Zhu Jiamu: Inspirations for Us from Comrade Chen Yun’s Methods of Investigation and Research [1]
General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out in his speech at the symposium commemorating the 120th anniversary of Comrade Chen Yun's birth: "We must learn from Comrade Chen Yun's scientific methods of thought and work." He noted that Chen "treated investigation and research as the essential prerequisite for decision-making, emphasizing that 'leading organs must spend over 90 percent of their time on investigation and research when formulating policies.'" As a key member of the first generation of the Party's central collective leadership with Comrade Mao Zedong at its core, and the second generation with Comrade Deng Xiaoping at its core, Comrade Chen Yun participated in the formulation and implementation of a series of major decisions by the Party Central Committee across different historical periods. Relying on investigation and research for decision-making was how Comrade Chen Yun persisted in the method of thought and work of seeking truth from facts. Before every major decision, Comrade Chen Yun would conduct extensive investigation and research and listen to opinions from various sides.
At the 1962 Enlarged Working Conference of the CPC Central Committee (known as the "Seven-Thousand-Cadre Conference" [1]), Comrade Mao Zedong said that in socialist construction, we still acted with a great deal of blindness, there were many realms of necessity [2] that had not yet been recognized, and he admitted there were many problems he himself did not understand. At this point, he said: "Others understand better than I do. Comrade Shaoqi understands better, Comrade Enlai understands better, Comrade Xiaoping understands better. Comrade Chen Yun, especially him, understands quite a lot." He added: "His (referring to Chen Yun) method is investigation and research." Facts have proven that Comrade Chen Yun was indeed a model of excellence in investigation and research. The scientific methods of thought and work he summarized regarding investigation and research remain our forever-precious wealth. We must earnestly study and apply them, carrying them forward in combination with actual conditions.
I. Avoiding Preconceived Notions is the Prerequisite for Effective Investigation and Research
The purpose of investigation and research is to clarify facts and use them as the basis for making decisions and formulating policies. If one carries "frames" (fixed ideas) [3] or preconceived notions, it will inevitably hinder the persistence in seeking truth from facts during the investigation, causing one to be "eyes closed and ears blocked," remaining blind and deaf to the actual situation. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "Regarding bureaucratism, the main issues are being divorced from reality and the masses, acting high and mighty while ignoring reality, and being self-important and self-inflating." He noted that "some treat the arrangements of higher authorities by swallowing them whole or taking them out of context, some implement higher decisions by reading from the script or following old bureaucratic forms, or just 'draw a tiger according to the cat' [4] and apply things mechanically—doing what was done before or what others do—completely disregarding the actual conditions of their own locality or department." Those who conduct investigation and research in this manner cannot avoid preconceived "frames," and thus cannot obtain the true situation.
Persisting in seeking truth from facts was a distinctive characteristic of Comrade Chen Yun. He pointed out: "To lead our Party and country well, the most urgent task is to get the leading cadres’ method of thinking on the right track." During the Yan'an period, after repeated discussions with Comrade Mao Zedong on how to avoid making fewer mistakes, Comrade Chen Yun distilled a distinctive "fifteen-character formula": "Not only the superior, not only the book, only the reality; exchange, compare, repeat" (不唯上、不唯书、只唯实，交换、比较、反复). In a conversation during his later years, Comrade Chen Yun provided a complete and detailed explanation of the "not only the superior, not only the book, only the reality" part. He said: "‘Not only the superior’ does not mean the words of those above should not be heard. ‘Not only the book’ does not mean that documents and books should not be read. ‘Only the reality’ means starting from reality, researching and handling problems by seeking truth from facts—this is what is most reliable." When we look at Comrade Chen Yun's practice of investigation and research, we find that the reason he could avoid preconceived "frames" was precisely because he achieved these nine characters.
Comrade Chen Yun said: "Being able to hear different voices is by no means a bad thing. This is not contradictory to maintaining alignment with the Central Committee." It can be seen that his meaning of "not only the superior" is that while instructions from superiors and even the Central Committee must be resolutely implemented, and one must maintain identity with the Party Central Committee in ideology, politics, and action, one must never be divorced from reality or mechanical in imitation. Instead, one must start from the actual conditions of one’s own department and region. Only in this way can truth be sought from facts and the spirit of instructions from superiors and the Central Committee be well-implemented. During the Three Years of Difficulty [5], due to natural disasters and the "leftist" errors of the "Great Leap Forward," grain production dropped significantly, the masses suffered from widespread malnutrition, and many people contracted edema. At that time, the Central Committee decided that Comrade Chen Yun should resume leading financial and economic work. Through investigation and research, he felt that the "contracting output to the household" (包产到户) in Anhui and the "allocating land to the household" (分田到户) proposed by Comrade Tian Jiaying [6] were extraordinary methods for an extraordinary period. Whether called "contracting output to the household" or "allocating land to the household," the country faced such great natural and man-made disasters that it was necessary to mobilize all peasants to carry out the call from The Internationale: "It all depends on ourselves." Comrade Chen Yun first exchanged views on this matter with the members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau individually, and then proposed to report his views to Comrade Mao Zedong in person. Some comrades advised him to consider carefully and not be in a hurry to air his opinions. He said: "I am tasked with the leadership of the national economic work; I must be responsible to the Party and the people. Whether this matter is raised or not, changed or not, concerns the Party’s reputation and the support of the people. Since I have seen it clearly and found a solution, how can I delay?" Later, he still met with Comrade Mao Zedong and stated his views in person.
Clearly, the prerequisite for investigation and research to grasp the true situation is avoiding preconceived "frames." To do this, one must achieve "not only the superior, not only the book, only the reality." This is certainly not easy, but if one wants investigation and research to yield results, there is no other way. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "If there are different opinions on the Party’s resolutions and policies, provided they are resolutely implemented, one may state a reservation and may present their own opinions to the Party organization at the next level up, or even to the Central Committee." He added: "Party organizations at all levels must support and protect Party members and cadres who tell the truth and report the actual situation to the organization." It is not difficult to see that as long as we strictly follow what General Secretary Xi Jinping said, we can follow the principle of "not only the superior, not only the book, only the reality" and return investigation and research to its true essence.
II. In-depth Thoroughness is the Key to Effective Investigation and Research
General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized: "Investigation and research must never involve formalism. We cannot have 'dragonfly-skimming-the-water' style investigations [7] that are superficial and where the person is present but the mind is not; we cannot have 'Imperial Envoy' style investigations [8] where many instructions are given but little humble learning is done; and we cannot have 'passive investigations' where autonomy is poor and initiative is lost." Comrade Chen Yun was particularly opposed to these formalistic practices in investigation and research. At a meeting in his later years, he once said: "Regarding the method of investigation and research, I don't think it means over a hundred ministries each taking a notebook to read once at a Secretariat meeting, with everyone chiming in here and there, and finally the chair saying a few words and passing it. Nor is it visiting twenty-two counties in one week—that is nothing more than taking a loop in a car. This work method is too simplistic."
In the 1950s and 1960s, Comrade Chen Yun went to the countryside four times to conduct investigation and research. The fourth time was from late June to late July 1961, when he surveyed Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Shanghai. He stayed and ate in the homes of farmers in the Xiaozheng Commune of Qingpu County for 15 days, conducting a special investigation into the adjustment of rural policies during the Three Years of Difficulty. At that time, the Central Committee had decided to change the collective pig farming implemented during the "Great Leap Forward" to "concurrent public and private [farming], with private farming as the main part." However, there were no clear regulations on whether sows should be raised publicly or privately, and those below were waiting to see. Therefore, one of the key points of Comrade Chen Yun's rural investigation this time was to clarify whether it was better to raise sows publicly or privately.
During that investigation, in addition to visiting farmers' homes to observe pig raising, private plot cultivation, and living conditions, and going to fields and pig farms to check soil, crop growth, and collective pig farming, Comrade Chen Yun also listened to two reports from the commune Party committee and held 10 symposiums attended by farmers, listing 10 questions for everyone to discuss. In his investigation, he found that the places where the public raised pigs were "a mess of filth," with piglets, large pigs, sick pigs, and healthy pigs all eating the same thing. Pigs raised in farmers' homes were clean, and farmers even caught loach to feed them. During his field observations, he also discovered that farmers often placed weak piglets at the sow's third teat to nurse. Upon asking, he learned that this teat had the most milk. From this one instance, the depth and detail of Comrade Chen Yun's investigation can be seen. Finally, he concluded that sows should also be handed over to farmers for private raising and wrote an investigation report to the Central Committee.
In his work, Comrade Chen Yun always "inserted the pole all the way to the bottom" [9], never floating on the surface or engaging in "looking at flowers from horseback" [10] or "dragonfly-skimming-the-water." He paid great attention to details when understanding problems, especially focusing on figures. In the 1961 Qingpu investigation report, to explain that planting double-crop rice was inferior to planting broad beans and single-crop rice, Comrade Chen Yun cited a large amount of data and spoke with numbers. He said that planting double-crop rice yielded around 800 jin per year, while single-crop rice generally yielded around 580 jin. On the surface, double-crop rice increased production compared to single-crop rice, but a comprehensive accounting showed it was not worthwhile. First, the late rice of the double-crop system required the nursery space of single-crop fields, leading to a decrease of about 150 jin in single-crop yields. Second, each mu [11] of double-crop rice required 55 jin of seed, while single-crop rice only required 15 jin—using 40 jin less. Third, after planting double-crop rice, one could not plant summer-harvested crops, whereas with single-crop rice, one could still plant broad beans or wheat, yielding 80 to 100 jin per mu (60 to 80 jin after deducting seeds). Adding these three items, although double-crop rice yielded about 220 jin more than single-crop rice, it resulted in a loss of 250 to 270 jin. Additionally, double-crop rice used more fertilizer and labor. If this fertilizer and labor were applied to single-crop rice, production could increase by 60 jin. Comparing the two, double-crop rice clearly was not worth the candle. After reading the investigation report, Comrade Mao Zedong said: "In conducting investigation and research, one should learn from Comrade Chen Yun—speak with data and make people truly convinced."
III. Listening to Opinions is the Focus of Effective Investigation and Research
In the "fifteen-character formula" distilled by Comrade Chen Yun, the last six characters are "exchange, compare, repeat." The so-called "exchange" refers to the exchange of different opinions. He said that people are often prone to one-sidedness when looking at problems, treating one-sided reality as total reality; if one pays attention to exchanging opinions with others, especially listening more to different opinions, it helps in grasping the total reality, thereby truly achieving seeking truth from facts. Based on this, Comrade Chen Yun proposed that the main task in investigation and research is to listen to and understand different opinions, further pointing out: "There are various methods of investigation and research; seeking out people with various different views to exchange opinions is also a method, and an important one." He spoke earnestly to the cadres: "Leading cadres must pay special attention to listening to opposing words. Anyone dares to speak the same opinion, and it is easy to hear; different opinions are often not voiced because leaders are not humble, and they are not easy to hear. Therefore, we must be humble and listen more to different opinions. It should also be seen that things are very complex; to obtain a relatively comprehensive and correct understanding, one must listen to various different opinions, conduct meticulous analysis, and then synthesize them."
During the rural investigations in the early 1960s, Comrade Chen Yun repeatedly talked about the issue of hearing the truth. He pointed out that if those below do not tell the truth and do not reflect the actual situation upward, it is impossible for leadership to make correct decisions, which is extremely dangerous. "It is very dangerous for a leading organ not to hear opposing opinions. We advocate telling the truth, but there must be conditions for telling the truth." The reason Comrade Chen Yun liked to go to his hometown or places where he had engaged in the peasant movement whenever he "stayed at a selected spot" (蹲点) [12] for investigation was so he could hear the truth. Because the locals there knew and trusted him, they were willing to speak their minds to him. For example, during the Three Years of Difficulty, the peasants in Qingpu were dissatisfied with cadres who did not participate in labor, talked big, and lacked self-criticism, saying: "The cadres’ two lips are like two pieces of leather—they have a reason no matter which way they flip them"; "When cadres brag, commune members starve"; "When cadres show off, commune members suffer." Regarding these opinions, Comrade Chen Yun not only listened patiently but also took the initiative to assume responsibility. He said at the cadre symposium that there were still many problems in our work, and that several of us comrades in the Central Committee had not done our work well—he was one of them.
In 1959, when Comrade Chen Yun conducted an industrial investigation, he held a symposium for the coal industry. Considering that since the "Anti-Rightist Deviation" [13] some people did not dare to tell the truth, he first encouraged everyone at the start of the symposium to set aside their concerns. He said this was a meeting for investigation and research, not for speaking in front of a "horn" (referring to a microphone); they should "speak freely without scruples, consider problems from all sides, and not fear anything like rightist opportunism or 'leftist' opportunism." He especially urged that in the symposium, "reporting the situation is not about listing achievements and merits, but mainly about speaking on existing problems." Under his encouragement, the symposium was both lively and substantial; everyone spoke their minds freely, expressed their views on a series of problems, and found the crux of various issues in the coal industry at that time, providing a clear direction and a good start for the industry’s adjustment.
General Secretary Xi Jinping has emphasized, "We must go to places where work is progressing well and experience is advanced to summarize successes, but also to places where the masses have many opinions, where work is poorly executed, and where difficulties are numerous, situations are complex, and contradictions are sharp to conduct investigation and research. We must truly focus our efforts on observing the real situation, proposing real measures, performing real deeds, and seeking real results." In March 2023, the General Office of the CPC Central Committee issued the Work Plan on Extensively Conducting Investigation and Research Throughout the Party, which cited the first nine characters of Comrade Chen Yun's "fifteen-character formula," requiring that in research one must "listen to the truth, observe the real situation, persist in the truth, correct errors, treat one as one and two as two, report both good and bad news, and follow neither books nor superiors but only reality." This demonstrates that the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core highly identifies with Comrade Chen Yun’s advocacy for prioritizing the listening of dissenting opinions during investigation and research.
IV. Correcting One’s Purpose is Fundamental to Doing Investigation and Research Well
The fundamental purpose of investigation and research is to solve problems. General Secretary Xi Jinping has stressed the need to "grasp the issues that the common people find most urgent, worrisome, and resentful, and properly resolve the most direct and realistic interest concerns of the masses," and to "effectively transform research findings into practical measures for problem-solving and work improvement—preventing the tendency of 'more investigation, less research' [14] or 'more facts, less analysis,' and ensuring that proposed countermeasures are not over-generalized, hollow, and incapable of solving actual problems."
When Comrade Chen Yun conducted research—whether staying personally at the grassroots for extended periods [15], inspecting various regions, sending personnel down, or inviting people up—it was always to verify the facts reflected in official documents and to understand the situations those documents failed to reflect. Consequently, he traveled with very few staff, never notified newspapers, and did not bring reporters. To avoid disturbing local cadres, he rarely asked them to accompany him. On the eve of the founding of the People's Republic of China, Comrade Chen Yun was appointed Director of the newly established Central Financial and Economic Commission (hereinafter "CFEC"). Upon taking office, he faced a critical problem: how to stabilize prices in newly liberated areas, especially Shanghai, to ensure the People's Liberation Army could continue its southward operations and to stabilize the lives of urban residents. To this end, he led a small group of CFEC cadres to Shanghai by train for investigation. At that time, given the difficulties in Shanghai's land and water transport and frequent bombings by enemy aircraft, raw materials like coal, grain, and cotton could not be brought in, and factory products could not be shipped out. There were temporary plans to relocate factories and schools to other areas. Through investigation, Comrade Chen Yun discovered that while relocating factories might solve the raw material issue, it would create new, insoluble problems regarding factory buildings, electricity, and mechanical maintenance. Therefore, he decided to keep the main part of Shanghai’s industry in place and find ways to overcome the difficulties. Subsequent events proved that this decision was of vital significance for Shanghai to play its role as an economic center during the recovery of the national economy and in all later periods. Yet, for such an important research activity, not a single photograph remains.
Comrade Chen Yun knew deeply that investigation and research was about clarifying the situation and producing solutions. Thus, he believed that research itself could utilize different methods. He once said: "There are two methods of investigation and research: one is to personally lead a work team or send a work team to the countryside or factories; this is, of course, absolutely necessary. The other is for every high- and mid-level leading cadre to have close friends and staff members who dare to speak the truth, through whom they can regularly hear the voices of grassroots cadres and the masses. This latter type of investigation has the characteristics of being 'truthful, rapid, and broad.' By 'truthful,' I mean they dare to reflect the actual situation and speak from the heart because they trust you and know you will not target them [16]. I have several such friends. By 'rapid,' I mean problems can be discovered promptly while still in the bud. By 'broad,' I mean there are many high- and mid-level cadres (including those who have reached 'off-post' [17] or full retirement) across all provinces, cities, and industries nationwide. In a certain sense, the second type of investigation is even more important than the first. Both are necessary; neither can be dispensed with."
In 1953, to resolve contradictions in grain procurement and marketing, Comrade Chen Yun selected "unified procurement and marketing" [18] as the major national grain policy from among eight schemes produced through research. Later, through rural investigations, he learned that in some places, "output had been overestimated," "excess grain" was being requisitioned [19], grain for adjustment could not be traded, and standards for retained food rations were lacking. Consequently, on one hand, he pointed out that the policy of unified procurement and marketing must be maintained—defects and loopholes could be supplemented or reformed, but the policy must not waver. On the other hand, he requested "remedial lessons" for the policy, suggesting that based on unified procurement and marketing, a "Three Fixes" method be implemented: fixing production, fixing procurement, and fixing marketing. As a result, the people’s minds were greatly eased, making unified procurement and marketing the basic policy for resolving China's grain contradictions for a long period.
Precisely because Comrade Chen Yun was clear that the purpose of research was to solve problems concerning the interests of the people, no matter what issue he encountered, he always placed the people’s livelihood at the head of economic construction, constantly caring for and protecting the interests of the masses. In 1956, while concurrently serving as Minister of Commerce, he proposed that to do commercial work well, one must strengthen political and mass perspectives. He said: "Commercial work, including selling chickens and eggs, has political significance. The quality of commercial work directly relates to the vital interests of the 600 million people and whether the vast urban and rural populations are satisfied with us." In 1957, at a vegetable conference for 13 provinces and cities, he noted: "Ensuring vegetable supply and stabilizing prices is a universal demand of urban people. The lower a person’s purchasing power, the more they care about this issue... The supply of vegetables and other non-staple foods is by no means less significant than building factories; it should be placed on equal footing. If we only focus on industrial construction and ignore the livelihood of workers, they may causes disturbances, and we will still have to solve it eventually." In 1961, through an investigation in his hometown of Qingpu, he proposed that since collective farmland accounted for over 90% of all land in China, increasing the proportion of private plots [20] slightly would not shake the socialist economic base. He said: "In the current situation where peasants lack food rations, their greatest concern is not 'socialism or capitalism,' but 'eating dry rice or watery porridge.' Allocating a bit more private land can give peasants a bit more grain, which is good for consolidating the worker-peasant alliance and the socialist system; it is a necessary supplement to the socialist economy." During the Three Years of Difficulty [21], grain was scarce nationwide and people suffered from malnutrition. Through consulting experts, Comrade Chen Yun learned that the main cause of edema was protein deficiency, and since soybeans are high in protein, they could supplement the lack of meat and eggs. Thus, he proposed allocating 3 billion catties of soybeans annually to provide 3 catties per month to each of the 60 million urban residents. He also suggested using steel to build motorized fishing boats to harvest from the sea, and reducing pig exports to increase the meat and fish supply for urban residents by half a catty each per month. He said: "Currently, such issues are major national affairs. If the health of over 60 million people is failing and we do not think of practical ways to solve it, the masses will have complaints. The people want to see whether the Communist Party actually cares about them and has the means to solve livelihood problems. This is a political issue." He further pointed out: "The agricultural and market issues are major problems affecting the lives of over 500 million peasants and over 100 million urban dwellers; they are issues of people's livelihood. Solving them should become an important national policy."
General Secretary Xi Jinping has pointed out: "We must improve the quality of investigation and research, accurately grasp new situations, problems, and trends in economic and social development through various channels and methods, and accurately grasp the needs of the grassroots and the expectations of the masses, so that decision-making more closely aligns with reality and the aspirations of the people." Currently, as the world undergoes changes unseen in a century at an accelerating pace, global issues are intensifying, and China’s reform, development, and stability face many deep-seated contradictions that cannot be dodged or bypassed. We must further make good use of this "family heirloom" [22] of investigation and research, using deepened research to promote the resolution of development difficulties. We must master more of the real situation and gain a more thorough understanding of objective laws, laying a solid foundation for performing all work and taking responsibility, so as to continue pushing forward the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics in the New Era.
(Author: Former Vice President of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and Director of the Institute of Contemporary China)
Source: Qiushi (Red Flag Manuscript) Issue 15, 2025
Web Editor: Tongxin