The Decision of the CPC Central Committee on Enhancing Party Character

A document adopted by the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee with the theme of strengthening Party spirit. It is included in the 18th volume of Selected Important Documents since the Founding of the Communist Party of China (1921-1949) published by the Central Literature Publishing House in 2011.

In 1941, the Anti-Japanese War entered the phase of stalemate, the situation faced by the Communist Party of China was very serious, and the base areas and border areas also faced extreme difficulties. After the South Anhui Incident, the CPC Central Committee believed that Xiang Ying had “made a right-leaning opportunist mistake” because there was a fundamental problem with the Party's character, so it was necessary to eliminate the wrong tendencies and non-proletarian ideas that violated the Party's character in the Party, especially in the army, to strengthen the Party's education and study of the Party's character, and to build a united and strong Party.

In March, the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee held a meeting to discuss how to strengthen Party-wide education.

On July 1, 1941, the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee discussed and adopted “The Decision of the CPC Central Committee on Enhancing Party Character” drafted by Wang Jiaxiang. The “Decision” is divided into three parts. Firstly, the “Decision” discusses the need to promote Party spirit. It is pointed out that after 20 years of revolutionary exercise, the CPC has become a Marxist-Leninist party in close contact with the masses and has become an important decisive factor in the political life of the country. Still, what lies ahead for the whole Party was the great and arduous cause of revolution. In this way, the Party is required to further become a fully consolidated Marxist-Leninist Party politically, ideologically, and organizationally; all Party members and all components of the Party are required to unite as an organized whole under a unified will, unified action, and unified discipline. Secondly, the “Decision” enumerated the existence of such tendencies in the Party at that time as a political free action, organizational self-constitution, individualism in ideology and understanding, which violated the Party's character. It is pointed out that if it develops, it will undermine the unified will, unified action, and unified discipline of the Party. Finally, the “Decision” points out the way to correct the aforementioned tendencies that violate Party spirit. First, more emphasis should be given to the importance of Party-wide unity, concentration, and obedience to central leadership within the Party. The second is to check more strictly the implementation of all resolutions and decisions and resolutely purge the phenomenon of duplicity. Third, immediate detection, immediate correction, not condone the continued development of the error. For those who repeatedly say that they do not change, they must be timely prevented with disciplinary sanctions. Fourth, to strengthen the education of discipline in the whole Party, and strictly abide by the basic principles of individual obedience to the organization, minority obedience to the majority, subordination to superiors, and Party-wide obedience to the central government. Fifth, use the weapon of self-criticism and strengthen the method of study to transform themselves to make them suitable for the needs of the Party and the revolution; to promote selflessness, faithfulness, and simplicity, hard work, humbleness, seeking truth from facts, abstaining from pride, abstaining from superficial style, and transforming the phenomenon of complete disconnection between theory and practice, study and work. Sixth, from the members of the Central Committee to the leaders in charge of each Party section, all must participate in the branch organization, have experience in the Party, listen to the criticism of the Party members and the masses, and enhance the exercise of their own Party spirit.

In July 1942, Ren Bishi pointed out the reasons why the CPC Central Committee formulated the document in his report "Why Should We Make Decisions to Enhance Party Character" for the Party School of the CPC Central Committee. Firstly, our Party has become an important decisive factor in China's political life. More than ever, our Party needs internal unity and solidarity, unanimity of thought and action, and the need to consolidate ourselves and prevent our enemies from taking advantage of various opportunities and gaps to undermine the unity of our Party. Secondly, our Party has grown from a small party to a large Party in the united front since the war and over the years; its membership has grown to 800,000 people, 750,000 of whom are newcomers, and its composition became quite complex. A large number of new Party members today are in great need of more education from the Party. At the same time, as the ideology of the situation of struggle and social existence is reflected in our Party, it makes our Party prone to incorrect thinking. These circumstances also tell our Party that today it is even more important to strengthen Party spirit and overcome bad tendencies to unite our Party internally. Thirdly, from the history of our Party, there are still some weaknesses in the Party, and more attention is needed to those weaknesses. Some serious incidents and phenomena in the course of the resistance are warning us. At the same time, Ren Bishi pointed out the positive effects of the “Decision” in his report. Firstly, the “Decision” sums up the lessons our Party has learned in the past two decades about leading the united front and armed struggle. Secondly, after this decision was issued, it served as an education for the whole Party, making the Party more unified politically, organizationally, and ideologically than in the past. Thirdly, after this decision was issued, it also played an ideological role in preparing for this rectification and study campaign.

"The Decision of the CPC Central Committee on Enhancing Party Character" is the first document adopted by the Politburo of the Central Committee on the theme of enhancing Party character since the founding of the Party, which is of great significance in the history of Party building and has also had a positive and far-reaching impact, becoming a must-read document for the Yan'an Rectification Study. The adoption of the “Decision” signifies that the CPC has made the exercise and cultivation of Party character an important task in Party building, and it is also a sign that the Party has reached a more mature and conscious understanding of its own internal relations.