Title Drafted for Materials on Cadres’ Participation in Productive Labor[!]
(March 1963)

A Great Example of Cadres at All Four Levels—County, Commune, Brigade, and Production Team—in Xiyang County, Shanxi Province, All Participating in Productive Labor (Central Committee’s Instructions,[2] Shanxi Provincial Party Committee’s Instructions,[3] Xiyang County Materials[4])

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The main text is the title redrafted by Mao Zedong for the directive draft of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China forwarding the materials on cadre participation in labor in Xiyang County, Shanxi Province, and the provincial party committee’s instructions. The original title was: “The Central Committee Forwards an Investigative Material: Cadre Participation in Labor in Xiyang County Has Become a Social Custom.”

[2] Refers to the directive of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, dated March 23, 1963, to all regional bureaus of the Central Committee and the party committees of all provinces, municipalities, and autonomous regions, forwarding the materials on cadre participation in labor in Xiyang County, Shanxi Province, and the provincial party committee’s instructions. Later, this directive, together with the Shanxi Provincial Party Committee’s instructions and the Xiyang County materials, was printed and distributed as Appendix 6 of Central Committee Document No. Zhongfa [63] 347 (i.e., the “First Ten Points”).

[3] Refers to the summary of the instructions of the Shanxi Provincial Party Committee of the Communist Party of China, dated January 29, 1963, on the material that cadre participation in labor in Xiyang County, Shanxi Province, had become a social custom. The instructions stated that whether cadre participation in labor at the four levels—county, commune, brigade, and production team—could become a social custom depended crucially on whether the leading organs and leading cadres had the resolve and could set an example by personally taking the lead. Starting from 1963, the subsidized work points for cadres at the brigade and production team levels across the province must, in accordance with the provisions of the Revised Draft Regulations on the Work of Rural People’s Communes, not exceed 2 percent of the total work input. This matter was to be made an important part of that year’s rectification campaign and commune rectification.

[4] Refers to the summary of the investigative report by the Rural Work Department of the Jinzhong Prefectural Party Committee of the Communist Party of China on how cadre participation in labor in Xiyang County had become a social custom. The report stated that since 1959, brigade and production team cadres in Xiyang County had participated in labor more and more each year, while subsidized work points had decreased year by year. Responsible cadres at the county and commune levels took the lead in participating in labor. According to statistics, in the previous year, cadres from county-level organs who went to the countryside performed an average of 62 labor days per person in the production teams, and commune cadres performed an average of 82 labor days per person. Cadres taking the lead in participating in labor made the relationship between cadres and the masses as close as fish to water, spurred the vast commune members to actively participate in collective labor, restored the habit of going to the fields to work in the early morning, and also helped rapidly change the impoverished face of the countryside. The report also introduced a series of effective measures adopted by the Xiyang County Party Committee of the Communist Party of China regarding cadre participation in labor: (1) Strengthen ideological education, raise cadre consciousness, and pay attention to regular inspection. (2) Regard labor attitude as the primary condition for selecting brigade and production team cadres. (3) Responsible cadres at the county and commune levels take the lead in participating in labor. (4) Persist in implementing the system of fixed labor tasks and fixed subsidies, finalized for each person every spring. (5) Brigade cadres are assigned to a fixed production team or work group, and are allocated land and tasks, and evaluated and recorded for work points based on their basic labor rating, just like commune members. (6) Conduct appraisal competitions and establish pacesetters at every level. (7) Improve leadership style and working methods from top to bottom, strictly control meetings and report forms, and create conditions for production team cadres to participate in labor.

In the spring of 1963, Mao Zedong conversed with Xinhua News Agency reporter Li Qin, Central People’s Broadcasting Station reporter Chen Huan, and Central Newsreel and Documentary Film Studio camerawoman Shu Shijun.

Photograph

In March 1963, Mao Zedong cordially conversed with Xinhua News Agency reporter Li Qin after receiving foreign guests at the Great Hall of the People.