Conversation with Zhang Chunqiao and Yao Wenyuan on the Question of the Left-Wing Contingent [1]
(October 1, 1966)
Mao Zedong (hereafter referred to as Mao): How many Leftists do you think there are?
Answer: Shanghai is a bit better, the Left-wing contingent is large.
Mao: How large?
Answer: Workers number 400,000, 500,000, 600,000.
Mao: Leftists cannot be many, probably around 10 percent.
Answer: There may be a bit more in the later period.
[1] This conversation took place during a rest period while watching fireworks at Tiananmen on the evening of National Day, 1966. When Zhang Chunqiao conveyed the circumstances of this conversation at an enlarged meeting of the Shanghai Revolutionary Committee on June 16, 1967, he also added: This refers to the remolding of world outlook, not to general performance; it refers to having relatively more Marxism-Leninism and Mao Zedong Thought in one's world outlook. To possess complete Marxism-Leninism and Mao Zedong Thought is even more difficult.