[Debut] Que Weikang and Shi Xirui: Cultivating a Correct Concept of Political Achievement in the New Era with the Wisdom of the "Six Significant Dialogues on Party History"
From the "Lotus Tree Dialogue" of the Jinggangshan period to the "Examination Dialogue" of the Xibaipo period, the "Six Dialogues of Party History" profoundly demonstrate the Party's continuous exploration of "for whom to govern, on whom to rely for governance, and how to govern." They provide historical reference for Party members and cadres in the New Era to establish a correct outlook on performance [1], systematically answering the questions of "for whom is performance established, what kind of performance should be established, and by what means is performance established." The report to the 20th National Congress of the CPC explicitly proposed to "guide cadres to establish and practice a correct outlook on performance." Party members and cadres must be adept not only at coalescing majestic power within the great practice of the New Era and the new journey, but also at drawing wisdom from the Party's century-long history of struggle. Deeply mining the spiritual core of the "Six Dialogues of Party History" and integrating them into the cultivation of the performance outlook for New Era cadres is both an internal requirement for inheriting the Party’s "red genes" and continuing its fine traditions, and a practical necessity for forging a cadre force capable of shoulder the heavy responsibility of national rejuvenation.
I. Answering "For Whom is Performance Established" through the People's Standpoint
The people's standpoint is the fundamental political standpoint of the Communist Party of China and the value source of a correct outlook on performance. The "Front-of-the-Cave Dialogue" and the "Cave Dwelling Dialogue" [2] reveal the core principles that power comes from the people, performance is for the people, and evaluation rests with the people. These provide the best answer to "for whom is performance established" and serve as the fundamental guidance for New Era cadres.
The 1929 "Front-of-the-Cave Dialogue," addressing the question of "what exactly is the task of a leader," explicitly proposed that leaders should not possess any special status; their task is to be "messengers" for the masses. It elucidated the fundamental working method of "from the masses, to the masses." This assertion profoundly answered the question of for whom power is used: the CPC's power is endowed by the people and can only be used to seek well-being for the people, defining the essential attribute of performance at its root. Mao Zedong set requirements for "serving the people whole-heartedly" [3] from two aspects: the attitude of sincerity and the effect of doing one's utmost. Chen Yun [4] consistently adhered to the interests of the vast majority, taking "personal fame and fortune are as thin as water, while the Party’s cause is as heavy as a mountain" as his code of conduct. Based on the fundamental interests of the peasant masses and the long-term prospects of revolutionary development, the Party formulated the Land Law of the Chinese Soviet Republic, allowing peasants to receive land and fundamentally solving their survival problems. In the New Era, the concepts of "benefiting the people is the greatest performance" and "taking how many good and practical deeds have been done for the common people as the important standard for testing performance" are precisely the continuation and sublimation of this spirit. Party members and cadres must always hold fast to the people's standpoint of the "Front-of-the-Cave Dialogue," keep the concerns of the masses in their hearts, take the "urgent, difficult, and anxious" problems of the masses as the starting point for fulfilling their duties, and use the performance of practical deeds for the masses as the basic criterion for measuring work. They must resolutely overcome the unhealthy tendency of working for personal performance or interests, truly achieving governance for the people, keeping the people in mind, and bringing benefits to the people.
The 1945 "Cave Dwelling Dialogue" between Mao Zedong and Huang Yanpei provided a "new path" of "letting the people supervise the government" to address the "historical cycle" [5]. It answered the key question of "who evaluates performance," establishing the people as the principal subjects of performance evaluation. After his trip to Yan'an, Huang Yanpei published Return from Yan'an in Chongqing, spreading the CPC's democratic concept of "people supervising the government" to the Kuomintang-controlled areas [6], laying the ideological and public opinion foundation for this new path to democracy. When the North China People's Government was established, the North China People's Supervisory Bureau was created simultaneously as a professional administrative supervision organ to monitor illegal acts and dereliction of duty by public officials and to handle mass complaints and reports; this became the prototype of New China’s administrative supervision system. The Common Program [7] adopted in 1949 established that "the organs through which the people exercise state power are the People's Congresses and People's Governments at all levels," building the constitutional foundation for "people supervising the government." The "new path to democracy" thus entered the stage of national institutional implementation. From the "Cave Dwelling Dialogue’s" people supervising the government to the New Era's whole-process people's democracy, the CPC has always insisted that "the people are the highest adjudicators and final evaluators of our Party's work." To practice a correct outlook on performance in the New Era, we must take mass satisfaction as the core assessment standard, humbly accept the supervision and suggestions of the people, and improve a comprehensive evaluation system that balances "tangible performance" [8] with "intangible performance," development results with infrastructure construction, and short-term effectiveness with long-term benefits. We must let the reputation of the cadres among the masses become the hard yardstick for measuring work effectiveness, ensuring that performance can withstand the test of the people.
Adhering to the fundamental standpoint of "putting the people first" requires placing the people in the highest position, using the needs of the masses as the work guide and mass satisfaction as the evaluation standard. This establishes the value standards of a correct outlook on performance and clarifies the direction and boundaries of performance creation.
II. Clarifying "What Kind of Performance to Establish" through Strategic Sobriety
The systematic thinking of basing oneself on the overall and long-term situation, along with the sobriety of governing by "using history as a mirror" and "staying alert to danger in times of peace" [9] contained in the "Lotus Tree Dialogue," the "Jiashen Dialogue," and the "Examination Dialogue," clarify from both positive and negative perspectives "what kind of performance should be established." They elucidate the performance pursuits that Communists should adhere to and the hollow achievements they must reject, providing fundamental guidance for New Era cadres.
In the 1928 "Lotus Tree Dialogue" at Huangyangjie in the Jinggang Mountains, facing the difficult situation of the Kuomintang's military encirclement, Mao Zedong guided revolutionaries to "stand high and look far" and "see the whole of China and the whole world." This demonstrated the strategic thinking of Chinese Communists in looking beyond the local to see the whole and basing themselves on the present while planning for the long term. Later, addressing doubts within the Party as to "how long can the Red Flag keep flying," Mao Zedong linked the struggle in the base areas with the national revolutionary wave and the world revolutionary situation, proposing correct strategic and tactical principles and achieving theoretical innovation with strategic foresight. During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Mao Zedong wrote the brilliant work On Protracted War, which, based on the overall situation of the Sino-Japanese war, refuted the "theory of national subjugation" and the "theory of quick victory," scientifically predicting the three stages of the war and providing long-term strategic guidance for the entire nation. This strategic realm is highly consistent with the New Era requirements of "having the 'greatest interests of the nation' [10] in mind" and "calculating the big account rather than the small one." It reveals that true performance should serve the overall national strategic situation and the long-term interests of the nation. New Era cadres must inherit the strategic wisdom of the "Lotus Tree Dialogue," upholding the spiritual realm of "success does not have to be mine, but I must contribute to it." They must "both do practical things that the common people can see, touch, and benefit from, and do good things that pave the way, lay the foundation, and benefit the long term for future generations," consolidating the foundation of high-quality development with a strategic perspective.
The 1944 "Jiashen Dialogue" [11] contains a historical sense of crisis regarding the avoidance of false performance and the rejection of arrogance and extravagance, defining the baseline of performance for cadres. Mao Zedong listed Guo Moruo's Commemorating the 300th Anniversary of the Jiashen Year as a study document for the Party's rectification movement, using the historical fact of the rapid defeat and fall of Li Zicheng's peasant army due to arrogance and corruption after entering Beijing as a warning to the whole Party not to "repeat the mistake of being arrogant in times of victory." The essence of performance is responsibility toward the Party and the people; all behaviors that deviate from the style of arduous struggle [12] or betray the original aspiration and founding mission will eventually be abandoned by history and the people. The Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region promulgated the Provisional Regulations on the Assessment, Reward, and Punishment of Public Servants in the Border Region and the Covenant for Administrative Personnel, taking actual achievements and mass support as assessment standards and opposing boasting and formalism. At the Second Plenary Session of the 7th CPC Central Committee, Mao Zedong proposed and passed the "Six Regulations," institutionally curbing arrogance and formalism, preventing cadre complacency, and drawing a red line of integrity and pragmatism for cadre performance. After the Reform and Opening-up, the cadre assessment system became increasingly standardized, focusing on economic and social development and mass satisfaction, opposing "numerical performance" and "short-term behavior," and explicitly listing the elimination of falsehood as an assessment requirement. All Party members and cadres must use the "Jiashen Dialogue" as a mirror, always maintaining the sobriety of staying alert to danger in times of peace, resolutely resisting false and exaggerated behaviors, and putting an end to "watered-down" statistics, beautified reports, and "packaging-style" implementation. They must always approach their work with a humble and cautious attitude to ensure that performance is achieved through down-to-earth efforts.
In 1949, Mao Zedong issued the call of "heading for the examination" [13] at Xibaipo. With the firm vow that "we will never be Li Zicheng," he emphasized the necessity of adhering to the "Two Musts," [14] forming a historical resonance with the "Jiashen Dialogue" and demonstrating the Chinese Communists' consistent governing sobriety and adherence to their original aspiration. This spirit runs through the Party's century of struggle, indicating that true performance originates from arduous struggle rather than a craving for comfort, and development effectiveness relies on persistent accumulation rather than quick success for instant benefits. Under the leadership of the Party Central Committee, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Commission of Supervision have collaboratively promoted the institutionalized rectification of formalism and bureaucratism. The General Office of the CPC Central Committee issued notices on improving work style to promote the reduction of burdens at the grassroots level, focusing on solving prominent problems such as excessive forms, inspections, and reports, effectively curbing false performance and formalism at the institutional level. In the New Era, facing complex and severe risks and challenges and the arduous tasks of reform, development, and stability, cadres must remain clear-headed in "heading for the examination." They must always remember the original aspiration and founding mission, strictly avoid arrogance, luxury, and perfunctory dereliction of duty, and carry out their work with a style of arduous struggle and seeking truth from facts. They must ensure every task is implemented and achieves actual results, resolutely resisting the pursuit of quick success and deceptive behavior, ensuring that all performance can withstand the long-term test of historical evolution and practical development.
General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized: "It is not easy to stay alert to danger in times of success and maintain the spirit of working hard for the country that we had in the early days of our cause; it is not easy to remain frugal, restrained, and diligent from start to finish after taking power." Therefore, for cadres to establish a correct outlook on performance, they must inherit this sense of crisis, clarify their direction through a strategic vision, maintain determination with bottom-line thinking, uphold their political character by adhering to their original aspiration, and solve the problem of the path to achieving performance through scientific methods and a pragmatic style.
III. Answering "On What to Rely for Performance" through Seeking Truth from Facts
The wisdom of seeking truth from facts contained in the "Date Garden Dialogue" is the fundamental ideological method of a Marxist party. It is also the scientific method for New Era cadres to practice a correct outlook on performance, providing a scientific answer to the key question of "on what to rely for performance."
In the 1943 "Date Garden Dialogue," Chen Yun asked Mao Zedong three times "how can one make fewer mistakes?" Mao Zedong pointed out that "making mistakes is a problem of ideological method," profoundly indicating that seeking truth from facts is the ideological soul and working principle of the Party. On this basis, Chen Yun summarized the classic criteria of "not following the higher-ups blindly, not following books blindly, following only the facts; exchange, compare, and repeat," fundamentally clarifying the methodology of how Communists "do things correctly and create actual achievements." Zhang Side [15] joined a charcoal-making team carrying the principles and spirit he learned in the Date Garden; after conducting thorough investigations of the timber situation, he arranged the work accurately. After his sacrifice, Mao Zedong spoke at his memorial service, saying, "Comrade Zhang Side died for the interests of the people, and his death is heavier than Mount Tai." In 1944, while presiding over economic work in the Northwest, Chen Yun faced the challenges of the Kuomintang blockade and severe inflation. Based on in-depth investigation, he proposed the policy of "developing production, balancing imports and exports, tightening currency, and practicing strict economy." By extensively listening to opinions and repeatedly calculating data, he ensured accurate decision-making and eventually achieved a basic balance of fiscal revenue and expenditure, demonstrating the efficacy of proceeding from reality to break economic deadlocks. After the founding of the People's Republic, Zhu De [16], through regularized field research, broke through the theoretical limitations of the single public ownership system of the planned economy and proposed a series of innovative policy suggestions. At the same time, he emphasized the objective law that the scale of construction should be compatible with national strength; even under political pressure, he persisted in seeking truth from facts, continuously advising the Central Committee to attach importance to agriculture and people's livelihoods, demonstrating the research style of Chinese Communists who value reality and dare to speak the truth. This ideological method is highly consistent with the correct performance outlook of the New Era; true performance can only come from practical work based on objective reality, respect for the laws of development, and close ties with the masses. To practice a correct performance outlook in the New Era, one must firmly adhere to the spiritual essence of seeking truth from facts transmitted by the "Date Garden Dialogue," always insist on proceeding from reality in everything, and regard investigation and research as the fundamental basis for planning affairs and the key method for achieving success. Cadres should actively take root at the grassroots level and among the masses, establish a normalized research mechanism, accurately grasp objective reality, and understand the true demands of the masses. This ensures that various decisions and deployments conform to the spirit of the Central Committee and the local reality, follow the laws of development, and meet the expectations of the masses, eliminating erroneous decisions divorced from reality at their source and creating solid performance that stands the test of practice, the people, and history through hard work.
IV. Conclusion
The "Six Dialogues of Party History" condense the important theoretical results formed by the Communist Party of China in its revolutionary practice, providing important guidance for Party members and cadres in the New Era to establish a correct outlook on performance. On the new journey of building a strong country and achieving national rejuvenation, Party members and cadres should draw wisdom from Party history classics, adhere to the people's standpoint, grasp the overall development situation, persist in seeking truth from facts, and strengthen their sense of responsibility. They should fulfill the missions and tasks entrusted by the New Era with actual work achievements that meet the requirements of practice, the needs of the people, and the test of history.