What is the essence of the eight-character policy?

Correct "Left" mistakes.

The eight-character policy is the policy of "adjustment, consolidation, enrichment and improvement". Its essence is to correct "Left" mistakes. The core content is "adjustment"-adjusting the proportion of industry and agriculture to light and heavy industries and the speed of economic development.

After the failure of the Great Revolution, while correcting Chen Xiu's right opportunism mistake, a kind of "left" impatience began to grow in the party. From the failure of the Great Revolution in July 1927 to the Zunyi Meeting in June 1935, the "Left" error gained a dominant position in the leading organs of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China for three times.