91-95. Available English Translations: NCNA, Supplement, 55 (June 26,
1950), 1-2; PC, II:1 (July 1, 1950), 24-25; CDSP, II:26 (Aug. 12, 1950), 28;
K. Fan (1972), pp. 93-95; SW, V, pp. 37-40.

While the RMRB and the Zhengxie er ci versions are similar, the later Xuanji version

Of thi : oe on .
; 'S text contains some variations. Where these variations are significant, they have
en noted.

me Second Session of the National Committee of the CPPCC was held on June
-23, 1950, in Beijing. The thrust of this document is the same as that of Mao’s
of he known talk of June 6, 1950. This document is noteworthy as an example
the position Mao took in the years just after Liberation when he viewed the


112. / MAO ZEDONG

task of carrying out the socialist transformation of China as easier than the two
tasks of the New Democratic period — war and land reform.

It is also significant in that in its last part on the method of dealing with the
people, it forecasts the specific formula of unity and criticism that Mao would
later espouse in his famous essay of 1957, “On Correctly Handling Contradictions Among the People.’’ (See text Feb. 27, 1957.)

This meeting has summed up the experience of the preceding period and 1
has laid down various guiding principles. :

This work of summing up experience and laying down guidelines was done |
by all of us together; it was done by the representatives of all the nationalities, ]
all the democratic classes, all the democratic parties, all the people’s organi- 1
zations,' and the democratic personages from all walks of life gathered q
together. Here, we not only have the members of the National Committee of 4
the People’s Political Consultative Conference, but we also have many per- ;
sonnel of the Central People’s Government, of the people’s governments, (the |
military and administrative commissions) of the various greater administra- |
tive regions, and of the people’s government of the various provinces and 4
municipalities; [we also have] representatives from the consultative committees of the provincial and municipal conferences of people from all walks of q
life,’ as well as many specially invited patriotic personages, all sitting in on
the meeting and taking part in the discussions. In this way, we have been able 4
to concentrate diverse opinions, review [our] past work, and decide on princi- :
ples for the future. I hope that in the future we will continue to utilize this .
method, and further hope that this method will also be adopted by the people’s q
governments (the military and administrative commissions) of the various ]
greater administrative regions, and the people’s governments of the various q
provinces and municipalities. For the time being, the nature of our meeting is 4
still that of making proposals, but actually the decisions that we make in meet- q
ings of this sort will certainly be adopted by the Central People’s Government ’ ;
and be put into practice, as indeed they ought to be. 4

We have unanimously approved the report on the work of the National 3
Committee and the various reports on the work of the Central People’s Gov- 4
ernment. These included the reports on land reform work, on political work, 1
on military work, on economic and financial work, on taxation work, on cul- q
tural and educational work, and on the work of the courts of law. These were 4
all good reports. In these reports [we] have appropriately summed up the |
experience of the work of the preceeding period and have formulated the prin- 9
ciples for work of the future. The reason that we have had so many topics for 4
discussion at this meeting is that since the founding of our new state work is §
being initiated and developed in all areas, and the people throughout the coun- 4
try are in the midst of vigorously launching a great and genuine people’s revo- 4
lutionary struggle on all fronts. This is a tremendous struggle on the military 3
front, on the economic front, on the ideological front, and on the land reform |
front, the likes of which has never been seen before. Every area of work has tO |


APRIL ~ JUNE 1950 / 113

be summed up and given direction and guiding principles; that is why we have
had so many topics for discussion. According to the law, our meeting will be
held twice a year. Of these [two meetings,] one will be a meeting with many
topics for discussion and the other will have fewer topics. China is a big country; our actual population is more than 475 million. Besides, we are in a great
historical epoch of the people’s revolution. Such circumstances demand that
we do things in this particular manner, and we have been doing so. I believe
that we are doing things correctly.

We have had many topics for discussion at this meeting. The central theme
of our discussion has been the problem of transforming the old system of land
[ownership]. We have all agreed with Vice-chairman Liu Shaoqi’s report’
and the draft land reform bill proposed by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.” We have also made certain useful amendments and
supplements to the draft land reform bill. This is very good. I am filled with
joy by the fact that hundreds of millions of New China’s rural people have
gained the opportunity to overturn their old lives and that the country has
secured the basic conditions for industrialization, and I celebrate this fact. The
Chinese populace consists primarily of peasants, and the revolution achieved
victory only by relying on the aid of the peasants. The industrialization of the
country also must rely on the help of the peasants in order to succeed. Therefore the working class should actively help the peasants carry out land reform.
The urban’ petty bourgeoisie and the national bourgeoisie’ should also support this reform, and still more so should the democratic parties and the various people’s organizations adopt this attitude. War and land reform are the
two “gates” * that test the mettle of all people and parties in China in the historical epoch of New Democracy. Whoever stands on the side of the revolutionary people is a revolutionary; whoever stands on the side of imperialism,
feudalism, and bureaucratic capitalism is a counterrevolutionary. Whoever
Stands on the side of the revolutionary people only in words but acts
differently is a revolutionary in words only; if one not only stands on the side
of the revolutionary people in words, but also in deeds, then one is a complete
revolutionary. The “gate” of war has basically been passed. We have all
Passed this “gate” with flying colors, and the people of the whole country are
Satisfied with this. Now we must pass the “gate” of land reform, and I hope
that we will pass it with the same flying colors as we did the “gate” of war. Let
. Study harder, have more discussion, clarify our thought, and march
gether in Step to form a great antifeudal united front; then we can lead the
wpe and help the people to pass this “gate” smoothly. When the “gates” of
basse land reform have both been passed, the only remaining “gate” will be
ttansfo easily. This will be the “gate” of socialism, of carrying out socialist
uted to the throughout the entire country. As for those who have contribership « € revolutionary war and to the revolutionary reform of the landown-

ystem and who in the many years to come will contribute to economic
. 2 altural Construction, they will not be forgotten by the people when the
Omes in the future to implement the nationalization of [private]’ enterprises and the socialization of agriculture (this time is still in the distant q
future); their prospects are bright. It is in such a way that our country takes q
steady steps in progress; having gone through war and through the reforms of §
New Democracy, in the future, after the economic and cultural undertakings q
of the country have prospered greatly, after all sorts of conditions have been '
secured, and after the whole people have thoroughly considered and agreed 4
[on the matter of the transition], we can then step into the new era of socialism {
in an unhurried and orderly [manner]. I believe that it is essential to make this q
point clear so that people can have confidence and not worry that one day they '
will no longer be wanted and will not be given the opportunity to serve the 4
people even though they may want to. No, it will not be like that at all. As 3
long as somebody is truly willing to work for the people and has indeed |
helped the people at the time when they were still having difficulties, has per- q
formed good deeds, and has consistently continued to do so without giving up |
halfway, then there will be no reason for the people or the People’s Govern-.
ment not to want such a person, and there will be no reason not to give such a 4
person a chance to make a living and serve [the people]. 4

With this great aim in mind, in the international [sphere], we must firmly 4
unite with the Soviet Union, with all the People’s Democracies,’ and with 3
all the forces for peace and democracy throughout the world. We cannot have'#
the slightest hesitation or wavering on this matter. Domestically, we must.
unite all nationalities, all democratic classes, all democratic parties, all peo-'
ple’s organizations, and all patriotic democratic personages; we must consolidate the great and prestigious revolutionary United Front that has already been
established. Whoever contributes to the work of consolidating this revolutionary United Front will be welcomed by us and will be correct; whoever harms
the work of consolidating this revolutionary United Front will be opposed and §
will be wrong. To achieve the goal of consolidating the revolutionary united
front, we must adopt the method of criticism and self-criticism. Of the stan- j
dards that we must adopt in applying this method, the most important presently is our organic law, the Common Program.'’ At this meeting we have}
adopted the method of criticism and self-criticism based on the Common Pro- 4
gram. This is a very good method, an excellent method that pushes all of us to}
uphold the truth and correct mistakes; it is the only correct method by which q
all the revolutionary people in a people’s state can carry out self-education |
and self-reform. The people’s dictatorship has two methods. One, which 4
applies to the enemy, is the dictatorial method, which means that when neces~ :
sary they can be forbidden to participate in political activities, forced to obey |
the laws of the People’s Government, and forced to take part in labor and to §
reform themselves through labor in order to become new people. For the peO- 4
ple it is exactly the opposite. It is not the coercive method that is applied to (
them, but rather the democratic method, which is to say that they must be pet 4
mitted to participate in political activities. We will not force them to do this OF |
that but will use democratic methods to carry out the work of education and ;
persuasion among them. This type of educational work is the work of self-ed- |
cation among the people. The method of criticism and self-criticism is the
basic method of self-education. I hope that all the nationalities, all the democratic classes, all the democratic parties, all the people’s organizations, and
all the patriotic democratic personages throughout the country will adopt this

method.

Notes

1. See text Sept. 21, 1949, note 1, and text Oct. 1, 1949, note 3, respectively.

2. Prior to November 1952, China was divided into six “greater administrative regions,” corresponding to the Northeast, North, East, Central-South, Southwest, and Northwest areas of the
country. With the exception of the North, each area was overseen by a regional administrative
agency; in the Northeast that was called the “people’s government”; the other four were designated “military and administrative commissions.” Afterward, administrative councils were established in all six regions. With the promulgation of the Constitution in 1954 the administrative
councils were abolished. Also see note in SW, V, p. 40.

3. The RMRB version here has xieyi weiyuanhui (agreement committees), while Xuanji has xieshang weiyuanhui (consultative committees); undoubtedly the correct term is the latter. See text
June 6, 1950 (1), note 9.

4. The phrase “Vice-chairman Liu Shaoqi’s report and” is in the RMRB version but has been
omitted from the Xuanji version of the text. On Liu’s report, see K. Lieberthal (1976), p. 52. A
text of Liu’s report is reprinted in RMSC (1951), pp. 32-43, and translated in CB, 43 (Dec. 22,
1950).

5. See text March 12, 1950, note 5. This draft was presented to the Second Session of the First
National Committee of the CPPCC on June 14, 1950; for more on this meeting see K. Lieberthal
(1976), pp. 52-53. The bill was ratified and became law on June 30; thus the term fa (law) in the
Chinese text is translated here as “bill.”

6. The word “urban” occurs only in the RMRB text.

7. See text Mar. 12, 1950, note 3.

8. The word guan is commonly used as a geographic term, referring to a fortified mountain
Pass. Its usage has been extended to refer to a point, or grade, that one attempts to pass or a target
to be achieved. In such usage it is often translated as “gate.” The term guoguan (passing the gate)
therefore has the connotation of “making the grade,” or “passing the test.” Here it specifically
tefers to critical points in the development of revolutionary consciousness and the proving of
One's rectitude. For an extended illustration of the term’s usage see W. Hinton (1966), especially
Parts IV and V.

9. The word “private” occurs only in the Xuanji version.
sen . RMRB version has ‘‘New Democracies’ here. For the definition of the terms see text

+ 21, 1949) note 4.
11. See text Sept. 21, 1949, note 3.


116 / MAO ZEDONG