Annotations and Revisions on the Draft Decision Approving Mao Zedong’s Proposal Not to Be a Candidate for the Next Term of State Chairmanship

(December 8–9, 1958)

1
Comrade Xiaoping, please have this printed and distributed immediately.

Mao Zedong
December 8

2
Return to Comrade Xiaoping for distribution to all comrades. Please ask all relevant comrades to notify the provinces, municipalities, and autonomous regions by telephone this evening. Within the next two days, or at the latest the day after tomorrow (December 12), complete the telephone conferences and convey this to the people’s communes.

Mao Zedong
December 9, 5:30 p.m.

3
Comrade Xiaoping: There are a few word changes. Do not reprint; simply publish according to the revised draft when it appears in the newspapers.

That is all. After reading, please hand it over to Shangkun for handling.

Mao Zedong
December 9
(Printed from the manuscript.)

4
Over the past few years, Comrade Mao Zedong has repeatedly proposed to the Central Committee that he no longer wishes to continue serving as Chairman of the People’s Republic of China. After thorough and multifaceted deliberation, the plenary session of the Central Committee has decided to approve Comrade Mao Zedong’s proposal and will not nominate him as a candidate for the chairmanship of the People’s Republic of China at the first session of the Second National People’s Congress. The plenary session of the Central Committee holds that this is an entirely constructive suggestion. By not holding the office of state chairman and concentrating solely on serving as Chairman of the Party Central Committee, Comrade Mao Zedong will be better able to focus his energy on handling matters concerning the Party’s and the nation’s principles, policies, and lines. It will also afford him more time to engage in theoretical work on Marxism-Leninism, without impeding his continued leadership role in state affairs. This will be more beneficial to both the entire Party and the people of the whole country. Comrade Mao Zedong is a long-tested leader dearly loved and esteemed by the people of all ethnic groups across the nation. After he steps down from the office of state chairman, he will remain the leader of the people of all ethnic groups across the nation. In the future, should special circumstances arise requiring him to resume this role, he may still be nominated again for the office of state chairman in accordance with the will of the people and the decision of the Party. Party committees at all levels should, based on these reasons, provide thorough explanations to cadres and the masses both inside and outside the Party at appropriate Party meetings, at people’s congress meetings at all levels, at gatherings of workers in factories and mines, at gatherings in people’s communes, and at meetings in government offices, schools, and military units, so that everyone understands the reasons for this matter and no misunderstandings arise.

(Published in the People’s Daily on December 18, 1958, based on the printed version. Includes Mao Zedong’s revisions.)

Notes

--- Notes

1. This piece includes three annotations written by Mao Zedong while reviewing the draft decision of the Eighth Plenary Session of the Sixth Central Committee of the Communist Party of China approving his proposal not to be a candidate for the next term of state chairmanship, along with his revisions to the draft decision. Specifically: (1) written on the initial draft of the plenary session’s decision; (2) written on a letter from Deng Xiaoping, General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee, regarding the printing and distribution of the draft decision; (3) written on the final revised draft of the plenary session’s decision by Mao Zedong; (4) the finalized decision of the Eighth Plenary Session of the Sixth Central Committee of the CPC approving Mao Zedong’s proposal not to be a candidate for the next term of state chairmanship, with the text in Song typeface indicating Mao Zedong’s additions and revisions. This decision was published in the People’s Daily on December 18, 1958.

2. Shangkun refers to Yang Shangkun, who was then an alternate secretary of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee and director of the General Office of the Central Committee.