Issue for Distribution

Comment on "Views of Some Comrades in Tianjin on the Great Leap Forward of 1958"

(July 19, 1959)

This document [1] is to be printed and distributed to all comrades for study.

Mao Zedong
July 19

[1]
Refers to the article "Certain Arguments Denying and Doubting the Great Leap Forward of 1958," published in *Propaganda and Education Trends*, Issue No. 45, compiled and printed by the Propaganda Department of the CPC Central Committee on June 20, 1959. The article introduces some views of party cadres in Tianjin regarding the Great Leap Forward of 1958:

1. Denial of last year's Great Leap Forward. They hold that the nationwide steelmaking campaign by the whole people resulted in losses outweighing gains; that in agriculture, grain was insufficient for consumption; that unprecedented tensions appeared in the market; and that the Party's prestige is not as high as before.

2. Industry has leaped forward, but agriculture has not. They hold that "industry and agriculture have not been developed simultaneously," and that the state "attaches importance to industry while slighting agriculture."

3. Politics has leaped forward, but the economy has not. In particular, they have views on the policy of "taking steel as the key link," holding that while the steelmaking campaign may be justifiable in political terms, it is not justifiable in economic terms. Its harmful effects are: first, it affected the autumn harvest; second, it affected industrial production; third, waterwheels and pots were smashed, and the steel produced could not be used; fourth, the state lost 2.3 billion yuan. "In short, it exhausted the people and wasted resources, was highly uneconomical, brought great difficulties to production and livelihood, and caused overall tension."

4. They hold that the people's communes "advanced too quickly and brought side effects." When Mao Zedong issued instructions to print and distribute this material, he changed its title to "Views of Some Comrades in Tianjin on the Great Leap Forward of 1958."