Comments on the Article “On the Debate Whether a County Can Enter [Communism]” (November 18, 1958)

1. This is worth reading; please circulate it to all comrades attending the meeting. [2] Mao Zedong Date Month Year Printed from the manuscript.

2. This document appears in the November issue of “Propaganda and Education Bulletin.” March [ ] Printed from Mao Zedong’s manuscript.

Notes [1] This article was published in the No. issue of the “Propaganda and Education Bulletin,” compiled and printed by the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee on November 13, 1958. The article states that Shouzhang County and Fan County in Shandong Province, at mass meetings of ten thousand people held on October 26 and 28, 1958 respectively, raised the question of a county entering communism ahead of schedule. In his report entitled “Mobilize the Whole Party and the Entire People to Advance Toward Communism,” the First Secretary of the Shouzhang County Party Committee put forward the task of “striving to achieve industrialization, mechanization, and electrification within two years and basically build a proper communist society.” The First Secretary of the Fan County Party Committee, in his report titled “Strive to Accelerate the Building of Socialism and Make the Transition to Communism by 1960,” proposed the goal of “transitioning to communism within two years” along with specific plans. Comrades who attended the Gaotang On-Site Conference on Propaganda and Cultural-Educational Work in Shandong Province, after visiting Shouzhang and Fan Counties, generally expressed skepticism about such claims. The conference discussed this issue, and the majority of participants believed that although practices such as free food and clothing, while containing certain communist elements, do not yet constitute “each according to his ability, to each according to his needs,” nor are they true communism. We should keep communism farther ahead in our thinking so that our goals will be clearer and our drive stronger. In advancing socialist construction and transitioning to communism, localities must follow the national pace and rely on nationwide concerted efforts to resolve these issues. Advanced counties should take an interest in the province and the nation as a whole, providing full support to less developed counties as well as neighboring counties and provinces. Communism is an integral whole; the idea of a single province or county entering the communist era ahead of time is inappropriate. At the same time, the transition to communism also requires international conditions and solidarity among communist countries. However, some argued that a county could indeed establish communism. After debating with others, the Propaganda Department Head of a certain county still maintained his view: since the pace of socialist construction varies from place to place, it is possible for a county to enter communism first; communism means “each according to his ability, to each according to his needs,” and a county can be the first to achieve this principle; moreover, the existing people’s communes in the county can already be regarded as a communist economy under public ownership.

[2] Refers to the forthcoming Enlarged Meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee to be held in Wuchang.

[3] This is a note written by Mao Zedong for the purpose of circulating the article “On the Debate Whether a County Can Enter Communism.”