3. Rectification: Party Discipline, Intellectual Remolding, And The Formation Of A Political Community
The story of rectification is one of both political idealism (the transformation of people's minds in the formation of a new political community) and political persecution, utopian Maoist philosophy and bald Maoist politics. Rectification offered individuals the appealing possibility of joining with the dynamic flow of history. As Apter and Cheek point out, the Yan'an Rectification shows at once the Janus-faced nature of the Communist movement - idealist and collectivist on the one hand, and repressive and intolerant on the other - and the complex interrelationship between these two faces. Rectification is the principal tool, therefore, for forging a collective community with shared values, something necessary for mass mobilization and social transformation, but also for the foundation of a totalitarian state. Keywords: Chinese Communist movement; Maoist philosophy; party discipline; political community; Yan'an Rectification