Mass line

Mass line
Mass line
Traditional Chinese	群眾路線
Simplified Chinese	群众路线
Hanyu Pinyin
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyin	qúnzhòng lùxiàn
Wade–Giles	ch'ün-chung lu-hsien
Yue: Cantonese
Jyutping	kwan4 zung3 lou6 sin3
Southern Min
Hokkien POJ	kûn-chiòng lō͘-sòaⁿ

The mass line is a political, organizational, and leadership methodology developed by Mao Zedong and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) during the Chinese Communist Revolution. Who used the term first is disputed, with some crediting Li Lisan^[1] and others Zhou Enlai.^[2] In mass line methodology, leadership formulates policy based on theory, implements it based on the people's real world conditions, revises the theory and policy based on actual practice, and uses that revised theory as the guide to future practice. This process is summarized as leadership "from the masses, to the masses", repeated indefinitely.^[3]

Mao developed the mass line into an organizing methodology that encompasses philosophy, strategy, tactics, leadership, and organizational theory, which has been applied by many communists subsequent to the Chinese Communist Revolution: from Che Guevara in Latin America, to Ho Chi Minh in Vietnam.^[4] Many CCP leaders have attributed their attainment of power to the faithful pursuit of effective "mass line" tactics, and a "correct" mass line is supposed to be the essential prerequisite for the full consolidation of power.^[5]

^ Newman, Edward; Zhang, Chi (2021-05-04). "The Mass Line approach to countering violent extremism in China: the road from propaganda to hearts and minds". Asian Security. 17 (2): 4. doi:10.1080/14799855.2020.1825379. ISSN 1479-9855.
^ Schram, Stuart (1989). The Thought of Mao Tse-Tung. Contemporary China Institute Publications. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/cbo9780511521454. ISBN 978-0-521-31062-8.
^ Cheek, Timothy (2002), "Resolution of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party on Methods of Leadership", Mao Zedong and China’s Revolutions, New York: Palgrave Macmillan US, pp. 120–121, doi:10.1007/978-1-137-08687-7_11, ISBN 978-1-349-63485-9, retrieved 2024-05-27
^ Cite error: The named reference :7 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Steiner, H. Arthur (June 1951). "Current "Mass Line" Tactics in Communist China". American Political Science Review. 45 (2): 422–436. doi:10.2307/1951469. ISSN 0003-0554. JSTOR 1951469. S2CID 145666761.

[1] Newman, Edward; Zhang, Chi (2021-05-04). "The Mass Line approach to countering violent extremism in China: the road from propaganda to hearts and minds". Asian Security. 17 (2): 4. doi:10.1080/14799855.2020.1825379. ISSN 1479-9855.

[2] Schram, Stuart (1989). The Thought of Mao Tse-Tung. Contemporary China Institute Publications. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/cbo9780511521454. ISBN 978-0-521-31062-8.

[:2-3] Cheek, Timothy (2002), "Resolution of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party on Methods of Leadership", Mao Zedong and China’s Revolutions, New York: Palgrave Macmillan US, pp. 120–121, doi:10.1007/978-1-137-08687-7_11, ISBN 978-1-349-63485-9, retrieved 2024-05-27

[:7-4] Cite error: The named reference :7 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[steiner-5] Steiner, H. Arthur (June 1951). "Current "Mass Line" Tactics in Communist China". American Political Science Review. 45 (2): 422–436. doi:10.2307/1951469. ISSN 0003-0554. JSTOR 1951469. S2CID 145666761.

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