**Instructions and Comments on Strengthening Mutual Learning and Overcoming Complacency, Arrogance, and Self-Satisfaction [1] (December 13 and 30, 1963)**

**I**
To all Central Bureaus, Party Committees of all provinces, municipalities, and autonomous regions, the Military Commission, Party Committees of all central people's organizations, and Party Committees and Leading Party Members' Groups of all ministries and commissions:
The report on a visit to observe agricultural production in Guangdong [2], written by Comrades Li Ruishan and Hua Guofeng of the Hunan Provincial Committee on November 6, 1963, along with the attached directive [3] written by the Hunan Provincial Committee on December 7, 1963, are hereby distributed for your study. The Central Committee believes that this attitude and method of humbly learning from the excellent experiences of other provinces, municipalities, and regions is very good and constitutes one of the important methods for developing our country's economy, politics, ideology, culture, military affairs, and Party affairs. Complacency, arrogance, and self-satisfaction lead to a failure to adopt the Marxist dialectical method of analysis (dividing one into two, having both achievements and shortcomings/errors) regarding the work in one's own area of jurisdiction, studying only the aspect of achievements and not the aspect of shortcomings and errors. They lead to a fondness for hearing only praise and a dislike for hearing criticism. There is little interest in organizing competent high- and middle-ranking cadres to humbly and conscientiously investigate the work of other provinces, municipalities, regions, and units, so as to integrate it with the conditions of one's own province, municipality, region, or unit for improvement. Perpetually confined to the narrow world of one's own region and unit, unable to broaden one's horizons, unaware that there are other new worlds—this is called parochial arrogance. Foreigners, people from other places, and personnel sent down by the Central Committee are only shown the good and not the bad. They are only told about achievements, not about shortcomings and errors. If shortcomings are discussed, the discussion is superficial, glossed over with a few perfunctory remarks. The Central Committee has repeatedly raised this issue with comrades, holding that a Communist must possess the Marxist dialectical thinking of the dichotomy between achievements and shortcomings, truth and error. Things (economy, politics, ideology, culture, military affairs, Party affairs, etc.) always develop forward as processes. And any process develops through the mutual connection and mutual struggle of two contradictory aspects. This should be common knowledge for Marxists. However, among the comrades in the Central Committee and various localities, many rarely use this viewpoint conscientiously in their thinking and work. Their minds have long been trapped by metaphysical ways of thinking from which they cannot extricate themselves. So-called metaphysics denies the truth that things are characterized by the unity of opposites, the struggle of opposites (the method of dividing one into two), and that contradictory and opposing things transform into each other under certain conditions, moving towards their opposites. It is the complacency, arrogance, and self-satisfaction of people who see only achievements and not shortcomings, who only wish to hear good words and are unwilling to hear criticism. They are unwilling to criticize themselves (apply the method of dividing one into two to themselves) and even more afraid of criticism from others. The Central Committee has dozens of ministries. Although there are clearly a few ministries, such as the Ministry of Petroleum Industry, with relatively good work achievements and work styles, other ministries turn a blind eye and never go there to investigate, study, and seek advice. Within the enterprises and undertakings managed by a ministry, there are clearly many factories, mines, enterprises, undertakings, scientific research institutions, and their personnel whose work is done relatively well, yet the higher authorities are unaware of this and therefore cannot advocate that people learn from those units. Comrades, the comrades referred to here by the Central Committee as having committed metaphysical errors are a part of the comrades, not all comrades. However, it must be pointed out that a large number of good comrades are suppressed by those comrades who enjoy high official positions and generous salaries, live in comfort and ease, are arrogant and self-satisfied, complacent, and fond of bourgeois metaphysics—that is, the bureaucrats. This must now be rectified. Comrades who are unwilling to humbly and conscientiously analyze themselves, their own locality, and their own unit, or analyze other localities, other units, and other people, and who reject the Marxist method of dialectical analysis, should be given comradely advice and criticism in order to change this undesirable situation. The method of learning the good experiences, good work styles, and good methods from other ministries, provinces, municipalities, regions, and units should be established as a system. This issue is a major one; please discuss it. It will also be discussed at future Central Work Conferences and Plenary Sessions of the Central Committee. For a period in the past, the Hunan Provincial Committee did not conduct investigations and studies, subjectively issuing many directives, pouring down much from above while receiving little truthful information reflected from below, thus becoming divorced from the masses and encountering great difficulties. Beginning in 1961, they started to change, leading to a greatly improved situation. However, they believe they still lag far behind Guangdong and Shanghai, so they dispatched large numbers of cadres at the provincial, prefectural, and county levels, as well as provincial and municipal cadres, to form two study groups to go to Guangdong and Shanghai respectively to learn. Please pay attention to this point and study whether you can do likewise. The Central Committee believes that not only can this be done, but it should be done. If there are different opinions, please raise them.

The Central Committee
December 13, 1963

Published based on *People's Daily*, September 9, 1977.

**II**
Comrades Liu, Deng, Zhu, Peng, Ruiqing, Kang Sheng, Boda, Yibo, Xiannian, Fuzhi, Zhenlin [4]:
This document from Hunan [5] seems suitable for forwarding; it would be greatly beneficial. Please review and handle. Alternatively, convene a meeting to discuss it.

Mao Zedong
December 13

Published based on a printed copy preserved in the Central Archives.

**III**
Sent to Comrades Shaoqi and Xiaoping for further review.

Based on Mao Zedong's manuscript.

**IV**
Comrades Shaoqi and Xiaoping:
A few words in this document have been revised. Please review it again, and then it can be printed and distributed together with the Hunan documents.

Mao Zedong
December 30

The date should still be written as December 13.
Based on the manuscript.

**Notes**

--- Notes

[1] Part (I) of this document is a directive drafted by Mao Zedong for the CPC Central Committee. This directive was issued internally within the Party as CPC Central Committee Document Zhongfa [63] No. 8 and was publicly published in *People's Daily* on September 9, 1977. Part (II) is a comment written by Mao Zedong on December 13, 1963, regarding the forwarding of the report by Li Ruishan and Hua Guofeng, Secretaries of the Secretariat of the CPC Hunan Provincial Committee, on their visit to observe agricultural production in Guangdong, and the directive of the CPC Hunan Provincial Committee. Parts (III) and (IV) are comments written by Mao Zedong on the 30th of the same month on the title page and a printed copy of the Central Committee's directive draft on strengthening mutual learning and overcoming complacency, arrogance, and self-satisfaction.
[2] The report by Li Ruishan and Hua Guofeng to the CPC Hunan Provincial Committee stated: Several comrades from our Provincial Committee and leading comrades primarily from various prefectural and municipal committees, totaling 32 people, visited agricultural production in Guangdong Province from October 29 to November 5. The deepest impression left on us was that a new upsurge in agricultural production had already emerged in Guangdong Province. Everywhere there were records of large-scale high-yield bumper harvests, everywhere there were crowds observing and learning, everywhere there were scenes of building a new countryside. The main insights are sixfold: (1) Guangdong Province is very outstanding in holding high the Three Red Banners; they have consistently persisted in large-scale water conservancy construction, popularizing improved seeds, rational close planting, and running labor universities, etc. (2) Guangdong Province is very outstanding in implementing the principle of taking grain as the key link, ensuring all-round development, and engaging in diversified operations. (3) Guangdong Province is very outstanding in raising per-unit-area yields. (4) Guangdong Province is very outstanding in focusing on water, fertilizer, and seeds. (5) Guangdong Province is very outstanding in grasping economic policies. (6) Guangdong Province is very outstanding in following the mass line in agricultural production and vigorously launching mass movements. Through the visit, everyone felt that their horizons had been broadened, their thinking liberated, their minds opened, their confidence strengthened, and their drive encouraged; at the same time, many valuable experiences were learned. The current issue is that Guangdong's experience should be integrated with Hunan's specific conditions and applied and popularized according to local conditions.
[3] The directive of the CPC Hunan Provincial Committee approving and forwarding the report by Li Ruishan and Hua Guofeng to various prefectural, municipal, and county committees, various departments and commissions of the Provincial Committee, and Leading Party Members' Groups of various departments and bureaus stated: Recently, Comrades Li Ruishan and Hua Guofeng led leading comrades primarily from various prefectural and municipal committees to visit agricultural production in several areas of Guangdong Province. They concisely wrote this visit report based on the experiences and insights they gained. The Provincial Committee believes this report is very important and must be distributed down to commune Party committees and factory/mine Party committees. Comrades in Party committees at all levels must read it; comrades involved in rural work must read it; comrades involved in industry and other departments should also read it. This winter, this report should also be read aloud to cadres of production brigades and production teams, and to poor and lower-middle peasants. Comrades from the industrial sector who recently went to Shanghai for study visits should also write similar reports and distribute them for everyone to read. The purpose of doing this is to let everyone look in the mirror, engage in discussion, and well apply the experiences learned from advanced regions and advanced units to our own work. Learning from external experiences should be combined with summarizing our own experiences. It should be seen that every county and every region has some relatively good units. Summarizing the experiences of these units, combining local experiences with external experiences, proceeding from the actual conditions of the local area, and realistically popularizing them will more effectively improve work, develop production, make advanced units more advanced, and enable average and backward units to gradually catch up with the advanced ones. Here, it is particularly important for leaders to personally conduct pilot projects. Only by creating models and setting up banners can we more quickly drive the overall situation, set off an upsurge in learning from the advanced, and achieve more notable results.
[4] Liu refers to Liu Shaoqi. Deng refers to Deng Xiaoping, then General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee and Vice Premier of the State Council. Zhu refers to Zhu De. Peng refers to Peng Zhen, then member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Secretary of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee. Ruiqing, i.e., Luo Ruiqing, then Secretary of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee and Vice Premier of the State Council. Kang Sheng, then Alternate Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Secretary of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee. Boda, i.e., Chen Boda, then Alternate Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Director of the Central Political Research Office. Yibo, i.e., Bo Yibo, then Alternate Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Vice Premier of the State Council. Xiannian, i.e., Li Xiannian, then Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, Secretary of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee, and Vice Premier of the State Council. Fuzhi, i.e., Xie Fuzhi, then Minister of Public Security. Zhenlin, i.e., Tan Zhenlin, then Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, Secretary of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee, and Vice Premier of the State Council.
[5] Refers to the report by Li Ruishan and Hua Guofeng and the directive of the CPC Hunan Provincial Committee. See Notes [2] and [3] of this document.