The original anti-"Left" campaign was cut off
(March 5, 1961)

Before the Lushan Conference, our understanding of the actual situation was still relatively clear, but after the Lushan Conference it became rather unclear. Because the Lushan Conference opposed the Right, anyone who spoke the truth, talked about difficulties, discussed existing problems, or addressed objective realities, and so on, was regarded as something Rightist. As a result, an atmosphere was created in which no one dared to speak about the real situation. The Lushan Conference had to oppose the Right, and it could not but do so; not opposing it would have been disadvantageous to our work. However, subsequently opposing the Right among the masses turned out to be a bad thing. The convening of the Second Zhengzhou Conference was for opposing the "Left." In provinces where the spirit of the Zhengzhou Conference was implemented relatively thoroughly, the work was comparatively more solid. But from March to June, the "Left" was opposed for only four months. If it had continued to be opposed, that would have been good. The Lushan Conference’s opposition to the Right was correct, but it brought about high estimates of output, high state procurement, and high distribution. This lesson is worth our drawing upon. This incident also taught us that inserting an opposition to the Right in the midst of opposing the "Left," and then opposing the Right among the masses, resulted in a wind of exaggeration. The wind of opposing the Right at the Lushan Conference cut off our original anti-"Left" campaign.