The whole Party must realize that the fight against corruption is a long-term, complex, and arduous task. Just as we would take a heavy dose of medicine to treat a serious disease, we must apply powerful laws to address disorder. In our fight to build a clean government and stop corruption, we must have the courage to scrape the poison off our bones and cut off our own poisoned hands.

-- Speech given by Xi Jinping at the Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, January 14, 2014

Scrape the Poison Off the Bone and

Cut Off Your Own Poisoned Hand

-- Fighting against corruption to the finish

In his January 14, 2014 speech at the Third Plenary Session of the 18th Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the CPC, Xi Jinping made use of two familiar sayings: "take a heavy dose of medicine to treat a serious disease and apply powerful laws to address disorder," and "scrape the poison off the bone and cut off your own poisoned hand." This showed the courage, resolve, and faith needed to build clean government and fight corruption.

The phrase "scrape the poison off the bone" originated in "Biography of Guan Yu" from The Records of the Three Kingdoms: Book of Shu, written by Chen Shou during the yin Dynasty (265-420):

"Guan Yu was once struck by a stray arrow that passed through his left arm. Even though his wound healed, the bone would start to hurt whenever it rained. His physician said: 'The arrow tip was poisoned and the poison has seeped into your bone. I can cure you by making an incision in your arm and scraping the poison off the bone.' Guan Yu thrust his arm out and ordered the physician to cut. At that time Guan Yu happened to be eating with his fellow generals, and he ate meat and drank wine as if nothing happened while a bowl filled up with the blood flowing from his arm."

"Scrape the poison off the bone" was later frequently used to describe someone with an iron will who was not afraid of pain.

"Cut off your own poisoned hand" came from "Biography of Chen Tai" in The Records of the Three Kingdoms: Book of Wei. "There is an old saying that when bitten on the hand by a viper, a hero will cut his own hand off." Vipers are highly poisonous snakes, and people used to say that if one bites you on the hand, you should cut it off right away to keep the poison from spreading to the rest of your body. This expression is used as a metaphor for acting resolutely at a key moment.

Both "scraping the poison off the bone" and "cutting off your own poisoned hand" require resolute action to treat the poison attacking one's own body. Sacrificing a part of one's body to save the whole reflects the tough mindset required to operate on oneself. While "scraping the poison off the bone" is performed by a surgeon with a scalpel, "cutting off your own poisoned hand" is your own initiative that requires even greater courage and guts.

There were three levels of meaning when Xi Jinping cited the stories of "scraping the poison off the bone" and "cutting off your own poisoned hand" at the Third Plenary Session of the 18th Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the CPC.

First, disregard for the law and corruption are the "poison" threatening the Party. Left to develop unchecked without an effective anticorruption mechanism in place, the poison of corruption will seep into the Party's bones, threatening its image and even its own existence.

Second, the Party must face up to the existence of corruption and see that this poison has already attacked its bones and hands. Resolving the problem requires recognizing that it exists. Xi Jinping said: "There are still breeding grounds for corruption. The fight against corruption remains a serious and complex challenge. Instances of misconduct and corruption have had an adverse effect on society, and they must be immediately addressed." Faced with the evil and poison of corruption threatening the health of the Party and country, we cannot cover up our problems or refuse to see a doctor.

Third, removing the poison of corruption requires being like Guan Yu and the hero, which means having the courage and resolve to scrape the poison off the bone and cut off your own poisoned hand. It requires resolutely removing all "tumors" - large and small - to keep the body healthy and the team clean, thereby saving the political genes of the Party by governing cleanly for the people.

If we say that since the 18th CPC National Congress, following the "eight rules" and carrying out the mass line education campaign was aimed at preventing the "four forms of decadence" from taking hold, then "hunting both the tigers and the flies" is a real case of "scraping the poison off the bone" and "cutting off your own poisoned hand." This shows the solid resolve of the Party in strictly governing both the Party and the military and having zero tolerance for corruption. Since the 18th CPC National Congress, nearly 40 governor- and minister-level officials and more than 50 state-owned enterprise executives have fallen. By May 2014, 1,577 state functionaries at the county and division levels and above have been investigated and punished. They are like a "poison" attacking the Party's bones and poisoned "hands" that must be removed. Strictly punishing them under the law shows that the Party is not only bold enough to "scrape the poison off the bone" and "cut off its own poisoned hand," but also able to counteract the poison and purify itself to preserve its own healthy body and clean team. This is the only way to inject more vitality into the Party, and this is also the only path to realizing equality, justice, and harmonious development in the country and society.

(An excerpt from XI JINPING: WIT AND VISION -- SELECTED QUOTATIONS AND COMMENTARY, published by FOREIGN LANGUAGES PRESS in 2015)