Comment on the Experience Report on the "Method of Increasing the Edible Yield of Corn"
(June 3, 1959)

To the Party Committees of All Provinces, Municipalities, and Autonomous Regions:

This experience from Liaoning[1] may serve as a reference for your study and trial implementation. Please also study whether other grains can adopt the same approach that Liaoning has used for corn. When studying, experimenting with, and promoting any new method, it is imperative to guard in advance against subjectivism and commandism.

Central Committee
June 3, 1959

[1] Refers to the experience of creating a "method of increasing the edible yield of corn" in Heishan County, as described in the report of the Liaoning Provincial Party Committee to the Central Committee and Mao Zedong on June 1, 1959. The report of the Liaoning Provincial Party Committee stated that the canteen of the sideline production team in the Santaizi management area of the Dahu Mountain Satellite People's Commune in Heishan County created a "method of increasing the edible yield of corn." This involved first boiling the corn until it was about sixty percent cooked, then grinding it into a wet paste, and subsequently making it into steamed buns and various other foods. Its advantages were: (1) It increased the yield of edible corn, saving grain. (2) It improved the quality and nutritional value of the corn meal. (3) It was hygienic, easy to digest, and allowed for a greater variety of meals. (4) It ensured that commune members were well-fed and satisfied.

To be reviewed by Liu, Deng, Lin, and Peng Zhen[1]; to be handled by Shangkun[2].
Mao

[1] Liu refers to Liu Shaoqi. Deng refers to Deng Xiaoping, then General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee and Vice Premier of the State Council. Lin refers to Lin Biao, then Vice Chairman of the CPC Central Committee and Vice Premier of the State Council. Peng Zhen was then a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and a Secretary of the Central Secretariat.
[2] Shangkun, namely Yang Shangkun, was then an Alternate Secretary of the Central Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee and Director of the General Office of the Central Committee.