Comrades of the Cultural Revolution Group: I suggest that this document be published
publicly. Please discuss its appropriateness at the Standing Committee meeting. It would be
helpful to include a commentary upon publication.
Mao Zedong
June 21

[1] This comment appeared in the 234th issue of "Letters and Telegraphs Express," published
by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China's Cultural Revolution Group
Office on June 19, 1967. This issue published a letter from Jing Xianfeng and four others on
the Cultural Revolution Preparatory Committee of Shaanxi Normal University. The letter
stated that recently, rebels at several schools in Xi'an celebrated the establishment of their
revolutionary committees with a scale and extravagance that was truly astonishing. Instead
of frugality in pursuit of revolution, they engaged in lavish extravagance. The Xi'an Military
and Electronic University and the Northwestern Polytechnical University jointly held a
celebration and established a draft committee, with 37,600 attendees, nearly four times the
number of attendees at the founding meeting of the Beijing Municipal Revolutionary
Committee. The event cost nearly 10,000 yuan to organize. The establishment of the
Revolutionary Committee at the Metallurgical Institute was even more lavish and
extravagant than the previous one. Some secondary vocational schools have also adopted
the "Big Brother" mantle. This problem extends beyond just one school or region; it
manifests as a widespread tendency that, if not corrected, is extremely dangerous. On June
29, 1967, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China issued a notice on
frugality in the revolution and preventing extravagance and waste, forwarding it to all
military commands, revolutionary committees at all levels, military control commissions, and
mass organizations. The notice stated that the Central Committee believed that the leaders
of revolutionary committees and mass organizations at all levels must fully understand
Chairman Mao's great call to "practice frugality in the revolution." This was not only an
economic issue but also a crucial political one. Every comrade faced a new and severe test.
They must understand that after assuming power, their status changed, and it was easy for
bourgeois and petty-bourgeois ideas to grow and erupt, while the dust of the bourgeoisie
and petty-bourgeoisie in society also rushed in their faces. In this situation, they should be
highly conscious and constantly use the weapons Chairman Mao gave us to transform their
thinking and resolutely resist all exploiting class ideologies and practices.