(The June 20, 1956 *People's Daily* editorial "Oppose Both Conservatism and Impetuousness" was written by people from the old Central Propaganda Department under the orders of Liu Shaoqi, and was reviewed and published by Liu Shaoqi and Lu Dingyi. Later, Chairman Mao severely criticized this black editorial.)

The June 20 editorial has an error of principle: opposing both conservative tendencies and impetuous sentiments. This editorial, less than half a year after the anti-rightist campaign began, already considers the achievements of the anti-rightist campaign to be very great, overestimating them. One cannot say the editorial is completely devoid of Marxism-Leninism, but what comes after the "but" is anti-Marxist-Leninist. The editorial's formulation is the same as Wei Zhongxian's method, distinguishing between gentlemen and villains. It quotes me by chopping off the head and tail, quoting only the part about opposing the "left." This is wrong. Not using the full passage is like Qin Qiong buying a horse, cutting off the head and tail to take the middle section; the method is one-sided. The front part talks about the minority, and the back part talks about the majority. In form it opposes both sides, but in reality it opposes the "left."