Debate on the Criterion of Truth

After the fall of the Gang of Four, people across the country demanded that the errors of the Cultural Revolution be corrected and unjust cases redressed. But the main leader of the Party Central Committee at the time put forward the “Two Whatevers” policy: “We will resolutely uphold whatever decisions Chairman Mao made, and unswervingly follow whatever instructions Chairman Mao gave.” This seriously obstructed the work of setting things right. Deng Xiaoping stated plainly that the “Two Whatevers” did not accord with Marxism and called for a complete and accurate understanding of Mao Zedong Thought. On 11 May 1978 Guangming Daily published, under the byline of a special commentator, the article “Practice Is the Sole Criterion for Testing Truth,” approved by Hu Yaobang; the next day the People’s Daily and other papers reprinted it. It argued that the only criterion for testing truth is social practice. It fundamentally refuted the “Two Whatevers,” provoked a strong response nationwide and set off a great debate on the criterion of truth. After the debate began, it was criticized and suppressed by supporters of the “Two Whatevers.” Leaders including Deng Xiaoping, Ye Jianying and Li Xiannian clearly backed it, and Deng said: “If a party, a country or a nation goes by the book in everything, thinks rigidly and lets superstition spread, it cannot move forward, its vitality will cease, and the party and the nation will perish.” The debate was a movement of Marxist liberation of thought. It broke the grip of the “Two Whatevers,” prepared the ground for the Third Plenary Session of the 11th Central Committee, and became the forerunner of the great historical turning point for the Party and the country.