Our congress has achieved results, has been held successfully, has done earnest work, and has formulated our general line. In the affairs of the world, what matters most is earnestness; once you are earnest, any difficulty can be overcome, and a new situation can be opened up. Our country has the largest population in the world, a vast territory, and its people have won liberation. The victory in the bourgeois-democratic revolution has been accomplished, the socialist revolution has achieved basic victory, and construction has made great progress. All this already allows us to see our future. Previously, it was unclear, and no one knew when we could free ourselves from a passive and backward state. Earlier, we had no standing in the world, were looked down upon by others, and Dulles held us in contempt. This did not match our circumstances, though there was some reason in it—because even though you have a large population, your strength had not yet been demonstrated. Someday, when you catch up with Britain and the United States, Dulles will have to take notice. This country does indeed exist. Our policy is that this guest is not invited for now. When the day comes that he comes knocking on our door, we will simply entertain him. In the past few years, things were still unclear two years ago, and there were people opposing the general line; quite a few were skeptical of the principle of achieving more, faster, better, and more economically. This situation was also unavoidable; it was an objective reality. These many people doubted whether socialism could be built with more, faster, better, and more economical results, and there were many skeptics and opponents back then. Some saw it, and some did not. To see it, one must go through twists and turns; after a period, more and more people will see it. The road is always tortuous. There will be more twists and turns in the future. The congress has set the general line of achieving more, faster, better, and more economically, rousing all vigor, and striving for the top, but it still has to be proven in objective practice. Some of it has already been proven in the past. The past three years have been shaped like a saddle, high at both ends and low in the middle—two years ago it was high, last year it was low, and this year it is high again. With this change, the congress has been held successfully. This time, everyone has reflected the people’s mood, demands, and vigor. Building socialism with more, faster, better, and more economic results should be said to have begun reflecting this aspect at the Third Plenum last September, while the Second Plenum the year before last did not reflect it enough and failed to gain the upper hand.

In the winter of 1955, there were two things that were not anticipated: the international anti-Stalin campaign and the occurrences of the Polish and Hungarian incidents. An anti-Soviet and anti-communist upsurge emerged worldwide, affecting the whole world and influencing our Party. Domestically, we did not expect the anti-rash advance. We did not foresee this matter. This was mentioned at the Chengdu Conference. Comrades attending the meeting are asked to pay attention—there may be further twists and turns in the future—and each provincial Party committee is asked to study this. It must be anticipated; as was said at the previous congress, there is the possibility of war and the possibility of splits. If anticipated, it is no cause for alarm. Everyone should study this; each province should also study the possibility of war and splits... Because if you expect it, you won’t be afraid. Not that there is war now, but it is possible; there are madmen in the world. It was stated at the Moscow Conference that we must guard against madmen; the declaration says that if they start a war, they will be doomed. The world is ours. Disturbances may occur, but incorrect forces will always be criticized, and correct forces will always prevail. But we must anticipate it; the Party must also ponder this. So many provincial and municipal committees and autonomous regions—more than half—have had problems, but none have overthrown the provincial or municipal committees; all have been overcome, such as so-and-so, so-and-so, so-and-so, so-and-so, a considerable number. Prefectural committees, county committees, and Party branches have all had some problems, more or less. This is a normal phenomenon of class struggle. Some cases involve good people making mistakes, such as not understanding the principle of more, faster, better, and more economical; in others, bad elements have sneaked into the Party. So-and-so is a good person who made mistakes... Ding Ling is a bad element concealed within the Party who long ago betrayed the Party.

On the question of whom to follow, first of all, whom to follow? First of all, learn from the people and follow the people. Among the people, there is so much vigor for achieving more, faster, better, and more economical results. Many inventions and innovations: first-category cooperatives, fields yielding a thousand jin per mu, two thousand jin per mu. In the industrial sector, norms have been surpassed, and inventions and innovations have been made. In short, in industry, agriculture, commerce, culture and education, military affairs, and ideological and theoretical fields, there are various talented people representing the people. The congress has shared so many experiences; if asked to elaborate, I couldn’t speak as well as you did. You have correctly reflected the people’s demands, thoughts, and feelings. Based on these correct reflections, a relatively complete system has been created, as in the resolutions and reports of this congress, which was not there in the past. After these eight years, especially during the First Five-Year Plan, the encouragement from the Third Plenum in 1957 gave the whole Party and the people of the nation a relatively clear direction, achieved through the efforts of the entire Party. In the last half-year, the great leap forward of last winter and this spring, along with the Hangzhou Conference, Nanning Conference, and Chengdu Conference, prepared the ground for this congress. We wrote summaries and resolutions and produced the Sixty Articles, though they are not yet complete and still need revision. The general meaning has been worked out; after a few months, we will revise them again. This is first following the people, and then the people follow us. First, theory comes from practice, and then theory guides practice; the unity of theory and practice is a Marxist principle. That is, theory originates from practice and then guides practice. At the beginning, there was no Marxism; it was because the practice of class struggle was reflected in people’s minds, first reflected in the minds of pioneers—Marx, Engels, Lenin, and Stalin. Objective laws were reflected in the subjective world, resulting in theoretical summaries that they developed into theory, setting a model for us. If we want to avoid political mistakes, we need theory to guide practice. But theory must come from practice; without revolutionary practice, it is impossible to create a theoretical system. Shutting the door cannot produce a theoretical system. The formulation of the congress’s general line could not have been something suddenly dreamed up by a few people. No matter how high your position, how great your official rank, or how famous you are, if you do not go down to connect with the people or engage with cadres who have ties to the people, and if you do not engage with activists among the people, as long as you lose contact with the people for six months, you will know nothing and become impoverished. Therefore, it is essential to stipulate four months a year going down to the grassroots. Go down to connect with the people and engage with cadres who are linked to the people and activists among the masses. Understand what they think, what they do, what hardships they endure, and then sum things up.

The slogan "Rouse all vigor and strive for the top" is very good and reflects the people’s drive. The word "rouse" combined with "all" is better than simply "rouse." Truth involves a question of degree. Because vigor has already been roused; the issue is whether it is sufficient. At minimum, it is six- or seven-tenths; at best, eight- or nine-tenths; only ten-tenths is fully sufficient. That is why using the phrase "rouse all" is better. Vigor varies from person to person.

"Rouse all vigor" is a new phrase; "strive for the top" existed before and is not new.

"Rouse all vigor, strive for the top, achieve more, faster, better, and more economically"—to foreigners, it may seem unintelligible, as if it doesn’t make sense, lacking a subject. Originally, we thought of adding "mobilize all positive factors" as the subject, but now we think it’s fine without it. Six hundred million people are the subject. The vigor of the overwhelming majority of those six hundred million, except perhaps for people like Zhang Bojun, Luo Longji, Zhang Naiqi, and so-and-so, whose vigor may not be great.

Plant red flags and discern the wind’s direction; if you don’t plant them, others will. On any large or small mountain, on any mu of land, wherever you see no flags, go and plant them. Where you see white flags, pull them up. Gray ones must also be pulled up; gray flags won’t do—they must be taken down. Yellow flags are also no good; yellow unions are tantamount to white flags. On any large or small mountain, through debate, plant the red flags.

Last time, I spoke about the wind’s direction, not about direction per se; the wind’s direction means whether it is an east wind or a west wind. The anti-rash advance began in June 1956. By that time, the Ten Major Relationships and the principle of more, faster, better, and more economically already existed, as did the promotion association. In mid-April, at an enlarged meeting of the Political Bureau with the participation of provincial and municipal Party secretaries, there was no explicit resolution—just a gentlemen’s agreement. Everyone agreed, unlike this congress, which has clear resolutions and reports. At the Second Plenum in November 1956, there was also no explicit resolution, but there were reports, with the focus on doing everything possible to increase production and practice economy. That wind could not be blocked; it was a bad thing turned into a good thing, giving us a basis for comparison, as discussed at Chengdu and Nanning. At this congress, comrades made many excellent speeches... Tito specializes in demoralization, representing one kind of vigor; the Moscow Declaration represents our kind of vigor. The Yugoslav program dampens the spirit of the proletariat and boosts the enemy’s arrogance.

In the future, pay attention to discerning the wind’s direction. When a gale comes—force twelve, overturning houses and people—it is easy to discern. Light breezes are not easy to discern. The "Ode to the Wind" written by Song Yu is worth reading. He said there are two kinds of wind: the wind of the nobility and the wind of the common people (the so-called "Wind of the Great King" and the "Wind of the Common People"). There are light breezes, moderate winds, and great gales. Song Yu said: "Wind arises from the land, born at the tips of duckweed. It invades ravines and valleys, and rages fiercely at the mouths of earthen caves." At that stage, it is hardest to discern.