Jiang Qing:
I am sending you two copies of the letter [3] from Beijing. Please study it and see if there are
any revisions. I have asked Comrades Kang Sheng and Boda to come to Shanghai today or
tomorrow to discuss it with you. Then, Comrades Kang Sheng and Boda will come here to
make a report on the night of the 16th and make the final decision.
Mao Zedong
April 14th, 8:30 a.m.
Comrades Enlai, Xiaoping [4], and Peng Zhen:
I have received and read your letter of April 12 and its attachments. I would like to ask
Comrades Kang Sheng, Boda, and any other drafting group members who may be in
Shanghai to go to Shanghai today (the 14th) or tomorrow to discuss the document with the
Shanghai comrades. Then, I would like to ask Comrades Kang Sheng and Boda to come here
on the night of the 16th or the morning of the 17th. You may come here on the 16th. You
will decide whether the various Central Bureaux should send representatives.
Mao Zedong
April 14, 1966, 9:00 a.m.
There are some revisions; please consider them. To Comrades Enlai, Xiaoping, Peng Zhen,
and Kang Sheng [5].
Mao Zedong



April 14, morning
Already read.
Return to Kang Sheng’s office.
The Central Committee decided to revoke the "Outline of the Report of the Five-Person
Cultural Revolution Group on Current Academic Discussions," approved on February 12,
1966. It also disbanded the original "Five-Person Cultural Revolution Group" and its offices,
and re-established the Cultural Revolution Group [7], which would be subordinate to the
Politburo Standing Committee.
This outline, using confusing, self-contradictory, and hypocritical phraseology, obscures the
acute class struggle currently underway on the cultural and ideological front. It particularly
obscures the fact that the purpose of this great struggle is the criticism of Wu Han [8] and a
large number of other anti-Party and anti-socialist bourgeois representatives (a group of
whom can be found in the Central Committee and its various organs, as well as in every
province, municipality, and autonomous region). This outline fails to mention Chairman
Mao's repeated emphasis that the crux of Wu Han's "Hai Jui Dismissed from Office" is the
issue of dismissal from office, thereby obscuring the serious political nature of this struggle.
The struggle between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie, the struggle between the truth of
Marxism and the fallacies of the bourgeoisie and all exploiting classes, is either the east wind
prevailing over the west wind or the west wind prevailing over the east wind. There is no
question of equality. How can there be any equality on such fundamental issues as the
proletariat's struggle against the bourgeoisie, its dictatorship over the bourgeoisie, its
dictatorship in the superstructure, including in all cultural spheres, and its continued
elimination of bourgeois representatives who have infiltrated the Communist Party and are
waving the red flag to oppose it? The old social democratic parties of the past few decades
and the modern revisionists of the past decade have never allowed any equality between the
proletariat and the bourgeoisie. They fundamentally deny that human history, spanning
thousands of years, is a history of class struggle, that the proletariat has waged class
struggle against the bourgeoisie, and that the proletariat has revolutionized and exercised its
dictatorship over the bourgeoisie. On the contrary, they are loyal running dogs of the
bourgeoisie and imperialism. Together with them, they uphold the bourgeois ideology of
oppression and exploitation of the proletariat and the capitalist social system, opposing the
Marxist-Leninist ideology and the socialist social system. They are a group of anti-communist
and anti-people counter-revolutionaries. Their struggle with us is a life-and-death struggle;



there is no question of equality. Therefore, our struggle against them can only be a life-and-death struggle. Our relationship with them is absolutely not one of equality, but one of one
class oppressing another—a relationship of dictatorship or despotism by the proletariat over
the bourgeoisie. It cannot be any other kind of relationship, such as so-called equality,
peaceful coexistence between the exploited and the exploiting classes, or a relationship of
benevolence, righteousness, and morality.
Chairman Mao often said, "Without destruction, there is no construction." Destruction is
criticism, it is revolution. Destruction requires reasoning, and reasoning is construction. With
destruction at the forefront, construction is also inherent in it.
The main thrust of the Outline's opposition is directed at the proletarian left, clearly aiming
to brand Marxist-Leninists as "scholars" and, in turn, support genuine bourgeois scholars,
maintaining their precarious monopoly in academia. In reality, it is those capitalist-roaders in
power within the Party who support the bourgeois academic cliques, and those bourgeois
representatives who infiltrate the Party to protect them, who are the real Party cliques. They
do not read books, do not read newspapers, do not interact with the masses, possess no
academic background, and rely solely on "arbitrary decisions and the use of power to coerce
others" to usurp the Party's name.
At a time when the proletariat had just begun a new and fierce struggle against bourgeois
representatives on the ideological front, and when many sectors and places had not yet
begun to participate in the struggle, or when, even if the struggle had already begun, the
vast majority of Party committees still lacked understanding, were not serious, and were
ineffective in leading this great struggle, the outline repeatedly emphasized the need for so-called "leadership," "caution," "prudence," and "approval from the relevant leading bodies"
in the struggle. These were all attempts to impose numerous restrictions on the proletarian
left, impose numerous rules and regulations, and shackle its hands and feet, thus creating
numerous obstacles to the proletarian Cultural Revolution. In short, they were eager to put
the brakes on the struggle and launch a counterattack. The authors of the outline were
extremely resentful of the proletarian left's articles counterattacking the reactionary
bourgeois "authorities," both those that had already been published and those that had not
yet been published. They have allowed all sorts of monsters and demons to run wild, filling
our newspapers, broadcasts, periodicals, books, textbooks, lectures, literary works, films,
plays, folk art, fine arts, music, dance, and so on for years, without ever advocating
proletarian leadership or approving it. This contrast reveals the true position of the authors
of the outline.



Party committees at all levels must immediately cease implementing the "Outline of the
Report of the Five-Person Cultural Revolution Group on Current Academic Discussions." The
entire Party must follow Comrade Mao Zedong's instructions, hold high the banner of the
proletarian Cultural Revolution, thoroughly expose the bourgeois reactionary stance of those
so-called "academic authorities" who oppose the Party and socialism, and thoroughly
criticize the bourgeois reactionary ideologies in academia, education, journalism, literature,
and publishing, seizing control of these cultural spheres. To achieve this, we must
simultaneously criticize the bourgeois representatives who have infiltrated the Party,
government, military, and cultural sectors. These individuals must be purged, and some must
be transferred from their positions. In particular, these individuals must not be trusted to
lead the Cultural Revolution, as many have, and continue to, engage in such work, a highly
dangerous endeavour.
The representatives of the bourgeoisie who have infiltrated the Party, the government, the
army, and various cultural circles are counter-revolutionary revisionists. Once the time is ripe,
they will seize power and transform the dictatorship of the proletariat into a dictatorship of
the bourgeoisie. Some of these individuals have already been identified, while others have
not. Some, such as Khrushchev [9], are being trusted and groomed to be our successors. They
are currently sleeping beside us. Party committees at all levels must pay full attention to this.
This notice, along with the erroneous document issued by the Central Committee on
February 12 of this year, can be sent to county Party committees, cultural institution Party
committees, and military regimental Party committees, inviting them to discuss which
document is erroneous and which is correct, their own understanding of the situation, and
their achievements and errors.

[1] This draft notice, later adopted by the enlarged meeting of the Political Bureau of the
CPC Central Committee on May 16, 1966, became the "Notice of the Central Committee of
the Communist Party of China," also known as the "May 16 Notice," and was published in
the People's Daily on May 17, 1967.
[2] The Cultural Revolution Five-Person Group was established in July 1964 at Mao Zedong's
suggestion. It consisted of Peng Zhen, then a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC
Central Committee and Secretary of the CPC Central Secretariat; Lu Dingyi, then an alternate
member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Secretary of the CPC
Central Secretariat and Minister of the CPC Central Propaganda Department; Kang Sheng,
then an alternate member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and
Secretary of the CPC Central Secretariat; Zhou Yang, Deputy Minister of the CPC Central
Propaganda Department; and Wu Lengxi, President of Xinhua News Agency and Editor-in-
Chief of the People's Daily. On February 3, 1966, the Cultural Revolution Five-Person Group



held an enlarged meeting to discuss issues arising from the academic criticism at the time.
After the meeting, they compiled the "Outline of the Report of the Cultural Revolution Five-
Person Group on Current Academic Discussions," also known as the "February Outline," and
submitted it to Mao Zedong and the CPC Central Committee. On February 12, the CPC
Central Committee approved and circulated this outline.
[3] This refers to the Central Committee's notice on revoking the "Outline of the Report of
the Five-Person Cultural Revolution Group on Current Academic Discussions" (draft dated
April 12, 1966), drafted by a drafting group headed by Chen Boda, alternate member of the
Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee. It was submitted by Zhou Enlai and others
from Beijing to Mao Zedong in Hangzhou on April 12, 1966.
[4] Enlai is Zhou Enlai, and Xiaoping is Deng Xiaoping, who was then the General Secretary of
the CPC Central Committee.
[5] This comment was written on a draft notice submitted by the Central Committee of the
Communist Party of China on April 12, 1966. Mao Zedong later made several revisions to this
draft notice, as shown italics in sections 5 to 11 of this article.
[6] This was a comment on the revised draft of the notice submitted by Kang Sheng on April
18, 1966. In his report to Mao Zedong, Kang Sheng said: "The last sentence of Article 7 on
page 4 of the 'Notice' has been revised in accordance with the Chairman's instructions.
Please review it."
[7] On May 28, 1966, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China announced
the list of members of the newly established Central Cultural Revolution Group. Chen Boda
was appointed group leader, Kang Sheng was appointed advisor, Jiang Qing, Wang
Renzhong, Liu Zhijian, and Zhang Chunqiao were appointed deputy group leaders, and group
members included Xie Jianzhong, Yin Da, Wang Li, Guan Feng, Qi Benyu, Mu Xin, and Yao
Wenyuan.
[8] Wu Han, Vice Mayor of Beijing and Vice Chairman of the China Democratic League
Central Committee, was wrongly criticized for writing the newly adapted historical drama
"Hai Rui Dismissed from Office." He was persecuted to death in 1969. In March 1979, with
the approval of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, the Beijing
Municipal Committee completely rehabilitated this unjust case.
[9] Khrushchev, former First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of
the Soviet Union and Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR, was dismissed from
his leadership positions in October 1964.








Revisions and Comments on Several Issues in Chairman Mao’s Poems (Annotated Edition)
[1]
(April 1966)

In June 1930, the Central Red Army marched from Tingzhou (Changting) in Fujian Province
into Jiangxi. In July, it advanced from Jiangxi into Hunan, preparing for a second attack on
Changsha, but ultimately failed. Given the relative strength of the enemy at the time, the
enemy was well prepared, and attacking Changsha would have been a mistake. However, due
to the chaotic fighting between Chiang Kai-shek, Feng Yuxiang, and Yan Shimin in Henan
Province, the southern provinces of Hunan and Jiangxi were largely free of strong enemy
forces for six months, with the exception of Changsha and Nanchang. The Red Army seized
this opportunity to capture large areas, expand its forces, and prepare the conditions for
crushing the first enemy "encirclement and suppression" campaign. Persuaded by Comrade
Mao Zedong, the cadres of the Central Red Army finally changed their strategy and divided
their forces to capture Chaling, Youxian, Dengling, Pingxiang, Ji'an, Xiajiang, and Xinyu,
significantly strengthening the Red Army's strength and the peasants' struggle for the
Agrarian Revolution. This poem captures the Red Army's heroic spirit during the advance. [2]
Okay.
Read,
Return to Qiaomu.

[1] On April 5, 1966, Hu Qiaomu, alternate secretary of the Secretariat of the CPC Central
Committee and Mao Zedong's secretary, wrote to Mao Zedong, saying, "There are two or
three important issues in the annotated version of Chairman Mao's poems that require your
guidance." (1) Based on the suggestions of several comrades from the General Political
Department, I have added a caption to the poem "Dielianhua: From Tingzhou to Changsha."
I refer to the "Resolution on Certain Historical Issues" and its annotations. I wonder if it is
appropriate. Please approve it.” This section contains Mao Zedong's revisions to this caption.
The text printed in italics contains the text he added and revised. (2) The line "A bridge soars
across the sky, transforming the north and south into a thoroughfare" in the poem "Shui



Tiao Ge Tou: Swimming" remains as "A bridge soars across the north and south,
transforming the sky into a thoroughfare," according to Comrade Yuan Shuipai's opinion to
the Chairman. (3) Regarding the phrase "Thousands of villages have been chopped off by
weeds, and people have left their remains" in the poem "Seven-Character Verse: Farewell to
the God of Plague," according to readers' letters and references to relevant texts,
"Thousands of villages have been chopped off by weeds, and people have left their
remains." I'm unsure whether the above two passages in the main text are correct. Please
provide your instructions.” Mao Zedong wrote a comment after these two passages, which is
the second part of this passage. The third part of this passage was written on the envelope
of Hu Qiaomu's letter to Mao Zedong.
[2] This note was revised in the Selected Poems of Mao Zedong, published by the People's
Literature Publishing House in 1986. Further revisions were made to some of the text in the
Selected Poems of Mao Zedong, published by the Central Literature Publishing House in
1996. The current text reads: "In June 1930, the First Corps of the Red Army (initially called
the First Route Army) marched from Tingzhou (Changting) in Fujian Province into Jiangxi
Province. In August, it advanced from Jiangxi towards Hunan, where it met up with the Third
Corps of the Red Army led by Peng Dehuai northeast of Liuyang. They decided to form the
First Front Army of the Red Army. In September, the First Front Army attacked Changsha but
failed. The defending enemy was strong and well-prepared, so the Red Army did not pursue
a direct offensive. That summer, due to the chaotic battles between Chiang Kai-shek, Feng
Yuxiang, and Yan Xishan in Henan and other areas, for several months, Jiangxi and Hunan
were free of any strong enemy forces, except for large and medium-sized cities like Changsha
and Nanchang. Consequently, Mao Zedong persuaded the cadres of the First Front Army to
change their adventurous strategy, as directed by the Party Central Committee and the then-preferential Li Lisan line, to seize the capitals of Hunan, Hubei, and Jiangxi provinces.
Instead, they divided their forces to capture Chaling, Youxian, Culing, Pingxiang, Ji'an,
Xiajiang, and Xinyu (now Xinyu). They occupied a large area, expanded their forces, and
prepared to crush the enemy's first offensive." "This poem describes the heroic spirit of the
Red Army during its advance in June and July."