Deng Zhongxia's Propaganda: Speak What the Masses Can Understand

　

Because we do not wear the workers' clothes, we do not eat the workers' food, we do not live in the workers' society, and we do not speak the words of the workers... So the workers see that we are not workers, but "gentlemen" in long gown ".

● Businessmen don't know, we should take scales, knives and rulers to tell them; If the workers don't know, we should carry axes and chisels to tell them. Farmers don't know, we should take the cattle and hoes to tell them......

"Clarify the truth, improve the knowledge of ordinary working compatriots, and study some methods to guide ordinary working compatriots." This sentence comes from the purpose of the "Labor Voice" weekly founded by the early organization of the Communist Party of China. "Labor Voice" was founded on November 7, 1920, known as "the mouthpiece of workers", its editor-in-chief is Deng Zhongxia.

Deng Zhongxia believed that if the spread of Marxism "only propagandized to the intellectual class, but not to the proletariat, the result would still be empty talk". Therefore, he proposed to "study some methods to guide the general working compatriots". It can be said that following this goal, Deng Zhongxia has accumulated valuable experience for the mass propaganda work with his own arduous exploration.

 
　　Who exactly are we speaking?

Before and after the May 4th Movement, Marxism began to spread widely in China. Li Dazhao put forward the call of "the intellectual class and the working class to become one", encouraging young intellectuals to devote themselves to the working people and transform China and themselves through "common labor.

At this time, Deng Zhongxia, with the support of Peking University President Cai Yuanpei, Chen Duxiu, Li Dazhao, etc., initiated and organized the "Civilian Education Lecture Group" in March 1919 ". The purpose of the lecture group is to inspire the masses to anti-imperialist and anti-feudal revolutionary consciousness and class consciousness.

The purpose of the speech is clear, and the next step is to find the object of the speech. Since the propaganda is the content of self-liberation, the more oppressed people are, the better they can communicate with the speaker. From the extent of the city, rickshaw pullers seem to be the best objects of speech.

Deng Zhongxia led the members of the lecture group first to investigate the area where the rickshaw pullers lived. The poor and miserable life of the coachman shocked them. "When the investigation came back, everyone looked pale and sighed, showing a very sad and uneven appearance." Therefore, according to the results of the survey project, Deng Zhongxia and others went to the street to mobilize coachmen to block the road collectively, with the aim of increasing treatment. To their surprise, there were few responders, and only a few drivers were smashed by the police. The speech was not successful, but the driver was compensated for the loss. Some people satirized Deng Zhongxia: "How is the labor movement doing? How is the propaganda effect of the speech?"

"Who on earth are we speaking for?" This realistic question was faced by Deng Zhongxia and other communist intellectuals who had just stepped out of the "ivory tower. After thinking about it over and over again, Deng Zhongxia felt that ruck drivers were relatively loose self-employed workers and were easily influenced by gangs. The real propaganda should go to organized industrial workers.

 
　　Go to the folk

Since April 1920, 12 members of the lecture group have been divided into two groups and went to rural areas and factories to try to establish contacts with farmers and industrial workers and publicize revolutionary principles. This is a new attempt by the members of the lecture group and the content of the lecture to be close to the workers and peasants.

This time, the lecture group faced a more universal crowd. The crux of the question is, what skills can the speaker use to instill his views into the hearts of the audience and resonate with the broad audience?

Sure enough, the frustration hit again. In several lecture venues, the lecture group talked about "the difference between the civilian evening school of Peking University and the national school of the village", "women should study like men" and "the harm of foot binding", while the children and the elderly in the audience looked at a loss. Obviously, they could not understand what this group of students were talking about.

Deng Zhongxia originally brought a phonograph, which is still a rare thing. Before the lecture, he first played the phonograph to attract the masses, but "if they can't talk about two people, they think it's not interesting, so they gradually lead it away"......

Obviously, these young intellectuals only rely on enthusiasm to give speeches, and they have not grasped the specific methods and skills of propaganda work, and do not know what the masses want to hear and want. The content of the speech lacks the language of the masses, and the masses will certainly not buy it. When a college student was giving a speech, he asked a worker, "Is life rich or not?" Such a condescending and petty bourgeoisie question made the worker "dumbfounded, horrified and hurted away".

Mastering knowledge does not mean having the ability to use knowledge. From one lesson after another, Deng Zhongxia and others gradually found out the root cause: "... Although they have visited many places and seen many factories, they couldn't ask the workers three real words. Why? Because we don't wear the workers' clothes, we don't eat the workers' food, we don't live in the workers' society, we don't speak the workers' words... So the workers see that we are not workers, but" gentlemen "in long gown '. Since they think they have nothing to do with them and are not of their own kind, it is no wonder that they will not even say three words of truth."

With an open-minded attitude of learning and studying, the members of the lecture group gradually learned to publicize in popular mass language. Their secret is: "The person who keeps monkeys must become a monkey himself." For this reason, the members of the lecture group shouted: "We are young people who are interested in the masses! We should not blame anyone or hate anyone... We should take a scale and a ruler to tell them what the businessmen don't know; we should take an axe and a chisel to tell them what the workers don't know; we should take a cow and a hoe to tell them what the farmers don't know......"

 
Setting up schools to allow workers to accept new ideas in word recognition

In October 1920, after the establishment of the Beijing Communist Group, the lecture group became the peripheral organization of the party organization. Its activities directly served to promote communism and expand the influence of the party group, so as to promote the integration of Marxism with Chinese reality.

In the winter of 1920, Deng Zhongxia came to the factory again to carry out the revolutionary work of the earliest workers' movement of the Beijing Communist Party group. Dressed in a long gown, he stood on a high platform and began to give a speech to promote the sacredness of labor, but the effect was not obvious. After a while, the gathered workers dispersed.

The old problem seems to have reappeared.

Therefore, Deng Zhongxia and Shi Wenbin, a progressive worker in the factory, discussed why the speech was not effective. Shi Wenbin said that most of the workers did not even know the words, let alone accept new ideas. He suggested opening schools, "saving the nation through culture" and letting workers come to class.

In December 1920, through Deng Zhongxia's active financing, a labor tutorial school for workers was established. The purpose of the school is to enable workers to read, and then to integrate the improvement of cultural level with the acceptance of revolutionary ideas, so as to better learn and understand Marxism.

What textbooks are used to teach workers? Some people suggest using common words for civilians. Deng Zhongxia, on the other hand, believes that textbooks are propaganda tools, and propaganda is to say what the masses can understand. Therefore, according to the living and working conditions of the workers, he compiled a literacy textbook himself, and compiled the tools and utensils commonly used by the workers in their work, so that the workers knew how to write the three words "vice" and which two words "file......"

When Deng Zhongxia gave lectures to the workers, his language was easy to understand and he was good at grasping the workers' ideas, so he was very popular. Starting from the reality of life familiar to the workers, he expounded the profound truth that "workers' labor creates everything in the world", and made the workers understand that "poverty is the greatest irrationality in the world". Only by uniting and carrying out revolution can we eradicate this evil system of cannibalizing people.
 

After the opening of the labor tutorial school, the political consciousness of the workers has been rapidly improved. The heuristic education carried out by Deng Zhongxia and others has made the workers deeply aware of the root causes of exploitation and oppression and the greatness of the power of the working class, so as to firmly stand on the side of Marxists. On the other hand, the advanced intellectuals represented by Deng Zhongxia have also learned a lot of excellent characters from the workers, and have increased their ability to communicate and communicate with the masses, and they are becoming more and more like a fish in water in the mass propaganda work. As Deng Zhongxia said in a diary: "... the workers are very welcome to see us. For we are very affectionate, we also feel that they are very friendly, like brothers, and their workers also love each other. A kind of integration and unity of the atmosphere, so I saw very like. I often hate that the people in today's society are too emotionless and cheat each other, so there is infinite hope for the workers to be so united and harmonious."

 

Source: Party Building Network