To the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China
November 28, 1929

I have recovered from my illness. On November 26, I traveled from Jiaoyang to Tingzhou together with Comrade Xie, an inspector from the Fujian Provincial Committee, and rejoined the Fourth Army. In accordance with the Central Committee’s instructions, I am working in the Front Committee.

The Fourth Army’s attack on the county seat was unsuccessful. Although our losses were not insignificant, morale remains high. For the present period, we should operate within Fujian. In Tingding alone, there are already 100,000 Red masses, sufficient to protect the Red Army. Liu (He Shen, Dian Han, Guan Zhi, and Fu) and others are assembling their forces, but the situation is not yet critical. We have now decided to reorganize for a period and then advance against Liu and Zhang to break the encirclement—that is the only way out. We are currently preparing a month’s worth of provisions.

Under the correct guidance of the Central Committee, unity within the Party in the Fourth Army is entirely without issue. Comrade Chen Yi has arrived, and the Central Committee’s intentions have been fully conveyed.

However, the theoretical knowledge of Party members is far too low, and education must be carried out urgently. In addition to requesting that the Central Committee send us Party publications (such as *Bolshevik*, *Red Flag*, *An Outline of Leninism*, *History of the Revolutionary Movement in Russia*, etc.—we have received none of these), we also ask that a batch of books be purchased (costing about 100 yuan; a separate list of titles will be sent). Please indicate the payment method and delivery location. We are thirsting for books and newspapers as if parched with hunger. We earnestly request that you do not dismiss this as a trivial matter and set it aside.

For further details, see the Front Committee’s report.

Mao Zedong
November 28, 1929, at Tingzhou

To the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China

*Selected Letters of Mao Zedong*, People’s Publishing House, December 1983
Report by Comrade Mao Zedong, exhibited at the Museum of Chinese Revolutionary History