Special Issue on Building the Military Through Politics · Forging Through Fire: Key Arguments | Ideological Remolding Has No End

Ideological Remolding Has No End

■ Sang Linfeng

A person stands upright by virtue of thought. To lead in thought is the most advantageous form of leading; to lead through thought is the most fundamental form of leadership. Only by thoroughly remolding thought can one successfully remold practice and win victory.

The effectiveness of ideological remolding determines the quality and efficacy of ideological rectification (思想整风). At the opening ceremony of the training course for senior cadres of the entire military, Chairman Xi emphasized conducting ideological rectification, deepening political consolidation training (政治整训), and strengthening the revolutionary tempering of the military's cadre corps, requiring that "cadres at all levels of the military must consciously put themselves in the right position, stand firm on the mass standpoint, and overcome all selfish and impure thoughts that are divorced from the masses."

The depth of ideological remolding bears directly on the depth of building the military through politics (政治建军). At the Central Military Commission's conference on political work, Chairman Xi systematically laid out six priority areas for advancing the building of the military through politics on the new journey, the first of which is to "strengthen the consciousness and thoroughness of ideological remolding."

Ideological remolding is like dusting — it always refreshes one's appearance; like detoxifying — it always restores a healthy body; like curing illness — it always enables rebirth through fire.

The process by which Party members and cadres re-temper their souls, re-forge their Party spirit, re-invigorate their spirit, and elevate their moral realm is one in which ideological remolding accompanies them throughout, without end — Communists learn until old age, study until old age, and remold their thinking until old age.

I

Ideological remolding is of extraordinary significance.

Marx and Engels stated in the Communist Manifesto that the communist revolution "involves the most radical rupture with traditional ideas" in the course of its development.

Ideological remolding means using the Marxist worldview, outlook on life, and values to purify and cleanse the thinking of Party members and cadres — put vividly, it means consolidating and expanding the "Marxist-Leninist base area (马列根据地)" in one's mind. It is a unity of "breaking" and "establishing." What is broken is outdated thinking, habitual modes of thought, and path dependency; what is established is new thinking and new understanding that conforms to the times, shoulders the mission, and can withstand the test of practice.

During the Yan'an period, the Liberation Daily published an account of the Party branch of the Security Department of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region discussing the "Decision of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party on Strengthening Party Spirit." That Party branch organized two centralized transmissions and four large-format lectures, with Party small-group discussions totaling 135 hours, of which mutual criticism alone accounted for three-fifths.

This is a vivid example of how our Party at that time relied on intra-Party education to strengthen ideological remolding.

"Pursue the good as if you could never reach it; shun the bad as if you were plunging your hand into boiling water." The process of ideological remolding is simultaneously a process of upholding truth and correcting errors, and a process of strengthening Party spirit and elevating moral conduct.

Looking back at the history of our Party and our military — from the Gutian Conference to the Yan'an Rectification Movement, from the New-Style Army Consolidation Movement to the successive intra-Party concentrated education campaigns after the founding of the People's Republic of China — every one of them achieved correction of deviations and errors through thorough and penetrating ideological remolding, striking down one "powerful ideological enemy" after another, and making the understanding of the cadre corps more unified and their steps more coordinated.

Conversely, when ideological remolding is incomplete, the original aspiration (初心) becomes clouded, convictions waver, and the ideological line of defense falls.

To deepen the building of the military through politics and continuously deepen political consolidation training, we must carry forward the spirit of thorough self-revolution, make every effort to carry ideological remolding through to the end, truly uproot erroneous ideological roots, and establish correct values.

— Ideological remolding is an objective requirement for forging political loyalty.

The military is an armed group that executes the Party's political tasks; it must be ensured that the barrel of the gun is always in the hands of those who are loyal and reliable to the Party. Over the past nearly one hundred years, one important reason our military has been able to advance continuously from victory to victory amid various tests of risk and hardship is that, through conscious and thorough ideological remolding and revolutionary tempering forged through a thousand trials, Party members and cadres have always remained loyal to the Party's faith, the Party's organization, and the Party's cause.

Today, exchanges, fusions, and clashes among various ideological and cultural currents are more frequent than ever, and the struggle in the ideological domain is increasingly sharp and complex. Only by conducting thorough ideological remolding can we better consolidate the soul and unite forces, strengthen the foundation, and uphold the righteous while eliminating the harmful, ensuring that Party members and cadres unwaveringly heed the Party and follow the Party.

— Ideological remolding is an inevitable choice for improving the capacity to win wars.

Ideological remolding and combat effectiveness building are inherently unified; it is the People's Army's secret weapon for winning wars. In the era of revolutionary war, it was precisely through repeated profound ideological tempering that the blood-and-guts courage of fearing neither hardship nor death was cultivated, and the fighting will of being invincible and ever-victorious was forged — enabling our military to repeatedly defeat stronger enemies and compose heroic epics that shake heaven and earth and move ghosts and gods to tears.

It is not difficult to observe that before many of our military's major campaigns, profound ideological remolding was conducted among Party members and cadres — a "revolution in the depths of the soul." Examples include the Puyang consolidation training before the Huaihai Campaign and the Danyang consolidation training before the liberation of Shanghai.

At present, the great changes unseen in a century are accelerating, a new round of technological and military revolutions is advancing rapidly day by day, and the form of warfare, the mechanisms of victory, and the elements of combat are undergoing profound changes.

Faced with a complex and severe national security situation and the arduous and heavy tasks of preparing for and fighting wars, only by continuously deepening ideological remolding — constantly forging the courage to dare to fight, honing the ability to win battles, and stimulating the wisdom to fight well — so that Party members and cadres focus all their thinking on fighting and direct all their work toward fighting, can our military stand at the forefront of global military competition and achieve the ability to respond to the call, fight upon arrival, and win every battle.

— Ideological remolding is a practical necessity for tempering a superior work style.

An excellent work style shapes heroic units; a lax work style destroys an ever-victorious force.

In the long course of revolution, construction, and reform, our Party and our military have not only formed a series of fine work styles but have also accumulated precious experience in work-style building, one important element of which is strengthening ideological remolding.

In every concentrated consolidation and rectification campaign of our Party and our military, ideological education has led the way — through rectifying thought to align steps, discipline the ranks, and correct the work style — ensuring that the entire Party and the entire military always advance in unity.

Ideological deterioration is the most serious pathology. When a Party member or cadre slackens one inch in thought, they will slacken one foot in action, and all manner of transgression and leakage becomes inevitable. Only by persistently strengthening ideological remolding, continuously correcting ideological understanding, and clarifying the boundaries between right and wrong can Party members and cadres effectively fulfill the mission tasks of our military in the new era with an exemplary image of superior work style.

II

Ideological remolding is a required course for Communists.

In this regard, the older generation of revolutionaries and outstanding Party members and cadres have set examples and established benchmarks for us.

Comrade Zhou Enlai cultivated himself throughout his life, constantly reflecting and advancing, persisting in ideological remolding his entire life without ever interrupting it.

On March 18, 1943 — Zhou Enlai's 45th birthday by the lunar calendar — his comrades proposed preparing refreshments to celebrate, but he politely declined, simply eating a bowl of noodles before returning to his office to work. That evening, he wrote the famous "My Principles of Self-Cultivation (我的修养要则)," covering seven aspects including work, study, life, and social interactions, as important content of his lifelong ideological remolding.

During the Yan'an Rectification Movement, Zhou Enlai wrote more than 50,000 characters of rectification reflections and gave five days of exchange speeches — the most detailed self-examination among the senior cadres' rectification meetings.

Ideological remolding that cuts to the bone is not easy; it requires courage, introspection, and self-dissection — sparing no one's feelings and unafraid to expose one's own ugliness.

Comrade Zhang Wentian adhered to the principle of "follow whoever holds the truth" and was a model of daring to turn the blade inward. For a period of time, Zhang Wentian implemented erroneous policies, but he had the courage to uphold truth, correct errors, and proactively assume responsibility. He said sincerely: "To oppose subjectivism, one must make a thorough reckoning — do not conceal, do not fear exposing your own errors, do not fear letting others see your scabby head."

Comrade Xie Juezai was one of the founders of the people's judicial system. He compared ideological remolding to "suing oneself" — that is, waging struggle in one's own mind between communist thought and all manner of incorrect ideas and concepts, insisting on serving simultaneously as defendant, lawyer, and judge, subjecting oneself to strict judgment without the slightest leniency, and polishing the true colors of a Party member through continuous self-"trial."

Xie Juezai pursued "lifelong self-cultivation with no end," never concealing his shortcomings and deficiencies. On New Year's Day 1943, he improvised a poem: "Affairs are already old year by year; conduct must be renewed day by day." Beginning that January, he wrote ten consecutive articles of self-reflection, "laying out the good and the bad together." In his essay "Self-Indictment at Sixty (六十自讼)," he wrote: "'At fifty, one should know the wrongs of the forty-nine years prior' — then at sixty, one should also strive to make up for the shortcomings of the fifty-nine years before." This spirit of examining one's own faults and holding oneself strictly accountable is precisely the essence of ideological remolding.

"The depths of the soul can only be excavated by oneself." On the journey of life, every person is like someone carrying two bundles — one bundle is "the faults of others," and the other is "one's own faults." Most people place the former in front of their chest and the latter behind their back: at a glance downward they see the wrongs of others, while they rarely see their own faults.

Yet for Chinese Communists, self-examination is not an occasional gesture made for appearances. The more consciously one examines and reflects, the more squarely one faces problems; the more resolutely one corrects oneself, the more effective and thorough self-revolution becomes. Many poems, essays, and diaries record the process by which revolutionary predecessors examined and reflected on themselves, strengthening ideological rectification, ideological remolding, and ideological renewal.

Comrade Chen Yi constantly practiced his own motto — "Fullness invites loss, humility receives benefit; be ever diligent throughout the day, strive ceaselessly for self-improvement" — and persisted in the path of ideological remolding. "Do not reach out your hand; if you reach out, you will surely be caught. The Party and the people are watching; with ten thousand eyes upon you, there is no escape." He also wrote large quantities of verse such as "Do Not Reach Out Your Hand (手莫伸)" and "To My Children (示儿女)," warning himself never for a moment to forget ideological Party membership and ideological remolding.

Comrade Wu Yuzhang, on his 81st birthday, solemnly wrote a "Self-Reflective Motto (自省座右铭)": "Past eighty-one, I have yet to resolve my faults. The morning hours are lost, but the evening is not too late. I must painfully reform my past errors and strive to make amends; guard against arrogance and impetuosity, do not be idle or negligent. Inscribed as a reminder."

Countless revolutionary predecessors purified their thinking and rectified their work style through ideological remolding, and thus their original aspirations remained unchanged and their perseverance constant — their Party spirit was strong, their image was towering, and they shine brilliantly in the history of the Party and the military.

Their stories tell us: the more one remolds, the more one feels the need for remolding; the more one strives to advance, the more one thirsts for "daily self-examination on three points." When ideological remolding is conscious and thorough, loyalty to the Party will contain no impurity or dilution; only then can the root problems of thought be resolved, and the political character be preserved forever and purity and honor consolidated.

III

Ideological remolding — the key lies in selecting the right methods. Methods are the bridge and the boat for crossing the river.

Surveying ancient history: Yang Zhen's refusal of a bribe in the dead of night; Sima Guang's "warning pillow" to spur his ambition; Zhu Xi's "investigation of things to extend knowledge (格物致知)"; Wang Yangming's "unity of knowledge and action (知行合一)"; Zhao Gai's "self-reflection by casting beans"; Shen Dianhua's "could I possibly have such faults?"; Zeng Guofan's "twelve daily disciplines (日课十二条)" — these ancient sages and worthies created excellent methods for cultivating moral character and refining thought.

Surveying the history of our Party and our military, methods of ideological remolding have likewise emerged in endless succession, scientific and effective. A few examples are given here:

Method One: Carry out criticism and self-criticism.

The Tan Zheng Report (《谭政报告》) summarized ideological remolding as having three main steps: exposing errors, reflecting on errors, and correcting errors — of which the first and most important is exposing errors. "Without earnest criticism of things that are clearly wrong, one cannot alert cadres, and one cannot mobilize cadres' enthusiasm for examining and criticizing errors."

At the Party's Seventh National Congress, Bo Gu conducted a profound self-criticism and review, expressing his intention to be completely transformed going forward — to "shed the embryo of the petty-bourgeois revolutionary" and "replace the bones of dogmatism."

Only when Party members and cadres carry forward a spirit of seriousness, dare to "flush red-faced and break into a sweat," point out problems in a timely manner, and correct shortcomings and errors, can they ensure that ideological remolding achieves solid results.

Method Two: Forcibly and deliberately examine one's own weaknesses.

Comrade Mao Zedong proposed that leading cadres "repeatedly study their own thinking, their own history, and their current work, and conduct a thorough self-reflection" — even going so far as to "deliberately and forcibly examine one's own weaknesses."

Comrade Li Lisan was an outstanding early leader of the workers' movement in our Party. After leaving an important leadership position due to line errors, he did not sink into despondency but spent his entire life analyzing and correcting his own errors. He would often say openly and frankly, "My name is Li Lisan; I made errors in the past," and he encouraged everyone to offer him criticism and to supervise and help him.

In 1942, to advance the Rectification Movement, the Liberation Daily published an editorial titled "We Must Reflect on Ourselves." It stated: "If we have the resolve to eliminate bad thoughts and habits, and at the same time have the patience to build new thoughts and habits bit by bit, combined with long and unceasing effort, then a complete transformation — discarding the old and establishing the new — is possible for every person." This tells us that if Party members and cadres, in the course of continuously deepening political consolidation training, can all forcibly examine themselves, they will surely be completely renewed in both ideological work style and behavioral habits.

Method Three: Conduct in-depth investigation and research.

Ideological remolding requires deepening understanding on the basis of practice; investigation and research that involves "taking off one's shoes and going down into the fields" is indispensable.

Beginning in January 1942, Zhang Wentian led the "Yan'an Rural Investigation Team" in conducting more than a year of on-site investigation into over twenty villages and towns in northern Shaanxi. This Party theoretician who had once studied in Moscow wrote with deep feeling in his "Record of Departure and Return (出发归来记)": "All work must proceed from objective reality."

He believed that any Communist "once he departs from reality and from the masses, will harden and walk into the museum of old Bolsheviks, becoming a historical exhibit."

Investigation and research is the foundation of planning and the path to accomplishment. Chairman Xi has emphasized the need to cultivate throughout the entire Party a vigorous culture of investigation and research. In recent years, as the pace of strengthening and revitalizing the military has accelerated, our military's grassroots building faces many new situations and changes in terms of mission task requirements, construction content, daily operational conditions, unit organizational forms, the composition and structure of officers and soldiers, and the external social environment. Without conducting in-depth investigation and research, it is impossible to keep pace with the times in thought and thereby make sound decisions.

Method Four: Achieve thorough and transparent "three-level illumination (三层亮)."

The more thorough and transparent ideological remolding is, the more effective and profound it becomes. One must absolutely not be "like the carp spirit in Journey to the West — strike once, spit out one word."

Comrade Deng Xiaoping pointed out: "One must know that the rectification movement relies mainly on one's own hard effort. Only when one harbors a high degree of revolutionary enthusiasm and a spirit of responsibility toward the Party will one be open-hearted … and only then will one be able to rectify one's ideological work style." He believed that those without such resolve could absolutely never rectify themselves.

In 1948, at a conference of cadres at the regimental level and above in the Central Plains Bureau and Central Plains Military Region, Comrade Liu Bocheng proposed the "three-level illumination" approach to ideological remolding — superiors, peers, and subordinates mutually illuminating problems — requiring cadres to say everything they know and say it fully, to profoundly expose problems of lack of organization and discipline, empiricism, and bureaucratism, thereby improving the leadership work style and achieving significant results in army consolidation.

Method Five: Diligently sweep "the dust from one's thinking."

"I examine myself daily on three points, saying I have committed no transgression." Self-reflection is an important method of ideological remolding and elevation of moral realm.

Comrade Peng Dehuai, amid the bustle of military campaigns and the press of ten thousand daily affairs, still emphasized diligently sweeping "the dust from one's thinking." He said with deep feeling: "We are Communists — should we not be more enlightened than the ancients? Can we achieve daily self-reflection, weekly self-reflection, or self-reflection every half-month or month? I reflect on myself once a month. No matter how busy the work, every month I always set aside half a day to earnestly review what I have done — to see what was done correctly and what was done wrongly — so as to make fewer errors or avoid serious errors."

In 1948, during the Western Shaanxi Campaign, the troops recaptured Yan'an but also suffered some losses. In summarizing the lessons of that campaign, Peng Dehuai proactively assumed responsibility and conducted a serious self-criticism: "Peng Dehuai, oh Peng Dehuai — your Marxism-Leninism is simply not thoroughly learned, scattered and fragmentary…"

Carrying the past forward and opening up the future, acting with steadfast commitment. These effective methods of the revolutionary predecessors remain sharp weapons for Party members and cadres in the new era to remold their thinking, temper their souls, and revitalize their spirit.

IV

"A gap the size of a needle's eye is enough to let in the wind." A momentary lapse in ideological vigilance may cause one to fall into an abyss without even knowing it. The value of ideological remolding lies in persisting for a lifetime; the difficulty lies in maintaining consistency throughout.

At present, the world situation, national conditions, Party conditions, and military conditions are all undergoing complex and profound changes, and the political tests our military faces are intricate and complex. From an objective standpoint, the contest between rooting and uprooting has never ceased for a moment; the "four great tests" and "four great dangers" still exist and profoundly affect the building of the military's Party member and cadre corps — the Party's self-revolution is forever on the march. From a subjective standpoint, a person's thinking and behavior can be eroded by "political microorganisms (政治微生物)," and Party members and cadres need to possess sufficiently strong immunity.

Confronted with the situation and tasks, Party organizations at all levels must abandon the notion of "taking a breather and resting one's feet," maintain the tenacity and resolve to see things through to the end, ensure that no errant thoughts within lead to no errant actions without, and continuously strengthen political tempering through ever-deeper ideological remolding.

On the new journey of the new era, doing ideological remolding well requires seizing the root problems of thought and applying precise effort — working hard in the areas of theoretical arming, political education, carrying forward fine traditions, and establishing rules and systems — achieving day-by-day continuity, sustained effort, and long-term results.

— Strengthen theoretical arming to consolidate the foundation of remolding.

The arrow of thought is not for admiration but to strike the center of the target. Strengthening theoretical arming is not for decorating one's façade or embellishing oneself, but for remolding thought and improving work.

To strengthen the consciousness and thoroughness of ideological remolding, we must treat strengthening the arming of the Party's innovative theories as the foremost political task and a long-term strategic task. We must persistently use Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era to consolidate the soul and forge convictions, thoroughly implement Xi Jinping's thought on strengthening the military, and genuinely study thorough theories thoroughly and comprehend vibrant thinking vividly. We must resolutely correct the bad study styles of formalism, superficiality, and utilitarianism, achieve integration of learning, thinking, and application, and unity of knowing, believing, and acting, and truly achieve new results in using learning to forge the soul, using learning to enhance wisdom, using learning to rectify the work style, and using learning to promote action.

— Deepen political education to enhance the practical effectiveness of remolding.

Ideological and political education is construction within the human mind; it is a powerful means and mighty weapon for conducting ideological remolding. Only when educators first receive education themselves, and consciously unify what they say with what they do, can they educate and inspire others through their own exemplary image and role-model conduct. To strengthen the consciousness and thoroughness of ideological remolding, cadres at all levels of the military — especially senior cadres — must receive education first and receive it genuinely.

Persisting in taking the deepening of ideological remolding as the focus, and targeting root ideological problems such as ideals and convictions, Party spirit cultivation, and official virtue and personal character, as well as practical questions such as why one joined the Party, why one joined the military, and what it means to be a commander — we must strengthen the analysis of right and wrong and the clearing of ideological confusion, correct some muddled, distorted, and even subversive concepts, ensure that those who manage souls take the lead in purifying their own souls and those who speak of discipline are the first to strictly observe discipline, and genuinely enhance the persuasive power, influence, and credibility of education.

— Carry forward fine traditions to maintain the normalization of remolding.

Fine traditions are always the spiritual nourishment, precious wealth, and inexhaustible driving force for the ideological remolding of Party members and cadres. Whether we can consistently maintain the glorious traditions and fine work styles of our Party and our military is a major question bearing on military building, and also bears on the quality and character of ideological remolding. With glorious traditions and fine work styles as the foundation, Party members' and cadres' political loyalty, integrity and moral conduct, and moral backbone and character have inner support.

With ideals in the heart, the nation in the chest, and the mission on the shoulders — on the new journey, Party members and cadres must only continue the red genes and inherit the red bloodline, dedicate themselves to the Party and the nation, conduct themselves with integrity, work with solid effort, and serve as officials with clean hands, so as to set the standard and serve as a model with an upright spirit, influencing and driving the troops to uphold the correct path while innovating, and to strive to strengthen the military.

— Improve institutional mechanisms to consolidate the long-term effectiveness of remolding.

Institutions govern the overall situation, the fundamentals, and the long term. To strengthen the consciousness and thoroughness of ideological remolding and ensure that ideological remolding does not become a formality or stop at a single moment, sound institutions are needed as a guarantee.

Strengthen top-level design: by establishing normalized learning systems such as regular theoretical training and special seminars, ensure that the content of ideological education is constantly refreshed and studied deeply and comprehended thoroughly. Optimize the evaluation system: incorporate the results of ideological remolding into the content of cadre assessment, establish reward and punishment mechanisms, commend and reward those with outstanding performance, and urge those who respond passively to rectify. Strengthen institutional implementation: strictly pursue accountability, resolutely eliminate the phenomena of making selective choices, seeking workarounds, and applying discounts, and genuinely uphold the seriousness and authority of institutions.

V

Ideological remolding has no end; the development of the cause has no limit.

It cannot be denied that remolding thought is an arduous and even painful undertaking, but it is the forging of a "political soul (政治灵魂)" commensurate with the Party's nature, purpose, and mission tasks — a systematic project that integrates political character, consciousness, and lifelong commitment.

Ideological remolding — its value lies in consciousness; its difficulty lies in thoroughness. Chairman Xi has pointed out: "Every comrade has the responsibility to remold and improve themselves; sweeping the dust from one's thinking, eliminating bad habits, and correcting erroneous words and deeds have no end and are always in progress."

"A day without a fault to correct is a day without a step forward." Strengthening the consciousness and thoroughness of ideological remolding — returning to the source and consolidating the foundation ideologically — is the intrinsic need of every Party member and cadre for self-revolution, and also the inevitable requirement for implementing the strategy of building the military through politics in the new era and continuously deepening political consolidation training.

Ascending once more to the summit to open new skies, raising the cloud-sail higher to stand at the crest of the tide.

Communists should regard ideological remolding as indispensable as air. Without it, thought will rust and the soul will corrode. As Comrade Zhou Enlai stated in "Passing the 'Five Passes' Well (过好'五关')" — "From the moment one joins the Communist Party, every Party member should have this understanding: be prepared to remold one's thinking, and keep remolding it until old age."

Renew the thinking once, and all things may be hoped for.

Walking on the new Long March road, carrying ideological remolding through to the end, and continuously strengthening the capacity for self-purification, self-improvement, self-renewal, and self-elevation — we will surely be able to "make it new each day, make it new day after day, make it ever new," welcome the centenary of the founding of the military with a completely renewed political bearing, and write a new chapter of strengthening and revitalizing the military that is worthy of our revolutionary predecessors, worthy of the century-old foundation, and worthy of the great era.