Regarding the Transmission of Zhang Lan’s[1] Reply Letter to Deng Xiaoping[2]

(January 24, 1951)

Comrade Xiaoping:

I showed your January 8 report[3] to Mr. Zhang Biaofang for his perusal. I am now forwarding his reply letter[4] to you for your review.

Mao Zedong
January 24

[1] Zhang Lan, courtesy name Biaofang, was then Chairman of the Central Committee of the China Democratic League and Vice Chairman of the Central People’s Government.
[2] Deng Xiaoping was then First Secretary of the Southwest Bureau of the CPC Central Committee.
[3] Refers to Deng Xiaoping’s report of January 8, 1951, to Mao Zedong and the Central Committee on the work of the Southwest Bureau in November and December.
[4] Refers to Zhang Lan’s letter of January 24, 1951, to Mao Zedong. The letter stated: I have read Comrade Deng Xiaoping’s January 8 report in detail. Regarding the progress of the rent deposit refunds, it is described in great detail, and the handling is also very appropriate. In the Southwest, rent deposits were a form of advance security collected to guard against tenants being unable to pay their grain rent, and were only returned when the tenancy ended. This was truly a form of exploitation. Now that land ownership has been reclaimed by the state and the landlord-tenant relationship no longer exists, the deposits should of course be refunded. The report states that once the wave of deposit refunds has passed and the majority have been refunded, it is timely to shift to sorting things out, persuading the masses to treat small and medium landlords differently. For small and medium landlords facing genuine difficulties, efforts should focus on the three words “postpone, reduce, exempt.” For the recalcitrant, they should be handed over to the courts for handling. It would be very good if this can be carried out earnestly and prudently in the future.