Some Questions Concerning Methods of Leadership

This decision on methods of leadership was written by Comrade Mao Zedong for the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on June 1, 1943. The original title of the decision was "Decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on the Method of Leadership", which was issued to the whole party after it was adopted by the Politburo and published in the Liberation Daily on June 4, 1943. Later, it was included in the Selected Works of Mao Zedong, Volume 3, under the title of "Several Issues on Leadership Methods".

After the outbreak of the Pacific War in December 1941, China's Anti-Japanese War entered its most difficult period. On the one hand, the Japanese puppet army concentrated on the Anti-Japanese bases under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, and the die-hards of the KMT also made anti-Communist frictions from time to time; on the other hand, from the perspective of the Communist Party itself, the cadre team expanded rapidly, but the quality of many cadres did not meet the needs of the revolutionary struggle. In addition to the long-standing dogmatism and subjectivism, there was a lack of work experience and work methods. The bureaucratic style of work has also grown. All these have hindered the development and expansion of the Anti-Japanese base areas and are not conducive to the cause of the Party. Therefore, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China promulgated this decision.

At the beginning of the decision, it pointed out that there are two methods which we Communists must employ in whatever work we do. One is to combine the general with the particular; the other is to combine the leadership with the masses. In any task, if no general and widespread call is issued, the broad masses cannot be mobilized for action. In all the practical work of our Party, all correct leadership is necessarily "from the masses, to the masses".

This means: take the ideas of the masses (scattered and unsystematic ideas) and concentrate them (through study turn them into concentrated and systematic ideas), then go to the masses and propagate and explain these ideas until the masses embrace them as their own, hold fast to them and translate them into action, and test the correctness of these ideas in such action. Then once again concentrate ideas from the masses and once again go to the masses so that the ideas are persevered in and carried through. And so on, over and over again in an endless spiral, with the ideas becoming more correct, more vital and richer each time.

Such is the Marxist epistemology. Take the ideas of the masses and concentrate them, then got to the masses, persevere in the ideas and carry them through, so as to form correct ideas of leadership—such is the basic method of leadership. In the process of concentrating ideas and persevering in them, it is necessary to use the method of combining the general call with particular guidance, and this is a component part of the basic method. Formulate general ideas (general calls) out of the particular guidance given in a number of cases, and put them to the test in many different units (not only doing so yourself, but by telling others to do the same); then concentrate the new experience (sum it up) and draw up new directives for the guidance of the masses generally.

In relaying to subordinate units any task (whether it concerns the revolutionary war, production or education; the Rectification Movement, check-up on work or the examination of cadres' histories; publicity work, organizational work or anti-espionage, or other work), a higher organization and its departments should in all cases go through the leader of the lower organization concerned so that he may assume responsibility; in this way both division of labour and unified centralized leadership are achieved.

In any given place, there cannot be a number of central tasks at the same time. At any one time there can be only one central task, supplemented by other tasks of a second or third order of importance. The harder the struggle, the greater the need for Communists to link their leadership closely with the demands of the vast masses, and to combine general calls closely with particular guidance, so as to smash the subjectivist and bureaucratic methods of leadership completely.

All the leading comrades of our Party must at all times counterpose scientific, Marxist methods of leadership to subjectivist, bureaucratic methods of leaders ship and use the former to overcome the latter. Subjectivists and bureaucrats do not understand the principles of combining the leadership with the masses and the general with the particular; they greatly impede the development of the work of the Party. To combat subjectivist and bureaucratic methods of leadership, we must promote scientific, Marxist methods of leadership both extensively and intensively.

This decision guides the whole Party to raise the leadership method to the height of Marxist epistemology to understand and solve it. It is a summary of the Party's historical experience, especially the relevant experience in the Yan'an Rectification Movement. It is of great significance to guide the Party's cadres to carry out their work with scientific leadership methods.