Annotations and Revisions to Zhou Yang’s [1] Draft Report for the Third National Congress of Literary and Artistic Workers (July 19, 1960)  1. Comrade Zhou Yang: I have read the document [2] and find it very well written. The sections refuting bourgeois humanism and discussing the inheritance of cultural heritage are particularly excellent—towering in vision and irresistibly persuasive; reading them invigorates the spirit. The first two sections and the last section are somewhat weaker. If they could be rewritten to match the middle two parts—equally incisive and full of life—it would be even better. With only a few days remaining, do you think this can be done? One possibility is to postpone the congress until the 25th [3]. What do you think? Please decide as you see fit. This afternoon I would like to have a talk with you. Mao Zedong, July 19, at 4:00 a.m. Furthermore, I have made a few minor revisions for you [4]. Printed from the manuscript.

2. The passage praising my poems [ ] is inappropriate and should be deleted. Printed according to Mao Zedong’s manuscript.

3. The current political task of our people is to build our country into a highly industrialized socialist power at the fastest pace objectively feasible, while simultaneously preparing the conditions for a gradual transition to communism in the future.

4. In the common struggle against imperialism and in defense of world peace, we should unite closely with all patriotic, progressive, and revolutionary artists worldwide, especially those from Asia, Africa, and Latin America, forming a broad revolutionary united front of literary and artistic figures opposed to imperialism and its reactionary allies in various countries. Printed according to Mao Zedong’s revised version.

[ ] In the third section of Zhou Yang’s draft report, it was stated: “As a model of the combination of revolutionary realism and revolutionary romanticism, Comrade Mao Zedong’s poems have opened up new realms in literary and artistic creation that no predecessors had ever reached. Comrade Mao Zedong is both the greatest leader of the Chinese people and the greatest poet. His poems profoundly depict the Chinese people’s thrilling revolutionary journey through arduous trials and tribulations. His poetry represents a perfect fusion of revolutionary epics and lyrical verse, where magnificent poetic talent and majestic revolutionary spirit are seamlessly integrated. The heroic spirit and optimistic outlook of the Chinese people have reached their zenith in his poetry, crystallizing into the most beautiful and latest artistic forms. Poetry and person are one; Comrade Mao Zedong’s poems are the embodiment of his great personality.” When Zhou Yang’s report was published in the People’s Daily, this passage was omitted at Mao Zedong’s suggestion.

--- Notes

Notes  [1] Zhou Yang was then Deputy Minister of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee, Vice Chairman of the All-China Federation of Literary and Art Circles, and Vice Chairman of the Chinese Writers Association.


[2] Refers to Zhou Yang’s report prepared for delivery at the Third National Congress of Literary and Artistic Workers (revised draft of July 18, 1960), titled “The Road of Socialist Literature and Art.” The report consisted of six parts: 1. Serving the workers, peasants, and soldiers, and serving the cause of socialist construction; 2. Letting a hundred flowers bloom and a hundred schools of thought contend, and discarding the old to make way for the new; 3. Combining revolutionary realism with revolutionary romanticism; 4. Refuting bourgeois humanism; 5. Critiquing and inheriting cultural heritage; 6. Future tasks. On September 4, 1960, the People’s Daily published this report under the title “The Road of Socialist Literature and Art in Our Country.”


[3] The Third National Congress of Literary and Artistic Workers was originally scheduled to open in Beijing on July 22, 1960.


[4] In addition to the passages printed in Song typeface in sections three and four of this text, Mao Zedong also made the following revisions to Zhou Yang’s draft report: On page one, he changed “The Chinese people are creating historical miracles on the fronts of industrial and agricultural production and in other fields” to “The Chinese people are achieving great successes on the fronts of industrial and agricultural production and in other fields”; replaced “Socialist construction has been advancing at an unprecedentedly rapid pace” with “Socialist construction is progressing rapidly”; and altered “The Chinese people are swiftly transforming their country’s impoverished and backward appearance” to “The Chinese people are gradually changing their country’s impoverished and backward appearance.” On page thirteen, he revised “Completely breaking the monopoly over literature and art so that it may be accepted and utilized by the broadest masses of workers and peasants” to “Completely breaking the monopoly held by a small minority over literature and art, allowing it to be accepted and utilized by the broadest masses of workers and peasants.” On page fifty-one, he changed “Guided by Mao Zedong Thought, which combines the universal truths of Marxism-Leninism with the practice of the Chinese revolution” to “Guided by Mao Zedong Thought, which combines the universal truths of Marxism-Leninism with the concrete practices of the Chinese revolution.”