Commentary on the Issuance of the Article “Some Noteworthy [1 Situations] Regarding Ideological Education on the Grain Issue” (December 30, 1960) This document is hereby circulated to all comrades [2]. The experience of Jinzhou is very good and can be implemented in all industrial and mining enterprises; it may also be extended to government organs, schools, and the armed forces. All groups are requested to discuss this matter. Mao Zedong, December 30 Based on the manuscript as published.

The article, published in No. 113 of “Propaganda and Education Briefing,” compiled by the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee on December 26, 1960, states that a report dated October 24 from the Industrial Department of the Liaoning Provincial Party Committee, entitled “On Rapidly Launching an Ideological Education Campaign on the Grain Question Among Workers,” indicated that since May and June, production in Liaoning Province had consistently failed to improve, primarily due to disturbances over grain supplies. There were three main causes of these disturbances: first, psychological tension among the people; second, the influence of the struggle between two lines in the countryside; and third, the exploitation of the situation by the “Five Categories of Elements” to spread rumors and stir up trouble. The only way to resolve the grain disturbances, the article asserts, was to place politics first, with the goals of increasing production and practicing economy, to conduct positive education on the grain question, to launch large-scale mass discussions, free speech, and public debates, and to organize veteran workers to share their personal experiences and draw comparisons. In every unit that adopted this approach, the grain problem was successfully resolved. At Factory 401 in Jinzhou City, 85 percent of the workforce had previously been either involved in or sympathetic to the grain disturbances; however, following educational debates, they actually reduced their ration allocations by more than 9,000 jin, and not a single person continued to complain about insufficient food.

In forwarding this report on October 30, the Liaoning Provincial Party Committee pointed out that the primary means of solving the grain problem lay in thorough political and ideological work—further instilling a spirit of hard struggle and overcoming difficulties—while at the same time vigorously combating rightist, timid, and hesitant tendencies among cadres. [2] Refers to the comrades then attending the CPC Central Committee工作会议 in Beijing.