To all major military commands, provincial military commands, sub-commands, people's
armed forces departments, armies, divisions, and regiments directly under the command of
the armed forces:
(1) We are sending you two reports from the Guangzhou Military Command and the Hunan
Provincial Military Command. Please refer to them for implementation.
(2) Anyone who has made a mistake must resolutely correct it. If it is not corrected, it will
only lead to further mistakes and, ultimately, to a need for correction, resulting in a
significant loss of prestige. Correct it sooner rather than later, and your prestige will only
increase.
(3) Do not waver or be indecisive. Do not take the false claims brought to you by your wife
and children from the security forces at face value.
(4) Be able to withstand criticism from workers, peasants, students, soldiers, and cadres,
analyse it, accept the good, and explain the bad. If the explanation is unsatisfactory, set it
aside for now and address it later.
(5) Firmly believe that the vast majority of the people are good, and that the bad are only a
tiny minority, no more than one, two, or three percent. If you think this way, everything
makes sense.
Central Committee of the Communist Party of China
Central Military Commission Central Cultural Revolution Group
Central Military Commission Cultural Revolution Group
May 14, 1967
Enlai, Lin Biao [2], the Central Committee had a brief meeting and read and issued this.
3.
The time is too short. It should be ten to fourteen days.
Mao Zedong note




[1] This refers to the May 13, 1967, report of the Guangdong Provincial Military Control
Commission to the CPC Central Committee, the Central Military Commission, and the Central
Cultural Revolution Group on lessons learned from previous support for the Left and the
next steps to be taken, and the May 12, 1967 report of the CPC Hunan Provincial Military
District Committee to the Central Cultural Revolution Group, the entire army Cultural
Revolution Group, and the Guangzhou Military District on implementing the instructions of
the Guangzhou Military District commander. The Guangdong Provincial Military Control
Commission's report stated that the Standing Committee had recently conducted an
inspection of previous support for the Left and concluded that, while the troops had
supported some genuine revolutionary leftists and achieved significant results, they also
suffered from many serious shortcomings and errors, which were pointedly criticised by
some young revolutionary leaders. They were slow to recognize and correct their mistakes,
with some leading cadres lacking common sense, fearing gains and losses, and unwilling to
take responsibility and correct their errors. To this end, the Standing Committee studied
measures for future improvements. The Hunan Provincial Military District Party Committee's
report stated that on the evening of May 11, Provincial Military District Commander Long
Shujin called from Guangzhou, conveying the Guangzhou Military District chief's instructions
on the Hunan issue, which sobered us up. We are determined to: 1. Unify our understanding
from top to bottom, and promptly implement the Military District chief's instructions to all
levels of leadership. Review our previous work in light of the Military Commission's ten
directives. It has been decided to immediately train cadres supporting the Left at the
grassroots level. Officials in government offices, military units, and soldiers will also be
trained for five to seven days (followed by a critique in parentheses, which is the third point
in this article) to conduct positive education on the two lines. 2. Correct mistakes and do a
good job. 3. Firmly support the revolutionary Left. We must unify our understanding from
top to bottom, believing that the vast majority of the masses are revolutionary and must
trust and rely on them. 4. Strengthen leadership.
[2] Enlai is Zhou Enlai. Lin Biao, then Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission of
the Communist Party of China, was re-elected to the Standing Committee of the Political
Bureau of the CPC Central Committee at the 11th Plenary Session of the 8th CPC Central
Committee and was soon named Vice Chairman of the CPC Central Committee.