A Note on Printing the Characters Larger in Documents Forwarded by the Central Committee

(March 29, 1960)

Comrades Peng Zhen and Shangkun:

Some documents from the Central Committee are printed in characters that are 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 Economic Commission Party Group’s summary of work for the forty days from January 1 to February 10, the Ministry of Health Party Group’s summary of the on-site meeting in Jishan, Shanxi, and this document are all very important documents. The characters should be printed larger, as is the case with most Central Committee documents. Please handle this as you see fit.

Mao Zedong
March 29

Published based on the manuscript.

Notes
This is a note written by Mao Zedong on March 21, 1960, on a Central Committee of the Communist Party of China document forwarding the *Minutes of the National Animal Husbandry Secretaries Meeting*.
Peng Zhen was then a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and a secretary of the Central Secretariat. Shangkun, namely Yang Shangkun, was then an alternate secretary of the Central Secretariat and director of the General Office of the CPC Central Committee.
This refers to the outline of an oral report made by the Party Group of the State Economic Commission to the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee on February 13, 1960, regarding industrial and transportation production in January and early February, forwarded by the CPC Central Committee. See note 1 on page [ ] of this volume.
This refers to the report by the Party Group of the Ministry of Health on December 16, 1959, regarding the on-site meeting on national rural health work in Jishan, Shanxi, forwarded by the CPC Central Committee. See note 2 on pages 82–[ ] of this volume.
This refers to the *Minutes of the National Animal Husbandry Secretaries Meeting*, submitted by the Party Group of the Ministry of Agriculture on March 18, 1960, to Mao Zedong and the Central Committee for approval and forwarded by the CPC Central Committee. The minutes state that the National Animal Husbandry Secretaries Meeting, held from March 7 to 15, analyzed the current situation in 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, Party committees at all levels have greatly strengthened their leadership over animal husbandry, establishing a front with leadership, institutions, and personnel. The interdependent relationship between animal husbandry and agriculture has become increasingly understood by cadres and the masses, and enthusiasm for developing animal husbandry has been unprecedentedly aroused. 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 is: take pigs as the leading priority, give equal importance to pigs and cattle (and horses), develop animal husbandry comprehensively and at high speed, raise more livestock, accumulate more manure, produce more grain, and support the rapid development of agriculture. It is necessary to dialectically understand the interdependent relationship between pig raising and grain production, and between crop farming and livestock breeding, and to follow a path that gives equal importance to both.
(3) In 1960, a great leap forward in animal husbandry must be achieved. The breeding targets proposed by the meeting are: the total number of pigs raised annually to reach 500 million, with the year-end inventory doubling compared to 1959; a net increase of 10 percent in large livestock, a net increase of 26 percent in sheep, a doubling of poultry, and a tripling of rabbits.
(4) Several policy issues in developing animal husbandry. (i) Continue to implement the policy of "public raising as the mainstay, private raising as a supplement" in pig raising, walking on two legs. (ii) Female livestock are the foundation for expanded reproduction in animal husbandry and must be resolutely protected. (iii) Appropriate rewards should be given to individuals and units that achieve notable results in livestock breeding. (iv) The culling and slaughtering of draft animals should be strictly controlled, and the most suitable and economical age for slaughter should be stipulated. (v) Pricing 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 characters: feed, water, breeding, seeds, protection, management, housing, and tools. At present, the following key issues must be urgently addressed: (i) Pay close attention to livestock mating and pregnancy protection. (ii) The feed issue, especially urgently addressing coarse and refined feed for pigs. (iii) Epidemic prevention, paying attention to preventing the spread of diseases and immediately launching an epidemic prevention campaign. (iv) Vigorously promote tool reform to raise labor productivity and breeding quotas. (v) Improve the operation and management of collective breeding, and properly run and develop livestock farms. (vi) Strengthen basic construction in pastoral areas.
(6) Strengthen leadership over animal husbandry production and vigorously launch mass campaigns. It is essential to put politics in command, with both dedicated leadership and specialized institutions and professional teams, forming a strong front for animal husbandry production, widely carrying out mass campaigns, and achieving a great leap forward in animal husbandry.