Regarding the Issuance of Annotations on “On the Ten Major Relationships” [1]
(December 18, 1965)
Forwarded to Comrades Xiaoping and Peng Zhen[2] for action in accordance with Comrade Shaoqi’s[3] views.
Mao Zedong
December 18
I have reviewed this document[4], but I am not entirely satisfied. It should be circulated to solicit opinions, so as to serve as a basis for future revisions.
This annotation was written on a letter dated December 15, 1965, from Liu Shaoqi to Mao Zedong, proposing the publication of Mao’s April 1956 essay “On the Ten Major Relationships.” The letter stated: “I have read this document again and believe it addresses several fundamental issues very well; it continues to provide important guidance for our current work. I suggest that it be issued as an internal document for study by party committees at the county level and above. When I met with the Chairman yesterday, he agreed to this course of action. I respectfully request that the Chairman review it once more and then authorize Comrades Xiaoping and Peng Zhen to carry out the necessary arrangements.”
[2]
Xiaoping refers to Deng Xiaoping, who at that time served as General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee. Peng Zhen was then a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and a secretary of its Secretariat.
[3]
Shaoqi refers to Liu Shaoqi.
[4]
This refers to the transcript of Mao Zedong’s speech “On the Ten Major Relationships,” which had been submitted to Mao for his review at the time. On December 27, 1965, the CPC Central Committee issued Document Zhongfa [65] No. 751, distributing this transcript to party committees at the county and regimental levels and above for study. In 1975, during the compilation of Volume V of the Selected Works of Mao Zedong, with Mao’s approval and under the leadership of Hu Qiaomu, the transcript was further refined to reflect the original intent of the speech and was subsequently submitted to Mao for his final review and endorsement. The revised transcript of “On the Ten Major Relationships” was publicly published in the People’s Daily on December 26, 1976.

Annotations on the Issuance of “On the Ten Major Relationships”
It is suggested that this point be incorporated into the central annotations.[5]
[1]
The annotation issued by the CPC Central Committee on December 27, 1965, regarding the publication of Mao Zedong’s “On the Ten Major Relationships” reads as follows: “Comrade Mao Zedong’s ‘On the Ten Major Relationships,’ delivered in April 1956, is an extremely important document that provides a thorough discussion of the fundamental issues concerning the socialist revolution and construction, offering significant guidance for both present and future work. Accordingly, it is hereby distributed for study by party committees at the county level and above. This document is a transcript of the original speech. After recently reviewing it, Comrade Mao expressed some dissatisfaction and nevertheless approved its circulation to gather opinions. All relevant party organizations are requested to submit their comments on the content, which will be compiled and reported to the Central Committee for reference in any future revisions.”