Guiding Principles for Work in the Rural
Areas of the Southern Provinces
(November 6, 1946)
To Fang [Fang] and [Yin] Lin [Ping]; and for the information of Zhou [Enlai],
Dong [Biwu], Liu [Xiao], and Wu [Yuzhang]:1
Given the current situation of all-out civil war, two different guiding principles
should be adopted regarding work in the rural areas of the southern provinces:
First, anyone who is able to establish an open guerrilla base should do so immediately. In the original base areas such as Hainan Island, the Southern Route, the
Middle Route, Xijiang, Beijiang, Dongjiang,2 and southern and western Fujian,
you should encourage the original overt and semi-overt forces to closely rely on
the masses as they continue their struggle. They should not adopt a policy of
passive demobilization, which boosts the morale of the enemy and undermines
our authority. At present, large numbers of Guomindang regular troops are being
transferred out of the southern provinces. Conscription and grain levies are
being carried out on a widespread basis, so this is a good opportunity for us to
launch a guerrilla war. In light of this principle, the second item in your October
25 telegram referring to large-scale demobilization in southwestern Fujian is
inappropriate and should be reconsidered. You sent personnel to Hainan Island
Our source for this text is Mao Zedong junshi wenji, Vol. 3, pp. 552–53, where it is
1.  Mao Zedong drafted this telegram on behalf of the Central Committee of the Chinese
Communist Party. Fang Fang (1904–1957, born in Puning, Guangdong) and Yin Linping
(1908–1984, born in Xingguo, Jiangxi) were secretary and deputy secretary, respectively,
of the Guangdong Regional Committee of the Chinese Communist Party. Liu Xiao (1908–
1988, native of Hunan) was secretary of the Shanghai Bureau of the Central Committee,
and Wu Yuzhang (1878–1966, born in Rong county, Sichuan) was secretary of the Sichuan
Provincial Party Committee of the Chinese Communist Party.
2.  These were five anti-Japanese guerrilla bases that the Chinese Communist Party
established in southern China. The Southern Route base area was in Qinzhou and Lianjiang, in the northern part of Leizhou Peninsula. The Middle Route, also called the Central base area, was in Xinxing, Enping, Yangchun, and Yangjiang prefectures. The Xijiang
(West River) base area was in Guangning and Sihui prefectures; the Beijiang (North River)
base area was along the border of Yingde, Wengyuan, Xinfeng, Fogang, and so forth, as
well as in the Wendong area of Qingyuan county; the Dongjiang (East River) base area
was in the Luofu Mountain area bordering Zengcheng and Boluo county, and also part of
Dongguan and Huiyang county.
DOI:  10.4324/9781315719511-242

to communicate the demobilization policy, which has aroused intense resentment
there. The Central Committee has already sent a telegram instructing them to fight
resolutely with the goal of capturing the whole of Hainan Island and to advance
toward the Southern Route in the future. Second, in all areas where conditions are
not yet ripe, you should adopt a policy of lying low and waiting for the right conditions to develop. At the moment, the majority of areas are like this, but our goal
in these areas is still to actively prepare for open guerrilla warfare and to create the
various conditions for establishing guerrilla bases rather than to adopt a policy of
lying low for a protracted period, regardless of whether conditions are ripe. The
above two guiding principles apply to all the rural areas in the various southern
provinces. You should adopt the first or second policy according to the specific
circumstances. We hope that Zhou, Dong, and Liu will directly make arrangements for the southeastern provinces, and that Wu and the Sichuan Provincial
Committee will handle the southwestern provinces.
The Central Committee

reproduced from Mao’s handwritten manuscript preserved in the Central Archives.