"Two Whatevers"

On February 7, 1977, People’s Daily, Red Flag, PLA Daily published the editorial “Study the Document and Grasp the Theme” in which it was put forward that “whatever policies Chairman Mao made must be upheld; whatever instructions Chairman Mao made must be adhered to steadfastly” (“two whatevers for short”). The proposal of “two whatevers” not only limited the criticism on “The Gang of Four” but also hindered the rehabilitation of Tian An Men Event and Deng Xiaoping’s return to work.“Two whatevers” goes against the basic Marxist principle of seeking truth from facts and obstructs the practice of sticking to the truth and rectifying errors under the new circumstances. After the “two whatevers” was proposed, Deng Xiaoping, Chen Yun and others expressed their firm opposition.

On April 10, 1977, Deng Xiaoping stressed in a letter to the central committee that “We must hold high and defend this glorious banner for generations to come. We must guide our whole Party, army and people with accurate and complete Mao Zedong Thought for generations to come.” On May 24, Deng Xiaoping further stated in his talk with two comrades that “‘two whatevers’ does not work”, because “Mao Zedong Thought is an ideological system and seeking truth from facts is a significant theoretical issue that requires us to adhere to the historical materialism”. Since May 1978, the debate about the criterion for testing truth had swept the country. On June 2, Deng Xiaoping addressed the military's meeting on political work and refuted “two whatevers” once again. He emphasized that seeking truth from facts is the starting and fundamental point of Mao Zedong Thought and that practice is the sole criterion for testing truth and our work. He said: “Some comrades keep saying Mao Zedong Thought but instead forget, abandon or even oppose Comrade Mao Zedong’s fundamental Marxist view and method of seeking truth from facts, proceeding from reality and combining theory with practice. Some others even believe that anyone who insists on seeking truth from facts, proceeding from reality and combining theory with practice makes a heinous crime. In essence, they believe that they just need to copy the original words of Marx, Lenin and Comrade Mao Zedong. Otherwise, they violate Marxism, Mao Zedong Thought and principles of the Central Committee.” He also said that: “It is beyond all doubt that we must obey the basic principles of Marxism and Mao Zedong Thought”. However, we must combine it with reality, analyze and study the actual situation and solve practical problems. He called on the whole Party and army to “break the spiritual shackles and emancipate our minds”. On December 13, 1978, Deng Xiaoping delivered a famous speech entitled “Emancipating the Mind, Seeking Truth from Facts, and Uniting People and Getting Them to Look Forward” at the Working Conference of the Central Committee held in preparation for the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh CPC Central Committee. He pointed out: “A Party, country or nation would stop moving forward and then perish if dogmatism, ossification of thoughts and superstition prevail.

This is what Comrade Mao Zedong repeatedly said during the rectification movement. Only by emancipating our minds, seeking truth from facts, proceeding from reality and integrating theory with practice can our socialist modernization construction proceed smoothly and the theories of Marxism-Leninism and Mao Zedong Thought of our Party develop smoothly. In this sense, the debate on the criterion of testing truth is indeed an ideological and political issue concerning the future and destiny of the Party and the country. In this plenary session, the debate on the criterion of testing truth was spoken highly of, a complete and accurate mastering of Mao Zedong Thought was fully recognized and “two whatevers” was downright denied.