Comments, Revisions, and a Draft Supplementary Directive on the Central Committee’s Draft Directive Concerning Private Plots and Other Issues〔1〕 (June 1959) I. This is to be immediately forwarded for review to Liu, Zhou, Lin, and Peng Zhen〔2〕; Secretary Shang Kun〔3〕 is to dispatch it by telegram without delay. · ·This document〔4〕 was drafted by Liao and Deng after we three—Deng Zihui, Li Xiannian, and Liao Luyan—had reached agreement. Issued from Mao Zedong’s manuscript on June 11. II. In order to cultivate private plots and raise livestock and poultry, with the exception of households having elderly or young members who can assist in labor, all able-bodied workers should be granted three to five days off per month. For families preparing their own meals, female workers should also be allotted two to three hours each day.

III. To the Party Committees of all Provinces, Municipalities, and Autonomous Regions: The Central Committee has received opinions from the Hunan Provincial Committee, the Gansu Provincial Committee, and the Jilin Provincial Committee regarding the Central Committee’s directive of June 11 on four matters, including private plots. These committees have requested that, in light of local conditions, some modifications be permitted when county-level notices are issued. The Central Committee deems this acceptable. Provided that the fundamental spirit of the June 11 directive is not violated, localities should be allowed to make appropriate adjustments based on practical feasibility. Issued from Mao Zedong’s manuscript on June 18, 1959. IV. This is to be immediately sent for review to Liu, Zhou, and Peng Zhen; Secretary Shang Kun is to transmit it by telegram. Following its dispatch, it is then to be forwarded for review to Deng Zihui, Tan Zhenlin〔〕, and Liao Luyan. Printed from Mao Zedong’s manuscript at 3:00 A.M. on June 19. Notes 〔1〕 This section (I) consists of comments on the Central Committee’s draft directive concerning four issues: commune members’ private raising of livestock and poultry, allocation of private plots, full utilization of scattered and idle land, and encouragement of private tree planting; section (II) is an additional passage appended to that draft directive; section (III) is a drafted “Supplementary Directive of the Central Committee Regarding the ‘Central Committee Directive on Four Matters Concerning Commune Members’ Private Raising of Livestock and Poultry, Allocation of Private Plots, and Full Utilization of Scattered and Idle Land’”; and section (IV) contains comments on this supplementary draft directive. 〔〕 Liu refers to Liu Shaoqi. Zhou refers to Zhou Enlai. Lin refers to Lin Biao, who at the time served as Vice Chairman of the CPC Central Committee and Vice Premier of the State Council. Peng Zhen was then a member of the CPC Central Political Bureau and Secretary of the Secretariat. 〔3〕 Shang Kun refers to Yang Shangkun, who at the time held the post of Alternate Secretary of the CPC Central Secretariat and Director of the Central Office. 〔4〕 Refers to the draft directive submitted for review on the night of June 9, 1959, at midnight, by Deng Zihui, Minister of Rural Work of the CPC Central Committee and Vice Premier of the State Council, concerning four issues: commune members’ private raising of livestock and poultry, allocation of private plots, full utilization of scattered and idle land, and encouragement of private tree planting. The draft directive states that, in order to implement the Central Committee’s Five Urgent Directives on Agricultural Production, the Central Committee recommends that each county, in the name of its People’s Committee, issue a public notice informing the masses of the following four points: First, commune members are permitted to privately raise livestock and poultry; the proceeds from sales and the income derived from manure shall entirely belong to the individual if the animals are raised privately, while if they are raised collectively but under private care, the worker must receive fair compensation. However, commune members must ensure that such activities do not interfere with collective production schedules. Following this provision, Mao Zedong added an additional paragraph, which constitutes section (II). Second, the system of private plots is to be restored. The area shall remain within the limits prescribed by the original statutes of the advanced people’s communes—no less than five percent and no more—but the quality of the land allocated should be equivalent to that previously owned by the commune. No grain tax or state purchase quotas will be imposed on private plots, yet they may not be sold, leased, or transferred privately. Third, commune members are encouraged to utilize their spare time to cultivate any available scattered land, with the income freely at their disposal. Fourth, all trees growing around homes—including bamboo, timber, and fruit trees—shall continue to be privately owned by the respective commune members, and those who plant such trees will be rewarded; whoever plants them owns them. The draft directive further asserts that this coexistence of small-scale private initiatives within a large collective system is necessary over a prolonged period, as it is conducive to both agricultural development and the improvement of people’s living standards. Allowing these subsidiary household activities is intended to protect the fruits of labor undertaken outside regular collective work hours; it does not constitute “the development of capitalism.” Any conflicts that may arise between these household sidelines and collective production or national market management can be effectively addressed through intensified ideological education in collectivism, socialism, and patriotism, coupled with improved market regulation and better administration of the people’s communes. Experience has shown that simply prohibiting such subsidiary activities and mandating complete communal ownership is both harmful and impractical. On June 11, the CPC Central Committee transmitted this directive to party committees at all levels down to the production team branch committees. 〔〕 Li Xiannian was then a Secretary of the CPC Central Secretariat and Vice Premier of the State Council. Liao Luyan was then Deputy Minister of Rural Work of the CPC Central Committee and Minister of Agriculture. 〔〕 Tan Zhenlin was then a member of the CPC Central Political Bureau, Secretary of the Secretariat, and Vice Premier of the State Council.