Telegram from the Central Committee Approving the Wenzhou Prefectural Party Committee’s Interpretation of the Guiding Principles for Agricultural Collectivization (September 9, 1955) To the Shanghai Bureau, the Party Committees of All Provinces and Municipalities, and the Party Committees of the Autonomous Regions: The principle of “active leadership and steady progress,” as stipulated in the Central Committee’s Resolution on Developing Agricultural Production Cooperatives, is consistent with the principle of “comprehensive planning and strengthened leadership” put forward in Comrade Mao Zedong’s recent report on the issue of agricultural collectivization. The interpretations offered by the Wenzhou Prefectural Party Committee and the Zhejiang Provincial Party Committee on this matter are correct. We are now transmitting two documents from Zhejiang [1] to you. Should similar issues arise locally, please adopt this unified interpretation. The Central Committee, September 9, 1955, printed from Mao Zedong’s manuscript.

2. To be read by Liu, Zhu, Chen, Deng, and Bo Da [2]; to be dispatched by telegram by Shang Kun [3], with an additional copy as noted above. Printed on September 9 by Mao Zedong from his manuscript.

Notes [1] Refers to the Wenzhou Prefectural Party Committee’s request-report dated August 24, 1955, addressed to the Zhejiang Provincial Party Committee, concerning its interpretation of the guiding principles for agricultural collectivization, and to the Zhejiang Provincial Party Committee’s telegram of August 31, agreeing with the Wenzhou Prefectural Committee’s interpretation and forwarding it to the Central Committee, the Shanghai Bureau, and their respective subordinate organizations. The Wenzhou Prefectural Committee’s report states that, when disseminating the spirit of the provincial party committee’s rural work conference, certain cadres have separated the principle of “active leadership and steady progress,” as set forth in the Central Committee’s resolution on agricultural collectivization, from the principle of “comprehensive planning and strengthened leadership” presented in Comrade Mao Zedong’s report “On the Question of Agricultural Collectivization.” They have commonly explained that “active leadership and steady progress” applies only to the trial stage of cooperative development and is no longer appropriate in the current situation, with a new socialist mass movement on the horizon and during the period of rapid cooperative expansion; instead, the guiding principle now is “comprehensive planning and strengthened leadership.” After deliberation, the prefectural committee concluded that such a mechanical dichotomy—treating “active leadership and steady progress” and “comprehensive planning and strengthened leadership” as two distinct policies corresponding to different historical phases—is entirely erroneous. We hold that “active leadership and steady progress” constitutes the general policy for launching the mutual aid and cooperation movement and gradually carrying out the socialist transformation of agriculture; it has been correct in the past and remains so today. The principle of “comprehensive planning and strengthened leadership,” advanced in Chairman Mao’s report, is intended to ensure more effective and concrete implementation of the policy of “active leadership and steady progress” under the current new circumstances. Its essential spirit is precisely that of being both active and steady. The Zhejiang Provincial Party Committee’s telegram affirms that the Wenzhou Prefectural Committee’s interpretation of the guiding principles for agricultural collectivization is correct. Since this misunderstanding has already emerged among some cadres in the Wenzhou area, it may likewise arise among cadres in other parts of the province. If such erroneous interpretations are not promptly clarified, they could lead to ideological confusion and seriously impede the accurate transmission and faithful implementation of Chairman Mao’s instructions on the question of agricultural collectivization. Party committees at all levels must pay close attention to this matter. Like the Wenzhou Prefectural Committee, they should immediately convene serious meetings to thoroughly study the issue, establish a correct understanding of the guiding principles for the agricultural collectivization movement, and resolutely oppose the practice of injecting personal biases or making arbitrary interpretations when conveying directives from the Party Central Committee.

[ ] Refers to Liu Shaoqi, Zhu De, Chen Yun (then Secretary of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee and Vice Premier of the State Council), Deng Xiaoping (then Secretary-General of the CPC Central Committee and Vice Premier of the State Council), and Chen Boda (then Deputy Minister of the CPC Central Committee’s Department of Rural Work). [3] Refers to Yang Shangkun, then Deputy Secretary-General of the CPC Central Committee and Director of the Central Office.