Commentary on the Article “The Experience of the Changchun Automobile Factory in Mobilizing the Masses to Launch a Great Technological Revolution” (November 18, 1958)

1. This document [1] is hereby circulated to all comrades attending the meeting [2]. If we are to carry out a technological revolution, this is precisely how it should be done. Written by Mao Zedong on [date] in Wuchang, based on the manuscript.

2. [3] Printed from Mao Zedong’s manuscript. See No. [issue number] of Economic News.

Notes [1] Refers to the article “Good Experiences of the Changchun Automobile Factory in Mobilizing the Masses,” published in Issue 34 of Economic News on November 12, 1958. Upon reviewing the article, Mao Zedong changed its title to “The Experience of the Changchun Automobile Factory in Mobilizing the Masses to Launch a Great Technological Revolution.” The article states that, in the course of a vigorous campaign to mobilize the masses for a major technological breakthrough, the Changchun Automobile Factory proposed an ambitious plan to achieve an annual output of 150,000 vehicles by National Day next year. Through this campaign, the factory accumulated considerable experience and further enriched the content of the “Two Participations, One Reform, Three Combinations” approach. Previously, the promotion of “Two Participations, One Reform” was generally confined to workers’ involvement in administrative management and routine administrative reforms. However, during this large-scale technological revolution drive, workers not only participated in administration but also took part across the board in design and technical management. They likewise undertook reforms of unreasonable rules and regulations governing production and technical operations, thereby bringing workers, technicians, and office staff into close collaboration and establishing a management system under the unified leadership of the Party committee—namely, “Two Participations, One Reform, Three Combinations.” The campaign also shattered superstitious thinking. In the past, many cadres regarded the factory as a first-class enterprise, designed and equipped as a complete set by the Soviet Union with the assistance of Soviet experts, and thus dared not even contemplate revising the designs. After the mass mobilization, however, it was the workers themselves who first raised the issue of design modification. The chassis workshop, by revising the product structure, adjusting process flows, and reorganizing the plant layout, succeeded in meeting the target of producing 250 automobiles per shift. Consequently, a broad-based, mass-driven movement to revise designs—with workers as the main force and with the active participation of technicians and office staff—was fully launched. This movement broke down numerous institutional barriers that had stifled the people’s initiative and impeded production development, and new systems were gradually being put in place. [2] Refers to the forthcoming enlarged meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee to be held in Wuchang. [ ] This is a note written by Mao Zedong following the article “The Experience of the Changchun Automobile Factory in Mobilizing the Masses to Launch a Great Technological Revolution.”