Commentary on Deng Zihui’s Report Concerning the Trial of District Abolition and Township Merging (December 21, 1956) Comrades Zhenlin and Shangkun: Please have the Secretariat discuss this document. If all agree, it should be forwarded to localities for imitation. Mao Zedong December 21 Based on the manuscript copy.

Notes [ ] Deng Zihui was then Minister of the CPC Central Committee’s Department of Rural Work and Vice Premier of the State Council.

[2] Zhenlin refers to Tan Zhenlin, who at the time served as a Secretary of the CPC Central Committee Secretariat. Shangkun refers to Yang Shangkun, who was then an Alternate Secretary of the CPC Central Committee Secretariat and Director of the Central Office.

[3] This refers to Deng Zihui’s report dated December 18, 1956, addressed to Deng Xiaoping for transmission to the Central Committee, concerning the trial of district abolition and township merging in Baitu District, Longyan County, Fujian Province. The report states that in May of this year, when the Longyan County Party Committee carried out district and township mergers, Baitu District was abolished and merged into Fucheng District (a large district formed by combining five smaller sub-districts). The original seven townships were consolidated into three, and the more capable of the former township cadres were transferred to work at the county or district level. As a result, the administrative areas of the townships became larger, their tasks heavier, yet their cadre strength was weakened; township cadres were constantly occupied with routine affairs and unable to go deeply among the masses. In response to this situation, a trial of district abolition and township merging was conducted in Baitu in November of this year: the three townships were merged into one, the principal cadres formerly working at the district level were reassigned back to the township, and the twelve cadres from the original three townships were combined under a single organizational structure designated as a “township,” which in practice functioned as a district, staffed with relatively strong cadres capable of operating independently. Following this reorganization, general feedback was positive, indicating that it helped reduce administrative layers, stimulate township initiative, and strengthen township leadership.

[4] On December 28, 1956, the Central Committee transmitted Deng Zihui’s report, accompanied by a commentary stating that the Central Committee regarded the experience of district abolition and township merging in Baitu District, Longyan County, as commendable and suitable for reference by other localities. However, no uniform national policy on district abolition and township merging could yet be formulated. Localities were instructed to make their own decisions—whether to abolish districts entirely, mostly, or only in part, and whether to merge townships—based on their specific circumstances and practical experience, as well as on the appropriate timing for such measures. Where districts were abolished and townships merged, local authorities were to ensure adequate staffing with capable cadres commensurate with the size of the new township units and to pay close attention to summarizing and drawing lessons from the experience.