What role did Hu Qiaomu play in writing "Seventy Years of the Communist Party of China"?

Published in 1991, "Seventy Years of the Communist Party of China" was creatively supervised by Mr. Hu Qiaomu and Edited by Mr. Hu Sheng, concentrating on the strength of various scholars and famous scholars in historical research, which is both highly authoritative and a certain degree of popularity in reading party history, and with its "old words and big words, new ideas and new ideas", it not only attracted widespread attention and praise at that time, but also printed again and again, even after more than 20 years have passed, it is still a party history reading book that the majority of readers are willing to read and love to read.

In the current fashion of cyberspace "Douban Reading", the book was given a high evaluation of nearly 8 points, and one of the evaluations said: This is the best party history at present, pay attention, not one of them. It can be seen that the influence of this book does not disappear with the passage of time, which is also the character that a good historical work should usually have.

Today, more than a few decades after the publication of "Seventy Years of the Communist Party of China," Mr. Jin Chongji, one of the main authors of the book, has compiled and published "The History of a Book -- Hu Qiaomu and Hu Sheng's Discussion on the Seventy Years of the Communist Party of China" based on the notes of that year, which reveals the summary of Hu Qiaomu's many conversations in the process of compiling this book, especially his many views on the principles and historical evaluation of the history of the Communist Party of China, which is of great enlightening significance.

As Mr. Jin Chonghe put it, Hu Qiaomu "always paid great attention to the writing of this book"; he was "a recognized master of the study of the history of the Communist Party of China." They are witnesses of many important events in the party's history, and they have led the study of party history for a long time, have a high ability to think theoretically, and often say some important views on party history that ordinary people have not thought of in casual conversations, which can inspire people to think. ”

So, what important role did Hu Qiaomu play in the writing of "Seventy Years of the Communist Party of China"?

As a senior politician and the first pioneer in the study of the history of the Communist Party of China, Hu Qiaomu's attention to the writing of "Seventy Years of the Communist Party of China" is more manifested in those guiding remarks that outline and do not bother to speak, of which what he emphasizes and repeatedly emphasizes is "novelty".

For example: "Let people see and feel new"; "To find a new way"; "There must be new content, which has not been emphasized in the past, or even ignored, but now needs to be explained, explained, and emphasized." ”

Regarding "novelty", he also has a longer paragraph that says: "The old saying of those things that have been said many times will not be of interest to the reader, nor will we be interested." We are observing history, and history needs to be constantly re-observed, and each observation must have new content. History is very rich and can be observed from many angles. People's minds will not be as simple as we think now. They have all sorts of ideas. Social life is complex, and to propagate the Seventy Years of the Party, we must see its richness and complexity, not the same old way, replay it again, and really say something new. ”

"The History of a Book- Hu Qiaomu and Hu Sheng's Discussion on the Seventy Years of the Communist Party of China", by Jin Chonghe, published by the Central Literature Publishing House

Hu Qiaomu stressed that the study of the history of the COMMUNIST Party should have "new ideas," and what seems to be common sense of scientific research is actually not so simple when studied in detail. The study of the history of the Communist Party of China can be said to be the mainstream discipline, but the positioning of party history research is not necessarily so clear because of various historical, practical, political, and other reasons.

Many party history researchers are accustomed to interpreting the party's history from the perspective of the party's resolutions and documents, and as a result, some party history treatises, either Chen Chen Xiangyin, have no novelty, or change from time to time, which has become What Hu Qiaomu said, not to say that "readers will not be interested," and even party history researchers, including party history research leaders such as Hu Qiaomu, "have no interest." From this we can see that Hu Qiaomu cannot but be well aware of the nature of historical research as a science.

If this is the case, then what is the "novelty" of party history in Hu Qiaomu's mind?

In his writing speech on "Seventy Years of the Communist Party of China," Hu Qiaomu, on the premise of clearly understanding the militancy of party history work, particularly emphasized that "it is necessary to strengthen the scientific nature of party history work"; he proposed that "we need to use scientific attitude, scientific methods, and scientific arguments to clarify various fundamental issues concerning the history of our party."

Therefore, in his evaluation of the history of the Party, especially the history of the Party after 1949, those issues that were considered to be difficult to write and somewhat "sensitive" were not shy away from hu Qiaomu, and to put it bluntly, his speech was indeed quite "innovative".

For example, he explicitly stated that "the 'co-operative climax' should not be spoken of in an affirmative tone, it is an artificial climax"; "If this is certain, history is arbitrary." Before 1957, the arbitrariness in Chairman Mao's work and the arbitrariness in his work guidance had already been manifested. Speaking of collective leadership, it is difficult to say. Such an understanding, compared with those who conform to the rules, should be said to have its own superiority.

Hu Qiaomu's understanding of the "novelty" of party history can be more reflected in his attitude toward the "ultra-left" trend of thought and the "Cultural Revolution." In a conversation about the writing of "Seventy Years of the Communist Party of China", Hu Qiaomu took a strong negative position and critical attitude toward the "ultra-left" trend of thought and the "Cultural Revolution". He believes that the "Left" tendency in the history of the CCP has a "historical and blind inertia" and that "we must seriously criticize the 'Left' trend in the past 20 years." Under the guidance of this understanding, Hu Qiaomu personally wrote and put forward many meaningful revisions to the first draft of the book.

For example, the original text of the book has this expression: "The Cultural Revolution" created a fog of widening class struggle. Hu Qiaomu commented that the "Cultural Revolution" cannot be called the expansion of the class struggle, because the struggle itself was fabricated. The manuscript was revised accordingly to read: "The Cultural Revolution" created an air of tension in class struggle everywhere.

Another formulation in the manuscript is that the Cultural Revolution was not inevitable. Hu Qiaomu believes that such a statement is "too weak, and it should be said that this is completely wrong." He particularly emphasized: "Mistakes are profound, we must write profoundly, do not let the reader feel that we are defending, do not dare to touch." Therefore, Hu Sheng believes that Hu Qiaomu's fundamental spirit that runs through these revision opinions is to be vigilant against the right, but mainly to prevent the 'left'. In connection with that particular era, it cannot but be said that Hu Qiaomu's prominent emphasis on the history of the Party should be stated and innovative has played a crucial role in the success of this book.

Hu Qiaomu's understanding of the "novelty" of party history research is not only manifested in the guiding ideology and specific content of writing, but also includes the importance of writing methods and even written expressions.

He proposed that the thinking and organization of writing a book should be clear, and we should not "swallow and spit and dodge and dodge"; "we cannot talk about one lecture and pour a lesson like a lecture." In layman's terms, it means that the views and opinions of the authors should be clear, but the expression of views and opinions should leave room for the reader to think. "Avoid a feeling of coercion into the state of hard state"; "Write so that ordinary readers who have little interest in party history can also gain something from reading it"; "make party history not reject people thousands of miles away." You can't be a communist, you can still watch it with relish. ”

Hu Qiaomu practiced what he preached, and the inscription he wrote for "The Seventy Years of the Communist Party of China" is concise and neat, smooth and readable, which is very different from the works of emperors who are sitting on the edge of our usual eyes, and fully express his attitude of writing. Therefore, Mr. Qian Zhongshu, a well-known literary and historical figure, called Hu Qiaomu's "Inscription" "meticulous in thinking and exquisite in words."

Mr. Hu Qiaomu is a revolutionary and a politician, however, from his speech on the study of party history, we can also understand the deep background of his scholar or literati and his in-depth thinking as a historical person, which may also be his success as a leader in the field of humanities and social sciences.

(The author is a researcher at the Institute of Modern History, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences)

This article was originally published in Beijing Daily on November 24, 2014.