Concerning Launching a Mass Design Revolution Movement
(November 8, 1964)

Comrade Peng Zhen, please forward to Comrade Gu Mu:

Before the National Design Conference is held in February next year, all design institutes must be mobilized to participate in the mass design revolution movement, with full discussion and unreserved expression of opinions. Great achievements can be made in three months. Please Comrade Gu Mu immediately deploy, and conduct several inspections and supervisions, and summarize experiences. This is my earnest hope!

Mao Zedong
November 8

To Comrade Peng Zhen:

Please inform Gu Mu that his deployment is very good.

Concerning Launching a Mass Design Revolution Movement

Mao Zedong
November 8

[1] This first piece was written on the "Brief Report" No. 408 compiled and printed by the General Office of the CPC Central Committee on October 29, 1964. The Brief Report excerpted a letter from Song Yangchu, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Construction Engineering, to Bo Yibo and Li Fuchun on October 24, 1964, regarding the launch of a mass design work reform movement in some design units. This second piece was written on the report from Gu Mu, Vice Chairman of the State Economic Commission and Director of the Industrial and Communications Political Department of the CPC Central Committee, to Peng Zhen and reported to Mao Zedong on November 2, 1964, regarding the specific deployment of launching a mass design revolution movement.

In his letter, Song Yangchu stated that in the past two or three months, 14 design institutes had successively launched mass design work reform movements. They had three approaches:

The first is to start by organizing the study of the Party's guidelines and policies, then analyze and examine projects, summarize experiences and lessons, and finally propose specific methods for reforming design work;

The second is to launch the movement by criticizing the bourgeois ideology and work style of typical figures, combined with the revolutionization of work, and at the same time, combined with dissecting "sparrows" to reform design management work and rules and regulations;

The third is to start by implementing the principle of building the country through diligence and thrift, inspect the quality of design project drawings, mobilize the masses to discuss, and go to the site to summarize experience, and finally reform standards, quotas, manuals, and other rules and regulations.

These units encountered some ideological obstacles at the beginning of the reform movement, and some people had more ideological concerns. At present, ideological obstacles have been removed, and the movement is gradually deepening. It seems that launching such a mass reform movement from below before the design work conference can enrich the content of the design work conference, and at the same time improve the ideological awareness and policy level of design personnel. This is of great benefit to further realizing the revolutionization of design work in the future.

The specific deployment for launching a mass design revolution movement proposed by Gu Mu in the report is:

1. All design institutes, especially those in Beijing, must immediately start preparing and launch mass design revolution movements in stages and batches. Each ministry must first concentrate its efforts on effectively grasping one design institute, summarize experience in a timely manner, so as to guide and promote other units.

2. The main task for the next 3 months is to fully expose the problems existing in design ideology and design methods, in preparation for the National Design Work Conference to be held in February next year. The work of classifying classes and rectifying the ranks in design institutes will be carried out at an appropriate time.

3. The launch of the design revolution movement should generally take three steps: mobilizing the masses to expose problems; selecting key design projects, dissecting "sparrows", and examining and analyzing existing problems; and finally reforming rules and regulations.

4. Each ministry should be presided over by a vice minister, and organize a certain specialized force to be responsible for carrying out this work.

[2] Peng Zhen was then a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Secretary of the Secretariat of the Central Committee.

On November 1, 1964, Mao Zedong met with Mohammed Zahir Shah, King of the Kingdom of Afghanistan.