To the Revolutionary Committees (Preparatory Groups), Military Control Committees, Major Military Regions, and Provincial Military Districts of all provinces, municipalities, and autonomous regions:

At the crucial moment when the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution has achieved decisive victory, our great leader Chairman Mao, over the past two-plus months, has inspected the North China, Central-South, and East China regions, and investigated the situation of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution in provinces and municipalities such as Hebei, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, Zhejiang, and Shanghai. During his inspection tour, Chairman Mao gave extremely important instructions on the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution movement in various regions.

The transcript of Chairman Mao's important instructions during his inspection tour of the North China, Central-South, and East China regions is now being forwarded to you. We hope you will organize the masses to study it conscientiously and comprehend it deeply, and, using the important instructions of our great leader Chairman Mao as a weapon, sum up the experiences and lessons of the previous stage of the movement, formulate concrete measures for implementation, closely follow Chairman Mao's strategic plan, and push the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution movement to a new stage.

All localities are to report to the Central Committee on the situation of implementation.

This transcript has not been reviewed by the Chairman and should not be published in newspapers or periodicals, large or small.

Central Committee of the Communist Party of China

October 7, 1967

Chairman Mao's Important Instructions During His Inspection Tour of the North China, Central-South, and East China Regions

(Transcript, not reviewed by the person himself.)

Chairman Mao said, in the three months of July, August, and September, the situation developed very rapidly. The situation of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution throughout the country is excellent, not just good. The entire situation is better than at any time in the past.

An important sign of the excellent situation is that the masses of the people have been fully mobilized. No mass movement in the past has ever been mobilized so broadly and so deeply as this one. In factories, rural villages, government organs, schools, and army units throughout the country, everyone is discussing the question of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, and everyone is concerned with the major affairs of the state. In the past, when a family got together, they mostly engaged in idle talk. Not now. When they get together, they debate the questions of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution. Between father and son, between brothers and sisters, between husband and wife, even children in their teens and old grandmothers have joined in the debates.

Chairman Mao said, some places seemed very chaotic for a period, but in fact that was to throw the enemy into confusion and to temper the masses.

Chairman Mao said, in a few more months, the entire situation will become even better.

Chairman Mao called on revolutionary mass organizations in all localities to realize the great revolutionary alliance. Chairman Mao said, within the working class, there is no fundamental conflict of interest. Within the working class under the dictatorship of the proletariat, there is even less reason to be split into two irreconcilable major factional organizations. In a factory, being divided into two factions is mainly because the capitalist-roaders in power, in order to protect themselves, have deceived the masses and incited the masses to struggle against the masses. Bad elements have infiltrated the mass organizations, but they are a very small minority. That some mass organizations are influenced by anarchism is also a reason. Some people became conservatives and made mistakes; this is a matter of understanding. Some say it is a matter of standpoint; a standpoint can also be changed. If you've stood on the wrong side, just come over. The standpoint of a very small minority is difficult to change, but the majority can be changed. The revolutionary Red Guards and revolutionary student organizations must realize the great revolutionary alliance. As long as both factions are revolutionary mass organizations, they must realize the great revolutionary alliance under revolutionary principles. The two factions should talk less about each other's shortcomings and mistakes. Let others speak of their own shortcomings and mistakes. Each should engage in more self-criticism, seeking common ground while reserving minor differences. This will be conducive to the great revolutionary alliance.

When speaking of who should be the core of the great revolutionary alliance, Chairman Mao said, this question of "me as the core" must be resolved. A core is publicly recognized by the masses in the course of struggle and practice; it is not self-proclaimed. To put forward "me as the core" oneself is the most foolish thing. Wang Ming, Bo Gu, and Zhang Wentian, they wanted to be the core, wanted others to recognize them as the core, and in the end they collapsed. What is a peasant, what is a worker, what is fighting a war, what is overthrowing local tyrants and dividing up the land—they understood none of it. Chairman Mao said, we must correctly treat the deceived masses. We must not suppress the deceived masses; the main thing is to do good ideological and political work.

The question of exercising dictatorship over bad elements. Chairman Mao said, neither the government nor the Left should arrest people; mobilize the revolutionary mass organizations to handle it themselves. For example, this is generally how it is done in Beijing. Dictatorship is the dictatorship of the masses; relying on the government to arrest people is not a good method. The government should only arrest a very small number of people based on the demands and with the assistance of the masses.

The bad leaders within an organization must be dealt with by that organization itself, by mobilizing its own masses.

Regarding the question of cadres. Chairman Mao said, the absolute majority of cadres are good; the bad ones are only a very small minority. The capitalist-roaders in power within the Party must be rectified, but they are a small handful. Among our cadres, with the exception of those who have surrendered to the enemy, turned traitor, or capitulated, the absolute majority have done some good things in the past ten-plus or several decades! We must unite with the majority of cadres. Cadres who have made mistakes, including those who have made serious mistakes, as long as they do not persist in them and refuse to correct them after repeated education, must all be united with and educated. We must broaden the scope of education and narrow the scope of attack, and use the formula "unity—criticism and self-criticism—unity" to resolve contradictions among ourselves. In carrying out criticism and struggle, we must use struggle by reasoning, not struggle by force, nor disguised forms of struggle by force. Some comrades who have made mistakes cannot see their way through for a time; we should still give them time, let them think for a while longer. We must allow them to have reversals in their thinking; they may see their way through for a time, then encounter some things and not see their way through again; we can still wait. We must allow cadres to make mistakes and allow them to correct their mistakes. Don't overthrow them as soon as they make a mistake. What's the big deal about making a mistake? It's fine once it's corrected. We must liberate a group of cadres, let the cadres step forward.

Chairman Mao said, correctly treating cadres is the key question to implementing the revolutionary three-in-one combination, consolidating the great revolutionary alliance, and carrying out well the struggle-criticism-transformation in one's own unit; it must be resolved well. Our Party, through the Yan'an Rectification Movement, educated the broad masses of cadres, united the entire Party, and guaranteed the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japan and the War of Liberation. We must carry forward this tradition.

Regarding the question of the relationship between superiors and subordinates. Chairman Mao said, why are some cadres subjected to criticism and struggle by the masses? One reason is that they implemented the bourgeois reactionary line, and the masses are angry. Another is that as their official posts grew larger and their salaries increased, they thought they were something special, so they put on airs, did not consult with the masses on matters, did not treat people as equals, were not democratic, and liked to curse and lecture people. They were seriously divorced from the masses. Thus, the masses had opinions. Normally there was no opportunity to speak out; it erupted during the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution. Once it erupted, it was terrible, putting them in a very sorry state. In the future, we must learn from this lesson, resolve well the question of the relationship between superiors and subordinates, and handle well the relationship between cadres and the masses. From now on, cadres must go down to the grassroots in turn to take a look, consult with the masses more on matters, and be pupils of the masses. In a certain sense, the wisest and most talented are the fighters with the most practical experience.

We must speak of unity. If a cadre has made mistakes or has problems, don't talk behind his back; talk to him individually, or speak up at a meeting.

We now have a surplus of solemnity and tension, and a deficit of unity and liveliness.

Regarding the question of educating cadres. Chairman Mao said, on the question of cadres, we must start with education, and broaden the scope of education. Not only the military (the army), but also the civilian (the Party and government) must all be educated and have their study strengthened. The Central Committee, all major regions, and all provinces and municipalities must run study classes and conduct training in rotation by stages and in groups. Every province must convene a meeting of cadres at and above the county people's armed forces department level, with two to three hundred people per province, or four to five hundred for larger ones; large provinces should have around a thousand. We should strive to get this done within half a year; otherwise, a year is also acceptable.

In the future, we should strive to do this once a year, and the duration each time should not be too long, roughly about two months.

Chairman Mao taught us that we must educate the Red Guards and strengthen their study. We must tell the leaders of the revolutionary rebel factions and the young Red Guard fighters that now is precisely the time when they are likely to make mistakes. We must use the experiences and lessons of our own mistakes to educate them. In doing ideological and political work with them, the main thing is to reason with them.

During his inspection tour of various regions, Chairman Mao highly praised the great merits established by the broad masses of workers and peasants, the commanders and fighters of the People's Liberation Army, the young Red Guard fighters, revolutionary cadres, and revolutionary intellectuals in the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution over the past year and more. Chairman Mao called on them to combat self-interest and criticize revisionism, to support the army and cherish the people, to grasp revolution and promote production, promote work, and promote war preparedness, to do a better job in all aspects of work, and to carry the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution through to the end.