colonial revolution and the Chinese revolution,and he must be able to apply them in a penetrating and scientific analysis of China's practical problems and discover the laws of development of these problems.Such are the theorists we really need. The Central Committee of our Party has now made a decision calling upon our comrades to learn how to apply the Marxist-Leninist stand,viewpoint and method in the serious study of China's history,and of China's economics,politics,military affairs and culture,and to analyse every problem concretely on the basis of detailed material and then draw theoretical conclusions.This is the responsibility we must shoulder. Our comrades in the Party School should not regard Marxist theory as lifeless dogma.It is necessary to master Marxist theory and apply it,master it for the sole purpose of applying it.If you can apply the Marxist-Leninist viewpoint in elucidating one or two practical problems,you should be commended and credited with some achievement.The more problems you elucidate and the more comprehensively and profoundly you do so,the greater will be your achievement.Our Party School should also lay down the rule to grade students good or poor according to how they look at China's problems after they have studied Marxism-Leninism,according to whether or not they see the problems clearly and whether or not they see them at all. Next let us talk about the question of the "intellectuals".Since China is a semi-colonial,semi-feudal country and her culture is not well developed,intellectuals are particularly treasured.On this question of the intellectuals,the Central Committee of the Party made the decision [2 over two years ago that we should win over the great numbers of intellectuals and,insofar as they are revolutionary and willing to take part in the resistance to Japan,welcome them one and all.It is entirely right for us to esteem intellectuals,for without revolutionary intellectuals the revolution cannot triumph.But we all know there are many intellectuals who fancy themselves very learned and assume airs of erudition without realizing that such airs are bad and harmful and hinder their own progress.They ought to be aware of the truth that actually many so-called intellectuals are, relatively speaking,most ignorant and the workers and peasants sometimes know more than they do.Here some will say,"Ha!You are turning things upside down and talking nonsense."(Laughter.) But,comrades,don't get excited;there is some sense in what I am saying. What is knowledge?Ever since class society came into being the world has had only two kinds of knowledge,knowledge of the struggle for production and knowledge of the class struggle.Natural science and social science are the crystallization of these two kinds of knowledge,and philosophy is the generalization and summation of the knowledge of nature and the knowledge of society.Is there any other kind of knowledge?No.Now let us take a look at certain students,those brought up in schools that are completely cut off from the practical activities of society.What about them?A person goes from a primary school of this kind all the way through to a university of the same kind, graduates and is reckoned to have a stock of learning.But all he has is book-learning;he has not yet taken part in any practical activities or applied what he has learned to any field of life.Can such a person be regarded as a completely developed intellectual?Hardly so,in my opinion,because his knowledge is still incomplete.What then is relatively complete knowledge?All relatively complete knowledge is formed in two stages:the first stage is perceptual knowledge,the second is rational knowledge,the latter being the development of the former to a higher stage.What sort of
colonial revolution and the Chinese revolution, and he must be able to apply them in a penetrating and scientific analysis of China's practical problems and discover the laws of development of these problems. Such are the theorists we really need. The Central Committee of our Party has now made a decision calling upon our comrades to learn how to apply the Marxist-Leninist stand, viewpoint and method in the serious study of China's history, and of China's economics, politics, military affairs and culture, and to analyse every problem concretely on the basis of detailed material and then draw theoretical conclusions. This is the responsibility we must shoulder. Our comrades in the Party School should not regard Marxist theory as lifeless dogma. It is necessary to master Marxist theory and apply it, master it for the sole purpose of applying it. If you can apply the Marxist-Leninist viewpoint in elucidating one or two practical problems, you should be commended and credited with some achievement. The more problems you elucidate and the more comprehensively and profoundly you do so, the greater will be your achievement. Our Party School should also lay down the rule to grade students good or poor according to how they look at China's problems after they have studied Marxism-Leninism, according to whether or not they see the problems clearly and whether or not they see them at all. Next let us talk about the question of the "intellectuals". Since China is a semi-colonial, semi-feudal country and her culture is not well developed, intellectuals are particularly treasured. On this question of the intellectuals, the Central Committee of the Party made the decision [2] over two years ago that we should win over the great numbers of intellectuals and, insofar as they are revolutionary and willing to take part in the resistance to Japan, welcome them one and all. It is entirely right for us to esteem intellectuals, for without revolutionary intellectuals the revolution cannot triumph. But we all know there are many intellectuals who fancy themselves very learned and assume airs of erudition without realizing that such airs are bad and harmful and hinder their own progress. They ought to be aware of the truth that actually many so-called intellectuals are, relatively speaking, most ignorant and the workers and peasants sometimes know more than they do. Here some will say, "Ha! You are turning things upside down and talking nonsense." (Laughter.) But, comrades, don't get excited; there is some sense in what I am saying. What is knowledge? Ever since class society came into being the world has had only two kinds of knowledge, knowledge of the struggle for production and knowledge of the class struggle. Natural science and social science are the crystallization of these two kinds of knowledge, and philosophy is the generalization and summation of the knowledge of nature and the knowledge of society. Is there any other kind of knowledge? No. Now let us take a look at certain students, those brought up in schools that are completely cut off from the practical activities of society. What about them? A person goes from a primary school of this kind all the way through to a university of the same kind, graduates and is reckoned to have a stock of learning. But all he has is book-learning; he has not yet taken part in any practical activities or applied what he has learned to any field of life. Can such a person be regarded as a completely developed intellectual? Hardly so, in my opinion, because his knowledge is still incomplete. What then is relatively complete knowledge? All relatively complete knowledge is formed in two stages: the first stage is perceptual knowledge, the second is rational knowledge, the latter being the development of the former to a higher stage. What sort of
knowledge is the students'book-learning?Even supposing all their knowledge is truth,it is still not knowledge acquired through their own personal experience,but consists of theories set down by their predecessors in summarizing experience of the struggle for production and of the class struggle.It is entirely necessary that students should acquire this kind of knowledge,but it must be understood that as far as they are concerned such knowledge is in a sense still one-sided,something which has been verified by others but not yet by themselves.What is most important is to be good at applying this knowledge in life and in practice.Therefore,I advise those who have only book- learning but as yet no contact with reality,and also those with little practical experience,to realize their own shortcomings and become a little more modest. How can those who have only book-learning be turned into intellectuals in the true sense?The only way is to get them to take part in practical work and become practical workers,to get those engaged in theoretical work to study important practical problems.In this way our aim can be attained. What I have said will probably make some people angry.They will say,"According to your explanation,even Marx would not be regarded as an intellectual."I say they are wrong.Marx took part in the practice of the revolutionary movement and also created revolutionary theory.Beginning with the commodity,the simplest element of capitalism,he made a thorough study of the economic structure of capitalist society.Millions of people saw and handled commodities every day but were so used to them that they took no notice.Marx alone studied commodities scientifically.He carried out a tremendous work of research into their actual development and derived a thoroughly scientific theory from what existed universally.He studied nature,history and proletarian revolution and created dialectical materialism,historical materialism and the theory of proletarian revolution. Thus Marx became a most completely developed intellectual,representing the acme of human wisdom;he was fundamentally different from those who have only book-learning.Marx undertook detailed investigations and studies in the course of practical struggles,formed generalizations and then verified his conclusions by testing them in practical struggles-this is what we call theoretical work.Our Party needs a large number of comrades who will learn how to do such work.In our Party there are many comrades who can learn to do this kind of theoretical research;most of them are intelligent and promising and we should value them.But they must follow correct principles and not repeat the mistake of the past.They must discard dogmatism and not confine themselves to ready-made phrases in books. There is only one kind of true theory in this world,theory that is drawn from objective reality and then verified by objective reality:nothing else is worthy of the name of theory in our sense.Stalin said that theory becomes aimless when it is not connected with practice.[3|Aimless theory is useless and false and should be discarded.We should point the finger of scorn at those who are fond of aimless theorizing.Marxism-Leninism is the most correct,scientific and revolutionary truth, born out of and verified by objective reality,but many who study Marxism-Leninism take it as lifeless dogma,thus impeding the development of theory and harming themselves as well as other comrades On the other hand,our comrades who are engaged in practical work will also come to grief if they misuse their experience.True,these people are often rich in experience,which is very valuable,but it is very dangerous if they rest content with their own experience.They must realize that their
knowledge is the students' book-learning? Even supposing all their knowledge is truth, it is still not knowledge acquired through their own personal experience, but consists of theories set down by their predecessors in summarizing experience of the struggle for production and of the class struggle. It is entirely necessary that students should acquire this kind of knowledge, but it must be understood that as far as they are concerned such knowledge is in a sense still one-sided, something which has been verified by others but not yet by themselves. What is most important is to be good at applying this knowledge in life and in practice. Therefore, I advise those who have only booklearning but as yet no contact with reality, and also those with little practical experience, to realize their own shortcomings and become a little more modest. How can those who have only book-learning be turned into intellectuals in the true sense? The only way is to get them to take part in practical work and become practical workers, to get those engaged in theoretical work to study important practical problems. In this way our aim can be attained. What I have said will probably make some people angry. They will say, "According to your explanation, even Marx would not be regarded as an intellectual." I say they are wrong. Marx took part in the practice of the revolutionary movement and also created revolutionary theory. Beginning with the commodity, the simplest element of capitalism, he made a thorough study of the economic structure of capitalist society. Millions of people saw and handled commodities every day but were so used to them that they took no notice. Marx alone studied commodities scientifically. He carried out a tremendous work of research into their actual development and derived a thoroughly scientific theory from what existed universally. He studied nature, history and proletarian revolution and created dialectical materialism, historical materialism and the theory of proletarian revolution. Thus Marx became a most completely developed intellectual, representing the acme of human wisdom; he was fundamentally different from those who have only book-learning. Marx undertook detailed investigations and studies in the course of practical struggles, formed generalizations and then verified his conclusions by testing them in practical struggles-this is what we call theoretical work. Our Party needs a large number of comrades who will learn how to do such work. In our Party there are many comrades who can learn to do this kind of theoretical research; most of them are intelligent and promising and we should value them. But they must follow correct principles and not repeat the mistake of the past. They must discard dogmatism and not confine themselves to ready-made phrases in books. There is only one kind of true theory in this world, theory that is drawn from objective reality and then verified by objective reality; nothing else is worthy of the name of theory in our sense. Stalin said that theory becomes aimless when it is not connected with practice. [3] Aimless theory is useless and false and should be discarded. We should point the finger of scorn at those who are fond of aimless theorizing. Marxism-Leninism is the most correct, scientific and revolutionary truth, born out of and verified by objective reality, but many who study Marxism-Leninism take it as lifeless dogma, thus impeding the development of theory and harming themselves as well as other comrades. On the other hand, our comrades who are engaged in practical work will also come to grief if they misuse their experience. True, these people are often rich in experience, which is very valuable, but it is very dangerous if they rest content with their own experience. They must realize that their
knowledge is mostly perceptual and partial and that they lack rational and comprehensive knowledge;in other words,they lack theory and their knowledge,too,is relatively incomplete. Without comparatively complete knowledge it is impossible to do revolutionary work well. Thus,there are two kinds of incomplete knowledge,one is ready-made knowledge found in books and the other is knowledge that is mostly perceptual and partial;both are one-sided.Only an integration of the two can yield knowledge that is sound and relatively complete. In order to study theory,however,our cadres of working-class and peasant origin must first acquire an elementary education.Without it they cannot learn Marxist-Leninist theory.Having acquired it, they can study Marxism-Leninism at any time.In my childhood I never attended a Marxist-Leninist school and was taught only such things as,"The Master said:'How pleasant it is to learn and constantly review what one has learned.[4 Though this teaching material was antiquated,it did me some good because from it I learned to read.Nowadays we no longer study the Confucian classics but such new subjects as modern Chinese,history,geography and elementary natural science,which,once learned,are useful everywhere.The Central Committee of our Party now emphatically requires that our cadres of working-class and peasant origin should obtain an elementary education because they can then take up any branch of study-politics,military science or economics.Otherwise,for all their rich experience they will never be able to study theory. It follows that to combat subjectivism we must enable people of each of these two types to develop in whichever direction they are deficient and to merge with the other type.Those with booklearning must develop in the direction of practice;it is only in this way that they will stop being content with books and avoid committing dogmatist errors.Those experienced in work must take up the study of theory and must read seriously;only then will they be able to systematize and synthesize their experience and raise it to the level of theory,only then will they not mistake their partial experience for universal truth and not commit empiricist errors.Dogmatism and empiricism alike are subjectivism,each originating from an opposite pole. Hence there are two kinds of Subjectivism in our Party,dogmatism and empiricism.Each sees only a part and not the whole.If people are not on guard,do not realize that such one-sidedness is a shortcoming and do not strive to overcome it,they are liable to go astray. However,of the two kinds of subjectivism,dogmatism is still the greater danger in our Party.For dogmatists can easily assume a Marxist guise to bluff,capture and make servitors of cadres of working-class and peasant origin who cannot easily see through them;they can also bluff and ensnare the naive youth.If we overcome dogmatism,cadres with book-learning will readily join with those who have experience and will take to the study of practical things,and then many good cadres who integrate theory with experience,as well as some real theorists,will emerge.If we overcome dogmatism,the comrades with practical experience will have good teachers to help them raise their experience to the level of theory and so avoid empiricist errors. Besides muddled ideas about the "theorist"and the "intellectual",there is a muddled idea among many comrades about"linking theory and practice",a phrase they have on their lips every day.They talk constantly about"linking",but actually they mean"separating",because they make no effort at
knowledge is mostly perceptual and partial and that they lack rational and comprehensive knowledge; in other words, they lack theory and their knowledge, too, is relatively incomplete. Without comparatively complete knowledge it is impossible to do revolutionary work well. Thus, there are two kinds of incomplete knowledge, one is ready-made knowledge found in books and the other is knowledge that is mostly perceptual and partial; both are one-sided. Only an integration of the two can yield knowledge that is sound and relatively complete. In order to study theory, however, our cadres of working-class and peasant origin must first acquire an elementary education. Without it they cannot learn Marxist-Leninist theory. Having acquired it, they can study Marxism-Leninism at any time. In my childhood I never attended a Marxist-Leninist school and was taught only such things as, "The Master said: 'How pleasant it is to learn and constantly review what one has learned.'"[4] Though this teaching material was antiquated, it did me some good because from it I learned to read. Nowadays we no longer study the Confucian classics but such new subjects as modern Chinese, history, geography and elementary natural science, which, once learned, are useful everywhere. The Central Committee of our Party now emphatically requires that our cadres of working-class and peasant origin should obtain an elementary education because they can then take up any branch of study-politics, military science or economics. Otherwise, for all their rich experience they will never be able to study theory. It follows that to combat subjectivism we must enable people of each of these two types to develop in whichever direction they are deficient and to merge with the other type. Those with booklearning must develop in the direction of practice; it is only in this way that they will stop being content with books and avoid committing dogmatist errors. Those experienced in work must take up the study of theory and must read seriously; only then will they be able to systematize and synthesize their experience and raise it to the level of theory, only then will they not mistake their partial experience for universal truth and not commit empiricist errors. Dogmatism and empiricism alike are subjectivism, each originating from an opposite pole. Hence there are two kinds of Subjectivism in our Party, dogmatism and empiricism. Each sees only a part and not the whole. If people are not on guard, do not realize that such one-sidedness is a shortcoming and do not strive to overcome it, they are liable to go astray. However, of the two kinds of subjectivism, dogmatism is still the greater danger in our Party. For dogmatists can easily assume a Marxist guise to bluff, capture and make servitors of cadres of working-class and peasant origin who cannot easily see through them; they can also bluff and ensnare the naive youth. If we overcome dogmatism, cadres with book-learning will readily join with those who have experience and will take to the study of practical things, and then many good cadres who integrate theory with experience, as well as some real theorists, will emerge. If we overcome dogmatism, the comrades with practical experience will have good teachers to help them raise their experience to the level of theory and so avoid empiricist errors. Besides muddled ideas about the "theorist" and the "intellectual", there is a muddled idea among many comrades about "linking theory and practice", a phrase they have on their lips every day. They talk constantly about "linking", but actually they mean "separating", because they make no effort at
linking.How is Marxist-Leninist theory to be linked with the practice of the Chinese revolution?To use a common expression,it is by "shooting the arrow at the target".As the arrow is to the target,so is Marxism-Leninism to the Chinese revolution.Some comrades,however,are "shooting without a target",shooting at random,and such people are liable to harm the revolution.Others merely stroke the arrow fondly,exclaiming,"What a fine arrow!What a fine arrow!",but never want to shoot it. These people are only connoisseurs of curios and have virtually nothing to do with the revolution. The arrow of Marxism-Leninism must be used to shoot at the target of the Chinese revolution. Unless this point is made clear,the theoretical level of our Party can never be raised and the Chinese revolution can never be victorious. Our comrades must understand that we study Marxism-Leninism not for display,nor because there is any mystery about it,but solely because it is the science which leads the revolutionary cause of the proletariat to victory.Even now,there are not a few people who still regard odd quotations from Marxist-Leninist works as a ready-made panacea which,once acquired,can easily cure all maladies. These people show childish ignorance,and we should enlighten them.It is precisely such ignorant people who take Marxism-Leninism as a religious dogma.To them we should say bluntly,"Your dogma is worthless."Marx,Engels,Lenin and Stalin have repeatedly stated that our theory is not a dogma but a guide to action.But such people prefer to forget this statement which is of the greatest, indeed the utmost,importance.Chinese Communists can be regarded as linking theory with practice only when they become good at applying the Marxist-Leninist stand,viewpoint and method and the teachings of Lenin and Stalin concerning the Chinese revolution and when, furthermore,through serious research into the realities of China's history and revolution,they do creative theoretical work to meet China's needs in different spheres.Merely talking about linking theory and practice without actually doing anything about it is of no use,even if one goes on talking for a hundred years.To oppose the subjectivist,one-sided approach to problems,we must demolish dogmatist subjectiveness and one-sidedness. So much for today about combating subjectivism in order to rectify the style of study throughout the Party Let me now speak about the question of sectarianism. Having been steeled for twenty years,our Party is no longer dominated by sectarianism.Remnants of sectarianism,however,are still found both in the Party's internal relations and in its external relations.Sectarian tendencies in internal relations lead to exclusiveness towards comrades inside the Party and hinder inner-Party unity and solidarity,while sectarian tendencies in external relations lead to exclusiveness towards people outside the Party and hinder the Party in its task of uniting the whole people.Only by uprooting this evil in both its aspects can the Party advance unimpeded in its great task of achieving unity among all Party comrades and among all the people of our country. What are the remnants of inner-Party sectarianism?They are mainly as follows: First,the assertion of"independence".Some comrades see only the interests of the part and not the whole;they always put undue stress on that part of the work for which they themselves are responsible and always wish to subordinate the interests of the whole to the interests of their own
linking. How is Marxist-Leninist theory to be linked with the practice of the Chinese revolution? To use a common expression, it is by "shooting the arrow at the target". As the arrow is to the target, so is Marxism-Leninism to the Chinese revolution. Some comrades, however, are "shooting without a target", shooting at random, and such people are liable to harm the revolution. Others merely stroke the arrow fondly, exclaiming, "What a fine arrow! What a fine arrow!", but never want to shoot it. These people are only connoisseurs of curios and have virtually nothing to do with the revolution. The arrow of Marxism-Leninism must be used to shoot at the target of the Chinese revolution. Unless this point is made clear, the theoretical level of our Party can never be raised and the Chinese revolution can never be victorious. Our comrades must understand that we study Marxism-Leninism not for display, nor because there is any mystery about it, but solely because it is the science which leads the revolutionary cause of the proletariat to victory. Even now, there are not a few people who still regard odd quotations from Marxist-Leninist works as a ready-made panacea which, once acquired, can easily cure all maladies. These people show childish ignorance, and we should enlighten them. It is precisely such ignorant people who take Marxism-Leninism as a religious dogma. To them we should say bluntly, "Your dogma is worthless." Marx, Engels, Lenin and Stalin have repeatedly stated that our theory is not a dogma but a guide to action. But such people prefer to forget this statement which is of the greatest, indeed the utmost, importance. Chinese Communists can be regarded as linking theory with practice only when they become good at applying the Marxist-Leninist stand, viewpoint and method and the teachings of Lenin and Stalin concerning the Chinese revolution and when, furthermore, through serious research into the realities of China's history and revolution, they do creative theoretical work to meet China's needs in different spheres. Merely talking about linking theory and practice without actually doing anything about it is of no use, even if one goes on talking for a hundred years. To oppose the subjectivist, one-sided approach to problems, we must demolish dogmatist subjectiveness and one-sidedness. So much for today about combating subjectivism in order to rectify the style of study throughout the Party. Let me now speak about the question of sectarianism. Having been steeled for twenty years, our Party is no longer dominated by sectarianism. Remnants of sectarianism, however, are still found both in the Party's internal relations and in its external relations. Sectarian tendencies in internal relations lead to exclusiveness towards comrades inside the Party and hinder inner-Party unity and solidarity, while sectarian tendencies in external relations lead to exclusiveness towards people outside the Party and hinder the Party in its task of uniting the whole people. Only by uprooting this evil in both its aspects can the Party advance unimpeded in its great task of achieving unity among all Party comrades and among all the people of our country. What are the remnants of inner-Party sectarianism? They are mainly as follows: First, the assertion of "independence". Some comrades see only the interests of the part and not the whole; they always put undue stress on that part of the work for which they themselves are responsible and always wish to subordinate the interests of the whole to the interests of their own
part.They do not understand the Party's system of democratic centralism;they do not realize that the Communist Party not only needs democracy but needs centralization even more.They forget the system of democratic centralism in which the minority is subordinate to the majority,the lower level to the higher level,the part to the whole and the entire membership to the Central Committee. Chang Kuo-tao [5]asserted his"independence"of the Central Committee of the Party and as a result"asserted"himself into betraying the Party and became a Kuomintang agent.Although the sectarianism we are now discussing is not of this extremely serious kind,it must still be guarded against and we must do away completely with all manifestations of disunity.We should encourage comrades to take the interests of the whole into account.Every Party member,every branch of work, every statement and every action must proceed from the interests of the whole Party;it is absolutely impermissible to violate this principle. Those who assert this kind of "independence"are usually wedded to the doctrine of "me first"and are generally wrong on the question of the relationship between the individual and the Party. Although in words they profess respect for the Party,in practice they put themselves first and the Party second.What are these people after?They are after fame and position and want to be in the limelight.Whenever they are put in charge of a branch of work,they assert their "independence". With this aim,they draw some people in,push others out and resort to boasting,flattery and touting among the comrades,thus importing the vulgar style of the bourgeois political parties into the Communist Party.It is their dishonesty that causes them to come to grief.I believe we should do things honestly,for without an honest attitude it is absolutely impossible to accomplish anything in this world.Which are the honest people?Marx,Engels,Lenin and Stalin are honest,men of science are honest.Which are the dishonest people?Trotsky,Bukharin,Chen Tu-hsiu and Chang Kuo-tao are extremely dishonest;and those who assert "independence"out of personal or sectional interest are dishonest too.All sly people,all those who do not have a scientific attitude in their work,fancy themselves resourceful and clever,but in fact they are most stupid and will come to no good. Students in our Party School must pay attention to this problem.We must build a centralized, unified Party and make a clean sweep of all unprincipled factional struggles.We must combat individualism and sectarianism so as to enable our whole Party to march in step and fight for one common goal Cadres from the outside and those from the locality must unite and combat sectarian tendencies. Very careful attention must be given to the relations between outside and local cadres because many anti-Japanese base areas were established only after the arrival of the Eighth Route Army or the New Fourth Army and much of the local work developed only after the arrival of outside cadres. Our comrades must understand that in these conditions it is possible for our base areas to be consolidated and for our Party to take root there only when the two kinds of cadres unite as one and when a large number of local cadres develop and are promoted;otherwise it is impossible.Both the outside and the local cadres have their strong and weak points,and to make any progress they must overcome their own weak points by learning from each other's strong points.The outside cadres are generally not up to the local cadres in familiarity with local conditions and links with the masses. Take me for instance.Although I have been in northern Shensi five or six years,I am far behind the local comrades in understanding local conditions and in links with the people here.Our comrades going to the anti-Japanese base areas in Shansi,Hopei,Shantung and other provinces must pay attention to this.Moreover,even within the same base area,owing to the fact that some districts
part. They do not understand the Party's system of democratic centralism; they do not realize that the Communist Party not only needs democracy but needs centralization even more. They forget the system of democratic centralism in which the minority is subordinate to the majority, the lower level to the higher level, the part to the whole and the entire membership to the Central Committee. Chang Kuo-tao [5] asserted his "independence" of the Central Committee of the Party and as a result "asserted" himself into betraying the Party and became a Kuomintang agent. Although the sectarianism we are now discussing is not of this extremely serious kind, it must still be guarded against and we must do away completely with all manifestations of disunity. We should encourage comrades to take the interests of the whole into account. Every Party member, every branch of work, every statement and every action must proceed from the interests of the whole Party; it is absolutely impermissible to violate this principle. Those who assert this kind of "independence" are usually wedded to the doctrine of "me first" and are generally wrong on the question of the relationship between the individual and the Party. Although in words they profess respect for the Party, in practice they put themselves first and the Party second. What are these people after? They are after fame and position and want to be in the limelight. Whenever they are put in charge of a branch of work, they assert their "independence". With this aim, they draw some people in, push others out and resort to boasting, flattery and touting among the comrades, thus importing the vulgar style of the bourgeois political parties into the Communist Party. It is their dishonesty that causes them to come to grief. I believe we should do things honestly, for without an honest attitude it is absolutely impossible to accomplish anything in this world. Which are the honest people? Marx, Engels, Lenin and Stalin are honest, men of science are honest. Which are the dishonest people? Trotsky, Bukharin, Chen Tu-hsiu and Chang Kuo-tao are extremely dishonest; and those who assert "independence" out of personal or sectional interest are dishonest too. All sly people, all those who do not have a scientific attitude in their work, fancy themselves resourceful and clever, but in fact they are most stupid and will come to no good. Students in our Party School must pay attention to this problem. We must build a centralized, unified Party and make a clean sweep of all unprincipled factional struggles. We must combat individualism and sectarianism so as to enable our whole Party to march in step and fight for one common goal. Cadres from the outside and those from the locality must unite and combat sectarian tendencies. Very careful attention must be given to the relations between outside and local cadres because many anti-Japanese base areas were established only after the arrival of the Eighth Route Army or the New Fourth Army and much of the local work developed only after the arrival of outside cadres. Our comrades must understand that in these conditions it is possible for our base areas to be consolidated and for our Party to take root there only when the two kinds of cadres unite as one and when a large number of local cadres develop and are promoted; otherwise it is impossible. Both the outside and the local cadres have their strong and weak points, and to make any progress they must overcome their own weak points by learning from each other's strong points. The outside cadres are generally not up to the local cadres in familiarity with local conditions and links with the masses. Take me for instance. Although I have been in northern Shensi five or six years, I am far behind the local comrades in understanding local conditions and in links with the people here. Our comrades going to the anti-Japanese base areas in Shansi, Hopei, Shantung and other provinces must pay attention to this. Moreover, even within the same base area, owing to the fact that some districts