(September 6, 1958)
Comrade Xiaoping:
This document may be printed for all Central Committee members in Beijing.
Mao Zedong
September 6
[I]
The Complete Works of Mao Zedong
Volume 40
was developing very rapidly and in a healthy manner. Public enthusiasm was extremely high, and rural areas across the country were abuzz with gongs and drums, as villagers wrote pledges, applications, and big-character posters demanding the establishment of communes. In areas where communes had already been formed, a new wave of increased production had been set off. Only in a few places, due to insufficient ideological mobilization and lingering concerns among the masses, did abnormal phenomena occur, such as slaughtering chickens and pigs, selling livestock, cutting down trees, and hiding grain. Local authorities have taken note of these incidents and are working to correct them. The materials also raised several questions requiring further study:
1. Should cities also establish people’s communes?
2. Should state-owned enterprises form communes?
3. Following the establishment of communes in rural areas, how should state-owned financial and trade institutions be reorganized?
4. Is it advisable to establish county-level joint communes?
5. Should pastoral areas establish communes?
6. Should lamas be permitted to join the communes?
7. Should a rationing system be implemented?
8. How can we ensure the orderly development of this movement?”
[2]

--- Notes

Refers to materials from the national teleconference on the establishment of people’s communes across the country, submitted by Tan Zhenlin, Secretary of the CPC Central Secretariat, to Mao Zedong. The materials stated: “On the evening of September 4, the CPC Central Secretariat convened a nationwide teleconference involving the party committees of all provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the central government (with the exception of Tibet) to hear reports on the progress of establishing people’s communes. According to these reports, a nationwide upsurge in the establishment of people’s communes has now arrived in the vast majority of areas. Henan Province has already completed commune formation throughout the entire province; Hebei Province and the suburban areas of Beijing are expected to achieve commune formation by September 10; Shanxi, Shandong, and the suburban areas of Shanghai are projected to do so around mid-September. Most other provinces are currently summarizing pilot experience and gradually expanding the movement, with an estimated completion date before the end of September. Only Inner Mongolia, Fujian, and Xinjiang will conduct pilot projects in September and then roll out the movement after autumn, aiming to finish entirely by this winter. As of the time of the meeting, a total of 9,034 people’s communes had been established in rural areas nationwide. Generally, one commune was set up per township, though in a few cases several townships were combined into a single commune. Apart from Xiuwu County in Henan, individual counties in Shanxi, Shaanxi, and Qinghai have also adopted the model of one county—one commune. The largest commune now comprises 64,000 households (Gaoping County, Shanxi), while the smallest has fewer than one hundred households (a commune in Heilongjiang, covering an area of eighty to ninety li). In most localities, the establishment of people’s communes proceeded in two stages: prior to autumn, the basic organizational framework was put in place—signboards were changed, but existing institutions remained largely intact—while unified allocation of labor and coordinated production arrangements were implemented. After autumn, specific policies would be addressed, and issues related to management and operation would be resolved. This campaign


Xiaoping refers to Deng Xiaoping,
who at that time served as General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee.
In 1958, following the Beidaihe Conference, a nationwide upsurge in the establishment of people’s communes swept across the country. Pictured is the founding assembly of the Hegang People’s Commune in Ningxiang County, Hunan Province.