Instructions and Comments on Two Documents of the Socialist Education Movement
Report on the Situation [!]
(December 23, 1963)
To all Central Bureaus, Party Committees of provinces, municipalities, and autonomous regions, the General Political Department of the Military Commission, and Party Leading Groups and Party Committees of various central ministries and commissions:
(1) The report from the Jiangsu Provincial Party Committee dated December 20 is hereby circulated for your study and reference.
(2) You are requested to take this matter seriously and ensure that, before spring plowing, these two documents of the Central Committee concerning the socialist education movement in the countryside are widely explained—with a brief discussion—in rural areas, cities, the armed forces, government organs, and schools (excluding primary schools)—in order to roughly resolve certain issues.
(3) Experience should be summarized regularly, achievements should be promoted, shortcomings corrected, and guidance provided.
(4) In rural areas, pilot work should be carried out in stages and batches simultaneously, without any relaxation.
The Central Committee
December 23, 1963

Liu, Deng, Zhu, Peng, Zhenlin (2( comrades:
After comparing the reports and opinions received from various localities,
this document from Jiangsu (3( is considered superior and is therefore being forwarded. Comrade Zhenlin had initially proposed not to issue an instruction but instead to circulate this particular document.
Mao Zedong
(I]
This first section consists of instructions drafted by Mao Zedong on behalf of the CPC Central Committee for forwarding the report of the Jiangsu Provincial Party Committee, urging all localities to conduct a widespread explanation of the Central Committee’s two documents on the rural socialist education movement before spring plowing. These instructions were issued internally as CPC Central Committee Document No. Zhongfa [63] 848. The second section is a note written by Mao Zedong commenting on the Jiangsu Provincial Party Committee’s report regarding trial readings and explanations of the two Central Committee documents to grassroots cadres and the masses in rural areas. Both sections were written directly on the report submitted by the Jiangsu Provincial Party Committee on December 20, 1963, to the Central Committee, the East China Bureau, and to party committees at all levels throughout the region.
[2]
Liu refers to Liu Shaoqi. Deng refers to Deng Xiaoping, who at that time served as General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee and Vice Premier of the State Council. Zhu refers to Zhu De. Peng refers to Peng Zhen, who was then a member of the CPC Central Politburo and Secretary of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee. Zhenlin refers to Tan Zhenlin, who at that time was a member of the CPC Central Politburo, Secretary of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee, and Vice Premier of the State Council.
(3]
Refers to the Jiangsu Provincial Party Committee’s report dated December 20, 1963, concerning trial readings and explanations of the two Central Committee documents to grassroots cadres and the masses in rural areas. The report states that after receiving notification from the Central Committee regarding the issuance and publicity of the two documents on the rural socialist education movement, in addition to immediately organizing cadres at the county level and above, along with 17,000 members of work teams, to study these documents, arrangements were also made to first present and explain them at meetings of cadres at the county and city levels. Furthermore, leading cadres of prefectural and municipal party committees were instructed to personally go down to one or two production teams to read and explain the documents to the masses. To date, such activities have been carried out at cadre meetings at all three levels in 42 counties and cities, as well as in 23 model communes operating either broadly or on a pilot basis.
Once the two Central Committee documents came into contact with grassroots cadres and people from all social strata,
they immediately elicited a strong response, clarifying many doubts and speculations about the socialist education movement and mobilizing positive factors from all sides. The vast majority of cadres and the general public hailed these two documents as “good statutes” for building socialism and “good mirrors” for self-revolution among cadres. Drawing on their own practical experiences, they believed that whenever the Central Committee sent documents down to brigade and production team levels, tremendous effects would invariably follow. The implementation of the “Sixty Articles” of the People’s Communes and the “Twelve Articles” governing agriculture had set the People’s Communes on a path of healthy development, resulting in year-on-year improvements in production over the past two years; similarly, the current implementation of these two documents would surely usher in a new era of comprehensive and vigorous socialist construction. After hearing the readings and explanations of these two documents, grassroots cadres enhanced their class consciousness and cleared up a number of long-standing ambiguities. Meanwhile, the broad masses of poor and lower-middle peasants, upon hearing the presentations, were greatly encouraged and felt a renewed sense of pride and confidence.
Middle peasants, after attending the lectures, gradually stabilized emotionally and began to draw closer to the poor and lower-middle peasants. Children of landlords and rich peasants, deeply moved by the presentations, generally felt that they now had a future. On the other hand, elements classified as landlords, rich peasants, counter-revolutionaries, and bad elements were quite surprised to hear the Central Committee’s two documents being explained to them, remarking that these documents represented a “two-good” policy—one good for the four categories of undesirable elements themselves, and another good for their children—leading them to realize that as long as they worked diligently and obeyed the law, both they and their offspring could look forward to a bright future. Based on the experience gained from piloting the reading and explanation of the two Central Committee documents across different localities, the following points require particular attention: First, when presenting the two Central Committee documents, it is generally advisable to read the “Decision (Draft)” first, followed by the “Regulations (Draft),” so as to clarify the specific policies. Second, at meetings of cadres at the county and commune levels, the documents may be presented and explained either in large assembly sessions or in smaller group settings. Third, when addressing the general public, it is preferable to begin with Party members and active participants, then proceed to ordinary commune members, and finally to the four categories of undesirable elements. Fourth, during the reading of the documents, focused reiterations and explanations should be provided to help cadres and the masses grasp the essential spirit of the documents; however, arbitrary interpretations or distortions of the documents’ intent must be avoided. Fifth, it is crucial to train a core group of skilled readers and explainers.