Published : 2026-05-11
On 11 May, 1978, the article Practice is the Sole Criterion for Testing Truth (《實踐是檢驗真理的唯一標準》) was published.
On that day, the official newspaper of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), Guangming Daily (《光明日報》), 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.
This article 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" ("兩個凡是") policy.
Hua Guofeng (華國鋒), the then state leader who proposed the "Two Whatevers", was eventually criticised 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" ("解放思想，實事求是，團結一致向前看"), which became the main content of the thematic report at the subsequent Third Plenary Session of the 11th Central Committee.
