The History of Development of the Collective Study System of the Chinese Communist Party Politburo until 2002 (Based on Materials of the Chinese Historiography)

The paper analyses the history of collective study system of the Chinese Communist Party Politburo, sites historical events that influenced its emergence or reference to it in different years and evaluates the description of the process of its formation. In the course of analyzing the materials of Chinese historiography, it was noted that researchers mainly distinguish 3 stages of the formation of the collective study system. The first stage began in the fall of 1941, when the CPC established study groups for high-ranked party cadres. It was marked by the curriculum, training materials, a limited number of participants, as well as clear requirements to the professional qualification level necessary for enrollment in the group. The second stage (1959–1960) is represented by the training within the reading circle under the leadership of Mao Zedong. Meetings are characterized by the secrecy (only high-ranked party cadre were invited), as well as by active discussions between participants on economic issues. At the third stage (1980–2002), the features of the modern collective study system matured: the circle of “students” was gradually narrowed down to the members of the Politburo, the practice of guest lectures was introduced, the discussed issues were diversified, lectures were held on regular basis. When evaluating the materials, it was noted that Chinese researchers do not provide the definition of the “collective study” that would describe the specifics of its functioning and would be applied to different stages. Moreover, this paper proposes a new variant of periodization of collective study, which, in our opinion, more accurately reflects the process of transformation of isolated lectures into an educational system.

CCP, Politburo, collective study, learning party