A Note of Instruction (1)
(November 1953)
Usable. Slightly revised.

This is Mao Zedong’s note of instruction on a draft speech prepared by Peng Dehuai, Vice Chairman of the People’s Revolutionary Military Commission of the Central People’s Government, for a meeting of senior Party cadres from the national military system to be held in December 1953.
(2)
Mao Zedong’s main revisions to Peng Dehuai’s “Summary of Military Work Over the Past Four Years and Several Basic Issues in Future Army Building (Preliminary Finalized Draft)” were:
(i) Added beneath the title the subtitle “Report to the Party’s National Military Conference in December 1953” and the signature “Peng Dehuai, Vice Chairman of the People’s Revolutionary Military Commission of the Central People’s Government.”
(ii) Changed the phrase appearing in two places in the original draft, “build our army into the world’s second finest modernized army,” to “build our army into the world’s second finest modernized revolutionary army.”
(iii) Changed “when US imperialism invaded the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, threatening the security of our northeastern border” to “when US imperialism invaded the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, invaded our country’s Taiwan, and caused the war of aggression against Korea to threaten the security of our country’s northeastern border.”
(iv) Changed “following Chairman Mao’s consistent military policy, which is to exercise the principle of collective leadership of the Party committee and adopt a system of division of responsibility among leading officers under the unified (collective) leadership of the Party committee” to “following Chairman Mao’s consistent military policy, which is based on the principle of combining collective leadership of the Party committee with individual responsibility of leading officers, adopting a system of division of responsibility among leading officers under the unified (collective) leadership of the Party committee.” Changed “As for the practice of emphasizing individual leadership and placing individual power above the collective power of the Party committee, it is wrong” to “Under conditions where the Party committee system exists, it is incorrect to unduly and excessively emphasize individual leadership and place individual power above the collective power of the Party committee.”