INTERJECTIONS AT CONFERENCE OF PROVINCIAL AND
MUNICIPAL COMMITTEE SECRETARIES (COLLECTED)
(January 1957)
1. The Problem of Ideological Struggle
Since the latter part of last year, there has been a trend toward
right opportunism, and there has been a counter-current of anti-socialism
within and without the party.
The bad social customs must be eradicated. Eradication requires
persuasive power. A few reproachful remarks and rudeness would make the
situation worse.
At the National People's Congress in May and the People's Consulta
tive Conference in June there will be many strange arguments. Problems in
volved include law codification, the plight of the peasants, and shortage of
meat. The crucial point is whether socialism has its superiority. All
delegates at these two conferences should participate in the debate. Every
one of them should prepare an analytical statement.
The ideological struggle with the petty bourgeoisie and the rich
middle peasants will have to continue for several years.
The rich middle
peasants are very influential and powerful. We should take note of this
fact.
\
If we attend only to administrative work and overlook ideological
work, there is bound to be trouble.
Every province needs one or two Marxists or Lu Hsuns. You ought to
write articles. All of you who are below 60 should write.
Every province should train theorists. We are training actors and
actresses and painters but not theorists. This is a deficiency of the
system. You rely upon the central government but the central goveimment
has never prohibited you from doing anything on your own.
.4.
ff_ .

2. The Problem of Trouble-Making
Should we be afraid of trouble-making? I think we should not. What
ever amount of trouble there may be should not scare us. There is trouble
every year and there will be more trouble in the years to come. What's the
use of being afraid? Only by exposing contradictions can problems be solved.
Society is a unity of opposites. Professors and students always have con
tradictions and disputes with us. After 20 years when the old have died,
the new will still have problems. Forty years after the Soviet Revolution
there is still trouble. In factories about 30 percent of the workers were
formerly landlords, rich peasants and capitalists. At universities about
80 percent of the students come from the families of landlords, rich peasants
and capitalists. We are not afraid of their creating trouble, even coming to
Peking to create trouble. We should take positive, not negative, attitude
toward them. When Egro returned to Budapest from Yugoslavia, he reprimanded
the masses. He lost his prestige and dignity and was driven off the platform.
If you are prepared for any major untoward incident, probably none will
happen. If anything should happen, take a positive attitude and correct
measures to win over or split up the audience. Capable men would create a
situation out of the turmoil in Poznan and Hungary.
We wish a peaceful world but we must put ourselves in the worst posi
tion and be prepared for major disasters. We came from Yenan and must be
prepared to return there. We had not seen Mei Lan-fang in the past but
during the last seven years we have seen him off and on. In the eighth year
we should be prepared to return to Yenan because of the atomic bomb, a
possible world war, blunders committed and the Hungarian incident. If in
our thinking we are prepared for the worst, we need not have fear. If we
are unprepared, we are bound to regret it. The Seventh National Party
Congress proposed a 17th article on "a thousand li of wasteland." With a
population of 600 million China need not be afraid of any untoward incident.
It is going to rain. Mother wants to get married again. Such happenings
are inevitable.
Labor strikes, student strikes, petitions.... Some are provided for
in the constitution while others are not prohibited. While we should not
encourage these activities, we should let them take place, whether the
demands are rational or not. If the demands are rational, we should take
remedial measures. If they are not rational, then we should explain. If
professors want to air their views, let them do so. Exposing contradictions
may lead to settlement of problems; they should not be suppressed. But if
we tolerate contradictions, we shall be vanquished.
The petty bourgeoisie wants to establish a dictatorship. It attempts
to overthrow you so that it can set up its dictatorship. Any attempt to
seize Hungary needs a full ten or 20 years. Mass meetings, lecture meetings
and debating meetings are to be held in various provinces. Wide discussion
is to be held to see who is to emerge victorious. However, preparations
must be made beforehand. At small meetings your opponents will speak and
act arrogantly, but they may be cowered at big rallies. If they want a

major debate in the democratic way, let them have it. Let them say all they
want to. If they don't, it won't do you any good. If they do, you can
judge whether they are right or wrong. When society disintegrates, we
should try to win people to our side. If the people think they are wrong,
then they are isolated.
Don't fear trouble-making. The bigger and longer the trouble-making,
the better. A series of trouble-making occurrences will bring results —
bring out right and wrong. However serious trouble-making may be, don't be
afraid. The more you are afraid, the more the demons will be after you. At
the same time, don't panic. It is no good to panic at any time.
Nationwide trouble is not likely to occur. Wherever there are boils
or germs, there will be bursts. In a big province there may be 50,000
troubles a year, in a medium-size province 30,000 and in a small province
10,000. Be prepared for trouble-making and make a reckoning at the end of
the year. If the figures given above are not reached, the work must be con
sidered to have been done fairly well.
Secretaries of district and county committees should hold meetings to
discuss and make preparations for trouble-making. County secretaries and
chiefs and others in higher positions should be mentally prepared. Should
there be peace all the time and we grow passive and timid, once trouble
starts, we would be put in a passive position. Our thinking would be
paralyzed and then we would have to accede to all demands.
Without fighting many problems cannot be solved. Contradictions can
be settled only through struggle. The Mohammedans at XX were put under
restrictions regarding the slaughter of cattle. They roughed up the cadres
and the problem was solved. Some clashes are rational while others are
irrational. Even irrational moves are good. Grievances should be aired.
How should we dispose of renegades? Should we dismiss them summarily?
Personally I feel we should not dismiss them in a hurry nor should we kill
them (except counterrevolutionary criminals). We should utilize their labor,
use them for political instruction, and deprive them of their political
capital. A simple way of disposal is to refuse to accept them as ideologi
cal rivals.
Regarding people like Hsiao Chun [5618 6511] and Ting Ling [0002 3781],
execution, imprisonment or control would be ineffective. What we should do
is to find their faults and disgrace them in society.
Party members who make trouble in schools should be subject to
thorough criticism and then expelled from the party. We should not hurriedly
expel them from the party or the school.
The survey of the coii?)onents of the workers in Shensi was well done.
In Hungary no such survey was done and so even when trouble broke out, the
authorities were ignorant of the causes behind it. This should be taken as

a lesson and a thorough investigation of components of workers should be
made, ascertaining the numbers of dependables, neutrals and problematic
ones. According to a recent survey, only about 25 percent are dependables.
We should stress the importance of workers. After three five-year plans,
the situation may have changed. It will take 20 years to change the
components of the college student body. We cannot make any radical change
now even if we put many workers and peasants in college.
At the 20th Soviet Congress Stalin was downgraded. Very neatly done.
But now Stalinism has been revived. What they did first was sincere but
what they did recently was not so. They struck down imperialism with one
blow. They struck down socialism with several blows. They denounced Poznan
and Hungary but they would not admit that their moves were not sincere.
3. The Philosophical Problem
Whoever can analyze understands dialectics. Lenin said, "Dialectics
may be summed up as a theory of the unity of opposites. By so doing, the
kernel of dialectics is grasped, but it still needs explanation and develop
ment." He added, "The unity of opposites (uniformity, oneness, balance) is
conditional, temporary, transient, relative and mutually exclusive. The
struggle of opposites is absolute just as development and movement are
absolute." Balance is temporary and subject to continuous destruction —
lasting for a few days or a few months. Balance soon becomes imbalance.
Unity means uniformity, oneness and unanimity. If there is a divergence of
views, discussion at a meeting will result in unanimity. But two months
later, new problems will arise and another meeting must be held. Practi
cality and subjectivism are opposites of unity. Subjectivism always exists,
even 10,000 years from now.
Materialism and idealism are opposites of unity. Dialectics and
metaphysics are opposites of unity. There is perpetual struggle in
philosophy. Whoever talks about philosophy has to struggle. Some people
talk only about onesided philosophy. When they talk about the blooming of
a hundred flowers, they overlook weeding of poisonous weeds. We admit that
socialism has its opposites. Thus Stalin had his metaphysics and subjectivism.
The Soviet Union does not recognize opposites and does not permit them in law.
But many errors are hidden under socialism.
Lenin contended that materialism alone cannot solve problems, and
that the way to solve problems is to struggle against idealism. If we want
to struggle against idealism, we have to study it. The three components of
Marxism were derived through a study of the struggle against capitalism.
Philosophy consists of a struggle between two opposites: Cosmology
is a struggle between materialism and idealism; methodology is a struggle
between dialectics and metaphysics. We and Chiang Kai-shek are opposites of
unity. We and the democratic personages are also opposites of unity. All
things have contradictions which may be obliquely reconciled. Stalin made

mistakes in dialectics. "Negation of negations." The October Revolution
negated capitalism but it refused to admit that socialism may be negated
too. We believe that the world is both stable and unstable. Even socialism
may cease to exist one day. If anyone says that the superstructure of
society won't be extinct, that kind of talk is not Marxism but smacks of
religion.
4. The Problem of the Villages
A bounteous harvest is very important. Last year the Soviet Union
had a bounteous harvest and it was easy to do a lot of things. With last
year's experience we should try to reap a bounteous harvest this year. If
we all work hard to get it it will be of great significance to the world
communist movement. This will be an unprecedented event in the socialist
movement. In history the socialist cooperative movement resulted in decreased
production. Our increase in production in 1956 was not much. We should
strive for a major increase in 1957.
One of our objectives is to increase the income of cooperative members
90 percent. We shall see if we can do this in three or four years. Hupeh
has had a bounteous harvest, but still about 15 percent of its cooperative
members had no increase in income. We should explain to party members,
public functionaries, servicemen and civilians that cooperativization has
a history of only one to one and one-half years. We have participated in
the revolutionary movement for practically our entire lives and still we
made mistakes. Participants in the cooperative movement have carried on
for only over one year. How could they make no mistakes? In three years'
time it is possible that 90 percent of the cooperative members will have
higher incomes.
About 15 percent of the peasants have a hard life. It is not right
to generalize that the peasants are leading a hard life when only 10 to 15
percent of them are doing so. There should be an accurate analysis. When
we say that the peasants are leading a hard life, actually this means that
the income of the rich middle-class peasants has decreased whereas a portion
of the old cadres have become rich. It reflects the thinking of the land
lords, rich peasants and rich middle-class peasants.
Article 40 was discussed at least year's National Party Congress. It
should be publicized. We should strive to reach the target production of
400, 500 and 800 catties per mou a year ahead of schedule and complete the
12-year plan in 11 years.
The beginning is always difficult. There are three stages for every
performance. We completed the first stage this year. We need to carry out
three five-year plans to reach our goal.
Since ancient times, all progressive plans have incurred criticism in
the beginning. The theory of evolution, Marx, Sun Yat-sen, and the Communist

Party have all incurred criticism. Even 10,000 years hence progressive
things will still incur criticism.
So long as one cooperative shows its superior quality, it can refute
all groundless criticism. We can use it for propaganda.
5. Economic Problems
Every province has established its own chemical fertilizer plant.
We should pay attention to foodgrain production. It will be dis
astrous if we don t. When we have food, we have everything. If there is
food to eat even during a labor strike or a student strike, no great
occur. Oils and pork are the province of cooperatives,
r?
involved in it. Foodgrains collected are similarly
andled (except xn areas of economic products). The state handles unified
team^^h Ji
marketing in the rural area. Cooperatives and
teams handle it themselves.
Two years hence there should be no contending with the people for
SlfLr I
P^'^'^hase grain. It needs only to handle
County irHuneh U®
unified marketing. This is being done in Hsiao-kan
uounty in Hupeh province.
trlr^«
should be established in new industrial and mining dis
tricts to solve the problems of grain, oils, meat, and vegetables.
We need big [industrial] plants, but not too many. We need small
smSl%rMa®°r'i?^®i®°”®
everything else they grow from
orlnpini
f'
should be established in accordance with the
Lereas
materials and marketing possibilities
whereas the number of big plants should depend upon the resources of the
6. The Problem of Schools
Agriculture should be added to the curriculum of junior-middle schools.
municipal committees should commission cadres to
cultural Ld LuLtlOMl
">a schools as wall as other
in educSrche^JJlLntr^'"'^^^'
should take part
everv vpar^
should hold a students congress and a teachers congress
be dpvnt-pri'h
preparations should be made beforehand. One day should
arra^nr
discussion and problem solving No
ye been made for work on the students. Every year there

should be one or two meetings and one or two talks. Try to discover problems.
Don't wait for problems to rise and then try to cope with them. Get alter
them now. Plants, cooperatives stores and schools are the units concerned.
7. The Problem of Literature and Art
There is advantage in having "a hundred schools contend,' for then
all evil elements will be exposed. All provinces should pay attention to
this: Let one person take command over major and far advanced problems.
Organize some people to write articles, one article per month, to suppress
evil influences.
Vaccination creates bodily resistance to diseases (causing the body
to develop antibodies). Why can't we inject vaccines in literature and art.
The Department of Propaganda should hold one or two press conferences
in one or two months. It would be all right to hold one press con erence in
two months. Right now there is not one press conference in one year.
8. The Problem of Cadres
Cadres have been promoted to higher positions, but they don t have
much to do in these positions. We have blundered in this regar . e now
permit them to go to the countryside but not to be promoted to higher positions. The fewer people in leadership positions the better.
ey o no ing
but write articles and talk on the phone.
The state is the vehicle for class struggle. Only a
of people are required to run the state. Do we need as many as
mi ion
people to run the state? How can we promote university professors.
Shouldn't they be university professors until their hair is snow wh te.
How can we promote workers and peasants? Shouldn t they e wor ers an
peasants until their hair is snow white? Promotion to a higher position
creates a problem. Once anyone dies, we have to appoint someone else to
succeed him.
Ultra democracy and ultra equality won't work. Yen Yuan [7346 8673]
automatically became a second—rank sas^*
The numbers of cadres from elsewhere and those local-bora should be
adjusted. Of members of the county committee, half should be from elsewhere
and half local-born.
9. The Problem of Leadership
Members of the Party Central Committee, secretaries of provincial
committees and ministers should pay a visit to plants and v
ages
year so as to familiarize themselves with the conditions there and not to
become another Rakosi.

Secretaries of provincial committees and ministers have seen so much
of their various departments that they are blind to what they see. They
should go instead to the plants and cooperatives.
Real knowledge comes from the plants, cooperatives, stores, and
schools. The higher you go, the less knowledge you get. If you want to
solve problems, you have first to go down and secondly to summon people to
report to you. Peking is not a good place to acquire knowledge. By compari
son the province is better for this purpose. You must go down. Ministers
of industries should go down to the plants and heads of rural departments
cf. SWS'.375
should go to the rural areas.
Members of the Party Central Committee, ministers and secretaries
of provincial committees should each take some time to visit the rural areas
and study the problems there. It takes only two months to get a clear
picture of a county or a township. If for two months they don't read tele
grams they still can read and understand them when they pick them up again.
But I have been told that they don't go to the rural areas any more on the
excuse that there is too much office work to do.
The secretary of a provincial committee can concurrently be the
secretary of a county or municipal committee. The incumbent may be demoted
to be second secretary. Secretaries of provincial, area and county com
mittees can thus all go down to the countryside. Secretaries of municipal
committees can concurrently be plant managers, school principals and secre
taries of party committees. In this manner, they can go deep into reality
and acquire knowledge.
There should be two meetings of district party committees secretaries
so that they are compelled to study various problems.
The wind that I have broken does not smell good. It has opposites
too — part of it smells good but part of it bad (including Peking). You
have to smell to know.
All provinces should take note of this fact: Cities depend upon the
working class, villages upon poor peasants, and schools upon leftists — all
have to have something to depend upon.