Enlai, Qiaomu [1]: The two documents of 1933 [2] were delivered to you this morning by a courier.


I now feel that the section concerning intellectuals is incomplete and therefore inappropriate.


The original text states that those from landlord backgrounds are landlords, those from rich peasant backgrounds are rich peasants, and those from middle peasant backgrounds are middle peasants. This refers to social origin, which is correct.


However, it must be supplemented by noting that, depending on the occupation pursued by intellectuals—for example, those who join the army are soldiers; those who work in government are government officials; those engaged in production enterprises are workers, clerical staff, technicians, or engineers; and those involved in cultural work are teachers, journalists, artists, and so forth. By shifting the emphasis from social origin to social occupation, we can avoid the bias of regarding class background as the sole criterion.


Please consider these points, make the necessary revisions, and then issue the document.


Mao Zedong, 3:30 p.m., the 21st day. Printed from a copy preserved in the Central Archives.


Notes [1] Qiaomu refers to Hu Qiaomu (1912–1992), a native of Yancheng, Jiangsu Province. At that time he served as President of the Xinhua News Agency and as Mao Zedong’s secretary. [2] These refer to “How to Analyze Rural Classes” and “Decision on Certain Questions in the Land Struggle,” issued in October 1933 by the Provisional Central Government of the Chinese Soviet Republic to rectify “left” errors in the land revolution and to resolve land issues correctly. These two documents set out criteria for class differentiation in the countryside and provided specific provisions on certain practical aspects of class classification. After making several amendments, the CPC Central Committee reissued them on May 25, 1948, to all levels of Party committees for implementation. The view put forward by Mao Zedong in this text—that a distinction should be drawn between intellectuals’ social origin and their social occupation—was incorporated in the form of an explanatory note into the section on intellectuals in the “Decision on Certain Questions in the Land Struggle.” “How to Analyze Rural Classes” has been included in Volume 1 of Selected Works of Mao Zedong.