Rectify the Party’s Style of Work

On February 1, 1942, Mao Zedong made a speech at the opening ceremony of the Party School of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. It is originally titled "Rectifying the Style of Study, Party and Writing", it was published in Yan’an Liberation Daily on April 27, 1942. And it was included in the Selected Works of Mao Zedong, Volume 3.

In his speech, Mao Zedong first expounded the extreme importance of building a proletarian revolutionary party. He pointed out that without a revolutionary party like the Communist Party, it would be impossible for the people to overthrow the oppression of the enemy. "We are the Communist Party. If we want to lead the people to defeat the enemy, our troops must be neat, our pace must be consistent, our soldiers must be excellent, and our weapons must be good. If these conditions are not met, then the enemy will not be defeated by us.”

Secondly, he pointed out that if we want to lead the people to accomplish the task of overthrowing the enemy, we must accomplish the task of rectifying the Party's style of work. The content and task of rectification are to oppose subjectivism to rectify the style of study, to oppose sectarianism to rectify the style of the Party, and to oppose the stereotyped writing style of the Party. The problem of style of study is the attitude towards Marxism-Leninism and towards work. Therefore, the first important task of Rectification Movement is to oppose subjectivism and rectify the style of study.

Then, Mao Zedong pointed out that there are two kinds of subjectivism: one is dogmatism and one is empiricism. “However, of the two kinds of subjectivism, dogmatism is still the greater danger in our Party.” He criticized the confused understanding of many people in the Party on the issue of integrating theory with practice. It is pointed out that a theory divorced from reality is an empty theory.

Marxism is not a dogma. We want theorists who can, in accordance with the Marxist-Leninist stand, viewpoint and method, correctly interpret the practical problems arising in the course of history and revolution and give scientific explanations and theoretical elucidations of China's economic, political, military, cultural and other problems. Such are the theorists we want. To be a theorist of this kind, a person must have a true grasp of the essence of Marxism-Leninism, of the Marxist-Leninist stand, viewpoint and method and of the theories of Lenin and Stalin on the colonial revolution and the Chinese revolution, and he must be able to apply them in a penetrating and scientific analysis of China's practical problems and discover the laws of development of these problems. Such are the theorists we really need. This fundamentally distinguishes the boundary between Marxism and dogmatism.

In the analysis of sectarianism, Mao Zedong pointed out that remnants of sectarianism are still found both in the Party's internal relations and in its external relations. Further analysis points out that sectarian tendencies in internal relations lead to exclusiveness towards comrades inside the Party and hinder inner-Party unity and solidarity, while sectarian tendencies in external relations lead to exclusiveness towards people outside the Party and hinder the Party in its task of uniting the whole people.

Sectarianism is an expression of subjectivism in organizational relations; if we want to get rid of subjectivism and promote the Marxist-Leninist spirit of seeking truth from facts, we must sweep the remnants of sectarianism out of the Party and proceed from the principle that the Party's interests are above personal or sectional interests, so that the Party can attain complete solidarity and unity. Stereotyped Party writing is a vehicle for filth, a form of expression for subjectivism and sectarianism. It does people harm and damages the revolution, and we must get rid of it completely.

Finally, Mao Zedong pointed out that in opposing subjectivism, sectarianism and stereotyped Party writing we must have in mind two purposes: firstly, "learn from past mistakes to avoid future ones", and secondly, "cure the sickness to save the patient". "Rectifying the Party's style of work" expounds the tasks, methods and policies of Yan'an Rectification Movement. Its publication marks the stage of Yan'an Rectification Movement turning into a general Rectification Movement. This speech is a programmatic document guiding the Rectification Movement in Yan'an, an important document of Mao Zedong's Party building thought, and an important document for strengthening the Party's construction and building the Communist Party of China into a truly Marxist political party.