Printed and distributed to all comrades of the 12th Central Committee [2] as a basis for
discussion. With some modifications [3].
It has been printed and distributed, so that everyone can discuss it.
Mao Zedong
October 14
There are some modifications [4], pending.
A slight revision was made on page 4 [5], because Trotsky and Qu Qiubai also talked about
continuous revolution [6].
I have read it. Return to Comrade Kang Sheng.
Three words were added on page seven.
Under the leadership of the Chairman, Vice Chairman, and the Central Standing Committee,
a number of necessary and efficient organizations [7] will be established to uniformly handle
the day-to-day work of the Party, government, and military.

[1] On October 12, 1968, Kang Sheng, an advisor to the Central Committee of the
Communist Party of China's Cultural Revolution Group, Zhang Chunqiao, its deputy group
leader, and Yao Wenyuan, a group member, wrote a report to Mao Zedong, stating:
"According to the Chairman's instructions and the opinions of various localities and units, we
have drafted a Party Constitution. We have discussed it twice at the Central Cultural
Revolution huddle and have made several revisions. The comrades at the Central Cultural
Revolution huddle suggest that we first submit it to the Chairman to see if it is basically



acceptable. Please review, revise, and approve it." Parts 1 and 2 of this article are Mao
Zedong's comments on the draft Party Constitution submitted by Kang Sheng and others for
review on October 12; Part 3 is Mao Zedong's comments on the draft of the "Decision of the
12th Plenary Session of the 8th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on the
Draft Constitution of the Communist Party of China" submitted by Zhou Enlai and others for
review on October 26; Part 4 is Mao Zedong's comments on the draft decision submitted by
Zhou Enlai and others for review on November 2; Part 5 is Mao Zedong's comments on the
draft Party Constitution submitted by Zhou Enlai and others for review on March 1, 1969.
Chapter 6 contains Kang Sheng's comments on the draft Party Constitution submitted for
review on April 9, 1969. Chapter 7 contains revisions to the draft Party Constitution
submitted for review on October 12, 1968, and April 9, 1969. The text printed in italics
contains Mao Zedong's revisions. The Constitution of the Communist Party of China was
adopted at the Ninth National Congress of the Communist Party of China on April 14, 1969,
and published in the People's Daily on April 29.
[2] Refers to the 12th Plenary Session of the 8th Central Committee of the Communist Party
of China held in Beijing from October 13 to 31, 1968.
[3] Mao Zedong's revisions to the draft Party Constitution submitted by Kang Sheng and
others for review on October 12, 1968, included the deletion of the three adverbs "geniusly,
creatively, and comprehensively" from the sentence "Mao Zedong geniusly, creatively, and
comprehensively inherited, defended, and developed Marxism-Leninism"; and the addition
of "Marxism, Leninism" before the phrase "Mao Zedong Thought" in two instances.
[4] Mao Zedong's revisions to the draft of the "Decision of the 12th Enlarged Plenary Session
of the 8th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on the Draft Constitution of
the Communist Party of China," submitted by Zhou Enlai and others for review on October
26, 1968, primarily involved changing "Chairman Mao" to "Comrade Mao Zedong" and
"Chairman Mao's instructions" to "Comrade Mao Zedong's suggestions." He also made some
revisions to the draft Constitution of the Communist Party of China, submitted at the same
time. He primarily deleted the phrase "the Communist Party of China is the party founded
and nurtured by Comrade Mao Zedong, a great, glorious, and correct party"; deleted the
phrase "our great leader, Comrade Mao Zedong, is the greatest Marxist-Leninist of our
time"; and again deleted the three adverbs "geniusly, creatively, and comprehensively" from
the phrase "Mao Zedong inherited, defended, and developed Marxism-Leninism brilliantly,
creatively, and comprehensively." Furthermore, he added "Marxism, Leninism" before "Mao
Zedong Thought" in the sentence "Party grassroots organizations must hold high the great
red banner of Mao Zedong Thought."
[5] This refers to the revision of the "Draft Constitution of the Communist Party of China."
The draft stated that "these contradictions in socialist society can only be resolved through
continuous revolution." During Mao's review, the draft was amended to read, "These
contradictions can only be resolved through the Marxist theory and practice of continuous



revolution." The "Decision of the 12th Plenary Session of the 8th Central Committee of the
Communist Party of China on the Draft Constitution of the Communist Party of China" was
adopted on October 31, 1968, and distributed to the entire Party along with the Draft
Constitution of the Communist Party of China on November 3.
[6] Trotsky, formerly Chairman of the Soviet Revolutionary Military Committee and a
member of the Executive Committee of the Communist International, proposed the "Theory
of Permanent Revolution" in 1905, advocating skipping the bourgeois-democratic revolution
and proceeding directly to socialist revolution. Qu Qiubai, one of the early leaders of the
Chinese Communist Party, co-chaired the August 7th Conference with Li Weihan at the
critical moment following the failure of the Great Revolution in 1927, ending Chen Duxiu's
rightist capitulationist rule within the Party. Following the conference, he served as a
member of the Standing Committee of the Provisional Political Bureau of the CPC Central
Committee and presided over its work. In November 1927, he presided over an enlarged
meeting of the Provisional Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, which accepted
the erroneous "left" view of Comintern representative Rominaz, who argued that the nature
of the Chinese revolution at the time was a so-called "permanent revolution." This view
blurred the distinction between democratic and socialist revolutions, and constituted a "left"
blind activism.
[7] The original sentence read: "Establish an institution such as the Central Cultural
Revolution Committee that emerged during the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution."
















A passage on the necessity of the Cultural Revolution
(1968)

This Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution is absolutely necessary and extremely timely for
consolidating the dictatorship of the proletariat, preventing the restoration of capitalism,
and building socialism. [1]

[1] This sentence was quoted in boldface after the phrase "As Comrade Mao Zedong said" in
the "Communiqué of the 12th Enlarged Plenary Session of the Eighth Central Committee of
the Communist Party of China," adopted on October 31, 1968. This communiqué was
published in the People's Daily on November 2.