Letter to Lu Dingyi1
(September 27, 1946)
Comrade Dingyi:
The way in which the article2 is written should be changed because the central
issue among the soldiers and people in the Liberated Areas at the moment is not
one of illusions about the United States and Chiang. The time for such illusions
is past. Before July, it was necessary to describe to the soldiers and to the people
how formidable and fierce the United States and Chiang Kaishek were. Since July,
it has not only become unnecessary, but it may even have harmful side-effects.
Now the central question in the minds of the soldiers and people in the Liberated
Areas is whether we will be victorious and how we can secure victory. In particular, since the fall of some places, everyone has become very concerned. Therefore,
instead of saying how oppressive and fierce the enemy is, our articles and our news
should put the emphasis on explaining that although the enemy has troop strength of
200 divisions as well as assistance from the United States, and although the enemy
has captured some places and may take some more, there are all sorts of conditions
that will guarantee our victory and Chiang Kaishek’s defeat. Every time we win
a victory, an editorial should be written to hail it and stress its importance. Every
time we lose an important place, a short article should be written to explain this
event, making clear that once we annihilate the enemy, we will regain the place in
the future. Please give some thought to the above guidelines and discuss them with
[Hu] Qiaomu and [Yu] Guangsheng3 before applying them as you judge appropriate. As far as exposing the deception of the United States and Chiang Kaishek is
concerned, you may write an article to lay bare the enemy’s deceptions, using the
enemy’s attack on Zhangjiakou as an example, but the conclusion should stress the
certainty that our armies will be victorious so that no one will be disheartened. This
article can be used for this purpose, but it must be revised.
Mao Zedong


Our source for this text is Mao Zedong shuxin xuanji, pp. 275–76, where it is reproduced from the manuscript.


1.  Lu Dingyi (1906–1996, native of Jiangsu) was head of the Propaganda Department
of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party.


2.  Our source gives no information about the authorship of the article being discussed
here, nor about the content, apart from what can be deduced from Mao’s own text.


3.  Hu Qiaomu was Mao’s secretary. Yu Guangsheng was editor-in-chief of Jiefang
ribao.


DOI:  10.4324/9781315719511-230