Seek truth from facts

"Seek truth from facts" is a historically established idiomatic expression (chengyu) in the Chinese language that first appeared in the Book of Han. Originally, it described an attitude toward study and research.

Seek truth from facts
A stele of the expression in Beijing
Traditional Chinese實事求是
Simplified Chinese实事求是
Seek truth from facts

河間獻王德以孝景前二年立，修學好古，實事求是。從民得善書，必為好寫與之，留其真，加金帛賜以招之。

The Prince Xian of Hejian, Liu De, was made a prince in the second year of Emperor Jing the Filial; he enjoyed studying classics from earlier eras, and sought truth from facts. When he obtained a valuable book from the people, he always made a copy by transcribing it and returned the copy to them, keeping the original himself, and provided gold and silk to keep those guests coming.

《漢書 ·河間獻王德傳》
The Biography of the Prince Xian of Hejian, Liu De (Book of Han)[1]

In modern Chinese culture

The slogan became a key slogan in Chinese Marxism and was first used by Mao Zedong in 1936.[2]: 423  Mao had probably remembered it as being the inscription on his alma mater, Hunan's First Teachers Training School.[3] 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.[4]: 38 

Beginning in 1978, it was further promoted by Deng Xiaoping as a central ideology of Socialism with Chinese characteristics,[5] and applied to economic and political reforms thereafter.

Use in political context
See also: 1978 Truth Criterion Controversy

To "seek truth from facts" means that communists should test theory against reality rather than adhere dogmatically to theory.[4]: 62  The slogan implies respect for facts and using facts to inform theory and policy.[2]: 423 

On 11 May 1978 journalist Hu Fuming published an article in Guangming Daily entitled "Practice is the Sole Criterion for Testing the Truth"（Chinese: 实践是检验真理的唯一标准; pinyin: Shíjiàn shì jiǎnyàn zhēnlǐ de wéiyī biāozhǔn）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 saying and is widely seen as a seminal document in Chinese history marking the beginning of the Reform and Opening Up era.[6]

References
  1. "河間獻王德傳". Book of Han. 111.
  2. Harrell, Stevan (2023). An Ecological History of Modern China. Seattle: University of Washington Press. ISBN 9780295751719.
  3. Terrill, Ross (1993). Mao: A Biography. Simon & Schuster. p. 28. ISBN 978-0-671-79803-1.
  4. Marquis, Christopher; Qiao, Kunyuan (2022). Mao and Markets: The Communist Roots of Chinese Enterprise. New Haven: Yale University Press. doi:10.2307/j.ctv3006z6k. ISBN 978-0-300-26883-6. JSTOR j.ctv3006z6k. OCLC 1348572572. S2CID 253067190.
  5. Deng, Xiaoping. "Emancipate the mind, seek truth from facts and unite as one in looking to the future". cpcchina.chinadaily.com.cn. Retrieved 31 December 2018.
  6. "An article influences Chinese history -- china.org.cn". www.china.org.cn. Retrieved 2022-08-14.


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