Instructions on the Rectification Campaign and on Leading Party and Government Cadres Participating in Labor
(April 27, 1957)
To the Party Committees of all Provinces (Municipalities) and Autonomous Regions, as well as to the Central-Level Ministries and Commissions and their Party Groups:
At present, a nationwide open discussion is underway on the important issue of correctly handling contradictions among the people. This discussion may continue for several months. The Party’s directive on the rectification campaign⑴ will be issued within the next few days; it will take the correct handling of intra‑popular contradictions as its central theme, promote sound ideological and work styles, and rectify the erroneous tendencies of subjectivism, bureaucratism, and sectarianism. Another Party notice will also be released shortly. This notice encourages leading party and government cadres at the county, district, and township levels—those who are physically able—to set aside a portion of each year to go down to the fields and engage in production, performing a small amount of manual labor. Similarly, leading party, government, and military cadres at or above the county level (not ordinary cadres) who are capable of working should also do so, dedicating part of every year to going to the fields, factories, mines, construction sites, or other workplaces to carry out, alongside workers and peasants, a modest amount of physical labor that they can manage—even if only a very little. In this way, the Party will become closely integrated with the masses, and subjectivism, bureaucratism, and elitist attitudes can be greatly reduced, bringing about a fresh new look. Furthermore, please note that you should convene separate meetings to analyze and study the specific contradictions existing between the Party and: (1) workers; (2) peasants; (3) students; (4) PLA soldiers; (5) intellectuals; (6) democratic parties; and (7) ethnic minorities. Through such analysis, you should gain a clear understanding, moving from blindness to consciousness, so as to be able to persuasively guide both cadres and the masses. We are now forwarding to you one document from the Hubei Provincial Party Committee concerning intra‑popular contradictions in rural areas⑴ for your reading and reference. Both this document and the telegram dated April 19⑶ should be circulated to county-level committees, regimental party organizations in the military, and party committees of urban factories and schools.
The Central Committee
April 27, 1957
[1] Refers to the CPC Central Committee’s directive of April 27, 1957, on the rectification campaign. This directive was published in the People’s Daily on May 1 of the same year.
[2] Refers to the CPC Central Committee’s directive of May 10, 1957, regarding the participation of leaders at all levels in manual labor. This directive was published in the People’s Daily on May 15 of the same year.

Instructions on the Rectification Campaign and on Leading Party and Government Cadres Participating in Labor
On April 27, 1957, the CPC Central Committee issued the “Directive on the Rectification Campaign,” calling on the entire Party to take Mao Zedong’s “On the Correct Handling of Contradictions Among the People” and his “Speech at the National Working Conference of the Communist Party of China” as guidance, and to launch once again a widespread, in‑depth rectification campaign against bureaucracy, sectarianism, and subjectivism. Pictured is a relevant report from the People’s Daily.