Comments on the Investigation of Problems at the Alliance Agricultural Cooperative in Shangzhuang Township, Zhuoxian County, Hebei Province
(February 24, 1957)

To Comrade Ma Guorui of the Hebei Provincial Committee:
Is what is stated in this document accurate? What are the underlying causes? Please dispatch someone to Shangzhuang Township, Zhuoxian County, to conduct a thorough investigation and report the findings to me without delay!
Mao Zedong
February 24th
Chuan

Refers to Mo Yuping’s report on the 1956 production situation of the Alliance Agricultural Production Cooperative in Shangzhuang Township, Zhuoxian County, Hebei Province, along with his recommendations for rectifying the cooperative. Mo Yuping was then Deputy Director of the Metal Recycling Administration under the Ministry of Metallurgical Industry and was studying at the Central Party School for Senior Officials. He wrote this report during his winter vacation while returning home to visit relatives. The report notes that farmers’ morale is low, with members reluctant to work and unenthusiastic about manure accumulation. Although the 1956 disaster was comparable to the previous year, crop yields declined sharply, leading to a widespread drop in farmers’ incomes. In some areas, there were instances of livestock being slaughtered and farm carts and animals being forcibly taken back home. The report attributes the severe yield reductions of 1956 to man-made disasters—namely, subjectivism, coercive orders, and poor organizational management. The main factors included excessively high production targets; the hasty and indiscriminate promotion of new technologies; rough farming practices resulting in considerable wasteland; careless harvesting that led to grain being discarded and wasted in the fields; and poorly managed sideline enterprises. The report also conveys the views of cooperative members regarding the cooperative leadership and the Party branch, criticizing the leadership for forcing farmers to join the cooperative and make investments, for its undemocratic style, lack of financial transparency, unfairness in handling affairs, insufficient concern for members, factionalism among cadres, and the Party branch’s tendency to monopolize decision-making within the cooperative. As a result, members’ thoughts were extremely confused, and if left unchecked, the cooperative faced the danger of collapse.
[2]
Ma Guorui was, at the time, Secretary of the Secretariat of the CPC Hebei Provincial Committee.