Comments and Reply Letter to All the Peasants of Shaoshan Township (December 1954) To Liu, Zhou, Zhu, Chen, Xiaoping, Zikui, Boda, and Shangkun [1]: Please read and return to Mao. The situation in Shaoshan Township is well worth reading. There are 586 households in Shaoshan Township; last year they sold 120,000 jin of surplus grain, and this year they have sold 200,000 jin—an increase of 80,000 jin—and their lives are still better than last year. In addition to this letter [2], four peasants are currently in Beijing at my invitation, and they all report that conditions are very good. Second, Mao Yueqiu [3], in his seventies and a veteran Party member, is now charged by the government with guarding the house in my hometown [4]. Printed from Mao Zedong’s manuscript. Comrade Yueqiu:

Your letter, as well as the letter from all the peasants, has been received, and I am greatly pleased. Please convey my thanks for their kind sentiments to the Party and government officials of Shaoshan Township and to all the peasant comrades. Mao Zedong December 28, 1954 Printed from the manuscript. Notes [ ] Liu refers to Liu Shaoqi. Zhou refers to Zhou Enlai. Zhu refers to Zhu De. Chen refers to Chen Yun, who at the time was a Secretary of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee and Vice Premier of the State Council. Xiaoping is Deng Xiaoping, who at the time served as Secretary-General of the CPC Central Committee and Vice Premier of the State Council. Zikui is Deng Zikui, who at the time was Minister of the CPC Central Committee’s Department of Rural Work. Boda is Chen Boda, who at the time was Deputy Minister of the CPC Central Committee’s Department of Rural Work. Shangkun is Yang Shangkun, who at the time was Director of the General Office of the CPC Central Committee. [2] Refers to the letter dated December 13, 1954, from all the peasants of Shaoshan Township to Mao Zedong. The letter states: Over the past year, under the correct leadership of the Party and yourself, your native township has achieved remarkable results in implementing the state’s socialist transformation of agriculture. There are 586 households in the township, of which 520 have joined mutual-aid cooperatives, representing a coverage rate of 92.5 percent. Last year the entire township sold 120,000 jin of surplus grain, and this year it has sold another 200,000 jin to support the nation’s socialist industrialization. The path of mutual-aid cooperation has enabled all the peasants in the township to become prosperous together, to advance collectively, to increase production, to improve their living standards, and to contribute even more grain to national construction. [3] Mao Yueqiu served as secretary of the Ciyue Branch of the CPC in Shaoshan during the Great Revolution and, after the founding of the People’s Republic, worked as a receptionist at Mao Zedong’s former residence in Shaoshan. [4] This comment was written on a letter dated December 13, 1954, which Mao Yueqiu had addressed to Mao Zedong for transmission to all the peasants of Shaoshan Township.