Comments on the Third Document Concerning the Anti-Rightist Struggle in Central State Organs (November 1959) After Jiang Qing had reviewed it, she passed it on to Lin Ke [1] for his perusal.

All three documents [2] are worth reading. Printed from Mao Zedong’s handwritten draft.

Notes [1] Lin Ke was at that time the secretary of Mao Zedong’s office.

[2] Refers to three materials excerpted from Issue No. 174 of the “Briefing on the Situation,” compiled and printed by the General Office of the CPC Central Committee on November 19, 1959.

Among them, the article “The Anti-Rightist Struggle in Central State Organs Is Deepening” states that the anti-rightist campaign in these organs is advancing into a deeper phase, as evidenced by the following: 1. The mass mobilization has become broader and more thorough. 2. The number of key targets for criticism has increased, and the criticism itself has grown more profound and detailed. 3. Units with sound and robust leading bodies, or those whose leadership has been improved, now account for 80 to 90 percent.

Nevertheless, there still remain backward units and backward elements within the central state organs, primarily due to rightist tendencies among the leadership, which lead some officials either to hesitate or refuse to fully unleash the masses, substituting painstaking ideological work with crude and superficial methods.

In response, the Party Committee of the Central State Organs has put forward the following proposals: 1. It is imperative to continue boldly mobilizing the masses and making full use of big-character posters to carry forward the struggle. 2. Criticism of key targets should be conducted in a planned, step-by-step, thorough, and meticulous manner. 3. Leadership must be strengthened. 4. The campaign must have a clear beginning and end; we must not leave things half done.

The article “Developments in the Rectification of Communes in Thirteen Provinces” describes the pilot work being carried out in thirteen provinces, including Hebei, and notes that in all areas where the rectification has begun, it has generally won the support of poor peasants and lower-middle peasants.

The article “Rural Public Canteens Are Rapidly Being Restored and Developed” points out that, according to reports from twelve provinces and autonomous regions, over the past two to three months there has been rapid restoration and development of rural public canteens, with significant growth also seen in year-round canteens. At present, while actively restoring and developing canteens, localities have begun to place great emphasis on consolidating them.