On
Annotations and Revisions to the First Draft of the “Forty Articles of the Fifteen-Year Outline for Socialist Construction (1958–1972)”
( November 1958 )
Comrade Shangkun:
Please invite Comrades Liu, Deng, and Bo Da to review this together, make final adjustments, and have it printed immediately. Distribute copies to all comrades attending the meeting before dawn. Make any necessary changes right away; I will not examine it again.
Mao Zedong
10:00 PM, November 10th

The task before our people is:
Through the organizational form of the people’s communes, rapidly develop social productive forces, promote national industrialization, commune-level industrialization, and the mechanization of agriculture, gradually transitioning socialist collective ownership to socialist public ownership, and progressively moving from an incomplete form of socialist public ownership to a fully developed one, thereby building socialism. At the same time, as we advance in socialist construction, communist elements will inevitably grow step by step, laying both material and spiritual foundations for the transition from socialism to communism.

Comrade Liu refers to Liu Shaoqi. Comrade Deng refers to Deng Xiaoping. Comrade Bo Da is Chen Boda, who at that time served as an alternate member of the CPC Central Political Bureau and Director of the Central Political Research Office.

The People’s Republic of China faces the following tasks:
By means of the people’s commune organizational form, rapidly develop social productive forces, accelerate national industrialization, commune-level industrialization, and the mechanization of agriculture, gradually transform socialist collective ownership into socialist public ownership, and progressively move from an incomplete to a fully developed socialist public ownership, thus establishing socialism. Simultaneously, during the process of socialist construction, communist elements will steadily increase, providing both material and spiritual prerequisites for the eventual transition from socialism to communism.

Four
At the First Plenary Session of the Eighth National Congress of the Communist Party of China, held in September 1956, two long-term plans were adopted: the Second Five-Year Plan, covering industry, agriculture, transportation, education, culture, and health from 1958 to 1962; and the Forty Articles of the Outline for Agricultural Development from 1956 to 1967. After one year of implementation under the former and three years under the latter, both plans have been largely completed—in their main components and most objectives—with some even exceeding targets. This was achieved through the united and heroic efforts of the entire Party and the whole nation. Now, the Party and the people desire a new, long-term programmatic outline to replace the outdated one, serving as a common goal for the entire Party and the entire people. The “Fifteen-Year Outline for Socialist Construction” is precisely such a new plan. As its first draft, it was approved at the Zhengzhou Conference in mid-to-late November 1958. Subsequently, in late November, it was again considered at the Sixth Plenary Session of the Eighth Central Committee of the CPC, still in its initial draft form. Given that it comprises three five-year plans, based on current experience (as of 1958), the responses provided to certain issues—particularly those related to industry—are largely speculative. Therefore, the CPC Central Political Bureau has decided that, over the next three years of arduous effort, this draft should be studied exclusively among senior cadres at or above the county level within the Party. During these three years, we will accumulate substantial experience. By around 1960, and no later than spring 1961, the draft can be publicly released, submitted to the entire Party and the people for discussion, and then presented to the National Congress of the Party and the National People’s Congress for formal adoption.

Annotations and Revisions to the First Draft of the “Forty Articles of the Fifteen-Year Outline for Socialist Construction”
Five
Under the aforementioned conditions, by 1972, strive to limit annual sowing on existing cultivated land nationwide—totaling 1.8 billion mu—to approximately 600 million mu, while leaving another 600 million mu fallow or dedicated to green manure crops, and planting trees and grasses on the remaining 600 million mu, thereby turning the entire countryside into a verdant landscape.
From 1958 onward, all cultivated land shall be deeply plowed once every three years, to a depth of one to three feet; in some cases, even deeper—up to four, five, six, or seven feet.
Seven
Forest management, wherever feasible, should also gradually adopt deep plowing, fertilization, and irrigation techniques.
Eight
Work and rest must be harmoniously balanced. Every worker must be guaranteed sufficient sleep, rest, and recreational time, with daily combined sleep, rest, and leisure time totaling no less than twelve hours, and study time no less than two hours.
Nine
Abolish the unreasonable patriarchal practices inherited from the past. In residential architecture, ensure that housing is suitable for family gatherings of men, women, young, and old.
Ten
Consider work in canteens as a noble service to the people.
Eleven
View work in nurseries and kindergartens as a noble service to the people.
Twelve
People’s communes should organize production according to the principle of meeting social needs. They should both develop self-sufficient production directly satisfying the commune’s own requirements and, as much as possible, expand commodity production. Such commodity production, through market exchange, can not only satisfy society’s growing needs but also generate equivalent resources to meet the commune’s increasing production demands and the living needs of its members. In the process of commodity circulation, value, price, and money will continue to play their positive roles.
Thirteen
In order to prepare for the eventuality that imperialism launches an aggressive war against our country, and to ensure the complete defeat of the aggressors, our nation should implement a system of全民皆兵 (universal military service).
Fourteen
All work must be grounded in reality, striving to combine revolutionary enthusiasm with a pragmatic, fact-based spirit. Empty rhetoric, ostentation, falsification of achievements, and hypocrisy—these are all unacceptable.