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The Yan'an Rectification Movement (), also known as Zhengfeng or Cheng Feng, was the first ideological mass movement initiated by the
Chinese Communist Party The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victorious in the Chinese Ci ...
(CCP), going from 1942 to 1945. The movement took place at the communist base at
Yan'an Yan'an (; ), alternatively spelled as Yenan is a prefecture-level city in the Shaanbei region of Shaanxi province, China, bordering Shanxi to the east and Gansu to the west. It administers several counties, including Zhidan (formerly Bao'an) ...
, a remote and isolated mountainous area in northern
Shaanxi Shaanxi (alternatively Shensi, see § Name) is a landlocked province of China. Officially part of Northwest China, it borders the province-level divisions of Shanxi (NE, E), Henan (E), Hubei (SE), Chongqing (S), Sichuan (SW), Gansu (W), N ...
, after the communists'
Long March The Long March (, lit. ''Long Expedition'') was a military retreat undertaken by the Red Army of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the forerunner of the People's Liberation Army, to evade the pursuit of the National Army of the Chinese ...
. Though it was during the
Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) or War of Resistance (Chinese term) was a military conflict that was primarily waged between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. The war made up the Chinese theater of the wider Pacific T ...
, the CCP was experiencing a time of relative peace when they could focus on internal affairs. The legacies of the Yan'an era proved fundamental to the subsequent history of the Chinese Communist Party, according to Kenneth Lieberthal. These included the consolidation of
Mao Zedong Mao Zedong pronounced ; also Romanization of Chinese, romanised traditionally as Mao Tse-tung. (26 December 1893 – 9 September 1976), also known as Chairman Mao, was a Chinese communist revolutionary who was the List of national founde ...
's paramount role within the CCP, especially from 1942 to 1944, and the adoption of a party constitution that endorsed Marxist-Leninism and
Mao Zedong Thought Maoism, officially called Mao Zedong Thought by the Chinese Communist Party, is a variety of Marxism–Leninism that Mao Zedong developed to realise a socialist revolution in the agricultural, pre-industrial society of the Republic of Ch ...
as guiding ideologies. This move formalised Mao's deviation from the Moscow party line and the importance of Mao's alleged 'adaptation of communism to the conditions of China'. The Rectification Campaign was successful in either convincing or coercing the other leaders of the CCP to support Mao. Because the CCP had overcome great odds to grow and develop during this period, the methods employed in Yan'an were looked upon in reverence during Mao's later years. After the founding of the
People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...
in 1949, Mao repeatedly used some of the tactics that had been successful in Yan'an whenever he felt the need to monopolize political power.Lieberthal, Kenneth. (2003). ''Governing China: From Revolution to Reform,'' W.W. Norton & Co.; Second edition. All references given here are taken from pp. 45-48 of the text in question. To a large extent, the Yan'an Rectification Campaign began with the "systematic remolding of human minds."Cheng, Yinghong. ''Creating the "New Man": From Enlightenment Ideals to Socialist Realities'', University of Hawaii Press, 2009. All references from pp. 59-70, starting at section "The Yan'an Period: Beginning the Systematic Remolding of Human Minds" More than 10,000 were killed in the "rectification" process,US Joint Publication research service. (1979). ''China Report: Political, Sociological and Military Affairs.'' Foreign Broadcast information Service. No ISBN digitized text March 5, 2007 as the CCP made efforts to attack intellectuals and replace the culture of the
May Fourth Movement The May Fourth Movement was a Chinese anti-imperialist, cultural, and political movement which grew out of student protests in Beijing on May 4, 1919. Students gathered in front of Tiananmen (The Gate of Heavenly Peace) to protest the Chin ...
with that of Communist culture.Apter, David Ernest. (1994). Revolutionary Discourse in Mao's Republic. Harvard University Press. The rectification movement is regarded by many as the origin of
Mao Zedong's cult of personality Mao Zedong's cult of personality was a prominent part of Chairman Mao Zedong's rule over the People's Republic of China from his rise in 1949 until his death in 1976. Mass media, propaganda and a series of other techniques were used by the sta ...
.


Background

In the 1930s the remote region of
Yan'an Yan'an (; ), alternatively spelled as Yenan is a prefecture-level city in the Shaanbei region of Shaanxi province, China, bordering Shanxi to the east and Gansu to the west. It administers several counties, including Zhidan (formerly Bao'an) ...
had not experienced the same turmoil and hostilities as other
mainland Mainland is defined as "relating to or forming the main part of a country or continent, not including the islands around it egardless of status under territorial jurisdiction by an entity" The term is often politically, economically and/or dem ...
territories. Situated in
northwest China Northwest China () is a statistical region of China which includes the autonomous regions of Xinjiang and Ningxia and the provinces of Shaanxi, Gansu and Qinghai. It has an area of 3,107,900 km2. The region is characterized by a (semi-)arid con ...
, the area was also difficult to attack. CCP members mostly arrived there after the
Long March The Long March (, lit. ''Long Expedition'') was a military retreat undertaken by the Red Army of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the forerunner of the People's Liberation Army, to evade the pursuit of the National Army of the Chinese ...
(1934–1935). The area was known as a territory of camaraderie without corruption, though the Rectification Movement essentially changed everything.Chang, Jung. (2003) ''Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China.'' Simon & Schuster. According to official CCP sources, the purpose of the Rectification Campaign was to give a basic grounding in the
Marxist theory Marxist philosophy or Marxist theory are works in philosophy that are strongly influenced by Karl Marx's materialist approach to theory, or works written by Marxists. Marxist philosophy may be broadly divided into Western Marxism, which drew fro ...
, and
Leninist Leninism is a political ideology developed by Russian Marxist revolutionary Vladimir Lenin that proposes the establishment of the dictatorship of the proletariat led by a revolutionary vanguard party as the political prelude to the establishm ...
principles of party organization to the thousands of new members who had joined the CCP during its expansion after 1937. A second, equally important aspect of the movement was the elimination of the blind imitation of
Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
models, obedience to Soviet directives (mostly communicated to China via the
Comintern The Communist International (Comintern), also known as the Third International, was a Soviet-controlled international organization founded in 1919 that advocated world communism. The Comintern resolved at its Second Congress to "struggle by ...
), and "empiricism". Mao emphasized that the campaign aimed at "rectifying mistaken ideas" and not the people who held them.Short, Philip. Mao: a Life. Modern research by Chinese and Western scholars, in particular the interpretation of Professor Gao Hua in his work "How Did The Red Sun Rise: The Cause And Effect Of Zhengfeng In Yan'an", have focused on the political nature of the Rectification Movement. Modern scholars have increasingly viewed the movement as being initiated by Mao in order to ensure his status as paramount leader of the CCP. Most historical sources refer to multiple phases of "rectification", often with inconsistent names and imprecise start and end times. Throughout the Rectification Campaign, Yan'an was not seriously threatened by either the
Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...
or the
Nationalists Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...
. With the Soviets at war with
Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
and unable to intervene, Mao seized the opportunity in Yan'an to "go to work" on his Party and "mold it into an unquestioning machine" in preparation for the all-out civil war against the Nationalists under
Chiang Kai-shek Chiang Kai-shek (31 October 1887 – 5 April 1975), also known as Chiang Chung-cheng and Jiang Jieshi, was a Chinese Nationalist politician, revolutionary, and military leader who served as the leader of the Republic of China (ROC) from 1928 ...
that was expected to follow the defeat of the Japanese. (This is according to
Jung Chang Jung Chang (, , born 25 March 1952) is a Chinese-British writer now living in London, best known for her family autobiography ''Wild Swans'', selling over 10 million copies worldwide but banned in the People's Republic of China. Her 832-page ...
and
Jon Halliday Jon Halliday (born 28 June 1939) is an Irish historian specialising in modern Asia. He was formerly a Senior Visiting Research Fellow at King's College London. He was educated at University of Oxford and has been married to Jung Chang since 199 ...
, whose treatment of Mao has been regarded as flawed by some China scholars.) The Yan'an era had a profound effect on the CCP and its future fortunes. When the Communists completed the Long March the CCP was a relatively small band of less than 10,000 worn out troops from the south, displaced to an isolated and poor area in the hinterlands of northern China. By the end of the Yan'an era, however, the CCP's forces had grown to nearly 2.8 million members, and the Party governed nineteen base areas that contained a population of nearly one hundred million people.


Remolding of the volunteer corps

Party membership was strongly shaped by the devastation of the final battles for the
Jiangxi Soviet Jiangxi (; ; formerly romanized as Kiangsi or Chianghsi) is a landlocked province in the east of the People's Republic of China. Its major cities include Nanchang and Jiujiang. Spanning from the banks of the Yangtze river in the north into h ...
, the Long March, and the numerous clashes with the Japanese during the Yan'an era. With only a few original members of the CCP surviving until the end of the Yan'an period, the Party as of the mid-1940s consisted of 90% peasants recruited from the base areas of north China. The mostly young volunteers who arrived in Yan'an after the Long March were "vital to Mao because they were relatively well educated, and he needed competent administrators to staff his future regime". Most of the Long Marchers and rural recruits from within the Communist bases were illiterate peasants. It was these more recent volunteers who were Mao's primary "target". A large number of the young volunteers congregated in Yan'an, the capital of Mao's Communist Party. By the time Mao Zedong started his drive to "condition" them, around 40,000 had arrived. Most were in their late teens and early twenties, had joined the CCP in territories controlled by the Nationalists, and later departed to Yan'an. They were excited at reaching what was called a "revolutionary Mecca." One young volunteer described his feeling: "At last we saw the heights of Yenan city. We were so excited we wept. We cheered from our truck ... We started to sing the "
Internationale "The Internationale" (french: "L'Internationale", italic=no, ) is an international anthem used by various communist and socialist groups; currently, it serves as the official anthem of the Communist Party of China. It has been a standard of th ...
", and Russia's Motherland March.'" The Party's leadership, however, reflected the CCP's origins south of the
Yangtze River The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ; ) is the longest river in Asia, the third-longest in the world, and the longest in the world to flow entirely within one country. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains (Tibetan Plateau) and flows ...
, and was at best supplemented by the intellectuals who trekked out to Yan'an to join the Party during the war against Japan. The Yan'an Rectification Campaign was also directed towards the indoctrination of older Communist Party personnel. "The Party chose to re-emphasize its basic principles during this period, in an evident determination to maintain its
Leninist Leninism is a political ideology developed by Russian Marxist revolutionary Vladimir Lenin that proposes the establishment of the dictatorship of the proletariat led by a revolutionary vanguard party as the political prelude to the establishm ...
foundations in the midst of all the changes brought about by the war-time shift to the united front." The Yan'an Rectification Campaign improved the discipline, education, and organization of the membership of the CCP. Having lost many veterans before and during the Long March, the Communists found new sources of recruits among urban youth, students, and intellectuals. Alienated from the Nationalist government and doubting its resolve in resisting the Japanese, many new CCP volunteers were drawn by communist propaganda that portrayed the CCP as "the saviors of the nation", promising democracy and liberal reforms. As a result, hundreds of thousands of students, teachers, artists, writers, and journalists poured into Yan'an, seeking a revolutionary career. In Marxist classification these new recruits were of petit bourgeois origin. Their enthusiasm and various sorts of expertise were useful for the revolution, but only after they had undergone a thorough political reeducation and ideological reform. The process of indoctrination extended even to the cadres who had survived the Long March and "proven their revolutionary credibility." All Party members were reeducated with the newly established "Mao Zedong Thought" in order to ensure their high compliance with the new leadership and the new party ideology. In order to secure his power, Mao supported his political authority with ethical and moral rhetoric.


Rise of Mao

The Yan'an rectification saw Mao consolidate his position of preeminence in the CCP. To do this he undertook a "thought-reform campaign" from 1942 to 1944. The effort was partly a reflection of Mao's wish to eradicate Soviet influence. Under the conditions of independently operating Communist areas and incessant warfare, Mao could not rely on discipline alone to guarantee obedience in the CCP ranks. In order to ensure the Party's obedience to his orders, Mao developed the techniques of the Rectification Campaign to implement 思想改造 ''sīxiǎng gǎizào'' "thought reform” or “ideological transformation". Mao's tactics often included isolating and attacking dissenting individuals in "study groups."


Operational principles

The Communists established numerous schools, formulating a new type of educational system. Among these schools were the Anti-Japanese Military and Political University, the Lu Xun Academy of the Arts, the Northwest Public School, the Central Party School, the Academy of Marxism-Leninism, the Women's University, Yan'an University, and the Academy of the Nationality, as well as a number of special training programs. All veterans and new recruits had to be enrolled and educated in one of these institutions, in accordance with their previous training or their expertise, before they could be trusted with assignment to party and government positions. At the end of the Yan'an Rectification Campaign the CCP had developed an operational set of principles and practices that differed greatly from the centralized, functionally specialized, hierarchical, command-oriented approach imposed by
Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet Union, Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as Ge ...
in the Soviet Union. In what some authors have labeled the "Yan'an complex," the CCP emphasized a combination of qualities that can be summed up as: *decentralized rule with flexibility allowed to local leaders; *the importance of ideology in keeping cadres loyal; *a strong preference for officials whose leadership spans a range of areas; *stress on developing and maintaining close ties with the local population; *focus on egalitarianism and simple living among officials. These became deeply held values of the CCP, and years later became central to the Party mythology that reminisced about the success of the Yan'an era.


Thought reform

During the Yan'an Rectification Campaign, more sophisticated techniques of thought control were used than had been previously attempted in China. Relying on criticism, self-criticism, "struggle", confession, and the content of the Marxist doctrine, these methods were heavily influenced by contemporary Soviet practices of "thought reform". Under the guidance of a group leader, an individual, as part of a larger "study group", would study Marxist documents to understand "key principles," and then relate those principles to their own lives in a "critical, concrete, and thoroughgoing way." Other members of the group put the individual under "extraordinary pressure" to examine fully his or her most deeply held views, and to do so in the presence of the group. The individual then had to write a full "self-confession." Other group members isolated the individual during this process. Only when the confession was accepted would the person be drawn back into an accepted position in the group and in the larger society. These techniques of pressure, ostracism, and reintegration were particularly powerful in China, where the culture puts great value on "saving face", protecting one's innermost thinking, and above all, identifying with a group.Lieberthal (2003), p. 47 Individuals put through thought reform later described it as excruciating. The resulting changes in views were not permanent, but the experience overall seriously affected the lives of those who went through it. The CCP used these same types of techniques on millions of Chinese after 1949.


A campaign in three phases


Phase I

The preparatory phase of the Rectification Campaign lasted from May 1941 to February 1942. The Campaign began on February 1, 1942 under
Mao Zedong Mao Zedong pronounced ; also Romanization of Chinese, romanised traditionally as Mao Tse-tung. (26 December 1893 – 9 September 1976), also known as Chairman Mao, was a Chinese communist revolutionary who was the List of national founde ...
with his speech "Reform in Learning, the Party and Literature." A book entitled "Documents of the Rectification Campaign" was published and circulated internally. This book included essays including Mao's "Combat Liberalism" and
Liu Shaoqi Liu Shaoqi ( ; 24 November 189812 November 1969) was a Chinese revolutionary, politician, and theorist. He was Chairman of the NPC Standing Committee from 1954 to 1959, First Vice Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party from 1956 to 1966 and ...
's "How to be a Good Communist." In July and August 1942 the CCP issued the decision for "Research and Analysis" and "Improvement of Party Membership." The leading team for the campaign was established with Mao as director and Wang Jiaxiang deputy director. In 1942 the CCP had 800,000 members, of which only a small group of approximately 150 members usually made all major decisions. Although Mao took charge of the leadership of the CCP after the
Zunyi Conference The Zunyi Conference () was a meeting of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in January 1935 during the Long March. This meeting involved a power struggle between the leadership of Bo Gu and Otto Braun and the opposition led by Mao Zedong. The ...
, he was not yet in a dominant position. Even after Mao won a power struggle with
Zhang Guotao Zhang Guotao (November 26, 1897 – December 3, 1979), or Chang Kuo-tao, was a founding member of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and rival to Mao Zedong. During the 1920s he studied in the Soviet Union and became a key contact with the Com ...
, he was still one among many senior leaders, including
Zhou Enlai Zhou Enlai (; 5 March 1898 – 8 January 1976) was a Chinese statesman and military officer who served as the first premier of the People's Republic of China from 1 October 1949 until his death on 8 January 1976. Zhou served under Chairman M ...
,
Wang Ming Wang may refer to: Names * Wang (surname) (王), a common Chinese surname * Wāng (汪), a less common Chinese surname * Titles in Chinese nobility * A title in Korean nobility * A title in Mongolian nobility Places * Wang River in Thaila ...
and
Zhang Wentian Zhang Wentian (; 30 August 1900 – 1 July 1976), also known as Luo Fu (), was a high-ranking leader of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Born in Nanhui, he attended the Hohai Civil Engineering School in Nanjing and spent a year at the Univ ...
. Before the Rectification Campaign Mao's contribution to the revolution in rural areas, and even his status as a senior leader, was doubted by other members of the CCP, including
Xiang Zhongfa Xiang Zhongfa (; 1879 – June 24, 1931) was one of the early senior leaders of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Early life Xiang was born in 1879 to a poor family living in Hanchuan, Hubei. He dropped out of elementary school to move with ...
, Zhang Guotao,
Li Lisan Li Lisan (; November 18, 1899 – June 22, 1967) was a Chinese politician, member of the Politburo, and later a member of the Central Committee. Early years Li was born in Liling, Hunan province in China in 1899, under the name of Li R ...
, and intellectuals such as Zhou Enlai,
Qu Qiubai Qu Qiubai (; 29 January 1899 – 18 June 1935) was a leader of the Chinese Communist Party in the late 1920s. He was born in Changzhou, Jiangsu, China. Early life Qu was born in Changzhou, Jiangsu. His family lived in Tianxiang Lou () l ...
and the
28 Bolsheviks The 28 (and a half) Bolsheviks (二十八个半布尔什维克) were a group of Chinese students who studied at the Moscow Sun Yat-sen University from the late 1920s until early 1935, also known as the "Returned Students". The university was found ...
. Unlike his rival
Wang Ming Wang may refer to: Names * Wang (surname) (王), a common Chinese surname * Wāng (汪), a less common Chinese surname * Titles in Chinese nobility * A title in Korean nobility * A title in Mongolian nobility Places * Wang River in Thaila ...
, Mao was not recognized by the
Comintern The Communist International (Comintern), also known as the Third International, was a Soviet-controlled international organization founded in 1919 that advocated world communism. The Comintern resolved at its Second Congress to "struggle by ...
as one of the CCP's preferred leaders. During this preparatory phase, Mao used his political skills to consolidate his power base. By manipulating the political climate in Yan'an, Mao was able to break up the alliance of his opponents, most notably Zhang Guotao and the members of the 28 Bolsheviks, and to eliminate his rivals one by one.


Phase II

The Rectification Campaign was officially launched in 1942. Since the 4th Plenum Meeting of 6th National Congress of the CCP (1928), the 28 Bolsheviks began to take control of the CCP with the help of the Comintern. To gain the support of those who might potentially oppose him, Mao labeled his rivals as comrades who were supporting the wrong cause. This rejection of ''
ad hominem ''Ad hominem'' (), short for ''argumentum ad hominem'' (), refers to several types of arguments, most of which are fallacious. Typically, this term refers to a rhetorical strategy where the speaker attacks the character, motive, or some othe ...
'' arguments made him appear politically and mentally superior to his political enemies. Mao categorized his rivals, or potential rivals, into two groups. One group was labeled "dogmatists," comprising Wang Ming, the 28 Bolsheviks, and those who had studied abroad and were deeply influenced by foreign theories, including
Liu Bocheng Liu Bocheng (; December 4, 1892 – October 7, 1986) was a Chinese military commander and Marshal of the People's Liberation Army. Liu is known as the 'half' of the "Three and A Half" Strategists of China in modern history. (The other th ...
,
Zuo Quan Zuo Quan (; 15 March 1905 – 2 June 1942), also named Zuo Shuren (), born in Liling, Hunan, was a general in the Chinese Red Army during the Chinese revolution and the war against Japan, and a senior staff officer of the Eighth Route Army. ...
, and
Zhu Rui Zhu Rui (朱瑞, 1905–1948) was born in Suqian, Jiangsu province. He was an artillery commander of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) from October 1946 to October 1948. Early life When he studied at Xuzhou Peixin Middle School, he was ...
. The other group was labeled "empiricists", whose members included
Zhou Enlai Zhou Enlai (; 5 March 1898 – 8 January 1976) was a Chinese statesman and military officer who served as the first premier of the People's Republic of China from 1 October 1949 until his death on 8 January 1976. Zhou served under Chairman M ...
, Ren Bishi,
Peng Dehuai Peng Dehuai (; October 24, 1898November 29, 1974) was a prominent Chinese Communist military leader, who served as China's Defense Minister from 1954 to 1959. Peng was born into a poor peasant family, and received several years of primary edu ...
,
Chen Yi Chen Yi may refer to: * Xuanzang (602–664), born as Chen Yi, Chinese Buddhist monk in Tang Dynasty * Chen Yi (Kuomintang) Chen Yi (; courtesy names Gongxia (公俠) and later Gongqia (公洽), sobriquet Tuisu (退素); May 3, 1883 – June ...
,
Li Weihan Li Weihan (; 2 June 1896 – 11 August 1984) was a Chinese Communist Party politician. After pursuing his studies in France in 1919–20, he returned to China for the Party's founding Congress in Shanghai in 1921. He became a member of the P ...
, Deng Fa, and any other senior leaders who supported Wang Ming. Mao forced these leaders to criticize each other and self-criticize in rounds of meetings. Every one of them wrote reports of confession and apologies for their mistakes. Those who had produced self-criticisms were later persecuted according to their own confessions. Mao set up the Central General Study Committee to be in charge of the movement. This committee was run by Mao's close allies
Kang Sheng Kang Sheng (; 4 November 1898 – 16 December 1975) was a Chinese Communist politician best known for having overseen the CCP's internal security and intelligence apparatus during the early 1940s and again at the height of the Cultural Revolu ...
,
Li Fuchun Li Fuchun (; May 22, 1900 – January 9, 1975) was a Chinese Communist revolutionary and politician. He served as a Vice Premier of the People's Republic of China. Biography Li Fuchun was born in Changsha, Hunan Province. After completing middl ...
,
Peng Zhen Peng Zhen (pronounced ; October 12, 1902 – April 26, 1997) was a leading member of the Chinese Communist Party. He led the party organization in Beijing following the victory of the Communists in the Chinese Civil War in 1949, but was ...
, and
Gao Gang Gao Gang (; 1905 – August 1954) was a Communist Party of China (CPC) leader during the Chinese Civil War and the early years of the People's Republic of China (PRC), before becoming the victim of the first major purge within the CPC since befo ...
, and later included Liu Shaoqi. This Committee temporarily replaced the politburo and secretariat, running daily operation for the CCP and making it one of the most powerful administrative bodies at that time. The Committee gave Mao the ability to exercise authoritarian power without being limited by elections and term limits. The earlier collective decision-making system of CCP center was abandoned, and Mao turned the government of Yan'an into his own dictatorship. From February 1942 to October 1943, the Rectification Campaign reached its peak. Mao gave the lecture "Improving the Party Work Style and Thought" in the opening ceremony at the
Central Party School The Central Party School of the Chinese Communist Party (), commonly known as the Central Party School (), located in Beijing, is the higher education institution which trains Chinese Communist Party (CCP) cadres. As of 2012, it has around 1,6 ...
.Garver, John W.
988 Year 988 ( CMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * Fall – Emperor Basil II, supported by a contingent of 6,000 Varangia ...
(1988). Chinese-Soviet Relations, 1937-1945: The Diplomacy of Chinese Nationalism. Oxford university.
The lecture "Against Party Stereotype-Writing" in the cadre party of Yan'an in February 1942 interpreted the aim and policy of the movement in full detail - the event included thousands of cadres from the party. In this lecture, Mao Zedong declared:


Phase III

The third phase of the Rectification Campaign lasted from October 1943 to 1944 or April 1945, depending on sources. It is generally known as the "Summing up party history" phase. Senior leaders restudied party history and attempted to reach agreements on major issues by admitting to "errors". The 1943 portion of the campaign included a "Rescue Campaign" that focused on group retribution. In the Rescue Campaign, members would write about their own confessions, often pointing fingers at other members to save themselves from other people's false allegations toward them. The Rescue Campaign soon became a circular cycle of false guilt and fake reenactments sending many innocent people to death via needless witch hunts. One of the members crucial to carrying out the Rectification Movement was the secret police boss
Kang Sheng Kang Sheng (; 4 November 1898 – 16 December 1975) was a Chinese Communist politician best known for having overseen the CCP's internal security and intelligence apparatus during the early 1940s and again at the height of the Cultural Revolu ...
. Wang Ming was one of the main members singled out and forced to confess to having "errors." Wang was set up by his former friend
Bo Gu Qin Bangxian or Ch'in Pang-hsien (), better known as Bo Gu (; Wade-Giles: ''Po Ku''; May 14, 1907 – April 8, 1946) was a senior leader of the Chinese Communist Party and a member of the 28 Bolsheviks. Early life and education Qin was born in ...
, who coincidentally was also later condemned for pursuing an "erroneous leftist line" in
Jiangxi Jiangxi (; ; formerly romanized as Kiangsi or Chianghsi) is a landlocked province in the east of the People's Republic of China. Its major cities include Nanchang and Jiujiang. Spanning from the banks of the Yangtze river in the north int ...
.
Zhang Wentian Zhang Wentian (; 30 August 1900 – 1 July 1976), also known as Luo Fu (), was a high-ranking leader of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Born in Nanhui, he attended the Hohai Civil Engineering School in Nanjing and spent a year at the Univ ...
also made self criticisms.
Wang Shiwei Wang Shiwei () (March 12, 1906 – July 1, 1947) was a Chinese journalist and literary writer. He became famous for his contribution to the Chinese history of modern revolution and to Chinese modern literature. Wang joined the Communist Party of ...
became a well known victim. Some CCP members thought Mao would also accept genuine criticism and spoke their true feelings of anger over hierarchy and inequality in Yan'an. The most famous came from
Wang Shiwei Wang Shiwei () (March 12, 1906 – July 1, 1947) was a Chinese journalist and literary writer. He became famous for his contribution to the Chinese history of modern revolution and to Chinese modern literature. Wang joined the Communist Party of ...
, a journalist and intellectual known for his belief in "democracy and science." Wang wrote an essay denouncing the hierarchy, bureaucracy, and inegalitarian distribution of resources in Yan'an. The essay irritated Mao greatly, and Wang was labeled a
Trotskyist Trotskyism is the political ideology and branch of Marxism developed by Ukrainian-Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky and some other members of the Left Opposition and Fourth International. Trotsky self-identified as an orthodox Marxist, a ...
. Wang was arrested by the Central Social Department, modeled off the Soviet Union's
OGPU The Joint State Political Directorate (OGPU; russian: Объединённое государственное политическое управление) was the intelligence and state security service and secret police of the Soviet Union f ...
, and beheaded in 1947. Under the leadership of
Peng Zhen Peng Zhen (pronounced ; October 12, 1902 – April 26, 1997) was a leading member of the Chinese Communist Party. He led the party organization in Beijing following the victory of the Communists in the Chinese Civil War in 1949, but was ...
, the Central Political School of the CCP began to carry out the Rectification Campaign among its students. Massive numbers of party members were forced to write reports of confession and self-criticism. The Central General Study Committee ordered people to report on their daily habits and speech. This stage was known as the "Salvation Stage". The Salvation Stage was the extension of the Maoist anti-Trotskyist movement and the censorship of newcomers who had come from the areas governed by the Kuomintang. The Central Social Department took control of the movement and turned it into a mass persecution in 1943. Thousands of people, especially those new members who came from areas governed by KMT, were purged, kept in custody, censored, mentally and physically tortured, and occasionally executed. Many of them were labeled as "spies of the Kuomintang" or "anti party activists". Not only were they themselves humiliated, but also their family members and relatives. The only way for them to be released from this persecution was to make confession of crimes they never committed and then turn others in.


See also

*
List of campaigns of the Chinese Communist Party This is a list of political campaigns of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) since the founding of the party in 1921 after the First World War. See also * History of the People's Republic of China * Timeline of Chinese history __NOTOC__ This ...
*
Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a sociopolitical movement in the People's Republic of China (PRC) launched by Mao Zedong in 1966, and lasting until his death in 1976. Its stated goa ...
*
1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre The Tiananmen Square protests, known in Chinese as the June Fourth Incident (), were student-led demonstrations held in Tiananmen Square, Beijing during 1989. In what is known as the Tiananmen Square Massacre, or in Chinese the June Four ...
* Canidrome massacre *
Hundred Flowers Campaign The Hundred Flowers Campaign, also termed the Hundred Flowers Movement (), was a period from 1956 to 1957 in the People's Republic of China during which the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) encouraged citizens to openly express their opinions of t ...


Notes


References

* Gao Hua.'' How Did The Red Sun Rise:The Cause And Effect Of Zheng feng In Yan'an'' The Chinese University Press 2000 * Wang Ming.'' CCP of 50 Years'' Orient Press 2004


Further reading

* Selden, Mark. (1971). ''The Yenan Way in Revolutionary China''. Harvard University Press. {{DEFAULTSORT:Yan'an Rectification Movement Massacres in China Campaigns of the Chinese Communist Party Maoist China 1940s in China Persecution of intellectuals