ABSTRACT
The theoretical underpinnings of rectification were laid in Yenan during the late 1930s and early 1940s as part of the creation of a coherent set of Party organizational norms. In dealing with the rights and duties of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) members and leaders, Party organizational norms also lay down guidelines for handling improper behavior within the elite. Mao Tse-tung is pictured as making obedience conditional on correct policies, emphasizing dramatic displays of emotion in resolving tensions, and being intent upon bringing extra Party forces into the rectification process. Rectification doctrine is firmly linked to the larger body of CCP ideology. The Party as an active force in history is required to define the principal contradiction of each historical period and align with its progressive aspect in a struggle to overcome and transform the reactionary aspect. In CCP theory proletarian consciousness is not simply a reflection of the attitudes of a particular class.
