SELECTED WORKS 
OF 
MAO TSE-TUNG 
Volume V






WORKERS OF ALL COUNTRIES, UNITE !



From Marx to Mao 
ML 
Š Digital Reprints 
2006

SELECTED WORKS 
OF 
MAO TSE-TUNG 
Volume V 
F O R E I G N L A N G U A G E S P R E S S 
P E K I N G 1 9 6 7 
FROM MARX 
TO MAO 

 
NOT FOR 
COMMERCIAL 
DISTRIBUTION

First Edition 1977 
The present volume is the authorized English translation 
of the first Chinese edition of the fifth volume 
of the Selected Works of Mao Tsetung, published in 
April 1977 by the Peoplešs Publishing House, Peking. 
Printed in the Peoplešs Republic of China

PUBLICATION NOTE 
The works of our great leader and teacher Chairman Mao Tsetung 
are immortal monuments of Marxism-Leninism. In accordance with 
the decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of 
China, Volume V of the Selected Works of Mao Tsetung has now been 
published and the subsequent volumes will come out in succession. 
The previously published Volumes I to IV of the Selected Works 
of Mao Tsetung contain important writings from the period of the 
new-democratic revolution. Volume V and succeeding volumes contain 
important writings from the period of the socialist revolution and 
socialist construction. 
In the new historical period since the founding of the Peoplešs 
Republic of China, Comrade Mao Tsetung, consistently upholding the 
principle of integrating the universal truth of Marxism-Leninism 
with the concrete practice of the revolution, inherited, defended and 
developed Marxism-Leninism as he led our Party and our people in 
a series of struggles; these were struggles to carry out the socialist 
revolution and socialist construction, to oppose the revisionist lines 
of Kao-Jao, Peng Teh-huai, Liu Shao-chi, Lin Piao and Wang-Chang- 
Chiang-Yao, to fight against imperialism and the reactionaries of all 
countries and to combat modern revisionism with the Soviet revisionist 
renegade clique as its centre. During this period Comrade Mao 
Tsetungšs greatest contributions to theory were to sum up systematically 
the historical experience of the dictatorship of the proletariat 
in China and abroad, analyse the contradictions, classes and class 
struggle in socialist society by means of the fundamental concept of 
materialist dialectics, the unity of opposites, and thereby to reveal 
the law of development of socialist society and create the great theory 
of continuing the revolution under the dictatorship of the proletariat. 
The new ideas, new theses, of Comrade Mao Tsetung concerning the 
proletarian revolution and the dictatorship of the proletariat have 
greatly enriched the treasure-house of Marxist-Leninist theory in the 
realms of philosophy, political economy and scientific socialism. They 
not only chart the Chinese peoplešs true road for consolidating the 
5

6 MAO TSETUNG 
dictatorship of the proletariat, preventing capitalist restoration and 
building socialism, but are also of great and lasting world significance. 
Volume V of the Selected Works of Mao Tsetung contains important 
writings from September 1949 through 1957. It was in these 
writings that Comrade Mao Tsetung for the first time put forward: 
the scientific thesis that the struggle between the proletariat and the 
bourgeoisie, between the socialist road and the capitalist road, will 
still exist for a long time after the basic completion of the socialist 
transformation of the ownership of the means of production; the 
teachings about correctly distinguishing and handling the two types of 
contradictions in socialist society that are different in nature, those 
between ourselves and the enemy and those among the people; the 
great theory of continuing the revolution under the dictatorship of 
the proletariat; and the ideas underlying the general line for building 
socialism. Later, particularly during the Great Proletarian Cultural 
Revolution, Comrade Mao Tsetung continued to enrich and develop 
this body of brilliant thought on the basis of the practical experience 
of the revolution. 
Comrade Mao Tsetung was the greatest Marxist-Leninist of our 
time. Mao Tsetung Thought is the victorious banner under which our 
Party, our army and our people will fight in unity and continue the 
revolution; it is a treasure shared in common by the international 
proletariat and the revolutionary people of all countries. Comrade Mao 
Tsetungšs thought and teachings will live for ever. 
Some of Comrade Mao Tsetungšs writings from the period of the 
socialist revolution and socialist construction contained in the Selected 
Works have been published before; others have not, and they include 
documents drafted by him, his manuscripts and official records of his 
speeches. Some necessary technical editing of the records of the 
speeches was done in the course of compilation. 
Committee for Editing and Publishing 
the Works of Chairman Mao Tsetung, 
Central Committee of the Communist 
Party of China
March 1, 1977

FROM MARX 
TO MAO 

 
NOT FOR 
COMMERCIAL 
DISTRIBUTION 
CONTENTS 
THE PERIOD OF THE SOCIALIST REVOLUTION 
AND SOCIALIST CONSTRUCTION (I) 
THE CHINESE PEOPLE HAVE STOOD UP! (September 21, 1949) 15 
LONG LIVE THE GREAT UNITY OF THE CHINESE PEOPLE! 
(September 30, 1949) 19 
ETERNAL GLORY TO THE HEROES OF THE PEOPLE! (September 30, 
1949) 22 
ALWAYS KEEP TO THE STYLE OF PLAIN LIVING AND HARD 
STRUGGLE (October 26, 1949) 23 
REQUEST FOR OPINIONS ON THE TACTICS FOR DEALING WITH 
RICH PEASANTS (March 12, 1950) 24 
FIGHT FOR A FUNDAMENTAL TURN FOR THE BETTER IN THE 
NATIONšS FINANCIAL AND ECONOMIC SITUATION (June 6, 1950) 26 
DONšT HIT OUT IN ALL DIRECTIONS (June 6, 1950) 33 
BE A TRUE REVOLUTIONARY (June 23, 1950) 37 
YOU ARE MODELS FOR THE WHOLE NATION (September 25, 1950) 41 
ORDER TO THE CHINESE PEOPLEšS VOLUNTEERS (October 8, 1950) 43 
THE CHINESE PEOPLEšS VOLUNTEERS SHOULD CHERISH EVERY 
HILL, EVERY RIVER, EVERY TREE AND EVERY BLADE OF 
GRASS IN KOREA (January 19, 1951) 44 
MAIN POINTS OF THE RESOLUTION ADOPTED AT THE ENLARGED 
MEETING OF THE POLITICAL BUREAU OF THE 
CENTRAL COMMITTEE OF THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF CHINA 
(February 18, 1951) 45 
I.T wenty-two Months for Preparation 45 
II.Propaganda and Education Campaign for S. 
Aggression and Aiding Korea 45 
III.Agrarian Reform 46 
IV.Suppression of Counter -Revolutionaries 46 
V.Urban Work 47 
7

8 MAO TSETUNG 
VI. Party Consolidation and Party Building 47 
VII. United Front Work 48 
VIII. Rectification Movement 49 
THE PARTYšS MASS LINE MUST BE FOLLOWED IN SUPPRESSING 
COUNTER-REVOLUTIONARIES (May 1951) 50 
STRIKE SURELY, ACCURATELY AND RELENTLESSLY IN SUPPRESSING 
COUNTER-REVOLUTIONARIES (December 1950 - September 
1951) 53 
PAY SERIOUS ATTENTION TO THE DISCUSSION OF THE FILM 
THE LIFE OF WU HSUN (May 20, 1951) 57 
GREAT VICTORIES IN THREE MASS MOVEMENTS (October 23, 1951) 59 
ON THE STRUGGLE AGAINST THE ŗTHREE EVILS˛ AND THE 
ŗFIVE EVILS˛ (November, 1951 - March, 1952) 64 
TAKE MUTUAL AID AND CO-OPERATION IN AGRICULTURE AS A 
MAJOR TASK (December 15, 1951) 71 
NEW YEARšS DAY MESSAGE (January 1, 1952) 72 
ON THE POLICIES FOR OUR WORK IN TIBET ‹ DIRECTIVE OF THE 
CENTRAL COMMITTEE OF THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF CHINA 
(April 6, 1952) 73 
THE CONTRADICTION BETWEEN THE WORKING CLASS AND THE 
BOURGEOISIE IS THE PRINCIPAL CONTRADICTION IN CHINA 
(June 6, 1952) 77 
LET US UNITE AND CLEARLY DISTINGUISH BETWEEN OURSELVES 
AND THE ENEMY (August 4, 1952) 78 
HAIL THE SIGNAL VICTORY OF THE CHINESE PEOPLEšS VOLUNTEERS! 
(October 24, 1952) 82 
COMBAT BUREAUCRACY, COMMANDISM AND VIOLATIONS OF 
THE LAW AND OF DISCIPLINE (January 5, 1953) 84 
CRITICIZE HAN CHAUVINISM (March 16, 1953) 87 
SOLVE THE PROBL EM OF THE ŗFIVE EXCESSES˛ ( March 19, 1953) 89 
LIU SHAO-CHI AND YANG SHANG-KUN CRITICIZED FOR BREACH 
OF DISCIPLINE IN ISSUING DOCUMENTS IN THE NAME OF 
THE CENTRAL COMMITTEE WITHOUT AUTHORIZATION ( May 
19, 1953) 92 
REFUTE RIGHT DEVIATIONIST VIEWS THAT DEPART FROM THE 
GENERAL LINE (June 15, 1953) 93 
THE YOUTH LEAGUE IN ITS WORK MUST TAKE THE CHARACTERISTICS 
OF YOUTH INTO CONSIDERATION (June 30, 1953) 95 
ON STATE CAPITALISM (July 9, 1953) 101

9 CONTENTS 
THE PARTYšS GENERAL L INE FOR THE TRANSITION PERIOD 
(August 1953) 102 
COMBAT BOURGEOIS IDEAS IN THE PARTY (August 12, 1953) 103 
THE ONLY ROAD FOR THE TRANSFORMATION OF CAPITALIST 
INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE (September 7, 1953) 112 
OUR GREAT VICTORY IN THE WAR TO RESIST U.S. AGGRESSION 
AND AID KOREA AND OUR FUTURE TASKS (September 12, 1953) 115 
CRITICISM OF LIANG SHU-MINGšS REACTIONARY IDEAS (September 
16-18, 1953) 121 
TWO TALKS ON MUTUAL AID AND CO-OPERATION IN AGRICULTURE 
(October and November 1953) 131 
I. The Talk of October 15 131 
II. The Talk of November 4 135 
ON THE DRAFT CONSTITUTION OF THE PEOPLEšS REPUBLIC OF 
CHINA (June 14, 1954) 141 
STRIVE TO BUILD A GREAT SOCIALIST COUNTRY (September 15, 
1954) 148 
LETTER CONCERNING THE STUDY OF THE DREAM OF THE RED 
CHAMBER (October 16, 1954) 150 
THE CHINESE PEOPLE CANNOT BE COWED BY THE ATOM BOMB 
(January 5, 1955) 152 
SPEECHES AT THE NATIONAL CONFERENCE OF THE COMMUNIST 
PARTY OF CHINA (March 1955) 154 
Opening Speech 154 
Concluding Speech 158 
1. Evaluation of the Present Conference 158 
2. On the First Five-Year Plan 160 
3. On the Anti-Party Alliance 161 
4. On the Current Situation 167 
5. Strive for the Successful Convocation of the Eighth National Congress 
of the Party 169 
IN REFUTATION OF ŗUNIFORMITY OF PUBLIC OPINION˛ (May 24, 
1955) 172 
PREFACE AND EDITORšS NOTES TO MATERIAL ON THE COUNTER-REVOLUTIONARY 
HU FENG CLIQUE (May and June 1955) 176 
Preface 176 
Editorial Notes (Selections) 178 
ON THE CO-OPERATIVE TRANSFORMATION OF AGRICULTURE 
(July 31, 1955) 184

10 MAO TSETUNG 
RELY ON P ARTY AND L EAGUE MEMBERS AND POOR AND 
LOWER-MIDDLE PEASANTS IN THE CO-OPERATIVE TRANSFORMATION 
OF AGRICULTURE (September 7, 1955) 208 
THE DEBATE ON THE CO-OPERATIVE TRANSFORMATION OF 
AGRICULTURE AND THE CURRENT CLASS STRUGGLE (October 11,
1955) 211 
I. The Relationship Between Agricultural Co-operation and the 
Transformation of Capitalist Industry and Commerce 212 
II. A Summing-up of the Debate on the Question of Cooperation 
216 
III. On The Question of Comprehensive Planning and More 
Effective Leadership 218 
IV. On Ideological Struggle 223 
V. Other Questions 226 
PREFACES TO SOCIALIST UPSURGE IN CHINAšS COUNTRYSIDE 
(September and December 1955) 235 
Preface I 235 
Preface II 238 
EDITORšS NOTES FROM SOCIALIST UPSURGE IN CHINAšS COUNTRYSIDE 
(September and December 1955) 242 
REQUEST FOR OPINIONS ON THE SEVENTEEN-ARTICLE DOCUMENT 
CONCERNING AGRICULTURE (December 21, 1955) 277 
SPEED UP THE SOCIALIST TRANSFORMATION OF HANDICRAFTS 
(March 5, 1956) 281 
ON THE TEN MAJOR RELATIONSHIPS (April 25, 1955) 284 
I. The Relationship Between Heavy Industry on the One 
Hand and Light Industry on the Other 285 
II. The Relationship Between Industry in the Coastal Regions 
and Industry in the Interior 286 
III. The Relationship Between Economic Construction and 
Defense Construction 288 
IV. The Relationship Between the State, the Units of Production 
and the Producers 289 
V. The Relationship Between the Central and the Local 
Authorities 292 
VI. The Relationship Between the Han Nationality and the 
Minority Nationalities 295 
VII. The Relationship Between Party and Non-Party 296

11 CONTENTS 
VIII. The Relationship Between Revolution and Counter- 
Revolution 298 
IX. The Relationship Between Right and Wrong 301 
X. The Relationship Between China and Other Countries 303 
U.S. IMPERIALISM IS A PAPER TIGER (July 14, 1956) 308 
STRENGTHEN PARTY UNITY AND CARRY FORWARD PARTY TRADITIONS 
(August 30, 1956) 312 
SOME EXPERIENCES IN OUR PARTYšS HISTORY (September 25, 1956) 324 
IN COMMEMORATION OF DR. SUN YAT-SEN (November 12, 1956) 330 
SPEECH AT THE SECOND PLENARY SESSION OF THE EIGHTH 
CENTRAL COMMITTEE OF THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF CHINA 
(November 15, 1956) 332 
TALKS AT A CONFERENCE OF SECRETARIES OF PROVINCIAL, 
MUNICIPAL AND AUTONOMOUS REGION PARTY COMMITTEES 
(January 1957) 350 
I. The Talk of January 18 350 
II. The Talk of January 27 359 
ON THE CORRECT HANDLING OF CONTRADICTIONS AMONG THE 
PEOPLE (February 27, 1957) 384 
I. Two Types of Contradictions Differing in Nature 384 
II. The Question of Eliminating Counter-Revolutionaries 396 
III. The Question of the Co-operative Transformation of 
Agriculture 399 
IV. The Question of the Industrialists and Businessmen 402 
V. The Question of the Intellectuals 404 
VI. The Question of the Minority Nationalities 406 
VII. Over-all Consideration and Proper Arrangement 407 
VIII. On ŗLet a Hundred Flowers Bloom, Let a Hundred 
Schools of Thought Contend˛ and ŗLong-Term Coexistence 
and Mutual Supervision˛ 408 
IX. On the Question of Disturbances Created by Small 
Numbers of People 414 
X. Can Bad Things Be Turned into Good Things? 416 
XI. On Practising Economy 417 
XII. Chinašs Path to Industrialization 419 
SPEECH AT THE CHINESE COMMUNIST PARTYšS NATIONAL CONFERENCE 
ON PROPAGANDA WORK (March 12, 1957) 422

12 MAO TSETUNG 
PERSEVERE IN PLAIN LIVING AND HARD STRUGGLE, MAINTAIN 
CLOSE TIES WITH THE MASSES (March 1957) 436 
THINGS ARE BEGINNING TO CHANGE (May 15, 1957) 440 
THE CHINESE COMMUNIST PARTY IS THE CORE OF LEADERSHIP 
OF THE WHOLE CHINESE PEOPLE (May 25, 1957) 447 
MUSTER OUR FORCES TO REPULSE THE RIGHTISTSš WILD ATTACKS 
(June 8, 1957) 448 
WEN HUI PAOšS BOURGEOIS ORIENTATION SHOULD BE CRITICIZED 
(July 1, 1957) 451 
BEAT BACK THE ATTACKS OF THE BOURGEOIS RIGHTISTS 
(July 9, 1957) 457 
THE SITUATION IN THE SUMMER OF 1957 473 
BE ACTIVISTS IN PROMOTING THE REVOLUTION 483 
HAVE FIRM FAITH IN THE MAJORITY OF THE PEOPLE (October 
13, 1957) 498 
A DIALECTICAL APPROACH TO INNER-PARTY UNITY (November 
18, 1957) 514 
ALL REACTIONARIES ARE PAPER TIGERS (November 18, 1957) 517

THE PERIOD OF 
THE SOCIALIST REVOLUTION AND 
SOCIALIST CONSTRUCTION (I)


THE CHINESE PEOPLE HAVE STOOD UP! 
September 21, 1949 
Fellow Delegates, 
The Political Consultative Conference so eagerly awaited by the 
whole nation is herewith inaugurated. 
Our conference is composed of more than six hundred delegates, 
representing all the democratic parties and peoplešs organizations of 
China, the Peoplešs Liberation Army, the various regions and nationalities 
of the country and the overseas Chinese. This shows that 
ours is a conference embodying the great unity of the people of the 
whole country. 
It is because we have defeated the reactionary Kuomintang government 
backed by U.S. imperialism that this great unity of the whole 
people has been achieved. In a little more than three years the heroic 
Chinese Peoplešs Liberation Army, an army such as the world has 
seldom seen, crushed all the offensives launched by the several million 
troops of the U.S.-supported reactionary Kuomintang government and 
turned to the counter-offensive and the offensive. At present the field 
armies of the Peoplešs Liberation Army, several million strong, have 
pushed the war to areas near Taiwan, Kwangtung, Kwangsi, Kweichow, 
Szechuan and Sinkiang, and the great majority of the Chinese 
people have won liberation. In a little more than three years the 
people of the whole country have closed their ranks, rallied to support 
the Peoplešs Liberation Army, fought the enemy and won basic victory. 
And it is on this foundation that the present Peoplešs Political 
Consultative Conference is convened. 
Our conference is called the Political Consultative Conference 
because some three years ago we held a Political Consultative Conference 
with Chiang Kai-shekšs Kuomintang.1 The results of that 
Opening address at the First Plenary Session of the Chinese Peoplešs Political 
Consultative Conference. 
15

16 MAO TSETUNG 
conference were sabotaged by Chiang Kai-shekšs Kuomintang and 
its accomplices; nevertheless the conference left an indelible impression 
on the people. It showed that nothing in the interest of the 
people could be accomplished together with Chiang Kai-shekšs Kuomintang, 
the running dog of imperialism, and its accomplices. Even 
when resolutions were reluctantly adopted, it was of no avail, for as 
soon as the time was ripe, they tore them up and started a ruthless 
war against the people. The only gain from that conference was the 
profound lesson it taught the people that there is absolutely no room 
for compromise with Chiang Kai-shekšs Kuomintang, the running dog 
of imperialism, and its accomplices ‹ overthrow these enemies or be 
oppressed and slaughtered by them, either one or the other, there is 
no other choice. In a little more than three years the Chinese people, 
led by the Chinese Communist Party, have quickly awakened and 
organized themselves into a nation-wide united front against imperialism, 
feudalism, bureaucrat-capitalism and their general representative, 
the reactionary Kuomintang government, supported the Peoplešs 
War of Liberation, basically defeated the reactionary Kuomintang 
government, overthrown the rule of imperialism in China and restored 
the Political Consultative Conference. 
The present Chinese Peoplešs Political Consultative Conference is 
convened on an entirely new foundation; it is representative of the 
people of the whole country and enjoys their trust and support. Therefore, 
the conference proclaims that it will exercise the functions and 
powers of a National Peoplešs Congress. In accordance with its agenda, 
the conference will enact the Organic Law of the Chinese Peoplešs 
Political Consultative Conference, the Organic Law of the Central 
Peoplešs Government of the Peoplešs Republic of China and the 
Common Programme of the Chinese Peoplešs Political Consultative 
Conference; it will elect the National Committee of the Chinese 
Peoplešs Political Consultative Conference and the Central Peoplešs 
Government Council of the Peoplešs Republic of China; it will adopt 
the national flag and national emblem of the Peoplešs Republic of 
China; and it will decide on the seat of the capital of the Peoplešs 
Republic of China and adopt the chronological system in use in most 
countries of the world. 
Fellow Delegates, we are all convinced that our work will go 
down in the history of mankind, demonstrating that the Chinese 
people, comprising one quarter of humanity, have now stood up. The 
Chinese have always been a great, courageous and industrious nation;

17 THE CHINESE PEOPLE HAVE STOOD UP! 
it is only in modern times that they have fallen behind. And that was 
due entirely to oppression and exploitation by foreign imperialism 
and domestic reactionary governments. For over a century our forefathers 
never stopped waging unyielding struggles against domestic 
and foreign oppressors, including the Revolution of 1911 led by Dr. 
Sun Yat-sen, our great forerunner in the Chinese revolution. Our 
forefathers enjoined us to carry out their unfulfilled will. And we 
have acted accordingly. We have closed our ranks and defeated both 
domestic and foreign oppressors through the Peoplešs War of Liberation 
and the great peoplešs revolution, and now we are proclaiming 
the founding of the Peoplešs Republic of China. From now on our 
nation will belong to the community of the peace-loving and freedomloving 
nations of the world and work courageously and industriously 
to foster its own civilization and well-being and at the same time 
to promote world peace and freedom. Ours will no longer be a nation 
subject to insult and humiliation. We have stood up. Our revolution 
has won the sympathy and acclaim of the people of all countries. 
We have friends all over the world. 
Our revolutionary work is not completed, the Peoplešs War of 
Liberation and the peoplešs revolutionary movement are still forging 
ahead and we must keep up our efforts. The imperialists and the 
domestic reactionaries will certainly not take their defeat lying down; 
they will fight to the last ditch. After there is peace and order throughout 
the country, they are sure to engage in sabotage and create 
disturbances by one means or another and every day and every minute 
they will try to stage a come-back. This is inevitable and beyond all 
doubt, and under no circumstances must we relax our vigilance. 
Our state system, the peoplešs democratic dictatorship, is a powerful 
weapon for safeguarding the fruits of victory of the peoplešs 
revolution and for thwarting the plots of domestic and foreign enemies 
for restoration, and this weapon we must firmly grasp. Internationally, 
we must unite with all peace-loving and freedom-loving countries 
and peoples, and first of all with the Soviet Union and the New 
Democracies, so that we shall not stand alone in our struggle to safeguard 
these fruits of victory and to thwart the plots of domestic and 
foreign enemies for restoration. As long as we persist in the peoplešs 
democratic dictatorship and unite with our foreign friends, we shall 
always be victorious. 
The peoplešs democratic dictatorship and solidarity with our foreign 
friends will enable us to accomplish our work of construction

18 MAO TSETUNG 
rapidly. We are already confronted with the task of nation-wide 
economic construction. We have very favourable conditions: a population 
of 475 million people and a territory of 9,600,000 square kilometres. 
There are indeed difficulties ahead, and a great many too. 
But we firmly believe that by heroic struggle the people of the country 
will surmount them all. The Chinese people have rich experience in 
overcoming difficulties. If our forefathers, and we also, could weather 
long years of extreme difficulty and defeat powerful domestic and 
foreign reactionaries, why canšt we now, after victory, build a prosperous 
and flourishing country? As long as we keep to our style of 
plain living and hard struggle, as long as we stand united and as 
long as we persist in the peoplešs democratic dictatorship and unite 
with our foreign friends, we shall be able to win speedy victory on 
the economic front. 
An upsurge in economic construction is bound to be followed by 
an upsurge of construction in the cultural sphere. The era in which 
the Chinese people were regarded as uncivilized is now ended. We 
shall emerge in the world as a nation with an advanced culture. 
Our national defence will be consolidated and no imperialists 
will ever again be allowed to invade our land. Our peoplešs armed 
forces must be maintained and developed with the heroic and steeled 
Peoplešs Liberation Army as the foundation. We will have not only 
a powerful army but also a powerful air force and a powerful navy. 
Let the domestic and foreign reactionaries tremble before us! Let 
them say we are no good at this and no good at that. By our own indomitable 
efforts we the Chinese people will unswervingly reach our goal. 
The heroes of the people who laid down their lives in the Peoplešs 
War of Liberation and the peoplešs revolution shall live for ever in 
our memory! 
Hail the victory of the Peoplešs War of Liberation and the peoplešs 
revolution! 
Hail the founding of the Peoplešs Republic of China! 
Hail the triumph of the Chinese Peoplešs Political Consultative 
Conference! 
NOTES 
1 ŗSmash Chiang Kai-shekšs Offensive by a War of Self-Defence˛, Note 2, 
Selected Works of Mao Tsetung, Vol. IV.

LONG LIVE THE GREAT UNITY OF 
THE CHINESE PEOPLE! 
September 30, 1949
Fellow-Countrymen, 
The First Plenary Session of the Chinese Peoplešs Political Consultative 
Conference has successfully fulfilled its tasks. 
This session has been attended by delegates from all the democratic 
parties and peoplešs organizations of China, the Peoplešs 
Liberation Army, the various regions and nationalities of the country, 
the overseas Chinese and other patriotic democrats; it represents 
the will of the people of the whole country and demonstrates their 
unprecedented great unity. 
This great unity of the whole people has been achieved only after 
long years of heroic struggle, only after the Chinese people and the 
Peoplešs Liberation Army, led by the Communist Party of China, 
defeated Chiang Kai-shekšs reactionary Kuomintang government 
backed by U.S. imperialism. For over a century, the pioneers of the 
Chinese people, including such outstanding men as the great revolutionary 
Dr. Sun Yat-sen who led the Revolution of 1911, have guided 
the masses in their unceasing struggles to overthrow oppression by the 
imperialists and reactionary Chinese regimes; this goal has now been 
finally attained through their dauntless and persistent efforts. We are 
holding this session at a time when the Chinese people have triumphed 
over their enemies, changed the face of their country and founded the 
Peoplešs Republic of China. We the 475 million Chinese people have 
now stood up and the future of our nation is infinitely bright. 
The First Plenary Session of the Chinese Peoplešs Political Consultative Conference 
entrusted Comrade Mao Tsetung with the drafting of this declaration. On 
the proposal of the delegates the phrase ŗunder the leadership of Chairman Mao 
Tsetung, the leader of our people˛ was inserted in the declaration at the time of its 
adoption. 
19

20 MAO TSETUNG 
Under the leadership of Chairman Mao Tsetung, the leader of our 
people, our session, working with one mind and in accordance with 
the principle of New Democracy, has enacted the Organic Law of 
the Chinese Peoplešs Political Consultative Conference, the Organic 
Law of the Central Peoplešs Government of the Peoplešs Republic 
of China and the Common Programme of the Chinese Peoplešs Political 
Consultative Conference; decided on Peking as the capital of 
the Peoplešs Republic of China; adopted a flag with five stars on 
a field of red as the national flag of the Peoplešs Republic of China 
and the March of the Volunteers as the present national anthem;- 
adopted the Christian era as the chronological system of the Peoplešs 
Republic of China; and elected the National Committee of the 
Chinese Peoplešs Political Consultative Conference and the Central 
Peoplešs Government Council of the Peoplešs Republic of China. 
Thus begins a new era in the history of China. 
Fellow-countrymen, the founding of the Peoplešs Republic of China 
is proclaimed, and the Chinese people now have their own Central 
Government. In accordance with the Common Programme, the government 
will exercise the peoplešs democratic dictatorship over the 
length and breadth of China. It will direct the Peoplešs Liberation 
Army to carry the revolutionary war through to the end, wipe out the 
remnant enemy troops and liberate the entire territory of the country 
to fulfil the great task of unifying China. It will lead the people of 
the whole country in surmounting all difficulties and undertaking 
large-scale construction in the economic and cultural spheres to eliminate 
the poverty and ignorance inherited from the old China and 
improve the material and cultural life of the people step by step. It 
will protect the interests of the people and stamp out all the conspiracies 
of counter-revolutionaries. It will strengthen the peoplešs 
army, navy and air force, consolidate national defence, safeguard our 
territorial integrity and sovereignty and oppose aggression by any 
imperialist country. It will unite and ally itself with all peace-loving 
and freedom-loving countries, nations and peoples, and first of all 
with the Soviet Union and the New Democracies, and together with 
them fight against imperialist plots to provoke war and so strive for 
lasting world peace. 
Fellow-countrymen, we should get ourselves better organized. 
We should organize the overwhelming majority of the Chinese people 
in political, military, economic, cultural and other organizations and 
put an end to the disorganized state characterizing the old China, so

21 LONG LIVE THE GREAT UNITY OF THE CHINESE PEOPLE! 
that the great collective strength of the masses may be tapped both 
to support the Peoplešs Government and the Peoplešs Liberation Army 
and to build a new China, independent, democratic, peaceful, unified, 
prosperous and strong. 
The heroes of the people who laid down their lives in the Peoplešs 
War of Liberation and the peoplešs revolution shall live for ever in 
our memory! 
Long live the great unity of the Chinese people! 
Long live the Peoplešs Republic of China! 
Long live the Central Peoplešs Government!

ETERNAL GLORY TO 
THE HEROES OF THE PEOPLE! 
September 30, 1949
Eternal glory to the heroes of the people who laid down their lives 
in the peoplešs war of liberation and the peoplešs revolution in the 
past three years! 
Eternal glory to the heroes of the people who laid down their lives 
in the peoplešs war of liberation and the peoplešs revolution in the 
past thirty years! 
Eternal glory to the heroes of the people who from 1840 laid down 
their lives in the many struggles against domestic and foreign enemies 
and for national independence and the freedom and well-being of 
the people! 
Epitaph on the Monument to the Heroes of the People drafted by Comrade 
Mao Tsetung. 
22

ALWAYS KEEP TO THE STYL E OF 
PLAIN LIVING AND HARD STRUGGLE 
October 26, 1949
Comrades in Yenan and Fellow-Countrymen in the Shensi-Kansu- 
Ningsia Border Region: 
I am very happy and grateful to receive your message of greetings. 
From 1936 to 1948 Yenan and the Shensi-Kansu-Ningsia Border Region 
were the seat of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of 
China and the general rear area of the Chinese peoplešs struggle for 
liberation. The people of Yenan and the Border Region have made 
great contributions to the whole nation. I wish you continued unity, 
speedy recovery from the wounds of war and progress in your economic 
and cultural construction. And I hope that the revolutionary personnel 
of the whole country will always keep to the style of plain living and 
hard struggle maintained for more than a decade by the working 
personnel in Yenan and the Shensi-Kansu-Ningsia Border Region. 
Mao Tsetung 
October 26, 1949 
23

REQUEST FOR OPINIONS ON THE TACTICS 
FOR DEALING WITH RICH PEASANTS 
March 12, 1950
At your current meeting of leading provincial comrades please 
gather opinions on the tactics for dealing with the rich peasants and 
telegraph these opinions to us. The tactics in question are to leave 
untouched not only the capitalist rich peasants but also the semifeudal 
ones in the agrarian reform scheduled for this winter in 
southern provinces and some regions in the Northwest and to defer 
the solution of the problem of the semi-feudal rich peasants for 
several years. Please consider whether this way is not more advantageous. 
The reasons for taking this course are: First, the agrarian 
reform is unprecedented in scale and ultra-Left deviations are likely 
to occur. If we touch only the landlords and not the rich peasants, 
we can more effectively isolate the landlords, protect the middle 
peasants and guard against indiscriminate beating and killing, which 
would be very hard to prevent otherwise. Second, the agrarian reform 
in the north was carried out in wartime, with the atmosphere of war 
prevailing over that of agrarian reform; but now, with the fighting 
practically over, the agrarian reform stands out in sharp relief, and 
the shock to society will be particularly great and the landlordsš 
outcries particularly shrill. If we leave the semi-feudal rich peasants 
untouched for the time being and deal with them a few years later, 
we will stand on stronger ground, that is to say, politically we will 
have more initiative. Third, we have formed a united front with the 
national bourgeoisie politically, economically and organizationally; 
and since the national bourgeoisie is closely tied up with the land 
problem, it seems better not to touch the semi-feudal rich peasants 
Circular to the Central-South Bureau of the Central Committee of the Chinese 
Communist Party and concurrently to the East China Bureau, the South China Sub- 
Bureau, the Southwest Bureau and the Northwest Bureau. 
24

25 TACTICS FOR DEALING WITH RICH PEASANTS 
for the time being in order to set the minds of the national bourgeoisie 
at rest. 
At the meeting of the Political Bureau last November, I raised 
the question of not touching the rich peasants for the time being, but 
neither a detailed analysis nor a decision was made then. Now is the 
time to make a decision. Following that, the Land Law and other 
documents related to agrarian reform will have to be revised and 
promulgated for the agrarian reform cadres in the recently liberated 
provinces to study, so that we can facilitate the agrarian reform which 
is due to begin after the autumn harvest. Otherwise, we would be 
letting the right moment slip by and lose the initiative. Therefore, it is 
most important for the comrades not only of the Central-South Bureau 
but also of the East China Bureau, the South China Sub-Bureau, the 
Southwest Bureau and the Northwest Bureau to discuss this question, 
forward this telegram to the provincial and municipal committees 
under them for discussion, collect opinions, pro and con, and promptly 
telegraph them to the Central Committee for our consideration in 
making the decision.

FIGHT FOR A FUNDAMENTAL TURN FOR 
THE BETTER IN THE NATIONšS FINANCIAL 
AND ECONOMIC SITUATION 
June 6, 1950
The present international situation is favourable to us. The world 
front of peace and democracy headed by the Soviet Union is stronger 
than it was last year. The peoplešs movement for peace and against 
war has made headway in all countries. The national liberation movements 
to throw off the yoke of imperialism have greatly expanded, 
and the emerging mass movements of the Japanese and the German 
people against U.S. occupation and the growing peoplešs liberation 
struggles of the oppressed nations in the East are especially noteworthy. 
At the same time, contradictions have developed between the imperialist 
countries, primarily between the United States and Britain. 
Quarrels among the different groups of the U.S. bourgeoisie and 
of the British bourgeoisie have also increased. In contrast, there 
is strong unity between the Soviet Union and the Peoplešs Democracies 
and among the latter. The new treaty between China 
and the Soviet Union,1 which is of great and historic significance, has 
strengthened the friendly relations between the two countries; it 
enables us to carry on our national construction more freely and more 
speedily and at the same time promotes the mighty struggle of the 
people of the world for peace and democracy and against war and 
oppression. The threat of war from the imperialist camp still exists, and 
so does the possibility of a third world war. However, the forces 
fighting to check the danger of war and prevent the outbreak of a third 
world war are growing rapidly, and the level of political consciousness 
of most of the worldšs people is rising. A new world war can be averted, 
Written report to the Third Plenary Session of the Seventh Central Committee 
of the Chinese Communist Party. 
26

27 FIGHT FOR A TURN FOR THE BETTER IN ECONOMIC SITUATION 
provided the Communist Parties of the world continue to unite all 
possible forces for peace and democracy and help their further development. 
The war rumours spread by the Kuomintang reactionaries 
are designed to deceive the people, they are groundless. 
The present situation in our country is as follows. The Central 
Peoplešs Government of the Peoplešs Republic of China and local 
peoplešs governments at all levels have been set up. The Soviet Union, 
the Peoplešs Democracies and a number of capitalist countries have 
successively established diplomatic relations with our country. Basically 
the war has ended on the mainland, and only Taiwan and Tibet 
remain to be liberated, but this task still involves serious struggle. In 
certain areas on the mainland the Kuomintang reactionaries have 
resorted to bandit guerrilla warfare and incited some backward elements 
against the Peoplešs Government. They have organized many 
secret agents and spies to oppose our government and spread rumours 
among the people in an attempt to undermine the prestige 
of the Communist Party and the Peoplešs Government and to disrupt 
the unity and co-operation of the various nationalities, democratic 
classes, democratic parties and peoplešs organizations. These secret 
agents and spies are also engaged in sabotaging the peoplešs economic 
undertakings, assassinating the personnel of the Party and government 
organizations and collecting intelligence for the imperialists and 
the Kuomintang reactionaries. All these counter-revolutionary activities 
are directed from behind the scenes by imperialism, and particularly 
by U.S. imperialism. All these bandits, secret agents and spies 
are imperialist lackeys. In the thirteen and a half months since the 
operations mounted to cross the Yangtse, which began on April 21, 1949 
after the decisive victories in the three great campaigns of Liaohsi- 
Shenyang, Huai-Hai and Peiping-Tientsin in the winter of 1948, the 
Peoplešs Liberation Army has completed the occupation of all Chinese 
territory except Tibet and Taiwan and a number of other islands 
and wiped out 1,830,000 troops of the reactionary Kuomintang and 
980,000 of its bandit guerrilla forces; during this time the peoplešs 
public security organs have uncovered large numbers of reactionary 
secret service groups and agents. In the new liberated areas, the 
present task of the Peoplešs Liberation Army is to continue to wipe 
out the remnant bandits and that of the peoplešs public security 
organs is to continue to strike at the enemyšs secret service groups. 
The great majority of the people throughout the country warmly 
support the Communist Party, the Peoplešs Government and the

28 MAO TSETUNG 
Peoplešs Liberation Army. In recent months, the Peoplešs Government 
has exercised unified control and unified leadership over financial 
and economic work on a national scale and has been successful in 
balancing budgetary revenues and expenditures, checking inflation 
and stabilizing prices. The whole people have supported the government 
by delivering grain, paying taxes and buying state bonds.2 Last 
year our country was hit by natural calamities over wide areas; about 
120 million mou of farmland and 40 million people were affected by 
flood or drought to a greater or lesser degree. The Peoplešs Government 
has organized extensive relief for the victims and in many places 
has initiated large-scale water conservancy work. This yearšs crops are 
better than last yearšs and in general the summer harvest looks good. 
If the autumn harvest is also good, still better prospects for next year 
may be envisaged. Long years of imperialist and reactionary Kuomintang 
rule left our economy in a chaotic state and caused widespread 
unemployment. Since our victory in the revolution, there have been 
reorganizations of varying degrees in the whole of the old economic 
structure and the number of unemployed has further increased. This is 
a serious matter, and the Peoplešs Government has begun to adopt 
measures to give relief to the unemployed and find jobs for them so as 
to solve the problem step by step. It has done extensive work in the 
spheres of culture and education, and large numbers of intellectuals 
and students have undertaken either studies of the new knowledge 
or revolutionary work. It has already done something towards properly 
readjusting industry and commerce and improving the relations 
between the state sector and the private sector of the economy and 
between labour and capital, and it is devoting great efforts towards 
these ends. 
China is a vast country and conditions are very complex; moreover 
the revolution triumphed first in certain areas and only later throughout 
the country. Accordingly, in the old liberated areas (with a 
population of approximately 160 million), agrarian reform has been 
completed, public order has been established, the work of economic 
construction has started on the right track, the life of most of the 
working people has improved, and the problem of unemployed workers 
and intellectuals has been solved (as in the Northeast) or is nearing 
solution (as in North China and Shantung Province). In particular, 
planned economic construction has begun in the Northeast. On theother 
hand, in the new liberated areas (with a population of approximately 
310 million), since liberation occurred only a few months ago,

29 FIGHT FOR A TURN FOR THE BETTER IN ECONOMIC SITUATION 
or half a year or one year ago, the more than 400,000 bandits 
scattered in remote regions have yet to be wiped out, the land problem 
has not been solved, industry and commerce have not been properly 
readjusted, unemployment has remained serious, and public order has 
not been established. In a word, the conditions for carrying out planned 
economic construction are still lacking. That is why I said some time 
ago that we had achieved a number of successes on the economic front, 
for example, budgetary revenues and expenditures were nearly balanced, 
inflation was being checked and prices were tending towards 
stability ‹ all this indicated that the financial and economic situation 
was beginning to take a turn for the better, but not yet a fundamental 
turn for the better. Three conditions are required for the fundamental 
turn for the better in the financial and economic situation, namely, 
(1) completion of agrarian reform; (2) proper readjustment of existing 
industry and commerce; and (3) large-scale retrenchment in government 
expenditures. The fulfilment of these three conditions will take 
some time, say three years or a little longer. The whole Party and 
nation must strive to bring about these conditions. I believe, and so do 
you all, that we can surely do this in about three years. By that time, 
we shall be able to witness a fundamental turn for the better in the 
entire financial and economic situation of our country. 
To this end, the whole Party and nation must unite and carry out 
the following tasks: 
(1) The work of agrarian reform should proceed step by step and 
in a systematic way.3 As the war has basically ended on the mainland 
and the situation is entirely different from that in the period from 1946 
to 1948 (when the Peoplešs Liberation Army was locked in a life-anddeath 
struggle with the Kuomintang reactionaries and the issue had 
not yet been decided), it is now possible for the state to extend loans to 
the poor peasants to help them out of their difficulties and thus make 
up for the drawback that they are to receive less land. Accordingly, 
there should be a change in our policy towards the rich peasants, 
a change from the policy of requisitioning their surplus land and 
property to one of maintaining the rich peasant economy in order to 
facilitate the early rehabilitation of rural production and the better to 
isolate the landlords and protect the middle peasants and lessors of 
small plots. 
(2) Unified control and unified leadership in our financial and 
economic work should be consolidated, and so too should the balancing 
of budgetary revenues and expenditures and the stabilization of prices.

30 MAO TSETUNG 
In accordance with this principle, taxes should be readjusted and the 
peoplešs burden appropriately lightened. In line with the principle of 
making over-all plans and taking all factors into consideration, drifting 
and anarchy in our economic work should be gradually eliminated 
existing industry and commerce should be properly readjusted, and 
relations between the state sector and the private sector and between 
labour and capital should be effectively and suitably improved; thus 
under the leadership of the socialist state sector all sectors of the 
economy will function satisfactorily with a due division of labour to 
promote the rehabilitation and development of the whole economy. 
The view held by certain people that it is possible to eliminate 
capitalism and realize socialism at an early date is wrong, it does not 
tally with our national conditions. 
(3) While preserving its main forces, the Peoplešs Liberation Army 
should be partially demobilized in 1950, provided that the forces 
must be adequate to liberate Taiwan and Tibet, consolidate national 
defence and suppress counter-revolutionaries. This demobilization must 
be carried out carefully so as to enable the demobilized soldiers to 
return home and settle down to productive work. Readjustment is also 
necessary in administrative organizations, and here too the excess personnel 
should be dealt with appropriately so that they have the 
opportunity either to take up work or to study. 
(4) Reform of the old school education and of the old cultural 
institutions in our society should be conducted carefully step by step, 
and all patriotic intellectuals should be won over to the service 
of the people. On this question, procrastination or reluctance to introduce 
reforms is wrong, and so is rashness or any attempt to push 
them through arbitrarily. 
(5) Relief for unemployed workers and intellectuals must be carried 
out in earnest, and they must be helped to get work in a planned way. 
Serious efforts to provide relief for people stricken by natural calamities 
must continue. 
(6) We must earnestly unite with the democratic personages in all 
circles, help them solve the problem of work and study, and overcome 
any tendency towards either closed-doorism or excessive accommodation 
in united front work. We must endeavour to make a success of the 
conferences of people from all circles4 so that people from every walk 
of life can unite in a common effort. All matters of importance to the 
peoplešs governments should be submitted to these conferences for discussion 
and decision. Representatives at these conferences must have

31 FIGHT FOR A TURN FOR THE BETTER IN ECONOMIC SITUATION 
the right to express their views fully; any attempt to hinder such 
expression is wrong. 
(7) Bandits, secret agents, local tyrants and other counterrevolutionaries, 
all of whom are menaces to the people, must be resolutely 
rooted out. On this question it is necessary to follow a policy 
of combining suppression with leniency without stressing one to the 
neglect of the other, that is, a policy of certain punishment for the 
main culprits, no punishment for those accomplices who act under 
duress and rewards for those who render positive services. The whole 
Party and nation must heighten their vigilance against the conspiratorial 
activities of counter-revolutionaries. 
(8) The Central Committeešs directives on consolidating and expanding 
the Party organization, on strengthening the ties between the 
Party and the masses, on conducting criticism and self-criticism and 
on launching a rectification movement throughout the Party should all 
be strictly carried out. Since the membership of our Party has grown 
to 4,500,000, we must henceforth follow a prudent policy in expanding 
the Party organization, be strict in preventing political speculators from 
gaining Party membership and take proper measures to clear out those 
already in. We must pay attention to admitting politically conscious 
workers into the Party in a planned way in order to increase the proportion 
of workers in the Party organizations. In the old liberated areas, 
in general Party recruiting in the villages should stop. In the new 
liberated areas, in general the Party organizations in the villages should 
not expand until agrarian reform is completed in order to prevent political 
speculators from worming their way into the Party. During the 
summer, autumn and winter of 1950, the whole Party must carry out 
a large-scale rectification movement in close co-ordination with its 
other tasks, not in isolation from them. Such methods as reading selected 
documents, summing up work, analysing the situation and making 
criticism and self-criticism should be used to raise the ideological and 
political level of cadres and rank-and-file Party members, correct 
mistakes in work, overcome the conceit and complacency of the selfstyled 
distinguished veterans, eliminate bureaucracy and commandism 
and improve the relations between the Party and the people.

32 MAO TSETUNG 
NOTES 
1 This refers to the Sino-Soviet Treaty of Friendship, Alliance and Mutual Assistance 
signed on February 14, 1950. 
2 This refers to the Peoplešs Victory Parity Bonds floated by the Central Peoplešs 
Government in 1950. 
3 Beginning from the winter of 1950, the new liberated areas, one after another, 
unfolded a large-scale agrarian reform movement. By the winter of 1952 agrarian 
reform was basically completed, except in some minority nationality areas. In the old 
and new liberated areas throughout the country, about 300 million landless or landdeficient 
peasants received some 700 million mou of land. 
4 Before the election and convocation of the local peoplešs congresses at all 
levels, conferences of people from all circles were convened, in accordance with the 
stipulations of the Common Programme of the Chinese Peoplešs Political Consultative 
Conference of 1949, to exercise the functions and powers of the peoplešs congresses 
step by step.

DONšT HIT OUT IN ALL DIRECTIONS 
June 6, 1950 
Since the Second Plenary Session of the Partyšs Seventh Central 
Committee, nation-wide victory has been won in the new-democratic 
revolution led by our Party, and the Peoplešs Republic of China has 
been founded. This is a great victory, a great victory without parallel in 
the history of China, a great victory of world significance following the 
October Revolution. Comrade Stalin and many other foreign comrades 
all consider the victory of the Chinese revolution an extremely 
great one. And yet many of our comrades donšt realize this because 
they have become so inured to the struggle. We should widely publicize 
the tremendous significance of the victory of the Chinese revolution 
inside the Party and among the masses. 
In the midst of this great victory we are confronted with very 
complex struggles and many difficulties. 
We have completed agrarian reform in the northern parts of the 
country with a population of 160 million, and this must be affirmed 
as an immense achievement. We won the War of Liberation by relying 
mainly on these 160 million people. It was the victory of the agrarian 
reform that made possible our victory in overthrowing Chiang Kaishek. 
In the autumn we shall start agrarian reform in vast areas with 
a population of some 310 million in order to topple the entire landlord 
class. In the agrarian reform our enemies are as numerous as they 
are powerful. Against us are arrayed, first, the imperialists, second, 
the reactionaries in Taiwan and Tibet, third, the remnant Kuomintang 
forces, the secret agents and the bandits, fourth, the landlord class 
and, fifth, the reactionary forces in the missionary schools established 
Part of a speech at the Third Plenary Session of the Seventh Central Committee 
of the Chinese Communist Party. It throws light on the written report ŗFight for a 
Fundamental Turn for the Better in the Nationšs Financial and Economic Situation˛ 
and on its strategic and tactical ideas 
33

34 MAO TSETUNG 
in China by the imperialists and in religious circles and those in the 
cultural and educational institutions taken over from the Kuomintang. 
These are our enemies. We have to fight them one and all and accomplish 
the agrarian reform in an area much larger than before. This is a 
very acute struggle, unprecedented in history. 
In the meantime our victory in the revolution has led to the reorganization 
of our social economy. While necessary, this reorganization 
puts heavy burdens on us for the time being. Many people are 
dissatisfied with us because of this reorganization and because of a 
certain disruption of industry and commerce wrought by the war. 
At present our relations with the national bourgeoisie are very strained; 
they are on tenterhooks and are very disgruntled. Unemployed intellectuals 
and workers are dissatisfied with us and so are a number of 
small handicraftsmen. The peasants in most rural areas are complaining 
too because agrarian reform has not yet been carried out there 
and besides they have to deliver grain to the state. 
What is our general policy at present? It is to eliminate the remnant 
Kuomintang forces, the secret agents and the bandits, overthrow 
the landlord class, liberate Taiwan and Tibet and fight imperialism to 
the end. In order to isolate and attack our immediate enemies, we must 
convert those among the people who are dissatisfied with us into our 
supporters. Although this task is fraught with difficulties at present, we 
must overcome them by every possible means. 
We should make proper readjustments in industry and commerce 
so that factories can resume operation and the problem of unemployment 
can be solved, and we should provide 2,000 million catties of 
grain for the jobless workers and gain their support. When we reduce 
rent and interest, suppress the bandits and local tyrants and carry out 
agrarian reform, the masses of the peasantry will support us. We should 
also help the small handicraftsmen find ways to earn a living. We 
should introduce suitable readjustments in industry and commerce and 
in taxation to improve our relations with the national bourgeoisie rather 
than aggravate these relations. We should run training courses of 
various kinds, military and political colleges and revolutionary institutes 
for the intellectuals and educate and remould them while availing 
ourselves of their services. We should have them study the history of 
social development, historical materialism and other subjects. We can 
induce even those who are idealists not to oppose us. Let them say 
that man was created by God, we say man evolved from the ape.

35 DONšT HIT OUT IN ALL DIRECTIONS 
Some intellectuals are advanced in age, they are over seventy, and we 
should provide for them so long as they support the Party and the 
Peoplešs Government. 
The whole Party should try earnestly and painstakingly to make a 
success of its united front work. We should rally the petty bourgeoisie 
and the national bourgeoisie under the leadership of the working class 
and on the basis of the worker-peasant alliance. The national bourgeoisie 
will eventually cease to exist, but at this stage we should rally 
them around us and not push them away. We should struggle against 
them on the one hand and unite with them on the other. We should 
make this clear to the cadres and show by facts that it is right and 
necessary to unite with the national bourgeoisie, the democratic parties, 
democratic personages and intellectuals. Many of them were our 
enemies before, but now that they have broken with the enemy camp 
and come over to our side, we should unite with all these people, who 
can be more or less united with. It is in the interest of the working 
people to unite with them. We need to adopt these tactics now. 
It is of vital importance to unite with the minority nationalities. 
There are about thirty million of them in the whole country. Social 
reforms in their areas are a matter of great importance and must be 
handled cautiously. On no account must we be impetuous, for impatience 
will lead to trouble. No reform is to be instituted unless the 
conditions are ripe. Neither should any major reform be introduced 
where only one of the conditions is ripe while the others are not. Of 
course, this is not to say that no reform at all is to be carried out. As 
stipulated by the Common Programme, customs and folk-ways in the 
minority nationality areas may be reformed. But the minority nationalities 
themselves should do the reforming. Without popular support, 
without the peoplešs armed forces and without the minority nationalitiesš 
own cadres, no reform of a mass character should be 
attempted. We must help them train their own cadres and we must 
unite with the masses of the minority nationalities. 
In short, we must not hit out in all directions. It is undesirable to 
hit out in all directions and cause nation-wide tension. We must 
definitely not make too many enemies, we must make concessions and 
relax the tension a little in some quarters and concentrate our attack 
in one direction. We must do our work well so that all the workers, 
peasants and small handicraftsmen will support us and the overwhelming 
majority of the national bourgeoisie and intellectuals will not

36 MAO TSETUNG 
oppose us. In this way, the remnant Kuomintang forces, the secret 
agents and the bandits will be isolated, as will the landlord class and 
the reactionaries in Taiwan and Tibet, and the imperialists will find 
themselves isolated before the people of our country. This is our policy, 
our strategy and tactics, and it is the line of the Third Plenary Session 
of the Seventh Central Committee of the Party.

BE A TRUE REVOLUTIONARY 
June 23, 1950 
The present session has summed up our experience in the past 
period and laid down various guiding principles. 
We have done this work jointly at this gathering of representatives 
of all the nationalities, democratic classes, democratic parties, peoplešs 
organizations and democratic personages from every walk of life. Not 
only have the members of the National Committee of the Peoplešs 
Political Consultative Conference taken part in the discussions, many 
cadres of the Central Peoplešs Government and of the peoplešs governments 
(or military and administrative commissions) of the greater 
administrative areas,1 provinces and municipalities as well as representatives 
from the consultative committees of the provincial and municipal 
conferences of people from all circles2 and many specially invited 
patriotic personages have also sat in and joined the discussions. Thus 
we have been able to draw together opinions from all quarters, review 
our past work and set forth guiding principles for the future. I hope 
that we will continue to use this method and that the peoplešs governments 
(or military and administrative commissions) of the greater administrative 
areas, provinces and municipalities will adopt it too. So 
far our committee sessions have been advisory in nature. But in practice 
the Central Peoplešs Government will as a matter of course adopt 
and put into effect the decisions made at our sessions, as it should. 
We have unanimously approved the report on the work of the 
National Committee and the various reports on the work of the Central 
Peoplešs Government. These are the reports on agrarian reform, 
on political, military, economic and financial work, on taxation, culture 
and education, and on the work of the judiciary. All of them are 
good. In these reports the experience of our work in the past has been 
Closing address at the Second Session of the First National Committee of the 
Chinese Peoplešs Political Consultative Conference. 
37

MAO TSE-TUNG 
FROM MARX 
TO MAO 

 
NOT FOR 
COMMERCIAL 
DISTRIBUTION 
38 
properly summed up and the guiding principles for our work in the 
future have been laid down. There were many items on the agenda of 
our session, because work has started or expanded in every held since 
the founding of our new state. Throughout the country the people 
are vigorously unfolding a great and genuine peoplešs revolutionary 
struggle on all fronts, a struggle that is as great as it is unprecedented 
on the military, economic, ideological and agrarian reform fronts, and 
the work in every field awaits summing up and needs guiding principles. 
That is why we had so many items on the agenda. We shall hold 
two sessions yearly as required by law, one with a full and the other 
with a less full agenda. This is what we are called on to do, for China 
is a large country with a population actually exceeding 475 million and, 
what is more, it finds itself in a historic period of peoplešs revolution. 
And this is what we have been doing, and I think we have done right. 
Our present session had many subjects for discussion, the central 
one being the question of transforming the old land system. We have 
endorsed the Draft Agrarian Reform Law3 proposed by the Central 
Committee of the Communist Party of China to which we have made 
a number of useful amendments and supplements. This is fine. I am 
glad and wish to congratulate the hundreds of millions of new Chinašs 
rural population on winning the opportunity for emancipation and the 
nation on winning the basic condition for industrialization. The peasants 
form the bulk of Chinašs population. It was with their help that 
victory was won in the revolution, and it is again their help that will 
make the industrialization of the country possible. Therefore, the working 
class should actively help the peasants carry out the agrarian reform; 
the urban petty bourgeoisie and national bourgeoisie should also give 
their support, and still more so should all the democratic parties and 
peoplešs organizations. War and agrarian reform are two tests everyone 
and every political party in China must go through in the historical 
period of New Democracy. Whoever sides with the revolutionary people 
is a revolutionary. Whoever sides with imperialism, feudalism and 
bureaucrat-capitalism is a counter-revolutionary. Whoever sides with 
the revolutionary people in word only but not in deed is a revolutionary 
in word. Whoever sides with the revolutionary people in deed 
as well as in word is a true revolutionary. The test of war is basically 
over, and we have all come through well, to the satisfaction of the 
people of the whole country. Now it is the test of agrarian reform that 
we have to pass, and I hope we shall acquit ourselves just as well as we 
did in the test of war. Let us give this matter more thought, have more

39 BE A TRUE REVOLUTIONARY 
consultation, straighten out our thinking, march in step and form a 
great anti-feudal united front, and then we shall be able to lead the 
people and help them pass this test successfully. When the tests of war 
and agrarian reform are passed, the remaining test will be easy to pass, 
that is, the test of socialism, of country-wide socialist transformation. 
As for those who have made contributions in the revolutionary war 
and in the revolutionary transformation of the land system and who 
continue to do so in the coming years of economic and cultural construction, 
the people will not forget them when the time comes for 
nationalizing private industry and socializing agriculture (which is still 
quite far off), and they will have a bright future. This is how our country 
steadily advances; it has passed through the war and is undergoing 
new-democratic reforms, and in the future it will enter the new era of 
socialism unhurriedly and with proper arrangements when our economy 
and culture are flourishing, when conditions are ripe and when the 
transition has been fully considered and endorsed by the whole nation. 
I think it is necessary to make this point clear so that people will have 
confidence and stop worrying: ŗDonšt know when Išll no longer be 
wanted and be given the chance to serve the people even if I wish 
to.˛ No, that wonšt happen. The people and their government have 
no reason to reject anyone or deny him the opportunity of making a 
living and rendering service to the country, provided he is really willing 
to serve the people and provided he really helped and did a good turn 
when the people were faced with difficulties and keeps on doing good 
without giving up halfway. 
With this great aim in mind, in the international sphere we must 
firmly unite with the Soviet Union, the Peoplešs Democracies and the 
forces of peace and democracy everywhere, and there should not be 
the slightest hesitation or wavering on this question. At home, we must 
unite all the nationalities, democratic classes, democratic parties, peoplešs 
organizations and patriotic democrats and consolidate the great, 
prestigious revolutionary united front already in existence. Whoever 
contributes to the consolidation of this revolutionary united front is 
doing right, and we welcome him; whoever harms this consolidation 
is doing wrong, and we oppose him. To consolidate the revolutionary 
united front, we must use the method of criticism and self-criticism. 
The main criterion in the application of this method is our present 
fundamental law ‹ the Common Programme. We have carried out 
criticism and self-criticism at this session, basing ourselves on the Common 
Programme. This is an excellent method, which impels everyone

40 MAO TSETUNG 
of us to uphold truth and rectify error, and it is the only correct method 
for all revolutionary people to educate and remould themselves in a 
peoplešs state. The peoplešs democratic dictatorship uses two methods. 
Towards the enemy, it uses the method of dictatorship, that is, for as 
long a period of time as is necessary it does not permit them to take 
part in political activity and compels them to obey the law of the Peoplešs 
Government, to engage in labour and, through such labour, be 
transformed into new men. Towards the people, on the contrary, it 
uses the method of democracy and not of compulsion, that is, it must 
necessarily let them take part in political activity and does not compel 
them to do this or that but uses the method of democracy to educate 
and persuade. Such education is self-education for the people, and its 
basic method is criticism and self-criticism. I hope that this method 
will be used by all the nationalities, democratic classes, democratic 
parties, peoplešs organizations and patriotic democrats in the country. 
NOTES 
1 At that time, the country was divided into six greater administrative areas, 
namely, the Northeast, North China, East China, the Central South, the Southwest 
and the Northwest, with a bureau in each representing the Central Committee of the 
Chinese Communist Party. Each of the five areas except North China had its administrative 
organ. That of the Northeast was called the peoplešs government, while in 
the other four it was known as the military and administrative commission. In November 
1952 these were all renamed administrative councils, and one such council was 
also established in North China. In 1954 all the administrative councils were abolished. 
2 The consultative committees of conferences of people from all circles at the 
provincial and municipal level were elected by conferences of people from all circles 
at the same level. When the latter were not in session, the former were charged with 
the function of assisting the peoplešs governments in carrying out the conferencesš 
resolutions. 
3 This refers to the ŗDraft Agrarian Reform Law of the Peoplešs Republic of 
China˛. The Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party presented the draft 
to the Second Session of the First National Committee of the Chinese Peoplešs Political 
Consultative Conference on June 14, 1950 for discussion. After it had been discussed 
and endorsed by the session, the Central Peoplešs Government Council approved the 
draft. On June 30 of the same year, Mao Tsetung, Chairman of the Central Peoplešs 
Government, promulgated the ŗAgrarian Reform Law of the Peoplešs Republic of 
China˛.

YOU ARE MODELS FOR THE WHOLE NATION 
September 25, 1950 
Comrade Delegates to the National Conferences of Combat Heroes 
and of Model Workers in Industry, Agriculture and the Army: 
The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China sends 
your conferences warm greetings and wishes to thank and salute you 
for the work you have done. 
You have overcome a host of difficulties and hardships and demonstrated 
immense courage, wisdom and enthusiasm in the struggle 
to wipe out the enemy and in the struggle to restore and increase 
industrial and agricultural production. You are models for the whole 
Chinese nation, activists propelling the peoplešs cause forward to 
triumph in all spheres of endeavour, a firm pillar of support to the 
Peoplešs Government and a bridge linking the Peoplešs Government 
with the masses. 
The Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party calls on 
the whole Party and nation to learn from you and at the same time calls 
on you, dear comrade delegates, and on all the combat heroes and 
model workers of the country, to keep on learning through struggle 
and from the masses. Only by guarding against conceit and complacency 
and continuing to learn tirelessly can you go on making outstanding 
contributions to the great Peoplešs Republic of China and thus live 
up to your names. 
China must build a powerful national defence force and a powerful 
economy ‹ two tasks of major importance. Fulfilment of these tasks 
depends on you comrades forging close ties of unity and making concerted 
efforts together with all the commanders and fighters of the 
Message of greetings delivered on behalf of the Central Committee of the 
Chinese Communist Party to the National Conferences of Combat Heroes and of 
Model Workers in Industry, Agriculture and the Army. 
41

42 MAO TSETUNG 
Peoplešs Liberation Army and all the workers, peasants and other 
sections of the people. As the first anniversary of the founding of the 
Peoplešs Republic of China is approaching, your meeting here is of 
signal importance. We wish you success in your conferences and great 
victories in your work in the days to come.

ORDER TO 
THE CHINESE PEOPLEšS VOLUNTEERS 
October 8, 1950 
To leading comrades of the Chinese Peoplešs Volunteers at all levels: 
1. In order to support the Korean peoplešs war of liberation and 
to resist the attacks of U.S. imperialism and its running dogs, thereby 
safeguarding the interests of the people of Korea, China and all the 
other countries in the East, I herewith order the Chinese Peoplešs 
Volunteers to march speedily to Korea and join the Korean comrades 
in fighting the aggressors and winning a glorious victory. 
2. While in Korea, the Chinese Peoplešs Volunteers must show 
fraternal feelings and respect for the people, the Peoplešs Army, the 
Democratic Government, the Workersš Party and the other democratic 
parties of Korea as well as for Comrade Kim Il Sung, the leader of the 
Korean people, and strictly observe military and political discipline. 
This is a most important political basis for ensuring the fulfilment of 
your military task. 
3. You must fully anticipate various possible and inevitable difficulties 
and be prepared to overcome them with great enthusiasm, 
courage, care and stamina. At present, the international and domestic 
situation as a whole is favourable to us, not to the aggressors. So long 
as you comrades are firm and brave and are good at uniting with the 
people there and at fighting the aggressors, final victory will be ours. 
Excerpts from an order issued by Comrade Mao Tsetung to the Chinese Peoplešs 
Volunteers. 
43 
Mao Tsetung 
Chairman of the Chinese Peoplešs 
Revolutionary Military Commission 
October 8, 1950, Peking

THE CHINESE PEOPLEšS VOLUNTEERS 
SHOULD CHERISH EVERY HILL, EVERY RIVER, 
EVERY TREE AND EVERY BLADE OF GRASS 
IN KOREA 
January 19, 1951
The Chinese and Korean comrades should unite as closely as 
brothers, go through thick and thin together, stick together in life and 
death and fight to the end to defeat their common enemy. The Chinese 
comrades must consider Koreašs cause as their own and the commanders 
and fighters must be instructed to cherish every hill, every 
river, every tree and every blade of grass in Korea and take not a 
single needle or a single thread from the Korean people, just the way 
we feel about our own country and treat our own people. This is the 
political basis for winning victory. So long as we act this way, final 
victory will be assured. 
Directive to the Chinese Peoplešs Volunteers. 
44

MAIN POINTS OF THE RESOLUTION 
ADOPTED AT THE ENLARGED MEETING OF 
THE POLITICAL BUREAU OF THE CENTRAL 
COMMITTEE OF THE COMMUNIST 
PARTY OF CHINA 
February 18, 1951 
The Political Bureau convened a meeting in mid-February at which 
responsible comrades from the bureaus of the Central Committee were 
present and various important questions were discussed. We herewith 
notify you of the main points of the resolution. 
I. TWENTY-TWO MONTHS FOR PREPARATION 
The idea of ŗthree years for preparation and ten years for planned 
economic construction˛ must be made clear to all cadres from the provincial 
and municipal level upwards. Counting from now, we have 
twenty-two months left for making preparations and so we must step 
up our work in all fields. 
II. PROPAGANDA AND EDUCATION CAMPAIGN FOR 
RESISTING U.S. AGGRESSION AND AIDING KOREA 
Persistent efforts must be made to push this campaign throughout 
the country, to deepen it where it is already under way and spread it 
Inner-Party circular drafted for the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist 
Party.

46 MAO TSETUNG 
where it is not, so as to make sure that this education reaches everyone 
in every part of the country. 
III. AGRARIAN REFORM 
1. During the busy farming season, agrarian reform in every place 
should stop for a while and experience should be summed up. 
2. Strive for a good harvest this year. 
3. Rely on the county conferences of peasant representatives and 
on the training classes. 
4. Work hard to prepare the necessary conditions. Whenever and 
wherever they are not ripe, donšt force the agrarian reform through. 
5. As soon as agrarian reform is completed, switch over to the two 
major tasks of production and education. 
6. East Chinašs method of returning security money in instalments1 
is approved. 
7. Persuade the peasants that it is to our advantage to refrain from 
using torture, which is illegal. 
8. After the agrarian reform establish more districts and townships 
and reduce the area under the jurisdiction of each district and township. 
IV. SUPPRESSION OF COUNTER-REVOLUTIONARIES 
1. As a general rule, before passing a death sentence, refer the case 
to the masses and consult democratic personages. 
2. Exercise strict control, guard against indiscriminate action and 
avoid mistakes. 
3. Pay attention to the ŗmiddle layer˛,2 and carefully weed out 
counter-revolutionaries hiding among the old personnel and among the 
intellectuals recently drawn into our work. 
4. Pay attention to the ŗinner layer˛, carefully weed out counterrevolutionaries 
who have sneaked into the Party, and strengthen to the 
maximum our work of safeguarding secret information. 
5. In addition, give education to the cadres and back them up in 
their work.

47 MAIN POINTS OF RESOLUTION OF THE POLITICAL BUREAU 
V. URBAN WORK 
1. Every bureau and sub-bureau of the Central Committee and 
every Party committee at the level of province, municipality and 
administrative region must call two meetings on urban work during 
the year with the agenda set by the Central Committee and report 
twice on this subject to the Central Committee. 
2. Strengthen the leadership of the Party committees over urban 
work and carry out the resolution adopted at the Second Plenary 
Session of the Seventh Central Committee. 
3. Educate the cadres so that they are clear in their minds about 
relying on the working class. 
4. In factories, the Party should exercise unified leadership over 
the work of the Party organization, the management, the trade union 
and the Youth League, with the fulfilment of production plans as the 
central task. 
5. Strive for a gradual improvement in the workersš living conditions 
on the basis of increased production. 
6. The idea of serving the needs of production and of the workers 
should permeate the planning of urban construction. 
7. The All-China Federation of Trade Unions and the higher levels 
of each trade union should lay stress on solving the specific problems of 
the lower levels. 
8. Party committees and trade unions should make a point of 
creating models and promptly spread their experience to other places. 
VI. PARTY CONSOLIDATION AND PARTY BUILDING 
1. Ours is a Party that is great, glorious and correct; this is the 
principal aspect which must be affirmed and made clear to cadres at all 
levels. However, it must also be made clear to them that there are 
problems which have to be straightened out and that in the new 
liberated areas a prudent attitude should be adopted towards Party 
building. 
2. The consolidation and building of the Party should proceed 
under the strict control of the Central Committee and its bureaus, and 
organizations at lower levels must in no case act as they please.

48 MAO TSETUNG 
3. The consolidation of the Party should be accomplished in three 
years. The steps to be taken are as follows. Devote one year (1951) to 
extensive education on what is required of a Communist, so that the 
entire membership will know the standards a Communist should live 
up to, and to the training of personnel for organizational work. At the 
same time experiment with typical units to serve as models. Then in 
the light of the experience gained, proceed with consolidation; in cities, 
however, this can start in 1951. In Party consolidation, first clear out 
the ŗpersons in the fourth category˛.3 Then differentiate between the 
ŗpersons in the second category˛ and the ŗpersons in the third category˛, 
and persuade those who, after education, are still not up to the 
standards of Party membership to withdraw from the Party, but make 
sure that they withdraw of their own free will and that their feelings 
are not hurt. Donšt repeat the practice of ŗremoving rocks˛4 as in 1948. 
4. A policy of prudence must be adopted in building the Party in 
the cities and the new liberated areas. In the cities Party organizations 
should be set up primarily among the industrial workers. In the rural 
areas it is only after the completion of the agrarian reform that Party 
branches can be set up by admitting those who prove themselves 
qualified for Party membership as a result of education, and for the 
first two years the membership of a rural Party branch should in general 
not exceed ten. In city and countryside alike, education on how to be 
a Communist should be conducted among activists who are ready to 
receive it, and after such education those really qualified for Party 
membership should be admitted. 
VII. UNITED FRONT WORK 
1. The bureaus and sub-bureaus of the Central Committee and 
Party committees at the level of province, municipality and administrative 
region are required to call two meetings in 1951 to discuss united 
front work and report twice on this subject to the Central Committee. 
2. It must be made clear to the cadres why our united front work 
needs to be strengthened. 
3. It is necessary to unite intellectuals, industrialists and businessmen, 
leading religious figures, the democratic parties and democratic 
personages on the basis of the struggle against imperialism and feudalism 
and to carry out education among them.

49 MAIN POINTS OF RESOLUTION OF THE POLITICAL BUREAU 
4. Work conscientiously among the minority nationalities, the two 
central tasks being to push for regional autonomy and to train cadres 
from these nationalities. 
VIII. RECTIFICATION MOVEMENT 
This movement should be carried out once every winter for a short 
period; the aim is to review our work, sum up experience, enhance 
achievements and overcome mistakes and shortcomings, and thus 
educate the cadres. 
NOTES 
1 Before liberation the peasants who rented land from the landlords had to pay 
a considerable sum of security money in advance for their tenancy. During the agrarian 
reform the peasants demanded reimbursement of this money by the landlords, and 
this was known as the return of security money. Those landlords who were also running 
industrial and commercial enterprises or who were unable to repay the sum all at 
once were allowed to return it in instalments. 
2 In the work of suppressing counter-revolutionaries, there are three layers to 
be swept clean, the outer, middle and inner layers. To sweep clean the ŗouter layer˛ 
refers to uncovering counter-revolutionaries lying low in society at large; to sweep 
clean the ŗmiddle layer˛ refers to uncovering counter-revolutionaries lying low in 
our army units and government organizations; and to sweep clean the ŗinner layer˛ 
refers to uncovering counter-revolutionaries lying low in our Party. 
3 During the 1951 Party consolidation, Party members were classified into four 
categories: first, those who were qualified members, second, those who were not 
fully qualified or had fairly serious shortcomings and who had to be remoulded and to 
raise their political consciousness; third, inactive and backward elements who did 
not measure up to the standards for Party membership; and fourth, alien class 
elements, renegades, political speculators and degenerates who had hidden in the 
Party.
4 ŗRemoving rocks˛ was advocated by Liu Shao-chi in 1948 during the agrarian 
reform and Party consolidation in the liberated areas. He maligned large numbers 
of rural cadres as ŗrocks˛ weighing down on the peasants and wanted to have them 
removed from their posts and expelled from the Party.

THE PARTYšS MASS LINE 
MUST BE FOLLOWED IN SUPPRESSING 
COUNTER-REVOLUTIONARIES 
May 1951 
1. The movement to suppress counter-revolutionaries now going 
on throughout the country is a great, intense and complex struggle. 
The line for this work that has proved effective everywhere is the 
Partyšs mass line. This means leadership by Party committees, mobilization 
of the entire Party membership, mobilization of the masses, 
participation by the democratic parties and by personages from all 
circles, unified planning, unified action, strict examination of the lists 
of persons to be arrested or executed, attention to tactics in different 
phases of the struggle, widespread propaganda and education (holding 
various kinds of conferences, cadre meetings, forums and mass rallies, 
at all of which victims can bring their accusations and evidence of 
crimes can be displayed, and making propaganda through films, 
lantern-slides, stage performances, newspapers, pamphlets and leaflets, 
in order to make the movement known to every household and 
individual), a break with the practice of working behind closed doors 
and being secretive, and determined opposition to the deviation of 
rashness. Wherever this line is completely adhered to, the work is 
completely correct. Wherever this line is not adhered to, the work is 
wrong. Wherever this line is adhered to generally but not completely, 
the work is generally but not completely correct. We believe this line 
for the work is a guarantee for deepening the struggle to suppress 
counter-revolutionaries and for achieving full success. In the days ahead 
it is essential to adhere completely to this line in suppressing counterrevolutionaries. 
What is most important here is strictly to examine the 
Instructions added by Comrade Mao Tsetung when he revised the draft resolution 
of the Third National Conference on Public Security. 
50

51 MASS LINE IN SUPPRESSING COUNTER-REVOLUTIONARIES 
lists of persons to be arrested or executed and to do a good job of 
widespread propaganda and education. Do both well and mistakes will 
be avoided. 
2. The number of counter-revolutionaries to be killed must be 
kept within certain proportions. The principle to follow here is that 
those who owe blood debts or are guilty of other extremely serious 
crimes and have to be executed to assuage the peoplešs anger and 
those who have caused extremely serious harm to the national interest 
must be unhesitatingly sentenced to death and executed without delay. 
As for those whose crimes deserve capital punishment but who owe no 
blood debts and are not bitterly hated by the people or who have done 
serious but not extremely serious harm to the national interest, the 
policy to follow is to hand down the death sentence, grant a two-year 
reprieve and subject them to forced labour to see how they behave. 
In addition, it must be explicitly stipulated that in cases where it is 
marginal whether to make an arrest, under no circumstances should 
there be an arrest and that to act otherwise would be a mistake, 
and that in cases where it is marginal whether to execute, under no 
circumstances should there be an execution and that to act otherwise 
would be a mistake. 
3. To prevent ŗLeft˛ deviations in the heat of the movement to 
suppress counter-revolutionaries, it has been decided that as of June 1, 
in all localities across the country, including those places where very 
few executions have so far been carried out, the power to sanction 
arrests shall without exception revert to the prefectural authorities and 
the power to sanction executions shall without exception revert to the 
provincial authorities, who shall send representatives to deal with such 
cases in places remote from the provincial capital. No locality is to 
ask for modification of this decision. 
4. As of now it is necessary to start a planned screening of counterrevolutionaries 
hidden in the ŗmiddle layer˛ and the ŗinner layer˛. 
In accordance with the directive of the Central Committee it has been 
decided that a preliminary screening in the form of rectification will 
be conducted this summer and autumn among all the personnel who 
have been retained since liberation and among the intellectuals recently 
drawn into our work. The aim is to size up the situation and deal with 
a number of conspicuous cases. The procedure to follow is to study 
documents on the suppression of counter-revolutionaries, call on those 
among the above-mentioned personnel and intellectuals (not all of 
them) whose records are questionable to adopt a sincere and honest

52 MAO TSETUNG 
attitude, give a clear account of their history and make a clean breast 
of what they have hitherto kept to themselves. This campaign to 
ŗclear oneself˛ must be put in charge of the leading member of 
the organization concerned; the voluntary principle must be applied 
and coercion must not be used. For each organization the duration 
should be short, not drawn out. The tactics to adopt are to win over 
the many and isolate the few, in preparation for a further screening 
in the winter. This screening must first be conducted in the leading 
organs, the public security organs and other sensitive departments, 
and then the experience gained should be popularized. During such 
screening in government departments, schools and factories, it is 
necessary to have non-Party people sit on the committees in charge 
of this work so as to avoid having Party members act in isolation. 
5. In the current great struggle to suppress counter-revolutionaries 
public security committees must be organized among the masses everywhere. 
Such committees should be elected by the people in every 
township in the countryside and in every department and organization, 
school, factory and neighbourhood in the cities. The number of committee 
members may be as small as three and as large as eleven and 
must include reliable non-Party patriots so as to make the committee 
a united front type of organization for safeguarding public security. 
Under the leadership of the government and public security organs 
at the basic level, such committees have the responsibility of assisting 
the peoplešs government in eliminating counter-revolutionaries, guarding 
against traitors and spies and safeguarding our national and public 
security. Their establishment must proceed in a well-guided way in 
those rural areas where the agrarian reform has been completed or in 
cities where the work of suppressing counter-revolutionaries is well 
under way, so as to prevent bad elements from seizing the opportunity 
to worm their way in.

STRIKE SURELY, ACCURATELY 
AND RELENTLESSLY IN SUPPRESSING 
COUNTER-REVOLUTIONARIES 
December 1950 ‹ September 1951 
1 
Please make certain that you strike surely, accurately and relentlessly 
in suppressing the counter-revolutionaries. 
(December 19, 1950) 
2 
One batch of bandit chieftains, local tyrants and secret agents has 
been executed in twenty-one counties in western Hunan, and another 
batch is to be executed by local authorities this year. I think measures of 
this kind are absolutely necessary. For only thus can we deflate the 
enemyšs arrogance and raise the peoplešs morale. If we are weak and 
irresolute, if we are tolerant and indulgent, it will bring harm to the 
people and alienate us from the masses. 
To strike surely means to pay attention to tactics. To strike 
accurately means to avoid wrong executions. To strike relentlessly 
means resolutely to kill all such reactionary elements as deserve the 
death penalty (of course, those who donšt will not be executed). So 
long as we avoid wrong executions, we donšt have to worry even if 
the bourgeoisie raises an outcry. 
(January 17, 1951) 
Important directives concerning the movement to suppress counter-revolutionaries 
drafted for the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party. 
53

54 MAO TSETUNG 
3 
In Shantung there is lethargy in some places and rashness in others. 
Generally speaking, both these deviations are to be found in all the 
provinces and cities in the country and attention should be paid to 
setting them right. In particular, rashness presents the major danger. 
For by education and persuasion those who are lethargic can eventually 
become active, and it doesnšt make much difference if a counterrevolutionary 
is put to death a few days sooner or a few days later. 
But being rash and making wrong arrests and executions will produce 
very bad effects. Please exercise strict control over the work of 
suppressing counter-revolutionaries, and be sure to proceed with caution 
and correct any deviation of rashness in handling the job. We 
must suppress all counter-revolutionaries, but on no account should we 
make wrong arrests or executions. 
(March 30, 1951) 
4 
In regard to the counter-revolutionaries ferreted out in the Communist 
Party, Peoplešs Liberation Army and organs of the Peoplešs 
Government and in educational, industrial and commercial and religious 
circles, democratic parties and peoplešs organizations, the Central 
Committee has decided as follows. Whereas those whose crimes do not 
deserve the death penalty shall be sentenced to life imprisonment or 
various prison terms or put under public supervision and surveillance, 
with respect to all counter-revolutionaries deserving capital punishment 
execution shall be confined to those who owe blood debts, or who have 
committed other major crimes which evoke public indignation, such 
as frequent rape or the plundering of large amounts of property, or 
who have done extremely serious harm to the national interest, while the 
policy towards the rest shall be one of passing the death sentence, 
granting a two-year reprieve and subjecting them to forced labour 
during this period to see how they behave. This is a prudent policy, 
a policy that can avoid mistakes. It can win a favourable response 
from people in all walks of life. It can disintegrate the counterrevolutionary 
forces and contribute towards the thorough elimination

55 STRIKE SURELY, ACCURATELY AND RELENTLESSLY 
of counter-revolution. Moreover, it can save a large pool of labourpower, 
which will be conducive to our national construction. Therefore 
it is a correct policy. Of all the counter-revolutionaries deserving death 
who are ferreted out in the above-mentioned Party, government, 
military, educational, industrial and commercial and peoplešs organizations, 
it is estimated that those who owe blood debts, those who have 
committed other crimes which evoke public indignation and those who 
have done extremely serious harm to the national interest make up only 
a small number, roughly 10 t o 20 per cent, while those to be sentenced 
to death but to be granted a reprieve probably account for 80 t o 90 
per cent, that is to say, 80 t o 90 per cent may be saved. These counterrevolutionaries 
differ from the bandit chieftains, hardened brigands 
and local tyrants in the rural areas, from the local tyrants, bandit 
chieftains, hardened brigands, leaders of criminal gangs and heads of 
reactionary secret societies in the cities, and also from certain secret 
agents who have done extremely serious harm to the national interest 
in that they have contracted no blood debts or committed no other 
major crimes that incur the deep hatred of the masses. The harm 
they did to the national interest, while serious enough, had not yet 
reached an extreme. They have committed capital offences, but the 
masses were not the direct victims. If we have such people executed, 
it will not be easily understood by the masses, nor will the response 
from public figures be so favourable; at the same time it will deprive 
us of a large pool of labour-power and will not serve to split the enemy 
ranks; besides, we may make mistakes on this question. Therefore, 
towards such persons the Central Committee has decided on a policy 
of passing the death sentence with a reprieve and subjecting them 
to forced labour to see how they behave. If some are beyond reform 
and continue their wrongdoing, they can be executed later on, as the 
initiative is in our hands. All the local authorities are asked to adhere 
to the foregoing principle in dealing with the counter-revolutionaries 
uncovered in the Party, government, military, educational, industrial 
and commercial and peoplešs organizations. As a precaution, the very 
small number of executions to be carried out (amounting to roughly 
10 t o 20 per cent of all those sentenced to death) must without exception 
be reported to the greater administrative areas or the greater military 
areas for approval. As for prominent figures whose execution might 
affect our united front work, approval must be obtained from the 
central authorities. In the case of counter-revolutionaries in the rural 
areas, we shall likewise put to death only those whose execution is

56 MAO TSETUNG 
necessary to assuage the peoplešs anger, and none shall be executed 
unless the people so demand. To some we should similarly apply 
the policy of passing the death sentence with a reprieve. But persons 
whose death is demanded by the people must be executed so as to 
assuage their anger and help production. 
(May 8, 1951) 
5 
In no circumstances should the policy of ŗgranting a two-year 
reprieve˛ be taken to mean not executing those criminals who owe 
blood debts or are guilty of other major crimes when their execution 
is demanded by the people. This would be wrong. We must make 
it clear to the district and village cadres and the masses that persons 
who have incurred the bitter hatred of one and all for their heinous 
crimes and have to be executed to assuage the peoplešs anger must be 
put to death for this purpose. It is only on those counter-revolutionaries 
who are guilty of capital offences but have not incurred deep popular 
hatred and whose execution is not demanded by the people that we 
shall pass the death sentence with a two-year reprieve and impose 
forced labour to see how they behave. 
(June 15, 1951) 
6 
The work of suppressing counter-revolutionaries must be placed 
entirely under the unified leadership of the Party committees at all 
levels, and the responsible comrades of all public security and other 
organs associated with this work must, as always, unreservedly accept 
this leadership. 
(September 10, 1951)

PAY SERIOUS ATTENTION TO 
THE DISCUSSION OF THE FILM 
THE LIFE OF WU HSUN 
May 20, 1951 
The question raised by The Life of Wu Hsun is fundamental in 
nature. A fellow like Wu Hsun,1 living as he did towards the end of 
the Ching Dynasty in an era of great struggle by the Chinese people 
against foreign aggressors and domestic reactionary feudal rulers, did 
not lift a finger against the feudal economic base or its superstructure; 
on the contrary, he strove fanatically to spread feudal culture and, in 
order to gain a position for this purpose previously beyond his reach, 
he fawned in every way on the reactionary feudal rulers ‹ ought we 
to praise such disgusting behaviour? How can we tolerate praising 
it to the masses, especially when such praise flaunts the revolutionary 
banner of ŗserving the people˛ and when the failure of revolutionary 
peasant struggles is used as a foil to accentuate the praise? To approve 
or tolerate such praise is to approve or tolerate abuse of the revolutionary 
struggles of the peasants, abuse of Chinese history, abuse of 
the Chinese nation, and to regard such reactionary propaganda as 
justified. 
The appearance of the film The Life of Wu Hsun, and particularly 
the spate of praise lavished on Wu Hsun and the film, show how 
ideologically confused our countryšs cultural circles have become! 
In the view of many writers, history proceeds not by the new 
superseding the old, but by preserving the old from extinction through 
all kinds of exertion, not by waging class struggle to overthrow the 
reactionary feudal rulers who ought to be overthrown, but by negating 
the class struggle of the oppressed and submitting to these rulers 
in the manner of Wu Hsun. Our writers do not bother to study history 
Abridged text of an editorial written for the Peoplešs Daily. 
57

58 MAO TSETUNG 
and learn who were the enemies oppressing the Chinese people and 
whether there was anything commendable about those who submitted 
to these enemies and worked for them. Nor do they bother to find 
out what new economic formations of society, new class forces, new 
personalities and ideas have emerged in China during the century 
and more since the Opium War of 1840 in the struggle against the 
old economic formations and their superstructures (politics, culture, 
etc.) before they decide what to commend and praise, what not to, and 
what to oppose. 
Certain Communists who have allegedly grasped Marxism merit 
special attention. They have studied the history of social development 
‹ historical materialism ‹ but when it comes to specific historical 
events, specific historical figures (like Wu Hsun) and specific ideas 
which run counter to the trend of history (as in the film The Life of 
Wu Hsun and the writings about Wu Hsun), they lose their critical 
faculties, and some have even capitulated to these reactionary ideas. 
Isnšt it a fact that reactionary bourgeois ideas have found their way 
into the militant Communist Party? Where on earth is the Marxism 
which certain Communists claim to have grasped? 
For the above reasons, it is imperative to unfold discussion on 
the film The Life of Wu Hsun and on the essays and other writings 
about Wu Hsun and thereby thoroughly clarify the confused thinking 
on this question. 
NOTES 
1 Wu Hsun (1838-96), born in Tangyi, Shantung Province, was originally a vagrant. 
Using the slogan of ŗschools through alms˛, he went about cheating people out of 
their money, bought land and lent money and eventually became a big landlord and 
usurer. He ganged up with despotic landlords to set up a few so-called ŗtuition-free 
schools˛ in which he fanatically spread feudal culture and trained lackeys for the 
exploiting class, thus winning praise from reactionary rulers of successive regimes.

GREAT VICTORIES
IN THREE MASS MOVEMENTS
October 23, 1951
Fellow Committee Members and Comrades, 
The Third Session of the First National Committee of our Peoplešs 
Political Consultative Conference is now open. Besides members of 
the National Committee, there are present at this session specially 
invited representatives of the Chinese Peoplešs Volunteers and the 
Peoplešs Liberation Army, model workers in industry and agriculture, 
delegates from the old base areas, workers in education, literature 
and art, industrialists and businessmen, experts in various fields, 
representatives of religious circles, minority nationalities, overseas 
Chinese, women and youth, representatives from provincial and 
municipal consultative committees, etc., as well as many government 
personnel. The members attending this session and those invited to sit in 
include many publicly acclaimed combat heroes and model workers 
in industry, agriculture and other fields. The size and scope of this 
session amply indicate that the Peoplešs Republic of China has 
registered tremendous achievements and progress on every front. 
Since last year we have unfolded three large-scale movements in 
the country, the movement to resist U.S. aggression and aid Korea, 
the agrarian reform movement and the movement to suppress 
counter-revolutionaries, and we have won great victories. By and large, 
the remnant counter-revolutionaries on the mainland will soon be 
eliminated. Agrarian reform will be completed in 1952, except in some 
areas inhabited by minority nationalities. In the movement to resist 
U.S. aggression and aid Korea, the Chinese people are more broadly 
united than ever before and are waging a determined struggle against 
Opening address at the Third Session of the First National Committee of the 
Chinese Peoplešs Political Consultative Conference. 
59

60 MAO TSETUNG 
the U.S. imperialist forces of aggression. Embodying the mighty will 
of the Chinese people, the Chinese Peoplešs Volunteers have joined 
forces with the Korean Peoplešs Army in smashing U.S. imperialismšs 
mad scheme to overrun and occupy the Democratic Peoplešs Republic 
of Korea and then to invade Chinašs mainland; thus the peace-loving 
people of Korea, China, Asia and the world have been inspired and 
made more confident in their defence of peace and resistance to 
aggression. We should extend our congratulations and pay tribute to 
the heroic Chinese Peoplešs Volunteers and Korean Peoplešs Army! 
Thanks to victories in these three mass movements and to the 
joint efforts of the peoplešs governments at all levels and of every 
section of the population, our country has achieved unprecedented 
unity. The question of Tibet has been solved by peaceful means. Our 
national defence has been strengthened. The peoplešs democratic 
dictatorship has been consolidated. Our currency and commodity prices 
have remained stable, and our work of rehabilitation and development 
in the spheres of economic construction, culture and education has also 
taken a big stride forward. 
On the industrial and agricultural fronts the growing patriotic 
movement to increase production is a new phenomenon in our country 
which calls for rejoicing. The agrarian reform in the countryside and 
the democratic reform in factories and other enterprises enable our 
workers and peasants both to display tremendous enthusiasm in their 
patriotic efforts to increase production and to improve their material 
and cultural life. If we are good at uniting with the workers and 
peasants, educating and relying on them, there is bound to be a 
nation-wide upsurge in the patriotic movement to increase production. 
On our cultural and educational front and among all types of 
intellectuals, a movement for self-education and self-remoulding is 
unfolding on a broad scale in accordance with the principles laid down 
by the Central Peoplešs Government, and this too is a new phenomenon 
in our country which calls for rejoicing. At the close of the Second 
Session of the National Committee I suggested the use of criticism and 
self-criticism in self-education and self-remoulding. This suggestion 
is being steadily translated into action. Ideological remoulding, primarily 
that of all types of intellectuals, is an important condition for 
the completion of democratic reforms in all fields and the gradual 
industrialization of our country. We therefore wish still greater 
successes to the movement for self-education and self-remoulding as 
it goes steadily forward.

61 GREAT VICTORIES IN THREE MASS MOVEMENTS 
All facts prove that this system of ours, the peoplešs democratic 
dictatorship, is vastly superior to the political systems of the capitalist 
countries. Under this system, the people of our country are able to tap 
their inexhaustible strength. And such strength is invincible before 
any enemy. 
The great struggle to resist U.S. aggression and aid Korea is going 
on and must go on until the U.S. government is willing to come to a 
peaceful settlement. We have no intention of encroaching on any 
country; it is aggression against our country by the imperialists that we 
oppose. As everyone knows, the Chinese people would not be fighting 
the U.S. forces if they had not occupied our Taiwan, invaded the 
Democratic Peoplešs Republic of Korea and pushed on to our 
northeastern borders. But since the U.S. aggressors have launched 
their attack against us, we cannot but raise the banner of resistance 
to aggression. This is absolutely necessary and perfectly just, and the 
whole nation understands that it is so. To press on with this struggle, 
which is as necessary as it is just, we must continue to stiffen our 
efforts in resisting U.S. aggression and aiding Korea and must 
increase production and practise economy to support the Chinese 
Peoplešs Volunteers. This is the central task of the Chinese people 
today and accordingly the central task of our present session. 
We have long been on record as maintaining that the Korean 
question should be settled by peaceful means, and this is still our 
position. If the U.S. government is willing to settle the question on 
a fair and reasonable basis instead of undermining and obstructing 
the progress of the negotiations in various underhand ways as it has 
done in the past, it will be possible for the Korean armistice negotiations 
to be concluded successfully; otherwise it will be impossible. 
In the two years since the founding of the Peoplešs Republic of 
China, we have won great victories in all fields of work. We have 
won these victories by relying on all the forces that can be united. 
Within the country, we have relied on the firm unity of all 
the nationalities, democratic classes, democratic parties, peoplešs 
organizations and patriotic democrats under the leadership of the 
working class and the Communist Party. Internationally, we have 
relied on the firm unity of the camp of peace and democracy headed 
by the Soviet Union and on the profound sympathy of the peaceloving 
people throughout the world. Hence our great victories in all 
spheres of work, which was not what our enemies had expected. Our 
enemies thought that since the new-born Peoplešs Republic of China

62 MAO TSETUNG 
was faced with a lot of difficulties and since on top of that they were 
launching a war of aggression against us, we would not be able to 
overcome our difficulties or deal counter-blows to the aggressors. 
Contrary to their expectation, we have proved able to overcome our 
difficulties, deal counter-blows to the aggressors and win great victories. 
Our enemies are short-sighted, they fail to realize that our 
great domestic and international unity is strong and that the founding 
of the Peoplešs Republic of China has once and for all put an end 
to the days when the Chinese people could be bullied by foreign 
imperialists. Nor do they realize that the birth of the socialist Soviet 
Union, the Peoplešs Republic of China and the Peoplešs Democracies, 
the firm unity between the two great countries of China and the 
Soviet Union anchored in the Treaty of Friendship, Alliance and 
Mutual Assistance, the firm unity of the entire camp of peace and 
democracy and the profound sympathy of the peace-loving people of 
the world for this great camp have ended for good the era in which 
imperialism could dominate the world. Our enemies fail to see all this 
and still want to bully the Peoplešs Republic of China and dominate 
the world. But, comrades, I can say with confidence that their design 
is futile, crazy, impossible of achievement. Contrary to their thinking, 
the Peoplešs Republic of China will brook no bullying, the great peace 
camp headed by the Soviet Union will brook no encroachment, and 
the peace-loving people of the world will not be deceived. Comrades, 
the victory of the great October Socialist Revolution has made it 
certain that the people of the world will win victory, and today 
this prospect becomes nearer and more certain with the birth of 
the Peoplešs Republic of China and the Peoplešs Democracies. It is 
true that, in the historical period following World War I and the 
October Revolution in Russia, three imperialist states ‹ Germany, 
Italy and Japan ‹ made attempts to dominate the world; this happened 
before the founding of the Peoplešs Republic of China and the 
Peoplešs Democracies. But what came of it? Didnšt the attempts of 
the three imperialist states prove to be futile and crazy? Didnšt the 
results turn out to be just the opposite of what they wanted? Didnšt 
the imperialists who aimed at domination get struck down themselves? 
Today things are entirely different; the great Peoplešs Republic of 
China has been founded, the Peoplešs Democracies have been established, 
the level of political consciousness of the people of the world 
has been raised, the struggle for national liberation has been surging 
ahead all over Asia and in North Africa, the strength of the imperialist

63 GREAT VICTORIES IN THREE MASS MOVEMENTS 
bloc as a whole has been profoundly weakened and, what is of vital 
importance, the strength of the Soviet Union, our closest ally, has been 
greatly enhanced. In these circumstances, isnšt the outcome quite 
predictable if any imperialist country tries to follow in the footsteps 
of the three aggressors, Germany, Italy and Japan? In a word, the 
world from now on must be a world that belongs to the people, with 
the people of each country governing themselves, and definitely not 
a world where imperialism and its lackeys can continue to ride roughshod. 
I hope that the people of our country will closely unite, that 
they will closely unite with our ally the Soviet Union, with all the 
Peoplešs Democracies and with all nations and peoples of the world 
that sympathize with us, and march forward to victory in the struggle 
against aggression, to victory in building our great country, to victory 
in the defence of a lasting world peace. Comrades, I am confident 
that, so long as we do all this, victory will decidedly be ours.

ON THE STRUGGLE 
AGAINST THE ŗTHREE EVILS˛ AND 
THE ŗFIVE EVILS˛1 
November 1951 ‹ March 1952
1 
The struggle against corruption and waste is a major issue which 
concerns the whole Party, and we have told you to give it your serious 
attention. We need to have a good clean-up in the whole Party, which 
will thoroughly uncover all cases of corruption, whether major, medium 
or minor, and aim the main blows at the most corrupt, while following 
the policy of educating and remoulding the medium and minor 
embezzlers so that they will not relapse. Only thus can we check the 
grave danger of many Party members being corroded by the bourgeoisie, 
put an end to a situation already foreseen at the Second Plenary Session 
of the Seventh Central Committee and carry out the principle of 
combating corrosion then laid down. Be sure to give all this your 
attention. 
(November 30, 1951) 
2 
Particular attention must be paid to the fact that the corrosion of 
cadres by the bourgeoisie results in serious cases of corruption. Be sure 
to detect, expose and punish those involved and to take this as a major 
struggle. 
(November 30, 1951) 
Important directives drafted for the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist 
Party. 
64

65 STRUGGLE AGAINST ŗTHREE EVILS˛ AND ŗFIVE EVILS˛ 
3 
The struggle against corruption, waste and bureaucracy should be 
stressed as much as the struggle to suppress counter-revolutionaries. 
As in the latter, the broad masses, including the democratic parties 
and also people in all walks of life, should be mobilized, the present 
struggle should be given wide publicity, the leading cadres should 
take personal charge and pitch in, and people should be called on to 
make a clean breast of their own wrongdoing and to report on the 
guilt of others. In minor cases the guilty should be criticized and 
educated; in major ones the guilty should be dismissed from office, 
punished, or sentenced to prison terms (to be reformed through labour), 
and the worst among them should be shot. The problem can only be 
solved in these ways. 
(December 8, 1951) 
4 
In all cities, and first of all in the big and medium-sized cities, we 
should rely on the working class and unite with the law-abiding 
capitalists and other sections of the urban population to wage a largescale, 
resolute and thoroughgoing struggle against those capitalists 
who are violating the law by bribery, tax evasion, theft of state 
property, cheating on government contracts and stealing economic 
information; we should co-ordinate this struggle with that against 
corruption, waste and bureaucracy, which is being waged inside the 
Party, government, army and mass organizations. This is both imperative 
and very timely. In the struggle, Party organizations in all cities 
must carefully dispose the forces of the classes and masses and adopt 
the tactics of utilizing contradictions, effecting splits, uniting with the 
many and isolating the few so that in the process a united front against 
the ŗfive evils˛ will speedily take shape. In a big city, as the struggle 
against the ŗfive evils˛ gets into full swing, such a united front may 
well come into being within about three weeks. Once this united 
front is formed, those reactionary capitalists guilty of the worst crimes 
will be isolated, and the state will be in a strong position to mete out 
due punishment, such as fines, confiscation, arrest, imprisonment or

66 MAO TSETUNG 
execution, without much opposition. All our big cities (including 
provincial capitals) should start the struggle against the ŗfive evils˛ in 
the first ten days of February. Please make prompt arrangements. 
(January 26, 1952) 
5 
(1) In the movement against the ŗfive evils˛ the basic principles 
in dealing with industrial and commercial units are: leniency for past 
offences and severity for new ones (for instance, payment of taxes 
that have been evaded is generally retroactive only to 1951); leniency 
towards the many and severity towards the few; leniency towards 
those owning up to their crimes and severity towards those refusing 
to do so; leniency for industry and severity for commerce; and leniency 
for commerce in general and severity for commercial speculation. The 
Party committees at all levels are asked to adhere to these principles 
in the movement against the ŗfive evils˛. 
(2) For the purpose of the movement against the ŗfive evils˛ 
private industrial and commercial units should be classified into five 
categories: the law-abiding, the basically law-abiding, those that 
partly abide by the law and partly break it, those that break the law 
on a serious scale, and those that completely violate the law. As far 
as the big cities are concerned, the first three categories make up 
about 95 per cent and the last two about 5 per cent. The percentages 
for different big cities are roughly the same, with only small variations. 
As for medium-sized cities, the percentages differ considerably from 
these figures. 
(3) These five categories apply to the capitalists and the noncapitalist 
independent handicraftsmen and family traders, but not to 
the street vendors. In big cities the street vendors may be left alone 
for the time being, but the independent handicraftsmen and family 
traders had better be dealt with. In medium-sized cities it would be 
better to deal with both the independent handicraftsmen and traders 
and the street vendors in this movement. In our big and medium-sized 
cities there are large numbers of independent handicraftsmen and 
traders who do not employ workers or shop assistants (though some 
have apprentices). Many of them are law-abiding, many others basically 
abide by the law but partly break it (i.e., they have minor offences

67 STRUGGLE AGAINST ŗTHREE EVILS˛ AND ŗFIVE EVILS˛ 
to account for, such as small-scale evasion of taxes), and a small 
number partly abide by the law and partly break it and have evaded 
taxes on a larger scale. In the current movement against the ŗfive 
evils˛ we must deal with a considerable number of small capitalists 
and pass judgment on them, and as far as possible do likewise with the 
independent handicraftsmen and traders, who roughly equal the small 
capitalists in number. This will be to the advantage of the current 
movement and to economic construction in the days ahead. The small 
capitalists as well as the independent handicraftsmen and traders are 
generally innocent of serious offences, and it is not difficult to pass 
judgment on them. In so acting, we shall win support from the 
masses. However, if a few cities think it convenient to pass judgment 
first on industrial and commercial units other than the independent 
handicraftsmen and traders and defer judgment on the latter, that 
is in order, too. 
(4) In view of the actual situation in the cities we have decided 
to reclassify industrial and commercial units into five categories 
instead of four as in the past, i.e., those in the law-abiding category 
are to be reclassified into law-abiding and basically law-abiding, while 
the other three categories remain unchanged. Out of the fifty thousand 
industrial and commercial units in Peking (including the independent 
handicraftsmen and traders, but not the street vendors), the lawabiding 
ones make up about 10 per cent, the basically law-abiding ones 
about 60 per cent, those that partly abide by the law and partly break 
it about 25 per cent, those that break the law on a serious scale about 
4 per cent and those that completely violate the law about 1 per cent. 
To distinguish between the strictly law-abiding ones and the basically 
law-abiding ones with minor offences and, furthermore, to treat the 
basically law-abiding units guilty of small-scale tax evasion differently 
from those guilty on a larger scale may prove to have important 
educational value. 
(5) In some big and medium-sized cities, the city Party committees 
launched the movement against the ŗfive evils˛ in a hurry, when they 
were not at all acquainted with the situation with respect to the different 
categories of industrial and commercial units and were not clear about 
the tactics of differential treatment, and when the work teams (or 
investigation groups) sent by the trade unions and the government had 
been organized and trained in a very slipshod way. As a result some 
confusion has arisen. It is hoped that the city Party committees concerned 
will pay attention to this situation and see to its correction without delay.

68 MAO TSETUNG 
Moreover, the investigation of industrial and commercial units which 
break the law must be made under the strict control of the city Party 
committee and the city government. No other organization is allowed 
to send out people to investigate on its own, much less to haul capitalists 
into its office for interrogation. Whether in the movement against the 
ŗthree evils˛ or in that against the ŗfive evils˛, the use of torture to 
extort confessions is forbidden and strict precautions must be taken 
to prevent suicides. Where suicides have occurred, measures for preventing 
their further occurrence should be worked out immediately to 
ensure that both movements will develop soundly and on the right track 
and that complete victory will be won. 
(6) The movements against the ŗthree evils˛ and against the 
ŗfive evils˛ are not to be launched at present in counties, districts and 
townships. Further notice will be given by the Central Committee as 
to when and how to carry them out. In the few instances where the movement 
against the ŗfive evils˛ has been launched at county seats and 
that against the ŗthree evils˛ in districts, in both cases experimentally, 
strict control must be exercised and spring farming and other economic 
activities must not be hampered. The movement against the ŗfive evils˛ 
should not begin in all the medium-sized cities at the same time but 
should be staggered and strictly controlled. 
(March 5, 1952) 
6 
During and also after the struggle against the ŗfive evils˛, we must 
achieve the following aims: 
(1) Get thoroughly clear about the situation in private industry 
and commerce so as the better to unite with and control the bourgeoisie 
and develop the countryšs planned economy. Planned economy is 
impossible unless we are clear about the situation. 
(2) Draw a clear line of distinction between the working class 
and the bourgeoisie, and in trade unions eliminate corruption and 
bureaucracy which alienates the masses and weed out the capitalistsš 
hirelings. Such hirelings and the middle elements vacillating between 
labour and capital are to be found in trade unions everywhere, and in 
the struggle we must educate and win over the middle elements, whereas 
those hirelings guilty of serious crimes should be expelled.

69 STRUGGLE AGAINST ŗTHREE EVILS˛ AND ŗFIVE EVILS˛ 
(3) Reorganize the trade councils and associations of industry and 
commerce, remove from their leading bodies persons guilty of all the 
ŗfive evils˛ and those who have been totally discredited, and in their 
stead draw in those who have acquitted themselves fairly well in the 
struggle against these evils. With the exception of those who have 
completely violated the law, there should be representation of all 
categories of industrialists and traders. 
(4) Help leaders of the China Democratic National Construction 
Association to conduct a shake-up, to expel those guilty of all the ŗfive 
evils˛ and those who have disgraced themselves in the public eye and 
to recruit a number of better individuals, so that it can become a political 
organization capable of representing the legitimate interests of the 
bourgeoisie, mainly the industrial bourgeoisie, and of educating them 
in the spirit of the Common Programme and in the principles governing 
the struggle against the ŗfive evils˛. Take measures to disband the 
secret organizations of different groups of capitalists, such as the 
ŗThursday Dinner Club˛.2 
(5) Eradicate the ŗfive evils˛ and eliminate commercial speculation 
so that the entire bourgeoisie will obey the laws and decrees of the state 
and engage in industrial and commercial activities beneficial to the 
nationšs economy and the peoplešs livelihood. Develop private industry 
within the limits set by the state (provided the capitalists so wish and 
its operations conform with the Common Programme), and reduce 
private commerce step by step. Expand the statešs plan to monopolize 
the sales and contracts of private industry year by year and at the same 
time extend the coverage of our plan over private industry and commerce. 
Set new percentages of profit for private capital so that it will 
be able to make some profits but not exorbitant ones. 
(6) Do away with hidden accounts, make the accounts public and 
gradually establish a system under which the workers and shop 
assistants supervise production and management. 
(7) Recover the greater part of the economic losses to the state and 
the people through the payment of evaded taxes, restitution, fines and 
confiscation. 
(8) Set up Party branches among workers and shop assistants in 
all large and medium-sized private enterprises and strengthen Party 
work. 
(March 5, 1952)

70 MAO TSETUNG 
NOTES 
1 The movement against the ŗthree evils˛ was the struggle against corruption, 
waste and bureaucracy launched at the end of 1951 among the personnel of government 
departments and state enterprises. The movement against the ŗfive evils˛ was 
the struggle against bribery, tax evasion, theft of state property, cheating on government 
contracts and stealing of economic information started at the beginning of 1952 
among owners of private industrial and commercial enterprises. 
2 The ŗThursday Dinner Club˛ was a secret organization of some capitalists 
in Chungking, which engaged in surreptitious activities in grave violation of the 
law. It was exposed and banned in the movement against the ŗfive evils˛.

TAKE MUTUAL AID AND CO-OPERATION 
IN AGRICULTURE AS A MAJOR TASK 
December 15, 1951 
Herewith is the Draft Resolution on Mutual Aid and Co-operation 
in Agricultural Production which you are requested to print for 
distribution right down to the county and district Party committees. 
Please give prompt explanations inside and outside the Party in the 
spirit of this draft and arrange for its implementation. This is to be 
done in all areas where the agrarian reform has been completed, and 
please take it as a major task. This draft resolution may appear in inner- 
Party publications but not in newspapers and periodicals for general 
circulation, as it is still a draft. 
Inner-Party circular of historic significance to rebuff Liu Shao-chišs opposition to 
the co-operative transformation of agriculture. In July 1951, behind the backs of Comrade 
Mao Tsetung and the Party Central Committee, Liu Shao-chi wrote and distributed a 
comment in his own name, wantonly attacking a report submitted by the Shansi Provincial 
Party Committee on promoting mutual aid and co-operation in agricultural 
production. In this comment, he opposed Comrade Mao Tsetungšs line on the socialist 
transformation of agriculture, maligning it as an ŗerroneous, dangerous and utopian 
notion of agrarian socialism˛. In September of the same year, Comrade Mao Tsetung 
personally took charge of drafting the ŗResolution of the Central Committee of the 
Communist Party of China on Mutual Aid and Co-operation in Agricultural Production 
(Draft)˛, and on December 15 when the draft resolution was to be distributed 
he wrote this circular and instructed the whole Party to take mutual aid and co-operation 
in agriculture as a major task. 
71

NEW YEARšS DAY MESSAGE 
January 1, 1952 
May all of us ‹ the cadres of the Peoplešs Government, the commanders 
and fighters of the Peoplešs Volunteers and the Peoplešs 
Liberation Army, the democratic parties, the peoplešs organizations, 
the minority nationalities and the people of the entire country ‹ win 
victory on every front of our work! 
May we win victory on the front of our movement to resist U.S. 
aggression and aid Korea! 
Victory on the national defence front! 
Victory on the agrarian reform front! 
Victory on the front of our movement to suppress counterrevolutionaries! 
Victory on the economic and financial front! 
Victory on the cultural and educational front! 
Victory on the front of the ideological remoulding of people in 
all walks of life, and primarily of the intellectuals! 
I would also like to wish victory to a new front, that is, to the 
large-scale struggle in which all the people and cadres of the country 
are called upon to fight vigorously and resolutely against corruption, 
waste and bureaucracy, so as to cleanse our society of all the filth and 
poison left over from the old! 
Comrades, in 1951 we scored victories, many of them very great 
ones, on all these fronts. We hope that by our common efforts we shall 
win still greater victories in all these tasks in 1952. 
Long live the Peoplešs Republic of China! 
72

ON THE POLICIES 
FOR OUR WORK IN TIBET ‹ 
DIRECTIVE OF THE CENTRAL COMMITTEE 
OF THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF CHINA 
April 6, 1952 
The Central Committee essentially approves the instructions which 
the Southwest Bureau and the Southwest Military Area cabled on 
April 2 to the Working Committee and Military Area in Tibet. It 
holds that the basic policies (except the point about reorganizing the 
Tibetan troops) and the various specific steps set forth in the telegram 
are correct. Only by following them can our army establish itself in 
an invulnerable position in Tibet. 
Conditions in Tibet are different from those in Sinkiang. Tibet 
compares poorly with Sinkiang, whether politically or economically. 
But even in Sinkiang, the first thing the army units under Wang Chen 
did when they got there was to pay the utmost attention to strict 
budgeting, self-reliance and production for their own needs. They 
have now gained a firm foothold and won the warm support of the 
minority nationalities. They are carrying out the reduction of rent 
and interest and will proceed to agrarian reform this winter, and by 
then we can be sure of even greater support from the masses. Sinkiang 
is well connected with the heartland of the country by motor roads, 
and this is of great help in improving the material welfare of the 
minority nationalities. As for Tibet, neither rent reduction nor agrarian 
reform can start for at least two or three years. While several hundred 
thousand Han people live in Sinkiang, there are hardly any in Tibet, 
where our army finds itself in a totally different minority nationality 
Inner-Party directive drafted for the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist 
Party. It was sent to the Southwest Bureau and the Working Committee in 
Tibet and communicated to the Northwest Bureau and the Sinkiang Sub-Bureau. 
73

74 MAO TSETUNG 
area. We depend solely on two basic policies to win over the masses 
and put ourselves in an invulnerable position. The first is strict 
budgeting coupled with production for the armyšs own needs, and 
thus the exertion of influence on the masses; this is the key link. Even 
when highways are built, we cannot count on moving large quantities 
of grain over them. India will probably agree to send grain and other 
goods to Tibet on the basis of exchange, but the stand we must take 
is that our army should be able to carry on even if India stops sending 
them some day. We must do our best and take proper steps to win 
over the Dalai and the majority of his top echelon and to isolate the 
handful of bad elements in order to achieve a gradual, bloodless 
transformation of the Tibetan economic and political system over a 
number of years; on the other hand, we must be prepared for the 
eventuality of the bad elements leading the Tibetan troops in rebellion 
and attacking us, so that in this contingency our army could still carry 
on and hold out in Tibet. It all depends on strict budgeting and 
production for the armyšs own needs. Only with this fundamental 
policy as the cornerstone of our work can we achieve our aim. The 
second policy, which can and must be put into effect, is to establish 
trade relations with India and with the heartland of our country and 
to attain a general balance in supplies to and from Tibet so that the 
standard of living of the Tibetan people will in no way fall because 
of our armyšs presence but will improve through our efforts. If we 
cannot solve the two problems of production and trade, we shall lose 
the material base for our presence, the bad elements will cash in and 
will not let a single day pass without inciting the backward elements 
among the people and the Tibetan troops to oppose us, and our policy 
of uniting with the many and isolating the few will become ineffectual 
and fail. 
Of all the views set forth in the Southwest Bureaušs telegram of 
April 2 there is only one that calls for further consideration; what I 
refer to is the feasibility and advisability of reorganizing the Tibetan 
troops and setting up a military and administrative commission fairly 
soon. It is our opinion that the Tibetan troops should not be reorganized 
at present, nor should formal military sub-areas or a military 
and administrative commission be established. For the time being, 
leave everything as it is, let this situation drag on, and do not take up 
these questions until our army is able to meet its own needs through 
production and wins the support of the masses a year or two from now. 
In the meantime there are two possibilities. One is that our united front

75 POLICIES FOR WORK IN TIBET 
policy towards the upper stratum, a policy of uniting with the many and 
isolating the few, will take effect and that the Tibetan people will 
gradually draw closer to us, so the bad elements and the Tibetan troops 
will not dare to rebel. The other possibility is that the bad elements, 
thinking we are weak and can be bullied, may lead the Tibetan troops in 
rebellion and that our army will counter-attack in self-defence and 
deal them telling blows. Either will be favourable for us. As the top 
echelon in Tibet sees it, there is no sufficient reason now for implementing 
the Agreement1 in its entirety or for reorganizing the Tibetan 
troops. But things will be different in a few years. By then they will 
probably and that they have no choice but to carry out the Agreement 
to the full and to reorganize the Tibetan troops. If the Tibetan troops 
start one or even several rebellions and are repulsed by our army each 
time, we will be all the more justified in reorganizing them. Apparently 
not only the two Silons2 but also the Dalai and most of his clique 
were reluctant to accept the Agreement and are unwilling to carry 
it out. As yet we donšt have a material base for fully implementing 
the Agreement, nor do we have a base for this purpose in terms of 
support among the masses or in the upper stratum. To force its 
implementation will do more harm than good. Since they are unwilling 
to put the Agreement into effect, well then, we can leave it for 
the time being and wait. The longer the delay, the stronger will be 
our position and the weaker theirs. Delay will not do us much harm; 
on the contrary, it may be to our advantage. Let them go on with their 
insensate atrocities against the people, while we on our part concentrate 
on good deeds ‹ production, trade, road-building, medical services 
and united front work (unity with the majority and patient education) 
so as to win over the masses and bide our time before taking up the 
question of the full implementation of the Agreement. If they are not 
in favour of the setting up of primary schools, that can stop too. 
The recent demonstration in Lhasa should be viewed not merely 
as the work of the two Silons and other bad elements but as a signal 
to us from the majority of the Dalai clique. Their petition is very 
tactful because it indicates not a wish for a break with us but only 
a wish for concessions from us. One of the terms gives the hint that 
the practice of the Ching Dynasty should be restored, in other words, 
that no Liberation Army units should be stationed in Tibet, but this 
is not what they are really after. They know full well that this is 
impossible; their attempt is to trade this term for other terms. The 
Fourteenth Dalai is criticized in the petition so as to absolve him from

76 MAO TSETUNG 
any political responsibility for the demonstration. They pose as protectors 
of the interests of the Tibetan nationality, being aware that while 
they are inferior to us in military strength, they have an advantage over 
us in social influence. We should accept this petition in substance (not 
in form) and put off the full implementation of the Agreement. The 
timing of the demonstration to take place before the Panchenšs arrival 
in Lhasa was deliberate. After his arrival they will probably go 
all out to work on him to join their clique. If on our part we do our 
work well and the Panchen does not fall into their trap but reaches 
Shigatse safe and sound, the situation will then become more favourable 
to us. Nevertheless, since neither our lack of a material base nor 
their advantage over us in social influence will change for the time 
being, neither will the unwillingness of the Dalai clique to carry out 
the Agreement fully. At present, in appearance we should take the 
offensive and should censure the demonstration and the petition for 
being unjustifiable (for undermining the Agreement), but in reality 
we should be prepared to make concessions and to go over to the 
offensive in the future (i.e., put the Agreement into force) when 
conditions are ripe. 
What are your views? Please consider and wire your reply. 
NOTES 
1 This refers to the Agreement Between the Central Peoplešs Government and 
the Local Government of Tibet on Measures for the Peaceful Liberation of Tibet, 
May 23, 1951. 
2 The ŗSilons˛ were the highest ranking administrative officials under the Dalai. 
The two Silons referred to here were the reactionary serf-owners Lukhangwa and 
Lozang Tashi.

THE CONTRADICTION BETWEEN 
THE WORKING CLASS AND THE BOURGEOISIE 
IS THE PRINCIPAL CONTRADICTION 
IN CHINA 
June ^, !(%2 
With the overthrow of the landlord class and the bureaucratcapitalist 
class, the contradiction between the working class and the 
national bourgeoisie has become the principal contradiction in China; 
therefore the national bourgeoisie should no longer be defined as an 
intermediate class. 
Written comment on a document drafted by the United Front Work Department 
of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party. Comrade Mao Tsetung 
criticized the head of this department for his error in regarding the national bourgeoisie 
as an intermediate class. 
77

LET US UNITE 
AND CLEARLY DISTINGUISH BETWEEN 
OURSELVES AND THE ENEMY 
August 4, 1952 
We have been simultaneously waging war, holding negotiations and 
working towards stability for a whole year. 
The war situation in Korea became stable after July last year, but 
at the time we were not sure whether the financial and economic 
situation at home could be stabilized. We had said, ŗPrices are basically 
stable and revenues and expenditures are almost balanced,˛ 
meaning that prices could not yet be stabilized and that revenues and 
expenditures were not yet balanced. Expenditures were in excess of 
revenues, and that was a problem. That is why the Central Committee 
of the Chinese Communist Party convened a meeting last September and 
called for increased production and strict economy. In October, I 
repeated this call at the Third Session of the First National Committee 
of the Political Consultative Conference. The subsequent campaign to 
increase production and practise economy brought to light rather 
serious cases of corruption, waste and bureaucracy. In December the 
movement against the ŗthree evils˛ was launched, and this was followed 
by the movement against the ŗfive evils˛. Both these movements 
have come to a successful conclusion, the situation is now perfectly 
clear and general stability has been achieved. 
Last year, what we spent on the war to resist U.S. aggression and 
aid Korea more or less equalled our expenditures for national 
construction; it was fifty-fifty. This year it will be different. It is 
estimated that the outlays for war will come to only half last yearšs 
figure. Our troops are fewer in number but they are better equipped. 
Salient points of a speech delivered at the thirty-eighth meeting of the Standing 
Committee of the First National Committee of the Chinese Peoplešs Political 
Consultative Conference. 
78

79 UNITE AND DISTINGUISH BETWEEN OURSELVES AND ENEMY 
For more than two decades we fought without an air force and 
we were always on the receiving end of enemy bombing. Now we 
have an air force of our own, and anti-aircraft guns, artillery and 
tanks too. The war to resist U.S. aggression and aid Korea is a 
big school for large-scale military exercises, and such exercises are 
better than a military academy. If the fighting continues through next 
year, all our land forces will have had their spell of military training 
in Korea. 
In this war we were confronted with three problems at the start: 
first, our ability to fight, second, our ability to hold out and, third, our 
ability to feed ourselves. 
The problem of our ability to fight was solved within the first two 
or three months. The enemy had more artillery, but their morale was 
low; they were rich in metal but poor in morale. 
The problem of our ability to hold out was also solved last year. 
Our answer was to dig tunnels. We constructed two tiers of defence 
works. When the enemy attacked, we got into the tunnels. Sometimes 
the enemy occupied the positions overhead, but what lay below 
remained in our hands. When they were in our positions, we counterattacked, 
inflicting heavy casualties on them. We used this homespun 
method to collect foreign guns. The enemy was entirely at a loss as to 
how to cope with us. 
It was quite some time before the problem of food supplies, 
that is, the problem of ensuring provisions, was solved. At first we 
did not know that tunnels could be dug to store grain in. Now we know. 
Each division has grain reserves for three months, its own storage area 
and a meeting hall to boot, and our men are making a go of life in the 
tunnels. 
Today, our policy is clear and definite, our positions are secure, 
our provisions ensured, and every soldier knows that he must fight to 
the end. 
Just how long will the fighting go on, and just when will the 
negotiations draw to a close? I say negotiations will continue, fighting 
will go on but there will be a truce. 
Why is it that there will be a truce? A thirty yearsš war or a hundred 
yearsš war is highly improbable, because a long war is very much 
against the interests of the United States. 
First, the war costs lives. They fought on to hold some ten 
thousand prisoners of war, only to lose over thirty thousand more 
lives. After all, they have far fewer men than we.

80 MAO TSETUNG 
Second, the war costs money. They are spending far more than 
ten billion U.S. dollars a year. We spend very much less, and this year 
we are going to cut our expenditures to half last yearšs. The money 
that came from the settling of accounts in the movements against the 
ŗthree evils˛ and the ŗfive evils˛ can see us through another eighteen 
months of war. And all the money that comes from increased production 
and the practice of economy can be used for national construction. 
Third, they are confronted with insuperable contradictions at home 
and abroad. 
Fourth, there is the strategic problem too. The focus of U.S. 
strategy is in Europe. They did not anticipate that we would send 
volunteers to aid Korea when they dispatched forces to invade it. 
With us, things are easier to manage. In internal affairs we are 
masters of our own house. But we are not the chief of staff of the 
United States. The United States has its own chief of staff. So on 
the question of whether the Korean war will continue, we and the 
Koreans have only half the say. 
In a word, under the pressure of the general trend, the United 
States will find it against its interest to refuse to come to a truce. 
All the talk about the imminence of a third world war is just to 
scare people. We must strive to gain a period of ten years for building 
our industry and laying solid foundations. 
We must close our ranks and clearly distinguish between ourselves 
and the enemy. It is because of the unity of the whole nation and 
the co-operation of all those present and of all the democratic parties 
and peoplešs organizations that we are strong today. It is of vital 
importance that we unite and distinguish between ourselves and the 
enemy. Dr. Sun Yat-sen was a man of integrity, but why did the 
Revolution of 1911 he led end in failure? The reasons were: first, failure 
to distribute land; second, failure to recognize the necessity of suppressing 
counter-revolutionaries; and, third, failure to wage sharp 
struggles against imperialism. Apart from distinguishing between 
ourselves and the enemy, there is the need to distinguish between right 
and wrong within our own ranks. Compared with the former, the latter 
is secondary. For instance, with most of the embezzlers, it is just a 
matter of right and wrong, for they are different from counterrevolutionaries 
and can be reformed. 
It is necessary to carry out education among the democratic parties 
and in religious circles so that they will not be taken in by the 
imperialists and stand on the enemyšs side. Take Buddhism for

81 UNITE AND DISTINGUISH BETWEEN OURSELVES AND ENEMY 
example. It has not much contact with imperialism and its ties are 
chiefly with feudalism. As the struggle against feudalism involves the 
land problem, it affects the monks, and those who come under attack 
are the abbots and elders of the monasteries. Once this small number 
is overthrown, ordinary monks like ŗLu Chih-shen˛1 will be emancipated. 
Though no believer in Buddhism, I am not against forming 
an association of Buddhists to get them united and enable them to 
distinguish clearly between the people and the enemy. Will the united 
front be abolished some day? I for one am not for its abolition. We 
should unite with everyone provided he truly makes a clear distinction 
between the people and the enemy and serves the people. 
Our country has a bright future and is full of hope. In the past we 
wondered if the economy could recover in three years. As a result of 
two and a half years of hard struggle, it already has, and what is more, 
planned construction is under way. Let us all unite, clearly distinguish 
between ourselves and the enemy and strive for the steady progress 
of our country. 
NOTES 
1 A character in the classical Chinese novel Water Margin, who is an ordinary 
Buddhist monk before he joins the peasant army on Liangshan Mountain.

HAIL THE SIGNAL VICTORY OF 
THE CHINESE PEOPLEšS VOLUNTEERS! 
October 24, 1952 
Beginning on September 18, our Volunteers, together with the 
Korean Peoplešs Army, initiated tactical counter-attacks on all fronts 
and have won a signal victory by annihilating and wounding more 
than thirty thousand enemy troops in the space of a month. The Central 
Committee and its Military Commission send you and all commanders 
and fighters hearty congratulations. The operations can be summed up 
as follows: first, concentrating superior forces and firepower on a 
number of selected tactically critical points, springing surprise attacks 
and wiping out the enemy by whole platoons, whole companies, whole 
battalions or by the larger part of such units; second, inflicting heavy 
casualties on the enemy in repeated operations as he mounts counterattacks; 
and, third, firmly holding those captured strong-points which 
can be held and abandoning those which cannot according to circumstances, 
so as to keep the initiative in our hands in preparation for future 
counter-attacks. If such operations are kept up, we will have the enemy 
by the throat and force him to come to terms and end the Korean war. 
The losses inflicted on the enemy since July last year when our forces 
started tenacious positional warfare have far exceeded those inflicted 
on him in the many campaigns of mobile warfare before then. On the 
other hand, our losses have greatly diminished. So far as casualties are 
concerned, the monthly average, to speak only of our Volunteers, has 
been reduced by over two-thirds in the fifteen months since July last 
year, as compared with that in the previous eight months. This is due 
to the kind of operation mentioned above which is carried out by 
relying on our positions. In the period since September 18, operations of 
Directive to the leading members of the Chinese Peoplešs Volunteers drafted for 
the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party and its Military Commission. 
82

83 HAIL SIGNAL VICTORY OF CHINESE PEOPLEšS VOLUNTEERS! 
this kind have been carried out on the whole front more extensively and 
in a more organized way and therefore they deserve special attention. 
On the occasion of the second anniversary of the Chinese Peoplešs 
Volunteersš entry into the war in Korea, we hope you will sum up your 
experience, further enhance your sense of organization, raise your 
tactical level and save ammunition, unite more closely with the Korean 
comrades and people and strive for still greater victories in future 
operations.

COMBAT BUREAUCRACY, 
COMMANDISM AND VIOLATIONS OF 
THE LAW AND OF DISCIPLINE 
January 5, 1953 
The task of combating bureaucracy, commandism and violations of 
the law and of discipline should arouse the attention of our leading 
bodies at all levels. 
In the movement against the ŗthree evils˛, our Party has basically 
solved the two problems of corruption and waste among many of our 
cadres at four levels, the central, the greater administrative area, the 
provincial and municipal, and the prefectural. It has also basically 
overcome one kind of bureaucracy, namely, that which alienates many 
leading cadres from those working under them. But the problem of the 
following kind of bureaucracy has not been basically solved in many 
areas, departments and fields of work. Some leading cadres are ignorant 
of the peoplešs hardships, of the conditions in subordinate units only a 
short distance from their offices, and of the fact that among the cadres at 
the county, district and township levels there are many bad people guilty 
of commandism and violations of the law and of discipline. Or they may 
have some knowledge of such bad people and bad deeds, but turn 
a blind eye to them, feel no indignation, are not aware of the seriousness 
of the matter and so take no positive measure to back up good people 
and punish the bad or to encourage good deeds and stop bad ones. To 
cite the handling of letters from the masses as an example. Reports say 
that a certain provincial peoplešs government has sat on well over 
seventy thousand letters; as for the number of letters shelved by Party 
and government organizations below the provincial level, we have no 
idea as yet, but presumably it is by no means small. Most of the letters 
Inner-Party directive drafted for the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist 
Party. 
84

85 COMBAT BUREAUCRACY, COMMANDISM AND VIOLATIONS OF LAW 
appeal to us to help solve problems, and many contain accusations 
against certain cadres whose lawless behaviour requires prompt 
attention. 
For our Party and government, bureaucracy and commandism are 
a big problem not only for today but for a long time to come. In terms 
of social origin, it reflects the survival in our Party and government 
of the reactionary style of work (an anti-popular style of work, 
a Kuomintang style of work) of the reactionary ruling classes in dealing 
with the people. As far as the role and methods of leadership of our 
Party and government organizations are concerned, it means failure 
to make clear the policy limits and the proper style of work when 
giving assignments, in other words, failure to give the cadres at the 
middle and lower levels receiving assignments thorough instructions 
on these matters. It means failure to make a proper examination, or 
indeed any examination at all, of cadres at the various levels, particularly 
at the county, district and township levels. It means failure to 
carry out Party consolidation work at these three levels or, in cases 
where Party consolidation has started, failure to launch a struggle to 
combat commandism and comb out violators of the law and of discipline. 
It means failure to combat and stamp out the kind of bureaucracy 
still existing among cadres in the leading organizations at the prefectural 
level and above, which finds expression in ignorance of and callousness 
to both the hardships of the masses and the conditions in the grass-roots 
organizations. If we strengthen and improve our role and methods of 
leadership, then bureaucracy and commandism, which are harmful to 
the people, will gradually diminish and many of our Party and government 
organizations will be able to break away sooner from this 
Kuomintang style of work. And the sooner will the many bad people 
who have infiltrated our Party and government organizations be combed 
out and the many bad deeds still evident today be eliminated. 
Therefore, in 1953 starting with the handling of letters from the 
masses, please make an investigation into bureaucracy, commandism 
and violations of the law and of discipline and wage a resolute struggle 
against them in co-ordination with Party consolidation, Party building 
and other spheres of work. Typical cases of bureaucracy, commandism 
and violations of the law and of discipline should be widely exposed 
in the press. Serious offenders should be punished by law, and 
when they are Party members they should also be dealt with according 
to Party discipline. Party committees at all levels should make a 
determined effort to punish and clear out of Party and government

86 MAO TSETUNG 
organizations those violators of the law and of discipline who are 
bitterly hated by the masses, and the worst among them should be 
executed so as to assuage the peoplešs anger and help educate the 
cadres and the masses. However, at an appropriate stage of the broad 
struggle against bad people and bad deeds, we should look into, 
evaluate and praise models of good people and good deeds in various 
places so that all Party members will strive to measure up to these fine 
models and what is upright will prevail over what is evil. We believe 
that a substantial number of such models are certain to be found in 
various parts of the country.

CRITICIZE HAN CHAUVINISM 
March 16, 1953 
In some places the relations between nationalities are far from 
normal. For Communists this is an intolerable situation. We must go to 
the root and criticize the Han chauvinist ideas which exist to a serious 
degree among many Party members and cadres, namely, the reactionary 
ideas of the landlord class and the bourgeoisie, or the ideas characteristic 
of the Kuomintang, which are manifested in the relations 
between nationalities. Mistakes in this respect must be corrected at 
once. Delegations led by comrades who are familiar with our nationality 
policy and full of sympathy for our minority nationality compatriots 
still suffering from discrimination should be sent to visit the areas 
where there are minority nationalities, make a serious effort at investigation 
and study and help Party and government organizations in 
the localities discover and solve problems. The visits should not be those 
of ŗlooking at flowers on horseback˛. 
Judging from the mass of information on hand, the Central Committee 
holds that wherever there are minority nationalities the general 
rule is that there are problems calling for solution, and in some cases 
very serious ones. On the surface all is quiet, but actually there are 
some very serious problems. What has come to light in various places 
in the last two or three years shows that Han chauvinism exists almost 
everywhere. It will be very dangerous if we fail now to give timely 
education and resolutely overcome Han chauvinism in the Party and 
among the people. The problem in the relations between nationalities 
which reveals itself in the Party and among the people in many 
places is the existence of Han chauvinism to a serious degree and 
not just a matter of its vestiges. In other words, bourgeois ideas 
dominate the minds of those comrades and people who have had 
Inner-Party directive drafted for the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist 
Party. 
87

88 MAO TSETUNG 
no Marxist education and have not grasped the nationality policy 
of the Central Committee. Therefore, education must be assiduously 
carried out so that this problem can be solved step by step. Moreover, 
the newspapers should publish more articles based on specific facts to 
criticize Han chauvinism openly and educate the Party members and 
the people.

SOLVE THE PROBLEM 
OF THE ŗFIVE EXCESSES˛ 
March 19, 1953 
1. In our work in the rural areas there are problems involving the 
serious alienation of our Party and government organizations from the 
peasant masses and violations of the interests of the peasants and peasant 
activists; these are known as the ŗfive excesses˛. The ŗfive excesses˛ 
consist of an excess of assignments, an excess of meetings and training 
courses, an excess of documents, written reports and statistical forms, 
an excess of organizations, and an excess of side jobs for activists. These 
problems have existed for a long time; with regard to some of them 
the Central Committee has issued directives to Party committees at 
various levels, urging them to give such problems proper attention and 
find solutions. But far from being solved, the problems are becoming 
more and more serious. This is because the issue has never been systematically 
raised in its totality and, what is more important, no struggle 
has ever been waged against decentralism and bureaucracy on the part 
of the leading Party and government organs at the five levels ‹ central, 
greater administrative area, provincial (municipal), prefectural and 
county. For, generally speaking, the ŗfive excesses˛ in the districts and 
townships are not a local product but stem from above and are the 
consequences of decentralism and bureaucracy existing to a serious 
degree in the leading Party and government organs at the county level 
and above. Some of the ŗfive excesses˛ are a legacy of the periods of the 
revolutionary war and agrarian reform and have remained unchanged 
to this day. Therefore, in carrying out the Central Committeešs directive 
to combat bureaucracy, commandism and violations of the law and 
of discipline, we must put stress on overcoming bureaucracy and decentralism 
in the leading organs during 1953, and alter those rules and 
Inner-Party directive drafted for the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist 
Party. 
89

MAO TSE-TUNG 
FROM MARX 
TO MAO 

 
NOT FOR 
COMMERCIAL 
DISTRIBUTION 
90 
practices which have outlived their usefulness. Only thus can the 
problems be solved. As for the authority of the leading organs at 
various levels to assign tasks, call meetings and organize training 
courses, send out documents and statistical forms or ask for reports from 
subordinate units, determine the organizational structure of districts 
and townships and use the activists in the villages, from now on it is up 
to the leading comrades in charge of the Party committee and government 
at the county level and above to define the proper limits in the 
light of what is feasible; in some cases it is up to the central authorities 
to define the limits for all concerned. In the past, many departments of 
the Party, government and peoplešs organizations at all levels, each on 
its own, gave assignments to the subordinate units, casually summoned 
subordinates and village activists to meetings or training courses, issued 
floods of documents and statistical forms and thoughtlessly demanded 
reports from subordinates and villages. All these undesirable rules 
and practices must be resolutely abolished and replaced by ones that 
are standardized under the leadership and suited to the needs of the 
actual situation. As for the great variety of committees in every township 
and the excess of side jobs for activists, these too should be 
changed firmly but gradually since they hamper production and 
alienate the masses. 
2.W ith regard to the departments of the Party, government and 
peoplešs organizations at the national level, the Central Committee 
charges the responsible comrades of the Organization Department of 
the Central Committee, the Administration Council of the Central 
Peoplešs Government and its subsidiary financial and economic, cultural 
and educational, and political and judicial committees with the 
task of quickly clearing away all practices that have given rise to 
the ŗfive excesses˛, working out appropriate rules and practices and 
reporting to the Central Committee. 
3.In the greater administrative areas and the provinces and municipalities, 
the comrades in charge of Central Committee bureaus and 
sub-bureaus, provincial and municipal Party committees and the administrative 
apparatuses at the corresponding levels are held responsible 
for tackling the problem of the ŗfive excesses˛, working out 
solutions and reporting to the Central Committee. To this end, the 
Central Committee bureaus and sub-bureaus and the provincial and 
municipal Party committees are each requested to send out an inspection 
team for the specific purpose of looking into this problem of the ŗfive 
excesses˛ and to review the situation in one or two districts and town

91 SOLVE THE PROBLEM OF ŗFIVE EXCESSES˛ 
ships (and in the city, one or two districts and neighbourhoods) under 
their administration, so as to gather reference material for solutions. 
4. The provincial Party committees are held accountable for giving 
guidance to the prefectures and counties in solving their problem of the 
ŗfive excesses˛. 
5. Agricultural production is the overriding task in the countryside; 
to it all other tasks play a supporting role. Any assignment or method 
of work that hinders the production of the peasants must be avoided. 
Our present-day agricultural economy remains basically a scattered 
small peasant economy where old-fashioned implements are used; this 
is vastly different from the mechanized collective farming of the Soviet 
Union. Therefore, in the present transition period we cannot introduce 
unified and planned production in agriculture, except on the state 
farms, and interfere too much with the peasants. We can only guide 
agricultural production and co-ordinate it with industrial production 
by our pricing policy and necessary and practicable economic and political 
work so that it can be integrated into the national economic plan. 
Any ŗplan˛ for agriculture or any ŗassignment˛ for the rural areas 
which goes beyond this is bound to be unworkable and is certain to 
evoke peasant opposition and alienate our Party from the peasant 
masses who constitute over 80 per cent of our population. This can 
be very dangerous indeed. The problem of the ŗfive excesses˛ in our 
work in the districts and townships is in a large measure a reflection 
of such excessive interference with the peasants (and in a smaller 
measure a survival of practices that arose out of the needs of the 
revolutionary war and the agrarian reform). It has aroused their 
dissatisfaction, so there must be a change.

LIU SHAO-CHI AND YANG SHANG-KUN 
CRITICIZED FOR BREACH OF DISCIPLINE 
IN ISSUING DOCUMENTS 
IN THE NAME OF THE CENTRAL COMMITTEE 
WITHOUT AUTHORIZATION 
May 19, 1953 
1 
From now on, all documents and telegrams sent out in the name 
of the Central Committee can be dispatched only after I have gone 
over them, otherwise they are invalid. Please take note. 
2 
(1) Please assume responsibility for checking on the telegrams and 
documents dispatched in the name of the Central Committee or the 
Military Commission in the period from August 1 last year (those issued 
before August 1 have been checked) to May 5 this year to see if there 
are any which I have not gone over and if so how many (not counting 
those issued during my absence on tours of inspection or on sick leave), 
and let me know the results. 
(2) On several occasions resolutions adopted at meetings called by 
the Central Committee, which I had not gone over, were issued without 
authorization. This is a mistake and a breach of discipline. 
Comrade Mao Tsetungšs written criticisms of Liu Shao-chi and Yang Shang-kun. 
92

REFUTE RIGHT DEVIATIONIST VIEWS 
THAT DEPART FROM THE GENERAL LINE 
June 15, 1953 
The general line or the general task of the Party for the transition 
period1 is basically to accomplish the industrialization of the country 
and the socialist transformation of agriculture, handicrafts and capitalist 
industry and commerce in ten to fifteen years, or a little longer. 
This general line is a beacon illuminating our work in all fields. Do not 
depart from this general line, otherwise ŗLeft˛ or Right mistakes 
will occur. 
Some people think the period of transition is too long and give way 
to impatience. This will lead to ŗLeft˛ deviationist mistakes. Others 
have remained where they were after the victory of the democratic 
revolution. They fail to realize there is a change in the character of the 
revolution and they go on pushing their ŗNew Democracy˛ instead of 
socialist transformation. This will lead to Right deviationist mistakes. 
Take our agriculture for instance, the socialist road is the only road for 
it. The Partyšs central task in the rural areas is to develop the mutualaid 
and co-operative movement and constantly raise productivity in 
agriculture. 
The Right deviation manifests itself in three remarks: 
ŗFirmly establish the new-democratic social order.˛ Thatšs a harmful 
formulation. In the transition period changes are taking place all the 
time and socialist factors are emerging every day. How can this ŗnewdemocratic 
social order˛ be ŗfirmly established˛? It would be very 
difficult indeed to ŗestablish˛ it ŗfirmly˛! For instance, private industry 
and commerce are being transformed, and if an order is ŗestablished˛ 
Part of a speech at a meeting of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee 
of the Chinese Communist Party. Here Comrade Mao Tsetung refuted the Right 
opportunist views, such as ŗfirmly establish the new-democratic social order˛, put 
forward by Liu Shao-chi and others. 
93

94 MAO TSETUNG 
in the second half of the year, it will no longer hold ŗfirm˛ next 
year. And changes are taking place in mutual aid and co-operation 
in agriculture from year to year too. The period of transition 
is full of contradictions and struggles. Our present revolutionary 
struggle is even more profound than the revolutionary armed struggle 
of the past. It is a revolution that will bury the capitalist system and 
all other systems of exploitation once and for all. The idea, ŗFirmly 
establish the new-democratic social order˛, goes against the realities 
of our struggle and hinders the progress of the socialist cause. 
ŗMove from New Democracy towards socialism.˛ Thatšs a vague 
formulation. Moving towards the goal and nothing more, moving 
towards it year in year out and still moving towards it after a lapse 
of fifteen years? Merely moving towards it means that the goal has 
not been reached. The formulation sounds plausible but does not 
bear scrutiny. 
ŗSustain private property.˛ Since the middle peasants are afraid 
of ŗbecoming too conspicuous˛ and having their property ŗcommunized˛, 
some people have raised this slogan to put them at ease. 
But that is not right. 
We have proposed a step-by-step transition to socialism. This is a 
better formulation. When we say ŗstep-by-step˛, we mean that the 
steps are to be spread out over fifteen years and over the twelve months 
in each year. Going too fast means erring to the ŗLeft˛; standing still 
means erring too much to the Right. We must oppose ŗLeft˛ and Right 
deviations and make a step-by-step transition until the whole process 
is completed. 
NOTES 
1 Here ŗthe transition period˛ refers to the period from the founding of the 
Peoplešs Republic of China to the basic completion of socialist transformation. The 
general line or the general task of the Party for this transition period was basically 
to accomplish the industrialization of China and the socialist transformation of 
agriculture, handicrafts and capitalist industry and commerce over a fairly long 
period of time. This transition period is different in meaning from the transition 
period Comrade Mao Tsetung spoke of at the Tenth Plenary Session of the Partyšs 
Eighth Central Committee in September 1962 and thereafter, which denotes the 
entire historical period of transition from capitalism to communism.

THE YOUTH LEAGUE IN ITS WORK 
MUST TAKE THE CHARACTERISTICS OF 
YOUTH INTO CONSIDERATION 
June 30, 1953 
The Youth Leaguešs assertion of independence from the Party is 
already a thing of the past. Today, the trouble with the Youth League 
is its lack of independent activities, not its assertion of independence. 
The Youth League must co-ordinate its activities with the Partyšs 
central tasks, but in so doing it must have its own independent activities 
and take the characteristics of youth into consideration. In 1952, 
in a talk with comrades of the Central Committee of the Youth League, 
I raised two questions for it to think over: first, how the Party should 
lead the Leaguešs work, and second, how the League should do its 
work. Both involve consideration for the characteristics of youth. In 
various places the Party committees have expressed satisfaction with 
the Youth League because the latter has co-ordinated its work with 
the Partyšs central tasks. Now it is time to express dissatisfaction, that 
is, dissatisfaction with the Youth Leaguešs failure to arrange for independent 
activities that suit the characteristics of youth. The leading 
organs of the Party and the League should learn how to lead the League 
in its work and, in order to organize and educate the mass of young 
people, they should be good at co-ordinating its activities with the 
Partyšs central tasks and taking the characteristics of youth into 
consideration. 
Under the Partyšs leadership, the Youth League has been active in 
every field of revolutionary work and has a great deal to its credit. 
Our revolutionary cause, whether in the factories, on the farms, in the 
army units or in the schools, cannot succeed without the young people. 
Talk by Comrade Mao Tsetung when he received the Presidium of the Second 
National Congress of the New Democratic Youth League of China. 
95

96 MAO TSETUNG 
Chinašs youth are well disciplined and they have fulfilled all the tasks 
assigned them by the Party. Now that the war is coming to an end in 
Korea and the agrarian reform is completed, the emphasis in our work 
at home is being switched over to socialist transformation and socialist 
construction. This makes study imperative. The Youth League must 
know how to lead the young people in making a common effort with 
older people to do a good job in agriculture in the countryside, in 
industry in the cities, in studying at school, in performing their duties 
in offices as well as in training in army units to turn our national defence 
forces into a modernized army. 
Young people between fourteen and twenty-five need to study and 
work, but as youth is the age of physical growth, much is imperilled if 
their health is neglected. The young need to study much more, for they 
have to learn many things older people already know. However, they 
must not be overloaded with either study or work. And the fourteento 
eighteen-year-olds in particular should not be made to work with 
the same intensity as grown-ups. Young people, being what they are, 
need more time for play, recreation and sports. Otherwise they wonšt 
be happy. And in time they will fall in love and get married. In all this 
they are different from older people. 
I would like to say a few words to our young people: first, I wish 
them good health; second, I wish them success in their study; 
and third, I wish them success in their work. 
I would suggest that all students be given an additional hour of 
sleep. They are supposed to have eight hours of sleep, but actually 
they take only six or seven and generally feel they donšt have enough. 
Young people at school are prone to nervous tension and so often find 
it hard to go to sleep and then hard to wake up. Be sure to make nine 
hours of sleep a rule. An order to this effect should be issued and 
enforced, there should be no argument about it. Let young people 
have enough sleep, and the teachers too. 
The revolution has brought us many fine things but also one thing 
which is not so good. Everybody is much too active and enthusiastic, 
often getting tired out. Now we must make sure that everybody, including 
workers, peasants, soldiers, students and cadres, can keep fit. 
Of course, it does not necessarily mean that if you are good in health 
you will be good in study, for study must be done in the proper way. 
At present the classes in junior middle schools take too much of 
the studentsš time, and it would be preferable if they were cut down 
to suitable proportions. Meetings for activists are too frequent and

97 TAKE THE CHARACTERISTICS OF YOUTH INTO CONSIDERATION 
should also be reduced. Study on the one hand and recreation, rest 
and sleep on the other should both receive adequate attention. Young 
workers, peasants and soldiers learn while they work, and so adequate 
attention should also be paid to their work and study as well as to 
their recreation, rest and sleep. 
We should grasp the matter firmly at both ends, with study and 
work at one end and sleep, rest and recreation at the other. In the past, 
we firmly grasped one end, leaving the other end either not grasped 
at all or only half-heartedly so. Now it is necessary to arrange some 
recreation, for which there must be time and facilities, and this end 
should be firmly grasped too. The Party Central Committee has 
decided to cut down the number of meetings and study hours, and you 
must see to it that this decision is carried out. Challenge anyone who 
refuses to do so. 
In short, young people should be enabled to keep fit, study well 
and work well. Some leading comrades are interested only in getting 
work out of young people and pay little attention to their health. You 
can quote the above to their faces. You are on firm ground, namely, 
you are protecting the younger generation so that it can grow sturdily. 
We of the older generation were deprived of our due, for adults 
simply didnšt bother themselves about their children. Adults had 
a table to eat their meals at while children had to do without one. 
Children had no say in the family, and if they cried they were sure to 
get slapped. In the new China of today we must change our approach 
and think more in the interest of our children and youth. 
Young cadres must be elected to the League Central Committee. 
At the time of the Three Kingdoms, Tsao Tsao led his huge army to 
the Yangtse River to attack the Kingdom of Wu in eastern China. Chou 
Yu, who was then a ŗYouth League member˛ in age, was appointed 
commanding general of the Wu army. Cheng Pu and other battleseasoned 
generals protested but were later persuaded into accepting 
his command, and in the end the battle was won. Now we want 
the present-day ŗChou Yus˛ to sit on the League Central Committee, 
and yet people wonšt hear of it! For the League Central Committee 
only older people are candidates ‹ very few young. Will that do? Of 
course, we canšt judge by age alone, ability also counts. Originally 
there were only nine people under thirty on the list of candidates for 
the League Central Committee, but after discussion by the Party Central 
Committee their number has been increased to more than sixty, 
and even so that makes up only a little over one-fourth. Those over

98 MAO TSETUNG 
thirty still form almost three-fourths of the total, and yet some comrades 
complain that this number is not big enough. I think itšs quite 
enough. Some comrades say they are not so sure whether all these sixtyodd 
young people are competent in every way. We should have full 
confidence in our young people, most of them will prove equal to their 
jobs. A few may prove incompetent, but there is no need to worry, they 
can be replaced by later elections. In this way the basic orientation will 
not be wrong. The young are not our inferiors. Old people have more 
experience, which of course is a strong point, but on the other hand their 
physical powers are declining, their eyesight and hearing are not so sharp 
as before and their limbs not so agile as those of the young. This is a law 
of nature. It is necessary to convince those comrades who disagree. 
The Youth League organizations should give consideration to the 
characteristics of youth and have their own sphere of work, but at the 
same time they should submit to the leadership of the Party committees 
at the corresponding levels. This is nothing new but something of long 
standing and has always been a tenet of Marxism. This is to proceed 
from reality. After all, youth is youth, or else why bother to have 
a Youth League? Young people are different from adults and so are 
young women from young men. Disregard these characteristics and you 
will alienate yourselves from the masses. Now you have nine million 
League members, and if you neglect the characteristics of youth, probably 
only one million will support you and eight million will not. 
In its work the Youth League must make allowance for the majority 
of its members and at the same time pay attention to the advanced ones. 
This may not satisfy some of the advanced elements, for they want the 
League organization to make stricter demands on the entire membership. 
This is not really proper, you must try to convince them. The draft 
constitution of the League lays down far too many obligations and too 
few rights; there should be some leeway so that the majority can keep 
in step. You should focus your attention on the many and not just on 
the few. 
It is stipulated in your draft constitution that a member will be considered 
to have automatically withdrawn from the League if he fails 
to take part in its regular cell meetings for four months; this is much 
too severe. Even the Party Constitution allows six months, canšt you 
do the same? Donšt put into the League constitution what is impossible 
to carry out or what is possible for only one million members, not for 
the other eight million. There must be flexibility in applying principles. 
There is a gap between what ought to be and what actually is. It takes

99 TAKE THE CHARACTERISTICS OF YOUTH INTO CONSIDERATION 
years for some laws to be fully carried out. For instance, many of the 
articles in the Marriage Law are programmatic and their thorough implementation 
will take at least a period of three five-year plans. The 
article ŗdonšt gossip behind peoplešs back˛, while correct in principle, 
need not be put into the League constitution. To combat liberalism is 
a long-term task, and it exists even in the Party to no small extent. You 
may prohibit backbiting, but actually it wonšt work. Donšt impose too 
narrow limits. The essential thing is to make a clear distinction between 
ourselves and the enemy. 
Prestige is built up gradually. There was a time when some people 
in the army made up ditties to abuse others. We imposed no ban nor 
made any investigation, yet our army was not wrecked. We had a 
firm grip on a few major things only, such as the Three Main Rules of 
Discipline and the Eight Points for Attention, and our armed forces 
were steadily led onto the correct path. The true admiration the masses 
feel for their leaders derives from what they come to know of them in 
the course of revolutionary practice. Trust comes out of real understanding. 
Now the League Central Committee already enjoys a fairly 
high prestige. Although some people do not yet admire it, they 
will in the course of time. When a young man first takes office and 
is not rated high, there is no need to worry, for it is only to be expected 
that there will be some criticism and abuse. ŗWhispers˛ exist 
for lack of ŗan open outlet for views˛. If there is full democracy 
and you allow others to touch you on the raw in face-to-face encounters, 
then even if you want people to go on whispering, they will 
say they have no time for that now and want to call it a day. Nevertheless, 
problems will always crop up, and donšt imagine that they 
can be solved once and for all; there are problems today and there 
will be problems tomorrow. 
The Partyšs general task for the transition period is basically to 
accomplish socialist industrialization and the socialist transformation 
of agriculture, handicrafts and capitalist industry and commerce in 
the course of three five-year plans. Three five-year plans cover a period 
of fifteen years. Make a small step each year and a big stride every 
five years, and with three big strides the work is almost done. ŗBasically 
accomplished˛ does not mean ŗcompletely accomplished˛. To say 
it is basically accomplished is a prudent way of speaking; it is always 
better to be prudent in everything we do. 
At this stage Chinašs agricultural economy is by and large individual 
in nature, and it needs step-by-step socialist transformation.

100 MAO TSETUNG 
The principle of voluntary participation must be adhered to in promoting 
the mutual-aid and co-operative movement in agriculture. 
Failure to promote it will lead to the capitalist road, and that will be 
a Right deviation. To push it too hard wonšt do either, for that will be 
a ŗLeft˛ deviation. The movement must proceed step by step after 
due preparation. We are always against fighting a battle without being 
prepared and being sure of victory, or fighting a battle when prepared 
but not sure of victory. In the days when we fought Chiang Kai-shek, 
some people erred on the side of subjectivism at the outset, but later 
when this subjectivism was overcome through rectification, we emerged 
the victors. We are now engaged in the battle for socialism, fighting to 
accomplish socialist industrialization and the socialist transformation of 
agriculture, handicrafts and capitalist industry and commerce. This is 
the general task set for the whole nation. As to how the Youth League 
is to carry out this general task, you should lay down appropriate 
guidelines in the light of the characteristics of youth.

ON STATE CAPITALISM 
July 9, 1953 
The present-day capitalist economy in China is a capitalist economy 
which for the most part is under the control of the Peoplešs Government 
and which is linked with the state-owned socialist economy 
in various forms and supervised by the workers. It is not an ordinary 
but a particular kind of capitalist economy, namely, a state-capitalist 
economy of a new type. It exists not chiefly to make profits for the 
capitalists but to meet the needs of the people and the state. True, a 
share of the profits produced by the workers goes to the capitalists, but 
that is only a small part, about one quarter, of the total. The remaining 
three quarters are produced for the workers (in the form of the welfare 
fund), for the state (in the form of income tax) and for expanding productive 
capacity (a small part of which produces profits for the 
capitalists). Therefore, this state-capitalist economy of a new type 
takes on a socialist character to a very great extent and benefits the 
workers and the state. 
Written comment on a document of the National Conference on Financial and 
Economic Work held in the summer of 1953. 
101

THE PARTYšS GENERAL LINE FOR 
THE TRANSITION PERIOD 
August 1953 
The time between the founding of the Peoplešs Republic of China 
and the basic completion of socialist transformation is a period of 
transition. The Partyšs general line or general task for the transition 
period is basically to accomplish the countryšs industrialization and 
the socialist transformation of agriculture, handicrafts and capitalist 
industry and commerce over a fairly long period of time. This general 
line should be the beacon illuminating all our work, and wherever 
we deviate from it, we shall make Right or ŗLeft˛ mistakes. 
Many policies under this general line were already set forth and 
decided upon in principle in the resolution adopted at the Second 
Plenary Session of the Seventh Central Committee held in March 1949. 
Nevertheless, many comrades were not inclined to work in accordance 
with the decisions of the Second Plenary Session and on some matters 
preferred to go their own way contrary to the sessionšs decisions or 
even openly violated its principles. 
Important directive written by Comrade Mao Tsetung when he went over the 
summing-up to be made by Comrade Chou En-lai at the National Conference on 
Financial and Economic Work held in the summer of 1953. 
102

COMBAT BOURGEOIS IDEAS IN THE PARTY 
August 12, 1953 
Our conference has been a success, and Premier Chou has made 
a fine summing-up. 
It is now clear that since the movements against the ŗthree evils˛ 
and the ŗfive evils˛ two kinds of mistake which are different in 
nature have been found in the Party. One kind is of an ordinary nature, 
for instance, the ŗfive excesses˛, mistakes which anyone can make and 
which may crop up at any time; the ŗfive excesses˛ may also turn into 
the ŗfive deficiencies˛. The other kind is mistakes of principle, such as 
the tendency towards capitalism. This kind is a reflection of bourgeois 
ideas within the Party and a matter of stand that is contrary to 
Marxism-Leninism. 
The movements against the ŗthree evils˛ and the ŗfive evils˛ 
dealt heavy blows to bourgeois ideas inside the Party. But at the time 
only bourgeois ideas related to corruption and waste got a good 
thrashing, while those manifesting themselves in questions concerning 
the Party line were not dealt with. The latter are to be found not 
only in our financial and economic work but also in political and 
judicial, cultural and educational and other fields, and among comrades 
in the localities as well as at the national level. 
Mistakes in our financial and economic work have been severely 
criticized ever since last December when Comrade Po I-po came out 
with his new tax system entailing ŗequality between public and private 
enterprises˛1 and also at the present conference. That system, if allowed 
to develop, would have led inevitably to capitalism, in contravention of 
Marxism-Leninism and the Partyšs general line for the transition 
period. 
Speech at the National Conference on Financial and Economic Work held in 
the summer of 1953. 
103

104 MAO TSETUNG 
What will the transition period lead to, socialism or capitalism? 
The Partyšs general line prescribes transition to socialism. This 
requires a period of struggle of considerable length. Unlike that of 
Chang Tzu-shan,2 the mistake made in the new tax system involves 
a question of ideology and a departure from the Partyšs general line. 
We must unfold a struggle in the Party against bourgeois ideas. Ideologically, 
the Party membership falls into three categories: some 
comrades are firm and unwavering and are Marxist-Leninist in their 
thinking; quite a number are essentially Marxist-Leninist but infected 
with non-Marxist-Leninist ideas; and a small number are no good, 
their thinking is non-Marxist-Leninist. In criticizing Po I-pošs erroneous 
ideas, some say his mistake stems from petty-bourgeois individualism; 
thatšs not quite right. He should be criticized mainly for his bourgeois 
ideas, which are favourable to capitalism and harmful to socialism. 
Only such criticism is correct. ŗLeft˛ opportunist mistakes, as we said 
before, are a reflection of petty-bourgeois fanaticism within the Party; 
they occurred in times when we broke with the bourgeoisie. On 
the three occasions when we have co-operated with the bourgeoisie, 
namely, in the first period of co-operation between the Kuomintang 
and the Communist Party, in the period of the War of Resistance 
Against Japan and in the present period, it has been bourgeois ideology 
that has influenced a number of people in the Party, and they have 
vacillated. That was how Po I-po came to make his mistake. 
Po I-pošs mistake is not an isolated case. Such mistakes are found 
not only at the national level but also at those of the greater administrative 
areas and the provinces and municipalities. Each greater administrative 
area, each province and municipality, should call a meeting to 
review its work in the light of the resolution of the Second Plenary 
Session of the Seventh Central Committee and of the summing-up of the 
present conference, so as to educate the cadres. 
Recently I made a trip to Wuhan and Nanking and learned a lot, 
which was very helpful. Practically nothing comes to my ear in Peking, 
and therefore I shall go on tour from time to time. The central 
leading organ is a factory which turns out ideas as its products. If it 
does not know what is going on at the lower levels, gets no raw material 
or has no semi-processed products to work on, how can it turn out 
any products? Sometimes finished products are turned out by the 
localities, and the central leading organ need only popularize them 
throughout the country. For instance, take the movements against the 
old and new ŗthree evils˛.3 Both were initiated in the localities. The

105 COMBAT BOURGEOIS IDEAS IN THE PARTY 
departments under the central authorities issue directives arbitrarily. 
The products from these departments ought to be top grade, but 
actually they are inferior in quality and there are large numbers of completely 
worthless rejects. Leading organs in the greater administrative 
areas and the provinces and municipalities are local factories for 
turning out ideas, and their products should be top grade too. 
Po I-pošs mistake is a manifestation of bourgeois ideas. It benefits 
capitalism and harms socialism and semi-socialism and runs counter 
to the resolution of the Second Plenary Session of the Seventh Central 
Committee. 
On whom should we rely? On the working class, or on the bourgeoisie? 
The resolution of the Second Plenary Session of the Seventh 
Central Committee made it clear long ago: ŗWe must wholeheartedly 
rely on the working class.˛ The resolution also says that in 
the rehabilitation and development of production the following must 
be the rule: the production of state industry comes first, that of private 
industry second and handicraft production third. The emphasis is on 
industry, and first of all on heavy industry, which is owned by the state. 
Of the five sectors of our present-day economy, the state-owned 
economy is the leading sector. Capitalist industry and commerce must 
be gradually guided towards state capitalism. 
The resolution of the Second Plenary Session says that the livelihood 
of the workers and other working people is to improve on the 
basis of increased production. People with bourgeois ideas pay no 
attention to this point, and Po I-po is typical in this respect. We must 
lay emphasis on the development of production, but consideration 
must be given to both the development of production and the improvement 
of the peoplešs livelihood. Something must be done for 
their material well-being, but neither too much nor nothing at all. At 
present there are quite a few cadres who ignore the peoplešs livelihood 
and couldnšt care less about their sufferings. There was a regiment in 
Kweichow Province which occupied large tracts of peasant farmland. 
That was a serious encroachment on the peoplešs interests. It is wrong 
to ignore the peoplešs livelihood, but the emphasis must be laid on 
production and construction. 
The question of utilizing, restricting and transforming the capitalist 
sector of the economy was also made quite clear at the Second 
Plenary Session. The resolution it adopted says that the private capitalist 
economy must not be allowed to expand uncurbed but should be 
restricted from several directions ‹ in the scope of its operations, by

106 MAO TSETUNG 
tax policy and by market prices and working conditions. The relationship 
of the socialist economy to the capitalist economy is that of the 
leader to the led. Restriction versus opposition to restriction is the 
main form of class struggle in the new-democratic state. Now the 
new tax system talks about ŗequality between public and private enterprises˛; 
that is at variance with the line which makes the state-owned 
economy the leading sector. 
As for the co-operative transformation of individual farming and 
handicrafts, the resolution of the Second Plenary Session puts it 
clearly:
Such co-operatives are collective economic organizations of the 
working people, based on private ownership and under the direction 
of the state power led by the proletariat. The fact that the 
Chinese people are culturally backward and have no tradition in 
organizing co-operatives makes it quite difficult for us to promote 
and develop the co-operative movement, but co-operatives can and 
must be organized and they must be promoted and developed. If we 
had only a state-owned economy and no co-operative economy, it 
would be impossible for us to lead the individual economy of the 
working people step by step towards collectivization, impossible 
to develop from the new-democratic state to the socialist state of 
the future and impossible to consolidate the leadership of the proletariat 
in the state power. 
This resolution was adopted in March 1949, but quite a few comrades 
have failed to take note of it and what is no longer news strikes them 
as novel. In his article ŗStrengthen the Partyšs Political Work in the 
Rural Areas˛, Po I-po said that the individual peasantsš road to collectivization 
through mutual aid and co-operation ŗis sheer fantasy 
because the present mutual-aid teams, based as they are on the individual 
economy, cannot develop gradually into collective farms, still 
less can such a road lead to the collectivization of agriculture as 
a whole˛. This runs counter to the Partyšs resolution. 
There are now two united fronts, two alliances. One is the alliance 
of the working class and the peasants; this is the foundation. The other 
is the alliance of the working class and the national bourgeoisie. As 
the peasants are labourers and not exploiters, the alliance of the working 
class and the peasants is a long-term one. Nevertheless, there are 
contradictions between the working class and the peasants. We should 
guide the peasants step by step from individual ownership to collec

107 COMBAT BOURGEOIS IDEAS IN THE PARTY 
tive ownership in accordance with the voluntary principle. In the 
future there will also be contradictions, between state ownership and 
collective ownership. These contradictions are all non-antagonistic. 
On the other hand, the contradictions between the working class and 
the bourgeoisie are antagonistic. 
The bourgeoisie is sure to corrode people and aim its sugar-coated 
bullets at them. Its sugar-coated bullets are of two kinds, material 
and spiritual. A spiritual one hit its target, Po I-po. He made his 
mistake because he succumbed to the influence of bourgeois ideas. 
The editorial preaching the new tax system was applauded by the 
bourgeoisie, and Po I-po was pleased. Before the new tax system was 
initiated, he solicited suggestions from the bourgeoisie and reached 
a gentlemanšs agreement with them, but he failed to report to the 
Central Committee. The Ministry of Commerce and the Federation 
of Supply and Marketing Co-operatives objected at the time, and the 
Ministry of Light Industry was dissatisfied too. Of the 1,100,000 
cadres and employees working in the financial, economic and trade 
fields, the overwhelming majority are good and only a small number 
are not. Those who are not fall into two categories: counter-revolutionaries, 
who should be weeded out; and revolutionaries, including Party 
members and non-Party personnel, who have made mistakes and who 
should therefore be remoulded through criticism and education. 
To ensure the triumph of the cause of socialism, we must combat 
erroneous Right opportunist tendencies, that is, bourgeois ideas, 
throughout the Party, and first of all in the leading bodies of the Party, 
government, army and mass organizations at the national level and 
at those of the greater administrative areas and the provinces and 
municipalities. The greater administrative areas and the provinces 
and municipalities should call meetings in due time with the participation 
of secretaries of prefectural Party committees and commissioners 
of prefectures4 to unfold criticism and discussion and to clarify the 
question of the socialist road versus the capitalist road. 
To ensure the triumph of the cause of socialism, we must exercise 
collective leadership and oppose decentralism and subjectivism. 
At present we must combat subjectivism, not only in the form of 
rash advance but also in the form of conservatism. In the days of 
the new-democratic revolution both Right and ŗLeft˛ subjectivist mistakes 
occurred. Chen Tu-hsiu and Chang Kuo-tao made Right mistakes 
and Wang Ming first ŗLeft˛ mistakes and then Right ones. The rectification 
movement in Yenan concentrated its efforts on combating

108 MAO TSETUNG 
dogmatism and opposed empiricism in passing. Both dogmatism and 
empiricism are forms of subjectivism. No revolution can triumph 
unless theory is integrated with practice. The problem was solved in 
that rectification movement. We were right in adopting the policy 
of learning from past mistakes to avoid future ones and curing the 
sickness to save the patient. This time the unrelenting and thoroughgoing 
criticism of Po I-po is designed to help those who have erred 
correct their mistakes and to ensure the victorious advance of 
socialism. In the present period of the socialist revolution subjectivism 
is still in evidence. Rash advance and conservatism both disregard 
the actual state of affairs, both are subjectivist. The revolution and 
construction cannot succeed unless subjectivism is overcome. In the 
days of the democratic revolution rectification served to correct the 
error of subjectivism and in consequence the whole Party was united, 
including both the comrades who had adhered to the correct line 
and those who had made mistakes. From Yenan they set out for 
different war theatres, and the whole Party, pulling its weight as one 
man, went on to win nation-wide victory. Today, the cadres are 
more mature and their political level is higher, and it is hoped that 
it will not take long for them basically to overcome subjectivism in 
their task of leadership and bring the subjective into correspondence 
with the objective through their efforts. 
The solution of all these problems hinges on strengthening collective 
leadership and opposing decentralism. We have all along opposed 
decentralism. The directive issued by the Central Committee to its 
bureaus and the army commanders on February 2, 1941 stipulated that 
all circular telegrams, declarations and inner-Party directives bearing 
on the country as a whole must have the prior approval of the Central 
Committee. In May, the Central Committee issued a directive calling 
for unified external propaganda by the various base areas. On July 1 
of the same year, on the twentieth anniversary of the founding of the 
Party, the Central Committee issued its decision on strengthening 
Party spirit with the emphasis on combating decentralism. In 1948 
the Central Committee issued more directives to the same effect. It 
issued a directive on setting up a system of reports on January 7 and 
a supplementary directive in March. The Political Bureau met in 
September and adopted a resolution on rules governing reports to and 
requests for instructions from the Central Committee. On September 
20, the Central Committee made a decision on strengthening the Party 
committee system. On March 10, 1953 the Central Committee adopted

109 COMBAT BOURGEOIS IDEAS IN THE PARTY 
a decision on strengthening its leadership over the work of the 
government in order to avert the danger of government departments 
drifting away from its leadership. 
Centralization and decentralization are in constant contradiction 
with each other. Decentralism has grown since we moved into the cities. 
To resolve this contradiction all the principal and important issues 
must first be discussed and decided on by the Party committee before 
its decisions are referred to the government for implementation. For 
instance, such important decisions as the erection of the Monument 
to the Heroes of the People in Tien An Men Square and the 
demolition of Pekingšs city walls were made by the Central Committee 
and carried out by the government. Matters of secondary importance 
can be left to the leading Party groups in government departments. 
It just wonšt do for the Central Committee to monopolize everything. 
Combating decentralism will win maximum popular approval 
because most comrades in the Party care about collective leadership. 
Party members fall into three categories in their attitude towards 
collective leadership. Those in the first category care about collective 
leadership. Those in the second do not care so much, maintaining 
that the Party committees had better leave them alone, but they 
donšt mind being supervised. ŗBetter leave me alone˛ reveals a lack 
of Party spirit, while ŗdonšt mind being supervised˛ shows some 
measure of Party spirit. We must seize on this ŗdonšt mind being 
supervised˛ and help such comrades by education and persuasion to 
overcome their lack of Party spirit. Otherwise, each ministry would 
go its own way and the Central Committee could not supervise the 
ministries, the ministers could not supervise the department and bureau 
heads, and the division heads could not supervise the section chiefs 
‹ no one, in short, could supervise anyone. In consequence, independent 
kingdoms would proliferate and hundreds of feudal princes would 
emerge. Those in the third category are only a handful. They flatly 
reject collective leadership and always prefer to be left alone. The 
decision on strengthening Party spirit puts the stress on the strict 
observance of discipline under democratic centralism, in other words, 
the minority is subordinate to the majority, the individual to the 
organization, the lower level to the higher level and the entire Party 
to the Central Committee (a case of subordinating the majority to 
the minority, as this minority represents the majority). Opinions are 
welcome, but to undermine Party unity would be a most shameful 
thing. It is reliance on the political experience and wisdom of the

110 MAO TSETUNG 
collective that can guarantee the correct leadership of the Party and 
the state and the unshakable unity of the ranks of the Party. 
At this conference Liu Shao-chi said he had made mistakes of 
a sort, and Comrade Teng Hsiao-ping said he too had made some 
mistakes. Whoever makes a mistake must make a self-criticism, and 
everybody without exception must put himself under the Partyšs 
supervision and the leadership of Party committees at various levels. 
This is a prime requirement for fulfilling the Partyšs tasks. Throughout 
the country there are quite a number of people who thrive on 
anarchy, and Po I-po is one such person. To some extent he has been 
corrupted both politically and ideologically and it is absolutely necessary 
to criticize him. 
One final point. We must foster modesty, willingness to learn and 
perseverance. 
We must have perseverance. In the war to resist U.S. aggression 
and aid Korea, for instance, we hit U.S. imperialism where it hurt 
and struck fear into its heart. This was an asset, an important factor, 
in our countryšs construction. What was of the utmost importance 
was that our armed forces were thus steeled, the fighters displaying 
valour and the commanders resourcefulness. True, we suffered casualties 
and incurred a cost; we paid a price. But we had absolutely no 
fear of sacrifice; once we set our mind on doing something, we saw 
it through. When Hu Tsung-nan attacked the Shensi-Kansu-Ningsia 
Border Region, we did not pull out although we had only one county 
seat left, and we thought nothing of it when we had to live on the leaves 
of the trees. This is the kind of fortitude we must have. 
We must study and must not become conceited or look down on 
others. Goose eggs donšt think much of chicken eggs and the ferrous 
metals donšt think much of rare metals ‹ such a disdainful attitude 
is not scientific. Although China is a big country and ours is a big 
Party, there is no reason to look down on small countries or small 
parties. We must always be ready to learn from the people of fraternal 
countries and maintain a genuine internationalist spirit. In our foreign 
trade some people are arrogant and overweening, and this is wrong. 
Education must be conducted in the whole Party, and particularly 
among people working abroad. We must study hard and work hard 
so as basically to accomplish socialist industrialization and socialist 
transformation in fifteen years or a little longer. By then our country 
will have become strong, yet we should still be modest and should 
always be ready to learn.

111 COMBAT BOURGEOIS IDEAS IN THE PARTY 
There are several regulations which were adopted at the Second 
Plenary Session of the Seventh Central Committee but not written 
into its resolution. The first is a ban on birthday celebrations. Birthday 
celebrations donšt beget longevity. The important thing is to do our 
work well. The second is a ban on gifts, at least in the Party. The 
third is to keep toasts to a minimum. Toasts may be allowed on 
certain occasions. The fourth is to keep applause to a minimum. There 
should be no ban and no pouring of cold water on the masses who 
applaud out of enthusiasm. The fifth is a ban on naming places after 
persons. The sixth is a ban on placing Chinese comrades on a par 
with Marx, Engels, Lenin or Stalin. Our relationship to them is one 
of pupils to teachers and that is how it should be. Observance of 
these regulations is true modesty. 
In short, we must remain modest, be willing to learn, retain our 
perseverance and adhere to the system of collective leadership so as to 
achieve socialist transformation and attain victory for socialism. 
NOTES 
1 This new tax system was introduced in December 1952 and put into effect in 
January 1953. Though nominally entailing ŗequality between public and private enterprises˛, 
in reality it lightened the tax burdens on private industrial and commercial 
enterprises and increased those on state and co-operative enterprises, thus serving the 
interests of the capitalists at the expense of the latter. Soon after Comrade Mao 
Tsetung made his criticism, this error was corrected. 
2 Chang Tzu-shan was at one time secretary of the Tientsin Prefectural Committee 
of the Chinese Communist Party. Corroded by the bourgeoisie, he degenerated 
and became a big embezzler and was sentenced to death during the movement 
against the ŗthree evils˛. 
3 The movement against the old ŗthree evils˛ was the struggle launched in 
1951 against corruption, waste and bureaucracy. The movement against the new 
ŗthree evils˛ was the struggle launched in 1953 against bureaucracy, commandism 
and violations of the law and of discipline. 
4 These commissioners were the administrative heads of the commissionersš offices, 
which were agencies of the provincial and autonomous region peoplešs councils and 
had jurisdiction over several counties.

THE ONLY ROAD FOR THE TRANSFORMATION 
OF CAPITALIST INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE 
September 7, 1953 
The transformation of capitalism into socialism is to be accomplished 
through state capitalism. 
1. In the last three years or so we have done some work on this, but 
as we were otherwise occupied, we didnšt exert ourselves enough. 
From now on we should make a bigger effort. 
2. With more than three years of experience behind us, we can 
say with certainty that accomplishing the socialist transformation of 
private industry and commerce by means of state capitalism is a relatively 
sound policy and method. 
3. The policy laid down in Article 31 of the Common Programme1 
should now be clearly understood and concretely applied step by step. 
ŗClearly understood˛ means that people in positions of leadership at 
the central and local levels should first of all have the firm conviction 
that state capitalism is the only road for the transformation of 
capitalist industry and commerce and for the gradual completion of 
the transition to socialism. So far this has not been the case either with 
members of the Communist Party or with democratic personages. The 
present meeting2 is being held to achieve that end. 
4. Make steady progress and avoid being too hasty. It will take 
at least three to five years to lead the countryšs private industry and 
commerce basically onto the path of state capitalism, so there should 
be no cause for alarm or uneasiness. 
5. Joint state-private management; orders placed by the state with 
private enterprises to process materials or manufacture goods, with 
the state providing all the raw materials and taking all the finished 
products; and similarly placed orders, with the state taking not all but 
Outline for a talk to representative personages from the democratic parties and 
industrial and commercial circles on September 7, 1953. 
112

113 TRANSFORMATION OF CAPITALIST INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE 
most of the finished products ‹ these are the three forms of state 
capitalism to be adopted in the case of private industry. 
6. State capitalism can also be applied in the case of private 
commerce, which cannot possibly be dismissed by ŗexcluding it˛. 
Here our experience is limited and further study is needed. 
7. With approximately 3,800,000 workers and shop assistants, 
private industry and commerce are a big asset to the state and play a 
large part in the nationšs economy and the peoplešs livelihood. Not only 
do they provide the state with goods, but they can also accumulate 
capital and train cadres for the state. 
8. Some capitalists keep themselves at a great distance from the 
state and have not changed their profits-before-everything mentality. 
Some workers are advancing too fast and wonšt allow the capitalists 
to make any profit at all. We should try to educate these workers and 
capitalists and help them gradually (but the sooner the better) adapt 
themselves to our state policy, namely, to make Chinašs private industry 
and commerce mainly serve the nationšs economy and the peoplešs 
livelihood and partly earn profits for the capitalists and in this way 
embark on the path of state capitalism. 
The following table shows the distribution of profits in statecapitalist 
enterprises: 
9. It is necessary to go on educating the capitalists in patriotism, 
and to this end we should systematically cultivate a number of them 
who have a broader vision and are ready to lean towards the Communist 
Party and the Peoplešs Government, so that most of the other 
capitalists may be convinced through them. 
10. Not only must the implementation of state capitalism be based 
on what is necessary and feasible (see the Common Programme), but 
it must also be voluntary on the part of the capitalists, because it is a 
co-operative undertaking and co-operation admits of no coercion. 
This is different from the way we dealt with the landlords. 
11. Considerable progress has been made in the last few years by 
the various nationalities, democratic classes, democratic parties and 
Income Tax 34.5% 
Welfare fund 15.0% 
Accumulation fund 30.0% 
Dividends to capitalists 20.5% 
Total 100.0%

114 MAO TSETUNG 
peoplešs organizations, and still greater progress will, in my opinion, be 
made in the next three to five years. So it is possible basically to accomplish 
the task of leading private industry and commerce onto the path 
of state capitalism in three to five years. The preponderance of state 
enterprises affords the material guarantee for the fulfilment of this task. 
12. As for the completion of the task for the entire transition 
period, which consists of the basic accomplishment of the countryšs 
industrialization and the socialist transformation of agriculture, handicrafts 
and capitalist industry and commerce, this cannot be done in 
three to five years, but will instead take a period of several five-year 
plans. On this question it is necessary to oppose both the idea of 
leaving things to the indefinite future and the idea of rushing things 
through. 
13. One is the leader while the other is the led; one seeks no 
private profit while the other still seeks a certain amount of private 
profit, and so on and so forth; thatšs where the differences lie. But 
under our present conditions, private industry and commerce in the 
main serve the nationšs economy and the peoplešs livelihood (which, 
as far as the distribution of profits is concerned, take roughly threefourths 
of the total). Therefore we can and should persuade the 
workers in private enterprises to act in the same way as those in state 
enterprises, namely, to increase production and practise economy 
emulate one another in labour, raise labour productivity, reduce costs 
of production and raise both quantity and quality, thus serving the 
interest of both the state sector and the private sector and that of labour 
and capital. 
NOTES 
1 Article 31 of the Common Programme stipulates: ŗEnterprises jointly operated 
by state and private capital are enterprises of a state-capitalist character. Whenever 
necessary and feasible, private capital shall be encouraged to develop in the direction 
of state capitalism by such means as undertaking processing work for state 
enterprises, operating enterprises jointly with the state, or, in the form of concessions, 
operating state enterprises and exploiting national resources, etc.˛ 
2 This refers to the forty-ninth meeting (enlarged) of the Standing Committee of 
the National Committee of the Political Consultative Conference, September 8-11, 1953.

OUR GREAT VICTORY 
IN THE WAR TO RESIST U.S. AGGRESSION AND 
AID KOREA AND OUR FUTURE TASKS 
September 12, 1953 
After three years we have won a great victory in the war to resist 
U.S. aggression and aid Korea. It has now come to a halt. 
To what was this victory due? Just now fellow members put it 
down to correct leadership. Leadership is one factor; nothing can 
succeed without correct leadership. But we won mainly because ours 
was a peoplešs war, the whole nation gave it support and the people 
of China and Korea fought shoulder to shoulder. 
We fought U.S. imperialism, an enemy wielding weapons many 
times superior to ours, and yet we were able to win and compelled it 
to agree to a truce. Why was the truce possible? 
First, militarily the U.S. aggressors were in an unfavourable position 
and were on the receiving end. If they had not accepted the truce, their 
whole battle line would have been broken through and Seoul would 
have fallen into the hands of the Korean people. This situation became 
evident in the summer of last year. 
Each belligerent calls his own battle line a bastion of iron. Ours 
is truly a bastion of iron. Our soldiers and cadres are resourceful and 
brave and dare to look death in the face. In contrast the U.S. aggressor 
troops are afraid of death, and their officers are rather rigid, not very 
flexible. Their battle line is not solid and is anything but a bastion 
of iron. 
The problems facing our side were first whether we could fight, 
then whether we could hold our lines, later whether we could ensure 
the flow of supplies, and finally whether we could foil the germ 
warfare. These four problems came one after the other and were all 
Speech at the twenty-fourth Session of the Central Peoplešs Government Council. 
115

116 MAO TSETUNG 
solved. Our troops grew from strength to strength in fighting. This 
summer, we were already able to break through an enemy position 
with its front of twenty-one kilometres within an hour, fire several 
hundred thousand shells in a concentrated attack and penetrate the 
enemy area up to eighteen kilometres. If we had kept this up and 
mounted two, three or four more attacks, his whole battle line would 
have been cut to pieces. 
Second, politically the enemy had many insoluble internal contradictions, 
and the people the world over demanded peace. 
Third, economically the enemy spent vast sums in the war of 
aggression against Korea, and his budgetary revenues and expenditures 
were not balanced. 
All these causes combined to force the enemy to come to terms. 
The first was the primary cause, and in its absence a truce with the enemy 
would have been difficult. The U.S. imperialists are very arrogant; if 
at all possible, they always refuse to talk reason, and will do so after 
a fashion only when driven into a tight corner. 
In the Korean war the enemy suffered 1,090,000 in killed and 
wounded. Naturally we paid a price too. Nevertheless, our casualties 
were far fewer than anticipated and they became still fewer after 
tunnels were built. We grew stronger and stronger through fighting. 
The Americans failed to undermine our positions; on the contrary, 
their units were always wiped out by us. 
Just now you all mentioned the factor of leadership. In my view, 
leadership is one factor, but the most important factor is the contribution 
of ideas by the masses. Our cadres and soldiers thought up all 
sorts of ways to fight the enemy. Let me give one example. In the first 
month of the war our losses in trucks were tremendous. What was to 
be done? While the leadership devised counter-measures, we relied 
mainly on the masses to come up with ideas. Over ten thousand people 
were posted on both sides of the highway to fire signal shots to warn 
of approaching enemy planes. On hearing these signals, our drivers 
would dodge or find places in which to hide their trucks. In the meantime 
the roads were widened and many new ones built so that trucks 
could run in both directions unimpeded. Thus the losses in trucks 
dropped from 40 per cent at the beginning to less than 1 per cent. Later 
on, underground storehouses and even underground auditoriums were 
built. While enemy bombs fell from overhead, we went on with our 
meetings underground. When they picture the Korean battlefield, 
people living in Peking feel it must have been very dangerous. True,

117 GREAT VICTORY AND FUTURE TASKS 
there was danger, but it was not so terrible as long as everyone 
contributed ideas. 
Our experience is that reliance on the people together with a fairly 
correct leadership enables us to defeat a better-equipped enemy with 
our inferior equipment. 
The victory in the war to resist U.S. aggression and aid Korea is 
a great one and has major significance. 
First, together with the Korean people we have fought our way 
back to the 38th Parallel and held on there. This is very important. If 
we had not fought back to the 38th Parallel and our front lines had 
remained along the Yalu and Tumen Rivers, it would have been 
impossible for the people in Shenyang, Anshan and Fushun to carry 
on production free from worry. 
Second, we have gained military experience. The ground, air and 
naval forces, the infantry, artillery, engineer, tank, railway, air defence 
and signal corps and also the medical and logistic units, etc. of the 
Chinese Peoplešs Volunteers have all gained practical experience in 
fighting the U.S. aggressor troops. This time we have taken the measure 
of the U.S. armed forces. If you have never taken them on, you are liable 
to be scared of them. We have fought them for thirty-three months and 
got to know them for what they are worth. U.S. imperialism is not 
terrifying, nothing to make a fuss about. Such is our experience, indeed 
an invaluable piece of experience. 
Third, the people of the whole country have heightened their 
political awareness. 
From the above three points a fourth can be deduced: a new 
imperialist war of aggression against China and a third world war have 
been put off. 
The imperialist aggressors ought to bear this in mind: the Chinese 
people are now organized, they are not to be trifled with. Once they 
are provoked to anger, things can get very tough. 
The enemy may resume the war, and even if he doesnšt, he is sure 
to make trouble in all sorts of ways, such as by sending in secret agents 
to carry out wrecking activities. He has set up a vast network of secret 
services in places like Taiwan, Hongkong and Japan. But we have 
gained experience in the movement to resist U.S. aggression and aid 
Korea, and so long as we mobilize the masses and rely on the people, 
we know how to cope with the enemy. 
For us the present situation is different from that in the winter of 
1950. Were the U.S. aggressors then on the other side of the 38th

118 MAO TSETUNG 
Parallel? No, they were not. They were on the other side of the Yalu and 
Tumen Rivers. Did we then have any experience in fighting the U.S. 
aggressors? No, we did not. Did we then know much about the U.S. 
troops? No, we did not. Now, all this has changed. Supposing U.S. imperialism 
does not put off its new war of aggression and says: ŗIšll 
fight!˛, then we can cope with it by relying on the first three points. But 
supposing it says: ŗIšll not fight!˛, then the fourth point will hold good. 
Here is proof of the superiority of our peoplešs democratic dictatorship. 
Are we going to invade others? No, we will invade no one anywhere. 
But if others invade us, we will fight back and fight to a finish. 
The Chinese people adhere to this stand: we are for peace, but are 
not afraid of war; we are ready for both. We have the support of the 
people. In the war to resist U.S. aggression and aid Korea, people fell 
over each other to join up. The conditions for enrolment were stiff, 
only one in a hundred was chosen. People said the conditions were 
stricter than those for choosing a husband for onešs daughter. If 
U.S. imperialism wants to resume the fighting, we will take it on 
again. 
War costs money. Yet the war to resist U.S. aggression and aid 
Korea did not cost us too much. It went on for several years, but 
the expenses incurred were less than a single yearšs industrial and 
commercial taxes. Of course, it would have been better if we had not 
had to fight the war and spend this money. For construction in the 
country today calls for expenditure and the peasants still have difficulties. 
Last year and the year before last, the agricultural tax was 
a shade on the heavy side, and so this set some friends talking. They 
demanded a ŗpolicy of benevolence˛, as if they represented the 
interests of the peasants. Did we favour this view? No, we didnšt. At 
that time we had to do our utmost to win victory in the war to resist 
U.S. aggression and aid Korea. For the peasants, for the people of the 
whole country, which was in their interest? To endure austerity for 
the time being and strive for victory? Or not to resist U.S. aggression 
and aid Korea and so save a few coppers? Undoubtedly winning the 
war was in their interest. It was because the war required money that 
we collected a bit more in agricultural tax last year and the year 
before. This year it is different. We have not increased the agricultural tax 
and have put a ceiling on its volume. 
Speaking of the ŗpolicy of benevolence˛, we are of course for 
it. But what was the policy of maximum benevolence? To resist 
U.S. aggression and aid Korea. To carry out this policy of maximum

119 GREAT VICTORY AND FUTURE TASKS 
benevolence sacrifices had to be made, money spent and more collected 
in agricultural tax. Just because more was collected, some people raised 
an outcry. They even claimed to represent the interests of the peasants. 
I just donšt approve of such talk. 
To resist U.S. aggression and aid Korea was to implement the policy 
of benevolence, and to carry on industrial construction today is likewise 
to implement this policy. 
Policies of benevolence are of two kinds. One is concerned with 
the peoplešs immediate interests. The other is concerned with their 
long-term interests, such as resisting U.S. aggression and aiding Korea 
and building heavy industry. The first is a policy of lesser benevolence 
and the second a policy of greater benevolence. Both must 
be taken into consideration and it is wrong not to do so. Where then 
is the emphasis to be placed? On the policy of greater benevolence. 
At present the emphasis in our policy of benevolence should be on the 
construction of heavy industry. Construction takes money. Therefore, 
much as the livelihood of the people needs to be improved, this cannot 
be done to any great extent for the time being. In other words, while 
we have to improve the peoplešs livelihood, we must not try to do too 
much, and while we have to make some allowance for it, we must 
not make too much. To make allowance for the policy of lesser 
benevolence at the expense of the policy of greater benevolence is 
to go off the right track. 
Now some friends put lop-sided stress on the policy of lesser 
benevolence; in effect, they wanted us to give up the war to resist 
U.S. aggression and aid Korea, and now they want us to give up the 
building of heavy industry. We must criticize this erroneous view. It 
is also to be found in the Communist Party; we came across it in Yenan. 
In 1941 we collected 200,000 piculs1 of grain in the Shensi-Kansu- 
Ningsia Border Region, and some people began to yell that the 
Communist Party was not being considerate of the peasants. A few 
leading cadres in the Party also brought up this issue of the policy 
of benevolence. I criticized this view even then. What was the policy 
of maximum benevolence at that time? To overthrow Japanese 
imperialism. If we had slashed the amount of grain to be collected 
from the peasants, we would have had to cut down the size of the 
Eighth Route and New Fourth Armies. That would have been to the 
advantage of Japanese imperialism. So those who held this view were 
actually speaking on behalf of Japanese imperialism and doing it 
a service.

120 MAO TSETUNG 
Now the war to resist U.S. aggression and aid Korea has come to 
a halt. If the United States wants to resume the war, we will fight on. 
In that case, we will have to collect grain from the peasants, do work 
on them and persuade them to make their contribution. To act thus 
would be truly to serve the interests of the peasants. To raise outcries 
would actually be to serve the interests of U.S. imperialism. 
There are major as well as minor principles. The peoplešs standard 
of living in the whole country should be raised yearly, but not too 
much. If it had been raised too much, we could not have fought the 
war to resist U.S. aggression and aid Korea, or at least not in such 
grim earnest. We have fought this war resolutely and earnestly and with 
all our might. Whatever was available at home the Korean front could 
have for the asking. That has been the case for the last few years. 
NOTES 
1 The picul, a weight for grain, was 150kg. in the Shensi-Kansu-Ningsia Border 
Region, but the standard varied in different places.

CRITICISM OF 
LIANG SHU-MINGšS REACTIONARY IDEAS 
September 16-18, 1953 
1. Is Mr. Liang Shu-ming a ŗman of integrity˛? What part did he 
play during the peace negotiations? 
Mr. Liang styles himself a ŗman of integrity˛, the reactionary press 
in Hongkong describes Mr. Liang as ŗone man of the highest integrity˛ 
on the mainland, and Taiwanšs broadcasts go all out to puff you up, too. 
Do you really have ŗintegrity˛? If you do, then make a clean breast 
of your past history ‹ how you opposed the Communist Party and 
the people, how you assassinated people with your pen, and what sort 
of relations you had with Han Fu-chu, Chang Tung-sun, Chen Li-fu 
and Chang Chun. You have had them all as close friends. I just donšt 
have that many friends. They were so pleased with you, addressing 
you as Mister while maligning me as a ŗbandit˛. I wonder which party, 
which faction, you are with! I am not alone, many others have the 
same suspicions. 
From the speech Premier Chou has just made, everybody can 
see that during our two peace negotiations with the Kuomintang 
Mr. Liangšs position was one of backing Chiang Kai-shek to the hilt 
at critical junctures. Chiang Kai-shek was only shamming when he 
agreed to hold peace negotiations. With us here today there are 
representatives who came to Peking for the peace negotiations and they 
all know whether Chiang Kai-shek was really for peace or not. 
To tell the truth, Chiang Kai-shek is an assassin with a gun and 
Liang Shu-ming an assassin with a pen. There are two ways of killing 
people: one is to kill with the gun and the other with the pen. The 
Essential parts of Comrade Mao Tsetungšs criticism of Liang Shu-ming at the 
Twenty-seventh Session of the Central Peoplešs Government Council held in Peking. 
September 16-18, 1953. Members of the National Committee of the Chinese Peoplešs 
Political Consultative Conference who were in Peking at the time sat in on the session. 
121

122 MAO TSETUNG 
way which is most artfully disguised and draws no blood is to kill 
with the pen. That is the kind of murderer you are. 
Liang Shu-ming is utterly reactionary, yet he flatly denies it, he 
says he is a paragon. He is not like Mr. Fu Tso-yi. Mr. Fu openly 
admits that he was utterly reactionary, yet he did a service to the 
people in the peaceful liberation of Peking. What service did you do, 
Liang Shu-ming? In all your life what service have you ever done to 
the people? Not the slightest, not the least bit. Nevertheless, you 
describe yourself as an incomparable beauty, outshining Hsi Shih and 
Wang Chao Chun and rivalling Yang Kuei Fei. 
2. Liang Shu-ming has used the expression ŗthe ninth heaven and 
the ninth hell˛, alleging that ŗthe workers are up in the ninth heaven 
whereas the peasants are down in the ninth hell˛ and that ŗthe workers 
have the trade unions to fall back on whereas the peasant associations 
cannot be counted on, nor can the Party, the Youth League, the 
Womenšs Federation, and so on; they are all below standard qualitatively 
and quantitatively and even inferior to the Federation of 
Industry and Commerce ‹ hence no confidence˛. Can this be called 
ŗsupport for the general line˛? No! It is an out-and-out reactionary 
conception, every bit of it, it is a reactionary proposition, not a rational 
one. Can the Peoplešs Government accept this kind of proposition? 
I donšt think it can. 
3. Mr. Liang asks ŗto be given more information about the plans˛. 
I am against this too. On the contrary, we shouldnšt let a man like 
Mr. Liang know much about our confidential matters, the less he knows 
the better. 
Liang Shu-ming is not a man to be trusted. We can let others have 
more confidential information, but not you. When somewhat restricted 
meetings of the democratic parties are held, Liang Shu-ming, there 
is no need for you to attend either. 
4. Mr. Liang also asks us not to put him in the non-progressive 
category and says he belongs to the progressive category. What should 
we do about it? I think we should be cautious and not make any 
promise offhand. Otherwise we shall be duped. 
5. Mr. Liang paints a very beautiful picture of himself, claiming 
that several decades ago he already cherished a grand dream for building 
up our country with a plan which, according to him, came very close 
to New Democracy or socialism. 
Is he really so beautiful? Hardly. I know him rather well, and we 
never met without my having to criticize his erroneous ideas. I once

123 CRITICISM OF LIANG SHU-MINGšS REACTIONARY IDEAS 
told him to his face, ŗI never believe in your stuff.˛ To all his talk, 
such as that ŗChina is without classes˛, ŗChinašs problem is one of 
cultural maladjustment˛, it needs ŗa colourless, transparent government˛
1 and ŗthe Chinese revolution has no internal but only external 
causes˛, one must now add his brilliant talk about ŗthe ninth heaven 
and the ninth hell˛ and about ŗthe Communist Party having abandoned 
the peasants˛, ŗthe Communist Party not being as reliable as the Federation 
of Industry and Commerce˛, and so on and so forth. Can I believe 
all this? No! I told him, Chinašs characteristic is that it is a semicolonial 
and semi-feudal country. Since you donšt admit this, you are 
helping imperialism and feudalism. Therefore, nobody believes in your 
stuff. The people believe in the Communist Party. Nobody reads your 
books or listens to you except reactionaries and some muddleheads. 
Besides, it seems Mr. Liang is not opposed to Chiang Kai-shek either. 
Now I can leave it to you to go into the question of whether he has ever 
publicly opposed Chiang Kai-shek and his reactionary Kuomintang, 
since I havenšt read all he has written or heard all he has said. 
Is such a man entitled to request a peoplešs state to allow him 
access to more of its plans and confidential matters? I think he is not. 
Ought we to grant him the request? I think not. 
6. Mr. Liang has another request, that we place him in the category 
of progressives or revolutionaries and not in the category of nonprogressives 
or reactionaries. This is a question of ŗdefining status˛, 
what should we do about it? In view of the above circumstances, can 
we put him in the progressive or the revolutionary category? What 
progressiveness is there in him? When, if ever, did he take part in the 
revolution? So we should not readily grant this request either. Wešll 
have to wait and see. 
7. In the last few years I have received a number of letters from 
the people asking why the Communist Party co-operates with reactionaries 
and have also heard some talk to the same effect. The 
reactionaries referred to are those who have never been willing to 
commit themselves, whether in the press or on public occasions, to 
opposing imperialism, feudalism, Chiang Kai-shek and his reactionary 
Kuomintang, and whose stand falls short of the minimum requirements 
of a government worker. Since these persons are particularly unwilling 
to oppose Chiang Kai-shek, Taiwan broadcasts and Hongkong newspapers 
have gone out of their way to express their appreciation, never 
abusing them but describing them as ŗmen of the highest integrity˛ 
on the mainland. Liang Shu-ming is one of this bunch. On the other

124 MAO TSETUNG 
hand, these broadcasts and newspapers pull out all the stops in 
slandering and vilifying some of our friends. The individuals extolled or 
never abused by Taiwan are of course few in number but deserve close 
attention. 
There are certain persons who to this day would rather die than 
say a word against Chiang Kai-shek, though they donšt mind saying 
a few words against imperialism. Whether in the press or in public 
statements, they dare not bring up the past, for they are still tenderhearted 
about it. I guess there are quite a few of them. 
There are three kinds of patriotism, genuine patriotism, sham 
patriotism, and half-genuine and half-sham, vacillating, patriotism. 
Everybody knows which kind he comes under and so does Liang 
Shu-ming. We welcome all those who have truly broken their ties 
with imperialism and the Taiwan gang, no matter how backward they 
may be. They are genuine patriots. Sham patriots put on a fine mask, 
but underneath they are quite different. Vacillating elements are the 
third kind, they are half-genuine and half-sham in their patriotism, 
and shift and switch as the trend changes. If a third world war doesnšt 
break out and Chiang Kai-shek doesnšt come back, then they will go 
along with the Communist Party. If a third world war does break out, 
they will reconsider their course of action. Which of the three kinds 
makes up the majority? The genuine patriots. The genuine patriots 
have been on the increase in the last few years, the half-genuine and 
half-sham ones are small in number, and the sham patriots are only 
a handful but they do exist. Itšs up to you to look into the accuracy 
of this estimate. 
8. There is a job I think Liang Shu-ming should do. Itšs a job not 
of ŗrepresenting the peasants˛ and ŗappealing for their liberation˛ 
to the Peoplešs Government but of giving a clear account of the 
development over the years of his reactionary ideas against the people. 
He should make clear how he opposed the Communist Party and the 
people on behalf of the landlords in the past, and how he has now 
changed his stand from one of representing the landlords to one of 
ŗrepresenting the peasants˛ ‹ only when he is able to explain how 
this change has occurred, and make it convincing into the bargain, 
can we determine which category to put him in. He gives me the 
impression that he has never contemplated changing his reactionary 
stand. Nevertheless, to cure the sickness and save the patient, I suggest 
that he be given time for self-examination and that we refer the matter

125 CRITICISM OF LIANG SHU-MINGšS REACTIONARY IDEAS 
to the National Committee of the Political Consultative Conference 
instead of passing judgment on him now. 
9. ŗAll men have a sense of shame,˛2 and if a man has no sense 
of shame, itšs hopeless. Mr. Liang says that he is wiser than the 
Communist Party on the peasant question ‹ will anybody believe 
that? This is like showing off onešs proficiency with the axe before 
Lu Pan the master carpenter. If, for instance, it should be said that 
ŗMao Tsetung excels Mr. Mei Lan-fang in acting, or the Volunteers 
in digging tunnels, or the air force hero Chao Pao-tung in flying˛, 
wouldnšt that be the acme of shamelessness? So the question posed by 
Mr. Liang is both serious and not serious and smacks of the ridiculous. 
He asserts that he is better qualified than the Communist Party to 
represent the peasants, isnšt that ridiculous? 
Now there are so many ŗrepresentatives of the peasants˛, and who 
in the world do they represent? Do they represent the peasants? I donšt 
think they look the part, nor do the peasants think so. They represent 
the landlord class and render it service. And the most prominent of 
them all is Liang Shu-ming, who with sweet words on his lips is actually 
helping the enemy. Some others among them are muddle-headed and 
have said stupid things, yet they are patriots and have China in their 
hearts. This is one type. Liang Shu-ming is another type. And there 
are others like him who pose as ŗrepresentatives of the peasants˛. 
Fakes do exist, and now we are coming across them. Each of these 
persons has a tail like a fox, thatšs plain to all. The Monkey Sun 
Wu-kung is able to make seventy-two metamorphoses, but there is 
always one difficulty, changing his tail. He changes himself into 
a temple and turns his tail into a flagstaff, but the warrior god Yang 
Erh-lang spots the trick. And how? By spotting his tail. There is in 
fact a type of person who cannot hide his tail no matter how he 
disguises himself. 
Liang Shu-ming is an ambitious schemer, a hypocrite. He lies when 
he says he takes no interest in politics and seeks no office. He used to 
engage in what he called ŗrural construction˛, and what sort of ŗrural 
construction˛ was it? Construction for the landlords, rural destruction 
and national ruin! 
10. If you have dealings with that man you canšt take him seriously. 
You can never thrash out any problem with him, for he follows no 
logic and only talks drivel. So I suggest that his problem be referred 
to the National Committee of the Political Consultative Conference

126 MAO TSETUNG 
for discussion at its bi-weekly forum. At the same time I should like 
to warn you not to entertain any hope of finding a real solution. That 
is absolutely impossible. The outcome can only be, ŗNo decision after 
deliberation, no action even with a decision, and no fruitful result on 
adjournment.˛ Even so, I advise you to try it out at the bi-weekly 
forum, for that is better than ŗsending a couple of people˛ to listen 
to his rigmarole. 
11. Are we going to take this opportunity to break with him and 
have nothing more to do with him? No, we are not. So long as he 
wishes to have relations with us, we are ready to reciprocate. I still 
hope that he will be re-elected to the National Committee of the 
Political Consultative Conference at its Second Plenary Session. 
Thatšs because there are still people who are prone to be deceived by 
him and do not know him well, and he still has a role to play as 
live teaching material; he is therefore qualified for re-election, unless 
he himself has lost the desire to use the platform of the Political 
Consultative Conference to spread his reactionary ideas. 
As I have said earlier, Liang Shu-ming has performed no service 
whatsoever and is good for nothing. Is he any good for providing us 
with products and paying income tax like the industrialists and businessmen? 
No, he is not. Is he any good for developing production and 
making the economy prosperous? No, he is not. Did he ever rebel? 
No, he did not. When, if ever, did he oppose Chiang Kai-shek or imperialism? 
Never. When, if ever, did he do anything to co-operate 
with the Chinese Communist Party in overthrowing imperialism and 
feudalism? Never. Therefore, he has performed no service. The man 
refused to nod his head in favour but shook it in disapproval of such 
a great struggle as the movement to resist U.S. aggression and aid 
Korea. Then, why is it that he is on the National Committee of the 
Political Consultative Conference? Why is it that the Chinese Communist 
Party has nominated him for membership of this committee? 
Precisely because he can still deceive a number of people and has 
a certain deceptiveness. His credentials are deception, thatšs exactly 
what he has. 
For Liang Shu-ming, whoever nods in recognition of his being 
correct is ŗmagnanimous˛ and whoever fails to do so isnšt. I am afraid 
we donšt have such ŗmagnanimity˛. But we have at least this much, 
that is, Liang Shu-ming, you can continue as a member of the National 
Committee of the Political Consultative Conference.

127 CRITICISM OF LIANG SHU-MINGšS REACTIONARY IDEAS 
12. Confucius, I hold, had the faults of not being democratic and 
of lacking a self-critical spirit, in a way rather like Mr. Liang. Confucius 
said, ŗSince I took Tzu Lu as a disciple, I have never heard ill of 
myself˛;3 his school ŗthrice filled up and thrice emptied˛,4 and he 
ŗexecuted Shaocheng Mao within three months of taking office˛5 ‹ he 
came close to being a despot and reeked of fascism. I hope my friends, 
and you Mr. Liang in particular, wonšt follow Confuciusš example, and 
if you donšt it will be most gratifying. 
13. If Mr. Liangšs lofty programme were followed, not only would 
socialism be impossible in China, but our parties (the other parties 
as well as the Communist Party) and our country would all be ruined. 
His line is the bourgeois line. Po I-pošs mistake is a reflection of 
bourgeois ideas inside our Party. But Po I-po is better than Liang 
Shu-ming. 
Liang Shu-ming says that the workers are ŗup in the ninth heaven˛ 
and the peasants are ŗdown in the ninth hell˛. What are the facts? 
There is indeed a gap, with the workers earning more than the peasants, 
but after the agrarian reform the peasants now have land and houses 
and their life is improving every day. Some peasants fare even better 
than workers. Some workers are still in difficulty. What can be done 
to help the peasants earn more? Have you any suggestion, Liang 
Shu-ming? In your view, ŗthe trouble lies not in scarcity but in uneven 
distribution˛.6 Your idea is not to have the peasants increase their 
income through their own efforts in production but to equalize the 
earnings of the workers and peasants by taking away part of the 
formeršs earnings to distribute among the latter. If your idea were 
adopted, wouldnšt that spell the destruction of Chinašs industry? Such 
a diversion of the workersš earnings would mean the ruin of our 
country and our parties. Donšt think that ruin would befall the 
Communist Party alone, the democratic parties would be in it too. 
You say the workers are ŗup in the ninth heaven˛, then in which 
heaven are you, Liang Shu-ming? You are up in the tenth heaven, the 
eleventh, the twelfth, nay, the thirteenth heaven, because you get 
a salary far bigger than a workeršs wage! Yet what you propose to cut 
first is not your own salary but the workersš wages. I take this to be 
unfair. If you want to be fair, cut your own salary first because you are 
far above ŗthe ninth heaven˛! 
Our Party has stood for the worker-peasant alliance for more than 
three decades. Marxism-Leninism stands precisely for alliance and

128 MAO TSETUNG 
co-operation between workers and peasants. There are two alliances 
in China: one is the alliance of the working class with the peasantry, 
and the other is the alliance of the working class with the capitalists, 
professors, senior technical personnel, Kuomintang generals who have 
come over to our side, religious leaders, democratic parties and 
democrats without party affiliation. Both alliances are necessary and 
must continue. Which of the two is the base, which of the two is of 
primary importance? The alliance of the working class with the 
peasantry. Liang Shu-ming asserts that the worker-peasant alliance is 
in ruins and there is no hope for national construction. In other words, 
unless his ideas are adopted, the worker-peasant alliance has no hope 
of success, national construction cannot make headway, and there will 
be no hope for socialism! Indeed, there is no hope for the sort of 
ŗworker-peasant alliance˛ Liang Shu-ming has in mind. Yours is the 
bourgeois line. If your line were followed, the result would be the 
ruin of our country, China would be back on the old road of semicolonialism 
and semi-feudalism, and there would be a rally in Peking 
to welcome Chiang Kai-shek and Eisenhower. Let me repeat, wešll 
never adopt your line! 
Since we moved into the cities, Liang Shu-ming asserts, we have 
ŗforgotten˛ the countryside and it has become a ŗvoid˛. Thatšs an 
attempt to foment discord. In the last three years we have devoted 
our main effort to rural work. It was only this year that we started 
diverting large numbers of leading cadres to urban work, but the bulk 
of our cadres are still working in the counties, districts and townships. 
How can it be asserted that we have forgotten the countryside! 
Liang Shu-ming also accuses our rural work of being ŗbackward˛ 
and our grass-roots cadres of ŗviolating the law and discipline˛. What 
are known as backward townships do exist in the rural areas. But how 
many are there? Only 10 per cent. Why are they backward? Chiefly 
because reactionary elements, enemy gendarmes and agents, heads of 
reactionary secret societies, hooligans and ruffians, landlords and rich 
peasants have wormed their way in, become cadres and usurped the 
power of village governments, and some have even sneaked into the 
Communist Party. These types account for 80 to 90 per cent of the 
cadres guilty of serious violations of the law and of discipline, and 
degenerate cadres make up the rest. Therefore, the main problem in the 
backward townships is to strike at the counter-revolutionaries, but the 
degenerate cadres must be weeded out too. What is the proportion of 
the good and fairly good townships in the country as a whole? Ninety

129 CRITICISM OF LIANG SHU-MINGšS REACTIONARY IDEAS 
per cent. We must have a clear idea about this situation and not be 
fooled by Liang Shu-ming. 
14. Do we reject representations and gloss over errors? If the sort 
of idea advanced by Mr. Liang can be called a ŗrepresentation˛, 
I declare that we do ŗreject representations˛. But we do not gloss over 
errors. We firmly stand for the leadership of the proletariat over all 
and sundry (workers, peasants, industrialists and businessmen, the 
nationalities, democratic parties and peoplešs organizations, industry, 
agriculture, political and military affairs, in short, everything) and for 
both unity and struggle. If you want to sound us out, then this is one 
thing you will learn, a thing which is fundamental in nature. This is no 
trifling matter, is it? 
15. Liang Shu-mingšs problem has significance for the whole country 
and, like the case of Po I-po, should be taken up and discussed by the 
whole Party and the whole nation. Look for typical examples and 
unfold criticism and self-criticism. Let the whole nation discuss the 
general line. 
There are two ways of making criticism: one is by self-criticism 
and the other by criticism. How shall we have it in your case, Liang 
Shu-ming? Will it be self-criticism? No, it will be criticism. 
Our criticism of Liang Shu-ming is not directed against him alone, 
it is through him that we expose the reactionary ideas he represents. 
Reactionary as Liang Shu-ming is, we nevertheless treat his case as 
falling within the scope of ideological remoulding. Whether or not he 
can be remoulded is another question. Most likely he cannot be 
remoulded. It doesnšt matter if he is beyond remoulding, for he is just 
one individual. However, a debate with him is useful. Donšt think that 
we are making a mountain out of a molehill and that it is not worth 
the effort. Our debate with him will help clarify the question. If he 
is at all useful, this is where his usefulness lies. Whatšs the question 
now under debate? Isnšt it that of the general line? To clarify this 
question will be good for all of us. 
NOTES 
1 By advocating ŗa colourless, transparent government˛ Liang Shu-ming was 
preaching that the government should be free of any party or faction coloration 
and should be a ŗcolourless, transparent entity˛ transcending classes.

130 MAO TSETUNG 
2 Mencius, ŗKao Tzu˛, Part I. 
3 This quotation is from the Historical Records, an ancient Chinese historical 
work. Tzu Lu was Confuciusš disciple and attendant. After Tzu Lu became his 
attendant, no adverse opinions ever reached Confucius. 
4 ŗConfuciusš school thrice filled up and thrice emptied˛ is a quotation from 
ŗOn Happy Omens˛ in the Critical Essays by Wang Chung of the Han Dynasty. 
Confucius ran a school in the state of Lu to glorify the reactionary slave system. 
Shaocheng Mao also ran a school, and Confuciusš disciples frequently flocked to hear 
him. As a result, Shaocheng Maošs school was packed while Confuciusš school was 
often empty. 
5 According to the Historical Records, Confucius served as Minister of Justice 
and then as acting Prime Minister of the state of Lu. He put his rival Shaocheng Mao 
to death within three months of assuming the latter post. 
6 Confucian Analects, Book XVI, ŗChi Shih˛.

TWO TALKS ON MUTUAL AID AND 
CO-OPERATION IN AGRICULTURE 
October and November 1953 
I. THE TALK OF OCTOBER 15 
Make a success of the agricultural producersš co-operatives and a big 
expansion of the mutual-aid teams will follow. 
In the new liberated areas every county, whether large, mediumsized 
or small, should set up one or two successful co-operatives this 
winter and next spring after full preparations; there should be at least 
one, on the average one to two and at most three, depending on how 
well the work has been done. Quotas should be allotted. To make the 
quota too big would mean rash advance and to make it too small would 
be a Right deviation. To make the quota optional would be to let things 
drift. Can there be more than three? So long as the co-operatives meet 
the requirements, conform to the regulations and resolutions, are set 
up on a voluntary basis, have strong leading cadres (their two chief 
qualifications being fair-mindedness and competence) and are well run, 
then the more the better, as Han Hsin said about the number of troops 
he could command.1 
The prefectural and county Party committees should be urged to 
make vigorous efforts and do a good job. The rural work departments 
of the Central Committee bureaus and of the provincial and municipal 
Party committees should keep a firm grasp on this matter and make 
it the pivot of their work. 
There should be control figures and an allotment of quotas. Allotment 
without compulsion ‹ this is not commandism. After the October 
Two talks to the responsible members of the Rural Work Department of the 
Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party before and during the Third 
Conference on Mutual Aid and Co-operation in Agriculture, which was convened by 
the Central Committee and held from October 26 to November 5, 1953.

132 MAO TSETUNG 
conference, there are four or five months to go, that is, November and 
December this year, January and February next year, and in the north 
the month of March as well. We give clear notice now that early next 
year another meeting will be called to check up on the work. There will 
definitely be a check-up then to see- how it is getting on. 
Certain minority nationality areas where the agrarian reform has 
not been completed can be exempted from setting up co-operatives. 
The small number of poorly managed counties, for instance, counties 
where backward townships account for 30 to 40 per cent of the total, 
where Party secretaries are incompetent and where the work cannot 
start without leading to trouble, can be exempted for the time being and 
given no quota. Nevertheless, the provincial and prefectural Party committees 
should assume responsibility for helping them to straighten 
things out and to create the conditions for starting the work next winter 
after the autumn harvest. 
The general pattern is to proceed from the mutual-aid team to the 
co-operative, but it is also permissible to try and set up the co-operative 
directly. If you take the direct path and succeed, that will speed up the 
work. So why canšt it be tried? It can. 
The rural work departments at all levels should look upon mutual 
aid and co-operation as a matter of vital importance. Peasants working 
on their own cannot raise production to any great extent, therefore we 
must promote mutual aid and co-operation. If socialism does not occupy 
the rural positions, capitalism inevitably will. Is it possible to take any 
road other than the capitalist or the socialist road? The capitalist road 
can also lead to increased production, but the time required would be 
longer and the course painful. We will not practise capitalism, thatšs 
settled. Yet capitalism is bound to spread unchecked unless we go in 
for socialism. 
The general line, the general programme, industrialization and 
socialist transformation should be discussed at the forthcoming October 
conference. 
Both ŗsustain private property˛ and the ŗfour big freedoms˛2 benefit 
the rich peasants and the well-to-do middle peasants. Why then 
are there relevant stipulations in the law? The law stipulates protection 
of private property, but the word ŗsustain˛ is not in it. Some peasants 
are selling their land now, which is not good, though the law does not 
prohibit it, we should make efforts to prevent them from doing so. 
Setting up co-operatives is the solution. Mutual-aid teams by themselves 
are not enough to stop peasants selling their land, only co-operatives,

133 TALKS ON MUTUAL AID AND CO-OPERATION 
and big ones at that, can do so. Moreover, big co-operatives can 
eliminate the need of some peasants to rent out land, for a big cooperative 
of one or two hundred households can solve the problem by 
taking in households of widows, orphans and others not provided for. 
The question of whether small co-operatives can likewise take in 
a few has to be studied. The mutual-aid teams should also help widows, 
orphans and others not provided for. If you canšt set up a big 
co-operative, try a medium-sized one; if you canšt set up a mediumsized 
co-operative, try a small one. But go for a medium-sized or big 
co-operative wherever possible, and donšt be upset at the sight of a big 
one. A co-operative of one or two hundred households can be counted 
big, but a co-operative of even three or four hundred households is also 
possible. Setting up several sub-co-operatives under a big co-operative 
is an innovation, and it is by no means necessary to dissolve it. Running 
a co-operative well does not mean bringing everything to perfection. 
Absorb all kinds of experience, and donšt impose the same pattern 
everywhere. 
More co-operatives should be established in the old liberated areas. 
But some new liberated areas may set up co-operatives at a faster 
tempo than some old ones. For instance, the central Shensi plain may 
develop faster than northern Shensi, the Chengtu plain faster than 
Fuping and other such places. We must dispel the idea that the new 
liberated areas are destined to go slow. In fact the Northeast is not 
an old liberated area, its southern part not differing much from the new 
liberated areas south of the Great Wall. Kiangsu and the Hangchow- 
Chiahsing-Huchow region will probably overtake the mountainous old 
liberated areas in Shantung and North China, and so they should. 
Generally speaking, the new liberated areas may be allowed more time 
for their work, but in those places where the cadres are strong, the 
population is dense and the terrain level, co-operatives are likely to 
grow fairly quickly once a few models are set up. 
There are now six thousand co-operatives in North China. If the 
figure is to be doubled, quotas can be allotted straight away. If the 
figure is to be tripled, those concerned should be consulted. We 
should allot quotas reasonably and have control figures, otherwise we 
shall be working without clear aims. The Northeast should increase 
its co-operatives by 100, 150 or 200 per cent, and so should North 
China. The control figures should not be too high, so that the localities 
may surpass them. Overfulfilment will greatly enhance peoplešs 
enthusiasm.

134 MAO TSETUNG 
In developing co-operatives, we should strive for quantity, quality 
and economy. By economy we mean no failures; failures are a waste 
of the peasantsš energy, with the bad end-result of losses both politically 
and in the production of grain. Our final objective is to produce more 
grain, cotton, sugar-cane, vegetables, and so on. There will be no way 
out unless grain production is increased, otherwise neither the state nor 
the people will benefit. 
Nor will there be a way out unless more vegetables are produced 
in the suburbs, otherwise neither the state nor the people will benefit. 
Since the outlying districts of the cities have rich soil and flat farmlands 
which moreover are publicly owned, big co-operatives may be set up 
there first. Of course, the work needs to be quite painstaking, and there 
is even less room for sloppiness, because growing vegetables is different 
from growing grain. We must set up pilot co-operatives and guard 
against rash advance. 
To meet the urban demand for vegetables, we cannot rely on 
peasants working on their own to bring their produce to the market. 
Ways must be worked out at the production end as well as by the supply 
and marketing co-operatives. As regards vegetables for the large cities, 
there is a big contradiction between supply and demand at present. 
There are also big contradictions between supply and demand in 
the cases of grain and cotton, and others will soon emerge in the cases of 
meat, fats and edible oils. Demand is growing fast and cannot be met. 
To resolve the contradiction between supply and demand, it is 
necessary to resolve the contradiction between ownership and the productive 
forces. Should ownership be individual or collective? Capitalist 
ownership or socialist ownership? Abundant supplies and the relations 
of production under individual ownership are utterly incompatible 
with each other. There must be a transition from individual ownership 
to collective ownership, to socialism. There are elementary co-operatives 
where land is pooled as shares, and there are advanced co-operatives 
in which land is owned in common, that is, by the co-operative. 
In a sense the purpose of the general line is the solution of the 
problem of ownership. State ownership is to be expanded by building 
new state enterprises and renovating and enlarging old ones. The two 
kinds of private ownership, that of the working people and that of the 
bourgeoisie, are to be changed respectively into collective ownership 
and state ownership (integration into socialism through joint stateprivate 
management). Only thus can the productive forces be expanded 
and Chinašs industrialization accomplished. Only when the productive

135 TALKS ON MUTUAL AID AND CO-OPERATION 
forces have developed can the contradiction between supply and 
demand be resolved. 
II. THE TALK OF NOVEMBER 4 
Whatever we do must accord with reality, otherwise it is wrong. 
In order to do what accords with reality we must consider what is 
imperative and what is possible, and what is possible depends on 
political and economic conditions and the cadre situation. At present, 
it is at once imperative and possible to develop agricultural producersš 
co-operatives, for which there is a great potential. Failure to tap this 
potential means to mark time and make no advance. Our legs are for 
walking, and it is wrong to stand still all the time. It is not right to force 
the dissolution of co-operatives which meet the requirements, this is 
wrong no matter what the circumstances. The campaign to ŗcheck 
impetuosity and rash advance˛ was a gust of wind, wasnšt it? As it 
blew from above, it brought down a number of agricultural producersš 
co-operatives that should have survived. An investigation should be 
made about such co-operatives, the findings made known and the 
mistake admitted, otherwise the township cadres and activists in those 
places will have pent-up grievances. 
We must work for socialism. ŗSustain private property˛ is a bourgeois 
concept. ŗTo be together all day long and never talk about fundamentals 
but take pleasure only in giving small favours ‹ indeed itšs 
a hopeless case!˛ ŗNever talk about fundamentals˛ means never talking 
about socialism, never working for socialism. Agricultural credits, 
relief grain, taxation according to fixed rates, tax reduction and exemption 
according to law, small-scale water conservancy projects, wells and 
canals, deep ploughing and close planting, proper application of fertilizer, 
popularization of new-type walking ploughs, water-wheels, sprayers, 
insecticides, etc. ‹ all these things are fine. But to do all this on the 
basis of the small peasant economy instead of by relying on socialism 
is to give the peasants small favours. Once these fine things are linked 
to the general line and to socialism, the case will be different, and they 
will no longer be small favours. We must work for socialism and link 
these fine things with it. As for ŗsustain private property˛ and the 
ŗfour big freedoms˛, there is all the more reason to call them small 
favours, and besides, they are favours to the rich and well-to-do middle

136 MAO TSETUNG 
peasants. To lay onešs hopes for greatly increased grain production 
and for a solution of the food problem and of the all-important problem 
of the nationšs economy and the peoplešs livelihood not on socialism but 
on making much of the small peasant economy and on giving small 
favours on the basis of the individual economy ‹ ŗindeed itšs a hopeless 
case˛! 
As an old saying goes, ŗOnce the headrope of a fishing net is pulled 
up, all its meshes open.˛ It is only by taking hold of the key link that 
everything else will fall into its proper place. The key link means the 
main theme. The contradiction between socialism and capitalism and 
the gradual resolution of this contradiction ‹ that is the main theme, 
the key link. Grasp this key link, and all kinds of political and economic 
work to help the peasants will fall under it. 
There are contradictions both inside and outside the agricultural 
producersš co-operatives. The present co-operatives are semi-socialist, 
whereas peasants working on their own outside the co-operatives are 
entirely under the system of private ownership. Hence there is a contradiction 
between the two. The mutual-aid teams are different from the 
agricultural producersš co-operatives in that the former engage only 
in collective labour and do not affect ownership. The present-day 
co-operatives are built on the basis of private ownership, with privately 
owned land, draught animals and large farm implements pooled as 
shares. Hence there is also a contradiction inside the co-operatives 
between the socialist factors and private ownership, a contradiction 
which must gradually be resolved. In the future, when our present-day 
semi-public, semi-private ownership advances to collective ownership, 
this contradiction will be resolved. We are taking steady steps, moving 
first from mutual-aid teams which contain rudiments of socialism to 
semi-socialist and later to fully socialist co-operatives (which we still call 
agricultural producersš co-operatives, not collective farms). Generally 
speaking, the mutual-aid teams remain the foundation of the agricultural 
producersš co-operatives. 
At one time, no mention was made of mutual aid and co-operation 
in several of our documents, and to all of them I added words to the 
effect that mutual aid and co-operation were to be developed or that 
necessary and feasible political and economic work was to be done. 
Some people wanted to make much of the small peasant economy, and 
this was why they concentrated on opposing excessive meddling with 
the peasants. True, there was some excessive meddling at that time. 
The ŗfive excesses˛ from higher up were rammed through various

137 TALKS ON MUTUAL AID AND CO-OPERATION 
channels down to the lower levels, causing a lot of trouble. The ŗfive 
excesses˛ should never be tolerated, whether in the villages, factories 
or army units. The Central Committee has issued several documents 
to combat excessive meddling, and this has done some good. What 
is meant by excessive meddling? Drawing up subjective plans at 
variance with reality and regardless of what is imperative and possible, 
or carrying out plans, even realistic ones, by means of commandism. 
Subjectivism and commandism are always bad and will be so even ten 
thousand years hence. They are bad for the scattered small peasant 
economy and no less so for the co-operatives. But to do what is both 
imperative and possible and moreover do it by means other than commandism 
‹ this cannot be called excessive meddling. The above ought 
to be the yardstick when reviewing our work. Whatever is subjectivist 
and unrealistic is wrong. Whatever is done through commandism is 
likewise wrong. To mark time and make no advance is a deviation to the 
Right; to go beyond what is practicable is a deviation to the ŗLeft˛. 
Both are manifestations of subjectivism. Rash advance is wrong, failure 
to set up co-operatives when they can be set up is also wrong, and forcible 
dissolution of co-operatives even worse. 
ŗLife is hard in the villages, all is not well and the measures 
adopted do not suit the small peasant economy.˛ Such complaints exist 
inside as well as outside the Party. True, life is a bit hard in the villages, 
but we ought to make a proper analysis. In fact, life is not all 
that hard, the grain-deficient households account for only 10 per cent 
or so, and half of them are those of widows, orphans and other people 
without a provider, who are in great difficulty for lack of labour-power, 
but the mutual-aid teams and the co-operatives can give them some 
help. After all, things are much better for them than in Kuomintang 
days, and land has been distributed to them. Life is indeed hard for 
people in areas stricken by natural calamities, but they have received 
relief grain. The life of the peasants in general is good and is getting 
better; that is why 80 to 90 per cent of them feel happy and support 
the government. About 7 per cent of the rural population, the landlords 
and rich peasants, are dissatisfied with the government. ŗLife is hard 
in the villages, and things are terrible there˛ ‹ certainly this has not 
been my view. Some people speak of the scattered nature as well as the 
hardships of the villages, that is, the scattered nature of the small 
peasant economy; but in doing so, they fail to mention forming 
co-operatives. To carry out the socialist transformation of the individual 
economy, to promote mutual aid and co-operation and to set up

138 MAO TSETUNG 
co-operatives ‹ this is not merely the direction to take but the immediate 
task before us. 
But for the Conference on Financial and Economic Work held in 
July and August, the question of the general line would have remained 
unsettled for many comrades. The aim of that conference was mainly to 
settle this question. We criticized Po I-po precisely for his mistake in 
departing from the general line. In short, the general line means the 
gradual accomplishment of the socialist industrialization of our country 
and of the socialist transformation of agriculture, handicrafts and 
capitalist industry and commerce. The planned purchase and supply of 
grain recently put into effect has given a big impetus to socialism. The 
present Conference on Mutual Aid and Co-operation, coming shortly 
after as it does, will give it another big impetus. In view of the fact 
that the campaign for mutual aid and co-operation has been held back for 
the better part of this year, the present conference should be more active 
in this respect. But our policies must be made clear. It is very important 
to make our policies known. 
ŗActive leadership and steady development˛ ‹ this is well put. 
The campaign has been held back for the better part of this year and 
has marked time without making any advance. This is not quite right. 
However, there is a positive side to it. It is like fighting battles. After 
each battle there should be time for rest and consolidation before 
starting the next. The trouble is that in some places too many of our 
positions have been given up, while in others it has not been a matter 
of giving up too many positions but failure to develop where development 
was possible and failure to allow any development or give it 
approval so that it became illegal. In this world it often happens that 
many new-born things which are correct are considered illegal. We 
ourselves were ŗillegal˛ in the past while the Kuomintang was ŗlegal˛. 
But these illegal co-operatives have held on to this day and are doing 
quite well. Can you still withhold recognition? You have to admit that 
they are legal, after all they have won out. 
The conference has discussed active leadership and steady development, 
but you should anticipate some troubles. You may talk about 
being active and steady, and yet in practice you may fail to give active 
leadership or achieve steady development. Being active and steady 
entails setting control figures, assigning tasks and then checking whether 
they are fulfilled. Failure to fulfil what can be fulfilled is impermissible, 
it shows a lack of enthusiasm for socialism. According to the findings of 
our check-up, 5 to 10 per cent of the co-operatives have shown a drop

139 TALKS ON MUTUAL AID AND CO-OPERATION 
in output and are not doing so well. This is due to lack of active leadership. 
Of course, it is inevitable that a few co-operatives should show 
a fall in production because of poor management. However, if 20 per 
cent of the co-operatives, or even more, were to show a fall in production, 
that would be quite a problem. 
The general line means a gradual change in the relations of production. 
According to Stalin, the system of ownership is the basis of the 
relations of production.3 Comrades must have a clear understanding of 
this point. At present, both private ownership and socialist public 
ownership are legal, but private ownership will gradually become illegal. 
To ŗsustain private ownership˛ of three mou of land and practise the 
ŗfour big freedoms˛ is to facilitate the growth of a small number of rich 
peasants and follow the capitalist road. 
County and district cadres must gradually switch their work to 
mutual aid and co-operation in agricultural production, to the promotion 
of socialism. If they are not working for socialism, what are they 
working for? For the individual economy? Secretaries of county and 
district Party committees must look upon working for socialism as a 
matter of major importance. Party secretaries must take charge, and 
I am the secretary of the Central Committee. Secretaries of the Central 
Committee bureaus, secretaries of the provincial, prefectural, county 
and district Party committees and secretaries at all levels must take 
charge and attend to the job in person. At present, the Central Committee 
is devoting 70 to 80 per cent of its efforts to the socialist transformation 
of agriculture. Similarly, to transform capitalist industry and 
commerce is also to work for socialism. Comrades of the rural work departments 
at all levels and all those present at this conference must become 
experts in the socialist transformation of agriculture and well 
versed in theory, line, policy and method. 
To provide the cities with vegetables depends chiefly on planned 
supply. There are dense populations in the large and rising cities, and 
how can they possibly manage without vegetables? This problem must 
be solved. If it is not possible to ensure the production and supply of 
vegetables by setting up mutual-aid teams in the suburban areas, you 
can bypass that stage and set up semi-socialist or even fully socialist 
co-operatives. This question needs going into. 
A plan for the development of the producersš co-operatives has been 
put forward. Over 32,000 co-operatives are to be set up this winter and 
next spring and right up to the time of the autumn harvest. By 1957, the 
number will have reached 700,000. But a sudden increase at one time

140 MAO TSETUNG 
or another should be expected, and the number of co-operatives may 
rise to a million, or perhaps more. In short, set up co-operatives in large 
numbers and manage them well, give active leadership and achieve 
steady development. 
This conference has been fruitful. If we had not held it and waited 
till next January, it would have been too late, and this winter would 
have slipped by. We shall hold another conference on March 26 next 
year and check up on how our plan has been carried out. It is a good 
idea for this conference to fix the date of the next meeting and to decide 
that it will review the implementation of the resolution adopted here. 
Next autumn we shall hold still another conference to discuss and decide 
on the tasks for the following winter. 
NOTES 
1 Han Hsin was a leading general under Liu Pang, first emperor of the Han 
Dynasty. According to the Historical Records, Liu Pang once asked Han Hsin how 
many troops he could command. ŗThe more the better,˛ he answered. 
2 See p. 224 below. 
3 J. V. Stalin, ŗDialectical and Historical Materialism˛.

ON THE DRAFT CONSTITUTION 
OF THE PEOPLEšS REPUBLIC OF CHINA 
June 14, 1954 
This Draft Constitution obviously has popular support. From the 
discussions by more than five hundred people in Peking and by activists 
from various circles in the provinces and municipalities, that is, from 
the extensive discussions by over eight thousand people representative 
of the whole country, we can tell that the preliminary text was quite 
good and won general approval and support. At todayšs session many 
have also spoken in approval. 
Why organize these extensive discussions? There are several advantages. 
First, will what has been worked out by the few meet the 
approval of the many? The discussions indicate that there is general approval 
of the main provisions and the basic principles of the preliminary 
text. All that is sound in the preliminary text has been retained. The 
fact that the ideas of a few leaders have won the approval of several 
thousand people shows that these ideas are well grounded, suitable and 
feasible. This gives us confidence. Second, in the discussions over 5,900 
suggestions (not including queries) have been collected. They are of 
three kinds. The first consists of suggestions that are incorrect. The 
second consists of suggestions that are not so much wrong as unsuitable 
and that had better not be adopted. If they are not going to be adopted, 
why collect them? Does it do any good to collect these suggestions? Yes, 
it does. It enables us to know that such views about the constitution 
exist among the eight thousand people and to make comparisons. The 
third consists of those suggestions that have been adopted. These are of 
course very good and necessary. But for these suggestions, the preliminary 
text, although basically sound, would have remained imperfect, 
faulty and not well thought out. The draft in its present form may still 
Speech at the Thirtieth Session of the Central Peoplešs Government Council. 
141

142 MAO TSETUNG 
have faults and imperfections, and we shall have to ask the people 
throughout the country for their opinions. As far as we can tell now, 
this draft is relatively free from imperfections, and that is the result of 
adopting rational suggestions. 
Why has the Draft Constitution won popular support? I think one 
reason is that in drafting it we adopted the method of integrating the 
ideas of the leading body with those of the masses. This Draft Constitution 
combines the ideas of a few leaders with those of more than 
eight thousand people and, after publication, it will be discussed by 
the entire nation so that the ideas of the Central Committee will be 
integrated with those of the whole people. This is the way to integrate 
the leadership with the masses and with the large numbers of activists. 
We adopted this method in the past, and we shall do so in future. It 
should be used in all important legislation. By this method we have now 
produced a Draft Constitution which is fairly good and relatively free 
from imperfections. 
Why do all of you here and the vast numbers of activists support 
the Draft Constitution and find it satisfactory? There are two main 
reasons: one is that it sums up the experience of the past and the other is 
that it combines principle with flexibility. 
First, it sums up the experience of the past, especially that in our 
revolution and construction over the last five years. It sums up our 
experience in the peoplešs revolution led by the proletariat against imperialism, 
feudalism and bureaucrat-capitalism as well as our experience 
in social reform, economic construction, cultural construction and 
government work over the last few years. Besides, it sums up the 
experience in constitution-making since the last years of the Ching 
Dynasty, that is, from the Nineteen Constitutional Articles1 in the 
final days of the Ching Dynasty to the Provisional Constitution of the 
Republic of China2 in 1912, the various constitutions and draft constitutions 
under the governments of the Northern warlords,3 the Provisional 
Constitution of the Republic of China in the Period Under Political 
Tutelage of the reactionary Chiang Kai-shek regime and right up to 
Chiang Kai-shekšs bogus constitution. One of these was positive in 
nature and the others negative. Thus the Provisional Constitution of the 
Republic of China in 1912 was a fairly good one for its time. Of course 
it had its imperfections and faults and was bourgeois in nature, but 
there was something revolutionary and democratic about it. It was concise 
and is said to have been drafted in haste, taking only a month from 
the time of its framing to its adoption. As for the other constitutions and

143 ON THE DRAFT CONSTITUTION OF PEOPLEšS REPUBLIC OF CHINA 
draft constitutions, they were altogether reactionary. This Draft Constitution 
of ours is chiefly a summing-up of our experience in revolution 
and construction, but at the same time it is a synthesis of domestic and 
international experience. Our constitution is of a socialist type. It is 
based mainly on our own experience but has drawn upon what is good 
in the constitutions of the Soviet Union and the Peoplešs Democracies. 
Speaking of constitutions, the bourgeoisie was the forerunner. The bourgeoisie, 
whether in Britain, France or the United States, was revolutionary 
for a period, and it was during this period that the bourgeoisie 
began making constitutions. We should not write off bourgeois democracy 
with one stroke of the pen and deny bourgeois constitutions a 
place in history. All the same, present-day bourgeois constitutions are 
no good at all, they are bad, particularly the constitutions of the imperialist 
countries, which are designed to deceive and oppress the 
majority of the people. Our constitution is of a new, socialist type, 
different from any of the bourgeois type. It is far more progressive than 
the constitutions of the bourgeoisie even in its revolutionary period. 
We are superior to the bourgeoisie. 
Second, our Draft Constitution combines principle with flexibility.- 
There are two basic principles, the principle of democracy and the 
principle of socialism. Our democracy is not bourgeois democracy but 
peoplešs democracy, that is, a peoplešs democratic dictatorship led by 
the proletariat and based on the worker-peasant alliance. The principle 
of peoplešs democracy runs through the whole constitution. The other 
principle is that of socialism. Socialism already exists in our country 
today. The constitution stipulates that socialist transformation must beaccomplished 
and the socialist industrialization of the country realized.- 
Thatšs our principle. To carry out this principle of socialism, are we to 
put socialism into practice overnight in every sphere throughout the 
country? This might seem very revolutionary, but for lack of flexibility 
it just wonšt work, it will meet with opposition and end in failure. So, 
what cannot be done for the moment must be given time to be done 
gradually. For instance, state capitalism, as stipulated, is to be put into 
practice gradually. It takes various forms, not just that of joint stateprivate 
management. Note the words ŗgradually˛ and ŗvarious˛. That 
is to say, state capitalism in various forms is to be put into practice 
gradually so as to attain socialist ownership by the whole people. 
Socialist ownership by the whole people is the principle, but in order to 
realize this principle we should combine it with flexibility. And flexibility 
means state capitalism, which takes not one but ŗvarious˛ forms, and

MAO TSE-TUNG 
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COMMERCIAL 
DISTRIBUTION 
144 
which is to be realized not overnight but ŗgradually˛. That makes for 
flexibility. We write into our constitution what is feasible now and 
exclude what is not. Let us take for instance the material guarantees 
for civil rights. They will certainly expand when production grows in 
future, but the wording in the constitution is only ŗgradually expand˛. 
This, too, means flexibility. Take another instance, the united front. 
This was written into the Common Programme. And now it is again 
written into the Preamble to the Draft Constitution. It is necessary to 
have a ŗbroad peoplešs democratic united front composed of all democratic 
classes, democratic parties and groups, and peoplešs organizations˛. 
This will serve to reassure the various social strata, the national 
bourgeoisie and the democratic parties as well as the peasants and 
urban petty bourgeoisie. And then there is the question of the minority 
nationalities, which has both its generality and its particularity. The 
general provisions in the constitution apply to its generality and the 
particular provisions to its particularity. The minority nationalities have 
characteristics of their own politically, economically and culturally. 
What are the characteristics of their economy? To cite one example. 
Article 5 of our Draft Constitution states that four forms of ownership 
of the means of production exist in the Peoplešs Republic of China. In 
fact, there are other forms of ownership in our minority nationality 
areas. Does primitive communal ownership still exist in our country? 
Išm afraid it does among some minority nationalities. Similarly, slave 
ownership and feudal ownership still exist. From a contemporary standpoint 
the slave system, the feudal system and the capitalist system are 
all bad, but historically they were more progressive than the primitive 
communal system. These systems were progressive at first but not later 
on and were therefore supplanted in their turn. Article 70 of our Draft 
Constitution stipulates that the minority nationality areas ŗmay, in the 
light of the political, economic and cultural characteristics of the 
nationality or nationalities in a given area, make regulations on the 
exercise of autonomy as well as specific regulations˛. All these are 
instances of the integration of principle and flexibility. 
This Draft Constitution has won general praise and support 
precisely for these two reasons: it correctly and properly sums up past 
experience, and it correctly and properly integrates principle and 
flexibility. Otherwise, I donšt think people would praise and support it. 
It is entirely possible and it is necessary to put this Draft Constitution 
into force. Of course, it is still a draft today, but a few months from 
now, after it has been approved by the National Peoplešs Congress, it

145 ON THE DRAFT CONSTITUTION OF PEOPLEšS REPUBLIC OF CHINA 
will be the formal constitution. We should be getting ready now 
to enforce it. Once it is approved, the whole nation, one and all, should 
observe it. State personnel particularly, and in the first place those present 
here, should take the lead in observing it. To fail to observe the 
constitution is to violate it. 
When promulgated, our Draft Constitution will win the unanimous 
support of the whole people and enhance their enthusiasm. An organization 
must have rules, and so must a state. A constitution is a set of 
general rules, it is the fundamental law. To codify the principles of 
peoplešs democracy and socialism in the form of a fundamental law, in 
the form of the constitution, so that there will be a clear course before 
the people of the whole country and they will feel sure they have a clear, 
definite and correct path to follow ‹ this will heighten their enthusiasm. 
Will this Draft Constitution produce an impact on the world when 
it is promulgated? Yes, it will, both on the democratic camp and on the 
capitalist countries. People in the democratic camp will be glad to see 
that we have charted a clear, definite and correct path. They will be glad 
because we Chinese are glad. The oppressed and exploited people in 
the capitalist countries will also be glad when they come to know about 
it. Of course there are some who will not be pleased, neither the imperialists 
nor Chiang Kai-shek will. Do you think Chiang Kai-shek will 
be happy? I say you know without asking him that he wonšt. We know 
Chiang Kai-shek only too well, he will definitely be against it. And 
President Eisenhower will not be happy either, he will say itšs no good. 
They will say that this constitution of ours has charted a clear and definite 
but very bad path, a wrong path, and that socialism and peoplešs 
democracy are blunders. Nor will they approve of our flexibility. What 
they would like best would be for us to conjure up socialism overnight 
and make a mess of everything. That would make them really happy. 
Also, they wonšt like China having a united front, they want us to play 
ŗa one-party game˛. Our constitution has national characteristics but 
at the same time has an international character; itšs a national and also 
an international phenomenon. Many nations are oppressed by imperialism 
and feudalism, as we were once, and they are a majority of 
the worldšs population. It will be helpful to the people of these countries 
that we have a revolutionary constitution, a peoplešs democratic 
constitution, and a clear, definite and correct path. 
Our general objective is to strive to build a great socialist country. 
Ours is a big country of 600 million people. How long will it really take 
to accomplish socialist industrialization and the socialist transformation

146 MAO TSETUNG 
and mechanization of agriculture and make China a great socialist 
country? We wonšt set a rigid time-limit now. It will probably take a 
period of three five-year plans, or fifteen years, to lay the foundation. 
Will China then become a great country? Not necessarily. I think for 
us to build a great socialist country, about fifty years, or ten five-year 
plans, will probably be enough. By then China will be in good shape and 
quite different from what it is now. What can we make at present? We 
can make tables and chairs, teacups and teapots, we can grow grain and 
grind it into flour, and we can make paper. But we canšt make a single 
motor car, plane, tank or tractor. So we mustnšt brag and be cocky. Of 
course I donšt mean we can become cocky when we turn out our first 
car, more cocky when we make ten cars, and still more cocky when we 
make more and more cars. That wonšt do. Even after fifty years, when 
our country is in good shape, we should remain as modest as we are now. 
If by then we should become conceited and look down on others, 
it would be bad. We mustnšt be conceited even a hundred years from 
now. We must never be cocky. 
This constitution of ours is of a socialist type, but it is not yet a completely 
socialist constitution. It is a constitution for the transition period. 
We must now unite the people of the whole country and unite all the 
forces that can and should be united in the struggle to build a great socialist 
country. And the constitution has been drawn up specifically for 
this purpose. 
Finally, a word by way of explanation. Some say that it is out of 
exceptional modesty on the part of certain individuals that some articles 
have been deleted from the Draft Constitution. This is not the way to 
put it. It is not out of modesty but because inclusion of these articles 
would be improper, unjustifiable and unscientific. In a peoplešs democratic 
state like ours such improper articles ought not to be written into 
the constitution. We have not omitted, out of modesty, what ought to 
have been included. With science, modesty or immodesty is not the 
issue. Constitution-making is a matter of science. We must believe in 
science and nothing else, that is to say, we must not have blind faith in 
anything. What is right is right and what is wrong is wrong, whether it 
concerns the Chinese or foreigners, whether it concerns the dead or the 
living. To believe otherwise is blind faith. We must do away with blind 
faith. We should believe in what is correct and not in what is incorrect, 
be it ancient or modern. Not only that, we should criticize what is incorrect. 
This alone is the scientific approach.

147 ON THE DRAFT CONSTITUTION OF PEOPLEšS REPUBLIC OF CHINA 
NOTES 
1 This refers to the Nineteen Constitutional Articles promulgated by the Ching 
government in November 1911. 
2 The Provisional Constitution of the Republic of China was promulgated by 
Dr. Sun Yat-sen when he took office as Provisional President of the Republic of China 
after the 1911 Revolution. 
3 These refer to the Yuan Shih-kai governmentšs Temple of Heaven Draft 
Constitution of 1913 and its Provisional Constitution of 1914, the Tsao Kun governmentšs 
Constitution of 1923 and Tuan Chi-juišs provisional governmentšs Draft Constitution 
of 1925.

STRIVE TO BUILD 
A GREAT SOCIALIST COUNTRY 
September 15, 1954 
Fellow Deputies, 
The First Session of the First National Peoplešs Congress of the 
Peoplešs Republic of China opens today in our capital, Peking. 
The total number of deputies is 1,226, of whom 1,211 have registered 
for attendance and 15 were unable to register on account of illness or 
for other reasons and asked for leave of absence; 70 who registered 
cannot take part today on account of illness or for other reasons. The 
actual number of deputies present at todayšs meeting is 1,141, which 
constitutes a quorum. 
The First Session of the First National Peoplešs Congress of the 
Peoplešs Republic of China is charged with important tasks. 
The tasks of the present session are: 
To adopt a constitution; 
To enact a number of important laws; 
To adopt the report on the work of the government; and 
To elect the new leading personnel of the state. 
Our present session is of great and historic significance. It is a 
milestone marking the new victories and advances of our people since 
the founding of our Peoplešs Republic in 1949. The constitution to be 
adopted at this session will tremendously promote the socialist cause 
in our country. 
Our general task is to unite the whole people and win the support 
of all our friends abroad in the struggle to build a great socialist 
country, defend world peace and advance the cause of human progress. 
The people of our country should work hard, do their best to draw 
on advanced experience in the Soviet Union and other fraternal coun- 
Opening address at the First Session of the First National Peoplešs Congress of 
the Peoplešs Republic of China. 
148

149 STRIVE TO BUILD A GREAT SOCIALIST COUNTRY 
tries, be honest and industrious, encourage and help each other, guard 
against boastfulness and arrogance and gird themselves to build our 
country, which is at present economically and culturally backward, 
into a great industrialized country with a high standard of modern 
culture in the course of several five-year plans. 
Ours is a just cause. A just cause is invincible before any enemy. 
The force at the core leading our cause forward is the Chinese 
Communist Party. 
The theoretical basis guiding our thinking is Marxism-Leninism. 
We are fully confident that we can overcome all difficulties and 
hardships and make our country a great socialist republic. 
We are advancing. 
We are now engaged in a great and most glorious cause, never 
undertaken by our forefathers. 
Our goal must be attained. 
Our goal can unquestionably be attained. 
Let all the 600 million people of our country unite and strive for 
our common cause! 
Long live our great motherland!

LETTER CONCERNING THE STUDY OF 
THE DREAM OF THE RED CHAMBER 
October 16, 1954 
Enclosed are two articles refuting Yu Ping-po. Please read them. 
It is the first time in over thirty years that a serious attack has been 
levelled against the erroneous views of the so-called authorities on 
The Dream of the Red Chamber. The authors are two Youth League 
members. At first they wrote to the Literary Gazette to ask whether 
it was all right to criticize Yu Ping-po, but they were ignored. In the 
circumstances, they were obliged to write to their teacher at Shantung 
University, their alma mater, and they received support. Their article 
refuting ŗAn Essay on The Dream of the Red Chamber˛ was published 
in the university journal Literature, History and Philosophy. Then the 
matter came up again in Peking. It was suggested that the Peoplešs 
Daily reprint the article in order to start a debate and carry on the 
criticism. This, too, came to naught because certain persons objected 
for a variety of reasons (the main ones being that it was ŗan article 
written by nobodies˛ and that ŗthe Party paper is not a platform for 
free debate˛). In the end a compromise was reached and the article 
was allowed to be reprinted in the Literary Gazette. Later, the ŗLiterary 
Legacy˛ page of the Kuangming Daily carried another article by the 
two young men refuting Yu Ping-pošs book, Studies on ŗThe Dream of 
the Red Chamber˛. It seems that a struggle may now be able to get 
under way against the Hu Shih school of bourgeois idealism in the field 
of classical literature, which has poisoned the minds of the young for 
more than thirty years. The whole thing has been set going by two 
ŗnobodies˛, while the ŗbigwigs˛ have ignored and obstructed it as is 
their wont; they go in for a united front with bourgeois writers on the 
question of idealism and become willing captives of the bourgeoisie. 
Letter to the comrades of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the 
Chinese Communist Party and other comrades concerned. 
150

151 LETTER CONCERNING STUDY OF THE DREAM OF THE RED CHAMBER 
The case is almost the same as with the films Inside Story of the Ching 
Court1 and The Life of Wu Hsun when they were shown. Inside Story 
of the Ching Court, which has been described by certain people as a 
film of patriotism but is in fact one of national betrayal, has never been 
criticized since it was shown all over the country. The Life of Wu Hsun 
has been criticized, but up to now no lessons have been drawn; what 
is more, such strange things have happened as tolerating Yu Ping-pošs 
idealism while suppressing the lively critical essays by the ŗnobodies˛. 
This deserves our attention. 
Towards such bourgeois intellectuals as Yu Ping-po, our attitude 
should naturally be one of uniting with them, but we should criticize 
their erroneous ideas which poison the minds of the young, and we 
certainly should not surrender to them. 
NOTES 
1 Inside Story of the Ching Court was a reactionary film which vilified the patriotic 
Yi Ho Tuan Movement of 1900 and preached capitulation to imperialism. This film 
of national betrayal was extolled by Liu Shao-chi as one of ŗpatriotism˛.

THE CHINESE PEOPLE 
CANNOT BE COWED BY THE ATOM BOMB 
January 28, 1955 
China and Finland are friendly countries. Our relations are based 
on the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence. 
China and Finland have never come into conflict. In the past, 
Chinašs wars with European countries were only with Britain, France, 
Germany, tsarist Russia, Italy, the Austro-Hungarian Empire and 
Holland; these countries all came from afar to commit aggressions 
against China, as in the invasions by the Anglo-French allied forces and 
by the allied forces of the eight powers, including the United States 
and Japan. Sixteen countries took part in the war of aggression against 
Korea, including Turkey and Luxembourg. All these aggressor countries 
claimed to be peace-loving while branding Korea and China as 
aggressors. 
Today, the danger of a world war and the threats to China come 
mainly from the warmongers in the United States. They have occupied 
our Taiwan and the Taiwan Straits and are contemplating an atomic 
war. We have two principles: first, we donšt want war; second, we 
will strike back resolutely if anyone invades us. This is what we teach 
the members of the Communist Party and the whole nation. The 
Chinese people are not to be cowed by U.S. atomic blackmail. Our 
country has a population of 600 million and an area of 9,600,000 
square kilometres. The United States cannot annihilate the Chinese 
nation with its small stack of atom bombs. Even if the U.S. atom bombs 
were so powerful that, when dropped on China, they would make 
a hole right through the earth, or even blow it up, that would hardly 
mean anything to the universe as a whole, though it might be a major 
event for the solar system. 
Main points of a conversation with Ambassador Carl-Johan (Cay) Sundstrom, the 
first Finnish envoy to China, when he presented his credentials. 
152

153 CHINESE PEOPLE CANNOT BE COWED BY ATOM BOMB 
We have an expression, millet plus rifles. In the case of the United 
States, it is planes plus the A-bomb. However, if the United States 
with its planes plus the A-bomb is to launch a war of aggression 
against China, then China with its millet plus rifles is sure to emerge 
the victor. The people of the whole world will support us. As a 
result of World War I, the tsar, the landlords and the capitalists in 
Russia were wiped out; as a result of World War II, Chiang Kai-shek 
and the landlords were overthrown in China and the East European 
countries and a number of countries in Asia were liberated. Should 
the United States launch a third world war and supposing it lasted 
eight or ten years, the result would be the elimination of the ruling 
classes in the United States, Britain and the other accomplice countries 
and the transformation of most of the world into countries led by 
Communist Parties. World wars end not in favour of the warmongers 
but in favour of the Communist Parties and the revolutionary people 
in all lands. If the warmongers are to make war, then they mustnšt 
blame us for making revolution or engaging in ŗsubversive activities˛, 
as they keep saying all the time. If they desist from war, they can 
survive a little longer on this earth. But the sooner they make war, 
the sooner they will be wiped from the face of the earth. Then a 
peoplešs united nations would be set up, maybe in Shanghai, maybe 
somewhere in Europe, or it might be set up again in New York, 
provided the U.S. warmongers had been wiped out.

SPEECHES AT THE NATIONAL CONFERENCE OF 
THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF CHINA 
March 1955 
OPENING SPEECH 
March 21, 1955 
Comrade Delegates to the National Conference of the Communist 
Party of China, 
There are three items on the agenda of our present National 
Conference: (1) the First Five-Year Plan for the Development of the 
National Economy and a report on this plan; (2) a report on the anti- 
Party alliance of Kao Kang and Jao Shu-shih; and (3) the establishment 
of a central control commission. 
Basing itself on Leninšs teachings on the transition period, the 
Central Committee summed up the experience gained after the founding 
of the Peoplešs Republic of China and in 1952 put forward the 
Partyšs general line for the transition period at the time when the stage 
of the rehabilitation of Chinašs national economy was coming to an 
end. This general line means the accomplishment step by step of the 
socialist industrialization of the country together with the socialist 
transformation of agriculture, handicrafts and capitalist industry and 
commerce in a period of roughly three five-year plans and thus the 
attainment of the goal of building a socialist society in China. Practice 
has borne out the correctness of the Partyšs general line and of the 
important policies and measures adopted to implement it. There have 
been great achievements in our work thanks to the efforts of all comrades 
in the Party and of the people of the whole country. But there have 
also been shortcomings and mistakes. It is impossible for many of the 
measures we devised to be appropriate in all respects, and they have 
154

155 SPEECHES AT PARTY NATIONAL CONFERENCE 
to be supplemented and revised in the light of new experience in the 
process of being carried out. 
The First Five-Year Plan for the Development of the National 
Economy is a major step towards the realization of the Partyšs general 
line. The present National Conference should discuss this draft plan 
conscientiously in the light of our practical experience so as to make 
it relatively sound in content and therefore workable. 
It is no easy job to build a socialist society in a large country like 
ours with its complicated conditions and its formerly very backward 
economy. We may be able to build a socialist society over three fiveyear 
plans, but to build a strong, highly industrialized socialist country 
will require several decades of hard work, say, fifty years, or the entire 
second half of the present century. Our task requires us to handle the 
relations among the people well, particularly those between the working 
class and the peasantry; it requires us to handle the relations among 
our different nationalities well. At the same time, it requires us to do 
a good job in furthering close co-operation with the Soviet Union, 
which is a great and advanced socialist country, and with the Peoplešs 
Democracies and also to promote co-operation with all the peace-loving 
countries and people in the capitalist world. 
We often say that we should not become conceited because we have 
done well in our work and that we comrades should remain modest 
and learn from the advanced countries, from the masses and from each 
other so as to make fewer mistakes. I think all this still needs to be 
repeated at the present Party conference. We can see from the anti- 
Party case of Kao Kang and Jao Shu-shih that conceit and complacency 
do exist in our Party and indeed to a serious extent among certain 
comrades. Failure to overcome them will hinder the accomplishment 
of our great task of building a socialist society. 
As you comrades all know, the emergence of the anti-Party alliance 
of Kao Kang and Jao Shu-shih was by no means accidental, but was 
an acute manifestation of the intense class struggle in our country at 
the present stage. The criminal aim of this anti-Party alliance was to 
split our Party and seize supreme power in the Party and the state by 
conspiratorial means, and thus pave the way for a counter-revolutionary 
come-back. Under the unified leadership of the Central Committee, 
our Party has smashed the anti-Party alliance and become still more 
united and consolidated. This is an important victory in our struggle 
for the cause of socialism.

156 MAO TSETUNG 
The case of Kao Kang and Jao Shu-shih serves as an important 
lesson for our Party, and all the members should take warning and 
make sure that similar cases will not recur in the Party. Kao Kang and 
Jao Shu-shih schemed and conspired, operated clandestinely in the 
Party and surreptitiously sowed dissension among comrades, but in 
public they put up a front to camouflage their activities. These were 
precisely the kind of vile activities the landlord class and the bourgeoisie 
usually resorted to in the past. In the Manifesto of the Communist 
Party Marx and Engels say, ŗThe Communists disdain to conceal their 
views and aims.˛ As Communists, let alone as senior Party cadres, 
we must all be open and above-board politically, always ready to 
express our political views openly and take a stand, for or against, on 
each and every important political issue. We must never follow the 
example of Kao Kang and Jao Shu-shih and resort to scheming. 
For the purpose of building a socialist society, the Central Committee 
deems it necessary at this juncture to set up a central control 
commission in accordance with the Party Constitution to replace the 
old Discipline Inspection Commission. Its aim is to tighten Party 
discipline in the new period of intense class struggle, step up the struggle 
against all kinds of violations of the law and of discipline and in particular 
guard against the recurrence of cases like the Kao-Jao anti-Party 
alliance which seriously jeopardizes the interests of the Party. 
In view of the various lessons of the past and the fact that only 
through being integrated with collective wisdom can individual wisdom 
be turned to better account so that fewer mistakes are made in our 
work, the Central Committee and the Party committees at all levels 
must adhere to the principle of collective leadership and continue to 
oppose two deviations, personal dictatorship and decentralism. We 
must understand that collective leadership and personal responsibility 
are two aspects which are not opposed but are linked to each other. 
And personal responsibility and personal dictatorship, which violates 
the principle of collective leadership, are two entirely different things. 
Internationally, conditions at present are favourable to our socialist 
construction. The socialist camp headed by the Soviet Union is strong 
and its ranks are united, while the imperialist camp is weak and beset 
by numerous insurmountable contradictions and crises. Even so, we 
should realize that we are still surrounded by imperialist forces and 
must be prepared against all possible emergencies. If the imperialists 
should unleash a war in the future, very likely they would launch

157 SPEECHES AT PARTY NATIONAL CONFERENCE 
a surprise attack, as in World War II. Therefore, we must be prepared, 
mentally and materially, to avoid being caught unawares by such 
a sudden turn. This is one aspect of the matter. The other aspect is that 
the remaining counter-revolutionary forces inside the country are still 
very active, and, basing ourselves on the facts, we must deal them more 
blows in a planned and discriminating way so as to further weaken these 
hidden counter-revolutionaries and ensure the safety of our socialist 
construction. If we take proper measures with regard to these two 
aspects, we can prevent our enemies from doing us serious harm; 
otherwise, we may make mistakes. 
Comrades, we are now in a new historical period. For a country 
in the Orient with a population of 600 million to make socialist 
revolution, to change its face and the course of its history, to accomplish 
its basic industrialization and the socialist transformation of agriculture, 
handicrafts and capitalist industry and commerce in a period of roughly 
three five-year plans and to catch up with or surpass the most powerful 
capitalist countries in the world in several decades ‹ in doing all this 
it will inevitably encounter difficulties as numerous as or perhaps even 
greater than those encountered in the period of the democratic revolution. 
Nevertheless, comrades, we Communists are known for our 
dauntlessness before difficulties. Tactically, we must take all difficulties 
seriously. We must adopt a serious attitude towards each specific 
difficulty, create the necessary conditions, study the methods for coping 
with them and overcome them one by one and batch by batch. Our 
experience over the past decades shows that we did succeed in overcoming 
every difficulty encountered. Every kind of difficulty has to 
give way before Communists, just as in the saying, ŗMountains bow 
their heads and rivers make way.˛ The lesson derived from this is that 
we can scorn difficulties. Here we are talking of strategy, of the situation 
as a whole. However great the difficulty, we can readily take its 
measure. Difficulties are nothing but what both our enemies in society 
and Nature put in our way. We know that the imperialists, the 
domestic counter-revolutionaries, their agents in our Party, and so on, 
are mere moribund forces, while we ourselves constitute the new-born 
forces with truth on our side. Against them we are always invincible. 
A review of our history will enable us to see the point. When our Party 
was first founded in 1921, it was very small and had only a few score 
members, yet later it grew in strength and succeeded in overthrowing 
its powerful domestic enemy. Nature as an enemy can be conquered,

158 MAO TSETUNG 
too. In Nature as in society, all new-born forces are intrinsically 
invincible. Conversely, all the old forces, however numerous, are bound 
to be eliminated. Therefore, we can and must scorn all the difficulties 
we encounter in this world, however immense they may be, and regard 
them as beneath contempt. Such is our optimism. It is based on scientific 
grounds. Provided that we know more about Marxism-Leninism and 
the natural sciences, in short, more about the laws of the objective 
world and make fewer mistakes of a subjectivist kind, we are sure to 
attain our goals in revolution and construction. 
CONCLUDING SPEECH 
March 31, 1955 
Comrades, 
The speeches from the floor have ended. Now Išll say a few words 
on the following questions: an evaluation of the present conference, the 
Five-Year Plan, the case of Kao Kang and Jao Shu-shih, the current 
situation, and the Eighth Congress. 
1. EVALUATION OF THE PRESENT CONFERENCE 
Most comrades agree that the conference has been a great success 
and that it has been another rectification meeting, following the 
rectification of the Yenan days. Democracy has been promoted and 
criticism and self-criticism carried out, which has enabled us to 
know each other better, think more along the same lines and arrive at 
a common understanding. There was common understanding among 
us, but on some questions opinions differed, and this conference has 
enabled us to unify our understanding. Our Party will be better united 
on this basis, that is, on the basis of our common understanding of 
ideology, politics and various policies. As Comrade Chou En-lai put 
it, if the Seventh National Congress of the Party and the all-Party ideological 
and political rectification in the period preceding it laid the 
foundation of our Partyšs ideological unity, a unity on which we proceeded 
to win victory in the democratic revolution against imperialism,

159 SPEECHES AT PARTY NATIONAL CONFERENCE 
feudalism and bureaucrat-capitalism, then the present conference will 
enable us to win victory for socialism. 
This conference has proved that our Party has attained a much 
higher level. Our Party has made great strides not only since the 
Seventh Congress ten years ago, but also since the Second and Third 
Plenary Sessions of the Seventh Central Committee in 1949 and 1950. 
This is good, the conference indicates our progress. 
We have entered a period, a new period in our history, in which 
what we have set ourselves to do, think about and dig into is socialist 
industrialization, socialist transformation and the modernization of our 
national defence, and we are beginning to do the same thing with 
atomic energy. So far as the Party as a whole is concerned, some 
comrades are digging deep into their jobs while others are not, and 
this is true of the comrades present at this conference. As is the case 
with doctors, some can perform operations, others canšt. Some can give 
intravenous injections while others canšt and know only how to give 
subcutaneous injections. And there are doctors who donšt dare to go 
beneath the skin and can work only on the surface. Although some 
are not digging into their jobs, most comrades are, and quite a few seem 
to have learned their trade and are becoming rather expert at it. This 
has been borne out at this conference and is a very good thing. For we 
are now confronted with new problems, socialist industrialization, 
socialist transformation, a new defence system and other new fields 
of work. It is our task to adapt ourselves to this new situation, dig into 
our jobs and become experts. It is therefore necessary to educate those 
who have failed to dig into their jobs and remained on the surface, so 
that they will all turn into experts. 
The struggle against the anti-Party alliance of Kao Kang and Jao 
Shu-shih will take our Party a big step forward. 
We must propagate dialectical materialism among the five million 
intellectuals inside and outside the Party and among cadres at all levels 
so that they will grasp it and combat idealism, and we shall then be 
able to organize a powerful corps of theoretical workers, which we 
urgently need. That again will be a very good thing. 
We must draw up a plan for the formation of such a corps with 
several million people taking up the study of dialectical materialism 
and historical materialism, the theoretical basis of Marxism, and 
combating all shades of idealism and mechanical materialism. At 
present there are many cadres doing theoretical work, but there is still 
no corps of theoretical workers, much less a powerful one. Without

160 MAO TSETUNG 
such a corps, the cause of the entire Party, the socialist industrialization 
and socialist transformation of our country, the modernization of our 
national defence and our research in atomic energy cannot move along 
or succeed. I therefore recommend that you comrades read philosophy. 
Quite a few people are not interested in philosophy and have not 
cultivated the habit of reading it. They can begin by reading pamphlets 
or short articles and, after their interest is thus aroused, tackle books 
running to a length of seventy thousand or eighty thousand and then 
even several hundred thousand words. Marxism consists of several 
branches of learning: Marxist philosophy, Marxist economics and 
Marxist socialism, that is, the theory of class struggle, but the foundation 
is Marxist philosophy. If this is not grasped, we will not have 
a common language or any common method, and we may keep on 
arguing back and forth without making things any clearer. Once 
dialectical materialism is grasped, a lot of trouble will be saved and 
many mistakes avoided. 
2. ON THE FIRST FIVE-YEAR PLAN 
Comrades say that during the discussion of the Five-Year Plan 
most speeches were good and they all feel satisfied with them. Some 
speeches were exceptionally good, for the speakers gave thorough 
expositions and sounded rather like experts. But some of the speeches 
delivered on behalf of the central departments were rather poor in 
content and left something to be desired in the way of analysis and 
criticism. The same holds for some of the speeches by comrades from 
different localities. Then there is something else. In certain speeches the 
grave problem of waste and other errors were exposed for what they 
are, but nothing was said about ways to tackle them. Some comrades 
are dissatisfied with these speeches. I think there is cause for such 
dissatisfaction. 
I hope that all secretaries of provincial, municipal and prefectural 
Party committees and the comrades in charge of the central departments 
will strive to become expert in political and economic work on the 
basis of a higher level of Marxism-Leninism. They must do well both 
in political and ideological work and in economic construction. As for 
the latter, we must really get to know how to do it. 
In regard to the many problems submitted by the local authorities 
at this conference to the central authorities for solution, efforts should

161 SPEECHES AT PARTY NATIONAL CONFERENCE 
be made to solve them in those cases where guidelines have been laid 
down by the Central Committee. As for the other problems, the 
secretariat of the conference should work out solutions with the 
comrades who raised them and submit reports to the Central Committee 
for decision. 
Then there are also many matters in which the central departments 
would like to enlist the co-operation of the local authorities. The local 
Party committees are requested to supervise and help the enterprises 
of the central departments in different localities, particularly in regard 
to political and ideological work. It is incumbent upon the local Party 
committees to help these enterprises to fulfil their tasks. Therefore, not 
only do the local authorities have demands on the central authorities, 
but the same is true the other way round. The First Five-Year Plan 
can be successfully carried out only when the central departments and 
the local Party committees bend their efforts in a single direction and 
work in co-operation with a due division of labour. 
3. ON THE ANTI-PARTY ALLIANCE OF 
KAO KANG AND JAO SHU-SHIH 
The first point. Some ask, ŗWas there or was there not such an 
alliance? Were there perhaps two independent kingdoms or two 
go-it-alone firms, and not an alliance?˛ Some comrades say that they 
have not come across any document and that if Kao and Jao had an 
alliance, there must be some kind of agreement, and an agreement 
must be in black and white. To be sure, there is no written agreement, 
itšs nowhere to be found. We say Kao Kang and Jao Shu-shih did have 
an alliance. How did we find this out? First, we found it out when 
Kao Kang worked hand in glove with Jao Shu-shih during the Conference 
on Financial and Economic Work. Second, we found it out when 
Jao Shu-shih collaborated with Chang Hsiu-shan in their anti-Party 
activities during the Conference on Organizational Work. Third, we 
found it out from Jao Shu-shihšs own words. He said, ŗFrom now on 
Kuo Feng will serve as the pivot of the Organization Department of 
the Central Committee.˛ Jao Shu-shih was director of the Organization 
Department and Kuo Feng, Kao Kangšs confidant, was to be the pivot 
there. Very fine! What perfect unity! Fourth, we found it out when Kao 
Kang and Jao Shu-shih spread far and wide a list of prospective 
Political Bureau members illicitly drawn up by An Tzu-wen. For this 
An Tzu-wen was given disciplinary warning. Kao Kang, Jao Shu-shih

162 MAO TSETUNG 
and others spread this list to all those attending the Conference on 
Organizational Work and even had it circulated in the southern 
provinces. What was their motive in giving it such wide currency? 
Fifth, we found it out when Kao Kang twice expressed to me his wish 
to have Jao Shu-shih protected, while Jao Shu-shih went on protecting 
Kao Kang right up to the end. Kao Kang said that Jao Shu-shih was 
now in hot water and wanted me to help him out. Why, I asked, are you 
speaking for him? Išm in Peking and so is Jao Shu-shih. Why does he 
want you to speak for him and not come to me direct? Even if he were 
in Tibet, he could send a telegram. He is right here in Peking and hešs 
got legs. The other occasion was the day before Kao Kang was exposed, 
and he tried once more to protect Jao Shu-shih. Jao Shu-shih persisted 
to the end in protecting Kao Kang and wanted to redress the ŗinjustices˛ 
done to Kao Kang. At an enlarged meeting of the Political 
Bureau of the Central Committee to expose Kao Kang, I said there 
were two headquarters in Peking. The first headed by me stirred up 
an open wind and lit an open fire. The second headed by others stirred 
up a sinister wind and lit a sinister fire; it was operating underground. 
Did political leadership come from one or more sources? Judged by 
the many facts mentioned above, they did have an anti-Party alliance 
and were not two independent kingdoms or two go-it-alone firms 
which had nothing to do with each other. 
Now about the doubts expressed by some comrades to the effect 
that since there was no written agreement, perhaps there wasnšt an 
alliance after all. This is putting anti-Party alliances knocked together 
by schemers on a par with open and formal political and economic 
alliances in general and regarding the two as of the same kind. They 
were conspiring. Does a conspiracy need a written agreement? If no 
written agreement means no alliance, then how about each of the two 
anti-Party cliques headed separately by Kao Kang and Jao Shu-shih? 
Kao Kang didnšt sign any covenant with Chang Hsiu-shan, Chang 
Ming-yuan, Chao Teh-tsun, Ma Hung and Kuo Feng who were in his 
clique. Anyway we have not seen any written agreement of theirs. 
Then is the existence of this anti-Party clique, too, to be denied? 
Neither have we seen any covenant signed by Jao Shu-shih with Hsiang 
Ming and Yang Fan. So it is wrong to say that no alliance can exist 
without a written agreement. 
The second point. What should be the attitude of comrades who 
fell under the influence of Kao and Jao and of those who did not? 
Those who did were influenced in varying degrees. Some were in

163 SPEECHES AT PARTY NATIONAL CONFERENCE 
fluenced in a general way, Kao and Jao brushed them with their wings. 
A few comrades were deeply influenced, they talked over many things 
with Kao and Jao, carried on clandestine activities and spread their 
views. There is a difference between these two categories of people. 
But whatever the degree of such influence, most comrades have made 
their attitude clear at this conference. Some were very good in their 
attitude and this was welcomed by all. Some others were fairly good 
in their attitude and this was welcomed by most of the comrades, 
though what they said was not free from shortcomings. Some didnšt go 
far enough but have followed up with supplementary remarks today. 
Some speeches were good on the whole, but had parts that were not 
quite right. In any case, all of them have more or less indicated where 
they stand, and we should welcome that. After all they have done 
something to make their positions clear. A few comrades who wanted 
to speak but didnšt for lack of time can send in written reports to the 
Central Committee. With those who have not spoken the problem is not 
serious, they just got grazed and were privy to some of the doings 
of Kao and Jao but failed to reveal them. As for those who have 
spoken, arenšt there some who are still holding something back? Well, 
let it now be decided that comrades can get back their speeches and 
reports for revision, whether they were on the Five-Year Plan or on 
the anti-Party alliance of Kao and Jao. These comrades may go over 
their wording carefully and have five days to change whatever they 
had said inadequately or not quite correctly. Donšt get a handle on 
anyone to make things hard for him in the future merely because he 
said something not quite right at this conference. You are allowed to 
make corrections and your revised text will be taken as final. 
We should take this attitude towards these comrades, that is, we 
should not only observe but also help them, in the hope that they will 
correct their mistakes. In other words, we should not only observe them 
to see whether they are going to correct their mistakes but also help 
them to do so. Everybody needs help. With all its beauty the lotus needs 
the green of its leaves to set it off. A fence needs the support of three 
stakes, an able fellow needs the help of three other people. To go it 
alone is no good, and help from others is always necessary. And this is 
all the more necessary on the matter in question. It is necessary to 
observe these people, to see whether they are going to mend their ways. 
But merely to observe them is passive, it is also necessary to give them 
help. As for those comrades who fell under the influence of Kao and 
Jao, regardless of the extent, we should be glad to see them mend

164 MAO TSETUNG 
their ways and should not only observe but also help them. Such is the 
positive attitude towards comrades who have made mistakes. 
Comrades who did not come under their influence should not become 
conceited but should guard against this sort of disease. This is extremely 
important. Among the comrades mentioned earlier, probably some were 
duped and others rather deeply involved. But having made mistakes, 
these comrades may become more or less alert and avoid similar 
mistakes in future. You become immune to some diseases after having 
them. Vaccination has a preventive effect. But it is not a sure guarantee 
and you may still get smallpox. Therefore it is better to have another 
vaccination ‹ in our case another meeting of the present kind ‹ after 
a lapse of three or five years. Other comrades should not be conceited, 
but should guard against making mistakes. Why didnšt Kao Kang 
and Jao Shu-shih approach these people? There are several categories. 
The first category consists of those they regarded as their enemies, and 
naturally they would not try to influence them. The second consists 
of those they looked down upon as of no consequence, and they felt 
no need to influence them at this stage, thinking that these people would 
automatically come over when the ŗcountry was well under control˛. 
The third category consists of those they did not dare to approach, 
probably because these people were better immunized and didnšt look 
like the sort of people they wanted; although they didnšt regard them 
as enemies or as of no consequence, nevertheless they did not dare to 
approach them. The fourth category consists of those they hadnšt had 
time to influence. This sort of plague takes time to spread. Defer the 
exposure for another year and you canšt be sure that some more might 
not have become infected. So donšt play the braggart and say, ŗLook, 
havenšt you got smirched? But see how clean I am!˛ If the exposure 
had been put off for another year, I dare say quite a few people would 
have been affected. 
The above, I believe, should arouse the attention of both the comrades 
who fell under the influence of Kao and Jao and those who 
did not. 
The third point. On matters of principle, we should constantly be 
on our guard and keep a certain distance from comrades when their 
remarks or actions run counter to Party principles. Whenever their 
remarks and actions do run counter to Party principles and repel us, 
we should not identify ourselves with them on such matters and in 
such circumstances. As for their remarks and actions which conform 
to Party principles, on such matters as the Five-Year Plan, the resolu

165 SPEECHES AT PARTY NATIONAL CONFERENCE 
tion and report on the anti-Party alliance of Kao and Jao, our correct 
policies and Party rules and regulations, we should of course give 
them strong backing and identify ourselves with them. We should 
keep a certain distance from whatever is inconsistent with Party 
principles, in other words, we should draw a clear line of demarcation 
and rebuff it then and there. We should not fail to keep this distance 
merely because someone is an old friend, an old superior, an old 
subordinate, an old colleague, a schoolmate or a fellow townsman. We 
have repeatedly had this experience in the current anti-Party case of 
Kao and Jao and in the previous two-line struggles in the Party: when 
on account of an old and intimate relationship with certain people you 
find it difficult to speak out and fail to keep a certain distance, give any 
rebuff and draw a clear line of demarcation, youšll find yourself more 
and more deeply involved and haunted by their ŗghosts˛. Therefore 
we must take a stand and adhere to principle. 
The fourth point. Some comrades say, ŗWe knew of some of the 
bad deeds of Kao and Jao, but did not discern their plot.˛ I would 
say there are two categories. First, there are those who heard Kao and 
Jao say many things which were against Party principles, and furthermore 
Kao and Jao consulted with them on some of their anti-Party 
activities. These people should have discerned their plot. Second, there 
are those who learned of their bad deeds in a general way but did not 
realize they had a plot. These people are not to blame, for it was 
not easy to discern. It was only in 1953 that the Central Committee 
detected their anti-Party conspiracy. After what happened at the 
Conferences on Financial and Economic Work and on Organizational 
Work and after all the goings-on prior to the Conference on Financial 
and Economic Work, we realized that they were not behaving normally. 
During the Conference on Financial and Economic Work their unusual 
activities were discovered and on each occasion they were rebuked. 
So from then on they switched over completely to undercover activities. 
It was not until the autumn and winter of 1953 that we detected this 
conspiracy, the conspirators and the cliques. For quite some time we 
had no idea that Kao Kang and Jao Shu-shih were bad types. This 
kind of thing had happened before. During the Chingkang Mountains 
period there were a few renegades, and we never suspected that they 
would betray the revolution. Very likely you have all had similar 
experiences. 
We should draw a lesson here: Donšt be misled by false appearances. 
Some of our comrades are easily misled by them. There is contradiction

166 MAO TSETUNG 
between appearance and essence in everything. It is by analysing and 
studying the appearance of a thing that people come to know its 
essence. Hence the need for science. Otherwise, if one could get at the 
essence of a thing by intuition, what would be the use of science? 
What would be the use of study? Study is called for precisely because 
there is contradiction between appearance and essence. There is a 
difference, though, between the appearance and the false appearance 
of a thing, because the latter is false. Hence we draw the lesson: Try 
as far as possible not to be misled by false appearances. 
The fifth point. The danger of conceit. Donšt play the braggart. 
Our cause depends on the many for its success and the few play only 
a limited role. While the few, that is, the leaders and cadres, play a 
role that should be recognized, it is not a role of signal importance. 
The role of signal importance is played by the masses. The correct 
relationship between the cadres and the masses is such that, necessary 
as the cadres are, it is the masses who do the actual work, with the 
cadres giving leadership, a role which should not be exaggerated. 
Would things be in a mess without you? Things can get along without 
you, as history and many facts of life can testify. Have things been in 
a mess, say, without Kao Kang and Jao Shu-shih? Well, things are 
going quite well, arenšt they? Without Trotsky, without Chang Kuotao, 
without Chen Tu-hsiu, things have gone quite well, too. They were 
all bad characters. Confucius has been dead for ages and today we 
have a Communist Party in China, which is surely wiser than Confucius; 
this goes to show that we can do better without Confucius. 
As for good people, they are not indispensable either. Would the earth 
stop turning without them? The earth will go on turning all the same. 
Things will proceed as usual or perhaps even better. 
We have two kinds of people. The first are the veterans, and many 
of you here are high in seniority; the second are the new blood, the 
young people. Which of the two holds out greater promise? Certainly 
the new blood, as Comrade Chou En-lai said today. Some comrades 
are swollen with pride just because they are veterans of the revolution. 
This is quite unwarranted. If allowance is to be made for being proud 
of oneself, it is rather the young people who have something to be 
proud of. As for people over forty or fifty, the older they are and the 
more experience they have, the more modest they should be. Leave it 
to the young people to realize that we are really experienced: ŗThese 
veterans do have some experience. We should not underrate them.

167 SPEECHES AT PARTY NATIONAL CONFERENCE 
Look, how modest they are!˛ If people over forty or fifty became 
conceited in spite of their rich experience, what sorry figures they 
would cut! That would start the young talking, ŗAll your experience 
is nothing, you are behaving just like kids.˛ Young kids may like to 
show off a bit, thatšs understandable. But for people who are getting 
on in years and have so much experience behind them to be conceited 
and so cocky, thatšs quite uncalled for. As the saying goes, ŗBehave 
yourself and tuck your tail between your legs.˛ Human beings have 
no tails, but why talk about tucking the tail between the legs? Let a 
dog illustrate our point. There are times when a dog sticks its tail up 
and there are times when it tucks its tail between its legs. Generally, 
it tucks its tail between its legs when beaten and sticks its tail up when 
doing fine. I hope all our comrades, and veteran comrades most of all, 
will, so to speak, tuck their tails between their legs rather than stick 
them up, guard against conceit and rashness, always remain modest 
and keep forging ahead. 
The sixth point. Guard against ŗLeft˛ and Right deviations. Some 
people say, ŗIt is better to be on the ŒLeftš than on the Right,˛ a remark 
repeated by many comrades. In fact, there are many who say to themselves 
that ŗIt is better to be on the Right than on the ŒLeftš˛, but they 
donšt say it aloud. Only those who are honest say so openly. So there 
are these two opinions. What is ŗLeft˛? To move far ahead of the 
times, to outpace current developments, to be rash in action and in 
matters of principle and policy and to hit out indiscriminately in struggles 
and controversies ‹ these are ŗLeft˛ deviations and are no good. 
To fall behind the times, to fail to keep pace with current developments 
and to be lacking in militancy ‹ these are Right deviations and are 
no good either. In our Party there are people who prefer to be on the 
ŗLeft˛, and then there are also quite a few who prefer to be on the 
Right or to take a position right of centre. Neither is good. We must 
wage a struggle on both fronts, combating both ŗLeft˛ and Right 
deviations. 
Thatšs all I want to say about the anti-Party alliance of Kao Kang 
and Jao Shu-shih. 
4. ON THE CURRENT SITUATION 
How do things stand with respect to the international situation, the 
situation at home and that in the Party? Which is predominant ‹ the

168 MAO TSETUNG 
bright side or the dark? It must be affirmed that the bright side predominates 
over the dark whether internationally, at home or in the 
Party. Likewise with our conference. Donšt think that everything is 
dark merely because so many people have made a self-criticism. These 
comrades laid the emphasis on their shortcomings and mistakes and 
did not touch on their positive points, leaving out such things as the 
time when they joined the revolution, the battles they won and the 
successes they achieved in their work. If you judge by their self-criticism 
alone, then there is nothing but darkness. In fact this is only one side 
of the story and for many comrades the secondary one. The case is 
different with Kao Kang and Jao Shu-shih and their five lieutenants, 
Chang Hsiu-shan, Chang Ming-yuan, Chao Teh-tsun, Ma Hung and 
Kuo Feng. The estimate that the bright side is predominant cannot 
apply to them. What predominant bright side is there in Kao Kangšs 
case? There is darkness through and through, a mass of murkiness 
which neither moonlight nor sunlight can penetrate. Things are quite 
different with our comrades. They are stained with a few dark spots 
which can be removed by the repeated use of soap. 
Why do we call for preparedness against a sudden turn of events, 
against a counter-revolutionary come-back and against the recurrence 
of an incident of the Kao-Jao kind? Because we have nothing to lose 
if we are prepared for the worst. Whatever work we do, we must 
envisage the worst possibilities and plan accordingly. The worst that 
might happen can only be the following: a new world war unleashed 
by the imperialists, Chiang Kai-shek back in the saddle in Peking, 
and the recurrence of such incidents as the Kao-Jao anti-Party alliance, 
and what is more, not just one of these events may occur but as many 
as ten or even a hundred. But whatever their number, as long as we 
are prepared beforehand there is no cause for alarm. If ten happen, 
that means only five pair and there is nothing to make a fuss about 
since we have anticipated them all. Imperialism brandishes its atom 
bomb and hydrogen bomb to scare us and that doesnšt frighten us 
either. The world is so constituted that there is always one thing to 
conquer another. When one thing is used for attack, there is bound to 
be another to conquer it. If you read the novel Apotheosis of Heroes,1 
you will know that there is no such thing as an invincible ŗmagic 
weapon˛. Hosts of ŗmagic weapons˛ have in fact been defeated. We 
believe that so long as we rely on the people there is no invincible 
ŗmagic weapon˛ in this world.

169 SPEECHES AT PARTY NATIONAL CONFERENCE 
5. STRIVE FOR THE SUCCESSFUL CONVOCATION OF THE 
EIGHTH NATIONAL CONGRESS OF THE PARTY 
The Central Committee has decided to convene the Eighth National 
Congress of the Party in the second half of 1956. There will be 
three items on the agenda: (1) a report on the work of the Central 
Committee; (2) the revision of the Party Constitution; and (3) the 
election of a new Central Committee. The election of delegates and 
the preparation of documents should be completed before July next 
year. We call for a big step forward within a little over a year in all 
fields of work: the economy, culture and education, military affairs, 
the Party, politics and ideology, mass organizations, the united front 
and the minority nationalities. 
In passing, a few words about minority nationality work. We must 
combat Han chauvinism. Donšt get the idea that it is the Han nationality 
that has been helping the minority nationalities. In fact, the 
minority nationalities have been helping the Han nationality a great 
deal. Some comrades like to brag about the help given to the minority 
nationalities, but they donšt realize that we canšt do without the 
minority nationalities. Who is it that inhabits 50 to 60 per cent of our 
territory, the Hans or the other nationalities? The minority nationalities. 
Rich resources and hidden wealth abound in these areas. Till now 
we have given the minority nationalities little help and in some places 
no help at all, whereas the minority nationalities have rendered help 
to the Hans. Some minority nationalities, however, must have our help 
first before they can help us. Politically the minority nationalities have 
given the Han nationality big help; their participation in the community 
of the Chinese nation constitutes political help to the Han nationality. 
The people of the whole country are pleased that the minority nationalities 
and the Hans are united. So the minority nationalities have been 
a great help politically, economically and in national defence to the 
whole country, the whole Chinese nation. It is wrong to think that 
only the Hans have helped the minority nationalities while the minority 
nationalities have not helped the Hans, or to swell with pride over the 
little help given to the minority nationalities. 
When we say that a big step forward must be taken in all fields 
within a year, we mean that the shortcomings and mistakes exposed 
must be remedied. Donšt just make promises at this conference and 
leave these shortcomings and mistakes intact and uncorrected when

170 MAO TSETUNG 
the Eighth Congress is convened next year. What we mean by striving 
for the convocation of the Eighth Congress is precisely to have our 
shortcomings and mistakes remedied. For instance, we must make conscientious 
efforts to do away with extravagance and waste and the 
big-roof style of architecture. Donšt make promises here and the 
moment you are home, stretch out and go to sleep. 
Some people suggest that a conference of this kind should be held 
either annually or every other year so that there can be mutual 
supervision among comrades. I think the suggestion is worth considering. 
Who is to exercise supervision over people like us? Mutual 
supervision is a good idea, it will promote the rapid progress of the 
cause of the Party and the state. We need rapid progress, not slow. 
We havenšt had a Party congress for ten years. Of course, in the first 
five years it would not have been right to call another congress because 
the war was going on with all its stresses and strains and because the 
Seventh Congress had met. During the second five years a congress 
could have been held but it wasnšt. Still something was gained by not 
convening it. It was better to get to the bottom of the case of Kao and 
Jao before the congress, or otherwise they would have made full use 
of the Eighth Congress for their own ends. In the meantime, our Five- 
Year Plan is well under way, we have put forward the general line for 
the transition period and through this conference we have achieved 
greater unity in thinking, thus paving the way for the Eighth National 
Congress of the Party. While not every delegate will be required to 
make a self-criticism at the forthcoming congress, there should be open 
criticism and self-criticism of shortcomings and mistakes in our work. 
It is wrong not to apply this Marxist principle. 
Criticism should be sharp. I donšt find the criticism made by some 
comrades at this conference very sharp; they seem to be afraid of 
offending others. If you are not sharp enough, if the sting doesnšt reach 
home, the person criticized will not feel any pain and take any heed. 
Identify by name the person and the department involved. You have 
done a poor job and I am not satisfied, and if you feel offended, so be 
it. Fear of offending others is only fear of losing votes and of an uneasy 
relationship in work. Will I lose my rice-bowl if you donšt vote for me? 
Nothing of the kind. Actually, if you speak your mind and lay the 
issues on the table sharply, youšll find it easier to get along with others. 
Donšt draw in your horns. Why does an ox have two horns? They are 
for fighting, for self-defence and attack. I often ask comrades if they 
have ŗhorns˛ on their heads. Comrades, touch and feel if you have

171 SPEECHES AT PARTY NATIONAL CONFERENCE 
any. I can see some comrades have horns, some have horns but not 
very sharp ones, and others have no horns at all. In my opinion, it is 
better to have them, for that goes well with Marxism. One of the 
tenets of Marxism is criticism and self-criticism. 
So to hold meetings at regular intervals for conducting criticism 
and self-criticism is a good measure for exercising mutual supervision 
among comrades and promoting the rapid progress of the cause of the 
Party and the state. I suggest that you comrades of the provincial and 
municipal Party committees think it over and see if you can do likewise. 
You want to follow the example of the Central Committee, 
donšt you? I think on this score you can. 
Finally, I call on you comrades here and all Party members: 
Strive for the successful convocation of the Eighth National 
Congress of the Party in 1956! 
Strive for the successful fulfilment of the First Five-Year Plan! 
NOTES 
1 A Chinese mythological novel with the conflict between the ancient states of 
Shang and Chou as background.

IN REFUTATION OF 
ŗUNIFORMITY OF PUBLIC OPINION˛ 
May 24, 1955 
What Hu Feng calls ŗuniformity of public opinion˛ actually means 
that counter-revolutionaries are not allowed to express counterrevolutionary 
views. Indeed this is true, our system does deprive all 
counter-revolutionaries of freedom of speech and allows this freedom 
only among the people. We allow opinions to be varied among the 
people, that is, there is freedom to criticize, to express different views 
and to advocate theism or atheism (i.e., materialism). In any society and 
at any time, there are always two kinds of people and views, the 
advanced and the backward, that exist as opposites struggling with each 
other, with the advanced views invariably prevailing over the backward 
ones; it is neither possible nor right to have ŗuniformity of public 
opinion˛. Society can progress only if what is advanced is given full play 
and prevails over what is backward. But in an era in which classes and 
class struggle still exist both at home and abroad, the working class and 
the masses who have seized state power must suppress the resistance to 
the revolution put up by all counter-revolutionary classes, groups and 
individuals, thwart their activities aimed at restoration and prohibit 
them from exploiting freedom of speech for counter-revolutionary purposes. 
Thus Hu Feng and counter-revolutionaries of his kind find ŗuniformity 
of public opinion˛ inconvenient for them. Their inconvenience 
is exactly what we want and is exactly what is convenient for us. Public 
opinion in our country is at once uniform and non-uniform. Among the 
people, both the advanced and the backward are free to use our 
newspapers, periodicals, forums, etc. to compete with each other, so that 
the former can educate the latter by the democratic method of persuasion 
and backward ideas and systems can be overcome. When a contradic- 
Article criticizing the counter-revolutionary Hu Feng clique. 
172

173 REFUTATION OF ŗUNIFORMITY OF PUBLIC OPINION˛ 
tion is resolved, new contradictions emerge, and competition takes 
place again. In this way, society constantly progresses. The existence 
of contradictions means non-uniformity. The resolution of contradictions 
results in temporary uniformity, but new contradictions soon 
emerge, which means non-uniformity, and they, in turn, have to be 
resolved. As for the contradiction between the people and the counterrevolutionaries, 
that is a matter of dictatorship over the counterrevolutionaries 
by the people under the leadership of the working class 
and the Communist Party. Here the dictatorial, not the democratic, 
method is used; in other words, the counter-revolutionaries must 
behave themselves and are not allowed to be unruly in word or deed. 
In this respect, it is not only public opinion that is uniform, but the 
law too. On this question, the arguments of Hu Feng and other 
counter-revolutionaries may seem plausible, and on hearing such 
counter-revolutionary remarks some muddleheads feel themselves 
somewhat in the wrong. Well, you see, ŗuniformity of public opinion˛, 
or ŗabsence of public opinion˛, or ŗsuppression of freedom˛ ‹ donšt 
they sound awful? These people cannot distinguish clearly between 
two different categories, between what is within the ranks of the 
people and what is without. Within the ranks of the people, it is 
criminal to suppress freedom, to suppress the peoplešs criticism of the 
shortcomings and mistakes of the Party and the government or to 
suppress free discussion in academic circles. This is our system. 
However, all this is legitimate in capitalist countries. Outside the 
ranks of the people, it is criminal to allow counter-revolutionaries to 
be unruly in word or deed and it is legitimate to exercise dictatorship 
over them. This is our system. The opposite is true of capitalist countries, 
where the bourgeoisie exercises a dictatorship under which 
revolutionary people are not allowed to be ŗunruly in word or deed˛ 
but must ŗbehave themselves˛. Exploiters and counter-revolutionaries 
are always and everywhere in the minority while the exploited and 
revolutionaries are invariably in the majority. Therefore, dictatorship 
by the latter is perfectly right, while dictatorship by the former is 
invariably wrong. Hu Feng also said, ŗThe great majority of readers 
belong to some organization where the atmosphere is coercive.˛ Among 
the people, we reject the coercive method of commandism and adhere 
to the democratic method of persuasion; here the atmosphere should 
be free, ŗcoercion˛ is wrong. ŗThe great majority of readers belong 
to some organization˛ ‹ this is excellent. In thousands of years 
nothing like this had ever happened. It was only after the Communist

174 MAO TSETUNG 
Party led the people in waging a long and arduous struggle that they 
were able to change to being united from being like loose sand, a 
condition which favoured the reactionariesš exploitation and oppression, 
and that the people achieved this great unity among themselves 
within a few years after victory in the revolution. By ŗcoercion˛ 
Hu Feng means our coercing those on the side of counter-revolution. 
Yes, they tremble with fear, feeling ŗlike the miserable daughter-in-law 
always afraid of being beaten˛, or worrying that ŗa mere cough is 
being recorded˛. We consider this excellent too. Nothing like this had 
ever happened in thousands of years either. Only after the Communist 
Party led the people through a long and arduous struggle were these 
scoundrels made to feel so uncomfortable. In a word, the day of joy 
for the people is a day of woe for the counter-revolutionaries. This, 
above all, is what we celebrate each year when National Day comes 
around. Hu Feng also said, ŗWhen it comes to literature and art, 
mechanism is really the easiest thing.˛ Here ŗmechanism˛ is a 
derogatory term for dialectical materialism, and to call it ŗthe easiest 
thing˛ is sheer nonsense. Idealism and metaphysics are the easiest 
things in the world, because, being neither based on objective reality 
nor submitted to its test, they permit people to talk as much nonsense 
as they like. Materialism and dialectics, on the other hand, demand 
effort. They must be based on and submitted to the test of objective 
reality. Unless one makes the effort, one is liable to drift into idealism 
and metaphysics. In his letter1 Hu Feng raised three questions of 
principle, which we have deemed it necessary to repudiate at some 
length. In addition, Hu Feng wrote in the letter, ŗAt present there is 
a desire to resist everywhere, there are further demands everywhere˛; 
this was in 1950. At the time, the bulk of Chiang Kai-shekšs military 
forces had just been wiped out on the mainland, many of the counterrevolutionary 
armed forces who had turned into bandits were yet to 
be eliminated, the large-scale movements of agrarian reform and 
suppression of counter-revolutionaries had not yet begun, nor had the 
work of readjustment in the fields of culture and education. What Hu 
Feng said did reflect the situation then, but he left something unsaid. 
To spell it out, it should have read: At present there is a desire on 
the part of counter-revolutionaries to resist the revolution everywhere, 
there are further demands of all sorts from counter-revolutionaries 
everywhere seeking to make trouble for the revolution.

175 REFUTATION OF ŗUNIFORMITY OF PUBLIC OPINION˛ 
NOTES 
1 This refers to a counter-revolutionary confidential letter Hu Feng wrote on 
August 13, 1950 to his follower Chang Chung-hsiao.

PREFACE AND EDITORšS NOTES TO 
MATERIAL ON THE 
COUNTER-REVOLUTIONARY HU FENG CLIQUE 
May and June 1955 
PREFACE 
June 15, 1955 
To meet the needs of the broad reading public, we have made a 
compilation of the material on the counter-revolutionary Hu Feng 
clique which appeared in three instalments in the Peoplešs Daily between 
May 13 and June 10, 1955 and also the Peoplešs Daily editorial of 
June 10, and are having it issued by the Peoplešs Publishing House 
under the title Material on the Counter-Revolutionary Hu Feng Clique. 
In this book we have also reprinted Hu Fengšs ŗMy Self-Criticism˛ 
as source material, but in an appendix coming after the material 
supplied by Shu Wu,1 so that readers can study this double-dealing 
counter-revolutionary. We have made a few verbal changes in the 
editoršs notes and the footnotes to the three instalments of the material. 
We have revised some footnotes, added others and inserted two more 
editoršs notes in the second instalment. For the sake of consistency, 
the term ŗanti-Party clique˛ in the title of the first and second instalments 
has been changed to ŗcounter-revolutionary clique˛, as in the 
third instalment. Otherwise, the text is unchanged. 
It may be expected that, as with the publication of the material in 
the Peoplešs Daily, the publication of this book will attract the attention 
of two kinds of people. On the one hand, counter-revolutionaries 
will pay attention to it. On the other, the masses of the people will 
give it even more attention. 
Counter-revolutionaries and those with certain counter-revolutionary 
sentiments will find that the correspondence of the Hu Feng 
176

177 PREFACE AND NOTES TO MATERIAL ON HU FENG CLIQUE 
elements strikes a sympathetic chord. Hu Feng and his clique are 
indeed spokesmen for all counter-revolutionary classes, groups and 
individuals, and the curses they hurl at the revolution and the tactics 
they use in their activities will be appreciated by all those counterrevolutionaries 
who can get hold of this book, from which they can 
derive some counter-revolutionary education about class struggle. 
Nevertheless, this will in no way save them from their doom. Like all 
the counter-revolutionary writings of their backers, the imperialists 
and Chiang Kai-shekšs Kuomintang, which were directed against the 
Chinese people, these writings of the Hu Feng elements are records 
not of success but of failure. They did not save their own clique from 
destruction. 
The masses of the people are very much in need of this material. 
How do counter-revolutionaries employ their double-dealing tactics? 
How do they succeed in deceiving us by their false appearances, while 
furtively doing the things we least expect? All this is a blank to thousands 
upon thousands of well-intentioned people. On this account, many 
counter-revolutionaries have wormed their way into our ranks. The 
eyes of our people are not keen, they are not adept at distinguishing 
good people from bad types. When people operate in normal conditions, 
we know how to tell the bad from the good, but we are not 
adept at seeing through those who operate in unusual conditions. The 
Hu Feng elements are counter-revolutionaries who put on a disguise 
to hide their true features and to give a false impression. But since they 
oppose the revolution, it is impossible for them to cover up their true 
features entirely. As for the leading spirits of the Hu Feng clique, they 
have had disputes with us on many occasions before and since liberation. 
They are different in word and deed not only from Communists 
but also from vast numbers of non-Party revolutionaries and democrats. 
They were recently exposed to the full simply because we got hold of 
a mass of solid evidence against them. As for many of the individuals 
in the Hu Feng clique, they were able to deceive us because our Party 
organizations, state organs, peoplešs organizations, cultural and educational 
institutions or enterprises failed to make a strict examination 
of their records before admitting them. It was also because we were 
in a stormy period of revolution in the recent past and people of all 
sorts tried to get close to us as we emerged the victors; so inevitably 
the waters were muddied, the bad became mixed with the good, and 
we have not yet got around to sifting them thoroughly. Furthermore, 
success in spotting and clearing out bad elements depends on a

178 MAO TSETUNG 
combination of correct guidance from the leading organs with a high 
degree of political consciousness on the part of the masses, but in this 
regard our work in the past was not without shortcomings. These are 
all lessons for us. 
We attach importance to the Hu Feng case because we want to 
use it to educate the masses of the people, and first those cadres who 
can read and also the intellectuals; to them we recommend this Material 
for raising their level of political consciousness. The Material is striking 
for its extreme sharpness and clarity. Counter-revolutionaries will 
naturally pay attention to it and revolutionary people even more so. 
If the masses of the revolutionary people learn something from this 
case and this material and thereby increase their revolutionary ardour 
and their ability to discriminate, we shall have all sorts of hidden 
counter-revolutionaries gradually uncovered. 
EDITORšS NOTES (Selections) 
May and June 1955 
1 
A faction ‹ called ŗcoterie˛ by our forefathers and ŗring˛ or 
ŗoutfit˛ by people today ‹ is something quite familiar to us. To 
attain their political ends people who pursue factional activities often 
accuse others of being factional, and being factional, they say, is not 
upright; for themselves, they claim to be upright, and upright people 
just donšt have anything to do with factions. Those who followed Hu 
Fengšs lead were said to be ŗyoung writers˛ and ŗrevolutionary 
writers˛ ŗhated˛ and ŗpersecuted˛ by the Communist Party, the faction 
that had ŗbourgeois theories˛ and ŗformed an independent kingdom˛; 
therefore, Hu Peng and company wanted revenge. The question of the 
Literary Gazette2 was ŗmerely a breach that has been seized upon˛ and 
was ŗby no means an isolated one˛, it was most necessary to ŗextend 
and generalize˛ it and ŗshow that the question was one of factionalist 
rule˛, and ŗfactionalist and warlord rule˛ at that. The matter was so 
serious that they ŗfired off˛ a lot of ammunition to mop us up. In so doing 
Hu Feng and company attracted attention. After careful investigation 
of many of these persons, this clique was found to be of some size.

179 PREFACE AND NOTES TO MATERIAL ON HU FENG CLIQUE 
Previously they were known as ŗa small group˛. No, thatšs not so, 
there are quite a few of them. Previously they were known simply 
as a group of men of letters. No, thatšs not so, they have wormed 
their way into political, military, economic, cultural and educational 
departments. Previously, they seemed to be a group of revolutionaries 
operating in broad daylight. No, thatšs not so, most of them have a 
very shady background. The main force of the clique consists of 
imperialist and Kuomintang secret agents, Trotskyites, reactionary 
army officers, or renegades from the Communist Party; with these 
persons serving as the backbone, a counter-revolutionary faction hidden 
in the revolutionary camp, an underground independent kingdom, was 
formed. This counter-revolutionary faction, this underground kingdom, 
has set itself the task of overthrowing the Peoplešs Republic of China 
and restoring imperialist and Kuomintang rule. Whenever and 
wherever possible, they go nosing around for our shortcomings which 
they use as pretexts for sabotage. Wherever they have their men, strange 
things happen. After liberation, this counter-revolutionary clique expanded 
and, if unchecked, would go on expanding. Now that the 
truth about Hu Feng and company has come to light, many phenomena 
can be satisfactorily explained and their activities stopped. 
2 
Sure enough, Hu Feng subsequently acted on Lu Tienšs suggestion 
to use offensive tactics for defence. Thus he came to Peking to ask 
for a job, requested that his case be discussed, submitted the 300,000- 
word memo to the Central Committee, and finally seized upon the 
question of the Literary Gazette to open fire. Generally, when things 
are going badly for them, all kinds of representatives of the exploiting 
classes use offensive tactics as a means of defence in order to survive 
today and grow tomorrow. Rumours are fabricated out of thin air 
and lies told point-blank; certain superficial phenomena are seized on 
for attacking the essence of things; some people are lauded while 
others are condemned; and matters are distorted and exaggerated to 
ŗmake a breakthrough at certain points˛ so as to put us in a difficult 
position. In short, they are assiduous in studying what tactics to use 
against us and ŗspying out the land˛ in order to attain their end. Sometimes 
they ŗplay possum˛ and wait for a chance to ŗspring a counterattack˛. 
They have long years of experience in class struggle and are

180 MAO TSETUNG 
skilful in different forms of struggle, legal and illegal. We revolutionaries 
must know their tricks and study their tactics in order to defeat them. 
Never be so bookish and naive as to treat complex class struggle 
as a simple matter. 
3 
It is conceit, self-complacency, lack of vigilance and absorption 
in the day-to-day job to the neglect of politics on our part as revolutionaries 
that have made it possible for many counter-revolutionaries 
to ŗpenetrate˛ our ŗliver˛. They are by no means confined to the 
men of the Hu Feng clique, many other secret agents and bad elements 
have also sneaked in. 
4 
When a Party member is criticized for his liberalistic tendencies, 
Hu Feng elements say he is ŗbeing attacked˛. If his ŗfighting will is 
rather weak˛, that is, if he does not cling to his liberalistic stand but 
is willing to accept Party criticism and come over to the correct stand, 
then he is not much of a hope to the Hu Feng clique and cannot be 
dragged away. On the contrary, if his ŗfighting will˛ to cling to his 
liberalistic stand is not ŗrather weak˛ but ŗrather strong˛, he is in 
danger of being dragged away. Hu Feng elements are sure to ŗhave 
a go˛ at it, and they are already calling him ŗcomrade˛. Shouldnšt 
this be taken as a warning? What then should be the attitude of a 
Party member when he is criticized for having made ideological and 
political mistakes? There is a choice of two courses before him: one 
is to correct his mistakes and be a good Party member, the other 
is to slide further down the path and even fall into the pit of 
counter-revolution. The second alternative really exists and counterrevolutionaries 
may be beckoning him on. 
5 
Just as we constantly appraise the balance of forces in the international 
and domestic class struggle, so does the enemy. But, being 
backward and decadent reactionaries, our enemies are doomed; they 
are ignorant of the laws of the objective world, are subjective and

181 PREFACE AND NOTES TO MATERIAL ON HU FENG CLIQUE 
metaphysical in their thinking, and thus are invariably wrong in their 
judgments. They are inexorably driven by their class instinct to believe 
that they are very superior and that the revolutionary forces can 
never amount to much. They invariably overestimate their own 
strength and underestimate ours. We have witnessed many counterrevolutionaries 
toppled one by one ‹ the Ching Dynasty government, 
the Northern warlords, the Japanese militarists, Mussolini, Hitler and 
Chiang Kai-shek; they made mistakes in thought and deed and could 
not do otherwise. All contemporary imperialists are bound to repeat 
such mistakes. Isnšt it ludicrous? According to the Hu Feng elements, 
the Chinese peoplešs revolutionary forces led by the Communist Party 
are ŗdoomed˛, and they are nothing but ŗthe sere, the yellow leaf˛ 
and ŗa rotting corpse˛. And how about the counter-revolutionary 
forces represented by the Hu Feng elements? Although ŗsome fragile 
sprouts may be smothered˛, large numbers of sprouts ŗare breaking 
through˛ and will ŗgrow sturdily˛. If to this day Royalist representatives 
are found in the bourgeois French National Assembly, then it is 
highly probable that some representatives of the Chiang Kai-shek 
dynasty will remain active here and there years after the complete 
elimination of all exploiting classes from the face of the earth. The 
worst die-hards among them will never admit defeat. Thatšs because 
they need to deceive themselves as well as others, or else they could 
not carry on. 
6 
In this letter, the phrase ŗthose veiled feudal forces are madly 
killing people˛ indicates that the counter-revolutionary Hu Feng 
clique is terror-stricken by the great struggle of our peoplešs revolutionary 
forces to suppress the counter-revolutionary forces, and this 
feeling is typical of all counter-revolutionary classes, groups and 
individuals. What strikes terror into their hearts is precisely what 
makes the revolutionary masses jubilant. ŗUnprecedented in history˛ 
‹ thatšs correct too. Except for the revolution which replaced the 
primitive communal system by the slave system, that is, a system of 
non-exploitation by one of exploitation, all revolutions in the past ended 
in the replacement of one system of exploitation by another, and it 
was neither imperative nor possible to do a thorough job of suppressing 
counter-revolutionaries. Only our revolution, the revolution of the

182 MAO TSETUNG 
masses of the people led by the proletariat and the Communist Party 
aims at the final elimination of all systems of exploitation and all 
classes; therefore, the exploiting classes which are being eliminated are 
bound to come out and put up resistance through their counterrevolutionary 
political parties and groups or through certain individuals, 
and the masses of the people on their part must unite and suppress 
these forces of resistance resolutely, thoroughly, wholly and completely. 
Only at this time is such suppression imperative and possible. ŗThe 
struggle has inevitably deepened˛ ‹ this is quite correct, too. The 
expression ŗveiled feudal forces˛, however, is wrong; it is a derogatory 
expression for ŗthe peoplešs democratic dictatorship led by the proletariat 
and the Communist Party and based on the worker-peasant 
alliance˛, just as the word ŗmechanism˛ used by this clique is a 
derogatory term for ŗdialectical materialism˛. 
7 
Here again we come across this Chang Chung-hsiao. He has a 
pretty good counter-revolutionary nose and outmatches many in our 
revolutionary ranks, including a number of Communists, in level of 
class consciousness and keenness of political sense of smell. Compared 
with men of the Hu Feng clique, many of our own people are vastly 
inferior in these respects. We must study and heighten our class 
vigilance and make our political sense of smell keener. If there is 
anything positive the Hu Feng clique can offer, it is that through the 
present soul-stirring struggle we shall raise our own political consciousness 
and sensitivity much higher, firmly suppress all counterrevolutionaries 
and greatly strengthen our revolutionary dictatorship; 
we shall thus carry the revolution through to the end and achieve the 
objective of building a great socialist country. 
NOTES 
1 This refers to ŗSome Material About the Counter-Revolutionary Hu Feng 
Clique˛ submitted by Shu Wu, a member of the clique. It contains excerpts from a 
number of counter-revolutionary confidential letters Hu Feng wrote to Shu Wu before 
and after liberation.

183 PREFACE AND NOTES TO MATERIAL ON HU FENG CLIQUE 
2 From the end of October to the beginning of December 1954, the presidiums of 
the Federation of Literary and Art Circles of China and of the Union of Chinese Writers 
held enlarged joint meetings to examine the mistakes of the Literary Gazette in 
suppressing the criticism by young writers of the bourgeois ideas prevalent in studies 
of The Dream of the Red Chamber. Hu Feng believed his opportunity had come and 
began attacking the Communist Party. He said in a confidential letter to one of his 
followers, ŗThis is merely a breach that has been seized upon, and it is most necessary 
to extend and generalize the matter.˛

ON THE CO-OPERATIVE TRANSFORMATION 
OF AGRICULTURE 
July 31, 1955 
I 
An upsurge in the new, socialist mass movement is imminent 
throughout the countryside. But some of our comrades, tottering along 
like a woman with bound feet, are complaining all the time, ŗYoušre 
going too fast, much too fast.˛ Too much carping, unwarranted complaints, 
boundless anxiety and countless taboos ‹ all this they take 
as the right policy to guide the socialist mass movement in the rural 
areas. 
No, this is not the right policy, it is the wrong one. 
The high tide of social transformation in the countryside, the high 
tide of co-operation, has already swept a number of places and will soon 
sweep the whole country. It is a vast socialist revolutionary movement 
involving a rural population of more than 500 million, and it has 
tremendous, world-wide, significance. We should give this movement 
active, enthusiastic and systematic leadership, we should not drag it 
back by whatever means. Some errors are unavoidable in the process, 
which is understandable, and they will not be hard to correct. Shortcomings 
or mistakes among cadres and peasants can be remedied or overcome 
provided we actively help them. The cadres and the peasants are 
advancing under the leadership of the Party and, fundamentally, the 
movement is healthy. In some places they have made certain mistakes 
in their work; for example, poor peasants have been barred from the 
co-operatives in disregard of their difficulties, while well-to-do middle 
Report at a conference of secretaries of provincial, municipal and autonomous 
region Party committees called by the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist 
Party. 
184

185 CO-OPERATIVE TRANSFORMATION OF AGRICULTURE 
peasants have been forced into the co-operatives in violation of their 
interests. These mistakes should be corrected by educating the cadres 
and peasants and not by simply dressing them down. Blunt reprimands 
solve no problem. We must guide the movement boldly and must not 
ŗfear dragons ahead and tigers behind˛. Both cadres and peasants will 
remould themselves in the course of the struggles they themselves experience. 
Let them go into action and let them learn and become more 
competent as they go along. In this way many fine people will come to 
the fore. ŗFearing dragons ahead and tigers behind˛ will not produce 
cadres. Large groups of cadres with short-term training should be sent 
to the countryside from above to guide and assist the co-operative movement, 
but they must also take part in the movement itself if they are to 
learn how to work. One does not necessarily learn how to do a job just 
by listening to a lecturer explain a few dozen points in a training class. 
In short, the leadership should never lag behind the mass movement. 
Yet, as things stand now, it is the mass movement which is running 
ahead, while the leadership cannot keep pace with it. This state of 
affairs must change. 
II 
The nation-wide co-operative movement is now taking tremendous 
strides forward, and yet we still have to argue such questions as: Can 
the co-operatives grow? Can they be consolidated? As far as certain 
comrades are concerned, the crux of the matter seems to be their worry 
as to whether it is possible to consolidate the several hundred thousand 
existing semi-socialist co-operatives, which are generally rather small, 
averaging twenty-odd peasant households each. Of course, unless they 
can be consolidated, growth is out of the question. Certain comrades 
remain unconvinced despite the record of the growth of co-operation in 
the last few years and want to wait and see how things shape up in 1955. 
They may even want to wait and see for another year, and only if more 
co-operatives are consolidated by the end of 1956 will they be truly convinced 
that the co-operative transformation of agriculture is possible 
and that the policy of the Central Committee of our Party is correct. 
That is why the work in these two years is crucial.

186 MAO TSETUNG 
In order to show the feasibility of agricultural co-operation and the 
soundness of the Party Central Committeešs policy on this matter, it is 
perhaps not without some value for us to review the history of 
the agricultural co-operative movement in our country. 
In the twenty-two years of revolutionary wars preceding the founding 
of the Peoplešs Republic of China, our Party had already acquired 
experience in guiding the peasants, after agrarian reform, to set 
up agricultural producersš mutual-aid organizations containing certain 
rudiments of socialism. In those days, there were mutual-aid working 
groups and ploughing teams in Kiangsi Province, labour-exchange 
teams in northern Shensi and mutual-aid teams in northern, eastern and 
northeastern China. In isolated cases, agricultural producersš cooperatives 
of a semi-socialist or socialist nature also came into being. 
For instance, during the War of Resistance Against Japan an agricultural 
producersš co-operative of a socialist nature appeared in Ansai 
County in northern Shensi. But such co-operatives were not widely promoted 
then. 
It was after the founding of the Peoplešs Republic of China that our 
Party led the peasants in setting up agricultural producersš mutual-aid 
teams more extensively and in initiating the formation of large numbers 
of agricultural producersš co-operatives on the basis of these teams. By 
now nearly six years more have been spent on this work. 
By December 15, 1951, when the Central Committee of our Party 
adopted the first Draft Resolution on Mutual Aid and Co-operation in 
Agricultural Production and issued it to local Party organizations to be 
tried out, there were already three hundred or more agricultural producersš 
co-operatives. (The document was not published in the press as 
a formal Party resolution till March 1953.) Two years later, when our 
Central Committee issued its Resolution on Agricultural Producersš 
Co-operatives on December 16, 1953, the number had grown to more 
than 14,000, a 46-fold increase in the space of two years. 
This resolution called for an increase of agricultural producersš cooperatives 
from 14,000 odd to 35,800 between the winter of 1953 and the 
autumn harvest of 1954, that is, an increase of merely 150 per cent. As it 
turned out, during the year the number actually rose to 100,000, or an 
increase of more than 600 per cent. 
In October 1954 the Central Committee of our Party decided on an 
increase of 500 per cent, from 100,000 to 600,000. Actually, the number 
reached 670,000. By June 1955, after a preliminary readjustment, it was

187 CO-OPERATIVE TRANSFORMATION OF AGRICULTURE 
cut by 20,000, leaving 650,000, or 50,000 more than the planned target. 
The number of peasant households in the co-operatives was 16,900,000, 
or an average of 26 households in each. 
These co-operatives are to be found mainly in the northern provinces, 
which were liberated earlier. As for the other provinces liberated 
later, which constitute the majority, each has a number of agricultural 
producersš co-operatives, but with the exception of Anhwei and Chekiang, 
they do not have many yet. 
These co-operatives are generally small, but a few are large, some 
with 70 to 80 households, some with over 100, and some with several 
hundred. 
They are mostly semi-socialist, but a few have developed into 
higher-stage co-operatives of a socialist nature. 
Along with the growth of the peasantsš co-operative movement in 
agricultural production, a small number of socialist state farms have 
been established in our country. By 1957 we shall have 3,038 state farms 
cultivating 16,870,000 mou of land. Of these, 141 will be mechanized 
farms (counting both those existing in 1952 and those to be set up in the 
course of the First Five-Year Plan) with 7,580,000 mou under cultivation, 
and 2,897 will be non-mechanized state farms under local administration, 
cultivating 9,290,000 mou. There will be a big growth in 
state-operated agriculture during the period covered by the Second and 
Third Five-Year Plans. 
In the spring of 1955 the Central Committee of our Party decided that 
the number of agricultural producersš co-operatives should grow to a 
million. This means an increase of only 350,000 over the existing 
650,000, or a little more than 50 per cent. It seems to me this may be a bit 
too small. Probably the figure of 650,000 ought to be roughly doubled, 
that is, to rise to something like 1,300,000, so that, except in some of the 
border areas, there will be one or more small agricultural producersš 
co-operatives of a semi-socialist nature to serve as models in each of the 
countryšs 200,000-odd townships. In a year or two these co-operatives 
will gain experience and become old ones, and people will learn from 
them. There are still fourteen months to go between now and the 
autumn harvest of October 1956, and it should be possible to accomplish 
this plan for establishing co-operatives. I hope that on their return the 
responsible comrades of the various provinces and autonomous regions 
will look into the matter, work out appropriate plans in accordance with 
the concrete conditions and report to the Central Committee within two

188 MAO TSETUNG 
months. We shall then discuss the matter again and make a final 
decision. 
The question is whether the co-operatives can be consolidated. Some 
people say that last yearšs plan to set up 500,000 was too big and too 
rash and so is this yearšs plan to set up another 350,000. They doubt that 
so many co-operatives, once formed, can be consolidated. 
Is it possible to consolidate them? 
True, neither socialist industrialization nor socialist transformation 
is easy. To change some 110 million peasant households from individual 
farming to collective farming and then to accomplish the technical transformation 
of agriculture certainly involves a host of difficulties. But we 
should be confident of our Partyšs ability to lead the masses in overcoming 
them. 
On the question of agricultural co-operation, I think we should be 
confident, firstly, that both the poor peasants and the lower-middle 
peasants among the new and old middle peasants1 are enthusiastic about 
taking the socialist road and are eagerly responding to our Partyšs call 
for co-operative transformation ‹ this being particularly the case 
among those with a higher level of political consciousness ‹ because 
the poor peasants are in a difficult economic position and because the 
lower-middle peasants are still not well off, although their economic 
position is better than before liberation. 
I think we should be confident, secondly, that the Party is capable 
of leading the people of the whole country to socialism. Having led the 
great peoplešs democratic revolution to victory and established the peoplešs 
democratic dictatorship headed by the working class, our Party can 
certainly lead the whole nation in basically accomplishing socialist industrialization 
and the socialist transformation of agriculture, handicrafts 
and capitalist industry and commerce in the course of roughly 
three five-year plans. In agriculture no less than in other spheres we 
already have powerful and convincing proof of this. Witness the first 
batch of 300 co-operatives, the second of 13,700 and the third of 86,000, 
or a total of 100,000, all established before the autumn of 1954 and all 
consolidated since. Why, then, canšt the fourth batch of 550,000 
co-operatives formed in 1954-55 and the fifth batch to be established in 
1955-56 (the provisional control figure is 350,000, subject to final confirmation) 
also be consolidated? 
We must have faith in the masses and we must have faith in the 
Party. These are two cardinal principles. If we doubt these principles, 
we shall accomplish nothing.

189 CO-OPERATIVE TRANSFORMATION OF AGRICULTURE 
III 
To achieve co-operation step by step throughout our rural areas, we 
must conscientiously check up on and strengthen the co-operatives 
already in existence. 
We must put emphasis on the quality of the co-operatives and oppose 
any tendency to concentrate solely on increasing their number and 
membership to the neglect of their quality. We must therefore give 
serious attention to the work of checking up on the co-operatives. 
This check-up should be done not just once, but two or three times, 
a year. A certain number of co-operatives have had one in the first half 
of this year (in certain places, apparently, a very slipshod one, done 
without serious effort). I suggest a second check-up for these cooperatives 
in the autumn and winter of this year, and a third in the 
spring and summer of next. Of the 650,000 existing co-operatives, 
550,000 are new, having been set up last winter or this spring, and they 
include a number of Class I co-operatives2 which are more or less consolidated. 
If the 100,000 old and consolidated co-operatives are added, 
the number now consolidated is by no means small. Can these cooperatives 
help to bring about the gradual consolidation of the others? 
The answer should certainly be yes. 
We should treasure every spark of socialist enthusiasm shown by 
the peasants and cadres, and not thwart such enthusiasm. We should 
identify ourselves heart and soul with the members and cadres of the 
co-operatives and with the county, district and township cadres, and 
not thwart their enthusiasm. 
No decision should be made to dissolve co-operatives unless all, or 
nearly all, their members are determined not to carry on. If some 
members are determined to give up, let them withdraw while the 
majority stays in and carries on. If the majority is firmly against carrying 
on but the minority is willing to do so, let the majority withdraw while 
the minority stays in and continues. Even if things come to such a pass, 
it will be all right. In one very small co-operative of only six households 
in Hopei Province, the three old middle peasant households firmly 
refused to carry on and were allowed to withdraw, but the three poor 
peasant households3 said they would continue whatever happened. 
They did and the co-operative was preserved. As a matter of fact, the 
direction taken by these three poor peasant households is the direction 
the 500 million peasants of the country will take. All peasants now

190 MAO TSETUNG 
farming individually will eventually take the road resolutely chosen 
by these three poor peasant households. 
With the adoption of a policy that was called ŗresolute contraction˛ 
in Chekiang (not by decision of the Chekiang Provincial Party 
Committee), out of the 53,000 co-operatives in the province 15,000 
(comprising 400,000 peasant households) were dissolved at a single 
stroke. This caused great dissatisfaction among the masses and the 
cadres, and it was altogether the wrong thing to do. This policy of 
ŗresolute contraction˛ was decided on in a state of panic. To take such 
a major step without the approval of the Central Committee was wrong 
too. Moreover, in April 1955 the Central Committee had already issued 
a warning: ŗDo not repeat the mistake of mass dissolution of cooperatives 
made in 1953, or otherwise you will again have to make a selfcriticism.˛ 
And yet certain comrades preferred not to heed this warning. 
It seems to me that there are two tendencies in the face of success, 
both undesirable. One is to become dizzy with success, which leads to 
swelled heads and ŗLeft˛ deviationist mistakes. Of course, thatšs bad. 
The second is to be scared of success, which leads to ŗresolute contraction˛ 
and Right deviationist mistakes. Thatšs just as bad. The trouble 
now is of the latter kind, for some comrades have become scared of 
the several hundred thousand small co-operatives. 
IV 
Before co-operatives are set up, preparatory work must be done 
seriously and well. 
We must pay attention to quality from the very start and oppose 
the tendency to go after quantity alone. 
Fight no battle unprepared, fight no battle you are not sure of 
winning. This was the celebrated slogan of our Party during the revolutionary 
wars. It can be applied to the work of building socialism as 
well. To be sure of success, one must be prepared, and what is more, 
fully prepared. A great deal of preparatory work is necessary before 
a new batch of agricultural producersš co-operatives can be set up in 
a province, prefecture or county. In the main, this work should consist 
of the following: 
(1) Criticize wrong ideas and sum up the experience gained in 
past work.

191 CO-OPERATIVE TRANSFORMATION OF AGRICULTURE 
(2) Conduct propaganda systematically and repeatedly among 
the peasant masses concerning our Partyšs principles, policies and 
measures on agricultural co-operation. In so doing, we should 
not only explain the advantages of co-operative transformation, 
we should also point out the difficulties which will be encountered 
on the way, so that the peasants may be mentally well prepared. 
(3) Draw up a comprehensive plan for expanding agricultural 
co-operation in the entire province, prefecture, county, district or 
township in the light of actual conditions and work out an annual 
plan accordingly. 
(4) Train cadres for the setting up of co-operatives in shortterm 
courses. 
(5) Develop agricultural producersš mutual-aid teams on a 
wide scale and in large numbers and, whenever possible, get these 
teams to join together and form combined mutual-aid teams, thus 
laying the foundation for further combination into co-operatives. 
If all this is done, it will be possible basically to solve the problem 
of the unity of quantity and quality in the development of co-operatives. 
But it will still be necessary to follow through with an immediate 
check-up after each batch of co-operatives is formed. 
Whether or not a batch of co-operatives, once formed, can be 
consolidated depends, firstly, on how well the preparatory work is done 
and, secondly, on how well the check-up is carried out afterwards. 
In the work of establishing and checking up on the co-operatives 
reliance must be placed on the Party and Youth League branches in 
the township. For this reason, both tasks must be closely linked with 
building and consolidating the Party and Youth League organizations 
in the rural areas. 
Whether in establishing co-operatives or in checking up on them, 
the local cadres in the rural areas should be the main force, and they 
should be encouraged and asked to take responsibility, while cadres 
sent from above should be the auxiliary force, whose function is to 
guide and help and not to take everything into their own hands. 
V 
In production the agricultural producersš co-operatives must 
achieve higher crop yields than the individual peasants and mutual-aid

192 MAO TSETUNG 
teams. Output must not remain at the individual peasant or mutual-aid 
team level, for that would mean failure; what point, then, in having 
co-operatives at all? Still less can yields be allowed to fall. Over 80 per 
cent of the 650,000 agricultural producersš co-operatives which have 
already been set up have increased their crop yields. This is very good, 
showing that the members are very keen on production and that 
co-operatives are superior to mutual-aid teams and far superior to individual 
farming. 
To increase crop yields it is necessary: 
(1) to adhere to the principles of voluntary participation and 
mutual benefit; 
(2) to improve management (planning and administration of 
production, organization of labour, etc.); 
(3) to improve farming techniques (deep ploughing and intensive 
cultivation, close planting in small clusters, extending the area 
of double or triple cropping, introduction of better strains of seed, 
popularization of new types of farm implements, the fight against 
plant diseases and insect pests, etc.); and 
(4) to increase the means of production (land under cultivation, 
fertilizer, water conservancy works, draught animals, farm 
implements, etc.). 
These are indispensable conditions for consolidating the co-operatives 
and ensuring increased production. 
In adhering to the principles of voluntary participation and mutual 
benefit, we must at present give our attention to the following problems: 
(1) Whether or not it is better to delay for a year or two the 
turning in of draught animals and larger farm implements as shares 
in the co-operative, and whether or not the prices fixed are fair and 
the payments to the owners are spread over too long a time. 
(2) Whether or not there is a proper ratio between the payment 
based on land shares and the payment for labour. 
(3) How the co-operative should raise the funds it needs. 
(4) Whether or not certain members may devote part of their 
labour to certain kinds of side-line production. 
(Since the agricultural producersš co-operatives we are now 
setting up are generally still semi-socialist in nature, care must be 
taken to solve these four problems properly so as not to violate the 
principle of mutual benefit as between the poor and the middle

193 CO-OPERATIVE TRANSFORMATION OF AGRICULTURE 
peasants, without which there can be no basis for voluntary 
participation.) 
(5) How much land should be set aside for members to cultivate 
for their personal needs. 
(6) The question of the class composition of the co-operative 
membership. 
And so on. 
Here I would like to deal with the question of the class composition 
of the co-operative membership. I think that, in the next year or two, 
wherever the movement for co-operation has just begun to spread or 
has only recently spread, as in most areas at present, we should first 
get the active elements of the following sections of the people to 
organize themselves: (1) the poor peasants, (2) the lower-middle 
peasants among the new middle peasants, and (3) the lower-middle 
peasants among the old middle peasants. However, those among them 
who are not enthusiastic for the time being should not be dragged in 
against their will. They can be drawn into the co-operatives batch by 
batch when their political consciousness has risen and they have become 
interested in co-operatives. These sections are more or less similar in 
their economic status. Either they are still leading a hard life (to wit, 
the poor peasants, who, though they have received land and are much 
better off than in pre-liberation days, are still in difficulty for lack of 
manpower, draught animals and farm implements), or they are still 
not well off (to wit, the lower-middle peasants). Therefore, they are 
all enthusiastic about forming co-operatives. Nevertheless, for one 
reason or another, their enthusiasm varies in degree ‹ some are very 
keen, some are not so keen for the time being, and others prefer to wait 
and see. Therefore, we should devote a period of time to educating all 
those who do not want to join co-operatives yet, even though they are 
poor or lower-middle peasants, we should patiently wait until they 
are politically more conscious, and we must not violate the voluntary 
principle by dragging them in against their will. 
As for the new and old upper-middle peasants, that is, the middle 
peasants who are economically better off, with the exception of those 
who are politically conscious enough to take the socialist road and are 
really willing to join, they should not be admitted into the co-operatives 
for the time being, still less be dragged in against their will. The reason 
is that they are not yet politically conscious enough to take the socialist 
road; they will make up their minds to join the co-operatives only after

194 MAO TSETUNG 
the majority in the rural areas have joined, or when yields per mou of 
the co-operatives equal or even surpass theirs and they realize that it is 
to their disadvantage in every respect to continue working on their 
own, and that they cannot further their interests except by joining. 
So the first thing to do is to group the people who are poor or 
not well off according to their level of political consciousness (together 
they form about 60 to 70 per cent of the rural population) and get them 
to organize co-operatives in batches in the next few years, and only then 
should the well-to-do middle peasants be drawn in. In this way we 
will avoid commandism. 
For the next few years in all areas where co-operative transformation 
has not been basically completed, landlords and rich peasants must 
definitely not be admitted into the co-operatives. In areas where it has 
been basically completed, however, the consolidated co-operatives may, 
on certain conditions, admit by stages and in groups former landlords 
and rich peasants who have long since given up exploitation, who engage 
in labour and are law-abiding, and may allow them to take part in 
collective labour while continuing to reform them through labour. 
VI 
As for the development of the co-operatives, the problem now is 
not one of having to criticize rash advance. It is wrong to say that the 
present development of the co-operatives has ŗgone beyond the real 
possibilities˛ or ŗgone beyond the level of political consciousness of 
the masses˛. This is how things stand: China has an enormous population 
with insufficient cultivated land (only three mou per head, taking 
the country as a whole, and one mou or even less on the average in 
many parts of the southern provinces), natural calamities are frequent 
(every year large areas of farmland suffer from flood, drought, gales, 
frost, hail or insect pests in varying degrees), and farming methods are 
backward. Consequently, although the life of the peasant masses has 
improved since the agrarian reform or even improved a good deal, 
many are still in difficulty or not well off and those who are well off 
are relatively few, and hence most of the peasants are enthusiastic about 
the socialist road. Their enthusiasm is being constantly heightened by 
Chinašs socialist industrialization and its achievements. For them 
socialism is the only way out. These peasants make up 60 to 70 per cent

195 CO-OPERATIVE TRANSFORMATION OF AGRICULTURE 
of the entire rural population. In other words, the only way for the 
majority of the peasants to shake off poverty, improve their livelihood 
and fight natural calamities is to unite and go forward along the high 
road of socialism. This awareness is growing rapidly among the masses 
of the poor peasants and of those who are not well off. The well-to-do 
or fairly well-to-do peasants, who make up only 20 to 30 per cent of 
the rural population, are vacillating, with some trying hard to go the 
capitalist way. As I have already said, there are also many among the 
poor peasants and those not well off who take a wait-and-see attitude 
for the time being because of their low political consciousness, and 
they too are wavering; however, it is easier for them than for the 
well-to-do peasants to accept socialism. That is how things really stand. 
But some of our comrades ignore these facts and think that the several 
hundred thousand newly established small semi-socialist agricultural 
producersš co-operatives have ŗgone beyond the real possibilities˛ or 
ŗgone beyond the level of political consciousness of the masses˛. This 
shows that their eyes are on the comparatively small number of wellto-
do peasants to the neglect of the great majority, the poor peasants 
and those not well off. This is one kind of wrong thinking. 
Furthermore, these comrades underrate the strength of the Communist 
Partyšs leadership in the countryside and the peasant massesš 
whole-hearted support for the Party. They believe it is difficult enough 
as it is for the Party to consolidate the several hundred thousand small 
co-operatives already in existence and therefore a large-scale expansion 
is simply inconceivable. They pessimistically picture the Partyšs present 
work in leading agricultural co-operation as having ŗgone beyond the 
level of the cadresš experience˛. True, the socialist revolution is 
a revolution of a new kind. Previously, our experience was confined to 
the bourgeois-democratic revolution, and we had no experience in 
socialist revolution. Yet how can we gain such experience? By sitting 
back and waiting for it? Or by plunging into the struggles of the socialist 
revolution and learning in the process? How can we gain experience 
in industrialization without carrying out the Five-Year Plan, or without 
pushing ahead with the work of socialist industrialization? One section 
of the Five-Year Plan deals with agricultural co-operation. If we do not 
lead the peasants in organizing one or more agricultural producersš 
co-operatives in every township or village, where will ŗthe level of the 
cadresš experience˛ come from, and how will it rise? Clearly, the 
idea that the present development of the agricultural producersš

196 MAO TSETUNG 
co-operatives has ŗgone beyond the level of the cadresš experience˛ is 
mistaken. This is another kind of wrong thinking. 
The way these comrades look at problems is wrong. They do not 
look at the essential or main aspects but emphasize the non-essential 
or minor ones. It should be pointed out that these non-essential or minor 
aspects must not be overlooked and must be dealt with one by one. 
But they should not be taken as the essential or main aspects, or we 
will lose our bearings. 
We must have faith, first, that the peasant masses are willing to 
take the road of socialism step by step under the leadership of the Party 
and, second, that the Party is capable of leading the peasants onto this 
road. These two points are the essence of the matter, the main current. 
If we lack this conviction, it will be impossible for us basically to 
accomplish the building of socialism within roughly three five-year 
plans. 
VII 
The great historical experience of the Soviet Union in building 
socialism inspires our people with full confidence in the building of 
socialism in China. However, even on this subject of international 
experience there are different views. Some comrades disapprove of our 
Central Committeešs policy of keeping the development of agricultural 
co-operation in step with our socialist industrialization, although the 
validity of such a policy has been borne out in the Soviet Union. While 
conceding that the speed of industrialization as set at present is all 
right, they maintain that agricultural co-operation should proceed at 
an extremely slow pace and need not keep in step. This is to disregard 
the experience of the Soviet Union. These comrades fail to understand 
that socialist industrialization cannot be carried out in isolation from 
the co-operative transformation of agriculture. In the first place, as 
everyone knows, Chinašs current level of production of commodity grain 
and raw materials for industry is low, whereas the statešs need for 
them is growing year by year, and this presents a sharp contradiction. 
If we cannot basically solve the problem of agricultural co-operation 
within roughly three five-year plans, that is to say, if our agriculture 
cannot make a leap from small-scale farming with animal-drawn farm 
implements to large-scale mechanized farming, along with extensive

197 CO-OPERATIVE TRANSFORMATION OF AGRICULTURE 
state-organized land reclamation by settlers using machinery (the plan 
being to bring 400 to 500 million mou of waste land under cultivation in 
the course of three five-year plans), then we shall fail to resolve the 
contradiction between the ever-increasing need for commodity grain 
and industrial raw materials and the present generally low output of 
staple crops, and we shall run into formidable difficulties in our socialist 
industrialization and be unable to complete it. The Soviet Union, which 
had to face the same problem in the course of building socialism, solved 
it by leading and developing the collectivization of agriculture in 
a planned way. And we can solve ours only by the same method. In 
the second place, some of our comrades have not given any thought to 
the connection between the following two facts, namely, that heavy 
industry, the most important branch of socialist industrialization, produces 
for agricultural use tractors and other farm machinery, chemical 
fertilizers, modern means of transport, oil, electric power, etc., and that 
all these things can be used, or used extensively, only on the basis of 
an agriculture where large-scale co-operative farming prevails. We are 
now carrying out a revolution not only in the social system, the change 
from private to public ownership, but also in technology, the change 
from handicraft to large-scale modern machine production, and the 
two revolutions are interconnected. In agriculture, with conditions as 
they are in our country, co-operation must precede the use of big 
machinery (in capitalist countries agriculture develops capitalistically). 
Therefore we must on no account regard industry and agriculture, 
socialist industrialization and the socialist transformation of agriculture 
as disconnected or isolated things, and on no account must we emphasize 
the one and play down the other. In this matter too, Soviet 
experience points the way, yet some of our comrades pay no attention 
and always see these questions as isolated and unconnected. In the 
third place, some of our comrades have also failed to give any thought 
to the connection between two other facts, namely, that large funds 
are needed to accomplish both national industrialization and the technical 
transformation of agriculture, and that a considerable part of 
these funds has to be accumulated through agriculture. Apart from the 
direct agricultural tax, this is done by developing light industry to 
produce the great quantities of consumer goods needed by the peasants 
and exchanging them for the peasantsš commodity grain and the raw 
materials for light industry, so that the material requirements of both 
the peasants and the state are met and funds are accumulated for the 
state. Moreover, large-scale expansion of light industry requires the

198 MAO TSETUNG 
development of agriculture as well as of heavy industry. For it cannot 
be brought about on the basis of a small peasant economy; it has to 
await large-scale farming, which in our country means socialist cooperative 
agriculture. Only this type of agriculture can give the peasants 
far greater purchasing power than they now possess. Here again the 
Soviet Union has provided us with experience, but some of our comrades 
take no notice of it. Taking the stand of the bourgeoisie, the 
rich peasants, or the well-to-do middle peasants with their spontaneous 
tendencies towards capitalism, they always think in terms of the 
interests of the few and fail to take the working-class stand and think 
in terms of the interests of the whole country and people. 
VIII 
Then again, some comrades have dug up an argument of a sort from 
the history of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union against what 
they call impetuosity and rashness in our present work of agricultural 
co-operation in China. Does not the History of the Communist Party 
of the Soviet Union (Bolsheviks), Short Course tell us that at a certain 
period many local Party organizations in the Soviet Union committed 
the error of impetuosity and rashness on the question of the 
pace of collectivization? Should we not take note of this international 
experience? 
I think we should take note of this Soviet experience and must 
oppose any impetuous and rash thinking which ignores preparatory 
work and disregards the level of political consciousness of the peasant 
masses, but on no account should we allow these comrades to use the 
Soviet experience as a cover for their idea of moving at a snailšs pace. 
How has the Central Committee of our Party decided to carry 
through agricultural co-operation in China? 
First, it intends to accomplish the plan, in the main, in eighteen 
years. The period of a little over three years from the founding of the 
Peoplešs Republic of China in October 1949 to 1952 was spent on 
rehabilitating the national economy. In the sphere of agriculture, in 
addition to agrarian reform and the restoration of production, during 
this period we greatly extended the organization of agricultural producersš 
mutual-aid teams in all the old liberated areas, where we also 
began to form semi-socialist agricultural producersš co-operatives and

199 CO-OPERATIVE TRANSFORMATION OF AGRICULTURE 
gained some experience. Next followed the First Five-Year Plan, which 
began in 1953; nearly three years have elapsed since then, during which 
our agricultural co-operative movement has been spreading all over the 
country and our experience growing. The period from the founding of 
the Peoplešs Republic of China to the end of the Third Five-Year Plan 
covers eighteen years. In that period, we intend basically to accomplish 
the socialist transformation of agriculture together with socialist industrialization 
and the socialist transformation of handicrafts and 
capitalist industry and commerce. Is this possible? Soviet experience 
tells us that it is entirely possible. In the Soviet Union the Civil War 
ended in 1920 and the collectivization of agriculture was completed in 
the seventeen years from 1921 to 1937, the main part of this work being 
done in the six years from 1929 to 1934. Although, as the History of the 
Communist Party of the Soviet Union (Bolsheviks), Short Course 
records, some local Party organizations in the Soviet Union became 
ŗdizzy with success˛ during this period, the error was quickly corrected. 
Eventually, by a great effort the Soviet Union successfully accomplished 
the socialist transformation of the whole of its agriculture and at the 
same time achieved a massive technical reconstruction of agriculture. 
This road traversed by the Soviet Union is our model. 
Secondly, the method we are using in the socialist transformation 
of agriculture is one of step-by-step advance. The first step was to 
call on the peasants, in accordance with the principles of voluntary 
participation and mutual benefit, to organize agricultural producersš 
mutual-aid teams, which had only certain rudiments of socialism and 
comprised only a few to a dozen or so households each. The second 
step has been to call on the peasants, likewise in accordance with the 
principles of voluntary participation and mutual benefit, to organize 
small agricultural producersš co-operatives on the basis of these mutualaid 
teams, co-operatives which are semi-socialist in nature and are 
characterized by the pooling of land as shares and by unified management. 
Then the third step will be to call on the peasants, in accordance 
with the same principles, to combine further on the basis of these 
small semi-socialist co-operatives and organize large fully socialist 
agricultural producersš co-operatives. These steps make it possible for 
the peasants gradually to raise their socialist consciousness through 
personal experience and gradually to change their mode of life, thus 
lessening the feeling of abrupt change. Generally, these steps can avoid 
a fall in crop production during, say, the first year or two; indeed, they 
must ensure an increase each year, and this can be done. More than

200 MAO TSETUNG 
80 per cent of the existing 650,000 agricultural producersš co-operatives 
have increased their output, while over 10 per cent have broken even, 
and less than 10 per cent have shown a decrease. In the two latter 
categories the state of affairs is bad, particularly in the case of the last 
category where production has fallen, and a great effort must be made 
to check up on and strengthen these co-operatives. Since more than 
80 per cent of all the co-operatives have increased their output (by 
anything from 10 to 30 per cent), since over 10 per cent have shown 
neither an increase nor a decrease in their first year but may show an 
increase in their second year after having had a check-up, and since 
the less than 10 per cent registering a fall in output may also show an 
increase in their second year or at least break even after the check-up, 
it can be said that on the whole our progress in co-operation is healthy 
and that generally we can ensure increased production and avoid falling 
output. Moreover, these steps are a splendid course for training cadres. 
In this way administrative and technical personnel for the co-operatives 
can be gradually trained in large numbers. 
Thirdly, a control figure for the extension of agricultural cooperation 
should be fixed once a year in the light of the actual situation, 
while during the year there should be several inspections of how the 
work of co-operation is being carried out. Concrete measures for extending 
co-operation in each province, county and township can thus be 
decided upon every year according to changing conditions and the 
degree of success in the work. Expansion may be halted for a while in 
some places in order to carry out a check-up; in others, expansion and 
check-up can proceed simultaneously. In certain co-operatives some of 
the members may be allowed to withdraw, and in individual cases 
a co-operative may even be allowed to dissolve temporarily. In some 
places new co-operatives should be set up in large numbers, while in 
others there should be no increase except in the number of peasant 
households in the existing co-operatives. In every province or county, 
whenever a batch of co-operatives is established, expansion must be 
halted to allow time for a check-up before setting up a new batch. The 
idea of never allowing any pause, any intermission, is wrong. As for 
the inspection of the progress of the co-operative movement, the Central 
Committee and the provincial, autonomous region, municipal and prefectural 
committees of the Party must take it firmly in hand and make 
sure that it is done not once but several times every year. Whenever 
a problem crops up, tackle it right away; donšt let problems pile up and 
then try to settle them all at one go. Make criticism in good time; donšt

201 CO-OPERATIVE TRANSFORMATION OF AGRICULTURE 
get into the habit of criticizing only after the event. In the first seven 
months of this year, for instance, the Central Committee alone has 
called three conferences, including the present one, of leading comrades 
from various parts of the country to discuss the question of rural 
co-operation. This method of suiting our measures to local conditions 
and of giving timely guidance ensures that fewer mistakes will be made 
in our work and that those made will be quickly put right. 
Taking all the above into consideration, canšt we say that the 
guiding policy of the Central Committee of our Party on agricultural 
co-operation is the right one and therefore guarantees the healthy 
development of the movement? I think we can and should say so; to 
evaluate this policy as ŗrash advance˛ is utterly wrong. 
IX 
Some comrades take a wrong approach to the vital question of the 
worker-peasant alliance, proceeding as they do from the stand of the 
bourgeoisie, the rich peasants, or the well-to-do middle peasants with 
their spontaneous tendencies towards capitalism. They think that the 
present situation in the co-operative movement is very dangerous, and 
they advise us to ŗget off the horse quickly˛ in our present advance 
along the road of co-operation. ŗIf you donšt,˛ they warn us, ŗthere 
will be the danger of breaking up the worker-peasant alliance.˛ We 
think exactly the opposite is true. There will be the danger of breaking 
up the worker-peasant alliance, if you donšt get on the horse quickly. 
There is a difference of only a single word here ‹ one says ŗoff˛ while 
the other says ŗon˛ ‹ yet it demonstrates the difference between the 
two lines. As everybody knows, we already have a worker-peasant 
alliance built on the basis of the bourgeois-democratic revolution 
against imperialism and feudalism, a revolution which took the land 
from the landlords and distributed it to the peasants in order to free 
them from the bondage of feudal ownership. But this revolution is 
over, and feudal ownership has been abolished. What exists in the 
countryside today is capitalist ownership by the rich peasants and a vast 
sea of ownership by individual peasants. As is clear to everyone, the 
spontaneous forces of capitalism have been steadily growing in the 
countryside in recent years, with new rich peasants springing up 
everywhere and many well-to-do middle peasants striving to become

MAO TSE-TUNG 
FROM MARX 
TO MAO 

 
NOT FOR 
COMMERCIAL 
DISTRIBUTION 
202 
rich peasants. On the other hand, many poor peasants are still living in 
poverty for shortage of the means of production, with some getting into 
debt and others selling or renting out their land. If this tendency goes 
unchecked, it is inevitable that polarization in the countryside will get 
worse day by day. Those peasants who lose their land and those who 
remain in poverty will complain that we are doing nothing to save them 
from ruin or to help them out of their difficulties. Nor will the well-to-do 
middle peasants who are heading in the capitalist direction be pleased 
with us, for we shall never be able to satisfy their demands unless we 
intend to take the capitalist road. Can the worker-peasant alliance 
continue to hold firm in these circumstances? Obviously not. There is 
no solution to this problem except on a new basis. And that means to 
bring about, step by step, the socialist transformation of the whole of 
agriculture together with socialist industrialization and the socialist 
transformation of handicrafts and capitalist industry and commerce; 
in other words, it means to carry out co-operation and eliminate the 
rich peasant economy and the individual economy in the countryside 
so that all the rural people will become increasingly well off together. 
We maintain that this is the only way to consolidate the worker-peasant 
alliance. Otherwise, this alliance will be in real danger of breaking up. 
The comrades who advise us to ŗget off the horse˛ are completely wrong 
in their thinking on this question. 
XI 
We must now realize that there will soon be a nation-wide high 
tide of socialist transformation in the countryside. This is inevitable. 
By the spring of 1958, at the end of the final year of the First Five-Year 
Plan and the beginning of the first year of the Second Five-Year Plan, 
co-operatives of a semi-socialist nature will embrace some 25O million 
people, about 55 million peasant households (averaging four and a half 
persons each), which will mean half the rural population. By that time 
many counties and some provinces will have basically completed the 
semi-socialist transformation of the agricultural economy, and in every 
part of the country a small number of semi-socialist co-operatives will 
have become fully socialist. By 1960, that is, during the first half of the 
Second Five-Year Plan, we shall in the main have achieved the semi

203 CO-OPERATIVE TRANSFORMATION OF AGRICULTURE 
socialist transformation of the remainder of the agricultural economy 
involving the other half of the rural population. By then the number of 
fully socialist co-operatives developed from the semi-socialist ones will 
have increased. All through the First and Second Five-Year Plans, the 
transformation of the countryside will continue to be primarily social, 
and only secondarily technical, the number of big farm machines will 
certainly increase, but not to any great extent. During the Third 
Five-Year Plan, the social and the technical transformation of the rural 
areas will proceed simultaneously; more big farm machinery will be 
employed each year, while in the field of social transformation, from 
1960 on the semi-socialist co-operatives will be gradually developing 
into fully socialist ones, batch by batch and stage by stage. The social 
and economic features of China will not be completely changed until 
the socialist transformation of the social and economic system is completely 
accomplished and, in the technical field, machinery is used in 
all possible branches and places. The countryšs economic conditions 
being what they are, the technical transformation will take longer than 
the social. It is estimated that the basic completion of the nation-wide 
technical transformation of agriculture will take roughly four or five 
five-year plans, that is, twenty to twenty-five years. The whole Party 
must fight for the fulfilment of this great task. 
XI 
There must be comprehensive planning and more effective 
leadership. 
There must be national, provincial, prefectural, county, district and 
township plans for the stage-by-stage development of co-operation. 
And as the work proceeds, these plans must constantly be revised in 
the light of the actual conditions. All Party and Youth League organizations 
at the provincial, prefectural, county, district and township 
levels must pay serious attention to rural problems and earnestly improve 
their leadership in rural work. The leading comrades in charge 
of local Party and Youth League committees at various levels should 
apply themselves to studying the work of agricultural co-operation and 
become expert at it. In short, they must not remain passive but take 
the initiative, not abandon leadership but strengthen it.

204 MAO TSETUNG 
XII 
In August 1954 (this, of course, is no longer news), the Heilungkiang 
Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China reported: 
With the rise and spread of rural co-operation, mutual-aid 
and co-operative organizations of various types and the people of 
various strata in the rural areas are all on the move to a greater or 
lesser degree. The existing agricultural producersš co-operatives are 
planning and preparing to enlarge their membership, and the 
agricultural producersš mutual-aid teams which are scheduled to 
become co-operatives are planning and preparing to draw in more 
households, while those which have not yet reached that level are 
anxious to go forward and reach a higher stage. Some people are 
busy preparing to join new co-operatives, others to join existing 
ones. Those not ready to join co-operatives this year are actively 
considering joining mutual-aid teams. The stir is very broad in 
scope. A mass movement has come into being. This is a new and 
striking feature in the great development of agricultural cooperation. 
But because some of the leading comrades in certain 
counties and districts have not kept abreast of this new feature and 
have not given more effective leadership in good time, certain 
unhealthy phenomena have begun to appear in a number of tsun and 
tun. [N.B. In Heilungkiang Province the tsun is the administrative 
unit corresponding to the township in the provinces south of the 
Great Wall, while the tun, which is not an administrative unit, is 
equivalent to the village in the latter provinces.] For instance, when 
people start looking for fellow members, the strong seek out the 
strong and elbow aside the badly-off peasants, there are squabbles 
over backbone activists and members which give rise to disunity, 
there is blind concentration of backbone activists in one place, and 
the rich peasants and those well-to-do peasants with fairly strong 
tendencies towards capitalism seize the opportunity to rig up 
mutual-aid teams of poor quality or rich peasantsš co-operatives of 
their own. All this clearly demonstrates that, with the immense 
growth of agricultural co-operation, it is not enough to think only 
in terms of setting up new co-operatives when carrying out the 
Partyšs policy and guiding the movement. It is necessary to 
think in terms of the entire tsun [i.e., the entire township] and of 
promoting the agricultural co-operative movement as a whole and

205 CO-OPERATIVE TRANSFORMATION OF AGRICULTURE 
to give consideration both to enlarging the old co-operatives and 
to setting up new ones, both to developing the co-operatives and to 
bringing the mutual-aid teams to a higher stage, both to what is 
being done this year and to what is to be done next year, and even 
the year after. This is the only way to carry out the Partyšs policy 
to the full and to ensure the healthy growth of the agricultural 
co-operative movement. 
Is it only in Heilungkiang Province that ŗsome of the leading 
comrades in certain counties and districts have not kept abreast of this 
new feature and have not given more effective leadership in good 
time˛? Is it only in certain counties and districts? I think it very likely 
that there are people in many leading organizations all over the country 
who typify this serious state of affairs in which the leadership lags 
behind the movement. 
The report of the Heilungkiang Provincial Party Committee went 
on to say: 
Hsichin Township, Shuangcheng County, has worked out a comprehensive 
plan for the whole township on the basis of leadership 
by the Party combined with the voluntary participation of the 
masses. This is an innovation in the method of leading the largescale 
expansion of co-operation. Its importance lies first and 
foremost in the fact that through this kind of planning the Partyšs 
class line in the countryside has been fully translated into life, so 
that the unity between the poor and the middle peasants has been 
strengthened and a vigorous struggle has been waged against the 
rich peasant tendency. Backbone activists have been properly 
allocated to serve the general advance of the agricultural cooperative 
movement. Relations between the various co-operatives 
and between the co-operatives and the mutual-aid teams have been 
readjusted and strengthened, and the agricultural co-operative 
movement has consequently advanced along the whole front according 
to plan. Secondly, through this kind of planning the work 
of expanding agricultural co-operation on a large scale has been 
specifically assigned right down to the leading bodies at the basic 
level and to the masses, so that the township Party branch knows 
how to lead, the old co-operatives how to go forward, the new 
co-operatives how to establish themselves and the mutual-aid teams 
how to find their particular path towards further advance. In this 
way, the initiative and enthusiasm of the township Party branch

206 MAO TSETUNG 
and of the masses have been brought into full play, and the correct 
principle of relying on the Party branch and on the experience and 
wisdom of the masses has been thoroughly applied. Finally, it is 
precisely through this kind of planning that we have been better 
able to ascertain the true situation in the township and to carry out 
the Partyšs policy concretely and fully. Therefore, it has been 
possible to avoid impetuosity and rashness on the one hand and 
conservatism and drift on the other, and thus correctly apply 
the Central Committeešs policy of ŗactive leadership and steady 
advance˛. 
How were the ŗcertain unhealthy phenomena˛ mentioned in the 
report of the Heilungkiang Provincial Party Committee actually dealt 
with? The report itself did not give a direct answer to this question. 
But the report of the Shuangcheng County Party Committee, appended 
to the Provincial Party Committeešs report, did. It said: 
As a result of comprehensive planning based on combining 
leadership by the Party branch and voluntary participation by the 
masses, the deviation of barring badly-off peasant households from 
the co-operatives has been corrected, the practice of concentrating 
too many backbone activists in one place has been stopped, the 
squabbles over cadres and members have disappeared, the links 
between the co-operatives and the mutual-aid teams have grown 
closer, the attempts of the rich peasants and the well-to-do middle 
peasants to rig up rich peasantsš co-operatives or mutual-aid teams 
of poor quality have failed, and the plan of the Party branch has 
in the main been put into effect. The membership of the two older 
co-operatives has gone up 40 per cent, skeleton organizations for 
six new co-operatives have been set up, and two mutual-aid teams 
have been organized. If things go well, we estimate that next year 
[i.e., in 1955] the whole township will go co-operative. At present, 
it is working energetically to fulfil this yearšs plan for expanding 
agricultural co-operation, increase production and ensure a good 
harvest. The general opinion among the township cadres is: ŗIt is 
fortunate that we did all this, or things would have been in a mess. 
Not only would there have been trouble this year but next year as 
well.˛ 
Let us work the way they do. 
Comprehensive planning and more effective leadership ‹ that is 
our policy.

207 CO-OPERATIVE TRANSFORMATION OF AGRICULTURE 
NOTES 
1 During the co-operative transformation of agriculture those who were formerly 
poor peasants but rose to middle peasant status after the agrarian reform were called 
new middle peasants. Those who were formerly middle peasants and whose economic 
status remained unchanged were called old middle peasants. 
2 At that time agricultural producersš co-operatives which were well run, middling 
and poorly run were usually called Class I, Class II and Class III co-operatives 
respectively. 
3 The three poor peasant households here referred to were those of Wang Yu-kun, 
Wang Hsiao-chi and Wang Hsiao-pang in Nanwangchuang Village, Anping County, 
Hopei Province. The agricultural producersš co-operative they set up was the predecessor 
of the present Nanwangchuang Brigade of the peoplešs commune of the same 
name.

RELY ON PARTY AND LEAGUE MEMBERS 
AND POOR AND LOWER-MIDDLE PEASANTS IN 
THE CO-OPERATIVE TRANSFORMATION OF 
AGRICULTURE 
September 7, 1955 
At present, the slogan ŗRely on the poor peasants (including all 
the new middle peasants who were formerly poor peasants) and firmly 
unite with the middle peasants˛ remains basically correct. However, 
(1) well-to-do middle peasants (that is, upper-middle peasants) have 
emerged from among the new middle peasants, and, except for some 
with a higher political consciousness, they are unwilling to join the 
co-operatives for the time being; (2) the lower-middle peasants among 
the old middle peasants are generally interested in joining the cooperatives, 
because in economic status they are more or less similar 
to the lower-middle peasants among the new middle peasants, as they 
were not well off to start with and the interests of some were 
improperly encroached upon at the time of the agrarian reform. For 
these two reasons, in all places where co-operation has not yet reached 
high tide and the well-to-do middle peasants are lacking in political 
consciousness, it is proper first to draw into the co-operatives the 
following three sections of people (in batches according to the level 
of their political consciousness, beginning with those with a higher 
consciousness): (1) the poor peasants; (2) the lower-middle peasants 
among the new middle peasants (In the revised version of Comrade 
Mao Tsetungšs report the middle peasants are divided into two sections 
only, the upper- and the lower-middle peasants, and no mention is 
made of the intermediate-middle peasants so as to avoid a classification 
too fine for drawing distinctions. The lower-middle peasants 
Inner-Party directive drafted for the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist 
Party. 
208

209 RELY ON PARTY AND LEAGUE MEMBERS 
as now defined actually cover the originally defined lower- and 
intermediate-middle peasants among the new middle peasants.); and 
(3) the lower-middle peasants among the old middle peasants. All 
those well-to-do middle peasants, that is, the upper-middle peasants 
among both the new and old middle peasants, who are as yet unwilling 
to join the co-operatives, should not be dragged in against their will. 
At present, in many places there are cases of forcing the well-to-do 
middle peasants into the co-operatives with an eye to obtaining their 
draught animals and farm implements (at too low a price and with 
payments over too long a period). This is actually an encroachment 
on their interests and a violation of the principle of ŗfirmly uniting 
with the middle peasants˛. And we must never go against this Marxist 
principle. At present, in all places where co-operatives have just 
been set up or are not yet in a dominant position, it would be most 
disadvantageous if those well-to-do middle peasants with deep-seated 
bourgeois ideas are dragged in, or if, by their own efforts, they worm 
their way in to seize the leadership (rather than join out of genuine 
political consciousness) or form such co-operatives of poor quality as 
those found in Shuangcheng County, Heilungkiang Province. This 
would be most disadvantageous to the establishment of the leadership 
of the poor and lower-middle peasants, whereas it is imperative 
to establish this leadership in all co-operatives. (Of course exceptions 
should be made of a few well-to-do middle peasants who are 
fair-minded and competent and have a higher political consciousness.) 
Some say that the slogan ŗRely on the poor peasants and 
firmly unite with the middle peasants˛ seems to have been discarded 
in our present formulation; this is not true. We have not discarded 
the slogan but rather made it more specific in the light of the new 
conditions, that is, we count the lower-middle peasants among the 
old middle peasants as a section of the people on whom to rely, but 
not those new middle peasants who have risen to become well-to-do 
middle peasants. This distinction is made according to their economic 
status and to whether they take an active attitude towards the cooperative 
movement. In other words, we take the poor peasants and 
the two sections of lower-middle peasants, who correspond to the 
old poor peasants, as people to rely on, and the two sections of uppermiddle 
peasants who correspond to the old middle peasants as people 
firmly to unite with, and at present one way of uniting with them 
is to refrain from forcing them to join the co-operatives and encroaching 
on their interests.

210 MAO TSETUNG 
Some additional points must be made clear with regard to the 
question of whom to rely on in the rural areas. First of all, we should 
rely on Party and League members. It is wrong for our Party committees 
from the district level up or for cadres sent to direct work in 
the rural areas not to rely primarily on the Party and League members 
there but to lump them together with the non-Party and non-League 
people. Second, we should rely on the more active elements among the 
non-Party people, who should account for some 5 per cent of the rural 
population (for example, there should be some 125 such activists in a 
township of about 2,5OO people). We should do our best to cultivate 
a group of such activists, and we should not lump them together with 
the masses either. Third, we should then rely on the masses, on the 
poor peasants and the two sections of lower-middle peasants. Failure 
to be clear about whom to rely on and how to rely on them will lead to 
mistakes in the co-operative movement.

THE DEBATE ON THE CO-OPERATIVE 
TRANSFORMATION OF AGRICULTURE AND 
THE CURRENT CLASS STRUGGLE 
October 11, 1955 
Our present session has been a great debate. This debate concerns 
the question of whether our Partyšs general line for the period of 
transition from capitalism to socialism is entirely correct or not. This 
all-Party debate was triggered by the question of our policy on the 
co-operative transformation of agriculture, on which your discussion 
has also centred. However, the debate covers a wide range of subjects, 
bearing on the work of the departments of agriculture, industry, 
communications, transport, finance, monetary affairs, trade, culture, 
education, science, public health, etc., on the transformation of handicrafts 
and capitalist industry and commerce, the suppression of 
counter-revolutionaries, the armed forces and foreign affairs; in short, 
it touches on the whole range of our work, the work of the Party, the 
government, the armed forces and the peoplešs organizations. There 
should be a great debate of this kind. For nothing like it has been conducted 
in our Party since the promulgation of the general line. We must 
unfold the debate in the countryside and in the cities as well so that our 
work in every sphere and its tempo and quality will fit the tasks set 
by the general line and be covered by a comprehensive plan. 
Now I shall speak on a number of questions. 
Concluding speech at the Enlarged Sixth Plenary Session of the Seventh Central 
Committee of the Chinese Communist Party. 
211

212 MAO TSETUNG 
I. THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN AGRICULTURAL 
CO-OPERATION AND THE TRANSFORMATION 
OF CAPITALIST INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE 
The relationship between agricultural co-operation and the transformation 
of capitalist industry and commerce, which is the relationship 
between the two tasks of basically and simultaneously accomplishing 
the socialist transformation of agriculture and of capitalist industry and 
commerce in a period of about three five-year plans, is in fact the relationship 
between agricultural co-operation and the bourgeoisie. 
We believe that only when the alliance of the working class and 
the peasantry is gradually consolidated on a new basis, that of socialism, 
in the course of the thoroughgoing socialist transformation of 
agriculture, will it be possible to sever all the ties between the urban 
bourgeoisie and the peasantry, completely isolate the bourgeoisie and 
facilitate the thoroughgoing transformation of capitalist industry and 
commerce. The purpose of our socialist transformation of agriculture 
is to cut off the source of capitalism in the vast countryside. 
We have not yet accomplished agricultural co-operation, the working 
class has not yet consolidated its alliance with the peasantry on a 
new basis, and the alliance remains unstable. The peasants are no 
longer satisfied with the alliance we formed with them in the past on 
the basis of the agrarian revolution. They are beginning to forget about 
the benefits they reaped from that alliance. They should now be given 
new benefits, which means socialism. The peasants have not yet attained 
collective prosperity, and grain and industrial raw materials are far 
from sufficient. In these circumstances it is likely that the bourgeoisie 
will find fault with us and attack us on this score. But in a few years 
we shall witness an entirely new situation, namely, an alliance between 
the working class and the peasantry on a new basis, an alliance more 
consolidated than ever. 
The old alliance to oppose the landlords, overthrow the local 
despots and distribute land was a temporary one; it has become 
unstable after a period of stability. Since the agrarian reform polarization 
has taken place among the peasants. If we have nothing new to 
offer them and cannot help them raise their productivity, increase 
their income and attain collective prosperity, the poor ones will no 
longer trust us and will feel that there is no point in following the 
Communist Party. Since they remain poor after land has been dis

213 DEBATE ON CO-OPERATIVE TRANSFORMATION 
tributed to them, why do they still have to follow you? As for the 
well-to-do ones, namely, those who have become rich peasants or grown 
quite well off, they wonšt trust us either and will invariably find the 
policies of the Communist Party not to their taste. As a result, neither 
the one nor the other, neither the poor nor the rich, will trust us, and the 
worker-peasant alliance will become quite shaky. To consolidate this 
alliance, we have to lead the peasants onto the road of socialism, enabling 
them to attain collective prosperity; not only the poor peasants 
but all of them must prosper and, what is more, they must become far 
better off than the present-day well-to-do peasants. Once the countryside 
goes co-operative, the life of the entire rural population will get 
better and better as the years go by and there will be more commodity 
grain and more industrial raw materials. By then the bourgeoisie will 
be silenced and find themselves completely isolated. 
We now have two alliances, one with the peasants and the other 
with the national bourgeoisie. Both are indispensable to us, and 
Comrade Chou En-lai has also spoken of this. What advantage is 
there in our alliance with the bourgeoisie? It enables us to obtain 
more manufactured goods to exchange for farm produce. This was 
precisely what Lenin had in mind at one phase after the October 
Revolution. Since the state had no manufactured goods to exchange, 
the peasants refused to sell their grain and wouldnšt take mere paper 
money for it. So Lenin intended to have the proletarian state power 
form an alliance with state capitalism in order to secure more manufactured 
goods to cope with the spontaneous capitalist forces in the 
countryside.1 It is precisely for the purpose of securing more manufactured 
goods to meet the needs of the peasants and overcome their 
reluctance to sell their grain and even some of their industrial raw 
materials that we have entered into an alliance with the bourgeoisie 
and refrained from confiscating capitalist enterprises for the time being, 
and have instead adopted a policy of utilizing, restricting and transforming 
them. This means using our alliance with the bourgeoisie to overcome 
the peasantsš reluctance to sell their produce. On the other hand, 
we rely on our alliance with the peasants to secure grain and industrial 
raw materials with which to bring the bourgeoisie under control. The 
capitalists have no raw materials, whereas the state has. If they want 
raw materials, they will have to sell manufactured goods to the state 
and go in for state capitalism. If they refuse to do so, we will deny 
them raw materials. In either case, they will be held in check. This 
will block the capitalist road the bourgeoisie wants to follow, namely,

214 MAO TSETUNG 
the opening of free markets, the free acquisition of raw materials and 
the free sale of manufactured goods, and will in addition isolate the 
bourgeoisie politically. Such is the interaction between these two alliances. 
Of the two, our alliance with the peasants is principal, basic and 
primary, while our alliance with the bourgeoisie is temporary and 
secondary. To an economically backward country like ours both alliances 
are indispensable at present. 
The agrarian reform enabled us to form an alliance with the 
peasants on the basis of democracy and enabled them to obtain land. 
The procuring of land by the peasants was a bourgeois-democratic 
revolution in nature, for it destroyed feudal ownership only, not 
capitalist ownership or individual ownership. That alliance made the 
bourgeoisie feel isolated for the first time. At the Third Plenary 
Session in 1950, I spoke against hitting out in all directions. The 
agrarian reform had not yet been carried out in vast areas of the 
country, nor had peasants come over entirely to our side. If we had 
opened fire on the bourgeoisie then, it would have been out of order. 
After the agrarian reform, when the peasants had entirely come over 
to our side, it was possible and necessary for us to start the movements 
against the ŗthree evils˛ and the ŗfive evils˛. Agricultural co-operation 
will enable us to consolidate our alliance with the peasants on the basis 
of proletarian socialism and not of bourgeois democracy. That will 
isolate the bourgeoisie once and for all and facilitate the final elimination 
of capitalism. On this matter we are quite heartless! On this matter 
Marxism is indeed cruel and has little mercy, for it is determined to exterminate 
imperialism, feudalism, capitalism, and small production to 
boot. In this respect, it is better not to have much mercy. Some of our 
comrades are too kind, they are not tough enough, in other words, they 
are not so Marxist. It is a very good thing, and a significant one too, to 
exterminate the bourgeoisie and capitalism in China, a country with a 
population of 600 million. Our aim is to exterminate capitalism, obliterate 
it from the face of the earth and make it a thing of the past. What 
emerges in history is bound to die out. Everything in the world is a historical 
phenomenon; as there is life, so there must be death. As a 
historical phenomenon, capitalism must also die out, and it has a very 
nice place to go to, that is, underground, there to ŗsleep˛. 
The present international situation is favourable to our fulfilment 
of the general task for the transition period. We need three five-year 
plans basically to accomplish socialist industrialization and socialist 
transformation. We must strive to secure this length of time for peace

215 DEBATE ON CO-OPERATIVE TRANSFORMATION 
ful construction. Three of the fifteen years have already elapsed, and 
twelve more will do the job. It seems likely that we will gain this time, 
and we must strive hard for it. We should redouble our efforts in 
foreign affairs and in building up national defence. 
During this fifteen-year period, the class struggle at home and 
abroad will be very tense. We have already seen this to be the case. 
We have won many victories in this struggle and will continue to do 
so. In the internal class struggle, we have done four main things in the 
last twelve months: one, we have fought idealism, two, we have suppressed 
counter-revolutionaries, three, we have settled the question 
about grain, and four, we have tackled the question of agricultural cooperation. 
The struggles waged on these four issues were all in the nature 
of a struggle against the bourgeoisie; we have dealt them severe 
blows and are continuing to deal them crushing ones. 
The struggle against idealism has been going on for a year, beginning 
with the question of The Dream of the Red Chamber and 
including the criticism of the Literary Gazette and the subsequent 
criticism of Hu Shih and Liang Shu-ming. We must carry out an 
effective campaign against idealism and we intend to devote a period 
of three five-year plans to the struggle. In the course of this struggle 
it is necessary to build up contingents of cadres well versed in Marxism 
and dialectical materialism, so that large numbers of our cadres and 
people can be armed with the fundamental theories of Marxism. With 
regard to the suppression of counter-revolutionaries, we plan to spend 
the rest of this year and the whole of next on the work of eliminating 
them from state factories, state commercial enterprises, co-operatives 
and various organizations at the county, district and township levels 
as well as from among army cadres and factory workers ‹ that is from 
among the ranks of roughly twelve million people. Talking about 
counter-revolutionaries, it may seem that there arenšt many left and 
that there are hardly any to be seen. Yet when we dig into the matter, we 
find that they do exist, and we have just ferreted out a batch. A big 
battle has also been fought on the question of grain. The bourgeoisie 
used the grain problem as a pretext for attacking us, a spate of rumours 
also emerged inside the Party, and we therefore countered by unfolding 
criticism. We have waged many struggles on the question of agricultural 
co-operation and the present session has also concentrated on 
it. We have launched momentous struggles on these four issues, countered 
the resistance and offensive of the bourgeoisie and gained the 
initiative.

216 MAO TSETUNG 
The bourgeoisie are afraid of our struggles against them on these 
issues and especially of our suppression of counter-revolutionaries. We 
have done a good job of suppressing counter-revolutionaries. In this 
work we must pay attention to the criteria, if we donšt, it will be very 
dangerous. Only those who meet the criteria are to be labelled counterrevolutionaries, 
that is to say, we must ferret out genuine counterrevolutionaries 
and not phoney ones. It is to be expected that cases of 
phoney counter-revolutionaries will occur. It is very difficult to exclude 
this possibility. But we demand that there should be fewer such cases 
and preferably none at all. The counter-revolutionaries must be outand-
out and unmistakable ones who completely meet the criteria; we 
mustnšt wrong innocent people. On the other hand, some genuine 
counter-revolutionaries may slip through our net. You say you will 
make a clean sweep of them this time. Not very likely. Such cases of 
wriggling through are hard to avoid, but we should do our best to keep 
the number to a minimum. 
II. A SUMMING-UP OF THE DEBATE ON 
THE QUESTION OF CO-OPERATION 
With regard to agricultural co-operation, the numerous innovations 
of the masses have shattered many illusions and erroneous views. 
This time the discussion has settled quite a few questions which many 
people did not clearly understand a few months ago. 
First, there is the question of which is better, a big or a small 
expansion. This has been a major issue generating much controversy 
and now it is settled. The masses demand a big expansion, and the 
general task for the transition period demands that agriculture should 
adapt itself to industry; therefore, the view in favour of a small 
expansion is wrong. 
Second, the question whether expansion is possible in areas which 
were liberated late, in mountain areas, in backward townships and in 
areas affected by natural disasters. Now this question is settled. It is 
possible in all such places. 
Third, the question whether co-operatives can be set up in minority 
nationality areas. Now it has been proved that they can be set up 
wherever conditions are ripe. In some places, such as Tibet and the

217 DEBATE ON CO-OPERATIVE TRANSFORMATION 
Taliang and Hsiaoliang Mountains, where conditions are not yet ripe, 
co-operatives should not be set up. 
Fourth, the question whether co-operatives can be set up without 
funds, carts and oxen or without the well-to-do middle peasants. Now 
this has been proved possible too. 
Fifth, the fallacy that ŗit is easy to set up a co-operative but hard 
to consolidate it˛ has been exploded. Setting one up is not so easy and 
consolidating it is not necessarily so hard. If you insist that it is easy to 
set up but hard to consolidate a co-operative, you are actually speaking 
for setting up few or none. 
Sixth, the question whether co-operatives can be set up without 
farm machinery. The view that there have to be machines before 
co-operatives can be set up is no longer popular, but it lingers on. 
This fallacy can also be exploded. 
Seventh, the question whether poorly run co-operatives should all 
be dissolved. Of course a few that definitely cannot carry on may revert 
to mutual-aid teams, but generally the so-called poorly run co-operatives 
should not be dissolved, for they can take a turn for the better after a 
check-up. 
Eighth, the statement that ŗif you donšt get off the horse quickly, 
there will be the danger of breaking up the worker-peasant alliance˛ is 
probably an ŗargument˛ relayed down from the Rural Work Department 
of the Central Committee. This department not only manufactures 
rumours but also produces a lot of ŗarguments˛. I think that 
this statement is in the main ŗcorrect˛ ‹ only a single word needs 
to be changed, that is, the word ŗoff˛ be changed into ŗon˛. You 
comrades of the Rural Work Department do not have to feel discouraged, 
for I have accepted almost all your words and changed only 
one. The difference lies in a single word, our controversy is over just 
one word ‹ you want to get off the horse while I want to get on. ŗIf 
you donšt get on the horse quickly, there will be the danger of breaking 
up the worker-peasant alliance˛, and danger there certainly will be. 
Ninth, the charge that ŗthe co-operatives are to blame for the 
loss of oxen˛ is not quite in keeping with the actual conditions. The 
chief cause of the loss of oxen is to be found not in the co-operatives 
but in floods, in the high price of ox hides and in the shortage of fodder, 
while some oxen are too old and have to be slaughtered. 
Tenth, it is wrong to say that ŗthe fundamental cause of the tense 
situation in the countryside is that too many co-operatives have been set 
up˛. The tense situation in the countryside last spring was chiefly due

218 MAO TSETUNG 
to the grain problem. The so-called grain shortage was in most cases 
fictitious; the clamour about it was raised by landlords, rich peasants 
and well-to-do middle peasants. We didnšt have time to conduct 
extensive education among the peasant masses to counter it; besides, 
there were shortcomings in our work regarding grain. We overpurchased 
7,000 million catties last year, not knowing at the time the 
proper amount of grain we should purchase. Now we are making an 
adjustment and plan to purchase 7,000 million catties less. Coupled with 
this yearšs good harvest, this will ease the tense situation in the 
countryside. 
Eleventh, there is still another remark in circulation, ŗThe superiority 
of the co-operatives can last only three years˛; this is pessimistic. 
In my view, their superiority will certainly not be limited to three years, 
for socialism will last a very long time. In the future, when socialism 
is no longer the embodiment of superiority, communism with its superiority 
will take its place. 
Twelfth, should we set up a number of co-operatives of the 
advanced type in the near future? In the past people were not clear 
about this question, and it has been raised at the present session. A 
batch of such co-operatives should be set up. As for the number, thatšs 
for you to consider. 
Thirteenth, it is also wrong to say that ŗno co-operatives can be 
set up with junks and animal-drawn carts˛. As we see it now, the 
millions of working people engaged in junk or animal-drawn cart 
transport should also be organized into co-operatives. 
We have settled all these questions in the light of your discussions. 
This is a tremendous achievement on the part of the present plenary 
session of the Central Committee. 
III. ON THE QUESTION OF COMPREHENSIVE 
PLANNING AND MORE EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP 
Comprehensive planning should include, first, a plan for cooperatives, 
second, a plan for agricultural production and, third, an 
over-all economic plan. An over-all economic plan for the countryside 
embraces side-line production, handicrafts, diversified economic undertakings, 
multi-purpose undertakings, nearby land reclamation and 
population shifts, supply and marketing co-operatives, credit co

219 DEBATE ON CO-OPERATIVE TRANSFORMATION 
operatives, banks and technique popularization stations, etc., as well as 
afforestation of barren mountains and villages. I think the barren 
mountains in the north in particular should be afforested, and they 
undoubtedly can be. Do you comrades from the north have courage 
enough for this? Many places in the south need afforestation too. It 
will be fine if in a number of years we can see various places in the 
south and north clothed with greenery. This will benefit agriculture, 
industry and all other spheres. 
What other plans should be made? A plan for culture and education. 
It should embrace eliminating illiteracy, opening primary schools, 
setting up middle schools geared to the needs of the rural areas, adding 
a few courses in agriculture to the middle school curriculum, publishing 
popular pamphlets and books suited to the needs of the peasants, 
establishing rural broadcasting networks and film projection teams, 
arranging cultural and recreational activities, and so on. There should 
also be plans for the consolidation and building of the Party and 
Youth League organizations, for womenšs work and for the suppression 
of counter-revolutionaries. All these should be included in a comprehensive 
plan. 
Plans should be of the following kinds: (1) A plan for a village 
co-operative. Every co-operative, however small, should make a plan 
and learn how to do so. (2) A plan for an entire township. Our country 
has over 220,000 townships, each of which should have a plan. (3) A 
plan for an entire county. We hope every county will make one. Some 
counties have already made good plans that are interesting to read. 
The minds of the comrades there are emancipated, they defy heaven 
and earth and are not fettered by shackles and manacles, and their 
plans are dynamic. (4) A plan for an entire province (or an autonomous 
region, or the suburban areas of a municipality). Here the stress should 
be put on plans for entire townships and for entire counties. These 
two links should be grasped, and a number of such plans should be 
drawn up promptly. For instance, in each province plans for three or 
four counties should be made and distributed as examples. 
Plans for co-operative transformation should specify different rates 
of development for different areas. There are three kinds of areas. 
The first comprises the greater part of our rural areas, the second a 
section of the smaller part of our rural areas and the third the remainder. 
For the greater part of our rural areas the development should 
be in three waves, that is, three winters and springs. The three waves

220 MAO TSETUNG 
consist of this winter and next spring, next winter and the following 
spring, and another winter and spring. Three winters and springs make 
three waves, one wave surging after another, and in between there 
should be an interval. There is a valley between two mountains and 
there is a trough between two waves. The first kind of area will have 
basically completed semi-socialist co-operative transformation by the 
spring of 1958. For the second kind of area, such as areas in North 
China and the Northeast and also some suburban areas, two winters 
and springs, or two waves, will suffice. Among them a few will have 
basically gone co-operative by next spring, and thus they will reach 
the goal in only one wave. The third kind of area, that is, the remainder 
of the smaller part of our rural areas, will need four, five or even 
six winters and springs. This does not include some of the minority 
nationality areas, namely, the Taliang and Hsiaoliang Mountains, 
Tibet and other minority nationality areas where conditions are 
not yet ripe, and no co-operative should be set up under such circumstances. 
What is meant by the basic completion of semi-socialist 
co-operation? That 70 to 80 per cent of the rural population have 
joined semi-socialist co-operatives. Here a margin is allowed, 70 per 
cent will be all right, and so will 75 or 80 per cent or slightly over 80 
per cent ‹ this is what we call the basic completion of semi-socialist 
co-operation. For the rest of the rural population, co-operation will 
come about later. Being too slow is not good, nor is being overhasty, 
both are opportunistic. There are two kinds of opportunism, being slow 
and being hasty. Putting it in this way will make it easier for ordinary 
people to understand. 
Province (municipality or autonomous region), prefecture and 
county ‹ all three levels must constantly acquaint themselves with 
the development of the movement and tackle any problem as it arises. 
Make sure that you donšt wait until problems pile up before making 
a reckoning, that would be firing belated shots. In the past, much of 
our work was done in this way, problems were left to pile up instead 
of being solved as they arose, and a reckoning or criticism was made 
only at the very end. Some comrades made this mistake during the 
movements against the ŗthree evils˛ and the ŗfive evils˛. Donšt go 
in for criticism after the event. Of course, criticisms have to be made 
after the event, but it will be best to make them the moment a mistake 
begins to show itself. It is not good to go in for criticism after the event 
and fail to give guidance according to the changing circumstances.

221 DEBATE ON CO-OPERATIVE TRANSFORMATION 
What is to be done when things turn out unfavourably? When 
this happens, put on the brakes at once, or in other words, make a 
halt. It is like driving a car, we put on the brakes at once when we 
meet with danger in going down a steep slope. The provincial, prefectural 
and county authorities all have the power to put on the brakes. 
Attention must be paid to guarding against the ŗLeft˛ deviation. To 
guard against the ŗLeft˛ deviation is Marxism, not opportunism. 
Marxism does not call for ŗLeft˛ deviations, and ŗLeft˛ opportunism 
is not Marxism. 
In setting up co-operatives what should we compete in from now 
on? In quality, in measuring up to norms. As for quantity or speed, 
what we specified earlier will do, and the emphasis now is on competition 
in quality. And what are the criteria for quality? They are 
increased production and no loss of livestock. How can production be 
increased and loss of livestock be avoided? To this end, it is necessary 
to observe the principles of voluntary participation and mutual benefit, 
make comprehensive plans and give flexible guidance. Given these 
conditions, the co-operatives, I think, will be able to achieve better 
quality, increase production and prevent the loss of livestock. We 
must by all means avoid the mistake once made in the Soviet Union 
which led to the slaughtering of livestock in large numbers. The next 
two years are crucial, and chiefly the next five months, namely, this 
winter and next spring. I would ask the comrades here to see to it that, 
starting from November this year and up to March next year, no 
serious trouble nor any loss of oxen in large numbers occurs. Since we 
have only a few tractors, oxen are a treasure, they are the chief 
implement in agricultural production. 
In the next five months, the leading cadres at the provincial, prefectural, 
county, district and township levels, and first of all the Party 
secretaries and deputy secretaries, must immerse themselves in the 
question of co-operatives and familiarize themselves with the various 
problems connected with them. Is the time too short? I think five 
months will do, if you make a serious effort. Of course it is very 
important for comrades at the provincial level to do so, but it will be 
very dangerous if comrades at the county, district and township levels 
in particular do not go into this question and know practically nothing 
about co-operatives when many are being set up. What if a comrade 
simply canšt dig in? He should be given a different job. The Central 
Committee will probably call a similar conference five months hence,

222 MAO TSETUNG 
that is, after next March. We shall then have a competition in quality, 
and speakers at the conference will not be expected to repeat their present 
speeches, for there must be something new, that is, the emphasis 
should be on questions of comprehensive planning, management and 
methods of leadership. They should speak on efficient methods of setting 
up more and better co-operatives faster. In other words, they 
should deal with the question of quality. 
Methods of leadership are very important. To avoid mistakes, one 
must pay attention to these methods and strengthen leadership. Here 
are some suggestions about methods of leadership, see if they are 
feasible. One is to hold several large or small meetings yearly to solve 
current problems, as we are doing now. When a problem crops up, 
you should be able to see what is universal in a particular case. You 
donšt have to catch all the sparrows and dissect them before you can 
prove the fact that ŗsmall as it is, the sparrow has all the vital 
organs˛. No scientist has ever acted this way. Once you are clear 
about a few co-operatives, you will be able to draw proper conclusions. 
Besides the method of holding meetings, you can use the 
telegram and the telephone and go on inspection tours, these too are 
very important methods of leadership. In addition, every province 
should select suitable personnel to run publications well and improve 
them for the prompt exchange of experience. Here is another suggestion 
which I would like you to try out. I spent eleven days reading 
120-odd reports, making corrections and writing notes to them. 
In this manner I have ŗtravelled all the kingdoms˛ and gone farther than 
Confucius, ŗtravelling˛ as far as Yunnan and Sinkiang.2 Perhaps 
each province and autonomous region might compile a book every 
year or every six months, with one article from each county, so that 
the experience of all counties can be exchanged; this will facilitate the 
rapid spread of the co-operative movement. Still another method is 
to issue bulletins. The county Party committee should submit bulletins 
to the prefectural Party committee, the prefectural to the provincial 
or autonomous region Party committee, and the latter to the Central 
Committee, reporting on the number of co-operatives set up and on the 
problems that have arisen. The leadership at various levels will acquaint 
itself with the situation through these bulletins and be able 
to find solutions to problems when they arise. These are a few suggestions 
concerning methods of leadership for the comrades present to 
consider.

223 DEBATE ON CO-OPERATIVE TRANSFORMATION 
IV. ON IDEOLOGICAL STRUGGLE 
All past experience has demonstrated one point: ideological struggle 
must hit the mark. There must be confrontation of ideas, to use 
a current expression. As in fighting, you thrust your sword at me and 
I thrust mine back, and the two swords must cross ‹ this is confrontation. 
Without a confrontation of ideas no clarity and thoroughness 
can be attained, and thatšs not good. At this session we have had 
confrontation, thus attaining clarity and thoroughness in our thinking. 
The first advantage of this method is that it helps most comrades to 
get clear on questions, and the second that it helps those comrades who 
have erred to correct their mistakes. 
For comrades who have erred, I think there are only two requirements: 
one, they themselves must be willing to make revolution; 
two, other people must allow them to go on making revolution. There 
are individuals who donšt want to go on making revolution themselves, 
for example, Chen Tu-hsiu did not want to, nor did Chang Kuo-tao, 
nor Kao Kang and Jao Shu-shih, but such individuals are a mere 
handful. Most people want to go on making revolution. Then there 
is the other requirement: they must be allowed to make revolution. 
We should not act like the bogus foreign devil in The True Story of 
Ah Q, who bars Ah Q from revolution, nor should we ape Wang Lun 
the scholar-in-white3 in Water Margin, who also bars other people 
from revolution. Whoever bars others from revolution will find himself 
in a very perilous position. Wang Lun, the scholar-in-white, who bars 
other people from revolution, ends up losing his life. Kao Kang barred 
other people from revolution, and didnšt he end up losing his life too? 
Historical experience shows that most people who have committed 
errors of dogmatism or empiricism can correct them. But this calls for 
two pre-conditions, serious criticism on the one hand and a forbearing 
attitude on the other. It is not good to do without the latter, for its 
absence would lead to unnatural relations. Who doesnšt make some 
mistake or other? Everyone without exception makes mistakes, only 
some make major mistakes and others minor ones. In any case the 
incorrigible are few, such as Chen Tu-hsiu, Chang Kuo-tao, Kao Kang, 
Jao Shu-shih and also Chen Kuang and Tai Chi-ying. Except for a few 
persons like them, all the others who have erred can be saved and can 
correct their mistakes with the help of their comrades. We should act

224 MAO TSETUNG 
in this way and have confidence. On their part, people who have erred 
should have confidence too. 
Some comrades in the Rural Work Department of the Central 
Committee, and principally Comrade Teng Tzu-hui, have made 
mistakes. The mistakes he has made this time are Right deviationist 
and empiricist in nature. Comrade Teng Tzu-hui has made a selfcriticism. 
Though some comrades at group meetings felt that it was 
not thorough enough, we of the Political Bureau and other comrades 
have talked it over and found it satisfactory on the whole. For the 
present the understanding he has shown is good enough. It should be 
acknowledged that Comrade Teng Tzu-hui did a lot of work during 
the long revolutionary struggle and made contributions. But he should 
not have allowed his contributions to become a handicap. He himself 
has admitted this, saying that he has to some extent flaunted his 
seniority. One must be modest. Provided Comrade Teng Tzu-hui is 
modest and ready to accept the help of his comrades, we believe he 
will be able to correct his mistakes. 
Comrade Teng Tzu-hui once advanced the kind of programmatic 
formulation which advocated reliance on the businessmen (that is, on 
the bourgeoisie) and the ŗfour big freedoms˛. That formulation was 
wrong and was a veritable bourgeois programme in nature, a capitalist 
programme, not a proletarian one, and it ran counter to the decision 
of the Second Plenary Session of the Seventh Central Committee on 
the restriction of the bourgeoisie. We are now following a policy of 
restriction towards both the urban bourgeoisie and the rural bourgeoisie 
(the rich peasants). Therefore, the ŗfour big freedoms˛, under 
which no restrictions are placed on hiring labourers, trading, moneylending 
and renting out land, must be called in question. I would say 
there are ŗfour little freedoms˛. Here the difference is between big 
and little. With restrictions, the bourgeoisie have a bit of these 
freedoms, just a tiny bit. We must prepare the conditions for depriving 
the bourgeoisie of these little freedoms, too. Towards the urban bourgeoisie 
we adopt a policy of utilization, restriction and transformation. 
We must utilize it, but at the same time we must restrict that aspect 
which is detrimental to the nationšs economy and the peoplešs livelihood. 
Such a policy is neither ŗLeft˛ nor Right. No restriction at all would 
mean leaning too much to the Right. Extreme restriction, which bars 
the bourgeoisie from any undertaking whatever, would mean leaning 
too much to the ŗLeft˛. Lenin said it would be not only foolish but 
suicidal for a political party to try to eradicate capitalism at one stroke

225 DEBATE ON CO-OPERATIVE TRANSFORMATION 
when millions upon millions of small producers still exist.4 But Comrade 
Teng Tzu-huišs formulation was incorrect because he made no mention 
of restriction, and it differed from that of the Central Committee and 
of the Second Plenary Session. 
Some comrades take almost no heed of the Partyšs resolutions and 
the policies advocated by the Party over long periods, as if they had 
never read or heard of them ‹ I donšt know why. For instance, the 
mutual-aid and co-operative movement went on for many years in the 
central revolutionary base area, in Yenan and in each and every base 
area, and yet these comrades donšt seem to have seen or heard anything 
about it. Back in the winter of 1951, the Central Committee adopted 
a resolution on mutual aid and co-operation in agricultural production, 
which they likewise ignore. As late as 1953, they still did not talk about 
fundamentals but took pleasure in giving small favours. By their not 
talking about fundamentals we mean they never talked about socialism, 
and by taking pleasure in giving small favours we mean they took 
pleasure in giving the ŗfour big freedoms˛. That is to say, some comrades 
take no heed at all of the Partyšs resolutions or of some of the 
policies and programmes it has long advocated; instead they go their 
own way. They never try to find out whether and how questions of 
a similar nature have been discussed before. Some historians take pains 
to study even oracle bones, inscriptions on bronzes and stone tablets 
and other relics of the ancient past which have been unearthed, whereas 
these comrades pay not the least heed to our recent past and donšt bother 
to look into it. In short, they completely ignore what is going on beyond 
their immediate surroundings and just write and speak as they like; 
for instance, they have prated about the ŗfour big freedoms˛, and well, 
they have ended up running their heads against a wall. 
Some other comrades always prefer decentralism, they assert their 
independence and even set up independent kingdoms, finding dictatorship 
very much to their taste. At the outset it was in order to be 
comfortable that they set up kingdoms and proclaimed themselves kings. 
But what was the result? In the end they found themselves very 
uncomfortable as they came under criticism. Isnšt there an opera called 
Ascending the Throne? Look what great comfort Hsueh Ping-kuei 
enjoyed on becoming king, for in those days there was no self-criticism. 
That was not good. Many people are always reluctant to consult others. 
Many comrades pay lip-service to collective leadership, but actually 
they are inordinately fond of personal dictatorship, as if they would not 
look like leaders unless they were dictatorial. One does not have to be

226 MAO TSETUNG 
dictatorial to be a leader, donšt you know that? The bourgeoisie has 
bourgeois democracy, it stresses class dictatorship. The proletariat and 
the Communist Party must likewise exercise class dictatorship, it is bad 
to practise personal dictatorship. When a problem comes up, it is always 
advisable to consult with others, have it solved by the collective and 
pool the wisdom of the many; thatšs the better way. 
Still another point needs to be taken up here. Many comrades 
bury themselves in office work and do not study problems. Mustnšt 
office work be attended to? Certainly it must. It wonšt do to neglect 
such work, but it would be dangerous to attend to it exclusively 
without studying problems. If you donšt go among the cadres and the 
masses, or if, when among them, you are always taking them to task 
instead of consulting and exchanging views with them, saying ŗWhat 
do you think of my ideas? Please tell me your opinions˛, you wonšt 
be able to sense the political climate, your nose will become insensitive 
and you will catch cold politically. Once your nose is stopped up, 
you canšt tell what the climate is at a given time. Today Comrade Chen 
Yi said that one must be able to grasp a thing when it is in the bud. 
A person must be most slow-witted if he fails to see what is already 
widespread and abundant. This situation calls for attention. It is very 
bad for anyone to be occupied solely with office work to the neglect 
of studying problems, going among the masses and cadres and 
consulting with them.
V. OTHER QUESTIONS 
Most of the questions I am now going to discuss have been raised 
by the comrades here. 
First, with regard to removing well-to-do middle peasants from 
leading positions in the co-operatives, it is necessary to pay attention 
to the steps to be taken and the methods to be used; do not dismiss 
them all at once. Although they are not fit to be leaders, they are 
nevertheless working people. Each case should be decided on its merits, 
depending on how the person acquits himself. Some well-to-do middle 
peasants must be removed, for it simply wonšt do to let them continue 
at their posts. But it must be made clear to the masses (for example, the 
members of the co-operative) as well as to the well-to-do middle peasant 
concerned that he is not really fit to go on serving as a leader. There

227 DEBATE ON CO-OPERATIVE TRANSFORMATION 
is another condition, namely, he is not to be removed until a better 
qualified person is ready to succeed him or has been trained to take his 
place. Some of the well-to-do middle peasants may continue at their 
posts after making a self-criticism and correcting their mistakes, others 
may be made deputy leaders or committee members. Of course those 
who have done a good job should not be removed, even though they 
are well-to-do middle peasants. Do not treat well-to-do middle peasants 
as rich peasants, they are not. Do not remove them all at once. This 
question must be approached with care and properly settled. The 
provinces and localities are expected to consider whether the various 
ways mentioned above are feasible. 
Second, it must be made clear at the Party branches and among the 
masses that when we now say that the lower-middle peasants and the 
upper-middle peasants are two different social strata, it is not because 
we are redefining class status but because different social strata actually 
take different attitudes towards co-operative transformation, some 
active, some passive, and a similar difference exists among individuals 
within the same stratum. For instance, even among the poor peasants 
there are people who do not want to join the co-operatives for the time 
being. This fact can be used to convince the well-to-do middle peasants: 
ŗLook! Among the poor and lower-middle peasants there are also 
people who are rather passive. They donšt want to come in, so we wonšt 
ask them to join. As you well-to-do middle peasants donšt want to 
come in now, you may stay out too.˛ We should first draw in those 
who are keen on joining, then make propaganda among a second group 
until they become keen enough to join, and then among a third group. 
This should be done by stages and in batches. In time all will join the 
co-operatives. So it is not a question of redefining class status. 
Third, on the question of landlords and rich peasants joining the 
co-operatives. Perhaps we can try the following way: take the county 
together with the township as a unit (it is not enough to take the county 
alone as the unit, for a county may have basically gone co-operative 
while there may still be no co-operatives at all in some of its townships). 
When a county and township have basically gone co-operative, that is, 
when 70 to 80 per cent of the peasant households have joined, the 
consolidated co-operatives can start dealing with the landlords and 
rich peasants in groups and by stages according to their behaviour. 
Those who have a good record and are honest and law-abiding may 
be given co-operative membership. Others may join in collective labour 
in the co-operative and receive their share of remuneration but without

228 MAO TSETUNG 
co-operative membership, being actually members on probation; if they 
do well, they too can become members, and so they will have something 
to look forward to. Those in a third group will not be allowed to join 
the co-operative for the time being, the question will be taken up later 
and settled on an individual basis. None of the landlords or rich 
peasants admitted to the co-operative are to be appointed to posts in 
it. As for educated young people from landlord or rich peasant families 
who have been through some testing, canšt they be given such jobs as 
literacy teachers in the villages? In places where there are very few 
other intellectuals, there is a need to have them serve as literacy teachers 
under the leadership and supervision of the Party branch and the 
co-operative management committee. At present, there are still a fair 
number of such educated young people among the primary school 
teachers. These young people from landlord or rich peasant families are 
only seventeen or eighteen years old and have just finished primary or 
junior middle school, and I think it unnecessarily strict not to let them 
serve even as literacy teachers. We can enlist them in teaching the peasants 
to read and write, in wiping out illiteracy. Please consider whether 
this is feasible. However, assigning them to such work as bookkeeping 
would be rather risky. 
Fourth, as regards the conditions for establishing co-operatives of 
the advanced type and how many to establish, I shanšt say anything 
today but ask you comrades to study these conditions and then wešll 
discuss the matter next year. Different localities can act according to the 
existing conditions. In short, such co-operatives can be set up where 
the conditions are ripe and not otherwise, and you may start with only 
a few and later increase their number step by step. 
Fifth, as to the time for establishing co-operatives, perhaps you can 
consider whether it must be concentrated in winter and spring each year 
and whether a number can also be set up in summer or autumn, as is 
actually being done in some places already. But it must be pointed out 
that there has to be an interval for rest and consolidation between 
two waves and that after a batch of co-operatives has been 
set up, there should be check-ups and consolidation before more are 
established. It is like fighting battles, there should be rest and consolidation 
between two battles. It is entirely wrong to do without, leave 
no interval and allow no breathing space. There was once the view in 
the army that rest and consolidation were dispensable, that a respite 
was unnecessary and that what was necessary was to march on and fight 
all the time, which, as a matter of fact, is impossible. Men must sleep.

229 DEBATE ON CO-OPERATIVE TRANSFORMATION 
If the meeting we are holding today should not adjourn but go on and on 
indefinitely, everybody would be against this, including me. Men need 
a long rest and consolidation every day ‹ seven or eight, or at least 
five or six, hours of sleep, not counting the shorter rests during the day. 
To say that the establishment of co-operatives, a matter of such major 
importance, can dispense with rest and consolidation is most naive. 
Sixth, ŗRun co-operatives with diligence and thrift˛ is a very good 
slogan. It has been put forward by people at the grass-roots level. It 
is necessary to practise strict economy and combat waste. A vigorous 
campaign against waste is now under way in the cities and also in the 
villages. We must encourage diligence and thrift in running the 
household, running the co-operative and building the country. Our 
nation must be first diligent and second thrifty; we must not be lazy 
and extravagant. Laziness leads to decay, that is not good. To run 
co-operatives with diligence and thrift it is necessary to raise labour 
productivity, practise strict economy, reduce costs of production, institute 
economic accounting and combat extravagance and waste. All 
co-operatives must raise labour productivity and reduce costs of 
production. As for economic accounting, it is to be taken up gradually. 
As the co-operatives grow in size, they cannot manage without economic 
accounting; they must learn to do it step by step. 
Seventh, it is a shortcoming of this session that no one has spoken on 
the subject of state farms. I hope the Rural Work Department of the 
Central Committee as well as the Ministry of Agriculture will study this 
question. In future the proportion of state farms will grow year by year. 
Eighth, we must go on opposing Han chauvinism. It is one kind of 
bourgeois ideology. The Han people are so numerous, they are liable 
to look down on the minority nationalities and not to help them wholeheartedly, 
so we must relentlessly fight Han chauvinism. Naturally, 
narrow nationalism may arise among the minority nationalities, that 
also is to be opposed. But of the two the chief one, the one to be opposed 
first, is Han chauvinism. So long as the comrades of Han nationality 
take the correct attitude and treat the minority nationalities with real 
fairness, so long as the nationality policy they follow and the stand 
they take on the question of nationality relations are entirely Marxist 
and do not reflect bourgeois viewpoints, that is to say, so long as they 
are free from Han chauvinism, it is comparatively easy to overcome 
narrow nationalist views among the minority nationalities. At present, 
there is still a good deal of Han chauvinism, for example, monopolizing 
the affairs of the minority nationalities, showing no respect for their

230 MAO TSETUNG 
customs and folk-ways, being self-righteous, looking down on them and 
saying how backward they are. At the National Conference of our Party 
last March, I said that China could not do without its minority 
nationalities. There are scores of nationalities in China. The regions 
inhabited by the minority nationalities are more extensive in area than 
those inhabited by the Han nationality and abound in material wealth 
of all kinds. Our national economy cannot do without the economy 
of the minority nationalities. 
Ninth, as for the campaign to wipe out illiteracy, I think we had 
better get it going. In some places, this campaign has itself been wiped 
out. This is not good. It is illiteracy and not the campaign that should 
be wiped out in the course of co-operative transformation, that is, we 
should wipe out illiteracy and not the campaign to wipe it out. 
Tenth, some people ask, what is meant by ŗLeft˛ and Right 
deviations? As we have said on previous occasions, everything moves 
in space and time. Here Išll chiefly deal with the question of time. If 
the observation you make of the movement of things does not agree 
with reality, it is a ŗLeft˛ deviation if your judgment is premature, and 
it is a Right deviation if your judgment lags behind. Take the cooperative 
movement for example. Although the conditions are already 
ripe, such as the massesš enthusiasm, the widespread presence of 
mutual-aid teams and the leadership of the Party, some comrades 
still deny this. When it is already possible (not several years ago, but 
right now) for the co-operative movement to develop in a big way, 
they still say it is impossible. All this is a Right deviation. On the other 
hand, it is a ŗLeft˛ deviation if it is demanded that 80 per cent of the 
whole nation should go co-operative in a very short time, when such 
conditions as the level of political consciousness of the peasants and 
the leadership of the Party are not yet ripe. As the old Chinese sayings 
go, ŗWhen a melon is ripe, it falls off its stem,˛ and ŗWhen water flows, 
a channel is formed.˛ We should act in accordance with specific 
conditions and achieve our aims naturally instead of forcing their 
attainment. Take childbirth for instance. It requires nine months. If, in 
the seventh month, the doctor should exert pressure and force the child 
out, that would not be good, that would be a ŗLeft˛ deviation. If, on 
the other hand, the unborn child is already nine months old and very 
much wants to come out and yet you donšt allow it, that would be 
a Right deviation. In short, everything moves in time. When the right 
time comes for something to be done, it has to be done. If you donšt

231 DEBATE ON CO-OPERATIVE TRANSFORMATION 
allow it, that is a Right deviation. If the right time has not come for 
something and yet you try to force it through, that is a ŗLeft˛ deviation. 
Eleventh, some people ask, isnšt it possible that ŗLeft˛ deviationist 
mistakes will occur? Our reply is that it is entirely possible. If the 
leadership in a given locality, whether a township Party branch or 
a district, county, prefectural or provincial Party committee, does not 
take note of the level of political consciousness of the masses and the 
development of the mutual-aid teams, and if instead of drawing up 
plans, exercising control and establishing co-operatives by stages and 
in batches, it only seeks quantity and does not care for quality, serious 
ŗLeft˛ deviationist mistakes are bound to appear. When there is an 
upsurge of enthusiasm among the masses, when everyone asks to join 
the co-operative, it is imperative to envisage all kinds of difficulties 
and every unfavourable condition conceivable, openly make them 
known to the masses and let the masses consider the matter fully. If 
they are not afraid, they can join up; if they are afraid, they donšt have 
to. Of course, we must not frighten people away. I suppose I wonšt 
scare you away today, for we have been in session for so many days. 
It is necessary to cool peoplešs heads at the right moment so that they 
wonšt become hot-headed. 
We are opposed to boundless anxiety and countless taboos and 
regulations. Does this mean that we should have no anxiety at all? 
Not a single taboo? Not a single regulation? Of course that is not the 
case. Who is there who does not have anxiety, the necessary anxiety, 
the warranted anxiety? And we should have the necessary taboos and 
regulations too. Without a few taboos, without a few regulations, how 
can we carry on? It is absolutely right to have the necessary anxiety, 
taboos and regulations, and the necessary pauses, intermissions, putting 
on of brakes and cut-offs. 
Here is one method: when people are on the point of becoming 
conceited, when they are about to get cocky, they should be assigned 
a new task (for instance, we have now proposed a competition in quality 
and next year when you come here, the results will be compared; by 
then the question of quantity will have become secondary) so that they 
wonšt have a chance to become conceited, as they wonšt have the time. 
We have tried this method before. When an army unit won a battle 
and some comrades started talking about it with gusto to people around 
them and got too cocky, you set them a new task ‹ to fight another 
battle. No sooner was a new task set than they had to start considering

232 MAO TSETUNG 
the problems it entailed and make preparations, so that they stopped 
being cocky and had no time for conceit. 
Twelfth, some comrades have suggested that the county level might 
perhaps be given the right to a margin of manoeuvre of 10 per cent. 
Take the establishment of co-operatives, their number might be either 
10 per cent less or 10 per cent more. I think this suggestion can be 
adopted, it is a good one, so donšt make things too rigid. Please give 
the matter further thought. 
Thirteenth, arenšt there people who want to reverse our decision? 
There are quite a number. They think the co-operatives will come to 
nothing and what we are doing will be entirely reversed, and they say 
we are not Marxists, but opportunists. But, in my view, as the general 
trend indicates, this decision is irreversible. 
Fourteenth, some people ask, what will be the trend in the future? 
It will be the basic accomplishment of socialist industrialization as well 
as of the socialist transformation of agriculture, handicrafts and capitalist 
industry and commerce within a period of about three five-year plans. 
So far as I can see, that will be the trend. Besides, it may be added, 
as I indicated at the last National Conference of our Party, that in 
about fifty to seventy-five years, that is, within a period of ten to fifteen 
five-year plans, we shall be able to make China a powerful socialist 
country. 
During this period of fifty to seventy-five years, many serious and 
complicated conflicts and struggles will certainly take place abroad, at 
home and inside the Party, and we are bound to meet with a lot of 
difficulties. In our own experience, we have lived through I donšt know 
how many conflicts, armed and peaceful, with bloodshed and without, 
so how can you guarantee that there will be none in future? There will 
certainly be conflicts, and not a few, but a lot. Among them there will 
be the outbreak of a world war, the dropping of atom bombs on our 
heads, and the appearance of Berias, Kao Kangs, Chang Kuo-taos and 
Chen Tu-hsius. Many things cannot be foreseen now. But, as we 
Marxists see it, it is definite that all difficulties can be overcome and 
that a powerful socialist China will emerge. Is that certain? I think it is. 
According to Marxism it is. The bourgeoisie has prepared a grave-digger 
for itself. Its grave is ready. How can it not die? Speaking of trends, 
this is roughly the trend. 
Fifteenth, you have made many suggestions for the revision of the 
two documents ‹ the resolution and the regulations. That is very good.

233 DEBATE ON CO-OPERATIVE TRANSFORMATION 
Wešll have your suggestions collected for consideration. After its 
adoption today, the resolution will be revised and published in a few 
days by the Political Bureau. The regulations will take a longer time. 
The democratic personages will have to be consulted and the legislative 
procedure will have to be followed. Or, like the Draft Bill, the regulations 
may first be submitted to the Standing Committee of the National 
Peoplešs Congress for discussion and then sent to the State Council for 
publication in order to get opinions. Tentatively and for a period of 
time, localities may act in accordance with the regulations until they 
are submitted to the National Peoplešs Congress for adoption next year. 
Finally, in passing I would ask you to pay attention to writing. 
I hope all present will become ŗteachers of composition˛. Your articles 
are well written, except, perhaps, for a few shortcomings. You should 
take care to help other people improve their style of writing. Now, of 
the articles written by many comrades, some are long-winded and 
devoid of substance, but these are relatively few; the chief defects are 
an overuse of classical Chinese and too strong a flavour of the semiliterary, 
semi-vernacular style. In writing articles one must pay attention 
to logic. That is to say, one must pay attention to the structure of an 
article or speech as a whole, and there must be some sort of relation 
between the beginning, the middle and the end, a sort of inner 
relationship, and the three must not be at variance with one another. 
One must also observe the rules of grammar. Many comrades tend to 
omit the subject or the object of a sentence when it should not be 
omitted, or use adverbs as verbs or even leave out verbs. All this is 
ungrammatical. Attention must also be paid to rhetoric, to how to write 
more vividly. In short, to be logical, to be grammatical and to have 
a better command of rhetoric ‹ these are the three points I would like 
you to bear in mind when you write. 
NOTES 
1 V. I. Lenin, ŗThe Tax in Kind˛. 
2 This refers to the compilation of How to Run Agricultural Producersš Cooperatives 
by Comrade Mao Tsetung, who undertook it after reading the reports on 
agricultural co-operation sent in by various localities. See ŗPrefaces to Socialist 
Upsurge in Chinašs Countryside˛ below.

234 MAO TSETUNG 
3 In the classical Chinese novel Water Margin, Wang Lun (nicknamed ŗthe 
scholar-in-white˛) becomes head of the peasant rebels when they seize Liangshan 
Mountain, and he wants to remain head. When Lin Chung, chief instructor to the 
capital garrison, is forced to rebel against the authorities and seeks shelter on Liangshan 
Mountain, Wang Lun first tries to turn him away and then makes things hard 
for him. Later, he refuses to allow Chao Kai, a rebel peasant leader, and his followers 
to join forces with the Liangshan Mountain rebels. In the end Wang Lun is killed by 
Lin Chung. 
4 V. I. Lenin, op. cit.

PREFACE TO SOCIALIST UPSURGE 
IN CHINAšS COUNTRYSIDE 
September and December 1955 
PREFACE I 
September 25, 1955
The general line of the Chinese Communist Party for the period 
of transition from capitalism to socialism is basically to accomplish the 
industrialization of China together with the socialist transformation of 
agriculture, handicrafts and capitalist industry and commerce. This 
transition period will cover roughly eighteen years, that is, the three 
years of rehabilitation plus the span of three five-year plans. On the 
surface there has been a consensus in our Party on this formulation of 
the general line and the specification of the time-limit, but in reality 
there have been differences of opinion. At present, these differences 
manifest themselves chiefly on the question of the socialist transformation 
of agriculture, or agricultural co-operation. 
Some people say that in the last few years there seems to have been 
a certain rule operating in agricultural co-operation, namely, expansion 
is encouraged in winter but is bound to be opposed in the spring by 
certain persons as rash advance. There are reasons for that remark, for 
they have seen opposition to the alleged rash advance on several 
occasions. For example, there was an expansion in the winter of 1952, 
only to be opposed as a rash advance in the spring of 1953; again there 
was an expansion in the winter of 1954, only to be opposed once more 
as a rash advance in the following spring. Opposition to the alleged 
rash advancement not only halting the expansion but compulsorily 
dissolving (or ŗaxing˛) large numbers of co-operatives already set up, 
thus rousing dissatisfaction among the cadres and peasant masses. Some 
peasants were so disgusted that they refused to eat, or kept to their beds, 
235

236 MAO TSETUNG 
or skipped work a dozen days in a row. They said, ŗYou were the ones 
who told us to set up the co-operatives, and now you are the ones who 
tell us to disband them.˛ Dissolution gladdened the well-to-do middle 
peasants but saddened the poor peasants. When the news about the 
halting of expansion or the dissolution reached the poor peasants in Hupeh 
Province, they were ŗchilled to the bone˛, but some middle peasants 
said, ŗThis is as good as a pilgrimage to Mulan Hill.˛ (On Mulan Hill 
in Huangpi County, Hupeh Province, there stands the Mulan Temple, a 
place peasants like to visit on pilgrimage.) 
Why this wavering on the part of some comrades which most people 
find absolutely uncalled for? Because they have fallen under the 
influence of some of the middle peasants. At the initial stage of the 
co-operative movement some of the middle peasants, especially the 
well-to-do middle peasants who had strong leanings towards capitalism, 
were averse to socialist transformation. Here what makes the difference 
is the Partyšs policy and method of work with respect to the middle 
peasants in the co-operative movement. Many middle peasants, mainly 
the new and old lower-middle peasants, who are not so well off and 
have a higher level of political consciousness, are willing to join the 
co-operatives, provided we pursue a policy which benefits both strata, 
that is, the poor and also the middle peasants, and not a policy 
exclusively beneficial to the former, and provided our method of work 
is good. However, even if we follow this policy, some middle peasants 
will still prefer to stay outside the co-operatives for the time being and 
ŗto remain free if only for a year or two˛. This is perfectly understandable, 
for co-operation means a change in the peasantsš private 
ownership of the means of production and the entire mode of management; 
for them this is a fundamental change, so naturally they want 
to give the matter careful consideration and for some time may find 
it difficult to make a decision. Some of our comrades failed to tackle 
problems in accordance with the Partyšs policy and method of work 
and, when faced with complaints from the well-to-do middle peasants 
and certain flaws in our work, they panicked, raised a hue and cry 
against ŗrash advance˛, and ŗaxed˛ co-operatives at will as if they 
were malignant tumours which would be fatal unless removed at once. 
But this is not at all how things stand. Shortcomings there are in our 
work, but on the whole the movement is healthy. The masses of the 
poor and lower-middle peasants welcome the co-operatives. If some 
of the middle peasants want to wait and see, we should let them. 
As for the well-to-do middle peasants, we should give them even

237 PREFACES TO SOCIALIST UPSURGE IN CHINAšS COUNTRYSIDE 
more time to wait and see, except for those willing to join. At present, 
the main defect in the movement is that in many places the Party 
leadership has failed to keep pace; the comrades in charge have not 
taken the leadership of the whole movement into their hands, they 
have no over-all plan for the province, county, district or township, 
but adopt a piecemeal approach, and they lack initiative, enthusiasm, 
warm responsiveness and drive. Thus a big problem has arisen. With 
the movement spreading widely at the grass roots but receiving 
insufficient attention from above, some troubles naturally occur. In the 
face of such troubles, instead of providing stronger leadership and 
better planning, our comrades take a negative attitude and try to 
check the progress of the movement or rush to ŗaxe˛ a number of 
co-operatives. Of course this is wrong and is sure to give rise to more 
troubles. 
We have just compiled a book, How to Run Agricultural Producersš 
Co-operatives.1 It includes factual examples from various provinces, 
municipalities and autonomous regions, a total of more than 120 articles. 
The bulk of the material covers the period January-August 1955 and 
the rest the second half of 1954. Most of the articles have been reprinted 
from the inner-Party publications of provinces, municipalities or 
autonomous regions, some have been taken from newspapers, others 
are reports of Party committees or of working personnel to Party 
committees at higher levels, and one is a verbatim record of a talk 
by the director of a co-operative who was invited to Peking. We have 
made only a few verbal changes in the material, keeping intact the 
original contents. We have written comments on some of the articles. 
To keep our comments separate from those of the editors of the original 
publications, ours carry the designation ŗEditoršs Note˛. We believe 
that the views of the authors as expressed in the material are correct 
or basically correct. From this material the reader will see the scope 
and direction of the co-operative movement in the country and the 
prospects for its development. The material shows that the movement 
is healthy. Troubles occurred only in places where the Party committees 
had failed to give proper guidance. But once they caught up and gave 
proper guidance according to the policy of the Central Committee of 
our Party, the problem was solved right away. The material is very 
convincing; it can rouse to action those who have so far adopted 
a passive attitude towards the movement; it can help those who still do 
not know how to run a co-operative to find ways to run it; what is 
more, it can silence those who are fond of ŗaxing˛ co-operatives at will.

238 MAO TSETUNG 
It is indeed a tremendous task to carry out the socialist transformation 
of agriculture among several hundred million peasants. The 
movement has not been going on very long in the country as a whole, 
and the experience gained is still inadequate. In particular we have 
not yet conducted extensive and effective propaganda throughout the 
Party; as a result, many comrades have paid no heed to the subject and 
do not understand the principles, policies and measures for the movement, 
and so there is still a lack of unity of will within the Party. The 
Sixth Plenary Session of the Central Committee of our Party is 
soon to be convened to discuss the subject and a new resolution on it 
will be adopted. We should start extensive and effective propaganda 
in accordance with the resolution so as to achieve unity of will 
throughout the Party. The publication of this book may be of some help 
to our propaganda work. 
PREFACE II 
December 27, 1955
This is a source book intended for people working in the countryside. 
A preface2 was written for it in September. Now, three months 
later, that preface is already out of date, and so a new one has to be 
prepared. 
Here is the sequence of events. The book has been compiled twice, 
in September and again in December. In the first compilation 121 articles 
were included. Most of them reflected conditions in the first half 
of 1955 and a few those in the second half of 1954. Sample copies were 
distributed for comment to responsible comrades from provincial, 
municipal, autonomous region and prefectural Party committees who 
attended the Sixth Plenary Session (Enlarged) of the Seventh Central 
Committee of the Communist Party of China, October 4-11, 1955. These 
comrades found the book needed to be supplemented. After the meeting 
most of the provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions sent in 
additional material. Much of this reflected conditions in the second half 
of 1955. Thus the book had to be recompiled. From the original 121 
articles we deleted 30, keeping 91, and added 85 from the new material, 
bringing the total to 176 articles ‹ some 900,000 words. Hence the 
present collection. The comrades responsible for the editing have gone 
over all the material, made some verbal changes, added notes on

239 PREFACES TO SOCIALIST UPSURGE IN CHINAšS COUNTRYSIDE 
difficult terms and prepared a subject index. Furthermore, we have 
added comments on some of the articles, criticizing certain erroneous 
ideas or making certain suggestions. To keep our comments separate 
from those of the editors of the original publications, ours carry the 
designation ŗEditoršs Note˛. Since some of our comments were written 
in September and others in December, there is naturally some variation 
in tone. 
However, what is involved is not just the material. The point is 
that the situation in China underwent a fundamental change in the 
second half of 1955. Of Chinašs 110 million peasant households more than 
70 million (over 60 per cent) have up to now (late December 1955) 
joined semi-socialist agricultural producersš co-operatives in response 
to the call of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party. 
In my report of July 31, 1955 on the co-operative transformation of agriculture, 
I put the number of peasant households in co-operatives at 
16,900,000, but in the space of a few months that number has been exceeded 
by well over 50 million. This is a tremendous event. This event 
makes it clear to us that we need only the calendar year 1956 in order 
basically to complete the semi-socialist co-operative transformation of 
agriculture. In another three or four years, that is, by 1959 or 1960, we 
can in the main complete the transformation of semi-socialist co-operatives 
into fully socialist ones. This event makes it clear to us that we 
must try to accomplish the socialist transformation of Chinašs handicrafts 
and capitalist industry and commerce ahead of schedule in order 
to meet the needs of an expanding agriculture. And this event makes it 
clear to us that in scale and tempo Chinašs industrialization and the development 
of its science, culture, education, health work, etc. can no 
longer proceed exactly in the way previously envisaged, but must be appropriately 
expanded and accelerated. 
Is agricultural co-operation, now proceeding at such a high tempo, 
going forward in a healthy way? It certainly is. The Party organizations 
everywhere are giving over-all leadership to the movement. The 
peasants are taking part in the movement whole-heartedly and in 
excellent order. Their enthusiasm for production is rising to unprecedented 
heights. For the first time the broadest masses know clearly 
what the future has in store for them. When three five-year plans 
are completed, that is, by 1967, the production of grain and many 
other crops will probably double or treble the highest annual output 
before the founding of the Peoplešs Republic. In a relatively short time, 
say seven or eight years, illiteracy will be wiped out. Many of the

240 MAO TSETUNG 
diseases most harmful to the people, such as schistosomiasis, diseases 
formerly considered incurable, can now be treated. In short, the masses 
already see a great future lying before them. 
The problem facing the whole Party and people is no longer that of 
criticizing Right conservative ideas about the speed of the socialist 
transformation of agriculture. That problem has been solved. Nor is 
it the problem of the speed of transforming the whole of capitalist industry 
and commerce trade by trade into joint state-private enterprises. 
That problem too has been solved. The speed of the socialist transformation 
of handicrafts should be discussed during the first half of 1956. And 
that problem can also be easily solved. The problem today concerns 
none of these, it lies elsewhere. It lies in agricultural production; industrial 
production (including state, joint state-private and cooperative 
industries); handicraft production; the scale and speed of 
capital construction in industry, communications and transport; the coordination 
of commerce with other branches of the economy; the 
co-ordination of the work in science, culture, education and health 
with our various economic activities, etc. In all these fields there is an 
underestimation of the situation, a shortcoming which must be criticized 
and corrected if our work is to keep pace with the development of the 
situation as a whole. People must adapt their thinking to the changed 
conditions. Of course, no one should disregard reality and indulge in 
flights of fancy, or make plans of action unwarranted by the objective 
situation, or reach out for the impossible. However, the problem today 
is that Right conservative thinking is still causing trouble in many 
spheres and prevents our work from keeping pace with the development 
of the objective situation. The problem today is that what can be done 
by a measure of exertion is considered by many to be impossible. It is 
therefore entirely necessary to continue the criticism of Right conservative 
ideas, which do in fact exist. 
This book is intended for comrades working in the countryside. 
Can city people read it too? They not only can but should. Here is 
something fresh. Just as new things are happening every day, every 
hour, in the building of socialism in the cities, so they are in the 
countryside. What are the peasants doing? What is the connection 
between what the peasants are doing and what the working class, the 
intellectuals and all patriotic personages are doing? To gain such an 
understanding, it will be helpful to read about the rural areas. 
To make it possible for more people to understand the current 
situation in the countryside, we are preparing an abridged edition,

241 PREFACES TO SOCIALIST UPSURGE IN CHINAšS COUNTRYSIDE 
containing 44 of the 176 articles, or about 270,000 words, so that those 
unable to read the entire collection can have some idea of this subject. 
NOTES 
1 The book was renamed Socialist Upsurge in Chinašs Countryside when it was 
published. 
2 This refers to ŗPreface I˛.

EDITORšS NOTES FROM SOCIALIST UPSURGE 
IN CHINAšS COUNTRYSIDE 
September and December 1955 
1 
This is a very well written article which deserves to be recommended 
to the reader as the first piece in this book. As described at 
the beginning of the article, in many parts of the country there are 
still quite a few people who are ŗsteering clear of the co-op˛ because 
they are ignorant about it and are afraid of being asked questions. 
ŗResolute contraction˛, the wholesale dissolution of co-operatives by 
command, is likewise a manifestation of ŗsteering clear of the co-op˛; 
the only difference is that, instead of taking a passive attitude of 
evasion, these people take a very active attitude and ŗaxe˛ (to use 
their own expression) a great many co-operatives with one fell blow. 
Axe in hand, they chop and thus avoid troublesome problems. They 
say that there are all sorts of difficulties in running co-operatives, 
and according to them the difficulties defy the imagination. However, 
there are countless examples throughout the country which give the 
lie to their arguments. One such example is the experience of Tsunhua 
County, Hopei Province. In 1952 no one there knew how to run a 
co-operative. Their solution was to learn how. Their slogan was: 
ŗThe Party secretary pitches in and all Party members help run the 
co-ops.˛ The result was: ŗfrom knowing nothing to knowing a lot˛, 
In editing Socialist Upsurge in Chinašs Countryside, Comrade Mao Tsetung wrote 
notes, of which 43 have been selected here. At the enlarged meeting of the Political 
Bureau of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party held in Chengtu 
in March 1958, part of the notes was reprinted. On March 19, 1958 Comrade Mao 
Tsetung wrote an explanation, the full text of which reads: 
These notes which appeared in the book entitled Socialist Upsurge in Chinašs 
Countryside were written in September and December 1955. To this day some 
have not lost their significance. There is however one statement in the notes to 
242

243 NOTES FROM SOCIALIST UPSURGE IN CHINAšS COUNTRYSIDE 
ŗfrom a few knowing how to many knowing how˛, ŗfrom district 
cadres running the co-ops to the masses running them˛. In the three 
years from 1952 to 1954, the eleven townships of the Tenth District, 
Tsunhua County, Hopei Province, basically completed semi-socialist 
co-operative transformation, with 85 per cent of the 4,343 peasant 
households drawn into co-operatives. Compared with 1952, production 
in agriculture, forestry and animal husbandry in this district showed 
the following increases in 1954: grain 76 per cent, timber trees 56.4 per 
cent, fruit trees 62.87 per cent and sheep 463.1 per cent. 
Now we have every reason to raise this question: if this could be 
done here, why canšt it be done elsewhere? If you say it canšt, what 
are your reasons? I can see only one reason ‹ unwillingness to take 
the trouble, or, to put it more bluntly, Right opportunism. Hence 
ŗsteering clear of the co-op˛, hence the Party secretary not pitching 
in and all Party members not helping to run the co-operatives, and 
hence from knowing nothing to still knowing nothing, from a few 
knowing how to still only a few knowing how, from district cadres 
running the co-operatives to still only district cadres running them. Or 
else, axe in hand, chopping down any troublesome co-operative in 
sight. If that reason prevails, then nothing can be accomplished. We 
have put forward such slogans as ŗactive leadership and steady 
advance˛ and ŗcomprehensive planning and more effective leadership˛, 
and we agree with the perfectly correct slogan raised by the 
comrades of Tsunhua County, ŗThe Party secretary pitches in and all 
Party members help run the co-ops.˛ Hasnšt there been ŗactive leadership 
and steady advance˛ in Tsunhua County? Hasnšt there been 
ŗcomprehensive planning and more effective leadership˛? Of course 
there has. Is this dangerous? Is this ŗrash advance˛? Such danger as 
exists lies in ŗsteering clear of the co-op˛, and this has been overcomeby 
the Tsunhua County comrades. The danger also lies in ŗaxing˛ 
co-operatives wholesale on the pretext of opposing ŗrash advance˛, 
but this did not happen in Tsunhua County. If, as is alleged, ŗthe 
development of the co-operatives has gone beyond the level of political 
the effect that 1955 was the year in which socialism won basic victory in the decisive 
battle with capitalism; it is not proper to put it that way. This is the way it should 
be put: 1955 was the year in which basic victory was won as regards the aspect of 
ownership in the relations of production, while in the other aspects of the relations 
of production as well as in some aspects of the superstructure, namely, on 
the ideological and political fronts, either a basic victory was not won or, if won, 
the victory was not complete, and further efforts were required. We did not 
anticipate that such a great storm would burst upon the world in 1956, nor did

244 MAO TSETUNG 
consciousness of the masses and the ability of the cadres to lead˛, 
how can one explain what happened in Tsunhua County? There the 
masses actually pressed for co-operation, there the cadres did change 
from knowing nothing to knowing a lot. Everybody has eyes, does 
anyone see any danger in Tsunhua County? In the three years in 
which they completed co-operative transformation step by step, grain 
increased by 76 per cent, timber trees by 56.4 per cent, fruit trees by 
62.87 per cent and sheep by 463.1 per cent. Can this be considered any 
kind of danger? Can this be called ŗrash advance˛? Can this be 
regarded as ŗhaving gone beyond the level of political consciousness 
of the masses and the ability of the cadres to lead˛? 
In the Tsunhua County co-operative movement there is the Wang 
Kuo-fan Co-operative, once known as a ŗpaupersš co-op˛ because its 
twenty-three poor peasant households owned only ŗthree legs˛ of a 
donkey. Relying on their own efforts, its members ŗmade the mountains 
yield˛1 a substantial amount of the means of production in three 
years, a feat which moved not a few visitors to tears. This, in my view, is 
the image of our entire nation. Why canšt 600 million ŗpaupers˛ create 
a prosperous and strong socialist country in several decades by their 
own efforts? Societyšs wealth is created by workers, peasants and working 
intellectuals. Provided they take their destiny into their own hands, 
provided they have a Marxist-Leninist line and energetically tackle 
problems instead of evading them, they can overcome any difficulty 
on earth. 
Finally, we wish to thank the author of this article which carries 
no byline. Brimming with enthusiasm and writing in a lively style, he 
gives a detailed description of the process of the co-operative transformation 
of agriculture in one district. This will be no small contribution 
to co-operative transformation in the whole country. We hope every 
province, prefecture and county can produce one or more such articles. 
(Note to ŗThe Party Secretary Pitches In and 
All Party Members Help Run the Co-ops˛) 
we anticipate that a campaign to ŗoppose rash advance˛ would occur in the 
same year in our country, a campaign which dampened the enthusiasm of the 
masses. Both events gave a considerable stimulus to the Rightists in mounting 
their wild attacks. Hence a lesson can be drawn: neither socialist revolution 
nor socialist construction is plain sailing, and we should be prepared to cope with 
the many great difficulties that may crop up at home and abroad. Both internationally 
and domestically the general situation is favourable, we can be sure 
of this, but many serious difficulties are bound to occur and we must be prepared 
to tackle them.

245 NOTES FROM SOCIALIST UPSURGE IN CHINAšS COUNTRYSIDE 
2 
For many people in China 1955 has been a year of shattered illusions. 
In the first half of the year many still clung tenaciously to their 
own beliefs on certain questions. But by the second half, they could 
no longer do so and had to believe in the new. Examples follow: 
They held that ŗco-operative transformation in three years˛ as 
demanded by the masses was only an idle dream; that co-operation 
could be achieved more quickly in the north but not in the south; that 
it was impossible to run co-operatives in backward townships, in 
mountain areas, in minority nationality areas, in areas populated by 
several nationalities or in areas stricken by natural calamities; that 
it was easy to set up a co-operative but hard to consolidate it; that 
the peasants were too poor and had no way of raising funds; that 
the peasants were illiterate and bookkeepers were not available; that 
more co-operatives meant more troubles; that the development of 
the co-operatives had gone beyond the level of political consciousness 
of the masses and the experience of the cadres; that the Partyšs policy 
of state monopoly for the purchase and marketing of grain and its 
policy on co-operation were dampening the peasantsš enthusiasm for 
production; that unless the Communist Party backed down immediately 
on the question of co-operation, it would be running the risk of breaking 
up the worker-peasant alliance; that co-operative transformation would 
produce a vast pool of surplus labour-power for which there would 
be no outlet. And many more examples of the kind could be cited. In a 
word, these were all illusions. All of them were shattered after being 
criticized by the Sixth Plenary Session (Enlarged) of the Seventh 
Central Committee of the Communist Party of China in October 1955. 
A high tide of socialist transformation is sweeping through the rural 
areas, and the masses are jubilant. This has been a profound lesson 
for all Communists. The masses have such a vast reservoir of socialist 
enthusiasm, but why was it that many of the leading organizations 
could be so insensitive or only barely sensitive to this a few months 
ago? Why was there such a difference between what was on the minds 
of some leaders and what was on the minds of the masses? Taking 
this as a lesson, how should one handle similar cases and problems 
in the future? There is only one answer. Donšt divorce yourselves

246 MAO TSETUNG 
from the masses; instead learn to discern the enthusiasm of the masses 
in its essence. 
(Note to ŗA ŒBackwardš Village Is Not 
Necessarily Backward in Every Respect˛) 
3 
All those who believe it impossible for each individual area 
to achieve lower-stage co-operative transformation in three years 
(co-operation in three years was the slogan raised by the masses but 
criticized by the opportunists) and all those who believe it impossible 
for the areas liberated later to go co-operative at the same 
time as those liberated earlier, please take a good look at this township 
in Kunshan County, Kiangsu Province! Here, co-operative transformation 
took not three years but two. It is not an old liberated area 
but a 100 per cent new liberated area. And it is running ahead of many of 
the old liberated areas. What can you do about it? Pull it 
back? Of course not. The opportunists just have to admit defeat. 
The masses have a vast reservoir of enthusiasm for socialism. Those 
who know no better than to keep to the old routine even in times 
of revolution are utterly incapable of seeing this enthusiasm. They are 
blind and all is dark ahead of them. At times they go so far as to 
confound right and wrong and turn things upside down. Havenšt we 
come across enough of such people? Only knowing how to keep to 
the old routine, they invariably underestimate the peoplešs enthusiasm. 
Let something new appear and they always disapprove and immediately 
oppose it. Later they admit defeat and do a little selfcriticism. 
The next time something new appears, they again go 
through the same process, one attitude alternating with the other. And 
this is the way they will behave in regard to everything new. Such 
people are always passive in that at the critical moment they stand 
still and have to be given a hard shove in the back before they 
take a step forward. Just how long will it be before such people can 
manage to move of their own accord and walk properly? There is a 
cure for those who have this kind of ailment: take some time out and 
go among the masses, learn what they are thinking about, see what 
they are doing, and find out their advanced experience and spread

247 NOTES FROM SOCIALIST UPSURGE IN CHINAšS COUNTRYSIDE 
it. This is an effective prescription for chronic Right opportunism, and 
those so afflicted are advised to give it a try. 
(Note to ŗThis Township Goes Co-operative in Two Years˛) 
4 
This is a good article. Reading it one can see that the Uighur peasants 
are very eager to take the road of co-operation. They have already 
trained the cadres they need for semi-socialist co-operative transformation. 
Some people claim that co-operation cannot succeed among the 
minority nationalities. This is not so. We have seen quite a few cooperatives 
run either separately by the Mongolian, Hui, Uighur, Miao, 
Chuang and other minority nationalities or jointly by people of several 
nationalities, and they are all very successful. This fact refutes the 
erroneous views of those who look down on the minority nationalities. 
(Note to ŗTownship and Village Cadres Are Capable of 
Giving Leadership to the Formation of Co-operatives˛) 
5 
This is an excellent article which will convince many people. The 
Party organization here has never wavered on the question of cooperation. 
It stood four-square behind the badly-off peasants in their 
demand for organizing a co-operative, with the result that they won 
out in their competition with the well-to-do middle peasants, developed 
a small co-operative into a big one and increased production each year, 
and that the whole village went co-operative in less than three years. 
The well-to-do middle peasants had jeered, ŗImagine, those paupers 
think they can set up a co-op. Never heard of chicken feathers flying 
up to heaven.˛ And yet the chicken feathers have done just that. 
This is a struggle between the two roads ‹ socialism versus capitalism. 
In China, the rich peasant economy is very weak (that portion of 
the rich peasantsš land operated in a semi-feudal way was requisitioned 
during agrarian reform, most of the old rich peasants no longer 
hire labour, and socially they are very much discredited), but the

248 MAO TSETUNG 
well-to-do and fairly well-to-do middle peasants who constitute 20 to 
30 per cent of the rural population are quite strong. An important 
aspect of the struggle between the two roads in Chinašs countryside 
manifests itself in the peaceful competition of the poor and lowermiddle 
peasants with the well-to-do middle peasants. Who can increase 
production within two or three years, the well-to-do middle peasants 
working on their own, or the poor and lower-middle peasants working 
together in co-operatives? In the beginning, the competition was between 
a number of poor and lower-middle peasants organized in 
co-operatives and the well-to-do middle peasants working on their own, 
with most of the poor and lower-middle peasants looking on; it was 
a contest between the two sides to win over the masses. Behind the 
well-to-do middle peasants were landlords and rich peasants, who gave 
them support, sometimes openly, sometimes secretly. On the side of 
the co-operatives stood the Communist Party members, who should be 
as firm in their support for the co-operatives as were the Communists in 
Nantsuichuang Village, Anyang County. Itšs a pity that not all the rural 
Party branches were so firm. And where they were not, confusion arose. 
First of all, there was the question of public opinion on whether 
chicken feathers could fly up to heaven. It is of course a question of 
great importance. In thousands of years, who had ever seen chicken 
feathers flying up to heaven? That they could not seemed a truism. 
Many a poor or lower-middle peasant would have been confused if 
the Party had not refuted this truism. Secondly, as for cadres and, 
thirdly, as for such material resources as loans, the co-operatives would 
have run into great difficulties if the Party and the state had not 
come to their aid. The well-to-do middle peasants dared to spread 
such hoary truisms as ŗchicken feathers canšt fly up to heaven˛ because 
the co-operatives had not increased their output, the poor co-operatives 
had not become rich ones, and the co-operatives had not grown in 
number from a few isolated ones to tens and hundreds of thousands. 
They dared to do so because the Party had not yet conducted vigorous 
nation-wide propaganda about the advantages of co-operation and 
because the Party had not yet pointed out in clear-cut terms that the 
hoary truism ŗchicken feathers canšt fly up to heaven˛ no longer holds 
good in the era of socialism. The poor are turning their past upside 
down. The old system is dying, a new system is being born. Chicken 
feathers really are flying up to heaven. In the Soviet Union, this has 
already happened. In China, it is happening now. And it is going to 
happen all over the world. Many of our local Party organizations were

249 NOTES FROM SOCIALIST UPSURGE IN CHINAšS COUNTRYSIDE 
not solely to blame for failing to give strong backing to the badly-off 
peasants because, higher up, opportunist ideas had not yet been dealt 
mortal blows, comprehensive plans had not been made to promote cooperative 
transformation and more effective leadership had not been 
given to the movement on a national scale. In 1955 we did all this 
and in the space of a few months the situation changed completely. 
Onlookers before, large numbers of people now came over in groups 
to the side of the co-operatives. The well-to-do middle peasants also 
changed their tune. Some applied to join the co-operatives and others 
were getting ready to do so. Even the most stubborn among them no 
longer dared talk about whether chicken feathers could fly up to 
heaven. The landlords and rich peasants were completely deflated. 
The fact that the Peoplešs Government punished a number of counterrevolutionaries 
who had disrupted public order and tried to sabotage 
the co-operative transformation also played a part here. In short, in 
the second half of 1955, a fundamental change took place in the balance 
of class forces in our country: socialism soared and capitalism plunged. 
Given another year of hard work in 1956, the foundation will have 
been basically laid for the socialist transformation in the transition 
period. 
(Note to ŗWho Says Chicken 
Feathers Canšt Fly Up to Heaven?˛) 
6 
The almost ubiquitous Right opportunists inside the Party who 
hinder the masses of poor and lower-middle peasants from taking 
the road of co-operation act in concert with the forces of capitalism 
in our society. This article gives an apt description of the situation. 
The author lashes out with great indignation at the opportunists and 
champions those peasants who are badly off. Some people are supposed 
to be Communists, but they show hardly any interest in the socialist 
tasks that have to be undertaken now. Instead of supporting the 
enthusiastic masses, they pour cold water on them. Nineteen fifty-five 
has been the decisive year for the struggle between socialism and 
capitalism in China. The decisive battle unfolded first of all in the 
three conferences called in May, July and October by the Central 
Committee of the Chinese Communist Party. In the first half of 1955

250 MAO TSETUNG 
the atmosphere was foul and dark clouds threatened. But in the second 
half of the year there has been a complete change and the climate is 
entirely different; in response to the call of the Central Committee 
tens of millions of peasant households have swung into action and 
gone co-operative. At the time the editor is writing these lines, 
over sixty million peasant households have joined co-operatives all 
over the country. This is a raging tidal wave sweeping away all demons 
and monsters. People of all sorts in our society have been clearly 
revealed for what they are. It is the same in the Party. By the end 
of this year the victory of socialism will be largely assured. Of course, 
many more battles lie ahead and further efforts must be made to carry 
on the fight. 
(Note to ŗThe Ill Wind of Opportunism Is 
Dying, the Fair Wind of Socialism Is Rising˛) 
7 
This is an interesting article too. Opportunists trying to stem the 
tide are found almost everywhere, but the tide can never be stemmed, 
and socialism is advancing triumphantly everywhere, sweeping away all 
obstacles. Society progresses daily in this way and peoplešs thinking 
is transformed in the process, particularly when there is an upsurge 
in the revolution. 
(Note to ŗThe Workersš Families Are Very 
Keen on the Co-operative Movement˛) 
8 
This article tells a moving story. We hope the reader will go through 
it carefully. Those comrades who do not believe the peasant masses 
are eager to take the socialist road and those comrades who are only 
too ready to pick up the axe to ŗchop˛ the co-operatives are particularly 
urged to do so. Throughout the countryside the socialist factors are 
growing daily and hourly, the peasant masses are pressing to form 
co-operatives and large numbers of intelligent, capable, fair-minded

251 NOTES FROM SOCIALIST UPSURGE IN CHINAšS COUNTRYSIDE 
and enthusiastic leaders are emerging from among the people; this 
is a very heartening situation indeed. The most serious failing is that 
in many places the Party leaders have not bestirred themselves to 
keep pace. Our present task is to get the local Party committees at 
various levels to take the initiative on this matter in conformity with 
the Marxist-Leninist stand, assume full responsibility for agricultural 
co-operation and lead the movement forward with enthusiasm, warm 
responsiveness and drive. The story of Lord Yeh who professed to 
love dragons should not be repeated, one must not just talk about 
socialism for years and then suddenly turn pale when socialism comes 
knocking at the door. 
(Note to ŗA Co-operative Set Up Spontaneously by 
the Masses Against the Wishes of the Leadership˛) 
9 
The correct line is being followed in this township, which already 
has five agricultural producersš co-operatives, seven combined mutualaid 
teams, three permanent mutual-aid teams and fourteen temporary 
mutual-aid teams. This means the total membership amounts to 
98.4 per cent of the peasant households which ought to be organized. 
Before December 1954, this township Party branch did not lay stress 
on the mutual-aid and co-operative movement in exercising its leadership, 
and Party members were afraid of difficulties in leading the 
mutual-aid teams. Instead of ŗthe Party secretary pitching in and all 
Party members helping run the co-ops˛, this Party branch leaned on 
the work team (apparently sent from above). In the whole country, 
there are quite a few rural Party branches just as weak and incompetent 
on the question of agricultural co-operation. Apart from these 
Party branches, it is quite possible that some of the higher Party 
committees are also in this state. Therešs the rub. Whether the 
socialist transformation of agriculture can keep pace with the industrialization 
of the country and whether the co-operative movement 
can develop in a healthy way with a minimum of shortcomings 
and a guaranteed increase in production depends on whether the local 
Party committees at various levels can quickly and correctly shift 
the emphasis of their leadership to agricultural co-operation. Work

252 MAO TSETUNG 
teams should be sent in, but it must be made clear that they are 
there only to help the local Party organizations, not to take their place 
and render them idle and completely dependent. This township in 
Kweichow Province achieved remarkable success in only a little over 
five months after the leadership changed its approach to work in 
December 1954. Instead of being dependent on the work team, they 
pitched in themselves, and Party members stopped being afraid of 
difficulties. A change of this sort depends first and foremost on the 
secretaries of the Party committees at all levels ‹ province and 
autonomous region, prefecture and autonomous prefecture, county 
and autonomous county, and district ‹ as well as on the Party branch 
secretaries; they themselves must assume full responsibility for agricultural 
co-operation. To be afraid of trouble and difficulties and to 
refuse to pitch in when confronted with this great task but instead 
simply to pass it on to the Partyšs rural work departments or to the 
work teams ‹ such an attitude will not only make it impossible to 
accomplish the task but will also cause a great deal of trouble. 
(Note to ŗHow Chunghsin Township, Fengkang County 
Launched the Mutual-Aid and Co-operative Movement 
Under the Leadership of the Party Branch˛) 
10 
The author of this article says it was after a joint meeting of cooperative 
directors in the county that this co-operative developed the 
practice of seasonal contracts from that of occasional contracts. From 
this one can see that county leadership is very important. We hope 
that the leading body in each of Chinašs well over two thousand counties 
will closely watch the development of its co-operative movement, 
identify the problems, work out solutions to them, call timely meetings 
of the directors of all its co-operatives or of selected ones, make 
decisions and carry them out quickly. Donšt wait until problems pile 
up and cause a lot of trouble before you tackle them. Leaders must be 
in the van of the movement, not lag behind it. Within each county, it is 
the county Party committee that should play the main role in giving 
leadership. 
(Note to ŗContracts on a Seasonal Basis˛)

253 NOTES FROM SOCIALIST UPSURGE IN CHINAšS COUNTRYSIDE 
11 
This material is very convincing. Healthy co-operative transformation 
in a locality depends on the Partyšs policies and methods of work. 
If our Partyšs policies for co-operative transformation are correct, if 
its method of work in mobilizing the masses to join co-operatives is not 
high-handed or simplistic, but one of explaining and analysing things 
to the masses and relying entirely on their initiative and willingness, 
then it should not be very difficult to achieve co-operative transformation 
and raise output. Tungchuankou Village, Hsingtai County, Hopei 
Province, lies in an old liberated area. Before 1952 the seventy households 
in the village had all joined mutual-aid teams and they had a 
strong Party branch and in Wang Chih-chi a leader who enjoyed the 
trust of the masses. All the conditions were ripe. So in 1952 the village 
organized a co-operative, accomplishing semi-socialist co-operative 
transformation in barely over a month. What about places where 
conditions are not as ripe as in this village? Then it is a question of 
creating the conditions and this can be done in a few months, a year, 
or a little longer. The required conditions can be created while the 
work is being carried on. To set up a few small co-operatives is to 
create the conditions for the co-operative transformation of the whole 
village, the whole township and the whole district. This material about 
Tungchuankou also explains at length how a Party branch should 
conduct propaganda and education among the masses and how it 
should rely on the initiative and willingness of the masses themselves 
to establish co-operatives. The method of ŗreverse propaganda˛2 used 
in this village is well worth paying attention to. The material describes 
how the co-operative traversed a zigzag course in tackling the problems 
of organizing and supervising labour and went on to achieve great 
success in increasing production from year to year. Facts have proved 
that this co-operative is sound. The main criterion by which every 
co-operative judges whether it is sound is to see whether its production 
is rising and by how much. 
(Note to ŗThe Whole Village Goes 
Co-operative in Barely over a Month˛) 
12 
This material points to the truth that any co-operative in a state of 
confusion can be put in order. Since co-operative members are all

254 MAO TSETUNG 
working peasants, whatever the differences among the various 
strata, they can be ironed out in the end. For a time there really 
was confusion in some co-operatives, solely because they got no 
leadership from the Party which did not explain its policies and 
measures to the masses. ŗWe know itšs a good thing to set up 
a co-op. But when we did set one up, nobody bothered about us, 
neither the county Party committee, nor the district Party committee, 
nor the local Party branch. Perhaps they didnšt think much of our 
poor village, they couldnšt eat and live well here, and so they never 
came our way.˛ This, and this alone, accounts for such confusion as 
exists. Without leadership from the Party, confusion naturally arises. 
The moment leadership is given, confusion will end. This material 
also raises the question of whether co-operatives can be established 
in backward villages. The answer is ŗyes˛. The very co-operative the 
author describes-lies in a backward village. Something like 5 per cent 
of Chinašs villages are backward; we must set up co-operatives in 
all these villages and in the course of this struggle wipe out their 
backwardness. 
(Note to ŗA Co-operative in a State 
of Confusion Is Put in Order˛) 
13 
This is a common but serious problem. Party committees at every 
level and comrades sent to guide the work of co-operative transformation 
in the rural areas should give it their full attention. It is 
imperative to establish the dominant position of the present-day poor 
peasants and the new lower-middle peasants in the leading body of 
a co-operative, with the old lower-middle peasants and the new and 
old upper-middle peasants as the auxiliary force; only thus can unity 
between the poor and the middle peasants be attained, the cooperatives 
be consolidated, production be expanded and socialist 
transformation in the entire countryside be correctly carried out in 
line with the Partyšs policy. In the absence of this condition, it is 
impossible to attain unity between the middle and the poor peasants, 
consolidate the co-operatives, expand production and achieve socialist 
transformation in the entire countryside. Many comrades fail to understand 
this point. They maintain that in the period of agrarian reform

255 NOTES FROM SOCIALIST UPSURGE IN CHINAšS COUNTRYSIDE 
it was necessary to establish the dominant position of the poor 
peasants, because the poor peasants, who then accounted for 50, or 
60 to 70 per cent of the rural population, had not yet moved up to 
the status of middle peasants, while the middle peasants were wavering 
with regard to agrarian reform, and so the necessity was indeed 
real. They argue that we are now in the period of the socialist transformation 
of agriculture and most of the former poor peasants have 
become new middle peasants and that, moreover, the old middle 
peasants own plenty of the means of production and without their 
participation it is impossible for the co-operatives to cope with the 
shortage of the means of production. Therefore, these comrades maintain 
that we should no longer raise the slogan of relying on the poor 
peasants or establishing their dominant position and that this slogan 
is harmful to the co-operative movement. This view, we believe, is 
wrong. If the working class and the Communist Party are to bring 
about a thorough transformation of the small peasant private ownership 
of the means of production in the entire countryside in accordance 
with the socialist spirit and the socialist system, they can do so relatively 
smoothly only by relying on the masses of the poor peasants, the former 
semi-proletarians, otherwise it will be most difficult. For the rural 
semi-proletariat are not so stubborn in clinging to small peasant private 
ownership of the means of production; they are more ready to accept 
socialist transformation. Most of them have now become new middle 
peasants, but except for a section who have become well-to-do, the 
majority of the new middle peasants have a higher level of political 
consciousness than the old middle peasants, as they can easily recall 
their past misery. Then there are the old lower-middle peasants; in 
economic status and political attitude, they are more or less similar 
to the new lower-middle peasants but different from the new and 
old upper-middle peasants, i.e., the well-to-do or fairly well-to-do 
middle peasants. Therefore, in the course of co-operative transformation 
we must pay attention to (1) the poor peasants, who are still in 
difficulty, (2) the new lower-middle peasants, and (3) the old lowermiddle 
peasants ‹ the three sections who are more ready to accept 
socialist transformation. They should be the first ones to be drawn 
into the co-operatives, batch by batch and stage by stage; a number 
of them with higher political consciousness and greater organizational 
ability should be selected and trained as the mainstay of the leadership 
of the co-operatives, and there should be special emphasis on 
selecting them from among the present-day poor peasants and the new

256 MAO TSETUNG 
lower-middle peasants. This does not mean a new determination of 
class status is to be made in the rural areas; it is a policy to be carefully 
followed in the course of co-operative transformation by the 
Party branches and the comrades sent to the countryside to guide the 
work, and this policy should be publicly explained to the peasant 
masses. Nor do we mean to keep the well-to-do middle peasants out 
of the co-operatives; what we do mean is to admit them only when 
they have raised their socialist consciousness and are willing to join 
and accept the leadership of the poor peasants (including the presentday 
poor peasants and all the new lower-middle peasants who were 
formerly poor peasants), and not to set eyes on their oxen and farm 
implements and force them to join when they are unwilling. Those 
already in co-operatives may stay on if they wish. Those who have 
asked to withdraw but have been persuaded to change their minds 
may also stay on. Co-operatives can be organized even with scanty 
means of production, as has been proved by the many co-operatives 
organized by poor and lower-middle peasants. Furthermore, we do 
not mean that none of the well-to-do middle peasants should be 
allowed to serve as co-operative cadres. A few well-to-do middle 
peasants, who are well thought of by the majority of co-operative 
members for their higher level of socialist consciousness, fairmindedness 
and competence, may serve as cadres. However, it is 
imperative to establish the dominant position of the poor peasants in 
the co-operatives (to repeat, they include the present-day poor peasants 
and all the new lower-middle peasants who were formerly poor 
peasants, and together they constitute the majority, or the overwhelming 
majority, of the rural population). As for the composition of the 
leading body, the poor peasants should account for some two-thirds, 
while the middle peasants (including the old lower-middle peasants 
and the new and old upper-middle peasants) should form about onethird, 
but no more. As for the guiding principle, the co-operatives must 
pursue policies beneficial to both the poor and the middle peasants 
and not harmful to the interests of either. For this purpose, too, it 
is necessary to establish the dominant position of the poor peasants. 
In co-operatives where the middle peasants occupy the dominant 
position, the poor peasants are usually pushed aside and their interests 
violated. The experience of Kaoshan Township, Changsha County, 
Hunan Province, fully shows that it is imperative and possible to 
establish the dominant position of the poor peasants and thereby firmly 
to unite with the middle peasants, and how dangerous it can be if this

257 NOTES FROM SOCIALIST UPSURGE IN CHINAšS COUNTRYSIDE 
is not done. The author of this article thoroughly understands the Party 
line. And the procedure is also a correct one, that is, first of all fulfilling 
the urgent task of increasing production and then establishing the 
dominant position of the poor peasants in the leadership. As a result, 
the poor peasants did themselves proud and the middle peasants were 
impressed too. The author also tells us something very important. Is 
it better to dissolve a co-operative that is in a state of confusion or 
give it a good shake-up and help it to get out of the confusion and 
on to a sound basis? Is it possible to put such a co-operative in order 
and consolidate it? He very convincingly tells us that instead of 
dissolving Class III co-operatives we should set about putting them in 
order. After such an effort, it is entirely possible for Class III 
co-operatives to become Class I co-operatives. This experience is shared 
by many other places in the country and is not peculiar to Kaoshan 
Township, Changsha County. 
(Note to ŗHow the Dominant Position Passed from the Middle 
Peasants to the Poor Peasants in the Wutang Agricultural Producersš 
Co-operative of Kaoshan Township, Changsha County˛) 
14 
The problem discussed here is of general significance. It is essential 
to unite with the middle peasants, and it is wrong not to do so. But who 
should the working class and the Communist Party rely on in the rural 
areas in order to unite with the middle peasants and achieve socialist 
transformation in the entire countryside? Surely none other than the 
poor peasants. That was the case in the past when the struggle was 
waged against the landlords to carry out agrarian reform, and that is the 
case today when the struggle is being waged against the rich peasants 
and other capitalist elements to achieve the socialist transformation of 
agriculture. In both these revolutionary periods the middle peasants 
wavered in the initial stage. Only when the middle peasants see clearly 
which way the wind is blowing and only when victory in the revolution 
is within sight will they come in on the side of the revolution. 
The poor peasants have to work on the middle peasants and win them 
over, so that the revolution will broaden from day to day until final 
victory is achieved. The management committees of the agricultural 
producersš co-operatives today, like the peasant associations in the

258 MAO TSETUNG 
past, must draw in the old lower-middle peasants and a number of 
the new and old upper-middle peasants who are representative of 
this stratum and have a relatively high level of political consciousness, 
but there should not be too many of them on the committee, one-third 
is about the right proportion. The other two-thirds should be poor 
peasants (including the present-day poor peasants and the new lowermiddle 
peasants who were formerly poor peasants). Generally speaking, 
the key posts in the co-operative should be held by the poor peasants 
(to repeat, including the present-day poor peasants and all the new 
lower-middle peasants who were formerly poor peasants), but such 
posts may also be filled by old lower-middle peasants and some of the 
new and old upper-middle peasants who have a high level of political 
consciousness and are really fair-minded and competent. In Fuan 
County, Fukien Province, a co-operative led by the poor peasants and 
another led by the middle peasants take different attitudes towards 
the cause of socialism; this is true everywhere and should not be 
regarded as an isolated phenomenon. 
(Note to ŗA Lesson Drawn from the Existence of a 
ŒMiddle Peasantsš Co-operativeš Side by Side with 
a ŒPoor Peasantsš Co-operativeš in Fuan County˛) 
15 
This material is useful and worth general attention. It describes the 
trends among the various strata in the countryside. The poor peasants 
are the most enthusiastic about co-operative transformation. Many 
middle peasants want to ŗwait and see for a while˛ and would like to 
ŗstay outside and be free˛, mainly because they want to find out whether 
they would get a bad bargain if they invested their means of production 
in the co-operatives; they can swing either way. Many well-to-do 
middle peasants have strong feelings against co-operation; the worst 
among them sell off their means of production, spirit their money away, 
or rig up fake co-operatives, and a few even gang up with landlords 
and rich peasants. We hope that all the comrades engaged in rural work 
will carefully observe and analyse the trends among the various strata in 
their localities so as to adopt policies suited to the circumstances. This 
material mentions the mistaken tendency of paying attention to the 
co-operatives to the neglect of the mutual-aid teams and recommends

259 NOTES FROM SOCIALIST UPSURGE IN CHINAšS COUNTRYSIDE 
over-all planning and all-round consideration, and this is correct. The 
ŗnetwork of mutual aid and co-operation˛ is a good idea, which takes 
into consideration both the co-operatives and the mutual-aid teams, 
with the co-operatives providing real help to the mutual-aid teams and 
peasants working on their own in solving their current production 
difficulties. The poor peasantsš fund must be made available to the 
villages at once. Those poor peasants who have not yet joined the 
co-operatives should be told that they can draw on this fund whenever 
they join. 
(Note to ŗNew Situation and New Problems˛) 
16 
The policy of this co-operative is correct. All co-operatives should 
do the same. In their resolutions or directives on the question of cooperative 
transformation, the provinces should point out that it is the 
responsibility of all co-operatives to help solve the difficulties of 
the widows, orphans and other members without a provider, who have 
no labour-power (it was right to admit such people), and also of those 
members who have labour-power but are suffering great hardship. At 
present there are quite a number of co-operatives in which the socialist 
spirit of helping needy families is lacking and from which the poor 
peasants are even excluded; this is utterly wrong. The government 
has now set up a poor peasantsš fund which can help them solve the 
problems of oxen and farm implements but cannot as yet solve the 
problems of some poor peasant families short of labour-power, or solve 
entirely the problems of some other families short of food before the 
new harvest. These problems can be solved only by relying on the 
strength of the masses in the co-operatives. 
(Note to ŗThe Party Branch of Chingfeng Township, 
Hsiangtan County, Helps Badly-off Co-operative 
Members Tide Over Their Difficulties˛) 
17 
This is a very interesting story. Socialism, which is new, comes 
into being only through severe struggle against what is old. At one

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TO MAO 

 
NOT FOR 
COMMERCIAL 
DISTRIBUTION 
260 
time, a section of society is very stubborn in following a set routine. 
At another, the very same people are quite capable of changing their 
attitude and favouring the new. In the first half of 1955 most of the 
well-to-do middle peasants were still opposed to co-operation, but in 
the second half a number of them changed their minds and expressed 
a desire to join the co-operatives, although some did so because they 
hoped to obtain the leadership of the co-operatives. Another group 
wavered a great deal, they said they wanted to join, but at heart they 
were reluctant. A third group were obdurate and still wanted to wait 
and see. On this matter the rural Party organizations should be patient 
with this stratum and give them time. In order to establish the dominant 
position of the poor and new lower-middle peasants in the leading 
bodies, it may well prove to be an advantage if some of the well-to-do 
middle peasants join the co-operatives a little later. 
(Note to ŗThey Firmly Choose the Road of Co-operation˛) 
18 
Political work is the life-blood of all economic work. This is 
particularly true at a time when the social and economic system is 
undergoing fundamental change. From the start, the agricultural cooperative 
movement has been a severe ideological and political 
struggle. No co-operative can be established without going through 
such a struggle. Before a new social system can be built on the site 
of the old, the site must be swept clean. Remnant old ideas reflecting 
the old system invariably persist in peoplešs minds for a long time, and 
they do not easily give way. Having been established, a co-operative 
must go through many more struggles before it can be consolidated. 
Even then, it may collapse if efforts are relaxed. A case in point is 
the Sanlouszu Co-operative in Hsiehyu County, Shansi Province, which 
nearly collapsed for lack of sustained effort after it had been consolidated. 
Not until the Party branch of the co-operative had criticized 
its own errors, resumed education for socialism and against capitalism 
among the co-operative members and revived its political work was the 
crisis overcome and the co-operative able to grow again. To oppose 
spontaneous tendencies towards capitalism which is characterized by 
selfishness and to foster the socialist spirit which postulates the principle

261 NOTES FROM SOCIALIST UPSURGE IN CHINAšS COUNTRYSIDE 
of integrating collective interest with individual interest as the criterion 
for judging all words and deeds ‹ these are the ideological and 
political guarantees for the gradual transition from a scattered small 
peasant economy to a large-scale co-operative economy. This entails 
doing an enormous amount of hard work, not in a crude and oversimplified 
way, but concretely and painstakingly in the light of the 
peasantsš own experience. It should proceed together with and not 
apart from economic work. We now have fairly rich experience in this 
kind of work on a national scale. This is shown in almost every article 
in this book. 
(Note to ŗA Serious Lesson˛) 
19 
The viewpoint of this article is correct. Co-operatives must stress 
doing political work well. The basic requirement of political work is 
constantly to imbue the peasant masses with a socialist ideology and 
to criticize capitalist tendencies. 
(Note to ŗPolitical Work in the 
Changkuochuang Co-operative˛) 
20 
This situation merits attention. There are serious tendencies towards 
capitalism among the well-to-do peasants. These tendencies will become 
rampant if we in the slightest way neglect political work among the 
peasants not only during the co-operative transformation but also for a 
very long period afterwards. 
(Note to ŗWage a Resolute Struggle 
Against Capitalist Tendencies˛) 
21 
This is a very good account of how to consolidate a co-operative 
and should be recommended. The birth of a new social system is

262 MAO TSETUNG 
invariably accompanied by cheering and shouting, that is to say, by 
propagating the superiority of the new system and criticizing the 
backwardness of the old. It is impossible to carry out in an atmosphere 
of tranquillity such an earth-shaking task as getting some 500 million 
Chinese peasants to undertake socialist transformation; therefore it 
behoves us Communists to conduct patient, lively and easily understandable 
propaganda and education among the peasant masses who are 
weighed down with the burdens of the old system. This is now being 
done in every part of the country and many of the comrades engaged in 
rural work have proved themselves good propagandists. The method 
described in this article, ŗmake four comparisons and five calculations˛,3 
is a fine one for explaining to the peasants, in terms easy to understand, 
which system is good and which bad. It has great powers of persuasion. 
It is quite unlike the method of those comrades who are not so good at 
propaganda work and can produce nothing convincing but merely say, 
ŗEither you follow the road of the Communist Party, or you follow 
the road of Chiang Kai-shek,˛ thus trying to subdue their audience 
by threatening to stick labels on them. It is a method that draws on the 
local peasantsš own experience and provides them with a detailed 
analysis; hence its great powers of persuasion. 
(Note to ŗGood Experience in Consolidating a Co-operative˛) 
22 
Sabotage of the co-operative movement by counter-revolutionaries 
is a common occurrence and not limited to the Fifth District of Tuyun 
County, Kweichow Province, but very little is written about it in similar 
publications in other provinces. In the course of co-operative transformation, 
all comrades engaged in rural work must pay full attention to the 
struggle against counter-revolutionary wrecking activities. As in this 
district in Tuyun County, security units with Party and Youth League 
members as the mainstay should be set up within the co-operatives. 
It is absolutely necessary for the district Party committee, led and 
supervised by the county Party committee, to study the situation, carry 
out propaganda and explain things to people inside and outside the 
Party, alert the masses to counter-revolutionary wrecking activities,

263 NOTES FROM SOCIALIST UPSURGE IN CHINAšS COUNTRYSIDE 
and then investigate, clear out and punish the counter-revolutionaries 
and other bad elements who have wormed their way into the leading 
bodies of the co-operatives. However, those to be cleared out must 
be confirmed counter-revolutionaries and bad elements; good persons 
or persons merely with certain shortcomings must not be labelled bad 
elements. In particular, punishment must be appropriate and has to 
be approved by the county authorities. 
(Note to ŗWage a Resolute Struggle 
Against Counter-Revolutionary Sabotage˛) 
23 
In order to build a great socialist society it is most important to 
mobilize the masses of women to join in productive activity. In production 
men and women must receive equal pay for equal work. Genuine 
equality between the sexes can only be realized in the process of the 
socialist transformation of society as a whole. 
(Note to ŗWomen Are Now on the Labour Front˛) 
24 
This is an excellent article which can serve as reference material for 
all localities. Young people are the most active and dynamic force in 
society. They are the most eager to learn and the least conservative 
in their thinking, and this is especially true in the era of socialism. 
We hope that the Party organizations in all places, working in concert 
with the Youth League organizations, will pay particular attention to 
bringing the energy of our youth into full play, and not just take them 
for granted and ignore their characteristics. Of course, the young 
should learn from the older people and try as far as possible to win 
their agreement for doing useful things. Older people are more 
encumbered with conservative ideas and often restrain the progressive 
activities of the young; they will not be convinced until the young 
people make a success of something. All this is very well described in

264 MAO TSETUNG 
the article. Naturally, there should be no compromise with conservative 
ideas. Well then, letšs have a try at it, and if it works, theyšll agree. 
(Note to ŗThe Youth Shock Brigade of the 
Ninth Agricultural Producersš Co-operative 
in Hsinping Township, Chungshan County˛) 
25 
Here is another good article which can serve as reference material 
for all localities. It mentions organizing the participation of middle 
school students and primary school graduates in the co-operative movement. 
This is especially noteworthy. All such educated young people 
who can go and work in the countryside should be glad to do so. The 
countryside is a big world where much can be accomplished. 
(Note to ŗExperience in Planning Cooperative 
Transformation in a Township˛) 
26 
Here is another one, Chen Hsueh-meng. In China, such heroes are 
legion, but it is a pity that our writers do not seek them out, and as 
for those people who go to the countryside to guide the co-operative 
movement, they see a lot but write very little. 
(Note to ŗChen Hsueh-meng, Pace- 
Setter in Co-operative Transformation˛) 
27 
This very well written article deserves to be recommended to all 
Party and Youth League committees at the county and district levels 
and to all township Party and Youth League branches. All co-operatives 
should follow the example described. The author understands the 
Party line and hits the nail on the head. The language is good, the article 
is easy to read and does not smack of stereotyped Party writing. Here

265 NOTES FROM SOCIALIST UPSURGE IN CHINAšS COUNTRYSIDE 
we should like to call the readeršs attention to the fact that many of our 
comrades are addicted to stereotyped Party writing and that the articles 
they turn out are not lively, not vivid, and give the reader a headache. 
They care little for syntax or diction, and they fancy a style that is a 
cross between the literary and the colloquial, at times verbose and 
rambling, at times elliptical and archaic, as though they were out to 
torment the reader. Quite a number of the more than 170 articles 
selected for this book reeked heavily of stereotyped Party writing. 
Only after repeated polishing were they made fairly readable. Even 
so, a few remain rather obscure and hard to understand. They 
have been included only for their content. How much longer will it 
be before we read less of this stereotyped Party writing which gives 
us such headaches? It is up to those comrades who work as editors 
on our newspapers and periodicals to pay attention to this matter, ask 
their contributors to write coherently and vividly, and take it upon 
themselves to polish the manuscripts. 
(Note to ŗPolitical Work in the Co-operatives˛) 
28 
The co-operative introduced here is the ŗpaupersš co-op˛ led by 
Wang Kuo-fan. Diligence and thrift ought to be the principle for 
managing all our agricultural producersš co-operatives, nay, all our 
economic enterprises. Diligence and thrift should be practised in running 
factories, stores and all state-owned, co-operative and other enterprises; 
this principle should be observed in doing everything. It is the principle 
of practising economy, one of the basic principles of socialist economy. 
China is a big country but it is still very poor, and it will take several 
decades to make China prosperous. Even then the principle of diligence 
and thrift will still have to be observed, but it is in the coming decades, 
in the span of several five-year plans, that diligence and thrift must be 
particularly stressed and special attention paid to practising economy. 
At present, many co-operatives pay little attention to practising 
economy; this is an unhealthy tendency which should be immediately 
corrected. Co-operatives run with diligence and thrift can be found 
in every province and county, and these examples should be publicized 
for all to follow. Those co-operatives which are industrious and thrifty, 
get the highest yields and do well in all respects should be commended,

266 MAO TSETUNG 
whereas those which are wasteful, get very low yields and do poorly 
in all respects should be criticized. 
(Note to ŗRun the Co-operative with Diligence and Thrift˛) 
29 
This is a long-range seven-year plan for a large co-operative (they 
call it a collective farm, that is, a co-operative) which will embrace 
the townshipšs thousand or so households. The plan can serve as 
reference material for all localities. People will understand the need for 
this kind of long-term plan after they have gone over the contents here. 
The development of mankind goes back hundreds of thousands of 
years, but here in China it is only today that conditions have been 
secured for the planned development of our economy and culture. 
Given these conditions, the face of our country will change from year 
to year. The change in each five years will be considerable and after 
several five-year periods very much bigger. 
(Note to ŗThe Long-Range Plan of the Red Star Collective Farm˛) 
30 
This is a good article. Everyone ought to read it and co-operatives 
in all localities can consult it when they draw up their own long-term 
plans. As the author puts it so aptly, ŗThe whole process of drawing 
up a production plan is one of struggle between advanced and conservative 
thinking.˛ Conservative ideas are causing trouble almost 
everywhere. To overcome them and take the productive forces and 
production a big step forward, all localities and co-operatives should 
draw up their own long-range plans. 
(Note to ŗThe Three-Year Production Plan of a Co-operative˛) 
31 
This township has made a two-year plan for co-operative transformation, 
increased production, water conservancy, consolidation

267 NOTES FROM SOCIALIST UPSURGE IN CHINAšS COUNTRYSIDE 
of the Party and Youth League organizations, cultural and educational 
work, etc., and so should every township in China. Some people say 
plans are hard to make, then how did this township manage it? In 
1956 every county, district and township in our country should draw 
up a comprehensive plan, which should include more items than the 
above plan, items such as side-line production, trade, finance, afforestation 
and health work. Even if the plan is a bit crude and not quite 
in accord with actual conditions, it is better than none. If one or two 
counties, districts and townships in a province can produce fairly good 
plans, these can be immediately publicized and serve as models for 
other counties, districts and townships. Planning is said to be hard, 
but actually itšs not so hard.
(Note to ŗYitao Townshipšs Comprehensive Plan˛) 
32 
This article is very useful and can serve as reference material for 
all counties. In its over-all planning every county should map out an 
appropriate plan for water conservancy. Water conservancy is an 
important measure to ensure increased agricultural production, small 
projects are well within the capacity of every county, district, township 
and co-operative, and it is therefore most necessary for plans to be 
drawn up and carried out in stages over a number of years to ensure 
irrigation in times of drought and drainage in times of water-logging, 
barring extraordinary and uncontrollable floods and droughts. This is 
certainly practicable. Organized in co-operatives, the masses have 
immense strength. Insoluble for thousands of years, the problems of 
ordinary floods and droughts can now be solved in a matter of a 
few years. 
(Note to ŗLet Everyone Have One Mou of Irrigated Land˛) 
33 
Pig-raising is an important matter which has a direct bearing on 
the provision of fertilizer, meat supply and the earning of foreign

268 MAO TSETUNG 
exchange from exports; therefore all co-operatives should include the 
raising of pigs in their plans, and naturally the provinces, prefectures, 
counties and districts should all have their own plans. Pig-feed is 
readily available; some kinds of grass and tree leaves, sweet potatoes 
and their vines are all pig-feed, and it need not necessarily be grain, 
still less a lot of it. Apart from collective pig-raising by co-operatives, 
every peasant household should be advised to raise one or more pigs, 
and this goal is to be attained by stages in a few years. Of course 
exceptions should be made in the case of some minority nationality 
communities where pig-raising is taboo and of some families which 
object to raising pigs on religious grounds. A set of measures should be 
devised to reward pig-raising and the experience of the Shanghua 
Co-operative in Chekiang Province can serve for the reference of all 
localities. 
(Note to ŗPlenty of Pigs Are Raised Here˛) 
34 
Before the co-operative transformation of agriculture, surplus 
labour-power was a problem in many parts of the country. Since then 
many co-operatives have felt the pinch of a labour shortage and the 
need to mobilize the masses of women, who did not work in the 
fields before, to take their place on the labour front. This was a major 
development that came as a surprise to many people. People had 
generally expected a surplus of labour-power in the wake of cooperation. 
A surplus already, and what if there should be another one? 
In many places co-operation in practice has dispelled such misgivings, 
as the problem has not been a surplus but a shortage of labour-power. 
Some places did find a surplus of labour-power for a while following 
co-operation, but that was because they had not yet extended the scale 
of production, initiated diverse economic undertakings or started 
intensive cultivation. For many places the labour shortage becomes 
evident as production grows in scale, the number of undertakings 
increases, the efforts to remake nature become more extensive and 
intensive and the work is done more thoroughly. This is only the beginning, 
and it will become more evident as the years go by. It will be 
the same after agriculture is mechanized. In the days to come all 
kinds of enterprises undreamed of before will make their appearance

269 NOTES FROM SOCIALIST UPSURGE IN CHINAšS COUNTRYSIDE 
and agricultural output will rise several times, a dozen times, perhaps 
scores of times, above the present level. The expansion of industry, 
communications and exchange will defy the imagination of past 
generations. It will be the same with science, culture, education and 
health work. Women form a great reserve of labour-power in China. 
This reserve should be tapped in the struggle to build a great socialist 
country. The principle of equal pay for equal work for men and women 
must be enforced to encourage women to engage in productive activity. 
All co-operatives can draw upon the experience of Chienteh County 
in Chekiang Province. 
(Note to ŗLabour Shortage Solved by 
Rallying Women to Join in Production˛) 
35 
This is also a common problem. The experience of these two cooperatives 
shows that under present conditions of production there is 
already a surplus of roughly one-third of the labour-power. What 
required three people in the past can be done by two after co-operative 
transformation, an indication of the superiority of socialism. Where 
can an outlet be found for this surplus labour-power of one-third or 
more? For the most part, still in the countryside. Socialism has not 
only liberated the working people and freed the means of production 
from the shackles of the old society but has also released the boundless 
resources of nature which the old society could not exploit. The masses 
have unlimited creative power. They can organize themselves to take on 
all spheres and branches of work where they can give full play to their 
energy, tackle production more intensively and extensively and initiate 
more and more undertakings for their own well-being. So far we have 
not touched on the mechanization of agriculture. With mechanization, 
much more labour-power can be saved. Will there be an outlet? Yes, 
there will be one, too, according to the experience of certain mechanized 
state farms. As the scope of production expands, the number of 
undertakings increases and the work is done more intensively, there 
is no need to worry about labour-power not being put to use. 
(Note to ŗAn Outlet Has Been 
Found for Surplus Labour-Power˛)

270 MAO TSETUNG 
36 
Things in this county also show us that an outlet can be found in the 
villages for rural surplus labour-power. As management improves and 
the scope of production expands, every able-bodied man and woman 
can put in more work-days in the year. Instead of over one hundred 
work-days for a man and a few score for a woman as described in this 
article, the former can put in well over two hundred work-days and 
the latter well over one hundred or more. Some co-operatives in other 
parts of the country have already reached that level. Side-line production 
must have an assured market and not develop blindly ‹ this is correct. 
Taking the country as a whole, rural side-line production in a large 
measure caters to the countryside, but a fair part, which is likely to 
expand in the future, must cater to the cities and meet export requirements. 
The point is that the state must have a unified plan so as 
gradually to eliminate blind development. 
(Note to ŗHsiangyin County Has Found 
an Outlet for Surplus Labour-Power˛) 
37 
This article is very good and what it describes should be the example 
for all localities. ŗBookkeepers are not available˛ ‹ this is one of 
the excuses of those who are against the rapid development of cooperation. 
Agricultural co-operation throughout the country calls for 
several million bookkeepers, and where are they to be found? As a 
matter of fact such manpower is available, since large numbers of 
primary school and junior middle school graduates can be mobilized 
to do the job. What is required is to train them quickly and raise their 
literacy level and vocational ability in the course of their work. In each 
district organize the bookkeepers from the producersš, the supply and 
marketing and the credit co-operatives into a bookkeepersš mutual-aid 
network ‹ this would be a good way to raise their literacy and 
vocational levels. Such a network in Changwu Countyšs Third District 
has helped raise the bookkeepersš level in both these respects and has 
done a lot of economic and political work besides. Party organizations

271 NOTES FROM SOCIALIST UPSURGE IN CHINAšS COUNTRYSIDE 
at the county and district levels must give their attention and guidance 
to the work discussed here. 
(Note to ŗExperience in Organizing Bookkeepers for the Agricultural 
Producersš, the Supply and Marketing and the Credit 
Co-operatives into a Bookkeepersš Mutual-Aid Network˛) 
38 
The experience discussed here should be popularized. Lenin said 
that ŗa communist society cannot be built in an illiterate country˛.4 In 
our country today there are so many illiterates, and yet the building of 
socialism cannot wait until illiteracy is eliminated; thus an acute 
contradiction arises. In our country today, it is not only the many schoolage 
children who have no schools to go to, but also large numbers of 
young people above that age, to say nothing of adults. This serious 
problem must be, and can only be, solved in the course of agricultural 
co-operation. With the formation of co-operatives, the peasants have 
a strong urge to learn to read and write out of economic necessity. With 
the formation of co-operatives, the peasants have collective strength, 
the situation changes completely and they can organize their own 
literacy classes. First, to be able to record work-points, they must learn 
to write the names of the persons and places in their village or township, 
the names of farm implements, the terms for different kinds of farm 
work and other indispensable words ‹ two or three hundred in all. 
Next, they must acquire a bigger vocabulary. Two kinds of textbooks 
are thus needed. The first should be compiled with the needs of the 
co-operatives in a particular locality in mind by the local educated 
people with the help of the comrades guiding the work of co-operation. 
Each locality should compile a textbook of its own, and there should 
not be a uniform text for all. This textbook does not need approval 
by the higher authorities. The second textbook, also with a vocabulary 
of a few hundred words and to be compiled in the same manner, 
should be based on things and expressions pertinent to a relatively 
limited area (for instance, a county or prefecture), and in addition 
on certain things and expressions of the province (or municipality 
or autonomous region) and the whole country. This kind of textbook 
need not be uniform in all localities either, but it should be examined

272 MAO TSETUNG 
promptly by the educational authorities of the county, prefecture, or 
province (or municipality or autonomous region). After these two steps, 
a third should be taken; this will require the educational authorities 
of each province (or municipality or autonomous region) to prepare 
a third textbook for general use. More advanced textbooks will 
subsequently have to be compiled. The cultural and educational 
authorities at the national level should give proper guidance in this 
matter. The Youth League branch of Kaochialiukou Village, Chunan 
County, Shantung Province, has done something creative. It is most 
gratifying to see how things are going there. They found teachers 
among the graduates of their township primary school. Progress was 
rapid with more than a hundred young people and adults learning over 
two hundred words in two and a half months. They can now keep 
records of their own work-points and some have become work-point 
recorders for the co-operative. ŗA course for recording work-points˛ ‹ 
thatšs an apt name, too. Such courses should be opened everywhere. 
Youth League organizations at every level should give guidance to 
this work and all Party and government organizations should give it 
their support. 
(Note to ŗThe Experience of the Youth League 
Branch of Kaochialiukou Village, Chunan County, 
in Starting a Course for Recording Work-Points˛) 
39 
This is about the Gold Star Agricultural, Forestry and Livestock 
Producersš Co-operative led by Li Shun-ta. In the three years since its 
formation it has grown into a large co-operative with 283 households. 
It is located in a barren area in the Taihang Mountains, but by sheer 
hard work on the part of all during these three years it has begun to 
take on a new look. The utilization rate of labour-power is now 110.6 
per cent higher than in the days of individual farming before the anti- 
Japanese war and 74 per cent higher than in the period of the mutual-aid 
teams before the co-operative was formed. The co-operativešs accumulation 
has increased from 120 yuan in its first year to over 11,000 yuan. 
In 1955 each member received an average of 884 catties of grain, which is 
77 per cent more than in the days before the anti-Japanese war and

273 NOTES FROM SOCIALIST UPSURGE IN CHINAšS COUNTRYSIDE 
25.1 per cent more than in the mutual-aid team period. This co-operative 
made a five-year plan, but after three years its total output value is 
already 100.6 per cent of the target set by the plan. The experience of 
this co-operative poses the following question to us: If large increases in 
output can be attained in places where the natural conditions are poor, 
why canšt places where the natural conditions are more favourable do 
even better? 
(Note to ŗRun the Co-operative with Diligence 
and Thrift, Develop the Mountain Areas˛) 
40 
This is a well managed co-operative. One can learn a great deal 
from its valuable experience. Chufu County is Confuciusš home town 
where the old man ran a school for many years and trained a good 
number of capable disciples, a fact that is quite well known. But he 
didnšt care much about the economic aspects of the life of the people. 
When his disciple Fan Chih asked him how to do farming, he not only 
parried the question but abused Fan Chih behind his back as belonging 
to ŗthe lower orders˛.5 Now the people in his home town have set up 
socialist co-operatives. After three years of co-operation, the economic 
and cultural life of the people, who were poor and destitute for over 
two thousand years, has begun to change. This demonstrates that the 
socialism of our time has indeed no parallel in history. Socialism is 
infinitely superior to the Confucian ŗclassics˛. I would like to suggest 
to those interested in visiting the Temple and Tomb of Confucius that 
on their way they might well go and have a look at the co-operative 
described here. 
(Note to ŗAn Agricultural Producersš Co-operative 
Increases Production by 67 Per Cent in Three Years˛) 
41 
This article is very well written and worth reading. Most of the 
existing semi-socialist co-operatives are small, each with only twenty

274 MAO TSETUNG 
or thirty households, because co-operatives of that size are easy to set 
up and give the cadres and members an opportunity to gain experience 
quickly. But with its few members, little land and scanty funds a small 
co-operative cannot operate on a large scale or use machinery. Cooperatives 
so small in size still hamper the development of the productive 
forces; they should not remain at this stage for long, but should 
gradually merge. In some places a single co-operative may embrace an 
entire township, in a few places several townships, but, of course, in 
many others one township may have several co-operatives. Big cooperatives 
can be formed in mountain areas as well as on the plains. 
The township in Anhwei Province where the Futzuling Reservoir is 
situated is all hills for dozens of li around. It is precisely here that a 
big co-operative has been set up which goes in for agriculture, forestry 
and livestock in a comprehensive way. Of course the amalgamation of 
co-operatives should proceed step by step with the membersš consent 
and when suitable cadres are available. 
(Note to ŗThe Superiority of the Big Co-operative˛) 
42 
The experience of the Red Flag Co-operative on Hainan Island has 
again demonstrated the greater advantages of big co-operatives and 
co-operatives of the advanced type. Only one year after its formation, 
this big co-operative was ready to move on to the advanced stage. Of 
course, this is not to say that all co-operatives should follow suit, for 
they must first consider whether their conditions are ripe before deciding 
when to merge and move on to the advanced stage. But generally 
speaking, a period of three years is about right. The important thing 
is to set examples for the peasants. When they see that big co-operatives 
and co-operatives of the advanced type yield greater advantages than 
small and elementary ones, they will want to merge their co-operatives 
and move on to the advanced stage. 
(Note to ŗThe Red Flag Agricultural Producersš 
Co-operative in the First District of Chiungshan 
County Grows Strong in the Struggle 
Against Natural Disasters and Capitalist Ideology˛)

275 NOTES FROM SOCIALIST UPSURGE IN CHINAšS COUNTRYSIDE 
43 
It is necessary to consider changing elementary co-operatives to 
advanced ones when their conditions are ripe, so as to further develop 
their productive forces and production. Since elementary co-operatives 
maintain a system of semi-private ownership,6 with the passage of time 
this will hamper the development of the productive forces and people 
will begin to demand a change in the system of ownership, so that 
the co-operative will become a collectively managed economic unit in 
which the means of production are owned wholly in common. Once 
the productive forces are further freed, production will expand even 
more. Some places can make the change-over fairly quickly, others 
will probably have to go a bit more slowly. After functioning for about 
three years co-operatives of an elementary type will in the main 
acquire the necessary conditions. The Party organizations in every 
province, municipality and autonomous region should look into this 
matter and make preparations, and during 1956 and 1957 establish a 
number of experimental co-operatives of the advanced type with the 
consent of the masses. In general, the co-operatives today are small, 
and when they switch over to the advanced type, the many small cooperatives 
should be merged into big ones with the consent of the 
masses. If in 1956 and 1957 every district can get one or more such 
co-operatives organized and their superiority over the elementary type 
is made plain to the masses, this will create favourable conditions for 
co-operatives to merge and move on to the advanced stage in the 
years to follow. This work must be co-ordinated with over-all planning 
to expand production. When people see that big co-operatives and 
co-operatives of the advanced type have greater advantages than small 
and elementary ones, when people see that long-range planning brings 
a much higher level of material and cultural life in its train, they will 
agree to merge their co-operatives and move on to the advanced 
stage. The elevation to the advanced stage will proceed more quickly 
in the suburban areas. The experience of this co-operative in Peking 
can serve as reference material for other co-operatives with similar 
conditions. 
(Note to ŗA Co-operative That Goes from 
the Elementary to the Advanced Type˛)

276 MAO TSETUNG 
NOTES 
1 In its early days the Wang Kuo-fan Co-operative was woefully short of means 
of production. Instead of asking for state loans, the co-operative organized its 
members to go into the mountains some thirty li away to collect firewood which 
they sold to pay for means of production. So the co-operative members said that they 
ŗmade the mountains yield˛ a substantial amount of the means of production. 
2 Here ŗreverse propaganda˛ means making clear to the masses the difficulties 
and adversities they may come across in forming co-operatives, in addition to publicizing 
the advantages and favourable conditions. This was done when the masses 
were fully aroused and applied in great numbers for co-operative membership, so that 
they could weigh the matter thoroughly and join of their own free will. 
3 The four comparisons were to compare and see which was better: (1) the cooperative, 
the mutual-aid team, or peasants working on their own; (2) socialism or 
capitalism; (3) a system with exploitation or a system without exploitation, and (4) personal 
enrichment or prosperity for all. The five calculations referred to the calculations 
of the superiority of the co-operatives with respect to (1) coping with natural disasters, 
(2) increasing earnings through the promotion of side-lines, (3) increasing workpoints 
by arousing enthusiasm for labour, (4) increasing production as a result of 
mutually beneficial co-operation by the poor and the middle peasants, and (5) overcoming 
difficulties in production and in livelihood. 
4 V. I. Lenin, ŗThe Tasks of the Youth Leagues˛. 
5 Confucian Analects, Book XIII, ŗTzu Lu˛. 
6 The elementary co-operative characterized by the pooling of land as shares and 
unified management was semi-socialist in nature. It maintained private ownership by 
the co-operative members of such means of production as land, draught animals and 
the larger farm implements, and the co-operative had to pay ŗdividends˛ to its members 
for their use. The elementary co-operative was therefore said to have retained 
semi-private ownership.

REQUEST FOR OPINIONS ON 
THE SEVENTEEN-ARTICLE DOCUMENT 
CONCERNING AGRICULTURE 
December 21, 1955 
In November this year a seventeen-article document was agreed 
upon after consultations held by Comrade Mao Tsetung in Hangchow 
and Tientsin with secretaries of the Party committees of fourteen 
provinces and the Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region. The Central 
Committee holds that the document should be confirmed at the conference 
of secretaries of the provincial, municipal and autonomous 
region Party committees to be convened by the Central Committee on 
January 10 so that it can be incorporated in the 1956 plan and begin to 
be carried out in earnest. To this end, on receiving this message please 
summon the secretaries of all the prefectural Party committees and of 
some of the county Party committees under your jurisdiction to make 
a detailed study of the following questions: 
(1) Whether all or only some of the articles can be carried out 
and whether the conditions are sufficient for carrying out each 
article; 
(2) Whether any additions to the seventeen articles are needed 
(additions which are practicable can be made); and 
(3) Whether you are ready to incorporate the seventeen articles 
in your 1956 plan and carry them out right away. 
Please complete your study of these questions and have your opinions 
ready by January 3, 1956. 
The seventeen articles are as follows: 
Circular drafted for the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party 
and sent to the Shanghai Bureau and the provincial and autonomous region Party 
committees. 
277

278 MAO TSETUNG 
1. Regarding the pace of the co-operative transformation of agriculture, 
the work of establishing co-operatives of the elementary type 
should in the main be accomplished by the latter half of 1956, and it is 
advisable for the provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions 
(Sinkiang excepted) to set a target for co-operative membership of 75 
per cent of the peasant households and let the lower levels exceed this 
somewhat and reach about 80 to 85 per cent. 
As for co-operation of the higher stage, you should strive to accomplish 
it basically by 1960, or if possible a year sooner, by 1959. To this 
end it is necessary for the counties, and preferably the districts, to take 
direct charge of setting up one or more large co-operatives of the 
advanced type (each with over a hundred households) in every county 
or district in 1956 and then another batch in 1957 ‹ these two batches 
should account for about 25 per cent of the peasant households and 
serve as models. Is this possible or not? What should be the size of 
a co-operative when small co-operatives merge into big ones? Several 
co-operatives forming one township, one co-operative forming one 
township, or one co-operative embracing several townships ‹ are all 
three forms practicable? Which is the more suitable figure for the total 
number of co-operatives in the country ‹ 300,000, 400,000, or 500,000? 
The figure is 100,000 in the Soviet Union; would over 300,000, or 
400,000, be more suitable for us? Further, which way is better ‹ to 
merge the co-operatives first and then raise them to the higher stage, 
or to merge and raise them at the same time, or to raise them first and 
then merge them? Please consider these questions as well. 
2. As for the admission of landlords and rich peasants into cooperatives, 
perhaps during 1956 you could act upon the suggestion made 
by Anhwei, Shansi and Heilungkiang Provinces, that is, allowing those 
who behave well to join and those who behave neither well nor badly 
to take part in co-operative production but without co-operative 
membership, while compelling those who behave badly to engage in 
production under the co-operativesš supervision. This method can be 
adopted by all the old co-operatives which have strong cadres. There 
are many advantages to this, though there is one disadvantage, namely, 
those upper-middle peasants who are as yet unwilling to join the cooperatives 
will inevitably feel obliged to do so, and moreover they will 
have to be admitted before the landlords and rich peasants so as to 
save their face. Is this good or not? Or shall we postpone the adoption 
of the above method for a year, that is, until 1957? Please consider which 
alternative is better.

279 REQUEST FOR OPINIONS ON 17-ARTICLE DOCUMENT 
3. As for the composition of the leadership in a co-operative, twothirds 
should come from among the present-day poor peasants plus 
all the new lower-middle peasants who were formerly poor peasants, 
while one-third should come from among the old lower-middle peasants 
and the old and new upper-middle peasants. 
4. Conditions for increasing production: (a) carry out a few fundamental 
measures (the details still have to be discussed, and some 
differences may be allowed for different places); (b) spread advanced 
experience (materials on models are to be collected every year and 
published in a volume by each province). 
5. In 1956 every province, prefecture, county, district and township 
should draw up a long-term comprehensive plan embracing all the 
necessary items, with stress on county and township plans. A draft 
should be prepared in the first half of the year and finalized in the 
second, subject to further revision. The plan should cover a period of 
at least three years, preferably seven, possibly as many as twelve. This 
must be done without delay. Have you made any arrangements for 
it? While many plans are likely to be rough-and-ready for lack of 
experience, you should strive to have a few counties and townships 
draw up more realistic plans so that they can be recommended as 
models. 
6. Make an over-all plan for the protection and breeding of cattle, 
horses, mules, donkeys, pigs, sheep, chickens and ducks, and especially 
for the protection of young animals. The breeding plans will be discussed, 
so please have your opinions ready. 
7. In co-ordination with the plans for river basins, there should be 
widespread construction of small water conservancy projects to ensure 
basic control over ordinary floods and droughts within seven years. 
8. Within seven years, basically eliminate a dozen or so insect pests 
and plant diseases harmful to crops. 
9. Within twelve years, make most of the waste land and barren 
hills productive and achieve afforestation by planting trees according 
to specified requirements in every possible place, that is, around every 
house and every village, by roadsides and watersides as well as on 
waste land and barren hills. 
10. Within twelve years, in most regions 90 per cent, and in some 
regions 100 per cent, of the needed fertilizer is to be supplied by the 
localities and co-operatives themselves. 
11. Within twelve years, the average yield of grain per mou should 
reach four hundred catties in the areas north of the Yellow River, the

280 MAO TSETUNG 
Chinling Mountains, the Pailung River and the section of the Yellow 
River inside Chinghai Province, five hundred catties in the areas south 
of the Yellow River and north of the Huai River, and eight hundred 
catties in the areas south of the Huai River, the Chinling Mountains and 
the Pailung River. As for cotton, oil-bearing crops, soya beans, silk, 
tea, jute, sugar-cane, fruit and other items, please suggest a quota for 
each item for discussion. 
12. Within seven years, basically eliminate a number of those diseases 
most harmful to human beings and livestock, such as schistosomiasis, 
filariasis, bubonic plague, encephalitis, cattle plague and hog 
cholera. Please study which of the endemic diseases in your province or 
region can be basically wiped out within seven years, which will take 
longer, and which cannot be wiped out under present conditions. 
13. Get rid of the four pests, that is, within seven years basically 
exterminate rats (and other harmful animals), sparrows (and other 
birds which damage crops, but whether it is advisable to exterminate 
crows remains to be investigated), flies and mosquitoes.1 
14. Within seven years, basically wipe out illiteracy, setting a 
literacy target of 1,500 to 2,000 characters. 
15. Within seven years, build according to specified requirements 
the different kinds of roads (highways, roads and paths) needed in the 
provinces, prefectures, counties, districts and townships. 
16. Within seven years, install wired broadcasting networks so that 
broadcasts can reach every township and every co-operative. 
17. Within seven years, complete the installation of telephone 
networks connecting townships and large co-operatives. 
Please consider the above points with other comrades concerned 
and complete preparations by January 3. The Central Committee may 
first summon the secretaries of some provincial Party committees to a 
meeting around January 4 to study these matters for several days and 
to have suggestions ready for the coming conference on January 10. 
NOTES 
1 The directive on health work drafted in March 1960 by Comrade Mao Tsetung 
for the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party says, ŗThere is another 
thing. Stop killing sparrows; instead, wipe out bedbugs. The slogan should be, ŒExterminate 
rats, bedbugs, flies and mosquitoes.š˛

SPEED UP 
THE SOCIALIST TRANSFORMATION 
OF HANDICRAFTS 
March 5, 1956 
1. It seems to me that the pace of the socialist transformation of 
independent handicrafts was a little too slow. I said so in January this 
year at the conference of secretaries of provincial and municipal Party 
committees. By the end of 1955 only two million handicraftsmen had 
been organized. In the first two months of this year, however, three 
million more have been organized, so in the main the work can be accomplished 
this year; that is fine. You are contemplating an average 
annual increase of 10.9 per cent in the total value of handicraft production 
over a period of three five-year plans; that seems a bit too small. 
We set too low a target in the First Five-Year Plan and have suffered 
a little in consequence; it need not be changed now, but you should 
use your discretion. 
2. As for the size of handicraft co-operatives, generally speaking, 
about one hundred people per co-operative would be appropriate, although 
some may have several hundred and others only a few dozen. 
3. It is a good idea to organize co-operatives of the blacksmiths and 
carpenters who make the rounds of the villages to repair farm implements 
and serve agricultural production; the peasants will certainly 
welcome this. That is what handicraftsmen in China have been doing 
for thousands of years. Organized in co-operatives, the craftsmen 
can improve their skills and serve the peasants better. 
4. You have said that the masses were dissatisfied because production 
was centralized in the repair and service trades and too many 
service stations were closed during the high tide of the transformation 
Part of Comrade Mao Tsetungšs instructions when the departments concerned 
under the State Council reported their work on handicrafts. 
281

MAO TSE-TUNG 
FROM MARX 
TO MAO 

 
NOT FOR 
COMMERCIAL 
DISTRIBUTION 
282 
of handicrafts. That was too bad! What is to be done now? ŗThe 
general trend under heaven is that there is bound to be unification 
after prolonged division and division after prolonged unification.˛ 
5.The highest labour productivity in mechanized and semimechanized 
production is over thirty times the lowest in handicraft 
production. The annual value of output per capita is 20,000 to 30,000 
yuan in modernized state industry, 5,000 yuan in mechanized and semimechanized 
co-operatives, 2,000 yuan in big co-operatives with more 
than 100 handicraftsmen, 1,500 yuan in small co-operatives and 800 to 
900 yuan among independent handicraftsmen. Compare the differences 
in labour productivity and it becomes clear that the handicrafts must 
develop in the direction of semi-mechanization and mechanization and 
that labour productivity must be raised. 
6.All the handicraft trades perform useful services. They provide 
food, clothing and other things for daily use. They also produce 
arts and crafts, such as cloisonne or the glass grapes blown by ŗthe five 
spinsters of the Chang family˛.1 Besides, the technique of roasting 
Peking duck is exportable. People in some service trades make their 
rounds of the streets and villages, fixing all sorts of things, as in the play 
Mending Jars for Aunty Wang ‹ these people travel around and 
are well-informed. The Dawn-in-the-East Market in Peking displays 
more than six thousand kinds of articles for sale. 
Mind you, donšt let our fine handicraft products be discarded. 
Pock-marked Wangšs and Chang Hsiao-chuanšs kitchen knives and 
scissors must not be discarded, no, not even ten thousand years from 
now. Anything good and characteristically Chinese that has been discarded 
must be restored and even improved. 
7.It is a good idea to improve the quality of arts and crafts and to 
look after the old master craftsmen, and you should start now and 
speed up the work. You can set up organizations, open schools and 
call meetings. Yang Shih-hui, the ivory carver, is actually a very fine 
artist. Once he and I ate at table together, and while observing me he 
was able to carve my likeness. I could have observed him for several 
days without being able to draw a picture of him, Išm afraid. 
8.The prices of equipment and materials allocated by the state to 
the co-operatives should be reasonably fixed and must not be set at 
the normal allocation prices. Co-operatives are not the same as state 
enterprises and there is a difference between socialist collective ownership 
and socialist ownership by the whole people. At the outset the 
economic foundations of the co-operatives are not strong enough and

283 SPEED UP SOCIALIST TRANSFORMATION OF HANDICRAFTS 
they need state assistance. It is a good idea for the state to allocate to 
the co-operatives at low prices old machines which have been replaced 
as well as the machinery and factory buildings rendered surplus by the 
amalgamation of privately owned plants under joint state-private 
management. ŗGive in order to take.˛ When the foundations of the 
co-operatives have become strong enough, the state will collect a larger 
tax from them and raise the prices of raw materials too. By that time, 
the co-operatives will be owned by the collective in form but in reality 
by the whole people. 
The state should help the co-operatives to achieve semi-mechanization 
and mechanization, and they themselves should strive for the same 
goal. The greater the speed of mechanization, the shorter the life of 
your handicraft co-operatives. The more your ŗkingdom˛ shrinks, the 
better it is for our common cause. You should exert yourselves to hasten 
mechanization and make a greater contribution to the state. 
9. Since the value of handicraft output forms a quarter of the total 
value of the countryšs industrial output, why is it that the supply of raw 
materials for the handicrafts as well as their production and sales 
have not been made part of the state plan? The handicrafts assume 
such large proportions that they should be included in the state plan. 
10. In some places the Party committees are so occupied with other 
tasks that they donšt put handicrafts on the agenda; this is not good. 
Why are some cadres rather unwilling to undertake this work? I myself 
would very much like to do it, as it is very important. 
11. You should select outstanding examples from among the sixtythousand-
odd handicraft co-operatives and compile material on their 
typical experience. The examples should be chosen from every locality 
and every trade and should include good and bad, big and small, concentrated 
and scattered, as well as semi-mechanized and mechanized 
co-operatives. They should be published in book form like Socialist 
Upsurge in Chinašs Countryside. 
NOTES 
1 This refers to the five women of Master Changšs family in Peking famous for 
the glass grapes they blew.

ON THE TEN MAJOR RELATIONSHIPS 
April 25, 1956 
In recent months the Political Bureau of the Central Committee 
has heard reports on the work of thirty-four industrial, agricultural, 
transport, commercial, financial and other departments under the 
central authorities and from these reports has identified a number 
of problems concerning socialist construction and socialist transformation. 
In all, they boil down to ten problems, or ten major relationships. 
It is to focus on one basic policy that these ten problems are being 
raised, the basic policy of mobilizing all positive factors, internal and 
external, to serve the cause of socialism. In the past we followed this 
policy of mobilizing all positive factors in order to put an end to the 
rule of imperialism, feudalism and bureaucrat-capitalism and to win 
victory for the peoplešs democratic revolution. We are now following 
the same policy in order to carry on the socialist revolution and build 
a socialist country, Nevertheless, there are some problems in our work 
that need discussion. Particularly worthy of attention is the fact that 
in the Soviet Union certain defects and errors that occurred in the 
course of their building socialism have lately come to light. Do you 
want to follow the detours they have made? It was by drawing lessons 
from their experience that we were able to avoid certain detours in 
the past, and there is all the more reason for us to do so now. 
What are the positive factors, internal and external? Internally, 
the workers and the peasants are the basic force. The middle forces 
are forces that can be won over. The reactionary forces are a negative 
factor, but even so we should do our work well and turn this negative 
Speech at an enlarged meeting of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee 
of the Chinese Communist Party. Bearing in mind lessons drawn from the Soviet Union, 
Comrade Mao Tsetung summed up Chinašs experience, dealt with ten major relationships 
in socialist revolution and socialist construction and set forth the ideas 
underlying the general line of building socialism with greater, faster, better and more 
economical results, a line suited to the conditions of our country. 
284

285 ON THE TEN MAJOR RELATIONSHIPS 
factor as far as possible into a positive one. Internationally, all the 
forces that can be united with must be united, the forces that are not 
neutral can be neutralized through our efforts, and even the reactionary 
forces can be split and made use of. In short, we should mobilize 
all forces, whether direct or indirect, and strive to make China a powerful 
socialist country. 
I will now discuss the ten problems. 
I. THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN HEAVY INDUSTRY 
ON THE ONE HAND AND LIGHT INDUSTRY AND 
AGRICULTURE ON THE OTHER 
The emphasis in our countryšs construction is on heavy industry. 
The production of the means of production must be given priority, 
thatšs settled. But it definitely does not follow that the production of 
the means of subsistence, especially grain, can be neglected. Without 
enough food and other daily necessities, it would be impossible to 
provide for the workers in the first place, and then what sense would 
it make to talk about developing heavy industry? Therefore, the relationship 
between heavy industry on the one hand and light industry 
and agriculture on the other must be properly handled. 
In dealing with this relationship we have not made mistakes of 
principle. We have done better than the Soviet Union and a number 
of East European countries. The prolonged failure of the Soviet Union 
to reach the highest pre-October Revolution level in grain output, the 
grave problems arising from the glaring disequilibrium between the 
development of heavy industry and that of light industry in some 
East European countries ‹ such problems do not exist in our country. 
Their lop-sided stress on heavy industry to the neglect of agriculture 
and light industry results in a shortage of goods on the market and 
an unstable currency. We, on the other hand, attach more importance 
to agriculture and light industry. We have all along attended to and 
developed agriculture and have to a considerable degree ensured the 
supply of grain and raw materials necessary for the development of 
industry. Our daily necessities are in fairly good supply and our prices 
and currency are stable. 
The problem now facing us is that of continuing to adjust properly 
the ratio between investment in heavy industry on the one hand and

286 MAO TSETUNG 
in agriculture and light industry on the other in order to bring about 
a greater development of the latter. Does this mean that heavy industry 
is no longer primary? No. It still is, it still claims the emphasis 
in our investment. But the proportion for agriculture and light industry 
must be somewhat increased. 
What will be the results of this increase? First, the daily needs of 
the people will be better satisfied, and, second, the accumulation of capital 
will be speeded up so that we can develop heavy industry with greater 
and better results. Heavy industry can also accumulate capital, but, 
given our present economic conditions, light industry and agriculture 
can accumulate more and faster. 
Here the question arises: Is your desire to develop heavy industry 
genuine or feigned, strong or weak? If your desire is feigned or weak, 
then you will hit agriculture and light industry and invest less in them. 
If your desire is genuine or strong, then you will attach importance 
to agriculture and light industry so that there will be more grain and 
more raw materials for light industry and a greater accumulation of 
capital. And there will be more funds in the future to invest in heavy 
industry. 
There are now two possible approaches to our development of heavy 
industry: one is to develop agriculture and light industry less, and the 
other is to develop them more. In the long run, the first approach will 
lead to a smaller and slower development of heavy industry, or at 
least will put it on a less solid foundation, and when the over-all 
account is added up a few decades hence, it will not prove to have 
paid. The second approach will lead to a greater and faster development 
of heavy industry and, since it ensures the livelihood of the 
people, it will lay a more solid foundation for the development of 
heavy industry. 
II. THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN INDUSTRY IN THE 
COASTAL REGIONS AND INDUSTRY IN THE INTERIOR 
In the past our industry was concentrated in the coastal regions. 
By coastal regions we mean Liaoning, Hopei, Peking, Tientsin, eastern 
Honan, Shantung, Anhwei, Kiangsu, Shanghai, Chekiang, Fukien, 
Kwangtung and Kwangsi. About 70 per cent of all our industry, both 
light and heavy, is to be found in the coastal regions and only 30 per

287 ON THE TEN MAJOR RELATIONSHIPS 
cent in the interior. This irrational situation is a product of history. 
The coastal industrial base must be put to full use, but to even out 
the distribution of industry as it develops we must strive to promote industry 
in the interior. We have not made any major mistakes on the relationship 
between the two. However, in recent years we have underestimated 
coastal industry to some extent and have not given great 
enough attention to its development. This must change. 
Not so long ago, there was still fighting in Korea and the international 
situation was quite tense; this could not but affect our attitude 
towards coastal industry. Now, it seems unlikely that there will be a new 
war of aggression against China or another world war in the near future, 
and there will probably be a period of peace for a decade or more. 
It would therefore be wrong if we still fail to make full use of the 
plant capacity and technical forces of coastal industry. If we are to have 
only five years, not to say ten, we should still work hard to develop 
industries in the coastal regions for four years and evacuate them when 
war breaks out in the fifth. According to available information, in 
light industry the construction of a plant and its accumulation of 
capital generally proceed quite rapidly. After the whole plant goes 
into production, it can earn enough in four years to build three new 
factories, or two, or one or at least half of one, in addition to recouping 
its capital outlay. Why shouldnšt we do such profitable things? 
The notion that the atom bomb is already overhead and about to fall 
on us in a matter of seconds is a calculation at variance with reality, 
and it would be wrong to take a negative attitude towards coastal 
industry on this account. 
It does not follow that all new factories should be built in the 
coastal regions. Without doubt, the greater part of the new industry 
should be located in the interior so that industry may gradually become 
evenly distributed; moreover, this will help our preparations against 
war. But a number of new factories and mines, even some large ones, 
may also be built in the coastal regions. As for the expansion and 
reconstruction of the light and heavy industries already in the coastal 
regions, we have done a fair amount of work in the past and will do 
much more in the future. 
Making good use of the old industries in the coastal regions and developing 
their capacities will put us in a stronger position to promote 
and support industry in the interior. To adopt a negative 
attitude would be to hinder the latteršs speedy growth. So it is likewise 
a question of whether the desire to develop industry in the interior is

288 MAO TSETUNG 
genuine or not. If it is genuine and not feigned, we must more actively 
use and promote industry in the coastal regions, especially light industry. 
III. THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ECONOMIC 
CONSTRUCTION AND DEFENCE CONSTRUCTION 
National defence is indispensable. Our defence capabilities have 
attained a certain level. As a result of the war to resist U.S. aggression 
and aid Korea and of several years of training and consolidation, 
our armed forces have grown more powerful and are now 
stronger than was the Soviet Red Army before the Second World 
War; also, there have been improvements in armaments. Our defence 
industry is being built up. Ever since Pan Ku separated heaven and 
earth, we have never been able to make planes and cars, and now we 
are beginning to make them. 
We do not have the atom bomb yet. But neither did we have planes 
and artillery in the past. We defeated the Japanese imperialists and 
Chiang Kai-shek with millet plus rifles. We are stronger than before 
and will be stronger still in the future. We will have not only more 
planes and artillery but atom bombs too. If we are not to be bullied in 
the present-day world, we cannot do without the bomb. Then what is to 
be done about it? One reliable way is to cut military and administrative 
expenditures down to appropriate proportions and increase expenditures 
on economic construction. Only with the faster growth of economic 
construction can there be greater progress in defence construction. 
At the Third Plenary Session of the Seventh Central Committee 
of our Party in 1950, we already raised the question of streamlining 
the state apparatus and reducing military and administrative expenditures 
and considered this measure to be one of the three prerequisites 
for achieving a fundamental turn for the better in our financial and 
economic situation. In the period of the First Five-Year Plan, military 
and administrative expenditures accounted for 30 per cent of the total 
expenditures in the state budget. This proportion is much too high. In 
the period of the Second Five-Year Plan, we must reduce it to around 
20 per cent, so that more funds can be released for building more 
factories and turning out more machines. After a time, we shall not 
only have plenty of planes and artillery but probably have our own 
atom bombs as well.

289 ON THE TEN MAJOR RELATIONSHIPS 
Here again the question arises: Is your desire for the atom bomb 
genuine and very keen? Or is it only lukewarm and not so very keen? 
If your desire is genuine and very keen, then you will reduce the 
proportion of military and administrative expenditures and spend 
more on economic construction. If your desire is not genuine or not 
so very keen, you will stay in the old rut. This is a matter of strategic 
policy, and I hope the Military Commission will discuss it. 
Would it be all right to demobilize all our troops now? No, it 
would not. For enemies are still around, and we are being bullied and 
encircled by them. We must strengthen our national defence, and for 
that purpose we must first of all strengthen our work in economic 
construction. 
IV. THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE STATE, THE 
UNITS OF PRODUCTION AND THE PRODUCERS 
The relationship between the state on the one hand and factories 
and agricultural co-operatives on the other and the relationship 
between factories and agricultural co-operatives on the one hand and 
the producers on the other should both be handled well. To this end 
we should consider not just one side but all three, the state, the 
collective and the individual, or, as we used to say, ŗtake into consideration 
both the army and the people˛ and ŗtake into consideration 
both the public and the private interest˛. In view of the experience 
of the Soviet Union as well as our own, we must see to it that from 
now on this problem is solved much better. 
Take the workers for example. As their labour productivity rises, 
there should be a gradual improvement in their working conditions 
and collective welfare. We have always advocated plain living and 
hard work and opposed putting personal material benefits above 
everything else; at the same time we have always advocated concern 
for the livelihood of the masses and opposed bureaucracy, which is 
callous to their well-being. With the growth of our economy as a whole, 
wages should be appropriately adjusted. We have recently decided to 
increase wages to some extent, mainly the wages of those at the lower 
levels, the wages of the workers, in order to narrow the wage gap 
between them and the upper levels. Generally speaking, our wages are 
not high, but compared with the past the life of our workers has greatly

290 MAO TSETUNG 
improved because, among other things, more people are employed and 
prices remain low and stable. Under the regime of the proletariat, our 
workers have unfailingly displayed high political consciousness and 
enthusiasm for labour. When at the end of last year the Central 
Committee called for a fight against Right conservatism, the masses 
of workers warmly responded and, what was exceptional, overfulfilled 
the plan for the first quarter of the year by working all out for 
three months. We must strive to encourage this zeal for hard work 
and at the same time pay still greater attention to solving the pressing 
problems in their work and everyday life. 
Here I would like to touch on the question of the independence 
of the factories under unified leadership. Itšs not right, Išm afraid, to 
place everything in the hands of the central or the provincial and 
municipal authorities without leaving the factories any power of their 
own, any room for independent action, any benefits. We donšt have 
much experience on how to share power and returns properly among 
the central authorities, the provincial and municipal authorities and 
the factories, and we should study the subject. As a matter of principle, 
centralization and independence form a unity of opposites, and there 
must be both centralization and independence. For instance, we are 
now having a meeting, which is centralization; after the meeting, some 
of us will go for a walk, some will read books, some will go to eat, 
which is independence. If we donšt adjourn the meeting and give 
everyone some independence but let it go on and on, wouldnšt it be 
the death of us all? This is true of individuals, and no less true of 
factories and other units of production. Every unit of production must 
enjoy independence as the correlative of centralization if it is to 
develop more vigorously. 
Now about the peasants. Our relations with the peasants have 
always been good, but we did make a mistake on the question of grain. 
In 1954 floods caused a decrease in production in some parts of our 
country, and yet we purchased 7,000 million more catties of grain. A 
decrease in production and an increase in purchasing ‹ this made 
grain the topic on almost everyonešs lips in many places last spring, 
and nearly every household talked about the state monopoly for 
marketing grain. The peasants were disgruntled, and there were 
a lot of complaints both inside and outside the Party. Although quite 
a few people indulged in deliberate exaggeration and exploited the 
opportunity to attack us, it cannot be said that we had no shortcomings. 
Inadequate investigation and failure to size up the situation resulted

291 ON THE TEN MAJOR RELATIONSHIPS 
in the purchase of 7,000 million catties more; that was a shortcoming. 
After discovering it, we purchased 7,000 million catties less in 1955 
and introduced a system of fixed quotas for grain production, purchasing 
and marketing1 and, whatšs more, there was a good harvest. With 
a decrease in purchasing and an increase in production, the peasants 
had over 20,000 million more catties of grain at their disposal. Thus 
even those peasants who had complaints before said, ŗThe Communist 
Party is really good.˛ This lesson the whole Party must bear in mind. 
The Soviet Union has adopted measures which squeeze the peasants 
very hard. It takes away too much from the peasants at too low a price 
through its system of so-called obligatory sales2 and other measures. 
This method of capital accumulation has seriously dampened the 
peasantsš enthusiasm for production. You want the hen to lay more 
eggs and yet you donšt feed it, you want the horse to run fast and yet 
you donšt let it graze. What kind of logic is that! 
Our policies towards the peasants differ from those of the Soviet 
Union and take into account the interests of both the state and the 
peasants. Our agricultural tax has always been relatively low. In the 
exchange of industrial and agricultural products we follow a policy of 
narrowing the price scissors, a policy of exchanging equal or roughly 
equal values. The state buys agricultural products at standard prices 
while the peasants suffer no loss, and, what is more, our purchase 
prices are gradually being raised. In supplying the peasants with 
manufactured goods we follow a policy of larger sales at a small profit 
and of stabilizing or appropriately reducing their prices; in supplying 
grain to the peasants in grain-deficient areas we generally subsidize 
such sales to a certain extent. Even so, mistakes of one kind or another 
will occur if we are not careful. In view of the grave mistakes made by 
the Soviet Union on this question, we must take greater care and 
handle the relationship between the state and the peasants well. 
Similarly, the relationship between the co-operative and the 
peasants should be well handled. What proportion of the earnings of 
a co-operative should go to the state, to the co-operative and to the 
peasants respectively and in what form should be determined properly. 
The amount that goes to the co-operative is used directly to serve the 
peasants. Production expenses need no explanation, management 
expenses are also necessary, the accumulation fund is for expanded 
reproduction and the public welfare fund is for the peasantsš wellbeing. 
However, together with the peasants, we should work out 
equitable ratios among these items. We must strictly economize on

292 MAO TSETUNG 
production and management expenses. The accumulation fund and the 
public welfare fund must also be kept within limits, and one shouldnšt 
expect all good things to be done in a single year. 
Except in case of extraordinary natural disasters, we must see 
to it that, given increased agricultural production, 90 per cent of the 
co-operative members get some increase in their income and the other 
10 per cent break even each year, and if the latteršs income should 
fall, ways must be found to solve the problem in good time. 
In short, consideration must be given to both sides, not to just 
one, whether they are the state and the factory, the state and the 
worker, the factory and the worker, the state and the co-operative, 
the state and the peasant, or the co-operative and the peasant. To give 
consideration to only one side, whichever it may be, is harmful to 
socialism and to the dictatorship of the proletariat. This is a big 
question which concerns 600 million people, and it calls for repeated 
education in the whole Party and the whole nation. 
V. THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE CENTRAL 
AND THE LOCAL AUTHORITIES 
The relationship between the central and the local authorities 
constitutes another contradiction. To resolve this contradiction, our 
attention should now be focussed on how to enlarge the powers of 
the local authorities to some extent, give them greater independence 
and let them do more, all on the premise that the unified leadership 
of the central authorities is to be strengthened. This will be 
advantageous to our task of building a powerful socialist country. Our 
territory is so vast, our population is so large and the conditions are 
so complex that it is far better to have the initiative come from both 
the central and the local authorities than from one source alone. We 
must not follow the example of the Soviet Union in concentrating 
everything in the hands of the central authorities, shackling the local 
authorities and denying them the right to independent action. 
The central authorities want to develop industry, and so do the 
local authorities. Even industries directly under the central authorities 
need assistance from the local authorities. And all the more so for 
agriculture and commerce. In short, if we are to promote socialist

293 ON THE TEN MAJOR RELATIONSHIPS 
construction, we must bring the initiative of the local authorities into 
play. If we are to strengthen the central authorities, we must attend 
to the interests of the localities. 
At present scores of hands are reaching out to the localities, making 
things difficult for them. Once a ministry is set up, it wants to have 
a revolution and so it issues orders. Since the ministries donšt think 
it proper to issue orders to the Party committees and peoplešs 
councils at the provincial level, they establish direct contact with the 
relevant departments and bureaus in the provinces and municipalities 
and give them orders every day. These orders are all supposed to 
come from the central authorities, even though neither the Central 
Committee of the Party nor the State Council knows anything about 
them, and they put a great strain on the local authorities. There is such 
a flood of statistical forms that they become a scourge. This state of 
affairs must be changed. 
We should encourage the style of work in which the local authorities 
are consulted on the matters to be taken up. It is the practice of 
the Central Committee of the Party to consult the local authorities; 
it never hastily issues orders without prior consultation. We hope that 
the ministries and departments under the central authorities will pay 
due attention to this and will first confer with the localities on all 
matters concerning them and issue no order without full consultation. 
The central departments fall into two categories. Those in the first 
category exercise leadership right down to the enterprises, but their 
administrative offices and enterprises in the localities are also subject 
to supervision by the local authorities. Those in the second have the 
task of laying down guiding principles and mapping out work plans, 
while the local authorities assume the responsibility for putting them 
into operation. 
For a large country like ours and a big Party like ours the proper 
handling of the relationship between the central and local authorities 
is of vital importance. Some capitalist countries pay great attention to 
this too. Although their social system is fundamentally different from 
ours, the experience of their growth is nevertheless worth studying. Take 
our own experience; the system of the greater administrative area 
instituted in the early days of our Peoplešs Republic was a necessity at 
that time, and yet it had shortcomings which were later exploited to 
a certain extent by the anti-Party alliance of Kao Kang and Jao Shushih. 
It was subsequently decided to abolish the greater administrative

294 MAO TSETUNG 
areas and put the various provinces directly under the central authorities; 
that was a correct decision. But neither was the outcome 
so satisfactory when matters went to the length of depriving the 
localities of their necessary independence. According to our Constitution, 
the legislative powers are all vested in the central authorities. 
But, provided that the policies of the central authorities are not violated, 
the local authorities may work out rules, regulations and measures 
in the light of their specific conditions and the needs of their work, 
and this is in no way prohibited by the Constitution. We want both 
unity and particularity. To build a powerful socialist country it is 
imperative to have a strong and unified central leadership and unified 
planning and discipline throughout the country; disruption of this 
indispensable unity is impermissible. At the same time, it is essential 
to bring the initiative of the local authorities into full play and let 
each locality enjoy the particularity suited to its local conditions. This 
particularity is not the Kao Kang type of particularity but one that is 
necessary for the interest of the whole and for the strengthening of 
national unity. 
There is also the relationship between different local authorities, 
and here I refer chiefly to the relationship between the higher and 
lower local authorities. Since the provinces and municipalities have 
their own complaints about the central departments, can it be that the 
prefectures, counties, districts and townships have no complaints about 
the provinces and municipalities? The central authorities should take 
care to give scope to the initiative of the provinces and municipalities, 
and the latter in their turn should do the same for the prefectures, 
counties, districts and townships; in neither case should the lower 
levels be put in a strait-jacket. Of course comrades at the lower levels 
must be informed of the matters on which centralization is necessary 
and they must not act as they please. In short, centralization must be 
enforced where it is possible and necessary, otherwise it should not 
be imposed at all. The provinces and municipalities, prefectures, 
counties, districts and townships should all enjoy their own proper 
independence and rights and should fight for them. To fight for such 
rights in the interest of the whole nation and not of the locality cannot 
be called localism or an undue assertion of independence. 
The relationship between different provinces and municipalities is 
also a kind of relationship between different local authorities, and it 
should be properly handled too. It is our consistent principle to

295 ON THE TEN MAJOR RELATIONSHIPS 
advocate consideration for the general interest and mutual help and 
accommodation. 
Our experience is still insufficient and immature on the question 
of handling the relationship between the central and local authorities 
and that between different local authorities. We hope that you will 
consider and discuss it in earnest and sum up your experience from 
time to time so as to enhance achievements and overcome shortcomings. 
VI. THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE HAN 
NATIONALITY AND THE MINORITY NATIONALITIES 
Comparatively speaking, our policy on the relationship between 
the Han nationality and the minority nationalities is sound and has 
won the favour of the minority nationalities. We put the emphasis on 
opposing Han chauvinism. Local-nationality chauvinism must be 
opposed too, but generally that is not where our emphasis lies. 
The population of the minority nationalities in our country is 
small, but the area they inhabit is large. The Han people comprise 
94 per cent of the total population, an overwhelming majority. If they 
practised Han chauvinism and discriminated against the minority 
peoples, that would be very bad. And who has more land? The 
minority nationalities, who occupy so to 60 per cent of the territory. 
We say China is a country vast in territory, rich in resources and large 
in population; as a matter of fact, it is the Han nationality whose 
population is large and the minority nationalities whose territory is 
vast and whose resources are rich, or at least in all probability their 
resources under the soil are rich. 
The minority nationalities have all contributed to the making of 
Chinašs history. The huge Han population is the result of the intermingling 
of many nationalities over a long time. All through the ages, 
the reactionary rulers, chiefly from the Han nationality, sowed feelings 
of estrangement among our various nationalities and bullied the 
minority peoples. Even among the working people it is not easy to 
eliminate the resultant influences in a short time. So we have to make 
extensive and sustained efforts to educate both the cadres and the 
masses in our proletarian nationality policy and make a point of frequently 
reviewing the relationship between the Han nationality and 
the minority nationalities. One such review was made two years ago

296 MAO TSETUNG 
and there should be another now. If the relationship is found to be 
abnormal, then we must deal with it in earnest and not just in words. 
We need to make a thorough study of what systems of economic 
management and finance will suit the minority nationality areas. 
We must sincerely and actively help the minority nationalities to 
develop their economy and culture. In the Soviet Union the relationship 
between the Russian nationality and the minority nationalities 
is very abnormal; we should draw lessons from this. The air in the 
atmosphere, the forests on the earth and the riches under the soil are 
all important factors needed for the building of socialism, but no 
material factor can be exploited and utilized without the human factor. 
We must foster good relations between the Han nationality and the 
minority nationalities and strengthen the unity of all the nationalities 
in the common endeavour to build our great socialist motherland. 
VII. THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN 
PARTY AND NON-PARTY 
Which is better, to have just one party or several? As we see it 
now, itšs perhaps better to have several parties. This has been true 
in the past and may well be so for the future; it means long-term 
coexistence and mutual supervision. 
In our country the various democratic parties, consisting primarily 
of the national bourgeoisie and its intellectuals, emerged during the 
resistance to Japan and the struggle against Chiang Kai-shek, and 
they continue to exist to this day. In this respect, China is different 
from the Soviet Union. We have purposely let the democratic parties 
remain, giving them opportunities to express their views and adopting 
a policy of both unity and struggle towards them. We unite with 
all those democratic personages who offer us well-intentioned criticisms. 
We should go on activating the enthusiasm of such people from the 
Kuomintang army and government as Wei Li-huang and Weng Wenhao, 
who are patriotic. We should even provide for such abusive types 
as Lung Yun, Liang Shu-ming and Peng Yi-hu and allow them to rail 
at us, while refuting their nonsense and accepting what makes sense in 
their rebukes. This is better for the Party, for the people and for 
socialism.

297 ON THE TEN MAJOR RELATIONSHIPS 
Since classes and class struggle still exist in China, there is bound 
to be opposition in one form or another. Although all the democratic 
parties and democrats without party affiliation have professed their 
acceptance of the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party, many 
of them are actually in opposition in varying degrees. On such matters 
as ŗcarrying the revolution through to the end˛, the movement to 
resist U.S. aggression and aid Korea and the agrarian reform, they 
were against us and yet not against us. To this very day they have 
reservations about the suppression of counter-revolutionaries. They 
didnšt want to have a constitution of the socialist type, for, as they 
said, the Common Programme was just perfect, and yet when the 
Draft Constitution came out, their hands all went up in favour. 
Things often turn into their opposites, and this is also true of the 
attitude of the democratic parties on many questions. They are in 
opposition, and yet not in opposition, often proceeding from being 
in opposition to not being in opposition. 
The Communist Party and the democratic parties are all products 
of history. What emerges in history disappears in history. Therefore, 
the Communist Party will disappear one day, and so will the democratic 
parties. Is this disappearance so unpleasant? In my opinion, 
it will be very pleasant. I think it is just fine that one day we will be 
able to do away with the Communist Party and the dictatorship of 
the proletariat. Our task is to hasten their extinction. We have spoken 
about this point many times. 
But at present we cannot do without the proletarian party and the 
dictatorship of the proletariat and, what is more, it is imperative that 
they should be made still more powerful. Otherwise, we would not 
be able to suppress the counter-revolutionaries, resist the imperialists 
and build socialism, or consolidate it when it is built. Leninšs 
theory on the proletarian party and the dictatorship of the proletariat 
is by no means ŗoutmoded˛, as alleged by certain people. The dictatorship 
of the proletariat cannot but be highly coercive. Still, we must 
oppose bureaucracy and a cumbersome apparatus. I propose that the 
Party and government organs should be thoroughly streamlined and 
cut by two-thirds provided that no person dies and no work stops. 
However, streamlining the Party and government organs does 
not mean getting rid of the democratic parties. I suggest you give 
attention to our united front work so as to improve our relations with 
them and make every possible effort to mobilize their enthusiasm for the 
cause of socialism.

298 MAO TSETUNG 
VIII. THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN REVOLUTION 
AND COUNTER-REVOLUTION 
What kind of factor are counter-revolutionaries? They are a 
negative factor, a destructive factor, they are forces opposed to the 
positive factors. Is it possible for counter-revolutionaries to change? 
The die-hards will undoubtedly never change. However, given the 
conditions in our country, most of the counter-revolutionaries will 
eventually change to a greater or lesser extent. Thanks to the correct 
policy we adopted, many have been transformed into persons no 
longer opposed to the revolution, and a few have even done some good. 
The following points should be affirmed: 
First, it should be affirmed that the suppression of counterrevolutionaries 
in 1951-52 was necessary. There is a view that this 
campaign neednšt have been launched. This is wrong. 
Counter-revolutionaries may be dealt with in these ways: execution, 
imprisonment, supervision and leaving at large. Execution ‹ 
everybody knows what that means. By imprisonment we mean putting 
counter-revolutionaries in jail and reforming them through labour. 
By supervision we mean leaving them in society to be reformed under 
the supervision of the masses. By leaving at large we mean that 
generally no arrest is made in those cases where it is marginal whether 
to make an arrest, or that those arrested are set free for good 
behaviour. It is essential that different counter-revolutionaries should 
be dealt with differently on the merits of each case. 
Now letšs take execution in particular. True, we executed a 
number of people during the above-mentioned campaign to suppress 
counter-revolutionaries. But what sort of people were they? They 
were counter-revolutionaries who owed the masses many blood debts 
and were bitterly hated. In a great revolution embracing 600 million 
people, the masses would not have been able to rise if we had not 
killed off such local despots as the ŗTyrant of the East˛ and the ŗTyrant 
of the West˛. Had it not been for that campaign of suppression, the 
people would not have approved our present policy of leniency. Now 
that some people have heard that Stalin wrongly put a number of 
people to death, they jump to the conclusion that we too were wrong 
in putting those counter-revolutionaries to death. This is a wrong view. 
It is of immediate significance today to affirm that it was absolutely 
right to execute those counter-revolutionaries.

299 ON THE TEN MAJOR RELATIONSHIPS 
Second, it should be affirmed that counter-revolutionaries still 
exist, although their number has greatly diminished. After the Hu Feng 
case surfaced, it was necessary to ferret out the counter-revolutionaries. 
The effort to clear out those who remain hidden must go on. It 
should be affirmed that there are still a small number of counterrevolutionaries 
carrying out counter-revolutionary sabotage of one 
kind or another. For example, they kill cattle, set fire to granaries, 
wreck factories, steal information and put up reactionary posters. 
Consequently, it is wrong to say that counter-revolutionaries have 
been completely eliminated and that we can therefore lay our heads 
on our pillows and just drop off to sleep. As long as class struggle 
exists in China and in the world, we should never relax our vigilance. 
Nevertheless, it would be equally wrong to assert that there are still 
large numbers of counter-revolutionaries. 
Third, from now on there should be fewer arrests and executions 
in the suppression of counter-revolutionaries in society at large. They 
are the mortal and immediate enemies of the people and are deeply 
hated by them, and therefore a small number should be executed. 
But most of them should be handed over to the agricultural cooperatives 
and made to work under supervision and be reformed 
through labour. All the same, we cannot announce that there will be 
no more executions, and we must not abolish the death penalty. 
Fourth, in clearing out counter-revolutionaries in Party and government 
organs, schools and army units, we must adhere to the policy 
started in Yenan of killing none and arresting few. Confirmed counterrevolutionaries 
are to be screened by the organizations concerned, but 
they are not to be arrested by the public security bureaus, prosecuted 
by the procuratorial organs or tried by the law courts. Well over 
ninety out of every hundred of these counter-revolutionaries should be 
dealt with in this way. This is what we mean by arresting few. As for 
executions, kill none. 
What kind of people are those we donšt execute? We donšt execute 
people like Hu Feng, Pan Han-nien, Jao Shu-shih, or even captured 
war criminals such as Emperor Pu Yi and Kang Tse. We donšt have 
them executed, not because their crimes donšt deserve capital punishment 
but because such executions would yield no advantage. If one 
such criminal is executed, a second and a third will be compared with 
him in their crimes, and then many heads will begin to roll. This is 
my first point. Second, people may be wrongly executed. Once a head 
is chopped off, history shows it canšt be restored, nor can it grow

300 MAO TSETUNG 
again as chives do, after being cut. If you cut off a head by mistake, 
there is no way to rectify the mistake, even if you want to. The third 
point is that you will have destroyed a source of evidence. You need 
evidence in order to suppress counter-revolutionaries. Often one 
counter-revolutionary serves as a living witness against another, and 
there will be cases where you may want to consult him. If you have got 
rid of him, you may not be able to get evidence any more. And this 
will be to the advantage of counter-revolution, not of revolution. 
The fourth point is that killing these counter-revolutionaries wonšt 
(1) raise production, (2) raise the countryšs scientific level, (3) help do 
away with the four pests, (4) strengthen national defence, or (5) help 
recover Taiwan. It will only earn you the reputation of killing captives, 
and killing captives has always given one a bad name. Another point 
is that counter-revolutionaries inside Party and government organs 
are different from those in society at large. The latter lord it over the 
masses while the former are somewhat removed from the masses, and 
therefore make enemies in general but seldom enemies in particular. 
What harm is there in killing none of them? Those who are physically 
fit for manual labour should be reformed through labour, and those 
who are not should be provided for. Counter-revolutionaries are 
trash, they are vermin, but once in your hands, you can make them 
perform some kind of service for the people. 
But shall we enact a law stipulating that no counter-revolutionary 
in Party and government organs is to be executed? Ours is a policy 
for internal observance which need not be made public, and all we 
need do is carry it out as far as possible in practice. Supposing 
someone should throw a bomb into this building, killing everybody 
here, or half or one-third of the people present, what would you say ‹ 
execute him or not execute him? Certainly he must be executed. 
Adopting the policy of killing none when eliminating counterrevolutionaries 
from Party and government organs in no way prevents 
us from being strict with them. Instead, it serves as a safeguard against 
irretrievable mistakes, and if mistakes are made, it gives us an 
opportunity to correct them. In this way many people will be put at 
ease and distrust among comrades inside the Party avoided. If counterrevolutionaries 
are not executed, they have to be fed. All counterrevolutionaries 
should be given a chance to earn a living, so that they 
can start anew. This will be good for the cause of the people and be 
well received abroad.

301 ON THE TEN MAJOR RELATIONSHIPS 
The suppression of counter-revolutionaries still calls for hard 
work. We must not relax. In future not only must the suppression of 
counter-revolutionaries in society continue, but we must also uncover 
all the hidden counter-revolutionaries in Party and government 
organs, schools and army units. We must draw a clear distinction 
between ourselves and the enemy. If the enemy is allowed to worm 
his way into our ranks and even into our organs of leadership, we 
know only too well how serious a threat this will be to the cause of 
socialism and to the dictatorship of the proletariat. 
IX. THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN 
RIGHT AND WRONG 
A clear distinction must be made between right and wrong, 
whether inside or outside the Party. How to deal with people who 
have made mistakes is an important question. The correct attitude 
towards them should be to adopt a policy of ŗlearning from past 
mistakes to avoid future ones and curing the sickness to save the 
patient˛, help them correct their mistakes and allow them to go on 
taking part in the revolution. In those days when the dogmatists 
headed by Wang Ming were in the saddle, our Party erred on this 
question, picking up the bad aspect of Stalinšs style of work. In society 
the dogmatists rejected the middle forces and inside the Party they 
did not allow people to correct their mistakes; they barred both from 
the revolution. 
The True Story of Ah Q is a fine story. I would recommend comrades 
who have read it before to reread it and those who havenšt to 
read it carefully. In this story Lu Hsun writes mainly about a peasant 
who is backward and politically unawakened. He devotes a whole 
chapter, ŗBarred from the Revolution˛, to describing how a bogus 
foreign devil bars Ah Q from the revolution. Actually, all Ah Q 
understands by revolution is helping himself to a few things just like 
some others. But even this kind of revolution is denied him by the 
bogus foreign devil. It seems to me that in this respect some people 
are quite like that bogus foreign devil. They barred from the revolution 
those who had committed errors, drawing no distinction between 
the making of mistakes and counter-revolution, and went so far as to

302 MAO TSETUNG 
kill a number of people who were guilty only of mistakes. We must 
take this lesson to heart. It is bad either to bar people outside the 
Party from the revolution or to prohibit erring comrades inside the 
Party from making amends. 
With regard to comrades who have erred, some people say we 
must observe them and see if they are going to correct their mistakes. 
I would say just observing them will not do, we must help them 
correct their mistakes. That is to say, first we must observe and second 
we must give help. Everybody needs help; those who have not done 
wrong need it and those who have need it still more. Probably no 
one is free from mistakes, only some make more and some less, and 
once they do they need help. It is passive just to observe; conditions 
must be created to help those who have erred to mend their ways. 
A clear distinction must be drawn between right and wrong, for inner- 
Party controversies over principle are a reflection inside the Party of 
the class struggle in society, and no equivocation is to be tolerated. 
It is normal, in accordance with the merits of the case, to mete out 
appropriate and well grounded criticism to comrades who have erred, 
and even to conduct necessary struggle against them; this is to help 
them correct mistakes. To deny them help and, what is worse, to gloat 
over their mistakes, is sectarianism. 
For revolution, it is always better to have more people. Except 
for a few who cling to their mistakes and fail to mend their ways 
after repeated admonition, the majority of those who have erred can 
correct their mistakes. People who have had typhoid become immune 
to it; similarly, people who have made mistakes will make fewer ones 
provided they are good at drawing lessons. On the other hand, since 
it is easier for those who have not erred to become cocky, they are 
prone to make mistakes. Let us be careful, for those who fix people 
guilty of mistakes will more often than not end up finding themselves 
in a fix. Kao Kang started out to lift a rock to hurl at others only to 
find himself being knocked down. Treating with good will those who 
have erred will win general approval and unite people. A helpful 
attitude or a hostile attitude towards comrades who have erred ‹ 
this is a criterion for judging whether one is well-intentioned or illintentioned. 
The policy of ŗlearning from past mistakes to avoid future ones 
and curing the sickness to save the patient˛ is a policy for uniting 
the whole Party. We must stick to this policy.

303 ON THE TEN MAJOR RELATIONSHIPS 
X. THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CHINA 
AND OTHER COUNTRIES 
We have put forward the slogan of learning from other countries. 
I think we have been right. At present, the leaders of some countries 
are chary and even afraid of advancing this slogan. It takes some 
courage to do so, because theatrical pretensions have to be discarded. 
It must be admitted that every nation has its strong points. If not, 
how can it survive? How can it progress? On the other hand, every 
nation has its weak points. Some believe that socialism is just perfect, 
without a single flaw. How can that be true? It must be recognized 
that there are always two aspects, the strong points and the weak 
points. The secretaries of our Party branches, the company commanders 
and platoon leaders of our army have all learned to jot down 
both aspects in their pocket notebooks, the weak points as well as the 
strong ones, when summing up their experience. They all know 
there are two aspects to everything, why do we mention only one? 
There will always be two aspects, even ten thousand years from now. 
Each age, whether the future or the present, has its own two aspects, 
and each individual has his own two aspects. In short, there are two 
aspects, not just one. To say there is only one is to be aware of one 
aspect and to be ignorant of the other. 
Our policy is to learn from the strong points of all nations and all 
countries, learn all that is genuinely good in the political, economic, 
scientific and technological fields and in literature and art. But we 
must learn with an analytical and critical eye, not blindly, and we 
mustnšt copy everything indiscriminately and transplant mechanically. 
Naturally, we mustnšt pick up their shortcomings and weak points. 
We should adopt the same attitude in learning from the experience 
of the Soviet Union and other socialist countries. Some of our people 
were not clear about this before and even picked up their weaknesses. 
While they were swelling with pride over what they had picked up, 
it was already being discarded in those countries; as a result, they had 
to do a somersault like the Monkey Sun Wu-kung. For instance, there 
were people who accused us of making a mistake of principle in 
setting up a Ministry of Culture and a Bureau of Cinematography 
rather than a Ministry of Cinematography and a Bureau of Culture, 
as was the case in the Soviet Union. They did not anticipate that 
shortly afterwards the Soviet Union would make a change and set

304 MAO TSETUNG 
up a Ministry of Culture as we had-done. Some people never take the 
trouble to analyse, they simply follow the ŗwind˛. Today, when the 
north wind is blowing, they join the ŗnorth wind˛ school; tomorrow, 
when there is a west wind, they switch to the ŗwest wind˛ school; 
afterwards when the north wind blows again, they switch back to the 
ŗnorth wind˛ school. They hold no independent opinion of their own 
and often go from one extreme to the other. 
In the Soviet Union, those who once extolled Stalin to the skies 
have now in one swoop consigned him to purgatory. Here in China 
some people are following their example. It is the opinion of the 
Central Committee that Stalinšs mistakes amounted to only 30 per cent 
of the whole and his achievements to 70 per cent, and that all things 
considered Stalin was nonetheless a great Marxist. We wrote ŗOn the 
Historical Experience of the Dictatorship of the Proletariat˛ on the 
basis of this evaluation. This assessment of 30 per cent for mistakes 
and 70 per cent for achievements is just about right. Stalin did a 
number of wrong things in connection with China. The ŗLeft˛ adventurism 
pursued by Wang Ming in the latter part of the Second 
Revolutionary Civil War period and his Right opportunism in the 
early days of the War of Resistance Against Japan can both be traced 
to Stalin. At the time of the War of Liberation, Stalin first enjoined us 
not to press on with the revolution, maintaining that if civil war flared 
up, the Chinese nation would run the risk of destroying itself. Then 
when fighting did erupt, he took us half seriously, half sceptically. When 
we won the war, Stalin suspected that ours was a victory of the Tito 
type, and in 1949 and 1950 the pressure on us was very strong indeed. 
Even so, we maintain the estimate of 30 per cent for his mistakes and 
70 per cent for his achievements. This is only fair. 
In the social sciences and in Marxism-Leninism, we must continue 
to study Stalin diligently wherever he is right. What we must study 
is all that is universally true and we must make sure that this study is 
linked with Chinese reality. It would lead to a mess if every single 
sentence, even of Marxšs, were followed. Our theory is an integration 
of the universal truth of Marxism-Leninism with the concrete practice 
of the Chinese revolution. At one time some people in the Party went 
in for dogmatism, and this came under our criticism. Nevertheless, 
there is still dogmatism today. It still exists in academic circles and in 
economic circles too. 
In the natural sciences we are rather backward, and here we should 
make a special effort to learn from foreign countries. And yet we must

305 ON THE TEN MAJOR RELATIONSHIPS 
learn critically, not blindly. In technology I think first we have to 
follow others in most cases, and it is better for us to do so, since that 
is what we are lacking at present and know little about. However, in 
those cases where we already have clear knowledge, we must not follow 
others in every detail. 
We must firmly reject and criticize all the decadent bourgeois 
systems, ideologies and ways of life of foreign countries. But this 
should in no way prevent us from learning the advanced sciences and 
technologies of capitalist countries and whatever is scientific in the 
management of their enterprises. In the industrially developed countries 
they run their enterprises with fewer people and greater efficiency 
and they know how to do business. All this should be learned well in 
accordance with our own principles in order to improve our work. 
Nowadays, those who make English their study no longer work hard 
at it, and research papers are no longer translated into English, French, 
German or Japanese for exchange with other countries. This too 
is a kind of blind prejudice. Neither the indiscriminate rejection of 
everything foreign, whether scientific, technological or cultural, nor the 
indiscriminate imitation of everything foreign as noted above, has 
anything in common with the Marxist attitude, and neither in any way 
benefits our cause. 
In my opinion, China has two weaknesses, which are at the same 
time two strong points. 
First, in the past China was a colonial and semi-colonial country, 
not an imperialist power, and was always bullied by others. Its 
industry and agriculture are not developed and its scientific and technological 
level is low, and except for its vast territory, rich resources, 
large population, long history, The Dream of the Red Chamber in 
literature, and so on, China is inferior to other countries in many 
respects, and so has no reason to feel conceited. However, there are 
people who, having been slaves too long, feel inferior in everything 
and donšt stand up straight in the presence of foreigners. They are 
just like Chia Kuei3 in the opera The Famen Temple who, when asked 
to take a seat, refuses to do so, giving the excuse that he is used to 
standing in attendance. Here we need to bestir ourselves, enhance our 
national confidence and encourage the spirit typified by ŗscorn U.S. 
imperialism˛, which was fostered during the movement to resist U.S. 
aggression and aid Korea. 
Second, our revolution came late. Although the Revolution of 1911 
which overthrew the Ching emperor preceded the Russian revolution,

306 MAO TSETUNG 
there was no Communist Party at that time and the revolution failed. 
Victory in the peoplešs revolution came only in 1949, some thirty years 
later than the October Revolution. On this account too, we are not 
in a position to feel conceited. The Soviet Union differs from our 
country in that, firstly, tsarist Russia was an imperialist power and, 
secondly, it had the October Revolution. As a result, many people in 
the Soviet Union are conceited and very arrogant. 
Our two weaknesses are also strong points. As I have said 
elsewhere, we are first ŗpoor˛ and second ŗblank˛. By ŗpoor˛ I mean 
we do not have much industry and our agriculture is underdeveloped. 
By ŗblank˛ I mean we are like a blank sheet of paper and our cultural 
and scientific level is not high. From the developmental point of view, 
this is not bad. The poor want revolution, whereas it is difficult for the 
rich to want revolution. Countries with a high scientific and technological 
level are overblown with arrogance. We are like a blank sheet of 
paper, which is good for writing on. 
Being ŗpoor˛ and ŗblank˛ is therefore all to our good. Even when 
one day our country becomes strong and prosperous, we must still 
adhere to the revolutionary stand, remain modest and prudent, learn 
from other countries and not allow ourselves to become swollen with 
conceit. We must not only learn from other countries during the 
period of our First Five-Year Plan, but must go on doing so after the 
completion of scores of five-year plans. We must be ready to learn 
even ten thousand years from now. Is there anything bad about that? 
I have taken up ten topics altogether. These ten relationships are 
all contradictions. The world consists of contradictions. Without contradictions 
the world would cease to exist. Our task is to handle these 
contradictions correctly. As to whether or not they can be resolved 
entirely to our satisfaction in practice, we must be prepared for either 
possibility; furthermore, in the course of resolving these contradictions 
we are bound to come up against new ones, new problems. But as we 
have often said, while the road ahead is tortuous, the future is bright. 
We must do our best to mobilize all positive factors, both inside and 
outside the Party, both at home and abroad, both direct and indirect, and 
make China a powerful socialist country.

307 ON THE TEN MAJOR RELATIONSHIPS 
NOTES 
1 The system of fixed quotas for the production, purchase and marketing of grain 
was instituted in the spring of 1955. The quotas for production fixed in that year were 
based on the grain yield per mou in normal years, and increases in production were 
not to entail extra sales of grain to the state for three years. The fixed quota for 
purchase refers to the purchase by the state of a fixed proportion of surplus grain from 
peasant households having a surplus. The fixed quota for marketing refers to the 
quota for the statešs supply of grain to grain-deficient households. The system was 
adopted in order to raise the peasantsš enthusiasm for increasing production. 
2 The system of obligatory sales enforced in the Soviet Union from 1933 to 1957 
was the principal measure by which the state bought agricultural products. Under it 
the collective farms and individual peasant households were required to sell their 
agricultural products annually to the state in quantities and at prices fixed by the state. 
3 In the Peking opera The Famen Temple, Chia Kuei is a trusted lackey of Liu 
Chin, a Ming Dynasty eunuch.

U.S. IMPERIALISM IS A PAPER TIGER 
July 14, 1956 
The United States is flaunting the anti-communist banner everywhere 
in order to perpetrate aggression against other countries. 
The United States owes debts everywhere. It owes debts not only 
to the countries of Latin America, Asia and Africa, but also to the 
countries of Europe and Oceania. The whole world, Britain included, 
dislikes the United States. The masses of the people dislike it. Japan 
dislikes the United States because it oppresses her. None of the countries 
in the East is free from U.S. aggression. The United States has 
invaded our Taiwan Province. Japan, Korea, the Philippines, Viet Nam 
and Pakistan all suffer from U.S. aggression, although some of them are 
allies of the United States. The people are dissatisfied and in some 
countries so are the authorities. 
All oppressed nations want independence. 
Everything is subject to change. The big decadent forces will give 
way to the small new-born forces. The small forces will change into 
big forces because the majority of the people demand this change. 
The U.S. imperialist forces will change from big to small because the 
American people, too, are dissatisfied with their government. 
In my own lifetime I myself have witnessed such changes. Some 
of us present were born in the Ching Dynasty and others after the 1911 
Revolution. 
The Ching Dynasty was overthrown long ago. By whom? By the 
party led by Sun Yat-sen, together with the people. Sun Yat-senšs forces 
were so small that the Ching officials didnšt take him seriously. He led 
many uprisings which failed each time. In the end, however, it was 
Sun Yat-sen who brought down the Ching Dynasty. Bigness is nothing 
to be afraid of. The big will be overthrown by the small. The small 
will become big. After overthrowing the Ching Dynasty, Sun Yat-sen 
Part of a talk with two Latin-American public figures. 
308

309 U.S. IMPERIALISM IS A PAPER TIGER 
met with defeat. For he failed to satisfy the demands of the people, such 
as their demands for land and for opposition to imperialism. Nor did 
he understand the necessity of suppressing the counter-revolutionaries 
who were then moving about freely. Later, he suffered defeat at the 
hands of Yuan Shih-kai, the chieftain of the Northern warlords. Yuan 
Shih-kaišs forces were larger than Sun Yat-senšs. But here again this 
law operated: small forces linked with the people become strong, while 
big forces opposed to the people become weak. Subsequently Sun Yatsenšs 
bourgeois-democratic revolutionaries co-operated with us Communists 
and together we defeated the warlord set-up left behind by 
Yuan Shih-kai. 
Chiang Kai-shekšs rule in China was recognized by the governments 
of all countries and lasted twenty-two years, and his forces were the 
biggest. Our forces were small, fifty thousand Party members at first 
but only a few thousand after counter-revolutionary suppressions. The 
enemy made trouble everywhere. Again this law operated: the big 
and strong end up in defeat because they are divorced from the people, 
whereas the small and weak emerge victorious because they are linked 
with the people and work in their interest. Thatšs how things turned 
out in the end. 
During the anti-Japanese war, Japan was very powerful, the 
Kuomintang troops were driven to the hinterland, and the armed forces 
led by the Communist Party could only conduct guerrilla warfare in the 
rural areas behind the enemy lines. Japan occupied large Chinese cities 
such as Peking, Tientsin, Shanghai, Nanking, Wuhan and Canton. 
Nevertheless, like Germanyšs Hitler the Japanese militarists collapsed 
in a few years, in accordance with the same law. 
We underwent innumerable difficulties and were driven from the 
south to the north, while our forces fell from several hundred thousand 
strong to a few tens of thousands. At the end of the 25,000-li Long 
March we had only 25,000 men left. 
In the history of our Party many erroneous ŗLeft˛ and Right lines 
have occurred. Gravest of all were the Right deviationist line of Chen 
Tu-hsiu and the ŗLeft˛ deviationist line of Wang Ming. Besides, there 
were the Right deviationist errors committed by Chang Kuo-tao, Kao 
Kang and others. 
There is also a good side to mistakes, for they can educate the 
people and the Party. We have had a good many teachers by negative 
example, such as Japan, the United States, Chiang Kai-shek, Chen 
Tu-hsiu, Li Li-san, Wang Ming, Chang Kuo-tao and Kao Kang. We

310 MAO TSETUNG 
paid a very high price to learn from these teachers by negative 
example. In the past, Britain made war on us many times. Britain, the 
United States, Japan, France, Germany, Italy, tsarist Russia and 
Holland were all very interested in this land of ours. They were all 
our teachers by negative example and we were their pupils. 
During the War of Resistance, our troops grew and became 
900,000 strong through fighting against Japan. Then came the War of 
Liberation. Our arms were inferior to those of the Kuomintang. The 
Kuomintang troops then numbered four million, but in three years 
of fighting we wiped out eight million of them all told. The Kuomintang, 
though aided by U.S. imperialism, could not defeat us. The big 
and strong cannot win, it is always the small and weak who win out. 
Now U.S. imperialism is quite powerful, but in reality it isnšt. 
It is very weak politically because it is divorced from the masses of 
the people and is disliked by everybody and by the American people 
too. In appearance it is very powerful but in reality it is nothing to be 
afraid of, it is a paper tiger. Outwardly a tiger, it is made of paper, 
unable to withstand the wind and the rain. I believe the United States 
is nothing but a paper tiger. 
History as a whole, the history of class society for thousands of 
years, has proved this point: the strong must give way to the weak. 
This holds true for the Americas as well. 
Only when imperialism is eliminated can peace prevail. The day 
will come when the paper tigers will be wiped out. But they wonšt 
become extinct of their own accord, they need to be battered by the 
wind and the rain. 
When we say U.S. imperialism is a paper tiger, we are speaking 
in terms of strategy. Regarding it as a whole, we must despise it. But 
regarding each part, we must take it seriously. It has claws and fangs. 
We have to destroy it piecemeal. For instance, if it has ten fangs, 
knock off one the first time, and there will be nine left; knock off 
another, and there will be eight left. When all the fangs are gone, it 
will still have claws. If we deal with it step by step and in earnest, 
we will certainly succeed in the end. 
Strategically, we must utterly despise U.S. imperialism. Tactically, 
we must take it seriously. In struggling against it, we must take each 
battle, each encounter, seriously. At present, the United States is 
powerful, but when looked at in a broader perspective, as a whole 
and from a long-term viewpoint, it has no popular support, its policies 
are disliked by the people, because it oppresses and exploits them.

311 U.S. IMPERIALISM IS A PAPER TIGER 
For this reason, the tiger is doomed. Therefore, it is nothing to be 
afraid of and can be despised. But today the United States still has 
strength, turning out more than 100 million tons of steel a year and 
hitting out everywhere. That is why we must continue to wage 
struggles against it, fight it with all our might and wrest one position 
after another from it. And that takes time. 
It seems that the countries of the Americas, Asia and Africa will 
have to go on quarrelling with the United States till the very end, till 
the paper tiger is destroyed by the wind and the rain. 
To oppose U.S. imperialism, people of European origin in the 
Latin-American countries should unite with the indigenous Indians. 
Perhaps the white immigrants from Europe can be divided into two 
groups, one composed of rulers and the other of ruled. This should 
make it easier for the group of oppressed white people to get close to 
the local people, for their position is the same. 
Our friends in Latin America, Asia and Africa are in the same 
position as we and are doing the same kind of work, doing something 
for the people to lessen their oppression by imperialism. If we do a 
good job, we can root out imperialist oppression. In this we are 
comrades. 
We are of the same nature as you in our opposition to imperialist 
oppression, differing only in geographical position, nationality and 
language. But we are different in nature from imperialism, and the 
very sight of it makes us sick. 
What use is imperialism? The Chinese people will have none of 
it, nor will the people in the rest of the world. There is no reason for 
the existence of imperialism.

STRENGTHEN PARTY UNITY AND 
CARRY FORWARD PARTY TRADITIONS 
August 30, 1956 
Today we begin the preparatory meeting for the Eighth National 
Congress. The meeting will last about a fortnight and its main business 
is: (1) drafting documents for the congress; (2) conducting a preliminary 
election of the Central Committee; and (3) preparing speeches for the 
congress. 
Now let me deal with a few points. 
First, about the objectives and purposes of the congress. What 
problems is this congress to solve and what are its objectives? In a word, 
it is to sum up the experience gained since the Seventh Congress, unite 
the whole Party and unite with all the forces at home and abroad that 
can be united in the struggle to build a great socialist China. 
About the summing-up of experience. Although we have a rich store 
of experience, we should not merely juxtapose a host of facts but should 
sum up by grasping the essentials, proceeding from reality and adopting 
a Marxist standpoint. A summing-up in this way will stimulate our 
whole Party and enable us to do our work better. 
Our Party is a great, glorious and correct Party, a fact which is 
acknowledged by the whole world. In the past, some foreign comrades 
had doubts about what we were actually doing. Many didnšt understand 
our policy towards the national bourgeoisie, nor were they very 
clear about our rectification movement. Today I would say more have 
come to understand them and most can be said to have such an 
understanding. Of course, there are still some who donšt. Within 
the country and even inside the Party, there are some who donšt 
understand and who maintain that the line we have followed since the 
Seventh Congress is not necessarily so correct. But the facts are 
Speech at the first session of the preparatory meeting for the Eighth National 
Congress of the Chinese Communist Party. 
312

313 PARTY UNITY AND PARTY TRADITIONS 
there for all to see, we have carried out two revolutions ‹ the 
bourgeois-democratic revolution to seize state power and the proletarian 
socialist revolution to carry out socialist transformation and build 
a socialist country. In the eleven years since the Seventh Congress we 
have scored great successes, and this is acknowledged by the whole 
nation and the whole world. Even the bourgeoisie abroad has to 
acknowledge it. The two revolutions prove that the line of the Central 
Committee since the Seventh Congress has been correct. 
The October Revolution overthrew the bourgeoisie, an event 
without precedent in world history. In all countries the bourgeoisie 
was sweeping in its denunciation of this revolution and had never a 
good word for it. The bourgeoisie in Russia was a counter-revolutionary 
class, it rejected state capitalism at that time, organized slow-downs 
and sabotage and resorted to the gun. The Russian proletariat had no 
choice but to finish it off. This infuriated the bourgeoisie in other 
countries, and they became abusive. Here in China we have been 
relatively moderate with our national bourgeoisie, who feel a little 
more comfortable and believe there are some good points in our 
policy. By prohibiting American journalists from coming to China, 
Eisenhower and Dulles have now in fact admitted that it does have 
good points. If things were in an awful mess here, they would have let 
their journalists come, knowing that the result could only be vicious 
articles. What they dread most is that the articles might include not only 
invective but a good word here and there, and that would be awkward 
for them. 
China used to be stigmatized as a ŗdecrepit empire˛, ŗthe sick 
man of East Asia˛, a country with a backward economy and a backward 
culture, with no hygiene, poor at ball games and swimming, 
where the women had bound feet, the men wore pigtails and eunuchs 
could still be found, and where the moon was inferior and did not 
shine as brightly as in foreign lands. In short, there was much that 
was bad in China. But after six yearsš work of transformation we 
have changed the face of China. No one can deny our achievements. 
Our Party is the core leading our revolutionary cause forward. 
In summing up experience the congress must first and foremost aim 
at achieving greater unity throughout the Party. Up to June Party 
membership stood at 10,730,000. A great deal of work must be done 
to educate, enlighten and unite these more than ten million Party 
members, so that they can play their role as the core among the people 
better. By itself the Party is not enough, it is only the core and needs

314 MAO TSETUNG 
a mass following. In all fields, including industry, agriculture, commerce, 
culture and education, 90 per cent of the work is done by 
non-Party people and not by Party members. Therefore, we must 
strive hard to unite with the masses, unite and work with all those that 
can be united. In our past efforts to achieve unity inside the Party and 
with people outside the Party there were many defects. During and after 
the congress we must conduct propaganda and carry on education so 
that our work in this respect will be considerably improved. 
Internationally, we must unite with all the forces in the world that 
can be united, first of all with the Soviet Union, the fraternal Parties, 
the fraternal countries and their people, and also with all the peaceloving 
countries and people, and we must enlist the support of all useful 
forces. Delegates of Communist Parties from over fifty countries will 
attend our congress, and this is very good. In the past we had not seized 
state power or won victory in the two revolutions and had no success to 
speak of in construction. It is quite different now. We are held in fairly 
high esteem by our foreign comrades. 
What is our objective in uniting with all the forces that can be 
united, inside and outside the Party and at home and abroad? It is 
to build a great socialist country. A country like ours may and ought 
to be described as ŗgreat˛. Our Party is a great Party, our people 
a great people, our revolution a great revolution, and our construction 
is great, too. Only one country on this globe has a population of 600 
million, and that is China. In the past there were reasons for others 
to look down upon us. For we had little to contribute, steel output 
registered only several hundred thousand tons a year, and even that 
was in the hands of the Japanese. Under the despotic rule of Chiang 
Kai-shekšs Kuomintang, which lasted twenty-two years, steel output 
was only some tens of thousands of tons a year. We still donšt have 
much steel, but a promising start has been made. Output this year 
will be over four million tons, it will hit the five million mark next 
year, will exceed ten million tons after the Second Five-Year Plan 
and is likely to top twenty million after the Third. We must work 
hard to reach this target. There are about a hundred countries in the 
world, but only a few produce over twenty million tons of steel a year. 
Therefore, once built up, China will be a great socialist country and 
will radically transform the situation in which for over a century it was 
backward, despised and wretched. Moreover, it will be able to catch 
up with the most powerful capitalist country in the world, the United 
States. The United States has a population of only 170 million, and

315 PARTY UNITY AND PARTY TRADITIONS 
as we have a population several times larger, are similarly rich in 
resources and are favoured with more or less the same kind of climate, 
it is possible for us to catch up with the United States. Oughtnšt we 
to catch up? Definitely yes. What are your 600 million people doing? 
Dozing? Which is right, dozing or working? If working is the answer, 
why canšt you with your 600 million people produce 200 or 300 
million tons of steel when they with their population of 170 million 
can produce 100 million tons? If you fail to catch up, you cannot justify 
yourselves and you will not be so glorious or great. The United 
States has a history of only one hundred and eighty years, and sixty 
years ago it too produced four million tons of steel, so we are sixty years 
behind. Given fifty or sixty years, we certainly ought to overtake the 
United States. This is an obligation. You have such a big population, 
such a vast territory and such rich resources, and what is more, you are 
said to be building socialism, which is supposed to be superior; if after 
working at it for fifty or sixty years you are still unable to overtake the 
United States, what a sorry figure you will cut! You should be read 
off the face of the earth. Therefore, to overtake the United States is not 
only possible, but absolutely necessary and obligatory. If we donšt, 
we the Chinese nation will be letting the nations of the world down 
and we will not be making much of a contribution to mankind. 
Second, about carrying forward the Partyšs traditions. The congress 
should carry forward our Partyšs fine traditions with respect 
to ideology and style of work. It should effectively combat subjectivism 
and sectarianism and oppose bureaucracy as well. I wonšt go into 
bureaucracy today and will deal only with subjectivism and sectarianism. 
After being overcome, subjectivism and sectarianism crop up 
again and have to be overcome again. 
By making mistakes, we mean making subjectivist mistakes, following 
a wrong way of thinking. The many articles wešve come across 
criticizing Stalinšs mistakes say little or nothing on this score. Why 
did Stalin make mistakes? Because on a number of issues his subjective 
thinking failed to correspond with objective reality. Such cases still 
happen frequently in our work today. Subjectivism means proceeding 
not from objective reality and from what is actually possible, 
but from subjective wishes. What is to be set forth and dealt 
with in our congress documents should as far as possible conform to 
or approximate Chinese realities. At the same time, in the light of 
our experience, we should criticize views running counter to the realities, 
criticize and combat subjectivism. This was the task we set

316 MAO TSETUNG 
ourselves years ago. At present, we are combating subjectivism as 
found in the socialist revolution and socialist construction. In the 
course of the democratic revolution we were plagued by subjectivism 
for a long time and we paid dearly for it, losing practically all our 
base areas and over 90 per cent of our revolutionary forces, and it 
was only then that we began to come to our senses. The problem was 
not straightened out until the rectification movement in Yenan, which 
laid stress on investigation and study and a realistic approach. The 
universal truth of Marxism must be integrated with the concrete 
practice of the Chinese revolution, or else we will get nowhere. In 
other words, theory must be integrated with practice. Integration of 
theory with practice is one of the fundamental principles of Marxism. 
According to dialectical materialism, thought must reflect objective 
reality and must be tested and verified in objective practice before 
it can be taken as truth, otherwise it cannot. Though we have done 
well in the last few years, subjectivism is evident everywhere. There 
will be subjectivism in the future, just as there is today. Subjectivism 
will always be there, ten thousand years and even a hundred million 
years from now, and it will be so as long as humanity does not perish. 
Where there is subjectivism, there are mistakes. 
Then there is another phenomenon called sectarianism. A locality has 
its own over-all interest, a nation has another and the earth yet another. 
Right now I wonšt go into matters outside our planet, for the travel 
routes beyond the earth have not yet been opened. If human beings 
should be discovered on Mars or Venus, we would then discuss the 
matter of uniting with them and forming a united front. For the 
time being, we will confine ourselves to the question of unity in 
the Party, in the country and in the world. Our principle is to unite 
with all those who are capable of doing some good for world peace 
and the cause of human progress, whether they are foreign Communists 
or foreign non-Party people. First of all, we should unite with the 
scores of Communist Parties and with the Soviet Union. As some 
mistakes have occurred in the Soviet Union and there is so much 
talk and gossip about them, it might seem that these mistakes were 
terrible. It is wrong to take this view. No nation can be free from 
mistakes, and since the Soviet Union was the first socialist country in 
the world and went through so much for so long, it was impossible for 
it not to make mistakes. Then how should we weigh the Soviet Unionšs 
mistakes, for instance those of Stalin? They are of a partial and 
transitory nature. Although it has come to our ears that certain things

317 PARTY UNITY AND PARTY TRADITIONS 
have been going on for twenty years, still they are transitory and 
partial and can be set right. In the Soviet Union the main trend, the 
principal aspect, the major part, has been correct. Russia gave birth to 
Leninism and through the October Revolution became the first 
socialist country. It built socialism, defeated fascism and became a 
powerful industrial country. There are a lot of things we can learn 
from the Soviet Union. Naturally, we should learn from its advanced 
and not its backward experience. The slogan we have advocated all 
along is to draw on the advanced Soviet experience. Who told you 
to pick up its backward experience? Some people are so undiscriminating 
that they say a Russian fart is fragrant. That too is subjectivism. 
The Russians themselves say it stinks. Therefore, we should be analytical. 
As we have indicated elsewhere, the assessment of Stalin should 
be 70 per cent for achievements and 30 per cent for mistakes. In the 
case of the Soviet Union what is good and useful makes up the essential 
and larger part and what is wrong only a small part. We too 
have things that are not good, and far from letting other countries 
pick them up, we should dump them. In a way, bad things are also 
some kind of experience and can serve a useful purpose. We have 
had people like Chen Tu-hsiu, Li Li-san, Wang Ming, Chang Kuo-tao, 
Kao Kang and Jao Shu-shih, who have served as our teachers. In 
addition, we have other teachers. Within the country the best among 
them has been Chiang Kai-shek. Those whom we couldnšt convince 
were convinced right away when Chiang Kai-shek came along to give 
them a lesson. How did Chiang Kai-shek teach his lessons? He taught 
with machine-guns, cannon and planes. Imperialism is another teacher 
that has given our 600 million people an education. For over a century 
we were oppressed by several imperialist powers, and this has been 
an education. Therefore, bad things can serve an educational purpose 
and open our eyes. 
As for the fight against sectarianism, one thing in particular should 
be pointed out, that is, you should unite with those who have waged 
struggles against you. They came to blows with you, knocked you 
down, made you suffer and lose face and conferred the ŗofficial honour˛ 
of opportunist on you, although you were not that bad. If the blow 
was justified, then it served you right. If you were an opportunist, why 
shouldnšt the blow have been aimed at you? What I am talking about 
here is the unjustified blows and struggles. Once those who dealt such 
blows change their attitude and admit that they did wrong in attacking 
you and that it was not right to proclaim you ŗking˛ of the realm of

318 MAO TSETUNG 
opportunism, then let the matter end there. If a few donšt admit they 
were wrong, canšt you wait? You can, I suppose. By unity we mean 
uniting with those who have differences with you, who look down 
on you or show little respect for you, who have had a bone to pick 
with you or waged struggles against you and at whose hands you have 
suffered. As for those who see eye to eye with you, you are already 
united with them, so the question of unity doesnšt arise. The trouble 
here is with those who have yet to be united. We mean those who 
have opinions differing from yours or who have serious shortcomings. 
For instance, within our Party at present there are many who have 
joined the Party only organizationally and not ideologically. They may 
not have come to blows or crossed swords with you, but as they have 
not joined the Party ideologically, what they do is inevitably not so 
satisfactory or is marred by faults, and they may even do some bad 
things. With regard to such people, we must unite with them and 
educate and help them. I said before that in dealing with all those 
who have shortcomings or have made mistakes, we must not only 
observe whether they are going to mend their ways but should help 
them correct their mistakes. In other words, we must first observe, 
and second give help. Merely to observe means to stand by and see 
how they behave. If they do well, thatšs fine, and if they donšt, let 
them suffer. This is a passive attitude, not a positive one. Marxists 
should adopt a positive attitude, that is, help as well as observe. 
Third, about the election of the Central Committee. Comrade 
Teng Hsiao-ping mentioned just now that the Eighth Central Committee 
will have 150 to 170 members. This is slightly more than twice 
the size of the Seventh Central Committee with its seventy-seven 
members and is probably quite appropriate. It will probably be better 
not to expand the Central Committee further for several years, say, 
five years. Many capable people doing very useful work today were 
trained during the War of Resistance Against Japan, and they are 
known as cadres of the ŗš38 type˛. They are the mainstay of our work 
today, and we cannot do without them. But they are numerous, and 
if arrangements were to be made for them, the number of Central Committee 
members would have to rise to several hundred. So this time we 
will not make any such arrangements. We leave to the comrades here 
to consider whether the figure of 150 to 170 proposed by the Central 
Committee is appropriate, and if not, what size would be proper. 
It should be affirmed that members of the present Central Committee 
have done good work and lived up to the trust placed in them by

319 PARTY UNITY AND PARTY TRADITIONS 
the Seventh Congress. In the past eleven years they have correctly led 
the Chinese democratic revolution and the socialist revolution and socialist 
construction without committing grave errors and have waged 
struggles against opportunism of all descriptions and against what is 
erroneous, thus overcoming all factors unfavourable to the revolution 
and construction. They have done well, including some of those comrades 
who made mistakes before. Here I am speaking of the Central 
Committee as a whole. As for certain comrades, this assessment does 
not hold true. Especially for Wang Ming. At the Seventh Congress, in 
order to get by, he submitted a written statement acknowledging that 
the line of the Central Committee was correct, accepting its political 
report to the Seventh Congress and indicating his willingness to abide 
by its decisions. But when I had a talk with him some time later, he 
made a right about face, forgetting what he had written. Then he 
thought it over and said the next day that he had written something 
in which he did own up to his mistakes. I told him that, even so, if 
he wanted to deny his mistakes now, he could withdraw that statement. 
But he didnšt. Later at the Second Plenary Session we expressed 
the hope that he would speak on his mistakes, but instead he digressed, 
lavishing praises upon us. We told him he could cut that out and speak 
on the mistakes he, Wang Ming, had made, but he wouldnšt hear of it. 
He promised to write a self-criticism after the session. But later 
he said that he had been taken ill and was unable to do mental work, 
and that as soon as he started writing his illness returned. Maybe he 
was cooking all this up, itšs hard to say. He has been feeling unwell 
and will not be able to attend the congress. Shall we elect him? And 
Comrade Li Li-san too? More comrades are ready to forgive Li Li-san, 
whereas there are fewer ready to forgive Wang Ming. As Comrade 
Teng Hsiao-ping stated, if we elect them the significance will be similar 
to their election at the Seventh Congress. At that congress, many 
delegates were unwilling to elect them (not only Wang Ming, but 
quite a few other comrades as well). We said at the time that we 
would make a mistake if we adopted such a policy. Why would we 
have made a mistake if we had not elected those who had erred? Because 
it would have meant that we were following their example. Their 
procedure was to reject anyone once labelled by them as an opportunist, 
regardless of whether or not he had actually made mistakes. If 
we had followed this procedure, we would have been following their 
line, the Wang Ming line or the Li Li-san line. We would do nothing 
of the kind, under no circumstances would we follow the Wang Ming or

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320 
the Li Li-san line. The inner-Party relations they cultivated were such 
that they rejected without exception all those who had made mistakes 
and those who had waged struggles against them or denounced them as 
opportunists. They styled themselves 100 per cent Bolsheviks, only to 
be shown later to be 100 per cent opportunists. On the other hand, it 
is those of us once labelled by them as ŗopportunists˛ who have some 
grasp of Marxism. 
The heart of the matter here is that they are not just a few isolated 
individuals but represent a substantial part of the petty bourgeoisie. 
China is a country with a huge petty bourgeoisie. A considerable part 
of the petty bourgeoisie vacillates. It is plain to all that the well-to-do 
middle peasants, for instance, invariably vacillate and do not stand 
firm in any revolution, going wild when elated and burying their heads 
in dejection when pessimistic. Most of the time their eyes are glued 
on that precious bit of property they possess, which is no more than 
one or two draught animals, a cart and a dozen mou of land. Swayed 
by considerations of loss and gain, they are most anxious not to lose 
these possessions. They are different from the poor peasants. The poor 
peasants account for 50 per cent of the rural population in northern 
China and 70 per cent in the south. In terms of class composition, our 
Party consists chiefly of workers and poor peasants, namely, the 
proletariat and the semi-proletariat. The semi-proletariat is also petty 
bourgeois, but they are much more steadfast than the middle peasants. 
Our Party has also admitted a number of intellectuals into its ranks, 
and of our more than ten million members, intellectuals of the higher, 
middle and lower levels total approximately one million. It would not 
be proper to say that they represent imperialism or that they represent 
the landlord class, the bureaucrat-capitalist class or the national bourgeoisie; 
it would be more appropriate to classify them as petty bourgeois. 
Which part of the petty bourgeoisie do they chiefly represent? 
That part of the urban and rural petty bourgeoisie with more means 
of production, the well-to-do middle peasants for instance. The intellectuals 
among our Party members ŗfear dragons ahead and tigers 
behind˛, they constantly waver and are afflicted with a fair amount 
of subjectivism and no small measure of sectarianism. What does our 
election of these two persons representing the Wang Ming and Li 
Li-san lines signify? It signifies that we treat those who have made ideological 
mistakes differently from those who are counter-revolutionaries 
and splittists (people like Chen Tu-hsiu, Chang Kuo-tao, Kao

321 PARTY UNITY AND PARTY TRADITIONS 
Kang and Jao Shu-shih). Wang Ming and Li Li-san went about 
their subjectivism and sectarianism in an open way and with a great 
fanfare, trying to overwhelm people with their political programmes. 
Wang Ming had his own political programme and so did Li Lisan. 
Of course, Chen Tu-hsiu had one of his own too, but he went the 
Trotskyite way, worked for a split and carried on activities against 
the Party from the outside. Chang Kuo-tao was engaged in conspiracy 
and splittism and eventually went over to the Kuomintang. Therefore 
the question of Wang Ming and Li Li-san is not just a question of two 
individuals, what is important here is that there are underlying 
social causes. One of their manifestations in our Party is that quite 
a number of members tend to vacillate at critical junctures. These 
vacillating elements are opportunistic. That is to say, such people 
do one thing if they can get something out of it and switch to another 
if that benefits them. They have no definite principles, no definite 
rules of conduct and no definite orientation, going this way today 
and that tomorrow. Wang Ming, for instance, is just like that. First 
he was ŗLeft˛ in the extreme and later he became Right in the 
extreme. 
At the Seventh Congress, we convinced many comrades and had 
Wang Ming and Li Li-san elected. In the eleven years since, have we 
suffered any loss in consequence? No, none at all. We did not fail 
in our revolution, nor was our victory delayed by a few months just 
because we had elected Wang Ming and Li Li-san. 
Does their election mean encouragement for people who have 
made mistakes? ŗNow that people who have made mistakes are on 
the Central Committee, let us all make mistakes, then we too will have 
a chance of being elected!˛ Will this happen? No, it wonšt. Look, 
not one of our seventy or so Central Committee members has gone 
out of his way to make a few mistakes in order to get re-elected. As 
for those who are not Central Committee members, whether they 
joined the revolution before, during or after the year 1938, will they 
follow the example of Wang Ming and Li Li-san and come up with 
another two lines ‹ to make a total of four ‹ just to get themselves 
elected to the Central Committee? No, they wonšt, nobody will do 
that. On the contrary, drawing lessons from their mistakes, our comrades 
will become more prudent. 
There is another point. In the past one heard such talk as ŗbetter 
join the revolution late than early, or better still, donšt join the

322 MAO TSETUNG 
revolution at all˛. Now, will the election of Wang Ming and Li Li-san 
create the impression in the Party that it is better to be wrong than 
right, better to make big mistakes than small ones? If Wang Ming 
and Li Li-san who have made mistakes on the Party line are now 
to be elected to the Central Committee, comrades who have proved 
themselves correct or have made only small mistakes will have to 
yield two seats to them. Isnšt this arrangement the most unfair thing 
in the world? Judged in that light, it is indeed unfair. You see, 
those who have proved themselves correct or have made only small 
mistakes have to make room for those who have made big ones. It 
is obviously unfair, there is no fairness whatsoever in it. If a comparison 
is made this way, it must be conceded that it is better to be 
wrong than right, better to make big mistakes than small ones. 
But judged from another angle, the case is different. Their mistakes 
on the Party line are known all over the country and throughout the 
world, and the fact that they are well known is precisely the reason 
for electing them. What can you do about it? They are well known, 
but you who have made no mistakes or have made only small ones 
donšt have as big a reputation as theirs. In a country like ours with 
its very large petty bourgeoisie they are standards. If we elect them, 
many people will say, ŗThe Communist Party continues to be patient 
with them and is willing to give up two seats to them in the hope 
that they will mend their ways.˛ Whether they will or not is another 
matter, which is inconsequential, involving as it does only the two of 
them. The point is that in our society the petty bourgeoisie is vast 
in number, that in our Party there are many vacillating elements of 
petty-bourgeois origin and that among the intellectuals there are many 
such vacillating elements; they all want to see what will happen to these 
test cases. When they see these two standards still there, they will 
feel comfortable, they will sleep well and be pleased. If you haul down 
the two standards, they may panic. Therefore, it is not a question of 
whether Wang Ming and Li Li-san will mend their ways, that does not 
matter very much. What matters is that the millions of Party members 
of petty-bourgeois origin who are prone to vacillate, and the intellectuals 
in particular, are watching the kind of attitude we take towards 
Wang Ming and Li Li-san. This is like our treatment of the rich 
peasants in the agrarian reform; when we left the rich peasants 
untouched, the middle peasants were at ease. If we adopt the same attitude 
towards these two men at the Eighth Congress as we did at the 
Seventh, our Party will have something to gain, to derive benefit

323 PARTY UNITY AND PARTY TRADITIONS 
from, that is, the task of remoulding the masses of the petty bourgeoisie 
throughout the country will be easier. This will also have an influence 
in the world. Few countries, or one can say none, adopt the attitude 
we do towards persons who have made mistakes. 
The preparatory meeting for the congress will last only about a 
fortnight, counting from today, but if arrangements are made properly, 
it is entirely possible to do a good job of the preparations. We are 
certain that the congress will be a success and that with their political 
level the delegates will assure its success. But all of us must be 
conscientious and do our very best.

SOME EXPERIENCES IN OUR PARTYšS HISTORY 
September 25, 1956 
U.S. imperialism is your adversary as well as ours and the adversary 
of the people of the world. It is harder for U.S. imperialism 
to interfere in our affairs than in yours. For one thing, the United 
States is far away from us. But U.S. imperialism has reached out very 
far, to our Taiwan, to Japan, south Korea, south Viet Nam, the 
Philippines, and so on. The United States has stationed its troops in 
Britain, France, Italy, Iceland and West Germany and has set up 
military bases in North Africa and in the Middle and Near East. It 
has reached out to every corner of the earth. It is a global imperialism. 
It is a teacher by negative example to the people of all countries. The 
people of the world should unite and help each other to chop off the 
tentacles of U.S. imperialism wherever they reach. Each time we chop 
off one of its tentacles, we will be a little more comfortable. 
In the past China was also a country oppressed by imperialism 
and feudalism, so our conditions and yours are quite similar. A large 
rural population and the existence of feudal forces are liabilities for 
a country, but they are assets for a revolution led by the proletariat 
because they provide us with a broad ally in the peasants. In Russia 
before the October Revolution, feudalism was strong, and it was with 
the support of the peasant masses that the Bolshevik Party won 
victory in the revolution. This was even more so in China. Ours is 
an agricultural country, with over 500 million people living in the 
countryside. In the past we relied mainly on the peasants in fighting. 
Now also it is because the peasants are organized and agriculture has 
become co-operative that our urban bourgeoisie has quickly submitted 
to socialist transformation. Hence the vital importance of the Partyšs 
work among the peasants. 
Part of a talk with representatives of some Latin-American Communist Parties. 
324

325 SOME EXPERIENCES IN OUR PARTYšS HISTORY 
I think that in countries where feudalism is strong the political 
party of the proletariat should go to the countryside and seek out the 
peasants. When intellectuals go to the countryside to seek out the 
peasants, they cannot win their trust unless they have the right attitude. 
City intellectuals know little about rural affairs and peasant psychology, 
and they never can solve the peasantsš problems in quite the right 
way. According to our experience, it is only after a long period of time 
and after we have really become one with the peasants and convinced 
them we are fighting in their interest that we can win victory. Donšt 
imagine that the peasants will trust us right away. Donšt expect them 
to trust us the moment we have given them some help. 
The peasants are the chief ally of the proletariat. In the beginning 
our Party too did not realize the importance of work among the 
peasants and put urban work first and rural work second. It seems 
to me that the Parties in some Asian countries, such as India and 
Indonesia, have not done so well in rural work. 
At first, our Party wasnšt successful in its work among the peasants. 
The intellectuals had a certain air about them, an intellectual 
air. Therefore, they were unwilling to go to the countryside, which 
they looked down on. The peasants, for their part, looked askance at 
the intellectuals. Besides, our Party had not yet found the way to 
understand the countryside. Later when we went there again, we found 
the way, analysed the various classes in the rural areas and came to 
understand the peasantsš revolutionary demands. 
During the first period, we didnšt have clear ideas about the 
countryside. Under the Right opportunist line of Chen Tu-hsiu, the 
peasants, our chief ally, were abandoned. Many of our comrades 
looked on the countryside as a plane rather than a solid, that is to 
say, they did not know how to look at the countryside from the class 
viewpoint. It was only after they had some grasp of Marxism that they 
began to adopt the class viewpoint in looking at the countryside. The 
countryside turned out to be not a plane, but stratified into the rich, the 
poor and the very poor, into farm labourers, poor peasants, middle 
peasants, rich peasants and landlords. During this period I made a study 
of the countryside and opened peasant movement institutes which ran 
for several terms. Though I knew some Marxism, my understanding of 
the countryside was not deep. 
During the second period, we had to thank our good teacher, 
Chiang Kai-shek. He drove us to the countryside. This was a long 
period, a period of ten years of civil war, in which we fought against

326 MAO TSETUNG 
him, and thus we were obliged to make a study of the countryside. 
In the first few years, our understanding of the countryside was still 
not so deep, but later it became better and deeper. During this period 
the three ŗLeft˛ opportunist lines which were represented successively 
by Chu Chiu-pai, Li Li-san and Wang Ming caused great losses 
to our Party, and Wang Mingšs ŗLeft˛ opportunist line in particular 
brought about the collapse of most of our Partyšs rural base areas. 
Then came the third period, the period of the War of Resistance 
Against Japan. When the Japanese imperialists invaded China, we 
stopped fighting the Kuomintang and fought Japanese imperialism 
instead. At that time our comrades could go openly to cities in 
Kuomintang areas. Wang Ming, who had previously made the mistake 
of pushing a ŗLeft˛ opportunist line, now made the mistake of 
pushing a Right opportunist line. He had first carried out the ultra- 
Left policy of the Communist International, and this time he carried 
out an ultra-Right policy. He too was one of our good teachers by 
negative example and he educated our Party. We had another good 
teacher by negative example in Li Li-san. Their chief mistake at 
the time was dogmatism, transplanting foreign experience mechanically. 
Our Party liquidated their erroneous lines and really found the way 
to integrate the universal truth of Marxism-Leninism with the concrete 
conditions of China. As a result, in the fourth period when 
Chiang Kai-shek launched an offensive against us, it was possible for 
us to overthrow him and found the Peoplešs Republic of China. 
The experience of the Chinese revolution, that is, building rural 
base areas, encircling the cities from the countryside and finally 
seizing the cities, may not be wholly applicable to many of your 
countries, though it can serve for your reference. I beg to advise you 
not to transplant Chinese experience mechanically. The experience of 
any foreign country can serve only for reference and must not be 
regarded as dogma. The universal truth of Marxism-Leninism and 
the concrete conditions of your own countries ‹ the two must be 
integrated. 
If you are to win over the peasants and rely on them, you must 
conduct investigations in the rural areas. The method is to investigate 
one or more villages and spend a few weeks there to get a 
clear idea of the class forces, the economic situation, living conditions 
and so on, in the countryside. The principal leaders, such as the 
general secretary of the Party, should themselves undertake this work 
and get to know one or two villages; they should try to find the time,

327 SOME EXPERIENCES IN OUR PARTYšS HISTORY 
for it is well worth the effort. Though there are plenty of sparrows, 
it is not necessary to dissect every one of them; to dissect one or 
two is enough. When the general secretary of the Party has investigated 
one or two villages and knows whatšs what, he will be 
able to help his comrades to become acquainted with the villages and 
get a clear idea of the concrete conditions there. It seems to me 
that the general secretaries of the Parties in many countries donšt 
attach importance to dissecting one or two ŗsparrows˛; true, they 
know something about the countryside, but their knowledge doesnšt 
go very deep, and therefore the directives they issue do not quite fit 
the rural conditions. Likewise, the comrades in charge of the leading 
bodies of the Party at the central, provincial and county levels should 
themselves investigate one or two villages, or dissect one or two ŗsparrows˛. 
This is called ŗanatomy˛. 
There are two ways of making investigations, one is to look at 
flowers on horseback and the other is to get off your horse and look 
at them. If you look at flowers on horseback, youšll only get a superficial 
impression, as there are so many. In coming from Latin America 
to Asia you have been looking at flowers on horseback. There are 
so many flowers in your own countries that itšs just not enough to 
give them a glance or two and then leave, and so the second way has 
to be adopted, that is, to get off your horse and look at the flowers, 
observe them closely and analyse one ŗflower˛, or dissect one 
ŗsparrow˛. 
In countries under imperialist oppression there are two kinds of 
bourgeoisie ‹ the national bourgeoisie and the comprador-bourgeoisie. 
Do these two kinds of bourgeoisie exist in your countries? Probably yes. 
The comprador-bourgeoisie is always a running dog of imperialism 
and a target of the revolution. Different groups of the compradorbourgeoisie 
belong to the monopoly capitalist groups of different 
imperialist countries such as the United States, Britain and France. 
In the struggle against the various comprador groups it is necessary 
to exploit the contradictions between imperialist countries, first coping 
with one of them and striking at the chief immediate enemy. For 
instance, in the past the Chinese comprador-bourgeoisie consisted of 
pro-British, pro-U.S. and pro-Japanese groups. During the War of 
Resistance Against Japan we exploited the contradiction between 
Britain and the United States on the one hand and Japan on the 
other, first striking down the Japanese aggressors and the comprador 
group depending on them. Then we turned round to deal blows at

328 MAO TSETUNG 
the U.S. and British aggressor forces and bring down the pro-U.S. 
and pro-British comprador groups. The landlord class also consists 
of different factions. The most reactionary landlords are few in 
number, and those who are patriotic and favour fighting imperialism 
should not be lumped together with them when we strike. Moreover, 
a distinction must be made between the big and small landlords. 
Donšt strike at too many enemies at a time, strike at a few, and 
even with the big landlords deal your blows only at the most 
reactionary handful. To strike at everyone may seem very revolutionary, 
but actually it causes great harm. 
The national bourgeoisie is an opponent of ours. There is a popular 
saying in China, ŗOpponents always meet.˛ One experience of the 
Chinese revolution is that caution is needed in dealing with the 
national bourgeoisie. While it is opposed to the working class, it is 
also opposed to imperialism. In view of the fact that our main task 
is to fight imperialism and feudalism and that the liberation of the 
people would be out of the question unless these two enemies are 
overthrown, we must by all means win the national bourgeoisie over 
to the fight against imperialism. The national bourgeoisie is not interested 
in fighting feudalism because it has close ties with the landlord 
class. What is more, it oppresses and exploits the workers. We must 
therefore struggle against it. But in order to win it over to join us in the 
fight against imperialism, we must know when to stop in the struggle, 
that is, the struggle must be waged on just grounds, to our advantage 
and with restraint. In other words, we must have just grounds for 
waging the struggle, be sure of victory, and use restraint when a proper 
measure of victory is gained. Hence the necessity of making investigations 
into the conditions of both sides, those of the workers and those 
of the capitalists. If we know only the workers and not the capitalists, 
we wonšt be able to hold talks with the latter. In this respect, it is also 
necessary to investigate typical cases, or to dissect one or two ŗsparrows˛; 
both methods, looking at flowers on horseback and getting off 
your horse to look at them, should likewise be used. 
Throughout the historical period of the struggle against imperialism 
and feudalism, we must win over and unite with the national bourgeoisie 
so that it will side with the people against imperialism. Even 
after the task of opposing imperialism and feudalism is in the main 
accomplished, we must still keep our alliance with the national 
bourgeoisie for a certain period. This will be advantageous in dealing 
with imperialist aggression, in expanding production and stabilizing

329 SOME EXPERIENCES IN OUR PARTYšS HISTORY 
the market and also in winning over and remoulding bourgeois 
intellectuals. 
You have not yet won state power but are preparing to seize it. 
Towards the national bourgeoisie a policy of ŗboth unity and struggle˛ 
should be adopted. Unite with them in the common fight against 
imperialism and support all their anti-imperialist words and deeds, 
while waging an appropriate struggle against their reactionary, antiworking 
class and anti-Communist words and deeds. It is wrong to 
be one-sided; struggle without unity is a ŗLeft˛ deviationist mistake 
and unity without struggle is a Right deviationist mistake. Both 
mistakes occurred in our Party and we learned bitter lessons from them. 
Later, we summed up the two kinds of experience and have since 
adopted a policy of ŗboth unity and struggle˛, that is, to struggle 
whenever necessary and unite whenever possible. The aim of struggle 
is to unite with the national bourgeoisie and win victory in the struggle 
against imperialism. 
In countries under the oppression of imperialism and feudalism 
the political party of the proletariat should raise the national banner 
and must have a programme of national unity by which to unite with 
all the forces that can be united, excluding the running dogs of imperialism. 
Let the whole nation see how patriotic the Communist 
Party is, how peace-loving and how desirous of national unity. This 
will help isolate imperialism and its running dogs, and the big landlord 
class and the big bourgeoisie too. 
Communists should not be afraid of making mistakes. Mistakes 
have a dual character. On the one hand mistakes harm the Party 
and the people; on the other they serve as good teachers, giving both 
the Party and the people a good education, and this benefits the 
revolution. Failure is the mother of success. If there is nothing good 
about failure, how can it be the mother of success? When too many 
mistakes are made, there is bound to be a turn-about. That is Marxism. 
ŗThings turn into their opposites when they reach the extreme˛; when 
mistakes pile up, light is not far off.

IN COMMEMORATION OF DR. SUN YAT-SEN 
November 12, 1956 
Let us pay tribute to our great revolutionary forerunner, Dr. Sun 
Yat-sen! 
We pay tribute to him for the intense struggle he waged in the preparatory 
period of our democratic revolution against the Chinese reformists, 
taking the clear-cut stand of a Chinese revolutionary democrat. 
In this struggle he was the standard-bearer of Chinašs revolutionary 
democrats. 
We pay tribute to him for the signal contribution he made in the 
period of the Revolution of 1911 when he led the people in overthrowing 
the monarchy and founding the republic. 
We pay tribute to him for his signal contribution in developing the 
new Three Peoplešs Principles from the old Three Peoplešs Principles 
in the first period of co-operation between the Kuomintang and the 
Communist Party. 
He bequeathed to us much that is useful in the sphere of political 
thought. 
Save for a handful of reactionaries, the people of contemporary 
China are all successors in the revolutionary cause to which Dr. Sun 
Yat-sen dedicated himself. 
We have completed the democratic revolution left unfinished by 
Dr. Sun Yat-sen and developed it into a socialist revolution. We are 
now in the midst of this revolution. 
Things are always progressing. It is only forty-five years since 
the Revolution of 1911, but the face of China has entirely changed. 
In another forty-five years, that is, by the year 2001, at the beginning 
of the 21st century, China will have undergone an even greater change. 
It will have become a powerful industrial socialist country. And that 
is as it should be. China is a land with an area of 9,600,000 square 
Article in commemoration of the ninetieth birthday of Dr. Sun Yat-sen. 
330

331 IN COMMEMORATION OF DR. SUN YAT-SEN 
kilometres and a population of 600 million, and it ought to make a 
greater contribution to humanity. But for a long time in the past its 
contribution was far too small. For this we are regretful. 
However, we should be modest ‹ not only now, but forty-five 
years hence and indeed always. In international relations, the Chinese 
people should rid themselves of great-nation chauvinism resolutely, 
thoroughly, wholly and completely. 
Dr. Sun was a modest man. I heard him speak on many occasions 
and was impressed by the force of his character. From the way he 
applied himself to the study both of Chinašs past and present and of 
foreign countries, including the Soviet Union, I knew he was a man 
with a receptive mind. 
He worked heart and soul for the transformation of China, devoting 
his whole life to the cause; of him it can be justly said that he gave 
his best, gave his all, till his heart ceased to beat. 
Like many great figures in history who stood in the forefront 
guiding the march of events, Dr. Sun, too, had his shortcomings. 
These shortcomings should be explained in the light of the historical 
conditions so that people can understand; we should not be too critical 
of our predecessors.

SPEECH AT THE SECOND PLENARY SESSION OF 
THE EIGHTH CENTRAL COMMITTEE OF 
THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF CHINA 
November 15, 1956 
I am going to speak on four questions: the economy, the international 
situation, Sino-Soviet relations and the question of great and 
small democracy. 
I 
We must make a comprehensive analysis of a problem before it 
can be properly solved. Whether to advance or to retreat, whether to 
get on or get off the horse, must accord with dialectics. In this world 
there are always cases of getting on or off the horse, of advancing or 
retreating. How is it possible to ride all day without getting off? When 
we walk, our two feet do not move forward together, but always one 
after the other. When we take a step, one foot moves forward, the 
other stays behind, and when we take the next, the latter moves 
forward, leaving the former behind. We see in a movie that the figures 
are continually in motion on the screen, but when we look at the filmstrip, 
we see they are all motionless in each frame. The essay ŗUnder 
Heaven˛ in Chuang Tzu says, ŗThe shadow of a flying bird is not in 
motion.˛ All things are at once in motion and not in motion ‹ such 
is the dialectics of our world. Pure motionlessness does not exist, 
neither does pure motion. Motion is absolute while rest is temporary 
and conditional. 
Our planned economy is at once in equilibrium and in disequilibrium. 
Equilibrium is temporary and conditional. After equilibrium 
is temporarily established, changes will take place. Equilibrium in the 
332

333 SPEECH AT SECOND SESSION OF EIGHTH CENTRAL COMMITTEE 
first half of the year will become disequilibrium in the second half; 
equilibrium in the current year will change into disequilibrium in 
the next. It is impossible to have equilibrium all the time without 
having it upset. We Marxists hold that disequilibrium, contradiction, 
struggle and development are absolute, while equilibrium and rest 
are relative. Relative means temporary, conditional. Viewed in this 
light, is our economy advancing or retreating? We should tell the cadres 
and the masses that it is both advancing and retreating, but mainly 
advancing, though not in a straight line but in a wave-like manner. 
Although there are times when we get off the horse, as a rule we get 
on more often. Are our Party committees at all levels, the various 
central departments and the governments at all levels promoting 
progress or promoting retrogression? Fundamentally speaking, they 
are promoting progress. Society is always advancing, for to advance, 
to develop, is the general trend. 
Is the First Five-Year Plan correct? I support the opinion that 
it is essentially correct, as is clearly shown by the first four years of 
its implementation. True, there have been mistakes, but this is hardly 
avoidable because we lack experience. Shall we still make mistakes 
in the future when we have gained experience after several five-year 
plans? Yes, we shall. One can never acquire enough experience. Will 
it be possible to make no mistakes at all in planning ten thousand 
years hence? Things happening ten thousand years hence will no longer 
be our business, but one thing is certain, mistakes will be made even 
then. Young people will make mistakes, but wonšt older people? 
Confucius said that at the age of seventy whatever he did was in 
conformity with objective law,1 but I donšt believe it, he was just 
bragging. Some of the construction projects above the norm in our 
First Five-Year Plan have been designed for us by the Soviet Union, 
but most of them have been of our own designing. Do you think 
the Chinese are incompetent? Why, we are competent too. However, 
it must be admitted that we are still not so competent, for we cannot 
as yet design some of the projects ourselves. There has been a problem 
in our construction in the last few years. As some comrades put it, 
attention has been paid only to the ŗbones˛ but very little to the 
ŗflesh˛. Factory buildings have been put up and machinery and other 
equipment installed without the municipal construction and service 
facilities to go with them, and this will become a big problem in the 
future. In my view, its effects will be felt not during the First Five- 
Year Plan, but during the Second, or perhaps the Third. As to whether

334 MAO TSETUNG 
the First Five-Year Plan is correct, we can draw a partial conclusion 
now and another one next year, but I think a comprehensive conclusion 
will have to wait till the last phase of the Second Five-Year Plan. 
It is impossible to avoid some degree of subjectivism in planning. 
To make a few mistakes is not so bad. Achievements have a dual 
character and so have mistakes. Achievements encourage people but 
at the same time are liable to turn their heads; mistakes depress 
people and cause anxiety, hence they are an enemy, but at the same 
time a good teacher. On the whole, nothing seriously or fundamentally 
wrong has been found in the First Five-Year Plan so far. 
We must protect the enthusiasm of the cadres and the masses and 
not pour cold water on them. Once some people did pour cold water 
on the socialist transformation of agriculture, and there was then, 
as it were, a ŗcommittee for promoting retrogression˛. We pointed 
out later that it was not right to pour cold water, so we countered 
with a committee for promoting progress. According to the original 
plan, the socialist transformation of ownership was to be basically 
completed in eighteen years, but with this promotion it has been 
greatly speeded up. The Draft Programme for Agricultural Development 
stipulates that higher-stage agricultural co-operation should be 
completed in 1958, and now it seems that we can achieve the aim this 
winter or next spring. There may be quite a few flaws in the process, 
but this is better than that committee for promoting retrogression; 
the peasants are pleased and there has been an increase in agricultural 
production. But for this co-operative transformation, the grain output 
could not have increased this year by over 20,000 million catties in 
the face of such severe natural calamities. In the stricken areas, the 
existence of co-operatives also helps relief work through production. 
The shortcomings of the cadres and the masses as well as our own 
are to be criticized on the premise that their enthusiasm is protected, 
and in this way they will have plenty of push. When the masses want 
something done which is impossible for the time being, matters should 
be clearly explained to them, and this can certainly be done. 
There should be three rounds of discussion before the annual 
state budget is decided. That is to say, comrades on our Central 
Committee and other comrades concerned should hold three meetings 
to discuss it and make the decision. This will enable all of us to get 
to understand the contents of the budget. Otherwise it will always 
be the comrades in charge who know them better while we on our 
part will just raise our hands. Yet donšt we know anything about the

335 SPEECH AT SECOND SESSION OF EIGHTH CENTRAL COMMITTEE 
contents? Well, I would say yes and no, we donšt know very much 
about them. With this method of decision after three rounds of discussion, 
can you say you will know them very well? Not likely, and 
there will still be a gap between us and the comrades in charge. They 
are like opera singers on the stage, they know how to sing; we are 
like the audience, we donšt know how to sing. But if we go to the opera 
often enough, we shall be able to tell good singers from poor ones 
more or less correctly. After all, it is up to the audience to pass judgment 
on the singeršs performance. And it is with its help that the singer 
corrects his mistakes. This is where the audience is superior. An opera 
can continue to run if people like to see it over and over again. 
Operas which people donšt like very much have to be changed. Therefore, 
inside our Central Committee there is the contradiction between 
experts and non-experts. Experts have their strong points, and so do 
non-experts. Non-experts can tell what is right from what is wrong. 
In the report on the state budget for 1956 the expression ŗsafely 
reliable˛ was used, and I suggest that from now on it should be 
changed into ŗfully reliable˛. At the meeting held last January on the 
question of the intellectuals, I used the expression ŗfully reliable˛. 
ŗSafe˛ and ŗreliable˛ are tautological. To use ŗsafely˛ to modify 
ŗreliable˛ neither adds nor qualifies anything. A modifier both describes 
and qualifies. To say something is ŗfully reliable˛ is to qualify reliability 
as to degree, meaning that it is not just reliable in a general sense but 
reliable to the full. It is not easy to make things fully reliable. When 
the budget was adopted at the National Peoplešs Congress last June, 
everybody said it was reliable. Now it seems that a portion of the 
budget, less than 10 per cent, is unreliable, because some of the items 
are not given due priority and others are allocated too much money. 
So in the future we must pay attention to the priorities of the items 
in the budget. Whether the priorities are correct or not requires the 
expertsš attention, but it also requires our attention, and particularly 
that of the comrades at the provincial level. Of course, everybody 
should give it his attention. 
Both we and the secretaries of the provincial, municipal and 
autonomous region Party committees should attend to finance and 
planning. In the past some comrades failed to do so seriously. I would 
like to call your attention, comrades, to the questions of grain, pork, 
eggs, vegetables and so on, since they present quite a big problem. Beginning 
from last winter, efforts were concentrated on grain to the 
neglect of side-lines and industrial crops. This deviation has now been

336 MAO TSETUNG 
corrected, and efforts have been shifted to them; particularly since there 
are fixed price ratios between grain and twenty or thirty other items 
such as cotton, edible oil, pigs and tobacco, the peasants have become 
very much interested in side-lines and industrial crops at the expense of 
grain. Lop-sided stress first on grain, and then on side-lines and industrial 
crops. Low prices for grain hurt the peasants; now that you have 
set such low prices for grain, the peasants will simply stop growing it. 
This problem merits close attention. 
We must build the country through diligence and thrift, combat 
extravagance and waste, and encourage hard work and plain living 
and sharing weal and woe with the masses. Some comrades have 
suggested that factory directors and heads of schools and colleges 
might live in sheds, and this, I think, is a good idea, especially in 
hard times. There were no houses whatsoever when we crossed the 
marshlands on the Long March, we just slept where we could, and 
Commander-in-Chief Chu Teh did so too when he walked for forty 
days across the marshlands. We all came through. Our troops had no 
food and ate the bark and leaves of trees. To share happiness and suffering 
with the people ‹ we did this in the past, why canšt we do it now? 
As long as we keep on doing so, we shall not alienate ourselves from 
the masses. 
We must attend to the newspapers. Where newspapers are 
published, the Central Committee and the Party committees at all 
levels should take the running of newspapers as a matter of major 
importance. Since the beginning of this year there has been one-sided 
and unrealistic propaganda in the press for improving the peoplešs 
livelihood, but very little publicity has been given to building the 
country through diligence and thrift, combating extravagance and 
waste and encouraging hard work, plain living and sharing weal and 
woe with the masses, which should from now on be the focus of our 
propaganda in the press. Probably what is broadcast by the radio stations 
also comes from the newspapers. Therefore it is necessary to call meetings 
of reporters, newspaper staffs and radio personnel to exchange 
views with them and inform them of the guiding principles in our 
propaganda. 
Here I would like to touch on another question, the question of 
suppressing counter-revolutionaries. Should the local tyrants and evil 
gentry, despots and counter-revolutionaries who have committed 
heinous crimes be put to death? Yes, they should. Some democratic 
personages say it is bad to execute them and we say it is fine ‹

337 SPEECH AT SECOND SESSION OF EIGHTH CENTRAL COMMITTEE 
we are singing different tunes, thatšs all. On this theme, we can 
never sing in tune with the democratic personages. Those we executed 
were ŗlittle Chiang Kai-sheks˛. As for the ŗbig Chiang Kai-sheks˛ 
such as Emperor Pu Yi, Wang Yao-wu and Tu Yu-ming, we will 
execute none of them. But if the ŗlittle Chiang Kai-sheks˛ were not 
done away with, there would be an ŗearthquake˛ under our feet every 
day, the productive forces would not be set free nor the working 
people liberated. The productive forces consist of two factors, labourers 
and tools. If we did not suppress counter-revolutionaries, the working 
people would be unhappy. So would the oxen and the hoes, and even 
the land would feel uncomfortable, all because the peasants who 
put the oxen and hoes and the land to use would be unhappy. Therefore, 
some counter-revolutionaries must be executed, others arrested and 
still others put under public supervision. 
II 
On the whole, the international situation is fine. There are a few 
imperialist powers, but what of it? Nothing terrifying even if there 
were a few dozen more. 
Now troubles have occurred in two areas, Eastern Europe and 
the Middle East. Disturbances have taken place in Poland and 
Hungary,2 and Britain and France have launched an armed aggression 
against Egypt. I think these bad things are good things too. In the 
eyes of a Marxist, a bad thing has a dual character; on the one hand 
it is bad and on the other it is good. When people see the word ŗbad˛ 
before the word ŗthing˛, many think that itšs nothing but bad. But 
we say there is another aspect to it, that is, a bad thing is at the same 
time a good thing, and this is what is meant by ŗfailure is the mother 
of success˛. Every failure, every reverse, or every mistake, may lead 
to good results under given conditions. Since there is fire in Poland 
and Hungary, it will blaze up sooner or later. Which is better, to let 
the fire blaze, or not to let it? Fire cannot be wrapped up in paper. 
Now that fires have blazed up, thatšs just fine. In this way numerous 
counter-revolutionaries in Hungary have exposed themselves. The 
Hungarian incident has educated the Hungarian people and at the 
same time some comrades in the Soviet Union as well as us Chinese 
comrades. It was such a shock when Beria was uncovered. How

338 MAO TSETUNG 
could a socialist country produce a Beria? It was another big shock 
when Kao Kang was exposed. It is precisely through such phenomena 
that we learn. They are in the nature of things and will always happen. 
Will there still be revolutions in the future when all the imperialists 
in the world are overthrown and classes eliminated? What do you 
say? In my view, there will still be the need for revolution. The social 
system will still need to be changed and the term ŗrevolution˛ will 
still be in use. Of course, revolutions then will not be of the same 
nature as those in the era of class struggle. But there will still be 
contradictions between the relations of production and the productive 
forces, between the superstructure and the economic base. When the 
relations of production become unsuitable, they will have to be overthrown. 
If the superstructure (ideology and public opinion included) 
protects the kind of relations of production the people dislike, they 
will transform it. The superstructure itself constitutes social relations 
of another kind. It rests on the economic base. By the economic base 
we mean the relations of production, chiefly ownership. The productive 
forces are the most revolutionary factor. When the productive 
forces have developed, there is bound to be a revolution. The productive 
forces consist of two factors: one is man and the other tools. Tools 
are made by men. When tools call for a revolution, they will speak 
through men, through the labourers, who will destroy the old relations 
of production and the old social relations. ŗA gentleman uses his 
tongue, not his fists,˛ and the best way is to reason things out. But if 
reasoning goes unheeded, arms will have to speak. What if there arenšt 
any arms? The labourers have tools in their hands and those without 
can use rocks, and if there arenšt any rocks even, there are always 
onešs two fists. 
Our state organs are organs of the dictatorship of the proletariat. 
Take the courts for instance, their function is to deal with counterrevolutionaries, 
but that is not all, for they have to settle numerous 
disputes among the people. It looks as if courts will still be needed 
ten thousand years from now. For when classes are eliminated, there 
will still be contradictions between the advanced and the backward, 
there will still be struggles and scuffles among people, and there will 
still be all sorts of disturbances. What a mess there would be without 
a court! However, the struggles will then be of a different nature, 
different from class struggle. The court will be different in nature too. 
The superstructure may then still go wrong. For instance, people like

339 SPEECH AT SECOND SESSION OF EIGHTH CENTRAL COMMITTEE 
us may make mistakes, lose out in struggle and be ousted from office, 
so that a Gomulka may come to power or a Jao Shu-shih be propped 
up. Would you say such things will not happen? I think they will, even 
a thousand or ten thousand years from now. 
III 
Everything in the world is a unity of opposites. By the unity of 
opposites we mean the unity of opposite things differing in nature. 
For instance, water is a combination of two elements, hydrogen and 
oxygen. If there were only hydrogen and no oxygen, or vice versa, 
water could not be formed. Over a million compounds are said to have 
already been named and no one knows how many have not yet been. 
All compounds are unities of opposites differing in nature. Likewise 
with things in society. The relationship between the central and the 
local authorities is a unity of opposites, and so is that between one 
department and another. 
The relationship between two countries is also a unity of opposites. 
China and the Soviet Union are both socialist countries. Are there any 
differences between them? Yes, there are. The two countries are 
different in nationality. Thirty-nine years have gone by since the October 
Revolution took place, whereas it is only seven years since we won 
state power throughout the country. As for the things each has done, 
they are different in many ways. For instance, unlike theirs our agricultural 
collectivization has gone through several stages, our policy 
towards the capitalists is different from theirs, so are our market price 
policy and the way we handle the relationship between agriculture 
and light industry on the one hand and heavy industry on the other, 
and so are our army system and Party system. We have told them: 
We donšt agree with some of the things you have done, nor do we 
approve of some of the ways you handle matters. 
Some comrades simply donšt pay attention to dialectics and are 
not analytical. They say all things Soviet are good and they transplant 
them mechanically. In fact, all things, whether Chinese or foreign, 
admit of analysis, some being good and some bad. This is true of the 
work in each province, there are both achievements and shortcomings. 
And it is also true of every one of us, for we all have not just one but

340 MAO TSETUNG 
two aspects, strong points and weak points. The doctrine that 
everything has only one aspect has existed ever since ancient times, 
and so has the doctrine that everything has two aspects. They are 
known as metaphysics and dialectics respectively. An ancient Chinese 
said: ŗThe yin and the yang make up the Tao.˛3 It is impossible to 
have only the yin without the yang, or vice versa. This was a doctrine 
in ancient times affirming two aspects. Metaphysics is a doctrine affirming 
only one aspect. And it still persists among a considerable number of 
comrades. They take a one-sided view of things and think everything 
Soviet is good and transplant it indiscriminately, bringing in quite a 
few things which should not have been transplanted. Where things 
are wrongly transplanted and unsuited to this land of ours, there must 
be changes. 
Here Išll speak on the question of ŗhaving illicit relations with 
foreign countries˛. Are there such people in our country who provide 
foreigners with information behind the back of the Central Committee? 
I think there are. Kao Kang is a case in point. Many facts have 
proved this. 
On December 24, 1953, at an enlarged meeting of the Political 
Bureau of the Central Committee to unmask Kao Kang, I declared 
that there were two headquarters in the city of Peking, one comprised 
all of us present and it stirred up an open wind and lit an open fire, 
whereas the other was an underground headquarters, and it also 
stirred up a kind of wind and lit a kind of fire, a sinister wind and 
a sinister fire. Lin Tai-yu, a character in a classical Chinese novel, said: 
ŗEither the east wind prevails over the west wind, or the west wind 
prevails over the east wind.˛ As for the present day, either the open 
wind and open fire prevail over the sinister wind and sinister fire, 
or the sinister wind and sinister fire prevail over the open wind and 
open fire. The purpose of the other headquarters in stirring up the 
sinister wind and lighting the sinister fire was to overpower the open 
wind and put out the open fire, that is, to overthrow a large number 
of people. 
Among our cadres of higher and middle rank there are a few (not 
many) who maintain illicit relations with foreign countries. This is 
not good. I hope you comrades will make it clear to everybody in the 
leading Party groups and Party committees of the central departments 
as well as in the Party committees at the provincial, municipal and 
autonomous region level that this kind of business must stop. We donšt

341 SPEECH AT SECOND SESSION OF EIGHTH CENTRAL COMMITTEE 
approve of some of the things done in the Soviet Union, and the Central 
Committee has already said this to the Soviet leaders several times; 
some questions on which we have not touched will be taken up later. 
If they are to be taken up, it should be done by the Central Committee. 
As for information, donšt try to pass it on. Such information is of no 
use at all, it can only cause harm. It undermines the relations between 
the two Parties and the two countries. Moreover, those engaged in such 
activities put themselves in an awkward position. Since they do this 
behind the Partyšs back, they always have a guilty conscience. Those 
who have passed on information should make a clean breast of it and 
be done with it, or else there will be an investigation and they will be 
duly punished if found out. 
I would like to say a few words about the Twentieth Congress of 
the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. I think there are two 
ŗswords˛: one is Lenin and the other Stalin. The sword of Stalin 
has now been discarded by the Russians. Gomulka and some people 
in Hungary have picked it up to stab at the Soviet Union and oppose 
so-called Stalinism. The Communist Parties of many European 
countries are also criticizing the Soviet Union, and their leader is 
Togliatti. The imperialists also use this sword to slay people with. 
Dulles, for instance, has brandished it for some time. This sword has 
not been lent out, it has been thrown out. We Chinese have not 
thrown it away. First, we protect Stalin, and, second, we at the same 
time criticize his mistakes, and we have written the article ŗOn the 
Historical Experience of the Dictatorship of the Proletariat˛. Unlike 
some people who have tried to defame and destroy Stalin, we are 
acting in accordance with objective reality. 
As for the sword of Lenin, hasnšt it too been discarded to 
a certain extent by some Soviet leaders? In my view, it has been 
discarded to a considerable extent. Is the October Revolution still 
valid? Can it still serve as the example for all countries? Khrushchovšs 
report at the Twentieth Congress of the Communist Party of the 
Soviet Union says it is possible to seize state power by the parliamentary 
road, that is to say, it is no longer necessary for all 
countries to learn from the October Revolution. Once this gate is 
opened, by and large Leninism is thrown away. 
The doctrine of Leninism has developed Marxism. In what respects 
has it done so? First, in world outlook, that is, in materialism and 
dialectics; and second, in revolutionary theory and tactics, particularly

342 MAO TSETUNG 
on the questions of class struggle, the dictatorship of the proletariat 
and the political party of the proletariat. And then there are Leninšs 
teachings on socialist construction. Beginning from the October Revolution 
of 1917, construction went on in the midst of revolution, and thus 
Lenin had seven years of practical experience in construction, something 
denied to Marx. It is precisely these fundamental principles of Marxism- 
Leninism that we have been learning. 
In both our democratic revolution and our socialist revolution, we 
have mobilized the masses to wage class struggle in the course of 
which we have educated the people. It is from the October Revolution 
that we have learned to wage class struggle. During the October 
Revolution, the masses in the cities and villages were fully mobilized to 
wage class struggle. Those who are now sent by the Soviet Union as 
experts to various countries were but children or teenagers at the time 
of the October Revolution, and many of them have forgotten about this 
practice. Comrades in some countries say that Chinašs mass line is not 
right, and they are only too happy to pick up the paternalistic approach. 
There is no stopping them if they want to do so; in any case, we adhere 
to the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, with non-interference in 
each otheršs internal affairs and mutual non-aggression. We have no 
intention of exercising leadership over any country save our own, that 
is, the Peoplešs Republic of China. 
The fundamental problem with some East European countries is 
that they have not done a good job of waging class struggle and have 
left so many counter-revolutionaries at large; nor have they trained 
their proletariat in class struggle to help them learn how to draw a clear 
distinction between the people and the enemy, between right and wrong 
and between materialism and idealism. And now they have to reap 
what they have sown, they have brought the fire upon their own 
heads. 
How much capital do you have? Just Lenin and Stalin. Now you 
have abandoned Stalin and practically all of Lenin as well, with Leninšs 
feet gone, or perhaps with only his head left, or with one of his hands 
cut off. We, on our part, stick to studying Marxism-Leninism and learning 
from the October Revolution. Marx has left us a great many writings, 
and so has Lenin. To rely on the masses, to follow the mass line ‹ this is 
what we have learned from them. Not to rely on the masses in waging 
class struggle and not to make a clear distinction between the people 
and the enemy ‹ that would be very dangerous.

343 SPEECH AT SECOND SESSION OF EIGHTH CENTRAL COMMITTEE 
IV 
A few cadres with an intellectual background at the level of department 
or bureau head advocate great democracy, saying that small 
democracy is not satisfying enough. Their ŗgreat democracy˛ means 
the adoption of the bourgeois parliamentary system of the West and 
the imitation of such Western stuff as ŗparliamentary democracy˛, 
ŗfreedom of the press˛ and ŗfreedom of speech˛. Their advocacy is 
wrong, for they lack the Marxist viewpoint, the class viewpoint. However, 
the terms great democracy and small democracy are quite graphic, 
so we have borrowed them. 
Democracy is a method, and it all depends on to whom it is applied 
and for what purpose. We are in favour of great democracy. 
And what we favour is great democracy under the leadership of the 
proletariat. We mobilized the masses to fight Chiang Kai-shek and 
licked him after a struggle lasting more than twenty years. In the 
agrarian reform movement, the peasant masses rose against the landlord 
class and got land after three years of struggle. These were instances 
of great democracy. The movement against the ŗthree evils˛ was a 
struggle against those of our personnel who had been corrupted by the 
bourgeoisie. The movement against the ŗfive evils˛ was a struggle 
against the bourgeoisie. In both movements relentless blows were dealt. 
These were all vigorous mass movements and instances of great democracy. 
A few days ago, masses of people held a demonstration in front 
of the Office of the British Chargé dšAffaires in China, and several 
hundred thousand people held a rally at Tien An Men Square in Peking 
in support of Egyptšs resistance to Anglo-French aggression. This was 
also an instance of great democracy, aimed at imperialism. Why 
shouldnšt we cherish this great democracy? We do in fact cherish it. 
Who is this great democracy directed against? Against imperialism, 
feudalism and bureaucrat-capitalism, and against capitalism. The socialist 
transformation of private industry and commerce was directed 
against capitalism. The socialist transformation of agriculture, which 
was designed to abolish the private ownership of small producers, was 
by its nature also directed against capitalism. It was by means of the 
mass movement that we carried out the socialist transformation of agriculture, 
mobilizing the peasants, principally the poor and lower-middle 
peasants first, to organize themselves, so that the upper-middle peasants 
could not but agree. As for the fact that the capitalists beat drums and

344 MAO TSETUNG 
struck gongs to welcome the socialist transformation, it was because 
they had no alternative with the advent of the socialist upsurge in the 
countryside and with the pressure from the masses of workers under 
them. 
If great democracy is now to be practised again, I am for it. You 
are afraid of the masses taking to the streets, I am not, not even if 
hundreds of thousands should do so. ŗHe who is not afraid of death 
by a thousand cuts dares to unhorse the emperor.˛ This was a saying of 
a character in a classical Chinese novel, Wang Hsi-feng, otherwise 
called Sister Feng. She it was who said this. The great democracy set 
in motion by the proletariat is directed against class enemies. Enemies 
of the nation (who are none other than the imperialists and the foreign 
monopoly capitalists) are class enemies also. Great democracy can be 
directed against bureaucrats too. I just said that there would still be 
revolutions ten thousand years from now, so possibly great democracy 
will have to be practised then. If some people grow tired of life and 
so become bureaucratic, if, when meeting the masses, they have not a 
single kind word for them but only take them to task, and if they donšt 
bother to solve any of the problems the masses may have, they are 
destined to be overthrown. Now this danger does exist. If you alienate 
yourself from the masses and fail to solve their problems, the peasants 
will wield their carrying-poles, the workers will demonstrate in the 
streets and the students will create disturbances. Whenever such things 
happen, they must in the first place be taken as good things, and that 
is how I look at the matter. 
Several years ago, an airfield was to be built somewhere in Honan 
Province, but no proper arrangements were made beforehand for the 
peasants living there nor any adequate explanations offered them when 
they were compelled to move out. The peasants of the village affected 
said, even the birds will make a few squawks if you go poking with your 
pole at their nest in a tree and try to bring it down. Teng Hsiao-ping, you, 
too, have a nest, and if I destroyed it, wouldnšt you make a few squawks? 
So the local people set up three lines of defence: the first line was 
composed of children, the second of women, and the third of ablebodied 
young men. All who went there to do the surveying were 
driven away and the peasants won out in the end. Later, when satisfactory 
explanations were given and arrangements made, they agreed to 
move and the airfield was built. There are quite a few similar cases. 
Now there are people who seem to think that, as state power has been 
won, they can sleep soundly without any worry and play the tyrant

345 SPEECH AT SECOND SESSION OF EIGHTH CENTRAL COMMITTEE 
at will. The masses will oppose such persons, throw stones at them 
and strike at them with their hoes, which will, I think, serve them 
right and will please me immensely. Moreover, sometimes to fight 
is the only way to solve a problem. The Communist Party needs 
to learn a lesson. Whenever students and workers take to the streets, 
you comrades should regard it as a good thing. There were over a 
hundred students from Chengtu who wanted to come to Peking to 
present a petition, but those in one train were halted at the Kuangyuan 
station in Szechuan Province, while those in another train got as far 
as Loyang but failed to reach Peking. It is my opinion and Premier 
Choušs too that the students should have been allowed to come 
to Peking and call on the departments concerned. The workers should 
be allowed to go on strike and the masses to hold demonstrations. 
Processions and demonstrations are provided for in our Constitution. 
In the future when the Constitution is revised, I suggest that the freedom 
to strike be added, so that the workers shall be allowed to go on strike. 
This will help resolve the contradictions between the state and the 
factory director on the one hand and the masses of workers on the 
other. After all they are nothing but contradictions. The world is full 
of contradictions. The democratic revolution resolved the set of contradictions 
with imperialism, feudalism and bureaucrat-capitalism. At 
present, when the contradictions with national capitalism and small 
production with respect to ownership have been basically resolved, 
contradictions in other respects have come to the fore, and new 
contradictions have arisen. There are several hundred thousand cadres 
at the level of the county Party committee and above who hold the 
destiny of the country in their hands. If they fail to do a good job, 
alienate themselves from the masses and do not live plainly and work 
hard, the workers, peasants and students will have good reason to 
disapprove of them. We must watch out lest we foster the bureaucratic 
style of work and grow into an aristocratic stratum divorced from the 
people. The masses will have good reason to remove from office whoever 
practises bureaucracy, makes no effort to solve their problems, scolds 
them, tyrannizes over them and never tries to make amends. I say it 
is fine to remove such fellows, and they ought to be removed. 
Now the democratic parties and the bourgeoisie are against the 
great democracy of the proletariat. If we were to start a second 
movement against the ŗfive evils˛, they would not like it. They are 
very much afraid that the democratic parties will be eliminated and 
will not enjoy long-term coexistence if great democracy is put into

346 MAO TSETUNG 
practice. Do professors like great democracy? It is hard to say, but I 
think they are on their guard, they too are afraid of proletarian great 
democracy. If they want to practise bourgeois great democracy, I will 
propose a rectification, that is, ideological remoulding. All the students 
will be mobilized to criticize them, and in every college a checkpoint, 
so to speak, will be set up which they must pass through before the 
whole matter can be considered closed. So professors, too, are afraid 
of proletarian great democracy. 
Here I will take up another topic, the question of the Dalai. 
Buddha has been dead for 2,500 years, and now the Dalai and his 
followers want to go to India and pay homage to him. Shall we let 
him go or not? The Central Committee thinks that it is better to let 
him go than not. He will set out in a few days. We advised him to go 
by air, but he refused, preferring to travel by car via Kalimpong,4 
where there are spies from various countries as well as Kuomintang 
secret agents. It must be anticipated that the Dalai may not come back, 
that, in addition, he may abuse us every day, making allegations such 
as ŗthe Communists have invaded Tibet˛, and that he may go so far 
as to declare ŗthe independence of Tibet˛ in India. It must also be 
anticipated that he may incite the Tibetan upper-stratum reactionaries 
to issue a call for major disturbances in the hope of driving us 
out, while using his absence as an alibi to shirk responsibility. This 
is possible, if the worst comes to the worst. I would still be glad 
even if this bad situation occurred. Our Working Committee and 
our troops in Tibet must make preparations, build fortifications and 
store up plenty of food and water. All we have there is only a few 
soldiers; anyway, each party is free to act as he chooses. If you want 
to fight, we shall be on our guard; if you make an attack, we shall 
defend ourselves. We should never attack first but let them do so, 
and then we shall launch a counter-attack and crush the attackers with 
relentless blows. Shall I feel aggrieved at the desertion of one Dalai? 
Not at all, even if you throw in nine more and make it ten Dalais. 
It was our experience that Chang Kuo-taošs desertion did not turn 
out to be a bad thing. You cannot bind a man and a woman together 
to make them husband and wife. When someone stops caring for your 
place and wants to leave it, just let him go. What harm will his departure 
do us? None whatsoever. He canšt do more than curse us. Our 
Communist Party has been cursed for thirty-five years. And the curses 
have been just such hackneyed nonsense as that the Communist Party ŗis 
extremely ferocious˛, ŗcommunizes property and women˛ and ŗis

347 SPEECH AT SECOND SESSION OF EIGHTH CENTRAL COMMITTEE 
brutal and inhuman˛. What difference will it make if a Dalai or 
anyone else should be added to the number of abusers? If the abusing 
goes on for another thirty-five years, that will amount to only seventy 
years. I donšt consider it good for a person to be afraid of being abused. 
Some people are worried that confidential information may be divulged. 
Didnšt Chang Kuo-tao possess a lot of confidential information? Never 
heard that our affairs went amiss as a result of Chang Kuo-tao divulging 
confidential information. 
Our Party has millions of experienced cadres. Most of them are 
good cadres, born and brought up on our native soil, linked to the 
masses and tested in the course of long struggles. We have a whole 
body of cadres ‹ those who joined the revolution in the period of the 
founding of the Party, in the period of the Northern Expedition, during 
the War of the Agrarian Revolution, the War of Resistance Against 
Japan, and the War of Liberation and those who joined after nationwide 
liberation. They are all valuable assets to our country. The 
situation in some East European countries is not very stable, and one 
major reason is that they lack such a body of experienced cadres. With 
such cadres as ours who have been tested in different periods of the 
revolution, we are able to ŗsit tight in the fishing boat despite the rising 
wind and waves˛. We must have this much confidence. We are 
not even afraid of imperialism, so why should we be afraid of great 
democracy? Why should we be afraid of students taking to the streets? 
Yet among our Party members there are some who are afraid of great 
democracy, and this is not good. Those bureaucrats who are afraid 
of great democracy must study Marxism hard and mend their ways. 
We are to carry out a rectification movement next year. Three 
bad styles are to be rectified: (1) subjectivism, (2) sectarianism and 
(3) bureaucracy. After the Central Committee has made the decision, 
a circular will first be issued, in which different items will be listed. 
For instance, bureaucracy consists of several items, such as failure to 
make contact with cadres and the masses, failure to go down and find 
out about the situation below and failure to share weal and woe with 
the masses, plus corruption, waste and so on. If a circular is issued in 
the first half of the year, the rectification movement is to begin in the 
second, with a period of several months in between. Whoever has 
embezzled public money must confess and return it during that interval, 
or pay it back later in instalments, or if he cannot possibly manage it 
even in instalments, he will have to be exempted from repaying it; each 
of these three ways is all right. But in any case he must admit his

348 MAO TSETUNG 
mistake and of his own accord state the amount taken. This is to 
provide him, so to speak, with a staircase by which he can come down 
step by step. This method is also to be adopted in dealing with other 
mistakes. Rather than meting out ŗpunishment without prior warning˛, 
make an announcement beforehand and then start the rectification 
movement at the specified time ‹ this is a method of applying small 
democracy. Some say, if this method is adopted, there probably wonšt 
be much left to rectify in the second half of the year. That is precisely the 
end we hope to achieve. Our hope is that by the time the rectification 
movement formally starts, subjectivism, sectarianism and bureaucracy 
will have been considerably reduced. In our history the rectification 
movement has proved to be an effective method. From now on, all 
problems among the people or inside the Party are to be solved by 
means of rectification, by means of criticism and self-criticism, and 
not by force. We are in favour of the method of the ŗgentle breeze 
and mild rain˛, and though it is hardly avoidable that in a few cases 
things may get a little too rough, the over-all intention is to cure the 
sickness and save the patient, and truly to achieve this end instead of 
merely paying lip-service to it. The first principle is to protect a person, 
and the second one is to criticize him. First he is to be protected because 
he is not a counter-revolutionary. This means to start from the desire 
for unity and, through criticism and self-criticism, arrive at a new 
unity on a new basis. Within the ranks of the people, if we adopt the 
method of both protecting and criticizing a person who has made 
mistakes, we shall win peoplešs hearts, be able to unite the entire people 
and bring into play all the positive factors among our 600 million people 
for building socialism. 
I am in favour of the idea that in peace-time the wage gap between 
cadres in the army and those outside it should be gradually narrowed, 
but this does not mean absolute egalitarianism. I have always been of 
the opinion that the army should live plainly and work hard and be a 
model. At a meeting held here in 1949, one of our generals proposed 
that the pay in the army should be raised, and many comrades were 
for his proposal, but I was against it. The illustration he used was that 
a capitalist ate a meal of five courses whereas a PLA soldier had only 
salt water plus some pickled cabbage at a meal, and this, he said, 
wouldnšt do. I said, on the contrary, this was just fine. They had five 
courses while we ate pickles. There was politics in these pickles, out 
of which models would emerge. The PLA won peoplešs hearts precisely 
because of these pickles, but, of course, there were other factors too.

349 SPEECH AT SECOND SESSION OF EIGHTH CENTRAL COMMITTEE 
Now the army meals have improved and are already rather different 
from having only pickles to eat. But what is most essential is that 
we must advocate plain living and hard work, which is our intrinsic 
political quality. Chinchow is an apple-growing area. At the time of 
the Liaohsi campaign, it was autumn, and there were plenty of apples 
in the villagersš homes, but our fighters did not take a single apple. 
I was deeply moved when I read about this. Here the fighters themselves 
were conscious that not to eat the apples was noble, whereas to eat them 
would have been ignoble, for the apples belonged to the people. Our 
discipline rests on such consciousness. It is the result of leadership and 
education by our Party. Man must have some spirit, and the revolutionary 
spirit of the proletariat stems from this consciousness. Did 
anyone starve to death from not eating an apple? No, for there was 
millet plus pickles. In times of necessity, you comrades present here 
will have to live in sheds. When we crossed the marshlands, we had 
no sheds to sleep in and yet we managed without. Why canšt we live 
in sheds now that we have them? The army people have been in session 
these few days, and they have expressed with deep feelings and 
enthusiasm their readiness to exercise self-denial and practise economy. 
Now that the army is doing this, there is all the more reason for other 
people to live plainly and work hard. Otherwise they would be challenged 
by the army people. There are both civilians and army people 
present here, so wešll let the army people challenge the civilians. The 
PLA is a good army, and I like it very much. 
Political work must be strengthened. It must be greatly strengthened 
in every sphere, whether among civilians or army people, whether in 
factories, villages, shops, schools or army units, whether in Party and 
government organs or peoplešs organizations, so as to raise the political 
level of the cadres and the masses. 
NOTES 
1 This refers to a saying of Confucius, ŗAt seventy, I can follow my heartšs desire, 
without transgressing what is right.˛ Confucian Analects, Book II, ŗWei Cheng˛. 
2 They refer to the riot that occurred in Poznan, Poland, in June 1956 and to the 
counter-revolutionary rebellion that took place in Hungary in October of the same year. 
3 The Book of Changes, ŗHsi Tzu˛, Part I. 
4 Kalimpong is a border town in northeastern India near Yatung in Tibet, China.

TALKS AT A CONFERENCE OF 
SECRETARIES OF PROVINCIAL, MUNICIPAL AND 
AUTONOMOUS REGION PARTY COMMITTEES 
January 1957 
I. THE TALK OF JANUARY 18 
The present conference will chiefly discuss three questions: the 
question of ideological trends, the rural question and the economic 
question. Today I shall speak on the question of ideological trends. 
We should keep tabs on ideological trends, which I am taking up 
here as the first question. At present, certain problems concerning 
them inside the Party and in society at large have cropped up and 
demand our close attention. 
One kind of problem arises among our own ranks. For example, 
some cadres now scramble for fame and fortune and are interested only 
in personal gain. In the discussion of the grading of cadres, there were 
instances where a cadre would not be satisfied with a rise of one grade, 
even a rise of two grades still left him weeping in bed, and perhaps 
only a three-grade promotion could get him out of bed. The fuss they 
kicked up has settled the question. This business of grading cadres, 
have done with it! Let wages be roughly evened out, with slight 
differences here and there. In the old days, the government of the 
Northern warlords had a prime minister by the name of Tang Shao-yi. 
Years later he was magistrate of Chungshan County, Kwangtung Province. 
If a prime minister in the old society could serve as a county 
magistrate, why on earth canšt our government ministers do likewise? 
In this regard, those who fuss over their rank and can be graded up 
but not down compare poorly, in my opinion, with this old mandarin. 
They vie with each other not in plain living, doing more work and 
having fewer comforts, but for luxuries, rank and status. At present, 
350

351 TALKS AT CONFERENCE OF PARTY COMMITTEE SECRETARIES 
this kind of thinking has grown considerably in the Party, and the 
matter demands our attention. 
Is agricultural co-operation promising, or is it unpromising? Which 
is better, the co-operative, or the individual economy? This question 
has been raised again. Last year, it did not come up in places reaping 
a rich harvest or in areas stricken by serious natural adversities, but 
only in those co-operatives which had suffered natural adversities but 
not of a serious kind or reaped a harvest but not a rich one. The cash 
value of work-points in these co-operatives turned out to be less than 
had been promised, and there was no increase but actually a decrease 
in the income of the members. This gave rise to such talk 
as, ŗIs the co-operative still good and worth preserving?˛ And this 
kind of talk has found an echo among certain Party cadres. The 
co-operatives, some say, are in no way superior. Some government 
ministers made a brief visit to the countryside, and on their return 
to Peking they spread alarmist views, saying that the peasants were 
listless and not keen on farming, as if the co-operatives were on the 
verge of collapse and extinction. Some co-operative directors cannot 
hold their heads up because they are being attacked right and left 
and have to endure criticisms from above and from the press. Some 
heads of the propaganda departments of Party committees shy away 
from making propaganda about the superiority of the co-operatives. 
Minister of Agriculture Liao Lu-yen, who is concurrently Deputy 
Director of the Rural Work Department of the Party Central 
Committee, says in effect that he himself feels discouraged and so do 
the responsible cadres under him, and that the co-operatives wonšt 
work anyway and the forty-article Programme for Agricultural Development 
is no longer valid. What are we to do with a person who feels 
discouraged? Thatšs simple. If someone is losing courage, we just pump 
a little into him. The newspapers have now taken on a different tone 
in their propaganda, dwelling on the superiority of the co-operatives 
and speaking well rather than ill of them. Keep this up for several 
months to generate a little courage. 
The year before last there was a struggle against a Right deviation, 
and last year a struggle against ŗrash advance˛, which resulted in 
another Right deviation. By this I mean the Right deviation on the 
question of socialist revolution, primarily that of socialist transformation 
in the rural areas. Particularly noteworthy is the fact that a gust 
of wind with the force of a typhoon has been blowing among our cadres. 
A considerable number of our ministers, vice-ministers, heads of

352 MAO TSETUNG 
departments or bureaus as well as cadres at the provincial level are 
from landlord, rich peasant or well-to-do middle peasant families, 
and in some cases their fathers are landlords who to this day are 
deprived of the right to vote. When these cadres go home for a visit, 
they hear from their folks nothing but adverse comments such as that 
the co-operatives are no good and wonšt last. The well-to-do middle 
peasants are a wavering social stratum, the go-it-alone tendency among 
them is rising again, and some want to withdraw from the co-operatives. 
The wind blowing among our cadres indicates what is in the minds 
of these classes and strata. 
Agricultural co-operation is sure to be a success, but it cannot 
achieve complete success in a year or two. This must be made clear to 
comrades in the Party, the government, the army and the peoplešs 
organizations. The co-operatives have only a short history, mostly of 
a year or a year and a half, and are lacking in experience. People who 
have been working for the revolution most of their lives still make 
mistakes, so how can you expect those who have been at the job for 
only a year to a year and a half to make no mistakes at all? To say 
that co-operation wonšt work when there is a little wind and rain is 
itself a big mistake. In point of fact, most co-operatives are doing well 
or fairly well. Cite just one co-operative that is being managed 
successfully, and you will be able to explode all the absurd arguments 
against co-operation. If this co-operative can be run well, why canšt 
others? If this co-operative displays superiority, why canšt others? 
Publicize the experience of this co-operative wherever you go. Each 
province should be able to find at least one such example. Choose a 
co-operative with the worst conditions including an unfavourable terrain, 
which previously had very low yields and was very poor. Do not 
choose one where the conditions were good to start with. Of course, it 
is fine if you have scores of examples, but if you can make just one 
co-operative work well, that spells success. 
There is also trouble in the schools and colleges, and in a number 
of places students have created disturbances. In Shihchiachuang jobs 
were temporarily not available for some students of the graduating 
class in a school, and they had to stay on another year. This aroused 
their discontent. A handful of counter-revolutionaries seized the 
opportunity to agitate, organize a demonstration and threaten to occupy 
the Shihchiachuang radio station and proclaim a ŗHungary˛. They put up 
many posters, the most striking of which carried these three slogans: 
ŗDown with fascism!˛ ŗWe want war, not peace!˛ and ŗSocialism

353 TALKS AT CONFERENCE OF PARTY COMMITTEE SECRETARIES 
is in no way superior!˛ According to them, the Communist Party was 
fascist and people like us had to be overthrown. The slogans they 
put up were so reactionary that they estranged the workers, peasants 
and people in all walks of life. In Peking a student of Tsinghua 
University openly declared, ŗThe day will come when I will have 
thousands and tens of thousands of people shot!˛ With the introduction 
of the policy of letting a hundred flowers blossom and a hundred 
schools of thought contend, even this ŗschool˛ has come into the 
open. Comrade Teng Hsiao-ping went to the university and made 
a speech. If you want to have thousands and tens of thousands of 
people shot, he said, then we will have to enforce dictatorship. 
According to a survey made in Peking, most college students are 
children of landlords, rich peasants, the bourgeoisie and well-to-do 
middle peasants, while students from working-class and poor and 
lower-middle peasant families account for less than 20 per cent. 
Probably this is roughly the case too in the rest of the country. This 
situation should change, but it will take time. Gomulka has been very 
popular with a number of our college students, and so have Tito and 
Kardelj. On the other hand, at the time of the riots in Poland and 
Hungary, most of the landlords and rich peasants in the countryside 
and the capitalists and members of the democratic parties in the cities 
behaved better and made no attempt to stir up trouble or come out 
with threats to kill thousands and tens of thousands of people. But 
one should be analytical about their behaviour. For they no longer 
have any political capital, the workers and the poor and lower-middle 
peasants wonšt listen to them, and they have no ground to stand on. 
Should something happen like atom bombs blowing up Peking and 
Shanghai, wouldnšt these people change? You canšt be too sure they 
wouldnšt. In that eventuality, there would be a process of realignment 
of the landlords, the rich peasants, the bourgeoisie and the members of 
the democratic parties. They have worldly wisdom, and many of them 
are lying low. Their offspring ‹ those school kids ‹ are inexperienced, 
and it is they who expose such wares as ŗI will have thousands and tens 
of thousands of people shot˛ and ŗSocialism is in no way superior˛. 
There is queer talk among some professors too, such as that the 
Communist Party should be done away with, the Communist Party cannot 
lead them, socialism is no good, and so on and so forth. Before, they 
kept these ideas to themselves, but since the policy of letting a hundred 
schools of thought contend gave them an opportunity to speak up, 
these remarks have come tumbling out. Have you seen the film The

354 MAO TSETUNG 
Life of Wu Hsun? There is one shot of a writing brush, dozens of feet 
long, symbolizing the ŗmen of learning˛. A sweep of that brush could 
be terrific. Now they are coming out, probably with the intention of 
sweeping us away. Arenšt they in fact attempting a restoration? 
During the past year, several storms raged on the world scene. 
At the Twentieth Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet 
Union they went for Stalin in a big way. Subsequently the imperialists 
stirred up two storms against communism, and there were two 
stormy debates in the international communist movement. Amidst 
these storms, the impact and losses were quite big in the case of some 
Communist Parties in Europe and the Americas but smaller for the 
Communist Parties in the Orient. With the convocation of the Twentieth 
Congress of the CPSU, some people who had been most enthusiastic 
for Stalin became most vehement against him. In my view, these people 
do not adhere to Marxism-Leninism, they do not take an analytical 
approach to things and they lack revolutionary morality. Marxism- 
Leninism embraces the revolutionary morality of the proletariat. Since 
formerly you were all for Stalin, you should at least give some reason 
for making such a sharp turn. But you offer no reason at all for this 
sudden about-face, as if you had never in your life supported Stalin, 
though in fact you had fully supported him before. The question of Stalin 
concerns the entire international communist movement and involves 
the Communist Parties of all countries. 
Most cadres in our Party are dissatisfied with the Twentieth 
Congress of the CPSU and think it went too far in attacking Stalin. 
That is a normal feeling and a normal reaction. But a few cadres started 
to vacillate. Before it rains in a typhoon, ants come out of their holes, 
they have very sensitive ŗnoses˛ and they know their meteorology. No 
sooner had the typhoon of the Twentieth Congress of the CPSU struck 
than a few such ants in China came out of their holes. They are wavering 
elements in the Party who vacillate whenever something is astir. When 
they heard of the sweeping denunciation of Stalin, they felt good and 
swung to the other side, cheering and saying that Khrushchov was 
right in everything and that they themselves had been of the same 
opinion all along. Later when the imperialists struck a few blows and 
a few more came from inside the international communist movement, 
even Khrushchov had to change his tune somewhat, and so they swung 
back to this side again. In the face of an irresistible trend, they had 
no choice but to swing back. A tuft of grass atop the wall sways 
right and left in the wind. The waverersš real intention was not to

355 TALKS AT CONFERENCE OF PARTY COMMITTEE SECRETARIES 
swing to our side, but to the other. Itšs a good thing that some people 
inside and outside the Party sang the praises of the Polish and 
Hungarian incidents. They could not open their mouths without 
talking about Poznan and Hungary. In so doing they gave themselves 
away. Ants came out of their holes and turtles, tortoises and all 
the scum of the earth left their hiding places. They danced to Gomulkašs 
baton. When Gomulka talked about great democracy, they echoed 
him. Now the situation has changed and they are keeping their mouths 
shut. But thatšs not what they really want to do. Their real desire is to 
speak out. 
When a typhoon strikes, the wavering elements who cannot withstand 
it begin to vacillate. Thatšs a law. I would like to call your 
attention to it. Some people, having vacillated a few times, gain 
experience and stop wavering. But there is a type of person who will 
go on wavering forever. They are like some crops, rice for example, 
which sway at a whiff of wind because of their slender stalks. Sorghum 
and maize with their stouter stalks do better. Only big trees stand 
upright and rock-firm. Typhoons occur every year. So do ideological 
and political typhoons at home and abroad. This is a natural phenomenon 
in society. A political party is a kind of society, a political kind of 
society. The primary category in political society consists of political 
parties and political groups. A political party is a class organization. 
Our Chinese Communist Party is a proletarian political party composed 
chiefly of people of working-class and semi-proletarian poor peasant 
origin. But there are also a number of Party members who hail from 
landlord, rich peasant and capitalist families, or have a well-to-do 
middle peasant or urban petty-bourgeois origin. Though more or less 
tempered in long years of arduous struggle, quite a number have not 
acquired much Marxism, and thus ideologically or mentally they are 
apt to sway in the wind like rice stalks. 
Some Party members who have come through many tests now find 
it difficult to pass the test of socialism. Hsueh Hsun is a typical 
example. She was formerly a deputy secretary of the Hopei Provincial 
Party Committee and a vice-governor of the province. When did she 
begin to vacillate? At the time when the state monopoly of the 
purchase and marketing of grain was first instituted. It was an important 
measure for implementing socialism. But she was dead against it 
and opposed it at all costs. Another example is Meng Yung-chien, 
deputy director of the All-China Federation of Supply and Marketing 
Co-operatives. In a letter of petition he, too, firmly opposed this state

356 MAO TSETUNG 
monopoly. When agricultural co-operation was being carried out, again 
some people in the Party opposed it. In short, there are high-ranking 
Party cadres who have vacillated and cannot pass the test of socialism. 
Has this state of affairs come to an end? No, it hasnšt. Will these people 
become firm and really believe in socialism ten years from now? Well, 
not necessarily. Ten years from now, when something crops up, they 
may say again, I foresaw that long ago. 
Here is some material to be distributed among the comrades present 
which shows the ideological trends among certain cadres in the army. 
Although there is something valid in their opinions, for instance, when 
they say the wages of some cadres are too high and the peasants donšt 
like it, the general tenor is not quite right and the fundamental line 
they follow is wrong. They criticize our Partyšs policies as being ŗLeft˛ 
in the countryside and Right in the cities. For all its 9,600,000 square 
kilometres China is made up of but two constituents, town and country. 
According to them, we are wrong in both. 
When they say our rural policy has deviated to the ŗLeft˛, they 
mean that the income of the peasants is meagre, less than that of the 
workers. Here one should make an analysis and not judge by income 
alone. It is true that the income of the workers is generally higher 
than that of the peasants, but the value they produce is bigger, and 
besides they have to pay more for daily necessities. The improvement 
of the peasantsš livelihood depends mainly on their own efforts to 
increase production. The government is also doing much to help them, 
building water conservancy projects, granting them agricultural credits, 
and so on. Our tax on agricultural products, side-line products 
included, forms about 8 per cent of the total value of the peasantsš 
output, and no tax is levied on many side-lines. The state purchases 
grain at standard prices. Moreover, the state gets only a very small 
profit from the exchange of industrial products for the peasantsš 
agricultural products. We do not adopt the system of obligatory sales 
enforced in the Soviet Union. In the exchange of industrial products 
for agricultural products, we try to narrow the price scissors instead 
of widening them as in the Soviet Union. There is a world of difference 
between our policy and that of the Soviet Union. Therefore, our rural 
policy cannot be said to have deviated to the ŗLeft˛. 
Some of the ranking cadres in our army make complaints on behalf 
of the peasants because they are affected by the remarks of well-to-do 
middle peasants, rich peasants or landlords which they may have 
heard on visits to their home town or from relatives invited to stay

357 TALKS AT CONFERENCE OF PARTY COMMITTEE SECRETARIES 
with them. In the first half of 1955 a good many Party members made 
such complaints, chiming in with Liang Shu-ming and his ilk, as if 
only people from these two quarters spoke for the peasants and understood 
their sufferings. In their eyes, our Central Committee does 
not represent the peasants, nor do the provincial Party committees 
and the majority of Party members. A survey in Kiangsu Province 
shows that in some places 30 per cent of the cadres at the county, district 
and township levels made complaints on behalf of the peasants. It 
further reveals that most of them belong to rather well-to-do families 
which have surplus grain for sale. What they call ŗsufferings˛ turns 
out to be having surplus grain. And when they say ŗhelp the peasants˛ 
and ŗshow concern for the peasants˛, they mean withholding sales of 
surplus grain to the state. Who on earth do these grumblers represent? 
Not the peasant masses, but a small number of well-to-do peasants. 
As for the charge that our urban policy has deviated to the Right, 
this seems to be the case, as we have undertaken to provide for the 
capitalists and pay them a fixed rate of interest for a period of seven 
years.1 What is to be done after the seven years? That is to be decided 
according to the circumstances prevailing then. It is better to leave 
the matter open, that is, to go on giving them a certain amount in fixed 
interest. At this small cost we are buying over this class. The Central 
Committee has given this policy very careful consideration. On the 
whole, the capitalists plus the democrats and intellectuals associated 
with them have a higher level of cultural and technical knowledge. By 
buying over this class, we have deprived them of their political capital 
and kept their mouths shut. The way to deprive them is to buy them 
over and make arrangements to give them jobs. Thus political capital 
will not be in their hands but in ours. We must deprive them of every 
bit of their political capital and continue to do so until not one jot is 
left to them. Therefore, neither can our urban policy be said to have 
deviated to the Right. 
Our rural policy is correct and so is our urban policy. That is why 
a nation-wide disturbance such as the Hungarian incident cannot take 
place here. At most a small number of people may create trouble here 
and there and clamour for so-called great democracy. There is nothing 
terrifying about great democracy. On this score I do not see eye to 
eye with some comrades among you, who seem scared of it. In 
my view, should great democracy come about, first, you should not 
be scared of it and, second, you should make an analysis of the words 
and deeds of its advocates. In pushing their so-called great democracy,

358 MAO TSETUNG 
those bad types are bound to say or do something wrong, which will 
only expose and isolate them. To ŗhave thousands and tens of 
thousands of people shot˛ ‹ is this the way to resolve contradictions 
among the people? Can this win any sympathy from the majority of 
people? ŗDown with fascism˛ and ŗSocialism is in no way superior˛ 
‹ doesnšt this flagrantly violate the Constitution? The Communist 
Party and the state power under its leadership are revolutionary 
and socialism is superior; this is all stated in the Constitution and 
acknowledged by the whole nation. ŗWe want war, not peace˛ ‹ well, 
thatšs fine! So you are calling for war, and yet what you can muster 
is only a small band, an insufficient number of men without trained 
officers. These kids have really gone mad! That school in Shihchiachuang 
had a discussion on the three slogans mentioned above 
and out of seventy representatives only a dozen spoke in favour, while 
fifty-odd said no. Then the slogans were discussed among four 
thousand students. Not a single one approved, so the dozen were 
isolated. The ultra-reactionaries who put up and stuck to these slogans 
were only a handful. If they had not taken up great democracy and 
splashed those posters everywhere, we would have been in the dark 
as to what they were up to. Once they pressed for great democracy, 
they got caught. One good thing about the Hungarian incident was 
that these ants in China were thus lured out of their holes. 
In Hungary, great democracy toppled the Party, the government 
and the army once it was set in motion. This will not happen in China. 
If a handful of school kids can topple our Party, government and army 
by a show of force, we must all be fatheads. Therefore, donšt be afraid of 
great democracy. If there is a disturbance, it will help get the festering 
sore cured, and thatšs a good thing. We were not afraid of imperialism 
in the past nor are we now. And we have never been afraid of Chiang 
Kai-shek. Are we now to be afraid of great democracy? I say we ought 
not to be. If anyone resorts to what he calls great democracy to oppose 
the socialist system and try to overthrow the leadership of the Communist 
Party, we shall exercise the dictatorship of the proletariat 
over him. 
On the question of the intellectuals, there is a tendency today to 
stress arranging jobs for them to the neglect of remoulding them, 
there is too much of the former and too little of the latter. With the 
introduction of the policy of letting a hundred flowers blossom and a 
hundred schools of thought contend, there has been some timidity 
about remoulding intellectuals. Since we have not been timid about

359 TALKS AT CONFERENCE OF PARTY COMMITTEE SECRETARIES 
remoulding capitalists, why should we be timid about remoulding 
intellectuals and democratic personages? 
Let a hundred flowers blossom ‹ I think we should go on doing 
that. Some comrades hold that only fragrant flowers should be allowed 
to blossom and that poisonous weeds should not be allowed to grow. 
This approach shows little understanding of the policy of letting a 
hundred flowers blossom and a hundred schools of thought contend. 
In general, counter-revolutionary statements will naturally be prohibited. 
However, if they are made not in a counter-revolutionaryform 
but in a revolutionary guise, you will have to allow them. That 
will help us see these statements for what they are and wage struggles 
against them. Two kinds of plants grow in the fields, grain and weeds. 
Weeding must be done every year, indeed several times a year. If 
you say you will allow only fragrant flowers to blossom and no poisonous 
weeds to grow, that is tantamount to saying that you will allow 
only grain and not a single weed to grow in the fields. You may 
very well say so, but whoever has been to the fields knows that 
if weeding is not done there will be weeds galore. Weeds are useful 
in a way ‹ when ploughed under they can be turned into manure. 
You say they are of no use? Well, uselessness can be turned into 
usefulness. The peasants must wage struggles against weeds in the 
fields year in year out, and so must the writers, artists, critics and 
professors of our Party against weeds in the ideological held. To say 
something is tempered means that it has been through a struggle. If 
weeds grow, we uproot them. This opposite in the contradiction shows 
itself continually. Weeds will grow even ten thousand years from 
now, and so we must be prepared to wage struggles for that long. 
In short, we have had an eventful year in 1956. Internationally, it 
was a year in which Khrushchov and Gomulka stirred up storms, and 
internally, it was a year of very intense socialist transformation. It is 
still eventful now, and all kinds of ideas will go on obtruding themselves. 
I hope you comrades here will keep your eyes open. 
II. THE TALK OF JANUARY 27 
Now, let me take up a few points. 
First, we must make an adequate assessment of our achievements. 
In our revolution and construction, the achievements are primary,

360 MAO TSETUNG 
though there are shortcomings and mistakes. Our achievements, however 
many, must not be exaggerated, but to underestimate them will 
lead to mistakes, perhaps even to big mistakes. This question was 
settled at the Second Plenary Session of the Eighth Central Committee, 
but repeated references to it at the present conference show 
that some comrades are still unconvinced. Among the democratic 
personages in particular there are such remarks as, ŗYou people always 
say achievements are basic. That doesnšt solve any problem. Who 
doesnšt know that achievements are basic, but what about shortcomings 
and mistakes?˛ Nonetheless, it is really achievements that are basic. If 
this is not affirmed, people will be disheartened. Arenšt there people 
who have become disheartened about co-operative transformation? 
Second, there must be over-all planning and all-round consideration, 
so that everyone is provided for. This has been our consistent 
policy. It was our policy in the Yenan days. In August 1944, the 
newspaper Ta Kung Pao carried an editorial saying, ŗDonšt set up a 
separate kitchen.˛ During the Chungking negotiations, I told the man 
in charge of Ta Kung Pao that I quite agreed with what he said, 
provided Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek took care of our meals, 
otherwise what else could we do but set up a separate kitchen? At 
that time we confronted Chiang Kai-shek with the slogan that 
everyone should be provided for. Now we are running the country. 
Our policy is still one of over-all planning and all-round consideration 
so that everyone is provided for. This includes providing for all the 
army and government personnel left behind by the Kuomintang. Even 
those who fled to Taiwan can come back. All counter-revolutionaries 
not to be put to death will undergo remoulding and be given a chance 
to earn a living. The democratic parties will be preserved and coexist 
with us for a long time and their members will be provided for. In a 
word, we will take care of all our countryšs 600 million people. For 
instance, through the state monopoly of the purchase and marketing 
of grain we look after the entire urban population and all rural 
grain-deficient households. Or take the urban youth for example. 
Arrangements must be made for them in one way or another ‹ they 
can go to school or work on a farm, in a factory or in a frontier area. 
Relief will be extended to families where no member has a job, our 
principle being not to allow anybody to die of starvation. All this falls 
within the scope of over-all planning and all-round consideration. 
What kind of policy is this? It is one of mobilizing all positive forces 
to build socialism. It is a strategic policy. It is better to follow this

361 TALKS AT CONFERENCE OF PARTY COMMITTEE SECRETARIES 
policy, and there will be fewer troubles. This idea of over-all planning 
and all-round consideration must be made clear to all. 
Comrade Ko Ching-shih said that we must explore every possible 
way. Thatšs well said, for we must explore every possible way of 
surmounting difficulties. This slogan should be publicized. The difficulties 
before us are not very great and donšt amount to much! Arenšt 
things at least better now than on the Long March, when we had to 
scale snow-topped mountains and plod through the marshlands? After 
crossing the Tatu River on the Long March, the question was which 
way to go. There was nothing but high mountains to the north and 
very few inhabitants. At that time we called for surmounting the 
difficulties by a thousand ways and a hundred devices. What do we 
mean by a thousand ways and a hundred devices? A thousand ways 
mean 999 ways plus one, and one hundred devices mean 99 devices 
and another thrown in. You have so far proposed very few ways or 
devices. How many ways and devices has each of the provinces and 
the central departments got? Explore every possible way and the 
difficulties will be surmounted. 
Third, the international situation. In the Middle East, there was 
that Suez Canal incident. A man called Nasser nationalized the canal, 
another called Eden sent in an invading army, and close on his heels 
came a third called Eisenhower who decided to drive the British out 
and have the place all to himself. The British bourgeoisie, past masters 
of machination and manoeuvre, are a class which knows best when 
to compromise. But this time they bungled and let the Middle East 
fall into the hands of the Americans. What a colossal mistake! Can 
one find many such mistakes in the history of the British bourgeoisie? 
How come that this time they lost their heads and made such a mistake? 
Because the pressure exerted by the United States was too much and 
they lost control of themselves in their anxiety to regain the Middle 
East and block the United States. Did Britain direct the spearhead 
chiefly at Egypt? No. Britainšs moves were against the United States, 
much as the moves of the United States were against Britain. 
From this incident we can pin-point the focus of struggle in the world 
today. The contradiction between the imperialist countries and the 
socialist countries is certainly most acute. But the imperialist countries 
are now contending with each other for the control of different areas 
in the name of opposing communism. What areas are they contending 
for? Areas in Asia and Africa inhabited by 1,000 million people. At 
present their contention converges on the Middle East, an area of

362 MAO TSETUNG 
great strategic significance, and particularly on Egyptšs Suez Canal 
Zone. In the Middle East, two kinds of contradictions and three 
kinds of forces are in conflict. The two kinds of contradictions are: 
first, those between different imperialist powers, that is, between the 
United States and Britain and between the United States and France 
and, second, those between the imperialist powers and the oppressed 
nations. The three kinds of forces are: one, the United States, the 
biggest imperialist power, two, Britain and France, second-rate imperialist 
powers, and three, the oppressed nations. Asia and Africa 
are today the main areas of imperialist contention. National independence 
movements have emerged in these regions. The methods 
the United States employs are now violent, now non-violent, and this 
is the game it is playing in the Middle East. 
Their embroilment is to our advantage. We, the socialist countries, 
should pursue the policy of consolidating ourselves and not yielding 
a single inch of our land. We will struggle against anyone who tries to 
make us do so. This is where we draw the line beyond which they can 
be left to quarrel among themselves. Then shall we speak up or not? 
Yes, we shall. We certainly will support the anti-imperialist struggles 
of the people in Asia, Africa and Latin America and the revolutionary 
struggles of the people of all countries. 
As for the relations between the imperialist countries and ourselves, 
ŗthey are among us and we are among them˛. We support the peoplešs 
revolution in their countries and they conduct subversive activities 
in ours. We have our men in their midst, that is, the Communists, the 
revolutionary workers, farmers and intellectuals, and the progressives 
in their countries. They have their men in our midst, and in China for 
instance they have among us many people from the bourgeoisie and 
the democratic parties and also the landlord class. At present, these 
people seem to be behaving themselves and are not causing trouble. 
But what will they do if an atom bomb is dropped on Peking? They 
wonšt revolt? Thatšs highly questionable. Still more so in the case 
of those criminals now undergoing reform through labour, those 
ringleaders who created disturbances in that school in Shihchiachuang, 
and that college student in Peking who wanted to have thousands and 
tens of thousands of people shot. We must absorb them and transform 
the landlords and capitalists into working people. This is also a strategic 
policy. It takes a very long time to abolish classes. 
In short, our assessment of the international situation is still that 
the embroilment of the imperialist countries contending for colonies

363 TALKS AT CONFERENCE OF PARTY COMMITTEE SECRETARIES 
is the greater contradiction. They try to cover up the contradictions 
between themselves by playing up their contradictions with us. We 
can make use of their contradictions, a lot can be done in this connection. 
This is a matter of importance for our external policy. 
Now a few words about Sino-American relations. We have had 
Eisenhoweršs letter to Chiang Kai-shek reproduced and distributed 
among you. In my view, the letter is meant chiefly to pour cold water 
on Chiang Kai-shek and then pump a little courage into him. The 
letter talks about the need to keep cool and not to be impulsive, 
which means not resorting to war but relying on the United Nations. 
Thatšs pouring cold water. For Chiang Kai-shek has really become 
rather impulsive. To pump courage into Chiang Kai-shek, Eisenhower 
says he will continue his hard-line policy towards the Communists 
and pins his hopes on disturbances breaking out in our midst. In Eisenhoweršs 
view, disturbances have already occurred and the Communists 
cannot stop them. Well, everybody has his own way of looking at 
things. 
I still think it preferable to put off the establishment of diplomatic 
relations with the United States for some years. This will be more to 
our advantage. The Soviet Union established diplomatic relations with 
the United States seventeen years after the October Revolution. In 
1929 a world-wide economic crisis broke out which lasted through 
1933. In 1933 Hitler came to power in Germany and Roosevelt in the 
United States. And it was only then that diplomatic relations were 
established between the Soviet Union and the United States. It will 
probably be after our Third Five-Year Plan that we will establish 
diplomatic relations with the United States, that is, eighteen years or 
even more from the day of liberation. We are in no hurry to take 
our seat in the United Nations, just as we are in no hurry to establish 
diplomatic relations with the United States. We adopt this policy to 
deprive the United States of as much political capital as possible 
and put it in the wrong and in an isolated position. You bar us from 
the United Nations and donšt want to establish diplomatic relations 
with us; all right, but the longer you stall, the more you will be in 
debt to us. The longer you stall, the more you will be in the wrong 
and the more isolated you will become in your own country and 
before world opinion. Once I told an American in Yenan, the United 
States can go on withholding recognition of our government for a 
hundred years, but I doubt if it can withhold it in the 101st. One day 
the United States will have to establish diplomatic relations with us.

364 MAO TSETUNG 
When the Americans come to China then and look around, they will 
find it too late for regrets. For this land of China will have become 
quite different, with its house swept clean and the ŗfour pests˛ 
eliminated; they wonšt find many friends here and they canšt do much 
even if they spread a few germs. 
Since World War II, the capitalist countries have been very 
unstable and in deep turmoil, with anxiety widespread among their 
people. There is anxiety in all countries, China included. But there 
is less here anyway. Look into the matter and see who is actually 
afraid of whom ‹ the socialist countries of the imperialist countries, 
principally the United States, or the other way round. I say there is 
fear on both sides. The question is, which side is more afraid of the 
other? Išm inclined to think that the imperialists are more afraid of 
us. There may be some danger in making such an assessment, that is, 
our people may all go to bed and sleep for three days on end. So we 
must take two possibilities into account. In addition to the favourable 
possibility, there is the unfavourable one, and that is the imperialists 
may go berserk. They harbour evil designs and are always out to 
make trouble. Of course, today it is not so easy for them to start 
another world war, for they have to think of the consequences. 
Now a few words about Sino-Soviet relations. In my view, 
wrangling is inevitable. Let no one imagine that there is no wrangling 
between Communist Parties. How can there be no wrangling in this 
world of ours? Marxism is a wrangling ism, dealing as it does with 
contradictions and struggles. Contradictions are always present, and 
where there are contradictions there are struggles. Now there are some 
contradictions between China and the Soviet Union. The way they 
think, the way they do things and their traditional habits are different 
from ours. So we must work on them. I always say that we should work 
on our comrades. Some people say, since they are Communists, they 
should be as good as we are, so why is such work needed? To work on 
people means doing united front work, working on the democratic 
personages, but why on Communists? It is wrong to look at the matter 
this way. There are different opinions inside the Communist Party itself. 
Some people have joined the Party organizationally, but ideologically 
they still need to be straightened out. And even among veteran cadres 
there are some who do not talk the same language as we do. Therefore, 
it is often necessary to have heart-to-heart talks, confer individually 
or collectively and hold meetings more than once to help people 
straighten out their thinking.

365 TALKS AT CONFERENCE OF PARTY COMMITTEE SECRETARIES 
In my opinion, circumstances are more powerful than individuals, 
even than high officials. The force of circumstances will make it 
impossible for those die-hard elements in the Soviet Union to get 
anywhere if they continue to push their great-nation chauvinism. Our 
present policy is still to help them by talking things over with them 
face to face. This time when our delegation went to the Soviet Union, 
we came straight to the point on a number of questions. I told Comrade 
Chou En-lai over the phone that these people are blinded by their 
material gains and the best way to deal with them is to give them a good 
dressing down. What are their material gains? Nothing but 50 million 
tons of steel, 400 million tons of coal, and 80 million tons of petroleum. 
Does this amount to much? Not at all. Now at the sight of this much 
their heads are swelled. What Communists! What Marxists! I say 
multiply all that tenfold, or even a hundredfold, it still doesnšt amount 
to much. All you have done is to extract something from the earth, turn 
it into steel and make some cars, planes, and what not. What is so 
remarkable about that? And yet you make all this such a heavy burden 
on your backs that you even cast away revolutionary principles. Isnšt 
this being blinded by material gains? If one attains high office, one can 
be blinded by material gain too. To be the first secretary is some kind 
of material gain, which is also liable to swell onešs head. When a manšs 
head gets too swelled, we have to give him a good bawling out one way 
or another. This time in Moscow, Comrade Chou En-lai did not stand 
on ceremony and took them on, and consequently they kicked up a 
row. This is good, straightening things out face to face. They tried to 
influence us and we tried to influence them. However, we didnšt come 
straight to the point on every question, we didnšt play all our cards but 
kept some up our sleeves. There will always be contradictions. As long 
as things are tolerable on the whole, we can seek common grounds and 
reserve differences, to be dealt with later. If they insist on having 
their own way, sooner or later we will have to bring everything into 
the open. 
As for us, we mustnšt talk big in our external propaganda. 
We must always be modest and prudent and must, so to speak, tuck 
our tail between our legs. We must continue to learn from the Soviet 
Union. However, we must do it selectively, learning only what is 
advanced and not what is backward. In regard to what is backward 
there is another way of learning ‹ just donšt. As for their mistakes, 
we can avoid repeating them if we know about them. As for those 
things of theirs which are useful to us, we must learn them by all

MAO TSE-TUNG 
FROM MARX 
TO MAO 

 
NOT FOR 
COMMERCIAL 
DISTRIBUTION 
366 
means. We shall learn what is useful from every country in the 
world. One should go everywhere in search of knowledge. To go to one 
place only would be monotonous. 
Fourth, let a hundred flowers blossom and a hundred schools of 
thought contend. This policy was advanced following the repudiation 
of the counter-revolutionary Hu Feng clique, and I think it remains 
correct because it accords with dialectics. 
Concerning dialectics Lenin said, ŗIn brief, dialectics can be defined 
as the doctrine of the unity of opposites. This grasps the kernel of 
dialectics, but it requires explanations and development.˛2 It is our 
job to explain and develop the doctrine. It needs to be explained, and 
so far we have done too little. And it needs to be developed; with our 
rich experience in revolution, we ought to develop this doctrine. Lenin 
also said, ŗThe unity (coincidence, identity, equal action) of opposites 
is conditional, temporary, transitory, relative. The struggle of mutually 
exclusive opposites is absolute, just as development and motion are 
absolute.˛3 Proceeding from this concept, we have advanced the 
policy of letting a hundred flowers blossom and a hundred schools of 
thought contend. 
Truth stands in contrast to falsehood and develops in struggle 
with it. The beautiful stands in contrast to the ugly and develops in 
struggle with it. The same holds true of good and bad, that is, good 
deeds and good people stand in contrast to bad deeds and bad people 
and develop in struggle with them. In short, fragrant flowers stand 
in contrast to poisonous weeds and develop in struggle with them. It 
is a dangerous policy to prohibit people from coming into contact with 
the false, the ugly and the hostile, with idealism and metaphysics and 
with the twaddle of Confucius, Lao Tzu and Chiang Kai-shek. It will 
lead to mental deterioration, one-track minds, and unpreparedness to 
face the world and meet challenges. 
In philosophy, materialism and idealism form a unity of opposites 
and struggle with each other. The same is true of another pair of 
opposites, dialectics and metaphysics. Whenever one talks about 
philosophy, one cannot do without these two pairs of opposites. Now 
in the Soviet Union they will have nothing to do with such ŗpairs˛ but 
are going in only for ŗsingles˛, asserting that only fragrant flowers, 
but not poisonous weeds, grow there, and denying the existence of 
idealism and metaphysics in a socialist country. As a matter of fact, 
idealism, metaphysics and poisonous weeds are found in every country. 
In the Soviet Union many of the poisonous weeds appear in the

367 TALKS AT CONFERENCE OF PARTY COMMITTEE SECRETARIES 
name of fragrant flowers, and many absurd statements bear the label 
of materialism or socialist realism. We openly recognize the struggle 
between materialism and idealism, between dialectics and metaphysics, 
and between fragrant flowers and poisonous weeds. This struggle 
will go on for ever and will move a step forward at every stage. 
If you comrades here already know materialism and dialectics, I 
would like to advise you to supplement your knowledge by some study 
of their opposites, that is, idealism and metaphysics. You should read 
Kant and Hegel and Confucius and Chiang Kai-shek, which are all 
negative stuff. If you know nothing about idealism and metaphysics, 
if you have never waged any struggle against them, your materialism 
and dialectics will not be solid. The shortcoming of some of our Partyšs 
members and intellectuals is precisely that they know too little about 
the negative stuff. Having read a few books by Marx, they just repeat 
what is in them and sound rather monotonous. Their speeches and 
articles are not convincing. If you donšt study the negative stuff, you 
wonšt be able to refute it. Neither Marx nor Engels nor Lenin was 
like that. They made great efforts to learn and study all sorts of 
things, contemporary and past, and taught other people to do likewise. 
The three component parts of Marxism came into being in the 
course of their study of, as well as their struggle with, such bourgeois 
things as German classical philosophy, English classical political 
economy and French utopian socialism. In this respect Stalin was 
not as good. For instance, in his time, German classical idealist 
philosophy was described as a reaction on the part of the German 
aristocracy to the French revolution. This conclusion totally negates 
German classical idealist philosophy. Stalin negated German military 
science, alleging that it was no longer of any use and that books by 
Clausewitz4 should no longer be read since the Germans had been 
defeated. 
Stalin had a fair amount of metaphysics in him and he taught 
many people to follow metaphysics. In the History of the Communist 
Party of the Soviet Union (Bolsheviks), Short Course, Stalin says that 
Marxist dialectics has four principal features. As the first feature he 
talks of the interconnection of things, as if all things happened to be 
interconnected for no reason at all. What then are the things that are 
interconnected? It is the two contradictory aspects of a thing that are 
interconnected. Everything has two contradictory aspects. As the 
fourth feature he talks of the internal contradiction in all things, but 
then he deals only with the struggle of opposites, without mentioning

368 MAO TSETUNG 
their unity. According to the basic law of dialectics, the unity of 
opposites, there is at once struggle and unity between the opposites, 
which are both mutually exclusive and interconnected and which 
under given conditions transform themselves into each other. 
Stalinšs viewpoint is reflected in the entry on ŗidentity˛ in the 
Shorter Dictionary of Philosophy, fourth edition, compiled in the 
Soviet Union. It is said there: ŗThere can be no identity between war 
and peace, between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat, between life 
and death and other such phenomena, because they are fundamentally 
opposed to each other and mutually exclusive.˛ In other words, between 
these fundamentally opposed phenomena there is no identity in 
the Marxist sense; rather, they are solely mutually exclusive, not interconnected, 
and incapable of transforming themselves into each other 
under given conditions. This interpretation is utterly wrong. 
In their view, war is war and peace is peace, the two are mutually 
exclusive and entirely unconnected, and war cannot be transformed 
into peace, nor peace into war. Lenin quoted Clausewitz, ŗWar is the 
continuation of politics by other means.˛5 Struggle in peace-time is 
politics, so is war, though certain special means are used. War and 
peace are both mutually exclusive and interconnected and can be 
transformed into each other under given conditions. If war is not 
brewing in peace-time, how can it possibly break out all of a sudden? 
If peace is not brewing in wartime, how can it suddenly come about? 
If life and death cannot be transformed into each other, then 
please tell me where living things come from. Originally there was 
only non-living matter on earth, and living things did not come into 
existence until later, when they were transformed from non-living 
matter, that is, dead matter. All living matter undergoes a process of 
metabolism: it grows, reproduces and perishes. While life is in progress, 
life and death are engaged in a constant struggle and are being 
transformed into each other all the time. 
If the bourgeoisie and the proletariat cannot transform themselves 
into each other, how come that through revolution the proletariat 
becomes the ruler and the bourgeoisie the ruled? For instance, we 
stood in diametrical opposition to Chiang Kai-shekšs Kuomintang. As 
a result of the mutual struggle and the mutual exclusion of the two 
opposing sides, a change took place in our status and theirs, that is, 
they turned from the ruler into the ruled, whereas we turned from 
the ruled into the ruler. Those who fled to Taiwan were only one-tenth 
of the Kuomintang, those remaining on the mainland accounting

369 TALKS AT CONFERENCE OF PARTY COMMITTEE SECRETARIES 
for nine-tenths. The latter are being remoulded by us; this is a case 
of the unity of opposites under new circumstances. As for the onetenth 
who have gone to Taiwan, our relationship with them is still 
a unity of opposites, and they, too, will be transformed through 
struggle. 
Stalin failed to see the connection between the struggle of 
opposites and the unity of opposites. Some people in the Soviet Union 
are so metaphysical and rigid in their thinking that they think a thing 
has to be either one or the other, refusing to recognize the unity of 
opposites. Hence, political mistakes are made. We adhere to the 
concept of the unity of opposites and adopt the policy of letting a 
hundred flowers blossom and a hundred schools of thought contend. 
When fragrant flowers are blossoming, you will inevitably find poisonous 
weeds growing. This is nothing to be afraid of, under given 
conditions they can even be turned to good account. 
Some phenomena are unavoidable at a given time, and after their 
occurrence a way will be found to cope with them. For example, in 
the past rigid control was exercised over the repertory of drama and 
this or that piece was banned. Once the ban was lifted, all sorts of 
plays about ghosts and monsters such as The Story of a Haunted Black 
Basin and Retribution by the God of Thunder appeared on the stage. 
What do you think of this phenomenon? I think their appearance is 
all to the good. Many people have never seen ghosts and monsters on 
the stage, and when they see these ugly images, they will realize that 
things are being staged which should not be staged. Then these shows 
will be criticized, changed or banned. Some say that a few local operas 
are so bad that even the local people disapprove of them. In my opinion, 
it is all right to stage some of them. Let practice decide whether they 
can survive and how large an audience they will draw, so donšt be in 
a rush to ban them. 
We have now decided to increase the circulation of News for 
Reference from 2,000 to 400,000 so that it can be read by people both 
inside and outside the Party. This is a case of a Communist Party 
publishing a newspaper for imperialism, as it even carries reactionary 
statements vilifying us. Why should we do this? The purpose is to 
put poisonous weeds and what is non-Marxist and anti-Marxist before 
our comrades, before the masses and the democratic personages, so 
that they can be tempered. Donšt seal these things up, otherwise it 
would be dangerous. In this respect our approach is different from that 
of the Soviet Union. Why is vaccination necessary? A virus is artificially

370 MAO TSETUNG 
introduced into a manšs body to wage ŗgerm warfare˛ against him 
in order to bring about immunity. The publication of News for Reference 
and other negative teaching material is ŗvaccination˛ to increase the 
political immunity of the cadres and the masses. 
Harmful statements should be refuted forcefully and in good time. 
A case in point is the article ŗOn Unavoidability˛ in the Peoplešs 
Daily, which asserts that mistakes in our work are not unavoidable 
and that we use the word ŗunavoidable˛ as an excuse for these 
mistakes. This is a harmful statement. Perhaps that article should not 
have been published. Since it was to be published, preparations ought 
to have been made to meet the challenge with a timely refutation. In 
our revolution and construction some mistakes are unavoidable in 
any case, as past experience has proved. The article ŗMore on the 
Historical Experience of the Dictatorship of the Proletariat˛ deals 
precisely with a major case of unavoidability. Who among our comrades 
wants to make mistakes? Mistakes are not recognized until after 
they are made, and at first everyone considers himself a 100 per cent 
Marxist. Of course we should not think that since mistakes are unavoidable, 
it does not matter if we make some. Nevertheless, it must be 
admitted that it is definitely impossible not to make any mistake in 
our work. The point is to make fewer and smaller ones. 
Bad trends in society must definitely be overcome. Whether inside 
the Party, among the democratic personages or among students, bad 
trends, that is, mistakes which are not those of a few individuals but 
which have developed into trends, must definitely be overcome. The 
way to do so is through reasoning. So long as the reasoning is convincing, 
it is possible to overcome bad trends. If it is not convincing 
and only a few words of condemnation are used, these trends will go 
from bad to worse. Where major issues are involved, full preparations 
should be made, and wholly convincing refutations should be published 
when success is certain. Party secretaries should personally supervise 
the newspapers and write articles. 
Of the two opposing aspects of a unity in struggle with each 
other, one must be principal and the other secondary. In our state 
which is a dictatorship of the proletariat, poisonous weeds should of 
course not be allowed to spread unchecked. Whether inside the Party 
or in ideological or in literary and art circles, we must endeavour to 
make sure that fragrant flowers and Marxism occupy the chief and 
dominant position. Poisonous weeds and what is non-Marxist and 
anti-Marxist must be kept in the subordinate position. In a sense, the

371 TALKS AT CONFERENCE OF PARTY COMMITTEE SECRETARIES 
relationship between the two can be compared to that between the 
nucleus and the electrons in an atom. An atom has two parts, the 
nucleus and the electrons. The nucleus is very small but very heavy. 
The electrons are very light, in fact an electron weighs only about 
1/1,800th of the lightest nucleus. The nucleus of an atom can also be 
split, only its binding force is stronger. The electrons are somewhat 
guilty of ŗliberalism˛, with some going and others coming. The 
relationship between the nucleus and the electrons in an atom is also 
a unity of opposites, one being principal and the other secondary. 
Seen from this viewpoint, the policy of letting a hundred flowers 
blossom and a hundred schools of thought contend is beneficial, not 
harmful. 
Fifth, the question of disturbances. In socialist society the creation 
of disturbances by small numbers of people presents a new problem 
which is well worth looking into. 
Everything in society is a unity of opposites. Socialist society is 
likewise a unity of opposites; this unity of opposites exists both within 
the ranks of the people and between ourselves and the enemy. The basic 
reason why small numbers of people still create disturbances in our 
country is that all kinds of opposing aspects, positive and negative, 
still exist in society, as do opposing classes, opposing people and 
opposing views. 
We have basically completed the socialist transformation of the 
ownership of the means of production, but the bourgeoisie are still 
around, and also the landlords and rich peasants, local tyrants and 
counter-revolutionaries. They are the expropriated classes and are being 
oppressed by us, they nurse hatred in their hearts and many of them 
will give vent to it at the first opportunity. At the time of the Hungarian 
incident they hoped that Hungary would be thrown into chaos and, 
best of all, China too. That is their class instinct. 
The queer statements of some democratic personages and professors 
are also in opposition to our views. They preach idealism 
whereas we advocate materialism. They say that the Communist Party 
is unable to direct the sciences, that there is nothing superior about 
socialism and that co-operative transformation is very bad indeed, 
whereas we say that the Communist Party has the ability to direct the 
sciences, that socialism is superior and that co-operative transformation 
is excellent. 
Among the students there are also quite a few who stand opposed 
to us. Since most of todayšs college students come from exploiting

372 MAO TSETUNG 
class families, no wonder some of them are opposed to us. Such persons 
can be found in Peking, Shihchiachuang and elsewhere. 
There are certain persons in society who vilify our provincial Party 
committees as ŗmummies˛. Are they mummies? In my view, they 
are not dead at all, so how can they be mummies? These fellows vilify 
our provincial Party committees as ŗmummies˛, we say they are not, 
and the two views stand opposed to each other. 
Opposing views are also found inside our Party. For instance, two 
opposing views, pro and con, exist about the Twentieth Congress of 
the CPSU finishing Stalin off with one blow. Differences of opinion 
constantly occur inside the Party; no sooner has unanimity been 
reached than new differences arise within a month or two. 
With respect to the way people think, subjectivism and seeking 
truth from the facts are opposed to each other. I believe there will 
always be subjectivism. Will there be no trace of subjectivism ten 
thousand years from now? I donšt think so. 
Opposing sides exist in a factory, an agricultural co-operative, a 
school, an organization or a family, in short, in every place and at 
every time. Therefore, disturbances by small numbers of people in 
society will occur every year. 
Then, should we be afraid of disturbances or not? We Communists 
have never feared imperialism, Chiang Kai-shekšs Kuomintang, the 
landlord class or the bourgeoisie, and it would be really strange if we 
should now be afraid of students creating disturbances or peasants 
kicking up a row in a co-operative! Only Tuan Chi-jui and Chiang 
Kai-shek were afraid of disturbances by the masses. Some people in 
Hungary and in the Soviet Union are afraid as well. We should adopt an 
active, and not a passive, attitude towards disturbances by small 
numbers of people, that is to say, we should not be afraid of them 
but be ready for them. Being afraid is no solution. The more you are 
afraid, the more the ghosts will haunt you. If you are not afraid of 
disturbances and are mentally prepared for them, you will not be 
put on the defensive. I think we should be prepared for major incidents. 
When you are thus prepared, such incidents may not happen, 
but when you are not, disturbances will occur. 
In the development of a thing, there are only two possibilities, either 
a good one or a bad one. Both should be taken into consideration in 
dealing with international and domestic problems. You say this will be a 
year of peace, well, perhaps it will be. But it would not be good to base 
your work on this estimate, rather you should base it on the assumption

373 TALKS AT CONFERENCE OF PARTY COMMITTEE SECRETARIES 
that the worst may happen. Internationally, the worst would be at 
most the outbreak of a world war and the dropping of atom bombs. 
At home, it would be at most nation-wide riots, or a ŗHungarian 
incident˛, with several million people rising up against us, occupying 
a few hundred counties and advancing on Peking. All we would need 
to do then would be to go back to Yenan where we came from. We 
have already lived in Peking for seven years, and what if we are 
requested to return to Yenan in the eighth? Would we all lament our 
loss and cry our hearts out? Of course we donšt intend to return to 
Yenan now, to ŗmake a feint and turn the horse round to retreat˛. 
At the Seventh Congress, I said that we should anticipate seventeen 
difficulties, among them, a thousand li of parched land, severe natural 
calamities, famine and the loss of all the county towns. It was because 
we had taken all this into account that the initiative was always in our 
hands. Now that we have won state power, we should still anticipate 
the worst possibilities. 
In some cases, disturbances by small numbers of people were due 
to bureaucracy and subjectivism on the part of the leadership and to 
mistakes in our political or economic policies. In other cases, they 
were due to the incorrectness not of our policies but of our method 
of work, which was too rigid. Another factor was the existence of 
counter-revolutionaries and bad elements. It is impossible completely 
to avoid disturbances by small numbers of people. Here is a case of 
unavoidability again. But as long as we do not make major mistakes 
in political line, big nation-wide disturbances will not occur. Even 
if they do occur owing to such mistakes, I think they will quickly 
subside and not lead to national ruin. Of course, if we fail to do our 
work well, it is still quite possible that history will to some extent 
reverse its course and move backward a little. The Revolution of 
1911 did suffer reversals; after it dethroned the emperor, another emperor 
and then the warlords came on the scene. Problems give rise 
to revolution and after the revolution other problems crop up. If a 
big nation-wide disturbance flares up, I am sure the masses and their 
leaders, maybe we ourselves or maybe others, will certainly come 
forward to clean up the situation. Through a big disturbance of this 
kind, our country will emerge all the stronger after the boil has burst. 
Whatever happens, China will march on. 
As for small numbers of people creating disturbances, in the first 
place, we do not encourage this, and in the second, if some people are 
bent on creating disturbances, then let them. Freedom of procession

374 MAO TSETUNG 
and demonstration is provided for in our Constitution, and although 
freedom to strike is not provided for, it is not prohibited either, so 
to go on strike does not violate the Constitution. If some people want 
to stage a strike or present a petition and you obstinately try to prevent 
them, that is not good. In my opinion, whoever wants to make trouble 
may do so for as long as he pleases, and if one month is not enough, 
he may go on for two, in short, the matter should not be wound up 
until he feels he has had enough. If you hastily wind it up, sooner 
or later he will make trouble again. Where students make trouble, 
donšt give the school a vacation but fight the matter out as at the 
Battle of Chihpi in ancient times. What good will come of this? It 
will help to expose problems to the full and to draw a clear distinction 
between right and wrong, so that everyone can be tempered and those 
who are unreasonable, those bad types, will suffer defeat. 
You should learn this art of leadership. Donšt always try to keep 
a lid on everything. Whenever people utter queer remarks, go on 
strike or present a petition, you try to beat them back with one blow, 
always thinking that these things ought not to occur. Why is it then 
that these things which ought not to occur still do? This very fact 
proves that they ought to occur. You forbid people to strike, to petition 
or to make unfavourable comments, you simply resort to repression 
in every case, until one day you become a Rakosi. This is true 
both inside and outside the Party. As for queer remarks, strange 
happenings and contradictions, it is better to have them exposed. 
Contradictions must be exposed and then resolved. 
Disturbances should be differentiated into several categories and 
handled accordingly. In one category there are the justifiable disturbances, 
in which case we should admit our mistakes and correct 
them. In another category there are the unjustifiable ones, and these 
we must rebut. Disturbances having good grounds ought to occur; 
groundless ones will get nowhere. In yet another category, the disturbances 
are partly justifiable and partly not, and we should accept 
what is justifiable and criticize what is not; here we must not give 
way at every step in total disregard of principle and promise to do 
whatever is demanded. Donšt be too ready to use force or to open 
fire on people, except in the case of a real, large-scale counterrevolutionary 
rebellion which necessitates armed suppression. In the 
March 18th Massacre6 which he staged, Tuan Chi-jui resorted to 
shooting, and he eventually brought himself down. We mustnšt follow 
his example.

375 TALKS AT CONFERENCE OF PARTY COMMITTEE SECRETARIES 
We must work well among those involved in disturbances to split 
them and differentiate the many from the few. Give the many proper 
guidance and education so that they can gradually change, and donšt 
hurt them. I believe it is true everywhere that people at the two poles 
are few while those in the middle are many. Win over the middle 
section step by step and we will get the upper hand. We must make 
an analysis of riot leaders. Some of those who dare to take the lead 
in-rioting may become useful people through education. As for the 
handful of bad types, we need not arrest, jail or expel any except 
those guilty of the gravest offences. Let them stay on in their own 
unit but strip them of their political capital, isolate them and use 
them as teachers by negative example. When Comrade Teng Hsiaoping 
went to make a speech at Tsinghua University, he asked the 
student who had threatened to kill thousands and tens of thousands 
of people to serve as a teacher. A fellow like him has no arms, not 
even a pistol, why should you be afraid of him? If you expel him 
right away, you will have a clean house but then youšll not win general 
approval. Expelled from your place, hešll have to find a job in some 
other place. Therefore, to expel people like him in haste is not a good 
way. Such people represent the reactionary classes, and it is not a 
question of just a few individuals. To deal with them too crudely is 
good riddance, but their function as teachers by negative example will 
not be fully utilized. In the Soviet Union, when college students 
create trouble, the practice is to expel a few ringleaders, and it is 
not realized that bad things can serve us as teaching material. Of 
course, dictatorship must be exercised over the very few who stage 
such counter-revolutionary rebellions as the Hungarian incident. 
We should allow democratic personages to challenge us with 
opposing views and give them a free hand to criticize us. Otherwise 
we would be a little like the Kuomintang. The Kuomintang was 
mortally afraid of criticism and went in fear and trepidation each time 
the Political Council was in session. Criticisms from democratic 
personages can be of only two kinds, those that are wrong and those 
that are not. Criticisms that are not wrong can help remedy our 
shortcomings while wrong ones must be refuted. As for such types as 
Liang Shu-ming, Peng Yi-hu and Chang Nai-chi, if they want to fart, 
let them. That will be to our advantage, for everybody can judge 
whether the smell is good or foul, and through discussion the majority 
can be won over and these types isolated. If they want to create 
trouble, let them have their fill of it. He who perpetrates many

376 MAO TSETUNG 
injustices is doomed to self-ruin. The falser their words and the 
greater their mistakes, the better, and the more isolated they will 
become and the better they will educate the people by negative example. 
We must both unite with and struggle against the democratic personages 
and, according to the circumstances, work among them on our own 
initiative in some cases, while in others let them expose themselves 
before we take action rather than striking first. 
The struggle against bourgeois ideology, against bad men and 
bad things, is a long-term one which will take several decades or 
even centuries. The working class, the other sections of the working 
people and the revolutionary intellectuals will gain experience and 
temper themselves in the course of struggle, and this is a great 
advantage. 
A bad thing has a dual character ‹ good as well as bad. Many 
comrades are still not clear on this point. A bad thing contains good 
factors as well. To regard bad people and bad things as solely bad 
is a one-sided, metaphysical approach to problems; it is not a dialectical 
approach or a Marxist way of looking at things. On the one 
hand, bad people and bad things are bad, but on the other they can 
play a good role. For instance, a bad fellow like Wang Ming plays 
a good role as a teacher by negative example. Similarly, a good thing 
contains bad factors as well. For instance, the tremendous victories 
won in the seven years since liberation, especially those won last year, 
have given some comrades swelled heads, made them conceited, and 
they are caught unawares at the sudden outbreak of disturbances by 
small numbers of people. 
The root cause of being afraid of disturbances on the one hand 
and handling them crudely on the other is the refusal to recognize 
in onešs thinking that socialist society is a unity of opposites, in which 
contradictions, classes and class struggle exist. 
For a long time Stalin denied that contradictions between the 
relations of production and the productive forces and between the 
superstructure and the economic base exist under the socialist system. 
Not until the year before his death when he wrote Economic Problems 
of Socialism in the U.S.S.R. did he hesitantly mention the contradiction 
between the relations of production and the productive forces under 
the socialist system and admit that incorrect policies and improper 
adjustments would lead to trouble. Even then he did not pose the 
question of the contradictions between the relations of production and 
the productive forces and between the superstructure and the economic

377 TALKS AT CONFERENCE OF PARTY COMMITTEE SECRETARIES 
base under the socialist system as a question of over-all importance, 
nor did he realize that they are the basic contradictions which propel 
socialist society forward. He thought all was secure under his rule. 
We on our part mustnšt presume that all is secure under our rule; it 
is secure and yet insecure. 
According to dialectics, as surely as a man must die, the socialist 
system as a historical phenomenon will come to an end some day, to 
be negated by the communist system. If it is asserted that the socialist 
system and its relations of production and superstructure will not die 
out, what kind of Marxism would that be? Wouldnšt it be the same 
as a religious creed or theology that preaches an everlasting God? 
How to handle the contradictions between the people and the 
enemy and those among the people in socialist society is a branch of 
science worthy of careful study. In the conditions prevailing in our 
country, although the present class struggle partly consists of contradictions 
between the people and the enemy, it finds expression on 
a vast scale in contradictions among the people. The disturbances 
stirred up by a small number of people at the moment are a reflection 
of this situation. If the earth is to perish ten thousand years from now, 
then at least disturbances will go on occurring for these ten thousand 
years. However, things happening in so remote a future as ten thousand 
years hence wonšt be our business. What we are concerned with is to 
make serious efforts to gain experience in handling this problem within 
the space of several five-year plans. 
Strengthen our work and overcome our mistakes and shortcomings. 
What kind of work should be strengthened? Political and ideological 
work in the spheres of industry, agriculture, commerce, culture and 
education as well as in the army, government and Party. You are all 
preoccupied with your professional duties, with your day-to-day work 
in economic, cultural and educational, national defence and Party 
matters, but if you neglect political and ideological work, that will be 
very dangerous. Now that our Party General Secretary Comrade 
Teng Hsiao-ping has turned up personally at Tsinghua University and 
given a talk, I would like all of you to get cracking. The leading comrades 
of the Central Committee as well as of the provincial, municipal 
and autonomous region Party committees should all personally take 
on political and ideological work. After World War II, the Communist 
Party of the Soviet Union and certain East European Parties no longer 
concerned themselves with the basic principles of Marxism. They no 
longer concerned themselves with class struggle, the dictatorship of

378 MAO TSETUNG 
the proletariat, Party leadership, democratic centralism and the ties 
between the Party and the masses, and there wasnšt much of a 
political atmosphere. The Hungarian incident was the consequence. 
We must adhere to the basic theory of Marxism. Every province, every 
municipality and autonomous region should take up theoretical work 
and systematically train Marxist theorists and critics. 
Streamline our organizations. The state is an instrument of class 
struggle. A class is not to be equated with the state which is formed 
by a number of people (a small number) from the class in the dominant 
position. Office work does need some people, but the fewer the better. 
At present the state apparatus is bloated, with many departments 
and with many people sitting idle in their offices. This problem cries 
out for solution. First, cut the personnel; second, make appropriate 
arrangements and see to it that those to be discharged have a place 
to go to. The above applies equally to the Party, the government 
and the army. 
Go down to the grass roots and study the problems there. I hope 
that the comrades on the Central Committee and the leading comrades 
in charge of the provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions 
and of the central departments will all do this. I have heard that 
many leading comrades no longer do so, which is not good. The 
central organs are miserable places where you can get no knowledge 
at all. If you are seeking knowledge, you wonšt find any by staying 
put in your office. The factories, the co-operatives and the shops are 
the real sources of knowledge. If you stay in your office, you will 
never get a clear idea of how factories, co-operatives and shops are 
run. The higher the office, the less the knowledge. To tackle problems, 
you must go down personally or invite people to come up. If you 
neither go down nor invite people to come up, you wonšt be able to 
solve any problem. I suggest that the secretary of a provincial, municipal 
or autonomous region Party committee serve concurrently as secretary 
of a county Party committee or of a factory or school Party committee 
and that the secretary of a prefectural or a county Party committee 
do likewise in a subordinate unit. In this way they can gain experience 
for giving over-all guidance. 
Keep in close touch with the masses. Alienation from the masses 
and bureaucracy are sure to bring punishment upon onešs head. The 
Hungarian leaders were ignorant of the conditions among the masses 
for lack of investigation and study, and when large-scale disturbances 
broke out they did not know what had gone wrong. There

379 TALKS AT CONFERENCE OF PARTY COMMITTEE SECRETARIES 
have been cases of late in which the leaders of some of our central 
departments and provincial, municipal and autonomous region Party 
committees did not keep tabs on the ideological trends among the 
masses, were completely unaware of the disturbances and riots being 
brewed by some people and were consequently at a loss when something 
happened. We must take warning from this state of affairs. 
Comrades on the Central Committee and leading comrades in charge 
of the provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions and of the 
central departments should take some time out each year to visit 
grass-roots units such as factories, agricultural co-operatives, shops 
and schools to make investigation and study and find out the political 
conditions of the masses, how many are advanced, backward or in 
between and how well our mass work is going, and thus get a clear 
picture of the situation. Rely on the working class, on the poor and 
lower-middle peasants and on the advanced elements, for reliance 
there must be. Only thus can incidents such as that in Hungary 
be avoided. 
Sixth, the question of the legal system. I am going to make three 
points: the law must be observed, counter-revolutionaries must be 
eliminated, and our achievements in eliminating counter-revolutionaries 
must be affirmed. 
The law must be observed and the revolutionary legal system must 
not be undermined. Laws form part of the superstructure. Our laws 
are made by the working people themselves. They are designed to 
maintain revolutionary order and protect the interests of the working 
people, the socialist economic base and the productive forces. We 
require everybody, and not just the democratic personages, to respect 
the revolutionary legal system. 
Counter-revolutionaries must be eliminated. Where this task has 
not yet been completed according to plan, it must be completed this 
year, and if there are still loose ends to tie up, the work must be 
finished next year without fail. Some units went through the campaign 
to eliminate counter-revolutionaries but the work was not thorough, 
and it is necessary to clear them all out gradually in the course of 
struggle. There are not many counter-revolutionaries left, a fact that 
must be affirmed. Where disturbances break out, the masses will not 
follow the counter-revolutionaries, and those who do are few in number 
and do so only for a time. On the other hand, it must also be affirmed 
that there are still counter-revolutionaries and that the work of 
eliminating them is not yet finished.

380 MAO TSETUNG 
Our achievements in eliminating counter-revolutionaries must be 
affirmed. They are great achievements. There are also mistakes, which 
of course should be taken seriously. We should back up the cadres 
doing the work of eliminating counter-revolutionaries, and there 
mustnšt be any softening because of abuse from some democratic 
personages. These fellows have been at it day after day, they have 
nothing better to do after a good meal except abuse people; well, let 
them. In my opinion, the more abusive they are, the better; anyway no 
amount of abuse can controvert the three points Išve dealt with. 
No one knows how much abuse has been hurled at the Communist 
Party. The Kuomintang vilified us as ŗCommunist bandits˛, and if 
people had the slightest contact with us, they were accused of ŗhaving 
contact with bandits˛. In the end it is the ŗbandits˛ who have proved 
to be better than the ŗnon-bandits˛. From time immemorial, nothing 
progressive has ever been favourably received at first and everything 
progressive has invariably been the object of abuse. Marxism and the 
Communist Party have been abused from the very beginning. Even ten 
thousand years hence, things progressive will still be abused at the 
outset. 
Keep up the work of eliminating counter-revolutionaries, and 
eliminate them wherever they are found. The legal system must be 
respected. Acting in accordance with the law does not mean being 
bound hand and foot. It is wrong to be bound hand and foot and not 
to eliminate counter-revolutionaries where they are found. Be sure 
to act in accordance with the law and with hands and feet unfettered. 
Seventh, the question of agriculture. We should strive for a good 
harvest this year. A good harvest this year will give people a sense 
of security and significantly consolidate the co-operatives. In the Soviet 
Union and in some East European countries, agricultural collectivization 
invariably brought about decreases in grain production for a 
number of years. We have had agricultural co-operation for several 
years, and we went all out last year, yet, far from falling, our grain 
production has increased. If another good harvest is reaped this year, 
there will be no parallel in the history of the agricultural co-operative 
movement as well as in the history of the international communist 
movement. 
The whole Party should attach great importance to agriculture. 
Agriculture has vital bearing on the nationšs economy and the 
peoplešs livelihood. Take heed, for it is very dangerous not to grasp

381 TALKS AT CONFERENCE OF PARTY COMMITTEE SECRETARIES 
grain production. If this is ignored, there will be widespread disorder 
some day. 
(1) Agriculture is vital to a rural population of 500 million for the 
supply of grain, meat, edible oils and other agricultural products for 
daily use consumed at source. This portion of agricultural products 
consumed at source by the peasants is enormous. For instance, of the 
more than 360,000 million catties of grain produced last year, commodity 
grain, including grain delivered to the state, accounted for 
some 80,000 million catties, or less than a quarter of the total, while 
the remaining three quarters and more went to the peasants. If 
agriculture is in good shape and the peasants are self-supporting, then 
500 million people will feel secure. 
(2) Agriculture is vital for the supply of food to the population 
in urban, industrial and mining areas. Only when the production of 
agricultural products for the market is increased can the needs of the 
industrial population be met and industry developed. With rising 
agricultural production, we should gradually increase the proportion 
of agricultural products entering the market, and particularly commodity 
grain. When everybody has a regular meal, we need not worry 
about a handful of people stirring up trouble in schools and factories. 
(3) Agriculture is the chief source of raw materials for light industry, 
for which the countryside provides an important market. Only 
when agriculture is developed can light industry get enough raw 
materials and find a vast market for its goods. 
(4) Here again the countryside is an important market for heavy 
industry. For example, chemical fertilizer, farm machinery of all kinds 
and part of our electric power, coal and petroleum are all supplied 
to the rural areas, and the railways, the highways and the large water 
conservancy projects all serve agriculture. Now that we have built up 
a socialist agricultural economy, the countryside is becoming an immense 
market for our growing heavy and light industries. 
(5) Agricultural products make up the bulk of our exports at 
present. They earn foreign exchange with which to import various kinds 
of industrial equipment. 
(6) Agriculture is an important source of accumulation. When 
expanded, it can provide more funds for the development of industry. 
Therefore we may say that in a sense agriculture is itself industry. 
We should persuade the industrial departments to face the 
countryside and support agriculture. This must be done if industrialization 
is to be realized.

382 MAO TSETUNG 
In the earnings of the co-operatives, what should be the right 
proportion between the accumulation earmarked for agriculture and the 
accumulation taken from agriculture by the state? Please consider this 
matter and work out the appropriate proportion. The aim is to enable 
agriculture to expand reproduction, to provide a larger market for 
industry and to become a greater source of accumulation. First, let 
agriculture accumulate more for itself, for only then can it accumulate 
more for industry. If agriculture accumulated only for industry and 
very little or none for itself, that would mean ŗdraining the pond to 
get all the fish˛ and would only harm the development of industry. 
Attention should also be paid to the ratio between accumulation 
for the co-operative and the income of the co-operative members. In 
order to increase accumulation bit by bit, the co-operatives should 
make use of the law of value and adopt economic accounting, and they 
should be run with diligence and thrift. If there is a good harvest this 
year, their accumulation should be a little more than last year, but not 
too much, for itšs better to let the peasants have more to eat first. 
Accumulate more in good years and less or none in years when the 
crops half fail or totally fail. In other words, accumulation proceeds 
in a wave-like manner or in spirals. Since everything in the world 
is itself a contradiction, a unity of opposites, its movement and 
development is wave-like. The light emitted by the sun is called 
light waves, the waves transmitted by radio stations are called radio 
waves, and sound is carried by sound waves. Water moves in water 
waves and heat in heat waves. In a sense, walking also proceeds in 
waves, the step-by-step movement constituting waves. Opera-singing 
also proceeds in waves, with the singer singing one line after another, 
never seven or eight lines all at the same time. Handwriting too is 
done in waves, for people write one word after another and not several 
hundred words with one stroke of the pen. Such is the undulatory nature 
of the movement of opposites in all things. 
In a word, we must act in accordance with dialectics. So said 
Comrade Teng Hsiao-ping. In my opinion, the whole Party should study 
dialectics and advocate acting in accordance with dialectics. The whole 
Party should pay attention to ideological and theoretical work, build 
up contingents of Marxist theoretical workers and devote greater efforts 
to studying and propagating Marxist theory. The Marxist theory of 
the unity of opposites must be applied in examining and handling the

383 TALKS AT CONFERENCE OF PARTY COMMITTEE SECRETARIES 
new problems of class contradiction and class struggle in socialist 
society and also the new problems in the international struggle. 
NOTES 
1 The payment of a fixed rate of interest was a means employed by the state 
in the course of socialist transformation to implement its policy of redemption with 
regard to the national bourgeoisiešs means of production. After the conversion of 
capitalist industry and commerce into joint state-private enterprises by whole trades 
in 1956, the state paid the national bourgeoisie a fixed annual rate of interest on 
the money value of their assets for a given period of time. In its nature this interest 
was still a form of exploitation. 
2 V. I. Lenin, ŗConspectus of Hegelšs The Science of Logic˛. 
3 V. I. Lenin, ŗOn the Question of Dialectics˛. 
4 Carl von Clausewitz (1780-1831), the well-known German bourgeois military 
scientist. Among his chief works is On War. For Stalinšs comment on Clausewitz see 
Stalinšs ŗLetter in Reply to Comrade Razin˛. 
5 V. I. Lenin, ŗWar and Revolution˛. 
6 In March 1926, during the war between Feng Yu-hsiangšs National Army and 
the northeastern warlord Chang Tso-lin, the Japanese imperialists brazenly sent 
naval vessels to provide cover for Changšs troops who were attacking Fengšs troops 
stationed at Taku Port. Thwarted, the Japanese aggressors, working hand in glove 
with seven other countries including Britain and the United States, sent the Chinese 
government an ultimatum, with insolent demands such as that for the dismantling of 
the defence works at Taku Port. On March 18, thousands of Peking workers, students 
and citizens held a protest rally in front of Tien An Men and started a demonstration. 
When the demonstrators reached the government building and demanded the rejection 
of the eight-power ultimatum, Tuan Chi-jui, the chief of the Northern warlord 
government, ordered the guards to fire and the demonstrators were slaughtered in 
cold blood.

ON THE CORRECT HANDLING OF 
CONTRADICTIONS AMONG THE PEOPLE 
February 27, 1957 
Our general subject is the correct handling of contradictions among 
the people. For convenience, let us discuss it under twelve sub-headings. 
Although reference will be made to contradictions between ourselves 
and the enemy, this discussion will centre on contradictions among 
the people. 
I. TWO TYPES OF CONTRADICTIONS 
DIFFERING IN NATURE 
Never before has our country been as united as it is today. The 
victories of the bourgeois-democratic revolution and of the socialist 
revolution and our achievements in socialist construction have rapidly 
changed the face of the old China. A still brighter future lies ahead 
for our motherland. The days of national disunity and chaos which 
the people detested are gone, never to return. Led by the working class 
and the Communist Party, our 600 million people, united as one, are 
engaged in the great task of building socialism. The unification of our 
country, the unity of our people and the unity of our various nationalities 
‹ these are the basic guarantees for the sure triumph of our cause. 
However, this does not mean that contradictions no longer exist in 
our society. To imagine that none exist is a naive idea which is at 
variance with objective reality. We are confronted with two types of 
social contradictions ‹ those between ourselves and the enemy and 
those among the people. The two are totally different in nature. 
Speech at the Eleventh Session (Enlarged) of the Supreme State Conference 
Comrade Mao Tsetung went over the verbatim record and made certain additions 
before its publication in the Peoplešs Daily on June 19, 1957. 
384

385 CORRECT HANDLING OF CONTRADICTIONS AMONG THE PEOPLE 
To understand these two different types of contradictions correctly, 
we must first be clear on what is meant by ŗthe people˛ and what is 
meant by ŗthe enemy˛. The concept of ŗthe people˛ varies in content 
in different countries and in different periods of history in a given 
country. Take our own country for example. During the War of 
Resistance Against Japan, all those classes, strata and social groups 
opposing Japanese aggression came within the category of the people, 
while the Japanese imperialists, their Chinese collaborators and the 
pro-Japanese elements were all enemies of the people. During the 
War of Liberation, the U.S. imperialists and their running dogs ‹ 
the bureaucrat-capitalists, the landlords and the Kuomintang reactionaries 
who represented these two classes ‹ were the enemies of 
the people, while the other classes, strata and social groups, which 
opposed them, all came within the category of the people. At the 
present stage, the period of building socialism, the classes, strata and 
social groups which favour, support and work for the cause of socialist 
construction all come within the category of the people, while the social 
forces and groups which resist the socialist revolution and are hostile 
to or sabotage socialist construction are all enemies of the people. 
The contradictions between ourselves and the enemy are antagonistic 
contradictions. Within the ranks of the people, the contradictions 
among the working people are non-antagonistic, while those between 
the exploited and the exploiting classes have a non-antagonistic as 
well as an antagonistic aspect. There have always been contradictions 
among the people, but they are different in content in each period of 
the revolution and in the period of building socialism. In the conditions 
prevailing in China today, the contradictions among the people comprise 
the contradictions within the working class, the contradictions 
within the peasantry, the contradictions within the intelligentsia, the 
contradictions between the working class and the peasantry, the contradictions 
between the workers and peasants on the one hand and 
the intellectuals on the other, the contradictions between the working 
class and other sections of the working people on the one hand and 
the national bourgeoisie on the other, the contradictions within the 
national bourgeoisie, and so on. Our Peoplešs Government is one that 
genuinely represents the peoplešs interests, it is a government that 
serves the people. Nevertheless, there are still certain contradictions 
between this government and the people. These include the contradictions 
between the interests of the state and the interests of the 
collective on the one hand and the interests of the individual on the

386 MAO TSETUNG 
other, between democracy and centralism, between the leadership and 
the led, and the contradictions arising from the bureaucratic style of 
work of some of the state personnel in their relations with the masses. 
All these are also contradictions among the people. Generally speaking, 
the fundamental identity of the peoplešs interests underlies the 
contradictions among the people. 
In our country, the contradiction between the working class and the 
national bourgeoisie comes under the category of contradictions among 
the people. By and large, the class struggle between the two is a class 
struggle within the ranks of the people, because the Chinese national 
bourgeoisie has a dual character. In the period of the bourgeoisdemocratic 
revolution, it had both a revolutionary and a conciliationist 
side to its character. In the period of the socialist revolution, exploitation 
of the working class for profit constitutes one side of the character 
of the national bourgeoisie, while its support of the Constitution and 
its willingness to accept socialist transformation constitute the other. 
The national bourgeoisie differs from the imperialists, the landlords 
and the bureaucrat-capitalists. The contradiction between the national 
bourgeoisie and the working class is one between exploiter and exploited, 
and is by nature antagonistic. But in the concrete conditions 
of China, this antagonistic contradiction between the two classes, if 
properly handled, can be transformed into a non-antagonistic one and 
be resolved by peaceful methods. However, the contradiction between 
the working class and the national bourgeoisie will change into a 
contradiction between ourselves and the enemy if we do not handle 
it properly and do not follow the policy of uniting with, criticizing 
and educating the national bourgeoisie, or if the national bourgeoisie 
does not accept this policy of ours. 
Since they are different in nature, the contradictions between ourselves 
and the enemy and the contradictions among the people must 
be resolved by different methods. To put it briefly, the former entail 
drawing a clear distinction between ourselves and the enemy, and the 
latter entail drawing a clear distinction between right and wrong. It 
is of course true that the distinction between ourselves and the enemy 
is also one of right and wrong. For example, the question of who is 
in the right, we or the domestic and foreign reactionaries, the imperialists, 
the feudalists and bureaucrat-capitalists, is also one of right 
and wrong, but it is in a different category from questions of right and 
wrong among the people.

387 CORRECT HANDLING OF CONTRADICTIONS AMONG THE PEOPLE 
Our state is a peoplešs democratic dictatorship led by the working 
class and based on the worker-peasant alliance. What is this dictatorship 
for? Its first function is internal, namely, to suppress the 
reactionary classes and elements and those exploiters who resist the 
socialist revolution, to suppress those who try to wreck our socialist 
construction, or in other words, to resolve the contradictions between 
ourselves and the internal enemy. For instance, to arrest, try and 
sentence certain counter-revolutionaries, and to deprive landlords and 
bureaucrat-capitalists of their right to vote and their freedom of speech 
for a certain period of time ‹ all this comes within the scope of our 
dictatorship. To maintain public order and safeguard the interests of 
the people, it is necessary to exercise dictatorship as well over thieves, 
swindlers, murderers, arsonists, criminal gangs and other scoundrels 
who seriously disrupt public order. The second function of this 
dictatorship is to protect our country from subversion and possible 
aggression by external enemies. In such contingencies, it is the task 
of this dictatorship to resolve the contradiction between ourselves and 
the external enemy. The aim of this dictatorship is to protect all our 
people so that they can devote themselves to peaceful labour and make 
China a socialist country with modern industry, modern agriculture, 
and modern science and culture. Who is to exercise this dictatorship? 
Naturally, the working class and the entire people under its leadership. 
Dictatorship does not apply within the ranks of the people. The people 
cannot exercise dictatorship over themselves, nor must one section of 
the people oppress another. Law-breakers among the people will be 
punished according to law, but this is different in principle from the 
exercise of dictatorship to suppress enemies of the people. What applies 
among the people is democratic centralism. Our Constitution 
lays it down that citizens of the Peoplešs Republic of China enjoy 
freedom of speech, the press, assembly, association, procession, demonstration, 
religious belief, and so on. Our Constitution also provides 
that the organs of state must practise democratic centralism, that they 
must rely on the masses and that their personnel must serve the people. 
Our socialist democracy is the broadest kind of democracy, such as 
is not to be found in any bourgeois state. Our dictatorship is the 
peoplešs democratic dictatorship led by the working class and based 
on the worker-peasant alliance. That is to say, democracy operates 
within the ranks of the people, while the working class, uniting with 
all others enjoying civil rights, and in the first place with the peasantry,

388 MAO TSETUNG 
enforces dictatorship over the reactionary classes and elements and 
all those who resist socialist transformation and oppose socialist construction. 
By civil rights, we mean, politically, the rights of freedom 
and democracy. 
But this freedom is freedom with leadership and this democracy 
is democracy under centralized guidance, not anarchy. Anarchy does 
not accord with the interests or wishes of the people. 
Certain people in our country were delighted by the Hungarian 
incident. They hoped that something similar would happen in China, 
that thousands upon thousands of people would take to the streets 
to demonstrate against the Peoplešs Government. Their hopes ran 
counter to the interests of the masses and therefore could not possibly 
win their support. Deceived by domestic and foreign counterrevolutionaries, 
a section of the people in Hungary made the mistake 
of resorting to violence against the peoplešs government, with the 
result that both the state and the people suffered. The damage done 
to the countryšs economy in a few weeks of rioting will take a long 
time to repair. In our country there were some others who wavered on 
the question of the Hungarian incident because they were ignorant of 
the real state of affairs in the world. They think that there is too 
little freedom under our peoplešs democracy and that there is more 
freedom under Western parliamentary democracy. They ask for a 
two-party system as in the West, with one party in office and the other 
in opposition. But this so-called two-party system is nothing but a 
device for maintaining the dictatorship of the bourgeoisie; it can never 
guarantee freedoms to the working people. As a matter of fact, 
freedom and democracy exist not in the abstract, but only in the 
concrete. In a society where class struggle exists, if there is freedom 
for the exploiting classes to exploit the working people, there is no 
freedom for the working people not to be exploited. If there is 
democracy for the bourgeoisie, there is no democracy for the proletariat 
and other working people. The legal existence of the Communist 
Party is tolerated in some capitalist countries, but only to the extent 
that it does not endanger the fundamental interests of the bourgeoisie; 
it is not tolerated beyond that. Those who demand freedom and 
democracy in the abstract regard democracy as an end and not as 
a means. Democracy as such sometimes seems to be an end, but it 
is in fact only a means. Marxism teaches us that democracy is part 
of the superstructure and belongs to the realm of politics. That is to 
say, in the last analysis, it serves the economic base. The same is true

389 CORRECT HANDLING OF CONTRADICTIONS AMONG THE PEOPLE 
of freedom. Both democracy and freedom are relative, not absolute, 
and they come into being and develop in specific historical conditions. 
Within the ranks of the people, democracy is correlative with centralism 
and freedom with discipline. They are the two opposites of 
a single entity, contradictory as well as united, and we should not 
one-sidedly emphasize one to the exclusion of the other. Within the 
ranks of the people, we cannot do without freedom, nor can we do 
without discipline; we cannot do without democracy, nor can we do 
without centralism. This unity of democracy and centralism, of freedom 
and discipline, constitutes our democratic centralism. Under this 
system, the people enjoy broad democracy and freedom, but at the 
same time they have to keep within the bounds of socialist discipline. 
All this is well understood by the masses. 
In advocating freedom with leadership and democracy under centralized 
guidance, we in no way mean that coercive measures should 
be taken to settle ideological questions or questions involving the 
distinction between right and wrong among the people. All attempts 
to use administrative orders or coercive measures to settle ideological 
questions or questions of right and wrong are not only ineffective but 
harmful. We cannot abolish religion by administrative order or force 
people not to believe in it. We cannot compel people to give up 
idealism, any more than we can force them to embrace Marxism. The 
only way to settle questions of an ideological nature or controversial 
issues among the people is by the democratic method, the method of 
discussion, criticism, persuasion and education, and not by the method 
of coercion or repression. To be able to carry on their production and 
studies effectively and to lead their lives in peace and order, the 
people want their government and those in charge of production and 
of cultural and educational organizations to issue appropriate administrative 
regulations of an obligatory nature. It is common sense that 
without them the maintenance of public order would be impossible. 
Administrative regulations and the method of persuasion and education 
complement each other in resolving contradictions among the 
people. In fact, administrative regulations for the maintenance of 
public order must be accompanied by persuasion and education, for 
in many cases regulations alone will not work. 
This democratic method of resolving contradictions among the 
people was epitomized in 1942 in the formula ŗunity ‹ criticism ‹ 
unity˛. To elaborate, that means starting from the desire for unity, 
resolving contradictions through criticism or struggle, and arriving at

390 MAO TSETUNG 
a new unity on a new basis. In our experience this is the correct method 
of resolving contradictions among the people. In 1942 we used it to 
resolve contradictions inside the Communist Party, namely, the contradictions 
between the dogmatists and the great majority of the 
membership, and between dogmatism and Marxism. The ŗLeft˛ 
dogmatists had resorted to the method of ŗruthless struggle and merciless 
blows˛ in inner-Party struggle. It was the wrong method. In 
criticizing ŗLeft˛ dogmatism, we did not use this old method but 
adopted a new one, that is, one of starting from the desire for unity, 
distinguishing between right and wrong through criticism or struggle, 
and arriving at a new unity on a new basis. This was the method used 
in the rectification movement of 1942. Within a few years, by the time 
the Chinese Communist Party held its Seventh National Congress in 
1945, unity was achieved throughout the Party as anticipated, and 
consequently the peoplešs revolution triumphed. Here, the essential 
thing is to start from the desire for unity. For without this desire for 
unity, the struggle, once begun, is certain to throw things into confusion 
and get out of hand. Wouldnšt this be the same as ŗruthless struggle 
and merciless blows˛? And what Party unity would there be left? It 
was precisely this experience that led us to the formula ŗunity ‹ 
criticism ‹ unity˛. Or, in other words, ŗlearn from past mistakes to 
avoid future ones and cure the sickness to save the patient˛. We 
extended this method beyond our Party. We applied it with great 
success in the anti-Japanese base areas in dealing with the relations 
between the leadership and the masses, between the army and the 
people, between officers and men, between the different units of the 
army, and between the different groups of cadres. The use of this 
method can be traced back to still earlier times in our Partyšs history. 
Ever since 1927 when we built our revolutionary armed forces and 
base areas in the south, this method had been used to deal with the 
relations between the Party and the masses, between the army and 
the people, between officers and men, and with other relations among 
the people. The only difference was that during the anti-Japanese 
war we employed this method much more consciously. And since the 
liberation of the whole country, we have employed this same method 
of ŗunity ‹ criticism ‹ unity˛ in our relations with the democratic parties 
and with industrial and commercial circles. Our task now is to continue 
to extend and make still better use of this method throughout the 
ranks of the people; we want all our factories, co-operatives, shops,

391 CORRECT HANDLING OF CONTRADICTIONS AMONG THE PEOPLE 
schools, offices and peoplešs organizations, in a word, all our 600 million 
people, to use it in resolving contradictions among themselves. 
In ordinary circumstances, contradictions among the people are 
not antagonistic. But if they are not handled properly, or if we relax 
our vigilance and lower our guard, antagonism may arise. In a socialist 
country, a development of this kind is usually only a localized and 
temporary phenomenon. The reason is that the system of exploitation 
of man by man has been abolished and the interests of the people are 
fundamentally identical. The antagonistic actions which took place 
on a fairly wide scale during the Hungarian incident were the result 
of the operations of both domestic and foreign counter-revolutionary 
elements. This was a particular as well as a temporary phenomenon. 
It was a case of the reactionaries inside a socialist country, in league 
with the imperialists, attempting to achieve their conspiratorial aims 
by taking advantage of contradictions among the people to foment 
dissension and stir up disorder. The lesson of the Hungarian incident 
merits attention. 
Many people seem to think that the use of the democratic method 
to resolve contradictions among the people is something new. 
Actually it is not. Marxists have always held that the cause of the 
proletariat must depend on the masses of the people and that Communists 
must use the democratic method of persuasion and education 
when working among the labouring people and must on no account 
resort to commandism or coercion. The Chinese Communist Party 
faithfully adheres to this Marxist-Leninist principle. It has been our 
consistent view that under the peoplešs democratic dictatorship two 
different methods, one dictatorial and the other democratic, should 
be used to resolve the two types of contradictions which differ in 
nature ‹ those between ourselves and the enemy and those among 
the people. This idea has been explained again and again in many 
Party documents and in speeches by many leading comrades of our 
Party. In my article ŗOn the Peoplešs Democratic Dictatorship˛, written 
in 1949, I said, ŗThe combination of these two aspects, democracy 
for the people and dictatorship over the reactionaries, is the peoplešs 
democratic dictatorship.˛ I also pointed out that in order to settle 
problems within the ranks of the people ŗthe method we employ is 
democratic, the method of persuasion, not of compulsion˛. Again, in 
addressing the Second Session of the First National Committee of the 
Political Consultative Conference in June 1950, I said:

392 MAO TSETUNG 
The peoplešs democratic dictatorship uses two methods. Towards 
the enemy, it uses the method of dictatorship, that is, for 
as long a period of time as is necessary it does not permit them 
to take part in political activity and compels them to obey the 
law of the Peoplešs Government, to engage in labour and, through 
such labour, be transformed into new men. Towards the people, 
on the contrary, it uses the method of democracy and not of compulsion, 
that is, it must necessarily let them take part in political 
activity and does not compel them to do this or that but uses the 
method of democracy to educate and persuade. Such education 
is self-education for the people, and its basic method is criticism 
and self-criticism. 
Thus, on many occasions we have discussed the use of the democratic 
method for resolving contradictions among the people; furthermore, 
we have in the main applied it in our work, and many cadres and 
many other people are familiar with it in practice. Why then do some 
people now feel that it is a new issue? Because, in the past, the struggle 
between ourselves and the enemy, both internal and external, was 
most acute, and contradictions among the people therefore did not 
attract as much attention as they do today. 
Quite a few people fail to make a clear distinction between these 
two different types of contradictions ‹ those between ourselves and 
the enemy and those among the people ‹ and are prone to confuse 
the two. It must be admitted that it is sometimes quite easy to do so. 
We have had instances of such confusion in our work in the past. 
In the course of cleaning out counter-revolutionaries good people were 
sometimes mistaken for bad, and such things still happen today. We 
are able to keep mistakes within bounds because it has been our policy 
to draw a sharp line between ourselves and the enemy and to rectify 
mistakes whenever discovered. 
Marxist philosophy holds that the law of the unity of opposites is 
the fundamental law of the universe. This law operates universally, 
whether in the natural world, in human society, or in manšs thinking. 
Between the opposites in a contradiction there is at once unity and 
struggle, and it is this that impels things to move and change. Contradictions 
exist everywhere, but their nature differs in accordance 
with the different nature of different things. In any given thing, the 
unity of opposites is conditional, temporary and transitory, and hence 
relative, whereas the struggle of opposites is absolute. Lenin gave a

393 CORRECT HANDLING OF CONTRADICTIONS AMONG THE PEOPLE 
very clear exposition of this law. It has come to be understood by a 
growing number of people in our country. But for many people it is 
one thing to accept this law and quite another to apply it in examining 
and dealing with problems. Many dare not openly admit that contradictions 
still exist among the people of our country, while it is precisely 
these contradictions that are pushing our society forward. Many do 
not admit that contradictions still exist in socialist society, with the 
result that they become irresolute and passive when confronted with 
social contradictions; they do not understand that socialist society 
grows more united and consolidated through the ceaseless process of 
correctly handling and resolving contradictions. For this reason, we 
need to explain things to our people, and to our cadres in the first 
place, in order to help them understand the contradictions in socialist 
society and learn to use correct methods for handling them. 
Contradictions in socialist society are fundamentally different from 
those in the old societies, such as capitalist society. In capitalist society 
contradictions find expression in acute antagonisms and conflicts, in 
sharp class struggle; they cannot be resolved by the capitalist system 
itself and can only be resolved by socialist revolution. The case is quite 
different with contradictions in socialist society; on the contrary, they 
are not antagonistic and can be ceaselessly resolved by the socialist 
system itself. 
In socialist society the basic contradictions are still those between 
the relations of production and the productive forces and between the 
superstructure and the economic base. However, they are fundamentally 
different in character and have different features from the contradictions 
between the relations of production and the productive forces 
and between the superstructure and the economic base in the old 
societies. The present social system of our country is far superior to 
that of the old days. If it were not so, the old system would not have 
been overthrown and the new system could not have been established. 
In saying that the socialist relations of production correspond better 
to the character of the productive forces than did the old relations 
of production, we mean that they allow the productive forces to develop 
at a speed unattainable in the old society, so that production 
can expand steadily and increasingly meet the constantly growing 
needs of the people. Under the rule of imperialism, feudalism and 
bureaucrat-capitalism, the productive forces of the old China grew 
very slowly. For more than fifty years before liberation, China produced 
only a few tens of thousands of tons of steel a year, not counting the

394 MAO TSETUNG 
output of the northeastern provinces. If these provinces are included 
the peak annual steel output only amounted to a little over 900,000 
tons. In 1949, the national steel output was a little over 100,000 tons. 
Yet now, a mere seven years after the liberation of our country, steel 
output already exceeds 4,000,000 tons. In the old China, there was 
hardly any machine-building industry, to say nothing of the automobile 
and aircraft industries; now we have all three. When the people overthrew 
the rule of imperialism, feudalism and bureaucrat-capitalism, 
many were not clear as to which way China should head ‹ towards 
capitalism or towards socialism. Facts have now provided the answer: 
Only socialism can save China. The socialist system has promoted the 
rapid development of the productive forces of our country, a fact even 
our enemies abroad have had to acknowledge. 
But our socialist system has only just been set up; it is not yet 
fully established or fully consolidated. In joint state-private industrial 
and commercial enterprises, capitalists still get a fixed rate of interest 
on their capital, that is to say, exploitation still exists. So far as 
ownership is concerned, these enterprises are not yet completely socialist 
in nature. A number of our agricultural and handicraft producersš cooperatives 
are still semi-socialist, while even in the fully socialist 
co-operatives certain specific problems of ownership remain to be 
solved. Relations between production and exchange in accordance 
with socialist principles are being gradually established within and 
between all branches of our economy, and more and more appropriate 
forms are being sought. The problem of the proper relation of accumulation 
to consumption within each of the two sectors of the socialist 
economy ‹ the one where the means of production are owned by 
the whole people and the other where the means of production are 
owned by the collective ‹ and the problem of the proper relation 
of accumulation to consumption between the two sectors themselves 
are complicated problems for which it is not easy to work out 
a perfectly rational solution all at once. To sum up, socialist relations 
of production have been established and are in correspondence with 
the growth of the productive forces, but these relations are still far 
from perfect, and this imperfection stands in contradiction to the 
growth of the productive forces. Apart from correspondence as well 
as contradiction between the relations of production and the growth 
of the productive forces, there is correspondence as well as contradiction 
between the superstructure and the economic base. The superstructure, 
comprising the state system and laws of the peoplešs

395 CORRECT HANDLING OF CONTRADICTIONS AMONG THE PEOPLE 
democratic dictatorship and the socialist ideology guided by Marxism- 
Leninism, plays a positive role in facilitating the victory of socialist 
transformation and the socialist way of organizing labour; it is in 
correspondence with the socialist economic base, that is, with socialist 
relations of production. But the existence of bourgeois ideology, a 
certain bureaucratic style of work in our state organs and defects in 
some of the links in our state institutions are in contradiction with the 
socialist economic base. We must continue to resolve all such contradictions 
in the light of our specific conditions. Of course, new 
problems will emerge as these contradictions are resolved. And 
further efforts will be required to resolve the new contradictions. For 
instance, a constant process of readjustment through state planning is 
needed to deal with the contradiction between production and the 
needs of society, which will long remain an objective reality. Every 
year our country draws up an economic plan in order to establish 
a proper ratio between accumulation and consumption and achieve an 
equilibrium between production and needs. Equilibrium is nothing 
but a temporary, relative, unity of opposites. By the end of each year, 
this equilibrium, taken as a whole, is upset by the struggle of opposites; 
the unity undergoes a change, equilibrium becomes disequilibrium, 
unity becomes disunity, and once again it is necessary to work out 
an equilibrium and unity for the next year. Herein lies the superiority 
of our planned economy. As a matter of fact, this equilibrium, this 
unity, is partially upset every month or every quarter, and partial 
readjustments are called for. Sometimes, contradictions arise and the 
equilibrium is upset because our subjective arrangements do not 
conform to objective reality; this is what we call making a mistake. 
The ceaseless emergence and ceaseless resolution of contradictions 
constitute the dialectical law of the development of things. 
Today, matters stand as follows. The large-scale, turbulent class 
struggles of the masses characteristic of times of revolution have in 
the main come to an end, but class struggle is by no means entirely 
over. While welcoming the new system, the masses are not yet quite 
accustomed to it. Government personnel are not sufficiently experienced 
and have to undertake further study and investigation of 
specific policies. In other words, time is needed for our socialist system 
to become established and consolidated, for the masses to become 
accustomed to the new system, and for government personnel to learn 
and acquire experience. It is therefore imperative for us at this juncture 
to raise the question of distinguishing contradictions among the people

396 MAO TSETUNG 
from those between ourselves and the enemy, as well as the question 
of the correct handling of contradictions among the people, in order 
to unite the people of all nationalities in our country for the new battle, 
the battle against nature, develop our economy and culture, help the 
whole nation to traverse this period of transition relatively smoothly, 
consolidate our new system and build up our new state. 
II. THE QUESTION OF ELIMINATING 
COUNTER-REVOLUTIONARIES 
The elimination of counter-revolutionaries is a struggle of opposites 
as between ourselves and the enemy. Among the people, there 
are some who see this question in a somewhat different light. Two 
kinds of people hold views differing from ours. Those with a Right 
deviation in their thinking make no distinction between ourselves and 
the enemy and take the enemy for our own people. They regard as 
friends the very persons whom the masses regard as enemies. Those 
with a ŗLeft˛ deviation in their thinking magnify contradictions 
between ourselves and the enemy to such an extent that they take 
certain contradictions among the people for contradictions with the 
enemy and regard as counter-revolutionaries persons who are actually 
not. Both these views are wrong. Neither makes possible the correct 
handling of the problem of eliminating counter-revolutionaries or a 
correct assessment of this work. 
To form a correct evaluation of our work in eliminating counterrevolutionaries, 
let us see what repercussions the Hungarian incident has 
had in China. After its occurrence there was some unrest among a section 
of our intellectuals, but there were no squalls. Why? One reason, it 
must be said, was our success in eliminating counter-revolutionaries 
fairly thoroughly. 
Of course, the consolidation of our state is not due primarily to 
the elimination of counter-revolutionaries. It is due primarily to the 
fact that we have a Communist Party and a Liberation Army both 
tempered in decades of revolutionary struggle, and a working people 
likewise so tempered. Our Party and our armed forces are rooted in the 
masses, have been tempered in the flames of a protracted revolution and 
have the capacity to fight. Our Peoplešs Republic was not built overnight, 
but developed step by step out of the revolutionary base areas. A number

397 CORRECT HANDLING OF CONTRADICTIONS AMONG THE PEOPLE 
of democratic personages have also been tempered in the struggle in 
varying degrees, and they have gone through troubled times together 
with us. Some intellectuals were tempered in the struggles against 
imperialism and reaction; since liberation many have gone through a 
process of ideological remoulding aimed at enabling them to distinguish 
clearly between ourselves and the enemy. In addition, the consolidation 
of our state is due to the fact that our economic measures are basically 
sound, that the peoplešs life is secure and steadily improving, that 
our policies towards the national bourgeoisie and other classes are 
correct, and so on. Nevertheless, our success in eliminating counterrevolutionaries 
is undoubtedly an important reason for the consolidation 
of our state. For all these reasons, with few exceptions our college 
students are patriotic and support socialism and did not give way to 
unrest during the Hungarian incident, even though many of them come 
from families of non-working people. The same was true of the 
national bourgeoisie, to say nothing of the basic masses ‹ the workers 
and peasants. 
After liberation, we rooted out a number of counter-revolutionaries. 
Some were sentenced to death for major crimes. This was absolutely 
necessary, it was the demand of the masses, and it was done to free 
them from long years of oppression by the counter-revolutionaries and 
all kinds of local tyrants, in other words, to liberate the productive 
forces. If we had not done so, the masses would not have been able 
to lift their heads. Since 1956, however, there has been a radical change 
in the situation. In the country as a whole, the bulk of the counterrevolutionaries 
have been cleared out. Our basic task has changed 
from unfettering the productive forces to protecting and expanding 
them in the context of the new relations of production. Because of 
failure to understand that our present policy fits the present situation 
and our past policy fitted the past situation, some people want to 
make use of the present policy to reverse past decisions and to 
negate the tremendous success we achieved in eliminating counterrevolutionaries. 
This is completely wrong, and the masses will not 
permit it. 
In our work of eliminating counter-revolutionaries successes were 
the main thing, but there were also mistakes. In some cases there 
were excesses and in others counter-revolutionaries slipped through 
our net. Our policy is: ŗCounter-revolutionaries must be eliminated 
wherever found, mistakes must be corrected whenever discovered.˛ 
Our line in the work of eliminating counter-revolutionaries is the

398 MAO TSETUNG 
mass line. Of course, even with the mass line mistakes may still occur, 
but they will be fewer and easier to correct. The masses gain experience 
through struggle. From the things done correctly they gain the 
experience of how things are done correctly. From the mistakes made 
they gain the experience of how mistakes are made. 
Wherever mistakes have been discovered in the work of eliminating 
counter-revolutionaries, steps have been or are being taken to 
correct them. Those not yet discovered will be corrected as soon as 
they come to light. Exoneration or rehabilitation should be made 
known as widely as were the original wrong decisions. I propose 
that a comprehensive review of the work of eliminating counterrevolutionaries 
be made this year or next to sum up experience, promote 
justice and counter unjust attacks. Nationally, this review should be 
in the charge of the Standing Committees of the National Peoplešs 
Congress and of the National Committee of the Political Consultative 
Conference and, locally, in the charge of the peoplešs councils and the 
committees of the Political Consultative Conference in the provinces 
and municipalities. In this review, we must help the large numbers of 
cadres and activists involved in the work, and not pour cold water on 
them. It would not be right to dampen their spirits. Nonetheless, wrongs 
must be righted when discovered. This must be the attitude of all the 
public security organs, the procuratorsš offices and the judicial departments, 
prisons and agencies charged with the reform of criminals through 
labour. We hope that wherever possible members of the Standing 
Committee of the National Peoplešs Congress, members of the National 
Committee of the Political Consultative Conference and peoplešs 
deputies will take part in this review. This will be of help in perfecting 
our legal system and in dealing correctly with counter-revolutionaries 
and other criminals. 
The present situation with regard to counter-revolutionaries can 
be described in these words: There still are counter-revolutionaries, 
but not many. In the first place, there still are counter-revolutionaries. 
Some people say that there arenšt any more left and all is well and 
that we can therefore lay our heads on our pillows and just drop off 
to sleep. But this is not the way things are. The fact is, there still are 
counter-revolutionaries (of course, that is not to say youšll find them 
everywhere and in every organization), and we must continue to fight 
them. It must be understood that the hidden counter-revolutionaries still 
at large will not take things lying down, but will certainly seize every 
opportunity to make trouble. The U.S. imperialists and the Chiang

399 CORRECT HANDLING OF CONTRADICTIONS AMONG THE PEOPLE 
Kai-shek clique are constantly sending in secret agents to carry on 
disruptive activities. Even after all the existing counter-revolutionaries 
have been combed out, new ones are likely to emerge. If we drop our 
guard, we shall be badly fooled and shall suffer severely. Counterrevolutionaries 
must be rooted out with a firm hand wherever they are 
found making trouble. But, taking the country as a whole, there are 
certainly not many counter-revolutionaries. It would be wrong to say 
that there are still large numbers of counter-revolutionaries in China. 
Acceptance of that view would likewise result in a mess. 
III. THE QUESTION OF THE CO-OPERATIVE 
TRANSFORMATION OF AGRICULTURE 
We have a rural population of over 500 million, so how our peasants 
fare has a most important bearing on the development of our economy 
and the consolidation of our state power. In my view, the situation is 
basically sound. The co-operative transformation of agriculture has 
been successfully accomplished, and this has resolved the great contradiction 
in our country between socialist industrialization and the 
individual peasant economy. As the co-operative transformation of 
agriculture was completed so rapidly, some people were worried and 
wondered whether something untoward might occur. There are indeed 
some faults, but fortunately they are not serious and on the whole the 
movement is healthy. The peasants are working with a will, and last 
year there was an increase in the countryšs grain output despite the 
worst floods, droughts and gales in years. Now there are people who 
are stirring up a miniature typhoon, they are saying that co-operation 
is no good, that there is nothing superior about it. Is co-operation 
superior or not? Among the documents distributed at todayšs meeting 
there is one about the Wang Kuo-fan Co-operative in Tsunhua County, 
Hopei Province, which I suggest you read. This co-operative is situated 
in a hilly region which was very poor in the past and which for a number 
of years depended on relief grain from the Peoplešs Government. When 
the co-operative was first set up in 1953, people called it the ŗpaupersš 
co-op˛. But it has become better off year by year, and now, after four 
years of hard struggle, most of its households have reserves of grain. 
What was possible for this co-operative should also be possible for 
others to achieve under normal conditions in the same length of time or

400 MAO TSETUNG 
a little longer. Clearly there are no grounds for saying that something 
has gone wrong with agricultural co-operation. 
It is also clear that it takes hard struggle to build co-operatives. 
New things always have to experience difficulties and setbacks as they 
grow. It is sheer fantasy to imagine that the cause of socialism is all 
plain sailing and easy success, with no difficulties and setbacks, or 
without the exertion of tremendous efforts. 
Who are the active supporters of the co-operatives? The overwhelming 
majority of the poor and lower-middle peasants who 
constitute more than 70 per cent of the rural population. Most of the 
other peasants are also placing their hopes on the co-operatives. Only 
a very small minority are really dissatisfied. Quite a number of persons 
have failed to analyse this situation and to make an over-all examination 
of the achievements and shortcomings of the co-operatives and the 
causes of these shortcomings; instead they have taken part of the 
picture or one side of the matter for the whole, and consequently 
a miniature typhoon has been stirred up among some people, who are 
saying that the co-operatives are not superior. 
How long will it take to consolidate the co-operatives and for this 
talk about their not being superior to wind up? Judging from the 
experience of the growth of many co-operatives, it will probably take 
five years or a little longer. As most of our co-operatives are only a little 
over a year old, it would be unreasonable to ask too much of them. In 
my view, we will be doing well enough if the co-operatives can be 
consolidated during the Second Five-Year Plan after being established 
in the First. 
The co-operatives are now in the process of gradual consolidation. 
There are certain contradictions that remain to be resolved, such as 
those between the state and the co-operatives and those in and between 
the co-operatives themselves. 
To resolve these contradictions we must pay constant attention to 
the problems of production and distribution. On the question of 
production, the co-operative economy must be subject to the unified 
economic planning of the state, while retaining a certain flexibility and 
independence that do not run counter to the statešs unified plan or its 
policies, laws and regulations. At the same time, every household in 
a co-operative must comply with the over-all plan of the co-operative 
or production team to which it belongs, though it may make its own 
appropriate plans in regard to land allotted for personal needs and to 
other individually operated economic undertakings. On the question

401 CORRECT HANDLING OF CONTRADICTIONS AMONG THE PEOPLE 
of distribution, we must take the interests of the state, the collective 
and the individual into account. We must properly handle the threeway 
relationship between the state agricultural tax, the co-operativešs 
accumulation fund and the peasantsš personal income, and take constant 
care to make readjustments so as to resolve contradictions between 
them. Accumulation is essential for both the state and the co-operative 
but in neither case should it be excessive. We should do everything 
possible to enable the peasants in normal years to raise their personal 
incomes annually through increased production. 
Many people say that the peasants lead a hard life. Is this true? 
In one sense it is. That is to say, because the imperialists and their 
agents oppressed and exploited us for over a century, ours is an impoverished 
country and the standard of living not only of our peasants 
but of our workers and intellectuals is still low. We will need several 
decades of strenuous effort gradually to raise the standard of living of 
our people as a whole. In this context, it is right to say that the peasants 
lead a ŗhard life˛. But in another sense it is not true. We refer to the 
allegation that in the seven years since liberation it is only the life of 
the workers that has been improved and not that of the peasants. As 
a matter of fact, with very few exceptions, there has been some 
improvement in the life of both the peasants and the workers. Since 
liberation, the peasants have been free from landlord exploitation and 
their production has increased annually. Take grain crops. In 1949, the 
countryšs output was only something over 210,000 million catties. By 
1956, it had risen to more than 360,000 million catties, an increase of 
nearly 150,000 million catties. The state agricultural tax is not heavy, 
only amounting to something over 30,000 million catties a year. State 
purchases of grain from the peasants at standard prices only amount 
to a little over 50,000 million catties a year. These two items together 
total over 80,000 million catties. Furthermore, more than half this grain 
is sold back to the villages and nearby towns. Obviously, no one can 
say that there has been no improvement in the life of the peasants. 
In order to help agriculture to develop and the co-operatives to become 
consolidated, we are planning to stabilize the total annual amount 
of the grain tax plus the grain purchased by the state at somewhat more 
than 80,000 million catties within a few years. In this way, the small 
number of grain-deficient households still found in the countryside will 
stop being short, all peasant households, except some raising industrial 
crops, will either have grain reserves or at least become self-sufficient, 
there will no longer be poor peasants in the countryside, and the

402 MAO TSETUNG 
standard of living of the entire peasantry will reach or surpass the 
middle peasantsš level. It is not right simply to compare a peasantšs 
average annual income with a workeršs and jump to the conclusion that 
one is too low and the other too high. Since the labour productivity of the 
workers is much higher than that of the peasants and the latter šs 
cost of living is much lower than that of workers in the cities, the 
workers cannot be said to have received special favours from the state. 
The wages of a small number of workers and some state personnel are 
in fact a little too high, the peasants have reason to be dissatisfied 
with this, and it is necessary to make certain appropriate adjustments 
according to specific circumstances. 
IV. THE QUESTION OF THE INDUSTRIALISTS 
AND BUSINESSMEN 
With regard to the transformation of our social system, the year 
1956 saw the conversion of privately owned industrial and commercial 
enterprises into joint state-private enterprises as well as the cooperative 
transformation of agriculture and handicrafts. The speed and 
smoothness of this conversion were closely bound up with our treating 
the contradiction between the working class and the national bourgeoisie 
as a contradiction among the people. Has this class contradiction 
been completely resolved? No, not yet. That will take a considerable 
period of time. However, some people say the capitalists have been so 
remoulded that they are now not very different from the workers and 
that further remoulding is unnecessary. Others go so far as to say that 
the capitalists are even better than the workers. Still others ask, if 
remoulding is necessary, why isnšt it necessary for the working class? 
Are these opinions correct? Of course not. 
In the building of a socialist society, everybody needs remoulding 
‹ the exploiters and also the working people. Who says it isnšt 
necessary for the working class? Of course, the remoulding of the 
exploiters is essentially different from that of the working people, and 
the two must not be confused. The working class remoulds the whole 
of society in class struggle and in the struggle against nature, and in 
the process it remoulds itself. It must ceaselessly learn in the course of 
work, gradually overcome its shortcomings and never stop doing so. 
Take for example those of us present here. Many of us make some

403 CORRECT HANDLING OF CONTRADICTIONS AMONG THE PEOPLE 
progress each year, that is to say, we are remoulding ourselves each 
year. For myself, I used to have all sorts of non-Marxist ideas, and it 
was only later that I embraced Marxism. I learned a little Marxism 
from books and took the first steps in remoulding my ideology, but it 
was mainly through taking part in class struggle over the years that 
I came to be remoulded. And if I am to make further progress, I must 
continue to learn, otherwise I shall lag behind. Can the capitalists be 
so good that they need no more remoulding? 
Some people contend that the Chinese bourgeoisie no longer has 
two sides to its character, but only one side. Is this true? No. While 
members of the bourgeoisie have become administrative personnel in 
joint state-private enterprises and are being transformed from exploiters 
into working people living by their own labour, they still get 
a fixed rate of interest on their capital in the joint enterprises, that is, 
they have not yet cut themselves loose from the roots of exploitation. 
Between them and the working class there is still a considerable gap 
in ideology, sentiments and habits of life. How can it be said that they 
no longer have two sides to their character? Even when they stop 
receiving their fixed interest payments and the ŗbourgeois˛ label is 
removed, they will still need ideological remoulding for quite some 
time. If, as is alleged, the bourgeoisie no longer has a dual character, 
then the capitalists will no longer have the task of studying and of 
remoulding themselves. 
It must be said that this view does not tally either with the actual 
situation of our industrialists and businessmen or with what most of 
them want. During the past few years, most of them have been willing 
to study and have made marked progress. As their thorough remoulding 
can be achieved only in the course of work, they should engage 
in labour together with the staff and workers in the enterprises and 
regard these enterprises as the chief places in which to remould 
themselves. But it is also important for them to change some of their 
old views through study. Such study should be on a voluntary basis. 
When they return to the enterprises after being in study groups for 
some weeks, many industrialists and businessmen find that they have 
more of a common language with the workers and the representatives 
of state ownership, and so there are better possibilities for working 
together. They know from personal experience that it is good for them 
to keep on studying and remoulding themselves. The idea mentioned 
above that study and remoulding are not necessary reflects the views

404 MAO TSETUNG 
not of the majority of industrialists and businessmen but of only a small 
number.
V. THE QUESTION OF THE INTELLECTUALS 
The contradictions within the ranks of the people in our country 
also find expression among the intellectuals. The several million 
intellectuals who worked for the old society have come to serve the 
new society, and the question that now arises is how they can fit in 
with the needs of the new society and how we can help them to do so. 
This, too, is a contradiction among the people. 
Most of our intellectuals have made marked progress during the 
last seven years. They have shown they are in favour of the socialist 
system. Many are diligently studying Marxism, and some have become 
communists. The latter, though at present small in number, are steadily 
increasing. Of course, there are still some intellectuals who are sceptical 
about socialism or do not approve of it, but they are a minority. 
China needs the services of as many intellectuals as possible for 
the colossal task of building socialism. We should trust those who are 
really willing to serve the cause of socialism and should radically 
improve our relations with them and help them solve the problems 
requiring solution, so that they can give full play to their talents. Many 
of our comrades are not good at uniting with intellectuals. They are 
stiff in their attitude towards them, lack respect for their work and 
interfere in certain scientific and cultural matters where interference 
is unwarranted. We must do away with all such shortcomings. 
Although large numbers of intellectuals have made progress, they 
should not be complacent. They must continue to remould themselves, 
gradually shed their bourgeois world outlook and acquire the proletarian, 
communist world outlook so that they can fully fit in with 
the needs of the new society and unite with the workers and peasants. 
The change in world outlook is fundamental, and up to now most of 
our intellectuals cannot be said to have accomplished it. We hope that 
they will continue to make progress and that in the course of work 
and study they will gradually acquire the communist world outlook, 
grasp Marxism-Leninism and become integrated with the workers and 
peasants. We hope they will not stop halfway, or, what is worse, slide 
back, for there will be no future for them in going backwards. Since

405 CORRECT HANDLING OF CONTRADICTIONS AMONG THE PEOPLE 
our countryšs social system has changed and the economic base of 
bourgeois ideology has in the main been destroyed, not only is it 
imperative for large numbers of our intellectuals to change their world 
outlook, but it is also possible for them to do so. But a thorough change 
in world outlook takes a very long time, and we should spare no pains 
in helping them and must not be impatient. Actually, there are bound 
to be some who ideologically will always be reluctant to accept 
Marxism-Leninism and communism. We should not be too exacting in 
what we demand of them; as long as they comply with the requirements 
laid down by the state and engage in legitimate pursuits, we should 
let them have opportunities for suitable work. 
Among students and intellectuals there has recently been a falling 
off in ideological and political work, and some unhealthy tendencies 
have appeared. Some people seem to think that there is no longer any 
need to concern themselves with politics or with the future of the motherland 
and the ideals of mankind. It seems as if Marxism, once all the 
rage, is currently not so much in fashion. To counter these tendencies, 
we must strengthen our ideological and political work. Both students 
and intellectuals should study hard. In addition to the study of their 
specialized subjects, they must make progress ideologically and 
politically, which means they should study Marxism, current events 
and politics. Not to have a correct political orientation is like not 
having a soul. The ideological remoulding in the past was necessary 
and has yielded positive results. But it was carried on in a somewhat 
rough-and-ready fashion and the feelings of some people were hurt ‹ 
this was not good. We must avoid such shortcomings in future. All 
departments and organizations should shoulder their responsibilities 
for ideological and political work. This applies to the Communist Party, 
the Youth League, government departments in charge of this work, 
and especially to heads of educational institutions and teachers. Our 
educational policy must enable everyone who receives an education to 
develop morally, intellectually and physically and become a worker 
with both socialist consciousness and culture. We must spread the idea 
of building our country through diligence and thrift. We must help 
all our young people to understand that ours is still a very poor country, 
that we cannot change this situation radically in a short time, and that 
only through decades of united effort by our younger generation and 
all our people, working with their own hands, can China be made 
prosperous and strong. The establishment of our socialist system has 
opened the road leading to the ideal society of the future, but to

406 MAO TSETUNG 
translate this ideal into reality needs hard work. Some of our young 
people think that everything ought to be perfect once a socialist society 
is established and that they should be able to enjoy a happy life 
ready-made, without working for it. This is unrealistic. 
VI. THE QUESTION OF 
THE MINORITY NATIONALITIES 
The minority nationalities in our country number more than 
thirty million. Although they constitute only 6 per cent of the total 
population, they inhabit extensive regions which comprise 50 to 60 per 
cent of Chinašs total area. It is thus imperative to foster good relations 
between the Han people and the minority nationalities. The key to 
this question lies in overcoming Han chauvinism. At the same time, 
efforts should also be made to overcome local-nationality chauvinism, 
wherever it exists among the minority nationalities. Both Han 
chauvinism and local-nationality chauvinism are harmful to the unity 
of the nationalities; they represent one kind of contradiction among 
the people which should be resolved. We have already done some work 
to this end. In most of the areas inhabited by minority nationalities, 
there has been considerable improvement in the relations between the 
nationalities, but a number of problems remain to be solved. In some 
areas, both Han chauvinism and local-nationality chauvinism still exist 
to a serious degree, and this demands full attention. As a result of the 
efforts of the people of all nationalities over the last few years, 
democratic reforms and socialist transformation have in the main been 
completed in most of the minority nationality areas. Democratic 
reforms have not yet been carried out in Tibet because conditions are 
not ripe. According to the seventeen-article agreement reached between 
the Central Peoplešs Government and the local government of Tibet, 
the reform of the social system must be carried out, but the timing can 
only be decided when the great majority of the people of Tibet and 
the local leading public figures consider it opportune, and one should 
not be impatient. It has now been decided not to proceed with democratic 
reforms in Tibet during the period of the Second Five-Year 
Plan. Whether to proceed with them in the period of the Third 
Five-Year Plan can only be decided in the light of the situation at the 
time.

407 CORRECT HANDLING OF CONTRADICTIONS AMONG THE PEOPLE 
VII. OVER-ALL CONSIDERATION AND 
PROPER ARRANGEMENT 
By over-all consideration we mean consideration that embraces 
the 600 million people of our country. In drawing up plans, handling 
affairs or thinking over problems, we must proceed from the fact that 
China has a population of 600 million, and we must never forget this 
fact. Why do we make a point of this? Is it possible that there are 
people who are still unaware that we have a population of 600 million? 
Of course, everyone knows this, but when it comes to actual practice, 
some people forget all about it and act as though the fewer the people, 
the smaller the circle, the better. Those who have this ŗsmall circle˛ 
mentality abhor the idea of bringing every positive factor into play, 
of uniting with everyone who can be united with, and of doing 
everything possible to turn negative factors into positive ones so as 
to serve the great cause of building a socialist society. I hope these 
people will take a wider view and fully recognize that we have a 
population of 600 million, that this is an objective fact, and that it is 
an asset for us. Our large population is a good thing, but of course it 
also involves certain difficulties. Construction is going ahead vigorously 
on all fronts and very successfully too, but in the present transition 
period of tremendous social change there are still many difficult 
problems. Progress and at the same time difficulties ‹ this is a contradiction. 
However, not only should all such contradictions be 
resolved, but they definitely can be. Our guiding principle is over-all 
consideration and proper arrangement. Whatever the problem ‹ 
whether it concerns food, natural calamities, employment, education, 
the intellectuals, the united front of all patriotic forces, the minority 
nationalities, or anything else ‹ we must always proceed from the 
standpoint of over-all consideration, which embraces the whole people, 
and must make the proper arrangement, after consultation with all 
the circles concerned, in the light of what is feasible at a particular 
time and place. On no account should we complain that there 
are too many people, that others are backward, that things are 
troublesome and hard to handle, and close the door on them. Do I 
mean to say that the government alone must take care of everyone and 
everything? Of course not. In many cases, they can be left to the direct 
care of the public organizations or the masses ‹ both are quite 
capable of devising many good ways of handling them. This also comes

408 MAO TSETUNG 
within the scope of the principle of over-all consideration and proper 
arrangement. We should give guidance on this to the public organizations 
and the people everywhere. 
VIII. ON ŗLET A HUNDRED FLOWERS BLOSSOM, 
LET A HUNDRED SCHOOLS OF THOUGHT CONTEND˛ 
AND ŗLONG-TERM COEXISTENCE 
AND MUTUAL SUPERVISION˛ 
ŗLet a hundred flowers blossom, let a hundred schools of thought 
contend˛ and ŗlong-term coexistence and mutual supervision˛ ‹ how 
did these slogans come to be put forward? They were put forward in 
the light of Chinašs specific conditions, in recognition of the continued 
existence of various kinds of contradictions in socialist society and in 
response to the countryšs urgent need to speed up its economic and 
cultural development. Letting a hundred flowers blossom and a 
hundred schools of thought contend is the policy for promoting progress 
in the arts and sciences and a flourishing socialist culture in our 
land. Different forms and styles in art should develop freely and 
different schools in science should contend freely. We think that it is 
harmful to the growth of art and science if administrative measures 
are used to impose one particular style of art or school of thought and 
to ban another. Questions of right and wrong in the arts and sciences 
should be settled through free discussion in artistic and scientific 
circles and through practical work in these fields. They should not be 
settled in an over-simple manner. A period of trial is often needed to 
determine whether something is right or wrong. Throughout history, 
at the outset new and correct things often failed to win recognition 
from the majority of people and had to develop by twists and turns 
through struggle. Often, correct and good things were first regarded 
not as fragrant flowers but as poisonous weeds. Copernicusš theory 
of the solar system and Darwinšs theory of evolution were once dismissed 
as erroneous and had to win out over bitter opposition. Chinese 
history offers many similar examples. In a socialist society, the conditions 
for the growth of the new are radically different from and far 
superior to those in the old society. Nevertheless, it often happens 
that new, rising forces are held back and sound ideas stifled. Besides, 
even in the absence of their deliberate suppression, the growth of new

409 CORRECT HANDLING OF CONTRADICTIONS AMONG THE PEOPLE 
things may be hindered simply through lack of discernment. It is 
therefore necessary to be careful about questions of right and wrong 
in the arts and sciences, to encourage free discussion and avoid hasty 
conclusions. We believe that such an attitude will help ensure a 
relatively smooth development of the arts and sciences. 
Marxism, too, has developed through struggle. At the beginning, 
Marxism was subjected to all kinds of attack and regarded as a 
poisonous weed. This is still the case in many parts of the world. In 
the socialist countries, it enjoys a different position. But non-Marxist 
and, what is more, anti-Marxist ideologies exist even in these countries. 
In China, although socialist transformation has in the main been completed 
as regards the system of ownership, and although the largescale, 
turbulent class struggles of the masses characteristic of times 
of revolution have in the main come to an end, there are still remnants 
of the overthrown landlord and comprador classes, there is still a 
bourgeoisie, and the remoulding of the petty bourgeoisie has only just 
started. Class struggle is by no means over. The class struggle between 
the proletariat and the bourgeoisie, the class struggle between the 
various political forces, and the class struggle between the proletariat 
and the bourgeoisie in the ideological field will still be protracted and 
tortuous and at times even very sharp. The proletariat seeks to transform 
the world according to its own world outlook, and so does the bourgeoisie. 
In this respect, the question of which will win out, socialism 
or capitalism, is not really settled yet. Marxists remain a minority 
among the entire population as well as among the intellectuals. 
Therefore, Marxism must continue to develop through struggle. 
Marxism can develop only through struggle, and this is not only true 
of the past and the present, it is necessarily true of the future as well. 
What is correct invariably develops in the course of struggle with what is 
wrong. The true, the good and the beautiful always exist by contrast 
with the false, the evil and the ugly, and grow in struggle with them. 
As soon as something erroneous is rejected and a particular truth 
accepted by mankind, new truths begin to struggle with new errors. 
Such struggles will never end. This is the law of development of truth 
and, naturally, of Marxism. 
It will take a fairly long period of time to decide the issue in the 
ideological struggle between socialism and capitalism in our country. 
The reason is that the influence of the bourgeoisie and of the intellectuals 
who come from the old society, the very influence which 
constitutes their class ideology, will persist in our country for a

410 MAO TSETUNG 
long time. If this is not understood at all or is insufficiently 
understood, the gravest of mistakes will be made and the necessity of 
waging struggle in the ideological field will be ignored. Ideological 
struggle differs from other forms of struggle, since the only method used 
is painstaking reasoning, and not crude coercion. Today, socialism 
is in an advantageous position in the ideological struggle. The basic 
power of the state is in the hands of the working people led by the 
proletariat. The Communist Party is strong and its prestige high. 
Although there are defects and mistakes in our work, every fairminded 
person can see that we are loyal to the people, that we are 
both determined and able to build up our motherland together with 
them, and that we have already achieved great successes and will 
achieve still greater ones. The vast majority of the bourgeoisie and 
the intellectuals who come from the old society are patriotic and are 
willing to serve their flourishing socialist motherland; they know they 
will have nothing to fall back on and their future cannot possibly be 
bright if they turn away from the socialist cause and from the working 
people led by the Communist Party. 
People may ask, since Marxism is accepted as the guiding ideology 
by the majority of the people in our country, can it be criticized? 
Certainly it can. Marxism is scientific truth and fears no criticism. 
If it did, and if it could be overthrown by criticism, it would be worthless. 
In fact, arenšt the idealists criticizing Marxism every day and in 
every way? And those who harbour bourgeois and petty-bourgeois 
ideas and do not wish to change ‹ arenšt they also criticizing Marxism 
in every way? Marxists should not be afraid of criticism from any 
quarter. Quite the contrary, they need to temper and develop themselves 
and win new positions in the teeth of criticism and in the storm 
and stress of struggle. Fighting against wrong ideas is like being vaccinated 
‹ a man develops greater immunity from disease as a result 
of vaccination. Plants raised in hothouses are unlikely to be hardy. 
Carrying out the policy of letting a hundred flowers blossom and a 
hundred schools of thought contend will not weaken, but strengthen, 
the leading position of Marxism in the ideological field. 
What should our policy be towards non-Marxist ideas? As far as 
unmistakable counter-revolutionaries and saboteurs of the socialist 
cause are concerned, the matter is easy, we simply deprive them of 
their freedom of speech. But incorrect ideas among the people are 
quite a different matter. Will it do to ban such ideas and deny them 
any opportunity for expression? Certainly not. It is not only futile but

411 CORRECT HANDLING OF CONTRADICTIONS AMONG THE PEOPLE 
very harmful to use crude methods in dealing with ideologicalquestions 
among the people, with questions about manšs mental world.- 
You may ban the expression of wrong ideas, but the ideas will still 
be there. On the other hand, if correct ideas are pampered in hothouses 
and never exposed to the elements and immunized against disease, 
they will not win out against erroneous ones. Therefore, it is only by 
employing the method of discussion, criticism and reasoning that we 
can really foster correct ideas and overcome wrong ones, and that we 
can really settle issues. 
It is inevitable that the bourgeoisie and petty bourgeoisie will give 
expression to their own ideologies. It is inevitable that they will stubbornly 
assert themselves on political and ideological questions by 
every possible means. You cannot expect them to do otherwise. We 
should not use the method of suppression and prevent them from 
expressing themselves, but should allow them to do so and at the 
same time argue with them and direct appropriate criticism at them. 
Undoubtedly, we must criticize wrong ideas of every description. It 
certainly would not be right to refrain from criticism, look on while 
wrong ideas spread unchecked and allow them to dominate the field. 
Mistakes must be criticized and poisonous weeds fought wherever 
they crop up. However, such criticism should not be dogmatic, and 
the metaphysical method should not be used, but instead the effort 
should be made to apply the dialectical method. What is needed is 
scientific analysis and convincing argument. Dogmatic criticism settles 
nothing. We are against poisonous weeds of whatever kind, but we 
must carefully distinguish between what is really a poisonous weed 
and what is really a fragrant flower. Together with the masses of the 
people, we must learn to differentiate carefully between the two and 
use correct methods to fight the poisonous weeds. 
At the same time as we criticize dogmatism, we must direct our 
attention to criticizing revisionism. Revisionism, or Right opportunism, 
is a bourgeois trend of thought that is even more dangerous than 
dogmatism. The revisionists, the Right opportunists, pay lip-service to 
Marxism; they too attack ŗdogmatism˛. But what they are really 
attacking is the quintessence of Marxism. They oppose or distort 
materialism and dialectics, oppose or try to weaken the peoplešs 
democratic dictatorship and the leading role of the Communist Party, 
and oppose or try to weaken socialist transformation and socialist 
construction. Even after the basic victory of our socialist revolution, 
there will still be a number of people in our society who vainly hope

412 MAO TSETUNG 
to restore the capitalist system and are sure to fight the working class 
on every front, including the ideological one. And their right-hand 
men in this struggle are the revisionists. 
Literally the two slogans ‹ let a hundred flowers blossom and let 
a hundred schools of thought contend ‹ have no class character; the 
proletariat can turn them to account, and so can the bourgeoisie or 
others. Different classes, strata and social groups each have their own 
views on what are fragrant flowers and what are poisonous weeds. 
Then, from the point of view of the masses, what should be the 
criteria today for distinguishing fragrant flowers from poisonous 
weeds? In their political activities, how should our people judge 
whether a personšs words and deeds are right or wrong? On the basis of 
the principles of our Constitution, the will of the overwhelming 
majority of our people and the common political positions which have 
been proclaimed on various occasions by our political parties, we consider 
that, broadly speaking, the criteria should be as follows: 
(1) Words and deeds should help to unite, and not divide, the 
people of all our nationalities. 
(2) They should be beneficial, and not harmful, to socialist 
transformation and socialist construction. 
(3) They should help to consolidate, and not undermine or 
weaken, the peoplešs democratic dictatorship. 
(4) They should help to consolidate, and not undermine or 
weaken, democratic centralism. 
(5) They should help to strengthen, and not shake off or 
weaken, the leadership of the Communist Party. 
(6) They should be beneficial, and not harmful, to international 
socialist unity and the unity of the peace-loving people of 
the world. 
Of these six criteria, the most important are the two about the socialist 
path and the leadership of the Party. These criteria are put forward 
not to hinder but to foster the free discussion of questions among the 
people. Those who disapprove these criteria can still state their own 
views and argue their case. However, so long as the majority of the 
people have clear-cut criteria to go by, criticism and self-criticism can 
be conducted along proper lines, and these criteria can be applied to 
peoplešs words and deeds to determine whether they are right or 
wrong, whether they are fragrant flowers or poisonous weeds. These 
are political criteria. Naturally, to judge the validity of scientific

413 CORRECT HANDLING OF CONTRADICTIONS AMONG THE PEOPLE 
theories or assess the aesthetic value of works of art, other relevant 
criteria are needed. But these six political criteria are applicable to all 
activities in the arts and sciences. In a socialist country like ours, can 
there possibly be any useful scientific or artistic activity which runs 
counter to these political criteria? 
The views set out above are based on Chinašs specific historical 
conditions. Conditions vary in different socialist countries and with 
different Communist Parties. Therefore, we do not maintain that they 
should or must adopt the Chinese way. 
The slogan ŗlong-term coexistence and mutual supervision˛ is also 
a product of Chinašs specific historical conditions. It was not put 
forward all of a sudden, but had been in the making for several years. 
The idea of long-term coexistence had been there for a long time. When 
the socialist system was in the main established last year, the slogan 
was formulated in explicit terms. Why should the bourgeois and pettybourgeois 
democratic parties be allowed to exist side by side with the 
party of the working class over a long period of time? Because we 
have no reason for not adopting the policy of long-term coexistence 
with all those political parties which are truly devoted to the task of 
uniting the people for the cause of socialism and which enjoy the trust 
of the people. As early as June 1950, at the Second Session of the First 
National Committee of the Political Consultative Conference, I put 
the matter in this way: 
The people and their government have no reason to reject 
anyone or deny him the opportunity of making a living and 
rendering service to the country, provided he is really willing to 
serve the people and provided he really helped and did a good 
turn when the people were faced with difficulties and keeps on 
doing good without giving up halfway. 
What I was discussing here was the political basis for the long-term 
coexistence of the various parties. It is the desire as well as the policy 
of the Communist Party to exist side by side with the democratic 
parties for a long time to come. But whether the democratic parties 
can long remain in existence depends not merely on the desire of 
the Communist Party but on how well they acquit themselves and 
on whether they enjoy the trust of the people. Mutual supervision 
among the various parties is also a long-established fact, in the sense 
that they have long been advising and criticizing each other. Mutual 
supervision is obviously not a one-sided matter; it means that the

414 MAO TSETUNG 
Communist Party can exercise supervision over the democratic parties, 
and vice versa. Why should the democratic parties be allowed to 
exercise supervision over the Communist Party? Because a party as 
much as an individual has great need to hear opinions different from 
its own. We all know that supervision over the Communist Party is 
mainly exercised by the working people and the Party membership. 
But it augments the benefit to us to have supervision by the democratic 
parties too. Of course, the advice and criticism exchanged by the 
Communist Party and the democratic parties will play a positive 
supervisory role only when they conform to the six political criteria 
given above. Thus, we hope that in order to fit in with the needs of 
the new society, all the democratic parties will pay attention to 
ideological remoulding and strive for long-term coexistence with the 
Communist Party and mutual supervision. 
IX. ON THE QUESTION OF DISTURBANCES CREATED 
BY SMALL NUMBERS OF PEOPLE 
In 1956, small numbers of workers or students in certain places 
went on strike. The immediate cause of these disturbances was the 
failure to satisfy some of their demands for material benefits, of which 
some should and could have been met, while others were out of place 
or excessive and therefore could not be met for the time being. But 
a more important cause was bureaucracy on the part of the leadership. 
In some cases, the responsibility for such bureaucratic mistakes fell 
on the higher authorities, and those at the lower levels were not to 
blame. Another cause of these disturbances was lack of ideological 
and political education among the workers and students. The same 
year, in some agricultural co-operatives there were also disturbances 
created by a few of their members, and here too the main causes were 
bureaucracy on the part of the leadership and lack of educational work 
among the masses. 
It should be admitted that among the masses some are prone to 
pay attention to immediate, partial and personal interests and do not 
understand, or do not sufficiently understand, long-range, national 
and collective interests. Because of lack of political and social experience, 
quite a number of young people cannot readily see the

415 CORRECT HANDLING OF CONTRADICTIONS AMONG THE PEOPLE 
contrast between the old China and the new, and it is not easy for 
them thoroughly to comprehend the hardships our people went through 
in the struggle to free themselves from the oppression of the imperialists 
and Kuomintang reactionaries, or the long years of hard work 
needed before a fine socialist society can be established. That is why 
we must constantly carry on lively and effective political education 
among the masses and should always tell them the truth about the 
difficulties that crop up and discuss with them how to surmount these 
difficulties. 
We do not approve of disturbances, because contradictions among 
the people can be resolved through the method of ŗunity ‹ criticism 
‹ unity˛, while disturbances are bound to cause some losses and are 
not conducive to the advance of socialism. We believe that the masses 
of the people support socialism, conscientiously observe discipline and 
are reasonable, and will certainly not take part in disturbances without 
cause. But this does not mean that the possibility of disturbances by 
the masses no longer exists in our country. On this question, we should 
pay attention to the following. (1) In order to root out the causes of 
disturbances, we must resolutely overcome bureaucracy, greatly improve 
ideological and political education, and deal with all contradictions 
properly. If this is done, generally speaking there will be no 
disturbances. (2) When disturbances do occur as a result of poor work 
on our part, then we should guide those involved onto the correct 
path, use the disturbances as a special means for improving our work 
and educating the cadres and the masses, and find solutions to those 
problems which were previously left unsolved. In handling any disturbance, 
we should take pains and not use over-simple methods, or 
hastily declare the matter closed. The ringleaders in disturbances 
should not be summarily expelled, except for those who have committed 
criminal offences or are active counter-revolutionaries and have 
to be punished by law. In a large country like ours, there is nothing to 
get alarmed about if small numbers of people create disturbances; on 
the contrary, such disturbances will help us get rid of bureaucracy. 
There are also a small number of individuals in our society who, 
flouting the public interest, wilfully break the law and commit 
crimes. They are apt to take advantage of our policies and distort 
them, and deliberately put forward unreasonable demands in order 
to incite the masses, or deliberately spread rumours to create trouble 
and disrupt public order. We do not propose to let these individuals 
have their way. On the contrary, proper legal action must be taken

416 MAO TSETUNG 
against them. Punishing them is the demand of the masses, and it 
would run counter to the popular will if they were not punished. 
X. CAN BAD THINGS BE TURNED INTO 
GOOD THINGS? 
In our society, as I have said, disturbances by the masses are bad, 
and we do not approve of them. But when disturbances do occur, they 
enable us to learn lessons, to overcome bureaucracy and to educate the 
cadres and the masses. In this sense, bad things can be turned into 
good things. Disturbances thus have a dual character. Every disturbance 
can be regarded in this way. 
Everybody knows that the Hungarian incident was not a good 
thing. But it too had a dual character. Because our Hungarian comrades 
took proper action in the course of the incident, what was a bad thing 
has eventually turned into a good one. Hungary is now more consolidated 
than ever, and all other countries in the socialist camp have 
also learned a lesson. 
Similarly, the world-wide campaign against communism and the 
people which took place in the latter half of 1956 was of course a bad 
thing. But it served to educate and temper the Communist Parties 
and the working class in all countries, and thus it has turned into a 
good thing. In the storm and stress of this period, a number of people 
in many countries withdrew from the Communist Party. Withdrawal 
from the Party reduces its membership and is, of course, a bad thing. 
But there is a good side to it, too. Vacillating elements who are unwilling 
to carry on have withdrawn, and the vast majority who are 
staunch Party members can be the better united for struggle. Why 
isnšt this a good thing? 
To sum up, we must learn to look at problems from all sides, seeing 
the reverse as well as the obverse side of things. In given conditions, 
a bad thing can lead to good results and a good thing to bad results. 
More than two thousand years ago Lao Tzu said: ŗGood fortune 
lieth within bad, bad fortune lurketh within good.˛1 When the 
Japanese shot their way into China, they called this a victory. Huge 
parts of Chinašs territory were seized, and the Chinese called this a 
defeat. But victory was conceived in Chinašs defeat, while defeat was 
conceived in Japanšs victory. Hasnšt history proved this true?

417 CORRECT HANDLING OF CONTRADICTIONS AMONG THE PEOPLE 
People all over the world are now discussing whether or not a 
third world war will break out. On this question, too, we must be 
mentally prepared and do some analysis. We stand firmly for peace 
and against war. But if the imperialists insist on unleashing another 
war, we should not be afraid of it. Our attitude on this question is the 
same as our attitude towards any disturbance: first, we are against it; 
second, we are not afraid of it. The First World War was followed by 
the birth of the Soviet Union with a population of 200 million. The 
Second World War was followed by the emergence of the socialist 
camp with a combined population of 900 million. If the imperialists 
insist on launching a third world war, it is certain that several hundred 
million more will turn to socialism, and then there will not be much 
room left on earth for the imperialists; it is also likely that the whole 
structure of imperialism will completely collapse. 
In given conditions, each of the two opposing aspects of a contradiction 
invariably transforms itself into its opposite as a result of 
the struggle between them. Here, it is the conditions which are essential. 
Without the given conditions, neither of the two contradictory aspects 
can transform itself into its opposite. Of all the classes in the world 
the proletariat is the one which is most eager to change its position, 
and next comes the semi-proletariat, for the former possesses nothing 
at all while the latter is hardly any better off. The United States now 
controls a majority in the United Nations and dominates many parts 
of the world ‹ this state of affairs is temporary and will be changed 
one of these days. Chinašs position as a poor country denied its rights 
in international affairs will also be changed ‹ the poor country will 
change into a rich one, the country denied its rights into one enjoying 
them ‹ a transformation of things into their opposites. Here, the 
decisive conditions are the socialist system and the concerted efforts 
of a united people. 
XI. ON PRACTISING ECONOMY 
Here I wish to speak briefly on practising economy. We want to 
carry on large-scale construction, but our country is still very poor ‹ 
herein lies a contradiction. One way of resolving it is to make a 
sustained effort to practise strict economy in every field.

418 MAO TSETUNG 
During the movement against the ŗthree evils˛ in 1952, we fought 
against corruption, waste and bureaucracy, with the emphasis on combating 
corruption. In 1955 we advocated the practice of economy with 
great success, our emphasis then being on combating the unduly high 
standards for non-productive projects in capital construction and 
economizing on raw materials in industrial production. But at that 
time economy was not yet applied in earnest as a guiding principle in 
all branches of the national economy, or in government offices, army 
units, schools and peoplešs organizations in general. This year we are 
calling for economy and the elimination of waste in every sphere 
throughout the country. We still lack experience in the work of construction. 
During the last few years, great successes have been 
achieved, but there has also been waste. We must build up a number 
of large-scale modern enterprises step by step to form the mainstay of 
our industry, without which we shall not be able to turn China into a 
powerful modern industrial country within the coming decades. But 
the majority of our enterprises should not be built on such a scale; 
we should set up more small and medium enterprises and make full 
use of the industrial base inherited from the old society, so as to effect 
the greatest economy and do more with less money. Good results have 
begun to appear in the few months since the principle of practising 
strict economy and combating waste was put forward, in more emphatic 
terms than before, by the Second Plenary Session of the Eighth 
Central Committee of the Communist Party of China in November 
1956. The present campaign for economy must be conducted in a 
thorough and sustained way. Like the criticism of any other fault or 
mistake, the fight against waste may be compared to washing onešs 
face. Donšt people wash their faces every day? The Chinese Communist 
Party, the democratic parties, the democrats with no party 
affiliation, the intellectuals, industrialists and businessmen, workers, 
peasants and handicraftsmen ‹ in short, all our 600 million people ‹ 
must strive for increased production and economy, and against extravagance 
and waste. This is of prime importance not only economically, 
but politically as well. A dangerous tendency has shown itself 
of late among many of our personnel ‹ an unwillingness to share 
weal and woe with the masses, a concern for personal fame and gain. 
This is very bad. One way of overcoming it is to streamline our organizations 
in the course of our campaign to increase production and 
practise economy, and to transfer cadres to lower levels so that a considerable 
number will return to productive work. We must see to it

419 CORRECT HANDLING OF CONTRADICTIONS AMONG THE PEOPLE 
that all our cadres and all our people constantly bear in mind that ours 
is a large socialist country but an economically backward and poor one, 
and that this is a very big contradiction. To make China prosperous 
and strong needs several decades of hard struggle, which means, 
among other things, pursuing the policy of building up our country 
through diligence and thrift, that is, practising strict economy and 
fighting waste. 
XII. CHINAšS PATH TO INDUSTRIALIZATION 
In discussing our path to industrialization, we are here concerned 
principally with the relationship between the growth of heavy industry, 
light industry and agriculture. It must be affirmed that heavy industry 
is the core of Chinašs economic construction. At the same time, full 
attention must be paid to the development of agriculture and light 
industry. 
As China is a large agricultural country, with over 80 per cent of 
its population in the rural areas, agriculture must develop along with 
industry, for only thus can industry secure raw materials and a market, 
and only thus is it possible to accumulate more funds for building a 
powerful heavy industry. Everyone knows that light industry is closely 
tied up with agriculture. Without agriculture there can be no light 
industry. But it is not yet so clearly understood that agriculture provides 
heavy industry with an important market. This fact, however, 
will be more readily appreciated as gradual progress in the technical 
transformation and modernization of agriculture calls for more and 
more machinery, fertilizer, water conservancy and electric power projects 
and transport facilities for the farms, as well as fuel and building 
materials for the rural consumers. During the period of the Second 
and Third Five-Year Plans, the entire national economy will benefit 
if we can achieve an even greater growth in our agriculture and thus 
induce a correspondingly greater development of light industry. As 
agriculture and light industry develop, heavy industry, assured of its 
market and funds, will grow faster. Hence what may seem to be a 
slower pace of industrialization will actually not be so slow, and indeed 
may even be faster. In three five-year plans or perhaps a little longer, 
Chinašs annual steel output can be raised to 20,000,000 tons or more, 
as compared with the peak pre-liberation output of something over

420 MAO TSETUNG 
900,000 tons in 1943. This will gladden the people in both town and 
country. 
I do not propose to dwell on economic questions today. With 
barely seven years of economic construction behind us, we still lack 
experience and need to accumulate it. Neither had we any experience 
in revolution when we first started, and it was only after we had taken 
a number of tumbles and acquired experience that we won nation-wide 
victory. What we must now demand of ourselves is to gain experience 
in economic construction in a shorter period of time than it took us to 
gain experience in revolution, and not to pay as high a price for it. 
Some price we will have to pay, but we hope it will not be as high as 
that paid during the period of revolution. We must realize that there 
is a contradiction here ‹ the contradiction between the objective laws 
of economic development of a socialist society and our subjective 
cognition of them ‹ which needs to be resolved in the course of practice. 
This contradiction also manifests itself as a contradiction between 
different people, that is, a contradiction between those in whom the 
reflection of these objective laws is relatively accurate and those in 
whom the reflection is relatively inaccurate; this, too, is a contradiction 
among the people. Every contradiction is an objective reality, and it is 
our task to reflect it and resolve it in as nearly correct a fashion as 
we can. 
In order to turn China into an industrial country, we must learn 
conscientiously from the advanced experience of the Soviet Union. 
The Soviet Union has been building socialism for forty years, and its 
experience is very valuable to us. Let us ask: Who designed and 
equipped so many important factories for us? Was it the United 
States? Or Britain? No, neither the one nor the other. Only the Soviet 
Union was willing to do so, because it is a socialist country and our 
ally. In addition to the Soviet Union, the fraternal countries in East 
Europe have also given us some assistance. It is perfectly true that we 
should learn from the good experience of all countries, socialist or 
capitalist, about this there is no argument. But the main thing is 
still to learn from the Soviet Union. Now there are two different 
attitudes towards learning from others. One is the dogmatic attitude 
of transplanting everything, whether or not it is suited to our conditions. 
This is no good. The other attitude is to use our heads and 
learn those things which suit our conditions, that is, to absorb whatever 
experience is useful to us. That is the attitude we should adopt.

421 CORRECT HANDLING OF CONTRADICTIONS AMONG THE PEOPLE 
To strengthen our solidarity with the Soviet Union, to strengthen 
our solidarity with all the socialist countries ‹ this is our fundamental 
policy, this is where our basic interests lie. Then there are the Asian 
and African countries and all the peace-loving countries and peoples 
‹ we must strengthen and develop our solidarity with them. United 
with these two forces, we shall not stand alone. As for the imperialist 
countries, we should unite with their people and strive to coexist 
peacefully with those countries, do business with them and prevent 
a possible war, but under no circumstances should we harbour any 
unrealistic notions about them.
NOTES 
1 
Lao Tzu, Chapter LVIII.

SPEECH AT THE CHINESE COMMUNIST PARTYšS 
NATIONAL CONFERENCE ON 
PROPAGANDA WORK 
March 12, 1957 
Comrades, 
This conference has gone very well. Many questions have been 
raised during the conference and we have learned about many things. 
I shall now make a few remarks on questions the comrades here have 
been discussing. 
We are living in a period of great social change. Chinese society 
has been in the midst of great changes for a long time. The War of 
Resistance Against Japan was one period of great change and the War 
of Liberation another. But the present changes are much more profound 
in character than the earlier ones. We are now building socialism. 
Hundreds of millions of people are taking part in the movement for 
socialist transformation. Class relations are changing throughout the 
country. The petty bourgeoisie in agriculture and handicrafts and the 
bourgeoisie in industry and commerce have both experienced changes. 
The social and economic system has been changed; individual economy 
has been transformed into collective economy, and capitalist private 
ownership is being transformed into socialist public ownership. Changes 
of such magnitude are of course reflected in peoplešs minds. Manšs 
social being determines his consciousness. These great changes in our 
social system are reflected differently among people of different classes, 
strata and social groups. The masses eagerly support them, for life 
itself has confirmed that socialism is the only way out for China. 
Overthrowing the old social system and establishing a new one, the 
system of socialism, means a great struggle, a great change in the social 
system and in menšs relations with each other. It should be said that 
the situation is basically sound. But the new social system has only 
422

423 SPEECH AT PARTY NATIONAL CONFERENCE ON PROPAGANDA WORK 
just been established and requires time for its consolidation. It must 
not be assumed that the new system can be completely consolidated 
the moment it is established; that is impossible. It has to be consolidated 
step by step. To achieve its ultimate consolidation, it is 
necessary not only to bring about the socialist industrialization of the 
country and persevere in the socialist revolution on the economic front, 
but also to carry on constant and arduous socialist revolutionary 
struggles and socialist education on the political and ideological fronts. 
Moreover, various complementary international conditions are required. 
In China the struggle to consolidate the socialist system, the struggle 
to decide whether socialism or capitalism will prevail, will take a long 
historical period. But we should all realize that the new system of 
socialism will unquestionably be consolidated. We can assuredly build 
a socialist state with modern industry, modern agriculture, and modern 
science and culture. This is the first point I want to make. 
Second, the situation regarding the intellectuals in our country. 
No accurate statistics are available on the number of intellectuals in 
China. It is estimated that there are about five million of all types, 
including both higher and ordinary intellectuals. Of these five million 
the overwhelming majority are patriotic, love our Peoplešs Republic, 
and are willing to serve the people and the socialist state. A small 
number do not quite welcome the socialist system and are not very 
happy about it. They are still sceptical about socialism, but they are 
patriotic when it comes to facing imperialism. The number of intellectuals 
who are hostile to our state is very small. They do not 
like our state, the dictatorship of the proletariat, and yearn for the 
old society. Whenever there is an opportunity, they will stir up trouble 
and attempt to overthrow the Communist Party and restore the old 
China. As between the proletarian and the bourgeois lines, as between 
the socialist and the capitalist lines, they stubbornly choose to 
follow the latter. In fact this line is not practicable, and therefore 
they are actually ready to capitulate to imperialism, feudalism and 
bureaucrat-capitalism. Such persons are found in political circles and in 
industrial and commercial, cultural and educational, scientific and 
technological and religious circles, and they are extremely reactionary. 
They account for only 1 or 2 or 3 per cent of the five million intellectuals. 
The overwhelming majority, or well over 90 per cent, of the total of 
five million, support the socialist system in varying degrees. Many of 
them are not yet quite clear on how to work under socialism and on 
how to understand, handle and solve many of the new problems.

424 MAO TSETUNG 
As far as the attitude of the five million intellectuals towards 
Marxism is concerned, one may say that over 10 per cent, comprising 
the Communists and sympathizers, are relatively familiar with Marxism 
and take a firm stand ‹ the stand of the proletariat. Among the total 
of five million, they are a minority, but they are the nucleus and a 
powerful force. The majority have the desire to study Marxism and 
have already learned a little, but they are not yet familiar with it. 
Some of them still have doubts, their stand is not yet firm and they 
vacillate in moments of stress. This section of intellectuals, constituting 
the majority of the five million, is still in the middle. Those who 
strongly oppose Marxism, or are hostile to it, are very few in number. 
Some actually disagree with Marxism, although they do not openly 
say so. There will be people like this for a long time to come, 
and we should allow them to disagree. Take some of the idealists for 
example. They may support the socialist political and economic system 
but disagree with the Marxist world outlook. The same holds 
true for the patriotic people in religious circles. They are theists and 
we are atheists. We cannot force them to accept the Marxist world 
outlook. In short, the attitude towards Marxism of the five million 
intellectuals may be summed up as follows: Those who support 
Marxism and are relatively familiar with it are a minority, those who 
oppose it are also a minority, and the majority support Marxism but 
are not familiar with it and support it in varying degrees. Here there 
are three different kinds of stand ‹ resolute, wavering and antagonistic. 
It should be recognized that this situation will continue for a very 
long time. If we fail to recognize this, we shall make too great a demand 
on others and at the same time set ourselves too small a task. Our 
comrades in propaganda work have the task of disseminating Marxism. 
This has to be done gradually and done well, so that people willingly 
accept it. We cannot force people to accept Marxism, we can only 
persuade them. If over a period of several five-year plans a fairly large 
number of our intellectuals accept Marxism and acquire a fairly good 
grasp of it through practice, through their work and life, through class 
struggle, production and scientific activity, that will be fine. And that 
is what we hope will happen. 
Third, the question of the remoulding of the intellectuals. Ours 
is a culturally underdeveloped country. For a vast country like ours, 
five million intellectuals are too few. Without intellectuals our work 
cannot be done well, and we should therefore do a good job of uniting 
with them. Socialist society mainly comprises three sections of people,

425 SPEECH AT PARTY NATIONAL CONFERENCE ON PROPAGANDA WORK 
the workers, the peasants and the intellectuals. Intellectuals are mental 
workers. Their work is in the service of the people, that is, in the 
service of the workers and the peasants. As far as the majority of the 
intellectuals are concerned, they can serve the new China as they did 
the old, serve the proletariat as they did the bourgeoisie. When the 
intellectuals served the old China, the left wing resisted, the middle 
wavered, and only the right wing stood firm. Now, when it comes to 
serving the new society, the reverse is the case. The left wing stands 
firm, the middle wavers (this wavering in the new society is different 
from that in the old), and the right wing resists. Moreover, intellectuals 
are educators. Our newspapers are educating the people 
every day. Our writers and artists, scientists and technicians, professors 
and teachers are all educating students, educating the people. 
Being educators and teachers, they have the duty to be educated 
first. And all the more so in the present period of great change in 
the social system. They have had some Marxist education in the 
last few years, and some have studied very hard and made great 
progress. But the majority still have a long way to go before they can 
completely replace their bourgeois world outlook with the proletarian 
world outlook. Some have read a few Marxist books and think 
themselves quite learned, but what they have read has not sunk in, 
has not taken root in their minds, so that they donšt know how to 
use it and their class feelings remain unchanged. Others are conceited; 
having picked up some book-phrases, they think themselves terrific 
and are very cocky; but whenever a storm blows up, they take a stand 
very different from that of the workers and the great majority of the 
working peasants. They waver while the latter stand firm, they 
equivocate while the latter are forthright. Hence it is wrong to assume 
that people who educate others no longer need to be educated themselves 
and no longer need to study, or that socialist remoulding means 
remoulding others ‹ the landlords, the capitalists and the individual 
producers ‹ but not the intellectuals. The intellectuals, too, need 
remoulding, and not only those who have not changed their basic 
stand; everybody should study and remould himself. I say ŗeverybody˛, 
and that includes all of us present here. Conditions are changing 
all the time, and to adapt onešs thinking to the new conditions, one 
must study. Even those who have a better grasp of Marxism and are 
comparatively firm in their proletarian stand have to go on studying, 
have to absorb what is new and study new problems. Unless they rid 
their minds of what is unsound, intellectuals cannot shoulder the

426 MAO TSETUNG 
task of educating others. Naturally, we have to learn while teaching 
and be pupils while serving as teachers. To be a good teacher, one 
must first be a good pupil. There are many things which cannot be 
learned from books alone; one must learn from those engaged in 
production, from the workers, from the peasants and, in schools, from 
the students, from those one teaches. In my opinion, the majority of our 
intellectuals are willing to learn. Given their willingness, it is our duty 
sincerely to help them study; we must help them in an appropriate 
way and must not resort to compulsion and force them to study. 
Fourth, the question of the integration of the intellectuals with 
the masses of workers and peasants. Since they are to serve the masses 
of workers and peasants, intellectuals must, first and foremost, know 
them and be familiar with their life, work and ideas. We encourage 
intellectuals to go among the masses, to go to factories and villages. 
It is very bad if you never in all your life meet a worker or a peasant. 
Our state personnel, writers, artists, teachers and scientific research 
workers should seize every opportunity to get close to the workers and 
peasants. Some can go to factories or villages just to look around; this 
may be called ŗlooking at the flowers on horseback˛ and is better than 
doing nothing at all. Others can stay for a few months, conducting 
investigations and making friends; this may be called ŗdismounting 
to look at the flowers˛. Still others can stay and live there for a 
considerable time, say, two or three years or even longer; this may 
be called ŗsettling down˛. Some intellectuals do live among the 
workers and peasants, for instance, technicians in factories, technical 
personnel in agriculture and teachers in rural schools. They should do 
their work well and become one with the workers and peasants. We 
should make it the common practice to get close to the workers and 
peasants, in other words, we should have large numbers of intellectuals 
doing so. Not all of them of course; some are unable to go for one 
reason or another, but we hope that as many as possible will go. Nor 
can they all go at the same time; they can go in batches at different 
times. In the Yenan days, intellectuals were urged to make direct 
contact with workers and peasants. Many intellectuals in Yenan were 
very confused in their thinking and came forth with all sorts of queer 
arguments. We held a forum and advised them to go among the masses. 
Later on, many did, and the results were very good. Until an intellectualšs 
book knowledge is integrated with practice, it is incomplete 
or indeed very incomplete. It is chiefly through reading books that 
intellectuals acquire the experience of our predecessors. Of course,

427 SPEECH AT PARTY NATIONAL CONFERENCE ON PROPAGANDA WORK 
reading books cannot be dispensed with, but by itself it does not solve 
problems. One must study the actual situation, study practical experience 
and factual material, and make friends with the workers and 
peasants. Making friends with the workers and peasants is no easy 
job. Today also there are people who go to factories or villages, and 
the results are good in some cases but not in others. What is involved 
here is the question of stand or attitude, that is, of onešs world outlook. 
We advocate ŗletting a hundred schools of thought contend˛, and 
there may be many schools and trends in every branch of learning, but 
on the matter of world outlook, there are basically only two schools in 
our time, the proletarian and the bourgeois. It is one or the other, either 
the proletarian or the bourgeois world outlook. The communist world 
outlook is the world outlook of the proletariat and of no other class. 
Most of our present intellectuals come from the old society and from 
families of non-working people. Even those who come from workersš 
or peasantsš families are still bourgeois intellectuals, because the 
education they received before liberation was a bourgeois education 
and their world outlook is fundamentally bourgeois. If the intellectuals 
do not discard the old and replace it by the proletarian world outlook, 
they will remain different from the workers and peasants in their 
viewpoint, stand and feelings and will be like square pegs in round 
holes, and the workers and peasants will not open their hearts to them. 
If the intellectuals integrate themselves with the workers and peasants 
and make friends with them, the Marxism they have learned from books 
can become truly their own. In order to have a real grasp of Marxism, 
one must learn it not only from books, but chiefly through class 
struggle, through practical work and close contact with the masses of 
workers and peasants. When in addition to studying some Marxism 
our intellectuals have gained some understanding of it through close 
contact with the masses of workers and peasants and through their 
own practical work, we will all be speaking the same language, not only 
the common language of patriotism and of the socialist system, but 
probably even that of the communist world outlook. If that happens, 
all of us will certainly work much better. 
Fifth, rectification. Rectification means correcting onešs way of 
thinking and style of work. Rectification movements were conducted 
within the Communist Party during the anti-Japanese war, during the 
War of Liberation, and in the early days after the founding of the 
Peoplešs Republic of China. Now the Central Committee of the 
Communist Party has decided on another rectification within the Party

428 MAO TSETUNG 
to be started this year. Non-Party people may take part or abstain as 
they wish. The main thing in this rectification movement is to criticize 
the following incorrect ways of thinking and styles of work ‹ 
subjectivism, bureaucracy and sectarianism. As in the rectification 
movement during the anti-Japanese war, the method this time will be 
first to study a number of documents, and then, on the basis of such 
study, to examine onešs own thinking and work and unfold criticism 
and self-criticism to expose shortcomings and mistakes and promote 
what is right and good. On the one hand, we must be strict and conduct 
criticism and self-criticism with respect to mistakes and shortcomings 
seriously, not perfunctorily, and correct them; on the other hand, we 
must use the method of the ŗgentle breeze and mild rain˛ and that of 
ŗlearning from past mistakes to avoid future ones and curing the sickness 
to save the patient˛, and we must oppose the method of ŗfinishing 
people off with a single blow˛. 
Ours is a great Party, a glorious Party, a correct Party. This must 
be affirmed as a fact. But we still have shortcomings, and this, too, 
must be affirmed as a fact. We should not affirm everything about 
ourselves, but only what is correct; at the same time, we should not 
negate everything about ourselves, but only what is wrong. Achievements 
are the main thing in our work, and yet there are not a few 
shortcomings and mistakes. That is why we need a rectification movement. 
Will it undermine our Partyšs prestige if we criticize our own 
subjectivism, bureaucracy and sectarianism? I think not. On the contrary, 
it will serve to enhance the Partyšs prestige. This was borne out 
by the rectification movement during the anti-Japanese war. It enhanced 
the prestige of our Party, of our Party comrades and our veteran cadres, 
and it also enabled the new cadres to make great progress. Which of 
the two was afraid of criticism, the Communist Party or the Kuomintang? 
The Kuomintang. It prohibited criticism, but that did not 
save it from final defeat. The Communist Party does not fear criticism 
because we are Marxists, the truth is on our side, and the basic masses, 
the workers and peasants, are on our side. As we used to say, the 
rectification movement is ŗa widespread movement of Marxist education˛.
1 Rectification means the whole Party studying Marxism through 
criticism and self-criticism. We can certainly learn more Marxism in 
the course of the rectification movement. 
The transformation and construction of China depend on us for 
leadership. When we have rectified our way of thinking and style of 
work, we shall enjoy greater initiative in our work, become more

429 SPEECH AT PARTY NATIONAL CONFERENCE ON PROPAGANDA WORK 
capable and do a better job. Our country has need of many people who 
whole-heartedly serve the masses and the cause of socialism and who 
are determined to bring about changes. We Communists should all be 
people of this kind. Formerly, in the old China, it was a crime to talk 
about reforms, and offenders would be beheaded or imprisoned. 
Nevertheless there were determined reformers who were dauntless 
and published books and newspapers, educated and organized the 
people and waged indomitable struggles under every kind of difficulty. 
The state, the peoplešs democratic dictatorship, has paved the way for 
the rapid economic and cultural development of our country. It is only 
a few years since the establishment of our state, and yet people can 
already see the unprecedented flowering of the economy, culture, education 
and science. In building up the new China we Communists are 
likewise not daunted by any difficulties. But we cannot accomplish this 
all on our own. We need a good number of non-Party people with high 
ideals who will keep to the socialist and communist orientation and 
fight dauntlessly with us to transform and construct our society. It is 
a colossal task to ensure a better life for the several hundred million 
people of China and to make our economically and culturally backward 
country a prosperous and powerful one with a high level of culture. 
And it is precisely in order to be able to shoulder this task more 
competently and work better with all non-Party people who have 
high ideals and the determination to institute reforms that we 
must conduct rectification movements both now and in the future, 
and constantly rid ourselves of whatever is wrong. Thoroughgoing 
materialists are fearless; we hope that all our fellow fighters will 
courageously shoulder their responsibilities and overcome all difficulties, 
fearing no setbacks or gibes, nor hesitating to criticize us Communists 
and give us their suggestions. ŗHe who is not afraid of death by a 
thousand cuts dares to unhorse the emperor˛ ‹ this is the dauntless 
spirit needed in our struggle to build socialism and communism. On 
our part, we Communists should create conditions helpful to those who 
co-operate with us, establish good comradely relations with them in 
our common work and unite with them in our joint struggle. 
Sixth, the question of one-sidedness. One-sidedness means thinking 
in terms of absolutes, that is, taking a metaphysical approach to problems. 
In the appraisal of our work, it is one-sided to affirm everything 
or to negate everything. There still are quite a few people inside the 
Communist Party and many outside it who do just that. To affirm 
everything is to see only the good and not the bad, and to welcome

430 MAO TSETUNG 
only praise and not criticism. To talk as though our work is good in 
every respect is at variance with the facts. It is not true that everything 
is good; there are shortcomings and mistakes. But neither is it true 
that everything is bad; that too is at variance with the facts. Here 
analysis is necessary. To negate everything is to think, without prior 
analysis, that nothing has been done well and that the great task 
of building socialism, the great struggle in which hundreds of millions 
of people are participating, is a complete mess with nothing 
commendable about it. Although there is a difference between many 
of those who hold such views and those who are hostile to the socialist 
system, these views are very mistaken and harmful and can only 
dishearten people. It is wrong to appraise our work either from the 
standpoint of affirming everything or from the standpoint of negating 
everything. We should criticize those people who take such a one-sided 
approach to problems, though of course we should do so in the spirit 
of ŗlearning from past mistakes to avoid future ones and curing the 
sickness to save the patient˛, and we should give them help. 
Some people say: Since there is to be a rectification movement 
and since everyone is asked to express his opinions, one-sidedness is 
unavoidable, and therefore it seems that in calling for the elimination 
of one-sidedness, you really donšt want people to speak up. Is this 
assertion right? It is naturally difficult for everyone to be free from 
any trace of one-sidedness. People always examine and handle problems 
and express their views in the light of their own experience, 
and unavoidably they sometimes show a little one-sidedness. However, 
shouldnšt we ask them gradually to overcome their one-sidedness and 
look at problems in a relatively all-sided way? In my opinion, we 
should. We would be stagnating and we would be approving onesidedness 
and contradicting the whole purpose of rectification if we 
did not make the demand that from day to day and from year to year 
more and more people should view problems in a relatively all-sided 
way. One-sidedness violates dialectics. We want gradually to disseminate 
dialectics and to ask everyone gradually to learn the use of the 
scientific dialectical method. Some of the articles appearing today are 
extremely pretentious but empty, without any analysis of problems or 
reasoned argument, and they carry no conviction. There should be 
fewer and fewer articles of this kind. When writing an article, one should 
not be for ever thinking, ŗHow smart I am!˛ but should put oneself 
on a completely equal footing with onešs readers. You may have been 
in the revolution for a long time, but if you say something wrong

431 SPEECH AT PARTY NATIONAL CONFERENCE ON PROPAGANDA WORK 
people will refute you all the same. The more you put on airs, the less 
people will stand for it and the less they will care to read your articles. 
We should do our work honestly, take an analytical approach, write 
convincingly and never strike a pose to overawe people. 
Some people say that while one-sidedness can be avoided in a 
lengthy article, it is unavoidable in a short essay. Must a short essay 
inevitably be one-sided? As I have just said, it is usually hard to avoid 
one-sidedness, and there is nothing terrible if it creeps in to a certain 
extent. Criticism would be hampered if everyone were required to look 
at problems in an absolutely all-sided way. Nevertheless, we do ask 
everyone to try to approach problems in a relatively all-sided way and 
try to avoid one-sidedness not only in long articles but also in short 
articles, short essays included. Some people argue, how is it possible to 
undertake analysis in an essay of a few hundred or one to two thousand 
words? I say, why not? Didnšt Lu Hsun do it? The analytical method 
is dialectical. By analysis, we mean analysing the contradictions in 
things. And sound analysis is impossible without intimate knowledge 
of life and without real understanding of the relevant contradictions. 
Lu Hsunšs later essays are so penetrating and powerful and yet so free 
from one-sidedness precisely because by then he had grasped dialectics. 
Some of Leninšs articles can also be called short essays; they are satirical 
and pungent, but without one-sidedness. Almost all of Lu Hsunšs essays 
were directed at the enemy; some of Leninšs essays were directed at 
the enemy and others at comrades. Can the Lu Hsun type of essay be 
used against mistakes and shortcomings within the ranks of the people? 
I think it can. Of course, we must make a distinction between ourselves 
and the enemy, and we must not adopt an antagonistic stand towards 
comrades and treat them as we would the enemy. One must speak 
warmly and sincerely with a desire to protect the cause of the people 
and raise their political consciousness and must not indulge in ridicule 
or attack. 
What if one dare not write? Some people say they dare not write 
even when they have something to say, lest they should offend people 
and be criticized. I think such worries can be cast aside. Ours is 
a peoplešs democratic state, and it provides an environment conducive 
to writing in the service of the people. The policy of letting a hundred 
flowers blossom and a hundred schools of thought contend offers 
additional guarantees for the flowering of science and the arts. If what 
you say is right, you need not fear criticism, and through debate you 
can further explain your correct views. If what you say is wrong, then

432 MAO TSETUNG 
criticism can help you correct your mistakes, and there is nothing bad 
in that. In our society, militant revolutionary criticism and countercriticism 
is the healthy method used to expose and resolve contradictions, 
develop science and the arts and ensure success in all our work. 
Seventh, whether to ŗopen wide˛ or to ŗrestrict˛? This is a question 
of policy. ŗLet a hundred flowers blossom and a hundred schools 
of thought contend˛ is a long-term as well as a fundamental policy; 
it is not just a temporary policy. In the discussion, comrades expressed 
disapproval of ŗrestriction˛, and I think this view is the correct one. 
The Central Committee of the Party is of the opinion that we must 
ŗopen wide˛, not ŗrestrict˛. 
Two alternative methods of leading our country, or in other words 
two alternative policies, can be adopted ‹ to ŗopen wide˛ or to 
ŗrestrict˛. To ŗopen wide˛ means to let all people express their opinions 
freely, so that they dare to speak, dare to criticize and dare to debate; 
it means not being afraid of wrong views or anything poisonous; it 
means to encourage argument and criticism among people holding 
different views, allowing freedom both for criticism and for countercriticism; 
it means not coercing people with wrong views into submission 
but convincing them by reasoning. To ŗrestrict˛ means to forbid 
people to air differing opinions and express wrong ideas, and to ŗfinish 
them off with a single blow˛ if they do so. That is the way to aggravate 
rather than to resolve contradictions. To ŗopen wide˛, or to ŗrestrict˛? 
We must choose one or the other of these two policies. We choose the 
former, because it is the policy which will help to consolidate our 
country and develop our culture. 
We intend to use the policy of ŗopening wide˛ to unite with the 
several million intellectuals and change their present outlook. As I have 
said above, the overwhelming majority of the intellectuals in our 
country want to make progress and remould themselves, and they are 
quite capable of being remoulded. In this connection, the policy we 
adopt will play a big role. The question of the intellectuals is above 
all one of ideology, and it is not helpful but harmful to resort to crude 
and heavy-handed measures for solving ideological questions. The 
remoulding of the intellectuals, and especially the changing of their 
world outlook, is a process that requires a long period of time. Our 
comrades must understand that ideological remoulding involves longterm, 
patient and painstaking work, and they must not attempt to 
change peoplešs ideology, which has been shaped over decades of life, 
by giving a few lectures or by holding a few meetings. Persuasion, not

433 SPEECH AT PARTY NATIONAL CONFERENCE ON PROPAGANDA WORK 
coercion, is the only way to convince people. Coercion will never result 
in convincing people. To try to make them submit by force simply wonšt 
do. This kind of method is permissible in dealing with the enemy, but 
absolutely impermissible in dealing with comrades or friends. What 
if we donšt know how to convince others? Then we have to learn. 
We must learn to conquer erroneous ideas through debate and reasoning. 
ŗLet a hundred flowers blossom˛ is the way to develop the arts, 
and ŗlet a hundred schools of thought contend˛ the way to develop 
science. Not only is this a good method for developing science and the 
arts, but, applied more widely, it is a good method for all our work. 
It enables us to make fewer mistakes. There are many things we donšt 
understand and are therefore unable to tackle, but through debate and 
struggle we shall come to understand them and learn how to tackle 
them. Truth develops through debate between different views. The 
same method can be adopted in dealing with whatever is poisonous and 
anti-Marxist, because in the struggle against it Marxism will develop. 
This is development through the struggle of opposites, development 
conforming to dialectics. 
Havenšt people discussed the true, the good and the beautiful all 
through the ages? Their opposites are the false, the evil and the ugly. 
The former would not exist without the latter. Truth stands in opposition 
to falsehood. In society as in nature, every entity invariably divides 
into different parts, only there are differences in content and form 
under different concrete conditions. There will always be wrong things 
and ugly phenomena. There will always be such opposites as the right 
and the wrong, the good and the evil, the beautiful and the ugly. The 
same is true of fragrant flowers and poisonous weeds. The relationship 
between them is one of the unity and struggle of opposites. Only by 
comparing can one distinguish. Only by making distinctions and 
waging struggle can there be development. Truth develops through 
its struggle against falsehood. This is how Marxism develops. Marxism 
develops in the struggle against bourgeois and petty-bourgeois ideology, 
and it is only through struggle that it can develop. 
We are for the policy of ŗopening wide˛; so far there has been too 
little of it rather than too much. We must not be afraid of ŗopening 
wide˛, nor should we be afraid of criticism and poisonous weeds. 
Marxism is scientific truth; it fears no criticism and cannot be overthrown 
by criticism. The same holds for the Communist Party and the 
Peoplešs Government; they fear no criticism and cannot be toppled 
by it. There will always be things that are wrong, and that is nothing

434 MAO TSETUNG 
to be afraid of. Recently, ghosts and monsters have been presented on 
the stage. Some comrades have become very worried by this spectacle. In 
my opinion, a little of this doesnšt matter much; within a few decades 
such ghosts and monsters will disappear from the stage altogether, and 
you wonšt be able to see them even if you want to. We must promote 
what is right and oppose what is wrong, but we need not be frightened 
if people come in contact with erroneous things. It will solve no problem 
simply to issue administrative orders forbidding people to have any 
contact with perverse and ugly phenomena and with erroneous ideas, 
or forbidding them to see ghosts and monsters on the stage. Of course, 
I am not advocating the spread of such stuff, I am only saying ŗa little 
of this doesnšt matter much˛. It is not at all strange that erroneous 
things should exist, nor should this give any cause for fear; indeed it 
helps people learn to struggle against them better. Even great storms 
are not to be feared. It is amid great storms that human society 
progresses. 
In our country bourgeois and petty-bourgeois ideology and anti- 
Marxist ideologies will persist for a long time. Basically, the socialist 
system has been established in our country. While we have won basic 
victory in transforming the ownership of the means of production, we 
are even farther from complete victory on the political and ideological 
fronts. In the ideological field, the question of who will win out, the 
proletariat or the bourgeoisie, has not yet been really settled. We still 
have to wage a protracted struggle against bourgeois and pettybourgeois 
ideology. It is wrong not to understand this and to give up 
ideological struggle. All erroneous ideas, all poisonous weeds, all 
ghosts and monsters, must be subjected to criticism; in no circumstances 
should they be allowed to spread freely. However, the criticism should 
be fully reasoned, analytical and convincing, and neither rough and 
bureaucratic, nor metaphysical and dogmatic. 
For a long time now people have been levelling a lot of criticism 
at dogmatism. That is as it should be. But they often neglect to criticize 
revisionism. Both dogmatism and revisionism run counter to Marxism. 
Marxism must necessarily advance; it must develop along with practice 
and cannot stand still. It would become lifeless if it were stagnant and 
stereotyped. However, the basic principles of Marxism must never 
be violated, otherwise mistakes will be made. It is dogmatism to 
approach Marxism from a metaphysical point of view and to regard 
it as something rigid. It is revisionism to negate the basic principles 
of Marxism and to negate its universal truth. Revisionism is one form

435 SPEECH AT PARTY NATIONAL CONFERENCE ON PROPAGANDA WORK 
of bourgeois ideology. The revisionists deny the differences between 
socialism and capitalism, between the dictatorship of the proletariat 
and the dictatorship of the bourgeoisie. What they advocate is in fact 
not the socialist line but the capitalist line. In present circumstances, 
revisionism is more pernicious than dogmatism. It is an important task 
for us to unfold criticism of revisionism on the ideological front now. 
Eighth and last, it is imperative for the Party committees of the 
provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions to tackle the question 
of ideology. This is a point some of the comrades present here want 
me to touch upon. In many places, the Party committees have not yet 
tackled the question of ideology, or have done very little about it. 
Mainly because they are busy. But tackle it they must. By ŗtackling 
it˛ I mean that it must be put on the agenda and studied. In the main 
the large-scale, turbulent class struggles of the masses characteristic of 
times of revolution in our country have come to an end, but there 
is still class struggle ‹ chiefly on the political and ideological fronts ‹ 
and it is very acute too. The question of ideology has now assumed 
great importance. The first secretaries of the Party committees in all 
provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions should personally 
tackle this question, which can be solved correctly only when they have 
given it serious attention and gone into it. Meetings on propaganda 
work similar to our present one should be held in all these places to 
discuss local ideological work and all related problems. Such meetings 
should be attended not only by Party comrades but also by people 
outside the Party, and people with different opinions should be included. 
This will be all to the good of these meetings, and no harm can come 
of it, as the experience of the present conference has proved. 
NOTES 
1 ŗOn Production by the Army for Its Own Support and on the Importance of 
the Great Movements for Rectification and for Production˛, Selected Works of Mao 
Tsetung, Vol. III.

PERSEVERE IN PLAIN LIVING AND 
HARD STRUGGLE, MAINTAIN CLOSE TIES 
WITH THE MASSES 
March 1957 
1 
Our Party is going to unfold a rectification movement. This is a way 
of resolving contradictions within the Party through criticism and selfcriticism 
and also of resolving contradictions between the Party and 
the people. This time the movement will be aimed at three bad styles, 
bureaucracy, sectarianism and subjectivism. Through rectification we 
must strive to carry forward our Partyšs tradition of plain living and 
hard struggle. Since our victory in the revolution, the revolutionary will 
of some of our comrades has been waning, their revolutionary enthusiasm 
has been ebbing, their spirit of whole-hearted service to the 
people has been flagging, and so has the death-defying spirit they displayed 
in the days of fighting against our enemies; at the same time, 
they are clamouring for position and for the limelight, becoming particular 
about what they eat and wear, competing for salary and scrambling 
for fame and gain ‹ all these tendencies are growing. I have heard that 
during the grading of cadres last year, some people burst into tears and 
made terrible scenes. People have two eyes, havenšt they? Drops of 
water welling up in them are called tears. When the grading doesnšt 
meet their wishes, tears begin to stream down their cheeks. They never 
shed a single tear during the war against Chiang Kai-shek, the movement 
to resist U.S. aggression and aid Korea, the agrarian reform and 
the suppression of counter-revolutionaries, nor have they shed a tear 
Section 1 is part of a speech at a conference of Party cadres in Tsinan on March 
18, 1957, and Section 2 is part of a speech at a conference of Party cadres in Nanking on 
March 19 of the same year. 
436

437 PLAIN LIVING AND HARD STRUGGLE, CLOSE TIES WITH MASSES 
during the building of socialism, but as soon as their personal interests 
were affected, rivers of tears began to flow. I have even heard of someone 
refusing to eat for three days. I would say, it doesnšt matter much 
if one doesnšt eat for three days, but it would be a little dangerous if that 
went on for a week. In short, the tendency has emerged of contending 
for fame and position, of comparing salaries, food, clothing and comforts. 
To go on hunger strike and shed tears on account of onešs personal 
interests may be considered a kind of contradiction among the people. 
There is an opera scene called Lin Chung Flees at Night,1 in which 
one line goes, ŗA man does not easily shed tears until his heart is 
broken.˛ Now some of our comrades are men (and probably women 
too) about whom it can be said that they do not easily shed tears 
until it comes to grading. Such behaviour must be rectified too, mustnšt 
it? It is right not to shed tears easily, but when is onešs heart broken? 
When the destiny of the working class and the masses of the working 
people is at stake. Then one may shed a few tears. Whatever rank you 
are given, you should take it even if you are graded incorrectly, and 
you should not let your tears out but keep them in. There is much 
that is unfair in this world, and maybe you have been improperly 
graded, but even so there is no reason to make a fuss about it, for it is 
inconsequential and you should rest content as long as you have enough 
to eat. After all, we are a revolutionary Party, so we make it a principle 
not to allow anybody to starve to death. As long as one isnšt starving 
to death, one should do revolutionary work and exert oneself. Even ten 
thousand years from now people should work hard. A Communist is 
supposed to work hard and to serve the people with his whole heart, 
not with half or two-thirds. Those whose revolutionary will has been 
waning should have their spirits revived through rectification. 
2 
We should maintain the same vigour, the same revolutionary enthusiasm 
and the same death-defying spirit we displayed in the years 
of the revolutionary wars and carry our revolutionary work through to 
the end. What is meant by death-defying? In the novel Water Margin 
there is a character called Death-Defying Third Brother Shih Hsiu, 
whose spirit is exactly what we have in mind. It was with this spirit 
that we made revolution in the past. A man has but one life to live, and

MAO TSE-TUNG 
FROM MARX 
TO MAO 

 
NOT FOR 
COMMERCIAL 
DISTRIBUTION 
438 
he may live to sixty, seventy, eighty or ninety, it all depends. At least 
you should do some work as long as you can. And you should do it with 
revolutionary enthusiasm and a death-defying spirit. Some comrades 
are lacking in this enthusiasm and spirit and have stopped making 
progress. This is not a wholesome phenomenon, and education should 
be conducted among them. 
The whole Party should strengthen political and ideological work. 
Quite a number of comrades present at todayšs conference are from the 
army. How are things in the army? Isnšt there some difference between 
political work in peace-time and in wartime? In wartime close ties must 
be forged with the masses, the officers must be integrated with the men 
and the army with the people. In such times the people excuse us if 
we have some shortcomings. Now it is peace-time, we have no battles 
to fight and all we have to do is to train; if we do not persist in maintaining 
close ties with the masses, they will naturally find it hard to 
excuse our shortcomings. Although the system of military ranks2 and 
other systems have been instituted, those with higher rank should still 
be at one with their subordinates and the cadres with the soldiers, and 
subordinates should still be allowed to criticize their superiors and 
soldiers to criticize cadres. For instance, a Party conference can be 
convened to provide an opportunity to make criticisms. During the 
movement against the ŗthree evils˛, Comrade Chen Yi put it aptly 
when he said, ŗIt was all right for us to issue orders for so many years, 
wouldnšt it be all right now to let our subordinates criticize us for a 
while, say for a week?˛ What he meant was that it ought to be all right. 
I agree with him, let our subordinates have one week to criticize us. 
Before the criticisms begin, make some preparations, then give some 
sort of report and say something about your own shortcomings, which 
probably wonšt amount to more than one, two, three, or four points. 
Then let the comrades speak, adding some points and making criticisms. 
The masses are fair-minded, they wonšt write off our record. Company 
and platoon commanders should also offer their men an opportunity to 
make criticisms, and it would be best to do so once a year by holding 
criticism meetings for several days in a row. In the past we practised 
democracy of this kind in the army, and with good results. Donšt let 
the close relations between the higher and lower levels, between officers 
and men, between the army and the people and between the armed 
forces and the local authorities be impaired as a result of the adoption 
of the system of military ranks and other systems. It goes without saying 
that the higher levels should maintain close relations with the lower

439 PLAIN LIVING AND HARD STRUGGLE, CLOSE TIES WITH MASSES 
levels and that these should be comradely. Cadres should forge close ties 
with soldiers and be integrated with them. The armed forces should 
likewise maintain close relations with the people and with the local 
Party and government organizations. 
Our comrades should take note: Donšt live on the power of your 
office, your high position or seniority. Speaking of seniority, we have 
been making revolution for many years, and while this record of ours 
does count, still we must not live on it. True, you are a veteran who 
has worked for several decades. For all that, when you do something 
foolish and talk nonsense, the people wonšt excuse you. No matter how 
many your good deeds in the past and no matter how high your post, 
if today you are not doing a good job, not solving problems correctly 
and thus harming the peoplešs interests, they wonšt forgive you. 
Therefore our comrades should rely not on seniority but on being 
correct in solving problems. What counts here is correctness, not seniority. 
Since you cannot rely on your seniority, you might as well forget 
about it, as if you had never been an official at all, that is, you must 
stop putting on the airs of an overlord, of a bureaucrat, you must put 
aside your airs and go among the people and among your subordinates.- 
This is a point our cadres, and particularly our old cadres, must keepin 
mind. Generally speaking, new cadres are not so burdened, are less 
encumbered. Old cadres should treat new cadres on an equal footing. 
In many ways old cadres are not as good as new cadres and should 
learn from them. 
NOTES 
1 Lin Chung Flees at Night is a scene in the Kunchu opera The Story of a Sword 
composed in the Ming Dynasty. The Kunchu opera originated in Kunshan, Kiangsu. 
2 The system of military ranks was initiated in September 1955 and abolished in 
May 1965.

THINGS ARE BEGINNING TO CHANGE 
May 15, 1957 
The unity and struggle of opposites are universal phenomena in the 
life of society. Struggle results in the transformation of opposites into 
each other and in the formation of a new unity, and the life of society 
thus moves one step forward. 
The rectification movement in the Communist Party is a struggle 
between two styles in a single entity. This is true of the Communist 
Party and also of the people as a whole. 
There are different kinds of people in the Communist Party. There 
are Marxists, who comprise the majority. They, too, have shortcomings 
but not serious ones. There are a number of people whose thinking 
errs on the side of dogmatism. Most of them are staunch and steadfast 
and devoted to the Party and the country, only their approach to 
problems shows a ŗLeft˛ one-sidedness. After overcoming this onesidedness, 
they will take a big step forward. There are also a number 
of people whose thinking errs on the side of revisionism or Right 
opportunism. They pose the bigger danger because their ideas are a 
reflection of bourgeois ideology inside the Party, and because they yearn 
for bourgeois liberalism, negate everything and are tied in a hundred 
and one ways to bourgeois intellectuals outside the Party. Over the 
last few months, people have been criticizing dogmatism but have 
allowed revisionism to go unchallenged. Dogmatism should be criticized, 
or else many mistakes cannot be rectified. Now itšs time to 
direct our attention to criticizing revisionism. When dogmatism turns 
into its opposite, it becomes either Marxism or revisionism. Our Partyšs 
experience shows that there have been many instances of dogmatism 
turning into Marxism but very few of dogmatism turning into revisionism, 
because the dogmatists represent a proletarian school of 
thought tainted with petty-bourgeois fanaticism. In some cases what 
Article written by Comrade Mao Tsetung and circulated among Party cadres. 
440

441 THINGS ARE BEGINNING TO CHANGE 
is attacked as ŗdogmatism˛ is in fact mistakes in work. In other 
cases what is attacked as ŗdogmatism˛ is in fact Marxism itself, which 
certain people mistake for ŗdogmatism˛ and attack as such. Real 
dogmatists think that it is better to be on the ŗLeft˛ than on the Right, 
and they have a reason ‹ they want revolution. But in terms of damage 
to the revolutionary cause, to be on the ŗLeft˛ is in no way better than 
to be on the Right and should therefore be resolutely corrected. Some 
mistakes are the result of carrying out the policies of the central authorities, 
and people at the lower levels should not be given an undue share 
of the blame. There are a great many new members in our Party (even 
more in the Youth League) who are intellectuals, and it is true that 
a number of them are rather seriously afflicted with revisionist ideas. 
They deny the Party spirit and class nature of the press, they confound 
the differences in principle between proletarian journalism and bourgeois 
journalism, and they confuse journalism reflecting the collective economy 
of socialist countries with journalism reflecting the economy of capitalist 
countries, which is marked by anarchy and rivalry among monopoly 
groups. They admire bourgeois liberalism and are against the leadership 
of the Party. They favour democracy and reject centralism. They are 
opposed to what is essential to the realization of a planned economy, 
that is, leadership, planning and control in the cultural and educational 
fields (journalism included), which are indispensable and at the same 
time not unduly centralized. These people and right-wing intellectuals 
outside the Party act in concert and form a congenial lot, hitting it off 
like sworn brothers. Dogmatism is being criticized by various kinds 
of people. By Communists, that is, Marxists. By so-called Communists, 
that is, Rightists in the Communist Party ‹ revisionists. And outside 
the Party, by the Left, the middle and the Right. Large in number, this 
middle section accounts for about 70 per cent of all the intellectuals 
outside the Party, while the Left makes up about 20 per cent, and the 
Right about 1, 3, 5 or up to 10 per cent, as the case may be. 
In recent days the Rightists in the democratic parties and institutions 
of higher education have shown themselves to be most determined 
and most rabid. They think the middle elements are on their side and 
will not follow the lead of the Communist Party, but this is actually 
a pipe dream. Some of the middle elements are wavering, may swing 
either left or right and, in the face of the current spate of wild attacks 
by the Rightists, may want to keep mum and wait and see. To date, 
the Rightists have yet to reach the climax of their attack, and they are 
going at it in high spirits. Rightists, both inside and outside the Party,

442 MAO TSETUNG 
know nothing about dialectics ‹ things turn into their opposites when 
they reach the extreme. We shall let the Rightists run amuck for a 
time and let them reach their climax. The more they run amuck, the 
better for us. Some say they are afraid of being hooked like a fish, and 
others say they are afraid of being lured in deep, rounded up and 
annihilated. Now that large numbers of fish have come to the surface 
of themselves, there is no need to bait the hook. They are no ordinary 
fish, but more likely man-eating sharks with sharp teeth ‹ it is these 
sharks whose fins people eat. Our struggle with the Rightists is centred 
on winning over the middle elements, who can be won over to our side. 
The Rightistsš pledge of support to the peoplešs democratic dictatorship, 
to the Peoplešs Government, to socialism and to the leadership 
of the Communist Party is all a sham, and on no account should any 
credence be given it. This holds true for all Rightists, whether in the 
democratic parties, in the fields of education, literature and art, the 
press, science and technology, or in industrial and commercial circles. 
There are two kinds of people who are most determined ‹ the Left 
and the Right. Both are trying to win over the middle elements and 
gain the leadership over them. The Rightists are trying to seize first 
a part and then the whole. To begin with, they are out to gain leadership 
in the press, education, literature and art, and science and technology. 
They know that in these fields the Communists are not as strong as 
they are, which is actually the case. They are ŗnational treasures˛, not 
to be rubbed the wrong way. The movement against the ŗthree evils˛, 
the elimination of counter-revolutionaries and the ideological remoulding 
in past years ‹ how outrageous and what impudence! They also 
know that many college students come from landlord, rich peasant 
or bourgeois families and believe these people will rise at their call. 
This likelihood exists for that section of the student body with Right 
deviationist ideas. But to assume it is true of most students is sheer 
fantasy. There are also indications that the Rightists in press circles are 
instigating the worker and peasant masses to oppose the government. 
Some people are against the pinning of political labels, but only 
when it is they who are being labelled by the Communist Party. But 
they themselves feel free to slap labels on Communists and on the Left 
and middle elements in the democratic parties and in all walks of life. 
What a rash of labels tossed out by the Rightists has found its way into 
the press in the last few months! The middle elements are sincere in 
their opposition to labelling. All the inappropriate labels we pinned on 
the middle elements in the past should be removed and indiscriminate

443 THINGS ARE BEGINNING TO CHANGE 
labelling should be avoided in the future. If injustices were really done 
to certain people, no matter who, in the movement against the ŗthree 
evils˛, in the elimination of counter-revolutionaries and in the ideological 
remoulding, they should be publicly corrected. But labelling the 
Rightists is a different matter. Even so, the cap must fit, and only 
confirmed Rightists should be labelled as such. With few exceptions, 
the Rightists need not be publicly identified by name, but should be 
given some leeway so that it will be easier for them to compromise in 
appropriate circumstances. The number of Rightists set above at 1, 3, 5 
and up to 10 per cent is only an estimate, and it may turn out to be 
larger or smaller. Moreover, conditions vary in different units, and 
it is therefore essential to have conclusive evidence, adopt an objective 
approach and avoid excesses, for excesses are a mistake. 
The bourgeoisie and many of the intellectuals who formerly served 
the old society are invariably stubborn in asserting themselves, invariably 
yearn for that old world of theirs and invariably find themselves 
somewhat out of their element in the new. It will take quite a long 
time to remould them, and in the process crude methods should not 
be used. On the other hand, we must take into account the fact that, 
compared with the early days of liberation, most of them have made 
considerable progress, and their criticisms of our work are mostly 
correct and must be accepted. Only some of the criticisms are wrong, 
and in such cases matters should be clarified. It is in order for them 
to ask to be trusted and given authority commensurate with their 
positions; they must be trusted and given authority and responsibility. 
Some of the criticisms made even by the Rightists are correct and 
should not be categorically rejected. Their criticisms, wherever correct, 
should be accepted. The Rightists are characterized by their Rightist 
political attitude. The kind of co-operation they maintain with us is 
co-operation only in appearance and not in essence. There is co-operation 
on some matters, but not on others. There is co-operation in normal 
circumstances, but when there is an opening which can be used, as 
at the present juncture, they donšt really want any co-operation. They 
go back on their pledge to accept the leadership of the Communist 
Party and try to shake it off. But without this leadership, it would be 
impossible to build socialism and our nation would be plunged into 
total disaster. 
In China, the bourgeois elements and the intellectuals who served 
the old society number several million, and we need them to work for 
us; we must further improve our relations with them so that we can

444 MAO TSETUNG 
enable them to give better service to the cause of socialism and so that 
we can further remould them and help them gradually become part 
of the working class, thus transforming them into the opposite of what 
they are today. Most of them are sure to reach this goal. Remoulding 
involves both unity and struggle, with struggle as the means to achieve 
unity, which is the end. Struggle is mutual; now is the time that many 
people are waging struggle against us. The criticisms made by most 
people are valid or essentially so, including the sharp criticisms by 
Professor Fu Ying of Peking University, which have not been published 
in the press. They are making their criticisms in the hope of improving 
their relations with us, so these criticisms are well-intentioned. 
But the Rightistsš criticisms are usually malicious, because they are 
antagonistic. Intentions, whether good or bad, are not a matter of 
guesswork, they can be perceived. 
The current criticism and rectification movement has been launched 
by the Communist Party. As we expected and hoped, poisonous weeds 
have been growing side by side with fragrant flowers and ghosts and 
monsters appearing together with the unicorn and phoenix. Anyway, 
good things outnumber bad. Some say we are trying to catch big fish, 
and we say we are digging up poisonous weeds, which are only different 
ways of saying the same thing. In order to achieve their end, 
the Rightists, who are anti-Communist, are making a desperate attempt 
to stir up a typhoon above force 7 in China, strong enough to devastate 
crops and houses. The more outrageous their conduct, the more quickly 
will they show themselves up as doing the opposite of co-operating 
with the Communist Party and accepting its leadership, as they pretended 
in the past, and the people will thus recognize them as nothing 
but a handful of ghosts and monsters opposed to the Communist Party 
and the people. They will then end up by burying themselves. Is there 
anything bad about that? 
There are two alternatives for the Rightists. One is to keep their 
tails tucked between their legs and mend their ways. The other is to 
go on making trouble and court ruin. Gentlemen Rightists, the choice 
is yours, the initiative (for a short time) is in your hands. 
In our country, there are several criteria by which to judge whether 
the bourgeoisie and bourgeois intellectuals are politically honest or dishonest, 
good or bad. The main thing is to see whether they really accept 
socialism and really accept the leadership of the Communist Party. They 
agreed to both long ago, but now some want to go back on their word,

445 THINGS ARE BEGINNING TO CHANGE 
and this will not do. Once they back out, there is no place for them in 
the Peoplešs Republic of China. Your ideals are those of the Western 
world (also known as the free world), you might as well go there. 
Why is such a torrent of reactionary, vicious statements being 
allowed to appear in the press? To let the people have some idea of 
these poisonous weeds and noxious fumes so as to have them uprooted 
or dispelled. 
ŗWhy didnšt you say all this earlier?˛ Didnšt we? Didnšt we say 
long ago that all poisonous weeds must be uprooted? 
ŗYou divide people into the Left, the middle and the Right. Isnšt 
that contrary to how things stand?˛ Wherever there are masses of 
people ‹ everywhere except deserts ‹ they are invariably divided into 
the Left, the middle and the Right, and this will be so ten thousand 
years hence. Is that contrary to how things stand? This division will 
serve as a guide for the masses to size up people and will make it easier 
to win over the middle elements and isolate the Rightists. 
ŗWhy not win over the Rightists?˛ We shall try. But it wonšt 
be possible to win them over until they feel isolated. How can they 
be amenable when they are riding their high horse and are so bent 
on destroying the Communist Party? Isolation will cause a split, and 
we must bring about a split among the Rightists. It has all along 
been our practice to divide people into the Left, the middle and the 
Right, or in other words, progressive, middle-of-the-road and backward; 
this is nothing new, only some people have a short memory. 
Are you going to ŗfix˛ people with a vengeance? It depends on 
how the Rightist gentlemen behave themselves. Poisonous weeds are 
to be uprooted, and this means uprooting the ideological poisonous 
weeds. To ŗfix˛ people is another matter. No one will be ŗfixed˛ 
unless he ŗgrossly violates the law˛. Then what is meant by ŗgross 
violation of the law˛? It means serious damage to the interests of the 
state and the people as a result of the evil-doeršs wilful actions despite 
repeated warnings. As for people who commit ordinary errors, there 
is all the more reason to apply the principle of curing the sickness to 
save the patient. This is the proper distinction to be observed both 
inside and outside the Party. To ŗfix˛ also means to cure the sickness 
to save the patient. 
How long will it take the Party to accomplish the task of rectification? 
Events are now moving very fast and the relations between the 
Party and the masses will rapidly improve. Apparently, the task will

446 MAO TSETUNG 
take a few weeks in some places, a few months in others and about 
a year in still others (for instance, the rural areas). But studying 
Marxism and raising the ideological level will take much longer. 
Our unity and struggle with the bourgeoisie and the intellectuals 
will go on for a long time. When the rectification movement inside the 
Communist Party is basically over, we shall suggest that the democratic 
parties and people in all walks of life carry out their own rectification, 
which will accelerate their progress and make it easier to isolate the 
handful of right-wingers. Now it is people outside the Party who are 
helping us in our rectification. Later on we shall help them in theirs. 
This help is mutual, in the course of which what is evil will be done 
away with, that is, turned into its opposite, into what is good. This 
is exactly what the people expect of us, and we ought to gratify their 
wishes.

THE CHINESE COMMUNIST PARTY 
IS THE CORE OF LEADERSHIP OF 
THE WHOLE CHINESE PEOPLE 
May 25, 1957 
Your congress has been very successful. I hope you will unite and 
serve as the core of leadership of the youth of China. 
The Chinese Communist Party is the core of leadership of the whole 
Chinese people. Without this core, the cause of socialism cannot be 
victorious. 
Your congress is a congress of unity and will exert a tremendous 
influence on young people throughout China. I extend my congratulations 
to you. 
Unite, comrades, and fight resolutely and courageously for the 
great cause of socialism. Any word or deed at variance with socialism 
is completely wrong. 
Remarks by Comrade Mao Tsetung when he received the entire body of delegates 
to the Third National Congress of the New Democratic Youth League of China. 
447

MUSTER OUR FORCES TO REPULSE 
THE RIGHTISTSš WILD ATTACKS 
June 8, 1957 
Fifteen days or so will be sufficient for the free airing of views in 
organizations at the provincial and municipal level and in colleges and 
universities. The reactionary elements have been unbridled in their 
attacks. Among Party and League members the waverers have already 
deserted to them or are contemplating desertion. Among the vast 
numbers of Party and League members the activists and middle elements 
are rising to give battle. Using the big-character poster as a weapon, 
both sides are gaining experience and being tempered in the struggle. 
We neednšt worry, for the reactionary elements number no more than 
a few per cent and the most frantic only 1 per cent. Donšt be scared 
stiff just because the sky appears overcast for the time being. The 
reactionary elements will go out from their own organizations or 
colleges to carry on their activities in factories and other colleges, and 
precautions should be taken to keep them out. Call meetings of the 
principal cadres and veteran workers in the factories and explain to 
them that some bad capitalists, bad intellectuals and reactionary 
elements in society are mounting wild attacks against the working 
class and the Communist Party in an attempt to overthrow the state 
power led by the working class, and that they should make sure not to 
be taken in by these persons. Stop anyone trying to incite the people. 
Mobilize the masses to tear down reactionary posters on street walls. 
Factory workers should be clear about the over-all situation and must 
not stir up any trouble. During this time, they should not raise such 
matters as welfare and wages but should concert their actions against 
the reactionaries. 
Inner-Party directive drafted for the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist 
Party. 
448

449 MUSTER OUR FORCES TO REPULSE RIGHTISTSš WILD ATTACKS 
Please watch out for the wild attacks of the reactionary elements 
in the democratic parties. Get each of these parties to organize forums 
with the Left, middle and Right elements all taking part, let both positive 
and negative opinions be voiced, and send reporters to cover these 
discussions. We should tactfully encourage the Left and middle elements 
to speak out at the meetings and refute the Rightists. This is very 
effective. The Party paper in each locality should have dozens of articles 
ready and publish them from day to day when the high tide of the 
attacks begins to ebb there. Make a point of organizing the middle and 
Left elements to write for the press. But before the tide is on the ebb, 
Party papers should restrict the number of articles expressing positive 
views (they can publish articles written by the middle elements). Give 
the masses a free hand in refuting the Rightistsš big-character posters. 
Organize forums at colleges and universities to let professors speak 
their minds about the Party, and as far as possible try to get the Rightists 
to spew out all their venom, which will be published in the newspapers. 
Let the professors make speeches and let the students respond freely. 
Better let the reactionary professors, lecturers, assistants and students 
spew out their venom and speak without any inhibitions. They are the 
best teachers. When the opportune moment arrives, lose no time in 
organizing separate meetings of Party and League members to sort out 
the criticisms; accept those criticisms that are constructive and correct 
mistakes and shortcomings, but refute those criticisms that are destructive. 
At the same time, organize some non-Party people to make speeches 
and state the correct views. Then, have a responsible Party cadre who 
enjoys prestige make a summing-up speech that is both analytical and 
convincing to effect a complete change in the atmosphere. If all goes 
well, a month or so will see the whole process through and we can then 
switch to the inner-Party rectification, which will proceed like ŗa gentle 
breeze and a mild rain˛. 
This is a great political and ideological struggle. Only by waging 
it can our Party keep the initiative, temper our cadres, educate the 
masses, isolate the reactionaries and put them on the defensive. 
During the past seven years, we seemed to have the initiative, but this 
was at best only half true. The surrender of the reactionaries was a 
sham, and many of the middle elements submitted unwillingly. Now 
the situation has begun to change. Though outwardly on the defensive, 
we are actually gaining the initiative. The reason is that we are carrying 
out the rectification in all seriousness. The reactionaries who have lost 
their heads and run wild only appear to have the initiative, but they

450 MAO TSETUNG 
have gone too far and as a result are alienating the people and finding 
themselves on the defensive. As the situation varies from place to place, 
you can be flexible in your tactics and dispositions. 
In short, this is a big battle (with the battleground both inside 
and outside the Party). If we donšt win this battle, it will be impossible 
to attain socialism and there may even be some danger of a ŗHungarian 
incident˛. Now by launching the rectification of our own accord, 
we have purposely invited a possible ŗHungarian incident˛ and broken 
it down into many small ŗHungarian incidents˛ staged in various 
organizations and colleges and dealt with individually. Besides, the 
Party and government have not been thrown into disarray except for 
a very small section (it is just fine that this small section has gone rotten, 
for this means that the pus has been squeezed out). All this is very 
beneficial. Since there were reactionaries in our society, since the 
middle elements had never received the lessons they are now getting 
and since the Party had never undergone such tests as the present one, 
it was inevitable for disturbances to occur sooner or later. 
Today, the situation at home is excellent, we have the workers, the 
peasants, the Party, the government, the army and the majority of 
students firmly with us. The international situation is excellent and 
the United States is in a difficult position.

WEN HUI PAOšS BOURGEOIS ORIENTATION 
SHOULD BE CRITICIZED 
July 1, 1957 
Since June 14, when our editorial department published ŗThe 
Bourgeois Orientation of Wen Hui Pao over a Period of Time˛, both 
Wen Hui Pao and the Kuangming Daily have undertaken some selfcriticism 
on this question. 
The staff of the Kuangming Daily held several meetings and 
severely criticized its director, Chang Po-chun, and its editor-in-chief, 
Chu An-ping, for their wrong orientation. This criticism was unequivocal 
and there has been a basic change in stand, a change to the revolutionary 
socialist line from the bourgeois line of Chang Po-chun and Chu An-ping 
opposing the Communist Party, the people and socialism. As a 
result, the Kuangming Daily has regained the readeršs confidence and 
reads like a socialist paper. Only the technique of its layout still leaves 
something to be desired. Technique in layout and political slant in 
layout are two different things, and as far as the Kuangming Daily is 
concerned, there is not enough of the former but quite enough of the 
latter. Technique is something it is entirely possible to improve. A change 
in the technique of layout would give the paper a new look which its 
readers would be glad to see. Nonetheless it is not easy; our paper has 
long set its mind on this, but its layout, though somewhat improved, 
is still not up to expectations. 
Wen Hui Pao has published its self-criticism, giving the impression 
that a change has come about in its orientation, and it has carried many 
news items and articles reflecting the positive line ‹ this of course is 
all to the good. Still, there is something lacking. It is just like performing 
on the stage, where some actors give fine portrayals as villains but never 
look right in their roles as heroes, they are so affected and unnatural. 
Editorial written for the Peoplešs Daily. 
451

452 MAO TSETUNG 
It is indeed difficult for them to be otherwise. Either the East Wind 
prevails over the West Wind, or the West Wind prevails over the 
East Wind; on the question of the two lines there is no room for compromise. 
Many editors and reporters are used to the old and beaten 
tracks, and it is far from easy for them to change all at once. But change 
they must, however grudgingly and painfully, for this is dictated by the 
general trend. When people say that the change is easy and pleasant, 
they are saying so merely out of conventional politeness. This is only 
human and should be excused. As for the editorial department of Wen 
Hui Peo, the matter is serious because it was this editorial department 
which was in command during the period when the paper kicked up 
a rumpus with its bourgeois orientation, and so there is a heavy 
burden on its shoulders which cannot be easily thrown off. As to 
whether there is another commander higher up, those who make this 
charge say ŗyes˛, while those who speak for the defence say ŗno˛; 
moreover, this commander has been identified as Lo Lung-chi of the 
alliance of Chang Po-chun and Lo Lung-chi. In between the two 
commanders, there is a third in the person of Pu Hsi-hsiu, a capable 
woman of action in charge of the Peking office of Wen Hui Pao. People 
say that Lo Lung-chi ‹ Pu Hsi-hsiu ‹ the Wen Hui Pao editorial 
department represents the chain of command of the Rightists in the 
Democratic League directing Wen Hui Pao. 
The Democratic League has played a particularly vicious role in 
the course of the contention among the hundred schools of thought and 
the rectification movement. It operates in an organized way, complete 
with a plan, programme and line which alienate it from the people and 
which are directed against the Communist Party and socialism. Then 
there is the Peasantsš and Workersš Democratic Party which has played 
exactly the same role. These two parties have made themselves 
particularly conspicuous in these days of violent storm. It is the Chang- 
Lo alliance which has raised the storm. Other parties have played their 
role, and some of their members are very vicious, too. But they are 
smaller in number and their chain of command is not so obvious. As 
for the rank and file of the Democratic League and the Peasantsš and 
Workersš Democratic Party, not all nor even the majority of them are 
involved. After all, it is only a handful of individuals, namely, the 
leading bourgeois Rightists, who summon the storm and churn the 
waves, plot in secret and incite discontent among the masses, make 
contacts high and low and seek responses far and near; it is only they 
whose estimate of the current situation is that utter confusion every

453 WEN HUI PAOšS BOURGEOIS ORIENTATION CRITICISED 
where will lead to their take-over and whose ultimate aim is to complete 
their grand scheme by gradual steps. Among the members of these 
parties some keep their heads, many are deceived, and a small number 
make up the nucleus of the right wing. Few as they are, being the 
nucleus, they have considerable power to manipulate. All this spring, 
the sky over China suddenly became overcast with rolling dark clouds, 
and the source of the trouble can be traced to the Chang-Lo alliance. 
Two meetings were called by the Journalistsš Association, the first 
a negation and the second a negation of the negation, and the fact 
that this took place in a little over a month indicates the swift changes 
in the situation in China. The meetings were helpful. At the first meeting, 
ŗdark clouds bearing down on the city threatened to crush it˛, as 
the reactionary bourgeois line in journalism asserted itself. But at the 
second, begun the other day, the atmosphere has changed and, although 
the Rightists are still stubbornly resisting, most people can be said to 
have found the correct orientation. 
On June 14, Wen Hui Pao made a self-criticism and admitted it 
had made some mistakes. It is all very well to make self-criticism and 
we welcome it. But we consider Wen Hui Paošs self-criticism inadequate. 
And what is inadequate here is fundamental in character. That is to 
say, fundamentally the paper made no self-criticism. On the contrary, 
in the editorial of June 14 it tried to defend its mistakes. ŗWe have 
one-sidedly and incorrectly interpreted the Partyšs policy on the free 
airing of views, believing that unqualified encouragement of the free 
airing of views would of itself help the Party in the rectification movement, 
and that more space given to positive views or criticisms to 
counter the wrong views would hinder the free airing of views.˛ Is that 
so? No. During the spring Wen Hui Pao pursued the policy of the 
central authorities of the Democratic League opposing the Communist 
Party, the people and socialism and launched violent attacks on the 
proletariat, in diametrical opposition to the policy of the Communist 
Party. It was a policy designed to topple the Communist Party and 
create utter confusion everywhere to facilitate a take-over. Can this 
really be called ŗhelping in the rectification movement˛? No, that is 
a lie, a downright swindle. Was it wrong for a while to refrain from 
publishing any positive views or to publish only a few and to let 
erroneous views go unrefuted? Between May 8 and June 7, acting on 
the instructions of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of 
China, our paper and all the other Party papers did precisely that. The 
purpose was to let demons and devils, ghosts and monsters ŗair

454 MAO TSETUNG 
views freely˛ and let poisonous weeds sprout and grow in profusion, 
so that the people, now shocked to find these ugly things still existing 
in the world, would take action to wipe them out. In other words, the 
Communist Party foresaw this inevitable class struggle between the 
bourgeoisie and the proletariat. The bourgeoisie and bourgeois intellectuals 
were allowed to start this war, and for a time the press 
refrained from publishing any positive views or published only a few 
and did not take any action to repulse the wild attacks of the reactionary 
bourgeois Rightists, nor did the Party organization in any of the departments 
and schools where the rectification movement was in progress. 
The masses could thus clearly distinguish those whose criticism was 
well-intentioned from those whose so-called criticism was malevolent, 
and thus forces could be mustered to counter-attack when the time was 
ripe. Some people say this was a covert scheme. We say it was an 
overt one. For we made it plain to the enemy beforehand: only when 
ghosts and monsters are allowed to come into the open can they be 
wiped out; only when poisonous weeds are allowed to sprout from the 
soil can they be uprooted. Donšt the peasants weed several times a year? 
Besides, uprooted weeds can be used as manure. The class enemies 
will invariably seek opportunities to assert themselves. They will not 
resign themselves to losing state power and being expropriated. However 
much the Communist Party warns its enemies in advance and 
makes its basic strategy known to them, they will still launch attacks. 
Class struggle is an objective reality, independent of manšs will. That 
is to say, class struggle is inevitable. It cannot be avoided even if 
people want to avoid it. The only thing to do is to make the best use of 
the situation and guide the struggle to victory. Why do the reactionary 
class enemies bite the hook? As reactionary social groups blinded by 
the lust for gain, they take the absolute superiority of the proletariat 
for absolute inferiority. Fanning flames everywhere would stir up 
workers and peasants, studentsš big-character posters would facilitate 
the taking over of schools, free airing of views would touch off an 
explosive situation, there would be instant chaos everywhere and the 
Communist Party would crack up at once ‹ this was how Chang 
Po-chun sized up the situation on June 6 for six professors in Peking. 
Isnšt this a case of being blinded by the lust for gain? ŗGain˛ means 
the grabbing of power. They have quite a few papers, one of them 
being Wen Hui Pao. This paper operated in accordance with the 
reactionary policy mentioned above, but on June 14 it tried to deceive 
the people, pretending that it had acted with good intentions. The paper

455 WEN HUI PAOšS BOURGEOIS ORIENTATION CRITICISED 
said, ŗAnd this incorrect understanding is due to the remnants of 
bourgeois ideas of journalism in our minds.˛ No, here ŗremnants˛ 
should read ŗabundance˛. For several months the paper served as the 
mouthpiece of the reactionaries who mounted unbridled attacks against 
the proletariat, and it changed its orientation to one of opposing the 
Communist Party, the people and socialism, that is, to the bourgeois 
orientation ‹ could it manage all that with just some odd remnants of 
bourgeois ideas? What sort of logic is this? A particular premise leads 
to a universal conclusion ‹ this is Wen Hui Paošs logic. To this day 
Wen Hui Pao is still not ready to criticize itself for carrying a host of 
reactionary reports flying in the face of the facts, for printing a spate of 
reactionary views and opinions, and for splashing the paper with 
a reactionary layout as a means for attacking the proletariat. The case 
is different with Hsin Min Pao; it has made many self-criticisms which 
are quite sincere. Hsin Min Paošs mistakes were not as serious as 
Wen Hui Paošs, and when it realized that it had made mistakes it 
started correcting them in earnest; this shows a sense of responsibility 
towards the peoplešs cause on the part of those in charge of the paper 
and its reporters, and thus in the eyes of the reader the paper has begun 
to free itself from its predicament. Where on earth is Wen Hui Paošs 
sense of responsibility? Just when will Wen Hui Pao begin to follow 
Hsin Min Paošs example? Debts must be paid, and when will Wen 
Hui Pao begin to pay its debt? In making self-criticism Hsin Min Pao 
has apparently raised lots of awkward questions for Wen Hui Pao, and 
the reader would like to ask, when will Wen Hui Pao catch up with 
Hsin Min Pao? Wen Hui Pao is now in a bad fix. Before Hsin Min Pao 
made its self-criticism, it seemed that Wen Hui Pao might be able to 
muddle along for a while, but after that things have become difficult. 
A bad fix can be turned into a good position, and that calls for a 
conscientious effort to emulate Hsin Min Pao. 
Now to return to the term ŗbourgeois Rightists˛. Bourgeois Rightists 
are the bourgeois reactionaries mentioned above who oppose the Communist 
Party, the people and socialism; this definition is scientific and 
true to fact. Only a handful, they are to be found in the democratic 
parties, among intellectuals, capitalists and students and also in the 
Communist Party and Youth League, and they have surfaced in the 
present great storm. They are very small in number, but in the democratic 
parties, and particularly in certain of these parties, they carry weight 
and should not be taken lightly. This bunch have not only expressed 
themselves in words but also followed up with deeds; they are guilty,

456 MAO TSETUNG 
and the principle of ŗblame not the speaker˛ does not apply to them. 
They are not only speakers but doers. Are they to be punished by law? 
There seems to be no need for that at present. For the peoplešs state is 
very secure and, moreover, many among them are prominent figures. 
They can be treated leniently, without punishment. In general, it is 
enough to call them ŗRightists˛, not reactionaries. The only exceptions 
are those who refuse to correct their mistakes after repeated warnings 
and continue to engage in sabotage in violation of the criminal law; these 
will have to be punished. Learn from past mistakes to avoid future 
ones, cure the sickness to save the patient, transform negative factors 
into positive ones ‹ these principles still apply to the Rightists. Then 
there are Rightists of another kind who have expressed themselves in 
words but have not followed up with deeds. Their views are similar to 
those of the Rightists mentioned above, but they have not engaged 
in disruptive activities. There should be a greater degree of leniency 
towards them. Erroneous views must be repudiated root and branch 
with no quarter given, but these individuals should be permitted to 
reserve their opinions. The various types of Rightists mentioned above 
are allowed their freedom of speech. For a great, secure nation, there 
is little harm in keeping a small number of such people around when 
their mistakes are known to the masses. It must be understood that 
Rightists are persons who teach us by negative example. In this sense, 
poisonous weeds can render service. They render service precisely 
because they are poisonous and because in the past people were harmed 
by the poison they spread. 
The Communist Party is continuing with its rectification and the 
democratic parties have also begun theirs. Now that the Rightistsš wild 
attacks have been repulsed by the people, the rectification movement 
can proceed smoothly.

BEAT BACK THE ATTACKS 
OF THE BOURGEOIS RIGHTISTS 
July 9, 1957 
In March I spoke here to a number of Party cadres. A hundred 
days have passed since then. During these hundred days a great change 
in the situation has occurred. We have fought a battle with the bourgeois 
Rightists, and the political consciousness of the people has risen, 
and indeed to a considerable degree. We expected this at the time. 
For instance, I said here that when people started criticizing, or in other 
words, when the fire started burning, wouldnšt that cause pain? We 
must toughen our scalps and bear it, I added. This part of the body is 
called the head, and the skin on it is called the scalp. Toughening onešs 
scalp and bearing it means, when you criticize me, I toughen my scalp 
and listen for a while. Afterwards, Išll analyse what you say and make 
a reply, accepting what is right and rebutting what is wrong. 
We must believe that in China, as everywhere else in the world, 
the majority of the people are good. By the majority, we mean not 51 
per cent but over 90 per cent. Of the 600 million people in our country, 
the worker and peasant masses are our mainstay. In the Communist 
Party, the Youth League and the democratic parties and among the 
students and intellectuals, the majority are invariably good people. 
They are kind-hearted and honest, they are not crafty and donšt have 
ulterior motives. This should be acknowledged. It has been borne out 
in every political movement. Take the students in the present movement. 
There are more than seven thousand students at Peking University, 
but the Rightists account for only 1, 2 or 3 per cent. What does this 
1, 2 or 3 per cent really mean? It means that the backbone die-hard 
elements who kick up a rumpus from time to time never exceed fifty 
persons or so, or less than 1 per cent. The remaining 1 or 2 per cent 
form their claque. 
Speech at a conference of cadres in Shanghai. 
457

458 MAO TSETUNG 
Itšs not easy to set a fire going and draw it upon oneself. Now I 
hear that some comrades in this city rather regret that the fire was not 
fierce enough. I think the fire in Shanghai was about right, almost but 
not quite strong enough to be satisfying. Wouldnšt you have let the fire 
rage if you had foreseen its miraculous effect? Let poisonous weeds 
sprout and ghosts and monsters appear. Why be afraid of them? I said 
in March you shouldnšt be afraid. However, some comrades in our 
Party have been afraid that chaos would spread across the land. I say 
that, staunch and devoted to the Party and the country as these comrades 
are, they donšt see the over-all situation, donšt see that the vast 
majority of the people, that is, more than 90 per cent, are good. Donšt 
be afraid of the masses, they are with us. They may rail at us but they 
will never strike us with their fists. The Rightists are only a handful, 
and at Peking University they make up only 1, 2 or 3 per cent, as I 
have just said. This applies to the students only. The case is different 
with the professors and associate professors, about 10 per cent of whom 
are Rightists. The Left also amounts to about 10 per cent. The two sides 
are matched in strength. The middle makes up approximately 80 per 
cent. So what is there to be afraid of? And yet some of our comrades 
are assailed by fears of one kind or another, afraid of houses collapsing 
and the sky falling. From time immemorial no one but ŗthe man of Chi 
worried lest the sky fall˛,1 meaning that only one man from Honan 
was afraid it might happen. Save for this man, no one else is known to 
have entertained the fear. As for houses, I am sure this one will not 
collapse, as it was built not long ago. How can it collapse so easily? 
In short, more than 90 per cent of the people everywhere are our 
friends and comrades. Donšt be afraid. Why be afraid of the masses? 
Therešs no reason to be. What sort of persons are leading figures? Group 
leaders, team leaders, Party branch secretaries, heads of schools and 
colleges and Party committee secretaries ‹ they are all leading figures, 
Comrade Ko Ching-shih counts among them and I too. At any rate all 
of us have some political capital, that is, we have performed some 
service for the people. Now the fire is set ablaze, and more than 90 per 
cent of the people hope that our comrades will be tempered in the fire. 
Every one of our comrades has his weaknesses. Who hasnšt? ŗMen are 
not saints, how can they be free from faults?˛ One way or another, we 
say or do something wrong, for instance by being bureaucratic. These 
things are usually done unwittingly. 
It is necessary to ŗset a fire going˛ at regular intervals. How often? 
Once a year or once every three years, which do you prefer? I think we

459 BEAT BACK ATTACKS OF BOURGEOIS RIGHTISTS 
should do it at least twice in the space of each five-year plan, in the 
same way as the intercalary month in a lunar leap year turns up once 
in three years and twice in five. The Monkey Sun Wu-kung becomes 
much stronger after being tempered in the Eight-Diagram Magic Crucible 
of the God of Supreme Power. Isnšt Sun Wu-kung a character of 
tremendous magical power? Even Sun, who is called ŗThe Great Saint 
on a Par with the Emperor of Heaven˛, needs tempering in the Eight- 
Diagram Crucible. Donšt we talk about tempering? Tempering means 
forging and refining. Forging is shaping by hammering and refining is 
smelting iron in a blast furnace or making steel in an open-hearth furnace. 
After steel is made, it needs forging, which nowadays is done 
with a pneumatic hammer. That hammering is terrific! We human 
beings need tempering too. Some comrades, when asked about being 
tempered, would appear very much in favour, saying, ŗOh yes, I have 
shortcomings. Išm eager to get some tempering.˛ Everybody says he 
wants it. To talk about it is very easy, but when it comes to the real 
thing, when it means being ŗforged˛ with a pneumatic hammer, he 
backs away, scared stiff. We have been in the midst of tempering. For 
a time there was gloom above and darkness below, with the rays of 
the sun and the moon completely shut out. Two winds were then 
blowing, one from the overwhelming majority, the good people, who 
put up big-character posters saying that the Communist Party had 
shortcomings and should overcome them, the other from a handful of 
Rightists who attacked us. These two offensives went for the same 
target. The offensive by the majority was justified and correct. It was 
a kind of tempering for us. The offensive by the Rightists was also a 
kind of tempering for us. For real tempering this time we have to 
thank the Rightists. They have given a most instructive lesson to our 
Party, to the masses, the working class) peasants, students and democratic 
parties. There are Rightists in every city and they want to topple 
us. We are now closing in on them. 
Ours is a peoplešs revolution, a revolution by 600 million people 
under the leadership of the proletariat; it is the peoplešs cause. The 
democratic revolution was the peoplešs cause, the socialist revolution 
is the peoplešs cause and so is socialist construction. Then, are the 
socialist revolution and socialist construction good or not? Have there 
been achievements? Which is primary, achievements or mistakes? The 
Rightists negate the achievements in the peoplešs cause. This is the 
first point. Second, which is the direction to take? One way leads to 
socialism and the other to capitalism. The Rightists want us to turn

460 MAO TSETUNG 
round and take the capitalist road. Third, who is to lead in building 
socialism? The proletariat or the bourgeoisie? The Communist Party 
or those bourgeois Rightists? The Rightists say they donšt want leadership 
by the Communist Party. I think this has been a great debate 
with the focus on these three questions. It is good to have a debate. 
In the past, there wasnšt any debate on these questions. 
There were prolonged debates in the course of the democratic 
revolution. In the last years of the Ching Dynasty up to the Revolution 
of 1911, in the fight against Yuan Shih-kai, in the Northern Expedition 
and the War of Resistance Against Japan ‹ in each of these periods 
there were debates. To resist or not to resist Japan? One school 
preached the theory that weapons decide everything. China, they said, 
was short of arms and so could not resist Japan. Another school said that 
need not cause fear, for after all people were primary, and though 
inferior in arms we could still put up a fight. The War of Liberation 
that followed was preceded by debates. The Chungking negotiations, 
the old Political Consultative Conference held in Chungking and the 
Nanking negotiations were all debates. Chiang Kai-shek turned a deaf 
ear to our opinions and to those of the people, what he wanted was war. 
The outcome of the war was that he was beaten. So there were debates, 
a long period of mental preparation, in the course of the democratic 
revolution. 
The socialist revolution came swiftly. In a matter of six or seven 
years the socialist transformation of capitalist ownership and of individual 
ownership by small producers has by and large been completed. 
But the transformation of man still has a long way to go, though 
some progress has been made. Socialist transformation is a twofold 
task, one is to transform the system and the other to transform man. 
The system embraces not only ownership, it also includes the superstructure, 
primarily the state apparatus and ideology. For instance, 
the press comes within the scope of ideology. Some people say that 
the press has no class nature and is not an instrument of class struggle. 
They are mistaken. Until at least the extinction of imperialism the 
press and everything else in the realm of ideology will reflect class 
relations. School education, literature and art all fall within the scope 
of ideology, belong to the superstructure and have a class nature. As 
for the natural sciences, there are two aspects. The natural sciences as 
such have no class nature, but the question of who studies and makes 
use of them does. In the universities, the departments of Chinese for 
one and the departments of history for another are most seriously

461 BEAT BACK ATTACKS OF BOURGEOIS RIGHTISTS 
affected by idealism. So are the people who work on newspapers. Let 
no one suppose that idealism abounds only in the field of the social 
sciences, there is also a good deal in the field of the natural sciences. 
Many people who work in the natural sciences are idealists in their 
world outlook. When you ask them what water is composed of, they 
are materialists and say it is composed of two elements, which conforms 
with reality. When it comes to the transformation of society, 
they are idealists. While we say the Communist Party should be further 
strengthened through rectification, some of them say it should be wiped 
out. This is what the present movement has revealed. 
When the Rightists were on the offensive, our policy was to listen 
and keep quiet. For several weeks we toughened our scalps, cocked 
our ears to listen and kept mum. Moreover, we didnšt inform the 
Youth League and Party rank and file, nor did we inform the Party 
branch secretaries and Party branch committees, we just allowed a 
free-for-all fight where everybody was on his own. Some enemies had 
sneaked into the Party committees and general Party branches in the 
universities; for instance, they were on the Tsinghua University Party 
Committee. When there was a meeting, they would inform the enemy 
of what was going on. Such persons were dubbed ŗinsurgents˛. Hadnšt 
there been insurgent generals? Now there were ŗinsurgent scholars˛. 
This pleased both the enemy and us. The enemy was very much 
pleased to see the ŗinsurrection˛ of Communist Party members and 
the imminent ŗcollapse˛ of the Communist Party. How many Party 
members have collapsed this time? Išm not clear about Shanghai. In 
Peking probably 5 per cent of the Party membership in the universities 
have collapsed, and the percentage is higher among the League members, 
perhaps 10 per cent or more. In my view, their collapse is exactly 
as it should be. In short, whether it was 10, 20, 30 or 40 per cent, Išm 
very happy that they have collapsed. Their minds are stuffed with 
bourgeois ideas and idealism and they have wormed their way into 
the Communist Party or the Youth League, they are nominally for 
communism, but are actually anti-Communists or waverers. So we 
were also pleased to see their ŗinsurrection˛. When did we ever do 
such a thorough job of purifying the ranks of the Party and Youth 
League? These people scampered away of their own accord without 
our having to clear them out. But now the situation has changed and 
the tables have been turned. The ŗinsurrection˛ stopped when we 
started closing in on the Rightists and when many who were not 
Rightists themselves but had connections with them came forward to

462 MAO TSETUNG 
expose them. The Rightists are having a very hard time and some of 
them have rebelled. I spoke here in March. How things have changed 
in a hundred days! 
The current struggle against the Rightists is essentially a political 
one. Class struggle takes various forms. This time it is chiefly a 
political, not a military or an economic, struggle. Is it partly an ideological 
struggle? Yes, it is, but in my view the struggle is mainly 
political. Ideological struggle will come chiefly in the next stage and 
should be like a gentle breeze and a mild rain. Rectification in the 
Communist Party and the Youth League is an ideological struggle. We 
must raise our level and really learn some Marxism. We must truly 
help each other. As for shortcomings, are we totally free from subjectivism 
or bureaucracy? We must really think hard, take notes and 
keep at it for a few months to raise our understanding of Marxism 
and our political and ideological level. 
The counter-attack on the Rightists may take a few more weeks, 
a month or so. However, it would be impossible if the press kept on 
publishing the Rightistsš views as it is now doing and continued for 
the rest of the year, next year and the year after. There are just so 
many Rightists, the press has carried just about enough of their 
views, and there isnšt much more to print. From now on, we shall 
print a little more in some form or other but none when there is 
nothing worth printing. In my view July is still a month for intensive 
counter-attack on the Rightists. The Rightists like a strong gale and 
a torrential downpour most and a gentle breeze and a mild rain least. 
We advocate a gentle breeze and a mild rain, donšt we? But they say, 
ŗWhat? A gentle breeze and a mild rain? If it keeps drizzling for 
days on end, the rice seedlings will rot and there will be a famine. 
Itšs better to have a strong gale and a torrential downpour.˛ Havenšt 
you got someone here in Shanghai who wrote an article ŗA Crow 
Caws Œat High Noonš˛? That ŗcrow˛ is the man who proposed having 
a strong gale and a torrential downpour. They also say, ŗYou Communists 
are downright unfair. When you fixed us in the past, you 
preferred a strong gale and a torrential downpour, and now when 
your turn comes, you want a gentle breeze and a mild rain.˛ The fact 
is that we always called for a gentle breeze and a mild rain in our 
previous inner-Party directives concerning ideological remoulding, including 
the criticism of Hu Shih and Liang Shu-ming. Everything in the 
world develops in twists and turns. For instance, when you walk, you 
never walk in a straight line. Have you ever been to Mokan Mountain?

463 BEAT BACK ATTACKS OF BOURGEOIS RIGHTISTS 
There are eighteen hairpin bends on the way up. Society invariably 
moves forward in a spiral. Now the fight to ferret out the Rightists 
must go on without any let-up, and we must keep up the strong gale 
and torrential downpour. Just because they started it all, it may look 
as if we are trying to get even with them. It is only now that the 
Rightists realize how good a gentle breeze and a mild rain is. At 
the sight of a reed they try to cling to it, because they are sinking fast, 
like a drowning man in the Whangpoo River clutching at a straw. I 
suppose that ŗcrow˛ must now be pining for a gentle breeze and a 
mild rain. But now it is stormy weather. After July, there will be a 
gentle breeze and a mild rain in August, for there wonšt be much 
left to ferret out. 
The Rightists are very good teachers by negative example. China 
has always had teachers by both positive and negative example. People 
need to be educated by negative as well as positive example. Japanese 
imperialism was our first top-flight teacher by negative example. Previously 
there were the Ching government, Yuan Shih-kai and the 
Northern warlords, and then there was Chiang Kai-shek. They were 
all fine teachers by negative example. Without them the Chinese people 
could never have learned their lessons. The Communist Party 
served as the teacher by positive example, but this alone would not 
have been enough. This holds good to this day. There are people who 
refused to listen to many of the things we said. Who are they? Many 
of the middle elements, and particularly the Rightists. The former took 
us half seriously and half sceptically. The Rightists wouldnšt listen 
to us at all. We told them our views on quite a number of issues but 
they turned a deaf ear and took a different course. For instance, we 
advocated ŗunity ‹ criticism ‹ unity˛, but they wouldnšt listen. We 
said that achievements were primary in the elimination of counterrevolutionaries, 
but they denied it. We said there must be democratic 
centralism and peoplešs democratic dictatorship under the leadership 
of the proletariat, but they denied it. We said we must unite with 
the socialist countries and the peace-loving people throughout the 
world, but they denied that too. In short, we told them all this before, 
but they wouldnšt listen. There was another point which they particularly 
wouldnšt listen to, namely, that poisonous weeds must be 
uprooted. Let ghosts and monsters come out and make an exhibition 
of themselves, and afterwards the people will say these ghosts and 
monsters are no good and must be eliminated. Let poisonous weeds 
sprout, then uproot them and plough them under for manure. Didnšt

464 MAO TSETUNG 
we say all this before? Of course we did. All the same, poisonous weeds 
keep sprouting. Year in year out, the peasants tell the weeds they are 
going to dig them up several times a year, but the weeds simply wonšt 
listen and keep growing. Even though digging will go on for ten 
thousand years, weeds will keep growing. They will grow even a 
hundred million years from now. When I talked about weeding, the 
Rightists were not afraid because I was only talking and weeding had 
not actually started. What is more, the Rightists considered that they 
were not poisonous weeds but fragrant flowers and that we were 
poisonous weeds and we, not they, should be uprooted. It just didnšt 
occur to them that it was precisely they who should be uprooted. 
A debate on the three questions referred to earlier is now in 
progress. The socialist revolution came so swiftly that the Partyšs 
general line for the transition period has not been fully debated either 
inside the Party or in society at large. This may be likened to a cow 
eating grass. It gulps the grass down, stores it in its stomach, then 
regurgitates it and slowly chews the cud. We have been making socialist 
revolution in the system, firstly in the ownership of the means 
of production and secondly in the superstructure, in the political system 
and the sphere of ideology, but there has never been a full debate 
on the question. And now we are unfolding the debate through the 
newspapers, forums, mass rallies and big-character posters. 
The big-character poster is a fine thing and I think it will be 
handed down to future generations. The Confucian Analects, the Five 
Classics, the Thirteen Classics and the Twenty-four Dynastic Histories 
have all been handed down to us. Wonšt the big-character poster be 
handed down to posterity? I think it will. Will it be used in the future 
when rectification is unfolded, in factories for instance? I think it is a 
good idea to use it, the more the better. Like language, it has no class 
nature. Our vernacular has no class nature. We all speak in the vernacular 
and so does Chiang Kai-shek. We no longer speak literary 
Chinese exemplified by sayings like ‹ ŗGreat pleasure is derived from 
learning and constantly reviewing what has been learned˛ and ŗWelcoming 
friends from afar gives one great delight˛. The vernacular is 
used by the proletariat and also by the bourgeoisie. The big-character 
poster can be used by the bourgeoisie as well as by the proletariat. 
We believe that the majority of the people are on the side of the 
proletariat. Therefore, the big-character poster as an instrument favours 
the proletariat, not the bourgeoisie. For a period of time, about 
two or three weeks, things seemed to go in favour of the bourgeoisie,

465 BEAT BACK ATTACKS OF BOURGEOIS RIGHTISTS 
with gloom above and darkness below and the rays of the sun and 
the moon completely shut out. When we said we must toughen our 
scalps and bear it, we meant losing sleep and appetite for those two 
or three weeks. Didnšt you say you wanted tempering? To lose sleep 
and appetite for a few weeks is a kind of tempering, and this doesnšt 
mean being shoved into a blast furnace to be smelted. 
Many middle elements have vacillated, and this is a good thing 
too. They will draw lessons from their vacillation. It is the hallmark 
of the middle elements, otherwise would they be known as such? The 
proletariat is at one end and the bourgeoisie at the other, with large 
numbers of middle elements in between, a case of both ends being 
small and the middle being large. But in the final analysis the middle 
elements are good people, an ally of the proletariat. The bourgeoisie 
too wanted to win them over as an ally, and at one time they looked 
like it. For these middle elements also criticized us, but their criticisms 
were well-intentioned. When the Rightists saw them criticizing us, 
they came out and made trouble. In Shanghai, you had Rightists like 
Wang Tsao-shih, Lu Yi, Chen Jen-ping and Peng Wen-ying and also 
Wu Yin making trouble. Once the Rightists went at it, the middle 
elements got confused. The Rightistsš progenitors are Chang Po-chun, 
Lo Lung-chi and Chang Nai-chi, and Peking is the Rightistsš place of 
origin. The greater the chaos in Peking, the better, and the more profound 
it is, the better. This has been borne out by our experience. 
Just now I talked about the big-character poster. It is a question 
of method, a question of what method to use in fighting. The bigcharacter 
poster is one of the weapons used in fighting, like small arms 
such as the rifle, the pistol and the machine-gun. As for planes and 
field guns, perhaps they are Wen Hui Pao, the Kuangming Daily and 
some other newspapers. For a time the Party papers also carried the 
Rightistsš views. We issued an order to the effect that all Rightistsš 
views must be published verbatim. Through the use of this and other 
methods, we helped the broad masses to get educated by both positive 
and negative examples. The staff on the Kuangming Daily and Wen Hui 
Pao, for instance, have received a profound education this time. 
Hitherto they were unable to tell the difference between a proletarian 
and a bourgeois newspaper, between a socialist and a capitalist one. 
For some time the Rightists in charge ran these two newspapers as 
bourgeois newspapers. These Rightists hated the proletariat and socialism. 
They guided the universities not towards the proletariat but 
towards the bourgeoisie.

466 MAO TSETUNG 
Is remoulding necessary for the bourgeoisie and the intellectuals 
from the old society? They are mortally afraid of remoulding, saying 
that it gives rise to a particular complex called the ŗinferiority complex˛, 
and the more the remoulding one undergoes, the stronger this 
complex. This view is wrong. The correct view is that the more the 
remoulding, the greater onešs self-respect. If anything, the result should 
be a sense of self-respect since one has awakened to the need for 
remoulding. These people with their high level of ŗclass consciousness˛ 
think they need no remoulding themselves, on the contrary they want 
to remould the proletariat. They seek to transform the world in the 
image of the bourgeoisie whereas the proletariat seeks to transform 
the world in its own image. I dare say the majority, that is, over 90 
per cent of these people, will eventually bring themselves around to 
accepting remoulding after some hesitation, reconsideration, reluctance 
and vacillation. The more the remoulding one undergoes, the more 
one feels the need for it. Even the Communist Party is undergoing 
remoulding. Rectification means remoulding and it will continue into 
the future. Do you think there will be no more rectifications after 
this one? Will bureaucracy vanish after the present rectification? After 
only two or three years, some people will forget all about it and then 
bureaucracy will return. Thatšs how people are, they have a short 
memory. Hence the need for rectification from time to time. Since the 
Communist Party itself is in need of rectification, can it be that the 
bourgeoisie and the intellectuals from the old society need no rectification? 
No remoulding? Certainly, they need rectification and remoulding, 
only more so. 
Arenšt the democratic parties in the midst of a rectification movement? 
All society should go through a process of rectification. Whatšs 
bad about that? The rectification will deal not with trivialities but 
with important issues, with the question of political line. At present 
the democratic parties are putting the stress of rectification on the 
question of line and on repudiating the counter-revolutionary line 
pursued by the bourgeois Rightists. I think they have been correct. In 
its own rectification the Communist Party is now stressing not the 
question of line but the style of work. For the democratic parties, however, 
style of work is secondary and the main stress should be on what 
line they follow. Should they follow the counter-revolutionary line 
of Chang Po-chun, Lo Lung-chi, Chang Nai-chi, Chen Jen-ping, Peng 
Wen-ying, Lu Yi and Sun Ta-yu, or should they follow another line? 
First and foremost, they must get a clear idea about this and about

467 BEAT BACK ATTACKS OF BOURGEOIS RIGHTISTS 
the three questions I am raising here: Are the achievements of the 
socialist revolution and socialist construction, the work accomplished by 
several hundred million people, good or not? Which road should we 
follow, the socialist road or the capitalist road? Which party should 
assume leadership in building socialism, the Chang-Lo alliance or the 
Communist Party? Let there be a great debate to thrash out the question 
of line. 
There is also the question of line within the Communist Party. As 
far as those ŗinsurgents˛, the Rightists in the Communist Party and 
the Youth League, are concerned, it is indeed a question of line. At 
present dogmatism is not the question, for it has not evolved into a 
line. In the history of our Party dogmatism did become a question of 
line on several occasions, because it developed into a system, policy 
and programme. Present-day dogmatism has not developed to this 
extent, but it does have a certain rigidity which is now being somewhat 
softened by hammering and forging. Arenšt those in leading positions 
in departments and organizations, universities and factories ŗcoming 
down the stairs˛?2 They are discarding the Kuomintang style of work 
and their uppity airs and no longer act like bureaucrats. Bureaucracy 
has greatly diminished now that directors of co-operatives work with 
the peasants in the fields and factory directors and Party committee 
secretaries join the workers on the shop floor. This kind of rectification 
will still be necessary in future. We should put up big-character 
posters, hold forums and deal separately with what should be set 
right and what should be criticized. There is another point. We should 
raise our level and learn some Marxism. 
I believe most of our people are fine people and the Chinese nation 
is a fine nation. Ours is a nation which is very sensible, warm-hearted, 
intelligent and courageous. I hope a situation will be created in which 
we have both unity of will and liveliness, that is, both centralism and 
democracy, both discipline and freedom. There should be two aspects; 
not just one, not just discipline alone nor just centralism alone. That 
would muzzle people and prevent them from speaking up and criticizing 
what is in fact wrong. We should encourage people to speak out and 
there should be a lively atmosphere. Whoever criticizes us in good 
faith is not blameworthy. However sharp his criticism or severe his 
censure, he is not to be blamed or punished or given tight shoes to 
wear. Tight shoes are very uncomfortable. Now to whom should we 
give the tight shoes? The Rightists. The Rightists must be made to 
wear them.

468 MAO TSETUNG 
We should not be afraid of the masses but should be with them. 
Some comrades fear the masses just as they fear water. Do you swim? 
I encourage swimming everywhere I go. Water is a good thing. If you 
put in an hour every day to learn swimming and keep it up, taking 
a dip today and another tomorrow, I bet you will learn how in a 
hundred days. First, you mustnšt get a coach, second, you mustnšt 
use a rubber tyre, as you wonšt learn if you use one. ŗBut I fear 
for my life, I canšt swim yet!˛ Well, you can first start in shallow 
water. Suppose you are to learn swimming in a hundred days, you 
paddle in the shallow water for thirty days and then you get the hang 
of it. Once you know how, it makes no difference whether you go 
swimming in the Yangtse River or in the Pacific Ocean, it is just water, 
the same thing. Some argue that you canšt drown in a swimming-pool, 
because somebody will come to your rescue if you sink; but swimming 
in the Yangtse is terrifying, the current is so swift, wonšt you be lost 
for good once you go under? This is an argument some use to scare 
people. I say thatšs the way amateurs talk. None of our top-notch 
swimmers, none of our coaches and experts at the swimming-pools 
dared to go swimming in the Yangtse at first, but they do now. Donšt 
people swim in your Whangpoo River here nowadays? The Whangpoo 
and the Yangtse are admission-free swimming-pools. Metaphorically 
speaking, the people are like water and the leaders at various levels 
are like swimmers who must stay in the water and swim with the 
current, not against it. Donšt rail at the masses! In no circumstances 
must you do so. You mustnšt rail at the worker, peasant and student 
masses and the majority of the members of the democratic parties and 
of the intellectuals. You mustnšt set yourselves up against the masses, 
on the contrary you must always be with them. The masses may make 
mistakes. When they do, patiently reason things out with them, and 
if they refuse to listen, then wait for another chance to talk to them. 
But donšt alienate yourselves from them, just as in swimming you 
donšt leave the water. When Liu Pei got Chukeh Liang to help him, 
he said he felt ŗjust like a fish in water˛. This is all true. Their fishwater 
relationship is not only described in fiction but recorded in 
history. The masses are Chukeh Liangs, the leaders are Liu Peis. One 
leads, the other is led. 
All wisdom comes from the masses. I have always said that it is intellectuals 
who are most ignorant. This is the heart of the matter. Overweening 
intellectuals stick up their tails which are longer than that of 
the Monkey Sun Wu-kung. Sun Wu-kung can make seventy-two meta

469 BEAT BACK ATTACKS OF BOURGEOIS RIGHTISTS 
morphoses, and on one occasion he changes his tail into a flagstaff ‹ 
that long. Itšs just terrific when the intellectuals stick up their tails. ŗIf 
Išm not Number One Under Heaven, then Išm at least Number Two.˛ 
ŗWho do the workers and peasants think they are? Theyšre just blockheads! 
They can barely read and write.˛ But the over-all situation is 
determined not by the intellectuals but ultimately by the working people, 
by their most advanced section, the proletariat. 
Which leads which ‹ the proletariat the bourgeoisie, or vice versa? 
The proletariat the intellectuals, or vice versa? The intellectuals 
must transform themselves into proletarian intellectuals. There is no 
other way out for them. ŗWith the skin gone, to what can the hair 
attach itself?˛3 In the past the ŗhair˛, meaning the intellectuals, attached 
itself to five ŗskins˛, that is, depended on them for a living. 
Imperialist ownership was the first skin, feudal ownership the second 
and bureaucrat-capitalist ownership the third. Wasnšt the purpose 
of the democratic revolution to topple the three big mountains of 
imperialism, feudalism and bureaucrat-capitalism? National capitalist 
ownership was the fourth skin, and the fifth was ownership by small 
producers, that is, individual ownership by the peasants and handicraftsmen. 
In the past the intellectuals attached themselves either 
to the first three skins or to the latter two and depended on them for 
a living. Do these five skins still exist? ŗThe skins are gone.˛ Imperialism 
is gone and its property has been taken over. Feudal ownership 
was liquidated and the land restored to the peasants, and 
now there is agricultural co-operation. Bureaucrat-capitalist enterprises 
were nationalized. National capitalist industry and commerce have 
been transformed into joint state-private enterprises and have by and 
large become socialist enterprises, though not entirely. Individual 
ownership by the peasants and handicraftsmen has been changed into 
collective ownership, even though the latter is not yet consolidated 
and will take a few years to consolidate itself. These five skins are 
no more, but they have a lingering effect on the ŗhair˛, on the 
capitalists and the intellectuals. These people canšt get these skins 
out of their systems, and even dwell on them in their dreams. Those 
who came over from the old society, the old orbits, are nostalgic for 
their old habits and ways of life. Therefore the transformation of man 
will take a much longer time. 
At present what kind of skin do intellectuals attach themselves to? 
To the skin of public ownership, to the proletariat. Who provides them 
with a living? The workers and peasants. Intellectuals are teachers

470 MAO TSETUNG 
employed by the working class and the labouring people to teach their 
children. If they go against the wishes of their masters and insist on 
teaching their own set of subjects, teaching stereotyped writing, 
Confucian classics or capitalist rubbish, and turn out a number of 
counter-revolutionaries, the working class will not tolerate it and will 
sack them and not renew their contract for the coming year. 
As I said here a hundred days ago, the intellectuals from the old 
society are now without a base, they have lost their former social and 
economic base, that is, the five skins, and they have no alternative but 
to attach themselves to a new one. Some intellectuals are now unsettled. 
Suspended as they are in mid-air, they have nothing to hang 
on to above and no solid ground to rest their feet on below. I say, 
these people may be called ŗgentlemen in mid-air˛. Flying in mid-air, 
they want to go back but are unable to because they find their old 
home, those skins, gone. Though now homeless, they are still unwilling 
to attach themselves to the proletariat. If they are to do so, they must 
make a study of proletarian ideas, have some feeling for the proletariat 
and make friends with workers and peasants. But no, they wonšt. 
They still hanker after what they know is gone. What we are doing 
now is persuading them to wake up. After this great debate, I think 
they will wake up somehow or other. 
Those intellectuals who take a middle position should awaken 
and not be too cocky, because what they know is limited. I say these 
people are intellectuals and at the same time not intellectuals, maybe 
semi-intellectuals is a more appropriate term. For they have just so 
much knowledge, and on matters of principle they cannot open their 
mouths without making mistakes. Now let us leave aside the Rightist 
intellectuals, for they are reactionaries. The trouble with intellectuals 
who take a middle position is that they waver, do not have a clear 
orientation and sometimes even lose their bearings. If you have such 
great learning, how come you make mistakes? If you are so marvellous 
and cocksure of yourselves, how come you waver? A tuft of grass 
atop the wall sways right and left in the wind. It all goes to show that 
you donšt know much. In this connection, it is the workers and the 
semi-proletarians among the peasants who know a lot. They can tell 
at a glance that Sun Ta-yu and his wares are nothing but fakes. You 
see who knows better? Undoubtedly it is those who can hardly read 
and write that know better. One must go to the proletariat when it 
comes to making the crucial decision concerning the over-all situation, 
the general direction. Išm the kind of person who consults the workers

471 BEAT BACK ATTACKS OF BOURGEOIS RIGHTISTS 
and peasants before I do anything significant or make decisions on major 
issues, talking over and discussing things with them and with the cadres 
close to them to see if my ideas are all right. This makes visits to various 
places necessary. Staying put in Peking could be fatal. It is a barren 
place where you canšt get any raw material. All the raw material comes 
from the workers and peasants and from the localities. The Central 
Committee of the Chinese Communist Party can be likened to a 
processing factory, which uses raw material to turn out products. The 
finished products must be good, or otherwise mistakes are made. Knowledge 
comes from the masses. What does the correct handling of contradictions 
among the people mean? It means seeking truth from facts 
and following the mass line. In the final analysis, it is the mass line 
that counts. We mustnšt alienate ourselves from the masses, our 
relationship with the masses is a fish-water relationship or swimmerwater 
relationship. 
Do we need to finish off the Rightists with one blow? Giving them 
a couple of hard knocks is quite necessary. If we donšt, they will play 
possum. Donšt we need to mount attacks on these types and go after 
them? Yes, attacks are necessary. But the aim is to force them to reverse 
course. We should use every means in our offensive to isolate them 
completely, only then can we win over some, if not all. They are intellectuals 
and some are big intellectuals; once won over they can be 
useful. Win them over and let them do some work. Besides, they have 
done a great service to us this time as teachers who have educated the 
people by negative example. We are not going to dump them into the 
Whangpoo River but will still take the approach of curing the sickness 
to save the patient. Perhaps some are not willing to come over. If men 
like Sun Ta-yu are obstinate and refuse to make the change, so be it. 
We have a lot to do now. It is simply impossible to keep on hitting out at 
these types day in day out for the next fifty years! There are people who 
refuse to correct their mistakes, they can take them into their coffins 
when they go to see the King of Hell. They can say to him, ŗIšm a 
defender of the five skins. Išm a man of Œintegrityš. The Communists 
and the masses grilled me but I did not submit and I have come 
through all right.˛ But they should get this into their heads. Today 
there is a change of hands even in Hell, with Marx, Engels and Lenin 
ruling there. There are two Hells today, the rulers of the Hell of the 
capitalist world probably remain the same, while Marx, Engels and 
Lenin rule the Hell of the socialist world. As I see it, even a century 
hence the die-hard Rightists will get their punishment.

472 MAO TSETUNG 
NOTES 
1 Lieh Tzu, ŗTien Jui˛. 
2 ŗComing down the stairs˛ refers to the efforts of those leading cadres who had 
committed errors to make self-criticism in response to the criticisms of the masses and 
to win their understanding during the rectification movement. 
3 Tso Chuan, ŗThe 14th Year of Marquis Hsi˛.

THE SITUATION IN THE SUMMER OF 1957 
July 1957 
During the period of socialist revolution in our country the contradiction 
between the people and the bourgeois Rightists, who oppose the 
Communist Party, the people and socialism, is one between ourselves 
and the enemy, that is, an antagonistic, irreconcilable, life-and-death 
contradiction. 
The bourgeois Rightists who have launched wild attacks against the 
working class and the Communist Party are reactionaries or counterrevolutionaries. 
They are not so labelled but are instead called Rightists 
because, first, this will make it easier to win over the middle and, 
second, it will help split the Rightists and enable some of them to change 
and come over. 
Those bourgeois Rightists who remain unchanged to the bitter end 
are die-hards, but they too will be given work and not deprived of their 
civil rights, unless they act as secret agents or carry on sabotage. This 
line of action is being taken because, judging from many events in 
the past, extreme policies produce bad results. We should take a long 
view, and decades from now when we look back an the present events 
we shall see how this treatment of the bourgeois Rightists profoundly 
influenced and greatly benefited the revolutionary cause of the 
proletariat. 
Our aim is to create a political situation in which we have both 
centralism and democracy, both discipline and freedom, both unity of 
will and personal ease of mind and liveliness, and thus to promote our 
socialist revolution and socialist construction, make it easier to overcome 
difficulties, build a modern industry and modern agriculture 
Article written during the conference of the secretaries of provincial and municipal 
Party committees held in Tsingtao in July 1957 and printed and distributed at the 
conference. It was circulated among the leading cadres of the Party in August of the 
same year. 
473

474 MAO TSETUNG 
more rapidly and make our Party and state more secure and better able 
to weather storm and stress. The general subject here is the correct 
handling of contradictions among the people and those between ourselves 
and the enemy. The method is to seek truth from facts and follow 
the mass line. The derivative methods are those of holding meetings 
attended by both Party and non-Party people to discuss major policies, 
conducting the rectification movement publicly, and criticizing many 
of the Partyšs and the governmentšs shortcomings and mistakes in the 
press. The rectification and the socialist education movement should 
proceed by batches and stages in the democratic parties, in the various 
circles comprising education, the press, science and technology, literature 
and art, public health, industry and commerce, and among the 
working class, the different strata of the peasantry, handicraftsmen and 
other urban and rural working people. With regard to the bourgeoisie 
and bourgeois intellectuals, the problem is to get them to accept socialist 
transformation, and the same holds for the petty bourgeoisie (including 
the peasants and the urban and rural self-employed working people), 
and especially the well-to-do middle peasants; but where the basic 
ranks of the working class and the Communist Party are concerned, the 
problem is to rectify their style of work. These are problems concerning 
two social categories that are different in character. This being the 
case, why is rectification used as a slogan for both? Because most people 
are receptive to this slogan. We can say to people: Since the Communist 
Party and the working class are undergoing rectification, do you think 
you can do without it? Thus the initiative will be completely in our 
hands. The method of rectification is to make criticism and selfcriticism, 
present the facts and reason things out. The aim of rectification 
is to guide the struggle in such a way as to set right the political orientation, 
raise the ideological level, overcome shortcomings in work, unite 
with the broad masses, and isolate and split the bourgeois Rightists and 
all other anti-socialist elements. The bourgeois Rightists referred to 
here include those who have sneaked into the Party and the Youth 
League and whose political complexion is exactly the same as that of the 
Rightists outside; they have betrayed the revolutionary cause of the 
proletariat and launched wild attacks against the Party, and therefore 
must be fully exposed and expelled in order to preserve the purity of 
the ranks of the Party and the Youth League. 
Firm faith in the majority of the masses, and first and foremost in 
the majority of the basic masses, the workers and peasants ‹ this is 
our fundamental point of departure. Even in the case of industrialists

475 SITUATION IN THE SUMMER OF 1957 
and businessmen and intellectuals, most people, who may have been 
deceived for a time and wavered during the period of the Rightistsš 
frenzied attack, regained their bearings and came over to our side a few 
weeks later when the counter-attack against the Rightists started. Therefore, 
the majority in these circles are trustworthy in the long run, they 
can accept socialist transformation. At one time or another, quite a few 
comrades made the mistake of underestimating the strength of the 
proletariat and overestimating that of the bourgeois Rightists. There 
are still many cadres in prefectures, counties, districts, townships and 
factories who do so, and we should patiently persuade them not to 
underestimate our own strength and overestimate that of the enemy. 
In the countryside the landlords and rich peasants are being remoulded; 
some are still making trouble and we must heighten our vigilance. A 
great number of the well-to-do middle peasants are willing to stay in 
the co-operatives; a small number clamour to withdraw, eager to take 
the capitalist road. We should deal with each case on its merits. In the 
countryside it is imperative to pay attention to the class line and enable 
the former poor peasants and farm labourers to occupy the dominant 
position in the leading bodies, while at the same time pains must be 
taken to unite with the middle peasants. Išm all for a directive to be 
issued at once by the Central Committee to initiate a large-scale socialist 
education movement among the entire rural population to criticize 
Right opportunist ideas within the Party, the departmentalism of 
certain cadres and the capitalist and individualist ideas of the well-to-do 
middle peasants, and to strike at the counter-revolutionary activities 
of landlords and rich peasants. The criticism should be directed mainly 
against the vacillating well-to-do middle peasants whose capitalist ideas 
should be struggled against by arguing things out. From now on such 
struggle should be resolutely carried out once a year in co-ordination 
with the rectification movement among the district and township cadres 
and with the check-up of Class III co-operatives, so that all cooperatives 
may gradually be consolidated. In the countryside, let the 
peasants too have the ŗfree airing of views˛ first, that is, make criticisms 
and comments. Then accept what is good and criticize what 
is bad. All this should proceed step by step in the rural rectification 
movement, which is to be conducted by the local cadres with the 
assistance of work teams sent from above. In the rural areas as in 
the cities the struggle is still one between the two roads ‹ between 
socialism and capitalism. Complete victory in this struggle will take 
a very long time. It is a task for the entire transition period. In

476 MAO TSETUNG 
the countryside diligence and thrift should be encouraged in running 
the household as well as in running the co-operative, and love 
of the country and the co-operative as well as love of the family. We 
must rely in particular on the efforts of the womenšs organizations 
to tackle the problem of running the household thriftily. Over the 
next few years, the annual sum of 35,000 million catties of grain in 
tax and of 50,000 million catties in state purchases must be obtained 
without fail. However, some adjustments may be made, depending 
on whether the harvest is good or poor. As production rises year by 
year and the number of grain-deficient households correspondingly 
falls, there should be annual reductions in rural grain sales. In cities, 
wherever grain sales are excessive, there should also be appropriate 
reductions. Only thus can the state increase its grain reserves each 
year and meet possible emergencies. Failure to collect these 85,000 
million catties of grain will affect market prices, check the smooth 
fulfilment of the national economic plan as a whole and leave us 
helpless in the face of emergencies, and that would be very dangerous. 
Before the autumn harvest sets in this year, it is imperative to wage a 
struggle in the countryside against individualism and departmentalism, 
both of which ignore the interests of the state and the collective. 
Counter-revolutionaries must be eliminated wherever found. Kill 
few, but on no account repeal the death penalty or grant any general 
pardon. Arrest and punish again those persons who commit fresh 
crimes after having served prison terms. Punish the gangsters, hooligans, 
thieves, murderers, rapists, embezzlers, and other felons in our 
society who undermine public order and grossly violate the law; also 
punish those whom the public identifies as bad elements. At present, 
certain functionaries in the judicial and public security departments are 
neglecting their duties and allowing persons who should be arrested 
and punished to remain at large; this is wrong. Just as over-punishment 
is wrong, so is under-punishment, and these days the danger lies in 
the latter. Prohibit gambling. Strictly enforce the ban on reactionary 
secret societies. Rightist student leaders should be thoroughly criticized; 
in most cases they should be kept where they are, to be reformed 
under supervision and to serve as ŗteachers˛. The above points hold 
good for the transition period, and it is the responsibility of the 
provincial, municipal and autonomous region Party committees to have 
them carried out. Subject to the policies and laws of the central 
authorities, local departments in charge of justice and public security 
and of cultural and educational affairs must act without fail under the

477 SITUATION IN THE SUMMER OF 1957 
direction of the provincial, municipal and autonomous region Party 
committees and peoplešs councils. 
Our general subject is the correct handling of contradictions among 
the people. Keep on talking about it until it becomes familiar, then what 
once seemed bewildering will no longer be so. Clarify in your own 
mind the question of contradictions among the people, openly and 
clearly explain it, correctly handle a number of these contradictions, 
and then, having achieved results and gained experience, you wonšt be 
afraid of it any more. 
Let me repeat. Correctly handling the contradictions among the 
people means following the mass line, which is consistently stressed 
by our Party. Party members should be good at consulting the masses 
in their work and in no circumstances should they alienate themselves 
from the masses. The relation between the Party and the masses is 
like that between fish and water. Without good relations between the 
Party and the masses, the socialist system cannot be established or, 
once established, be consolidated. 
The armed forces have carried out rectification on many occasions; 
the Three Main Rules of Discipline and the Eight Points for Attention 
are enforced; democracy is practised in military, political and economic 
affairs; in times of war mutual-aid groups are organized in the squads; 
officers are integrated with men and the army with the people; and 
hitting or swearing at people is forbidden, and so is the execution of 
deserters. As a result, morale is high and our army is invincible. If 
this can be done among soldiers bearing arms, why canšt democracy 
be practised in factories, villages, offices and schools and their problems 
(contradictions) solved by persuasion and not by coercion? 
Why be afraid of our own people when we are not afraid of the 
imperialists? He is no true communist who fears the common people 
and believes the masses are not open to reason and must be coerced 
rather than convinced. 
Except for renegades and persons who have grossly violated the 
law, we should protect all Party and Youth League members during 
the rectification movement, and make great and sincere efforts to help 
them correct their mistakes and shortcomings, improve their method 
of work, enhance their competence and raise their political and 
ideological level. A Party member must be full of vigour and strong in 
revolutionary will, be endowed with the drive to defy all difficulties and 
to persevere in overcoming them, and be determined to rid himself of 
individualism, departmentalism, absolute egalitarianism and liberalism;

478 MAO TSETUNG 
otherwise, he is not a Party member in the real sense of the term. 
Those Party members who prove wanting in vigour and revolutionary 
will or who persist in their mistakes should be duly dealt with 
by the Party committee if they refuse to mend their ways after repeated 
warnings and, in serious cases, they should be disciplined. 
Within six to twelve months the first secretaries (and the other 
secretaries too) of provincial, municipal and autonomous region Party 
committees should each make a personal study of a particular cooperative, 
factory, store and school to obtain some knowledge and earn 
the ŗright to speak˛ and so give better guidance to their work in 
general. The secretaries of prefectural, county and district Party 
committees should do likewise. 
Donšt underestimate the significance of our current criticism of the 
bourgeois Rightists. This is a great socialist revolution on the political 
and ideological fronts. By itself, the socialist revolution of 1956 on the 
economic front (that is, in the ownership of the means of production) 
is not enough, nor is it secure. This has been borne out by the 
Hungarian incident. There must be a thoroughgoing socialist revolution 
on the political and ideological fronts too. In the democratic parties 
and in intellectual and in industrial and commercial circles, it is of 
course out of the question for the Communist Party to exercise leader 
hip over some people (the Rightists), for they are our enemies, and the 
Partyšs leadership over most people (the middle section) has not been 
consolidated; in certain cultural and educational units the Partyšs 
leadership has not been established at all. Firm leadership over the 
middle section must be established, and the sooner the better. The 
bourgeoisie and bourgeois intellectuals do not gladly submit to the 
Communist Party, and the Rightists among them are determined to 
match their strength with ours. Once beaten in a trial of strength, they 
will realize that the game is up and their position is hopeless. Not 
until then will the majority (the middle section plus a number of the 
Rightists) begin to behave themselves, gradually abandon their bourgeois 
stand, come over to the side of the proletariat and make up 
their minds to throw in their lot with it. A small number will refuse 
to change to the very end; wešll just have to let them take their 
reactionary views with them to the grave. We must however heighten 
our vigilance. It must be realized that at the first opportunity they will 
again stir up trouble. Counting from now, this struggle will probably 
last ten or as many as fifteen years. The time can be shortened if 
things are well managed. Of course, this is not to say that class struggle

479 SITUATION IN THE SUMMER OF 1957 
will cease in ten to fifteen years. As long as imperialism and the 
bourgeoisie exist in this world of ours, the activities of the domestic 
counter-revolutionaries and bourgeois Rightists will always partake of 
the nature of class struggle, and, what is more, they will invariably mesh 
with those of the foreign reactionaries. After a necessary period of time, 
the form of the present struggle should change from that of a strong 
gale and a torrential downpour to a gentle breeze and a mild rain so 
that ideologically the struggle can become deeper and more thoroughgoing. 
We have won the first decisive battle in the last few months, 
mainly in the last two months. But in order to win complete victory, 
several more months of deep digging are needed, and we must not 
wind up the struggle in a hurry. Make no mistake, if this struggle is 
not won socialism is impossible. 
This great debate among the people throughout the country has 
solved or is in the process of solving questions of cardinal importance, 
such as whether our work in the revolution and in construction is correct 
(that is, whether achievements in the revolution and in construction 
are primary), whether the socialist road should be taken, whether the 
leadership of the Communist Party, the dictatorship of the proletariat 
and democratic centralism are needed, and whether our foreign policy 
is correct. It is natural that such a great debate should have taken 
place. It took place in the Soviet Union in the twenties (the debate 
with Trotsky and others on whether socialism could be built in one 
country1), and it is taking place this year in our country, in the fifties. 
If we fail to win complete victory in the debate, it will be impossible 
to continue our march forward. Once we triumph in the debate, our 
socialist transformation and socialist construction will receive a big 
impetus. This debate is a great event of world significance. 
We must understand that, counting from now, ten to fifteen years 
will be required to build a modern industrial and modern agricultural 
base in China. Only when the productive forces of our society have 
been fairly adequately developed over a period of ten to fifteen years 
will it be possible to regard our socialist economic and political system 
as having obtained a fairly adequate material base (now far from 
adequate), and will it be possible to regard our state (the superstructure) 
as fully consolidated and our socialist society as fundamentally 
built. It is not built yet, and ten to fifteen years more are needed. To 
build socialism, the working class must have its own army of technical 
cadres and of professors, teachers, scientists, journalists, writers, artists 
and Marxist theorists. It must be a vast army; a small number of

480 MAO TSETUNG 
people will not suffice. This is a task that should be basically accomplished 
in the next ten to fifteen years. The tasks after that will be 
to make further efforts to develop the productive forces and expand 
the army of working-class intellectuals, create the pre-conditions for 
the gradual transition from socialism to communism and get prepared 
to catch up with and surpass the United States economically in 
eight to ten five-year plans. All members of the Communist Party 
and the Youth League and the nation as a whole should be aware of 
this task, and everybody should study hard. Wherever possible they 
should strive to acquire technical skill and vocational knowledge and 
study Marxist theory, so that a new army of working-class intellectuals 
will be formed (including all the intellectuals from the old society 
who take a firm working-class stand after having been genuinely 
remoulded). This is a great task history sets us. The revolutionary 
cause of the working class will not be fully consolidated until this 
vast new army of working-class intellectuals comes into being. 
It is a major achievement that experience has been gained at the 
central and the provincial and municipal levels in the three tasks of 
rectification, criticism of the Rightists and winning over the middle 
section of the masses. With this experience things will be easier. The 
task for the next few months is to teach those at the prefectural and 
the county levels how to gain this experience. Between now and the 
coming winter and spring, the task is gradually to teach those at the 
district and the township levels to do likewise. In the cities it is to 
teach those at the district level and in factories and mines at the 
basic level as well as the neighbourhood committees. As a result, many 
people will be enlightened, the mass line will cease to be a mere phrase 
to them, and it will be easier for contradictions among the people to 
be resolved. 
The first secretaries and all the other members of provincial, 
municipal and autonomous region Party committees must take full 
command of this great struggle. They must assume full control over 
the work of political transformation and ideological remoulding in 
the democratic parties (political circles) and in the circles of education, 
the press (including all newspapers and periodicals), science and 
technology, literature and art, public health, and industry and commerce. 
Each province, municipality and autonomous region should 
have its own Marxist theorists, scientists and technical personnel, 
writers, artists and literary critics, and first-rate editors and reporters 
on its own newspapers and periodicals. The first secretaries (and the

481 SITUATION IN THE SUMMER OF 1957 
other secretaries too) should pay particular attention to newspapers 
and periodicals and not be lazy about it; each should read at least 
five papers and five periodicals for comparison, so that they can 
improve their own publications. 
Our criticism of the Rightists has given a great shock to everybody 
in the democratic parties and in intellectual and in industrial and commercial 
circles. It should be noted that the majority of them (the 
middle) are inclined to accept the socialist road and the leadership 
of the proletariat. This inclination varies in degree with different 
categories of people; It should be further noted that although they now 
merely show an inclination towards a genuine acceptance of the 
fundamentals, namely, the socialist road and the leadership of the 
proletariat, this very inclination signifies the first step on their long 
journey from the stand of the bourgeoisie to that of the working class. 
After a year of rectification (from May this year to May next year), 
they will be able to take a big step forward. In the past they were 
mentally unprepared to take part in socialist revolution. For them this 
revolution happened all of a sudden. This was also the case with a 
number of Communist Party members. The criticism of the Rightists 
and the rectification movement will give these people and the broad 
masses a profound education in socialism. 
The big-character poster can be put to use everywhere except in 
the salesrooms of stores, rural areas (districts and townships), primary 
schools, and the battalions and companies of the armed forces. In the 
conditions obtaining in our country, it is a form of struggle favourable 
to the proletariat and unfavourable to the bourgeoisie. Fear of the 
big-character poster is groundless. Big-character posters, forums and 
debates are three excellent forms for revealing and overcoming contradictions 
and helping people make progress in institutions of higher 
education, in departments and organizations at the central, the 
provincial and municipal, the prefectural and the county levels and in 
large urban enterprises. 
At no time should production and other work be neglected during 
the rectification movement. The authorities in various places should 
not start rectification in all the units under them at the same time, but 
should stagger it and carry it out by groups. 
Donšt be afraid of the violent storm, toughen yourselves and bear 
it. In each unit, the crest of the torrent will pass in two or three weeks, 
and the unit can then switch to the new stage of counter-attack on the 
Rightists. Faced with the Rightistsš wild attacks during these two or

482 MAO TSETUNG 
three weeks, the leading cadres of various units should toughen themselves 
and hear them out without rebutting, concentrate on analysing 
and studying the situation, muster strength for the counter-attack, and 
unite with the forces of the Left, win over the middle, and isolate the 
Rightists ‹ all this makes an excellent set of Marxist tactics. 
The stage of freely airing views (carrying out reform at the same 
time), the stage of counter-attack on the Rightists (carrying out reform 
at the same time), the stage of putting the emphasis on reform (with 
a further free airing of views) and the stage in which everyone studies 
relevant documents and makes criticism and self-criticism to raise his 
own political consciousness ‹ these are the four indispensable stages 
of the rectification movement at the central, the provincial and 
municipal, the prefectural and the county levels. In addition, rectification 
is to be conducted at the grass roots in the cities and the 
countryside. After such a movement, it is certain that the whole Party 
and the whole people will take on a fresh complexion. 
The first secretaries of the provincial, municipal and autonomous 
region Party committees and of the prefectural Party committees are 
requested to devote some time in August to studying the check-up of 
co-operatives, production, grain, and other questions in rural areas in 
preparation for the plenary session of the Central Committee to be 
held in September. Please study the forty articles of the Programme 
for Agricultural Development one by one and see whether changes are 
needed. 
NOTES 
1 History of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (Bolsheviks), Short Course, 
Chapter 9, Section 5.

BE ACTIVISTS 
IN PROMOTING THE REVOLUTION 
October 9, 1957 
This conference has been a success. With the participation of 
comrades from the provincial and prefectural Party committees, such 
an enlarged plenary session of the Central Committee is in fact a 
conference of cadres from three levels and is good for clarifying 
policies, exchanging experience and achieving unity of will. 
Perhaps it is necessary to convene this sort of conference once a 
year. For work is very complicated in a large country like ours. We 
did not call such a conference last year; we suffered in consequence 
and a Right deviation occurred. There had been a high tide the year 
before last, but last year saw a let-down. Of course we held the Eighth 
Congress last year and didnšt have time. Next time such a conference 
is convened, a few secretaries of county Party committees and of 
district Party committees in some large cities may be included; for 
instance, it would be all right to have an additional hundred or so. 
I suggest every province should also convene an all-province conference 
of cadres from three or four levels, with some from the cooperatives, 
to thrash out problems. This is the first point. 
Second, a few words about rectification. Be bold, thorough and 
resolute in letting people air their views and in making reforms. We 
must have this kind of resolve. Then, is it necessary to add a campaign 
against the Rightists, and a vigorous one at that? No, it isnšt. Because 
the anti-Rightist campaign is on the right track and in some places 
has already ended. Now the stress should be on airing views and 
making reforms at the grass-roots levels, that is, at the three levels 
of county, district and township. In some departments at the central 
Speech at the Enlarged Third Plenary Session of the Eighth Central Committee 
of the Chinese Communist Party. 
483

484 MAO TSETUNG 
and the provincial and municipal levels, the airing of views should 
continue but the emphasis should be on reform. 
In the course of this year the masses have created a form of making 
revolution, a form of waging mass struggle, namely, speaking out 
freely, airing views fully, holding great debates and writing bigcharacter 
posters. Our revolution has now found a form well suited 
to its content. This form could not have emerged in the past. Since 
we were then engaged in fighting, in the five major movements1 and 
the three great transformations,2 it was impossible for this form of 
unhurried debate to come into being. It would have been impermissible 
to devote a whole year to unhurried debate, to presenting facts and 
reasoning things out. Now it can be done. We have found this form, a 
form suited to the content of the current struggle of the masses, to the 
content of the present class struggle and to the correct handling of 
contradictions among the people. Grasp this form and henceforward 
you will find things much easier to manage. Major and minor questions 
of right and wrong as well as problems in revolution and construction 
can be solved through airing views and holding debates, and 
more quickly. The Left should freely air views and hold debates 
not only with the middle but also openly with the Rightists and, in 
the villages, with the landlords and rich peasants. Not being afraid 
of ŗlosing face˛, we have published in our newspapers such nonsense 
as ŗthe Communist Party monopolizes everything˛, ŗthe Communist 
Party should abdicate˛ and ŗget off your sedan-chair˛. We have just 
got ŗon˛ our ŗsedan-chair˛, and already the Rightists want us to get 
ŗoff˛. Speaking out freely, airing views fully, holding great debates 
and writing big-character posters are the form best suited to arousing 
the initiative of the masses and enhancing their sense of responsibility. 
Our Party has a democratic tradition. Without this tradition it 
would have been impossible to accept such free airing of views, great 
debates and big-character posters. During the rectification movement 
in Yenan people took notes, made self-criticisms and helped each 
other, seven or eight to a group, and this lasted for several months. 
All those I have met are grateful for that rectification, they say it was 
only then that they began to shed their subjectivism. In the days of 
the agrarian reform, we consulted the masses whenever problems arose 
in order to straighten out ideas. In our army units, company commanders 
would personally see to it that their men were properly 
covered at night and would have friendly chats with them on an equal 
footing. Forms of democracy abounded in the rectification movement

485 BE ACTIVISTS IN PROMOTING THE REVOLUTION 
in Yenan, in the agrarian reform, in the democratic life of the army 
units, in the Three Check-ups and Three Improvements,3 and later on 
in the struggles against the ŗthree evils˛ and the ŗfive evils˛, and in 
the ideological remoulding of intellectuals. But the free airing of views 
and the holding of great debates, to be followed by consultation and 
persuasion in the nature of ŗa gentle breeze and a mild rain˛ ‹ it is 
only now that all this can come about. We have found this form which 
will immensely benefit our cause and make it easier for us to overcome 
subjectivism, bureaucracy and commandism (by commandism we mean 
striking or cursing people or forcing them to carry out orders) and for 
leading cadres to become one with the masses. 
This year has seen a great development in our democratic tradition, 
and this form of speaking out freely, airing views fully, holding great 
debates and writing big-character posters should be handed down to 
future generations. It brings socialist democracy into full play. Democracy 
of this kind is possible only in socialist countries, not in capitalist 
countries. On the basis of such democracy, centralism is not 
weakened but further strengthened, as is the dictatorship of the 
proletariat. For the proletariat must rely on its broad allies to exercise 
dictatorship, it cannot do so all by itself. The proletariat in China 
is small in number, some ten million only, and it must rely on the 
several hundred million poor and lower-middle peasants, city poor, 
badly-off handicraftsmen and revolutionary intellectuals in order 
to exercise dictatorship ‹ otherwise it cannot. Now that we have 
aroused their enthusiasm, the dictatorship of the proletariat is being 
consolidated. 
Third, agriculture. The forty-article Programme for Agricultural 
Development has been revised and will soon be issued. Comrades, 
please do a good job of organizing debates and discussions on it in 
the villages. I have asked some comrades whether prefectures should 
draw up agricultural plans. They said yes. Should districts do likewise? 
Again the answer was yes. What about the townships? Yet again they 
said yes. And the co-operatives too should draw up such plans. Then 
there will be six levels in all, provincial, prefectural, county, district, 
township and co-operative. Please take heed and lose no time in 
drawing up these agricultural plans. A plan and a programme are one 
and the same thing, and since we have been in the habit of using the 
word plan, letšs call it that. We must persist in making comprehensive 
plans, giving more effective leadership, having Party secretaries 
pitch in and having all Party members help run the co-operatives.

486 MAO TSETUNG 
Apparently not all Party members helped run the co-operatives in the 
second half of last year and Party secretaries rarely pitched in. This 
year we must persist in doing what we had done before. 
When will the plans be ready? Išve asked some comrades and 
learned that they are ready in some places and not quite in others. 
With stress now being laid on the three levels of province, prefecture 
and county, can their plans be ready this winter or next spring? If 
not, they must at all events be ready in the coming year, and at all 
six levels. For we have had several years of experience and the fortyarticle 
National Programme for Agricultural Development is almost 
ready. This programme and the plans at the provincial and other 
levels should all be discussed in the villages. But since it would 
be too much to discuss all seven plans at the same time, it is 
preferable to stagger the airing of views and debates by the masses. 
Here we are talking about long-term plans. What should be done if a 
plan turns out to be unsuitable? It will have to be revised after wešve 
had a few more years of experience. For instance, the forty articles 
will need further revision in a few years. This is inevitable. I think 
they will probably need a minor revision every three years and a major 
one every five years. It is always better to have some plan than none. 
The programme covers a period of twelve years, and now two years 
have passed, leaving only ten; unless we grasp the matter firmly, there 
will be the danger of failing to fulfil the targets set in the forty articles 
for the yields of grain per mou for the three different regions, namely, 
four, five and eight hundred catties. Grasp the matter firmly and these 
targets can be fulfilled. 
In my opinion, China must depend on intensive cultivation to feed 
itself. One day China will become the worldšs number one high-yield 
country. Some of our counties are already producing one thousand 
catties per mou. Will it be possible to reach two thousand catties per 
mou in half a century? In future will it be possible for the region north 
of the Yellow River to produce eight hundred catties per mou, that 
north of the Huai River one thousand catties and that south of it two 
thousand? There are still a few decades left before these targets are 
reached at the beginning of the 21st century, or maybe it wonšt take 
that long. We depend on intensive cultivation to feed ourselves, and 
even with a fairly large population we still have enough food. I think 
an average of three mou of land per person is more than enough and 
in future less than one mou will yield enough grain to feed one in

487 BE ACTIVISTS IN PROMOTING THE REVOLUTION 
dividual. Of course birth control will still be necessary, and I am not 
encouraging more births. 
Please investigate how much grain the peasants actually consume. 
We must encourage diligence and thrift in running the household and 
economy in the use of grain so as to have reserves. When the state has 
a reserve and each co-operative and family has one too, we shall be 
quite well off with these three kinds of reserves. Otherwise, if all the 
grain is eaten up, what prosperity will there be to speak of? 
This year there should be a little more accumulation wherever a 
good harvest has been reaped or natural disasters have not occurred. 
It is most necessary to make up for possible shortages with surpluses. 
In co-operatives in some provinces, in addition to the accumulation 
fund (5 per cent), the public welfare fund (5 per cent) and management 
expenses, production costs account for 20 per cent of the total value of 
output and capital construction expenditures in turn account for 20 per 
cent of production costs. I discussed the matter with comrades from 
other provinces, who said these capital construction expenditures were 
probably a bit too high. What I am saying today is to be taken as 
suggestions, which you may carry out if feasible, otherwise not. Moreover, 
it is not necessary for all provinces and counties to act in exactly 
the same way, and I leave the matter to you for consideration. The 
management expenses of co-operatives in some places have so far 
assumed too large a proportion and should therefore be reduced to 1 
per cent. They consist of allowances to cadres of co-operatives plus 
administrative expenses. They should be cut and capital expenditures 
on farmlands increased. 
The Chinese people should have high aspirations. We should 
teach everyone in the cities and villages of the country to have lofty 
aims and high aspirations. To indulge in eating and drinking, to eat 
and drink everything up, can this be considered a high aspiration? 
No, it canšt. We should be diligent and thrifty in running our households 
and should make long-term plans. When people wear red or 
white, that is, at weddings or funerals, the practice of giving lavish 
feasts can well be dispensed with. We should practise economy in 
these matters and avoid extravagance. This is a matter of changing 
old customs. To this end it is necessary to argue things out through 
airing views in a big way, or maybe in a small way. Then there is 
gambling. In the past it was impossible to ban this practice, which can 
be changed only through the free airing of views and debate. In my

488 MAO TSETUNG 
opinion, changing old customs should also be included in the plans to 
be drawn up. 
Then there is the question of eliminating the four pests and paying 
attention to hygiene. Išm very keen on wiping out the four pests, rats, 
sparrows, flies and mosquitoes. As there are only ten years left, canšt 
we make some preparations and carry out propaganda this year and 
set about the work next spring? Because that is just the time when 
flies emerge. I still think that we should wipe out these pests and that 
the whole nation should pay particular attention to hygiene. This is 
a question of civilization, the level of which should be significantly 
raised. There should be an emulation drive; every possible effort must 
be made to wipe out these pests and everyone should pay attention 
to hygiene. Progress is liable to be uneven in different provinces and 
counties, anyway letšs see who is champion. China should become a 
country of ŗfour withoutšs˛, without rats, without sparrows, without 
flies and without mosquitoes. 
There should also be a ten-year programme for family planning. 
However, it should not be promoted in the minority nationality areas 
or in sparsely populated regions. Even in densely populated regions 
it is necessary to try it out in selected places and then spread it step 
by step until family planning gradually becomes universal. Family 
planning requires open education, which simply means airing views 
freely and holding great debates. As far as procreation is concerned, 
the human race has been in a state of total anarchy and has failed to 
exercise control. The complete realization of family planning in the 
future will be out of the question without the weight of society as a 
whole behind it, that is, without general consent and joint eff ort. 
There is also the question of comprehensive planning. Išve just 
talked about agricultural plans, but there are also plans for industry, 
commerce, culture and education. It is absolutely necessary to make a 
comprehensive plan which brings industry, agriculture, commerce, 
culture and education together and co-ordinates them. 
The cultivation of experimental plots is an experience worth 
spreading everywhere. The leading cadres of counties, districts, townships 
and co-operatives should each cultivate a small plot and 
experiment to see if a high yield can be reached and what methods 
serve that end. 
We must get to know farming techniques. It is no longer possible 
to engage in agricultural work without acquiring these techniques. 
Politics and the professions form a unity of opposites, in which politics

489 BE ACTIVISTS IN PROMOTING THE REVOLUTION 
is predominant and primary, and while we must fight against the 
tendency to ignore politics, it wonšt do to confine oneself to politics and 
have no technical or professional knowledge. Whatever line our comrades 
are in, whether it is industry, agriculture, commerce, or culture 
and education, they should all acquire some technical and professional 
knowledge. I think a ten-year plan should also be made here. Our 
cadres in all trades and professions should strive to be proficient in 
technical and professional work, turn themselves into experts and 
become both red and expert. It is wrong to talk about becoming expert 
before becoming red, which is tantamount to being white before 
being red. For in fact those who talk thus intend to remain white 
to the end, and becoming red later is just empty talk. Nowadays some 
cadres are no longer red since they have succumbed to rich peasant 
thinking. Some people are white, like the Rightists in the Party who 
are politically white and technically inexpert. Others are grey and still 
others pinkish. It is the Left who are really red, blazing red, like the 
colour of our five-star red flag. But being red alone wonšt do, one 
should have professional and technical knowledge as well. At present 
many cadres are only red but not expert and lack professional or 
technical knowledge. The Rightists say that we donšt have the ability 
to lead, that ŗlaymen cannot lead experts˛. We rebut them by asserting 
that we can. When we assert we can, we mean that politically we 
can. As for technical knowledge, we still have a lot to learn, and we will 
certainly be able to learn it. 
The proletariat cannot build socialism without its own vast contingent 
of technicians and theoretical workers. We should form a 
contingent of proletarian intellectuals within the next ten years (the 
plans for the development of science also cover twelve years, and there 
are still ten years left). Our Party members and non-Party activists 
should all strive to become proletarian intellectuals. Plans for training 
proletarian intellectuals should be worked out at all levels, particularly 
at the three levels of province, prefecture and county, or else time 
will have passed with no such people trained. An old Chinese saying 
goes, ŗIt takes ten years to grow trees but a hundred years to rear 
people.˛ Letšs subtract ninety from the hundred years and rear people 
in ten. Itšs not true that it takes ten years to grow trees, since it takes 
twenty-five years in the south and even longer in the north. But it 
is quite possible to bring up people in ten years. We have had eight 
years and if we add ten, we will have had eighteen years; it can be 
expected that by then a contingent of working-class experts with

490 MAO TSETUNG 
Marxist ideology will have basically been formed. After that for 
another ten years the task will be to enlarge this contingent and raise 
its level. 
Talking about the relationship between agriculture and industry, 
we should of course concentrate on heavy industry and give priority 
to its development; this is a principle about which there can be no 
question or wavering. But with this pre-condition, we must develop 
industry and agriculture simultaneously and build up a modern 
industry and modern agriculture step by step. We often talk about 
making China an industrial country, which actually involves the 
modernization of agriculture. The stress of our propaganda should 
now be on agriculture. Comrade Teng Hsiao-ping has also spoken 
about this. 
Fourth, concerning the two methods. There are at least two 
methods of doing things, one producing slower and poorer results and 
the other faster and better ones. Here both speed and quality are 
involved. Donšt consider just one method, always consider at least 
two. Take railway building for example. There should be several plans, 
so that out of several routes one can be chosen. There can be several 
and at least two, methods for comparison. For instance, should views 
be aired in a big way or in a small way? Should there be big-character 
posters or not? Which of the two is better? Questions of this 
sort are legion, but somehow no free airing of views has been 
allowed. None of the authorities in the thirty-four institutions of higher 
education in Peking have allowed this, or allowed it readily and 
unhesitatingly. For them this is a matter of drawing the fire upon 
themselves! To make them let people air views freely calls for plenty 
of persuasion and, what is more, considerable pressure, that is, issuing 
an open call and holding many meetings, so that they find themselves 
checkmated and ŗdriven to join the Liangshan Mountain rebels˛.4 
When we made revolution in the past, diverse opinions arose in the 
Party with regard to this or that method and this or that policy, but 
in the end as we adopted the policy best suited to the prevailing 
conditions, greater progress was made in the periods of the War of 
Resistance Against Japan and the War of Liberation than in the 
preceding periods. Likewise there can be this or that policy for 
construction, and here too we should adopt the policy best suited to 
the actual conditions. 
The Soviet experience in construction is fairly complete. By complete 
I mean it includes the making of mistakes. No experience can be

491 BE ACTIVISTS IN PROMOTING THE REVOLUTION 
considered complete unless it includes the making of mistakes. To learn 
from the Soviet Union does not mean to copy everything mechanically, 
which is exactly what dogmatism does. It was after we had criticized 
dogmatism that we encouraged people to learn from the Soviet Union, 
and so there was no danger. Since the rectification movement in Yenan 
and the Seventh Congress, we have stressed learning from the Soviet 
Union, which has not only done us no harm but has proved beneficial. 
In revolution, we are experienced. In construction, we have just begun 
and have had only eight years of experience. In our construction the 
achievements are primary, but we are not free from mistakes. We shall 
still make mistakes in the future, but we hope fewer. Learning from 
the Soviet Union must include studying its mistakes. Having studied 
them, we need make fewer detours. Canšt we avoid the Soviet Unionšs 
detours and do things faster and better? We should of course strive 
for this. In steel production for instance, canšt we reach 20,000,000 tons 
in a period of three five-year plans or a bit longer? We can, if we make 
the effort. For this purpose we shall have to set up more small steel 
plants. I think we should run more steel plants that turn out 30,000 to 
50,000 or 70,000 to 80,000 tons annually because they are very useful. 
It is also necessary to set up medium-sized plants with an annual 
capacity of 300,000 or 400,000 tons. 
Fifth, several things were swept away last year. One was the 
principle of doing things with greater, faster, better and more economical 
results. The demand for greater and faster results was dropped, 
and with it the demand for better and more economical results was 
swept away, too. No one, I think, objects to doing things better and 
more economically; it is just doing things with greater and faster 
results that people donšt like and some comrades label ŗrash˛. As 
a matter of fact ŗbetter˛ and ŗmore economical˛ are meant to restrict 
ŗgreater˛ and ŗfaster˛. ŗBetter˛ means better in quality, ŗmore 
economical˛ means spending less money, ŗgreater˛ means doing more 
things, and ŗfaster˛ also means doing more things. This slogan is 
self-restricting, since it calls for better and more economical results, 
that is, for better quality and lower cost, which precludes greater and 
faster results that are unrealistic. I am glad that a couple of comrades 
have spoken on this question at the present session. Besides, Išve read 
an article on it in the newspaper. Our demand for greater, faster, better 
and more economical results is realistic, in conformity with the actual 
conditions and not subjectivist. We must always do our utmost 
to achieve greater and faster results; what we oppose is only the

492 MAO TSETUNG 
subjectivist demand for greater and faster results. In the second half of 
last year, a gust of wind swept away this slogan, which I want to restore. 
Is this possible? Please consider the matter. 
The forty-article Programme for Agricultural Development was 
also swept away. These forty articles went out of vogue last year but 
are now staging a ŗcome-back˛. 
Committees for promoting progress were swept away, too. I once 
raised this question: Are the Central Committee of the Communist 
Party, the Party committees at all levels, the State Council and the 
peoplešs councils at all levels ‹ in short, the multitude of ŗcommittees˛ 
among which the Party committees are primary ‹ are all these committees 
intrinsically for promoting progress or for promoting retrogression? 
They ought to be committees for promoting progress. To my 
mind, the Kuomintang is a committee for promoting retrogression and 
the Communist Party a committee for promoting progress. Canšt we 
now restore those committees for promoting progress which were swept 
away by last yearšs gust of wind? If you all speak against their 
restoration and are bent on organizing committees for promoting 
retrogression, then, with so many of you for retrogression there is 
nothing I can do about it. However, judging from the present session, 
everyone wants to promote progress and there hasnšt been a single 
speech in favour of retrogression. It was the Rightist Chang-Lo alliance 
that wanted us to go backward. In those cases where things are really 
moving too fast and beyond proper bounds, temporary and partial 
retrogression is permissible, that is to say, we have to take a step 
backward or slow down a step. But our general policy is always to 
promote progress. 
Sixth, the contradiction between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie, 
between the socialist road and the capitalist road, is undoubtedly the 
principal contradiction in contemporary Chinese society. Our present 
task is different from that in the past. Previously the principal task 
for the proletariat was to lead the masses in struggles against imperialism 
and feudalism, a task that has already been accomplished. 
What then is the principal contradiction now? We are now carrying 
on the socialist revolution, the spearhead of which is directed against 
the bourgeoisie, and at the same time this revolution aims at transforming 
the system of individual production, that is, bringing about 
co-operation; consequently the principal contradiction is between 
socialism and capitalism, between collectivism and individualism, or 
in a nutshell between the socialist road and the capitalist road. The

493 BE ACTIVISTS IN PROMOTING THE REVOLUTION 
resolution of the Eighth Congress makes no mention of this question. 
It contains a passage which speaks of the principal contradiction as 
being that between the advanced socialist system and the backward 
social productive forces. This formulation is incorrect. At the Second 
Plenary Session of the Seventh Central Committee we stated that after 
nation-wide victory the principal contradiction would be, internally, 
that between the working class and the bourgeoisie and, externally, 
that between China and imperialism. Though we made no public 
reference to this statement after the session, we have been acting on it 
ever since, because our revolution has developed into the socialist 
revolution and that is what we have been engaged in. The three great 
transformations constitute a socialist revolution, a revolution mainly in 
the ownership of the means of production; they have been basically 
accomplished. They have all been sharp class struggles. 
In the second half of last year there was a slackening in class 
struggle, a slackening that was brought about deliberately. But once 
we allowed it, the bourgeoisie, the bourgeois intellectuals, the landlords, 
the rich peasants and part of the well-to do middle peasants started 
the attack on us. That was what happened this year. We allowed the 
slackening and they started the attack ‹ that suited us fine, we gained 
the initiative. As an editorial in the Peoplešs Daily puts it, ŗThe tree 
may prefer calm, but the wind will not subside.˛5 They wanted to 
raise a gale, a typhoon of some force! Well then, we started building 
a ŗshelter belt˛. This was the anti-Rightist struggle, the rectification 
movement. 
Rectification consists of two tasks: one is to fight against the 
Rightists, including the fight against bourgeois ideology, and the other 
is to carry out reforms, which also entails a struggle between the two 
lines. Subjectivism, bureaucracy and sectarianism are all bourgeois 
phenomena ~hose presence in our Party should be blamed on the 
bourgeoisie. Will it still be possible to blame it on the bourgeoisie 
a century or two hence? That would be rather difficult, Išm afraid. 
Will there still be bureaucracy and subjectivism then? Yes, there will 
but the blame will be placed on backwardness. In society there will 
always be the Left, the middle and the Right, and there will always 
be the advanced, the middling and the backward. By that time, if you 
are guilty of bureaucracy and subjectivism, you will be backward. 
The rectification movement will go on till May 1 next year, there 
is that much time for it. Is there going to be a slackening again after 
May 1? I think yes. Can such a slackening be called a Right deviation?

494 MAO TSETUNG 
I think not. Take a meeting for example. If it goes on and on, night 
and day for six months on end, Išm afraid many people will simply 
disappear. Therefore we should do our work according to circumstances, 
now speeding it up, now slowing it down. Last year we scored 
such a big victory that the capitalists beat drums and struck gongs to 
show their allegiance; if we hadnšt allowed a slackening, we would 
have found it hard to justify ourselves, as there was no adequate 
excuse. We have said that the problem of ownership is solved basically 
but not completely. Class struggle has not died out. Hence slackening 
is not a concession in principle but is called for by the circumstances. 
I think that the rectification should go on till May I next year and 
that it should stop in the latter half of the year. We shall see then 
whether there is any need for another rectification or another debate 
in the countryside and shall discuss the matter next year. Anyway, 
there must be another rectification the year after next. If we do not 
launch one then, or worse still, for several years, the old and new 
Rightists and the ones currently emerging will start wriggling again; 
besides, some elements to the right of centre, some middle elements 
and even some on the Left are liable to change. There are some queer 
characters in the world whose Right deviationist sentiments will surface 
and who will come forward with unwholesome comments and Rightist 
observations if you slacken for any length of time. It is also necessary to 
carry out constant education in our army units on the Three Main 
Rules of Discipline and the Eight Points for Attention. If you suspend 
it for a few months, morale will slacken. Morale should be boosted 
several times a year. Education should be conducted among the new 
recruits. Even the ideology of veterans and senior cadres would change 
without rectification. 
A word in passing about our differences with the Soviet Union. 
First of all, there is a contradiction between us and Khrushchov on 
the question of Stalin. He has drawn such a black picture of Stalin, 
and we do not agree with him. He has made Stalin so terribly ugly! 
This then is no longer a matter that concerns his country alone, it 
concerns all countries. We have put Stalinšs portrait up in Tien An 
Men Square. This accords with the wishes of the working people the 
world over and indicates our fundamental differences with Khrushchov. 
As for Stalin himself, you should at least give him a 70-30 evaluation, 
70 for his achievements and 30 for his mistakes. This may not be 
entirely accurate, for his mistakes may be only 20 or even 10, or perhaps 
somewhat more than 30. All things considered, Stalinšs achievements

495 BE ACTIVISTS IN PROMOTING THE REVOLUTION 
are primary and his shortcomings and mistakes are secondary. On this 
point we take a view different from Khrushchovšs. 
Next, we also disagree with Khrushchov and his associates on the 
question of peaceful transition. We maintain that the proletarian party 
of any country should be prepared for two possibilities, one for peace 
and the other for war. In the first case, the Communist Party demands 
peaceful transition from the ruling class, following Lenin in the slogan 
he advanced during the period between the February and October 
Revolutions. Similarly we made a proposal to Chiang Kai-shek for the 
negotiation of peace. This is a defensive slogan against the bourgeoisie, 
against the enemy, showing that we want peace, not war, and it will 
help us win over the masses. It is a slogan that will give us the initiative, 
it is a tactical slogan. However, the bourgeoisie will never hand 
over state power of their own accord, but will resort to violence. Then 
there is the second possibility. If they want to fight and they fire the 
first shot, we cannot but fight back. To seize state power by armed 
force ‹ this is a strategic slogan. If you insist on peaceful transition, 
there wonšt be any difference between you and the socialist parties. 
The Japanese Socialist Party is just like that, it is prepared for only 
one possibility, that is, it will never use violence. The same is true of 
all the socialist parties of the world. Generally speaking, the political 
parties of the proletariat had better be prepared for two possibilities: 
one, a gentleman uses his tongue, not his fists, but two, if a bastard 
uses his fists, Išll use mine. Putting the matter this way takes care of 
both possibilities and leaves no loophole. It wonšt do otherwise. Now 
the Communist Parties in a number of countries, the British Communist 
Party for example, only advance the slogan of peaceful transition. We 
talked this over with the leader of the British Party but couldnšt get 
anywhere. Naturally they may well feel proud, for as their leader 
queried, ŗHow can Khrushchov claim to have introduced peaceful 
transition? I advanced it long before he did!˛ 
Besides, the Soviet comrades do not understand our policy of letting 
a hundred flowers blossom and a hundred schools of thought contend. 
What we want is to have a hundred flowers blossom and a hundred 
schools of thought contend within the framework of socialism, within 
the ranks of the people and with the exclusion of counter-revolutionaries. 
Of course, realignment may take place among the people themselves, 
a section of whom may turn into our enemies. Take the Rightists 
for instance. In the past they were among the people, but now it 
seems to me that they are one-third people and two-thirds counter

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revolutionary. Shall we deprive them of the right to vote? On the 
whole, it is preferable not to do so, except for those few who are to 
be punished by law or reformed through labour. Some of them may 
even be allowed to sit on the National Committee of the Political 
Consultative Conference, because anyway it is all right for the committee 
to have about a thousand people. In appearance the Rightists 
are still in the ranks of the people, but in reality they are our enemies. 
We openly declare that they are our enemies and that the contradiction 
between us and them is one between the people and the enemy, because 
they are against socialism, against the leadership of the Communist 
Party and against the dictatorship of the proletariat. In short, their 
words and deeds do not conform to the six criteria!6 They are poisonous 
weeds. A few poisonous weeds will always crop up among the people, 
no matter when. 
Lastly, we should bestir ourselves and make arduous efforts in our 
study. Mark these three words, ŗmake˛, ŗarduous˛ and ŗefforts˛. We 
must bestir ourselves and make arduous efforts. Now many of our 
comrades do not make arduous efforts, and some comrades devote 
their surplus energy after work chiefly to playing cards and mahjong 
and to dancing, and this I think is bad. We should devote our surplus 
energy after work chiefly to study and should make study a habit. 
What then should we study? For one thing, we should study Marxism- 
Leninism, for another, technology and for a third, natural science. 
Besides, there is literature, and especially the theories of literature, 
which leading cadres must know something about. They should also 
have some knowledge of journalism and education. In short, there is 
a very wide range of knowledge, of which we should get some general 
understanding. For we are supposed to exercise leadership over these 
matters! What kind of specialists can people like us be called? We can 
be called political specialists. How can we carry on without knowing 
about these matters and exercising leadership over them? All provinces 
have their own newspapers, which were neglected in the past, and 
their own literary and art journals and organizations, which were also 
neglected, as were the united front and the democratic parties, and 
as was education. All these things were neglected, and so it was 
precisely in these fields that rebellion erupted. But once these things 
were attended to, the whole situation changed within a few months. 
Lo Lung-chi asked, how could little proletarian intellectuals lead big 
petty-bourgeois intellectuals? He was wrong there. He says he is petty 
bourgeois but actually he is bourgeois. The ŗlittle intellectuals˛ of

497 BE ACTIVISTS IN PROMOTING THE REVOLUTION 
the proletariat will do precisely that ‹ exercise leadership over the 
big bourgeois intellectuals. The proletariat has had a group of intellectuals 
in its service, the first of whom was Marx, then there were Engels, 
Lenin and Stalin, and now there are people like us and many others. 
The proletariat is the most advanced class, it will lead the revolution 
all over the world. 
NOTES 
1 The five major movements were the agrarian reform, the movement to resist 
U.S. aggression and aid Korea, the elimination of counter-revolutionaries, the movement 
against the ŗthree evils˛ and the ŗfive evils˛, and the ideological remoulding. 
2 This refers to the socialist transformation of agriculture, handicrafts and capitalist 
industry and commerce. 
3 ŗThe Democratic Movement in the Army˛, Note 1, Selected Works of Mao 
Tsetung, Vol. IV. 
4 Liangshan Mountain in Shantung Province was a rebel peasant base in the 
Sung Dynasty. Most of the rebel leaders in the classical novel Water Margin were 
forced to take refuge on Liangshan Mountain as a result of oppression by the authorities 
or despotic landlords. The expression ŗdriven to join the Liangshan Mountain rebels˛ 
has since come to mean that one is forced to do something under pressure. 
5 Han Ying (Western Han Dynasty), Commentary on the Book of Songs, Chapter 9. 
6 See page 412 above.

HAVE FIRM FAITH 
IN THE MAJORITY OF THE PEOPLE 
October 13, 1957 
A form has now been found for the rectification movement, namely, 
speaking out freely, airing views fully, holding great debates and 
writing big-character posters. It is a new form created by the masses 
which is different from other forms employed by our Party in the past. 
True, there were a few big-character posters during the rectification in 
Yenan, but we didnšt encourage them. Nor was this form subsequently 
used in the Three Check-ups and Three Improvements. In the period 
of the revolutionary wars we received no pay and had no ordnance 
factories, what our Party and army relied on were the soldiers and 
the people in different localities, the masses. And so a democratic style 
of work has evolved over the years. But in those days there was no such 
form as speaking out freely, airing views fully, holding great debates 
and writing big-character posters such as there is now. Why? Because 
we were then in the heat of war and the class struggle was very acute, 
and if we had allowed a free-for-all within our own ranks, that would 
have been bad. Things are different now. The war is over and the 
whole country except Taiwan Province is liberated. Hence this new 
form. New revolutionary content must find a new form of expression. 
Our revolution today is a socialist revolution, its aim is to build a 
socialist country and it has found this new form. This form can be 
speedily popularized, it can be readily picked up in a few months. 
There are chiefly two fears when it comes to speaking out freely, 
airing views fully, holding great debates and writing big-character 
posters. One is fear of disorder. Are you afraid of disorder? I think 
many are. The other is fear of not being able to get out of onešs predicament. 
Those who serve as factory or co-operative directors, college 
heads or Party committee secretaries are all afraid that they wonšt 
Speech at the Thirteenth Session of the Supreme State Conference. 
498

499 HAVE FORM FAITH IN THE MAJORITY 
be able to extricate themselves once views are aired or fires lit. It is 
easy now to convince people not to be afraid, but it was rather difficult 
in May. In Pekingšs thirty-four institutions of higher education the free 
airing of views was not allowed until after many meetings had been 
held. Why is there no need for fear? Why is the airing of views to 
our advantage? Which is to our advantage ‹ airing views in a big 
way, or in a small way, or not at all? No airing of views is not to our 
advantage and airing views in a small way can solve no problems, 
therefore views must be aired in a big way. First, this will not bring 
on disorder and, second, it will not make extricating oneself impossible. 
Of course, the case is different with certain individuals, for example, 
Ting Ling cannot extricate herself, nor can Feng Hsueh-feng, who has 
lit a fire to burn up the Communist Party. They are only a handful and 
are Rightists. Other people need not worry, they should be able to 
extricate themselves. At most they have such faults as bureaucracy, 
sectarianism or subjectivism, and if they do, they need only correct them, 
so there is no ground for fear. The basic thing is to have faith in the 
majority of the people, in the fact that the majority are good. The 
majority of the workers are good, and so are the majority of the peasants. 
And so are most members of the Communist Party and the Youth 
League. None of them want to throw our country into disorder. Most 
of the bourgeois intellectuals, the capitalists and the members of the 
democratic parties can be remoulded. Therefore we need not be afraid, 
for there wonšt and canšt be disorder. We must have faith in the 
majority, and by that do we mean 51 per cent? No, we do not, we mean 
go to 98 per cent. 
The socialist revolution is new to us all. The revolution we carried 
out in the past was only a democratic revolution, which was bourgeois 
in nature. It only destroyed imperialist, feudal and bureaucrat-capitalist 
ownership, but not individual ownership or national capitalist ownership. 
Thus many people could pass the test of the democratic revolution. 
While some were not really keen on a thoroughgoing democratic revolution 
and barely managed to come through, others were willing to work 
hard for it and passed the test all right. The test now is socialism, and 
it is hard for some people. Take for example that Party member in 
Hupeh Province who was originally a farm labourer. For three generations 
his family had to go begging. Liberation brought him a new life, 
he grew well off and became a cadre at the district level. However, he 
complained bitterly about socialism and strongly disapproved of agricultural 
co-operation; he demanded ŗfreedom˛ and opposed the state

500 MAO TSETUNG 
monopoly of the purchase and marketing of grain. An exhibition about 
the life of this man has now been organized to serve as class education. 
He wept bitter tears of remorse, saying he would mend his ways. 
Why is the test of socialism hard to pass? Because socialism means 
destroying capitalist ownership and transforming it into socialist ownership 
by the whole people, destroying individual ownership and 
transforming it into socialist collective ownership. Of course, this 
struggle will go on for many years, and it is hard to say for sure right 
now just how long the transition period will be. The struggle this year 
is like a crest in the waves. Will there be such a crest every year like 
those in the Yellow River? I am afraid not. Nonetheless there will 
be some in the years ahead. 
How many people are there today in the whole country who do 
not approve of socialism? Together with many comrades in the localities, 
I have made an estimate. It shows that about 10 per cent of our 
total population disapprove of or oppose socialism. The figure comprises 
the landlord class, the rich peasants, part of the well-to-do middle 
peasants, part of the national bourgeoisie, part of the bourgeois intellectuals, 
part of the upper stratum of the urban petty bourgeoisie and 
even a few workers and poor and lower-middle peasants. What is 10 per 
cent of a population of 600 million? Sixty million. Thatšs no small 
number and should not be underrated. 
There are two underlying reasons for saying that we must have 
firm faith in the majority of the people. First, go per cent of our 
people are in favour of socialism. This comprises the proletariat, the 
poor peasants who are the semi-proletariat of the rural areas, the lowermiddle 
peasants and the majority of the upper stratum of the petty 
bourgeoisie, the majority of the bourgeois intellectuals and part of 
the national bourgeoisie. Second, among those who disapprove of or 
oppose socialism, how many are the worst die-hards, namely, ultra- 
Rightists, counter-revolutionaries, saboteurs, and those who, while not 
engaging in sabotage, are most obstinate and are likely to carry their 
ossified heads to their graves? Probably only 2 per cent. What is 2 per 
cent of the total population? Twelve million. Banded together and 
equipped with guns, these twelve million would make a sizable army. 
But why wonšt there be any great disorder in the country? Because 
they are scattered in different co-operatives, villages, factories, schools 
and branches of the Communist Party, the Youth League and the 
democratic parties. Since they are scattered all over the place and cannot 
band together, there wonšt be any great disorder.

501 HAVE FORM FAITH IN THE MAJORITY 
What is the scope of the socialist revolution, what classes are involved 
in this struggle? The socialist revolution is a struggle waged 
by the proletariat at the head of the working people against the bourgeoisie. 
Though relatively small in number, Chinašs proletariat has 
allies in vast numbers, the most important of whom are the poor and 
lower-middle peasants who form 70 per cent or a little more of the 
rural population. The well-to-do middle peasants make up about another 
20 per cent. The present-day well-to-do middle peasants may 
be roughly divided into three categories: those who are for co-operation, 
40 per cent; those who are of two minds, 40 per cent; and those who 
are against, 20 per cent. Education and remoulding in recent years 
has brought about a split among the landlords and the rich peasants, 
some of whom are no longer entirely opposed to socialism. We should 
also take an analytical approach towards the bourgeoisie and bourgeois 
intellectuals and not regard them all as being opposed to socialism, 
because that is not the case. Ninety per cent of our entire population 
are for socialism. We must have faith in this majority. Through our 
efforts and great debates we may win over an additional 8 per cent, 
which will bring the total to 98 per cent. The die-hards bitterly opposed 
to socialism are only 2 per cent. Of course we must be on the alert, 
because they are still a considerable force, as Comrade Teng Hsiao-ping 
put it just now. 
The rich peasants are the bourgeoisie in the countryside where very 
few people listen to them. The landlords are still more discredited. 
The comprador-bourgeoisie has long been discredited. As for the bourgeoisie 
and the bourgeois intellectuals, the upper stratum of the rural 
petty bourgeoisie (the well-to-do middle peasants), the upper stratum 
of the urban petty bourgeoisie (the relatively well-to-do small proprietors) 
and the intellectuals from these strata, they do have a certain 
influence. The intellectuals in particular are much sought after, they 
are needed in every sphere. Universities need professors, primary and 
middle schools need teachers, newspapers need journalists, theatres 
actors and actresses, and construction projects scientists, engineers and 
technicians. At present there are five million intellectuals and seven 
hundred thousand capitalists, or together almost six million. If each 
has a family of five, five times six million are thirty million. Comparatively 
speaking, the bourgeoisie and its intellectuals have a high 
level of education and technical know-how. Thatšs why the Rightists 
are so cocky. Didnšt Lo Lung-chi say that the little proletarian intellectuals 
are incapable of leading a big petty-bourgeois intellectual

502 MAO TSETUNG 
like him? He insisted on saying that he is not bourgeois but petty 
bourgeois, a big petty-bourgeois intellectual. In my opinion, not only 
the little proletarian intellectuals but the workers and peasants who 
may know hardly any characters at all are a great deal wiser than 
Lo Lung-chi. 
The Rightists and the middle elements among the bourgeoisie and 
its intellectuals and among the upper stratum of the petty bourgeoisie 
and its intellectuals are not reconciled to the leadership of the Communist 
Party and the proletariat. They say they support the Communist 
Party and the Constitution, in a way they mean it and their hands 
are raised in favour, but at heart they are not really reconciled. Here 
a distinction must be made between the Rightists who are hostile and 
the middle elements who are half inclined to be reconciled and half 
not. Arenšt there persons who say the Communist Party is incapable 
of leading this or leading that? This view is not confined to the Rightists 
but is shared by some of the middle elements. In short, according to their 
argument, our days are numbered, the Communist Party has no choice 
but to move to another country and the proletariat to another planet. 
Because you are no good at anything! The Rightists say, you are not 
fit for any trade whatsoever. The main purpose of the current debate 
is to win over the half-hearted middle elements so that they will understand 
what the law of social development is all about and realize 
theyšd better listen to the proletariat which does not have a high level 
of education and to the poor and lower-middle peasants in the countryside. 
Speaking of educational level, the proletariat and the poor and 
lower-middle peasants are not as good, but when it comes to making 
revolution, it is they who are really good at it. Can this convince the 
majority of the people? Yes, it can. It can convince the majority of the 
bourgeoisie, of the bourgeois intellectuals and of the upper stratum of 
the petty bourgeoisie. And also most of the university professors, 
primary and middle school teachers, artists, writers, scientists and 
engineers. Those who are not quite reconciled will gradually become 
reconciled, after some years. 
With the majority of the people supporting socialism, the current appearance 
of the new form ‹ speaking out, airing views and holding debates 
in a big way and writing big-character posters ‹ is advantageous. 
This form has no class character. The Rightists too can use it. We 
are indebted to the Rightists for inventing the expression ŗin a big 
way˛. In my talk of February 27 this year I didnšt use this expression, 
I said nothing about speaking out, airing views and holding debates

503 HAVE FORM FAITH IN THE MAJORITY 
in a big way. At a meeting here in May last year, when we talked 
about letting a hundred flowers blossom and a hundred schools of 
thought contend, we were referring to ŗairing views˛ and ŗspeaking 
out˛, and in neither case was the expression ŗin a big way˛ used. 
What is more, letting a hundred flowers blossom was meant to apply 
only to the sphere of literature and art and letting a hundred schools 
of thought contend only to academic matters. Later on the Rightists 
called for extending the application to political matters, in other words, 
they called for the airing of views on all matters, for a ŗperiod of 
airing views˛, and, what is more, they wanted them aired in a big way. 
It is evident that this slogan can be used by the bourgeoisie as well as 
by the proletariat; it can be used by the Left, the middle and the Right 
alike. Which class really benefits from this slogan of speaking out, airing 
views and holding debates in a big way and writing big-character 
posters? In the final analysis, the proletariat, not the bourgeois Rightists. 
The reason is that go per cent of the population donšt want disorder 
in the country, they want to build socialism. Of the remaining 10 per 
cent who disapprove of socialism or are opposed to it, many are of 
two minds, and only 2 per cent are dyed-in-the-wool anti-socialist 
elements. How can they possibly plunge the country into disorder? 
Therefore, in the final analysis, the slogan of speaking out and airing 
views in a big way, the form or method of speaking out, airing views 
and holding debates in a big way and writing big-character posters, 
benefits the majority of the people and helps them remould themselves. 
There are two roads ‹ the road of socialism and the road of 
capitalism, and it is socialism that this slogan benefits. 
We should not be afraid of disorder or of being unable to extricate 
ourselves. On the other hand, the Rightists will find it difficult to 
extricate themselves, although it will still be possible for them to do 
so. In accordance with dialectics, the Rightists will, I think, split 
into two sections. Probably quite a few of them, pushed by the general 
trend of events, will clarify their thinking, change their stand, behave 
themselves and not be so stubborn. When that happens, their Rightist 
label will be removed, they will no longer be called ŗRightists˛ and 
besides will be given jobs. A handful of the worst die-hards may 
remain unrepentant to the end and carry the Rightist label to their 
graves. It doesnšt matter much, there will always be such individuals. 
Since the Rightists stirred up trouble, we have been able to do 
some stock-taking: on the one hand, 90 per cent of the population 
are in favour of socialism, and with some effort we can make it 98

504 MAO TSETUNG 
per cent; on the other hand, 10 per cent disapprove of socialism or 
are opposed to it, among whom the worst die-hards dead set against 
socialism account for only 2 per cent. With this stock-taking we know 
where we are. Under the leadership of the political party of the 
proletariat and with the majority of the people supporting socialism, 
we can use the method of speaking out freely, airing views fully, holding 
great debates and writing big-character posters to avoid such 
incidents as the one in Hungary and what is happening in Poland now. 
There is no need for us to ban a journal as was done in Poland,1 all 
we have to do is to publish a couple of editorials in the Party newspaper. 
We wrote two editorials criticizing Wen Hui Pao. The first one was 
not thorough and did not hit the nail on the head, but after the second 
Wen Hui Pao set about correcting its mistakes. So did Hsin Min Pao. 
This could not happen in Poland, for they have not solved the problems 
of counter-revolutionaries and Rightists and of which road to take, 
nor have they put emphasis on the struggle against bourgeois ideas. 
Consequently, banning a journal touched off an incident. I think things 
are easier to manage in China and I have never been pessimistic. Didnšt 
I say there wouldnšt be disorder and we shouldnšt be afraid? Disorder 
can be turned to good account. Wherever views are aired to the full, 
with the worst types howling and growling and great disorder following 
in their wake, things will be much easier to manage. 
Before liberation China had only four million industrial workers 
and now there are twelve million. Though small in number, the working 
class, and the working class alone, has great promise. The other classes 
are all classes in transition, they all have to make the transition towards 
the working class. In the first step of this transition, the peasants become 
collective peasants and in the second step workers on state farms. 
The bourgeoisie will be eliminated, but not physically; the bourgeoisie 
will be eliminated as a class but remoulded as individuals. The 
bourgeois intellectuals need remoulding, and so do the petty-bourgeois 
intellectuals. They can be gradually remoulded and eventually transformed 
into proletarian intellectuals. Once I quoted the saying, ŗWith 
the skin gone, to what can the hair attach itself?˛ If the intellectuals 
do not attach themselves to the proletariat, they will be in danger of 
ŗdangling in mid-air˛. Many people have now joined the trade unions, 
and some ask, ŗArenšt we members of the working class now that 
we are in trade unions?˛ No. Some have joined the Communist Party 
and yet they are anti-Communist. Arenšt Ting Ling and Feng Hsuehfeng 
Communists who are anti-Communist? Joining a trade union does

505 HAVE FORM FAITH IN THE MAJORITY 
not automatically make a person a member of the working class, for he 
has to undergo a process of remoulding. Members of the democratic 
parties, university professors, men of letters and writers have no friends 
among the workers and peasants. That is a serious drawback. Fei 
Hsiao-tung, for one, has over two hundred friends among the higher 
intellectuals in places like Peking, Shanghai, Chengtu, Wuhan and 
Wusih. He simply cannot break away from the group and, what is 
more, he has made a conscious effort to organize these people and has 
aired views on their behalf. Thatšs the source of his trouble. I would 
ask, canšt you change a little? Chuck your group of two hundred and 
seek another two hundred among workers and peasants. In my opinion, 
all intellectuals should make friends among the worker and peasant 
masses, where they can find true friends. Make friends with old workers. 
Among the peasants donšt too readily make friends with the well-to-do 
middle peasants but seek your friends among the poor and lowermiddle 
peasants. For the old workers have a keen sense of orientation 
and so do the poor and lower-middle peasants. 
The rectification movement comprises four stages ‹ airing of views, 
counter-attack, reform and study. This means the stage of free airing 
of views, that of counter-attack on the Rightists, that of check-up and 
reform and lastly that of studying some Marxism-Leninism and making 
criticism and self-criticism in the manner of ŗa gentle breeze and a 
mild rain˛ in group meetings. When ŗa gentle breeze and a mild rain˛ 
was first proposed in a document on rectification issued by the Central 
Committee of the Chinese Communist Party on May I this year, quite 
a few people, mainly Rightists, took exception to the idea and wanted 
ŗa strong gale and a torrential downpour˛, which has turned out to 
be advantageous to us. This is what we had expected. For the same 
thing happened in the rectification movement in Yenan; instead of 
the gentle breeze we had proposed, a strong gale arose, but in the 
end it was the gentle breeze that prevailed. When big-character posters 
appeared in their thousands in factories, people in positions of leadership 
had a tough time. For ten days or so, some wanted to quit or 
resign, saying they couldnšt take it any more, couldnšt eat or sleep. 
That was the case with the secretaries of university Party committees 
in Peking, they lost their appetites and couldnšt go to sleep. The 
Rightists said they must have an unrestricted airing of views and no 
rejoinders. We too said we would let them shoot their mouths off and 
not answer. So in May we left them alone and did not come out with 
any refutation until June 8, and thus all views were freely aired.

506 MAO TSETUNG 
Roughly speaking, more than go per cent of the views aired were 
valid and the Rightist ones were a tiny fraction. We just had to stick 
it out and hear them through before hitting back. Each organization 
has to go through this stage. The rectification has to be conducted in 
every factory and agricultural co-operative. It is now being carried out 
in the army. This is most necessary. If you skip it, the ŗfree market˛ 
will expand. It is a strange world, for if rectification is allowed to lapse 
for three years, many queer arguments will crop up and bourgeois 
ideas will re-emerge in the Communist Party, the Youth League and 
the democratic parties, and among university professors, primary 
and middle school teachers, journalists, engineers and scientists. Just 
as onešs house must be tidied up and onešs face washed every day, 
I think rectification should, in general, be conducted once a year and 
last a month or so. Perhaps there will be crests again. We are not 
responsible for the current one, the Rightists are. Didnšt we say that 
even in the Communist Party we had Kao Kang? Could it be that there 
wasnšt a single Kao Kang in the democratic parties? I just donšt believe 
that. Again, such types as Ting Ling, Feng Hsueh-feng and Chiang 
Feng have been found in the Communist Party, arenšt their likes 
already found in the democratic parties too? 
The bourgeoisie and the bourgeois intellectuals ought to recognize 
the necessity of remoulding themselves. The Rightists refuse to do so, 
and because of their influence some others are also reluctant to accept 
remoulding, claiming they have already been remoulded. Chang 
Nai-chi says remoulding is horrible, as bad as having onešs tendons 
pulled out and onešs skin torn off. We say one should cast off 
onešs old self and he says that means having your tendons pulled 
out and your skin torn off. Now, who is going to pull out that 
gentlemanšs tendons and tear off his skin? Many have forgotten 
what our aim is, why we want to do all this and what is good 
about socialism. Why is ideological remoulding necessary? Because 
we want the bourgeois intellectuals to acquire the proletarian world 
outlook and transform themselves into proletarian intellectuals. The 
old intellectuals will be obliged to make the change because new intellectuals 
are coming on the scene. In terms of knowledge you can 
say that the new intellectuals havenšt made the grade yet, but eventually 
they will. The emergence of these new forces will pose a challenge to 
the old scientists, engineers, professors and teachers and spur them 
on. We reckon that most can make progress and some can remould 
themselves into proletarian intellectuals.

507 HAVE FORM FAITH IN THE MAJORITY 
The proletariat must build up its own army of intellectuals, just 
as the bourgeoisie does. The regime of a given class cannot do without 
its own intellectuals. How could bourgeois dictatorship be possible in 
the United States without its intellectuals? Ours is a dictatorship of 
the proletariat, and the proletariat must build its own army of intellectuals, 
including all those intellectuals from the old society who 
truly take a firm working-class stand after being remoulded. Probably 
Chang Nai-chi can be counted among those Rightists who refuse to 
change. When urged to make the change into a proletarian intellectual, 
he refuses, saying he made the change long ago and is now a ŗred 
bourgeois˛. Well, letšs follow the method of self-assessment and public 
discussion; you can make the assessment yourself, but it has to be put 
to the public for discussion. We say you are not up to the mark, Chang 
Nai-chi, you are a white bourgeois. Some people argue for becoming 
expert first and red later. To be expert first and red later means to 
be white first and red later. Not red now but red in the future ‹ if they 
are not red now, then what is their present colour? White of course. 
Intellectuals should be at once red and expert. To be red, they must 
make up their minds thoroughly to transform their bourgeois world 
outlook. They donšt have to read a lot of books, what they must do 
is to get a true understanding of the following questions. What is 
the proletariat? What is the dictatorship of the proletariat? Why is 
it that the proletariat alone has great promise while the other classes 
are all classes in transition? Why must our country take the socialist 
road and not the capitalist road? Why is the leadership of the Communist 
Party indispensable? 
Many people take exception to what I said on April 30.2 ŗWith the 
skin gone, to what can the hair attach itself?˛ I said there used to 
be five skins in China. Three of them were old ones, namely, imperialist 
ownership, feudal ownership and bureaucrat-capitalist ownership. 
In the past the intellectuals depended on these skins for a living. 
They also depended on national capitalist ownership and on ownership 
by small producers, that is, petty-bourgeois ownership. Our democratic 
revolution was aimed at removing the first three skins and, counting 
from the time of Lin Tse-hsu,3 it went on for more than a century. 
The last two skins, namely, national capitalist and small producer 
ownership, were targets of the socialist revolution. All these five skins 
are now things of the past. The three older skins disappeared long ago 
and now the other two are gone. What skin is there now? The skin 
of socialist public ownership. Of course, this is divided into two parts,

508 MAO TSETUNG 
ownership by the whole people and ownership by the collective. On 
whom do they depend for a living? Whether members of the democratic 
parties, professors, scientists or journalists, they all depend on the 
working class, on the collective peasants, on ownership by the whole 
people and on ownership by the collective, in a word, they live off 
socialist public ownership. With those five skins gone, the hair is flying 
in mid-air and it wonšt stay put when it comes down. The intellectuals 
still look with disdain on this new skin, they have a very low opinion 
of the proletariat and the poor and lower-middle peasants, who, they 
say, are as ignorant of astronomy as of geography, and they think 
that people of all ŗthree religions and nine schools of thought˛4 are 
not fit to hold a candle to them. The intellectuals are reluctant to 
accept Marxism-Leninism. Marxism-Leninism was opposed by many 
people in the past. The imperialists opposed it. Chiang Kai-shek 
opposed it, day in day out, saying ŗCommunism is not suited to Chinašs 
conditions˛ and making people afraid of it. It requires time as well 
as a socialist ideological revolutionary movement for intellectuals to 
embrace Marxism-Leninism and transform their bourgeois world outlook 
into the proletarian world outlook. The movement this year is 
meant to pave the way. 
After the counter-attack on the Rightists, all is calm now in some 
departments, organizations and colleges; those in leading positions are 
having an easy time and are unwilling to carry out the reforms called 
for by the many correct criticisms put forward. Such is the case with 
some departments, organizations and colleges in Peking. In my opinion, 
there should be another high tide of airing views at the present stage 
of reform. Put up big-character posters and ask, ŗWhy donšt you carry 
out reforms?˛ Challenge them! This challenge can be very useful. 
The stage of reform should be allowed a little time, say, a couple of 
months. It is to be followed by a period of study, to study some 
Marxism-Leninism and to make criticism and self-criticism in the 
manner of ŗa gentle breeze and a mild rain˛. That will be the fourth 
stage. Such study of course is not simply a matter for a couple of 
months, what I mean is that peoplešs interest in study should be aroused 
as the movement draws to a close. 
The counter-attack on the Rightists will have to draw to a close. 
Some Rightists have anticipated this. The storm will be over sooner 
or later, they said. Thatšs quite true. You canšt attack the Rightists 
all the time, day after day and year after year. For instance, in Peking 
the air is not as thick with the dust of the battle against the Rightists

509 HAVE FORM FAITH IN THE MAJORITY 
as before, because the counter-attack is nearly over. However, it is 
not quite over and we must not relax our efforts. To this day, some 
Rightists obstinately refuse to surrender, for instance Lo Lung-chi 
and Chang Nai-chi. I think we should try reasoning things out with 
them a few more times, and if they still refuse to be convinced, what 
can we do ‹ call them to meetings every day? A number of die-hards 
will never mend their ways, and we will just have to give them up. 
They are only a handful, wešll leave them to their own devices and 
shelve them for several decades. Anyway, the majority will press ahead. 
Are we going to throw the Rightists into the sea? No, not a 
single one. The Rightists are a hostile force because they oppose the 
Communist Party, the people and socialism. But now we donšt treat 
them in the way we treat the landlords and counter-revolutionaries, 
and the basic indicator of the difference is that they are not deprived 
of their right to vote. Perhaps a few will have to be denied this right 
and made to reform through labour. Our practice is not to make arrests 
and not to deprive them of their right to vote but instead to give them 
some leeway, and this will help to split them. Didnšt I say a while ago 
that the Rightists are of two types? Type one are those who, having 
mended their ways, will have the Rightist label removed and who may 
return to the ranks of the people. Type two are those who will remain 
incorrigible to the day they report to the King of Hell. They will say, 
ŗWe are not the surrendering type, Your Majesty. See what Œintegrityš 
we have!˛ They are the loyal servants of the bourgeoisie. The Rightists 
maintain ties and identify with the feudal remnants and counterrevolutionaries 
and act in concert with them. The landlords jumped 
with joy at that paper Wen Hui Pao and bought copies to read to the 
peasants and intimidate them. ŗLook here,˛ they would say, ŗall this is 
printed in the newspaper!˛ They wanted to retaliate. Then there are 
the imperialists and Chiang Kai-shek who also identify with the 
Rightists. For instance, the reactionaries in Taiwan and Hongkong 
stand four-square behind Chu An-pingšs allegation of the ŗmonopoly 
of everything by the Communist Party˛, Chang Po-chunšs demand for 
a ŗpolitical planning chamber˛ and Lo Lung-chišs call for a ŗpolitical 
rehabilitation committee˛. U.S. imperialism, too, is very sympathetic to 
the Rightists. I once put it to you, ŗIf the Americans invade Peking, 
what will you do? What attitude will you adopt? What action will 
you take? Will you join the United States in setting up a puppet regime, 
or will you come along with us to the mountains?˛ I said then that my 
intention was to take to the mountains, first going to Changchiakou and

510 MAO TSETUNG 
then to Yenan. I was talking in extreme terms and considering the 
worst possibility ‹ we are not afraid of disorder. Even if the United 
States should occupy half of China, it wouldnšt frighten us. Didnšt 
Japan have the greater part of China under its occupation? And didnšt 
we fight back and create a new China? In conversations with some 
Japanese I said that we should thank Japanese imperialism for its 
aggression because it did us a lot of good by arousing the opposition of 
our whole nation and promoting the awakening of our people. 
The Rightists are liars, they are dishonest and do bad things behind 
our backs. Who would have thought Chang Po-chun would do so 
many bad things? I think the higher the office these types hold, the 
greater their treachery. The Chang-Lo alliance was delighted with 
the two slogans, long-term coexistence and mutual supervision, and 
letting a hundred flowers blossom and a hundred schools of thought 
contend. They used these two slogans to oppose us. We said we 
favoured long-term coexistence but they tried to turn it into a shortterm 
one for us. We said we favoured mutual supervision and 
they rejected any supervision. For a time they ran amuck and in 
the end they got the opposite of what they wanted, turning long-term 
coexistence into a short-term one for themselves. What about Chang 
Po-chunšs ministerial post? Išm afraid he can no longer keep it. Surely 
the people will not agree to a Rightist heading a ministry! Then there 
are some well-known Rightists who are deputies to the National Peoplešs 
Congress. What is to be done about them? Išm afraid it is difficult 
to keep them in these posts. For instance, Ting Ling can no longer be 
a deputy. In some cases, it may not be good if no posts or no jobs are 
given them. For instance, Chien Wei-chang can perhaps still keep his 
post as professor but not the vice-chancellorship. As for some other 
professors, perhaps they should not continue in that capacity for the 
time being because the students wonšt go to their lectures. Then what 
work can they do? We can assign them some other-jobs on the campus, 
let them reform themselves in the meantime and take up teaching again 
after a few years. All these questions need considering, it is a complicated 
business. Revolution itself is a complicated business. So I 
would like you to discuss the question of how the Rightists are to be 
dealt with and what arrangements are to be made for them. 
How do things stand with the various democratic parties and at 
the grass roots? Išm afraid you who are in responsible positions havenšt 
a very clear idea. For a time die-hard Rightists may have muddied the 
waters in some organizations so that we could not see to the bottom.

511 HAVE FORM FAITH IN THE MAJORITY 
Investigation reveals that they actually account for only 1 or 2 per cent. 
Drop a little alum into the water and you can see to the bottom. The 
current rectification is like a dose of alum. After views are aired and 
debates held in a big way, we can see through to the bottom. We have 
been able to see through to the bottom of things in factories, villages 
and colleges, and get to the bottom of things in the Communist Party, 
the Youth League and the democratic parties. 
Now a few words about the forty-article Programme for Agricultural 
Development. After two years of experience, the basic targets 
are still kept at four, five and eight, that is, an annual yield of four 
hundred catties of grain per mou north of the Yellow River, five 
hundred catties north of the Huai River and eight hundred catties south 
of the Huai River. This goal should be attained in twelve years, thatšs 
the essential point. Basically no change has been made in the programme 
as a whole with the exception of a few articles. Some questions have 
been solved, for instance, the question of co-operative transformation 
has been settled in the main, and the relevant articles have been revised 
accordingly. Previously some points were not emphasized, such as farm 
machinery and chemical fertilizer, and since big efforts are going to be 
made in these spheres, these points have now been stressed in the 
relevant articles. Some readjustment has been made in the sequence 
of articles. After due deliberation at the joint meeting of the Standing 
Committees of the National Peoplešs Congress and of the National 
Committee of the Political Consultative Conference, this revised 
Draft Programme for Agricultural Development will be promulgated 
for discussion throughout the countryside, as was its previous version. 
It may also be discussed in factories, various circles and the democratic 
parties. This draft programme put forward by the Chinese Communist 
Party was drawn up by our political planning chamber, that is, by the 
Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, and not by the 
ŗpolitical planning chamber˛ envisaged by Chang Po-chun. 
It is essential to get the entire peasantry to discuss this programme. 
We must enhance the vigour and enthusiasm of the people. Enthusiasm 
flagged in the second half of last year and the first half of this and then 
dropped further because of the trouble created by the Rightists in town 
and country. The rectification and the anti-Rightist movement have 
given this enthusiasm a big push. In my opinion the forty-article 
Programme for Agricultural Development is well suited to Chinašs 
conditions and is not the product of subjectivism. There was some 
subjectivism in the programme, but we have eliminated it. Taken all

512 MAO TSETUNG 
in all, there is great hope for this programme. China can be changed, 
ignorance can be changed into knowledge and lethargy into vitality. 
There is an article in the programme about doing away with the 
four pests, that is, wiping out rats, sparrows, flies and mosquitoes. Išm 
very interested in this matter, I donšt know how you feel about it. But 
I assume you are interested too. Doing away with the four pests is a 
big public health campaign and a campaign to destroy superstition. 
Eliminating them is not easy. To exterminate the four pests also calls 
for the free airing of views, great debate and big-character posters. If 
the entire nation is mobilized to do this and achieves some success, I 
believe there will be 8 change in the mentality of the people and 
the morale of the Chinese nation will be given a big boost. We must 
invigorate this nation of ours. 
The prospects for the success of family planning are good. There 
should be a great debate on this matter too, and there should be periods 
of trial, expansion and popularization, each lasting several years. 
There is much for us to do. Many things stipulated in the fortyarticle 
Programme for Agricultural Development need to be done. 
Thatšs only a plan for agriculture; there are also plans for industry 
and for cultural and educational work. The look of our country will 
change when the first three five-year plans are fulfilled. 
We estimate that the annual output of steel may reach 20,000,000 
tons at the end of the Third Five-Year Pian. With output this year at 
5,200,000 tons, the goal will probably be attained in ten years. India 
produced 1,600,000 tons of steel in 1952 and its current output is a 
little over 1,700,000 tons, an increase of only 100,000 tons or so in five 
years. What about us? Our output in 1949 was only 190,000 tons, it 
registered over 1,000,000 tons at the end of the three-year rehabilitation 
period, and now five years later it has reached 5,200,000 tons, an increase 
of more than 3,000,000 tons in five years. Five more years and our 
output may top the 10,000,000 mark or a bit more to reach 11,500,000 
tons. Then, with the fulfilment of the Third Five-Year Plan, can we 
make it 20,000,000 tons? Yes, we can. 
I say this country of ours is full of hope. The Rightists say it is 
hopeless, they are utterly wrong. They lack confidence; since they 
oppose socialism, naturally they have no confidence. We adhere to 
socialism and we are brimming over with confidence.

513 HAVE FORM FAITH IN THE MAJORITY 
NOTES 
1 In October 1957 the Polish Government banned the weekly Po Prostu, which led 
to student riots. 
2 This refers to the address by Comrade Mao Tsetung on April 30, 1957 at a meeting 
of leading members of the democratic parties and democrats without party affiliation 
on the rectification movement and the ideological remoulding of intellectuals. 
3 Lin Tse-hsu (1785-1850), Ching Dynasty viceroy of Kwangtung and Kwangsi 
Provinces during the First Opium War, stood for resolute resistance to British 
aggression. 
4 In ancient China, the three religions were Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism, 
and the nine schools of thought were the Confucians, the Taoists, the Yin-Yang, the 
Legalists, the Logicians, the Mohists, the Political Strategists, the Eclectics and the 
Agriculturists. Later the ŗthree religions and nine schools of thought˛ took on a 
broader meaning to indicate the different religious sects and academic schools. In the 
old society the phrase was also used to mean people in dubious trades.

A DIALECTICAL APPROACH TO 
INNER-PARTY UNITY 
November 18, 1957 
With regard to the question of unity Išd like to say something about 
the approach. I think our attitude should be one of unity towards every 
comrade, no matter who, provided he is not a hostile element or a 
saboteur. We should adopt a dialectical, not a metaphysical, approach 
towards him. What is meant by a dialectical approach? It means being 
analytical about everything, acknowledging that human beings all make 
mistakes and not negating a person completely just because he has made 
mistakes. Lenin once said that there is not a single person in the world 
who does not make mistakes. Everyone needs support. An able fellow 
needs the help of three other people, a fence needs the support of three 
stakes. With all its beauty the lotus needs the green of its leaves to 
set it off. These are Chinese proverbs. Still another Chinese proverb 
says three cobblers with their wits combined equal Chukeh Liang the 
master mind. Chukeh Liang by himself can never be perfect, he has 
his limitations. Look at this declaration of our twelve countries 
We have gone through a first, second, third and fourth draft and have 
not yet finished polishing it. I think it would be presumptuous for 
anyone to claim God-like omniscience and omnipotence. So what attitude 
should we adopt towards a comrade who has made mistakes? 
We should be analytical and adopt a dialectical, rather than a metaphysical, 
approach. Our Party once got bogged down in metaphysics, 
in dogmatism, which totally destroyed anyone not to its liking. 
Later, we repudiated dogmatism and came to learn a little more 
dialectics. The unity of opposites is the fundamental concept of 
dialectics. In accordance with this concept, what should we do with a 
comrade who has made mistakes? We should first wage a struggle to 
Excerpts from a speech at the Moscow Meeting of Representatives of the Communist 
and Workersš Parties. 
514

515 DIALECTICAL APPROACH TO INNER-PARTY UNITY 
rid him of his wrong ideas. Second, we should also help him. Point 
one, struggle, and point two, help. We should proceed from good 
intentions to help him correct his mistakes so that he will have a way out. 
However, dealing with persons of another type is different. Towards 
persons like Trotsky and like Chen Tu-hsiu, Chang Kuo-tao and Kao 
Kang in China, it was impossible to adopt a helpful attitude, for they 
were incorrigible. And there were individuals like Hitler, Chiang Kaishek 
and the tsar, who were likewise incorrigible and had to be overthrown 
because we and they were absolutely exclusive of each other. In 
this sense, there is only one aspect to their nature, not two. In the final 
analysis, this is also true of the imperialist and capitalist systems, which 
are bound to be replaced in the end by the socialist system. The same 
applies to ideology, idealism will be replaced by materialism and theism 
by atheism. Here we are speaking of the strategic objective. But the 
case is different with tactical stages, where compromises may be made. 
Didnšt we compromise with the Americans on the 38th Parallel in 
Korea? Wasnšt there a compromise with the French in Viet Nam? 
At each tactical stage, it is necessary to be good at making compromises 
as well as at waging struggles. Now let us return to the 
relations between comrades. I would suggest that talks be held by 
comrades where there has been some misunderstanding between them. 
Some seem to think that, once in the Communist Party, people all 
become saints with no differences or misunderstandings, and that the 
Party is not subject to analysis, that is to say, it is monolithic and 
uniform, hence there is no need for talks. It seems as if people have to be 
100 per cent Marxists once they are in the Party. Actually there are 
Marxists of all degrees, those who are 100 per cent, 90, 80, 70, 60 or 
50 per cent Marxist, and some who are only 10 or 20 per cent Marxist. 
Canšt two or more of us have talks together in a small room? Canšt we 
proceed from the desire for unity and hold talks in the spirit of helping 
each other? Of course Išm referring to talks within the Communist 
ranks, and not to talks with the imperialists (though we do hold talks 
with them as well). Let me give an example. Arenšt our twelve countries 
holding talks on the present occasion? Arenšt the more than sixty 
Parties holding talks too? As a matter of fact they are. In other words, 
provided that no damage is done to the principles of Marxism- 
Leninism, we accept from others certain views that are acceptable and 
give up certain of our own views that can be given up. Thus we have 
two hands to deal with a comrade who has made mistakes, one hand 
to struggle with him and the other to unite with him. The aim of struggle

516 MAO TSETUNG 
is to uphold the principles of Marxism, which means being principled; 
that is one hand. The other hand is to unite with him. The aim of unity 
is to provide him with a way out, to compromise with him, which means 
being flexible. The integration of principle with flexibility is a Marxist- 
Leninist principle, and it is a unity of opposites. 
Any kind of world, and of course class society in particular, teems 
with contradictions. Some say that there are contradictions to be 
ŗfound˛ in socialist society, but I think this is a wrong way of putting 
it. The point is not that there are contradictions to be found, but that it 
teems with contradictions. There is no place where contradictions do 
not exist, nor is there any person who cannot be analysed. To think that 
he cannot is being metaphysical. You see, an atom is a complex of unities 
of opposites. There is a unity of the two opposites, the nucleus and the 
electrons. In a nucleus there is again a unity of opposites, the protons 
and the neutrons. Speaking of the proton, there are protons and antiprotons, 
and as for the neutron, there are neutrons and antineutrons. In 
short, the unity of opposites is present everywhere. The concept of the 
unity of opposites, dialectics, must be widely propagated. I say dialectics 
should move from the small circle of philosophers to the broad 
masses of the people. I suggest that this question be discussed at 
meetings of the political bureaus and at the plenary sessions of the 
central committees of the various Parties and also at meetings of their 
Party committees at all levels. As a matter of fact, the secretaries of our 
Party branches understand dialectics, for when they prepare reports to 
branch meetings, they usually write down two items in their notebooks, 
first, the achievements and, second, the shortcomings. One divides into 
two ‹ this is a universal phenomenon, and this is dialectics.

ALL REACTIONARIES ARE PAPER TIGERS 
November 18, 1957 
When Chiang Kai-shek started his offensive against us in 1946, 
many of our comrades and the people of the country were much concerned 
about whether we could win the war. I myself was concerned. 
But we were confident of one thing. At that time an American correspondent, 
Anna Louise Strong, came to Yenan. In an interview, 
I discussed many questions with her, including Chiang Kai-shek, 
Hitler, Japan, the United States and the atom bomb. I said all 
allegedly powerful reactionaries are merely paper tigers. The reason 
is that they are divorced from the people. Look! Wasnšt Hitler a paper 
tiger? Wasnšt he overthrown? I also said that the tsar of Russia was 
a paper tiger, as were the emperor of China and Japanese imperialism, 
and see, they were all overthrown. U.S. imperialism has not yet been 
overthrown and it has the atom bomb, but I believe it too is a paper tiger 
and will be overthrown. Chiang Kai-shek was very powerful, for he 
had a regular army of more than four million. We were then in Yenan. 
What was the population of Yenan? Seven thousand. How many troops 
did we have? We had 900,000 guerrillas, all isolated by Chiang Kaishek 
in scores of base areas. But we said that Chiang Kai-shek was only 
a paper tiger and that we could certainly defeat him. We have developed 
a concept over a long period for the struggle against the enemy, namely, 
strategically we should despise all our enemies, but tactically we should 
take them all seriously. In other words, with regard to the whole we 
must despise the enemy, but with regard to each specific problem we 
must take him seriously. If we do not despise him with regard to the 
whole, we shall commit opportunist errors. Marx and Engels were but 
two individuals, and yet in those early days they already declared that 
capitalism would be overthrown throughout the world. But with regard 
Excerpts from a speech at the Moscow Meeting of Representatives of the Communist 
and Workersš Parties. 
517

518 MAO TSETUNG 
to specific problems and specific enemies, if we do not take them 
seriously, we shall commit adventurist errors. In war, battles can only 
be fought one by one and the enemy forces can only be destroyed one 
part at a time. Factories can only be built one by one. Peasants can only 
plough the land plot by plot. The same is even true of eating a meal. 
Strategically, we take the eating of a meal lightly, we are sure we can 
manage it. But when it comes to the actual eating, it must be done 
mouthful by mouthful, you cannot swallow an entire banquet at one 
gulp. This is called the piecemeal solution and is known in military 
writings as destroying the enemy forces one by one.