Letter on Issues Including the Meeting of Some Provincial Party Secretaries
(December 30, 1955)

Comrades Zhou, Liu, Chen, and Peng:

The editorial [2] is very well written. Comrade Chen Boda [3] has suggested a few minor revisions; please consider them as you see fit.

I have invited Comrades Chen Yi and Ke Qingshi [4] to come here first to hold preliminary consultations regarding the preparations for the meeting scheduled for January 5. How is Comrade Chen Yun’s health? I wonder whether he will be able to come here by January 4. If he has not yet recovered, there is no need for him to attend. Please inform Comrades Tan Zhenlin and Liao Luyan [5] to arrive here either on the 3rd or the 4th.

Please ask Comrade Yang Shangkun [6] to notify the provincial party secretaries of Liaoning, Shanxi, Gansu, Shaanxi, Sichuan [7], the five provinces of East China, and the six provinces of Central-South China by telephone that they should reach Hangzhou by January 4 in preparation for the meeting to be held on the 5th.

[1]
The meeting is expected to last two to three days, during which we will discuss additions and amendments to the Seventeen Articles. With the exception of Anhui, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, and Fujian, whose officials can travel by train or car, arrangements should be made to provide air transport for all other participants where feasible.

A preface [1] written for the book “The Socialist Upsurge in China’s Countryside” has been prepared. Please review it to determine whether it is suitable for publication. Should any revisions be necessary, please inform Comrade Tian Jiaying [2].

Respectfully submitted,

Mao Zedong

December 30

[1]

--- Notes

Zhou refers to Zhou Enlai. Liu refers to Liu Shaoqi. Chen refers to Chen Yun, who at that time served as a Secretary of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee and Vice Premier of the State Council. Peng refers to Peng Zhen, who at that time was an alternate member of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee and Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress.
[2]
Refers to the editorial “Strive for the Comprehensive Early Completion and Overfulfillment of the Five-Year Plan” that the People’s Daily was preparing to publish on New Year’s Day 1956.
[3]
Chen Boda, who at that time was Deputy Minister of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee and Mao Zedong’s secretary.
[4]
Chen Yi, who at that time was a Vice Premier of the State Council. Ke Qingshi, who at that time was Secretary of the Shanghai Bureau of the CPC Central Committee.
[5]
Tan Zhenlin, who at that time was Deputy Secretary-General of the CPC Central Committee and Director of the Second Office of the Secretariat. Liao Luyan, who at that time was Deputy Minister of the CPC Central Committee’s Department for Rural Work and Minister of Agriculture.
[6]
Yang Shangkun, who at that time was Deputy Secretary-General of the CPC Central Committee and Director of the General Office of the CPC Central Committee.


Refers to the preface written by Mao Zedong on December 27, 1955, for the book “The Socialist Upsurge in China’s Countryside.”
[2]
Tian Jiaying, who at that time served as Mao Zedong’s secretary and Deputy Director of the Office of the President of the People’s Republic of China.