--- Notes



Comments on Jiang Qing’s Speech at the Symposium During the Performance Review of Modern Peking Opera (June 26, 1964) [1] — Read and approved; well said. Mao Zedong, June 26. Printed from the manuscript.

Note [1]: These comments were written on a letter dated June 24, 1964, from the Office of the 1964 Conference for the Review of Modern Peking Opera to Jiang Qing, submitting her speech transcript from the symposium for her review. On June 23, 1964, Zhou Enlai and others met with the heads of performing and observing troupes, leading actors, and creative personnel participating in the conference, and convened a symposium. Jiang Qing delivered a speech at the meeting. She stated: We must have firm confidence in staging modern subjects in Peking Opera. It is inconceivable that workers, peasants, and soldiers—the true creators of history—should not occupy the dominant position on the stage of our socialist motherland under the leadership of the Communist Party. We must create a literary and artistic culture that safeguards our socialist economic foundation. We advocate revolutionary modern operas that reflect the realities of life over the fifteen years since the founding of the People’s Republic, and that portray contemporary revolutionary heroes. This is the primary task. While pursuing this main objective, historical dramas may also be staged, and traditional plays need not all be discarded. So how should we proceed? In my view, the key lies in the scripts. We should cultivate new creative forces and give them opportunities; within three to five years, they will bear fruit. The other approach is adaptation. Adaptations must be chosen with great care: first, we must assess their political orientation, and second, we must determine whether the theater company is suitably equipped.