Comments and Revisions on “Some Current Issues Raised in the Socialist Education Movement in the Countryside” and the Central Notification [1] (December 1964, January 1965) 1. Implement as is. Mao Zedong, 11:00 p.m., December 24.

2. Forward as revised. Mao Zedong, December 27, 1964.


3. The text revised as suggested (the third line from the bottom on page two) [2] shall be reprinted. Please have Comrade Liu Shaoqi review it and then submit it to the Confidentiality Office for processing. This was proposed by Comrade Chen Boda, and I concur. If you also agree, please proceed accordingly. Mao Zedong, December 31, based on the manuscript.

4. These two formulations—neither referring to the contradiction between clarity and obscurity within any given society, nor to the intersection of intra- and extra-party contradictions—appear, on the surface, applicable to any historical society or political party. Neither clarifies the nature of today’s contradictions; therefore, they are not in line with Marxism-Leninism.

5. To forget this fundamental theory and practice of our Party over the past decade or so would lead us onto a wrong path.


6. The socialist education movement in urban areas was previously called the Five-Anti Campaign and later generally known as the Four-Cleansing Movement. The designation “Five Antis” is hereby abolished. Printed according to Mao Zedong’s manuscript.

7. Comrade Mao Zedong stated at a meeting of the Standing Committee of the CPC Central Political Bureau held in July 1964, with the first secretaries of the central bureaus of major regions in attendance: What are the criteria for successfully carrying out the socialist education movement? First, we must see whether the poor and lower-middle peasants have truly been mobilized or remain unmobilized. Second, has the problem of “four types of unclarity” among cadres been resolved, or does it persist? Third, are cadres participating in labor, or are they abstaining? Fourth, has a strong leading core been established, or not? Fifth, when elements such as landlords, rich peasants, counter-revolutionaries, and bad elements engaging in sabotage are discovered, are these issues simply reported upward, or are the masses mobilized to exercise close supervision and carry out local transformation? Sixth, does production increase or decrease? At that time, the enlarged meeting of the Standing Committee of the CPC Central Political Bureau deemed these criteria appropriate for assessing the success of our country’s socialist education movement. We continue to hold this view today. Printed according to Mao Zedong’s revised version.

8. Return to Comrade Chen Boda for handling. Two characters, “Public Security,” were added on page twelve [4]. Mao Zedong, January 14, printed according to the manuscript.

Notes [1] “Some Current Issues Raised in the Socialist Education Movement in the Countryside” (commonly known as the “Twenty-Three Articles”) is a record of discussions from a national working conference convened by the CPC Central Political Bureau. On January 14, 1965, the CPC Central Committee issued it as Document Zhongfa [ ] No. 2 to the entire Party. Its formation was a gradual process: On December 24, 1964, in its second draft, the document was titled “Some Current Issues Raised in the Socialist Education Movement,” with the parenthetical note below reading, “Record of Discussions by the Standing Committee of the CPC Central Political Bureau—Unfinalized. Comrades, please offer your opinions for possible revision.” The full text comprised sixteen articles. That evening at ten o’clock, Chen Boda submitted this document to Mao Zedong, appending the message, “Please, Chairman, review it! Kindly indicate whether it should be printed as revised!” After reviewing it, Mao Zedong wrote the comment recorded here as (1). On December 27, the document was again presented to Mao Zedong for review, but a seventeenth article had been appended: “The above provisions shall, in principle, also apply to the Four-Cleansing Movement in urban areas.” The title was changed to “Some Current Issues Raised in the Socialist Education Movement in the Countryside,” and the parenthetical phrase was altered to read, “Record of Discussions from a National Working Conference Convened by the CPC Central Political Bureau.” On that day, Mao Zedong revised the parenthetical wording to “Record of Discussions from a National Working Conference Convened by the CPC Central Political Bureau,” changed the date from “December 24” to “December 27,” removed the words “second draft,” and wrote the comment recorded here as (2) above the title. On December 28, the CPC Central Committee issued this record as Document Zhongfa [64] No. 8£±. On December 31, the General Office of the CPC Central Committee issued a notice suspending the distribution of Document Zhongfa [64] No. 811, stating that the record was “still being revised by the Central Committee; please cease distribution and destroy all copies.” On the cover of the revised Document Zhongfa [64] No. 8£±, Mao Zedong wrote the comment recorded here as (3). On the same day, the CPC Central Committee issued the revised record as Document Zhongfa [64] No. 815. In January 1965, the Central Committee continued to convene meetings to discuss and revise the record, expanding it from the original seventeen articles to twenty-three. Seven new sections were added—on the situation, criteria for successful implementation, concentrating forces for annihilation battles, conducting work across the board, cadre issues, establishing associations of poor and lower-middle peasants, and methods of thinking—while one section concerning group interests was deleted. Numerous textual revisions were also made. On January 14, 1965, the CPC Central Committee issued the record as Document Zhongfa [65] No. 26. In its announcement accompanying the publication of the record, the Central Committee stated, “Any previous documents issued by the Central Committee regarding the socialist education movement that conflict with this document shall be superseded by this one. This document is to be distributed to county-level and higher Party committees, as well as to work teams and team-level Party committees.” Parts (4) through (7) represent Mao Zedong’s revisions to the January 8, 1965, draft of the record, with the added and revised text printed in Song typeface. Part (8) consists of comments Mao Zedong wrote on the January 12, 1965, draft of the record. [2] The original text read: “These power-holders include those operating openly, those acting behind the scenes, those at the grassroots level, and those in high positions. Among those at the grassroots, there are landlords, rich peasants, counter-revolutionaries, and other bad elements who have already been identified, as well as those who have escaped identification.” Chen Boda revised it to: “These power-holders include those operating openly and those acting behind the scenes. Among those behind the scenes, some are at the grassroots level and others occupy higher echelons. Those at the grassroots level comprise both landlords, rich peasants, counter-revolutionaries, and other bad elements who have already been identified, and those who have yet to be detected.” [3] Boda refers to Chen Boda, who at the time served as an alternate member of the CPC Central Political Bureau, director of the Central Research Office, and Mao Zedong’s secretary.
[ ] The two characters “Public Security” were added after “health” in the sentence, “to advance production, construction, science, culture, education, health, and militia work in all respects.”