Comments and Revisions on the Draft of the Central Committee’s Five Urgent Instructions on Agriculture [1] (May 6, 1959)

I. Forward this immediately to Liu, Zhou, Zhu, Lin, Chen, and Xiaoping [2] for their review. Please have Shangkun [3] transmit it by telephone tomorrow, the 7th; a separate printed copy is to be made as previously instructed. Printed from Mao’s manuscript on the 6th.

II. Restore the household plots allocated to commune members, still in accordance with the provisions of the original statutes of the advanced cooperatives: such plots shall not exceed nor fall short of five percent of each person’s average land holding. Without these household plots, it will be impossible to substantially expand private raising of pigs, chickens, geese, and ducks, nor can we implement the policy of pursuing both collective and private livestock rearing in tandem. Printed according to Mao Zedong’s revised text.

III. With regard to the above five points [4], please arrange for their immediate implementation. Printed from Mao Zedong’s manuscript.

Notes  [1] In Part (ii) of this document, the type set in Song font represents text added by Mao Zedong; Part (iii) consists of a single sentence appended by Mao at the end of the draft instruction. Mao also drafted the title “Urgent Instructions on Agriculture” for the document. On May 7, 1959, the CPC Central Committee transmitted this instruction to the party committees of provinces, municipalities, autonomous regions, prefectures, and counties.

[2] Liu refers to Liu Shaoqi; Zhou to Zhou Enlai; Zhu to Zhu De; Lin to Lin Biao; and Chen to Chen Yun, all of whom at that time served as vice chairmen of the CPC Central Committee and vice premiers of the State Council. Xiaoping denotes Deng Xiaoping, who at the time was general secretary of the CPC Central Committee and vice premier of the State Council.

[3] Shangkun is Yang Shangkun, then alternate member of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee and director of the Central Office.

[4] The five main provisions of the CPC Central Committee’s instruction, as revised by Mao Zedong, are as follows: First, first secretaries of party committees at the provincial, prefectural, and county levels must make agricultural work the central task during May and June. Second, late-stage management of wheat crops must be strengthened, and all preparations for the wheat harvest should be thoroughly completed to ensure a bountiful yield and the safe return of every grain to the granary. Third, the acreage devoted to spring plowing and summer sowing should be expanded. Fourth, the sharp decline in the number of pigs must be quickly reversed; collective feeding and individual household rearing should be given equal emphasis, and appropriate arrangements and support must be provided for private pig farming. Fifth, Mao Zedong’s views on six issues concerning agriculture are to be widely disseminated, discussed, and implemented among the masses, while continuing to uphold the “eight-character constitution” for agricultural production, mobilizing the people to launch a vigorous upsurge in spring planting and summer harvesting and sowing.