Comments on Two Summary Reports from the Beijing Garrison Command Concerning the Implementation of Military Training in Colleges and Middle Schools
(February 19 and March 23, 1967)
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Comrade Lin Biao:
(1) These two documents should be immediately circulated throughout the country. (2) Colleges, middle schools, and the upper grades of primary schools shall undergo training once a year for twenty days each time. After classes resume, during the twenty-day period of military training, the daily training time should not exceed four hours; at the same time, the regular school curriculum should be reduced by four hours per day accordingly. (3) Party, government, military, and mass organizations—except for the elderly—should all implement military training for middle-aged and young personnel, twenty days per year. Please consider and act upon the above as appropriate.

Mao Zedong
February 19
After Premier [2] has reviewed these two documents, please forward them to Comrade Lin Biao.
Printed from the manuscript.

Neither should be published. Experiences in various localities have already surpassed those in Beijing. Moreover, my comments no longer fully reflect the current situation. Therefore, it is inadvisable to publish either of them.
Mao Zedong
March 23
Printed from the manuscript.
Notes

--- Notes

[1] Following Mao Zedong’s instruction on February 14, 1967, to dispatch personnel to investigate and summarize the experience of military training in two Beijing middle schools, the Beijing Garrison Command of the People’s Liberation Army drafted two summary reports on February 18 concerning a pilot program of short-term military-political training conducted at five institutions of higher learning, including Peking University and Tsinghua University, as well as at Beijing No. 2 Middle School and Beijing No. 25 Middle School. These reports were submitted to Mao Zedong for review by Lin Biao, Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission of the CPC, on February 19. Document One was written on the first page of the report Lin Biao had just submitted for Mao’s review. On March 4, Chen Boda, head of the Cultural Revolution Group of the CPC Central Committee, together with member Wang Li, submitted a report to Mao stating: “Regarding the military-political training in colleges and middle schools, Commander Fu Chongbi of the Beijing Garrison Command advocates publishing it in the newspapers. They also propose revising and then publishing the two documents containing the Chairman’s instructions on military-political training in Beijing. We respectfully request the Chairman’s decision.” Document Two was written directly on this report from Chen Boda and Wang Li. Ultimately, neither of the Beijing Garrison Command’s summary reports was circulated nationwide by the central authorities, nor were they ever published in the press.
[2] The “Premier” refers to Zhou Enlai.