(May 3, 1975)

Original document from the General Office of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee

Mao convened a meeting of the Politburo members in Beijing. One by one, those present shook hands with Mao.

(When shaking hands with Zhou Enlai, Zhou said: It has been almost a year since I last saw the Chairman, I have missed the Chairman.) Mao asked: How are things? Still well? (Zhou said he had undergone three operations, his digestion was acceptable, and he had sent greetings to the Chairman the day before.)

(When shaking hands with Ye Jianying) Mao said: Old Marshal.

(When shaking hands with Deng Xiaoping) Mao said: Xiaoping.

(When shaking hands with Chen Xilian) Mao said: You must take command.

(When shaking hands with Comrade Ji Dengkui) Ji said: I just saw the Chairman once recently.

(When shaking hands with Wu De) Mao said: Wu De has virtue (de).

(When shaking hands with Chen Yonggui) Mao said: Your letter was good. One-third in Dazhai, one-third across the country, one-third in the central authorities. Don’t live in Diaoyutai, there are no fish to catch there. You and Wu Guixian should both move out. Don’t live in Diaoyutai.

(When shaking hands with Wu Guixian), Wu said: Hello, Chairman, I am Wu Guixian.

Mao said: I don’t know you.

Wu said: I saw Chairman Mao in '64, when I attended the National Day observation ceremony.

Mao said: I don’t know.

Wu said: The sons and daughters of Yan'an send you their greetings.

Mao asked: Are you from Yan'an? (Zhou Enlai: She is from Henan, a textile worker from Xi’an, Shaanxi. She went to visit Yan’an.)

(When shaking hands with Su Zhenhua) Mao said: Managing the navy relies on you. The navy must be run well, to make the enemy afraid. Our navy is only this big (gesturing with his little finger).

Su said: It’s a bit bigger now, it’s this big now (gesturing with his ring finger).

(When shaking hands with Xie Jingyi) Mao said: You’ve become a high official now, you must be cautious. (Xie replied: I didn’t want to be a high official, but now the position I hold grows larger and larger.) Mao said: Give it a try, if it doesn’t work then (making a gesture) if you can’t handle it, just roll up your bedding and go.

Mao said: It’s been a long time since we’ve met. There is a matter I wish to discuss with you all. Some people’s thinking is not aligned, a few individuals. I myself have also made mistakes. That article by Chunqiao, I did not detect the issues. I only heard it read once; I did not read it myself, as I am unable to read books. The issue concerning empiricism was raised, and I let it pass. The Xinhua News Agency document, Wenyuan showed it to me. My apologies to Chunqiao. Also, the ten points of experience from the Shanghai Machine Tool Plant, all spoke of empiricism, not one mention of Marxism, nor of dogmatism. A university has been established, full of intellectuals; they feel the foreign moon is brighter than China’s.

We must have stability and unity. Whatever the issue, whether empiricism or dogmatism, both are revisionism against Marxism-Leninism. Education methods must be used. Now, we must have stability and unity.

Now, some of our comrades have made mistakes and must be criticized. Three arrows shot at once: criticize Lin Biao, criticize Confucius, criticize the back door. Criticizing Lin Biao and Confucius requires these people to do it; without them, criticizing Lin Biao and Confucius would be impossible. There are millions who engage in back-door dealings, including you all (pointing to Wang and Tang). I am also one; I sent a few girls to study at Peking University. I had no choice. I told them to go to school. They had been workers for five years, and now I sent them to university. My sending them was also back-door dealing. I too have bourgeois right. When I sent them, Xiao Xie had no choice but to accept them. These people are not bad people.

This, I discussed once with Comrade Xiaoping.

You only hate empiricism, but not dogmatism. Didn’t the 28 and a half Bolsheviks rule for four long years? They wielded the banner of the Comintern to intimidate the Chinese Party; whoever disagreed was attacked. They captured a batch of empiricists. You [Zhou Enlai] are one, Zhu De another, and there were others, mainly Lin Biao and Peng Dehuai. When I said Enlai and Zhu De were not enough, without Lin Biao and Peng Dehuai there would have been no strength. Lin Biao wrote "Short, Swift Thrusts," praising articles by Hua Fu, opposing Deng, Mao, Xie, and Gu. Deng was you (pointing to Xiaoping); Mao was Mao Zetan; Xie was Xie Weijun; Gu was Gu Bo. The others (apart from Deng) all perished. I only met you that one time (pointing to Deng), you were the representative of the Mao faction. Education circles, science circles, news circles, culture and art circles, and many more, including medical circles, they think even a foreigner's fart is fragrant. It caused me not to be able to eat eggs for two years because the Soviets published an article saying they contained cholesterol. Later, another article said cholesterol didn't matter, so they said I could eat them again. The moon, too, is considered better abroad. Don’t underestimate dogmatism.

There are many people who are empiricists, simply because they can’t read many characters, can’t read Marxism-Leninism, so they must rely on experience to handle affairs. Historically, there has been no solution for empiricism. I have no solution, take it slowly. It will still take ten, eight, twenty, thirty years before things can improve somewhat. Being too impatient is no good. Don't be impatient. Some concepts just can't be linked together.

What I am talking about is stability and unity, dogmatism, empiricism, revisionism, and also the need to criticize bourgeois right. This cannot be rushed. Whoever among you rushes it will fall down. (Makes a gesture.)

Don’t engage in splitting, but in unity. We must have Marxism, not practice revisionism; practice unity, not splitting; practice being open and aboveboard, not conspiracy and intrigue. Don’t engage in a 'gang of four.' You must stop this. Why are you still doing the same? Why can’t you unite with the over two hundred Central Committee members? Engaging in a small clique is no good, historically never good. For mistakes made this time, self-criticism is still required. This time is different from the Lushan Conference; opposing Lin Biao at the Lushan Conference was correct. This time, again, three principles: Practice Marxism, not revisionism; practice unity, not splitting; practice being open and aboveboard, not conspiracy and intrigue, which means don’t practice factionalism. These three points I repeat: practice Marxism, not revisionism; practice unity, not splitting; practice being open and aboveboard, not conspiracy and intrigue. Other matters, you all go and discuss them. Cure the sickness to save the patient. No punishment for anyone. One meeting cannot solve everything. My opinion, my view, is that some comrades do not believe in these three principles, nor do they listen to me; these three principles have all been forgotten. The Ninth and Tenth Congresses both spoke of these three principles. These three principles should be discussed again by everyone.

Education circles, science circles, literature and art circles, news circles, medical circles—places where intellectuals pile up. There are some good ones among them, ones who have a little Marxism-Leninism. Your Foreign Ministry is also a place where intellectuals pile up. Was that wrong? You two are stinking intellectuals, you admit it yourselves. Stinking Ninth Category, the Ninth Category cannot be sent away.

I must take responsibility; I made a mistake. Chunqiao’s article, I didn’t see the problem. Chunqiao’s article had its reasons, for had he not written an article back in 1958? At that time I didn’t know him yet, it seems I didn’t. (Zhang Chunqiao said: We met once.) No impression. I wrote an editor’s note for that article, it was published in the People’s Daily. Was the People’s Daily managed by Deng Tuo at that time? (Zhang Chunqiao said: It was Wu Lengxi.) Only two articles were in support, the rest opposed it, so he is resentful.

I don’t see the problem as major; don’t make a big fuss over a minor issue. But if there are issues, they must be clarified. If they can’t be resolved in the first half of the year, resolve them in the second half; if not this year, next year; if not next year, the year after. I see that those who criticize empiricism are themselves empiricists, having little Marxism-Leninism. They have a little, but not much, about the same as me. Not making self-criticism is not good. Wanting others to make it, while not making it oneself. The Chinese and Russian empiriocriticism, Lenin said: Those people are great intellectuals, wholly following Berkeley’s doctrine. Berkeley was a great bishop in England. You all go and read Lenin’s book.

(Jiang Qing said: Is the Chairman referring to reading Materialism and Empirio-Criticism?)

Mao said: Mmm.

Mao said: Who is that?

(Zhang Yufeng: Comrade Jiang Qing.)

Comrade Jiang Qing did not participate in the Party’s First Congress, nor in the struggles against Chen Duxiu, Qu Qiubai, Li Lisan, Luo Zhanglong, Wang Ming, or Zhang Guotao. She did not participate in the Long March, so it’s hardly surprising. I see Jiang Qing as just a small empiricist; one can’t say she’s a dogmatist. She’s not like Wang Ming, who wrote an article titled "Be More Bolshevik," nor like Zhang Wentian, who wrote about the vacillation of opportunism. Don’t be casual. Discipline must be maintained. Caution is necessary. Don’t make decisions based solely on your individual ideas. You must discuss matters with the Politburo. If you have opinions, discuss them in the Politburo, print them into documents and distribute them. They must be issued in the name of the Central Committee, not in an individual’s name, for instance, not in my name either. I have never sent any materials unilaterally. These past ten months out of Peking, I haven’t spoken, haven’t expressed any opinion, because the Central Committee did not entrust me with the task. I was convalescing outside, I convalesced while listening to documents, delivered daily by plane. God hasn’t called for me yet; I can still think, still hear, still speak. If speaking fails, I can still write. I can eat, I can sleep.

Discipline must be observed. The military must be cautious. Central Committee members must be even more cautious. I talked once with Jiang Qing, and I talked once with Xiaoping. Wang Hongwen wanted to see me, Jiang Qing also called to ask to see me. I said no. If we are to meet, let everyone come together, that’s it. Sorry, but that’s just my way. I have no more words, just three sentences. The Ninth and Tenth Congresses were both just these three sentences: Practice Marxism, not revisionism; practice unity, not splitting; practice being open and aboveboard, not conspiracy and intrigue. Don’t form factions, not any Guangdong faction, Hunan faction. The repair workshop of the Guangzhou-Hankou Railway in Changsha didn’t accept Hunanese people, only Cantonese people—the Guangdong faction. During the strike, this railway hadn’t been built yet. In ’20, ’21, ’22, those three years I was engaged in the workers’ movement in Hunan: the Guangzhou-Hankou Railway, the Anyuan coal mines, some factories in Hunan, Zhuzhou, Pingxiang, the Guangzhou-Hankou Railway line, the Zhuzhou-Pingxiang Railway, Anyuan Coal Mine, Shuikoushan Tin Mine—named a tin mine, but actually had no tin.

Wuxi’s Tin Hill, the hill has no tin;
Pinghu’s Lake water, the water meets the lake shore.
Changde’s Virtue Hill, the hill has virtue;
Changsha’s sandy water, the water has no sand.

When I wrote, "I have just drunk the waters of Changsha," it refers to the water from the Baisha Well. "Wuchang fish" is not from today’s Wuchang, but from ancient Wuchang, located between present-day Wuchang and Daye. I forget which county, that place produces bream. Sun Quan wanted to move the capital, and the common people said, "Better to drink the waters of Yangzhou than eat the fish of Wuchang." So I wrote, "I have just drunk the waters of Changsha, and then eaten Wuchang fish." Sun Quan later shifted to Nanjing and had the lumber from Wuchang shipped down to Nanjing. Sun Quan was a capable man.

Who among the realm’s heroes can rival those two? Cao and Liu. Such a pity no Sun Zhongmou is born today. He (pointing to Ye Jianying) looks down on Wu Faxian. Liu is Liu Zhen, Cao is Cao Lihuai, meaning Wu Faxian is no good.

(Mao asked Ye Jianying to recite a poem by Xin Qiji)

Song of the Southern Countryside

Where can I gaze upon the Central Plains?
From the Northern Tower, a scene of beauty fills my eyes.
A thousand ages of rise and fall, countless things, long and endless,
Like the surging Yangtze River flowing east without cease.

Young, commanding a host of armored thousands,
Secure in the southern realm, battles raged without rest.
Who among the realm’s heroes can rival those two? Cao and Liu.
If one have a son, he should be like Sun Zhongmou.

Mao said: This man (pointing to Ye) is somewhat cultured. "Who among the realm’s heroes can rival those two? Cao and Liu. Such a pity no Sun Zhongmou is born today" – he looks down on Wu Faxian. Huang, Wu, Li, Qiu are no Cao and Liu. Liu is Liu Zhen, Cao is Cao Lihuai, it simply means Wu Faxian is no good.

(Zhou Enlai said: Let’s conclude here for today. Let the Chairman rest a while.)

(Those present shook hands with Mao one by one to bid farewell.)

(When shaking hands with Zhou) Mao said: Still the three sentences.

(When shaking hands with Wang Hongwen, Wang said: I will act according to the Chairman’s directive.) Mao said: Don’t you (gesturing flipping back and forth).

Jiang Qing said: I will heed the Chairman.

Zhang Chunqiao said: I will act according to the Chairman’s directive.

Yao Wenyuan said: I will follow the Chairman’s directive.

(When shaking hands with Chen Xilian) Mao said: So, the commander.

Wu Guixian said: Chairman, take care.

Thanks to Sakura Ayana for collection, transcription, and proofreading