Reply to the Tiger-Beating Plan Report
(February 4, 1952)

Comrades Bo Yibo, Liu Lantao, and to all comrades:

Your report of February 2 has been received. This report of yours has at once raised the tiger-beating level of a large administrative region to a very high degree. You plan to catch, by the end of February, over 11,000 large, medium, and small tigers in the whole region, including only those at and above the county level, not those below the county level; including only those within the Party, government, military, civilian, and academic institutions, not those in industrial and commercial circles. North China has no government, and the North China Military Region system is not as large as some other military regions, yet it can still catch so many tigers. Other large regions should catch even more. The Northeast Bureau’s telegram of February 2 stated: “The tigers in the Northeast region are estimated to be no fewer than 2,000.” It did not specify whether these are large, medium, or small tigers. If large, medium, and small tigers are all included, this figure is far too low; the Northeast should have over 20,000 large, medium, and small tigers. In North China, there are already over 10,000 large, medium, and small tigers at and above the county level; if districts and townships are included, the number should also be over 20,000. If the 2,000 referred to by the Northeast means large tigers, then it is much higher than North China’s 1,200 large tigers. In short, the increase in the number of tigers proves that understanding has advanced, confidence has grown, and momentum has increased. I ask all comrades to take note together. The several points at the end of Bo and Liu’s telegram are all correct.

Mao Zedong
February 4