Instructions on the Wuhan Incident
(July 1967)
Originally, there was no opportunity to resolve the problems within the army. The Wuhan incident occurred, and that provided an opportunity to resolve them. The opportunity was given by them.
The whole country should learn from the Wuhan incident. The whole country supports the Wuhan region, and the struggle in the Wuhan region has advanced the work of the whole country. Over the past year, earth-shaking changes have taken place, and of course, there has been some chaos. Chaos here, chaos there, it doesn’t matter much. Something like Wuhan is a very good thing—once contradictions are exposed, they are easier to resolve.
The treacherous acts of a handful of people in Wuhan can educate the People’s Liberation Army, the revolutionary rebels, and the mass organizations across the whole country.
The losses in this Great Cultural Revolution are the smallest, smallest, smallest, and the achievements are the greatest, greatest, greatest.
Do not arrest a single one of the “Million Heroes.” Let them expose a few bad ringleaders themselves.

(July 1967)
“August 1” cannot be changed. It is a very important day. We fired the first shot, which opened the prelude to the struggle in Jinggangshan.
This issue is a historical issue, and historical issues must not be turned upside down.
1967, Mao Zedong at a Yangtze River ferry crossing in Nanjing.