The Debate on the Criterion of Truth

The ideological liberation movement that criticizes the errors of “two whatevers” is actually an educational Marxist movement. The debate on the criterion of testing truth can be roughly divided into two stages. The first stage lasted from the downfall of “The Gang of Four” in October 1976 to the end of 1977, mainly concentrating on whether we should stick to “two whatevers” or the principle of seeking truth from facts. The second stage lasted from the end of 1977 to the work conference of the Central Committee held in November 1978, when the debate was broadly spreading out in China. After “The Gang of Four” was smashed in October 1976, Hua Guofeng proposed the policy of “two whatevers” (that is “whatever policies Chairman Mao made must be upheld; whatever instructions Chairman Mao made must be adhered to steadfastly”).

Under the pretext of holding high the banner of Chairman Mao and adhering to Mao Zedong Thought, Hua Guofeng continued to safeguard Mao’s mistakes in Mao’s later years, including the theoretical slogans, principles and policies of the “Cultural Revolution”, and erroneous conclusions about Deng Xiaoping, on the grounds that Chairman Mao had given instructions, thus hindering the rectification work. On February 7, 1977, People’s Daily, Red Flag, PLA Daily published the editorial “Study the Document and Grasp the Theme”, after Hua Guofeng’s approval, in which the wrong policy of “two whatevers” was put forward. The issuance of “two whatevers” immediately caused the worries of cadres, especially the old-age ones. On April 10, Deng Xiaoping pointed out in his letter to the CPC Central Committee that “We must guide our whole Party, army and people with accurate and complete Mao Zedong Thought for generations to come.”

In July that year, Deng Xiaoping restated in the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh CPC Central Committee that we should completely and accurately grasp Mao Zedong’s scientific principle of dialectical materialism. His opinion was supported by the revolutionists of the older generation like Ye Jianying and Chen Yun, thus promoting the ideological liberation in ideological and theoretical circles. At the end of 1977, under the guidance of Hu Yaobang, Party School of the CPC Central Committee (hereinafter referred to as CPC Central Committee Party School) clearly stipulated that two principles should be observed in studying the Party's history: one is to fully and accurately understand the basic principles of Mao Zedong Thought, and the other is to take practice as the criterion for testing truth and distinguishing right from wrong. On May 10, 1978, the article titled “Practice Is the Only Criterion for Testing Truth” was published in Theoretical Trends, the in-house journal of CPC Central Committee Party School. On the second day, it was then published in Guangming Daily in the name of a special commentator. On the same day, Xinhua News Agency issued a general draft of it. On the third day, People’s Daily, PLA Daily and other newspapers reprinted its full text.

The article expounds the ideological line of Marxism to the effect that the criterion for testing truth can only be social practice and that the unity of theory and practice is one of the most basic principles of Marxism. Besides, it states that the revolutionary mentor is an example for insisting on testing truth by practice. It is a theoretical negation of “two whatevers”. It aroused a heated discussion throughout the country. Some people criticized that the article “actually pointed the finger at Chairman Mao Thought", in an attempt to suppress the discussion on the criterion of testing truth. On June 2, Deng Xiaoping expounded on how Mao Zedong Thought should be upheld under new historical conditions in the meeting on military political work. He offered a penetrating idea that seeking truth from facts is the starting and fundamental point of Mao Zedong Thought. He also mentioned that some cadres actually forgot, abandoned or even objected Mao Zedong’s fundamental view or methodology of Marxism that we should seek truth from facts, proceed from reality in all and integrate theory with practice, although they talk about Mao Zedong Thought every day. On June 24, “The Most Fundamental Principle of Marxism” was published in PLA Daily in the name of a special commentator. It stressed that Marxism and Mao Zedong Thought themselves and their accuracy should be tested by practice. Thanks to the guidance and support of Deng Xiaoping and other central leaders, the debate on the criterion of testing truth broke the shackles of “two whatevers” and spread all over the country.

Since the late July, the main persons in charge of the departments concerned in various provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities directly under the Central Government, and the central government, as well as major military regions, military branches, and units directly under the CMC, have successively delivered speeches or written articles to publicly support the position that practice is the only standard for testing truth. Propaganda departments and Party schools across the country also held seminars or training classes one after another to promote and deepen the discussion. The discussion about the truth criterion broke the long-held bondage of personal worship and dogmatism and is regarded as another ideological liberation movement of CPC following the Yan'an Rectification Movement. It has made the ideological and theoretical preparation for the Party to restore order through the rectification, implement the Reform and Opening-up, reestablish the ideological line of seeking truth from facts, correct the long-standing “Left” deviation and achieve a historic turning point.