There are some revisions. Regarding the question of supporting the broad masses of
genuine leftists, many mistakes have occurred. Supporting not the left but the right has put
us in a passive position. We should summarize our experience in this matter and formulate
some directives. Please proceed expeditiously.
Mao Zedong
On the morning of February 9th
Comrade Lin Biao: Some changes have been made. Please consider them. This document
should be discussed and approved at a joint meeting of the Party, Government, and Military
chaired by the Premier before being issued.
Mao Zedong
February 15, 2019, 12:00 PM
Regulations on the Prohibition of Arbitrary Shootings by the Army in Support of the True
Proletarian Revolutionaries in Their Struggle for Power
To all military regions and arms:
The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution has entered a new stage. The People's Liberation
Army has encountered various complex situations in supporting the genuine (not sham)
proletarian revolutionaries in their struggle to seize power, leading to armed clashes (such as
in Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia). Therefore, the following regulations are hereby enacted:
(1) Shootings must not be opened against unarmed masses, regardless of their faction.
(2) Party policies may be promoted against unarmed conservatives, rightists, and counterrevolutionaries, with the goal of splitting and disintegrating them through political
offensives. If necessary, their leaders may be arrested, but shootings must not be opened.
(3) Omit



(4) For active counter-revolutionaries who have committed murder, arson, poisoning,
robbery, etc., if they have been thoroughly investigated and proven to be correct, such as
those who resist arrest, resist stubbornly, or engage in armed riots, if persuasion fails, they
may be shot and suppressed.
(5) We must believe that even in counter-revolutionary organizations, the majority of the
masses are still good and can be educated and won over, and the bad elements are only a
few individual elements.
(6) We must respond calmly to the battle. Even if tens of thousands of people demonstrate
against our troops, surround them, attack them, beat them, arrest them, or insult them, it
does not matter. If we are not calm and are afraid, we will make a serious mistake.
The majority of the above regulations must be carefully publicized and explained to all
officers and soldiers of the army. However, Article 3 (luring the enemy deep into our territory
and encircling them by circuitous means) can only be issued during battle and must be kept
secret beforehand [2].
Central Military Commission
February 9, 1967

[1] Mao Zedong made two revisions to the draft regulations submitted by Lin Biao, Vice
Chairman of the Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of China, for review on
February 7, 1967. This first section is from the first draft; this second section is from the
second draft; and this third section is the Central Military Commission's draft regulations
after Mao's two revisions. The text printed in italics contains his additions and revisions.
[2] On February 11, 1967, Ye Jianying, Vice Chairman and Secretary-General of the Central
Military Commission of the Communist Party of China, wrote to Lin Biao: "Regarding the
regulations prohibiting the army from firing at will in supporting the genuine proletarian
revolutionaries in their struggle to seize power, we have issued six points as five. The third