Page 14 - SELECTED WORKS OF MAO TSE-TUNG Volume III.indd

12 MAO TSE-TUNG
Second, hold fact-finding meetings. Certainly, no all-round knowl-
edge can be acquired merely by glancing this way and that and
listening to hearsay. Of the data I obtained through fact-finding
meetings, those on Hunan Province and on Chingkangshan have been
lost. The materials published here consist mainly of the “Survey of
Hsingkuo”, the “Survey of Changkang Township” and the “Survey of
Tsaihsi Township”. Holding fact-finding meetings is the simplest, most
practicable and most reliable method, from which I have derived
much benefit; it is a better school than any university. Those attend-
ing such meetings should be really experienced cadres of middle and
lower ranks, or ordinary people. In my investigations of five counties
in Hunan Province and two counties in Chingkangshan, I approached
responsible cadres of middle rank; in the Hsunwu investigation I
2
approached cadres of the middle and lower ranks, a poor hsiutsai,
a bankrupt ex-president of the chamber of commerce and a petty
official in charge of county revenue who had lost his job. All of these
people gave me a great deal of information I had never even heard
of. The man who for the first time gave me a complete picture of the
rottenness of Chinese jails was a petty jailer I met during my investi-
gation in Hengshan County, Hunan. In my investigations of Hsing-
kuo County and Changkang and Tsaihsi townships, I approached
comrades working at the township level and ordinary peasants. These
cadres, the peasants, the hsiutsai, the jailer, the merchant and the
revenue clerk were all my esteemed teachers, and as their pupil I
had to be respectful and diligent and comradely in my attitude;
otherwise they would have paid no attention to me, and, though they
knew, would not have spoken or, if they spoke, would not have told
all they knew. A fact-finding meeting need not be large; from three
to five or seven or eight people are enough. Ample time must be
allowed and an outline for the investigation must be prepared;
furthermore, one must personally ask questions, take notes and have
discussions with those at the meeting. Therefore one certainly cannot
make an investigation, or do it well, without zeal, a determination
to direct one’s eyes downward and a thirst for knowledge, and with-
out shedding the ugly mantle of pretentiousness and becoming a
willing pupil. It has to be understood that the masses are the real
heroes, while we ourselves are often childish and ignorant, and with-
out this understanding it is impossible to acquire even the most
rudimentary knowledge.