Oppose the Bourgeois Ideology in the Party
(August 12, 1953)

Dae Nuanji, V, pp. 90-97. Available English Translation: SW. V. pp.
103-111,

THO speech was given at the National Conference an Financial and Economic Work,

held. aecording 10 K. Lieberthal (1976), p. 59, from June 13 to Aug. 11, 1953 Ina

Peech io the Conference of People from All Circles in Shanghai in July (957, Man

Indicated that the °General Line for the Transition to Socialism” was set forth ar this

“Werence. For more un the subject of the general line, which is discussed repeatedly
1. see text June 15, 1053 nore |.

Alihough the main focus of thix document is the economic and political conseenves of relying on incerrect ideclogy in developing policies, itis alse imparfant cs a benchmark in the development of Mao's thought during the post-Libertien periind. As in other documents of these early post-Liberation years, Mao


M4 / MAO ZEDONG

continued 1 rely bor on an unspecific notion af yoeialism and the Varley
sitions associated with such a notion and on the Soviet meilel af de
particularly regarding the role of heavy industry

However, this document is also important for the hints it gives about May
Jiture development. It is one of the earliest indicators of Mav’ s increasing, »
on the impariance af ownership systems in the transition period. Moreover
his characteristic analysis of class alliances and the importance 4
long-term alliance of the working class with the peasantry, Maw bringy ip y
notion of antagonistic and nonantagonistic contradictions, But in consnayp
his later and more famous "On Correctly Handling Contradictions Amp
People” speech (see text Feb. 27, 1957). Mao here treats the conteeudion
bermeen the proletariat and the national bourgeoisie ay un ante
rather than as One having both antagonistic and normantagonistic aspecty

This document also helps to clarify Mao’s position on the problem of eentes
zation versus decentralization.’ Ax is clear fei evaluating this document,
others denling with that issue (tects Apr. 25, (956, und Aug. 15, 1950), Me
held up neither centralization nor decentralization as an absolute wolle
Rather, Mav argued that the two are in contradiction. Hence the specifi. r
ation must be evaluated to determine whether further centralization ov 4 ve
(ralization is appropriate at any one time. Here Mau aryued havin the “
Hruation in 1953 the decisiun-making process regarding issues of major Ving ir
lance should be more centralized while lesser issues could be handled wa
bentralized fashion, However. by 1956, when centralization had been va
out toa much greater degree and when Mao had come to recaynize some’
dangers af excessive centralization during the transition to ex mh
vhanged his position and argued for more decentralization of decision

’

This conference has been a very good conference, and Premier Zhou'y 64
clusions were also very good.

We can now see that after the “Three-Anti's” and “Five-Anti’s” ©
paigns,’ there remain two types of errors in the Party. One type cansist
general mistakes, such as the “Five Excesses,”’ which anybody can cont
and which can be committed at any lime. “Five Excesses” mistakes & n
turn inky “Five Deficiencies” mistakes. Another type fof mistake] consist
mistakes of principle, such as the deviation toward capitalism.’ Th iy
reflection of bourgeois ideology within the Party and » question of a “tis
point that violates Marxism-Leninism. =

The “Three-Anti's” and “Five-Anti's” campaigns were a very severe alti
on bourgeois ideology in the Party. However, at that time only the hourget
ideology related to corruption and waste was attacked at its base, While
problem of] the bourgeois ideology reflected in the question of line wat ”
resolved. This type of bourgeois ideology exists not only in financial and eee
nomic work but also in political and legal work, in cultural und educat
work, und in other ureas of work as well. It also exists both among the eon
rades at the Center and among the comnules at the localities. A,

As far as mistakes in [our] financial and econemic Work ure concern

h
ince litst December — when Comrade Bo Yibo proposed the new taxation sysais of “equality across the board for public and private [sectors]"" — and up
é his conference, [these mistakes] have been seriously criticized. If the new
yx system develops further, it will inevitably become divorced from Marxjgn-Leninist and from the Party's general line for the period of transition and
) develop toward capitalism,
js the period of transition to lead toward socialism or toward capitalism?
according bo the Party’s general line, it is to be a transition to socialism. This
requires rather long period of struggle, The mistake in the new tax system is
gifferent from the problem of Zhang Zishan;’ it is a problem of ideology, a
plem of having deviated from the Party's general line. We must launch a
struggle against bourgeois ideology in the Party. In terms of [its} ideological
condition the Party has three types of people in it. Some comrades are steadfast and have not wavered; they have Marxist-Leninist thought. Some comrades ure basically Marxist-Leninist, but they have mingled in [with their
other thoughts] some non-Marxist-Leninist thought. A small number of
people are no good; their thought is non-Marxist-Leninist. In the criticism of
Bo Yibo’s ideological mistake some people say that Bo Yibo's mistake ts that
of petty-bourgeois individualism, This is not appropriate, The main thing for
which he ought to be criticized is his bourgeois thought, which is beneficial to
capitalism and harmful to socialism. Only such a criticism is correct, We've
said that “Left” opportunist mistakes are a reflection of petty-bourgeois Fanaticism in the Party. Such [mistakes] occurred at times when we were splitting
away from the bourgeoisie. [But] during the three periods when we
cooperated with the bourgeoisie, that is, during the first period of cooperation
between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party of China, the period of the
War of Resistance against Japan, and the current period,” it was always bourgevis ideology that influenced some people in the Party and caused them to
waver, Bo Yibo’s mistake was committed under such circumstances,

Bo Yibo’s mistake is not an isolated one. It exists not only at the Center but
al twa [other] Jevels, [the level of] the greater administrative regions and (the
level of} the provinces ard municipalities as well, Each of the greater adminis-
Native regions, the provinces, and the municipalities must call a meeting to
inspect its own work in accordance with the resolution of the Second Plenum
of the Seventh Central Committee and the conclusion of this conference in
Onder 1 educate the cadres.”

Recently | made a trip to Wuhan and Nanjing and learned a lot about [local]
Conditions, which was very helpful When I stay in Beijmg I almost never

anything [about the outside), from now on } will go out and take trips.
Central leadership organs are a factory that manufactures ideological
Products; if they do not understand the conditions at the lower levels, if they
Ee fw taw materials and no semifinished products, how can they manufac-
Ure |finished| products?” Some things have already been manufactured into
ished products at the local levels; what the leudership organs at the Center
SAR now do is to promote these [products) broudly throughout the country . For

wi


46 | MAO ZEDONG

instance, the former “Three-Anti’s” and the new “Three-Anti'n"*? y
both carried our in the localities first. The vurious departments of the Gp,
have been very confused in issuing directives, To begin with, the thingy
the various departments of the Center issue ought wo be quality prod cts
at present they are second-rate products, and what is worse, a lot of y
products have no use value to speak of; big batches [of them) are rejeetsleadership organs of the greater administrative regions, the provinces, and
municipalities are the Jocal factories that manufacture ideological prody
and they too should produce quality products. .

Bo Yibo's misttke is a reflection of bourgeors ideology. It is beneficia
capitatism and harmful to socialism and semisociulism;’’ it has violates
resolution of the Second Plenum of the Seventh Central Committee,

On whom do we rely? Do we rely on the working class, or do we rely»
the bourgeoisie? Early on, the resolution of the Second Plenum of the Seve
Central Committee had already made it clear that “we must wholeheared!
rely on the working class.” As to the problem of rehabilitating and developing
production, the resolution also states that we must affirm that “productif
state industries comes first, production in private industries second, and py
duction in handicraft industries third.” The emphasis is on industry, ;
within industry, the emphasis is on heavy industry, which ts state-nin. Ami
the five sectors of the economy in our country at present, the state-run |$eei
of the] economy is the leading factor, ‘ Capitalist industrial and comme
enterprises must gradually be led toward state capitalism.

The resolution of the Second Plenum states that on the basis of develop
production (we must] improve the living standards of the workers and’
laboring people. | However,| people with bourgeois thought do not pay ai
tion to this point, as Bo Yibo has demonstrated. Our emphasis must be plin
on developing production, but we must give due consideration to both dey
oping production and improving the people's fives. An effort must be av
[to improve the people's} well-being, it cannot be too big an effort, bUt¥
cannot ignore it altogether, At present there are still quite a few cadres #
disregard the people's livelihood and don't care whether they live of dey
Guizhou there was 4 regiment that at one time occupied a great deal OFF
peasants’ land. This was an act of severe encroachment on the people's tl
ests." It is wrong not to be concerned with the people's livelihood, butt
ertheless, the emphasis must still be put on production construction. :

With regurd to the problem of utilizing, restricting, and transforming U*
capitalist [sector of the] economy, the Second Plenum also made thut ¥
clear.'* The resolution {it adopted| stated that the private capitalist (sectors
the] economy must not be left uncurbed and unrestricted; we must restrict 4
terms of its sphere of openition, the taxation policy las it applies to this 56
tor], market pricing, and labor conditions. The relationship becween ™
socialist economy and the capitalist economy is one of leader and led, Restt®
tion and opposition to restriction constitute the primary form of class suse
within the new democratic state, At present, to talk about “equality across

http:/
hoard ft the public and private [sectors], as the new tux system does, is ut

arinnce with the line that |accepts] the state economy as the leading sector.
4 As for the problem of carrying out the cooperativization of [the sector of]
the ayricultural economy that is based on individual [peasants’ production),
the handicraft industry [sector] of the economy, the resolution of the Second Plenum stated very clearly that “these types of cooperatives are orgamzspions of the collective economy of the masses of the laboring people that are
pused on the system of private ownership but are under the management of the
«ate power led by the proletanat. The fact that the Chinese people are culturally backward and do not have a tradition of cooperativization makes expanding and developing the cooperativization campaign quite difficult forus. Neventiciess, Ut can still be organized, and must be organized; it must be
expanded and developed. If we had only the state economy and no
cooperative economy, we would not be able tw lead [that sector of) the economy based on the individual [production] of the laboring people gradually
onté the path of collectivization. we would not be able to develop from a new
democratic country into a socialist country of the future," and we would not
be able Wo consolidate the proletariat’s leadership in the state power.” This resolution dates from March 1949, but quite a few comrades have not paid any
attention to it; they regard it as news [when] actually it is old news. Bo Yibo
wrote the article “Strengthen the Party's Political Work in the Rural Areas” in
which he said that for the individual peasants to take the path [of achieving!
collectivization through mutual aid and cooperativization “is pure illusion
because the present mutual aid teams are based on the individual economy,
and on such a basis they cannot gradually develop into collective farms, much
less achieve agricultural collectivization onan overall scale by taking such a
path.” This is in violation of the Party’s resolution,

Al present there are two united fronts, two alliances. One is the alliance
between the working class and the peasants, which is the foundation, Another
® the alliance of the working class and the national bourgeoisie.” The peas-
“nls are luborers and not exploiters, [so] the alliance of the working class and
the peasunts is a long-term one. Nevertheless there are contradictions between

Working class and the peasants. In accordance with the principle of volun-
Ury (participation} we should gradually lead the peasants from the system of
dividual Ownership toward the system of collective ownership. In the

“re. there will also be contradictions between the system of state ownership
and the system of collective ownership. These are all nonantagonistic contra-

“tons. "" (On the other hand,| the contradictions between the working class
‘nd the bourgeoisie are antagonistic contradictions,
: The bourgeoisie is bound to corrupt people and bombard them with sugar-
“Oaled bullets." The sugarcoated bullets of the bourgeoisie are both material
“ra ind spiritual Ones, A spiritual sugarcoated bullet has hit the mark in Bo
- His mistake is fa result of} his being influenced by bourgeois thought.
ten, bourgeoisie applauded the editorial that propagandized the new tax sys-
' and Bo Yibo was happy, He sought the opinion of the bourgevisie


368 § MAO ZEDONG

regurding the new tax system beforehand and made a gentlemen's w

with the bourgeoisie, but he did not report [this] to the Central Commi
that time. neither the Ministry of Commerce nor the | All-China| P
Supply and Marketing Cooperatives approved [of the new tax system \
the Ministry of Light Industry was not satisfied either. Of the 1.1 »
cadres and personne) in the financial, economic, and commercial se
the nation], the overwhelming majority are good; a small oe
good. These bad people can be further divided into two parts; ¢
consists of counterrevolutionaries who ought to be swept away; the ;
consists of revolutionaries who have made mistakes, including Party m
und non-Party personnel. We should use the method of criteds a

education in order (0 transform them.

In order to guarantee the success of the socialist cause throughout the W
Party, and first of all in the leading organs of the Party, the government,
military, and the people’s [organizations at these three levels — the Cemi
the greater administrative regions, und the provinces and municipalities -

must oppose the incorrect, Right opportunistic deviations. that is, We
oppose bourgeois thought within the Party. Al an opportune mome we re
greater administrative region, province, and municipality should com
meeting, which should be attended by the secretanes of special district |
committees and by commissioners [of the special districts}, to conduct tn
cism ard discussion and explain clearly the question of the socialist ro
sus the capitalist road.
In order to guarantee the success of the socialist cause, we must exere
collective leadership and oppose excessive decentralism and subyectivisar
At present We must oppose subjectivism, we must oppose not only the a
jectivism of blind adventurist advances,~ * but also the subjectivism of &
conservative. In the past, in the period of the new democratic revo)
Party| made mistakes of subjectivism, some of which were “righ
some “leftist.” |The errors of] Chen Duxiu and Zhang Guotac were “righ
in Wang Ming's case they were ‘leftist’ [errors] at first and later ™
ist.""2* At the time of the rectification at Yanan,” efforts were cone
trated on opposing dogmatism, and on the side, opposing empiricism, 7
were [manifestations of] subjectivism. If theory is not integrated with reall
the revolution cannot be triumphant, Rectification resolved this problem—
adopted the policy of learning from past mistukes in order to avo! fut
ones, and curing the illness in order (0 save the patient.” ‘This was Cm
This time, when we carry out 4 resolute and thorough criticism of Bo YM
we ure doing it so that people who have committed mistakes can correct?
and so that the triumphant progress of socialism will be guaranteed. The Pt
ent ix a period of socialist revolution, but there is [still] subjectivisin: Ns
impetuous adventurist advance nor conservatism acts in accordance bb
ity; both dre subjectivism, [f subjectivism is nut opposed and remo
revolution and construction cannot succeed, During the period of the de
crutic revolution.” we used the method of rectification to resolve Tt

h F d
qgplem of | subjectivist nustakes throughout the whole Party, and we united

‘se comnides who upheld the correct line and those who had made misrs | These comrades) proceeded on from Yanan to the various theaters of
: ap, wad the entire Party, exerting its efforts in unison, achieved victory
gneoughout the country. Now the cadres are more mature and the level lof
thei? political consciousness] has been raised; we hope before too long to busically nid ourselves of subjectivism in our leadership work, and sirive to make
ihe subjective correspond to the objective.

The key to resolving all these problems lies in strengthening collective
leadership and in opposing decentrilizationism.” We have always opposed
decentralizationism, On February 2, 1941, the Central Committee issued a
jirective to the various bureaus of the Central Committee and to the various
military commanders that stipulated that before they issued any circular tele-

5, declarations, or intral-Party| directives of national significance, they
must ask for instructions from the Central Committee. In May, the Central
Committee issued the directive on unifying [the work] of external propaganda
of the various base areas.” On July | of the same year, at the time of the
twentieth anniversary of the founding of the Party, the Center promulgated the
resolution on strengthening the Party spirit with emphasis on opposing decentralizationism. In 1948, the Central Committee issued even more directives
opposing decentralizationism. On January 7, the Center issued the directive
concerning the establishment of the system of reporting, and in March a supplementary directive was issued, In September of the sume year, a meeting of
the Political Bureau passed the resolution concerning the system for
Wequesting instructions from the Central Committee and reporting to the Central Committee, On September 20, the Central Committee made the decision
on making the Party committee system more sound and complete.” On
March 10, 1953, in order to avoid the danger of the various departments of the
Severnment becoming divorced from the leadership of the Party Central Com-
Miltee, the Central Committee passed the resolution to strengthen the |Party}

hip over government work.

Centralization and decentralization are constantly in contradiction with
Sich other. Since we entered the cities,” decentralization has developed fur-

- In order to solve this contradiction, all major and important issues must
list be discussed and decided by the Party committees before [the decisions]
APE Carried out by the government. For instance, such major issues us erecting
“ Monument to the People’s Heroes in Tiananmen |Square}"' and dismanb ME the city walls of Beijing were decided by the Center and then carried out

2oVemment. Problems of secondary importance can be taken care of by
to prading Party groups in the departments of the government. It just won't
toni all problems to be monopolized by the Center. To oppose decentralizaea lis 4 measure} that will best win the hearts of the people because the

Jonty of the commdes in the Party are concemed about collective leader-
Pan In terms of their attitude toward collective leadership, people inside the

¥ Can be classified into three types. People of the first type are concerned


370 | MAO ZEDONG

about the collective leadership, People of the second type are indiffere,
believe that it would be best if the Party committee didn’t interfere with f
affairs} but that if it did interfere, that’s all right too, [The attitude thug
best if they do not interfere” shows a lack of Party spirit, whereas {the ag
that} “interference is all right too” [shows that they] still retain [a measiyy
Party spirit, We must take hold of [their attitude that) “interfere
right” and conduct persuasion and education (to overcome] the lack of
spirit. Otherwise. cach ministry would do its own thing and the Cey cr
not be able to exercise control over them. The ministers would not be ak 4
manage the department and bureau heads, the division heads would ¢
able to manage section chiefs, and nobody would be able to manage any
else. [Consequently] there would be a large number of kingdoms, [like
cight hundred feudal lords,” The third type is made up of an extreme ty
ity; they resolutely oppose collective leadership and believe that it if)
never to interfere with anything. In the resolution on strengthening
spirit, it was emphasized that the discipline of democratic centralism
strictly enforced; the minority must submit to the majority, the if
must submit to the organization, the lower levels must submit 16 thet
levels. and the Party as a whole must submit to the Central Commit si ie
case the majority must submit to the minority, [but] this minority re
the majority), If there are any opinions, please bring them up. To dk
Party unity [however] is most disgraceful. Only by relying on the po
experience of the collective and the wisdor of the collective can We gua ar
the correct leadership of the Party and the state as well as the unshakable
of the Party ranks as a whole.
AL this conference, Liu Shaogi said he had made some mistakes. and)
rade [Deng] Xiaoping also suid he had made some mistakes. No
they are. people who have made mistakes must examine [their mis
accept the supervision of the Party and the leadership of the Party commit
at the various levels. This is a major condition for accomplishing eh Part
task, Throughout the country there are a lot of people who rely on the #
chistic situation to survive. Bo Yibo is such a person. Politically and ish
cally, he is somewhut corrupted, [so] it is absolutely necessary to ©
him. \
One fast point: we must promote the spirit of modesty, learning, # J
severance.
We must persevere. For instance, in the [War to] Resist U.S. [Ageree™
und Aid Korea, we dealt United States imperialism 3 severe blow an@®
them quite scared. This was advantageous to our (task of national | cOnaN
tion; it was an important condition for our construction, The most impor
thing was that our army received tempering [in the war]; the soldiers ®
brave and the cadres clever. Naturally. we sacrificed some people, .
money, and paid & price. But we just weren't afraid of making § ifives
we did not undertake something that was one matier, but once we did en
on something we saw it through to the very end. When Hu Zonggnan aS

‘Sc

A
yaan-Gan-Ning Border Region,” we were down to our very last xian
ibe >) put we did not pull out of the border region. When we had to cat
ies joff the trees] we did it. This is the type of relentlessness we should

Me must leam; we must not be arrogant: we must not look down on people,
— nce eggs look down on chicken eggs; ferrous metals look down on rare

js; such an attitude of looking down on people is unscientific. | Although]
chino is 3 great country and its Party is a great Party, there is still no reason to

Jowo on small countries and small parties. We must always maintain att
natu of [willingness to] learn from fraternal nations, and [we] must have a
wwe jnternationalist spirit, In the area of foreign trade, some people have been
y and self-important; this is wrong. We must conduct education within
‘ihe Party as a whole, particularly among those personnel who go abroad. We
jyust study hard and work hard in order fo basically accomplish the socialist
jadustnalization and Socialist transformation [of the country] in fifteen years’
dime or a little longer. Even then, wher our country has become big and pow-
‘orful, we must still be modest and always maintain an attitude of [willingness
to] learn.

There are several regulations that were adopted at the Second Plenum of the
‘Seventh Central Committee but that were not watten into the resolution. The
first one is a ban on birthday celebrations. Birthday celebrations will not bring
one longevity, the main thing is to do one’s work well, The second one is a
‘tan on gifts, at least within the Party itself. The third one is that we mustn't
make 50 marty toasts, [although] it ts permissible on certain occasions. The
fourth one is that we must not applaud so much; applause is not prohibited
{however}, and when the masses applaud out of enthusiasm we should not
pour cold water [on them] cither. The fifth one is that we mustn't name places
afier people. The sixth is that we mustn't list our Chinese comrades as equals
of Marx, Engels, Lenin, and Stalin. The relationship [between them and us| ts
one of teacher (o pupil and ought to be [recognized as] such, Obeying these
fules is to have an attitude of modesty.

Inshort, we must hold fast to the spirit of modesty, [willingness to] learn,
and perserverence, uphold the system of collective leadership $0 as to uccom-

h the socialist transformation Jof our country) and achieve the triumph of
tsTH,

Notes

1 The iveuc uf centrilization-deventralization is pot simply the issue of the locus af decisyon-
Berio, It also affects Who mukes the decisions, i.¢., decentralization to the level af becal Party
i, oes iy different from decentralization to the level of production units’ management

3 be more on this see F, Schurmann (196%), pp- 175-178, 196-199.

1 ‘|

1 Noy, 1951-Mar, (952. source mve

fox Mar, (9, 1954


372 | MAO ZEDONG

4. See text Jun 15, 1953, source note

5. In November 1952, on the eve of the promulgation of the First Five-Year P Xn la
1953. Bo Yibo. who was deputy chairman of the Finance and Economic Comm: on Wi
GAC and Minister of Finance. was appointed a member of the newly established 7
Commission, Tux policy fell under the purview of the Commission, and Bo nade i -
gestion. which is described here by Mav, This suggestion was adopted ternpararily by
mission and superseded the tax code of 1950 governing tixation on industrial and
enterprises, In addition to revising the tax schedule on enterprises that are proces
State production and are subject to state allocation, and enterprises. within the cate
contracted prosiiction and marketing, Ihe salient charactertstics of this new tax code
increasing the tus burden on stale-run commercial enlérprises. such as the supply
cooperatives, and on other cooperatives, and the elimination of several key tx ben
eritives, such as the exemption of cooperatives from the first year of income tans
esablishment, and the 20) per cent reduction uf taxation on sales and management co
eralives,

According to SW, V, p. 111, note [, “This new tax system was introduced in Deoes
and put imo effect in January 1953. Though nominally entailing ‘equality between public
vate enterprises,” in yeality it lightened the tex burdens on private industrial and eq
enterprises and increased (hose on stale and cooperative enterprises, thus serving the Hi
the capitalists at the expense of the latter. Soon after Comrade Mao Zedong mande his;
this error was corrected.”

For more biographical information concerning Bo Yibo, see D. Klein and A. ©
(1971), I, pp. 738-742 ‘

6, According to Xuanji, V. 97, note 1, “Zhang Zishan wes ai one time secretary off
[Speciul) District Committee of the CRC, Corrupted by the bourgeoisie. he beeuine ab
ler anc. during the “Three-Anti's’ movement, he was semenced fo death.”

7, These three periods were: The First United Frond period from 1924 1 1927, the:
United From penod from 1937 19 1946, and the period of the Common Program from
1953. The First United Front began with the declaration of a CPC-KMT cooperation afl
forces of imperiilism and against ihe Beiyang warlord regimes in January 1924 al it
National Congress of the KMT. Ln 1926 the Northem Expedition against the ‘s
unify China begun, On April 12, 1927. on his way northward in this Expedition, Chiang &
ordered the liquixation of Communists in Shanghai, thus leading jo the execution af ha ia
Communists and forcing the Communist movement underground This ended the: Fir
Front,

In July 1937, following the July 7 Lukougiso (Marco Polo Bridge) Incident, Chinen
state of war with Japan. At the same time, however, the internal conflict between the AB
the CPC was continuing, In December 1936, following the Xian Incident, in wees Nl
suspend civil war in order to prepare for resisting Japanese imperialism was in press
Chiang Kai-shek, he sade 1a Formal conssitment to tebe On the iealsance Sguiil
main tsk, In September 1937 the confrontation with the national enemy forced the } . T
CPC to once again enter a phase of cooperation. Although there was a formal de HOR OF
eration, bowever,tnhoe the period of he War of Resistance the vary erWone
and KMT continued, und there were many incidences of open conflict. A large pe
KMT forces, under generals such as Hu Zonynan, were assigned the task of “on tal
Communists ratber than facing the Japanese. Open civil warfare once again erupted in 1%
ing the Second United Froat

The third “untied front” Mao talks abort bere is a very different one from the first "
matter of cooperating with bourgeois elensents and circles tp the country “under the leader
the proletartat” (i,c,, affer the CRC had come: to pewer, and the country was already 0
People’s Republic, toward socialism). See text Feb. 18, 1951, note 14.

8, For the Second Plenum of the Seventh Central Committee see text Juwe 6, 195002), 09

9. Over the years Muo has offen used the analogy of Ihe Party Cemer as a factory pul
basis of Marxist-Leninist theory thai needs information from the Jower levels ta pro

http://dztse


. JULY - SEPTEMBER 1953 / 373

jnies. and policies. Ste Man's speech at the Supreme Stare Conference. (text Jan. 28,
pet Talks to the Mandan Forum an the Four Clean-ups Work” (text Mar, 28. 1964)
(ase est “Theee-Anti’s” campaien was taunched in 1952 (see text Nov. 195t-Mar, 1952.
(0 pote) In February 1953 the “Three-Ami's" slogan again appeared ita speech by An
pss Te teal Mar, 31), (955, ole: 10), ro which he ctaimed that prablenss stitl remained fro
eather CUNPAIBR An called fora new effort against "bareaucmey, commuandism, and the viowe riaw anal discipline.” See RMSC (1953), ppp. 171-173,
yp Mao referring to the Mate in Which economic units are net yet [ully socialized (}.c,, in
ine means of production are not fully publicly owned. Although at this point he seems to
concerned more with industrial aad commerical enterprises. the problem with enterprises
a1 oral remaining at the “verisesctalist” stage would have a much greater Sigaificance iy te
il 1950 1 the agfculiural sector, OF the “five economic sectors” thar Mao talks about ini the
paragraph here, two sectors are classified as “semiseeialist”
Jz. The five sectors of the economy Mo is referring 10 are the fully socialistic Mate-mun econthe semisoeialistic (see note 1} } cooperative economy (the vast majority of the cooperatives
then In cnmterice WERE As vet in the lower-level or semisocialist stage, but would eventually move
fuller socialism. #0 this 16 a transitional category), the semisocuilivtic slate-copitalist couney. the individual economy of peasants und handicrall werkers, and the sector of private capiss acsnllad to Ciyw fianshi, pp. 27-28, a certiin regiment of the PLA stationed in Guizhou,
fpasierrptinat ty carry Out exercises crulating certain practices of the Soviel Army, appropriated a
qoosideralble arwount Of agricultural land ty bulld a parade ground. In this source thes incident was
secribed ju “the influence of the bourgewis line in the military™s operations of Peng Debuai.”
14, The policy of utilizing. resineting, und transforming (livery, sartzhi, ke gaizao) private
“capital was adopted (ft Article (X} of the September 20, 1954, Constitution of the PRC,
15, See text June 15, 1953, note 2
16, See RAIRA (Vane 29, 1951).
47 See tent Mar. 12, 1950, mote 3.
JS. For Mao's fundamennl theory of the antagonistic nature that exists between certain types
of contradictions, see section VI of his article "On Contradictimns” (SW. 1. pp, 343-345). Mou
Weald eveatuatly develop ihis inte w atich more sophisticated and practice-criented theory in “On
COmectly Handling Comradictions amoag the People” (see text Feb, 27, 1957)
14. This celers (0 the fhetics of disguising dangerous and harmful developments of policies to
AKCINE facades of compromise and favors. Which Mag takes the tactics “used by the bourgeoii naan the ranky of the revelutiomiry people” to be. He first used the term in his Report
“Wihe Sevond Session of the Sevanth Cerrral Committee: see SW, TY. py 374,
Seo MRE (Dec 3}, 1952), editorial,
AN. Specrat distracts ¢atumamgu) Were provisional administrative distnets, intermediary between
Province and the wlan. There were approximately 20) such districts in 1951, butt by the baler
all these districts had been abolinhed
The standard definilion of “adventurism,”” in addition ty a senscof rashness, abd includes
he ical qualities of “going beyond the realm of real possibilities and beyand the level of
pie consciousness of tie musses or thase affected by the action.” The Chinese term for
Mavjin. an abbreviation of maariaen ginny, OF advancing in # risky manoer It should be
that Us “tubel,”* besides cotinoting a psychological risk, also connotes. because of the
iene defipiting, & violation of the scientific principles of Marxist socialism — tc, the
—— thar pulitical and historical actans must be fminded on the basis of possiblility and the
abe: Orn the foundation of possibility, Later, in 1955, when the “conservatives” turned thts
eu Mao and others whe at the time advocated comprehensive sooperativization of
he Mesa - aikt opposed Mav unter the aegis eff oppestig adventurst advance. Mao would tum
Pte 1), areund ind oppose those who opposed advenurist advance See text Dec,.6, 1955.

pa)
1 Chen Dina (1479-1942) Was one of the founders af the CPC und from 1921 to 1927, ats
Ul Secretry, Mao's reference to Chen as a Righttst is in accord with the official inter-


374 | MAO ZEDONG

pretation of the Party's history, whieh charges that Chen, while general secretary. had»
collabwratiog with the KMT and deference two its leadership during the period pp
CPC-KMT United Front (1925-1927), This charge ts made, for cxumpte, in the “R
Some Questions in the History of Our Pany” adopted by the Seventh Plenum of th
Committee, April 20, 1945. Convincing evidence (0 the contrary, however, sipge
was actually opposed to the United Front bul was forced to acquiesce to it by
(See, for instance, R. Kagan (1974), pp. 295-314.) Chen was purged from the
Zhang Guotao (1497-1973) was also one of the founders of the CPC and an iq D1
leader until 1938, Zhany was originally prominent in the Commpmnist labor move nt
the Oyuwan Sovies (1931-32), During the Lang March of |934-35 Zhang was in che
Communist Fourth Front Army. which joined the main train of (he March in mid-1034
political struggle between Zhang and Mao ensued. Zhang sop led his much strae €
forces west toward Tibet, while Mao and his forces beaded north toward Shaanxi, Zag
however, suffered a series of defeats at the hunds of pursuing KMT armies and ini Qeygt
rejoined Mao's forces, which had established their base in the Staansi
Region, with Yanan as its capital, With his forces severely weakened Zhang wit
position to chullenge Mao. In 1937, he was severely cfitictred and m 1938 lett the x
See J. Harrison (1972). ppp. 245-259, 281-289: J. Rue 11966), and Zhang Guetae | 1972)
Wang Ming (psendonym of Chen Shawyu, 1903-1974) was tte teader of the so
sheviks"” of “Returned Students” faction within the CPC ‘This faction. consisting o
had returned to China after studying in tie Soviel Union, dominated the Pany Cep
to 1935, Wang Ming himself became general secretary of the CPC, succeeding’
post in June 1931. The “leftist” error fo which Mao refers was Wang's insistence Cringe yy
1930s that the Red Army mount attacks against key urban areas. These attacks met w
and resulted in major losses for the CPC in KMT controlled areas aod the weakening
in the countryside, Wang Ming's later Rightist error came after his faction fad wen
politically by Mao at the Zunyi Conference in 1935 when, during the debuie over aseam
Front policy. he advocated CPC acquiescence to the leadership af Chiang ek fe
tien of the War of Resistance. For this, he wits accused of cluss capitulationsa, For
study of the conflict between Wamy Ming and Mao see J. Rue (1966); and TL, Ha)
more on the "2% Bolsheviks” see S. Schram (1967). pp. 149-150, For more biograplie
tion on Chen, Zhang, and Wang, see D. Klein and A, Clark, eds. (1971), f. pp. (ue
34-43, and pp. 127-134, respectively Z q ;
14. In 1942 4 rectification (zhengfeng) movernent was launched at Yunan to reforaree
cratic work-style and streamline the military organization of the Communist base eas, |
lished the reading of Marxist-Leninist works, group political education, and
precedents for later ideas of popular political participation. It was also a peniod of yeu
those who resisted rectification, For Mao's writings on this movement see “Rectifyy i
Style of Work,” SW, Ill, pp. 35-51, and “Oppose Sterectyped Purty Writings” #
53-64; also, B. Comptony (1966). Also see text June 30, 1953, muvte 9, be
25. This slogan encapsulates the 1wo principtes of Party rectificatiots, The frst pane
slogan is an aphorism derived from the pocm “Jing zhi” [Respect) from the vole
song” |Paeans from Zhou} in the Si jing [Book of Odes). The second part of the shoes
the proper treatment of an errant Party member. The gist of this principle ts that * .
must be corrected. if they require harsh micasures, the basic purpose of the recties
change the situation while keeping the cadre. ‘This became the principle under he
self-criticism were to be conducted. Later the slogan was osed in conjunction with the
“Unlly-criticism-unity.” =. -
2h, Here Mao was referring pet to the traditbonal potion of a democratic revolut op
described as an “old general type of bourgeoti-democranc revolution.” but rather 6 ®
Democratic Revolution.” See text June 15. 1953, note 2-
2) See lext Mar, 19, (953, none T.

2K. See leat Abig. 5, 1951, source nate. “
9. The Cetitral Committee directives of January 7, 194%, and Sepiember 20) FF

tp: / / dztse

oo

Miz:

~~
of


7 JULY — SEPTEMBER 1953 / 375

py Muo, See "On Setting Up a Sysiem of Reports.” SW, IV, pp. 177-179, and “On
j Opening he Party Committee System,” SW, 1V,, pp, 267-268.
See re Moo may not be referring simply to the fact that Communist forces began to capture
yy cines Of China in fate 1948 and carly 14, bat pather may be referring more broadly in
Fy pepinning with ihe Second Plemuny af the Seventh Parry Congress i March (49 At
ie ee yng the CPC hegan to focus on the problem of administering large urban areas and the
Whe onuion Of those areas inte the centers of social revolution. It was at this plenum that Mac
an! un cod W the period of “from the city te the village” and the beginning of the period of
ibe cit) jevding the village” See Mav's report fo the Plenum, SW, 1V, p. 363

{ ce txt Sept, MM), 1949,

3 Mw alhudes here to the traditional belief that there existed eight hancred feudal lords dur-

a ibe Shang dynasty (ca. sixtcenth-tenth centuries 6.C,}, Mao's general allusion is to the many
aan kingdonts, with their petty rulers and plethora of vassals, that existed! in China print to its
peeve “unification” uniter the Zhou dynasty (ca 841 B.C), The legend of the cight hundred
feais! lords i4 contained in Zhou benji (The Chronicle of Zhou) in Shi ji (Histerical Records) by
Sia Qian, and also in the popular novel Fengshembunng.

34, The Shawtsi-Gansu-Ningala Banter Regu oras the designation given in 1937, atter the
saablistovent of the Ante Japanese United Front, to the revoluttonury base area thay encompussed
gwenty-three diver on the cominion borders of those three provinces, See tear Oct, 26, 1949, ne
} See alo teat Feb. 27, 1950, nore 1