Text Written on the Briefing on the Recent Situation of the Movement
(July 29, 1955)

Comrade Xiaoping:

Please immediately print and distribute this document (1) to the secretaries of all provincial and municipal Party committees and those who are to attend the meeting (members of the Political Bureau plus a number of cadres in Beijing). Please return the original to me after use.

Mao Zedong
July 29

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The words I wrote on the side and back of the table in this document [1] should not be printed.

Improve farming methods: (1) deep ploughing; (2) close planting; (3) multiple cropping; (4) high-yield crops; (5) early-maturing crops; (6) seed selection; (7) pest elimination, etc.
Improve labor organization: promote the contract work system.
Increase production: must fulfill, and strive to overfulfill, the production increase targets set in the Five-Year Plan; there must absolutely be no reduction in production. Can this be achieved? Will our Party make a major mistake on this issue? Can we avoid the mistakes the Soviet Union made?

We must oppose both Right and “Left” erroneous viewpoints: (1) On the issue of development, “non-advance” and “rash advance.” At present, the issue is not to criticize rash advance, nor to criticize “exceeding objective possibilities,” but to criticize non-advance, to criticize not recognizing and not utilizing “objective possibilities,” that is, not recognizing and not utilizing the fact that the broad masses of peasants, due to insufficient land, impoverished living conditions, or living conditions that are still not prosperous, have an enthusiasm for taking the socialist road, yet some among us do not recognize and do not utilize this objectively existing possibility. The dual nature of the peasants—the contradiction between the two ideas of collective management and individual management—which aspect is dominant? Along with propaganda and the demonstration effect of cooperatives, the idea of collective management will first become dominant among one part of the people, then become dominant among a second part of the people, then become dominant among a third part of the people, then become dominant among the majority of the people, and finally become dominant among all the people. We should gradually (over fifteen years) bring about this dominance. (2) On the issue of changing ownership,

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that is, the issue of rectifying policies. The problem of “petty expropriation” has already occurred. Peasants should be educated not to engage in “petty expropriation,” all policies should be rectified, and loans should be issued to support the poor peasants. This is one aspect. But at the same time, middle peasants should be educated to take the overall situation into account. As long as production can be increased, as long as output and income are higher than before, minor unfairness at the time of joining the cooperative can be let go. Both sides must be educated to take the overall situation into account, not the so-called “total compromise.” Total compromise means no socialism. Unity and struggle—this is our policy.
(3) We must have a firm direction and must not waver. To ask others not to waver, we must first not waver ourselves. We must see the essential aspect of problems, we must see the dominant or mainstream aspect of things; only thus can we avoid wavering. The non-essential aspects and secondary aspects of things must not be neglected; all existing problems must be resolved. However, these should not be regarded as the mainstream of things, confusing our own direction.

Grain issue: Can the “Three Fixes” be implemented? Can they be fixed to the household? Can the “Three Fixes” be completed before the autumn harvest?
Is the material from Zhejiang [1] appropriate? I think it is good.
This year we must make a significantly greater advance than in the past two years.
Two inspections: this October and next May. Deputies to the National People’s Congress and people’s congress deputies from all provinces and municipalities should all go down to conduct inspections. Mainly inspect: (1) the “Three Fixes” for grain; (2) whether cooperatives have increased production; (3) the problem of waste in various cities.

Increase the means of production, improve management and administration (rectify policies, improve farming methods, promote the contract work system), and increase production.
Is there certainty (do not fight a battle without certainty, do not fight a battle without preparation)? That is, is it rash advance?
Was it another rash advance of 100,000 cooperatives last year?
In the coming year, the number of cooperatives will increase from 650,000 to 1,030,000, an increase of nearly 400,000

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cooperatives; the number of member households will increase from 16.9 million to 29.2 million, an increase of 12.3 million households. Is this feasible?
The key lies in the next three years, with the focus on this year and next year.
We must earnestly consolidate and establish cooperatives; consolidation is not done once a year, but several times a year.
Train cadres and dispatch cadres, with local cadres as the mainstay and outside cadres as a supplement.
Consolidating and establishing cooperatives must begin with Party consolidation and Party building.
Increase the means of production: (1) land (deep ploughing, opening up small plots of wasteland, removing field ridges and paths, etc.); (2) draught animals; (3) farm tools; (4) fertilizer; (5) water conservancy.
Improve management and administration, rectify policies: (1) the issue of draught animals joining the cooperative; (2) the issue of large farm tools joining the cooperative; (3) the issue of the distribution ratio between land and labor; (4) the issue of investment; (5) the issue of sideline occupations and cooperative members’ free use of a portion of labor power; (6) the issue of landlords and rich peasants joining the cooperative; (7) the issue of the proportion of poor peasants among cooperative members (should be activists from among the poor peasants, the lower-middle peasants among the new middle peasants, and the lower-middle peasants among the middle-middle peasants and old middle peasants; and during the First Five-Year Plan period, do not admit the passive elements from among these groups; still less admit the well-to-do middle peasants—whether they are well-to-do middle peasants among the old middle peasants or well-to-do middle peasants among the new middle peasants; resolutely do not admit landlords and rich peasants).

--- Notes

Refers to the briefing on the recent situation of the agricultural cooperative movement submitted to Mao Zedong and others by the Second Office of the Rural Work Department of the CPC Central Committee on July 26, 1955. Its main contents are: 1. During this year’s spring ploughing season, there were over 670,000 agricultural cooperatives nationwide. After several months of consolidation, with some increasing and some decreasing, there are now approximately 650,000. 2. All localities have made arrangements for the work of consolidating and developing cooperatives. The main measures adopted are: concentrating efforts on consolidating existing cooperatives, primarily focusing on rectifying policies, doing a good job in the cooperatives’ production work, rationally organizing labor, and promoting the contract work system; doing a good job in mutual aid teams to lay the foundation for establishing cooperatives; training cadres for cooperatives and mutual aid teams, as well as backbone members of mutual aid teams preparing to establish cooperatives; and dispatching cadres to the countryside to assist in the work of the cooperatives. After the development plans of each province are generally established, tasks are assigned downward level by level, and counties and districts, in light of actual conditions, propose amendments, after which the plans are finalized. 3. The development plan for the 1955–1956 period is to increase from the existing approximately 650,000 cooperatives to over 1,030,000, and to increase the number of member households from over 16.9 million to approximately 29.2 million. This material also includes an appendix titled “Table of Existing Cooperatives in All Provinces Nationwide and the Plan for Establishing Cooperatives in 1956.”


Refers to the figures Mao Zedong wrote in the margins of the columns of the “Table of Existing Cooperatives in All Provinces Nationwide and the Plan for Establishing Cooperatives in 1956,” showing the increase in the ratio of cooperative member households to total rural households in each province and municipality in 1956 compared to 1955, and a passage of text he wrote on the back of this table. The text portion constitutes Part Two of this document.


Possibly refers to the directive issued by the CPC Zhejiang Provincial Committee on June 30, 1955, on rectifying mutual benefit policies in agricultural cooperatives, addressed to subordinate bodies and reported to the Central Committee and the Shanghai Bureau.