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at 00:10 on september 9, 1976, mao zedong, chairman of the central committee of the communist party of china, chairman of the central military commission of the communist party of china, and honorary chairman of the national committee of the chinese people's political consultative conference, died in beijing at the age of 83. today is the 48th anniversary of comrade mao zedong's death. we specially reprint the article "officials do not maintain government offices but local chronicles" - mao zedong's emphasis on local chronicles and its inspiration" to commemorate this important moment.

"officials do not maintain government offices, but local chronicles" - mao zedong's emphasis on local chronicles and its inspiration

text/chen donglin

local chronicles record in detail the geography, history, customs, education, products, people, places of interest, historical sites, etc. of a place, and are important reference materials for governing the country. mao zedong attached great importance to the functions of local chronicles in "providing governance, educating people, and preserving history". he often collected and read them, applied them flexibly, and advocated the compilation of local chronicles across the country, which promoted the development of local chronicles in new china and left behind many inspiring stories.

1. “do you have local chronicles?”

when mao zedong was young, he liked to read books on history and geography, including many local chronicles. when studying at the first provincial normal school of hunan province, mao zedong had already read gu yanwu's "the book of the benefits and disadvantages of counties and states in the world" and gu zuyu's "a summary of reading history and geography". these are two books with the nature of local chronicles. in addition to recording the evolution of geography, the former is particularly detailed in the compilation of information on taxes, reclamation, water conservancy, and water transport, and makes field investigations to correct gains and losses; the latter focuses on the examination and revision of the changes in counties and prefectures from ancient times to the present, and lists the dangers of mountains and rivers in battles and defenses in detail, and explains the strategic value of geographical situations in the military. mao zedong particularly admired gu yanwu's way of studying, believing that gu yanwu "must trace the source and discuss the reasons for matters related to people's livelihood and the people's lives, and has traveled half of the world, making friends with the wise and powerful elders wherever he goes, examining the mountains and rivers, customs, and the sufferings and benefits of the mountains and rivers, as if he knew them all."

during the revolutionary war years, mao zedong, in addition to commanding the battles, ignored hunger and fatigue and widely collected local chronicles to read carefully. "every time he opened a county, chairman mao always liked to look for the local county chronicles." in 1929, after mao zedong led the red army to xingguo county, he took the opportunity to concentrate on reading the "xingguo county chronicles". after the red army arrived in ruijin, mao zedong asked someone to find the "ruijin county chronicles". this "ruijin county chronicles" was compiled during the qianlong period of the qing dynasty. it has a total of eight volumes, and one volume was missing at the time. mao zedong regarded it as a treasure, placed it on his desk, and often picked it up to study it. before and after the zunyi conference, mao zedong also read the "zunyi prefecture chronicles", "renhuai hall chronicles", "chishui county chronicles" and other local chronicles.

on the long march, after a victory, mao zedong ran to ask his confidential secretary huang youfeng: "xiao huang, do you have any spoils of war?" huang youfeng quickly handed over the cigarettes that had just been delivered from the front. mao zedong hurriedly said: "not this!" looking at huang youfeng's puzzled face, mao zedong smiled and said: "oh, it's my fault for not explaining it clearly. what i want is books, such as state chronicles, county chronicles, etc." huang youfeng suddenly realized. from then on, wherever he went, the staff around him would definitely look for books such as history and local chronicles for him. the more places he went, the more local chronicles he collected. in order to reduce the burden on the porters, mao zedong had to take the time to read them, and reluctantly threw them away after reading. mao zedong was obsessed with these chronicles that had to be thrown away in the war environment in order to travel light.

after the founding of new china, mao zedong regarded reading local chronicles as an important means of investigation and research. no matter which province he went to, he would always read the provincial chronicles of that province and the county chronicles of some counties in advance. at the end of october 1952, mao zedong took a special train to xuzhou for inspection. at the municipal government guesthouse (garden hotel), mao zedong asked hua chengyi, deputy secretary of the xuzhou municipal party committee: "xuzhou has been a battleground for military strategists since ancient times, and there are many allusions. do you have local chronicles?" hua chengyi immediately moved a set of xuzhou local chronicles in front of him. mao zedong flipped through it casually and said, "your set is incomplete, and there is one book missing!" everyone was amazed at mao zedong's profound historical knowledge. in september 1958, mao zedong went to anhui to inspect work. when he arrived in hefei, mao zedong borrowed the annals of anhui province and chuci with zhu xi's annotations from the provincial government, and introduced them to zhang zhizhong, saying, "these are good books. i recommend them to you to read when you have time." in late may 1965, mao zedong, 72 years old, went to jinggang mountain again and stayed overnight when he passed through chaling. mao zedong was particularly excited to revisit his old place and asked to read the annals of chaling county. li ying, deputy secretary of the county party committee, reported, "chaling has not compiled the annals of the county. the last existing version is the annals of chaling prefecture published in the ninth year of tongzhi in the qing dynasty (1870). mao zedong said, "i want to read both the annals of the county and the prefecture." so li ying brought the annals of chaling prefecture. that night, mao zedong read until three in the morning before going to bed.

2. "this draft of the continuation is very good and has reference value for modern history"

mao zedong actively studied and applied local chronicles, often citing them in his work and life, and used them as an important reference for leading political, military, economic and cultural work. as early as august 1941, mao zedong drafted the "decision of the cpc central committee on investigation and research", proposing that "the central government should set up an investigation and research agency to collect materials on politics, military, economy, culture and social class relations at home and abroad, and study them as a direct assistant to the central work". one of its tasks is to "collect county chronicles, prefecture chronicles, provincial chronicles, and family genealogies for research".

from 1953 to 1975, mao zedong visited hangzhou many times, and he consulted local chronicles every time. in 1957, when mao zedong came to hangzhou, he proposed that zhejiang should compile local teaching materials to let everyone understand the local geography and history, past and present. mao zedong said humorously: "children always call their parents first, and then their grandfather, grandmother, uncle, and uncle!" mao zedong often quoted classics, talked about the past and present, and talked and laughed with local comrades. once, mao zedong asked an actor from the zhejiang song and dance troupe where he was from. when he heard that he was from "xiashi, haining, zhejiang", mao zedong immediately quoted the "draft of haining prefecture chronicles" to explain that xiashan was named after "two mountains sandwiched together. before the qin dynasty, it was connected as one. when the first emperor passed by this mountain and saw the royal aura, he chiseled it into two. now under the dahong bridge, the roots of the mountain are still exposed."

from july to august 1959, the cpc central committee held an enlarged meeting of the political bureau and the eighth plenary session of the eighth central committee in lushan, aiming to sum up experience and lessons, adjust indicators, and continue to correct "leftist" errors. during the meeting, mao zedong took the opportunity to read the "lushan chronicle" and "lushan continued chronicle draft" compiled by wu zongci during the republic of china to expound the working method and attitude of seeking truth from facts and truth from facts. mao zedong said: there are different opinions on the origin of the name of lushan. some say that during the time of king wen of zhou, the brothers kuang su built a hut in the mountain and lived there. when king wen of zhou visited, only an empty hut was left. others say that king weilie of zhou visited, but the hut remained. these two legends are separated by hundreds of years. later generations spread rumors, but we cannot do this now. we must be serious about history and cannot be vague! he said to zhou xiaozhou and other comrades present: "you are scholars, please check and study it." mao zedong praised the "draft of the continuation of mount lu" and said: "this draft of the continuation of mount lu is very good and has reference value for modern history. chiang kai-shek's lushan talks were all recorded. liang shiqiu was deliberately late at that time, and liang shiqiu was the last on the list. he was late to climb the mountain two days after the meeting. although he is a bourgeois scholar, he also has a patriotic side and is talented in academics. we should look at people in two ways! i welcome his progressive side."

in october 1960, mao zedong visited hubei. after reading the two "jingmen prefecture chronicles" compiled during the qianlong period and the daoguang period, he said to mei bai, secretary of the jingmen county party committee: "i have found several problems. first, the "jingmen prefecture chronicles" compiled during the qianlong period is the best one. this shows that the quality of the central government can affect the quality of the local government. qianlong's most basic task was to unite the han people, which reflects that the central government has a certain degree of enlightenment, which is better than the county chronicles compiled during the guangxu period... second, i found that the jingmen prefecture chronicles reflect a pattern, that is, jingmen has drought every year. there is a moderate drought every three years and a major drought every five years. when you go there, you must pay attention to changing this situation and put the solution to drought in an important position. third, we must farm scientifically. it is not enough to rely solely on old farmers, but on new people and educated people. we must respect old workers and old farmers. but we cannot follow every word. we must respect science, otherwise, society will regress."

3. “only by learning from history can we do good things”

mao zedong not only liked to read local chronicles himself, but also educated leaders at all levels to read local chronicles. according to bo yibo's recollection, after the founding of new china, mao zedong issued an instruction that comrades who went to other places for investigation and research should read the local chronicles in order to understand the history, customs and people there. when bo yibo himself went to fujian for investigation, he briefly flipped through the "fujian general chronicles".

in november 1955, mao zedong went south to hangzhou to preside over the drafting of the "resolution on the socialist reform of industry and commerce". when passing through shanghai to inspect the huangpu river, mao zedong asked the shanghai cadres accompanying him: "there is a xiahai temple in shanghai, do you know it?" the cadres present looked at each other, and no one could answer. later, after checking the "shanghai county chronicles", it was found that xiahai temple was originally named "xiahai temple" and was built during the qianlong period of the qing dynasty. it is said that the "xiahai temple" enshrines the sea god as yi wang, so it is also called "yi wang temple". because "xia" and "xia" are homophones in shanghai dialect, and the temple is located on the edge of xiahaipu, later generations changed "xiahai temple" to "xiahai temple".

everyone couldn't help but be deeply impressed by mao zedong's erudition and knowledge.

during the lushan conference, in addition to the "lushan chronicles" and "lushan continued chronicles draft", the staff also borrowed the "linchuan county chronicles" and "qianshan county chronicles" of the qing dynasty, as well as "linchuan four dreams" and "peach blossom fan". after seeing these books, mao zedong happily talked about the story of zhu xi "asking about the chronicles as soon as he got off the sedan chair". in the sixth year of chunxi in the southern song dynasty (1179), zhu xi came to nankang to take up his post, and his seat was in xingzi county at the foot of lushan. when zhu xi took office, local officials came to the sedan chair to greet him. zhu xi asked as soon as he got off the sedan chair: "did you bring the "nankang chronicles"?" everyone looked at each other and had no answer. mao zedong went on to say that after zhu xi's story was spread, in my country, "those who govern the world take history as a mirror, and those who govern counties and countries take chronicles as a mirror", it became a custom for later generations to "present chronicles for review". today, we should also learn to learn from history in order to do good things!

4. “local chronicles should be compiled throughout the country”

compiling local chronicles is a fine tradition of chinese culture, passed down from generation to generation. mao zedong advocated inheriting this fine tradition and doing a good job in compiling local chronicles in new china, which effectively promoted the inheritance and development of local chronicle culture.

in march 1958, the cpc central committee held a working meeting in chengdu, namely the chengdu meeting. during the meeting, mao zedong first asked someone to borrow "sichuan general records", "shu benji", and "huayang guozhi" from the sichuan provincial library, and then asked someone to borrow "wuhou temple records", "guan county records", "dujiangyan water conservancy summary" and other records. mao zedong read every record carefully, and circled, dotted, commented and marked the book with red and blue pencils. mao zedong personally selected some poems about sichuan written by poets from the tang, song and ming dynasties, and printed them together with part of the content of "huayang guozhi" and distributed them to the participants. at this meeting, mao zedong called for: "local records should be compiled throughout the country."

when inspecting hubei in october 1960, mao zedong specifically instructed mei bai, secretary of the jingmen county party committee, to compile local chronicles. mao zedong asked mei bai: "how do you do as a county party secretary?" after hearing mei bai say that he had never been a county party secretary and had no experience as a grassroots county-level leading cadre, mao zedong humorously told the story of "asking about chronicles as soon as he got off the sedan chair": zhu xi was a rationalist and politician. when he arrived in nankang prefecture, he started talking as soon as he got off the car, just like wang ming. as soon as he arrived, he first read the "nankang chronicles." then he said: "leaders must respect history. those who don't understand history cannot understand reality. if you go to jingmen to be the county party secretary, you must at least know the jingmen county chronicles first." mao zedong also criticized the phenomenon that some places were not enthusiastic about compiling chronicles, saying: "'officials do not compile chronicles but build government offices'. some places in our party are now building buildings and talking about luxury. the most active advocate of compiling chronicles in the central government was dong biwu. when you arrive in jingmen, you must compile county chronicles."

with mao zedong's concern, the work of compiling local chronicles quickly gained momentum. premier zhou enlai repeatedly stressed the need to collect and compile local chronicles, and vice chairman dong biwu personally guided and promoted the compilation of hubei provincial chronicles. in the late 1950s, the chinese local chronicles group was established to promote the compilation of local chronicles across the country. in 1960, more than 500 counties in more than 20 provinces, municipalities, and autonomous regions across the country carried out the compilation of local chronicles, among which shandong, hubei, hunan, henan, guangxi, sichuan and other provinces and beijing were in the forefront. mao zedong advocated the compilation of local chronicles, laying a solid foundation for the vigorous development of the new socialist local chronicles.

5. some revelations

mao zedong took the lead in caring about local chronicles and actively studying and applying local chronicles books, which has important enlightenment significance.

first, we must attach great importance to local chronicles work.whether in the revolutionary era when wars were raging or in the new china when things were busy, mao zedong always regarded local chronicles as must-read books, and often borrowed them to study carefully so as to better lead the revolution and carry out socialist construction. this shows that local chronicles are important reference books for governing the country. leading cadres at all levels should lead the work of local chronicles from the perspective of governing the country, and inherit, carry forward and make good use of china's long-standing local chronicle culture.

the second is to learn and apply local chronicles flexibly.local chronicles have the characteristics of local encyclopedias. their records span ancient and modern times and cover all fields. they are authoritative works for understanding the people, things and events of a place. when reading local chronicles, one should not read them casually, but learn from mao zedong's reading method and apply what one has learned. one should understand the economic products and regional evolution of a place, and comprehend the changes in personnel and events, governance, chaos, rise and fall of a place, so as to better promote the current central work.

third, we need to compile a new socialist chronicle.mao zedong's call for "local chronicles should be compiled throughout the country" has borne fruit in china. at present, local chronicle workers should firmly establish the awareness of quality, constantly summarize the laws and characteristics of local chronicle work, and constantly innovate in the titles, genres, and content, so that the local chronicles they compile reflect the times, scientificity, and readability, and give full play to the functions of local chronicles in "providing governance, educating people, and preserving history."

source: chengdu local chronicles

review and issue: zhu liping