Chairman Mao wrote a special note, pointing out that "some of them have not lost their meaning." It is inappropriate to say that 1955 was the year of the basic victory in the decisive battle between socialism and capitalism. It should be said that 1955 was a year of basic victories in the ownership of the relations of production, and in other aspects of the relations of production and in some aspects of the superstructure, i.e., the ideological and political fronts, there were either no basic victories or no complete victories, and efforts were still to be made later. (Selected Works of Mao Zedong, Vol. 5, p. 225)
The serious scientific attitude of the revolutionary mentor who respected practice gave us a great education. They do not consider their theories to be completed absolute truths or "pinnacles" that are not subject to practical testing; It is not believed that as long as they reach a conclusion, no matter what the actual situation is, it cannot be changed; Not to mention the individual assertions that are made on the basis of individual circumstances. They always use practice to test their theories, judgments, and instructions, uphold the truth, correct mistakes, respect practice, respect the masses, and have no prejudice. They never allowed their words to be worshipped as "the Bible." There is no doubt that the basic tenets of Marxism and the Marxist stand, viewpoint, and method must be upheld and must never be shaken. However, the theoretical treasury of Marxism is not a bunch of rigid and unchanging dogmas, but it is necessary to constantly add new viewpoints and new conclusions in practice, and discard those individual old viewpoints and conclusions that are no longer suited to the new situation. Regarding philosophy, Chairman Mao once said: "We have entered the socialist era, and a series of new problems have emerged. The point of view of practice and life is the primary and fundamental point of view of epistemology. The tree of practice and life is evergreen. It is precisely this dialectical materialist stance of the revolutionary mentor who insists that practice is the criterion for testing truth that guarantees the continuous development of Marxism and its eternal youth.
Any theory must be constantly tested by practice
We should not only recognize practice as the criterion of truth, but also look at it from the perspective of development. Practice is constantly evolving, so as a criterion for testing truth, it has both absolute and relative significance. To the point that all ideas and theories must be tested by practice, it is absolute and unconditional; To the extent that practice has its limitations at a certain stage of its development and cannot unconditionally completely confirm or completely refute all ideas and theories, it is relative and conditional; However, what cannot be answered by today's practice will eventually be answered by future practice, and in this respect, it is absolute. Lenin said: "Of course, it should not be forgotten here: the criterion of practice in essence can never completely confirm or refute any appearance of humanity. This criterion is also so 'uncertain' that it does not make human knowledge 'absolute', and at the same time it is so certain that it is necessary to wage a relentless struggle against all variants of idealism and agnosticism. (Lenin's Selected Works, Vol. II, p. 142)
The dialectical materialist epistemological viewpoint on the dialectical unity of the absolute and relative criterion of practice is the viewpoint that all ideas and theories must be tested by practice without exception, forever and continuously, that is, the viewpoint of the development of truth. Any idea or theory, even if it has been proven to be true at a certain stage of practice, still has to be supplemented, enriched, or corrected by the test of new practice in the process of its development. Chairman Mao pointed out: "The history of human understanding tells us that the truth of many theories is incomplete, and their incompleteness has been corrected through the test of practice. Many theories are wrong, and they are corrected by practical testing. He also pointed out: "The movement of change in the objective reality will never end, and people's understanding of the truth in practice will never end." Marxism-Leninism does not end the truth, but constantly opens up the road to understanding the truth in practice. Marxism stresses that practice is the criterion for testing truth, and stresses that the understanding of truth in practice is never finished, that is, it admits that our understanding cannot be completed at one time or in the end, that is, it admits that due to historical and class limitations, our understanding may make mistakes and needs to be tested by practice, and that anything that has been proved to be wrong or does not conform to reality in practice should be changed and should no longer be insisted on. In fact, this change is common. Chairman Mao said: "The true revolutionary instructor is not only good at correcting mistakes in his thinking, theory, plan, and program," but also in making himself and all the people participating in the revolution change their subjective understanding with the passage of time, that is, to adapt the proposal of new revolutionary tasks and new work programs to the changes in the new situation." In order to usurp the party and seize power, Lin Biao and the "Gang of Four" talked nonsense about "one sentence is ten thousand sentences" and "every sentence is the truth". Practice has proved that what they are talking about is by no means the truth of Mao Zedong Thought, but the fallacy of their pretending to be Mao Zedong Thought.
Now the "Gang of Four" and its bourgeois gang system have been destroyed, but the spiritual shackles imposed on the people by the "Gang of Four" are far from being completely shattered. Chairman Mao's criticism during the Second Civil Revolutionary War that "what is uploaded in the Bible is right" ("On the Strategy of Opposing Japanese Imperialism") still exists. Whether in theory or in practice, the "Gang of Four" has set up many "forbidden areas" that imprison people's minds, and we must dare to touch these "forbidden areas" and dare to clarify right from wrong. Science is no taboo. Wherever there is a "forbidden zone" that transcends practice and professes itself to be absolute, there is no science, no real Marxism-Leninism and Mao Zedong Thought, but only obscurantism, idealism, and cultural despotism.
The 11 th CPC National Congress and the Fifth National People's Congress defined the general tasks of the whole party and the people of the whole country in the new period of development of the socialist revolution and socialist construction. For us, socialism is still an unrecognized kingdom of necessity in many places. In order to accomplish this great task, we are faced with many new problems, which require us to understand, study, and lie on the ready-made provisions of Marxism-Leninism-Mao Zedong Thought, and even use ready-made formulas to restrict, slaughter, and tailor the infinitely rich and rapidly developing revolutionary practice. We must have a sense of responsibility and courage as communists, and have the courage to study vivid practical life, study the exact facts of reality, and study new problems raised in new practice. Only in this way can we have a correct attitude toward Marxism, and can we gradually advance from the kingdom of necessity to the kingdom of freedom and smoothly carry out the new great long march.
(This article was published in Guangming Daily on May 11, 1978)
Source: China Central Radio and Television Voice of China Official website of the Party School of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China
Curator: Wu Junshan, Li Qian
Author: Han Xue, Zhou Yifan