Forwarding Tan Zhenlin's[1] Report on the Situation of Suppressing Counterrevolutionaries in Hangzhou

(May 7, 1951)

To all Central Bureaus, Sub-Bureaus, and forward to Provincial Party Committees, Regional Party Committees, and Party Committees of Large and Medium-Sized Cities:

Comrade Tan Zhenlin's report[2] is very good. The experience of Hangzhou can be applied in all cities that have not yet done so. In particular, the matter of involving non-Party personages in the examination of counterrevolutionary case files must be carried out conscientiously everywhere, and we must resolutely break down the closed-doorism and mysticism that exist within our Party.

Mao Zedong
May 7

(Printed from the manuscript.)

**Notes**

[1] Tan Zhenlin, then serving as Secretary of the Zhejiang Provincial Party Committee of the Communist Party of China.
[2] Refers to Tan Zhenlin's report of May 1, 1951, to the East China Bureau for transmission to Mao Zedong, concerning the situation of arresting counterrevolutionary elements in Hangzhou. When Mao Zedong forwarded this report, in addition to writing the above comment, he also wrote six annotations within Tan Zhenlin's report.
1. In the section of the report summarizing the situation of arresting various types of counterrevolutionary elements in Hangzhou, Mao annotated after "seventy-five traitors (hanjian)": "Traitors who have blood debts and other crimes that arouse the hatred of the masses should be dealt with in this suppression of counterrevolutionaries."
2. At the end of the paragraph in the report stating that due to thorough prior preparation, strict examination and approval procedures, and good organization of forces from all sides, the arrest order was very good and no one was wrongly arrested, Mao annotated:
"Work should be done so prudently; it is a mistake to act rashly in some places."
3. At the end of the paragraph in the report discussing the propaganda and mobilization work before and after the arrests, Mao annotated: "Do not carry out executions without doing good propaganda work."
4. The report mentioned that although a batch of counterrevolutionary elements had been arrested and executed, the die-hard counterrevolutionary elements were still stubbornly resisting us, with incidents already occurring such as shooting at our public security sub-bureaus, writing reactionary slogans, and fabricating rumors to divert the masses' attention from the struggle against special agents. Regarding the latent reactionary organizations, we have only just begun to discover them and have some clues, but still do not know the full picture. Mao annotated here: "The reconnaissance work of our public security organs against hidden counterrevolutionary elements is very poor in many cities, and this work should be conscientiously established during this suppression of counterrevolutionaries."
5. At the end of the paragraph in the report discussing the involvement of non-Party personages in the work of suppressing counterrevolutionaries, examining case files, verifying materials, and discussing sentencing issues, Mao annotated: "All cities should do this, and do not fear the trouble."
6. The report also mentioned that Hangzhou had designated May as the period to focus central work on suppressing counterrevolutionaries, with factory workers, students, residents, and peasants as the main targets for mobilizing the masses, using small-scale accusation meetings and public trial meetings as the methods for mass mobilization. It consciously postponed steps regarding cultural and educational circles, religious circles, various democratic parties, and industrial and commercial circles, while relying on its own forces to carry out a certain amount of work. Mao annotated on this:
"Doing it this way is very good."