Notes and Letters on the Editing of “The Socialist Upsurge in China’s Countryside” [1] (September–December 1955) I (1) Prepare a table of contents arranged by region, using the titles as they appear in each article rather than the general headings for each province or municipality in the original manuscript. (2) For several articles, Lu Yan [2] should ascertain the sources of the materials and indicate this information beneath the respective titles. (3) Proofread once and revise the text to make it more accessible to the general public. (4) Have a few preliminary proofs printed within a few days— at least one copy each for Mao, Tian, Qiao Mu, and Bo Da [3], and if possible, also one copy each for Liu, Zhou, and Deng Xiaoping [4]. (5) Strive to have four hundred sample copies printed by the end of the month or early next month. (6) Use the People’s Publishing House for printing; inform Shang Kun [ ] about this. Published according to Mao Zedong’s handwritten draft.

II Comrade Tian Jiaying: The final section is enclosed; please send it to the typesetting department. An article on collectivization in the Xingtai area, written by the secretary of the local Party committee, appeared in the People’s Daily in late August [ ], so please extract it and include it in the section pertaining to Hebei Province. In addition, please consult with Comrade Liao Lu Yan to review issues of the People’s Daily from January to September of this year to see whether there are any suitable (or even excellent) materials that could be used. Mao Zedong, September 24th. Published according to the handwritten draft.

III Comrade Tian Jiaying: Please have the printing house proceed according to these revisions. Both the provincial headings and the individual article titles should be corrected exactly as I have revised them in the table of contents. As for the rest, there is no need to submit it to me for review today. Quickly produce eight copies (including one for Comrade Chen Yun [7]), preferably delivering them to the respective comrades this afternoon or evening. You and Qiao Mu should each take half and carry out a thorough textual revision, making the titles more vivid; please inform Qiao Mu of this. Mao Zedong, September 27th, 4:00 p.m. Published according to the handwritten draft. Included in “Selected Letters of Mao Zedong.”

IV Returned to Tian Jiaying. All have reviewed it. Regarding the revisions, instruct the printing house to follow them. It begins on page 214, not page 204. Please resubmit for my review anything prior to page 214. The headings after page 214 have been further revised and differ somewhat from those amended in yesterday’s table of contents; please take note. Mao Zedong, September 27th.

V Returned to Tian Jiaying. Some minor revisions have been made to the titles and subheadings; please ensure these are incorporated into the final print run. Several articles lack the names of the publications or fail to specify the dates; such omissions should be verified and supplemented. Since the prefaces have already been revised, no further changes are needed in this particular copy. Mao Zedong, September 28th.

VI Comrade Tian Jiaying: Please proceed with printing according to the revised text. Mao Zedong, October 1st, 5:00 p.m. All pages up to and including page 505 have now been reviewed and are enclosed. There are two matters requiring your attention: (1) The table of contents must be corrected to reflect the revised titles of each article; (2) The revisions to the prefaces should be implemented in this very copy. The book (sample edition) is scheduled for release on October 4th, so please expedite the corrections and arrange for printing without delay. Published according to the handwritten draft.

VII Do not use quotation marks, because here “tumor” refers metaphorically to a malignant growth afflicting individuals, not directly to the cooperatives themselves. This has been deleted. [ ] Published according to Mao Zedong’s handwritten draft.

VIII Comrade Tian Jiaying: The majority of the proofs up to Jiangxi are enclosed; please immediately send them to be reset. Each province and municipality will have its own prefatory remarks placed at the beginning. The revised titles should be noted and corrected in the table of contents. Only a few of the prefaces require full typesetting; most can be set directly from the existing copy. Mao Zedong, December 15th, 6:00 a.m.

IX Comrade Tian Jiaying: I have reviewed it. Please proceed with typesetting immediately, correcting any errors based on this proof. There is no need to circulate it to other comrades, nor will I review it again. Mao Zedong, December 20th, 6:00 a.m. What about titling the book “The Direction for Five Hundred Million Peasants”? If we adopt this title, then the supplementary article entitled “The Direction for Five Hundred Million Peasants” should be placed as the first piece. Please make a decision accordingly. Published according to the handwritten draft.

[ ] Mao denotes Mao Zedong. Tian refers to Tian Jiaying, who was then Mao’s secretary and deputy director of the General Office of the President of the People’s Republic of China. Qiao Mu stands for Hu Qiaomu, who held the posts of Deputy Secretary-General of the CPC Central Committee and Mao’s secretary. Bo Da represents Chen Boda, who served as Deputy Head of the CPC Central Committee’s Rural Work Department and also as Mao’s secretary.

[ ] Liu refers to Liu Shaoqi. Zhou denotes Zhou Enlai. Xiao Ping is Deng Xiaoping, who at the time was Secretary-General of the CPC Central Committee and Vice Premier of the State Council.

[ ] Shang Kun designates Yang Shangkun, who served as Deputy Secretary-General of the CPC Central Committee and Director of the Central Office.

[ ] Refers to the article “It Is Entirely Possible to Run Agricultural Cooperatives Better and in Greater Numbers,” written by Li Jiping, Secretary of the CPC Xingtai Municipal Committee, which was published in the People’s Daily on September 4, 1955. This article was later not included in either “How to Run Agricultural Production Cooperatives” or “The Socialist Upsurge in China’s Countryside.”

[ ] In a letter dated October 1, 1955, Tian Jiaying informed Mao Zedong: “After midnight last night, I received a phone call from Comrade Liu Shaoqi, who offered two textual suggestions regarding the ‘Preface’: (1) In the penultimate line on page 2, concerning the phrase ‘as if this tumor were not swiftly excised,’ Comrade Liu advocated adding quotation marks around the word ‘tumor.’ (2) On page 4, in the fourth line from the bottom, regarding the sentence ‘this has prevented many comrades from paying attention to this issue,’ Comrade Liu suggested deleting the word ‘their.’ ” Mao’s preceding note addressed the first suggestion, while the subsequent note responded to the second.

--- Notes

Notes [1] Mao Zedong oversaw the editing of “The Socialist Upsurge in China’s Countryside” on two occasions: the first was in September 1955, when the book was initially titled “How to Run Agricultural Production Cooperatives”; the second took place in December 1955, involving an expanded selection and a change of title to “The Socialist Upsurge in China’s Countryside.” Items (I) through (VII) consist of notes and letters written by Mao during his September–October 1955 editing of “How to Run Agricultural Production Cooperatives,” while items (VIII) and (IX) are two letters penned by Mao in December 1955 when he was revising “The Socialist Upsurge in China’s Countryside.”


[2] Lu Yan refers to Liao Lu Yan, who at the time served as Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Deputy Head of the CPC Central Committee’s Rural Work Department.


[7] Chen Yun was then a member of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee and Vice Premier of the State Council.