Letter to the Central Committee After Arriving in Tingzhou from Jiaoyang[1]

(November 28, 1929)

Central Committee:

My illness has already improved. On November 26, accompanied by Comrade Xie,[2] inspector of the Fujian Provincial Committee, I arrived in Tingzhou[3] from Jiaoyang and rejoined the Fourth Army. In accordance with the Central Committee’s instructions, I am working on the Front Committee. The Fourth Army’s attack on Meixian failed, and although the losses were not small, morale remains high. For the present period, we should operate within Fujian territory. Western Fujian already has 800,000 Red masses sufficient to shield the Red Army. The “joint suppression” by Liu (Heding), Jin (Handing), Zhang (Zhen),[4] and others does not present a grave situation. It is now decided that after a period of consolidation, we shall advance and strike at Liu and Zhang. Breaking the “joint suppression” encirclement is the only way out. We are currently preparing one month’s provisions.

The unity within the Party in the Fourth Army, under the correct guidance of the Central Committee, is entirely without problems. Comrade Chen Yi[5] has arrived, and the Central Committee’s intentions have been fully conveyed. However, the Party members’ theoretical knowledge is too low, and it is imperative
to carry out education urgently. In addition to requesting the Central Committee to send us internal Party publications (Bubao,[1] Hongqi,[2] Outline of Leninism,[3] History of the Russian Revolutionary Movement,[4] etc.—we have received none of them), we also request the purchase of a batch of books (costing about one hundred yuan, book titles to be sent separately). Please advance the payment. The mailing address is “ ”.[5] We long for books and newspapers as if parched with thirst. We earnestly request that you do not set this aside as a trivial matter. For further details, see the Front Committee report.

Mao Zedong

November 28, 1929, at Tingzhou

[1] Bubao refers to the Bolshevik magazine, the official journal of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China at the time, first published on October 24, 1927.

[2] Hongqi (Red Flag) was the official newspaper of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China at the time, first published on November 20, 1928.

[3] Outline of Leninism is the title of the earliest Chinese translation of Stalin’s work The Foundations of Leninism.

[4] History of the Russian Revolutionary Movement, written by Qu Qiubai, was published by New Youth Press in July 1927.

[5] In the preserved copy of this letter, the space within the quotation marks is blank.

In September 1929, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China sent a letter to the Front Committee of the Fourth Red Army, affirming Mao Zedong’s thinking on “armed independent regime of workers and peasants” and the correct propositions on the strategy and construction of Red Army actions. The image shows Mao Zedong’s reply letter to the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China in November 1929.

--- Notes

[1] In late June 1929, after the Seventh Congress of the Communist Party of China’s Fourth Red Army, Mao Zedong left the main leadership post of the Fourth Red Army and went to places such as Jiaoyang in Shanghang County, Fujian Province, to guide work in western Fujian and to recuperate. On November 26, 1929, Mao Zedong returned to the Front Committee. This is a letter written to the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China after Mao Zedong returned to work on the Front Committee.

[2] Xie refers to Xie Hanqiu, who was dispatched by the Fujian Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China to inspect work in western Fujian in October 1929.

[3] Tingzhou, an old prefectural name, refers to Changting in Fujian.

[4] Liu Heding, then commander of the 56th Division of the Kuomintang Army. Jin Handing, then commander of the 12th Division of the Kuomintang Army. Zhang Zhen, then commander of the Provisional 1st Division of the Kuomintang Army.

[5] Chen Yi, then director of the Political Department of the Fourth Red Army, went to Shanghai in August 1929 to attend a military conference convened by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. After the conference, he brought back to the troops the Central Committee’s instructions to the Front Committee of the Fourth Red Army.