Letter to Huang Yanpei
(November 17, 1955)


Mr. Ren Zhi:
I have received your letter from the hospital. I am very pleased to learn that you have fully recovered. I still urge you to take good care of yourself and continue to restore your health. The work of transforming the industrial and commercial circles has made progress, which is gratifying. However, it is necessary to strengthen education so that it can be widely disseminated among all sectors of industry and commerce in large, medium, and small cities. It appears that the method of self-criticism can indeed be adopted within the industrial and commercial community, and the experience discussed at this recent meeting of the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce can be further promoted. Since I was traveling, I was unable to reply earlier.Sincerely,
Mao Zedong
November 17, 1955
[1]
Refers to a letter dated November 5, 1955, written by Huang Yanpei from Beijing Hospital to Mao Zedong. In the letter, he reported that he had basically recovered after undergoing prostate surgery, and added: “Due to my hospitalization, I regretfully did not have the opportunity to personally receive the Chairman’s instructions at the Huairen Hall; however, I have learned the gist of them through subsequent reports. I believe that the abundant harvest across the vast majority of regions nationwide should not be regarded as a gift from ‘Heaven’ in 1955, but rather as the result of the joint efforts of the farmers and their leaders. Cooperative organizations, technological improvements, and, above all, the uniformly high level of enthusiasm prevailing—these are matters of ‘man,’ not ‘Heaven.’ When agricultural production increases, light industry will naturally follow suit. Only when production surges and people are filled with such heightened enthusiasm is it possible to further encourage capitalist industry and commerce to undergo socialist transformation.”
[2]
Refers to the meeting of the Executive Committee of the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce held from November 1 to 21, 1955. The meeting discussed Mao Zedong’s speech delivered on October 29 at the symposium on the socialist transformation of capitalist industry and commerce, as well as the reports on the same subject presented by Vice Premiers Chen Yun and Chen Yi of the State Council.