Comments and Annotations on the Request Report and Letter Concerning the Route Selection for the Sichuan–Hubei Railway Line [1] (October and December 1964)

I To Comrade Bo Yipo. · Printed from Mao Zedong’s handwritten draft.

II Zhou is right. It is essential to simultaneously survey the underground resources—coal, iron, other metals, and forest conditions—along all three route options. Mao’s note, printed from the manuscript.

III Comrade Bo Yipo: Your view is entirely correct. Both the resource situation and the various route alternatives require thorough investigation over a period of two to three years; only when there is solid evidence can a comparison be made. We must avoid hasty action, yet also refrain from procrastination and conduct the survey work with due seriousness and urgency.
Mao Zedong, December 14, printed from the manuscript. Included in Selected Letters of Mao Zedong.

Notes [1] The request report was submitted on October 3, 1964, by Li Jingquan, First Secretary of the Southwest Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and First Secretary of the Sichuan Provincial Party Committee, together with Lü Zhengcao, Minister of Railways, to Li Fuchun, Vice Premier of the State Council and Director of the State Planning Commission; Bo Yipo, Vice Premier of the State Council and Director of the State Economic Commission; and Luo Ruiqing, Vice Premier of the State Council, with copies sent to Mao Zedong and the Central Committee. The accompanying letter was written by Bo Yipo on October 17 of the same year to Zhou Enlai, also with copies to Mao Zedong and the Central Committee, both concerning the route selection for the Sichuan–Hubei Railway. The request report stated that they fully agreed with Chairman Mao and the Central Committee’s directive to halt construction of the Xiang–Qian Railway and instead rehabilitate the Sichuan–Hubei line. In accordance with this instruction, they had collaborated with the Ministry of Railways’ specialized design institutes—the Wuhan Design Institute, among others—to study alternative routes and design proposals for the Sichuan–Hubei Railway. First, there were two route options: the first, known as the Yuanjiang Route, would run from Hankou via Changjiangbu (already open to traffic), Yingcheng, and Shayang, crossing the Yangtze River at Yidu, then continuing through Linli and Changde along the Yuanjiang River to Yuanling, thereafter following the You River via Baojing, Huayuan, Xiushan, and Youyang, and finally proceeding along the Wu River through Pengshui and Nanchuan to Chongqing. The total length of this route would be approximately 1,300 kilometers. The second option, the Lishui Route, would follow the same alignment as the first from Hankou to Linli. From Linli, it would continue along the Lishui River through Cili, Dayong, and Yongshun to Baojing, after which it would rejoin the first route to Chongqing. This alternative would be about fifty kilometers—or slightly more—shorter than the first. Judging from the maps, the first route appears preferable: its terrain is gentler, making construction easier; the population density along the route is higher, and there are greater reserves of grain and other resources. Moreover, from Changde it offers a closer connection to the Beijing–Guangzhou Railway, while from Yuanling it is nearer to the Xiang–Qian Railway. However, which of these two routes should ultimately be adopted still requires on-site surveys and detailed comparative analysis before a final decision can be reached. Second, the railway standards were proposed to be designed as a Class I trunk line. Third, it was decided to immediately redeploy the technical personnel assigned to the Xiang–Qian Railway to join an expanded team tasked with conducting field surveys along the prospective Sichuan–Hubei route. Fourth, construction of the section of the Sichuan–Hubei Railway north of the Yangtze River (the eastern segment) could commence in the latter half of next year, while work on the central and western sections might begin the following year once preliminary designs were completed. Fifth, the working style of the leading bodies must resemble that of military operations: commanders should go directly to the front lines, gain a deep understanding of the actual situation, mobilize the masses effectively, and implement unified leadership combined with on-site command. In his letter, Bo Yipo noted that, pursuant to the Central Committee’s instructions, he was forwarding a schematic diagram of the Sichuan–Hubei Railway plans. The three proposed routes shown in the diagram—the Lishui Route, the Yuanjiang Route, and a variant shortening the Lishui Route’s mileage—were essentially drawn up based on aerial photographs. A fourth option, the Qingjiang Route, had been designed by the Ministry of Railways after 1958. Information on resource availability was obtained from the Economic Research Department of the Ministry of Railways’ specialized design institute, with data on iron ore provided by the Ministry of Metallurgy. All of these figures represent preliminary estimates, and no reliable conclusions can be drawn without further field investigations. In my view, it is imperative that surveys of all three routes—one comprising the first and third options—be conducted concurrently and under equal conditions. We must not repeat the past practice of arbitrarily selecting a single route in advance under the guise of “route selection,” when in reality the choice was made solely on the basis of aerial maps alone. [2] This section (I) consists of comments written by Mao Zedong on a copy of the annotations made by Li Fuchun, Gu Mu (Deputy Director of the State Economic Commission), and Bo Yipo on the request report submitted by Li Jingquan and Lü Zhengcao regarding the route selection for the Sichuan–Hubei Railway. Section (II) reflects Mao’s opinion expressed in a comment addressed to Zhou Enlai. In his annotation to the request report, Zhou wrote: “Please first consult with the Geological Survey Bureau and the Ministry of Metallurgy to study and map out the existing underground resources, so that mineral exploration can be carried out during the on-site survey of the railway route.” Section (III) comprises Mao’s annotations on Bo Yipo’s letter.