Chapter 70 a lesson

(November 25, 1958) This is a useful report [1] written by the Yunnan Provincial Party Committee, see "Mission and Education Trends" issue 145.The Yunnan Provincial Party Committee made a mistake. As they said in their report, they did not detect the swelling problem in some places in time.The report analyzed the problem properly and dealt with it correctly.The work in Yunnan may have learned a lesson and gained immunity because of the swelling and disease. They will never make the same mistakes again.Bad things turn into good things, misfortunes and blessings depend on [2].In other provinces, there may be some places where mistakes like those in Yunnan may be made.Because they haven't made the kind of mistake Yunnan made, haven't learned a profound lesson, and haven't acquired immunity.Therefore, if they are not good at educating cadres (mainly at the county level, and this mistake in Yunnan is mainly due to county-level cadres), are not good at analyzing the situation, and are not good at sniffing out the bad atmosphere among the cadres and the masses in terms of people's lives in a timely manner , then they are bound to make the same mistakes that others have made.When we lack concern, attention, and care for such a major issue as the people's life (this is almost universal at present), we cannot blame others specifically, which is closely related to the fact that we have placed too much emphasis on work tasks.Under the heavy burden, county and township cadres have no choice but to bite the bullet and do it. If they do less, they are called "rightist", and people's minds are drawn to one-sidedness, focusing on production and forgetting life.Solutions: (1) Don't set too heavy a task, don't exceed the possibility of the energy burden of the masses, and leave some room for the masses; (2) Grasp production and life at the same time, walk on two legs, and don't be one-sided.

Mao Zedong Published from manuscript on November 25, 1958. -------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ note [1] Refers to the inspection report to Mao Zedong and the Central Committee of the Yunnan Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China on November 18, 1958, regarding the death from swelling and disease.According to the report, between the spring and summer of this year, serious deaths occurred in Yunnan Province due to swelling, dysentery, and measles in children.The main reasons for this sad incident are: the leadership style is not thorough, the people's lives that need to be paid special attention to during this year's intense and continuous bitter struggle, and the serious situation of some cadres' forced orders and violation of laws and disciplines is underestimated.At present, the provincial party committee is holding a meeting of the first secretaries of the prefectural and municipal party committees. According to the spirit of Chairman Mao's speech at the Chengdu meeting, the leadership style of the provincial party committee and the prefectural and municipal party committees will be intensively inspected, lessons learned, and the following measures will be taken: Immediately after the meeting of the Municipal Party Committee Secretary, a rectification campaign was carried out within the party and among the cadres, criticizing the tendency of coercion and indifference to the lives of the masses; a special group was organized to conduct serious inspections on the death of swollen people, and seriously deal with the violation of law and discipline in the death case and dereliction of duty; immediately implement the regulations of the Zhengzhou meeting on work and rest time, inspect and improve the clothing, food, housing and labor safety of migrant workers on various fronts such as mines and water conservancy sites, and adjust the work, rest and life of the masses from all aspects, etc. .

[2] See "Laozi Fifty-Eight Chapters".The original text is: "When misfortune comes, happiness rests on it, and when blessings come, misfortune rests on it."