Four Proposals Submitted to the Fourth Meeting of the Central Party Headquarters of the Kuomintang (February 9, 1924)

(1) Proposal on the Appropriation of Subsidies for Important City, County, and District Party Headquarters. (Submitted by Mao Zedong)

(Rationale) Funds must absolutely not be used solely for the two high-level Party headquarters at the central and provincial levels (empty Party headquarters). Without subsidizing the two levels of city/county Party headquarters and district Party headquarters (substantive Party headquarters), there will inevitably be no solution and development will certainly be difficult. This is because the monthly dues paid by Party members can at most cover the expenses of sub-district headquarters (living expenses and activity expenses of sub-district committees), and cannot provide for district Party headquarters, still less for city Party headquarters or county Party headquarters. Yet city/county Party headquarters and district Party headquarters are the most crucial organs for our Party to direct the actions of Party members. If these two levels of Party headquarters lack strength, the entire Party will inevitably lose its strength. However, universal subsidies would require too much expenditure, and subsidizing impoverished, remote, and unimportant local Party headquarters would truly be meaningless. It is advisable to select for subsidy those city, county, and district Party headquarters that conduct practical work in mass movements among workers, peasants, students, merchants, and others. The need to subsidize such Party headquarters is even more critical than the need to subsidize provincial Party headquarters (if a provincial Party headquarters does not concurrently manage the city Party headquarters in its locality, there is absolutely no sufficient reason for it to use a huge amount of funds exclusively).

Resolution: Referred to the Budget Committee for review.

(2) Proposal that Within This Year, Each Provincial Party Headquarters Should Concurrently Manage the City Party Headquarters in Its Locality, and the Central and Regional Executive Headquarters Should Concurrently Manage the Special District Party Headquarters in Their Localities. (Submitted by Mao Zedong)

Resolution: This proposal cannot be established; organization should follow the regulations.

(3) Proposal that in the Actual Organization of the Central Executive Committee and the Regional Executive Headquarters, Attention Should Be Paid to Practical Needs. (Submitted by Mao Zedong)

(Rationale) The Central Executive Headquarters and the four executive headquarters in Beijing, Shanghai, Harbin, and Hankou, when organized, would have over sixty staff members at the level of executive officers and above. Within half a year after the Congress, there is absolutely no need to appoint such a large number of staff. Because: (1) Local Party affairs are just beginning, so the affairs of the Central and executive headquarters will certainly not be very numerous; (2) It is advisable to devote full strength to developing lower-level Party headquarters, and not advisable to concentrate all the Party’s talents in the highest Party headquarters; (3) At this moment, it is absolutely impossible to find so many useful people; filling the ranks with incompetent persons would completely defeat the original purpose. Therefore, when the Central and the various executive headquarters proceed to actual organization, they should consider practical needs. Only establish a department when there is a practical need for one, and only employ a person when there is a need for one.

Resolution: Referred to the Central Executive Committee for reference.

(4) Proposal that Within This Year, a Plan Should Be Established for Local Organization, Prioritizing According to Importance and Urgency. (Submitted by Mao Zedong)

(Rationale) Local organization should not strive for breadth. Select a number of important localities, establish a plan, concentrate talent and financial resources on these localities within this one year, and devote undivided attention to these places. Once a clear pattern is established, there will be practical results to observe by the time of the Second Congress. The localities on which efforts should be concentrated within this year should be classified into two grades: First Grade: The most important places with current potential for development, such as Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Hankou, Harbin... at most eight or nine places, on which seventy percent of our strength (human and financial resources) should be used. Second Grade: The next most important places where there is currently an opportunity to begin work, such as Taiyuan, Anqing, Hangzhou, Nanchang... at most eleven or twelve places, on which thirty percent of our strength should be used. As for other localities, if there is no opportunity for action, they may all be disregarded within this year, so as to avoid dispersing energy without obtaining good results.

Resolution: Referred to the Central Executive Committee for reference.

List of the First Central Executive Committee Members and Alternate Members of the Kuomintang, handwritten by Sun Yat-sen.

Archival photograph.

May 1924, a group photo of some members of the Kuomintang Shanghai Executive Headquarters at Sun Yat-sen’s residence. Second from left in the back row is Mao Zedong.

May 1924, the Kuomintang and the Communist Party jointly established the Whampoa Military Academy near Guangzhou. Mao Zedong actively recommended young people to study at the academy and gave lectures there. The photograph shows the former site of the Whampoa Military Academy.

January 20 to 30, 1924, the First National Congress of the Kuomintang was held in Guangzhou. The photograph shows the venue of the First National Congress of the Chinese Kuomintang.