I have always maintained that the army must practice hard struggle and set an exemplary standard.
At a meeting held here in 1949, one of our generals proposed raising soldiers’ pay, and many comrades agreed; I, however, opposed it. He cited the example of capitalists eating from five different bowls, while PLA troops subsisted on saltwater with a bit of pickled cabbage, arguing that such a disparity was unacceptable. I replied that this very difference was precisely what was commendable: you may have five bowls, but we eat pickled cabbage. It is precisely in that simple fare that political principles are forged, and that exemplary conduct emerges. The reason the People’s Liberation Army has won the people’s hearts lies in that very pickled cabbage—though other factors certainly play a role as well. Today, the troops’ meals have improved and are no longer limited to pickled cabbage alone. Nevertheless, the fundamental principle remains our commitment to hard struggle, which constitutes the very essence of our political character.

In Jinzhou, apples abound. During the Liaoxi Campaign, it was autumn, and the local households were laden with apples. Yet not a single soldier dared to take even one. When I read about this incident, I was deeply moved. On this matter, the soldiers consciously regarded refraining from taking the apples as noble, whereas helping themselves would have been base—after all, they belonged to the people. Our discipline rests upon this kind of self-awareness, a result of the Party’s leadership and education. Human beings need to possess a certain spirit, and the proletarian revolutionary spirit springs forth from just such convictions. Could anyone really have starved to death for refusing a single apple? Of course not; there was millet and pickled cabbage to sustain us. When necessary, those of you present should be prepared to live in makeshift shelters. During the Long March, our troops endured without any shelter at all; if we now have shelters, why should we hesitate to use them? At these recent military meetings, the officers and men have spoken with great fervor, expressing their willingness to practice self-discipline and economize. If the military can do this, then everyone else ought all the more to embrace hard struggle. Otherwise, the military will hold us accountable. Among us here are both civil and military personnel; let us, by setting a military example, inspire the civilian sector to follow suit. The People’s Liberation Army is an excellent force, and I have always cherished it.

Printed from the verbatim record of the speech preserved in the Central Archives of the CPC.
Note [1]: This is an excerpt from Mao Zedong’s address at the Second Plenary Session of the Eighth Central Committee of the CPC.