Chapter 41 Organize people outside the party to continue to criticize the party's shortcomings and mistakes

(May 4, 1957) Shanghai Bureau, all provincial party committees, municipal party committees directly under them, autonomous region party committees, central ministries and commissions, state organs and people's organizations and party groups: In the past two months, the analysis of the contradictions among the people and the criticism of the mistakes and shortcomings of the party and the government in various meetings attended by non-Party people and in newspapers and periodicals are of great help to the party and the people's government in correcting their mistakes and improving their progress. Prestige, which is extremely beneficial, should continue to expand and criticize in depth without pause or interruption.Some of them are criticized incorrectly, or some points of view in a piece of criticism are incorrect. Of course, they should be counter-criticized, and erroneous ideas should not be allowed to prevail without answering (we must study the timing of the answer and adopt an analytical attitude. persuasion), but most of the criticisms are pertinent and extremely beneficial for strengthening unity and improving work.Even wrong criticism exposes the face of some people, which will help us to help them carry out ideological remolding in the future.Now that the rectification movement has begun, the central government has negotiated with the leaders of the various democratic parties and non-party affiliations. Criticism of shortcomings and mistakes is beneficial to our party's rectification, otherwise it will be detrimental to our party's rectification (without social pressure, rectification is not easy to achieve results).They agree with this approach.As long as our party's rectification is successful, our party will take the full initiative, and then it will be able to promote rectification in all sectors of society (here, it refers to the intellectual circles first).Please pay attention to this point.Non-Party people participate in our Party's rectification seminars and rectification groups to ask them to give us their opinions and criticize us, not to criticize themselves. Please also pay attention to this point.If there is any inconvenience, it is appropriate not to invite non-Party people to participate in the rectification movement, but the party invites non-Party people to hold a symposium, and invite them to express their opinions on shortcomings and mistakes in the work freely.Please handle it according to your local conditions.

central May 4, 1957 Published according to Mao Zedong's manuscript.