Issued Remarks on Hu Qiaomu’s Reports and Investigative Materials Regarding the Resolution of Commune Canteen Issues, Among Others
In areas that have undergone thorough rectification campaigns, the masses dare to speak out, and the atmosphere is relatively good. However, in teams classified as Class I or Class II—where no such campaigns were conducted—there are now even more problems. In this county, grain is stored and processed by production brigades rather than by production teams, which is highly detrimental both to allocating food rations to commune members and to developing pig farming. After we raised these issues, comrades from the prefectural and county Party committees agreed to make immediate changes. Last year, very little of the wages owed to commune members at year-end settlement, nor the corresponding refunds in kind or cash, were actually distributed; the county Party committee has decided to resolve this matter shortly. As for communes and teams that have not yet been rectified, the county Party committee also plans to begin work after the rice-transplanting season. Xiangxiang was previously regarded as a Class I county, but based on what we observed and heard about existing problems, their severity is no less than that in Xiangtan. Nevertheless, once the issues are brought to light and the masses are mobilized to carry out a serious rectification campaign, the situation can be reversed relatively quickly.
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1. Report on Resolving the Canteen Issue in Shaoshan Commune. The report states that during discussions among cadres and commune members regarding the “Sixty Articles on Agriculture,” the most prominent issue encountered was the public canteen system. According to feedback from the masses, most canteens have in fact become obstacles to production and sources of tension in relations between the Party and the people. This is primarily due to their direct link with declining work-point values, reduced incomes for commune members, and egalitarian distribution practices, while also causing numerous inconveniences in daily life. Under these circumstances, it is imperative to dissolve most canteens, and doing so would not constitute a loss; on the contrary, it would benefit overall work. Together with Mao Jisheng, Party Secretary of Shaoshan Commune, we examined a canteen in the Wangchong Production Team of Shaoshan Brigade that was determined to be disbanded. Over five evenings of discussion, various issues arising from its dissolution—such as housing, land use, firewood forests, pig raising, and assistance for impoverished households—were all satisfactorily resolved. This experience demonstrates that canteens demanded by the masses to be dissolved should indeed be closed, and the sooner the better. We believe that Shaoshan Commune’s experience in resolving the Wangchong Production Team’s canteen issue is commendable and can be widely adopted.

2. Briefing on the Situation of Discussions within Shaoshan Commune Concerning the “Draft Regulations for Rural People’s Communes” (the “Sixty Articles”). The briefing notes that since the Central Investigation Group entered the commune, meetings have been held at all levels—cadre meetings, meetings of Communist Party members and Youth League activists, and general member assemblies—to engage in vigorous debate over the Sixty Articles. The main issues discussed were: (1) Article 20, concerning the “three guarantees and one paddling” system: the output targets must be firmly established with some leeway built in. Members generally supported this provision but held differing views on the method of rewarding surplus production. Some advocated a 60/40 split, with 60 percent going to the production team and 40 percent to the brigade and the state, with the state receiving less than the brigade. Most members, however, preferred to fix the output quota at this year’s established level plus any additional purchase targets; any further increases would not be subject to purchase obligations. (2) Articles 26 and 27, dealing with the ownership and autonomy of production teams. All participants agreed that these provisions were effective in stimulating production. (3) Article 33: there was unanimous agreement that remuneration based on work contribution was the best way to motivate commune members. Regarding the ratio of free rations to wages, the vast majority favored a 30/70 split, with many production teams proposing that the brigade operate on a 30/70 basis while the production team itself implement full pay-for-work distribution. (4) Article 34, on public canteens: most people were unwilling to maintain them. We believe that for those canteens where the masses genuinely do not wish to continue operating, active assistance should be provided to ensure an orderly dissolution and comprehensive arrangements made to support the daily lives of commune members.

3. Briefing on Conditions Following the Dissolution of the Canteen in the Yangjia Production Team of Shaoxi Brigade. The briefing reports that after the Sixty Articles were introduced to cadres and the masses, the Yangjia Production Team convened a management committee that unanimously agreed to immediately close the canteen. A subsequent members’ meeting followed, and after deliberation, they officially began cooking separately starting the next day. According to feedback from cadres and some members, the dissolution of the canteen has resulted in the following benefits: first, significant savings in welfare-related labor; second, increased work enthusiasm; third, greater fertilizer application; fourth, reduced firewood consumption; fifth, more flexible and economical use of grain by individual members, leading to actual savings; and sixth, a marked reduction in mutual suspicion and disputes over food and vegetables. From this perspective, canteens that the masses truly seek to dissolve are indeed best closed as soon as possible.

4. Investigative Materials from Mao Huachu’s Visit to Dongmaotang Production Team. The materials state that on April 1, I returned to my hometown of Dongmaotang, where I had lived more than twenty years earlier, for a visit. Local residents generally expressed dissatisfaction with the operation of the canteen, noting that the facilities were cramped and dilapidated, cooking stoves had disappeared, living conditions had deteriorated compared with previous years, and forest resources had suffered severe damage. During the visit, participants discussed several key issues: first, the canteen problem. They proposed maintaining the current practice of setting annual per-household quotas, distributing grain monthly, having the canteen prepare meals, and allowing families to grow their own vegetables, with plans to separate cooking arrangements only after the rice-transplanting season. Second, pig farming. Participants believed that as long as each person had 7 to 10 square meters of private plot, received their grain allocation, and had access to bran and broken rice, pig raising could be developed over the course of this year and next. Third, forest management. They felt that adopting the methods used during the high-level agricultural cooperatives would effectively manage the forests. Specifically, forest rights would remain publicly owned but be contracted out to individuals for cultivation and management. This approach appears worthy of study and implementation. Furthermore, a mechanism could be explored whereby contractors would be responsible for both managing and cultivating trees, with rewards allocated based on outcomes.
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--- Notes

Refers to four documents submitted by Hu Qiaomu to Mao Zedong:

Wang Renzhong, who at the time served as the Second Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPC South-Central Bureau and First Secretary of the Hubei Provincial Party Committee. Wang Yanchun, who at the time was a Secretary of the Secretariat of the Hubei Provincial Party Committee of the CPC. At that time, acting upon Mao Zedong’s instructions, they were assisting Hunan Province in addressing certain problems in rural work.