Comment on the Grain Shortage Situation
(July 8, 1955)

Comrade Xiaoping[1]:

Whether the grain shortage situation in the two counties of Shanxi as reported on page five of this document[2] is true—please forward this to the Shanxi Provincial Party Committee and dispatch personnel to conduct an investigation, and report the findings to the Central Committee as requested.

Mao Zedong
July 8

[1] Xiaoping, i.e., Deng Xiaoping, then serving as Secretary-General of the CPC Central Committee and Vice Premier of the State Council.
[2] The material titled "Reader Reports on Severe Grain Shortage Among Peasants in Heshun and Xiyang Counties, Shanxi," published in *People's Daily Situation* compiled by the General Editorial Office of *People's Daily* on July 6, 1955, stated: According to reader letters received in mid-June, the grain shortage among peasants in Heshun and Xiyang counties, Shanxi Province, was extremely severe. Many peasants had abandoned production and were leaving in groups to seek refuge with relatives elsewhere or to beg. In some places, phenomena such as the selling of children and divorce had already appeared. As the grain problem remained unresolved, there was widespread discontent among the peasants, and reactionary landlords, rich peasants, and hidden counter-revolutionary elements seized the opportunity to stir up trouble, with various rumors constantly emerging. In their letters, readers called on the Party and government to promptly send personnel to investigate the situation and resolve the peasants' grain shortage problem.