Chapter 9 Concluding Speech at the Enlarged Meeting of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China

(April 28, 1956) Comrade Zhou Enlai has talked about many issues, so I will not talk about them. First, the issue of inner-party life.Since the Fourth Plenary Session of the Seventh Central Committee[1], our inner-Party life has been somewhat dull and inactive.The Fourth Plenary Session of the Central Committee should be convened. It opposed the destructive agitation of Gao Gang[2] and strengthened the unity of the party.Before this, quite a few comrades in our party were not vigilant enough, and they were not conscious enough, so they were duped by high posts.Therefore, it is necessary to plug up the "encirclement" of Gao Gang.If we don't stop it and let him do it for another year, then our party will be messed up.But after the Gao Gang issue was exposed, another phenomenon emerged in our party: being cautious and not talking about state affairs.This is also understandable, because everyone is afraid of making that mistake.Now let us make it clear that there are two kinds of state affairs: one is destructive and the other is constructive.Don't talk about destructive state affairs like Gao Gang, but talk about constructive state affairs because it is constructive.

Our party has such a history.During the period of the Northern Expedition, our Party was relatively active, with more than 50,000 members, full of vigor, but due to Chen Duxiu's mistaken rightist line[3] in the later period, the revolution failed.Later we engaged in armed struggle and entered the period of the Agrarian Revolutionary War.During this period, there were three mistakes of "Left" opportunism within the Party, which lasted for seven or eight years.Of course, there were times when it was correct. For example, there was a short period after the August 7th Meeting[4] in 1927, a short period after the Sixth National Congress[5], and the Third Plenary Session of the Sixth Central Committee[6]. Then there is a short period.The Third Plenum also has shortcomings.These three "Left" leaning lines are all related to the Communist International[7], especially Wang Ming's line[8].The first "Left" leaning line[9] did not have much relationship with the Communist International; the second "Left" leaning line[10] learned something from the Communist International, but the general line was China's own; The "Left" leaning line was different three times. Even the resolutions of the Fourth Plenary Session of the Sixth Central Committee[11] were written by Russians.The third time the "Left" line ruled the party for four years and caused the greatest loss, with the loss of more than 90% of the revolutionary forces.In addition, there is Zhang Guotao's right-leaning line[12].In view of these lessons, we launched a rectification campaign[13], accepting good things, criticizing and correcting wrong things, the main slogan is unity and struggle, and the policy is to learn from past mistakes and avoid future ones, to cure diseases and save patients.

There are also historical lessons in the question of unity and decentralization.During the period of the third "Left" leaning line, great emphasis was placed on centralization and unity, and different words were not allowed.For example, the word "failure" cannot be mentioned. In fact, it is a failure, but you cannot talk about failure. If you do, you are opportunistic.During the Anti-Japanese War, we gave each anti-Japanese base area great independence.However, later it developed to the point where some base areas became independent, and opinions that should not be expressed by the base areas themselves were also expressed, and those that should be under the command of the central government were not listened to.Of course, this is related to the second Wang Ming line[14].So the central government made a decision on strengthening the party spirit and on the unification of party leadership[15] to correct it.During the correction, we still reserved a great deal of autonomy for the base areas.During the War of Liberation, the central government issued instructions on establishing a reporting system for instructions[16], gradually correcting this overly dispersed state.This kind of over-dispersion was applicable during the War of Resistance Against Japan, but it was no longer applicable when the situation changed a lot later, and we could no longer conduct it independently as in the past.

However, in recent years another bias has emerged, which is too much concentration.Some issues, such as the concentration of industry, how much autonomy should be given to factories, how much autonomy should be given to agricultural production cooperatives, and how much autonomy should be given to local governments have not yet been well studied.If it is said that the Soviet Union has not studied these issues well in the 40 years since the successful revolution, it seems that we can forgive ourselves, because our revolution has only been successful for so many years, and some things are neither determined by the central government nor by local governments. That's how it was copied.

All in all, our party has such a history, think about this history.There used to be a very concentrated period, that is the period of the first Wang Ming line.There was also a period of great dispersal, when things that should not have been disperse were also dispersed, and that was the second period of Wang Ming's line.At that time, the power of the local government was too great. For a period of time, there was actually no central government, and it was gradually corrected later. This was absolutely necessary.I remember that at one meeting, I read a total of eight documents. The content of these documents was to say that collective leadership is needed and decentralism should not be avoided.Now we say that excessive centralization is not conducive to mobilizing all forces to achieve the goal of building a powerful country.On this question, in view of the lessons of the Soviet Union, comrades are invited to think about the history of our party in order to properly solve the problem of decentralization and centralization of power.Comrade Enlai said that now the State Council will organize an organization to work with local comrades to draw up a plan.

Second, the distribution of individual and collective interests.I agree with the opinion that 60 to 70 percent of the total agricultural income should go to the cooperative members, and 30 to 40 percent should go to the cooperative and the state, including the cooperative's public welfare fund, provident fund, production fee, and management fee And various miscellaneous expenses, including the state's public grain and public grain surcharges [17].Cooperatives and the state should account for 40 percent at most, preferably only 30 percent, allowing farmers to share more.Among them, 10% can be adjusted by various places.

Third, the issue of the entire socialist economic system.With regard to the independence of enterprises, please pay attention to the study of the degree of independence that Lenin mentioned.In my opinion, enterprises are nothing more than these two types: one is enterprises in the production process, such as factories and mines in industry, and production cooperatives in agriculture; the other is enterprises in the circulation process, that is, transportation and commerce.What kind of independence should these enterprises have? I am speaking casually here, and the expression is not very accurate. It is called an "independent kingdom".Gao Gang's kind of independent kingdom should of course be opposed.The so-called "independent kingdom" here means to have semi-independence, or a certain percentage of independence, an open and legal "semi-independent kingdom".My words cannot be included in the constitution, cannot be included in the party constitution, and cannot be included in resolutions.In short, if all independence and self-reliance are reversed because of opposition to the independent kingdom, and there is no autonomy at all, then things will be difficult to handle.This question is worth studying.With regard to the separation of powers between the central and local governments, how many departments should the central government have, how much power they have, which departments should the local governments have, what matters they should manage, and how much power they have, I am afraid that a draft can be produced within a few months.

I ask comrades to pay attention, and comrades in various departments of the central government to pay attention to educating their staff.I heard that it is quite common for central departments to deal with delays in dealing with problems, and it is quite common to see no one when they go to the central department to do business.When the localities want to solve problems, they can't see anyone in the central department, even the director. Some problems have been delayed for several years without being resolved.This problem should be checked to see what kind of method can be used to meet people and solve the problem relatively quickly.The central government once issued a notice[18] stating that the localities have the right to stop all orders and instructions issued by the central department that do not work.Here it is said that it won't work, you can't stop everything, if everything is stopped, then it will be Gao Gang's independent kingdom.Maybe you will stop a little more, but it is not out of bad intentions, and it is also forgivable.We trust the current provincial, municipal and district party committees and have given you this power.This power cannot be given to the prefectural or county committees, but only to the provincial, municipal, and district party committees, because leading cadres at the provincial, municipal, and district party committee levels are relatively mature politically.In short, you have the right to stop all impracticable, unrealistic and subjectivist orders, instructions, instructions, forms, and "five excesses"[19].

Fourth, revise the party constitution.Comrade Lu Dingyi [20] said that the party constitution should fully reflect discipline and creativity, and reflect the mass line.Now that the draft party constitution has been sent to the provincial, municipal and district party committees for discussion, please give your comments on it.In my opinion, the party constitution should indeed fully reflect discipline and creativity, and reflect the mass line.It won't work without discipline.But discipline is too strict, it hinders creativity, this kind of discipline is not good, and should not be done. I invite you to discuss whether the central government should have one vice-chairman or several vice-chairmen.Comrade Shaoqi proposed to have several vice-chairmen, and the current draft of the party constitution says to have one vice-chairman.Also, is it possible to follow the example of the people's congress and set up permanent representatives of the party.We have a people's congress and a party congress, and the party congress is the party congress.What are the benefits of having a permanent representative? That is, a congress can be held once a year.We have not held a party congress for ten years, and with the system of permanent representatives, we have to hold a meeting every year.Is it possible to consider adopting this method, such as every five years?This has not yet been written into the draft party constitution, and I ask everyone to consider it and see if it is possible.

Fifth, let a hundred flowers bloom and a hundred schools of thought contend.Let a hundred flowers bloom on artistic issues, and a hundred schools of thought contend on academic issues, I think it should be our policy. "Let a hundred flowers bloom" was proposed by the masses, but I don't know who proposed it.People asked me to write an inscription, so I wrote "A Hundred Flowers Bloom, Introduce the Old and Bring forth the New"[21]. "A hundred schools of thought contend", this is something that happened two thousand years ago. During the Spring and Autumn and Warring States Periods, a hundred schools of thought contended.When talking about academics, you can talk about this kind of learning, and you can talk about that kind of learning. Don't let one kind of learning dominate everything.If what you say is the truth, more and more people will believe it.

Sixth, the issue of democratic management.It is a very important question which comrade said it here.Now commandism has developed, and cooperatives have to obey orders in everything.In the past, it was an individual economy, and it was liberalism.Now that we are collectivized, we can obey orders and work together, which is of great benefit.But you have to obey orders for everything, which is lenient.The order must be correct, the scope should not be too wide, and the peasants must be given some time for their own activities, that is, a little freedom, just like we need a little freedom every day.Can we people live without a little freedom? I don't believe it.For example, you can talk casually when you get home, and tell a little joke with your wife and children.Why bother to put on a straight face all day long? If you put on a straight face twenty-four hours a day, I think it only takes a week for everyone to die.Seriousness exists in opposition to non-seriousness. How can there be seriousness without non-seriousness? Discipline comes from lack of discipline and from liberalism. How can we do without a little "liberalism"? There must always be A little "liberal".Now we are opposing liberalism, we are opposing the part that enjoys freedom where it should not be, not all freedom.If you oppose all freedoms, you should appoint an inspector in each family to check whether he is so serious all day long and does not engage in any freedom. Seventh, the issue of national balance.National balance is still needed.A comrade said that localities must be independent and at the same time there must be national balance. I think this sentence is very good.Some regions do not enjoy independence, but only the unity of the country; other regions enjoy independence, but there is also a need for national balance. Without national balance, chaos will ensue.If the goods from Shanghai are not shipped to Sichuan, you, Li Jingquan [22], will shout; if all the goods from Shanghai are sold in Beijing, you will knock down all the goods from Beijing.Therefore, there must be national balance. Without balance and adjustment, we will not be able to carry out large-scale industry and industrialization throughout the country.When we talk about local independence and local independence, we must be careful not to go to extremes and go to the other side.Of course, at a time when localities lack independence, it is necessary to emphasize local independence. Eighth, touch on the issue of economic work.We have been working on it for six years. This year and next year, we need to get a real feel for economic work. The central government and you come to do it once a year, and the provincial, municipal, and district party committees come to report every year.However, we still need to find some committees, ministries, bureaus, and factories to study some typical models, because we don't know much about it.Comrades, please study it earnestly, focus on it, and join us in this work. Published based on the transcript of the speech kept by the Central Archives. -------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ note [1] The Fourth Plenary Session of the Seventh Central Committee refers to the Fourth Plenary Session of the Seventh Central Committee of the Communist Party of China held in Beijing from February 6 to 10, 1954.Liu Shaoqi reported to the plenary meeting on behalf of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee. Zhu De, Zhou Enlai, Chen Yun, and Deng Xiaoping made speeches at the meeting.The meeting affirmed the achievements in various work since the Third Plenary Session of the Seventh Central Committee, approved the Party's general line in the transitional period put forward by the Political Bureau of the Central Committee and the decision on convening the Party's National Congress, and discussed the outline of the first five-year plan and related issues. .The meeting exposed and criticized Gao Gang and Jao Shushi's conspiracy to split the party and usurp the supreme power of the party and the state. The "Resolution on Strengthening the Unity of the Party" drafted according to Mao Zedong's opinion was adopted, which maintained and strengthened the unity of the party. [2] Gao Gang, see note [7] on page 45 of this volume. [3] Chen Duxiu (1879-1942) was born in Huaining, Anhui.In the first six years after the founding of the Communist Party of China, he was the main leader of the party.In the late period of the First Civil Revolutionary War, he gave up his leadership over the peasant masses, the urban petty bourgeoisie and the middle bourgeoisie, especially over the armed forces, advocated all alliances, denied struggle, and opposed the anti-communist and anti-people campaigns of the Kuomintang rightists. The conspiracy adopted a policy of compromise and surrender, so that when Chiang Kai-shek and Wang Jingwei, representatives of the big landlords and big bourgeoisie, successively betrayed the revolution and attacked the people suddenly, the Chinese Communist Party and the broad masses of the people were unable to organize effective resistance, and the first civil revolutionary war was defeated. to failure.On August 7, 1927, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China held an emergency meeting in Hankou to sum up the experience and lessons of the failure of the Great Revolution and correct Chen Duxiu's right opportunism mistakes.Afterwards, Chen Duxiu was pessimistic and disappointed about the future of the revolution, accepted the views of the Trotskyites, set up a small organization in the party, and carried out anti-party activities. In November 1929, he was expelled from the party.He was arrested by the Kuomintang government in October 1932 and released from prison in August 1937.Died in Jiangjin, Sichuan in 1942. [4] The August 7th meeting refers to the emergency meeting of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China held in Hankou on August 7, 1927.This meeting summed up the experience and lessons of the failure of the first domestic revolutionary war, corrected Chen Duxiu's right opportunism mistakes, determined the general policy of carrying out the agrarian revolution and armed resistance to the rule of the Kuomintang reactionaries, and mobilized the peasants to hold the autumn harvest uprising as the party's policy at that time. The main task. [5] The Sixth National Congress of the Communist Party of China was held in Moscow from June 18 to July 11, 1928.At the meeting, Qu Qiubai made a report on "The Chinese Revolution and the Communist Party", Zhou Enlai made a report on organizational and military issues, and Liu Bocheng made a supplementary report on military issues.The meeting passed resolutions on political, military, and organizational issues, affirming that Chinese society was a semi-colonial and semi-feudal society. At that time, the Chinese revolution was still a bourgeois-democratic revolution. On balance, the party's general task at the time was not to attack or organize an uprising, but to win over the masses.While criticizing Right opportunism, the meeting pointed out that the most dangerous tendencies in the party at that time were putschism, military adventurism, and commandism that were divorced from the masses.The main aspects of this congress are correct, but there are also shortcomings and mistakes.The Congress lacked a correct assessment and appropriate policies for the duality of the middle class and the internal contradictions of the reactionary forces; for the strategic and orderly retreat the Party needed after the failure of the Great Revolution, the importance of the rural base areas and the long-term nature of the democratic revolution, Lack of necessary understanding. [6] The Third Plenary Session of the Sixth Central Committee refers to the expanded third plenary session of the Sixth Central Committee of the Communist Party of China held in Shanghai from September 24 to 28, 1930.This meeting pointed out Li Lisan's mistakes, stopped Li Lisan's risky actions of organizing the national general uprising and concentrating the national Red Army to attack the central cities, and decided to restore the independent organization and regular work of the party, regiment, and trade union. "Adventurist error in the central government.But the meeting did not completely get rid of the "left" point of view, thinking that Li Lisan had only made a "strategic error", and did not think it was a wrong line. [7] The Communist International, the Third International, was founded in March 1919 under the leadership of Lenin.In 1922, the Communist Party of China joined the Communist International and became a branch of it.In May 1943, the Presidium of the Executive Committee of the Communist International passed a decision proposing to dissolve the Communist International. In June, the Communist International officially announced its dissolution. [8] The Wang Ming line refers to the "Left" adventurism mistakes represented by Wang Ming, also known as the third "Left" line.See note [18] on page 47 of this volume. [9] The first "Left" leaning line refers to the "Left" putschist mistakes represented by Qu Qiubai.On August 7, 1927, at the critical moment after the failure of the Great Revolution, Qu Qiubai presided over an emergency meeting of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.After the meeting, he served as a member of the Standing Committee of the Provisional Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and presided over the work of the Central Committee.In November of the same year, he presided over the enlarged meeting of the Central Provisional Political Bureau, accepted the "Left" erroneous view of the Communist International representative Rominaz, and believed that the nature of the Chinese revolution at that time was the so-called "uninterrupted revolution", which confused the democratic revolution and The boundary of the socialist revolution, and asserted that "the current situation in the whole of China is the situation of direct revolution", thus determining the general strategy of implementing national armed riots, and committed the mistake of "Left" blind activism.By April 1928, this "Left" error had basically come to an end in practical work across the country. [10] The second "Left" leaning line refers to the "Left" adventurism mistakes represented by Li Lisan.On June 11, 1930, under the chairmanship of Li Lisan, the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China passed the resolution "A New Revolutionary Upsurge and the First Victory of a Province or Several Provinces", forming the "Left" adventure represented by him. Doctrine error.Soon, Li Lisan and others formulated an adventurous plan to organize armed uprisings in central cities across the country with Wuhan as the center and to concentrate the national Red Army to attack the central cities, and then merged the leading organs of the party, youth leagues, and trade unions at all levels into one for preparing for the armed uprising. Action committees at all levels brought all regular work to a standstill.In September of the same year, the Communist Party of China held the Third Plenary Session of the Sixth Central Committee, which corrected Li Lisan's "Left" adventurism mistakes. [11] The Fourth Plenary Session of the Sixth Central Committee refers to the Fourth Plenary Session of the Sixth Central Committee of the Communist Party of China held in Shanghai on January 7, 1931.With the support of the Communist International and its representative Mif, Wang Ming and others gained leadership in the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China through this meeting, and began the four-year rule of "Left" adventurism in the party. [12] Zhang Guotao (1897-1979), a native of Pingxiang, Jiangxi.In June 1935, after the first and fourth front armies of the Red Army joined forces in the Maogong (now Xiaojin) area of ​​Sichuan, he served as the general political commissar of the Red Army.At that time, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China determined the strategic policy of the first and fourth front armies going north to establish Sichuan-Shanxi-Gansu base areas.Zhang Guotao refused to implement the Central Committee's decision to go north, and ordered the Fourth Front Army and a part of the First Front Army to go south, retreat to the border areas of Sichuan and Xikang, carry out activities to split the party and the Red Army, and establish a separate Central Committee.Due to the active struggle of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the struggles of Zhu De, Liu Bocheng, etc., as well as the commanders and fighters of the Fourth Front Army, Zhang Guotao was forced to cancel the Second Central Committee in June 1936 and went north with the Second and Fourth Front Army. Arrived in northern Shaanxi.Since September 1937, he has served as the vice chairman and acting chairman of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region Government.In April 1938, he escaped from the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region by offering sacrifices to the Mausoleum of the Yellow Emperor. He went to Wuhan via Xi'an, joined the Kuomintang spy group, became a traitor to the Chinese revolution, and was immediately expelled from the party.Died in Canada in 1979. [13] Refers to a Marxist-Leninist ideological education campaign launched by the Communist Party of China since 1942 throughout the party, which lasted for more than three years.The main content is: oppose subjectivism to rectify the style of study, oppose sectarianism to rectify the party style, and oppose party stereotypes to rectify the style of writing.Through this rectification, the whole party has further grasped the basic direction of the unity of the universal truth of Marxism-Leninism and the concrete practice of the Chinese revolution. [14] The second Wang Ming line refers to Wang Ming's right opportunism error.See note [19] on page 48 of this volume. [15] Refers to the "Decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Strengthening Party Spirit" on July 1, 1941 and the "Decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Unifying the Leadership of the Party in Base Areas and Adjusting the Relations Between Various Organizations" on September 1, 1942 . [16] Refers to the "Instructions of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Establishing a Reporting System" dated January 7, 1948. [17] Public grain surcharges, that is, agricultural tax surcharges.On September 5, 1950, the Central People's Government promulgated the "Provisional Regulations on Agricultural Tax in the New Liberated Areas", stipulating that local agricultural tax surcharges should not exceed 15 percent of the regular tax.On June 21, 1951, the "Instructions on Agricultural Tax Work in 1951" promulgated by the Central People's Government Administration Council stipulated that the local agricultural tax surcharges in all regions of the country should not exceed the percentage of the regular tax. Twenty. [18] Refers to the "Instructions of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Delaying the Time for the Masses to Quit Smoking and Giving the Local Party and Government the Power to Postpone or Stop Unrealistic Orders and Instructions Issued by Superiors" dated April 2, 1953.The instruction said: "Any work that hinders production, no matter which department of the central government deploys it, as long as the local party committee thinks it is necessary to postpone it, it can submit a request and postpone it. In addition, the assumptions based on subjectivism are not in line with the actual situation. If any orders and instructions from the higher authorities must be abolished or revised, the local party and government have the right to raise opinions. In this case, it is correct for the local party and government to put forward opinions based on reality. , contrary to the opinions of the masses, it is not correct to bite the bullet and push it down.” [19] "Five more" refers to more tasks, more meetings and training, more official documents and reports, more organizations, and more part-time activists. [20] Lu Dingyi (1906-1996), born in Wuxi, Jiangsu.At that time, he was the head of the Propaganda Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. [21] This is Mao Zedong's inscription to the Academy of Chinese Opera in 1951. [22] Li Jingquan (1909-1989), a native of Linchuan, Jiangxi.At that time, he was the first secretary of the Sichuan Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China.