Research On The Process Of Modernization Of The Communist Party Of China Before The Founding Of The Paperwork

From the1920s to the1940s, with the rise of the Chinese communist movements and the birth of the Chinese Communist Party (the CCP), the Party’s document activity appears in the history of the Chinese document activity. The emergence of the Party’s document activity marks a fundamental shift of the official documents from serving for the minority exploiting class to serving for the majority workers and peasants, which is of epoch-making significance in the history of Chinese document activity. Before the May4th Movement, the Chinese revolution has repeatedly suffered setbacks and failures. One important reason is the lack of correct theoretical guidance. The October Revolution spread the correct revolutionary theory--the Marxism-Leninism to China. The combination of the Marxism-Leninism and the concrete practice of Chinese revolution have experienced a repeated process which is from cognition, practice, renewing to re-practice. We can find this evolution process from the Party’s official documents during this period. The official documents intensively reflecting this cognitive process are the historical documents of important value. In order to improve the quality and efficiency of the document processing procedure, the central authorities of the CCP and the governments of the base areas also establish and perfect the systems about official documents confidentiality, check and sign, etc. These systems and experience lay a solid foundation for the scientific process and standardization of the document activity after the founding of the new China, meanwhile accelerating the transformation of the Chinese document activities from ancient systems to modern systems and contemporary systems. This thesis depicts the modernization progress of the CCP’s document activities before the founding of the People’s Republic of China(the PRC), systemizes the official document types used by the central authorities of the Communist Party and the governments of the base areas, investigates the related systems of the document activities in this period and analyzes the formats, words and structures of the specific texts. Based on revealing the panorama of the document activities of the Party from1921to1949, the thesis tries to explore the modernization process of the CCP’s document activities.The introduction part summarizes the previous research achievements about the CCP’s official documents and the document activities from1921to1940and then puts forward the core, research methods and thought train of the thesis. As this thesis argues, to understand one period of historical process, we usually focus on two points during the academic studies--restoring and explaining. From the archives, the thesis represents the historical revolution and development of the document activities of the Communist Party of China before the PRC was founded. Based on the representation, the thesis tries to rationally interpret all the procedures of the modernization process of the Party’s document activities before the founding of the PRC. Along this train of thought, this thesis is divided to six chapters for detailed studies:Chapter One discusses the modern historical status of the Party’s document activity before the founding of the PRC. The thesis argues that modernization is the main line of the history of modern times, and also of the modern China. From1840, under the continuing challenges from the western countries and the strong survival pressures caused by the national crisis, batch after batch of patriots have renovated China through institutional innovation and seek a new way for the whole nation. Since then, China has gotten rid of the two thousand "dynasty cycle" between well-governed and political chaos, presenting a completely new modernization development direction. This thesis insists that during the process of the Chinese modernization, the CCP is not only the product of the modernization, but also the standard-bearer, designers and leaders of the modernization. Without the CCP, there is no modernization of China. Before the founding of the Party, the Party’s document activity is an important part and reflection of the Party’s revolution. It fully involves in the process of Chinese modernization. In another word, it is closely connected with the modernization of China. The thesis also points out that the modernization of the Party’s document activity before the founding of the PRC is only a part of the entire Chinese modernization process, which is an initial stage. It’s unscientific to excessively highlight the role the document activity plays among the modernization of China. Chapter Two presents the modernization progress of the Party’s document activity before the founding of the PRC. The thesis argues that the modernization progress of the document activity should be investigated from static and dynamic perspectives. From static perspective, the process should be divided into different stages; from dynamic perspective, we should pay attention to the different levels of the process. Focused on the fundamental questions "who are these documents written for "(the object) and "why these documents are written"(or for which content, which work, which issue), the thesis divides the process into three stages. The first period is from1921to1937which tells us who the documents are written for are the toiling masses in semi-colonial and semi-feudal society and the reason why documents are written is to fulfill the anti-imperialist and anti-feudal revolutionary task. The second period is from1937to1945which tells us the documents are written for the whole Chinese nation, and the reason why documents are written is to overthrow the Japanese imperialism. The third period is from1945to1949which tells us the documents are written for the founding of the new China and to fight against the governing of the Kuomintang reactionaries. Based on the division of three stages, the thesis summarizes the document activities of every stage, concluding the characteristics of the modernization those document activities have reflected. The thesis also points out that the modernization progress of the CCP’s document activity takes place simultaneously with the progress of the ideas, methods, systems and organizations. Besides the four aspects, there is also a kind of modernization in material. Research on the material aspect of the document activity modernization is focused on the document types, the format and the phrase used in the documents.Chapter Three discusses the modernization of the document types in the progress of the CCP’s document activity before the founding of the PRC. In the first place, the thesis summarizes the information of different kinds of the documents used by the CCP systems and the base area government in different stages of the modernization progress of the document activities. Based on this, conclusions about the evolvement role of the document types in different stages in the modernization progress are drawn: firstly, the practical request of the society is the core motivation of the emergence, development and demise of the document types; secondly, document types with strong vitality can be used quite a long time and are adaptable for government affairs; thirdly, in this period, divisions and functions of the document types are increasingly clear, and the quantity is gradually simplified. In addition, the thesis also comparatively analyzes the usage of the document types of the CCP systems and the base area government. The thesis points out that, twenty document types are same in systems of the CCP systems and the base area government while nine types are different. This shows that the document types almost can be shared in the party’s and the government’s systems, which lays a foundation for the official document integration of both the party’s and the government’s systems. The thesis also concludes the usage patterns of the document types used by the CCP systems:firstly, the document types are wind-ranged, various and innovative which is beyond later documents in modern times; secondly, according to the direction and practical working request, the feudal hierarchy containing social status is abolished; thirdly, the use frequency of the document types is unbalanced and trends to be polarized, fourthly, the phenomena turn up that documents of the same type contain different elements or documents of different types are same in contain. It is resulted from the function overlapping of some document types and the unclear range about using different types.Chapter Four discusses the modernization of the document forms in the CCP’s modernization progress before the founding of the PRC from three perspectives:the modernization of the document carrier standards, the modernization of the format of the words and phrases and the modernization of the structures of the documents. The thesis argues that in the feudal society, loaded into the orbit of the feudal ritual, the official documents not only are tools to handling political affairs but also sustains the power order behind the etiquette. During the period of the republic of China, the writing patterns of the official documents present a process of change such as the title format is gradually vanished and the font tends to be consistent. Thus, the integration trend is obvious. The writing patterns of different documents aimed at different audiences are no longer un-identical and the power of the official document format to maintain the etiquette order gradually diminish. Compared with the official documents of the republic of China in this period, the CCP’s documents have improved and developed in the document carrier standards, the format of the words and phrases and the structures of the documents. The progress and development highlight the importance of the documents as a tool to handle political affairs. The document formats are simpler and more clear, and the document processing becomes more efficiently. The efficiency of the document activity turns to be the core pursuit.Chapter Five is divided into two subjects:colloquialism of document language and study on conventional phraseology of official document language, exploring language pattern changes in the modernization of the CCP’s document activity. This thesis holds that ancient document activities, exclusive to government officials and scholar-bureaucrats all along, includes characteristics like total use of classic style of Chinese writing, no punctuation and paragraph, old-fashioned conventional phraseology containing strong colors of social status and useless, incomprehensible pleonasm, which separated government officials from common people by making all kinds of symbol distinction just like invisible barriers. That’s why official documents stood high above the masses. Before the founding of the PRC, the document activity of the CCP was based on the simplified one of Kuomintang government in the Republican period, under the principle of seeking truth from facts, by means of abolishing the old regime’s document format. The writing style took the fulfillment of revolution task as its starting point, using colloquialism and new-style punctuation, and all the documents should use punctuation. Old documents’unnecessary and over elaborate formalities, cliche, and rating were opposed.The conventional phraseology use of documents is more simplified. The thesis also insists that the changing course of the CCP’s document language format also is the course to dispel its mystical or sacred feeling. This article also notices the words and sentences of the CCP’s document activity still not accord modern standards in this course. It’s believed in this thesis that the standards are dynamic and exist in certain time and space.Obviously we can’t use standards today to judge the language use in the past.This development from nonstandard to standard is just the transition states of modernization of official document writing.Chapter Six explores the spirit of the modernization in the modernization progress of the CCP’s document activity before the founding of the PRC. The thesis argues that from1921to1949, after nearly30years of gradual development of the official document of the communist party of China, from format to structure, from language to the cavity, has changed dramatically:programs tended to be simplified, form unified gradually, meaning tended to be more clear, the vernacular had be promoted. The shadow of the feudal documents has been rare and the spirit of the modern document was finally established. This thesis points out that in the30years of development, the modernization evolution of the CCP’s official document mainly presents a trend of "simplified":The simplified of document kinds, the simplified of the rules, the simplified of the structure and the program, the simplified of the phraseology. The trend of "simplified" of the CCP’s official document reflects the spirit of "modernization" for the secularization, equalization and popularization and efficiency."Democracy" and "science" are throughout the whole modernization progress of the CCP’s document activities. The modernization of the Chinese Communist Party’s clerical work is to achieve the unity of "tool rationality" and "value rationality".The conclusion part summarized the main point and contents of the thesis, and look forward to further studies of this subject.