1978 Truth Criterion Controversy

History of the People's Republic of China

1949–1976: Mao era Revolution Land Reform Movement Proclamation Korean War Campaign to Suppress Counterrevolutionaries Three-anti and Five-anti Campaigns First five-year plan Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence Bandung Conference Sufan movement Hundred Flowers Campaign Anti-Rightist Campaign Canton Fair Great Leap Forward Great Chinese Famine Anti-Right Deviation Struggle Two Bombs, One Satellite Seven Thousand Cadres Conference Socialist Education Movement Third Front Cultural Revolution Abolition of the presidency UN representation Richard Nixon visit
1976–1989: Hua & Deng era Gang of Four Boluan Fanzheng 1978 Truth Criterion Controversy New Enlightenment Reform and opening up Special economic zones China–United States relations Three Communiqués Four Modernizations Sino-Vietnamese War Beijing Spring Strike Hard Against Crime Campaign Sino-British Joint Declaration Campaign against spiritual pollution Bourgeois liberalization Opposition 863 Program 1986 Chinese student demonstrations Sino-Portuguese Joint Declaration 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre
1989–2002: Jiang era Shanghai Stock Exchange Pudong New District Deng's southern tour 1992 consensus One country, two systems Handover of Hong Kong Handover of Macau 1998 floods US bombing of the Belgrade embassy Persecution of Falun Gong China Western Development Hainan Island incident APEC China 2001 Accession to the WTO Forum on China–Africa Cooperation Shanghai Cooperation Organisation
2002–2012: Hu era 2002–2004 SARS outbreak Shenzhou 5 Visit of Lien Chan South–North Water Transfer Project Qinghai–Tibet railway 2008 Sichuan earthquake Three Links with Taiwan 2008 Summer Olympics Expo 2010 BRICS Three Gorges Dam West–East Gas Pipeline High-speed rail
2012–present: Xi era Anti-corruption campaign Chang'e 3 Supercomputing Meeting with Ma Ying-Jeou Xiong'an Persecution of Uyghurs Xinjiang internment camps China–United States trade war Tiangong space station 2019–2020 Hong Kong protests 2020 Hong Kong national security law COVID-19 pandemic Zero-COVID 2020–2021 reform spree 2022 Winter Olympics 2022 COVID-19 protests in China Artificial Intelligence Cold War Belt and Road Initiative APEC China 2014 2016 G20 Hangzhou summit 9th BRICS summit China International Import Expo
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The 1978 Truth Criterion Controversy (Chinese: 真理标准大讨论; lit. 'Debate on Standards for Judging the Truth'), also known as the 1978 Truth Criterion Discussion, sometimes referred to as the First Great Debate (Chinese: 第一次大争论) in contemporary China, was a sociopolitical debate around 1978, mainly revolving around Hua Guofeng's "Two Whatevers" and Deng Xiaoping's "Reform and opening up". The debate was also the origin of the "New Enlightenment" in mainland China in the 1980s.

The core debate centered on what should be the criterion for determining truth:

"Two Whatevers" — This slogan emphasized that Mao's directives were the ultimate truth guide, focusing on political-ideological authority.
"Practice is the sole criterion" — This stance highlighted empirical outcomes and social practice as the true tests of validity.
Hybrid views — Some proposals sought to blend theory and practice, encouraging a broader interpretation of Mao's thought beyond isolated quotes, while stressing the importance of "seeking truth from facts."