On the Question of Intellectuals

Zhou Enlai's speech to the delegates of the National Conference on Science and the National Conference of Playwrights held in Guangzhou on March 2, 1962. It was included in the Selected Works of Zhou Enlai (Part II) published by People’s Press in 1984.

It mainly includes the following contents:

(1) Discussing the definition and status of intellectuals.

It is pointed out that intellectuals are not an independent class but a social stratum composed of mental workers. Generally speaking, under given social conditions, most members of this stratum have been subordinated to the ruling class in the society and have served that class. Only under the socialist system, in which the working people hold the dominant position, can intellectuals change over and serve the people. On the one hand, the old intellectuals have been remoulded, and on the other, new intellectuals are being trained; together these two groups constitute the socialist intelligentsia.

(2) The development process of modern intellectuals in China is expounded.

It is pointed out that the intellectuals from the old society have been influenced in various ways by the imperialists and the reactionary ruling class. No matter who we are now, we were all bourgeois intellectuals in the past. On the other hand—and this is much more important—we should recognize that the overwhelming majority of intellectuals in old China suffered under the oppressive rule of the imperialists, feudalists and bureaucrat-capitalists. That is why some of them joined the ranks of the revolution and others were sympathetic towards it. Most of them, in the beginning, stood aside to watch the revolution and took a neutral position, and later gradually inclined to the cause. There were only a few counter-revolutionary intellectuals.

On the one hand, they are mental workers and can serve the people; on the other, they are tied to the old society in a thousand and one ways. It is therefore both possible and necessary for the Party and the government to adopt a policy of uniting with them, educating them and remoulding them. It is likewise both possible and necessary for the intellectuals to cast off the influence of the old society and meet the requirements of the new. That is why we say that this fundamental policy of the Party and the government towards intellectuals is also a fundamental task of the intellectuals themselves.

(3) Expounding the Party's leadership and how to treat intellectuals correctly.

It is pointed out that the Party should be responsible for major principles, policies and plans, that it should give guidance to the general work of all departments, and not that it should be in charge of every detail. As for their specific work, the Party should not interfere in it. The Party leadership is organizational, not individual leadership.

Laymen should lead experts only in a limited sphere. When we said before that laymen could lead experts, we meant that the secretary or the members of a Party committee could provide guidance on political, ideological, and organizational aspects of the work.

There are six problems to be solved about how to treat intellectuals correctly: Firstly, trust them. Secondly, help them. Thirdly, improve relations with them. Fourthly, solve their problems. Fifthly, admit that we have made mistakes in the past. Sixthly, put our errors right after acknowledging them. Real action must be taken.

(4) Explaining the self-remoulding of intellectuals.

It is pointed out that everyone, including Party members, should remould himself. The remoulding of the people varies from case to case only in degree, not in nature. Ideological remoulding is a long-term task. It will take time for intellectuals to change their bourgeois world view into a proletarian one. The remoulding should be voluntary. The degree of self-remoulding depends mainly on the degree of the person's willingness. The remoulding must not be conducted roughly, but in the manner of "a gentle breeze and a mild rain". In the course of remoulding, we should help and learn from each other. There has never been anyone in the world who had no shortcomings. And there never will be. The aim of self-remoulding is to make progress, so it is an honorable thing.

Zhou Enlai's Report on the Work of the Government at the Third Session of the Second National People's Congress on the 27th and 28th of the same month further clarified the position and role of intellectuals in the socialist period and clearly affirmed that the vast majority of intellectuals in China are "intellectuals belonging to the working people". Zhou Enlai's speech and report are comprehensive and thorough and realistic. It is an important document for the Party to adjust the policy of intellectuals in the early 1960s, and it had a far-reaching impact on the intellectuals.