Xiao Xiaohua: The Origins and Contemporary Implications of the Fine Style of Work Among Soviet Area Cadres
"The good style of Central Soviet Area officials means going to work carrying their own dry rations; by day, they wear straw sandals to make revolution, and by night, they carry lanterns to visit poor peasants." This popular Xingguo folk song [1] not only profoundly depicts the image of Party officials during the Central Soviet Area period [2], but is also a vivid portrayal of their excellent style. During the Central Soviet Area period, in the practical exploration of creating, consolidating, and developing the base areas and exercising local governance, Soviet Area officials forged an excellent style characterized by "wholehearted service to the people, seeking truth from facts, arduous struggle, integrity and public service, and striving for excellence." This excellent style is an important magic weapon [3] for the Party to win the hearts of the people and consolidate its strength. Summing up the experience of the Party's work style construction during the Central Soviet Area period and exploring the reasons for the formation of the Soviet Area officials' good style has important theoretical and practical significance for carrying forward glorious traditions and strengthening and improving the Party's work style construction in the New Era.
I. The Nature and Purpose of the Party are the Core of the Formation of the Soviet Area Officials' Good Style
The nature and purpose of a political party are the internal decisive factors of its style, while the party's style is the most direct and vivid external manifestation of its nature and purpose. In this sense, a party's style is the "relatively stable emotional cognition and comprehensive evaluation left in the public mind by the overall quality, spiritual outlook, abilities, philosophy, and performance displayed" in the process of practicing its own claims and values. As the Communist Party of China (CPC), armed with Marxism, it is not only a party guided by scientific theory and possessing firm ideals and beliefs, but also a party burdened with the original aspiration and founding mission of seeking happiness for the Chinese people and rejuvenation for the Chinese nation. These essential attributes and missions of the Party are the core factors and source of power for the formation of the Soviet Area officials' good style.
(1) The nature of the vanguard of the proletariat is the core factor in the formation of the Soviet Area officials' good style
The CPC is a political party that represents the fundamental interests of the proletariat and the broad masses of the people. The program of the First National Congress of the CPC stipulated that "the revolutionary army must overthrow the power of the capitalist class together with the proletariat," and the state should be reconstructed by the laboring class. This provision not only reflects the consistency of interests between the Party and the people, but also fundamentally stipulates that the Party must be the most faithful representative of the broad masses of laboring people. During the Central Soviet Area period, the successive passage of the Outline of the Constitution, the Detailed Rules for the Election of the Chinese Soviet Republic, the Detailed Rules for the Work of the Election Committee of the Chinese Soviet Republic, and the Provisional Election Law of the Soviets [4] not only legally established the class attributes and democratic essence of the Soviet regime, but also legally protected the political rights of the broad masses of the people, truly realizing that "all power belongs to the Soviets." The Outline of the Constitution solemnly declared: "The Chinese Soviet regime is building a democratic dictatorship of workers and peasants. All power of the Soviets belongs to the workers, peasants, Red Army soldiers, and all the toiling masses." The democratic attribute of the Soviet regime not only enhanced the sense of responsibility and mission of the Party members and officials in the Soviet Area, but also stimulated the enthusiasm of the masses in the Soviet Area to participate in politics. They actively elected officials with excellent styles and public recognition to work in Soviet government organs, laying the conditions for the formation of the Soviet Area officials' good style.
(2) Firm ideals and beliefs are the inexhaustible spiritual driving force for the formation of the Soviet Area officials' good style
Ideals and beliefs are the spiritual pillar and the foundation of life for Chinese Communists, as well as the inexhaustible spiritual driving force for the Soviet Area officials to remain firm in their will, face death with equanimity, defy hardships, and fight heroically. The Declaration of the General Alliance Against Imperialism and in Support of the Soviet Union in the Central Soviet Area on Holding the "Movement to Oppose Imperialism, Armed Support for the Soviet Union, Develop the National Revolutionary War, and Smash the Enemy's Massive Offensive" pointed out: "We have a strong conviction in victory and will actively attack the enemy," and "Victory belongs to us!" In 1930, in his article "A Single Spark Can Start a Prairie Fire," Mao Zedong scientifically predicted that the Chinese revolution would inevitably form a "prairie fire" trend. Mao Zedong's vivid expression of the revolution's future not only laid the theoretical and ideological foundation for the Chinese revolution, but also strengthened the ideals and beliefs of the military and civilians in the Soviet Area. Behind the touching stories of Jiang Shanzhong writing in blood "I will not defect even in death, protecting the Communist Party for ten thousand years," Li Meiqun’s "entrusting her orphan before the horse" [5], and He Shuheng’s "shedding the last drop of blood for the Soviets," all reflect the firm ideals and beliefs of Soviet Area officials. This rock-firm belief is the spiritual support and source of power for the tenacious will and excellent style of the Soviet Area officials.
(3) A solid sense of purpose is the value orientation for the formation of the Soviet Area officials' good style
"The proletarian movement is the self-conscious, independent movement of the immense majority, in the interest of the immense majority." Since the day of its founding, the Party has consciously taken up the historical mission of seeking happiness for the Chinese people and rejuvenation for the Chinese nation. The Outline of the Constitution of the Chinese Soviet Republic passed by the "First National Soviet Congress" [6] in 1931 stipulated that the revolution and construction of the base areas "aim at thoroughly improving the living conditions of the working class" and "aim at eliminating the feudal system and thoroughly improving the lives of the peasants." Based precisely on this noble mission and responsibility, Soviet Area officials, in the heat of the revolution and the construction of the base areas, adhered to the people's standpoint, rooted themselves among the people, strengthened investigation and research, "cared for the well-being of the masses," "sincerely sought the interests of the masses," and did their utmost to solve the most urgent and realistic problems of the masses. This won the heartfelt support of the people in the Soviet Area and established ties between the Party and the masses, officials and the masses, and the military and the masses as close as "fish and water."
II. A Clean and Upright Political Ecosystem is the External Environment for the Formation of the Soviet Area Officials' Good Style
The political ecosystem and social atmosphere are important external factors affecting the formation of work style. To ensure the seriousness of intra-Party life, create a good political ecosystem, and promote the formation of an excellent style, during the Central Soviet Area period, the Party continuously purified the intra-Party political ecosystem by improving the organizational life system, conducting serious intra-Party life, and creating a positive revolutionary culture, providing a good external environment for the formation of the Soviet Area officials' good style.
(1) A sound organizational life system provides the organizational guarantee for the formation of the Soviet Area officials' good style
A perfected organizational life system is not only conducive to strengthening the Party's comprehensive leadership and promptly communicating the central government's decisions and deployments to local Party organizations at all levels, but also helps Party organizations at all levels understand the ideological and work status of Party members and officials, thereby carrying out targeted education and management. With the establishment and gradual standardization of the Party's organizational system in the Central Soviet Area, especially the grassroots Party branches, the base area established a mechanism to "regularly and systematically educate comrades starting from the branch." The establishment of this mechanism ensured that the Party's political life could be carried out in a normalized and institutionalized manner. In November 1931, the Resolution on Issues of Party Building passed by the First Representative Congress of the Party in the Central Soviet Area addressed the problem of some grassroots Party branches becoming detached from the masses. The resolution denounced these shortcomings and explicitly proposed: "Branch work must undergo a thorough transformation; the branch must truly become the link between the Party and the masses." It stipulated that "lower-level Party committees must regularly provide oral or written work reports to the higher levels." Institutionalized organizational life prompted Soviet Area Party members and officials to take the initiative in reporting their thoughts and work to the Party organization and accepting organizational supervision and guidance.
(2) The sharp weapon of criticism and self-criticism promptly corrects the bad styles of Soviet Area officials
Serious and earnest criticism and self-criticism are important measures to overcome unhealthy tendencies, unify thinking, enhance unity, and improve work. They help every Party member and official promptly discover and correct their own problems and deficiencies in thought, work, and life. In July 1929, the Outline for the Training of Party Members compiled by the Third Column of the Fourth Army of the Red Army introduced in a special chapter "how to criticize comrades," providing relatively detailed regulations on the purpose, method, and scope of criticism, as well as the attitude of the person being criticized. The Resolution of the Ninth Representative Congress of the Fourth Army of the Communist Party of China [7] emphasized that correctly conducting intra-Party criticism and self-criticism is a "weapon to strengthen the Party organization and increase the Party's combat effectiveness," raising criticism and self-criticism to a strategic height concerning the Party's vitality and combat strength. In September 1933, Luo Mai (Li Weihan) emphasized in the article "Treating the Promotion of New Officials as an Organizational Combat Task" that leading organs at all levels "must develop self-criticism, not only to make the execution of the Party line more correct and consistent, and not only to better transform work methods, but also to enable new officials to develop their abilities more quickly, and to allow practical opportunist elements and incompetent staff to be discovered in time and replaced by active and resolute forces." Under the lead of officials at all levels, criticism and self-criticism not only played a positive role in the formation of the Soviet Area officials' good style, but also gradually became an atmosphere in the intra-Party political life of the Central Soviet Area, further developing into an excellent tradition of the Party. The Second Resolution on the Land Inspection Movement [8] passed in September 1933 truthfully pointed out the bureaucratism that had appeared in work—which was detached from the reality of the masses—and proposed targeted rectification measures. On July 8, 1933, the 92nd issue of the Red China [9] newspaper published an article titled "Smash Corruption and Bureaucratism—Comrade Fu Lu's Self-Criticism," in which Fu Lu conducted a self-examination: "I used more than four yuan of public money for private use to buy a watch and food," and "I have been passive and slack in work, not taking responsibility for general duties." This kind of public, soul-touching self-criticism was extremely common during the Central Soviet Area period and effectively corrected unhealthy tendencies that appeared in work style construction.
(3) A positive revolutionary culture creates a good atmosphere for the formation of the Soviet Area officials' good style
Culture and work style are closely linked; the two complement and promote each other. During the Central Soviet Area period, the Party attached great importance to the mutual promotion and positive interaction between cultural construction and work style construction, vigorously creating a revolutionary cultural atmosphere that admired role models. Mao Zedong not only grandly praised Changgang Township and Caixi Township as "truly model township governments" and "models of Soviet work," but also proposed using "practical methods to improve our work; advanced places should move further ahead, and backward places should catch up with the advanced." During this period, many important newspapers and periodicals in the Soviet Area, such as Red China, Youth's Truth, and Struggle, opened columns like the "Red Board" and "Red Plaque" to praise and publicize those Soviet Area officials who were active in work, clean and honest in public service, and upright in style. For example, on January 7, 1934, the 141st issue of Red China focused on praising A Jin, the captain of the Ruijin County general assault team, and six district assault team captains: Tang Baokang of Yunji District, Lai Changzuo of Hedong District, Cai Zhufeng of the Urban District, Zhang Hua of Xiaoxiao District, Mao Zetan of Huangbai District, and Zhu Xueou of aiqian District. In addition, literary and art workers in the Central Soviet Area publicized the advanced deeds and excellent styles of Soviet Area officials through various means such as slogans, cartoons, ballads, and plays. This created a positive revolutionary cultural atmosphere in the Soviet Area and a good external environment for the formation of the Soviet Area officials' good style. For instance, the issue of Youth's Truth published on March 4, 1934, featured six cartoons titled "Exchange of Seeds," vividly reflecting the excellent style of agricultural technicians in the base areas going deep into the countryside to promote agricultural production techniques. These rich and colorful cultural propaganda efforts created a thick revolutionary cultural atmosphere of learning from models and pursuing progress, providing fertile cultural soil for the formation of the Soviet Area officials' good style.
III. Leading Officials Setting an Example is the Key Link in the Formation of the Soviet Area Officials' Good Style
During the Central Soviet Area period, Li Weihan emphasized: "In government work, one should be a model of absolute integrity, not employing cronies, doing more work, and taking less pay," and at all times and in all places "one should subject individual interests to the interests of the nation and the masses," and "at all times and in all places be a model of revolutionary discipline and thorough loyalty to the revolutionary cause." During this period, the older generation of proletarian revolutionaries such as Mao Zedong, Zhu De, and Zhou Enlai led by example and set the pace, using practical actions to educate and guide the formation of the Soviet Area officials' good style.
(1) Leading Soviet Area officials to continuously improve their theoretical level
First, they took the lead in studying theory. To systematically promote the study and research of Marxist theory among leading officials, the Central Organs of the Soviet Area took the lead in establishing the Marxism Research Society, playing an important exemplary role in theoretical study. Leading officials, with Comrade Mao Zedong as the primary representative, regarded theoretical study as a political responsibility and spiritual pursuit, leading by example and taking the lead in research. Despite being on the front lines of struggle with intense warfare and busy government affairs, they squeezed out time to study Marxist-Leninist works diligently and paid close attention to domestic and international situations. During this period, Mao Zedong applied the basic principles of Marxism to deeply analyze the reality of the Chinese revolution and wrote important works such as "A Single Spark Can Start a Prairie Fire" and "Oppose Book Worship." Zhang Wentian wrote theoretical articles such as "On New Leadership Styles" and "Against the Small-Bourgeois Ultra-Leftism." Second, they took the lead in teaching theory. Key theoretical figures and leaders with rich practical experience, such as Mao Zedong, Zhang Wentian, Dong Biwu, and Liu Shaoqi, frequently went to the Marxism Research Society or the Marxist Communist School to give reports. They provided in-depth yet simple explanations focused on core contents such as the basic principles of Marxism, the international and domestic situation, and the Party's line, principles, and policies.
In April 1929, at the Land Reform Cadre Training Class held at the Lianjiang Academy in Xingguo, Mao Zedong proclaimed the Party's political program and explained the policies of the land revolution, emphasizing the Party's mass discipline, work discipline, target tasks, and objectives. Third, the leaders took the lead in applying theory. Mao Zedong and other leaders actively advocated a Marxist style of study [10] that integrates theory with practice. During the Central Soviet period, Mao Zedong led by personal example, going deep into the grassroots to conduct a series of famous investigations, such as those in Xunwu, Xingguo, Changgang Township, and Caixi Township, providing an important basis for formulating a land revolution line and policies that accorded with reality. Driven by the example of leading cadres at all levels, a strong atmosphere for theoretical study formed within the Soviet Areas. Party and government organs, Red Army units, and mass organizations generally established study groups, research societies, and reading classes, flexibly organizing study and discussion during work breaks, on the march, or in the fields. "Literacy plaques" on walls, theoretical articles in the mimeographed Red China (Hongse Zhonghua) newspaper, and simple pamphlets all became important carriers for disseminating theory. Through systematic, in-depth theoretical study closely linked to practice, the political consciousness and theoretical literacy of the broad masses of cadres in the Soviet Areas—especially those of worker and peasant origin—were significantly enhanced.
(2) Leading Soviet Area cadres to go deep into reality and seek truth from facts
In December 1933, Mao Zedong emphasized in Soviet Work in Changgang Township, Xingguo that "the most effective method for opposing bureaucratism is to show them living examples." Deng Yingchao pointed out in Fight to Create a Red Army of One Million Iron Men that the completion of various work tasks in the base areas "must rely primarily on the strengthening of Party leadership and on every Party and Youth League member heroically taking the lead as a Red Army soldier and acting as a model for the masses, thereby exerting a massive leadership role." During the Central Soviet period, the Party not only proposed goals and tasks for revolution and construction along with the principles, lines, and strategies to achieve them, but also promoted the completion of various tasks through a pragmatic style and solid measures, "proving the facts to the vast majority of the peasant masses within the Soviet Areas and across all of China." To grasp the actual situation of the base areas, Mao Zedong not only conducted the Xunwu, Xingguo, Changgang Township, and Caixi Township investigations but also utilized gaps between battles to conduct the Dongtang and Mukou Village investigations, pioneering a new trend of investigation and research in the Soviet Areas through practical action. To resolve the worries of Red Army soldiers regarding their families, Zhou Enlai and other leading cadres took the lead in participating in "Saturday Voluntary Labor," helping Red Army families harvest grain, carry water, and chop wood. To break the enemy's economic blockade, leading cadres and their families took the lead in reclaiming wasteland to grow vegetables and overcoming difficulties; to solve the masses' difficulty in accessing drinking water, Mao Zedong led Red Army soldiers in personally digging wells for the people of the Soviet Areas. "Study military affairs, join the army and fight, execute tasks, save grain, observe discipline, participate in labor, give preferential treatment to Red Army families, comfort and donate, purchase public bonds, and join supply and marketing cooperatives." The ballad "The Ten Leads of Soviet Area Cadres" truly and comprehensively reflects the glorious image of Soviet Area cadres seeking truth from facts and leading by example.
(3) Leading Soviet Area cadres in thrift, economy, and arduous struggle
During the Central Soviet period, materials in the base areas were scarce. To break the enemy's economic blockade and support the front lines, leaders such as Mao Zedong were strict with themselves, being the first to endure hardship and the last to enjoy comforts. To save oil, Mao Zedong insisted on using only a single lamp wick while working at night; to save grain for the front, Liu Shaoqi led the entire staff of his office in eating "steamed rice packets" [11]. Under the guidance of Soviet Area leaders, a work style of being "more hardworking and more frugal" was formed throughout the Soviet Areas. During the Land Investigation Movement [12], Soviet Area cadres took the initiative to yield benefits to the people, stating that "it is best for government staff not to ask for a share of goods, so as to serve as models." During the Economy Movement, leading cadres such as Lu Dingyi, Deng Yingchao, Chen Yun, Mao Zetan, Luo Mai, and Pan Hannian, along with the entire staff of the Central Ministry of Finance, the Central Ministry of Education, and the Central Workers' and Peasants' Inspection Committee, saved two liang [13] of rice per person per day.
IV. Cadre education, supervision, and restraint mechanisms were important guarantees for the formation of the good style of Soviet Area cadres.
The formation of a work style is a systemic project, related both to the ideology and habits of individual Party members and cadres, and to the external environment and institutional constraints. To cultivate the good style of Soviet Area cadres, the Central Soviet Area continuously improved cadre education, supervision, and restraint mechanisms, providing a solid institutional guarantee for the formation of this style.
(1) Strengthening cadre education and training to consolidate the ideological foundation of the good style of Soviet Area cadres
Ideological education is the foundational work of style construction. During the Central Soviet period, the Party placed cadre education and training in a position of great importance. According to statistics, from November 1931 to the end of 1933, of the 39 standing committee meetings of the Central Council of People’s Commissars of the Soviet, 20 were devoted specifically or as an agenda item to researching education work, illustrating the degree of importance the Central Soviet Area attached to cadre education. To improve the political and theoretical level of Soviet Area cadres in a planned and purposeful manner, the Party established many cadre education and training institutions and various Party and League training classes. These conducted education for Soviet Area cadres on basic Party theory, the sense of purpose, the current situation and tasks, cultural knowledge, as well as organizational discipline, work discipline, and mass discipline. This not only improved the theoretical level and revolutionary consciousness of the cadres but also strengthened their deep class feelings for the workers and peasants, laying a solid ideological foundation for the formation of the good style.
(2) Strengthening daily supervision to build a restraint mechanism for the good style of Soviet Area cadres
With the consolidation and development of the base areas, the Central Soviet Area successively promulgated systems such as the Organic Regulations of the Workers' and Peasants' Inspection Department, the Resolution on Issues of the Workers' and Peasants' Inspection Offices, the Outline Organization of the Complaint Bureau of the Workers' and Peasants' Inspection Department, and the Resolution on Establishing the Central Party Affairs Committee and the Provincial and County Supervisory Committees of the Central Soviet Area. These gradually established a supervisory system in which inner-Party and outer-Party, administrative, and judicial supervision cooperated and operated in coordination, continuously standardizing the exercise of power by Soviet Area cadres. Important newspapers and periodicals such as Struggle (Douzheng) and Red China opened special columns like "Shock Brigade," "Sledgehammer," "Blackboard," and "Criticism" to criticize and expose the poor styles, illegal acts, and disciplinary violations of Soviet Area cadres. Issue No. 113 of Red China on September 27, 1933, seriously criticized the Luofang District of Yudu County for "coercively allocating and selling economic construction bonds, leading to the suicide of a middle peasant by hanging," calling for a ruthless blow against bureaucratism and "intensifying political mobilization work."
(3) Strengthening institutional building to improve the guarantee mechanism for the good style of Soviet Area cadres
During the Central Soviet period, the Party not only established the principle of the Party commanding the gun [14] and improved the "Three Main Rules of Discipline and Six Points for Attention" [15], but also proposed many principled requirements such as "strictly implementing democratic life under centralized guidance," "the minority in the Party obeying the majority," and "once a resolution is formed, it must be resolutely executed." Furthermore, it formulated many disciplinary systems related to style construction, such as the Regulations on the Punishment of Government Workers, the Provisional Financial Regulations of the Chinese Soviet Republic, the Provisional Regulations on the State Treasury, the Unified Accounting System, the Directive on Punishing Corruption and Waste, and the Auditing Regulations of the Central Executive Committee of the Chinese Soviet Republic. It emphasized that "all Party members who violate Soviet laws and harm the revolution must be subject to stricter revolutionary disciplinary sanctions than non-Party worker-peasant elements." It was necessary to use a "Bolshevik spirit to maintain the iron discipline of the proletarian party." Strict Party, administrative, and military discipline played a role in the rigid institutional restraint for the formation of the good style of Soviet Area cadres.
At the same time, inspections were strengthened to correct deviations and unhealthy tendencies in style construction in a timely manner. The song "The Inspection System is Good" goes: "Cadres often come to our township, inspecting our township and chatting about family matters; asking about oil, salt, firewood, and rice, bringing warmth to our hearts." The ballad truly reflects the excellent style of inspection cadres in the Soviet Areas going deep into the grassroots and caring for the masses. Inspection work during the Central Soviet period not only bore the function of guiding and helping localities restore and rebuild Party organizations, unifying Party leadership, and ensuring the Central Committee's political line was implemented, but also held the responsibility of checking the discipline and style of Party organizations and members at all levels, and striking at formalism and bureaucratism. Inspectors at all levels were required to "live integrated with the lower levels, be economical, and be models for the general comrades."
V. Unique historical and cultural resources provided the nutrient-rich soil for the formation of the good style of Soviet Area cadres.
The formation and development of the good style of Soviet Area cadres were deeply influenced by the Party's style construction during the Jinggangshan struggle [16], and drew from the rich essence of excellent traditional Chinese culture and the unique regional cultural resources of Southern Jiangxi and Western Fujian.
(1) The exploration of style construction during the Jinggangshan struggle provided the preliminary theoretical preparation and practical lessons for the formation of the good style of Soviet Area cadres.
During the Jinggangshan struggle, the older generation of revolutionaries, including Mao Zedong and Zhu De, not only refined a series of important political principles and behavioral norms from their practical hardships but also preliminarily cultivated a series of excellent styles centered on seeking truth from facts, maintaining close ties with the masses, arduous struggle, unyielding perseverance, leading by example, and democratic equality. These excellent styles were deeply integrated into the blood of the Party and the people’s army, becoming the Party's distinct characteristics and political character. By the Central Soviet period, the concepts and practical experience of work style nurtured during the Jinggangshan struggle were not only fully inherited and systematically developed but were also guaranteed and strengthened at the institutional level.
(2) Excellent traditional Chinese culture provided cultural nourishment for the formation of the good style of Soviet Area cadres.
The Party is not only a loyal inheritor and promoter of excellent traditional Chinese culture but has also been deeply nourished by its mission-driven responsibility ("every man shares responsibility for the fate of the world" [17]), its spirit of innovation ("although Zhou is an old state, its mission is new" [18]), and its spirit of sacrifice ("sacrificing one's life to preserve one's integrity" and "choosing righteousness over life"). Under the guidance of Marxism, the Party carried out the creative transformation and sublimation of excellent traditional Chinese culture, making it an important spiritual food for the lives of Soviet Area cadres, internalizing it into their ideas, externalizing it into their words and deeds, and reinforcing their habits and styles. For example, the traditional idea of "seeking truth from facts" [19] was transformed into the excellent style of being pragmatic; the idea of "people-orientedness" was transformed into the style of serving the people wholeheartedly; the tenacious will of "hardships and tribulations make you a success" was transformed into the style of arduous struggle; the value orientation of "valuing integrity" was transformed into the style of integrity and self-discipline; and the striving spirit of "self-improvement" and "innovation and change" was transformed into the style of striving for excellence.
(3) Profound local culture endowed the good style of Soviet Area cadres with distinct regional characteristics.
The revolutionary culture nurtured in the Central Soviet Area added a layer of charming local culture—the unyielding Hakka culture and the Luling culture [20] that values literature and education—onto excellent traditional Chinese culture. The intertwining influence of multiple cultures left a deep regional mark on the good style of Soviet Area cadres, which highly overlaps with its connotations. The cultural connotations of "hard work, arduous struggle, and courage to pioneer" formed by the Hakka ancestors through a millennium of migration are highly consistent with the style of Soviet Area cadres in facing dangers and enduring hardships. The cultural connotations in Luling culture of "valuing literature and education, loyalty and patriotism, emphasizing virtue and propriety, and uniting in struggle" are highly consistent with the style of integrity and selfless dedication of Soviet Area cadres. These profound local cultures are the fertile cultural soil for the formation of the good style of Soviet Area cadres.
VI. Implications for the New Era from the formation of the good style of Soviet Area cadres.
The good style of Soviet Area cadres is an external expression of the Party's nature and purpose. It stems from the firm ideals and beliefs of the revolutionary predecessors, their deep commitment to the people, and their practical spirit of responsibility and action. It is also inseparable from the Party's institutional and cultural construction, the leadership's example-setting, and the education, supervision, and restraint mechanisms. Summarizing the experience of style construction during the Central Soviet period plays an important role as a historical mirror for implementing the Eight-Point Regulations and advancing the Party's style construction in the New Era in depth.
(1) Deepening theoretical armament and consolidating the ideological foundation of style construction
Theoretical construction is the ideological foundation and guide for action in style construction. To strengthen style construction in the New Era, we must take theoretical armament as a foundational project, persevere in using Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era to solidify the soul and pool strength, and profoundly understand General Secretary Xi Jinping's important expositions and requirements regarding Party building and style construction, using them as powerful ideological weapons to transform both the subjective and objective worlds. We must persist in integrating study, reflection, and application, and unifying knowledge, belief, and action, combining theoretical study with practical work, and consciously arming our minds and guiding practice with the Party's innovative theories. We must continuously improve the mechanism for regular theoretical study, create a strong atmosphere for study, and promote the internalization of theoretical study into the mind and its externalization into action, providing inexhaustible spiritual power for style construction.
(2) Strengthening the sense of purpose and solidifying the value foundation of style construction
"Serving the people wholeheartedly" is the most distinct spiritual marker and the profoundest value orientation of the good work style of Soviet Area cadres. General Secretary Xi Jinping has emphasized: "In strengthening work style construction, we must focus closely on maintaining the flesh-and-blood ties between the Party and the masses, enhancing the mass viewpoint and mass sentiment, and continuously deepening the mass foundation for the Party's governance." Maintaining close ties with the masses is the soul and the value foundation of work style construction. To strengthen work style construction in the New Era, we must transform this value position into solid and effective work style practices, using it as the ultimate "touchstone" for testing the effectiveness of work style construction. We must consistently take the resolution of the masses' urgent, difficult, and anxious problems [21] as the starting point and end goal of work style construction. "We must focus on solving the prominent problems that the masses respond to strongly, using new achievements in work style construction to gather positive energy for promoting reform and development," continuously realizing the people's aspirations for a better life. We must improve systems and mechanisms, continuously refining long-term mechanisms for Party members and cadres to directly contact and serve the masses, implementing the requirements for normalizing and institutionalizing work style construction into the specific practice of serving the people, and transforming these into tangible results in resolving the masses' actual problems. We must vigorously advocate for a style of seeking truth from facts and taking practical actions, resolutely opposing all forms of formalism and bureaucratism that sever ties with the masses or harm their interests.
(III) Grasp the "Key Minority" and Leverage the "Leading Goose Effect" in Work Style Construction
The work style of leading cadres is the "weather vane" for the Party's style and the political atmosphere. During the Central Soviet Area period, the older generation of revolutionaries led by example and set a standard through their own actions. With their firm ideal beliefs, noble moral character, and pragmatic work style, they powerfully drove the formation of an excellent work style. General Secretary Xi Jinping has pointed out: "Leading cadres must take the lead in changing their work style, practicing what they preach, and leading from above to create a 'leading goose effect' [22]." To strengthen work style construction in the New Era, we must highlight the leading and exemplary role of leading cadres. Regarding theoretical study, they must take the lead in deeply studying and thoroughly grasping Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, effectively improving their ability to use the Party’s innovative theories to guide practice and promote work. Regarding serving the masses, they must take the lead in going deep into the grassroots and among the masses, listening to the people’s voices, and effectively solving the "hotspot" and difficult problems the masses feel strongly about. Regarding taking responsibility and proactive action, they must dare to tackle tough challenges, take the lead in implementing various reform tasks, and ensure all work is grounded and realized. Regarding discipline and rules, they must take the lead in resolutely opposing the Four Winds; they must maintain a clear head at all times, holding the bottom line and avoiding the "red line"; they must strengthen their own moral cultivation, foster healthy life interests, and consciously accept supervision from the organization and the masses. With the posture of "look toward me for the standard," they should take the initiative to act, creating a favorable atmosphere where "one level demonstrates for the next, and one level leads the next," promoting the transmission of work style requirements through every level until they take root.
(IV) Improve Systems and Mechanisms to Manifest Rigid Constraints in Work Style Construction
The mechanism of "education—constraint—supervision—punishment" provided a solid guarantee for the formation of the good work style of Soviet Area cadres. General Secretary Xi Jinping has emphasized the need to "persist in institutional Party governance and governing the Party according to regulations." In the New Era, while strengthening ideological education, we must further improve systems and mechanisms to manifest rigid binding force. On one hand, we must refine the systems and regulations related to work style construction, detailing the implementation of the spirit of the Central Eight-Point Regulations and their implementation rules, and formulating specific norms targeting the "invisible and mutated" forms of the Four Winds. On the other hand, we must construct an all-inclusive, multi-dimensional supervision system, integrating various supervisory forces and utilizing modern technology to enhance supervisory efficiency, thereby forming a powerful supervisory synergy. At the same time, we must give full play to the specialized supervisory role of the discipline inspection and oversight organs, strengthening the enforcement of systems. We must maintain "zero tolerance" toward acts that violate work style regulations—investigating and handling every case discovered—to create a powerful deterrent and ensure that "iron rules" exert their force and "prohibitions" command respect.
(V) Strengthen Cultural Leadership to Create a Favorable Atmosphere for Work Style Construction
Culture influences work style, and work style reflects culture. Cultural construction during the Central Soviet Area period not only reshaped the spiritual world of the military and civilians in the Soviet Area but also promoted the formation of the good work style of Soviet Area cadres. To strengthen work style construction in the New Era, we must attach great height to the nourishing and saturating role of culture. We must be adept at drawing nutrients from fine traditional Chinese culture, deeply excavating the connotations of excellent work style within revolutionary culture—especially the Soviet Area Spirit and the Long March Spirit. We must vigorously carry forward the struggling spirit of Soviet Area cadres to "create first-rate work" [23], leading a conscious awareness of good work style through firm cultural confidence. We must vigorously advocate for clean and clear relationships between comrades and regulated relationships between superiors and subordinates, carry forward the spirit of struggle, consciously resist unhealthy tendencies, and continuously purify the internal political ecosystem of the Party, providing a clean and upright environment for work style construction.
About the Author: Xiao Xiaohua is the Secretary of the Discipline Inspection Committee and a Professor at the China Jiangxi Executive Leadership Academy (Ciela).
Source: Journal of China Jiangxi Executive Leadership Academy, 2025, Issue 6. Editor: Hui Hui