Doctrine Political Work

Work with Feeling: Only by Sensing the Hardships and Concerns of the Grassroots Can One Truly "Put Oneself in Another's Shoes"

带着感情做工作，感知基层的冷暖痛痒才能真正“将心比心”

PLA Daily (解放军报) 13 May 2026

Summary

A political work article published in a PLA outlet calls on Party member cadres to engage the grassroots with genuine emotional investment rather than procedural compliance, invoking Xi Jinping's directives on the mass line and citing model figures Jiao Yulu and Yang Yegong—the latter credited with founding the PLA's first new-type missile unit and establishing its first new-type missile combat operational process and position model. The piece is a routine ideological guidance article and contains no new operational or organizational information, but the reference to Yang Yegong's role in standing up the PLA's first new-type missile unit is a named data point useful for tracking the PLA Rocket Force's force development history and the cadre exemplars the political work system is currently promoting. The article's emphasis on distinguishing spatial proximity to the grassroots from genuine political reliability signals ongoing institutional concern that formalistic compliance with mass line requirements is masking disengagement—a recurring theme in PLA political work that has intensified since the 2023 Rocket Force leadership purge.

Translation

Work with Feeling

■ Han Yutang

"Every branch and leaf is a matter of concern" — Chairman Xi has cited this line of verse on multiple occasions, urging Party member cadres to carry out their work earnestly and meticulously with genuine feeling, and pointing out that "when comrades who have feeling go down to the grassroots to do work, they can see it, touch it, and feel it — that is a kind of warmth." Working with feeling is an important requirement for Party member cadres to put their founding mission into practice and to follow the mass line (群众路线) in the new era; it is also an inherent part of establishing and practicing a correct view of political achievement (政绩观).

475 days — that is how long Comrade Jiao Yulu worked in Lankao. Why was Jiao Yulu able, in such a short time, to produce achievements from which the people would benefit forever? A news report described it this way: "When he saw the people drinking bitter water, his tears streamed down at once"; "Listening to the people's stories of hardship, his chest ached as though something were boring into his heart." And the stage drama Jiao Yulu gives a straightforward answer: he had a deep feeling for the people.

Participating in the formation of our military's first new-type missile unit; establishing our military's first new-type missile combat operational process; successfully commanding our military's first new-type missile launch; building our military's first new-type missile position model (导弹阵地模式)… these were the answers Comrade Yang Yegong delivered in the last ten years of his life. Why were his achievements so numerous and so solid? A single statement Yang Yegong made during his lifetime is the answer: love for the country, feeling for the people — and training fills you with energy from head to toe.

Chairman Xi has pointed out: "Feeling is something very essential. If you go through the motions of connecting with the grassroots (接地气的动作) without feeling, it is just 'putting on a show.'" Where does the essence lie? It lies in being able to uphold fundamentals, consolidate the foundation, and set an example in one's work; in being able to trace things back to their source and restore the original order (正本清源); it lies in working with an unpretentious style and a commitment to quality. Working in this way — with feeling, genuinely and steadfastly — how could one not be fully invested? Why would there be any worry about failing to produce real, tangible results?

Cadres today mostly have relatively high levels of education, but it must be recognized that for the force to develop, it is important for cadres to have knowledge, but it is even more important for them to have feeling for the force's cause and for the soldiers. Feeling has warmth; feeling generates strength. Looking through a car window during investigations; being physically present but mentally absent during on-site stays; treating the completion of procedures as the resolution of a problem when addressing difficulties… all such practices amount, at bottom, to doing work without heart or feeling, causing work that should connect with the grassroots to become distorted and go off course. Working with such a mindset and in such a state, it is naturally difficult to produce genuine achievements and good political results that the people will recognize.

"The exemplary person's thoughts do not go beyond his proper station." When working with feeling, clearly understanding one's own position (站位) is of critical importance. "Rarely leaving the inner courtyard, never descending from the high tower" easily leads to "speaking in official tones and getting nothing real done"; "frequently going down to the grassroots and often sharing soldiers' meals" naturally leads one to proactively "speak the soldiers' language and relieve the grassroots of its worries" — as the saying goes, "treat people with sincerity, and nothing is beyond reach (诚以待人、无物不格)." Practice has proven that one's position (站位) is both a fixed point and a bearing; it determines a person's standpoint, attitude, and feeling, and also influences a person's orientation, direction, and trajectory. Standing off-center or in the wrong place easily leads one astray; only by standing upright and in the right place can one go far and go well.

Chairman Xi has pointed out that only by connecting with the grassroots (接地气) can one cultivate feeling for the people. Where the source runs deep, the stream flows long; where the roots go deep, the leaves flourish. Comrade Mao Zedong once vividly compared Communists to seeds and the people to soil, emphasizing that our Party can only take root, blossom, and flourish among the people by uniting with them. In a certain sense, connecting with the grassroots is a kind of return — a return of feeling, a return to one's true character — and in that return one builds up one's foundation and uplifts one's integrity (扬正气); it is a kind of looking back — a looking back at one's work, a looking back at one's thinking — and in that looking back one examines gains and losses and clarifies direction.

Nothing moves the heart more than feeling; nothing stirs the heart more than action. Working with feeling is not simply providing an abstract "emotional value (情绪价值)," but genuinely gauging the soldiers' sentiments and inquiring about their hardships and concerns. It must be recognized in particular that spatial "closeness" between Party member cadres and the grassroots does not naturally mean emotional "intimacy." Only by further strengthening their practical experience of focusing on combat readiness and serving grassroots officers and soldiers can Party member cadres truly sense where the shortcomings in combat readiness lie, truly sense the hardships and concerns of the grassroots, and truly "put themselves in another's shoes" — thereby inspiring a sense of responsibility to resolve difficulties and more quickly and effectively driving the comprehensive development and across-the-board strengthening (全面过硬) of force building.

Original Chinese

带着感情做工作 ■韩玉堂 “一枝一叶总关情”，习主席多次引用这句诗，嘱咐党员干部带着真挚感情做实做细工作，并指出“有感情的同志下基层做工作，看得见、摸得着、体会得到，那是一种温暖”。带着感情做工作，是党员干部践行初心使命、走好新时代群众路线的重要要求，也是树立和践行正确政绩观的题中应有之义。 475天，是焦裕禄同志在兰考工作的时长。为何焦裕禄能在这么短时间创造出群众永远受益的政绩？一篇新闻报道中这样写道：“看到群众喝苦水，他的眼泪一下子就流下来了”“听着群众的苦日子，他胸口像钻心一样疼”。而话剧《焦裕禄》给出的答案很直白：他对人民有深深的感情。参与组建我军第一支新型导弹部队，建立我军第一个新型导弹作战运行流程；成功指挥我军首次新型导弹发射、构建我军第一个新型导弹阵地模式……这是杨业功同志生命最后10年交出的答卷。成绩为何这么多、这么硬？杨业功生前这样一句话就是答案：对国家有爱，对人民有情，训练就会浑身有劲。习主席指出：“感情是一个非常本质的东西，不带着感情去做接地气的动作，就是‘作秀’了。”本质在何处？就在于做事能守基本、固根本、做样本，能追本溯源、正本清源；就在于做事时作风质朴、讲究质量。工作中，如此带着感情做工作，真真切切，踏踏实实，怎会不投入？何愁没有实实在在的成绩？现在的干部，学历大多比较高，但必须认识到，部队要发展，干部肚子里有墨水是重要，但对部队的事业、对士兵有感情更重要。感情是有温度的，是会滋生力度的。调研时隔着车窗玻璃看，蹲点时人在心不在，解难时把走了流程当作解决了问题……凡此种种做法，说到底是做工作不走心、不用情，让本该接地气的工作变了形、走了样。以这样的心态和状态做工作，自然也就难以干出群众认可的真业绩、好政绩。 “君子思不出其位。”带着感情做工作，明确自身站位至关重要。“少出深院、不下高楼”，就容易“打着官腔，不办实事”；“常下基层，多吃碰饭”，自然会主动“说士兵话，解基层忧”，正所谓，“诚以待人、无物不格”。实践证明，站位既是定位又是方位，它决定着一个人的立场、态度与感情，也影响着一个人的取向、方向与走向。站偏站错了容易走斜走歪，站正站对了才能走远走好。习主席指出，接了地气才能培养对群众的感情。源浚者流长，根深者叶茂。毛泽东同志曾经形象地把共产党人比作种子，把人民比作土地，强调我们党只有同人民结合起来，才能在人民中间生根、开花。从某种意义上说，接地气是一种回归——情感的回归、本色的回归，在回归中增底气、扬正气；是一种回望——工作的回望、思想的回望，在回望中察得失、明方向。感人心者，莫先乎情；动人心者，莫先乎行。带着感情做工作，并不是简单提供抽象的“情绪价值”，而是实实在在察兵情、问冷暖。尤其要看到，党员干部与基层空间上的“近”，并不天然意味着感情上的“亲”。党员干部只有进一步强化聚焦备战打仗、服务基层官兵的实践体验，才能真正感知备战打仗的短板所在，才能感知基层的冷暖痛痒，也才能真正“将心比心”，从而激发解决困难的责任感，更快更好推动部队建设全面发展、全面过硬。