Comments on the Article “A Thousand-Mu Wheat Field in Anguo: ‘The Best Field Under Heaven’”
(November 20, 1958)
This document is worth reading.
Mao Zedong
November 20, 1958
Chuan
Refers to the report “A Thousand-Mu Wheat Field in Anguo: ‘The Best Field Under Heaven’,” published in Issue No. 2632 of the Xinhua News Agency’s Internal Reference, compiled and printed on November 13, 1958. The report described a large-scale high-yield wheat campaign being carried out by the Dongfeng People’s Commune in Wurenqiao, Anguo County, Hebei Province, which emphasized standardized sowing practices, zoned cultivation, and garden-like field management. As part of this campaign, a “thousand-mu field—‘the best under heaven’”—was established. According to the report, the field’s ridges were as straight as a line, the surface was as smooth as a mirror, the soil was finer than if it had been sifted, and the edges of the ridges were as sharp as if cut with a knife. The planned average yield was set at 20,000 jin per mu. Following this report, Mao Zedong wrote:
“See the Xinhua News Agency’s Internal Reference of November 13, 1958.” Mao’s comments, together with the report, were distributed at the Sixth Plenary Session of the Eighth Central Committee of the Communist Party of China as official documents.