The Epistemological Essence of the CPC’s Investigation and Research

General Secretary Xi Jinping has pointed out that investigation and research are not merely a working method but a major issue bearing on the success or failure of the Party’s and the people’s cause. Investigation and research are a heirloom of our Party. Over the past century and more, the Communist Party of China has used investigation and research to win one victory after another in revolution and construction, continuously advancing the adaptation of Marxism to the Chinese context and the needs of the times. At present, we are in a critical period of comprehensively advancing the building of a strong country and the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation through Chinese-path modernization. Exploring the epistemological essence of the CPC’s investigation and research, analyzing the process of investigation and research, and studying the characteristics of investigation and research are conducive to profoundly grasping the laws of investigation and research, comprehensively implementing the spirit of the Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the CPC, and vigorously promoting reform in breadth and depth.

习近平总书记指出，调查研究不仅是一种工作方法，而且是关系党和人民事业得失成败的大问题。调查研究是我们党的传家宝，百余年来，中国共产党利用调查研究取得革命建设中的一个又一个胜利，不断推进马克思主义中国化时代化。当前，我们正处于以中国式现代化全面推进强国建设、民族复兴伟业的关键时期，探索中国共产党调查研究的认识论本质，解析调查研究过程，研究调查研究特征，有利于深刻把握调查研究规律，全面贯彻党的二十届三中全会精神，全力推动改革向广度和深度发展。

The Essence of Investigation and Research

调查研究的本质

The purpose of the CPC’s investigation and research is to formulate strategies, tactics, policies, etc., that meet the needs of revolution and construction. This contains both the value orientation of the formulators’ goals, needs, and intentions and the understanding of the laws of things’ current state, characteristics, and essence. When the value orientation and the understanding of laws in the investigation and research are unified, things can be changed; if they are not unified, the investigation and research either becomes the investigator’s utopian thinking or proceeds in a disorderly manner due to a lack of clear direction.

中国共产党开展调查研究的目的是制定符合革命建设需求的战略、策略、政策等，这其中既蕴含着制定者目标、需求、意图等价值导向，又包含了对事物现状、特征、本质等规律的认识。当开展的调查研究在价值导向与规律认识上相统一时，就能对事物进行改变，如果不统一，调查研究要么成为调查者的空想，要么由于缺乏明确方向而无序开展。

The value orientation in the CPC’s investigation and research is goal-oriented, revolutionary, and people-centered. All investigation and research is always directed at solving specific problems in revolution and construction or achieving social goals. It not only understands reality but also reveals contradictions, and it must be people-centered, focusing on the people’s needs, interests, and demands, rather than abstract theoretical empty talk. In response to the principal contradiction constraining the comprehensive progress of socialism with Chinese characteristics in the New Era, General Secretary Xi Jinping has led the entire Party in earnestly carrying out investigation and research. From reform and opening up to poverty alleviation and development, regional coordinated development, the revitalization of old industrial bases, and co-governance and shared benefits in ethnic regions, all are aimed at solving the problems of “insufficiently balanced development across regions and fields” and “insufficient development in some places, fields, and aspects.” This is the consistent aspiration and purpose of the CPC and the value orientation of the CPC’s investigation and research. The understanding of laws in the CPC’s investigation and research is objective, systematic, and developmental. It must reveal the essential connections and internal laws of things through scientific investigation methods, grasp the multi-dimensional structure and dynamic evolutionary laws of complex social phenomena from phenomenon to essence and from part to whole, and also examine objective things under specific historical conditions from a developmental perspective, avoiding the absolutization of abstract laws. Since the CPC began conducting investigation and research, many effective investigation methods have been formed, such as typical investigation, visit-based investigation, station-based investigation, and holding investigation meetings. With the development of the economy and society, investigation methods are continuously improved according to changes in investigation tasks, requirements, and objectives, enabling a more objective, systematic, and developmental understanding of the forms and characteristics of things, thereby grasping the essence and laws of things, forming correct understanding, and producing correct guidelines, lines, and strategies.

中国共产党调查研究中的价值导向具有目标性、革命性以及人民性，所有调查研究始终指向革命建设中特定问题的解决或社会目标的实现，不仅了解现实，更要揭示矛盾，并且必须以人民为中心，关注人民的需求、利益、诉求，而非抽象的理论空谈。针对制约新时代中国特色社会主义全面进步的主要矛盾，习近平总书记领导全党扎实开展调查研究，从改革开放到扶贫开发、区域协同发展、老工业基地振兴、民族地区共治共享等，无一不是为解决“各区域各方面发展不够平衡”和“一些地方、一些领域、一些方面还有发展不足的问题”。这就是中国共产党一以贯之的愿望和目的以及中国共产党调查研究的价值导向。中国共产党调查研究中的规律认识具有客观性、系统性和发展性，既要通过科学调查方法来揭示事物的本质联系和内在规律，又要从现象到本质、从局部到整体，把握复杂社会现象的多维结构与动态演变规律，还要将客观事物置于具体历史条件下以发展的视角进行审视，避免将抽象规律绝对化。从中国共产党开展调查研究以来，已形成很多行之有效的调查研究方法，如典型调查、走访调查、蹲点调查、开调查会等。随着经济社会的发展，依据调查任务、要求与目标的变化不断完善调查研究方法，对事物的形式与特点以更加客观、系统、发展的观点去了解，进而把握事物的本质与规律，形成正确的认识，产生正确的方针、路线与策略。

The process of integrating value orientation and understanding of laws is also the process of the occurrence of Marxist epistemology. When Comrade Mao Zedong elaborated on the process of understanding in *On Practice*, he linked the value orientation of an external investigation team — “if they are genuine about uniting to save the nation” — with the understanding of laws — “the Anti-Japanese National United Front can succeed” — expressing that if investigators lack the desire, need, and goal of uniting to save the nation, it is difficult to reach the conclusion that “the Anti-Japanese National United Front can succeed.” That is, without a correct value orientation, rational understanding cannot be obtained, and of course, correct theories, plans, schemes, etc., cannot be made.

价值导向与规律认识融合的过程，也是马克思主义认识论发生的过程。毛泽东同志在《实践论》中阐述认识的过程时曾将外来考察团的价值导向“如果他们对于团结救国也是真实的话”与规律性认识“抗日民族统一战线是能够成功的”相联系，表达了调查者不具备团结救国的愿望、需求、目标，就难以得出“抗日民族统一战线能够成功”这个结论，即没有正确的价值导向就不能获得理性认识，当然也不能作出正确的理论、计划、方案等。

The Process of Investigation and Research

调查研究的过程

Marx once said: “Research must fully appropriate the material, analyze its various forms of development, and trace their inner connection.” From the perspective of Marxist epistemology, this statement indicates that the process of investigation and research includes two steps. The first is to start with collecting material, that is, to understand from objective reality, analyze the forms of development of things, rise from perceptual understanding to rational understanding, and ascend from the concrete to the abstract. The second is to explore the essence and laws of things through the reconstruction of thought, form an overall understanding and systematic cognition, and plan and design policies, guidelines, and strategies for transforming society, converting them into the concretization of abstract understanding.

马克思曾说：“研究必须充分地占有材料，分析它的各种发展形式，探寻这些形式的内在联系。”这句话从马克思主义认识论来看，说明了调查研究过程包括两个步骤。一是以收集材料为起点，即从客观实际加以认识，分析事物发展形式，由感性认识上升到理性认识，从具体上升到抽象。二是以思维重构探索事物本质、规律，形成总体理解和系统认识，规划、设计出改造社会的政策、方针、策略等，转换为抽象认识的具体化。

The process from the concrete to the abstract. Fully appropriate material, directly perceive the appearances and external connections of things through the senses, and understand the appearance of things as comprehensively as possible. For example, after the failure of the Great Revolution, when the CPC came to the Jinggang Mountains, the first issue to be resolved was how to mobilize the peasants. The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement and the Xinhai Revolution led by Sun Yat-sen both sought to solve the peasant land problem but failed to truly do so. There was also no precedent in the history of the world proletarian revolution. Therefore, the CPC could only explore this new revolutionary path on its own. Comrade Mao Zedong, over about six years from 1928 to 1933, conducted 11 concentrated rural investigations through field surveys, symposiums, listening to reports, and meeting discussions. These covered not only rental rates, land taxes, and tenancy relations but also items such as population, land, economic conditions, health conditions, and cultural education, in order to understand Chinese peasants, the Chinese countryside, and rural classes. Through observation, practice, and experience, the CPC gained a clear and thorough understanding of the current state of the Chinese countryside and peasants, the class relations in rural areas and their economic status and political attitudes, and the implementation of the Party’s land policies and existing problems.

从具体到抽象的过程。充分地占有材料，通过感官直接感知事物的表象和外部联系，对事物的样貌尽可能做全方位的认识。比如，大革命失败后，中国共产党来到井冈山，首先要解决的就是如何发动农民的问题。太平天国运动和孙中山领导的辛亥革命都想解决农民的土地问题，但都没有真正解决，世界无产阶级革命史上也没有这样的先例，因此，中国共产党只能自己探索这条革命新路。毛泽东同志在1928—1933年六年左右时间，通过实地调查、召开座谈会、听取汇报、会议讨论等形式集中开展了11次农村调查，除了租率、田赋、租佃关系外，还包括人口、土地、经济状况、卫生状况、文化教育等项目，以此来了解中国农民、中国农村和农村阶级。中国共产党通过观察、体验和实践，对中国农村和农民的现状，对农村各类阶级关系以及他们的经济地位、政治态度情况，对党的有关土地政策落实情况及存在问题，都有了清晰、透彻的了解。

The process from the abstract to the ideal concrete. Through the process of thought reconstruction involving analyzing forms of development and inductive generalization, the principles for transforming the world are combined with the rational understanding of the world to be transformed, generating transformation policies, strategies, etc., that is, developing from abstract rationality to concrete rationality. Marx once pointed out that the concrete is concrete because it is the synthesis of many determinations, hence the unity of diversity. Therefore, it appears in thought as a process of synthesis, as a result, not as a starting point. It is the starting point in reality, and hence also the starting point of intuition and representation. At this stage, it is not a simple return to perceptual concreteness but a grasp of the essence and internal laws of things at a higher level, thereby achieving the “synthesis of many determinations” and the “unity of diversity.” For example, through the *Xunwu Investigation*, the distribution principle of “drawing on the surplus to make up for the deficit” was added on the basis of “drawing on the many to supplement the few,” finding a way to solve the rich peasant problem. Through the *Mukou Village Investigation*, the revolutionary enthusiasm of rich peasants and petty landlords and whether there was a tendency toward expansion in the suppression of counterrevolutionaries in the base areas were understood. In their investigations, the CPC analyzed the various rural classes and strata and their living conditions, gradually clarified the distinctions between classes, and closely linked the overall social conditions of the Chinese countryside and strategies related to the peasant movement with the revolutionary party’s understanding of the nature and overall goals of the revolution. Therefore, it formulated lines, guidelines, and policies more suited to the actual conditions of the Chinese revolution. The process of planning and designing plans to transform the world is the process of applying abstract theories and laws to concrete practice, and it is also the process of concretizing rational understanding.

从抽象到理想具体的过程。经过分析发展形式、归纳概括的思维重构过程，将改造世界的原理与拟改造世界的理性认识结合起来，生成改造政策、策略等，即从抽象理性发展到具体理性。马克思曾指出，具体之所以具体，因为它是许多规定的综合，因而是多样性的统一。因此，它在思维中表现为综合的过程，表现为结果，而不是表现为起点，它是现实中的起点，因而也是直观和表象的起点。这个阶段，并不是简单回到感性具体，而是在更高层次上把握事物的本质和内在规律，从而达到“许多规定的综合”“多样性的统一”。比如，通过《寻乌调查》在“抽多补少”基础上增加“抽肥补瘦”的分配原则，找到了解决富农问题的办法；在《木口村调查》了解富农小地主的革命积极性及根据地肃反过程中是否存在扩大化倾向等，中国共产党在调查中分析农村各阶级、各阶层及其生活概况，逐步厘清各阶级的区别，将中国农村整体的社会状况、农民运动相关策略与革命政党对革命性质、总体目标的认知紧密联系在一起，因此，制定出更加适合中国革命实际的路线、方针和政策。规划、设计改造世界方案的过程就是将抽象的理论和规律应用于具体实践的过程，也是理性认识的具体化过程。

The Characteristics of Investigation and Research

调查研究的特征

The Chinese Communist Party’s investigation and research possesses objectivity, dynamism, purposefulness, and timeliness. First, objectivity. This is the most basic characteristic of Marxist investigation and research. Although investigation and research is a cognitive activity in which the subjective acts upon the objective, and the investigator possesses subjectivity, and the degree to which the goal of investigation and research is ultimately achieved depends mainly on the investigator’s value orientation and methodological skills, investigation and research must always be based on objective reality in order to understand social phenomena. Therefore, it must also require that investigation and research cannot be arbitrarily altered, which establishes its characteristic of objectivity. Second, dynamism. The system of investigation and research is not fixed and unchanging but is “persistently upheld” and “continuously strengthened.” [3]3 “Persistently upheld” and “continuously strengthened” are standard formulations in CPC documents referring to the ongoing commitment to the Party’s work style and methods, often used in the context of “comprehensive and strict governance of the Party” (全面从严治党). First, the content of investigation constantly changes: when original tasks are completed, new tasks emerge. Second, investigators undergo constant generational turnover and job changes; the experience of veteran investigators can be drawn upon, but it cannot replace the investigation and research of new cadres. Third, objective things are constantly changing, and new contradictions constantly emerge, requiring that methods of investigation and research must be continuously adjusted, improved, and updated. Third, purposefulness. Investigation and research is an indispensable condition and form of expression for achieving the purpose and tasks of investigation. It always arises and exists in connection with the purpose of some specific cognition and practice. Investigation and research that departs from its purpose will accordingly lose its basis for existence and necessity. That is to say, investigation and research must serve a certain task goal, and the choice of which method to adopt depends on the requirements of the task goal. Under the same conditions, choosing this method rather than that one indicates that the purposefulness of the method is manifested through the consciousness of the investigator who uses it. Fourth, timeliness. Investigation and research generally has marginal benefits.

中国共产党调查研究既有客观性、动态性，又有目的性和时效性。第一，客观性。这是马克思主义调查研究最基本的特点。虽然调查研究是主观作用于客观的认识活动，调查者具有主观性，并且最终实现调查研究目标的程度也主要取决于调查者价值导向和方法技巧，但调查研究始终要以客观现实为基础去认识社会现象，所以也必须要求调查研究不可随意改变，这就奠定了调查研究的客观性特点。第二，动态性。调查研究系统不是固定不变的而是“始终坚持”和“不断加强”的，一是调查内容不断变化，原有任务完成，新的任务又会出现；二是调查者在不断地新老交替以及岗位变化，老干部的调查研究经验可以借鉴，但不能代替新干部的调查研究；三是客观事物不断变化，新矛盾不断出现，要求调查研究方法必须不断调整、完善与更新。第三，目的性。调查研究是为了实现调查目的、任务不可或缺的条件和表现形式，它总是在同某特定的认识和实践的目的相联系而产生、存在，离开目的的调查研究就会随之失去存在的依据和必要性。也就是说，调查研究要为一定的任务目标服务，采用何种方法的选择取决于目标任务的要求。在相同的条件下，选用这种而不是那种方法，表明方法的目的性通过使用它的调查者的自觉性而体现出来。第四，时效性，调查研究一般都具有边际效益。

(The author is the Party Committee Secretary of the School of Environmental Science, Nanjing Xiaozhuang University)

（作者系南京晓庄学院环境科学学院党委书记）

Online editor: Tongxin

网络编辑：同心