Yan'an Rectification Movement - Thought Reform

Thought Reform

During the Yan'an Rectification Campaign, more sophisticated techniques of thought reform were used than had been previously attempted in China. Relying on criticism, self-criticism, "struggle", confession, and the content of the (allegedly scientific) Marxist doctrine, these methods were heavily influenced by contemporary Soviet practices of thought reform.

Under the guidance of a group leader, an individual, as part of a larger "study group", would study Marxist documents to understand "key principles," and then relate those principles to their own lives in a "critical, concrete, and thoroughgoing way." Other members of the group put the individual under "extraordinary pressure" to examine fully his or her most deeply held views, and to do so in the presence of the group. The individual then had to write a full "self-confession." Other group members isolated the individual during this process. Only when the confession was accepted would the person be drawn back into an accepted position in the group and in the larger society.

These techniques of pressure, ostracism, and reintegration were particularly powerful in China, where the culture puts great value on "saving face", protecting one's innermost thinking, and above all, identifying with a group. Individuals put through thought reform later described it as excruciating. The resulting changes in views were not permanent, but the experience overall seriously affected the lives of those who went through it. The CCP used these same types of techniques on millions of Chinese after 1949.