Comments on the Report Regarding the Counter-Revolutionary Armed Rebellion
(August 22, 1958)


To Comrades Shaoqi and Xiaoping:
On page five, it is incorrect to say that the contradiction does not manifest itself between the productive forces and production relations; in that case, the productive forces would not have been liberated.
Also on page five, the assertion that classes have been abolished is likewise erroneous—classes have not yet been eliminated throughout the country.
I have made revisions to these two points.


Mao Zedong
August 22
[I]
In a report submitted to the Central Committee by the Qinghai Provincial Committee of the CPC on July 5, 1958, it was stated: “Although the ownership of the means of production in the agricultural areas has already been transformed and ethnic relations have been established on a socialist economic foundation, the struggle between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie, as well as the struggle between the socialist and capitalist paths, still persists. However, this contradiction does not appear between the productive forces and production relations; rather, it emerges between the economic base and the superstructure. In certain spheres, this contradiction takes the form of an irreconcilable enemy–friend antagonism.” Upon reviewing the report, Mao Zedong revised the latter part of this passage to read: “This contradiction manifests itself both between the productive forces and production relations and between the economic base and the superstructure. In certain spheres, it assumes the character of an irreconcilable enemy–friend antagonism.”
[2]
The report of the Qinghai Provincial Committee further noted: “Facts once again demonstrate that, although classes have been abolished, class struggle has by no means come to an end; while counter-revolutionaries are few in number, they still exist.” When examining the report, Mao Zedong amended this sentence to read: “Facts once again show that, on a national scale, although the large-scale, vigorous phase of class struggle has passed, classes have not yet been eliminated and class struggle has not ceased; although counter-revolutionaries are now few, they still remain.”