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Whether it is study, training, or assessment, the purpose is to create a political party with strict discipline, faith, goals, and the same direction.
According to the theoretical framework of Leninism, the Communist Party needs to act as the birthing force of the revolution, the vanguard of the proletariat, and the leader of the communist movement.
Based on such a position, the Communists are required to have an iron will and strict discipline to maintain absolute sincerity towards the Party, and this loyalty is not a moral choice in the general sense, but an exclusive demand based on ultimate beliefs.
During the Anti-Japanese War, the CCP built its own party and cadres according to such requirements.
1. Criticism and self-criticism
Among them, criticism and self-criticism, which were listed as one of the three excellent styles of the CCP during the Anti-Japanese War, were the key measures for the CCP to transform cadres and establish internal consistency of thought and action.
The resolution of the 15th Congress of the CPSU in 1927 emphasized the importance of criticism and self-criticism.
Subsequently, Stalin made his famous thesis about self-criticism:
"We need self-criticism, just as we need air and water. I believe that without it and without self-criticism, our party will not be able to move forward, expose our abscesses, and dismiss our shortcomings. And we still have many shortcomings, which must be openly and honestly acknowledged. ”
The Soviet Union and Stalin's emphasis on criticism and self-criticism further influenced the CCP.
Under the influence of the Soviet Union, in the early days of the Anti-Japanese War, the CCP's emphasis on criticism and self-criticism increased significantly.
At the end of 1937, Peng Zhen mentioned in his report:
"Recently, many responsible comrades have not paid enough attention to the point of self-criticism, or even completely neglected it, and this must be corrected immediately. Self-criticism is an important weapon for promoting the progress of the Party, and at the same time, it is also a weapon for promoting the study and progress of cadres and strengthening the concept of the Party. ”
Criticism and self-criticism have gradually become the norm within the party, and Chen Geng has noted:
"The fact that the general cadres have a very good spirit of self-criticism and are not discouraged by criticism, even those who are severely criticized are smiling, shows that these cadres have taken another step forward in the consciousness of the Bolsheviks."
Criticism and self-criticism have become tools for carrying out ideological struggles and self-transformation.
Before and after the Yan'an rectification, criticism and self-criticism were further emphasized.
In the 1942 rectification mobilization report, Mao Zedong called:
"Criticism is to criticize others, and self-criticism is to criticize oneself. Criticism and self-criticism are one and the same, indispensable, but as a leader, criticism of oneself is primary. ”
In April 1943, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China issued instructions on the rectification movement, which continued to raise the level of self-criticism.
The CPC hopes to maintain the party's vitality through criticism and self-criticism and achieve the goal of solidifying but not ossifying, and at the same time, it has also continuously strengthened the entanglement and struggle elements of criticism and self-criticism in its actual operation.
In the rectification movement, criticism and self-criticism often appear in the form of introspection:
"Cadres at all levels should do introspection every six months, and the introspection notes should be concentrated in a certain management organ. … The method of introspection generally adopts the form of a centralized meeting, and the cadres are gathered together in batches for introspection. ”
Mao Dun's daughter, Shen Xia, can be described as one of the witnesses of this kind of introspective criticism and self-criticism.
Shortly after arriving in Yan'an, Shen Xia provided a living specimen in her diary of how intellectual youth were assimilated by the CCP's political culture.
At the end of 1942, after continuous study, criticism and rectification education, Shen Xia's thinking began to change significantly, and she reflected on her predecessors in her diary:
"Not from the collective, from the needs of the revolution, but from individual emotions, from personal preferences. Because of this, they made the wrong conclusion that there is no love between comrades in Yan'an, and it lacks nutrition. ”
Shen Xia realized that this opposition between the collective and the individual was the core of political culture at this time, and she introspected:
"Emphasizing personality and hobbies is one of my central shortcomings after I arrived in Yan'an", and as a manifestation of progress, "the requirements of personal life no longer appear in my mind".
The continuous lowering of the individual and the practice of criticism and self-criticism promote each other, and Shen Xia, who was once so sensitive and self-respecting, has gradually adapted to opening herself up in the collective setting:
"I love to see all the comrades now who have no scruples about saying what is in their hearts to me, and they are not even shy about using words. I am no longer afraid that I will not accept it, or I am afraid that I will go too far, and I can't bear it. I think this is just the right thing to do, and now I can listen to other people's opinions calmly and come up with as much material as I can think of for everyone to think about. ”
Criticism and self-criticism, when combined with the requirement of unity of thought, have a particularly profound warning significance.
2. The role of party schools
Integrating theory with practice was the ideological line that the CPC emphasized during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, and it was also an important principle for the cultivation of cadres.
The experience of an intellectual cadre like Gao Lu during the Anti-Japanese War was a dynamic combination of practice and learning.
At the beginning of 1940, Gao Lu left North China United University, first to the 120th Division Combat Drama Troupe, and then to the Anti-Japanese Federation in Hequ County, Shanxi. In 1944, as the Anti-Japanese War entered the later stage, the issue of preparing cadres for post-war China was raised, and Gao Lu entered the Party School of Jinsui Border District to study theory.
At this time, as Gong Fengchun, the principal of the Party School of the Jinsui Branch, told the new students:
"We have the responsibility to govern the country and level the world, to oppose liberalism, to organize politically."
Behind the organizational and ideological problems is the training of a group of cadres who will shoulder the responsibilities of the whole world. As an educational base for cadres, party schools naturally have to shoulder this responsibility.
The status of the party school in the minds of party members at that time can be seen from the reactions of some party members:
In 1941, Yang Guoyu asked to study at the Party School of the Northern Bureau, and since April, he has been anxious about whether he can go to the Party School to study.
On the 13th, he wrote in his diary:
"I had been approved to go to the Party School of the North Bureau to study, but Chief of Staff Li Da didn't want me to go, so I didn't hesitate to go to the Political Commissar's Department to ask again, and I ran into a wall again, and when I came back, I mentioned it to the Chief of Staff but it was still invalid, and then I mentioned it to Political Commissar Deng, and he said that they replied after discussion! I'm really anxious, I heard that the party school will start training soon.
More than half a month later, Deng Xiaoping said in a report that it was a shame for Communist Party members not to understand the history of the Communist Party. ”
A full month later, on May 13, Yang finally realized his wish to study at the party school, and his inner excitement was expressed in four words in his diary: I am so happy.
Qin Jiwei, who entered the Party School of the Northern Bureau at the same time as Yang, after learning that the request to go to the Party School was approved, reacted exactly the same as Yang: "I am extremely happy and happy."
Because the communists attach great importance to theory, party schools are important places for theoretical education in the communist movement.
During the Anti-Japanese War, the CCP's attention to party schools continued unabated. Unlike the Soviet Party School, which had a fixed academic system, a systematic teaching of basic knowledge, and a Party School that was actually similar to a party-run university, and which was also different from the various short-term training courses offered by the CPC, the CPC Party School during the Anti-Japanese War could be said to be a place for the mid-term intensive training of Party members and cadres.
The Hebei-Henan-Jin Provincial Party Committee said that at the 1938 meeting, many cadres from the county party committee and the district party committee proposed that cadres should be trained in a concentrated manner. ”
The training period is generally 3 to 6 weeks.
In February 1940, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China stipulated:
Party leading organs in all localities should run party schools to strengthen Marxist-Leninist education among party cadres.
A. Party schools for training middle-level cadres (county-level and district secretaries): Generally handled by the central bureaus and sub-bureaus.
B. Party schools for training district-level cadres: Generally handled by the provincial party committees, district party committees, and prefectural committees.
C. Training courses for junior cadres (branch officers); It is generally handled by local party committees and county party committees.
The training period for intermediate party schools ranges from six months to one year, district-level party schools from three months to six months, and junior cadre training classes from two weeks to two months.
According to this requirement, party schools have been established in various localities, and Ji Luyu reported:
"From January 1941 to the present, the training class was officially changed to a party school in the district party committee, and only the training of cadres at the county and district levels was determined, and 135 were trained later, with a period of three months, and policy and party building were the main courses."
3. The importance of "current affairs education".
Achieving ideological unity through ideological training is the direct goal of the communists to inculcate their own ideas, and it is also a key link in ensuring organizational cohesion and efficiency.
Party schools, like rotational training classes, are not only ideological and organizational platforms for cadres to return to the furnace for reconstruction, but also provide a training ground for collective life and close relations between cadres.
Embodying the requirements of the combination of study and life practice, the theoretical study of the party school emphasizes the combination of theory and practice, and current affairs, as a good carrier of the combination of theory and practice, have become the top priority of party school education.
In 1939, the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army issued a directive to strengthen education on current affairs in the troops:
"(1) All cadres below the battalion level shall be organized in small groups, and literate persons shall be designated to read newspapers and books, and must read them to the end and discuss them in editorials and monographs.
(2) All company and platoon cadres shall be read aloud by instructors and cultural instructors in the company unit, discuss them, and compile them into teaching materials for class.
(3) All the soldiers of the company read aloud the club, monographs and important news in the platoon unit.
(4) Instruct political organs to set a time for reading newspapers for one hour a day. ”
Due to the initiative of the leaders, when the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China in 1940 required the establishment of party schools in various localities, current affairs and politics were included as an important part of the study.
Working current affairs, strengthening the party's theoretical level and action, and broadening the horizons of party members can often achieve twice the result with half the effort.
The weight of current affairs learning becomes more and more important in the later stages.
In 1941, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China emphasized:
"It is necessary to encourage cadres and students to read newspapers, guide them in how to read newspapers, and guide them to analyze every change in the current situation."
In the following year, the branch education content proposed by Beiyue District was the first to promote "current affairs education".
Judging from the records of Gao Lu's study at the Jinsui Party School in 1944, the study and discussion of current affairs and politics has occupied an overwhelming position, although this is related to the function of the party school to review cadres at this time, it generally reflects the changing trend of the content of party school education in the later period of the Anti-Japanese War.
The study of current affairs emphasizes discussion and requires students to have a collision of ideas.
The discussion topics were diverse, and the discussion of the Jinsui Party School on the international and domestic situation involved:
"Is the United States and Britain reactionary now? Is the slow progress on the second battlefield due to military or political reasons? What is the attitude of the United States towards the government-in-exile of London, Poland, and France? Why did the USSR not participate in the Cairo Conference? Can the United States and Britain be transformed into democracies? Will the United States, Britain and the Soviet Union be able to cooperate for a long time after the war? ”
Although the topics are wide and the atmosphere is warm, most of them still speak the standard discourse that has been propagated in the CCP newspapers, which is not only due to the students' knowledge sources, expression ability, and expression environment, but also related to the unified ideological requirements of the party school itself.
4. How to train cadres in "current affairs education"?
In the later period of the Anti-Japanese War, the name of the "Current Affairs Training Institute" was directly used to train cadres.
In July 1944, Zhang Yinsheng, who was only 18 years old, was serving as the co-principal of the central school district in Linggao County, Shanxi Province (belonging to Taihang District, now Lingchuan and Gaoping counties), and was transferred to the current affairs workshop to study.
One of the most important tasks in the Current Affairs Institute is to learn about current affairs and politics and policy:
The lecturers included Du Yuyuan, commissioner, Liu Yi, director of the organization department of the prefectural party committee, Liu Gang, director of the propaganda department, and Jiang Ming, secretary of the prefectural party committee, who also made several reports on the situation. Generally, there is a big lecture once a week or two, and the rest of the time is self-study and discussion.
As an ideological political party, unifying ideology is an inherent requirement that goes deep into the bone marrow, and whether it is a party school or a current affairs training center, discussion cannot be a pure exploration of academic theory, but a way to achieve ideological consistency; Discussion is not only about getting to know the problem, but more importantly, about providing a place for ideas to collide and transform.
Exposure of erroneous ideas, guidance of public opinion, centralized persuasion, and pressure in the venue, many different voices can swell and explode like popcorn in the discussion, and then slowly disappear and transform into invisible.
For this reason, before and after the discussion, the senior management of the school will give tips and summaries, and check the direction of thinking and principled positions.
In the summary of the discussion on the nature of the Kuomintang at the Jin-Cha-Ji Party School in 1944, we can see the ingenious arrangement:
The five members of the presidium are collectively responsible for controlling the progress of the debate, some of them are specially responsible for the focus of the debate at every moment, some of them are specially for the order of speeches, that is, they are given face-to-face prompts for the reference of the chairman of the star at that time, and some people are specially in charge of some documents related to the dissection of this typical ideology, and they read them aloud when the two sides of the debate are at loggerheads. … When the two sides were exhausted, the presidium had to announce on several occasions that they would "talk to each other for five minutes" and even adjourn the meeting for a quarter of an hour, so that the two sides could reorganize their forces in the course of talking in pairs and threes in order to defeat the ideological opponents.
Some people at the Jinsui Party School held that "the Kuomintang is a petty bourgeoisie, and the Kuomintang is not necessarily all spies," and was immediately seriously criticized by the school.
In his report to the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, Lin Feng talked about the discussion of the entire Jinsui base area:
"39.3 percent of the Communist Party members began to advocate that Chiang Kai-shek was revolutionary, and 28.9 percent advocated that Chiang Kai-shek objectively played a revolutionary role.
In this regard:
"When the ideology was almost exposed, the school committee began to cultivate the development of correct opinions, and strictly put forward the refutation of dogmatism, on the one hand, to provide the activists with practical materials to refute the reactionary speeches, so that the reactionary theories gradually gained the upper hand, and the erroneous opinions were getting rid of more and more day by day, and finally they were completely gone."
Obviously, this discussion at this time included consideration of the direction of China after the war, and the KMT, as a potential adversary, had to be positioned in line with political needs.
Zhu Ming, who later became Mrs. Lin Boqu, looked back on the changes in his thinking during his study at the Central Party School, and can roughly see the desired result of the discussion:
Everyone said that Chiang Kai-shek's resistance to Japan was to eliminate dissidents, not to the Chinese nation. In this atmosphere, I had to say the same thing as everyone else, but in my heart I thought that although Chiang Kai-shek's resistance against Japan was to eliminate dissidents, it was also for the sake of the Chinese nation. I remember "August 13", when I was in Shanghai, I saw Chinese planes fighting Japanese planes with my own eyes. Chinese planes were also heard at night bombing Japanese warships. … In the past, when I heard that the Communist Party represented the Chinese nation, I was disgusted.
I think the Communist Party is an internationalist, where it represents what nation, and it is Chiang Kai-shek who represents the nation, and he wants to revive the nation. After reading the "1 July" editorial, I have come to know more clearly that the workers and peasants not only represent the nation, but also promote social progress, and that only the Communist Party truly represents the nation.
The discussion boils down to this:
"We must make them understand our line and our communist ideals in the Chinese revolution, understand the consistency and contradiction of the Three People's Doctrine and Communism, and understand the National War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and its interrelationship with the class struggle from their own class standpoint."
Gong Fengchun, principal of the Jinsui Party School, pointed out when talking about the attitude towards learning:
"Sincerity and humility are based on a class standpoint, and sincerity is not simply honesty. Only by being humble can we make progress, can we transform others with ourselves as a model, and can we transform the economy, culture, and ideology with our thoughts. ”
The strange combination of the two different levels of class stance and humility and honesty is precisely the unity of faith and loyalty that the CCP desires, which is also an important foundation for the CCP cadres to be loyal to the party's cause despite their varying degrees of understanding of faith.
Strangely, the discussion of the nature of the Kuomintang was carried out simultaneously with the "confession movement" that was gradually being launched at that time. Behind the air of heated discussion is the problem of passing the test that everyone must face directly.
In such a grim situation, some different voices can still be heard, which shows the vitality of the party under the support of ideology; Discussions must run within a CCP-led framework, and the tension between the conflicting situations of whether An Pingsheng, who raised different opinions, is not entirely affected by his speech, and the tension that emerges in these conflicting situations is difficult for a clever dramatist to describe.
In those days, it was probably only possible to stage such a dramatic drama of transformation with ups and downs only if a party school gathered a group of outstanding cadres, provided a platform for discussion, had a relatively relaxed atmosphere and a certain amount of theoretical reserves.
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