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The New Socialist Man Author(s): Theodore Hsi-en Chen Reviewed work(s): Source: Comparative Education Review, Vol.

13, No. 1 (Feb., 1969), pp. 88-95 Published by: The University of Chicago Press on behalf of the Comparative and International Education Society Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1186949 . Accessed: 13/01/2013 06:37
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THE NEW SOCIALIST MAN


THEODOREHSI-EN CHEN revolution is a total revolution aiming to establish a new society and a new way of life. A new society presupposes new men with new minds, new ideas, new emotions, and new attitudes. Before a new way of life can prevail, the old way of life must be abolished. While the new generation is being molded according to the Communist ideology, older people with old minds and hearts must be remolded. The making and remaking of new men therefore becomes a fundamental task of the Communist revolution and the central aim of education. According to the Communists, the old society breeds individualistic and selfish persons motivated by feudalistic and bourgeois loyalties. They think of personal benefit and personal ambitions. Their narrow family loyalties encourage selfishness and the neglect of what is good for the general public or the state. The new man must be a collectivist, utterly selfless and ever mindful of his obligations to the revolution and the Communist party. Until the old man is replaced by the new, the proletarian way of life can not prevail and the new society must remain a dream. There are many facets to the internal turmoil in Communist China today. One of the major issues under dispute is whether economic construction and collectivization should be pushed to the extent of alienating the masses, who show little enthusiasm for work that brings no tangible reward. While the more realistic and pragmatic Communists recognize the need for material incentives to stimulate public cooperation, the ideologues argue that the new man should be educated in such a way that he will not expect personal benefits but will find reward in the increase of production, the fulfilment of state plans, and the success of the proletarian revolution. If socialism does not work, according to the ideologues, it is not because the system is not good, but because human nature has not been changed to conform with the new system. Instead of modifying the system, it is more important to change man.
THE COMMUNIST
METHODS OF MAKING NEW MEN

To popularize the attributes of the new man, the Communists select model citizens from various walks of life-model laborers, model peasants, model women, model youth. In the campaign for the collection of fertilizers, for example, a diligent collector of night soil was highly praised as a "model" for all to emulate. A number of famous heroes and heroines of recent years were not recognized as such until after death. One such was Lei Feng, a soldier killed in an automobile 88 February 1969

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MAN Symposium: NEWSOCIALIST accident, who was praised after his death as a dedicated revolutionary. In a nation-wide "Learn from Lei Feng" campaign, many stories were told of his deep love for Mao Tse-tung and his writings, and his determination to do whatever the Communist Party wanted him to do. Various forms of emulation campaigns have been used to promote the desired virtues of the new man. School children are led to strive to become "good pupils of the age of Mao Tse-tung." Girls and women are encouraged to become "good daughters of the Communist party." Specific goals are projected for such patterns of behavior as "three good" for students, "five good" for youth, "five good" for families, "five good" for commune members, and so on. For example, the "five-good youth" is supposed to be obedient to the Party, diligent in work, able to overcome difficulties, good in protecting public property and maintaining the unity of Youth League members. "Five-good workers" are supposed to be good in political thinking, good in fulfilment of tasks, good in observing discipline, good in regular (political) study, and good in unity and mutual aid. A major vehicle for remolding behavior is "thought reform," commonly referred to as "brain-washing." Thought reform for the purpose of exposing the errors of old ideas and attitudes is of special importance in the effort to change the outlook of China's intellectuals. Individualism, liberalism, professionalism, neglect of politics, lack of class consciousness are considered the common faults of intellectuals, who are the constant targets of attack as obstacles to the establishment of the proletarian outlook and way of life.
CHRACTERISTICS OF THE NEW MAN

From the virtues extolled in indoctrination and propaganda and from the various "models" selected to publicize desired modes of behavior, it is possible to discern a few major characteristics of the model man envisioned by the Communist planners. 1. Absolute selflessness. The new man has no ambitions beyond that of the revolution. He seeks no fame or serving personal glory. He seeks neither comfort nor reward for himself or his family. He makes no personal plans that can not be completely identified with the revolution. Furthermore, he is always ready to sacrifice his own interests for the good of the revolutionary cause, and he gladly sacrifices his life when necessary. 2. Obedience to the Communist Party. The Communist Party is the standard bearer of the proletarian-socialist revolution and the symbol of collectivism. To be a collectivist is to accept the leadership of the Communist Party. Loyalty to the revolution and loyalty to the Communist party are one and the same thing. Moreover, since the Communist Party represents the collective interests of the "masses," the only effective way to serve the people is to serve the Communist Party. The Party stands behind the state and determines its policies. As far as Comparative Education Review 89

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CHEN

the people are concerned, there is little difference between the Party and the state. No matter what the Party-state wants, the individuals are obliged to comply. In every form of group life-in schools, factories, or business enterprises-there is a Communist Party representative known as the "Leadership." Obedience to the Leadership is an indispensable characteristic of good citizenship. Young people consult the Leadership about marriage and other personal problems; teachers seek the advice of the Leadership in their personal as well as professional activities. In one of the recurrent campaigns to rectify the thinking of China's intellectuals, the Communists demanded pledges of "heart surrender," in which the intellectuals vowed to "surrender their whole heart" to the Communist Party. Acceptance of the leadership of the Communist Party is expected of all citizens and is not necessarily equated with membership in the Party. Students before graduation are urged to pledge their willingness to accept any task assigned to them by the Party-state. They may be assigned to jobs unrelated to their interests or to places far away from home; but good socialist men obey the call of the Party-state. Young married couples have been assigned to jobs in places so distant from each other that they could meet only during leaves of absence, but no change is possible without the authorization of the Party-state. Recent years have witnessed an escalating campaign to exalt Mao Tse-tung to a position of unparalleled height and authority. More and more, love of Chairman Mao is preached as the best way of serving the revolution. Reverence for Mao is now inseparable from obedience to the Communist Party as a basic attribute of the socialist man. Pre-school children as well as older children are taught to sing songs to express their worship of Mao. The well-known song "East Is Red" praises him as follows: "The east is red, The sun rises. China has brought forth a Mao Tse-tung. He worksfor the people's happiness. He is the people's great savior. ChairmanMao loves the people, He is our guide. He leads us onward To build the new China. The CommunistParty is like the sun, Whereverit shines, there is light. Where there'sthe CommunistParty, There the people will win liberation.1

xEnglish translation from Peking Review (English bi-weekly published in Peking), October 6, 1967.
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MAN Symposium: NEWSOClALIST 3. Class consciousness. The Communists equate political consciousness with class consciousness. A person of high political consciousness is keenly aware of class distinctions and ready to engage in the class struggle. He sees the need of a continuing struggle against the landlords and the "bureaucratic bourgeoisie" and their "bourgeois ideology." He avoids relationships that may blur the line of demarcation between friends and enemies of the revolution. For this reason, the Communists caution young people of worker-peasant class origin against marriage with persons from the landlord and bourgeoisie classes. To have close relationships with the bourgeoisie is to expose one's self to the evil influences of "bourgeois ideology." Participation in the class struggle is necessary for the socialist man. One of the major complaints the Communists make against the intellectuals is that they do not appreciate the significance of the class struggle. In the agrarian reform of earlier years, the intellectuals heartily supported the distribution of land to the peasants, but were generally unenthusiastic about waging a class war against the landlords. They flinched from what they considered to be unnecessary cruelties in the treatment of the landlords and reactionaries. To overcome their aversion to the class struggle, the Communists required them to go into the rural areas to participate in the agrarian reform of 1950-1951. The intellectuals were asked to take part in the denunciation of the landlords, even in attacking them personally and demanding their physical liquidation. Upon returning from the rural struggle, they were each asked to write a personal testimony of what they had learned from actual participation in the class struggle. The major targets of the class struggle are the "feudal" elements at home and the "imperialists" abroad. In recent years, the Communist leaders have been troubled by what they consider to be signs of waning enthusiasm for the class struggle. They fear that the young generation-the younger members of the Communist Party as well as the non-Communist youth who have grown up under the new regime-are too far removed from the scenes of earlier battles to appreciate their significance. Without the experience of bitter struggle, the lacks firmness. Concern over the question of "heirs younger generation ideological to the revolution" has led to a renewed emphasis on "class education," to make young and old alert to the continued presence of class enemies and ready to attack all persons and ideas that endanger the progress of the socialist revolution. 4. Ideological study. The new man must be guided by a correct ideological outlook, which depends on unceasing "study." "Study" in the Communist lexicon usually means political or ideological study. The Constitution of the Chinese Communist Party stipulates that the first duty of party members is "to study Marxism-Leninism and unceasingly raise the level of their understanding." Similarly, the Constitution of the Chinese Communist Youth League states that every member must "exert himself in the study of Marxism-Leninism," and the Comparative Education Review 91

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Constitution of the Young Pioneers states that its aim is "to unite youth and children, to study diligently ... to become builders and protectors of Communism." Factory workers, office personnel, as well as students and adult learners attend classes devoted to ideological study. In recent years, the speeches and writings of Mao Tse-tung have been exalted as the bible of ideological indoctrination. Chinese Communist publications abound in reports of miraculous results from the study of Mao's words. Young people who complain about their routine jobs are reported to have gained new inspiration and enthusiasm for their work after study. Graduates of schools and colleges who see little relation between their education and the jobs assigned to them after graduation are said to have changed their viewpoint and become happy with their work. People who feel frustrated because they do not attain the distinction and success they have longed for have been so inspired by the reading and rereading of Mao's short treatises that, according to the Communist publications, they feel ashamed of their "individualism" and selfish personal ambition and find meaning and satisfaction in carrying on their work as "nameless heroes." 5. Labor and production. The socialist man loves labor. The Communists exalt labor both for its ideological value and for its contribution to production. The Communists call themselves the vanguard of the working class, and labor is the trade-mark of the working class. The proletarian society expects all people to engage in labor; there is to be no distinction between manual and mental labor and no place for "white collar" persons who disdain to soil their hands in labor. The Common Program of 1949 provides that reactionary people "shall be compelled to reform themselves through labor so as to become new men." Labor is thus believed to have therapeutic value in ideological remolding. Labor and production are inseparable. In 1958, the Communist Party issued a directive on education which laid down the basic policy that education must be combined with productive labor. The work-study plan is today extensively adopted in schools and colleges. All students are required to engage regularly in productive labor as an integral part of school work. Work and study are combined in different ways. Sometimes, school time is equally divided between work and study so that the school can accommodate two groups of students at the same time, one group attending classes in the morning and working in the afternoon and another group studying in the afternoon and working in the morning. In some rural schools, students work on the farms during the busy farming season and attend schools in the off season. A radical approach to the integration of study with work is the establishment of factories and farms by schools and the establishment of schools by factories, agricultural cooperatives, and communes. The students work as regular employees of the productive enterprises with full responsibility for their jobs. The variety of enterprises is wide: steel furnaces, iron smelting, tool and machine
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manufacturing, railway and small airplane construction and design, metallurgical workshops, and so forth. The originators emphasize that these are not merely instructional laboratories where students gain some practical experience; they are regular productive enterprises that take orders and turn out products on a business basis. Schools and universities, it is said, have become centers of production as well as centers of learning. 6. Versatility. The ideal socialist man is a person able to serve in varied capacities. He can be shifted from one productive activity to another in response to the changing needs of the Party-state. When the communes got under way in 1958, Communist writers viewed them as a big step in the direction of producing the new socialist man. They said that every commune member should be five-in-one-peasant, worker, trader, student, and soldier at the same time. This idea of the versatile man was emphasized in an editorial of the Peking People's Daily on August 1, 1966, summarizing Mao Tse-tung's educational ideas: While the main activity of the workers is in industry, they should at the same time also study military affairs, politics, and culture . . . Where conditions permit, they should also engage in agricultural production and side occupations . . . While the main activity of the peasantsin the communesis in agriculture... they, too, should at the same time study military affairs,politics, and culture.... They should also collectivelyrun some smallfactories... While the main task of students is to study, they should . . . learn other things, that is, industrialwork,farming,and militaryaffairs... Where conditions permit, those working in commerce, in the service trades, and in Partyand governmentorganizations should also do the same.2 7. Red expert. Much of what has been said about the new man can be summarized by the pithy term "Red expert." The socialist man, it is emphasized, must be both Red and expert. Expertness refers to the specific knowledge and skills that enable a person to make positive contributions to production and "socialist construction." It means technical or occupational competence. Redness means the full acceptance of the Communist ideology and the commanding role of politics in all realms of life. It is the task of all education and training to produce Red experts. Education must combine political training with technical or occupational training, for no man may remain aloof from politics. The engineer as well as the philosopher, the bricklayer as well as the bookkeeper must engage in ideological study to make himself thoroughly "Red." Within the last nineteen years of the Communist regime, there have been occasionally short periods of somewhat relaxed political control when professional people and scholars took the opportunity to voice their concern that academic
2 English translationin Peking Review, August 5, 1966. 93

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learning and occupational competence were overshadowed by political considerations and that the country was turning out a generation of ill-trained personnel whose political qualifications, however good and "Red," could not compensate for their deficiency in technical knowledge and ability. These were times when some of the practical administrators openly acknowledged that until a new generation of Red experts became available it might be temporarily necessary to make use of "white experts." Such periods of realism, unfortunately, have been brief and soon terminated by a renewed demand for more pronounced political emphasis. Regardless of the occasional shifts in relative emphasis, the Red expert has remained the Communist ideal of the new socialist man.
DIFFICULTIES ENCOUNTERED

What success have the Communists had in molding and remolding the new man? To the outside observer the Red Guards who vow unswerving loyalty to Mao and respond enthusiastically to the call for revolutionary dedication seem to attest to a good deal of success in Communist remolding, at least among the young people. Mao Tse-tung and his followers, however, have reason to be less sanguine. They know that the Red Guards represent only a small section of the population. Moreover, the emotions of youth are apt to rise and fall rather quickly, and there is little assurance that their exuberance will last and continue as an effective driving force. Among other sections of the population old attitudes and habits persist. There are indications that while patriotism and national pride in the achievements of the regime in its first decade has produced a high degree of public enthusiasm and popular support for the government, Communist ideology itself has made little impact in the country. Socialism has not gained popular acceptance, and the all-important concept of the class struggle has not won many ardent converts. The new man envisioned by the Communist has been slow in appearing. While the people work hard, they still expect rewards in the form of material benefits and improved personal welfare. They have resisted collectivization. Among the efforts to remake man is a campaign to popularize a new concept of "happiness." Communist publications abound in articles dealing with the topic "What is Happiness?" The purpose of the campaign is to attack the old concept of happiness, which considers personal welfare, comfortable living, and private family life to be essential. A Marxist writer has been severely condemned for having written that peaceful living, good food, adequate clothing, and harmonious family relations are important for happiness.3 Such ideas, the Communist ideologues say, only serve to perpetuate the old man. Nevertheless, after nineteen years of Communist indoctrination and remolding, the old Chinese man is still very much alive.
3 Philosopher Fen Ting wrote the Communist Philosophy of Life and other books which were censured during the "CulturalRevolution."

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Symposium: NEWSOCIAST MAN Even young people brought up under the new regime have been found to entertain too many selfish ideas. Many of them want to marry and settle down despite official warning against relaxation of revolutionary effort. Students desire to continue their studies on higher levels instead of obeying the call to serve in industry or farm or other fields of revolutionary work. Those who accept the jobs assigned to them often complain about their work conditions. The new spirit of selfless dedication evidently has not taken hold. The intellectuals continue to be the regime's big headache. They have been subjected to tortuous thought reform and pressured to sign confessions of guilt, but in their hearts and minds many have preserved their independence and intransigence. It is only necessary to mention in passing that the early phase of the "Cultural Revolution" consisted of attacks on intellectuals accused of revisionist ideas. After many years of remolding, intellectuals who appeared to have fallen in line were actually expressing contrary ideas through satirical and allegorical writings. Some of them used historical figures as objects of criticism and ridicule, but their description of history sounded very much like comments on current conditions. Resistance to remolding has probably prompted the Communists to step up their demand for the abolition of the old and establishment of the new. But changing man has proved to be far more difficult than changing political institutions or economic systems. The Communists have a long way to go before they can achieve their goal of new men with new minds and new hearts to suit their blueprint of socialist society.

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