Adhering to the Mass Line: Important Historical Experience from the Rule-of-Law Construction in the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region

The mass line is the lifeline and fundamental working line of our Party. Its value orientation fully manifests the will of the people and firmly safeguards the interests of the people. Adhering to the mass line has also been a consistent practice and important experience of our Party in leading rule-of-law construction. During the Yan’an period, the rule-of-law construction in the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region consistently placed the Party’s mass line at its core, proceeding from the needs of the people and prioritizing the interests of the people. Under the strong leadership of the Party, in just 13 years the Border Region government efficiently issued over 1,000 laws, regulations, and normative or programmatic documents, gradually building a relatively systematic and complete rule-of-law system. Throughout this process, the practice of rule-of-law construction thoroughly implemented the mass line, effectively safeguarding the democratic rights of the people in the base areas, and won broad recognition and firm support from the people of the Border Region. This laid a solid foundation for consolidating the base areas and the red political power, for winning the War of Resistance Against Japan and the War of Liberation, and also accumulated valuable experience for the rule-of-law construction of New China.

群众路线是我们党的生命线和根本工作路线。其价值取向充分彰显了人民群众的意志，坚定维护人民群众的利益。坚持群众路线，也是我们党领导法治建设的一贯做法和重要经验。延安时期，陕甘宁边区的法治建设始终把党的群众路线置于核心位置，从人民的需要出发，以人民的利益为重。在党的坚强领导下，短短13年间，边区政府高效出台了1000多件法律法规和规范性、纲领性文件，逐步构建起较为系统完备的法治体系。在这一过程中，法治建设实践始终深入贯彻群众路线，切实有效地保障了根据地人民的民主权利，赢得了边区人民的广泛认可与坚定支持。这为巩固根据地和红色政权，夺取抗日战争、解放战争的胜利奠定了坚实基础，同时也为新中国的法治建设积累了宝贵经验。

In the legislative process, the guidance of Party policy set the direction for Border Region legislation. During this period, the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region successively promulgated a series of programmatic documents, including the *Program of Administration for the Period of the War of Resistance in the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region* and the *Program of Administration of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region*. Among them, the *Program of Administration of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region* established the principle of the Three-Thirds System [1]1 The Three-Thirds System (三三制) was a policy for the composition of anti-Japanese base area governments, where Communist Party members, non-Party leftists, and centrists each occupied roughly one-third of the positions. for the Border Region political power, and in accordance with this principle, members of the Border Region Senate and members of the Border Region government were elected, with township elections completed in 1942. Subsequently, the Three-Thirds System was implemented in other anti-Japanese base areas, playing a crucial role in extensively mobilizing the masses and promoting victory in the War of Resistance. The Party’s organizational system construction provided strong support for Border Region legislation. The Party deeply organized and mobilized the masses, consistently adhering to the practical line of rooting itself among the masses and serving the masses. In 1937, immediately after its establishment, the Border Region government led the broad masses of the people in all counties under its jurisdiction to carry out general elections. The Party’s legislative process extensively absorbed the opinions of the masses. Before formulating and promulgating each law or regulation, the Border Region government conducted in-depth investigations and extensively solicited opinions and suggestions from the people. Only with the consent of the majority of the Senate as a whole could laws and regulations be promulgated and implemented.

在立法环节，党的政策指引为边区立法明确了方向。这一时期，陕甘宁边区相继颁布了《陕甘宁边区抗战时期施政纲领》《陕甘宁边区施政纲领》等一系列纲领性文件。其中，《陕甘宁边区施政纲领》确定了边区政权的三三制原则，并根据这一原则选举了边区参议会议员和边区政府委员，1942年完成了乡选举。随后，三三制原则在其他抗日根据地得到实行，对广泛动员群众、推动抗战胜利发挥了至关重要的作用。党的组织体系建设为边区立法提供了有力保障。党深入组织动员群众，始终坚持扎根群众、服务群众的实践路线。1937年，边区政府成立后，立即领导所辖各县广大人民群众，开展普选活动。党的立法过程广泛吸纳了群众意见。边区政府在制定颁布每一项法律法规之前，都进行了深入调研，广泛征求人民群众的意见建议。只有在参议会集体大多数人同意的前提下，法律法规才能得以颁布执行。

The legislative practice of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region truly safeguarded the interests and demands of the people. Mao Zedong once pointed out that regarding the rights of the people, “it should be stipulated that all landlords and capitalists who do not oppose the War of Resistance shall have the same rights of person, property, suffrage, and freedom of speech, assembly, association, thought, and belief as workers and peasants” (*Selected Works of Mao Zedong*, Vol. 2, People’s Publishing House, 1991, p. 768). The Border Region Senate took safeguarding the rights of the people as the core guiding ideology of legislation. The *Program of Administration of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region* systematically stipulated the basic rights enjoyed by the people in political, economic, cultural, and many other aspects. At the same time, through the *Regulations of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region on the Protection of Rights of Person and Property* and the *Electoral Regulations of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region*, the people’s various democratic rights were confirmed in legal form, becoming the yardstick for the Border Region government to guarantee democracy. Lin Boqu emphasized in his 1941 *Report on the Work of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region Government* the need to protect the interests of all revolutionary classes, to correct the hypocritical equality before the law of the various classes in capitalist countries, and to replace it with a genuine, substantive equality.

陕甘宁边区的立法实践真正保障了人民群众的利益诉求。毛泽东曾指出，关于人民权利，“应规定一切不反对抗日的地主资本家和工人农民有同等的人权、财权、选举权和言论、集会、结社、思想、信仰的自由权”（《毛泽东选集》第二卷，人民出版社1991年版，第768页）。边区参议会将维护人民群众的权利作为立法的核心指导思想，《陕甘宁边区施政纲领》系统性地规定了民众在政治、经济、文化等诸多方面享有的基本权利。同时，通过《陕甘宁边区保障人权财权条例》《陕甘宁边区选举条例》等以法律形式确认人民各项民主权利，成为边区政府保障民主的准绳。林伯渠1941年在《陕甘宁边区政府工作报告》中强调，保护各个革命阶级的利益，纠正资本主义国家各阶级在法律面前虚伪的平等，而代之以真正的、实质的平等。

In the judicial practice of the Border Region, our Party creatively integrated the mass line closely with judicial work, promoting on-site adjudication and circuit trials, vividly embodying the fundamental purpose of justice for the people. In 1944, Xi Zhongxun proposed that judicial workers should always sit squarely on the side of the common people; not act as “officials” or “masters”; and “walk out of the government offices and go deep into the villages.” [2]2 Xi Zhongxun (1913–2002) was a senior Chinese Communist revolutionary and later a leader in the reform era; he was the father of Xi Jinping. Furthermore, the “Ma Xiwu Trial Method” [3]3 Ma Xiwu (1898–1962) was a senior judge in the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region known for a judicial style emphasizing investigation, mediation, and close ties with the masses. deeply practiced the Party’s mass line, consistently adhering to the principle of seeking truth from facts, and can be regarded as an important model of judicial integrity and innovation under the Party’s leadership. When giving a report at Yan’an University, he succinctly summarized this trial method as “on-site adjudication, without rigid formalities, conducting in-depth investigation and research, connecting with the masses, and solving problems.” The 1943 “Feng Peng’er Marriage Case” [4]4 The Feng Peng’er Marriage Case (1943) involved a young woman who successfully appealed against a forced marriage arranged by her father, with the case handled through the Ma Xiwu method. was a vivid practice of this trial method. These examples fully prove that when judicial work closely relies on and connects with the people, it can gain extensive support and inexhaustible strength.

在边区司法实践中，我们党创造性将群众路线与司法工作紧密融合，推行就地审判和巡回审判，生动体现了司法为民的根本宗旨。1944年，习仲勋提出司法工作人员要时刻把屁股端端地坐在老百姓这一方面；不当“官”和“老爷”；“走出衙门，深入乡村”。此外，“马锡五审判方式”深入践行了党的群众路线，始终坚持实事求是的原则，堪称党领导下司法守正创新的重要典范。他在延安大学作报告时，将这一审判方式精辟地总结为“就地审判，不拘形式，深入调查研究，联系群众，解决问题”。1943年的“封捧儿婚姻案”就是这一审判方式的生动实践。这些例子充分证明，当司法工作紧紧依靠与联系人民群众来进行，就能得到广泛支持和无穷力量。

To achieve the universality of judicial services, the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region insisted on “establishing a judicial system convenient for the people,” clearly stipulating that “handling and accepting cases should all be convenient for the people, with less emphasis on formalities,” smoothing the channels for the people to file lawsuits, effectively solving the people’s practical problems, and truly safeguarding the people’s right to litigation. For example, Article 12 of the *Draft Civil Procedure Regulations* and Article 6 of the *Draft Criminal Procedure Regulations* explicitly stipulated the legal validity of oral complaints, allowing the people to state their cases orally, with the court responsible for making records, thereby eliminating the risk of extortion by those who wrote complaints on their behalf. In addition, the *Regulations of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region on the Protection of Rights of Person and Property*, the *Draft Civil Procedure Regulations*, and the *Draft Criminal Procedure Regulations* also made provisions for waiving litigation fees, not charging delivery fees or copying fees, effectively reducing the litigation costs for the people and lightening their burden.

为实现司法服务的普惠性，陕甘宁边区坚持“建立便利人民的司法制度”，明确规定“处理与接收案件，一切应便利人民，少拘形式”，畅通了群众的诉讼渠道，有效解决了群众的实际问题，真正保障了人民的诉讼权利。例如，《民诉条例草案》第十二条、《刑诉条例草案》第六条明确规定了口头诉讼的合法效力，使得人民可以口述案情，由法院负责制作笔录，免除了被代写诉状人勒索的风险。此外，《陕甘宁边区保障人权财权条例》《民诉条例草案》《刑诉条例草案》还作出了免除诉讼费、不收送达费和抄录费等规定，有效减免了群众的诉讼成本，减轻了群众的负担。

In traditional Chinese concepts, civil mediation plays a pivotal role in settling disputes and achieving both resolution of the matter and satisfaction of the parties involved. Given the actual situation in the Border Region where folk customs relied on clan, neighborhood, and village mediation to resolve disputes, under the Party’s leadership, while continuously advancing legislation, the Border Region government also actively explored judicial flexibility, vigorously promoting the construction and implementation of the people’s mediation system, and advocating a “trial method combining adjudication with mediation, and the court with the masses.” The 1941 *Report on the Work of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region Government* clearly stated: “Under the leadership of the township government, a mediation committee shall be organized, composed of the township head, the commander of the self-defense militia, and the township head of the anti-espionage work; in each administrative village, the people may elect their own people’s arbitrators and people’s prosecutors to participate in the people’s mediation committee for mediation.” This measure clarified the main implementing bodies of the people’s mediation system. Subsequently, the Border Region government promulgated the *Regulations of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region on the Mediation of Civil and Criminal Cases*, further strengthening the institutional and procedural aspects of mediation work. With the continuous promotion and deepening of the people’s mediation system, the network of mediation organizations became increasingly dense and robust, playing an important role in resolving social conflicts and disputes in the Border Region.

在中国传统观念中，民间调解在定分止争、事心双解方面发挥着举足轻重的作用。鉴于边区民间习惯以宗族、邻里、乡里调解纠纷的实际情况，在党的领导下，边区政府在持续推进立法的同时，也积极探索司法变通之道，大力推动人民调解制度的建设与实施，倡导“审判与调解、法庭与群众相结合的审判方式”。1941年，《陕甘宁边区政府工作报告》明确提出：“在乡政府领导下，由乡长、自卫军连长、乡锄奸主任组织调解委员会，各行政村可由人民自行选举人民仲裁员、人民检察员，参加人民调解委员会进行调解。”这一举措明确了人民调解制度的主要实施主体。随后，边区政府又颁布了《陕甘宁边区民刑事件调解条例》，进一步强化了调解工作的制度性与程序性。随着人民调解制度的不断推广和深化，调解组织网络日益织密织牢，在解决边区社会矛盾纠纷中发挥了重要作用。

The advancement of the rule-of-law process in the Border Region was inseparable from the enhancement of the people’s awareness of the rule of law. The Party took legal education as an important starting point, fully leveraging the mobilization function of grassroots Party organizations. At the same time, in view of the educational level of the people in the Border Region, legal education was integrated into cultural education, achieving the dual goals of literacy and legal understanding. Furthermore, Party organizations at all levels used various forms such as newspapers, pictorials, dramas, clapper talk, and folk songs to transform difficult legal language into expressions that the masses liked to see and hear, and were easy to understand, conveying legal information to the masses. For example, the folk song *Our Village Has a Land Reform Work Team*, which publicized the land law, and *Opposing the Old Marriage System*, which publicized the marriage law, were deeply rooted in people’s hearts and widely circulated.

边区法治化进程的推进，离不开人民群众法治意识的提升。党以法治教育为重要抓手，充分发挥基层党组织的动员功能。同时，针对边区人民的受教育情况，将法治教育融入文化教育之中，实现识字懂法的双重目标。此外，各级党组织还通过报纸、画报、戏剧、快板、歌谣等多种形式，将难懂的法律语言转化为群众喜闻乐见、通俗易懂的表达，向群众传递法治信息。例如，宣传土地法的《咱们村来了土改工作队》、宣传婚姻法的《反对旧婚姻》等歌谣，都深入人心，广为流传。

To adhere to the mass line, leading cadres must take the lead and set an example, implementing the mass line in specific work. More importantly, they must adhere to strict governance of the Party, continuously purify the ranks of Party members and cadres, respond to the people’s calls to punish corruption, and select good cadres who meet the people’s requirements and serve the people. Mao Zedong pointed out, “Once the political line is determined, cadres are the decisive factor.” “The Communist Party of China is a party leading a great revolutionary struggle in a nation of several hundred million people; without a large number of leading cadres who are both capable and virtuous, it cannot accomplish its historical tasks” (*Selected Works of Mao Zedong*, Vol. 2, People’s Publishing House, 1991, p. 526). In 1937, under the chairmanship of Mao Zedong, the Party Central Committee and the Central Military Commission, after careful and thorough discussion, approved the Border Region High Court’s death sentence verdict for Huang Kegong. [5]5 Huang Kegong (1911–1937) was a Red Army officer and veteran of the Long March who was executed for murdering a female student who rejected his marriage proposal; his case was used to demonstrate the principle that Party membership did not exempt one from the law. Under the Party’s leadership, the Border Region successively promulgated the *Interim Regulations of the Border Region on Punishing Corruption* and the *Regulations of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region on Punishing Corruption (Draft)*. At the same time, the *Program of Administration of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region* explicitly stipulated that “Communist Party members who commit crimes shall be punished more severely,” thereby establishing the judicial principle of strict governance of the Party.

坚持群众路线，领导干部要率先垂范、以身作则，把群众路线贯彻到具体工作中，更要坚持从严治党，不断纯洁党员干部队伍，响应群众呼声惩治腐败，选拔符合人民要求、为人民服务的好干部。毛泽东指出，“政治路线确定之后，干部就是决定的因素。”“中国共产党是在一个几万万人的大民族中领导伟大革命斗争的党，没有多数才德兼备的领导干部，是不能完成其历史任务的”（《毛泽东选集》第二卷，人民出版社1991年版，第526页）。1937年，在毛泽东的主持下，党中央和中央军委经过慎重而周密的讨论，批准了边区高等法院对黄克功执行死刑的判决。在党的领导下，边区相继颁布了《边区惩治贪污暂行条例》《陕甘宁边区惩治贪污条例（草案）》。同时，《陕甘宁边区施政纲领》明确规定“共产党员有犯法者从重治罪”，从而将从严治党的司法原则确立下来。

However, relying solely on punishment could not fully ensure the clean and honest conduct of Party cadres. Therefore, the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region insisted on carrying out in-depth educational work among Party cadres. By establishing judicial training classes (Party schools and Party training classes), administrative training classes, mass work training classes, and so on, cadres were mobilized to systematically study the important laws and regulations of the Border Region, continuously strengthening their respect for and sense of service to the masses. In his *Rural Surveys*, Mao Zedong even demanded that cadres “willingly become primary-school students” and, in revolutionary practice, “wash away their own filth.” [6]6 Mao Zedong, “Preface and Postscript to *Rural Surveys*” (1941). The phrase “willingly become primary-school students” is a classical allusion to the Confucian virtue of humility in learning, here repurposed to mean that cadres should learn from the masses. In addition, he proposed that education on democratic life must be carried out within the Party. Adhering to this concept, the Party led the Border Region government and the senate [7]7 The senate (参议会) was the representative assembly in the Border Region, a form of local governance under the united front policy, distinct from the Western concept of a senate. to continuously explore methods of supervising the government, from establishing specialized administrative oversight to supplementing administrative oversight, constantly expanding the depth and breadth of mass participation in supervision. Article 7, Clause 2 of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region *Regulations on the Protection of Human Rights and Property Rights* clearly stipulates that when the people’s interests are harmed, they have the right to accuse any public servant of illegal acts by any means. Xiao Yubi, Deputy Director of the Border Region Trade Bureau and Director of the Zhangjiapan Tax Office, was reported and denounced by the masses for secretly selling the Border Region’s extremely scarce cooking oil and flour to a sabotage team of the Kuomintang, and was ultimately sentenced to death. [8]8 Xiao Yubi was a veteran Red Army soldier and a meritorious cadre who, after committing corruption and collaborating with the enemy, was executed in 1942, a famous case in the Party’s anti-corruption history. In this bottom-up system of people’s supervision, the Party always insisted on listening to the voices of the masses, rectifying its work attitude, and improving its work style. During the 13 years of the Border Region, Lin Boqu [9]9 Lin Boqu (1886–1960) was a senior CPC leader and served as Chairman of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region government from 1937 to 1948. received over a hundred letters of denunciation and accusation; he personally responded to, resolved, and provided feedback on all of them, fully demonstrating the Party’s emphasis on the opinions of the masses and its strict demands on the cadre ranks.

然而，仅仅依靠惩戒并不能完全确保党员干部队伍的清正廉洁。因此，陕甘宁边区坚持对党员干部开展深入的教育工作。通过开办司法训练班（党校及党的训练班）、行政训练班、群众工作训练班等，发动干部系统学习边区的重要法律法规，不断强化党员干部对群众的尊重与服务意识。毛泽东在《农村调查》中更是要求干部们“甘当小学生”，在革命实践中“清洗自己的污浊”。此外，他还提出必须在党内开展有关民主生活的教育。秉持这一理念，党领导边区政府与参议会不断探索对政府的监督方式，从设定专门行政机关监督到辅助行政机关监督，不断拓展群众参与监督的深度和广度。陕甘宁边区《保障人权财权条例》第七条第二款明确规定，人民利益如受损害时，有用任何方式控告任何公务人员非法行为之权。边区贸易局副局长、张家畔税务局长肖玉璧因私自将边区极为稀缺的食油、面粉卖给国民党破坏队，被群众检举告发，最终判处死刑。在自下而上的人民监督体系中，党始终坚持聆听群众声音，端正工作态度，改进工作作风。在边区的13年间，林伯渠共收到百余封检举控告材料，他全部亲自回应、解决并反馈，充分展现了党对群众意见的重视和对干部队伍的严格要求。

(Author: Xu Shi, Assistant Professor, School of Law, Beihang University)

（作者：徐实，系北京航空航天大学法学院助理教授）

Online Editor: Tongxin

网络编辑：同心