Regarding the people’s communes, following the Beidaihe Conference of 1958, two Zhengzhou Conferences were held. The first conference addressed the demarcation between collective ownership and全民 ownership, as well as the boundary between socialism and communism. The second conference dealt with the boundaries among the three levels of ownership within the communes. The basic direction of these two conferences was correct. However, they were convened in haste, and the comrades attending did not truly resolve their ideological issues. Although they had begun to grasp some of the objective laws governing socialist construction, their understanding remained limited. At the Shanghai Conference in March 1959, a memorandum on eighteen issues concerning the people’s communes was adopted. Subsequently, I wrote an “Internal Party Communication” to cadres at the level of small work teams and above, offering my views on six agricultural matters. During this period, a widespread rectification of the people’s communes was carried out, gradually correcting shortcomings and errors in the work. Nevertheless, since cadres at all levels still lacked a genuine understanding of what socialism is, what distribution according to work entails, and what constitutes equivalent exchange, they had not yet fully comprehended many of the Central Committee’s opinions and regulations regarding the people’s communes, and their ideological problems remained unresolved. At the Lushan Conference in the summer of 1959, right-leaning opportunists launched an attack against the Party; we counterattacked and emerged victorious. After the anti-rightist campaign, certain false appearances arose in the work. In some localities, certain comrades believed that there was no longer any need to continue overcoming existing shortcomings and errors in accordance with the spirit of the two Zhengzhou Conferences. In the spring of 1960, I observed that the “communist wind” was resurfacing, and I forwarded an instruction from the Guangdong Provincial Party Committee concerning several current issues in the work of the people’s communes. In Guangzhou, I convened comrades from the central-south provinces for a three-hour meeting; subsequently, in Hangzhou, I brought together comrades from the east and southwest provinces for a meeting lasting three to four days; later, in Tianjin, I convened comrades from the northeast, north, and northwest provinces. Due to the brevity of these meetings and the multitude of issues discussed, the struggle against “equalitarianism and arbitrary redistribution” and against the “communist wind” was not highlighted as the central focus, and thus the problems were not effectively resolved. Once large-scale initiatives began to be implemented, things quickly deteriorated—wasn’t that precisely the resurgence of the “communist wind”? At the Beidaihe Conference of 1960, seventy to eighty percent of the time was devoted to international affairs, and only toward the very end of the meeting was the grain issue briefly touched upon, without addressing the problem of egalitarianism within the people’s communes. In October of the same year, the Central Committee issued an instruction comprising twelve points on the people’s communes, marking the beginning of a serious effort to correct the errors of “equalitarianism and arbitrary redistribution.” Yet, the system of supply provision, communal dining halls, and the practice of delivering grain directly to households were still maintained. Moreover, during implementation, relatively thorough rectification was carried out only in counties, communes, and production teams classified as third-tier; the “five winds” prevalent in first- and second-tier units were largely left untouched and ignored. Following the Ninth Plenary Session of the CPC Central Committee in January 1961, after conducting rural surveys and holding a meeting in Guangzhou, emphasis was placed on pointing out that two egalitarian problems existed within the people’s communes that urgently needed to be resolved, leading to the drafting of the Sixty Articles on Rural People’s Communes. This meeting served to stimulate and liberate thought, though not completely; vestiges of the 30/70 split (i.e., 30% provided by the state and 70% distributed according to work), communal dining halls, and the practice of delivering grain directly to households persisted. Through post-meeting pilot projects and further investigations, by the time of this meeting, everyone’s thinking had been thoroughly liberated, the aforementioned residual problems were finally resolved, and our understanding of the laws governing socialist construction had become much clearer than before. It is thus evident that our understanding of the objective world deepens gradually, and no one is exempt from this process.

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Our Party was founded in 1921. Overcoming severe setbacks caused by Chen Duxiu’s right-wing opportunism and three instances of “left” opportunism, enduring the Long March, and carrying out the Yan’an Rectification Campaign, we adopted the “Resolution on Certain Questions in the History of Our Party.” By the Seventh National Congress in 1945, after twenty-four years, we had achieved genuine ideological unity and formulated a comprehensive set of concrete policies across political, military, economic, cultural, and Party-building fronts to implement the general line of the democratic revolution, thereby ensuring victory in both the War of Resistance Against Japan and the Liberation War. Building a socialist society was something none of us had ever done before, and we could only learn it step by step through practice. We have now been engaged in this endeavor for eleven years, establishing a general line for socialist construction and accumulating considerable experience. However, having a general line alone is insufficient; we also need a complete set of specific policies. It is now essential to carefully summarize our experiences and gradually develop concrete policies in all areas. We are already in a position to do so and have already formulated the Sixty Articles on Rural People’s Communes.

Recently, Comrade Lin Biao conducted field investigations at the company level—once in Guangzhou and once in Yangcun—gaining a deep understanding of the situation, identifying several important issues in our army’s development, and proposing several excellent measures for strengthening the armed forces. Without thorough investigation and research, it is impossible to formulate effective policies.

Formulating a complete set of concrete policies will likely require some time—perhaps more than ten years. This is merely a projection. Should all comrades become fully aware and committed, the process could be expedited.

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The pressing task at present is to reeducate the cadres. If our cadres are well-educated, our cause has great prospects. Without proper education, we will have no way forward. We should utilize documents such as the Sixty Articles on Rural People’s Communes as teaching materials and employ the methods of the Yan’an Rectification Campaign to educate the cadres. Those who attended this meeting and achieved ideological clarity must then go on to educate cadres at the prefectural and county levels. Once those cadres are enlightened, they, in turn, should instruct cadres at the commune and production team levels, so that everyone truly understands what socialism means, as well as the principles of distribution according to work and equivalent exchange. Significant progress must be made this year in educating the cadres, and this work must be sustained over the long term. Just as we persistently educated cadres throughout the democratic revolutionary period, we must do the same in building socialism.