Instruction on Printing Larger Characters[1]
(March 29, 1960)

Comrades Peng Zhen and Shangkun[2]:

Some documents of the Central Committee have their characters printed too small, making them very inconvenient to read and possibly giving readers the impression that the documents are not very important. In fact, documents such as the forty-day work summary from January 1 to February 10 by the Party Group of the State Economic Commission[3], the summary of the Jishan, Shanxi on-site meeting by the Party Group of the Ministry of Health[4], and this document[5] are all very important documents. The characters should be printed larger, as is the case with most Central Committee documents. Please consider and handle this.

Mao Zedong
March 29

[1] This is an instruction written by Mao Zedong on March 21, 1960, on the document of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China forwarding the "Minutes of the National Conference of Secretaries in Charge of Animal Husbandry."

[2] Peng Zhen was then a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and a secretary of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee. Shangkun, namely Yang Shangkun, was then an alternate secretary of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee and Director of the General Office of the CPC Central Committee.

[3] Refers to the outline of the oral report made by the Party Group of the State Economic Commission on February 13, 1960, to the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee on the industrial and transportation production situation in January and the first ten days of February, forwarded by the CPC Central Committee.

[4] Refers to the report by the Party Group of the Ministry of Health on December 16, 1959, on the situation of the national rural health work on-site meeting in Jishan, Shanxi, forwarded by the CPC Central Committee.

[5] Refers to the "Minutes of the National Conference of Secretaries in Charge of Animal Husbandry," reported by the Party Group of the Ministry of Agriculture on March 18, 1960, to Mao Zedong and the Central Committee for review and approval, forwarded by the CPC Central Committee. The minutes stated: The National Conference of Secretaries in Charge of Animal Husbandry, held from March 7 to 15, analyzed the current situation of animal husbandry and discussed the guidelines, tasks, policies, and specific measures for future development. The main contents are as follows: (1) Over the past two years, agricultural production has made continuous great leaps forward, and animal husbandry has also developed, but nationwide it has not yet achieved a great leap forward. Since the Lushan Conference, leadership over animal husbandry by Party committees at all levels has been greatly strengthened. A front for animal husbandry with leadership, institutions, and a workforce has been established. The interdependent relationship between animal husbandry and agriculture has been increasingly understood by the broad masses of cadres and people, and the enthusiasm for developing animal husbandry has been mobilized to an unprecedented degree. All this has laid a political, ideological, and organizational foundation for a great leap forward in animal husbandry. (2) The guideline for developing animal husbandry: Take pigs as the leading factor, attach equal importance to pigs and cattle (horses), develop animal husbandry comprehensively and at high speed, raise more livestock, accumulate more manure, produce more grain, and support the high-speed development of agriculture. We must dialectically understand the interdependent relationship between pig raising and increasing grain production, and between crop farming and livestock breeding, and take the path of attaching equal importance to crop farming and livestock breeding. (3) A great leap forward in animal husbandry must be achieved in 1960. The multiplication tasks proposed by the conference are: the annual total number of pigs raised should reach 500 million head, with the year-end inventory doubling compared to 1959; a net increase of 10% for large livestock; a net increase of 26% for sheep; a doubling of poultry; and a tripling of rabbits. (4) Several policy issues concerning the development of animal husbandry. (1) In pig raising, continue to implement the policy of "public rearing as the mainstay, private rearing as a supplement," walking on two legs. (2) Female livestock are the foundation for the expanded reproduction of animal husbandry and must be resolutely protected. (3) Appropriate rewards should be given to individuals and units with outstanding achievements in livestock breeding. (4) The culling and slaughtering of draft animals should be strictly controlled, and the most suitable and most economical slaughter age should be stipulated. (5) Price policy is one of the tools to promote the development of animal husbandry production, but the great leap forward in animal husbandry mainly relies on putting politics in command and planning as the driving force. (5) Several specific measures for developing animal husbandry. The fundamental measures are summarized in eight words: feed, water, breeding, strains, protection, management, housing, and tools. At present, we must focus on solving the following key problems: (1) Pay close attention to livestock mating and pregnancy protection work. (2) The feed problem, especially focusing on solving the issue of coarse and concentrated feed for pigs. (3) Epidemic prevention issues; attention must be paid to preventing the spread of diseases, and an epidemic prevention campaign should be launched immediately. (4) Vigorously promote tool reform to raise labor productivity and feeding quotas. (5) Improve the management of collective feeding operations, and run and develop livestock farms well. (6) Strengthen the basic construction of pastoral areas. (6) Strengthen leadership over animal husbandry production and vigorously launch mass movements. We must put politics in command, have both full-time leadership and specialized institutions and professional teams, form a powerful front for animal husbandry production, widely launch mass movements, and achieve a great leap forward in animal husbandry.