Comments on the Report of the General Political Department Concerning the Army-Wide Symposium on Cultural Education

(August 24, 1952)

I approve this report. It may be issued as a directive for the entire army to implement accordingly.

Mao Zedong
August 24

[1] This refers to the report submitted on August 14, 1952, by Luo Ronghuan, Director of the General Political Department of the People’s Revolutionary Military Commission, and Deputy Directors Fu Zhong and Xiao Hua, to Mao Zedong, with copies to Liu Shaoqi, Zhu De, Zhou Enlai, Peng Dehuai, and Lin Biao, concerning the main circumstances and opinions from the army-wide symposium on cultural education. The report stated that the symposium once again emphasized the policy of focusing cultural education on cadres, while also giving consideration to outstanding young soldiers who could be trained as cadres. It clarified that the goal for cadres at the platoon level and above, to be achieved within three to five years, is to generally attain an educational level of junior high school graduation or higher. From now until May of next year, domestic units should all regard cultural education as the central task of their work and launch a campaign of meritorious service and model emulation within cultural training.