The CPC’s Discipline and Work Style Construction during the Total War of Resistance Against Japan

The Communist Party of China has always attached great importance to Party discipline and work style construction; this is an important guarantee for the Party’s ability to overcome all hardships and difficulties, and to grow from small to large and from weak to strong. General Secretary Xi Jinping has emphasized, “Especially during the arduous years of the revolutionary war, the standards for the Party’s work style construction across the board were very high, the measures were very strict, and the tests were also very real.” During the period of the Total War of Resistance Against Japan, our Party made a series of successful explorations in discipline and work style construction, making important contributions to forging the Party into a politically, ideologically, and organizationally mature Marxist political party capable of shouldering the historical responsibility of leading the entire nation’s war of resistance. Many of the valuable experiences of the Party in discipline and work style construction during this period still hold significant enlightening significance today.

中国共产党历来高度重视党的纪律和作风建设，这是党能够战胜一切艰难困苦，从小到大、从弱到强的重要保证。习近平总书记强调，“特别是在革命战争年代的艰苦岁月里，全党作风建设标准很高、措施很严、考验也很实”。全面抗战时期，我们党在纪律和作风建设方面，做出了一系列成功探索，为把党锻造成为一个政治上思想上组织上走向成熟的马克思主义政党，肩负起领导全民族抗战的历史重任，做出了重要贡献。这一时期党在纪律和作风建设方面的许多宝贵经验，今天仍然具有重要的启示意义。

Closely centering on the Party’s political line and central tasks to strengthen Party discipline construction, forming an important experience of safeguarding the Party Central Committee’s authority and its centralized, unified leadership with iron discipline.

紧紧围绕党的政治路线和中心任务加强党的纪律建设，形成了以铁的纪律维护党中央权威和集中统一领导的重要经验

In the process of leading the entire nation’s War of Resistance Against Japan, the Chinese Communists, with Comrade Mao Zedong as their main representative, scientifically grasped the intrinsic connection between political construction and discipline construction, correctly handled the dialectical and unified relationship between the “kingly way” and the “hegemonic way,”[1]1 “Kingly way” (王道) and “hegemonic way” (霸道) are classical Chinese political concepts. The “kingly way” refers to rule by moral example and benevolent governance, while the “hegemonic way” refers to rule by force and coercive law. Mao Zedong used this analogy to argue that the Party’s political line (the “kingly way”) and its disciplinary enforcement (the “hegemonic way”) were both necessary and complementary. carried out discipline construction closely around the Party’s central tasks, safeguarded the Party Central Committee’s authority and its centralized, unified leadership with iron discipline, defended the Party’s status and role as the mainstay in the entire nation’s War of Resistance Against Japan, and ensured the comprehensive implementation and fulfillment of the Party’s political line and central tasks.

在领导全民族抗日战争的过程中，以毛泽东同志为主要代表的中国共产党人，科学把握政治建设与纪律建设的内在联系，正确处理“王道”与“霸道”的辩证统一关系，紧紧围绕党的中心任务开展纪律建设，以铁的纪律维护党中央权威和集中统一领导，捍卫党在全民族抗战中的中流砥柱的地位作用，确保党的政治路线和中心任务得到全面贯彻落实。

With the expansion of Japan’s war of aggression against China, the Party’s central tasks and political line underwent major changes. At the end of 1935, the Party explicitly proposed the strategic policy of establishing an Anti-Japanese National United Front at the Wayaobu Conference,[2]2 The Wayaobu Conference was a meeting of the Politburo held in Wayaobu, northern Shaanxi, in December 1935. It adopted the resolution on the tactics of the Anti-Japanese National United Front, marking a major shift in the Party’s line from class struggle against the Kuomintang to uniting with all possible forces against Japan. realizing a major shift in the Party’s political line. After the outbreak of the Total War of Resistance Against Japan, in August 1937, the Party convened an enlarged meeting of the Political Bureau in Luochuan, northern Shaanxi.[3]3 The Luochuan Conference was an enlarged meeting of the Politburo held in Luochuan, Shaanxi, in August 1937, shortly after the outbreak of full-scale war with Japan. It adopted the “Ten-Point Program for Resisting Japan and Saving the Nation” and confirmed the policy of the Total War of Resistance led by the CPC. Under the overarching premise of the anti-Japanese national revolutionary war and the Anti-Japanese National United Front, it determined the political line, basic stance, and strategic policy for the Party to lead the people in carrying out the Total War of Resistance, and stipulated the Party’s basic tasks and basic policies.

随着日本侵华战争的扩大，党的中心任务和政治路线发生了重大改变。1935年底，党在瓦窑堡会议上明确提出建立抗日民族统一战线的策略方针，实现党的政治路线的重大转变。全面抗战爆发后，1937年8月党在陕北洛川召开政治局扩大会议，在抗日民族革命战争和抗日民族统一战线的大前提下，确定了党领导人民开展全面抗战的政治路线、基本立场和策略方针，规定了党的基本任务和基本政策。

Implementing the Party’s political line must be guaranteed by iron discipline. At the Sixth Plenary Session of the Sixth Central Committee,[4]4 The Sixth Plenary Session of the Sixth Central Committee was held in Yan’an from September to November 1938. It affirmed Mao Zedong’s leadership and stressed the importance of Party unity and discipline, issuing several key decisions on organizational rules. Mao Zedong for the first time explicitly put forward the major scientific thesis that “discipline is the guarantee for implementing the line,” profoundly elucidating the close connection between Party discipline and the Party’s line. In his report “On the Anti-Japanese National United Front and the Party’s Organizational Problems,” Zhang Wentian comprehensively expounded the relationship between the Party’s organizational line and political line, proposing that the political line plays a decisive role, organizational tasks must subordinate themselves to political tasks, and political tasks must be guaranteed by organizational work. This session formulated specialized documents on discipline construction, such as the “Decision on the Working Rules and Discipline of the Central Committee” and the “Decision on the Working Rules and Discipline of Party Committees at All Levels,” ensuring the comprehensive implementation of the policies and principles for the Party to lead the Anti-Japanese National United Front. In September 1941, at an enlarged meeting of the Central Political Bureau, Mao Zedong put forward the important thesis that “the line is the ‘kingly way,’ and discipline is the ‘hegemonic way’; both are indispensable,”[5]5 This quote from Mao Zedong’s speech at an enlarged Politburo meeting in September 1941 uses the classical terms “kingly way” and “hegemonic way” to argue that the Party’s political line (the “kingly way”) and its disciplinary enforcement (the “hegemonic way”) are both indispensable. emphatically stressing that strong discipline construction must provide a solid guarantee for the comprehensive implementation of the Party’s political line, ensuring the smooth completion of the Party’s central tasks.

执行党的政治路线必须以铁的纪律作保证。在党的六届六中全会上，毛泽东首次明确提出“纪律是执行路线的保证”这一重大科学论断，深刻阐明了党的纪律与党的路线之间的紧密联系。张闻天在《关于抗日民族统一战线与党的组织问题》的报告中，全面阐述了党的组织路线与政治路线的关系，提出政治路线是起决定作用的，组织任务要服从政治任务，政治任务要靠组织工作来保证。这次会议制定了《关于中央委员会工作规则与纪律的决定》《关于各级党部工作规则与纪律的决定》等关于纪律建设的专门文件，确保党领导抗日民族统一战线的政策方针得到全面贯彻落实。1941年9月，毛泽东在中央政治局扩大会议上，提出“路线是‘王道’，纪律是‘霸道’，这两者都不可少”的重要论断，突出强调必须以强有力的纪律建设为全面贯彻党的政治路线提供坚实保证，确保党的中心任务得到顺利完成。

The key task of discipline construction is to safeguard the Party Central Committee’s authority and its centralized, unified leadership. During the Total War of Resistance Against Japan, our Party repeatedly emphasized that iron discipline must be used to resolutely safeguard the Party’s unity and solidarity, the Party Central Committee’s authority, and its centralized, unified leadership, ensuring that the Central Committee’s strategic deployments were implemented without any discount, taking “iron discipline” as the Party’s main spirit, and strictly guarding against the tendency toward “independent kingdoms.”[6]6 “Independent kingdoms” (独立王国) is a term used in CPC internal discourse to criticize local Party organizations or leaders who act independently of central authority, ignoring or defying the directives of the Party Central Committee. On April 15, 1937, the Party Central Committee’s published “Letter to All Party Comrades — To Consolidate Domestic Peace, Strive for Democratic Rights, and Achieve the Struggle Against Japan” pointed out: No matter the circumstances, one must never violate the basic principles of the Party’s secret work, must never allow the slightest relaxation of the Party’s iron discipline, and must use iron discipline, arduous work, and exemplary actions to win the Party’s leading position in the national revolution. At the end of November 1937, after Wang Ming returned from the Soviet Union, he used the banner of the Comintern, criticized and opposed the Central Committee’s correct line from a rightist standpoint, and while serving as secretary of the Central Committee’s Yangtze River Bureau, seriously violated Party discipline by privately publishing statements in newspapers and periodicals in the name of the Central Committee. For this, the Party Central Committee severely criticized his mistakes. After the meeting, the Central Committee decisively adjusted the Party’s organizational structure and abolished the Yangtze River Bureau of which Wang Ming was secretary. This means that any Party member must strictly observe Party discipline and safeguard the authority of the Party Central Committee and its centralized, unified leadership; otherwise, disciplinary punishment must be imposed.

纪律建设的关键任务就是要维护党中央权威和集中统一领导。全面抗战时期，我们党反复强调必须以铁的纪律坚决维护全党的团结统一、党中央权威和集中统一领导，确保党中央的战略部署得到不折不扣的贯彻落实，把“铁的纪律”作为党的主要精神，严防“独立王国”的倾向。1937年4月15日，党中央发表的《告全党同志书——为巩固国内和平，争取民主权利，实现对日抗战而斗争》指出：不论在何种环境之下，决不能违反于党的秘密工作的基本原则，决不能使党的铁的纪律有丝毫的松懈，以铁的纪律和艰苦的工作、模范的行动，去取得党在民族革命中的领导地位。1937年11月底，王明从苏联回国后，打着共产国际的招牌，站在右的立场上批评和反对中央的正确路线，在担任中共中央长江局书记期间，严重违反党的纪律，私自以中央名义在报刊上公开发表言论。为此，党中央对他的错误进行严厉批评。会后，党中央果断进行党的组织机构调整，撤销了王明担任书记的长江局。这就是说，任何党员都必须严守党的纪律，维护党中央的权威和集中统一领导，否则必须进行纪律处罚。

During the Yan’an Rectification Movement,[7]7 The Yan’an Rectification Movement (1942–1944) was a Party-wide campaign of ideological education and organizational consolidation aimed at correcting subjectivism, sectarianism, and stereotyped Party writing, and establishing Mao Zedong Thought as the guiding ideology. the Party Central Committee emphatically stressed the need to use strict discipline to strengthen the Party’s unified leadership. On September 1, 1942, the “Decision on Unifying the Leadership of the Anti-Japanese Base Areas and Adjusting Relations Among Various Organizations,” passed by the Central Political Bureau, pointed out: “The unity and centralization of leadership in the base areas should be manifested in each base area having a unified Party committee that leads everything.” In the relations among the Party, government, military, and people, the Party leads everything and should lead all other organizations, such as the military, government, and mass organizations; all base areas must implement the Party’s unified leadership. On January 10, 1944, the Central Committee of the CPC issued the “Instructions to the Enlarged Cadre Meeting of the Jin-Cha-Ji Sub-Bureau,”[8]8 The Jin-Cha-Ji Border Region was one of the main anti-Japanese base areas established by the CPC, located at the junction of Shanxi, Chahar, and Hebei provinces. The Jin-Cha-Ji Sub-Bureau was the Party’s leading organ in that region. again emphasizing that leading comrades at all levels must clearly understand the “thought of centralization and unification,” strengthen the Party’s leadership over work in all areas; use the “thought of centralization and unification” to correctly handle and deal with the relations of various organizations toward the Party and toward higher levels, and overcome the phenomena of asserting independence and departmentalism. In April 1945, at the preparatory meeting for the Party’s Seventh National Congress, Mao Zedong particularly emphasized: “We must align ourselves with the Central Committee’s benchmark, align ourselves with the Congress’s benchmark. Alignment is the principle; deviation is actual life; when there is deviation, we call for alignment.”[9]9 This quote is from Mao Zedong’s speech “On the Question of the Seventh National Congress” at the preparatory meeting of the Seventh National Congress in April 1945. The metaphor of “alignment” (看齐) is a military term meaning to dress ranks, used here to stress the need for all Party members to align themselves politically and organizationally with the Central Committee. Closely linking the consciousness of alignment with discipline construction was an important exploratory achievement in using Party discipline to safeguard the Party Central Committee’s authority and its centralized, unified leadership.

延安整风过程中，党中央突出强调要用严明纪律加强党的一元化领导。1942年9月1日，中央政治局通过的《关于统一抗日根据地党的领导及调整各组织间关系的决定》指出，“根据地领导的统一与一元化，应当表现在每个根据地有一个统一的领导一切的党的委员会”。在党、政、军、民关系中，党是领导一切的，应该领导一切其他组织，如军队、政府与民众团体，各根据地必须实行党的一元化领导。1944年1月10日，中共中央发布《对晋察冀分局干部扩大会议的指示》再次强调，各级领导同志务必弄清“一元化的思想”，加强党对各方面工作的领导；要用“一元化思想”正确对待和处理各种组织对党、对上级的关系，克服闹独立性的现象和闹本位主义的现象。1945年4月，毛泽东在党的七大预备会上特别强调：“要向中央基准看齐，向大会基准看齐。看齐是原则，有偏差是实际生活，有了偏差，就喊看齐。”把看齐意识和纪律建设密切联系起来，是以党的纪律维护党中央权威和集中统一领导的重要探索成果。

Taking close ties with the masses as the fundamental task of Party work style construction, forming an important method of work style construction that combines grasping the “key minority” with driving the “vast majority.”

把密切联系群众作为党风建设的根本任务，形成了抓住“关键少数”与带动“绝大多数”相结合的作风建设的重要方法

The Communist Party of China is a political party that seeks the interests of the nation and the people; it is the representative of the people’s interests and the concentrator of the people’s will. It must unite all those who can be united to carry out the revolutionary struggle. The vast number of Party cadres and members faithfully implemented the Party’s mass line, established inseparable flesh-and-blood ties with the broad masses of the people, the Party became the well-deserved leading core of the Chinese people’s revolutionary cause, and the masses of the people became the indestructible iron wall for the Party to win victory in the revolutionary struggle.

中国共产党是为民族、为人民谋利益的政党，是人民群众利益的代表者和人民意志的集中者，必须团结一切可以团结的人来进行革命的斗争。广大党员干部忠实执行党的群众路线，建立了同广大人民群众之间血肉不可分割的密切联系，党成为中国人民革命事业当之无愧的领导核心，人民群众则成为党取得革命斗争胜利的牢不可破的铜墙铁壁。

The fundamental task of work style construction is to firmly grasp the pivot of the Party’s close ties with the masses, forever maintain the Party’s advanced nature and purity, and obtain the inexhaustible source of power for development and progress. In order to strengthen the flesh-and-blood ties between the Party and the masses, the Party Central Committee’s “Decision on Deepening Mass Work,” made on November 1, 1939, emphasized: In areas ruled by the Kuomintang, Party leading organs at all levels must use all their strength to study and guide lower-level organs, down to the branches, on how to carry out mass work among workers, peasants, and the petty bourgeoisie locally; in areas where the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army operated, radical economic and political reforms beneficial to the broad masses of anti-Japanese people must be implemented; the Party must earnestly study the masses’ life, the masses’ sentiments, and the masses’ demands, and under different environments, times, and specific slogans, step by step organize, educate, and lead them to improve their lives, and mobilize their initiative. During the Yan’an Rectification Movement, the Party Central Committee made the “Decision on Investigation and Research,”[10]10 The “Decision on Investigation and Research” was issued by the Party Central Committee in 1941 as part of the Yan’an Rectification Movement. It called for systematic social investigation to overcome subjectivism and ensure that Party policies were based on concrete realities. explicitly stating that the basic task of leading organs is to understand the situation and grasp policies, and that systematic and thorough social investigation is the foundation for deciding policy; Communists must guard against superficiality and shallowness, eradicate the subjectivist work style, and increase investigation and research into history, the environment, and the specific conditions inside and outside the country, the province, and the county. After the decision was issued, Party leading cadres took the lead in going deep into the lives of the masses to conduct thorough and meticulous investigation and research; Zhang Wentian, for example, led a team to the localities for long-term and in-depth investigative work.

党风建设的根本就是牢牢抓住党同人民群众密切联系这个枢纽，永葆党的先进性纯洁性，获得发展进步的不竭动力之源。为了密切党同人民群众的血肉联系，党中央在1939年11月1日作出的《关于深入群众工作的决定》强调，在国民党统治区域，党的各级领导机关必须用全力研究并指导下级直至支部如何在当地进行工人、农民与小资产阶级的群众工作；在八路军新四军活动区域，必须实行激进的有利于广大抗日民众的经济改革与政治改革；党要认真地研究群众生活、群众情绪、群众要求，在不同的环境、时间和具体口号之下，一步一步地组织、教育、领导他们改良生活，发动他们的积极性。延安整风运动期间，党中央作出《关于调查研究的决定》，明确提出领导机关的基本任务就在于了解情况和掌握政策，系统的周密的社会调查是决定政策的基础；共产党人要力戒空疏和肤浅，扫除主观主义作风，加重对于历史、对于环境、对于国内外、省内外、县内外具体情况的调查和研究。决定发出之后，党的领导干部带头深入人民群众生活之中开展深入细致的调查研究，张闻天就带队到地方进行长期深入的调研工作。

The Party’s work style is closely related to its working methods and must be manifested in the actual work of Party cadres at all levels. On this point, our Party has a high degree of political and theoretical self-awareness. On June 1, 1943, the Political Bureau of the Central Committee adopted the “Decision on Methods of Leadership,” which comprehensively expounded on the Party’s work style and working methods from the perspective of Marxist epistemology and the Party’s mass line. It stated: “In all the practical work of our Party, all correct leadership must be ‘from the masses, to the masses.’ This means: take the ideas of the masses (scattered and unsystematic ideas) and concentrate them (through study turn them into concentrated and systematic ideas), then go to the masses and propagate and explain these ideas until the masses embrace them as their own, hold fast to them, and translate them into action, and test the correctness of these ideas in such action. Then once again concentrate ideas from the masses and once again go to the masses so that the ideas are persevered in and carried through. And so on, over and over again in an endless spiral, with the ideas becoming more correct, more vital and richer each time.” This is Marxist epistemology; it is also the Party’s fundamental working line and basic method of leadership, and the very foundation of the Party’s work style.

党的作风与党的工作方法密切相关，要在各级党员干部的实际工作中体现出来。对此，我们党有着高度的政治自觉和理论自觉。1943年6月1日，中央政治局通过了《关于领导方法的决定》，从马克思主义认识论、党的群众路线的高度，对党的作风、工作方法作了全面阐述。其中指出，“在我党的一切实际工作中，凡属正确的领导，必须是从群众中来，到群众中去。这就是说，将群众的意见（分散的无系统的意见）集中起来（经过研究，化为集中的系统的意见），又到群众中去作宣传解释，化为群众的意见，使群众坚持下去，见之于行动，并在群众行动中考验这些意见是否正确。然后再从群众中集中起来，再到群众中坚持下去。如此无限循环，一次比一次地更正确、更生动、更丰富。”这是马克思主义的认识论，同时是党的根本工作路线和基本领导方法，也是党的工作作风的根本所在。

It is particularly necessary to point out that while leading the Chinese people in the total war of resistance against Japan, the Party also carried out the Yan’an Rectification Movement. This was a Marxist ideological education movement within the entire Party, and also the living source of Party work style construction. It has milestone significance in the history of the Party’s work style construction and created important methods for building the Party’s work style.

特别需要指出的是，党在领导中国人民进行全面抗战的同时还开展了延安整风运动。这是一次全党范围内的马克思主义思想教育运动，也是党风建设的源头活水，在党的作风建设史上具有里程碑意义，创造了党风建设的重要方法。

The Yan’an Rectification Movement began first with the rectification study and line study of senior Party cadres. After the Sixth Plenary Session of the Sixth Central Committee, the Party Central Committee led senior Party cadres in carrying out Marxist theoretical study and research activities; more than 120 senior Party cadres participated in the study in Yan’an. To further promote the rectification study of senior cadres and clarify its direction, on May 19, 1941, Mao Zedong delivered the report “Reform Our Study” at a meeting of senior cadres in Yan’an. It emphatically elucidated the basic principle of integrating theory with practice, stressed that integrating theory with practice is the Party’s guiding ideology and the guiding principle for all the Party’s work, and that the Marxist-Leninist style of unifying theory and practice is a manifestation of Party spirit and the minimum attitude a Communist Party member should possess. In September 1941, the Party Central Committee decided to establish a Senior Study Group, with Mao Zedong himself serving as its head, leading senior Party cadres to deeply study rectification using the method of unifying theory and practice. When discussing rectification, Mao stressed that the main and primary targets of rectification were middle- and senior-level cadres, especially senior cadres; once they were well educated, the progress of lower-level cadres would be rapid. This was to create a “leading-geese effect” [11]11 “Leading-geese effect” (头雁效应, tóuyàn xiàoyìng): A Chinese political metaphor in which the lead goose in a V-formation sets the direction and pace for the flock; here it refers to senior cadres setting an example for lower-level cadres. whereby senior cadres take the lead and set an example for those below.

延安整风运动，首先从党的高级干部整风学习和路线学习开始。党的六届六中全会后，党中央领导党的高级干部开展马克思主义理论学习研究活动，120多名党的高级干部在延安参加学习。为进一步推动高级干部的整风学习，明确整风学习的方向，1941年5月19日，毛泽东在延安高级干部会议上作了《改造我们的学习》的报告，着重阐明理论联系实际的基本原理，强调理论联系实际是党的指导思想，是党的一切工作的指导方针，理论和实际相统一的马克思列宁主义作风是党性的表现，是一个共产党员起码应该具备的态度。1941年9月，党中央决定成立高级学习组，毛泽东亲自担任组长，领导党内高级干部以理论与实践的统一为方法深入学习整风。毛泽东在谈到整风时强调，整风的主要与首先的对象是高中级干部，特别是高级干部，只要把他们教育好了，下级干部的进步就快了。这就是要形成高级干部率先垂范、以上率下的“头雁效应”。

On the basis of the universally heightened understanding among senior Party cadres, the Party Central Committee led a universal rectification movement within the entire Party. On February 1, 1942, Mao Zedong delivered the report “Rectify the Party’s Style of Work” at the Central Party School, pointing out that “our style of study, style in Party relations, and style of writing are all somewhat incorrect, that is, they suffer from the maladies of subjectivism, sectarianism, and Party formalism.” [12]12 “Party formalism” (党八股, dǎng bāgǔ): A pejorative term for stereotypical, rigid, and empty writing and speech within the Party, analogous to the “eight-legged essay” of the imperial examination system. For this reason, it was necessary to “combat subjectivism in order to rectify the style of study, combat sectarianism in order to rectify the style in Party relations, and combat Party formalism in order to rectify the style of writing.” On February 8, Mao Zedong delivered the speech “Oppose Party Formalism,” listing eight charges against Party formalism and stressing the need to thoroughly liquidate Party formalism and sweep away the last refuge of subjectivism and sectarianism. On June 8, the Propaganda Department of the Central Committee issued the “Directive on Launching the Movement to Rectify the Three Styles of Study Throughout the Party.” Thereafter, the rectification movement unfolded comprehensively throughout the Party. Through rectification, the work style of the entire Party was universally improved.

在党的高级干部普遍提高认识的基础上，党中央领导了全党范围内的普遍性整风运动。1942年2月1日，毛泽东在中央党校作了《整顿党的作风》的报告，指出“我们的学风、党风和文风有些不正，也就是存在主观主义，宗派主义和党八股的毛病”，为此要“反对主观主义以整顿学风，反对宗派主义以整顿党风，反对党八股以整顿文风”。2月8日，毛泽东又作了《反对党八股》的演说，列举了党八股的八条罪状，强调要彻底清算党八股，扫除主观主义、宗派主义最后的避难所。6月8日，中央宣传部发出《关于在全党进行整顿三风学习运动的指示》。此后，整风运动在全党范围内全面展开。经过整风，全党作风得到普遍提高。

A prominent feature of the Yan’an Rectification Movement was correctly grasping the relationship between the “key minority” and the “vast majority,” using the form of ideological education through criticism and self-criticism, and the methods of combining theory with practice, combining leadership with the masses, and combining criticism with self-criticism, thereby achieving the effect of comprehensive rectification and forming a mutual coordination and rational interaction between the “leading-geese effect” and overall advancement. The prominent features and successful practices of the Yan’an Rectification Movement have had a profound impact on the Party’s work style construction ever since.

延安整风的一个突出特点就是正确把握“关键少数”和“绝大多数”的关系，通过批评与自我批评进行思想教育的形式，理论与实际相结合、领导和群众相结合、批评与自我批评相结合的方法，达到了全面整风的效果，形成“头雁效应”与整体推进的相互协调、合理互动。延安整风的突出特点和成功做法，对此后我们党的作风建设产生了深远影响。

While strengthening discipline and work style construction, the Party severely punished corruption, embezzlement, and illegal and criminal elements, thereby obtaining a veritable iron bastion for the development of the Party’s cause.

在加强纪律和作风建设的同时，严惩贪污腐败和违法犯罪分子，党获得了事业发展真正的铜墙铁壁

The purpose of discipline and work style construction is to forever preserve the Party’s advanced nature and purity, and to forge close flesh-and-blood ties between the Party and the masses. Corruption, embezzlement, and illegal and criminal acts are utterly incompatible with the Party’s ideals, convictions, and political essence. While strengthening discipline and work style construction, it is imperative to relentlessly wage the struggle against corruption, embezzlement, and illegal and criminal acts. During the total war of resistance against Japan, although our Party was only exercising local governance in the anti-Japanese base areas, it never relaxed its severe punishment of corrupt, embezzling, and illegal and criminal elements, and initially formed a working method of coordinating and advancing in an integrated manner the rectification of conduct, the enforcement of discipline, and the fight against corruption.

纪律和作风建设就是要永葆党的先进性纯洁性，密切党和人民群众的血肉联系，而贪污腐败和违法犯罪同党的理想信念和政治本质格格不入，加强纪律和作风建设的同时必须毫不留情地开展反对贪污腐败和违法犯罪的斗争。全面抗战时期，我们党尽管还只是在抗日根据地进行局部执政，但丝毫没有放松对贪污腐败和违法犯罪分子的严厉惩处，初步形成了正风肃纪反腐相互协同、一体推进工作做法。

To strengthen discipline and work style construction, it is necessary to enhance Party spirit, resolutely overcome the style of liberalism, and resolutely crack down on violations of law and discipline. On July 1, 1941, the Political Bureau of the Central Committee adopted the “Decision on Strengthening Party Spirit,” which pointed out: all Party members and Party organizations at all levels must unite under unified will, unified action, and unified discipline to become an organized whole; the main task of consolidating the Party is to require all Party members, especially Party cadres, to further strengthen their tempering of Party spirit, subordinate individual interests to the interests of the entire Party, subordinate the interests of individual Party components to the interests of the entire Party, so that the entire Party can unite like one person; and resolutely overcome politically independent action, organizationally independent systems, and ideological individualism.

加强纪律和作风建设，必须增强党性，坚决克服自由主义的作风，坚决打击违法乱纪的行为。1941年7月1日，中央政治局通过《关于增强党性的决定》指出：全体党员和党的各级组织都必须在统一意志、统一行动和统一纪律下面，团结起来，成为有组织的整体；巩固党的主要工作是要求全体党员，尤其是党员干部，更加增强自己的党性锻炼，把个人利益服从于全党的利益，把个别党的组成部分的利益服从于全党的利益，使全党能够团结得像一个人一样；坚决克服政治上自由行动、组织上自成系统、思想意识上的个人主义等。

As an advanced Marxist political party, the Communist Party of China must have iron discipline to ensure the unity of the Party’s will and action. The key to discipline construction is implementation; it is necessary to adhere to the unity of strict disciplinary regulations and strict disciplinary enforcement, adhere to the foundation of Party discipline and Party rules, be guaranteed by the Party’s institutional regulations and laws, establish disciplinary authority, strictly follow disciplinary enforcement procedures, and strengthen the intensity of disciplinary enforcement, so that there are systems, rules, steps, and methods. Our Party strengthens the construction of its work style with a high degree of self-revolutionary spirit, strictly enforces Party discipline, and requires every Party member and every Party organization to regard strict adherence to Party discipline as the highest responsibility and noble obligation. On disciplinary issues, no special individuals or special organizations are ever allowed. The Party deals relentlessly and resolutely with illegal, criminal, and corrupt acts that damage the Party’s advanced nature and purity. The cases of Huang Kegong and Xiao Yubi are typical examples. [13]13 Xiao Yubi: A Red Army veteran and war hero who, after being assigned to a grain-collection post in the border region, was convicted of embezzlement and executed in 1941. His case, along with Huang Kegong’s, was used by the Party to demonstrate strict enforcement of discipline.

作为马克思主义先进政党，中国共产党必须有铁的纪律保障党的意志和行动的统一。纪律建设的关键是执行，必须坚持严明纪律规定与严格纪律执行相统一，坚持以党纪党规为基础，以党的制度法规为保障，树立纪律权威，严格纪律执行程序，强化纪律执行力度，做到了有制度有规矩有步骤有方法。我们党以高度的自我革命精神加强党的作风建设，严肃党的纪律执行，要求每一个党员、每一个党组织都要把严格遵守党的纪律作为最高责任和崇高义务，在纪律问题上决不允许有任何特殊人物和特殊组织，党对损害党的先进性纯洁性的违法犯罪和腐败行为进行毫不留情的坚决处理。黄克功案件、肖玉璧案件就是典型案例。

Huang Kegong, then the captain of the Sixth Team of the Third Phase of the Chinese People’s Anti-Japanese Military and Political University, was a meritorious figure who had made contributions to the revolution. Because his attempt to force a marriage was rejected, he shot and killed Liu Qian, a female student at the Northern Shaanxi Public School. On October 10, 1937, Mao Zedong wrote a letter to Lei Jingtian, President of the Higher Court of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region, regarding this matter: “Huang Kegong’s past history of struggle is glorious. To impose the death penalty on him today is a matter of regret for me and the comrades of the Party Central Committee. But he has committed an unpardonable great crime. As a Communist Party member and a Red Army cadre, to commit such a base, cruel act, losing the Party’s stand, losing the revolutionary stand, and losing the human stand, if he were pardoned, there would be no way to educate the Party, no way to educate the Red Army, no way to educate revolutionaries, and no way to educate an ordinary person. Therefore, the Central Committee and the Military Commission have had to, in accordance with his criminal acts and the discipline of the Party and the Red Army, impose the death penalty on him.” Mao Zedong stressed that the Communist Party and the Red Army had to enforce stricter discipline on their own Party members and Red Army members than on ordinary civilians. “All Communist Party members, all Red Army commanders and fighters, and all revolutionaries must take Huang Kegong as a warning.” On October 11, a public trial of Huang Kegong was held at the Northern Shaanxi Public School. The court pronounced Huang Kegong guilty of intentional homicide, sentenced him to death, and executed him immediately.

时任抗日军政大学第三期第六队队长的黄克功，是一位曾为革命做出贡献的功臣，因逼婚未遂开枪打死陕北公学女学生刘茜。1937年10月10日，毛泽东就此事致信陕甘宁边区高等法院院长雷经天：“黄克功过去斗争历史是光荣的，今天处以极刑，我及党中央的同志都是为之惋惜的。但他犯了不容赦免的大罪，以一个共产党员、红军干部而有如此卑鄙的，残忍的，失掉党的立场的，失掉革命立场的，失掉人的立场的行为，如为赦免，便无以教育党，无以教育红军，无以教育革命者，并无以教育做一个普通的人。因此中央与军委便不得不根据他的罪恶行为，根据党与红军的纪律，处他以极刑。”毛泽东强调，共产党与红军，对于自己的党员与红军成员不得不执行比较一般平民更加严格的纪律。“一切共产党员，一切红军指战员，一切革命分子，都要以黄克功为前车之戒。”10月11日，公审黄克功大会在陕北公学举行，法庭宣判黄克功故意杀人，处以死刑，立即执行。

Xiao Yubi, a former director of the Zhangjiapan Tax Sub-Bureau in Qingjian County, the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region, joined the revolution in 1933 and was a veteran revolutionary who had made contributions. However, during his tenure, he embezzled public funds totaling 3,050 silver dollars and was sentenced to death. Xiao Yubi wrote a letter to Mao Zedong pleading for clemency, but Mao expressed full support for the court’s verdict. On January 5, 1942, the *Liberation Daily* published an editorial titled “Starting from the Death of Xiao Yubi,” calling for “attention to every struggle against corruption, and prompt exposure of every corruption incident. We must ensure that on the ground of ‘clean politics,’ not a single weed of the ‘Xiao Yubi type’ is allowed to grow! If one appears, pull it out!”

曾任陕甘宁边区清涧县张家畔税务分局局长的肖玉璧，于1933年参加革命，也是一个做出贡献的老革命。但是，他在任职期间贪污公款3050块大洋，被判处死刑。肖玉璧写信向毛泽东求情，毛泽东表示完全拥护法院的判决。1942年1月5日，《解放日报》发表社论《从肖玉璧之死说起》号召，“注意每一个反贪污的斗争，抓紧揭发每一个贪污事件，我们一定要做到：在‘廉洁政治’的地面上，不容许有一个‘肖玉璧’式的莠草生长！有了，就拔掉它！”

It was precisely through this practice of ensuring that every corrupt criminal was investigated and punished according to law, and that laws were strictly enforced, that the Party’s fine work style was promoted, its discipline was observed, the close “fish-and-water” relationship between the broad masses of the people and the Party was continuously consolidated, and the Party gained a truly impregnable stronghold for its cause. This working method, initially formed during the Total War of Resistance Against Japan, which coordinated and advanced the rectification of work style, discipline enforcement, and anti-corruption efforts in an integrated manner, has, after long-term development and enrichment, become an important working method for Party building.

正是通过这种对腐败犯罪分子违法必究、执法必严的做法，党的优良作风得以弘扬，党的纪律得以遵守，广大人民群众同党的鱼水关系得到了不断巩固，党获得了事业发展真正的铜墙铁壁。全面抗战时期初步形成的这种正风肃纪反腐相互协同、一体推进的工作做法，经过长时间的发展和丰富，已经成为党的建设的重要工作方法。

A comprehensive and systematic summary of successful experiences achieved important theoretical and institutional innovations in discipline and work style construction.

全面系统总结成功经验，实现了纪律和作风建设的重要理论创新和制度创新

A key point in the progress and development of Chinese Communists is their skill in summing up experiences. Through profound summarization of successful practical experiences, they form important theoretical and institutional innovations. During the Total War of Resistance Against Japan, our Party accumulated many valuable experiences in discipline and work style construction. The Chinese Communists, with Comrade Mao Zedong as their chief representative, scientifically summarized and refined these experiences, forming important theoretical and institutional innovations concerning discipline and work style construction.

中国共产党人发展进步的一个关键点就是善于总结经验，通过对成功实践经验的深刻总结，形成重要理论创新和制度创新。全面抗战时期，我们党在纪律和作风建设积累了许多宝贵经验，以毛泽东同志为主要代表的中国共产党人，把这些经验进行科学总结和凝练提升，形成了关于纪律和作风建设的重要理论创新和制度上的创新成果。

A profound theoretical exposition of the Party’s work style was carried out. During the Total War of Resistance Against Japan, the issue of Party work style construction was elevated to a new level and closely linked with ideological construction. Mao Zedong explicitly proposed and systematically elaborated on the connotation and importance of the Party’s work style, as well as the issue of work style construction. He pointed out that the Party’s work style is the manifestation of the proletarian world outlook in the actions of the Party and its members. As long as our Party’s work style is completely upright, the people of the whole country will learn from us, and any powerful enemy can be defeated by us. Party work style construction is closely related to the issue of Party spirit; Party work style is the constant and consistent manifestation of Party spirit, and investigation and research are the fundamental links for transforming and improving the Party’s work style.

对党风问题进行了深刻的理论阐释。在全面抗战时期，党的作风建设问题被提到了新的高度，同思想建设紧密联系起来。毛泽东明确提出并系统阐述了党风的内涵、重要性以及党风建设问题，指出党的作风是无产阶级世界观在党和党员行动上的表现，只要我们党的作风完全正派了，全国人民就会跟我们学，任何强大的敌人都是能被我们打倒的。党的作风建设同党性问题联系紧密，党的作风是党性的经常的一贯的表现，调查研究是转变和改进党的作风的基础环节。

The Party’s three major fine work styles were comprehensively and systematically expounded, forming important theoretical achievements on the Party’s work style. At the Seventh National Congress of the CPC, Mao Zedong profoundly summarized the successful experiences of the Party’s work style construction and deeply, comprehensively, and systematically elaborated on the Party’s three major fine work styles. He explicitly stated that the Chinese Communist Party, armed with the theory of Marxism-Leninism, had fostered a new work style among the Chinese people, which mainly consisted of the style of integrating theory with practice, the style of maintaining close ties with the masses, and the style of self-criticism. These fine work styles of the Party are the distinctive signs distinguishing Communists from any other political party.

全面系统地阐述了党的三大优良作风，形成了党的作风的重要理论成果。在党的七大上，毛泽东深刻总结党的作风建设的成功经验，深入全面系统地阐述了党的三大优良作风，明确提出以马克思列宁主义的理论思想武装起来的中国共产党，在中国人民中产生了新的工作作风，这主要的就是理论和实践相结合的作风，和人民群众紧密地联系在一起的作风以及自我批评的作风。党的这些优良作风是共产党人区别于其他任何政党的显著标志。

Strict organizational systems and disciplinary regulations were formulated and strictly implemented. The “Decision on the Work Rules and Discipline of the Central Committee” adopted at the Sixth Plenary Session of the Sixth Central Committee of the CPC stipulated the Party’s organizational discipline and work principles, prominently emphasizing the authority of the Party Central Committee and its centralized, unified leadership. It stipulated that the Central Committee of the Party is the highest organ of the Party, guiding all Party work politically and organizationally. No Central Committee member, without authorization from the Central Committee, the Politburo, or the Secretariat of the Central Committee, may express opinions or issue documents in the name of the Central Committee to Party members or non-Party members. The “Decision on the Work Rules and Discipline of Party Committees at All Levels,” also adopted at the plenary session, for the first time in the form of an intra-Party document fully proposed the “Four Obediences” [14]14 The “Four Obediences” (四个服从) are a foundational principle of the CPC’s organizational discipline, formally codified at the Sixth Plenary Session of the Sixth Central Committee in 1938. They are: the individual is subordinate to the organization, the minority is subordinate to the majority, the lower level is subordinate to the higher level, and the entire Party is subordinate to the Central Committee., namely, the individual is subordinate to the organization, the minority is subordinate to the majority, the lower level is subordinate to the higher level, and the entire Party is subordinate to the Central Committee. The “Decision on the Provisional Organizational Structure of Party Committees at All Levels,” adopted at the same session, stipulated that, as decided by the Central Bureau, a supervision committee should be established under the district Party committee to supervise the work of various Party organs, Party cadres, and Party members, as well as the correct implementation of the Party’s constitution and resolutions.

制定了严格的组织制度和纪律规定并严格执行。党的六届六中全会通过的《关于中央委员会工作规则与纪律的决定》规定了党的组织纪律和工作原则，突出强调党中央的权威和集中统一领导，规定党的中央委员会是党的最高机关，在政治上、组织上指导党的一切工作；各中央委员如果没有中央委员会、中央政治局及中央书记处的委托，不得以中央名义向党内党外发表言论与文件。全会通过的《关于各级党部工作规则与纪律的决定》，以党内文件形式首次完整提出“四个服从”，即个人服从组织、少数服从多数、下级服从上级、全党服从中央。全会通过的《关于各级党委暂行组织机构的决定》规定，由各中央局决定，在区党委之下设立监察委员会，监督各种党的机关、党的干部及党员的工作与对于党的章程决议之正确执行。

The Seventh National Congress of the CPC refined and elevated the experiences of discipline construction. The Party Constitution adopted at the Seventh Congress incorporated discipline as the organizational foundation of the Party into the General Program, forming an important institutional innovation in discipline construction. The Party Constitution of the Seventh Congress explicitly stipulated: “The Chinese Communist Party is a unified combat organization organized according to the principle of democratic centralism and linked together by a discipline that is consciously observed and must be fulfilled by all Party members.” “Within the Party, actions that deviate from the Party’s program and constitution, actions that undermine Party discipline, actions that assert independence from the Party, factional activities, and double-dealing behavior of feigning compliance while acting in opposition are not permitted. The Chinese Communist Party must constantly pay attention to purging from its ranks those who undermine the Party’s program, constitution, and discipline and cannot be corrected.” The Party Constitution stipulated that obeying Party discipline is a duty of Party members, in order to ensure the Party’s unity and solidarity. This elevated the experiences of Party discipline construction to the level of stipulations in the Party Constitution, representing an important institutional innovation in discipline construction and providing a fundamental intra-Party regulatory basis for discipline construction.

党的七大把纪律建设的经验加以提炼升华，七大党章把纪律作为党的组织基础写进总纲，形成了纪律建设方面的重要制度创新成果。七大党章明确规定，“中国共产党是按民主的集中制组织起来的，是以自觉的、一切党员都要履行的纪律联结起来的统一的战斗组织”“在党内不容许有离开党的纲领和党章的行为，不能容许有破坏党纪、向党闹独立性、小组织活动及阳奉阴违的两面行为。中国共产党必须经常注意清除自己队伍中破坏党的纲领和党章、党纪而不能改正的人出党”。党章把服从党的纪律规定为党员的义务，以保证党的团结和统一。这就是把党的纪律建设的经验提升到党章规定的高度，是纪律建设方面的重要制度创新成果，为纪律建设提供根本党内法规依据。

(The author is a Special Supervisory Officer of the National Commission of Supervision and a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.)

（作者系国家监委特约监察员，中国社会科学院研究员）

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