Updated CPC catchphrase wordbook more catchy

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-09-09 13:26

BEIJING: What does "little village official" mean? A nickname for a college graduate who takes up the job of running a village, according to the latest edition of the "Workbook for the Construction of the Communist Party of China (CPC)".

The new edition, published in August, 20 years after the first one, contains 1,015 items that are widely used in CPC affairs in four main categories of theory, laws and regulations, Party issues, and Party documents.

Despite a blunt title, the new wordbook includes many vivid grassroots catchwords like "little village official".

According to Professor Ye Duchu, one of the chief editors of the book, it took a trip to a village in east China's Zhejiang Province to add the phrase to the new edition.

"When I was inspecting a village, the local government introduced to us the incredible work of the 'little village officials'," said Ye. "They compile magazines for villagers to read and teach them agricultural knowledge, winning praise from local people."

Since then, the phrase had been repeated in Ye's ears during his other village visits.

Ye decided to add this nickname to the wordbook in replacement of the previously used official saying: "specially assigned officials at village level".

"The major difference of this edition from the one 20 years ago is the addition of many new phrases, which vividly record the change of time," Ye told Xinhua.

Ye, near in his 80s, is the country's experienced expert on CPC construction and took part in the amendment of the Party's Constitution.

Other popular catch phrases include "network anti-corruption", "intra-Party harmony" and "red resources", which refers to resources related to the history of the CPC as red is the main color of the Party flag.

In addition to new phrases and explanations, the latest edition gives equal emphasis on historical words which record the path of the CPC.

Traditional sayings such as "united front", "armed struggle" and "Party building" are also inside the book as they are regarded as the CPC's three "magic weapons" to defeat enemies during the revolution period.

"The original idea of compiling this wordbook is to draw our Party building work closer to all Party members and the public," said Ye, adding that many new phrases came from the wisdom of ordinary people in villages and urban communities.

Comments from domestic media said the new phrases symbolizes the rising power of the public and also reflects that the CPC is focusing its work on the grassroots as never before.

In one of the Party's latest efforts to address grassroots problems, the Political and Legislative Affairs Committee (PLAC) of the CPC Central Committee urged officials in charge of legislative affairs at various levels to set aside a day a week to meet the public who want to voice complaints.

Also, problems raised should be investigated immediately and dealt with within 60 days, and the people involved must be informed of the result.

"New words and phrases have constantly come up after the country's reform and opening up. Some even appear in government documents and central leaders' speeches," said Wang Wei, professor from the National School of Administration.

Wang added that it is necessary for the book to sum these phrases up as a present for the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China.

"Focusing on the Party's work, we made this small book to cater for Party workers and ordinary people as well," Ye Duchu said.