To Zhang Naiqi’s [1] Letter: Comments and Reply (October–November 1955)

I
Liu, Zhou, Chen, Deng, and Peng Zhen [2] to read, then return to Mao.
Zhang Naiqi’s letter. [3]

Mao Zedong
October 19

Lu Dingyi and Chen Boda [4] to read, then return to Mao.
Published based on the manuscript.

II
The main purpose of this letter lies in this paragraph, which means that we have imposed too many rules and restrictions on the bourgeoisie. [5]

III
Zhou, Chen, Peng Zhen, Li Weihan, and Xu Bing [6] to read, then return to Mao.

4
Zhang Naiqi’s letter [7] is worth reading.
Published based on Mao Zedong’s manuscript.

IV
Minister Naiqi:
Both of your letters have been received and read. Thank you for informing me of these circumstances and your opinions. One-sided views among cadres will always exist; the issue is to properly help them learn the method of seeking truth from facts and conducting comprehensive analysis. I have not yet had time to read the attached materials [8]; I will return them after reading.
Best wishes!

Mao Zedong
November 1, 1955
Published based on the manuscript.
Included in Selected Letters of Mao Zedong.

Notes
[1] Zhang Naiqi, then Vice Chairman of the China Democratic National Construction Association and Minister of Grain.
[2] Liu refers to Liu Shaoqi. Zhou refers to Zhou Enlai. Chen refers to Chen Yun, then Secretary of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee and Vice Premier of the State Council. Deng refers to Deng Xiaoping, then Secretary-General of the CPC Central Committee and Vice Premier of the State Council. Peng Zhen, then Alternate Secretary of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee and Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress.
[3] Refers to Zhang Naiqi’s letter to Mao Zedong dated October 18, 1955. The letter discussed his reflections on studying Mao Zedong’s article On the Question of Agricultural Cooperation.
[4] Lu Dingyi, then Minister of the Propaganda Department of the CPC Central Committee. Chen Boda, then Deputy Minister of the Propaganda Department of the CPC Central Committee.
[5] This comment was directed at the final paragraph of Zhang Naiqi’s letter to Mao Zedong dated October 18, 1955. The letter stated: “Finally, I would like to offer a suggestion: We should call on those engaged in propaganda and education work to study some basic knowledge of Pavlov, so that they may find scientific grounds for ‘being well-intentioned toward others’ and ‘patiently guiding,’ thereby reducing rigid rules and restrictions. At the same time, this can help them correctly distinguish the boundaries between materialism and idealism, and better grasp the principles of dialectics.”
[6] Zhou refers to Zhou Enlai. Chen refers to Chen Yun. Li Weihan, then Minister of the United Front Work Department of the CPC Central Committee. Xu Bing, then Deputy Minister of the United Front Work Department of the CPC Central Committee.
[7] Refers to Zhang Naiqi’s letter to Mao Zedong dated October 27, 1955. The letter stated that the earlier report he had conveyed to Mao from the Zhengzhou branch of the China Democratic National Construction Association, claiming that 100 percent of local private factories had violated the law, was inaccurate. This was due to the writer’s and signatory’s insufficient dedication to the cause of socialist transformation and their unclear distinction between lawful and unlawful acts. The letter also noted that many people at the local level were arbitrarily making laws, imposing demands on the industrial and commercial sectors that were even higher than those placed on state organs and state enterprises. If measured by these demands, even the Ministry of Grain would be in violation of the law.
[8] Refers to the materials attached to Zhang Naiqi’s letter to Mao Zedong dated October 27, 1955, including a special report on the manifestations of dogmatism within democratic parties.