Notice on the Directive Concerning the Problem of Cleaning Up the "Middle Stratum" and "Inner Stratum"
(May 21, 1951)

To all Central Bureaus, Party Committees of the Greater Military Regions, the Party Committee of the Chinese People's Volunteers, and for transmission to Sub-Bureaus, Provincial, Municipal, and District Party Committees, Prefectural and County Party Committees, Provincial-Level Military Districts, Military Sub-Districts, Corps, and Army and Division Party Committees:

The Central Committee's Directive on Cleaning Up the "Middle Stratum" and "Inner Stratum"[I] is hereby issued to you. Please carry it out accordingly.

The Central Committee
May 21

[I]
Refers to the Directive of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, dated May 21, 1951, on the problem of cleaning up the "middle stratum" and "inner stratum." The directive required that in the summer and autumn of 1951, by adopting the method of rectification, a planned and step-by-step general and preliminary cleaning up of office personnel be carried out, so as to ascertain the situation, handle some of the most prominent problems, and enhance the purity of our organization. The directive set forth provisions on the scope and focus of the cleaning up, the steps and methods, the policies for handling various categories of personnel, the deviations to be guarded against in the work, and the issue of leadership over the cleaning up work.