A Study of the "Li Sixi Thought" Discussion Organized by the New Hunan Daily

The New Hunan Daily was the organ of the Hunan Provincial Party Committee in the early years of the founding of the People's Republic of China. From July 1951 to January 1952, the New Hunan Daily opened a special column and launched a discussion on "Li Sixi Thought." This discussion helped overcome the ideological slackness that existed among some rural cadres after the completion of land reform at that time, mobilized the work enthusiasm of the vast number of rural cadres, and achieved the goal of carrying out propaganda, education, and ideological guidance. This discussion also drew the attention of the Central Committee of the CPC and spurred similar discussions in other parts of the country, producing positive effects. The discussion on "Li Sixi Thought" organized by the New Hunan Daily is a successful case in the propaganda work of the CPC. Academia has paid little attention to the discussion on "Li Sixi Thought" in the New Hunan Daily; existing research mainly studies it from the perspective of how the CPC carried out peasant education and the successful experiences gained. This article examines the discussion from the perspective of how the CPC conducted propaganda and ideological work, looking at how the New Hunan Daily initiated and carried out this discussion, ultimately achieving the intended goal of prompting the vast number of rural cadres to overcome "Li Sixi Thought."

《新湖南报》是新中国成立初期湖南省委的机关报。1951年7月至1952年1月，《新湖南报》开辟专栏，发起了一场“李四喜思想”讨论。通过讨论帮助克服了当时土地改革完成后一些乡村干部中存在的思想懈怠问题，调动了广大乡村干部的工作积极性，达到了开展宣传教育和思想引导的目的。这场讨论也引起了中共中央的重视，带动全国其他地区开展类似讨论，产生了积极影响。《新湖南报》开展的“李四喜思想”讨论，是中共宣传工作中的一个成功案例。对《新湖南报》“李四喜思想”讨论，学术界关注不多，已有成果主要从中共如何开展农民教育以及取得的成功经验的视角来研究。本文从中共如何开展宣传思想工作这一视角，来审视《新湖南报》如何发起并开展这场讨论，最终达到促使广大乡村干部克服“李四喜思想”的预期目标。

I. The New Hunan Daily Launches the Discussion on "Li Sixi Thought"

一、《新湖南报》发起 “李四喜思想”讨论

Li Sixi is a fictional character created by the New Hunan Daily, whose prototype was Zhu Zhongli, a rural cadre in the Fifteenth District of Changsha County. Zhu Zhongli was a poor peasant who had worked as a hired hand for a landlord for 12 years before the founding of New China. It was not until the liberation of Hunan that Zhu Zhongli was able to turn over, get land, marry, and have children—what could be called four happinesses coming at once. However, at this time, Zhu Zhongli showed an unwillingness to continue revolutionary work, only wanting to focus on production and pursue personal enrichment. This situation was not an isolated case; similar phenomena were widespread in other parts of the country. The emergence of this situation seriously damaged the organizational system and work efficiency of rural grassroots political power. To change this situation, it was necessary to strengthen propaganda, education, and ideological guidance for rural cadres.

李四喜是《新湖南报》虚构出来的人物，其原型是长沙县十五区乡村干部朱中立。朱中立是个贫苦农民，新中国成立前给地主做过12年雇工。直到湖南解放，朱中立才得以翻身、分田、娶妻、生子，可谓四喜临门。但在此时，朱中立表现出不愿继续做革命工作，只想埋头生产，追求个人发家致富的思想。这种情况在当时不是个案，类似的现象在全国其他地区也大量存在。这种情况的出现，严重损害了农村基层政权的组织体系和工作效能。要改变这种情况，必须加强对乡村干部的宣传教育和思想引导。

(1) The Background of Launching the Discussion on "Li Sixi Thought"

（一）发起“李四喜思想”讨论的背景

Why did the New Hunan Daily take the initiative to launch this discussion? This had a great deal to do with the changes in the mentality of the vast number of rural cadres after the completion of land reform in the early years of the founding of New China. On June 30, 1950, the Land Reform Law of the People's Republic of China was promulgated, which served as the legal basis for implementing land reform in the newly liberated areas. With the completion of land reform, some rural cadres who had actively participated in land reform became no longer enthusiastic about Party work but instead were keen on personal enrichment. Comrades from the editorial department of the New Hunan Daily discovered during their investigation in the province that: "In areas where land reform had been completed, some peasant association organizations tended to become lax; the morale of rural cadres slackened, many took 'long leave' and went home, and some even handed over their work to others and went home without authorization; many militiamen handed over their weapons to the peasant associations, saying, 'The landlords have fallen, there's nothing left to do!' This fully proves that the peasants' paralysis of thought was quite serious. Consequently, landlords and their running dogs took the opportunity to usurp village political power. At the end of April this year, a violent rebellion by lawless landlords occurred in the Fifth District of Hanshou County. In May, counterrevolutionaries lurking in the countryside became quite rampant, spreading rumors, poisoning, setting fires, and committing all kinds of evil." It can be seen that if the vast number of rural cadres all quit their jobs, the CPC's rural grassroots political power would be severely weakened, and the foundation of the new people's political power would not be solid.

《新湖南报》为什么要主动发起这场讨论呢？这与新中国成立初期土地改革完成后，广大乡村干部心态变化有着很大关系。1950年6月30日，《中华人民共和国土地改革法》颁布，这是在新解放地区实行土地改革的法律依据。随着土地改革的完成，积极参与土地改革的一些乡村干部对党的工作不再积极，而是热衷于个人发家致富。《新湖南报》编辑部的同志在本省调研中发现：“在土地改革已经完成的地区，有部分农会组织趋于涣散；乡村干部情绪松弛，许多人‘请长假’回家，有的甚至私自将工作交给别人就回家了；不少民兵则把武器交给农会，说‘地主垮了，没有事啦！’足证农民的麻痹思想是相当严重的。因而地主及其狗腿子就趁机篡夺乡村政权。今年四月底，汉寿县五区曾发生不法地主武装暴乱的事件。五月间，潜伏在农村中的反革命分子相当猖狂，造谣、放毒、纵火，无恶不作。”可见，如果广大乡村干部都撂挑子不干，中共在农村的基层政权就会受到严重削弱，新生的人民政权的根基就不牢固。

Based on such problems, combined with the shortcomings and deficiencies in the field of propaganda and ideological work, in May 1951, the first National Conference on Propaganda Work of the CPC pointed out that it was necessary to focus on discussing and solving issues such as "strengthening the Party's leadership over ideological work." In his speech at the conference, Liu Shaoqi emphasized: "The ideological systems of the bourgeoisie, the petty bourgeoisie, and the peasantry—i.e., non-Marxist-Leninist, non-proletarian ideological systems—must be criticized." "Propaganda work is ideological work." This shows that during this period, the CPC attached great importance to conducting ideological guidance through propaganda work, especially the criticism of non-proletarian ideas, and put forward principled requirements.

基于出现的此类问题，结合宣传思想工作领域存在的缺点和不足，1951年5月，中国共产党第一次全国宣传工作会议指出，要着重讨论和解决“加强党对思想工作的领导”等问题。刘少奇在会议讲话中强调：“对于资产阶级、小资产阶级、农民阶级的思想体系，即非马列主义、非无产阶级的思想体系，要批评。”“宣传工作也就是思想工作。”这说明，在这一时期，中共对通过宣传工作进行思想引导，特别是对非无产阶级思想的批评高度重视，并提出了原则性要求。

Among various channels of ideological work in the early years of the founding of New China, newspapers were an important front for strengthening propaganda, education, and ideological guidance for rural cadres. "One of the main requirements for the ideological nature of newspaper propaganda is that newspapers should be good at conducting propaganda based on the actual ideological conditions of the masses, solving the masses' ideological problems in propaganda, raising the masses' level of understanding, so as to lead the masses forward." From its early days, the New Hunan Daily attached great importance to tracking the ideological trends of the masses and strengthening guidance. This was an important reason why the discussion on "Li Sixi Thought" could later be launched in the New Hunan Daily. The main person in charge of the New Hunan Daily during its early days recalled: "From the very beginning of the New Hunan Daily, it paid great attention to systematically propagating Marxism and Mao Zedong Thought, propagating policies related to the central tasks of each period (such as grain collection, bandit suppression, production, and disaster relief), constantly paying attention to the ideological trends of the masses, and publishing comments in a targeted manner." "One matter that had relatively great influence was the discussion on Li Sixi Thought."

在新中国成立初期各种思想工作渠道中，报纸是加强对乡村干部宣传教育和思想引导的重要阵地。“报纸宣传的思想性的主要要求之一，是报纸应该善于根据群众的实际思想情况进行宣传，在宣传中解决群众的思想问题，提高群众的认识水平，以便领导群众前进。”《新湖南报》在创办初期就非常重视追踪群众的思想动向并加强引导，这是后来“李四喜思想”讨论能够在《新湖南报》发起的重要原因。《新湖南报》创刊初期的主要负责人回忆：“《新湖南报》创刊之初，就十分注意系统宣传马克思主义和毛泽东思想，宣传各个时期中心工作（例如征粮、剿匪、生产、救灾）中的政策，经常注意群众思想动向，有针对性地发表言论。”“有件影响比较大的事情 ,是关于李四喜思想的讨论。”

It can be seen that the ideological slackness of rural cadres after land reform, the CPC Central Committee's emphasis on ideological education, and the New Hunan Daily's positive response to the instructions of the CPC Central Committee together constituted the background for the New Hunan Daily's launch of the discussion on "Li Sixi Thought."

可见，土地改革后乡村干部出现的思想懈怠，中共中央对思想教育工作的重视，《新湖南报》对中共中央指示的积极响应，共同构成了《新湖南报》发起“李四喜思想”讨论的背景。

(2) The Opportunity for Launching the Discussion on "Li Sixi Thought"

（二）发起“李四喜思想”讨论的契机

In 1950, land reform was rolled out in Hunan. The New Hunan Daily was the organ of the Hunan Provincial Party Committee at the time. Zhu Jiusi was the president and editor-in-chief of the newspaper, and Zhang Yulin was a member of the editorial board and head of the rural group. According to Zhang Yulin's recollection, in December 1950, Zhu Jiusi said to him: "Chairman Mao once said that editorial staff of newspapers should participate in a period of practical work; now the newspaper has already agreed with the Xiangtan Prefectural Party Committee and the Changsha County Party Committee to send you to Jinjing District of Changsha County to participate in land reform and concurrently serve as deputy secretary of the district party committee." Thereafter, Zhang Yulin established close relations with the peasants during the land reform work in Changsha County, and the work proceeded smoothly. However, he also discovered a strange phenomenon: whenever these rural cadres and peasants were asked to do some government work, "many people showed reluctance. When they were notified to attend meetings, some cadres and activists who should have been there did not come. For some important meetings, if the required attendees absolutely had to be present, I had to go to their homes to invite them." "The township head of Nongyu Township, a very good township cadre, submitted his resignation several times and wanted to quit. For the mobilization of enlistment, I organized it twice in the district. The one near the end of land reform was completed without much effort." "However, during the mobilization for enlistment again after land reform, it took a great deal of effort, much hard work, and barely managed to complete the task."

1950年，土地改革在湖南铺开。《新湖南报》是当时湖南省委的机关报，朱九思是报社社长兼总编辑，张雨林是编委会委员、农村组组长。据张雨林回忆，1950年12月，朱九思对他说：“毛主席曾说过，报纸编辑部人员应该参加一段实际工作；现在报社已和湘潭地委、长沙县委商定，派你去长沙县金井区参加土地改革，并兼任这个区的区委副书记。”之后，张雨林在长沙县的土地改革工作中和农民建立了亲密的关系，工作开展比较顺利。但他同时发现一个奇怪现象，一旦要这些乡村干部和农民做一些政府的工作，“不少人却面有难色。通知他们开会，一些该到会的干部和积极分子却不来，有些重要的会，非传齐到会的人不可，我只得登门去请”。“农裕乡乡长，是个很好的乡干部，却几次提出辞职想不干了。动员参军的工作，我在区上先后组织过两次。土改快结束时的那一次，动员工作没费什么劲，就完成了任务。”“可是，土改以后再次动员入伍时，却费了很大的劲，作了许多艰苦的工作，好容易才勉强完成任务。”

The changes that occurred among rural cadres before and after land reform caught Zhang Yulin's attention, prompting him to "probe more deeply into the ideological conditions of rural cadres." The situation of Zhu Zhongli, then deputy township head of Nongyu Township, played an important role in his search for the ideological roots of this phenomenon. Before the founding of New China, Zhu Zhongli had made a living as a long-term hired hand for a landlord, living a hard life and often being scolded by the landlord. After the founding of New China, during the land reform, he was firm in his stance, resolute in struggle, fair in handling affairs, and did not take advantage for himself, winning recognition from the masses. When building the township government after the completion of land reform, Zhu Zhongli was elected deputy township head, was also admitted to the Youth League, and was elected secretary of the League branch. With the founding of New China, Zhu Zhongli's life underwent earth-shaking changes: economically, he no longer suffered exploitation by landlords; politically, he stood up and became a rural cadre of the people's government. However, regarding this work, Zhu Zhongli did not show much enthusiasm. After taking office, "he worked for only a few days and then submitted his resignation. When district cadres working in Gengqing Township went to his home to talk to him, he slipped out the back door as they entered through the front. On one occasion, the district cadres finally found him and urged him to work well. He even cried anxiously, saying: 'After the founding of New China, I got a wife, had a child, and now I have land and have joined the Youth League. I am fully satisfied. What else is there to work for? Everyone has land now, what work is there to do?'" Zhu Zhongli's life had undergone great changes, but he developed a mindset of slackening and wanting to step back, no longer actively working. This change made Zhang Yulin realize that it was necessary to educate the peasants, especially cadres of peasant origin, to make them see the revolutionary far-reaching prospects and new glorious tasks, and to understand the responsibilities they bore. As for how to carry out this education, Zhang Yulin did not have a mature idea at the time.

土地改革前后，乡村干部身上发生的变化引起了张雨林的注意，使其“较为深入地摸乡村干部的思想状况”。时任农裕乡副乡长朱中立的情况，对他寻找这种现象的思想根源起了重要作用。新中国成立前，朱中立依靠给地主家作长工为生，生活艰苦，并且经常遭到地主的辱骂。新中国成立后，在土地改革中，他立场坚定，斗争坚决 ,办事公道，不贪便宜，得到群众认可。在土地改革结束建设乡政权时，朱中立当选为副乡长，又被吸收入团，当选为团支部书记。朱中立的生活随着新中国的成立发生了翻天覆地的变化，经济上不再遭受地主剥削，政治上翻了身，还担任了人民政府的乡级干部。但对这一工作，朱中立却表现不那么积极。任职后，“他干了不多日子，就提出辞职。在耕庆乡工作的区干部上门去找他谈话，人家从前门进去，他从后门溜走。有一次，区干部终于找着他了，劝他好好工作。他竟急得哭了起来，说：新中国成立后，我讨了堂客，生了崽，现在又分了田，入了团，心满意足了，还要工作什么呢？大家都分了田，还有什么工作可干呢？”朱中立的生活发生了巨变，却出现了松气退坡思想，不再积极工作。这种变化使张雨林认识到，必须对农民，尤其是农民出身的干部进行教育，让他们看到革命的远大前途和新的光荣任务，明白自身所担负的责任。至于怎样开展这种教育，张雨林当时并没有成熟的想法。

In June 1951, Zhang Yulin returned to the newspaper to report on the rural situation after land reform, and prominently introduced the phenomenon of slackening and stepping back among rural cadres, using Zhu Zhongli as an example. After hearing the report, Zhu Jiusi immediately pointed out that this issue was very important, and decided on the spot to raise this issue in the newspaper to launch an ideological discussion. The editorial board members present unanimously agreed, and "selected the meaning of Zhu Zhongli's 'four happinesses coming at once' (marriage, having a child, getting land, joining the Youth League) followed by his unwillingness to work, took the pseudonym 'Li Sixi,' and attached Zhu Zhongli's case of slackening after land reform to the name 'Li Sixi,' thus launching the discussion."

1951年6月，张雨林回报社汇报了土地改革以后的农村情况，并突出地介绍了乡村干部松气退坡的现象和朱中立这个例子。听完汇报，朱九思立即指出这个问题很重要，当场决定将这个问题在报纸上提出来开展一次思想讨论，到会的编委一致赞成，并“选取了朱中立‘四喜临门’（结婚、生孩子、分田、入团）以后不干工作的意思，取了一个假名‘李四喜’，而以朱中立土改后松气退坡的事例挂在‘李四喜’名下，把讨论开展起来”。

From the above, we can see some considerations of the New Hunan Daily when launching the discussion on "Li Sixi Thought." "Li Sixi" is a fictional character with a prototype in reality. The emergence of this fictional character provided a target for cadres and the masses, making it easier for them to perceive the stark changes in the thinking of some rural cadres before and after the completion of land reform, and also easier to concentrate on presenting the phenomenon of ideological slackness and stepping back among some rural cadres after the completion of land reform, facilitating the in-depth development of the discussion.

以上可以看出《新湖南报》在发起“李四喜思想”讨论时的一些考虑。“李四喜”是一个在现实中有原型的虚构人物。这个虚构人物的出现为干部群众树立了靶子，便于干部群众感受到土地改革完成前后一些乡村干部思想上发生的鲜明变化，同时也更容易把土地改革完成后一些乡村干部当中出现的思想懈怠、松气退坡现象进行集中展现，便于讨论的深入开展。

On July 18, 1951, the New Hunan Daily published an article titled "It Is Wrong Not to Continue the Revolution after Getting Land—A Letter from Comrade Zhang Zhengfa," which threw out the topic: "I think Li Sixi's thinking of not wanting to continue the revolution after getting land is wrong. What do you think? Please tell me." Marked by the publication of this article, the discussion on "Li Sixi Thought" began in the New Hunan Daily.

1951年7月18日，《新湖南报》以《分了田不干革命是不对的——读者章正发同志的来信》一文抛出话题：“我认为李四喜分了田就不愿干革命的思想是不对的。不知你认为怎样，请告诉我。”以这篇文章的刊发为标志，“李四喜思想”讨论在《新湖南报》开始了。

II. The Main Methods Used by the New Hunan Daily to Carry Out the Discussion on "Li Sixi Thought"

二、《新湖南报》开展 “李四喜思想”讨论的主要方式

The purpose of the New Hunan Daily in launching the discussion on "Li Sixi Thought" was to criticize and overcome this way of thinking. During the discussion, the participating readers came from a wide range of backgrounds, and their views on "Li Sixi Thought" were diverse and varied. How to firmly control the direction of the discussion after it was launched and achieve the intended purpose was more difficult than simply launching the discussion. In organizing the discussion, the New Hunan Daily used various methods to guide the content and direction of the discussion, achieving the intended goal of criticizing erroneous thinking and establishing correct concepts.

《新湖南报》发起“李四喜思想”讨论的目的是批判、克服这种思想。讨论中，参与进来的读者来源广泛，对“李四喜思想”的看法也各种各样，不尽相同。如何在讨论发起后牢牢把控讨论方向，达到预期目的，这比单单发起讨论更加困难。《新湖南报》在组织讨论时采用多种方式对讨论内容和方向进行引导，达到了批判错误思想、树立正确观念的预期目标。

(1) Using Stage-by-Stage Summaries to Point the Direction for the Discussion

（一）以阶段性总结为讨论指明方向

After the discussion on "Li Sixi Thought" unfolded, the New Hunan Daily received a large number of contributions; in the first month alone after the discussion began, it received 1,149 contributions and letters. However, judging from the content of the published contributions and letters, readers' views on "Li Sixi Thought" were not consistent. If the New Hunan Daily had published all the contributions and letters from readers without guidance, it would inevitably have caused ideological confusion among readers and failed to achieve the goal of educating the masses. To guide the direction of the discussion, after it began, the New Hunan Daily published a summary article on August 19, 1951, September 20, 1951, and January 8, 1952, respectively. Among them, the first two articles respectively summarized the discussion on "Li Sixi Thought" in the previous stage and guided the discussion in the next stage; the third article reviewed and summarized the entire process of the discussion on "Li Sixi Thought" and proposed the focus of future work.

“李四喜思想”讨论展开后，《新湖南报》收到了大量来稿，仅在讨论开始后的第一个月就收到来稿来信1149件。不过，从刊登出来的来稿来信内容可以发现，读者对“李四喜思想”的看法并不一致。《新湖南报》如果对读者的来稿来信全部照原样刊登，不加引导，难免会在读者当中引起思想混乱，达不到教育群众的目的。为了对讨论方向加以引导，讨论开始后，《新湖南报》在1951年8月19日、9月20日、1952年1月8日，各发表了一篇总结性文章。其中，前两篇文章分别对前一阶段“李四喜思想”讨论进行总结，对下一阶段的讨论进行引导；第三篇文章对“李四喜思想”讨论全过程作了回顾和总结，并提出了未来工作的着力点。

One month after the discussion on "Li Sixi Thought" began, on August 19, 1951, the New Hunan Daily published "Carry Out the Discussion on Li Sixi Thought More Broadly and Deeply—A Report on the Situation One Month after Launching the Discussion." This article introduced in detail the general background for launching the discussion on "Li Sixi Thought," the approximate range of authors of the contributions and letters received, and the shortcomings of the discussion: "At the beginning, there were few contributions from peasants and rural cadres... Roughly in the second half of the month after the discussion began, contributions from peasants and district and township cadres gradually increased. Most of them expressed their opinions in relation to their own thinking and local conditions. Many cadres and peasant masses in villages spontaneously held meetings to discuss." "At present, the situation is that there are very few contributions from comrades at the district level and above, and at the same time, there are not many drafts that more deeply analyze and criticize Li Sixi Thought; this is a deficiency." The article then introduced the basic content of the contributions and letters, analyzed the effects already achieved by the discussion, and finally proposed that to solve "Li Sixi Thought," "it is not enough to rely solely on this newspaper's discussion; it requires the attention of provincial party committees at all levels and local newspapers in our province, so that the discussion on Li Sixi Thought can be carried out more deeply and broadly in an organized and led manner." This called on all levels of party committees and party newspapers in Hunan Province to carry out the discussion on "Li Sixi Thought," promoting its widespread development.

“李四喜思想”讨论开始一个月后，1951年8月19日《新湖南报》刊发了《更广泛深入地开展关于李四喜思想的讨论——展开讨论后一个月的情况报告》。这篇文章详细介绍了发起“李四喜思想”讨论的大背景、已有来稿来信作者的大致范围以及讨论的不足之处等情况：“开始农民和乡村干部来稿少……大致在开始讨论后的下半个月，农民和区乡干部来稿渐渐加多了，他们大都联系自己的思想和本地情况谈自己的意见，许多乡村的干部和农民群众自动召开会来讨论。”“目前的情况是，区以上的负责同志来稿极少，同时更深地分析和批判李四喜思想的稿子也不多，这是不够的地方。”文章接着介绍了来稿来信的基本内容，分析了开展讨论已经取得的效果，最后提出要解决“李四喜思想”，“光靠本报讨论还是不够，需要本省各级党委和地方报纸重视这个问题，以便有组织有领导的把李四喜思想讨论更深入更广泛地开展起来”。这就号召整个湖南省各级党委和党报都来开展“李四喜思想”讨论，促进了讨论的广泛开展。

Around the time the above summary was published, from August 13 to 23, 1951, the first provincial propaganda work conference of Hunan Province was held, further deploying the discussion on "Li Sixi Thought." "Because the issue of 'Li Sixi Thought' was raised at the first provincial propaganda conference, comrades in charge of the Hunan Provincial Party Committee stressed the importance of criticizing and overcoming this erroneous thinking; after the conference, Comrade Wang Shoudao [1]1 Wang Shoudao (1906-1996) was a senior CPC leader and at the time served as the second secretary of the Hunan Provincial Party Committee. His article provided authoritative backing for the criticism of "Li Sixi Thought." also wrote the essay 'Criticize "Li Sixi Thought," Strengthen Ideological Education for Cadres'; the People's Daily, Xinhua News Agency, Study magazine, and the Changjiang Daily all published and broadcast articles about the discussion on 'Li Sixi Thought'... drawing attention to this discussion from all over." Thereafter, counties and districts throughout Hunan Province generally carried out discussions on "Li Sixi Thought." Leading cadres from Liuyang County, Changning County, Changsha County, Hengyang Second District, Wugang County, Xiangtan County, Changde Region, and other places successively published articles in the New Hunan Daily introducing the situation of the discussion on "Li Sixi Thought" in their own areas.

就在上述总结刊发前后，1951年8月13日至23日，湖南省第一次宣传工作会议召开，对开展“李四喜思想”讨论作出进一步部署。“由于在全省第一次宣传会议上提出了关于‘李四喜思想’的问题，中共湖南省委负责同志强调指出批判与克服这种错误思想的重要性；会后，王首道同志又写了《批判‘李四喜思想’，加强干部思想教育》的论文；人民日报、新华社、学习杂志、长江日报又都发表和广播了关于‘李四喜思想’的讨论的文章……引起各地对这一讨论的重视。”之后，湖南省各区县普遍开展了关于“李四喜思想”的讨论。浏阳县、长宁县、长沙县、衡阳第二区、武冈县、湘潭县、常德地区等地领导干部先后在《新湖南报》刊发文章，介绍本地区开展“李四喜思想”讨论的情况。

After another month of such discussion, on September 20, 1951, the New Hunan Daily published "Leading Organs in Various Places Gradually Attach Importance to and Promote the Discussion on 'Li Sixi Thought'—A Report on the Situation in the Second Month of the Discussion on 'Li Sixi Thought.'" This report pointed out: "In the second month, the discussion was more extensively unfolded throughout the province. The slackening mentality of some rural cadres has been preliminarily corrected. The slogan 'Oppose Li Sixi Thought' has also formed a kind of public opinion in the vast rural areas. In some places, rural cadres are unhappy when they hear others calling them Li Sixi, thinking that having Li Sixi Thought is a disgrace." This shows that the purpose of launching the discussion had been initially achieved. However, "the current problem is how to deepen the discussion on Li Sixi Thought one step further. Although leading bodies in various places have begun to pay attention and have made arrangements and calls, specific leadership and organization are still insufficient." "Furthermore, among a small number of leading comrades and cadres, there are still some incorrect views on the discussion on Li Sixi Thought." Therefore, this report pointed out: "We should combine work and study to continue to deepen the discussion and education," and "based on existing experience, organizing rural cadres to study the history of the Party is a very good method to raise the discussion to a higher level." This pointed the direction for further deepening the discussion on "Li Sixi Thought."

这样的讨论继续了一个月之后，1951年9月20日，《新湖南报》刊发了《各地领导机关逐渐重视和推动了“李四喜思想”讨论——“李四喜思想”讨论第二个月的情况报告》。这份报告指出：“在第二个月，全省更加普遍地展开了讨论。一部分乡村干部的松气思想已得到初步纠正。‘反对李四喜思想’的口号也在广大农村中形成了一种社会舆论。有些地方的乡村干部听到别人喊自己作李四喜就不高兴，认为有李四喜思想是不光荣的事情。”这说明发起讨论的目的已初步达到。但“目前问题是如何使李四喜思想讨论继续深入一步。各地领导上虽然已经开始重视并做了布置和号召，但具体的领导和组织还是不够”。“再者，目前在少数领导同志和干部中，对李四喜思想的讨论还存在一些不正确的看法。”因此，这份报告指出：“应该结合工作学习，继续深入开展讨论教育”，“根据已有的经验，组织乡村干部学习党史，是使讨论提高一步的很好的办法”。这就为“李四喜思想”讨论的进一步深化指明了方向。

By publishing monthly summaries, the New Hunan Daily guided the discussion on "Li Sixi Thought." Especially after the publication of Wang Shoudao's article on August 25, the Hunan Provincial Party Committee's critical attitude toward "Li Sixi Thought" had already become very clear. Consequently, the discussion on "Li Sixi Thought" was carried out in an orderly manner under the leadership of Party organizations in various places. In the period after September 20 until the New Hunan Daily announced the end of the discussion, the articles on the discussion on "Li Sixi Thought" published by the New Hunan Daily were mainly divided into two categories: one category introduced the situation of the discussion on "Li Sixi Thought" in various places, existing problems, and suggestions and opinions put forward; the other category were articles by typical individuals who had overcome "Li Sixi Thought" speaking from personal experience. During this period, readers' letters and contributions were still numerous, but their attitude toward "Li Sixi Thought" was very clear—all were critical. This shows that the summary articles previously published by the New Hunan Daily indeed played a guiding role in the discussion on "Li Sixi Thought." On this basis, in the months of October, November, and December 1951, the discussion maintained the correct direction, so the New Hunan Daily did not publish stage-by-stage summary reports.

《新湖南报》通过刊发月度总结，对“李四喜思想”的讨论加以引导，特别是8月25日王首道的文章刊发以后，湖南省委对“李四喜思想”的批判态度已经非常明确。于是，“李四喜思想”的讨论在各地党组织领导下有序开展起来。在9月20日之后到《新湖南报》宣布讨论结束这一段时间，《新湖南报》刊发的“李四喜思想”讨论文章，主要分为两类：一类是介绍各地开展“李四喜思想”讨论的情况、存在的问题以及提出的意见建议；一类是克服“李四喜思想”的典型现身说法的文章。这一时期读者来信来稿依然很多，但对“李四喜思想”的态度很鲜明，都是持批判态度。这就说明《新湖南报》之前配发的总结性文章在“李四喜思想”讨论中确实发挥了引导作用。在之前的基础上，1951年10、11、12月，这几个月的讨论一直保持着正确的方向，因此《新湖南报》没有刊发阶段性总结报道。

On January 8, 1952, the New Hunan Daily published "Strengthen Ideological Education, Solve Practical Difficulties, and Raise Rural Cadres to a Higher Level—A Review of the Discussion on 'Li Sixi Thought' over the Past Five Months and Future Opinions." The article believed that this discussion had prompted many rural cadres to preliminarily overcome "Li Sixi Thought," and at the same time had important educational significance for leading organs and cadres in various parts of Hunan Province. However, there were also some problems, such as the discussion not being deep enough, with a tendency toward formalism; and in the discussion, there was solely criticism of thought without solving the practical difficulties of rural cadres. The article finally proposed a method to overcome "Li Sixi Thought," namely, "it is necessary to combine ideological education with solving practical difficulties," and put forward three specific measures: "continue to deepen ideological education in combination with land reform and land reform review," "help rural cadres solve practical difficulties in production," and "improve the leadership style." The publication of this article marked the end of the discussion on "Li Sixi Thought" in the New Hunan Daily.

1952年1月8日，《新湖南报》刊发了《加强思想教育，解决实际困难把乡村干部提高一步——五个月来关于“李四喜思想”讨论的回顾与今后意见》。文章认为，这场讨论促使很多乡村干部初步克服了“李四喜思想”，同时对湖南省各地领导机关和干部有着重要的教育意义，但也存在一些问题，例如讨论不够深入，存在形式主义偏向；在讨论中存在单纯批评思想，没有解决乡村干部的实际困难。文章最后提出了克服“李四喜思想”的办法，即“必须将进行思想教育与解决实际困难相结合”，并提出三条具体措施，即“结合土地改革和土改复查，继续深入进行思想教育”，“帮助乡村干部解决生产上的实际困难”，“改善领导作风”。这篇文章的发表标志着“李四喜思想”讨论在《新湖南报》的结束。

Looking at the entire process of the discussion on "Li Sixi Thought," the New Hunan Daily, by continuously publishing stage-by-stage summary articles, summarized the discussion of the previous period, pointed out the results already achieved and the issues needing attention in the next step, firmly controlled the general direction of the discussion, guided the discussion to deepen continuously, and truly enabled this discussion to play its role in educating the vast number of rural cadres.

综观“李四喜思想”讨论整个过程，《新湖南报》通过不断刊发阶段性总结文章，对前一个时期的讨论进行总结，指出已经取得的成效、下一步需要注意的问题，牢牢把控讨论的大方向，引导讨论不断深入，真正促使这场讨论发挥了教育广大乡村干部的作用。

(2) Deepening the Discussion by Allowing Different Views to Collide

（二）通过让不同观点进行碰撞把讨论引向深入

The New Hunan Daily launched the discussion on "Li Sixi Thought" with the aim of criticizing "Li Sixi Thought," thereby achieving the goal of guiding the masses' thinking. From the contributions and letters on the discussion on "Li Sixi Thought" published in the New Hunan Daily, it can be seen that the masses' views on "Li Sixi Thought" were not consistent; some people thought that "Li Sixi Thought" was not wrong at all. How to handle this divergence of views? The approach taken by the New Hunan Daily was to selectively and guidedly publish articles with different viewpoints, allowing different views to collide, forming a full discussion among readers, and finally enabling the masses to reach a consensus on the correct viewpoint.

《新湖南报》发起“李四喜思想”讨论，其目的是对“李四喜思想”进行批判，从而达到引领群众思想的目的。从《新湖南报》刊登的关于“李四喜思想”讨论的来稿来信可以看出，群众对“李四喜思想”的看法并不一致，有的人就认为“李四喜思想”没有什么错误。对这种看法上的分歧怎么处理？《新湖南报》采取的做法是有选择、有导向地将不同观点的文章予以刊登，让不同的观点形成碰撞，在读者当中形成充分讨论，最后让群众对正确观点形成共识。

After the discussion began, most letters generally criticized the "Li Sixi thought." [2]2 "Li Sixi thought" refers to the mindset of rural cadres who, after the land reform, became complacent and wanted to retreat from revolutionary work. It was named after a fictional character Li Sixi, based on a real person Zhu Zhongli. However, letters from a reader in Changsha and another in Xiangyin expressed different views. The former said that Comrade Li Sixi was certainly good at doing revolutionary work, and going home to produce grain was also good, as more grain could support national construction. "Revolutionary work is everyone's public business. Now let Comrade Li Sixi go back to production, and let others take turns doing the work, so that no one suffers a loss. This is also very fair and reasonable." The latter wrote: "Current work cadres indeed have heavy work and little allowance. In my opinion, if rural cadres do not work, we cannot blame them. The government should improve their treatment so that they will work with enthusiasm." The views expressed in these two letters objectively existed in real life. If such letters were not published, it would only temporarily conceal the contradiction; if they were published directly without guidance, it would lead some to mistakenly think that Li Sixi's approach was reasonable, producing a bad orientation.

讨论开始后，来信一般对“李四喜思想”持批评态度。但长沙一位读者和湘阴一位读者的来信则表达了不同看法。前者来信表示，李四喜同志干革命工作固然是好的，回家生产粮食也是好的，多产粮食可以支援国家建设，“革命工作是大家的公共事，现在让李四喜同志回去生产，轮流别人来做一做，不让一个人吃亏，也是很公平合理的”。后者在来信中认为：“现在的工作干部，工作确实繁重，津贴又少。”“我的意见，乡村干部不干工作，不能怪他们自己，政府应该改善他们的待遇，他们才干得有劲。”这两封来信所表达的观点，是现实生活中客观存在的，但如果对这类来信不予刊登，不过是暂时掩盖矛盾；如果把这类来信直接刊登出来，却不加引导，则会导致一些人误认为李四喜的做法是合理的，产生不好的导向。

Under these circumstances, the New Hunan Daily, [3]3 The New Hunan Daily was a provincial newspaper of Hunan at that time, which played a key role in launching the discussion. while publishing some letters that endorsed the "Li Sixi thought," also published a series of articles with diametrically opposite views, allowing the masses to think and discuss the issue fully through the collision of different viewpoints. On July 29 and August 8, the New Hunan Daily published three articles, all clearly disagreeing with the views of the two letters mentioned above. The July 29 article was a summary and collation by the editorial department of the contents of 24 readers' letters. It pointed out that these readers "all considered this view wrong." Specific views were as follows: First, "Participating in revolutionary work and serving the masses is very glorious. The interests of the revolution include personal interests. Only when the entire class is liberated can the individual be truly liberated." Second, "Should rural cadres take turns? Many readers' letters believed this practice is wrong." Revolutionary cadres cannot be done by just anyone; there are certain requirements. If cadres take turns, bad elements may infiltrate the cadre ranks. Moreover, after land reform, rural cadres had been tested and trained, with considerable work ability. Newcomers unfamiliar with the work and lacking ability would cause great losses to revolutionary work. In short, the method of taking turns as cadres is wrong and unworkable. The two letters published on August 8, "Learn from the Most Beloved People, Strive for the Revolutionary Cause to the End – Provincial Industrial Model Worker Zhong Bingcai Writes from His Sickbed to Join the Discussion" and "'Taking Turns' Is a Mistaken Idea of Equalitarianism," also refuted the aforementioned views.

在这种情况下，《新湖南报》在刊登一些认可“李四喜思想”读者来信的同时，又刊登了一系列与之观点截然相反的文章，让群众在不同观点碰撞中对上述问题进行充分思考与讨论。7月29日、8月8日，《新湖南报》刊发了3篇文章，均明确不赞同前述两封来信的观点。7月29日的文章是报社编辑部对 24名读者来信内容的汇总梳理归纳。文章指出，这些读者“都认为这种说法是错误的”。具体观点如下：第一，“参加革命工作，为群众服务，这是非常光荣的。革命的利益里面就包括着个人的利益，只有整个阶级解放了，个人才能真正解放”。第二，“乡村干部应不应该轮流当呢？许多读者来信，都认为这样做是不对的”。革命干部不是人人都可以做的，有一定的要求。如果轮流当干部，坏分子就有可能混到干部队伍里来。并且，土地改革后的乡村干部，经过了考验和锻炼，有了相当的工作能力。新手对工作不熟悉，能力不足，革命工作就会受到很大的损失。总之，轮流当干部的办法是错误的，也是行不通的。8月8日刊登的两封来信《学习最可爱的人 为革命事业奋斗到底——省工业劳模钟炳财从病床上写信来参加讨论》《“轮流干”是平均主义的错误想法》，也都对前述的观点进行了反驳。

In the collision of two viewpoints, the New Hunan Daily did not come to the forefront to criticize a certain viewpoint, but presented the opposing views of readers and fully displayed their reasons for opposition. Through such a sharp contrast, readers naturally understood which view was wrong, being educated imperceptibly. Thus the New Hunan Daily achieved its goal of guiding the masses' thinking. The reader from Xiangyin later said: "Regarding the discussion on Li Sixi thought, at the beginning I sympathized with Li Sixi. I thought mainly that current work cadres have heavy work and too little allowance, and the government should improve their treatment. Now this idea, upon careful reflection, is wrong."

在两种观点的碰撞中，《新湖南报》并没有站到前台对上述某一观点进行批判，而是把读者的反对观点呈现出来，并且充分展示了他们反对的理由。通过这种鲜明的对比，读者自然明白哪种观点是错误的，在潜移默化中受到教育，这样《新湖南报》引导群众思想的目的也就达到了。湘阴那位来信读者后来表示：“关于李四喜思想的讨论，在开始的时候，我有点同情李四喜，我认为主要是现在的工作干部工作繁重，津贴太少，政府应该改善对他们的待遇。现在这种想法仔细想起来是错的。”

Furthermore, another group of articles with opposing views published in the New Hunan Daily during the discussion concerned whether simply relying on pressuring tasks could solve the problem of ideological laxity among cadres. On August 13, the New Hunan Daily published an article by a reader, which argued: "Rural cadres' unwillingness to work is indeed a common and serious phenomenon. Why does this phenomenon arise? I think that the leadership's usual lack of tight pressure on work is a main reason." This reader believed that if higher-level leaders assigned work in a timely manner, one task after another, such laxity could be avoided. This view was actually incorrect. The New Hunan Daily adopted the same approach of continuously publishing multiple articles with diametrically opposite views, allowing the masses to continue discussing this issue.

此外，《新湖南报》在讨论中刊发的另外一组观点相反的文章，是关于单纯靠压任务是否可以解决干部的思想松懈问题。8月13日，《新湖南报》刊发了一位读者的文章。文中提出：“乡村干部不愿干工作，的确是一个普遍的严重的现象，为什么会产生这个现象呢？我觉得平常领导上把工作压得不紧是一个主要的原因。”这位读者认为，如果上级领导及时布置工作，一个任务压一个任务，这种松懈现象就可以避免。这种看法事实上是不正确的。《新湖南报》同样采取连续刊登多篇与之观点截然不同文章的做法，让广大读者继续对这个问题开展讨论。

The three articles published on August 20 – "Oppose the Method of Simply Pressuring Tasks Without Doing Ideological Work," "Simply Pressuring Tasks Cannot Prevent Lax Mood," and "Simply Pressuring Tasks Is a Commandist Approach" – all clearly disagreed with the above opinion. The August 22 article "Don't Look at Problems from the Surface" also explicitly stated disagreement with "the idea of using task pressure to eliminate the thought of slackening, because it only presses things from the surface without solving problems from the essence." These clear-cut articles all stated that simply pressuring tasks without ideological work could not solve the "Li Sixi thought" phenomenon, and further proposed that the solution was to strengthen ideological and political education for rural cadres. Through the collision of two viewpoints, readers not only understood that the view of simply pressuring tasks only saw the appearance of the problem, not the essence, but also deepened the discussion, proposing that educating rural cadres from the ideological level was the fundamental cure for the "Li Sixi thought."

8月20日刊登的3篇文章，《反对单纯压任务不做思想工作的办法》《单纯压任务，不能防止松懈情绪》《单纯压任务，是强迫命令的作法》都明确不赞同上述意见。8月22日的文章《不要从表面上看问题》，也明确提出不同意“用压任务消除松气思想的意见。因为那是只从表面压事情，而不从本质上去解决问题”。这几篇观点鲜明的文章都明确讲单纯压任务而不做思想工作不能解决“李四喜思想”现象，并且进一步提出了解决的办法是加强对乡村干部的思想政治教育。在两种观点的碰撞中，不仅让读者明白了单纯压任务这种观点只看到了问题表象，没有看到问题实质，还把讨论进一步引向了深入，提出从思想层面对乡村干部进行教育才是解决“李四喜思想”的治本之策。

(3) Using typical figures with "Li Sixi thought" to testify in person, increasing the persuasiveness of the discussion

（三）以具有“李四喜思想”的典型人物现身说法增加讨论的说服力

Testifying in person is a relatively persuasive practice. In the process of the discussion, the New Hunan Daily published some articles by persons with "Li Sixi thought" who testified in person. These articles made readers feel that persons with "Li Sixi thought" were people living around them; having "Li Sixi thought" was not terrible; as long as one strived to overcome it, one could still be a good comrade and gain organizational recognition.

现身说法是一种比较有说服力的做法。《新湖南报》在讨论的过程中刊发了一些具有“李四喜思想”的人现身说法的文章。这些文章使读者感到具有“李四喜思想”的人是生活在自己身边的人，有了“李四喜思想”不可怕，只要努力克服，依然是好同志，依然会得到组织认可。

In the process of the Li Sixi thought discussion, the New Hunan Daily continuously published contributions from Zhu Zhongli, [4]4 Zhu Zhongli was the real-life prototype of Li Sixi, a local cadre in Changsha County, Hunan, whose ideological transformation was featured in the discussion. the prototype of Li Sixi. One was "Thinking of Myself from Li Sixi" published on August 4. The article began: "When I saw the discussion on Li Sixi thought in the New Hunan Daily, I thought of myself. I used to have such thoughts like Li Sixi thought. I come from a poor family; since childhood I worked as a long-term laborer for a landlord, for twelve years." But after the land reform was completed, he thought: "I have been allocated land; I have a house, mountains, a wife and children; I am fully content. Why should I still do any work?" Thus he became increasingly passive politically and unwilling to continue participating in revolutionary work. The article mentioned that through ideological work by other comrades, "I" realized that "it was wrong not to do revolutionary work in the past, and I am determined to do revolutionary work again." The article concluded: "Li Sixi's slackening is wrong. I took a detour. I write these words for Comrade Li Sixi's reference, hoping he will quickly correct and become an excellent member of the Communist Youth League." [5]5 "Youth League member" refers to a member of the Communist Youth League of China. This was Zhu Zhongli's first appearance before readers; at that time, most readers did not know that Zhu Zhongli was the prototype of Li Sixi.

《新湖南报》在开展“李四喜思想”讨论过程中，连续刊登了李四喜原型朱中立的来稿。一篇是 8月4日刊发的《从李四喜想到我自己》。文章一开头就说：“我在新湖南报上看到李四喜思想的讨论，就想起我自己来。我从前也有过像李四喜思想这样的思想。我是穷苦人出身，从小就帮地主做长工，一直做了十二年”，但土地改革完成后却认为“分了田，屋也有，山也有，堂客、伢子都有，已经心满意足了，还要搞什么工作呢？”从而在政治上越来越消极，不愿意继续参加革命工作。文章提到，通过其他同志的思想工作，“我”认识到“过去那样不搞革命工作是错误的，我就决心再来搞革命工作”。文章最后说：“李四喜松气是不对的，我走了弯路，我写下这些话，给李四喜同志参考，希望他迅速改正，做个优秀的青年团员。”这是朱中立首次出现在读者面前，这个时候广大读者并不知道朱中立就是李四喜的原型。

On August 17, 1951, the New Hunan Daily published another article by Zhu Zhongli, "Combining Discussion with Studying Party History, I Recognized the Far-Reaching Future of the Revolution." In the article, Zhu Zhongli again testified in person, believing that his ideological transformation was largely due to studying the history of the Communist Party of China. [6]6 "Studying Party history" refers to the study and education on the history of the Communist Party of China. On September 25, the New Hunan Daily published a report "Zhu Zhongli Reports on the Process of Overcoming Li Sixi Thought," still featuring Zhu Zhongli. It originated from a peasant representative meeting held in Huoyi Township, Changsha's Fifteenth District, which focused on how to overcome Li Sixi thought. During the discussion, Zhu Zhongli gave a typical report, telling his thought transformation process. A reporter recorded and published Zhu Zhongli's speech. On September 26, the New Hunan Daily published "Zhu Zhongli's Notes on Studying Party History," whose purpose was clearly stated in the editor's note: "We hope all district and township cadres will learn from this earnest studying spirit," so as to realize their own ideological transformation. Due to his great ideological transformation, Zhu Zhongli participated as a representative in the first representative conference of the Hunan Provincial Committee of the Communist Youth League. [7]7 The Hunan Provincial Committee of the Communist Youth League.[8]8 The first representative conference of the Hunan Provincial Committee of the Communist Youth League. At the conference, Zhu Zhongli gave a typical speech, describing his process of overcoming Li Sixi thought. On November 2, the New Hunan Daily published Zhu Zhongli's reflections after participating in the provincial youth league representative conference and visiting factories.

1951年8月17日，《新湖南报》刊发了朱中立另外一篇文章《结合讨论，学习党史，我认清了革命的远大前途》。朱中立在文中再次现身说法，认为自己的思想得以转变，很大程度上是学习了中国共产党历史的缘故。9月25日，《新湖南报》刊发了一篇《朱中立报告克服李四喜思想经过》的报道，主角还是朱中立。起因是长沙十五区获益乡召开的一个农民代表会，着重讨论了如何克服李四喜思想。讨论中间，朱中立作了一个典型报告，讲了他的思想转变过程。记者把朱中立的发言记录了下来并发表。9月26日，《新湖南报》刊发了《朱中立学习党史的笔记》，刊发的目的在编者按中说得很明确：“希望所有区乡干部学习这种认真学习的精神”，从而实现自己思想上的转变。朱中立因为思想上有了很大转变，作为代表参加湖南省团省委的第一届代表会。在会上，朱中立作了典型发言，讲述了自己克服李四喜思想的过程。11月2日，《新湖南报》刊发了朱中立参加全省青年团代表会议和参观工厂后的感想。

On January 7, 1952, the day before the conclusion of the Li Sixi thought discussion organized by the New Hunan Daily, the newspaper published a report titled "Once 'Li Sixi,' Now a Good Cadre – The Process of Zhu Zhongli, a District Cadre of Changsha County's Fifteenth District, Overcoming 'Li Sixi Thought'," revealing the relationship between Zhu Zhongli and "Li Sixi." The author of the report, Liu Huan, was a cadre sent by the New Hunan Daily to work in the Fifteenth District of Changsha County. He helped Zhu Zhongli study Party history, study culture, and raise his consciousness, playing an important role in Zhu Zhongli's thought transformation. From an observer's perspective, he narrated the process of Zhu Zhongli's thought transformation. The editor's note in the report unveiled the true identity of "Li Sixi": "What we must specially explain here is that the 'Li Sixi thought' proposed by our newspaper is actually modeled on Comrade Zhu Zhongli's past 'sliding backward' thought." [9]9 "Sliding backward" (tuipo) refers to the decline in revolutionary enthusiasm and the desire to retreat after land reform. The reason for not mentioning Zhu Zhongli's name before was "because we considered that he was a peasant who had just been liberated and had participated in revolutionary work only recently; so we changed the name to 'Li Sixi' and initiated the discussion on 'Li Sixi thought' in the newspaper."

1952年1月7日，是《新湖南报》组织的关于“李四喜思想”讨论结束的前一天，《新湖南报》以题为《过去是“李四喜”，现在是好干部——长沙县十五区区干部朱中立克服“李四喜思想”的经过》的报道，挑明了朱中立与“李四喜”的关系。这篇报道的作者刘焕是《新湖南报》派到长沙县十五区任职的干部，帮助朱中立学党史、学文化，提高觉悟，在朱中立思想转变过程中发挥了重要作用。他从一个旁观者的角度，讲述了朱中立思想转变的过程。这篇报道的编者按揭开了“李四喜”的真实身份：“这里特别要向大家交代的是，本报提出的‘李四喜思想’，实际上是以朱中立同志过去的‘退坡’思想为典型的。”以前没有点朱中立的名字，是“由于我们考虑到他还是一个刚刚翻身的农民，参加工作不久，因而改换了一个名字‘李四喜’，在报纸上提出关于‘李四喜思想’的讨论”。

Through six articles, the New Hunan Daily demonstrated the process of Zhu Zhongli, a rural cadre with "Li Sixi thought," eventually becoming a good Party cadre under the education of the Party organization, and finally revealed the relationship between Zhu Zhongli and "Li Sixi." Besides Zhu Zhongli, the New Hunan Daily also published many articles by others testifying in person about overcoming "Li Sixi thought." This made readers feel that having "Li Sixi thought" was nothing terrible; as long as one strived to overcome it, one could still become a good Party cadre.

《新湖南报》通过6篇文稿，展现了朱中立由一个存在“李四喜思想”的乡村干部，在党组织的教育下，最终成为党的好干部这样一个过程，并在最后点明了朱中立和“李四喜”关系。除了朱中立之外，《新湖南报》还刊发了很多其他人现身说法克服“李四喜思想”的文章。这样就让读者觉得有了“李四喜思想”没什么可怕，只要努力克服，依然可以成为党的好干部。

III. Effectiveness of the New Hunan Daily's Discussion on "Li Sixi Thought"

三、《新湖南报》开展 “李四喜思想”讨论的成效

The discussion on "Li Sixi thought" not only produced very positive effects within Hunan Province, but also attracted attention at the central level, was prominently reported by the People's Daily, [10]10 The People's Daily is the official newspaper of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. and had a broad impact nationwide.

“李四喜思想”讨论不仅在湖南省范围内产生了十分积极的效果，而且引起中央层面的重视，被《人民日报》重点报道，在全国范围内产生了广泛影响。

(1) Effects within Hunan Province

（一）在湖南省内产生的效果

On January 8, 1952, the New Hunan Daily published the last article of the Li Sixi thought discussion, describing its effectiveness: "The scale of this discussion was broad, its influence profound. Not only did it provide a vivid self-education for the masses of rural cadres and peasants, but it also made cadres leading rural work everywhere pay more attention to the education of rural cadres and the broad peasantry. Since the 'Li Sixi problem' was a serious and prominent issue in the countryside at that time, as soon as our newspaper proposed the discussion, it quickly received responses from all sides. Apart from our newspaper, Dazhong Bao, Hunan Youth Daily, and various prefectural newspapers such as Jianshe Bao, Xiangzhong Bao, Binhu Bao, Zijiang Nongmin Bao, Yuenan Renmin Bao, Hengyang Xinwen, and Chenzhou Qunzhong Bao all opened special columns to discuss this issue. The discussion unfolded in most areas of the province. Many localities, during the autumn grain procurement, [11]11 The autumn grain procurement campaign was a major task for rural cadres after harvest. conducted relatively systematic and led discussions from top to bottom through cadre meetings, representative meetings, etc. Counties such as Linxiang, Xiangyin, Taojiang, Shaoyang, Hengshan, Li County, Yuanling, etc., when running training classes for rural cadres, militia training classes, and training classes for rural youth league activists, all made criticizing 'Li Sixi thought' an important part of the political curriculum. Up to now, our newspaper has received over 2,300 manuscripts and letters on the Li Sixi thought discussion." Through this discussion, many rural cadres had initially overcome "Li Sixi thought." Besides the typical case of Zhu Zhongli, "many rural cadres also reversed, to varying degrees, their thoughts of complacency and slackening, [12]12 "Complacency and slackening" (mabi songqi) refers to a state of being off guard and relaxing one's vigilance. and expressed willingness to continue working. Moreover, although some rural cadres' 'Li Sixi thought' had not been fully overcome, they were greatly jolted ideologically, knowing that 'Li Sixi thought' was wrong. Some rural cadres who had been active in work originally, after participating in the discussion, further raised their political consciousness and worked with greater vigor. Through this discussion, 'Li Sixi thought' began to be isolated among the masses." This description overall reflected the effect of the Li Sixi thought discussion in Hunan at that time. Through this discussion, cadres at all levels and the masses generally recognized that "Li Sixi thought" was incorrect; the goal of educating and guiding cadres and the masses was basically achieved.

1952年1月8日，《新湖南报》刊载了“李四喜思想”讨论的最后一篇文章，对讨论的成效进行了描述：“这一次讨论的规模是广泛的，影响是深刻的，不仅使广大乡村干部和农民群众在思想上进行了一次生动的自我教育，同时也使各地领导农村工作的干部进一步重视对乡村干部与广大农民的教育。由于‘李四喜问题’是当前农村中严重和突出的问题，自本报提出讨论后，就迅速地得到各方面响应。除本报外，大众报、湖南青年报及各专区的建设报、湘中报、滨湖报、资江农民报、岳南人民报、衡阳新闻、郴州群众报等都先后开专栏进行了这一问题的讨论。本省绝大部分地区都展开了讨论，许多地方在秋征中，通过干部会、代表会等自上而下地进行了比较有系统的、有领导的讨论。临湘、湘阴、桃江、邵阳、衡山、澧县、沅陵等县在开办乡村干部训练班、民兵训练班、农村青年团员积极分子训练班时，都将批判‘李四喜思想’作为政治课程的重要内容。截至目前为止，本报前后收到关于‘李四喜思想’讨论的来稿和来信共两千三百余件。”经过这次讨论，很多乡村干部已初步克服了“李四喜思想”。除了朱中立这个典型外，“还有很多乡村干部也在不同程度上扭转了麻痹松气的思想，表示要继续干下去。此外，一部分乡村干部的‘李四喜思想’虽然还没有完全克服，但在思想上也已大大地惊动了一下，知道‘李四喜思想’是不对的。一部分原来工作就很积极的乡村干部在参加讨论以后，思想觉悟更加提高了，工作劲头更加大了。经过这次讨论，‘李四喜思想’在广大群众中开始孤立起来”。这段描述整体上反映了当时湖南开展“李四喜思想”讨论的效果。经过这场讨论，各级干部和广大群众普遍认识到“李四喜思想”是不正确的，教育引导干部与群众的目的已经基本达到。

(2) The Central Committee of the CPC's Attention to the Discussion and Its Impact in Other Provinces

（二）中共中央对讨论的重视及在其他省份产生的影响

The Li Sixi thought discussion initiated by the New Hunan Daily not only had broad impact within Hunan Province, but also received great attention from the Central Committee of the CPC. Similar discussions were launched in other provinces, producing widespread influence.

《新湖南报》发起的“李四喜思想”讨论，不仅在湖南省范围内产生了广泛影响，还受到中共中央的高度重视，其他省份也发起了类似的讨论，产生了广泛影响。

More than a month after the New Hunan Daily initiated the Li Sixi thought discussion, it attracted the attention of the People's Daily. On September 8, 1951, the People's Daily published an article "Readers' Discussion Is One of the Important Ways to Strengthen Newspaper Ideological Work," pointing out that many newspapers had recently organized discussions on various ideological issues, citing the New Hunan Daily's Li Sixi thought discussion as an example. Soon, the central level also paid attention to this discussion. On September 19, 1951, the Central Committee of the CPC issued the "Circular on the New Hunan Daily's Criticism of Li Sixi Thought," addressed to "all central bureaus, sub-bureaus, and transmit to provincial, regional, and municipal Party committees." [13]13 This was the transmission format of Party documents at that time: "To all central bureaus, sub-bureaus, and transmit to provincial, regional, and municipal Party committees." The circular stated: "The New Hunan Daily, in July and August, used rural cadre Li Sixi as a typical case to criticize the phenomenon of slackening and sliding backward among some rural Party members and cadres after the completion of land reform, and achieved great results." "This experience of the New Hunan Daily deserves attention and promotion. All local Party committees should pay attention to proposing, in the Party newspaper with preparation, ideological problems commonly existing among Party members and non-Party masses, and lead the discussion; this is one of the effective methods to strengthen ideological leadership and raise the political level of Party members and the masses." The central circular highly affirmed the Li Sixi thought discussion and considered that the New Hunan Daily's experience was worth widely promoting, hoping that all localities would carry out extensive discussions based on prevalent ideological problems among the masses, especially under leadership.

《新湖南报》发起“李四喜思想”讨论一个多月后，就受到了《人民日报》的关注。1951年9月8日，《人民日报》刊登的文章《读者讨论是加强报纸思想工作的重要方式之一》指出，最近许多报纸组织开展关于各种思想问题的讨论，列举的例子中就有《新湖南报》“李四喜思想”讨论。很快，中央层面也关注到了这场讨论。1951年 9月19日，中共中央印发《关于〈新湖南报〉批判李四喜思想的通报》，印发的对象是“各中央局，各分局并转各省、区、市委”。通报指出：“《新湖南报》在七、八月间，以乡村干部李四喜为典型，展开了对土地改革完成后一部分农村党员和干部中的松气退坡现象的批判收效很大。”“《新湖南报》的这个经验值得重视和推广。各地党委都应该注意在党报上有准备地提出党内外群众中普遍存在的思想问题，并有领导地开展讨论；这是加强思想领导、提高党员和群众的政治水平的有效方法之一。”中央通报对“李四喜思想”讨论进行了高度肯定，并认为《新湖南报》的经验值得广泛推广，希望各地都要根据群众当中普遍存在的思想问题，开展广泛讨论，尤其是要有领导地开展讨论。

Thereafter, the People's Daily paid even more attention to the Li Sixi thought discussion. On September 25, 1951, the People's Daily reprinted Wang Shoudao's [14]14 Wang Shoudao was then Secretary of the Hunan Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China. article "Criticize Li Sixi Thought, Strengthen Cadre Ideological Education," originally published in the New Hunan Daily on August 25. On September 26, it published "Introducing the New Hunan Daily's Discussion on Li Sixi Thought." On October 29, it published "Discussion on 'Li Sixi Thought' Led by Party Committees at All Levels in Hunan Province." On November 20, it published the editorial department of the New Hunan Daily's article "The Process of Leading the Discussion on 'Li Sixi Thought'," introducing to readers how the New Hunan Daily's editorial department initiated and led the Li Sixi thought discussion. The People's Daily's attention to and reporting on the Li Sixi thought discussion initiated by the New Hunan Daily played an important role in promoting the successful methods and experience of the discussion. On July 9, 1952, the People's Daily reported again under the title "Peasant Zhu Zhongli Joins the Chinese Communist Party," describing the process of Zhu Zhongli's transformation from the former "Li Sixi" to a good Party cadre and his glorious admission into the CPC. While introducing his personal positive transformation, it also expressed affirmation of the New Hunan Daily's Li Sixi thought discussion.

之后，《人民日报》对“李四喜思想”讨论更加关注。1951年9月25日，《人民日报》转载王首道 8月25日在《新湖南报》发表的文章《批判李四喜思想，加强干部思想教育》；9月26日，刊发文章《介绍新湖南报关于李四喜思想的讨论》；10月 29日，刊发《中共湖南省各级党委领导关于“李四喜思想”的讨论》；11月20日，刊发《新湖南报》编辑部文章《领导关于“李四喜思想”讨论的经过》，向读者介绍了《新湖南报》编辑部是如何发动和领导“李四喜思想”讨论的。《人民日报》对《新湖南报》发起的“李四喜思想”讨论的关注和报道，对推广《新湖南报》关于“李四喜思想”讨论的成功办法和经验发挥了重要作用。1952年7月9日，《人民日报》以《农民朱中立加入了共产党》为标题，再次对朱中立由过去的“李四喜”转变为党的好干部，并光荣加入中国共产党的过程进行了报道。在介绍其个人积极转变的同时，也表达了对《新湖南报》“李四喜思想”讨论的肯定。

With the affirmation and support of the Central Committee of the CPC, the Li Sixi thought discussion was carried out nationwide. In other provinces of the Central-South region, "in response to the complacent and slack ideology of cadres and peasant masses, the people's governments and Party committees in the Central-South region paid attention to ideological education." [15]15 The Central-South region was one of the six major administrative regions of the early People's Republic of China. "Henan Daily, Jiangxi Daily, Hubei Daily, and Hubei Peasant Daily successively used Lei Yu, Wang Shuisheng, Wang Chengying, Li Taiming, etc., as typical cases to launch ideological criticism. [16]16 Lei Yu, Wang Shuisheng, Wang Chengying, and Li Taiming were examples of local cadres used in other provinces' discussions similar to the Li Sixi thought discussion. These education efforts achieved remarkable results." In other parts of the country, the Gusu District of Changshu County, Jiangsu, held an enlarged meeting of township and village cadres, mobilizing everyone to examine their own "Li Sixi thought." "After exposing and criticizing their own 'Li Sixi thought,' they all expressed that they would carry the revolution through to the end." Party members in the organs of the Tieli County Party Committee in Heilongjiang, inspired by the discussion, began to examine "Li Sixi thought." "After analyzing and criticizing this backward thinking, they realized that they had not studied well in ordinary times," leading to the failure to transform backward ideas, "thus they could not see the future of the revolution and would develop retirement thoughts." Inspired by the Li Sixi thought discussion, Tianjin Daily launched a discussion on "Wang Xiuzhen thought" among workers. [17]17 "Wang Xiuzhen thought" was a discussion in Tianjin Daily about workers' complacency, modeled after the Li Sixi thought discussion. It can be seen that the Li Sixi thought discussion had transcended Hunan and the groups of rural cadres and peasants, expanding to the whole country and other groups. On August 7, 1953, when introducing the Tianjin Daily discussion on "Wang Xiuzhen thought," the People's Daily emphasized: "The past criticism of peasants' 'Li Sixi thought' by the New Hunan Daily, and the recent discussion on workers' 'Wang Xiuzhen thought' by Tianjin Daily, are two typical examples of using democratic methods, i.e., criticism and self-criticism, to carry out self-education and self-transformation work among peasants and workers."

在中共中央的肯定和支持下，“李四喜思想”的讨论在全国范围内得以开展起来。在中南地区的其他省份，“针对干部和农民群众的麻痹松懈思想，中南区各地人民政府和中共党委注意了思想教育工作”，“河南日报、江西日报、湖北日报、湖北农民报也曾相继以雷玉、王水盛、王承英、李太明等作为典型，展开思想批判。这些教育工作都得到显著效果”。在全国其他地区，江苏常熟县古苏区召开了乡、村干部扩大会议，发动大家检查自己的“李四喜思想”。“大家在揭发批判了自己的‘李四喜思想’后，纷纷表示一定要革命到底。”黑龙江铁骊县委机关党员受到讨论的启发，开始检查“李四喜思想”，“经过对这种落后的思想分析、批判，大家认识到：平常不好好学习”，导致落后思想没有得到改造，“因此看不到革命的前途，就会产生退休思想”。受“李四喜思想”讨论的启发，《天津日报》在工人群体中开展了“王秀珍思想”的讨论。可见，“李四喜思想”的讨论已经超出湖南一地以及乡村干部、农民群体，扩大到全国范围以及其他群体当中了。1953年8月7日，《人民日报》在介绍《天津日报》关于“王秀珍思想”讨论的时候，还强调：“过去新湖南报关于农民‘李四喜思想’的批判，以及最近天津日报关于工人‘王秀珍思想’的讨论，就是用民主的方法亦即批评与自我批评的方法，对农民和工人群众进行自我教育和自我改造工作的两个典型例子”。

IV. Conclusion

四、结语

The Li Sixi thought discussion initiated by the New Hunan Daily was a successful case of the CPC educating rural cadres and guiding ideological trends through propaganda work in the early days of the People's Republic of China. What were the reasons for its success? First, the selected issue was a genuine problem. "Li Sixi thought" was drawn from real cases in the countryside after the completion of land reform. Raising this authentic and universal problem for theoretical discussion and criticizing its errors was conducive to solving practical problems in reality. Second, it lay in the meticulous organization of the discussion. After raising a good question, whether the discussion could proceed smoothly depended on whether the initiator could organize effectively. In the process, the New Hunan Daily used periodic summary reports to guide the direction, let conflicting views directly collide to deepen understanding, and let typical figures such as Zhu Zhongli, the prototype of Li Sixi, testify in person to enhance persuasiveness. It tightly organized the discussion, enabling it to be initiated smoothly and elicit broad response. Especially the attention at the central level and the promotion and publicity by central media played an important role. "Li Sixi thought" was a widespread phenomenon among rural cadres after the completion of land reform; the central authorities had already detected the existence of this problem. The discussion carried out by the New Hunan Daily was a good exploration of solving this problem, thus receiving high attention and affirmation from the Central Committee of the CPC, expanding the discussion's influence nationwide.

《新湖南报》发起的“李四喜思想”讨论，是新中国成立初期中共通过宣传工作教育乡村干部，引导思想动向的成功案例。成功的原因何在？首先，在于选取的问题是真问题。“李四喜思想”取材于土地改革完成后农村的真实案例。把这样具有真实性、普遍性的问题提出来进行理论上的探讨，并对其中的错误进行批判，有利于解决现实当中的实际问题。其次，在于对讨论的精心组织。提出很好的问题后，能不能把讨论顺利开展下去，有赖于讨论的发起者能不能进行有效的组织。《新湖南报》在讨论的过程中，利用阶段性总结报道引导方向，让冲突的观点直接碰撞深化认识，让“李四喜思想”的原型朱中立等典型人物现身说法增强说服力，对这场讨论进行了严密组织，使讨论能够顺利发起并引起广泛响应。特别是中央层面的重视和中央媒体的推广、宣传，发挥了重要作用。“李四喜思想”在土地改革完成后的乡村干部中是一个普遍存在的现象，中央已经察觉到了这一问题的存在。《新湖南报》开展的讨论对解决这一问题进行了很好探索，因而受到中共中央的高度重视和肯定，扩大了这一讨论在全国的影响。

On the new journey of the New Era, the changes unseen in a century are accelerating, and the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation has entered a critical period, with strategic opportunities coexisting with risks and challenges. Propaganda, ideological, and cultural work faces new situations and new tasks, requiring our Party to adopt appropriate methods to grasp and guide the ideological trends of Party cadres and the people at all levels. The experience of the New Hunan Daily in successfully initiating and organizing the Li Sixi thought discussion still has certain reference significance for us today in doing a good job in propaganda, ideology, and public opinion guidance, and in overcoming the influence of unhealthy ideological tendencies.

新时代新征程，世界百年未有之大变局加速演进，中华民族伟大复兴进入关键时期，战略机遇和风险挑战并存，宣传思想文化工作面临新形势新任务，需要我们党采取恰当的方式对各级党员干部和人民群众的思想动向进行掌握和引导。《新湖南报》成功发起并组织“李四喜思想”讨论的经验，对我们今天做好宣传思想、舆论引导工作，克服不良思想倾向的影响，仍有一定的借鉴意义。

(Author: Han Xiaoqing, Professor of the Teaching and Research Department of the History of the Communist Party of China, the Party School of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (National Academy of Governance)) [18]18 The Party School of the Central Committee of the CPC (National Academy of Governance) is the highest educational institution for training Party cadres in China.

（作者：韩晓青，中共中央党校（国家行政学院）中共党史教研部教授）

Online editor: Tongxin [19]19 "Tongxin" is the online editor's name; the term can mean "with one heart," but here it is a personal name.

网络编辑：同心