[Translation]: The Near Impossible Road of the Chinese Revolution (5)

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Continue the discussion of the achievements of the Chinese revolution.

(3) The third achievement of the Chinese revolution left behind a number of great traditions

Institutions are important, and so are traditions. The traditional value lies mainly in two aspects. The first is that tradition can provide rich historical experience. The second is that tradition can provide great courage for future generations. There are some things that the predecessors do not dare to do or even think about after they have not done it successfully.

There are many great traditions left by China’s victorious revolutionary road, many of which have actually been included in my analysis of particularity, so I won’t repeat them. Below I will only mention a few that I think are the most important and have not been fully discussed before.

One of the great traditions of the Chinese revolution, the tradition of ensuring that the party and the people remain flesh-and-blood

There are many aspects to this. The Party must keep in close contact with the masses, the Party must serve the masses, the Party must humbly learn from the masses, and at the same time resolutely educate and guide the masses, the Party must rely on the masses to mobilize the masses to do great things, and strive to unite the vast majority of the masses in fighting against the extreme. A few enemies, to keep promises to the masses, etc.

Everyone is familiar with these contents, and their sources in history are also very clear to everyone, so I will not say more. But I would like to add a few words from the opposite side. The words above are “how to”, and the words below are “what not to do”.

Don’t keep thinking about how to divide the masses, don’t deliberately fool the people, don’t cater to the anti-intellectual tendencies among the masses, don’t feel irritated about dealing with complex conflicts among the people, don’t feel uneasy about the people’s temporary misunderstandings and complaints, and don’t suspect that the masses have a common sense with themselves. The awareness to overcome the difficulties , and so on. These contents also have deep historical roots in the history of modern revolution.

If we compare horizontally, there may be only this political organization in today’s world that can establish such rich and deep flesh-and-blood ties.

Where is the difficulty in establishing the flesh and blood ties between the ruling group and the people? I think it is mainly difficult to build long-term mutual trust . The problem of mutual trust can be divided into four aspects: the trust of the ruling group in the ability of the people, the trust of the ruling group in the loyalty of the people, the trust of the people in the ability of the ruling group, and the trust of the people in the loyalty of the ruling group. The hardest thing here are the two trusts in loyalty .

Let’s analyze the problem of trust in loyalty.

Since ancient times, human beings have accumulated a large number of domination techniques to differentiate and fool the masses. In modern times, the popular system of Western elections and political party competition in the world has solidified the strong political differentiation within the rulers and the people at the institutional level. In this case, there is no way to maintain loyalty and mutual trust.
For example, for a ruling party, the basic masses of the opposing party are basically political enemies, while a large number of swing voters are capricious.
Another example is that popular culture and even popular education generally believe that deep-rooted distrust of the government is the basic manifestation of “not being ignorant” and “not being brainwashed”. In fact, it is not good to blame people from all over the world too much.
After all, the extraordinary combination of the ruling party and the people has never happened in their history, and there are too many precedents for the ruling party to deceive the people.

The situation in China is different. The flesh-and-blood connection between the party and the people was created by the extremely difficult and long line chosen by the Chinese revolution. Precisely because it is extremely difficult, it is necessary to establish flesh and blood ties with the masses. Precisely because of the length, this connection is not a temporary fix, but the norm of existence itself . It is not difficult for readers to compare the situation of the country under the Western system just described with the “how to” and “not how to” mentioned above, and it is not difficult to see that on the basis of basically solving the problem of mutual trust and mutual loyalty, the Chinese ruling party’s The mental outlook is different, and the mentality of the Chinese people is also different . The solution to the problem of loyalty and mutual trust was completed in the revolutionary era. Later, people’s starting point in the political structure was already very high , as long as the traditions were maintained.

From a big historical perspective, I think:
1 In the classical era, the difficulty in establishing mutual trust between the rulers and the people was largely a last resort, determined by low technology and productivity;
2 In an era when technology and productivity have developed to the point where this state can be changed, due to the lag in the development of human political civilization, not only has there been no situation of high mutual trust between the rulers and the people, but more sophisticated institutional designs have been used to solidify and even strengthen mutual trust. a situation of distrust;
3 China took the lead in breaking this trust dilemma in human history. This is a fundamental civilizational breakthrough that can be compared with the establishment of a large-scale secular society rather than a theocratic or shamanic society.

The Great Tradition of the Chinese Revolution No. 2 The Excellent Tradition of Correctly Treating Wrongs

The course of the Chinese revolution has shown that the party makes mistakes, and so does the central government. What appears to be the truth can also be ungrounded. It’s not hard to recognize these, because the bloody reality is in front of you. The hard part is how to deal with mistakes.

The long-term experience and lesson of revolutionary struggle is that it is not necessary to blindly follow superiors and dogmatic theories, but the leadership of the party cannot be rejected because the party has made mistakes, and the leadership of the central government cannot be rejected because the central government has made mistakes. When serious mistakes are made, have tenacity to get through and actively create an environment in which to correct them. After correcting the mistakes, we should not indulge in turning over the old accounts and the big liquidation, but should unite and look forward.

What I said above is not to promote some kind of stupid loyalty, but is based on the following general truth.

The first big truth. In such a huge system as China, it is very difficult to establish a system with high organizational power and high mobilization power. If the party or the central government made mistakes to deviate from or destroy this system, it is very likely that the gains will outweigh the losses. Without party organization, not only will the ability to correct mistakes be almost certainly lost, but there will likely be a slippage into bigger mistakes.

The second principle. The Communist Party and China have a huge strategic tolerance and depth of trial and error . This depth is in the sense of time as well as in the sense of space . The Party is a very tenacious organization that can survive for a long time even under difficult circumstances and even if it makes serious mistakes. This has been proven repeatedly by history.

This is the great depth of the direction of time. China is a big country with a large population, and the people are highly motivated. Therefore, if a certain group of people in a certain region made a big mistake, it does not mean that other people in other regions or the same group of people in other regions cannot obtain the results in the second and third experiments. success. This is the great depth of the spatial direction.

The course of the Chinese revolution has effectively verified these two principles. Let’s think back.

Both the party’s major mistakes resulted in serious losses for the party. In the end, those who succeeded were comrades who had great strategic patience in the face of mistakes and were willing to actively try to explore and improve. They were comrades who were loyal to the party and respected the authority of the central government and did not betray the party and split the party even if they suffered unfair treatment .
After Mao Zedong achieved such good work performance in Jiangxi, he was deprived of leadership, but he was not discouraged or gave up the tenacity; Zhou Enlai and others took the initiative to let Mao Zedong’s high style shine; It is the wisdom of the crowd that unites to look forward and make important “historical decisions”; these are invaluable examples.

By the way, this period of history from the late Soviet Union to Russia is a typical negative experience in dealing with the wrong side of the party .

The Great Tradition of the Chinese Revolution No. 3 A Strong Tradition of Reform

When talking about reform now, everyone often thinks of the reform and opening up since the 1980s, but when you think about it carefully, in fact, the entire Communist Party of China has been carrying out vigorous reforms throughout its revolutionary history. Moreover, the reform at that time was more urgent than the reform situation later. At that time, if the reform was not good or not reformed, many people would really die.

There is a lot to be said about the tradition of reform during the Chinese revolution, but there are two parts that I value the most. Part of it is the spiritual force of reform discussed below in “The Fourth Achievement of the Chinese Revolution.” The other part deals with the relationship between reform and ideology , which I will explain below.

In the experience of dealing with the relationship between reform and ideology in the Chinese revolution, I think there are three main points. First, reform must break the shackles of old ideology. Second, reform must rely on the old ideology. Third, it is necessary to promote the formation of a new ideology or a new stage of ideology in practice.

Look at the first one.

This seems obvious at first glance. How can we reform without breaking the shackles? But this is easier said than done. As long as you think about it, today’s Western world is full of all kinds of abuses and people are very anxious, but there are still so many ideological shackles that cannot be broken. Why is it difficult to break the ideological shackles when reforming? I think there are two main reasons. One is that those in power have been immersed in the old ideology for a long time; the other is that many wise people in power do not dare to oppose rashly even if they know that ideology has become an obstacle, because they do not know what will happen to society after losing the orthodox status of ideology. .

Regarding the second (reform must rely on the old ideology), at first glance it seems contradictory to the first, but it is not. Some people think that in order to break the shackles of the old ideology, before the establishment of the new ideology, the reformers will inevitably have to abandon the ideology and go the road of opportunism. I think this is wrong. This can be done for individuals or small groups, and even in small countries and regions where the boats are particularly small and easy to turn around, but not for large countries. The reason is very simple. As I mentioned in the last paragraph, if the old ideology is not relied on to escort it but rashly overturns it, the risk of losing the ideological support of the big system is probably too great and too uncontrollable.

Regarding Article 3. If the reform fails to form new ideological achievements, it will lay the groundwork for the death of the government , and at the same time, it will not be conducive to summarizing experience and planning the next stage of tasks. To form a new ideology, under the premise of breaking the shackles of the old ideology, the only reasonable way is to resort to practice. It is necessary to establish the basic ideological line of seeking truth from facts , speak with practical results to convince the public, and sum up experience from practice to avoid going astray.

The most important reform in the modern revolutionary history of the Communist Party of China is the transfer of dominance from the international faction to the local faction . Of course one might bring up the reform of the relationship between the army and the regime, but I think this is closer to the establishment than to reform in general.

Let’s take a look at the transition of dominance from the International to the Local.

In this reform, the above-mentioned first (breaking the shackles of the old ideology) and third (forming a new ideology in practice) are clearly reflected. I have already said a lot in the previous chapter (Ninth of the Particularities of China’s Revolutionary Road), so I won’t repeat it. I just add one more thing. As mentioned earlier, many reformers have difficulty breaking the old ideology because they have been immersed in the old ideology for a long time, which is not the case with those who led the reform in the Chinese revolution. They did not learn Marxism from a young age, but accepted it after the complex thinking of their youth. Therefore , their beliefs are based on highly rational, not based on early indoctrination or subtle influence.

A few more words on the second article (reform must rely on the old ideology). Don’t forget that during the period from Comrade Mao Zedong’s loss to regaining leadership, our party did not take Comrade Mao Zedong’s thought as a guide, and that period happened to be the most dangerous period for the Communist Party (from the failure of the anti-encirclement campaign to the early stage of the Long March) ). What ideology supported the ideals and beliefs of the revolutionaries when they suffered such severe losses? It can only be Marxism that needs to be transformed and developed but has not been transformed and developed at this time. Having suffered such a huge defeat, it is obvious that the ready-made dogma of Marxism cannot catch up with the local atmosphere of China, but if you declare to the disastrously defeated Red Army that Marxism will not work, the people’s team will probably disperse. This is the reason why it is necessary to transform the old ideology and rely on it to protect it. I also noticed a phenomenon that after the failure of the 27-year Great Revolution, the first setback, more people defected from the party than after the second setback (failure of the anti-encirclement and suppression campaign). The reason may be that those who are still willing to make revolution after the first big setback are people with firm beliefs after screening.
So their firm belief in the doctrine could sustain them through the second time, although many of them also understood that the doctrine desperately needed reform.

Readers familiar with the history of the republic can easily see that the excellent tradition of dealing with the relationship between reform and ideology that I analyzed above has been effectively inherited and repeated in the history of the republic.

The Great Tradition of the Chinese Revolution No. 4: The Tradition of a Superior Game with Foreign Countries

I once summarized several prominent features of the Republic’s foreign game in the key political article. Quote it here.

First, attach great importance to strategic initiative. The degree of ideological restriction is very low, the short-term internal political pressure is low, and the flexibility is very strong .

Second, there is a strong emphasis on timing. Not only can they endure unbearable things for a long time, but they are also very good at taking advantage of the window of opportunity to suddenly explode.

Third, be good at doing big things at a small price.

Fourth, they are good at balancing multi-objective needs in the struggle, and often do many things with one stone.

Fifth, they are good at taking the initiative to use foreign struggle to strengthen the domestic position of the leader of the struggle , which in turn ensures that the strength of foreign struggle can be strengthened, thus forming a virtuous circle that can last for a long time.

Sixth, the key figures have a strong ability to withstand pressure and are good at causing great psychological impact on the opponent’s leaders.

These game characteristics can be traced back to the revolutionary process of modern China. I have already listed many examples of foreign games in the above chapter (the speciality of China’s revolutionary road No. 10). Due to space limitations, I will not conduct a detailed analysis of the cases during the revolutionary period here. However, I have written a lot of analysis of the cases of the Republic period, and you can experience it in detail.

This tradition in the Chinese revolutionary stage can be effectively passed down. I think it should be the result of the combined effect of light and dark lines.

The bright line is that our party has always attached great importance to historical education . Not only to educate the party’s cadres and party members, but also to actively carry out history education for the whole people. Many friends who fall in love with the Internet have the experience of “don’t know if you don’t see it, you will be shocked when you see it”:
Our politicians have much more fighting experience in their minds than those in foreign countries. This is inseparable from the party’s long-term education.
Although the vast majority of these people do not have practical opportunities, the increase in the experience of struggle in the entire social, cultural and public opinion environment is also very beneficial to the improvement of the level of decision-makers. On the other hand, history has constantly confirmed that if the masses are severely deficient and anti-intellectual, it is difficult for politicians to escape the fate of being demoted after a long time.

Another dark line I think exists but can’t confirm it. I reckon there are some circles of experience in certain departments at certain levels that can be passed on from generation to generation. It is not known to the outside world because it involves something that cannot be published . Why do I suspect this dark line exists? Mainly for two reasons. The first is that it is difficult for me to imagine that seniors with such excellent abilities do not deliberately arrange work where their struggle experience is passed on from generation to generation. The second is the comparison of our country’s political system with that of our main competitors, which is objectively very conducive to using the above-mentioned experience to inherit the dark line. For example, there is no need to cater to populism, for example, not to overthrow the foreign policy of the previous one, or not to allow people with severely incomplete resumes to gain high positions.

(4) The fourth achievement of the Chinese revolution, which created a new civilization that integrates great achievements and provided far-reaching spiritual strength for this new civilization

The people of the republic are descendants of the ancient Chinese, but the traditional Chinese civilization is only a part of the civilization of the republic, and the latter is much broader than the former.

I have previously summarized the main political and ideological origins of the new civilization of the Republic :

1. Chinese traditional Qin government + Confucianism + imperial examination + Guanshanhai tradition

2. The various civilization governance systems of the Qing Dynasty

3. The Soviet Union’s Leninist Organizational Construction and Violent Struggle Models

4. The Marxist Left of Continental Europe as Moral Highland and Beyond Vision

5. The market economic system of the United States and the United Kingdom and the tradition of flexible control of people’s psychology

6. The experience of Japan and the Four Tigers on the rise after the use of globalization

7. The Party’s own arduous experience of survival and development

This is a summary of the present, but the main part (five of the seven) has been in place since the victory of the modern revolution. The seventh article occupies a pivotal position , because the integration of other articles is not the result of system design, but the result of a long and arduous struggle for survival and development.

The stage of the modern Chinese revolution that created this new civilization is the source of the “Tao Tradition” of the civilization of the Republic . This means that the history of the modern revolutionary stage must have a profound impact on the new civilization of the Republic. Here I don’t mean that the development of later generations is based on this history (which is correct nonsense), I mean that this history will be continuously used by later people to help solve the major problems of the time. The way of assistance is not to provide specific programs but to affect the deep psychology.

I explain in detail.

Throughout the ages, people who want to make a big change often have two sets of methods: the ancient and the foreign. Togu speak of things is to use the sages or founders of their own political culture to speak things in order to gain political power. For example, the United States still often cites the founding fathers group. For example, many civilized regions (such as India and Islamic regions) that have not been as effective in their modern transformations will even cite older religious traditions (though many may actually be recent inventions). Another example is that after the failure of Russia’s experiments in the Soviet Union, it now has to often cite political resources from the Tsarist Russia period, such as the Orthodox Church. And China basically only needs to push to the revolutionary era in the matter of “Togu”. Although some people say things further forward, their influence is incomparable with the influence of the above-mentioned “ancient” involved in the “Tuogu” of the above countries and civilizations. This means that the Republic is fundamentally the world’s major country with the lightest historical ideological burden and thus the most conducive to change to adapt to the new environment . This may be counter-intuitive. After all, many people like to say that China has a long history and therefore has a deep history. This is not contradictory. The accumulation of traditional civilization is really deep, but the fettering ability of traditional civilization is really weak (you can see it by comparing it with other countries). It can be said that a republic is an ancient wisdom coupled with a youthful mentality. This is the feeling of rebirth in Nirvana . It feels great.

Tuoyang said that the Chinese are all too familiar with it. There are advantages and disadvantages to relying on Tuoyang to talk about things and finally reform the system. The disadvantage is that it is not easy to maintain balance, it is easy to become a vassal of foreign ideas, and it is easy to be difficult to clean up after conflicts with local ideas. However , the great pioneering work of the Chinese revolution, which successfully transformed communism and formed Mao Zedong Thought, ensured that later generations could have a confident and stable mentality in the face of other possible foreign excellent ideas .

Since the reform and opening up, the ideas of the capitalist Western world led by the United States once had a strong all-round penetrating influence in China. Many people worried that China would be westernized in a new way and lose its political and ideological independence, but now it seems that is not going to happen. Most people attribute the reason to the successful development of these decades.
This is of course the main reason, but I always think there is a deeper psychological factor that is not easily discernible:
The people in the key groups who are most responsible for the destiny of the country have drawn strong spiritual strength from the history of the Sinicization of Marxism in China’s revolutionary stage – “It will not be more difficult to deal with this wave of ideological shocks than the chairman they faced and successfully processed”.

In short, I think the history of the Chinese revolution is the trump card of the spiritual will of the Chinese people in the face of possible major uncertainties and even setbacks in the future. Now that the Chinese people are proud and triumphant, they do not need to pay their trump card, but the ancestors of the civilization of the Republic will always be there silently waiting for the day when it needs to exert its mighty power from the depths of history. . .

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