Central Committee Directive on Urban People's Communes: Annotations and Revisions〔1〕
(March 8, 1960)

1
Comrade Shaoqi to review again, then issue.
Mao, March 8
Printed from the manuscript.

2
This document〔2〕 and its two appendices〔3〕 may be published in Party journals.
(Attached: two documents)
Printed from Mao Zedong's manuscript.

3
It appears that, with large factories, neighborhoods, and government offices or schools as the three types of centers, and with various forms of ownership (state ownership, commune-level collective ownership, and below-commune-level collective ownership) coexisting simultaneously within a single commune, this is both unavoidable and quite desirable.

Printed from a Central Committee document. (With Mao Zedong's manuscript)

4
In the five large cities of Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Wuhan, and Guangzhou, the signs of people's communes should not be hung all over the streets all at once for a period of time (those already hung in the past need not be removed). However, all practical work related to urban people's communes should boldly mobilize the masses to proceed; gradually hanging up commune signs later is permissible. Apart from these five large cities, all other cities should uniformly put up signs to refresh people's minds and invigorate their spirits.

Printed from a Central Committee document. (With Mao Zedong's revisions)

5
It would be best to have a Party secretary specifically in charge of urban people's communes. The Central Committee hopes that nationwide urban trials will be conducted universally in the first half of this year to gain experience, followed by universal promotion in the second half. Each city should send a secretary leading several cadres to visit the people's communes in places such as Harbin, Tianjin, and Zhengzhou.

Printed from a Central Committee document. (With Mao Zedong's manuscript)

**Notes**
The main content of the Henan Provincial Committee's report was: 1. In August 1958, at the same time people's communes were realized in rural areas, all cities in our province also swiftly achieved the formation of people's communes. Over the past year or so, we carried out a series of consolidation efforts on these communes, setting them on a path of healthy development. 2. Urban people's communes have already demonstrated their immense superiority and powerful vitality. First, they brought about a comprehensive and thorough socialist transformation of cities, further eliminating remnants of private ownership of means of production on a broad scale. Second, they tapped into the cities' potential, promoted great advances in production, and propelled an all-around great leap forward. Third, collective welfare undertakings were universally established, liberating vast numbers of women from burdensome household chores. Fourth, the masses' collectivist thinking and communist moral character were rapidly enhanced, bringing profound changes to people's spiritual outlook. Fifth, they facilitated the Party's efforts to unite, educate, and transform bourgeois elements and their families. Sixth, they further consolidated the people's democratic dictatorship. 3. It is essential to further consolidate and develop urban people's communes, making them truly integrated organizers of production, exchange, distribution, and popular welfare. First, developing production is the central link in running urban people's communes well; henceforth, we must steadfastly implement the policy of taking production as the center while grasping both production and livelihoods, and vigorously promote production. Second, extensively develop collective welfare undertakings to tap labor potential and ensure major advances in production. Third, do distribution work well, set appropriate ratios between accumulation and consumption, and correctly handle relations among the state, commune, and members. Fourth, strengthen the socialist transformation of bourgeois elements and their families to gradually remake them into self-reliant working people. Fifth, improve the forms, scale, and management systems of urban people's communes. Sixth, steadfastly implement the Party's class line and firmly keep leadership power in the hands of the working people. On March 9, 1960, the CPC Central Committee forwarded these two reports to all localities for study and reference.

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**Central Committee Directive on the Report from the Henan Provincial Committee Regarding the Five-Level Cadres Conference**
(March 8, 1960)

1
Shanghai Bureau, all cooperative zone committees, all provincial, municipal, and autonomous region Party committees, all ministries, commissions, and Party leadership groups at the central level:
This report from the Henan Provincial Committee〔1〕 is exceptionally well-written and constitutes both a programmatic and scientific document. It is hereby issued for your study and reference. The Central Committee hopes that you will all from time to time produce scientific summaries of your own work—at least four times a year, once per quarter. Special-topic summaries should also be prepared. On the one hand, report them to us; on the other, simultaneously issue them to subordinates for uniform compliance. This document and its appendixes may be published in Party journals.

Central Committee
[day] month, 1960
Printed from Mao Zedong's manuscript.

2
Send immediately to Shangkun〔2〕 to be forwarded for the Central Committee's review and relayed.
... Mao Zedong
March 8
Printed from the manuscript.

**Notes**

--- Notes

〔1〕 Sections 3, 4, and 5 here are Mao Zedong's revisions to this Central Committee directive draft, with the text in Song typeface indicating his added words. Beyond this, Mao Zedong also made minor textual modifications to the directive draft.


〔1〕 Refers to the report by the CPC Henan Provincial Committee on the situation of the five-level cadres conference, submitted to the Central Committee and Mao Zedong on February 29, 1960. The report stated: From February 4 to 19, our province convened a five-level cadres conference attended by responsible comrades from all provincial-level departments, first secretaries of prefectural (municipal), county, and commune Party committees, and secretaries of production brigade general Party branches. The main issues discussed and resolved at the conference were: (1) The question of taking agriculture as the foundation and striving to achieve grain self-sufficiency as soon as possible. The comrades attending believed that taking agriculture as the foundation and correctly handling the proportional relationships among agriculture, light industry, and heavy industry are the most essential issues in implementing the general line and ensuring rapid, proportional development of the national economy, as well as new developments in socialist political economy. Based on the principle of taking agriculture as the foundation while combining priority development of heavy industry with rapid agricultural growth, and drawing on planning experience since 1958, the conference discussed and determined our province's 1960 national economic development plan—a plan for sustained leap forward. (2) The question of further carrying out mass campaigns for technical innovation and technological revolution. The conference held that, to achieve sustained great leap forward in 1960, we must take Comrade Mao Zedong's theory of uninterrupted revolution as our guiding ideology and vigorously promote mass campaigns for technical innovation and technological revolution. In the campaigns, we must adhere to the policy of "walking on two legs"—one being the broad mass campaign to shift heavy manual labor and manual operations towards semi-mechanization and mechanization, and the other being active, planned development toward high, large, precision, advanced, and new technologies. (3) The question of deepening and sustaining the mass campaign to study Mao Zedong's works. The conference stressed that earnestly studying Mao Zedong's works and holding high the banner of Mao Zedong Thought are the fundamental guarantees for achieving sustained leap forward. In study, we must emphasize integrating theory with practice, systematically summarizing the rich experience of the great leap forward, further improving work methods and work styles, and raising leadership levels. On March 10, 1960, the CPC Central Committee forwarded this report.


〔2〕 Refers to the directive draft on urban people's communes drafted for the Central Committee by Comrade Liu Shaoqi, Vice Chairman of the CPC Central Committee, on March 6, 1960. The draft stated that the Central Committee believes a positive attitude should be adopted toward organizing, experimenting with, and promoting urban people's communes. After experiments have been widely conducted in cities nationwide, the Central Committee will synthesize experience from various localities and formulate some measures. Urban people's communes are, in practice, organized with the participation of employees' families and other working people as the main body, under Party committee leadership and with the active support of employees. They take organizing production as their central task while also organizing various collective welfare and service undertakings, which can greatly transform the face of cities, especially that of the vast majority of housewives. However, at present, among relatively affluent upper-class households, quite a few people still have reservations about urban people's communes and are unwilling to join. For the time being, they should not be mobilized to participate. As urban people's communes are still in the trial stage, news about organizing urban people's communes in any locality should not be published in newspapers, nor should mass celebrations or parades be organized. The CPC Central Committee issued this directive on March 9.


〔2〕 Shangkun, i.e., Yang Shangkun, then alternate secretary of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee and director of the General Office of the Central Committee.

〔3〕 Refers to the February 22, 1960 report by the Urban People's Communes Group of the All-China Federation of Trade Unions on the development of the Xiangfang People's Commune in Harbin and the February 28 report by the CPC Henan Provincial Committee to the Central Committee and Mao Zedong on the consolidation and development of urban people's communes. The report by the ACFTU Urban People's Communes Group stated: In January this year, we conducted some investigations into the development of the Xiangfang People's Commune in Harbin; the findings are as follows: 1. The commune was established based on the characteristics of the Xiangfang district, which has many large factories and where employees and their families constitute the vast majority of the population. It was founded on the principles of "integrating workers, peasants, soldiers, students, and merchants," "integrating government administration with commune management," and "taking the working class as the leader, with ownership by the whole people as the mainstay, and developing production as the central task." Within the commune, management districts and residents' committees were set up in urban areas, while production brigades and production teams were established in rural areas. 2. Outstanding achievements were made in organizing large-scale production cooperation. 3. Commune-run industry witnessed significant development. 4. Collective welfare undertakings within the commune were continuously consolidated and rapidly expanded. 5. Agricultural production achieved an unprecedented bumper harvest, creating conditions for the transition of production brigades from collective ownership to ownership by the whole people. 6. The commune had already drawn up a development plan for an even greater leap forward in 1960.