Political Work

Strong Military Forum | Cultivating the Magnanimity to Tolerate Others

强军论坛丨涵养能容人的雅量

PLA Daily (解放军报) 12 May 2026

Summary

An opinion piece published in a PLA forum by an officer at Information Engineering University, Cyberspace Force, calls on senior military cadres to cultivate tolerance for internal criticism and to sustain rigorous intra-Party political life, citing Xi Jinping's address at a training course for senior military cadres across the armed forces. The piece is a standard political education article and contains no new operational, organizational, or capability information; its only marginal intelligence value is the author's institutional affiliation, which confirms that Information Engineering University is now formally associated with the Cyberspace Force rather than the former Strategic Support Force.

Translation

Cultivating the Magnanimity to Tolerate Others

■ Yuan Shaoke

Chairman Xi emphasized at the opening ceremony of the training course for senior military cadres across the armed forces: "Military leading cadres, especially senior cadres, must take the lead in conducting serious intra-Party political life, serve as models for speaking the truth, cultivate the magnanimity to tolerate others (涵养能容人的雅量), and foster a strong atmosphere of speaking real conditions, offering frank remonstrance (建诤言), and daring to struggle." To implement the spirit of this important address, military leading cadres, especially senior cadres, must conduct intra-Party political life seriously and rigorously—both speaking the truth in a realistic and objective manner and maintaining an open and candid heart capable of tolerating others—so as to form a political ecosystem (政治生态) of clean conduct and upright spirit (风清气正), and to consolidate the tremendous force that drives the cause of building a strong military.

Intra-Party political life is the "great furnace" (大熔炉) for tempering Party character and elevating political consciousness, and is the fundamental path by which leading cadres strengthen political training and enhance political capability. Whether this "great furnace" burns vigorously is closely related to whether leading cadres have the courage to carry out criticism and self-criticism, and whether they dare to speak the truth and are willing to hear it. Whether it is accepting criticism or daring to hear the truth, both require magnanimity on the part of leading cadres. Comrade Deng Xiaoping pointed out: "Leaders must be broad-minded. They must be able to tolerate others and be able to listen to opposing opinions." If leading cadres refuse to accept or appreciate differing voices or critical remarks from others, or even harbor resentment and wait for an opportunity to retaliate, others will resort to "playing tai chi" (打太极) when problems arise and walk around contradictions when they see them. Over time, the "great furnace" of political life may turn into a "cold stove" (冷灶台) with no heat.

"Rare indeed is the candid friend who dares to criticize you to your face." Being good at uniting people with differing opinions is an excellent tradition of our Party and our military. At the Zunyi Conference, "although the atmosphere was very solemn and the struggle very intense, those who spoke still reasoned things through," and through the conference, the Party "educated itself from its mistakes and learned how to better lead the revolutionary war to complete victory." Facts have proven that only with the magnanimity to tolerate others can leading cadres remain open-minded and receptive to a wide range of views. This not only reflects the character and cultivation of leading cadres, but is also an intrinsic requirement of institutional rules and regulations. The "Several Guidelines on Intra-Party Political Life Under the New Situation" (《关于新形势下党内政治生活的若干准则》) explicitly stipulates that Party leading organs and leading cadres must listen to all kinds of differing opinions and encourage subordinates to reflect real conditions.

Of course, being able to tolerate others is by no means an unprincipled accommodation, and one must never play the role of a "yes-man" (好好先生) or pursue "harmonious unity at all costs" (一团和气). The essence of tolerating others lies in self-restraint, not in sacrificing principles. As long as one acts with goodwill and uses appropriate methods, criticizing and pointing out the shortcomings and errors of others will not only fail to create estrangement, but will cause the other person to have a sudden awakening and deepen mutual friendship. It can be said that only by organically combining the ability to tolerate others with adherence to principles can one constitute a complete character. Comrade Zhou Enlai had a heart as vast as the sea and a bearing as boundless as the sky, yet he demanded of himself: "One must wage principled and resolute struggle against all incorrect thoughts and ideas, whether one's own or others'." Tolerating in the right way, tolerating with measure, and tolerating without indulgence—this is the magnanimity a Communist Party member should possess. When leading cadres cultivate such magnanimity, achieving leniency without crossing boundaries and strictness without losing proportion, it is conducive to purifying intra-Party political life and cleansing the political ecosystem.

Magnanimity can embrace waters on three sides; a lofty heart seeks to hold mountains on all four. At present, the effort to forge the military on the centenary of its founding is precisely at the moment when "the difficulties are greatest just as success is within reach," making it all the more necessary for leading cadres to stoke the "furnace fire" of intra-Party political life, cultivate the magnanimity to tolerate others, and with broad-minded openness hear the truth, examine real conditions, and unify thinking, will, and action. Only when leading cadres strictly uphold the Party's organizational life system, take the lead in earnestly implementing the "three meetings and one lesson" (三会一课), democratic life meetings (民主生活会), the dual organizational life system for leading cadres (领导干部双重组织生活), heart-to-heart conversations (谈心谈话), democratic evaluation of Party members (民主评议党员), and other systems; take the lead in carrying out criticism and self-criticism; adopt effective measures to improve and perfect mechanisms for offering suggestions and advice and for tolerating and correcting errors (容错纠错机制); and use institutional rules and regulations to encourage Party member cadres to speak the truth and report real conditions—only then can they drive the formation of a sound political ecosystem of upholding principles, opening one's heart fully, engaging in "red-faced sweating" (红脸出汗) exchanges, and daring to speak the truth, thereby injecting inexhaustible momentum into the cause of building a strong military in the new era.

(Author's unit: Information Engineering University, Cyberspace Force (网络空间部队信息工程大学))

Original Chinese

涵养能容人的雅量 ■袁少恺习主席在全军高级干部培训班开班式上强调：“军队领导干部特别是高级干部要带头严肃党内政治生活，当好讲真话的表率，涵养能容人的雅量，营造说实情、建诤言、敢斗争的浓厚氛围。”贯彻落实这一重要讲话精神，军队领导干部特别是高级干部要严肃认真开展党内政治生活，既实事求是讲真话，更心胸坦荡能容人，形成风清气正的政治生态，凝聚起推进强军事业的磅礴力量。党内政治生活是锻炼党性、提高觉悟的“大熔炉”，是领导干部加强政治训练、提升政治能力的基本途径。这座“大熔炉”烧得旺不旺，与领导干部是否勇于进行批评和自我批评，是否敢讲真话、善听真话有很大关系。不管是接受批评，还是敢听真话，都需要领导干部的雅量。邓小平同志指出，“领导人的度量要大一点。要能容人，要能听得进反面意见”。领导干部对他人的不同声音或批评指责不接受、不领情，甚至心存芥蒂、伺机报复，别人就会遇到问题“打太极”、看见矛盾绕着走。久而久之，政治生活的“大熔炉”就可能变成没有热度的“冷灶台”。 “难得是诤友，当面敢批评。”善于团结有不同意见的人，是我党我军的优良传统。遵义会议“气氛虽然很严肃，斗争很激烈，但是发言还是说理的”，通过会议，党“从错误中教育了自己，学习了如何更好的来领导革命战争到彻底的胜利。”事实证明，有了能容人的雅量，领导干部才能虚怀若谷、广纳群言。这不仅体现领导干部的品格修养，更是制度规矩的内在要求。《关于新形势下党内政治生活的若干准则》明确规定，党的领导机关和领导干部对各种不同意见都必须听取，鼓励下级反映真实情况。当然，能容人绝非无原则的迁就，更不能当“好好先生”、搞“一团和气”。能容人的精髓重在克己，而不是以牺牲原则为代价。只要心存善意、方法妥当，批评指出他人的缺点和错误，不仅不会造成隔阂，还会使其幡然醒悟，增进彼此友谊。可以说，把能容人与守原则有机结合起来，才能构成一个完美的人格。周恩来同志胸怀如海、度量如天，但他要求自己：“要与自己的他人的一切不正确的思想意识作原则上坚决的斗争。”容而得法、容而有度、容而不纵，才是共产党员应有的雅量。领导干部涵养这样的雅量，做到宽不过界，严不失度，有利于纯洁党内政治生活，纯净政治生态。雅量能环三面水，高怀欲抱四围山。当前，攻坚建军百年正是“将成功之时，其困难最甚”的时候，更加需要领导干部把党内政治生活的“炉火”烧旺，涵养能容人的雅量，以宽广胸怀听真话、察实情，统一思想、统一意志、统一行动。领导干部只有严格党的组织生活制度，带头认真落实“三会一课”、民主生活会、领导干部双重组织生活、谈心谈话、民主评议党员等制度，带头开展批评和自我批评，采取有效措施健全完善建言献策、容错纠错机制，用制度规矩鼓励党员干部说真话、报实情，才能推动形成坚持原则、掏心见胆、红脸出汗、敢讲真话的良好政治生态，为新时代强军事业注入不竭动力。（作者单位：网络空间部队信息工程大学）