(November 16, 1963)
Comrades Lin Biao, Rong Zhen, and [name withheld]:

At present, within various sectors of the national industry, there are proposals to emulate the People’s Liberation Army throughout the entire administrative hierarchy—from ministries down to factories and mines—by establishing political departments, political offices, and political instructors at every level, and by implementing the “Four Firsts” and the “Three-Eight Style.” I suggest that several batches of capable cadres be transferred from the PLA to the industrial sector to carry out political work (to be accomplished over several years, with one batch dispatched each year), much as has already been done in the Ministry of Petroleum. According to Comrade [name withheld], the Ministries of Water Resources and Electric Power, Metallurgical Industry, and Chemical Industry are now studying the Ministry of Petroleum’s approach of learning from the PLA. I have received a detailed report from the Ministry of Metallurgy on its efforts to follow the PLA model; they advocate setting up political departments, offices, and instructors at all levels. It appears that unless this is done, it will be impossible to revive the revolutionary spirit among the millions of cadres and workers across the entire industrial sector (as well as in the Ministry of Commerce and the agricultural sector).

To achieve this, I believe there are four possible ways to secure political cadres: First, a contingent of strong, transferable political cadres and politically astute military officers could be drawn from the PLA and assigned to the industrial, commercial, and agricultural sectors, with priority given to the industrial ministry. Second, leading personnel from industry and other sectors could be sent for several months’ training at PLA corps, division, and regimental levels. Third, these agencies could send their own staff to the Political Academy currently under the direction of Mo Wenbin to receive formal education and return upon graduation to assume their duties. Fourth, they could take the initiative themselves, adopting the PLA’s system of ideological and political work procedures, making minor adjustments to suit the specific conditions of each sector, and implementing it as their own. At present, four ministries are already following this fourth approach. It seems that this fourth method will be the principal one, since the PLA cannot spare a large number of cadres. However, the PLA should certainly provide them with assistance.

Please consider the feasibility of these proposals, after which I, together with the members of the CPC Central Committee Standing Committee, will discuss the matter with you (with the participation of certain comrades responsible for industrial affairs). Comrade Lin, being unwell, may not attend. Once we have reached a consensus, we can finalize the policy. I have been pondering this issue for several years. Now, with the industrial ministries taking the lead in proposing to learn from the PLA, and with the outstanding achievements of the Ministry of Petroleum serving as convincing evidence, the time has come for widespread implementation. Since Comrade Lin Biao introduced the “Four Firsts” and the “Three-Eight Style,” the PLA’s ideological and political work, along with its military operations, has undergone a major transformation compared with the past—becoming both more concrete and more theoretically grounded—and thus easier for the industrial sector to adopt and emulate.

Mao Zedong
November 16, 1963