Comrade Boda:
I have read this document and find it very good. The working group will hold one or two
meetings, and then the Politburo (with the participation of responsible comrades from the
various Central Committee bureaus and the cities of Shanghai and Beijing) will hold a
meeting for two or three days to discuss and approve it. It can then be published publicly in
the name of the Central Committee. August 1st would be a good date. There are some
minor revisions to the last two pages [2].
Mao Zedong
July 21st
Revised draft [3], July 26th. For discussion.
Comrade Boda:
The revisions are excellent and can be printed and distributed immediately [4].
Mao Zedong



August 3, 12:00 PM
Comrade Boda:
In the "Decision," it would be more appropriate to change "unknown foot soldiers" to
"unknown young people." Please consider this.
Mao Zedong
August 7, 2:00 p.m
To Comrade Boda:
I agree with the revisions. I changed a few words on page 10. Please approve. [5]
Mao Zedong
August 7, 10:00 PM

[1] Mao Zedong made numerous comments and revisions to the draft of the Central
Committee of the Communist Party of China's "Decision on the Great Proletarian Cultural
Revolution" between July and August 1966. This first section contains his comments on the
July 16 draft; this second section contains his comments on the July 26 draft submitted by
Chen Boda, head of the Central Committee's Cultural Revolution Group; this third section
contains his comments on the evening of August 3 draft submitted by Chen Boda; and this
fourth and fifth section contain his comments on the August 7 draft submitted by Chen
Boda. The July 16 draft of the decision was titled "The Situation of the Great Proletarian
Cultural Revolution and Certain Questions of the Party's Policies" and contained 23 points.
After several revisions, it was retitled "Decision on the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution"
and condensed to 16 points when it was issued on July 29 as a document of the 11th Plenary
Session of the 8th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. The 11th Plenary
Session of the 8th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China adopted this decision
on August 8. On August 9, the People's Daily published the full text, titled "Decision of the
Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on the Great Proletarian Cultural
Revolution" (also known as the "Sixteen Articles"). Several passages from the decision were
included in Chairman Mao's book, "Chairman Mao on the Educational Revolution," which
was approved by Mao Zedong and published by the People's Publishing House in December
1967. These passages are: "The masses must educate themselves in this great revolutionary
movement, discerning what is right and what is wrong, what practices are correct and what
are incorrect." "Reforming the old education system and the old teaching principles and
methods is an extremely important task of this great proletarian cultural revolution."



"During this great cultural revolution, the phenomenon of bourgeois intellectuals
dominating our schools must be completely changed." "The school system must be
shortened. The curriculum must be streamlined. Textbooks must be thoroughly reformed,
starting with simplifying some content. Students should focus on their studies while also
learning other things. That is, they should not only learn literature, but also learn about
industry, agriculture, and the military, and they should always participate in the struggle to
criticize the bourgeoisie in the cultural revolution." Furthermore, on the front page of the
People's Daily on June 1, 1967, after "Chairman Mao pointed out," the following passage
from the decision was published: "Who are our enemies? Who are our friends? This
question is the primary issue of the revolution and the primary issue of the Great Cultural
Revolution."
[2] "The Situation of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution and Certain Party Policies"
(draft), published on July 16, 1966, is a 19-page document. On page 18, Mao Zedong
changed the sentence "The Cultural Revolution is to enable all work to be done better, more,
faster, and more economically" to "The Cultural Revolution is to revolutionize people's
thinking, thereby enabling all work to be done better, more, faster, and more economically."
On page 19, he changed "Mao Zedong Thought is the supreme directive of the Great
Proletarian Cultural Revolution" to "Mao Zedong Thought is the action guide of the Great
Proletarian Cultural Revolution," and "Take Mao Zedong Thought as the supreme directive of
the Cultural Revolution" to "Take Mao Zedong Thought as the action guide of the Cultural
Revolution." He also changed the sentence "Under the leadership of the Party Central
Committee headed by Comrade Mao Zedong, long live the Great Proletarian Cultural
Revolution" to "Under the leadership of the Party Central Committee headed by Comrade
Mao Zedong, the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution will achieve great victory."
[3] This refers to the revised draft of the decision submitted by Chen Boda on the morning of
July 26, 1966. On page 7 of this revised draft, Mao Zedong added the words "and the
backbone elements among the revolutionary masses" after the phrase "Party leadership" in
the sentences "Party leadership in all units should be good at listening to the various
opinions of the masses" and "Party leadership should work with the masses." In addition,
there were individual wording changes elsewhere.
[4] These comments were made on the revised draft of the decision submitted by Chen Boda
for review on August 3, 1966. In his report to Mao Zedong, Chen Boda said, "This morning,
Comrades Kang Sheng, Tao Zhu, Wang Renzhong, Zhang Chunqiao, and others, considering
the opinions expressed at the group meeting, and I have made some further revisions to this
draft. Please review and approve it!"
[5] Page 10 of the revised draft of the decision submitted by Chen Boda for review on August
7, 1966, read: "For scientists, technicians, and general staff in general, as long as they are
patriotic, actively working, not anti-Party or anti-socialist, and not colluding with foreign
countries, the policy of unity, criticism, and solidarity should continue to be adopted during



this campaign. Scientists and scientific and technical personnel who have made
contributions should be protected. Drawing such a broad line is necessary. It can help them
continuously transform their world outlook and work style." When Mao Zedong reviewed it,
he deleted the phrase "drawing such a broad line is necessary" and changed "for scientists,
technicians, and general staff in general" to "for scientists, technicians, and general staff"
and "can help them continuously transform" to "can help them gradually transform."