Published : 2025-05-11
On May 11, 1978, the article "Practice is the Sole Criterion for Testing Truth" was published.
On that day, the official newspaper of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, "Guangming Daily", published the special commentator's article "Practice is the Sole Criterion for Testing Truth" on its front page, pointing out that the criterion for testing truth can only be social practice and that any theory must constantly be tested by practice.
The article "Practice is the Sole Criterion for Testing Truth" is considered to mark the beginning of China's ideological emancipation and Reform and Opening-up. After its publication, a nationwide discussion on the "criterion of truth" quickly erupted, ultimately overcoming the severe obstacles brought about by the remnants of the Cultural Revolution's "Two Whatevers" policy.
Hua Guofeng(華國鋒), the then state leader who proposed the "Two Whatevers", was eventually criticized at the Central Work Conference and gradually lost his status.
At the closing of the conference, Deng Xiaoping(鄧小平) delivered his famous speech, "Emancipate the Mind, Seek Truth from Facts, and Unite as One to Look Forward", which became the main content of the thematic report at the subsequent Third Plenary Session of the 11th Central Committee.
