Comments and Revisions on the Draft Resolution of the CPC Central Committee Concerning the 1959 National Economic Plan (December 5, 1958) I To Comrades Xiaoping and Qiaomu [1]: ··This document [2] is very well written; it is far superior to the “Resolution on People’s Communes” [3]. It may be circulated immediately for discussion. Mao Zedong, 8:00 a.m., December 5 Printed from the manuscript. II Note: The term “instruction,” when applied to an individual, is highly inappropriate. It lacks a democratic tone of “teaching” and makes the text unpleasant to read. Such language should not be used again in the future. [4] Printed from Mao Zedong’s manuscript.

III The shift on the steel front from “small earth furnaces” to “small foreign furnaces” represents an inevitable step forward in the mass movement; however, earth-made iron, steel, steel products, machinery, railways, and so forth will continue to play a major role for quite some time, especially in local and commune-level industries. We must never underestimate their importance—underestimation would lead to mistakes. At the same time, small-scale, folk-method mass movements on the industrial front should continue to develop in areas such as steelmaking, aluminum smelting, coal mining, power generation, chemical production, and light industry. Comrades should understand that even ten thousand years hence there will still be small and medium-sized enterprises running alongside large ones, along with what will then be called “small earth furnaces” and “small foreign furnaces,” and instances of “combining earth and foreign methods.” Of course, by that time the content and form of what is now referred to as “small earth” will be vastly different. The universe is a unified yet diverse whole—this is one of the fundamental principles of the Marxist worldview. [5] Printed from Mao Zedong’s revised draft. Notes [1] Xiaoping refers to Deng Xiaoping, who at the time served as General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee. Qiaomu refers to Hu Qiaomu, who was then an alternate member of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee. [2] This refers to the draft resolution on the 1959 national economic plan submitted by Hu Qiaomu to Mao Zedong on December 4, 1958. The draft resolution proposed mobilizing the entire nation to strive for a series of ambitious goals in 1959, including 22 million tons of steel, 14 million tons of steel products, and 105 billion jin of grain, as well as to surpass Britain in the output of steel, iron, copper, lead, machine tools, and power-generation equipment. The draft also stated that deciding on the 1959 plan was a process of avoiding both excessive conservatism and reckless adventurism—it was a leap-forward plan, a grueling struggle. Without such leaps and struggles, our country could not make rapid progress. Moreover, it was a relatively grounded plan, with targets much lower than those initially proposed in 1958, because without this adjustment there would have been no objective possibility of achieving them. This resolution was later adopted at the Sixth Plenary Session of the Eighth CPC Central Committee. [3] Refers to the “Resolution on Certain Questions Concerning People’s Communes,” which was being prepared for adoption at the Sixth Plenary Session of the Eighth CPC Central Committee. See pages 568–5£· in this volume. [4] In the draft resolution of the CPC Central Committee on the 1959 national economic plan, there were phrases such as “Comrade Mao Zedong has long been teaching us” and “Comrade Mao Zedong has once again instructed us.” When reviewing the draft, Mao Zedong replaced “teaching” and “instruction” with “telling” in these passages and wrote this comment. [5] This is a passage from Mao Zedong’s revised draft of the resolution on the 1959 national economic plan, with the parts printed in Song typeface being additions or revisions made by Mao Zedong himself.

Comments on the Hebei Provincial Party Committee’s Report on Rural People’s Communes (December 5, 1958) Comrade Xiaoping [1]: This document [2] may be circulated for reference. Mao Zedong, December 5 Printed from the manuscript. Notes [1] Xiaoping refers to Deng Xiaoping, who at the time served as General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee. [2] Refers to the report submitted by the Hebei Provincial Party Committee to the central authorities on November 28, 1958, concerning rural people’s communes. The report stated that rural communes had been established throughout the province by early September of that year, totaling 953 communes, with 91.5 percent of all farming households having joined. Starting in the second half of September, with a bountiful harvest already assured, efforts were focused on consolidating the people’s communes through three main measures: reforming the distribution system, organizing collective communal life, and strengthening communist education among the masses. (1) Regarding the distribution system in rural people’s communes: It was decided to universally implement a semi-supply, semi-wage distribution system across all rural communes in the province. This new system offers greater advantages than the previous practice of paying wages based on work-days. The implementation is currently underway in all communes, and is expected to be completed by December of this year. (2) Concerning the organization of collective communal life: By late October, more than 235,000 communal dining halls had been built, serving 34.82 million people; 213,217 nurseries and 101,633 kindergartens had been established, accommodating over 4.4 million children; and 13,599 welfare homes had been set up, housing nearly 100,000 elderly residents. (3) With respect to intensifying ideological education in the spirit of communism, specific arrangements were made in October, and work is now progressing toward broader and deeper implementation.