(June 6, 1957)
To the Shanghai Bureau, the provincial and municipal Party committees, and the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Party Committee:
Comrade Mao Zedong’s two speeches—one delivered on February 27 at the Supreme State Council Meeting, and the other given in March at the Propaganda Conference—are scheduled to be published in the newspapers around June 15. All organs at the provincial and municipal levels, institutions of higher learning, and organs at the prefectural and city levels are hereby instructed to intensify their rectification campaign conducted through the methods of “large-scale airing of views” and “big-character posters.” Drawing on Beijing’s experience, posting big-character posters within government organs and universities serves three purposes: first, it exposes bureaucratic practices and other errors and shortcomings; second, it reveals the true nature of certain individuals harboring reactionary or erroneous ideas; and third, it provides an opportunity for Party members, Youth League members, and the middle-of-the-road masses to engage in self-criticism by criticizing both erroneous and reactionary viewpoints. Therefore, the benefits far outweigh the drawbacks, and there is absolutely no need to fear this approach. The practice of using big-character posters has been a tradition dating back to the Yan’an Rectification Movement; it is not something new. If the posting of such posters were to be prohibited, we would find ourselves in a passive position. However, reports about the posting of big-character posters in government offices and schools should not appear in the press, so as not to influence secondary schools and factories. (Individual non-Party newspapers that do publish such reports may be left unchallenged.) Whether or not big-character posters will be permitted during the rectification campaigns in secondary schools and factories remains to be decided at a later date. As for the democratic parties and public figures engaging in “large-scale airing of views,” allowing both constructive criticism and all sorts of “monsters and demons” (i.e., destructive criticism) to come to light for separate handling would be highly beneficial. It is essential to focus on winning over the middle-of-the-road elements and uniting the left-wing forces, so that when the time is right, they can be mobilized to counter the rightists and reactionaries. This is a large-scale ideological and political struggle, one in which we must emerge victorious—and we have every condition to do so. The fact that some right-leaning elements within the Party and the Youth League have defected is, in fact, a very good thing; we must never regret their departure. For factories and secondary schools, there is no need to launch a full-fledged rectification campaign at this stage. Instead, cadres should actively go among the workers and students, improve their work style, broaden their social contacts, and deepen their ties with the masses. They should refrain from making rash promises or commitments and avoid creating disturbances, so that once the upper and middle levels have been properly rectified, resources can be freed up to tackle the lower levels next. The situation in Beijing has demonstrated that a considerable number of individuals holding reactionary and erroneous ideas have surfaced within the democratic parties, institutions of higher learning, and many government organs, enabling reactionaries to become more active. Nevertheless, these elements constitute only a small percentage of the total workforce in each unit—no more than 1 percent being truly reactionary, while over 90 percent fall into the categories of the middle-of-the-road or the left. I therefore urge you to take note of the composition of your respective units during this campaign, classifying personnel according to their ideological positions as left, middle, or right, in order to gain a clear understanding of the situation. With summer vacation approaching, college students in Beijing, Shanghai, and other localities will be returning home, and some of them may engage in various activities. You should seize the initiative and make appropriate preparations to respond effectively. Finally, I would like to emphasize one point: in all institutions of higher learning and government organs, any unreasonable matters that can be resolved immediately should be dealt with as quickly as possible, in order to win over the middle-of-the-road elements and isolate the rightists.


The Central Committee
June 6, 1957