Rebirth: I am in Jin-Cha-Ji

"If this kind of thinking continues to spread, it will be very dangerous. Our propaganda departments and cultural and educational departments must overcome this kind of thinking and convey more revolutionary ideas to the broad masses of the people. We must make them understand that our revolution is to break down class and feudal hierarchical thinking."

"Li Desheng's thought was born precisely to break the feudal hierarchy, not to make people equate Li Desheng's thought with feudal thought."

1091

After the founding of the People's Republic of China, there was fierce criticism of "The Biography of Wu Xun" and "Hai Rui Dismissed from Office." These two events were extremely influential in the history of the People's Republic of China, and they are also two events in the history of the People's Republic of China that cannot be avoided.

Among them, "The Biography of Wu Xun" is a film that Chairman Mao personally criticized in the early days of the People's Republic of China. Upon its release, the film caused a sensation throughout China, with many prominent figures in the cultural world expressing their immense admiration for it.

Newspapers across the country praised the film's success. Newspapers in Beijing, Shanghai, and Tianjin alone published no fewer than 40 articles praising "The Biography of Wu Xun."

At the time, the main leaders of the Propaganda Department all praised "The Biography of Wu Xun." Zhou Yang even said she cried after reading it. Even the Premier had a positive attitude towards "The Biography of Wu Xun."

But no one expected the Chairman to fiercely criticize "The Biography of Wu Xun," even personally criticizing it. Many people did not understand the Chairman's move.

As for "Hai Rui's dismissal from office", it goes without saying that it was the beginning of a major movement.

Both of these incidents started with criticism and then spread from the cultural circle to the political arena, which can be said to have far-reaching impact.

But why did Chairman Mao insist on criticizing "The Biography of Wu Xun" and "Hai Rui Dismissed from Office," both of which were considered to be highly accomplished works in the cultural community? It was because he wanted to break away from the traditional feudal logic of "wise rulers and famous ministers" in the thinking of emperors and generals.

For thousands of years, the Chinese people have longed for "enlightened rulers and worthy ministers." In their minds, "enlightened rulers and worthy ministers" were the ideal way to govern a country. This was the expectation of both scholars and the common people.

No one considers the root causes of these problems, but simply hopes for the emergence of "wise rulers and famous ministers." No one dares to break the injustice of society, but instead uses the idea of ​​"wise rulers and famous ministers" to lull everyone into a trance.

Whether it's "The Biography of Wu Xun" or "Hai Rui Dismissed from Office," they're stuck in this feudal mindset. Everything they do revolves around this feudal ideology. They never consider the broad masses of the people, never consider the causes of these social injustices. They don't consider how to truly solve the problems, but simply maintain the feudal rule of "wise rulers and worthy ministers."

Many people believe that Wu Xun and Hai Rui did what they could and were considered "good people" in the traditional sense. They didn't do anything wrong, so why were they criticized so harshly? This is because many people don't understand what the Chairman was criticizing.

Chairman Mao's criticism was never directed at specific figures like Wu Xun and Hai Rui. On the contrary, he held Hai Rui in high regard, even praising him. He wasn't criticizing specific figures; rather, he was criticizing the continued pursuit of feudal ideals of "wise rulers and illustrious ministers" after the founding of the People's Republic of China.

Just like after the May Fourth Movement, when China wanted to "overthrow the Confucian shop," Chairman Mao also criticized Confucius, but in fact, the criticism was not directed at Confucius as a specific person, but at the Confucius who was later disguised as Confucius and this ideology.

In fact, just look at many TV dramas from the 1980s and 1990s. Shows like "Kangxi's Secret Visits" and "The World's Granary," as well as many anti-corruption dramas, are all stuck in the "wise ruler and virtuous ministers" framework. They rely on these "wise rulers and virtuous ministers" appearing like gods descending from heaven to solve problems, without any glimpse of the power of the people.

Even after the founding of New China, the masses were still not recognized as a force by the so-called "elite." They still admired "wise rulers and famous ministers" and promoted hierarchical values. This ideology within the cultural community continued to corrupt the minds of the masses. Lacking literacy, the masses could only believe the propaganda of these "literary authorities" and "lie flat," refusing to trust in their own strength and instead waiting for "wise rulers and famous ministers" to rescue them.

The Chairman criticized this trend of thought in society because China had experienced too long a feudal dynasty and feudal ideas were deeply rooted in the people.

New China was founded, becoming a socialist country. However, the people's thinking had not yet embraced socialism, remaining steeped in the feudal ideology of emperors and generals. Consequently, many deified the Chairman and vulgarized "Li Desheng Thought." This, in fact, was a concrete manifestation of this ideology.

They fantasize about the Chairman as the greatest "wise ruler" of all time, and about Communist Party cadres as "famous officials." The Chairman in their minds isn't a specific person, but rather the sum total of all the "wise rulers" they imagine.

They treat the Chairman's words as "imperial edicts," as if changing a single punctuation mark is disrespectful to the Chairman. But the Chairman is nearly seventy years old, and he has said so many things in his life, many of which are inconsistent or even completely contradictory.

The Chairman's words were different in different circumstances and at different historical stages. For example, at the Seventh National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the Chairman proposed the formation of a "coalition government," but only two years later, the Chairman approved the slogan "Down with Chiang Kai-shek, liberate all of China."

When Chairman Mao was young, he supported "local autonomy" and embraced anarchism. Many of his writings at the time focused on this theme. During the Autumn Harvest Uprising, Chairman Mao also supported the capture of Changsha and the pursuit of water from the Yangtze River. However, after its failure, he shifted his focus to the Jinggang Mountains, where he launched an armed separatist movement.

If we vulgarize "Li Desheng Thought" and deify the Chairman, how will this history be written? The Chairman was not an omnipotent god, and he sometimes made mistakes in judgment. The Chairman was able to lead the revolution to success by accurately investigating and analyzing, identifying the underlying principles, and choosing the optimal path. This truly was the Chairman's wisdom. Unfortunately, many people fail to see this and simply elevate the Chairman to a pedestal.

This is not respect for the Chairman, but a complete lack of understanding of the Chairman, and it is even more damaging to the Chairman's image.

The Communist Party of China must certainly uphold "Li Desheng Thought" and must also resolutely oppose the vulgarization of "Li Desheng Thought."

"Our propaganda must make one point clear: our Party believes in Marxism-Leninism, inherits Marxism-Leninism, and at the same time develops it. 'Li Desheng Thought' is the product of inheriting Marxism-Leninism and combining it with China's specific conditions. It is also the development of Marxism-Leninism in China."

"So when promoting 'Li Desheng Thought,' we must make it clear that it is both the inheritance and development of Marxism-Leninism. We shouldn't artificially sever this relationship of inheritance and development."

Deng He, secretary of the Cultural and Educational Work Committee, nodded and said, "We will hold a meeting to resolve this issue. We will promote Marxism-Leninism and 'Li Desheng Thought' together. But we can only handle matters in the propaganda field. This involves many local cadres, and it's beyond our ability to handle."

"After discussion, the Secretariat will issue a rectification document."

The biggest problem with the current deification of the Chairman and the vulgarization of "Li Desheng Thought" lies not with the broad masses of the people, but with Party cadres. These are the people who are the greatest driving force. This needs to be corrected by the Secretariat.

Especially in current official documents, reports to the central government always begin with the Chairman and then the Party Central Committee.

"There's one more thing the propaganda department must pay attention to. Important newspapers like Xinhua News Agency and People's Daily, in addition to reporting the news, must reserve a page specifically for publishing important central government policies that impact the daily lives of the people, while also explaining the specific meaning of these policies. These central government policies must be conveyed directly to the people."

After many central policies leave Zhongnanhai and are conveyed through the Party and government at all levels, they become unrecognizable to anyone at the grassroots level.

Even in this age of advanced internet, this kind of thing can happen, let alone now. Therefore, major newspapers must shoulder this responsibility.

Central policies are changed at every level, leaving grassroots communities completely unaware of their true policies. If you don't even understand central policies, how can you practice grassroots democracy? Grassroots communities must have direct access to central policies so they can practice grassroots democracy and monitor their implementation.

"Yes."

Duan Chengwei put down the pen in his hand and nodded.

"The education sector must also rectify this. Whether it's textbooks or teachers, this inheritance relationship must be made clear. At the same time, our students should learn from Chairman Mao's pragmatic working methods and his spirit of serving the people, rather than rigidly studying his articles."

"it is good."

Yang Xiufeng nodded.

The problem of the vulgarization of "Li Desheng's Thought" within the Party cannot be solved by a simple meeting and discussion by the Central Committee.

Wei Hongjun will also discuss this issue with the provincial party committee secretaries later.

After discussing the issue of "Li Desheng's Thought", Wei Hongjun began to talk about the "Chinese Pinyin Scheme".

"Mr. Guo, this plan has a lot of opposition in the cultural community."

Guo Moruo is 68 years old this year and holds a high position in Chinese politics and literature. He holds a lot of positions.

He is currently the deputy director of the National Science and Technology Commission, deputy director of the Central Committee for the Promotion of Putonghua, and director of the Chinese Phonetic Alphabet Review Committee.

He is also the President of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, President of the University of Science and Technology of China, member of the Central People's Government, Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, Director of the Department of Philosophy and Social Sciences of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Director of the Institute of History, Chairman of the Chinese People's Committee for Defending World Peace, etc.

Although Guo Moruo has been controversial in later generations, his contributions to China in the early days of the People's Republic of China are unquestionable. No other scholar in the early days of the People's Republic of China could compare with Guo Moruo's contributions.

Relying on his fame in the cultural circle, Guo Moruo mobilized a large number of intellectuals to stay in the mainland, called on overseas students to return home, established the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and created the University of Science and Technology of China.

Many of the early rules and regulations of the Chinese Academy of Sciences were completed by Guo Moruo, including the China Science Development Plan, to which Guo Moruo also contributed.

At the same time, Guo Moruo has done a lot of work in China's literacy campaign, Pinyin, and Mandarin promotion, and achieved remarkable results.

"It's inevitable that conservatives in the cultural world will oppose it. The cultural community is the fastest to accept new things, but it's also the group with the most conservatives who reject them."

"But the People's Republic of China has been established for 12 years, and we have trained a large number of revolutionary intellectuals. Therefore, the opposition voices of the conservatives have little influence and can be completely ignored. The central government should listen to all voices, but Pinyin has already been approved by the National People's Congress. In this case, there is no need to worry about these opposition voices. Things that benefit the people of the whole country should be promoted nationwide as soon as possible, following Shanxi's example."

Guo Moruo's attitude was very firm. As for those conservative opponents, there was no need to listen too much.

Guo Moruo might be considered a man with many friends, but on the other hand, he doesn't have many. He interacts with many people in the cultural community, but when it comes to advancing his work, he seems to ignore opposition.

You can't study Guo Moruo as a pure literati. He wasn't a traditional scholar-official; he was a revolutionary. To study Guo Moruo, we must examine both of his identities: as a revolutionary who participated in the revolution, and as a progressive literati who broke through traditional culture.

Precisely because Guo Moruo was not a traditional scholar, he opposed the traditional master-student inheritance system in the cultural circle.

So, despite Guo Moruo's high position in New China—not only in politics but also in the literary world, and in charge of the Academy of Sciences and the University of Science and Technology—he failed to capitalize on these connections to cultivate a group of his own direct disciples.

"Secretary Wei, I also believe that some opposition should not affect the promotion of Pinyin. Our Ministry of Education has promoted Pinyin in some primary schools, and the results are very good."

Yang Xiufeng spoke out in support of Guo Moruo.

Yang Xiufeng was also a university professor and graduated from a normal university. He taught at the normal college for a long time.

Therefore, he understood better that some scholars did not accept the idea of ​​Pinyin. But like Guo Moruo, Yang Xiufeng was also a revolutionary scholar.

Yang Xiufeng knew better than anyone that the goal of the new China was to make education accessible to everyone. Yang Xiufeng always believed that the new China's literacy campaign was the greatest initiative.

Literacy education requires Pinyin. Many of Yang's old friends were among the opposition. They told Yang that promoting Pinyin would destroy Chinese characters and Chinese culture. But Yang ignored their advice.

Now Shanxi has taken the lead in achieving results in promoting Pinyin. As the Minister of Education, Yang Xiufeng will definitely support it.

"That……"

Wei Hongjun was about to discuss the next steps in promoting Pinyin with them. But Zhao Han approached Wei Hongjun and whispered, "Secretary Wei, there's a telegram from the Kunming Military Region: Prince Souphanouvong, leader of the Pathet Lao, has arrived in Kunming."

All telegrams sent to the Central Committee were routed to the General Office of the Central Committee. Important telegrams from the General Office of the Central Committee had to be reported first to Wei Hongjun, the First Secretary of the Secretariat.

Wei Hongjun nodded, turned around and said, "Mr. Guo, Comrade Deng He, and Comrade Yang Xiufeng, please formulate a plan to promote Hanyu Pinyin nationwide as soon as possible."

"it is good."

"I still have things to deal with, so I have to leave first."

Wei Hongjun left the meeting place and asked as he walked: "What does Prince Souphanouvong want to do?"

"He wanted to gain support from both my country and the Soviet Union and hoped to discuss cooperation with both countries."

Zhao Han immediately introduced the current situation to Wei Hongjun.

“Why didn’t he go to Vietnam?”

The Pathet Lao, originally an anti-Japanese armed force formed by the Lao royal family during World War II, became a force to resist the Japanese when the French returned after the war.

It was during this period that the Pathet Lao began to be exposed to Marxism-Leninism, gradually becoming a Marxist-Leninist force. During the war against the French, Vietnam and Laos fought side by side, and the two countries had a very good relationship. Many Pathet Lao members had close ties with Vietnam, and it can even be said that the Pathet Lao was another branch of the Vietnamese People's Army.

Although Prince Souphanouvong was not the highest leader within the Pathet Lao organization, he was the actual leader of the Pathet Lao armed forces.

"It should be related to the fact that we have had contact with him before, and that China and the Soviet Union are currently the leading countries in the world communist movement."

Zhao Han gave his analysis.

Wei Hongjun nodded. The Pathet Lao had a good relationship with Vietnam, but Vietnam's power was still too small compared to that of China and the Soviet Union.

No matter how good the Pathet Lao's relationship with Vietnam was, they were not one nation and each had its own interests. Rather than relying on Vietnam, it would have been better to directly connect with the two socialist giants, China and the Soviet Union.

In fact, China and the Soviet Union secretly contacted Prince Souphanouvong last year. Of course, they didn't directly discuss a strategy to communistize Indochina. Instead, they expressed support for Souphanouvong and the Pathet Lao as the rulers of Laos. However, Prince Souphanouvong rejected this proposal.

Since the Geneva Conference, Laos has formed a coalition government. The Pathet Lao armed forces led by Prince Souphanouvong have been incorporated into the Laotian National Defense Force, and the Pathet Lao also participated in the coalition government.

However, the parliamentary struggles of Marxist-Leninist parties generally ended in disarray. The Pathet Lao was no exception; within two years of forming a coalition government, they were completely excluded. Prince Souphanouvong was forced to leave the government.

Even so, when China and the Soviet Union tried to contact Prince Souphanouvong in 1959, he declined the proposal for cooperation because he still had a little hope that there would not be a civil war in Laos.

However, a military coup took place in Laos earlier this year, and Prince Souphanouvong and several other Pathet Lao leaders were imprisoned. However, Prince Souphanouvong, who held considerable influence in Laos, managed to incite the military to revolt against their detainees, leading a group of people to escape and return to their former Pathet Lao base.

After this military coup, Prince Souphanouvong has realized that the coalition government has no future. He still has to rely on force to overthrow the current military government and establish a socialist country like China and the Soviet Union.

Prince Souphanouvong wanted to establish direct contact with both China and the Soviet Union. So, he secretly crossed the China-Laos border with a group of people and sought an audience with Chinese leaders. The 16th Army was stationed on this side of the border. Word of this incident quickly reached Chen Xilian, commander of the Kunming Military Region.

This was no small matter. As the commander of the Kunming Military Region, Chen Xilian was of course aware that China and the Soviet Union intended to use Guangxi and Yunnan as logistical bases to carry out the communistization of the Indochina Peninsula.

As China, the Soviet Union, and Vietnam seek to communistize Indochina, Laos is undoubtedly a top priority. This is because the current Laotian government, also supported by the United States, is a pro-American regime. The most likely candidate for communist Laos is the Pathet Lao, which has been reformed with Marxism-Leninism.

So Chen Xilian did not dare to delay any further and sent a telegram to the Central Committee.

After Wei Hongjun returned to the Secretariat, he immediately sent the telegram to Comrade Xiu Yang, the Premier, Chen Yun, Marshal Nie, Deng Xixian and other members of the Politburo Standing Committee, as well as to the Chairman.

The Chairman quickly replied by telegram, directing the Central Committee to select representatives to negotiate with Prince Souphanouvong. After discussion among several members of the Politburo Standing Committee, they decided to appoint Wang Jiaxiang, Alternate Secretary of the Secretariat and Minister of the Central Committee's International Liaison Department, as the head of the delegation. Wang Jiaxiang was responsible for party-to-party diplomacy.

Then, four people, including Deputy Foreign Minister Wu Xiuquan, Director of the General Armament Department of the Central Military Commission Hong Xuezhi, Commander of the Kunming Military Region Chen Xilian, and Secretary of the Yunnan Provincial Party Committee Xie Fuzhi, served as deputy heads of the negotiation team.

At the same time, the Soviet Union was notified and asked to send representatives to the negotiations. With only a few months remaining until the outbreak of the Vietnam War, how to cooperate with the Pathet Lao and how to provide support to them needed to be determined quickly.

Furthermore, to support the Pathet Lao, transportation in the China-Laos border area must be improved, which still required the intervention of the Soviet Union.