Telegram Celebrating the Congress of
Literary and Arts Workers1
(July 1, 1949)
(Xinhua News Agency dispatch, Beiping, July 1) The Central Committee of the
Chinese Communist Party sent a telegram celebrating the National Congress of
Literary and Art Workers that will be held in Beiping on the 2nd. The content of
the telegram is as follows:


To those representatives of the National Congress of Literary and Art Workers:
The National Congress of Literary and Art Workers is now being held in
Beiping, just as the people’s revolution has won a fundamental victory. It has
been thirty years since the May 4th New Culture Movement of 1919, but this is
the first time that a congress of literary and art workers has been held on a
national scale. Why is this? It is because the victory of the people’s revolution
and the construction of the people’s political power determine everything.
Without the victory of the people’s revolution or the construction of the people’s political power, progressive literary and art workers could not enjoy such
great unity as they do today, nor could progressive literary and art workers
achieve their own development on a national scale and as an entire group.


Our China is now in a situation in which our economy and culture have
fallen behind. Following the victory of the revolution, our main task is to
develop production, culture, and education. The victory of the people’s revolution and the construction of the people’s political power have opened the
road for developing the people’s culture and education, and the people’s literature and art. We believe that your congress will further unify all of the country’s
patriotic literary and art workers, bring greater contact with the masses, extensively develop literary and art work that serves the people, greatly develop the
literary and art movement of the people to coordinate with the people’s other
cultural and educational work, and to coordinate with the people’s economic
construction. Now as your congress is inaugurated, we especially express our
congratulations to you and wish you success.


The Central Committee of Chinese Communist Party


Our source for this text is Mao Zedong xinwen gongzuo wenxuan, pp. 388–89, where it
is reproduced from the revised manuscript preserved in the Central Archives. As in other
similar articles, the text in bold represents changes made by Mao.
DOI:  10.4324/9781315719436-288