(December 12, 1963)
Comrades Peng Zhen and Liu Ren [2]:
This document [3] is worth a look. There are quite a few problems in various art forms—drama, traditional performing arts, music, fine arts, dance, film, poetry, literature, and so on—and the number of people involved is very large. Socialist transformation has, to this day, yielded very little result in many sectors. In many fields, “dead forces” still hold sway. We should not underestimate the achievements of cinema, modern poetry, folk songs, fine arts, and fiction, but there are also numerous problems within them. As for drama and other such areas, the issues are even more serious. The socio-economic base has already been transformed,
These two comments were written on the “Report on the Literary and Artistic Situation,” compiled and printed by the Literature and Arts Department of the CPC Central Committee’s Propaganda Department on December 9, 1963.
[2]
Peng Zhen was then a member of the CPC Central Politburo, secretary of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee, first secretary of the Beijing Municipal Party Committee, and concurrently mayor of Beijing. Liu Ren was then the second secretary of the Beijing Municipal Party Committee.
[3]
Refers to materials regarding Ke Qingshi, then first secretary of the Shanghai Municipal Party Committee and mayor of Shanghai, overseeing work related to traditional performing arts, as published in the “Report on the Literary and Artistic Situation.” These materials stated that the Shanghai Municipal Party Committee attached great importance to mass art forms such as traditional performing arts, and that Ke Qingshi had personally directed efforts in this area. One focus was developing new long-form repertoire for Pingtan; he emphasized that whether there were more high-quality, both ideologically sound and artistically excellent, modern long-form programs was a matter of vital importance to whether socialist literature and art could gain ground. Another area of attention was storytellers, who, in the suburban districts, had been actively narrating revolutionary stories in support of the socialist education campaign, thus serving as red propagandists and winning widespread popular acclaim. The Municipal Party Committee called on party organizations at all levels to attach great importance to this activity and to consider extending it to urban areas.
yet one of the superstructures serving this base—the arts sector—remains a major problem. This requires starting with investigation and research, and tackling the issue earnestly.
Mao Zedong
December 12th
It is indeed strange that many communists are zealous in promoting feudal and capitalist art, yet show little enthusiasm for socialist art.

Archival photo
In 1963, Mao Zedong watched a literary and artistic performance at the Great Hall of the People.
December 1963: Mao Zedong together with literary and artistic workers.