Letter to Lin Boqu and Xie Juezai[1]

(July 31, 1941)

The two recent conversations, plus reading the two letters from Elder Xie, plus Comrade Gao Gang relaying the views of the two elders, have given me a better understanding of the contentious issues regarding the current fiscal and economic policies in the Border Region. My understanding is still insufficient. Several fundamental points of the current policies (budget decentralization, paper currency, salt transport) are still in the process of being implemented, and it is not yet possible to draw a conclusion as to who is ultimately right and who is wrong. I cannot now assert that the paper currency and salt transport will not fail. As I discussed with you two brothers, if handled poorly, they could also fail. But I still cannot agree to stop the current policies and adopt a different policy, because the other policy might also fail, or fail even more catastrophically.

Consider more from the opposite side (i.e., the positive side of the current policies). Although the current policies have admittedly produced many problems, would another policy necessarily have fewer problems? Contemplate from the perspective of relativity, do not contemplate solely from the perspective of absoluteness (i.e., only contemplating that the current policies are completely wrong and another policy is completely right). Pay attention to examining the shortcomings in our own work. For instance, in tax collection work, in the work of issuing paper currency, and in the methods of leadership, I feel there are serious shortcomings in all these areas.

[1] This is the main content of Mao Zedong's letter to Lin Boqu and Xie Juezai concerning the contentious issues regarding the fiscal and economic policies in the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region.