Speech at the Conclusion of the Third Plenum of the Eighth Central Committee: Version I
(October 9, 1957)

Source: Kau & Leung, The Writings of Mao Zedong 1949-1976, Vol. II
Pages 696-712
============================================================

694 {/ MAO ZEDONG

rectification of the CPC in 1942-1944 in Yanan also. See text June 30, 1953, vol. I, note 9,
and text Aug. 12, 1953(1), vol. I, note 24.

92. Itis not clear from the text to which two characters Mao is referring here. From the
context we believe it may be the characters zhuyao, which translate as the term “primary
in relation to the stature of the contradiction between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie.

a specific mode of transformation.

—_


basically achieved. What remains to be done would be to focus on developing the forces of
production, on the one hand, and to deal with those remnants of the superstructure (ideology,
education, laws, etc.) that are yet partially inconsistent with the sovietized system, on the
other. In Mao’s view, this, joined with the “revisionist” idea that the primary contradiction
was the one between backward forces of production and an already advanced social system
(see note 16), would give rise to what is labeled as the wei shengchanli lun (“forces of
production above all theory”), which focuses only on development and expansion of the
forces of production, with little or no attention at all to continuing the struggle to transform
the relations of production. Mao himself believed that the stage of socialist transition is a
stage of revolution, not just a stage of peaceful, material expansion and development. In this
phase, Mao believed, the struggle is to be concentrated on the transformation of the relations
of production. Moreover, Mao tended to see the relations of production as part of the
economic base (see text Jan. 20, 1956, note 5; text Feb. 27, 1957, note 42: and text J uly 8,
1957[2], note 38). Thus he believed that, owing to the continued bourgeois influence in
society (and in the economic system) during the stage of socialist revolution and transition,
there was as yet an inconsistency (or contradiction) within the economic base itself that
needed to be struggled over. It was therefore not merely an issue of contradiction between
the superstructure and the base, but a twofold contradiction, one between the superstructure
and the base, and the other in the base itself.

What is revealed here is an early, preliminary adoption by Mao of a political-economic
position that he would work out in much greater detail in his 1959 and 1960 critical readings
of Stalinist political-economic theory (in texts of November 1959, and in text 1960 [RN]).

In many ways, then, this becomes a critical passage in our reading of the development
of Mao’s ideas and his strategy/theory of socioeconomic development. In the immediate
sense, it brings up an additional dimension of the anti-Rightist campaign of 1957, of which
this and the following document are important summations. Here Mao suggests that the
struggle against the Rightists in 1957 is not just a struggle over the criticisms and countercriticisms that were raised in the late spring and summer of that year, or over “democratic
demands” or even leadership, but also over basic understanding of the course of the socialist
revolution in China—what needs to be transformed, and how that entails an “antagonistic”
Struggle against bourgeois influences and revisionism (the retention and even restoration of
capitalism). It provides the socioeconomic dimension of the anti-Rightist campaign. In the
immediate range, it paves the way for the radical Leftist position that led into the Great Leap
Forward, in which Mao adopted the theoretical “principle” that the tremendous material
expansion of the forces of production is possible only on the premise of radical and
continuous transformation of the relations of production (thus the ““Fhree Red Flags,” the
program of setting up people’s communes, the backyard furnaces all over the country, etc.).
In the much longer range, this passage on the one hand forecasts Mao’s continuous
disagreement with Liu Shaoqi over the basic interpretation of the revolution and on
socioeconomic theory and strategy, which in turn takes shape as the “two-line struggle” that
leads into the Cultural Revolution. On the other hand, this passage forecasts Mao’s criticism
of the Soviet Union’s understanding of Marxist political-economic theory (both the Stalinist
view and the post-Stalinist Khrushchevian view), which also leads up to the Cultural
Revolution. Furthermore, at yet another level, this passage serves as a prism for what is
ultimately formulated as Mao’s theory of uninterrupted revolution—the theory that the
socialist transition 1s one of continuous, uninterrupted revolutionary (and not peaceful)
transformation of the relations of production as well as of the superstructure and social
system, not one of revolutionary processes punctuated by extended periods of consolidation
and peaceful coexistence of disparate socioeconomic formations (e.g., of socialist forms
together with capitalist forms). See also text June 15, 1953, vol. 1, source note.

This year the masses created a [new] revolutionary form. The masses’ struggle
is in the form of great contending, great blooming, great debating, and big-character
posters.+ The substance of our revolution has now found a very appropriate form.
This type of format could not have appeared before, because in the past we were
at war; then there were the Five Major Movements and the Three Great Transformations;5 it was impossible to generate a format of relaxed debate such as this.
Then, we were not permitted to have a year of relaxed debate, putting the facts [in
front of everybody] and reasoning [things out]; now it is possible. We have found
this form which fits the substance of the current struggle of the masses, which fits
the substance of the current class struggle, and which is appropriate for the correct
handling of the problem of contradictions among the people.® Now that we have
grasped this format, things will be much easier to manage from now on. Whether
they are big problems of right or wrong or small problems of right or wrong,
whether they are matters of revolution or of construction, they can all be resolved
through this format of contending, blooming, and debating; moreover, they will be
resolved more quickly. The Leftists are engaging not only the middle-of-theroaders in contending, blooming, and debating, but also the Rightists in contending,
blooming, and debate in a totally open fashion, and in the countryside they are
engaging the landlords and rich peasants’ in contending, blooming, and debate. We
should publicize [everything] in the newspapers and not be afraid of being “humiliated” by such [criticisms] as “the whole country has become the [private] domain
of the Party’’’ and [such demands as] “the Communists must abdicate” and “step
down from the sedan chair.”? We have just “got on the sedan chair,” and the
Rightists [already] want us to “step down from the sedan chair.” This type of
format—great contending, great blooming, great debate, and big-character posters—is most appropriate to promoting the initiative of the masses and to raising
the sense of responsibility of the masses.

Our Party has a tradition of democracy. If we did not have a tradition of
democracy, we could not tolerate such great contending and great blooming, great
struggling and great debating, and big-character posters. At Yanan, during the
period of rectification,!9 people took notes, searched themselves for shortcomings,
and helped each other. Seven or eight people would form a small group [to do this],
and this went on for several months. All the people with whom I have been in touch
are grateful for that rectification [campaign]; they say that the change away from
subjectivism began at that time. During the period of land reform, whenever there
was any problem we discussed it with the masses in order to clarify thinking. In
our armed forces, company commanders used to see to it that soldiers had their
blankets on [when they went to sleep], and they talked with the soldiers on a very
friendly and equal basis. There was the rectification movement at Yanan, the land
reform, and the democratic way of life in the armed forces; there was also the
“Three Check-ups and Three Rectifications”;!! later there were the ““Three-Anti’s”
and the “Five-Anti’s” [campaigns],!2 and the ideological reformation of intellectuals; in all these [movements] there was an amply democratic format. However,
such a format of great contending, great blooming, great struggles, great debates,
to be followed by calm breezes and gentle rain,!> discussions, and enlightenment;


such a format could only now be generated. Finding such a format is very beneficial
to our cause; the task of overcoming subjectivism, bureaucratism, and commandism!4 (by commandism we mean beating people, cursing people. and forcing
people to carry out [orders]), as well as the task of having the leading cadres mingle
as one with the masses, will then be easy to achieve.

There has been a very significant development in our democratic tradition this
year. In the future. we must hand down this format of great contending, great
blooming, great debates, and big-character posters. This format gives full play to
socialist democracy. This type of democracy can exist only in socialist countries
and cannot exist in capitalist countries. On the basis of such a democracy, centralism is not weakened: as a matter of fact the system of centralism is even more
consolidated, and the dictatorship of the proletariat further strengthened.!° This is
because the dictatorship of the proletariat must rely on a broad alliance, and will
not work with the proletariat [standing] alone as a single class. In China the
proletariat is small; it makes up only [a little] more than ten million people. It can
carry out its dictatorship only if it relies on the poor peasants, the lower-middle
peasants, the urban poor, the impoverished handicraft workers, and the revolutionary intellectuals, who together make up several hundred million people: otherwise
it is impossible. Now that we have mobilized their enthusiasm, the proletariat’s
dictatorship has been consolidated.'©

The third point concerns agriculture. The Forty-Article Program for Agricultural
Development has already been revised and can soon be issued.!7 Comrades, please
thoroughly organize a debate and a discussion in the rural areas. I asked some
comrades whether the agricultural planning should be undertaken at the [special]
district level. They said that it should also be done. [Then I asked] if it should also
be done [at the] level of the district. They said that it should also be done. Should
it be done at the xiang [level]? They said that it should [also] be done [at that level];
and the same applies at the level of the cooperative as well. Well, then, there are
the following levels: the province, the [special] district, the .van, the district, the

xiang, and the cooperative, six levels [in all], [at which agricultural planning ought

to be done]. Please pay attention to taking a firm grasp of this agricultural planning
and work on it. Programs and plans are one and the same thing; but [still] it would
be a good thing [for us] to form the habit of calling it by the term “program.” We
must firmly implement [the principles of] of comprehensive planning.!® of
strengthening the leadership, of having the [Party] secretaries get down to work
and having the entire Party participate in the running of the cooperatives.!? In the
latter half of last year, for instance. it was not the entire Party that participated in
running the cooperatives, and the [Party] secretaries did not get down to doing
much actual work. This year we must insist that things be done this way.

When will the planning be completed after all? I asked some comrades [about
this}. At some places it has already been completed, but at other places it has not
yet been fully completed. The emphasis now is on three levels, the province,
[special] district, and xian. Can it be completed by this winter or next spring? If
that cannot be done, it will have to be accomplished no matter what within next
year, and it will have to be accomplished at all six levels. This is because we already


have a few years’ experience, and the Forty-Article Program for the Development
of Agriculture for the entire country is almost completely done. The Forty-Article
Program for the Development of Agriculture, the programs of the provinces, and
those of the various other levels should all be taken to the countryside to be
discussed. However, seven programs are too many to discuss all at once, so they
should be taken to the masses separately and at intervals for contending, blooming,
and debating. This refers to long-term plans. If we have a plan, and if, in the future,
it does not fit [the situation], what should we do? [After we have] gained a few
more years of experience, things will have to be revised. For instance, the “Forty
Articles” will have to be revised in a few years. Things cannot remain unchanged.
As I see it, generally things will undergo a small change every three years and a
major change every five years.*? Having a program is better than not having one.
There are a total of twelve years [envisioned in the Forty-Article Program], two
years have already passed, and there are only ten years left. If we do not take a firm
grasp of things now, the targets stipulated in the “Forty Articles,” [that is,]
achieving 400 catties, 500 catties, and 800 catties of grain per mu on the three
categories of land respectively, will be in danger of failure.2! But if we take firm
grasp of things, it is possible to accomplish this.

As I see it, China must survive on intensive and meticulous farming. In the
future, China will become the country with the highest yield [per 7] in the world.
Some xian are now already yielding 1,000 catties per mu; is it possible to develop
to yield 2,000 catties per mu within half a century? In the future, will yield north
of the Yellow River be 800 catties per mu, north of the Huai River 1,000 catties
per mu, and south of the Huai River 2,000 catties per mu? [If we aim at] arriving
at this standard by the early twenty-first century, there will still be several decades
to go. Perhaps we won’t need such a long time. We survive on intensive planting
and meticulous farming;22 even if we have more people, they will still have food
to eat. As I see it, an average of three mu of land per person is too much; in the
future [each person] will need only several fen23 of land and will have quite enough
to feed himself. Of course, we still have to control the birth rate; I am not here to
encourage having [many] children.

Comrades, please get to the bottom of [the question of] the use of grain by the
peasants. We must promote the [practice of] running the household diligently and
frugally,24 and be thrifty about food, so that there can be accumulation. If the nation
has accumulation, the cooperative has accumulation, and the family has accumulation, with these three types of accumulation, we will get rich.25 Otherwise, if we
eat everything up, how can we be rich?

This year, wherever there has been a bumper harvest, wherever there has not
been a [natural] calamity, the [proportion of] accumulation should be somewhat
raised.26 It is essential to save the surplus for relief in the lean years. In some
provinces, the cooperatives have production costs that occupy 20 per cent of their
gross product in addition to the public accumulation fund (5 per cent), the public
welfare fund?’ (5 per cent), and administrative costs, and of this, the capital
construction costs in turn occupy 20 per cent of the production costs. I discussed
this with comrades from other provinces and they said that the capital construction


OCTOBER ~ DECEMBER 1957 / 701

costs were probably a little too high. What I say to you today is all in the spirit of
suggestion. If anything can be carried out, then let it be done. But if they cannot,
then don't. Moreover, it doesn’t have to be uniform for all provinces and all xian.
You go study it. As for the administrative cost of cooperatives, in some places it
has occupied too great a percentage [of the production] in the past and should be
reduced to 1 per cent. By administrative costs we refer to the subsidies for the
cooperatives’ cadres and their official expenses. We must reduce the administrative
costs and increase the expenditure on basic construction in the fields.

The Chinese people must have high aspirations. We should educate everybody
in all the cities and rural areas in the entire country to have farsighted and grand
goals and to have high aspirations. [If one] indulges in eating and drinking and eats
up and drinks up everything, can that be considered as having a type of high
aspiration? We must run our households with diligence and thrift, and have
long-term plans. It is really unnecessary to give big banquets on [so-called] red and
white “happy” occasions,*8 such as when one’s son gets married or when someone
dies. We should economize in these areas and should not be wasteful. This is a
matter of reforming old habits. To change this habit, we must do it through a great
blooming and great contending, or perhaps a small blooming and small contending,
and argue things over. Then there is also [the habit of] gambling. These things were
impossible to prohibit in the past, and only through great blooming and great
contending and through debate can they be changed. I think that changing old habits
should also be included in the planning.

There is also [the matter of] eliminating the Four Pests and paying attention to
hygiene. I am very concerned with [the problem of] eradicating the Four [Pests]:
rats, sparrows, flies, and mosquitoes. We have only ten more years.2? Can we make
some preparations this year and do some mobilization [so that] we can start to work
on this next spring? This is because flies are hatched during that season. I think we
had better eliminate these things and make the whole nation pay a lot of attention
to hygiene. This is a matter of culture, and we must raise the level of this culture greatly.
We should hold a competition, and must resolutely eliminate these things so as to make
everybody clean and sanitary. There can be discrepancies in achievement among the
various provinces and also among the various xian. Anyway, we'll see who the hero
is in the end. China must become a country of the four no’s: first, no rats, second, no
sparrows, third, no flies, and fourth, no mosquitoes.

Let’s also have a ten-year program for birth control. It should not be promoted
in the minority nationality regions, nor in sparsely populated areas. Even in the
densely populated places we should also do some testing in selected spots, popularize [birth control] step by step, and gradually arrive at universal birth control. In
[the matter of] birth control we must educate [people] openly, and at most there
would be a great contending, great blooming, and great debate. The human race is
in a state of total anarchy with regard to this problem of procreation; we cannot
control ourselves. In the future, if we want to achieve total population planning, it
cannot be done without [creating] a social force, without a consensus on the part
of the people, and without the concerted effort of all.

Moreover, there is the problem of comprehensive planning. What I said just now


has to do with agricultural planning, but there is still the planning of industry, of
trade, and of culture and education. It is absolutely necessary for there to be a
comprehensive plan for industry, agriculture, commerce, and studying. We should
bring them all together so they correspond with one another.

The experience [we have had in] planting experimental fields deserves to be
propagated widely.3° All the leading cadres of the xian, district, xiang, and
cooperatives should each work on a small plot of land and experiment with it to
see whether or not a high yield can be achieved, and what methods can be used to
achieve a high yield.

We must get a clear picture of agricultural technology. We can’t develop
agriculture without learning the technology. Politics and vocation are a unity of
opposites.3! Politics is the primary thing and is in first place. We must combat the
tendency of not paying attention to politics. However, to devote oneself exclusively
to politics, and not know anything about technology or about one’s vocation, won't
do either. Our comrades, whether they are in industry or agriculture, in commerce,
or in cultural and educational work, must all learn some technology and a vocation.
I think that this will need a ten-year program also. Our cadres from all fields of
work should all strive to be proficient at technology and at their vocations, to make
themselves professionals, and to become both red and expert.32 To say [that one
can be] expert first and then red is to say [that one can be] white first before
becoming red; this is a mistake, because that kind of person actually wants to remain
white; [to say that he will become] red later is nothing but empty talk. At present
even some cadres aren’t red; they have a rich peasant mentality.33 Some people are
white; for example, the Rightists in the Party; they are white in politics and not
expert in technology either. Some people are grey and others are pink. Those who
are truly bright red, red like our five-star red flag,34 those are the Leftists. However,
it is not enough to be only red; one must also understand one’s vocation and
understand technology. At present many cadres are merely red, they are not expert,
they do not understand their vocations, and they do not understand technology. The
Rightists say that we cannot lead and that “amateurs cannot lead professionals.”
We refute the Rightists by saying, “we can lead.”35 Our ability is an ability in
politics. As for technology, there are still many things that we do not yet understand;
but technology can be learned.

Without a huge technological corps and a huge theoretical corps of its own, the
proletariat is incapable of success in building socialism. Within the next ten years
(the program for science was also [projected] for twelve years and there are ten
years left), we must build up the ranks of proletarian intellectuals. Both our Party
members and activists outside the Party must strive to become proletarian intellectuals. At all levels, especially at the provincial, [special] district, and xian levels,
there must be plans to cultivate proletarian intellectuals. Otherwise, time will pass
without people being cultivated. There is an old Chinese adage which says that “It
takes ten years to cultivate a tree, but it takes a hundred years to cultivate a
person.”36 [It says that] it takes a hundred years to cultivate a person. Let us subtract
ninety years from that and cultivate people in ten years. It’s wrong to say that it
takes ten years to cultivate a tree; in the South it takes twenty-five years and in the

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North even longer. On the other hand, it is possible to cultivate a person in ten
years. We have already spent eight years, adding ten years to that would make
eighteen years. We estimate that it is possible [in that time] to basically establish
a corps of experts of the working class who possess Marxist ideology. After ten
years, then, this corps will be expanded and [its standards] will be raised.

When we talk about the relationship between agriculture and industry, we, of
course, take heavy industry as the core and give priority to the development of
heavy industry. There is no doubt at all about this, and [we] will definitely not
vacillate [on this matter].57 Nevertheless, given this condition, we must carry out
simultaneous development of industry and agriculture, and gradually establish a
modernized industry and a modernized agriculture. In the past we have often talked
about building our country into an industrial country, but in fact this also includes
the modernization of agriculture as well. For the moment, the emphasis should be on
playing up agriculture. This problem has been discussed by Comrade Xiaoping too.3%

The fourth point concerns two ways of doing things. We have at least two ways
of doing things; one way will take longer to achieve our goals, and is thus somewhat
inferior; the other way will take a shorter time to achieve our goals, and is thus
somewhat better. One question involves speed, and another question involves
quality. We must not consider only one method, but should always consider both
methods. For instance, in building railways, we must have several plans regarding
the route [of the railway] and choose one from among them. We can compare
several different methods. At least [we should have] two methods to compare. For
instance, should we have great contending and great blooming, or should we have
small contending and small blooming? Should we or should we not have big-character posters? Which of these two methods is the better one? There are many such
problems [to be solved]; it is just that people are unable to bloom.?? There are
thirty-four higher-level schools in Beijing, and in not one of them can there be any
blooming, in not one of them can there be open and unrestrained blooming, because
this is a matter of setting themselves on fire!4° If people are to bloom, they have to
be fully persuaded; moreover, there has to be considerable pressure [on them]. That
means public appeals and holding a lot of meetings so that they can be [“]checked
[”’] and “forced to the hills.’’4! In the past, when we were making revolution, there
was this method and that, this policy and that, and there were many different
opinions within the Party. Eventually we adopted a policy that was relatively suited to
the circumstances. Therefore in both the period of the War of Resistance Against Japan
and the period of the War of Liberation [we] were more advanced than any of the
preceding periods.42 Policies with regard to construction can also be either this way or
that, and here, too, we must adopt the policy that is more suited to the circumstances.

The Soviet Union’s experience in construction is relatively complete. By
“complete” we mean including their mistakes as well. Without mistakes, it cannot
be considered complete. Learning from the Soviet Union does not mean forcibly
[uncritically] transplanting everything.43 To forcibly transplant [everything] is
dogmatism. It was [only] after we criticized dogmatism that we promoted [the idea
of] learning from the Soviet Union, so there is no danger in it [for us]. After the
rectification campaign in Yanan*4 and after the “Seventh Congress’*> we put


emphasis on emulating the Soviet Union; this will not harm us, it will benefit us.
We are experienced in making revolution, but we have only just begun [our work
in] construction, and we have had only eight years’ [experience]. The successes
that we have achieved in construction are major ones, but we have not been without
mistakes. We will still make mistakes in the future, but we hope to make fewer. In
learning from the Soviet Union we must also study its mistakes. If we study those
areas in which they made mistakes, we will be able to make fewer detours. Can we
avoid the detours that the Soviet Union has taken, and [make our own] development
faster in speed and better in quality than that of the Soviet Union? We must strive
for this possibility. For instance, [in the matter of] steel production, can we achieve
[an output level of] twenty million tons [per year] in three five-year plans or perhaps
a bit longer? This is possible [if we put our] effort into it. To do it we will have to
set up more small-scale steel plants. I think that more of those steel plants that
produce thirty to fifty or seventy to eighty thousand tons [of steel] per year should
be set up. They are very useful. Then there are those medium-sized [steel plants]
that produce three or four hundred thousand tons a year; those should be set up too.

The fifth point is that last year we swept away a number of things. One thing
was that we swept away [the slogan of] achieving greater, faster, better, and more
economical results.46 We don’t want “greater,” and we don’t want “faster” anymore, and we also swept away the “better” and “more economical.” I don’t think
that there is anybody who would oppose having “better” and “more economical”
[results]; it is about the “greater” and “faster” that people are displeased, and some
comrades have called it “adventurism.’4/ Originally “better” and “more economical” were [put into the slogan] to modify “greater” and “faster.” “Better” refers to
better quality, “more economical” refers to spending less money, “greater” refers
to doing more projects, and “faster” also refers to doing more things. This slogan
sets limitations on itself, because there are the terms “better” and “more economical.” Since the quality [of things] has to be good and less money is to be spent,
then it will be impossible to have unrealistically “great” or unrealistically “fast”
[results]. What delighted me was that at this meeting a couple of comrades touched
on this problem. What’s more, I also saw this article in a newspaper that mentioned
this problem. What we are talking about is a realistic4® slogan of “greater, faster,
better, and more economical [results] which has fact as its basis, rather than a
[slogan of] “greater, faster, better, and more economical [results]’” based on
subjectivism. We will always want to do our best to achieve a little greater, and a
little faster [results], but we are opposing “greater” and “faster” [goals] that are
based on subjectivism. In the latter half of last year a gust of wind swept this slogan
away, but I still would like to restore it [now]. Is that possible? Please study [this
question] a bit.49

The Forty-Article Program for the Development of Agriculture, too, was swept
away. This “Forty-Article” [Program] has not been popular since last year, but now
it is being “restored.”

Moreover, the Committee to Promote Progress was swept away.°9 I have said
that there are the Communist Party’s Central Committee, the Party committees at
all levels, the State Council, and the People’s Committees at all levels;5! in a word,


there are many “committees,” and the principal one of these is the Party committee.
Is its character actually that of a committee to promote progress, or is it that of a
committee to promote regression? It should be a committee to promote progress. I
think that the Kuomintang is a committee to promote regression, and the Communist Party is a committee to promote progress. The committee to promote progress
that was swept away by that gust of wind last year, can it be restored now? If
everybody disapproves of restoring it and wants to organize a committee to promote
regression, then since so many of you want to promote regression, there is nothing
I can do about it. However, from what we saw at this meeting, everybody wants to
promote progress, and there is not a single speech that said that regression ought
to be promoted. What seeks to promote regression among us is that Rightist
Zhang-Luo Alliance.52 There can be temporary and partial regression for certain
things which have indeed gone ahead too fast and have become inappropriate. This
means backing off a step or slowing down a bit. However, our general policy is
always to promote progress.

The sixth point concerns the contradiction between the proletariat and the
bourgeoisie, and the contradiction between the socialist road and the capitalist road.
There is absolutely no doubt that this is the primary contradiction in our society
today.53 Our present mission is different from [our mission] in the past. In the past
‘our task was mainly to have the proletariat lead the masses of the people in opposing
imperialism and feudalism.54 That mission has already been accomplished. Well,
then, what is the primary contradiction in the present? At present it is the socialist
revolution; the thrust of the revolution is against the bourgeoisie, and at the same
time, [it is aimed at] transforming the system of small-scale production, which
means putting cooperativization into effect. The primary contradiction therefore is
[between] socialism and capitalism and [between] collectivism and individualism;
that is, generally speaking, the contradiction between the two roads, socialism and
capitalism. The Resolution of the Eighth Congress did not mention this problem.
There is one paragraph in the Resolution of the “Eighth Congress” that states that
the primary contradiction is between the advanced socialist system and the backward social forces of production.55 This way of putting things is incorrect. At the
Second Plenum of the Seventh Central Committee5® we put forth the idea that after
the victory in the whole country has been achieved, domestically the primary
contradiction would become that between the working class and the bourgeoisie,
while internationally [the primary contradiction] would be between China and
imperialism. Subsequently, although this [idea] was not put forth publicly, in fact things
were done accordingly. The revolution has already shifted to [being a] socialist
revolution, and what we have been trying to achieve is precisely this socialist revolution. The Three Great Transformations represent a socialist revolution, principally a
socialist revolution in the area of the system of ownership of the means of production.
This has already been basically achieved. This is a sharp class struggle.

In the latter half of last year there has been a relaxation of the class struggle;
that was [because] of a conscious effort to relax. However, once we relaxed, the
bourgeoisie, the bourgeois intellectuals, landlords, rich peasants and some well-to-do middle peasants attacked us; this is what happened this year. As soon as we

706 {/ MAO ZEDONG

relaxed a bit, they attacked; that’s all right too, and we have seized the initiative.
This is exactly as an editorial in Renmin ribao says, “the tree prefers calm but the
wind will not subside.’’5? Well, they want to blow! They want to blow up a fierce
typhoon.58 Good, in that case we will form a “protective forest shelter belt.” This
is an anti-Rightist [campaign], and a rectification [campaign].

There are two tasks for this rectification [campaign]. One task is to oppose the
Rightists; that includes opposing bourgeois ideology. Another task is rectification
and transformation. Rectification and transformation also consist of a two-line
struggle. Subjectivism, bureaucratism, and factionalism are bourgeois things.
These three things exist within our Party; this debt must be put on the bourgeoisie’s
account. But can it still be put [on their account] a hundred or two hundred years from
now? By that time it will probably be difficult to pin it [on them].°? Will there be
bureaucratism and subjectivism then? There will be, and then it will have to be put on
the account of the backward [people]. There will always be the Left, middle, and Right,
and the advanced, average, and backward, in a society. [f, at that time, you [still] commit
[the errors of] bureaucratism and subjectivism, then you are simply backward.

The rectification campaign should last until the first of May next year. There
is still such a lot of time. Should it be relaxed a bit after May 1? I think that there
should be some relaxation again. Is relaxing to be considered a Rightist tendency?
I don’t think it should be considered a Rightist tendency. It’s like holding
meetings. If you just go on holding meetings, holding them in the daytime and
holding them at night, too, and do this nonstop for half a year, I think a lot of
people will disappear. Therefore work, too, must be done in accordance with
conditions; sometimes it should be intense, sometimes it should be relaxed. We
achieved such a great victory last year, and people were very obedient and
compliant, and beat their gongs and sounded their drums. If you don’t relax a
bit, it would be difficult to convince people [that you are right], and [besides],
there aren’t adequate reasons [for you to say that you couldn’t relax a bit]. We
said that the problem of the ownership system was basically solved; we didn’t say
that it was completely solved. The class struggle has not stopped. Therefore it is
not a matter of conceding principles, but a matter of the conditions calling for a
bit of relaxation.

I think that the rectification [campaign] should be carried out until next May 1,
and then should not be carried over into the second half of next year. Whether or
not it should be carried out once again in the countryside in the second half of next
year, whether or not there should be another debate, will depend on whether or not
there is a need for it at the time, and should be left for discussion next year. It should
be carried out again the year after next. If we do not carry out [rectification] the
year after next, if we do not do it for a number of years, those old and new Rightists
and those Rightists who have emerged just now would be restless and would want
to act. Then there are also the right-of-center people, middle-of-the-roaders, and
even some Leftists who will want to change. There are such strange people in the
world; as soon as you relax your pressure and relax it for such a considerable length
of time, Rightist sentiments will arise, and unsound or Rightist arguments will crop
up. We must constantly carry on the education of our armed forces with regard to


the Three Main Rules of Discipline and Eight Great Points for Attention.6! As soon
as you leave a gap of a few months in which they are not enforced, things will get
loose and out of hand. It is necessary to pump things up several times each year.
As soon as new recruits arrive they should be educated. As for old soldiers and
veteran cadres, if you do not carry out rectification, their ideology will change too.

Incidentally, let me talk a bit here about where our opinions differ from those
of the Soviet Union. First of all, on the question of Stalin, we have contradictions
with Khrushchev. He made Stalin appear so terrible! We do not agree with that,
because he was made to appear so ugly! This is not a matter for their country alone;
it is a matter that concerns all countries. We hang Stalin’s portrait outside our
Tiananmen;® this is in accord with the wishes of the laboring people of the whole
world, and it demonstrates our basic differences with Khrushchev. As for Stalin
himself, you should also give him [an evaluation of] 30 per cent [bad] and 70 per
cent [good].63 Stalin’s achievements count for 70 per cent; his mistakes count for
30 per cent. Even this may not be accurate; [his] mistakes may only be 20 per cent
or perhaps only 10 per cent, or perhaps a little more than [20 per cent]. In any case,
Stalin’s achievements are primary while his shortcomings and mistakes are secondary. On this point we and Khrushchev hold differing opinions.

Then there is the problem of peaceful transition [to socialism]. We and
Khrushchev and his group have different opinions [on this matter]. We believe that
all proletarian political parties, no matter what country [they may be in], have two
strategies: First, a strategy of peace, and second, a strategy of war.® In the first
strategy, the Communist Party demands peaceful transformation from the ruling
class; it will emulate the slogan that Lenin proposed during the period between the
February Revolution and the October Revolution.®> We, too, once raised the issue
of negotiating peace with Chiang Kai-shek. This slogan, [proposed] before the
bourgeoisie and before the enemy, was a defensive slogan—it shows that we
wanted peace not war—to facilitate our winning over the masses. This is a slogan
in which we take the initiative; it is a strategic slogan. However, the bourgeoisie
will certainly not surrender its political power voluntarily; it will use violence [to
preserve it]. In that case, the second strategy [must be used]. If they want to fight,
and after they have fired the first shot, all we can do is fight [back]. The armed
seizure of political power is a tactical slogan. If you say that it definitely has to be
a peaceful transition, then you are no different from the social democratic parties.
Japan’s Socialist Party is like that. It has only one [tactic]; it will never resort to
violence. All the socialist parties in the world are like that.’ The proletarian parties,
[however,] in general, are still better off with two [tactics]; the first is that a
gentleman would rather talk than fight; the second is that when a mean person wants
to fight, then I [the gentleman] will fight, too.°8 This way of setting our own
conditions is free of defects and takes care of all angles. Otherwise, things won't
work. There are parties in some countries today, such as the Communist Party of
Great Britain, that issue only the slogan of peaceful transition. We’ve talked with
the leaders of the British Party, but we have always failed to reach agreement. Of
course they are proud; they say, “who says that the slogan of peaceful transition
was suggested by Khrushchev; we suggested that long ago!”


708 {/ MAO ZEDONG

Besides, our comrades in the Soviet Union do not comprehend our policy of
letting a hundred flowers bloom and letting a hundred schools contend.6? What we
are talking about is letting a hundred flowers bloom and a hundred schools contend
within the confines of socialism and among the people; it does not include
counterrevolutionaries. Of course the people may split up among themselves, and
some people may become enemies. For instance the Rightists; in the past they were
part of the people, now I think only one-third of these people belong to the people,
and two-thirds of them belong to the counterrevolutionaries. Are we to deprive
them of their voting rights? Except for some individuals who are to be dealt with
legally and are to be sent down to engage in labor reform, in which case they will
be deprived of their voting rights, generally it would be better not to deprive [them
of their voting rights].’2 We can even allow some to become members of the
Political Consultative Conference; after all, the Political Consultative Conference
can [be expanded to] include more than a thousand members.’! In form the Rightists
still belong to the people, but in reality they are enemies [of the people]. Let us
announce publicly that they are the enemy and that the contradiction between them
and us is a contradiction between the enemy and ourselves,/4 because they oppose
socialism, oppose the leadership of the Communist Party, and oppose the dictatorship of the proletariat. In any case, they do not meet the six standards.73 They are
poisonous weeds. /* It does not matter when, but some poisonous weeds will always
spring from among the people.

Finally, we must pick up our spirits and devote ourselves to hard work in order
to learn. The phrase “devote ourselves to hard work” contains three [key] words;
one is “devote,” another is “hard,” and the third is “work.” We absolutely have to
pick up our spirits and devote ourselves to hard work. There are many comrades
among us now who are not devoted to hard work. Some comrades devote their extra
energy after work mainly to such things as playing cards, playing mahjong, and
dancing. I don’t think that’s good. We ought to devote [our] extra energy after work
mainly to studying and forming a habit of studying. What should we study? One
[thing to study] is Marxism-Leninism, another is applied sciences, and a third is
natural sciences. There’s also literature, mainly literary theory. Leading cadres
must understand some of this. Moreover, there is journalism, education, and so on.
One should also know something about these. All in all, there are many [branches
of] learning, and generally [each] should be slightly touched upon. This is because
we must lead in all these matters! What kind of professionals are people like
ourselves called?/> We are called professional politicians. How could it be, if we
didn’t understand these things and did not lead in these matters? Each province has
newspapers, but in the past they were not taken hold of, nor were the literary
journals or literary organizations taken hold of in the past. Moreover, the United
Front/® and the democratic parties were not taken hold of, nor was education. None
of these things were taken hold of. Consequently, fine, it has been exactly in these
areas that rebellion has cropped up. Once [these areas] are taken hold of, the
situation will change in a few months. Luo Longji’? says, “How can the petty
intellectuals of the proletariat lead the great intellectuals of the petty bourgeoisie?”
This argument of his is wrong. He claims to be petty bourgeois; in fact he is


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bourgeois. It is precisely the “petty intellectuals” of the proletariat who must lead
the great intellectuals of the bourgeoisie. The proletariat has a corps of intellectuals
serving it; the first one is Marx, then Engels, Lenin, Stalin, and then people like us,
and many more. The proletariat is the most advanced class; it will lead the
revolution throughout the entire world.

Notes

|. See text Aug. 30, 1956, note 1. See also text Sept. 15, 1956, and text Oct. 7, 1957,
note 2.

2. The character here is fang. For the meaning and political significance of this word
used by itself, see text Mar. 12, 1957, paragraph 14; text April 10, 1957, note I; and text
April 1957(2), notes 4 and 17.

3. The term Mao uses here is zheng gai. See text Oct. 7, 1957, note 23.

4. See text Autumn 1956, note 1, and text July 8, 1957(2), note 40. It should be noted
that here, in the speeches of October 7 and 9, 1957, Mao seems to have for the first time
combined these four things in an almost sloganized manner, or, as Mao puts it here,
formularized as a “format” for social struggle.

5. The first term here refers to the Five Major Movements conducted in the PRC from
1949 to 1952: the land reform movement, the movement to Resist U.S. [Aggression] and
Aid Korea, the movement to suppress counterrevolutionaries, the “Three-Anti’s” and
“Five-Anti’s” movements, and the movements for ideological transformation. The second
term refers to the socialist transformation in the three areas of agriculture, handicraft
industries, and private industrial and commercial enterprises, the completion of which, in
1953, marked the conclusion of the “democratic revolution” and of the recovery of the
national economy, and the beginning of the transition to socialism. The accomplishments of
the Five Major Movements were summarized in Zhou Enlai’s speech to the Fourth Session
of the First People’s Congress on June 26, 1957.

6. See text Feb. 27, 1957.

7. See text Mar. 12, 1950, vol. I, source note and notes 1 and 2. See also text Oct. 7,
1957, note 35.

8. This criticism emerged in an essay written by Chu Anping in early 1957. See text
July 1, 1957, note 4.

9. The term for “sedan chair’ is jiao. In traditional China, the jiao has, in the main, two
uses. One is for brides on the day of their wedding, and the other is for personages of
importance, particularly magistrates or government officials. In the first sense, then, to “get
on the sedan chair” conveys a sense of ‘“‘starting something new; to get committed.” In the
second sense, it has the meaning of “take office.” It is possible that Mao’s implicit meaning
here encompasses both senses of the term.

10. See text June 30, 1953, vol. I, note 9, and text Aug. 12, 1953(1), vol. I, note 24.

11. The SW, V note for this provides the textual reference: “ ‘The Democratic
Movement in the Army,’ Note 1, Selected Works of Mao Tse-ting, vol. 1V.” See text Mar.
12, 1957, note 18.

12. See text Nov. 1951—Mar. 1952, vol. I, source note.

13. See text Aug. 24, 1956(2), note 29.

14. See text June 6, 1950, vol, I, note 11.

15. See text Jan. 27, 1957(1), note 80.

16. For a more extensive discussion of this point, see the well-known RMRB editorials
“On the Historical Experience of the Dictatorship of the Proletariat,” and “More on the
Historical Experience of the Dictatorship of the Proletariat.” (RMRB [April 5, 1956], and
RMRB [Dec. 29, 1956].) See also text Jan. 18, 1957, note 22.

17. See text Dec. 6, 1955, vol. 1, note 3.


18. See text Jan. 27, 1957(1), note 6.

19. This last expression, encapsulated in the two phrases shuji dongshou quan dang ban
she, was the title of one of the editor’s notes that Mao wrote for the book Gaochao (see text
Dec. 27, 1955[2}, vol. I). Since the appearance of this book and of Mao’s notes, these phrases
have become a slogan for a general involvement in the promotion of cooperativization.

20. This corresponds with Mao’s suggestion earlter that there will be need for a
rectification every three or five years. See text July 8, 1957(2), paragraph 8.

21. See text Dec. 21, 1955, vol. I, note 8.

22. This term, jing geng xi zuo, refers to a labor-intensive, only semimechanized but
collectivized form of farming (predominantly grain agriculture) that operates on the basis of
the most seedling-intensive planting that science would possibly allow, and as many crops,
or harvests, as possible. But to make allowances for these, the agriculture would call for a
much greater degree of labor involvement and care in both planning and taking care of the

23. Fen is one-tenth of a mu; thus approximately .67 hectare.

24. See text Oct. 11, 1955(1), vol. I, note 57.

25. See text Feb. 27, 1957, note 75.

26. See text Feb. 27, 1957, notes 65 and 68.

27. See text April 25, 1956, note 26.

28. In China, red is traditionally the dominant color for felicitous occasions, such as
weddings and birthdays, which are therefore known as “red” occasions. White dominates
and stands for the solemnity of events of bereavement and death, which are therefore known
as “white” occasions. By custom, events of either type cannot be private affairs, but instead
usually involve the participation of the family or clan in the broadest sense, as well as large
groups of neighbors and friends.

29. See text Dec. 21, 1955, vol. I, note 9; also text Jan. 27, 1957/(1), note 24. The program
for eliminating the Four Pests was promulgated in the Forty-Article Program for Agricultural
Development in early 1956 (Article 27) and was scheduled to be accomplished in “five,
seven, or twelve years.” Thus, by this time Mao refers to ten years remaining for the
completion of this goal.

30. The cultivation of experimental fields (shiyan tian) refers to the program of having
Party cadres go down to the basic levels in the countryside and take part in productive labor.
This was understood to be part of the rectification campaign of 1957 and was inspired by
the Party directives on the rectification campaign (see RMSC [1958], pp. 29-30), and the
Party directives regarding having leading cadres participate in physical labor (May 10, 1957,
see RMSC [1958], pp. 43-44). This notion is combined with the idea of having such cadres
experiment with new cultivation techniques such as close planting or deep plowing to attain
higher yields and thus render their experimental fields examples for the peasants. However,
the emphasis was still on having cadres discard and reform their bureaucratic tendencies and
get out of their offices. The program was possibly tentatively promoted in spots soon after
the May 10, 1957 directives were issued. On November 29, 1957, the Hubei Provincial
Committee of the CPC sent a report to the Central Committee on the subject, based on the
experience of Hongan xian. This led to a chain of events resulting in the promulgation of
the Central Committee’s directive on experimental-plot cultivation on February 14, 1958
(see RMRB [Feb. 15, 1958], 1), which was incorporated eventually into the “Sixty Articles
on Work Methods (Draft)” (Article 18).

31. See text Feb. 27, 1957, note 34.

32. “Red” refers to a strong and correct adherence to socialist or Communist ideology.
Earlier in the present plenum, Deng Xiaoping made the Report on the Rectification
Campaign in which he proposed that the Party must cultivate cadres who are both red and
expert. (See RMSC [1958], p. 35.) Subsequent discussions on this topic appeared in editorials
in Zhongguo gingnian bao (China Youth Daily; Oct. 31, 1957), and RMRB (Mar. 23, 1958),
and also, most importantly, in a directive issued by Mao on January 31, 1958 (see text Jan.
31, 1958). See also text Feb. 27, 1957, note 72.


33. See text Mar. 12, 1950, vol. I, notes 1 and 2, and text Sept. 25, 1956(2), note 2.

34. This refers to the national flag of the PRC.

35. See text Feb. 27, 1957, note 72. See also notes 75 and 77 here.

36. This is an aphorism adapted from the passage in the book Guan zi, in the chapter
titled “Chuan xiu”: “When one’s plan is for a year, the best thing is to plant rice; when one’s
plan 1s for ten years, the best thing is to plant a tree; but if one’s plan is for a lifetime, the
best thing is to cultivate a person. The planting of grain brings in an equal harvest, the planting
of a tree brings a tenfold return, but the cultivation of a person bring a hundredfold reward.”
This aphorism has become, in Chinese lore, the epitome of the humanistic value of education.

37. Mao is referring to the basic principle in determining the proper relationship among
heavy industry, light industry, and agriculture that was articulated in April of the previous
year in his own famous “On the Ten Major Relations” speech. See text April 25, 1956,
section 1, first sentence. |

38. Mao is referring to Deng Xiaoping’s Report on the Rectification Campaign made at
the present plenum on September 23, and more specifically to section 3 of that report. Deng
was the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPC. For this report, see RMSC
(1958), pp. 33-42, RMRB (Oct. 19, 1951), 1. For an English translation, see R. Bowie and
J. K. Fairbank, eds. (1962), pp. 341-362.

39. The character here, again, is fang. See note 2.

40. See the opening discussions of Mao’s speeches on July 8 and 9, 1957.

41. On the usage of the Chinese characters here, jiangjun, for “check” as in the game of
chess, see text Mar. 1, 1957, note 32. On the meaning of the other saying that is translated
here as “forced to the hills,” see text April 1957(2), note 62. There is also a note on this
latter item in SW, V, p. 497.

42. See text Feb. 27, 1957, notes 5 and 7.

43. See text Dec. 8, 1956, note 27, and text Jan. 27, 1957(1), note 34. Since late 1956,
Mao had contended with the subject of China’s need to learn from the Soviet Union in terms
of revolutionary theory and experience. The idea of learning selectively became a general
guideline in early 1957, but here, after the experiences of mid- 1957, Mao speaks much more
critically, and in a way much more negatively, of the idea of learning from the Soviet Union,
emphasizing “learning from its mistakes” as much as from its achievements.

44. See text June 30, 1953, vol. I, note 9; also text Aug. 12, 1953(1), vol. I, note 24.

45. See text Aug. 30, 1956, note 2.

46. See text April 25, 1956, note 6.

47. See text Aug. 12, 1953(1), vol. I, note 22, and text Dec. 6, 1955, vol. I, note 10.

48. The term that Mao uses here is shishi giu shi, which, it appears, took on sloganistic
proportions in the latter half of 1957 (and would continue to have such importance, almost
ironically, in the years of the Great Leap Forward). The usage of it in 1957, as we have seen
earlier, and here as well, was primarily in the context of the rectification campaign, against
subjectivism, one of the three main targets of that campaign in 1957. For the meaning of
the phrase, see text May 15, 1957, note 16.

49. The quotation marks that appear in this paragraph in this translation do not appear in the
original Chinese text. It is normally against the principle of this translation to put quotation marks
where they do not exist in the original text. Nevertheless, in this case we have made an exception
mn order to provide what we feel is a more fluent and grammatical translation.

50. For reference, see text Nov. 15, 1956, note 10. On this subject, in general, see text
Jan. 20, 1956, paragraph 2, and text Nov. 15, 1956, paragraph 3.

51. See text July 1957(1), note 24.

52. See text July 1, 1957, source note and notes 3 and 8.

53. See text July 1957(1), source note. See also text Oct. 7, 1957, paragraphs 1,5, 8, 13,
and 14. For the precise theoretical (and combative) significance of Mao’s formulation here,
see text Oct. 7, 1957, note 16.

54. See text Oct. 7, 1957, paragraphs 1 and 2.

712 {/ MAO ZEDONG

55. See text Oct. 7, 1957, source note and notes 3, 16, and 38; see also text Nov. 15,
1956, source note and note 1.

56. See text June 6, 1950(2), vol. I, note 1.

57. “Han Ying (Western Han Dynasty), Commentary on the Book of Songs, Chapter 9.”
(SW, V, p. 497, note 5.) The original, which translates as the tree prefers to be calm but, alas,
the wind will not subside: the child would render its filial dues but, alas, the parent is no
longer living, obviously holds a very different contextual meaning than the way in which it
is cited here, where Mao uses it to suggest that the existence of class struggle is an objective
reality, neither brought on deliberately by the human will nor to be eliminated in a similar
fashion. The first adaptation of this classical saying to its current usage was done in an
editorial in RMRB (June 22, 1957), 1.

58. See text May 15, 1957, note 21.

59. See text Oct. 7, 1957, paragraph 6.

60. See text April 1957(2), note 59.

61. See text June 30, 1953, vol. I, note 6.

62. See text May 1, 1957, source note.

63. See text Aug. 30, 1956, note 12. See also text Jan. 18, 1957, note 23, and text Mar.
12, 1957, note 22.

64. As suggested in the source note here, these final paragraphs in this speech forecast
the polemical essays published by the CPC leadership as RMRB editorials in which the CPSU
Khrushchev-dominated leadership was severely criticized. They became known as the
“Nine Criticisms,” or yi zhi jiu ping (Criticisms No. 1 to No. 9). This particular paragraph
seems to forecast specifically the fifth and sixth of the essays, titled “The Two Lines on the
Subject of War and Peace,” and “Two Policies of Peaceful Coexistence that Are Fundamentally Opposed to Each Other,” respectively. (Published November 19, 1963, and December
12, 1963, respectively.)

65. After the February Revolution in 1917 in Russia, a dyarchy existed, consisting of
the provisional government and the Workers’ and Soldiers’ Soviet. On returning to Russia
in April, Lenin diagnosed that the task of pushing forward the revolution that had begun
rested with the proletariat and not with the bourgeoisie, and thus with the Soviet, which
represented workers and soldiers, and not with the provisional government. His strategy,
embodied in the “April Theses,” was to employ the Petrograd Soviet as the base of Bolshevik
revolutionary power, to effect the transition of political power from the bourgeois provisional
government to the government of the proletariat. The slogan he advanced was “All political
power to the Soviet.” This was understood as a “peaceful” slogan aimed at a political
transition. It represented only one part of a dual strategy, because at the same time the
Bolshevik party was not to give up its preparations for armed struggle. We have found out
that in early August 1957, Mao was paying special attention to this piece of Lenin’s writing.
See text Aug. 4, 1957, note !.

66. See text Sept. 16-18, 1953, vol. I, note 5.

67. Although the characters Mao uses here, shehui dang, refer, strictly speaking, to
“socialist” parties and are therefore translated here as such, we believe that he intended to
refer to “social democratic” parties instead, which are not the same as socialist parties per
se, Also, with regard to the situation in Japan, Mao probably did not mean to single out the
Japanese Socialist Party as a pacifist, war-renouncing party; he had to be aware that Japan
itself, as a whole, had “constitutionally” renounced war. The subject had come up during a
conversation that Mao had with a delegation of the Japanese Socialist Party on April 21 (see
text April 21, 1957, especially note 10).

--- Notes

21. See text Feb. 27, 1957, section 1.

23. The term in the text here is zheng gai, which we think indicates in Mao’s mind a
separation (and yet curiously at the same time a combination) of the two things, rectification
and transformation. “Rectification” clearly refers to the rectification campaign of late 1956
to early 1957, which, as seen in the documents of early 1957, was originally intended as an
intra-CPC rectification campaign. Only in April did Mao, and the CPC Central Committee,
begin to call for a rectification of people and organizations, such as the democratic parties,
outside the CPC. (In fact, even the CPC Central Committee directive on the rectification
campaign, issued on April 27, skirted the latter issue.) Subsequently, however, it did become
a rectification campaign for the entire people (or society), or quanmin zhengfeng yundong.
(See text May 15, 1957, source note.) The second half of this term (i.e., the gai in zheng gai)
refers primarily to the anti-Rightist criticism campaign, since as Mao himself put it repeatedly, the purpose of criticizing the Rightists, and particularly the bourgeois intellectuals, is
to transform, or reform, them. The semantic separation is meaningful; the suggestion appears
to be that for the Party, the proper mode of change is “rectification” (zhengdun), whereas
for those outside the Party, the proper mode is gaizao (reform, or transformation). However,
the two terms are also capable of being put together, in that zhengdun (rectification) is also

24. See text Feb. 27, 1957, note 3.

25. See text July 1, 1957, source note and note 3.

26. We believe that what Mao is referring to specifically here is the propaganda line that
(1) socialism is superior to capitalism, and (2) socialism is the only way out for China. These
were issues that Mao dealt with in black-and-white terms in the speeches and writings of
May-July 1957, but they go back even earlier. See text Feb. 27, 1957, section 1, paragraph
15: text Mar. 12, 1957; text June 11, 1957, note 4; and text July 8, 1957(2), note 18.

27. See text Feb. 27, 1957.

28. See note 3.

29. See text May 15, 1957, note 6, and text Mar. 12, 1957, note 6; also see text July 8,
1957(2), note 5.

30. See text July 1957(1), note 2.

31. See text June 14, 1957(2), especially note 1; text July 1, 1957, source note and notes
1,2, and 19.

32. Again, see text Mar. 12, 1957, note 6.

33. See text Dec. 8, 1956, note 38; see also text Mar. 1, 1957, note 27.

34. See text July 1957(1), note 17.

35. See text Mar. 12, 1950, vol. I, notes 1 and 2.

36. See text Mar. 19, 1953, vol. I, note 4.

37. See text Mar. 5, 1956, note 12; see also text Feb. 27, 1957, note 41.

38. Here Mao is referring to Stalin’s position on the conformity of the relations of
production to the forces of production laid out in his Dialectical and H istorical Materialism
and Economic Problems of Socialism in the USSR. The criticism made by Mao in this passage
is laden with Marxist theory-interpretation significance. The key lies in what Mao thought
of the relations of production in the phase of socialist transition. The position that Stalin took
(as Mao read it) appeared to be that in the Soviet system during the socialist phase, the
relations of production, as part of the “system” of socialism (and part of the superstructure)
are basically in conformity with the proletarianized forces of production. This becomes a
criterion by which the conclusion can be drawn that through the transformation of the system
(from a capitalist-dominated one to a sovietized one) the socialist transition has already been


39. See text Feb. 27, 1957, note 37.

40. See text Jan. 27, 1957(1), note 83. The text here is a bit garbled, but Mao appears
(as we have translated it) to adopt the position that since the law of value (and particularly
the law of exchange of equal value) pertains primarily to the phenomenon of exchange


68. These sayings are derived from Lu Xun’s novel, Ah Q zhengzhuan (The True Story
of AhQ), chapter 3, where Ah Q suggests that a “moral victory” can be won by the antagonist
who refuses to resort to physical violence. For the novelette, see text Oct. 11, 1955(1), vol.
I, note 38.

69. See text Autumn 1956, note 1.

70. See text Oct. 7, 1957, note 30.