Commentary by the Central Committee on a Report Regarding Summer Grain Collection in the Huaiyang Area of Henan Province (September 9, 1950) To all Central Bureaus and Sub-bureaus, with copy to the Party Committees of provinces and autonomous regions, municipal committees, and prefectural committees: We are transmitting herewith one document on the experience gained from summer grain collection in Henan [1], which merits the utmost attention. In this year’s nationwide autumn grain-collection campaign, the Party and government must devote their full efforts to organization and planning and strengthen leadership, so as to absolutely prevent the kind of extremely adverse conditions that occurred in the Huaiyang area of Henan. Carelessness must be scrupulously avoided; this is of paramount importance. Printed on September 9 by the Central Committee, based on Mao Zedong’s handwritten draft.

Notes [1] Refers to a report submitted by the Central South Bureau of the CPC Central Committee to the Central Committee on September 1, 1950, conveying information on summer grain collection and bandit and counterrevolutionary activities in the Huaiyang area of Henan. The report notes that the summer grain-collection quota for the Huaiyang region was excessively high, that cadres resorted to coercive orders, imposed proportional burdens, and assessed performance solely on the basis of meeting quotas, leading to wildly uneven and unjust distributions. As a result, poor and tenant farmers bore a heavier load, while the majority of households in arrears were also poor peasants. In many localities, instances were observed of people selling livestock, pledging their standing crops, felling trees, and going into debt. Meanwhile, most landlords refused to pay their summer grain dues. The measures already prescribed to address these problems include reducing, exempting, or deferring payments for those in arrears; making appropriate restitution to those who had sold their property; substituting autumn grain for summer wheat where the latter was scarce; and imposing disciplinary sanctions on recalcitrant landlords.