Seek truth from facts
Chinese slogan
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The slogan became a key slogan in Chinese Marxism and was first used by Mao Zedong in 1936. Mao had probably remembered it as being the inscription on his alma mater, Hunan's First Teachers Training School. Mao's usage of the slogan built on his themes in On Practice, which argues that people must apply their knowledge to practice in reality in order to test its truthfulness.
Beginning in 1978, it was further promoted by Deng Xiaoping as a central ideology of socialism with Chinese characteristics, and applied to economic and political reforms thereafter. In Deng described the principle of seeking truth from facts as the core of Mao Zedong Thought.
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In contemporary Chinese politics
To "seek truth from facts" means that communists should test theory against reality rather than adhere dogmatically to theory. The slogan implies respect for facts and using facts to inform theory and policy.
On 11 May 1978 journalist Hu Fuming published an article in state run newspaper Guangming Daily entitled "Practice is the Sole Criterion for Testing Truth", directly contradicting then CCP general secretary Hua Guofeng's line of the Two Whatevers (Chinese: 两个凡是; pinyin: Liǎng gè fánshì) policy and thereby Mao Zedong's policy of class struggle; in favour of economic reform championed by Deng Xiaoping. The title of the article is inspired by the ancient saying and is widely seen as a seminal document in the contemporary Chinese political landscape and marks the turning point to the era of the reform and opening up in 20th century China. In June 1978, Deng endorsed the perspective of the editorial at an All-Army Political Work Conference. Deng stated that Marxist theory should not be "lifeless dogma" and cited Mao's method of seeking truth from facts, contrasting the "Two Whatevers" with the view that "only through practice can the correctness of one's ideas be proved, and there is no other way of testing truth."
Qiushi - "Seeking Truth" (Chinese: 求是; pinyin: Qiúshì) is also the official name of the journal of political theory of the Chinese Communist Party, derived from the above slogan.