Abstract
The May 7 Cadre Schools were established in the People's Republic of China during the Cultural Revolution. Their function was to train cadres to follow the "mass line, " which was the communist equivalent of the formula, "Of the people, by the people, and for the people. " The principal method of training in these schools was hard manual labor, which had been the Chinese peasants' way of life. It was hoped that through such training, civil servants would be one with the masses. This emphasis on mass line has been abandoned since Mao's death. Insofar as it represents the purists' view of communism, it is worthy of our attention, for the purists are surely waiting in the wings for their moment to return in history.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.