Several Principles on Changing the System of Collective Ownership
(March 31, 1959)
Mao’s annotation: (1) Do not change without the consent of the masses;
(2) When changes are made, the principle must be to benefit the production teams and ensure that no unit or individual—whether production team, sub-team, or the masses—suffers any loss;
(3) Take the large-scale development at the commune level and the large-scale development of poor teams as the foundation; this is a concrete measure proceeding from the principle of not causing rich teams to suffer loss but rather to benefit;
(4) Change first to the township, then later to the district. After three, five, or seven years, if the masses want change, first change to the township. When it will change to the district cannot be determined; at present, we assume that it may only be possible after about ten, fifteen, or twenty years. Therefore, do not be afraid.

--- Notes

[1] This is a note written by Mao Zedong while reading a letter dated March 28, 1959, from Tan Qilong, Secretary of the Secretariat of the Shandong Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China, to Shu Tong, First Secretary of the Shandong Provincial Committee, and Tan Zhenlin, Secretary of the Secretariat of the Central Committee. The letter said that in the five-level cadres’ meetings held in various counties of Jining Prefecture, Shandong Province, they first conveyed the chairman’s instructions and reviewed the responsibility county Party committees should bear in the earlier stage of work. This was immediately followed by vigorous airing of views and free debate, with very heated speeches. The cadres all said that Chairman Mao had spoken the words from their hearts, and that the current meeting was a five-level ventilation meeting and a unity meeting. The sentiment reflected in the airing of views was mainly fear of further changes. Some people said, “The Communist Party is like Sun Wukong—ever-changing.” After this passage, Mao inserted this bracketed annotation. Tan Qilong’s letter also explained that the reasons for fearing change were: 1. The mutual-aid teams and elementary cooperatives had lasted less than two years; just as production was gaining momentum, they were transformed into advanced cooperatives. The advanced cooperatives lasted less than two years before being transformed into communes. People hoped the commune system and various policies would be fixed by law. 2. The state monopoly purchasing policy had been announced to remain unchanged for three years, but in fact it changed every year; before the summer harvest every year they said it would not change, but it changed after autumn. People hoped that higher levels would make sufficient estimates when assigning tasks and, once fixed, would not change again.