Speech at the Shanghai Conference (Excerpt)
(March 1959)

It was said in 1955 that socialist transformation could be completed before long. That statement
now appears to be incorrect... Relations of production include not only ownership, but also the mutual relations
among people, the superstructure, ideology, political and ideological work, and so forth. The reactionaries oppose communism and oppose the people,
they have their own worldview, and in political relations they seek restoration and the overthrow of us.
At the time
we did not anticipate the wave of anti-Stalinism, the "anti-rash advance" of 1956, and the rightist offensive of 1957.
It does not matter if a saddle-shaped pattern appears. Advancing in waves is an objective law. The mistake lay in not
opposing the "anti-rash advance"... In 1957 there was a saddle-shaped pattern, and stockpiles were abundant. Only then could we leap forward in 1958... As long as we do not
"oppose the rash advance," the emergence of a saddle-shaped pattern is not a mistake. There will always be saddle-shaped patterns... We cannot
have a high tide every day... Things always advance in waves. When airplanes and automobiles move forward, they
always make the sound of waves. Light, electricity, and water all have waves—this is the form of motion. The advance of things is always
wave after wave.