Telegram Commemorating the 40th Anniversary of the Hungarian Soviet Republic by Mao Zedong and Others

Under the correct leadership of the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party, brilliant achievements have been made in consolidating the dictatorship of the proletariat, developing the national economy, and raising the material and cultural living standards of the working people. The Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party and the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Government, consistently loyal to Marxism-Leninism, have unswervingly struggled to strengthen the unity of the socialist camp headed by the Soviet Union and to oppose modern revisionism, and have made significant contributions to checking the imperialist schemes of war and safeguarding the cause of peace in Europe and the world.

The peoples of China and Hungary long ago forged a profound fraternal friendship in revolutionary struggles. The lofty ideal of building socialism-communism closely unites the peoples of our two countries. The Chinese people have always watched the struggles of the Hungarian people with the utmost concern and have rejoiced and been inspired by their great achievements. On this historic day commemorating the 40th anniversary of the founding of the Hungarian Soviet Republic, we firmly believe that the Hungarian people will continuously achieve new and greater successes in the cause of building socialism and defending peace, and we sincerely wish that the fraternal friendship between the peoples of China and Hungary will be increasingly consolidated and developed.

Mao Zedong
Chairman of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China
Chairman of the People's Republic of China

Liu Shaoqi
Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China

Zhou Enlai
Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China

March 19, 1959, in Beijing

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Critique on "Sichuan's Experience" [1]
(March 19, 1959)

The report of the Sichuan Provincial Committee dated March 14 (Briefing No. 5) is very good, and is hereby issued to the Party committees of all provinces, municipalities, and regions for reference. This is a document well worth studying and considering for adoption by various localities.

Mao Zedong
10:00 a.m., March 19, 1959, in Wuchang. I am leaving for Changsha today.

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Introducing Henan's Experience [1]
(March 19, 24, 1959)

Henan has changed its policy [2], taking the former higher-stage cooperative as the basic accounting unit, which has won the support of the broad masses. The Party committees of all provinces, municipalities, and regions are requested to take note.

Mao Zedong
9:00 p.m., March 19, in Changsha

--- Notes

[1] Refers to the No. 5 briefing sent by the Sichuan Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China on March 14, 1959, to the Central Committee and Mao Zedong regarding the situation of the six-level cadres' conference, which Mao entitled "Sichuan's Experience." Its main contents are: 1. Regarding the management system of the communes. The vast majority in our province consist of one township, one commune; therefore, the management structure of rural people's communes can generally be divided into three levels: the commune management committee, the management area (equivalent to the association of former agricultural cooperatives and some higher-stage agricultural cooperatives), and the production team (equivalent to the former agricultural cooperatives), implementing three-level management; generally, the management area or production brigade serves as the foundation of the commune (approximately 200 to 300 peasant households). 2. Regarding the income distribution of the people's communes. State taxes account for an average of about 6%, the commune and management area retain about 17.5% for public accumulation, production costs account for about 20% to 30%, management fees account for 0.3%, and the consumption portion distributed to commune members accounts for about 50%. 3. Regarding the distribution and procurement of grain. It is proposed to calculate distribution based on an average per capita grain output of 1,500 jin, retaining 600 jin for rations, procuring 300 jin, 300 jin for feed grain, 150 jin for seed grain, 100 jin for reserve grain, and 50 jin for industrial grain. 4. Regarding the issue of labor power. First, under the premise of ensuring the labor power needed for agricultural production, implement overall planning and consideration. Second, in order to save labor power, communes are not permitted to have organizations such as full-time cultural troupes. 5. Regarding issues related to state investment in communes and the recovery of loans. Our province intends to use the 12 million yuan of Poor Peasants' Cooperative Funds recovered by banks last year as an advance disbursement of state investment to the communes. 6. Principles for handling various commune accounting issues: generally, it is advisable not to settle old accounts, but some accounts must still be settled. 7. Handling of people's commune issues in minority nationality areas. Communes already established will not be announced as abolished, but for various specific issues of the communes, they can still basically be handled according to the set of methods used for the former higher-stage agricultural cooperatives.


[1] This first part is a critique on the report sent by the Henan Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China on March 18, 1959, to Mao Zedong, the Central Committee, and concurrently to all prefectural, municipal, and county committees regarding how to determine the basic accounting unit of the people's communes; the second part is a critique on Briefing No. 8 forwarded by the Henan Provincial Committee on March 19, 1959, regarding the Luoyang Prefectural Committee's discussion on the commune system. The title of this piece was drafted by Mao Zedong when writing this critique.
[2] The report of the Henan Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China dated March 18, 1959, stated that the provincial committee's six-level cadres' conference originally designated the production brigade as the basic accounting unit. At the five-level cadres' conferences held in various counties, the production teams, work groups, and the majority of commune members firmly advocated taking the former higher-stage cooperative as the basic accounting unit. After receiving the Chairman's instruction on this issue, the provincial committee expressed complete agreement with taking the production team, i.e., the former higher-stage cooperative, as the basic accounting unit, and pointed out when conveying this to the prefectural and county committees that the provincial committee's original stipulation could be changed, that it was necessary to follow the mass line, and to listen to the opinions of the broad grassroots cadres and the masses.