Chairman Mao: (To the animal keepers) You’ve worked hard, good comrades! (Shakes hands) I wish you even greater success!

Animal Keeper: It’s all thanks to your teachings, Comrade Chairman!

Chairman Mao: The main credit goes to your own efforts.

(To the commune director) Can you make every woman in the entire commune a model worker?

Commune Director: We guarantee that they all can become models, Chairman Mao!

Chairman Mao: It may not be feasible for every single one to be a model. Achieving half of the women becoming models within two or three years would already be quite good. Do you think this view of mine is too conservative? (Laughter)

Chairman Mao: Shall we take a look at your pig farm?

Animal Keeper: Welcome, welcome! Please offer us your guidance, Chairman Mao!

Chairman Mao: Don’t expect me to advise on everything. Both Comrade ×× and I have come here to learn from you. In many respects, you are far more knowledgeable than we are, aren’t you?

Chairman Mao: What is this?

Animal Keeper: It’s saccharified cow manure, used as feed for the pigs. They really enjoy it.

Chairman Mao: That’s quite new—cow manure can be fed to pigs! Could you explain how it’s made? (Takes out a notebook to record, then says to Comrade ××) Come now, let’s both make a note of this. This is a creation of the masses! We had never heard of such a thing before. It seems that the old Chinese saying, “One should keep learning until the day one dies,” is indeed very true!

Chairman Mao: (To a young intellectual who has returned to the countryside) Do you have any objections to coming back home to raise pigs?

Animal Keeper: Why would I? I wouldn’t want to leave this pig farm for the rest of my life!

Chairman Mao: Very good! But it would be even better if you could pass on the scientific knowledge you’ve acquired to the other villagers.

Chairman Mao: …The more advanced practices one observes, the broader one’s horizons become.

(He personally administers an egg-white injection to a pig, then turns to Comrade ×× and says)

There is so much valuable experience here, especially regarding substitute feeds. If these methods were adopted nationwide, we could save several billion jin of grain each year! Could our journalist colleagues please write an article about this in the newspaper?

Comrade ×××: Certainly.

Chairman Mao: Ideally, it should appear in the paper the day after tomorrow.

(To the animal keepers) Thank you very much! You have taught us a great deal!

Animal Keeper: Yet some people still look down upon us!

Chairman Mao: Who? Who are these stubborn holdouts?

(The animal keeper describes how certain individuals have shifted from dismissing women to praising their achievements.)

Chairman Mao: Although there are not many people who look down upon women, there are always a few somewhere. This isn’t entirely their fault; the feudal system has left such a deep imprint on them that it is not easy for them to change their ways overnight. Nor can we use airplanes and artillery to deal with them. So what should we do? In my view, apart from strengthening education, the best approach is for the women themselves to achieve concrete results and present tangible evidence. Once they see enough examples, the feudal mindset in their minds will naturally crumble without any need for force.

(From “Chinese Women,” No. 7, 1958)