Sun Xin: "Seeing Only Public Servants, Not Officials" [1]
During the Yan'an period [1], a group of foreign personages traveled to Yan'an, witnessed the work and lives of the leaders of the Communist Party of China (CPC), and left behind a vast treasury of authentic records. From their unique cross-cultural perspectives, they sketched a vivid image of CPC leaders as those in whom one "sees only public servants, not bureaucrats" (zhijian gongpu bujian guan). This played a crucial role in establishing the CPC’s excellent reputation and garnering support from various quarters. It also provides profound enlightenment for our current efforts to implement the spirit of the central Eight-Point Regulations and to strengthen the Party's style of work [2].
“Their greatest charm is their simplicity.” Foreigners who visited Yan'an had in-depth contact with CPC leaders and recorded the true revolutionary style of their arduous struggle and plain living. In the eyes of American journalist Edgar Snow, Mao Zedong lived in a very simple cave dwelling [3], where his "chief luxury was a mosquito net" and his "entire personal possessions were still only a cotton-padded quilt and a few clothes." Zhou Enlai slept on an earthen kang [4]; Peng Dehuai actually wore a vest made from a captured parachute; Lin Boqu’s eyeglass frame was broken and held to his ear by a piece of string. The United States Army Observation Group (the Dixie Mission), which arrived in Yan'an in 1944, concluded that "their greatest charm is their simplicity." Group member John Colling remarked: "In Yan'an, I was moved by the spirit of the Communists struggling for their goals. One could smell it in the air. Their clothes were ragged and their equipment lacked guns and ammunition, but they had the spirit to fight for their cause." Through their own observations and experiences, these foreign personages disseminated the fine character of CPC leaders—who led by example and maintained clean governance—allowing the image of the CPC leader as a "public servant rather than a bureaucrat" to manifest on the international stage.
“The Communists are radiant in contrast to the Kuomintang.” Under Western capitalist societies and the feudal ruling system of old China, power was often viewed as a tool for personal gain and privilege; a clear class distinction and power chasm existed between "bureaucrats" (guan) and the common people. However, in Yan'an, foreign personages saw a completely different scene: CPC leaders demonstrated an entirely new conception of power. In their eyes, CPC leaders were not "bureaucrats" in the traditional sense, but true public servants of the people, exercising power for the interest of the people. British journalist Gunther Stein discovered that nouns like "official" or "bureaucrat" were mocked by the people in Yan'an; cadres wore no badges indicating rank, had no official titles, and everyone addressed each other as "comrade." This atmosphere of equality was visible everywhere in Yan'an. American officer Evans Carlson noted that Eighth Route Army [5] cadres and ordinary soldiers in Yan'an were as close as brothers. When not on duty, subordinates and superiors stood on equal footing, sitting together to chat without restraint. American diplomat John Service recorded the Yan'an he saw: "There is also a complete absence of the personal bodyguards, gendarmes, and the flamboyant, grandiloquent talk of the Chongqing [6] bureaucracy." After his investigation in Yan'an, American journalist Theodore White asserted: "The Communists are radiant in contrast to the Kuomintang."
The phrase "Serve the People" often spoken by the Communists is "the real deal." The pragmatic, people-centered style of the CPC leaders left a deep impression on foreign visitors. Stein clearly remembered Mao Zedong emphasizing to him that if Party cadres work sincerely for the interests of the broad masses, they will have countless opportunities to listen to the people. Mao was always willing to set aside daily trivialities to stroll the streets of Yan'an, talking heart-to-heart with Party cadres, members of democratic parties [7], and even the most ordinary farmers. Anyone with doubts or seeking advice had the chance to find help from him. American journalist Israel Epstein found that through long-term revolutionary practice, Mao Zedong had formed a deliberate character, paying high attention to China's actual conditions and adhering to the ideological line of seeking truth from facts. In the eyes of American journalist Anna Louise Strong, Zhu De was "kind, simple, and looked like a peasant," with "no air of importance at all." The scenes of Zhu De interacting with local villagers left a deep impression on Agnes Smedley: "I had never before met a man so attached to life and yet so democratic in his ways." Colonel David Barrett, head of the Dixie Mission, mentioned that CPC leaders demonstrated an extremely high degree of pragmatism in their work. They did not engage in empty talk, but formulated plans and solved problems based strictly on reality. Harrison Forman described CPC leaders' concern for the lives of the masses: "In Yan'an, I watched CPC leaders go into the fields to labor personally, helping farmers harvest crops; they also frequently went deep into villages and factories to understand the production and living conditions of the masses, solving their difficulties in a timely manner." In Strong’s writing, the most frequent word heard in Yan'an was "the people"; slogans like "Go to the people" and "Learn from the people" "expressed an eternal love and an ultimate faith." After ten days of investigation in Yan'an, American journalist Archibald Steele said with deep feeling: "I have realized that 'serving the people,' which the Communists often talk about, is a tangible fact in Yan'an—it is the real deal." Upon leaving, he remarked: "Truly, if I stayed in Yan'an for eleven days, I would certainly become a Communist myself!" In the reports and descriptions of these foreigners, CPC leaders were approachable, concerned for the people, upright, and honest, working down-to-earth and fearing no hardship to achieve revolutionary goals: "The Communist Party is gaining the support of all the Chinese people."
“The various organs of the Shaan-Gan-Ning Border Region government are all elected by the people.” During the Yan'an period, the CPC attached great importance to the development of democratic politics, conducting beneficial explorations in democratic election, consultation, decision-making, management, and supervision, making the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region a model democratic zone for the national resistance against Japan. Addressing the Kuomintang slander that "Yan'an's unity is totalitarian," Theodore White concluded from his observations: "I could find no sign of such repressive machinery in Yan'an; I was there for only a few weeks, but other Americans who stayed for months likewise could not find any dictatorial or autocratic institutions like those in Chongqing." CPC leaders focused on listening to the masses during the decision-making process, allowing ordinary people to participate in political life. British journalist James Bertram believed that "the politics of the Border Region are the closest to true democratic politics in all of China" because "now all classes have the right to vote and participate in government." After attending a joint meeting of the Border Region Government and the Border Region Council, American journalist Maurice Votaw became convinced that "the various organs of the Shaan-Gan-Ning Border Region government are all elected by the people," and the principle that "Communists occupy only one-third of government positions [8] appears to be strictly observed." In the perception of these foreign personages, the CPC leaders broke down traditional hierarchical concepts and created an equal social environment.
The narrative of an image where one "sees only public servants, not bureaucrats" is, in essence, the concrete expression of the "Yan'an Style." The elements it contains—arduous struggle, close ties with the masses, integrity and public service, and opposition to the ideology of privilege—will forever be the "family heirlooms" [9] of the Chinese Communists. In the New Era and on the new journey, we must vigorously inherit and promote the Party's fine traditions and style represented by the Yan'an Style. We must draw strength for progress from it, stand firmly on the people's side, maintain flesh-and-blood ties with the masses, and maintain the tenacity and persistence that style construction is "always on the road." We must persevere in implementing the spirit of the central Eight-Point Regulations and promote the normalization and long-term effectiveness of style construction.
(Author: Assistant Professor, School of Marxism, Beihang University) Source: Qiushi (Red Flag Manuscript Edition), Issue 13, 2025