Chapter 8 Intra-Party Correspondence

(March 15, 1959) Comrades, the first secretaries of the party committees of various provinces, cities and districts: I have been in Wuchang for five days. I read the materials of the six-level cadre meeting in Hubei, and received some materials from the provinces, cities, and districts. I feel that there is a problem that I need to discuss with you.The Henan document [1] has been sent to you, which advocates that the production brigade be the basic accounting unit and distribution unit of the people's communes.When I was in Zhengzhou, I received the regulations of the Hubei Provincial Party Committee on the management system and food issues of the people’s communes on March 8[2], which advocated that “resolutely take the original high-level commune, that is, the current production team, as the basic accounting unit. The former high-level commune Those that have been divided into several production teams should be combined into one basic accounting unit and should not be further divided. A few former high-level cooperatives are small in scale and have roughly the same economic conditions. If they have been combined into one production team, as long as the cadres and members of these cooperatives are willing It can be combined into a basic accounting unit, which can be reviewed and decided by the commune party committee and reported to the county committee for approval.” When I arrived in Wuchang, I asked Comrade Zhou Xiaozhou[3] to come here, and I talked with Comrade Wang Renzhong[4].I asked Xiaozhou, do you agree with the Henan method or the Hubei method? He said that they agreed with the Henan method, that is, the production brigade (management area) is the basic accounting unit.Because there are generally only six production teams in one production brigade.These six production teams were roughly divided into three original high-level cooperatives, that is, one cooperative was divided into two teams.Later, they received a report from the Guangdong Provincial Party Committee on March 11, advocating the implementation of "three regulations and five releases"[5]. The first part of the "Three Sets" must "determine the basic accounting unit, all of which are based on the original high-level cooperatives (there were 23,000 high-level cooperatives in Guangdong Province, with an average of about 320 households in each cooperative), some of which are Roughly equivalent to the current production teams (or brigades), some were divided into two or three production teams after communalization, which can be merged immediately to form a new team as the basic accounting unit. If the original high-level cooperatives are too small, There are several communes in a natural village, and although they are not in the same village, the economic conditions are not very different. With the consent of the masses, they can also be merged as the basic accounting unit of the communes.”In this way, Henan and Hunan provinces both advocate the production brigade (management area) as the basic accounting unit, while Hubei and Guangdong provinces both advocate the production team, that is, the former high-level cooperative, as the basic accounting unit. Which one is better? Or Can the two go hand in hand? According to Comrade Wang Renzhong, this issue is being debated at the Hubei Congress these days, and the two factions are fighting fiercely.Generally speaking, county party committees, commune party committees, and brigades (administrative districts) advocated using the brigade as the basic accounting unit, and most or all of the party secretaries of the production team (that is, the former high-level society) advocated using the production team as the basic accounting unit.I feel that this issue is of great importance. It is related to the direct interests of more than 30 million production team leaders and other grassroots cadres and hundreds of millions of farmers. To adopt the method of Henan and Hunan, we must obtain the real consent of the grassroots cadres. If they feel reluctant, We would rather use the production team, the former high-level cooperative, as the basic accounting unit, so as not to alienate us from the masses, which is very dangerous in the present period, and the production this year will not be able to achieve the goal.Although Henan has already made a decision, comrades from the provincial party committee are still invited to solicit the opinions of grassroots cadres at the four-level county cadre meeting that is currently being held. If they agree with the provincial decision, they should act accordingly; The so-called "team-based" in "Zhengzhou Meeting Minutes"[6] refers to the production team, that is, the former high-level club, not the production brigade (management area).In short, we must act in accordance with the opinions of the masses.No matter what method, it will work only if it suits the needs of the masses, otherwise it will not work for a long time.How to do it, please decide.

Mao Zedong On March 15, 1959, in Wuchang. Printed from manuscript. -------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ note [1] Refers to the "Regulations of the Henan Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China on the Management System and Several Policies of the People's Commune" (draft) and the "Summary Outline of the Sixth-Level Cadre Meeting of the Henan Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China" (draft). [2] Refers to the "Resolution on People's Commune Management System and Some Specific Policy Issues (Draft)" of the Hubei Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China on March 8, 1959.

[3] Zhou Xiaozhou (1912-1966), born in Xiangtan, Hunan.At that time, he was the first secretary of the Hunan Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China. [4] Wang Renzhong (1917-1992), from Jingxian County, Hebei Province.At that time, he was the first secretary of the Hubei Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China. [5] "Three determinations and five releases" were put forward by the Guangdong Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China in its report to the Central Committee and Mao Zedong on March 11, 1959 on the implementation of the resolutions of the Zhengzhou Conference. The "three determinations" are: (1) to determine the basic accounting unit, all based on the original high-level society as the basic accounting unit. (2) Designate leading personnel, quickly set up the framework for organizing and managing production organizations, strengthen leadership, and organize production. (3) Set the production plan for 1959 and the contractual tasks for grain, oil, pigs and other commodities. The tasks should not be set too high, so as to prevent layer upon layer increase. . The "five releases" are: (1) decentralize the labor force, so that the labor force of the production team (or brigade) can be fixed.The labor force originally transferred from the production team was immediately cleaned up, and part of it was withdrawn to the original production team to put into agricultural production. (2) Decentralization of production materials, land, cattle, farm tools, etc. are owned and managed by the production team (or brigade). (3) Decentralized animal husbandry shall be owned and managed by the production team (or brigade).Fruit trees and fish ponds can also be delegated to the production team for operation and management. (4) Decentralization of the original fertilizer factories. (5) Decentralized food canteen Food consumption is arranged by each team.

[6] This record was formed and issued at the enlarged meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee held in Zhengzhou from February 27 to March 5, 1959.The record consists of three parts: (1) "Zhengzhou Meeting Minutes"; (2) Mao Zedong's speech at the meeting; (3) "Several Regulations on the Management System of People's Commune (Draft)".