Comments on the Draft Letter to Cadres at All Levels[1]

(February 20, 1967)

After Comrade Lin Biao has read it, return it to Wang Dongxing for handling accordingly.

Mao Zedong
February 20, 11:00 a.m.

[1] This comment was written on the draft of a letter from the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China submitted for review by Zhou Enlai and others on February 20, 1967. The letter pointed out that the poor and lower-middle peasants are the main force in grasping revolution and promoting production in the countryside. At the start of this spring plowing season, Chairman Mao calls upon you, and the Party Central Committee calls upon you, to earnestly grasp revolution and promote production, mobilize all forces, and immediately work actively to ensure successful spring plowing and production. Cadres at all levels of rural people's communes should be adept at consulting with the poor and lower-middle peasants and with all working people to bring about a high tide in spring plowing and production. The Party Central Committee believes that the vast majority of cadres at all levels of rural people's communes are good or relatively good. Comrades who have made mistakes should also strive to atone for their errors through their efforts in spring plowing and production. As long as cadres who have made mistakes do so, the poor and lower-middle peasants should understand them and support their work. Criticism of them should adopt the attitude of "learning from past mistakes to avoid future ones and curing the sickness to save the patient," as Chairman Mao has always instructed. Landlords, rich peasants, counterrevolutionaries, bad elements, and rightists are absolutely not allowed to speak or act recklessly, disrupt production, undermine unity among the working people, or stir up factional disputes. They must earnestly continue their labor reform under the supervision of the poor and lower-middle peasants. Cadres who were removed from office during the "Four Cleanups" movement must actively participate in labor, reform themselves, and are not allowed to retaliate or reverse the verdicts. It is suggested that you consider immediately convening a meeting of cadres at the three levels—commune, production brigade, and production team—to arrange spring plowing and production work. It is also suggested that you hold successful meetings of all members of the production teams to discuss spring plowing and production work. At the same time, it is recommended that the local units of the People's Liberation Army and military organs at all levels vigorously support and assist in spring plowing and production work. On the same day, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China issued this letter, requiring that it be read aloud and posted in rural areas.