美國學者賽爾頓(Mark Selden)關於一九四○年代延安經驗的研究曾經影響了一個 世代的歐美中國研究。最近他在作自我批判以後，又把舊作以原貌出版。在閱讀他的自我批 判以後，作者認為他的一些觀點仍有可以補充的地方，因此以一篇舊作為基礎，增添一些這 幾年纔能看到的資料，撰成此文。全文除序言和結論之外，主要分為三個部分：第一部分討 論延安時期中共對「絕對平均主義」和「極端民主作風」的批評，藉以凸顯他們當時提倡「 平均主義」和「民主作風」的限度。第二部分採取中共對整風運動的廣義解釋，認為整風運 動中有整風學習階段，也有審查幹部階段；不能只注意前一階段，而對後一階段完全置之不 理。惟有對整風運動採取廣義的解釋，我們纔能正確了解當時以審查幹部為目的的搶救運動 。第三部分則主張，討論延安時代的發展經驗，必須把視野放到傳統的農業之外，否則無以 了解當時的「黨營」商業和「對外」貿易，以及它們在延安渡過財政危機過程中所起的關鍵 作用。

　　　　　Inspired by the reissuing of Mark Selden's pioneering work on the Yanan Way, this article attempts to balance Selden's romanticized picture by taking into full account Chinese materials recently made available. The article is divided into three parts. The first part documents the wartime Communists' attack on "absolute egalitarianism" and "extreme domocracy" to show the simultaneous introduction of a privilege system and a highly centralized Party dictatorship in Yanan. The second part emphasizes the Party's own view of the rectification movement and argues for the addition of an obscured cadre-investigation phase to the movement as described in Mark Selden's book. The third part urges for considering the Yanan Way in other than agricultural terms Greater attention should be paid to commerce, particularly the opium trade, in enabling the Communists to overcome a financial crisis that had its origins in the full suspension of appropriations to Yanan by the Nationalists.