Chapter 70 Mao Zedong's Discussion on the Situation in the Summer of 1957

The spring of 1957 was an "unusual spring".With the drumming of the "anti-rightists", summer has entered. In the spring of 1957, Mao Zedong made a southern tour. In Nanjing and Shanghai, he delivered a series of speeches on "A Hundred Flowers Blooming and a Hundred Schools of Thought Contending".On March 20, he spoke at a meeting of the Nanjing Army and Jiangsu Provincial CCP members and cadres, saying: "I became a lobbyist, talking a little bit here and there..." This time, during the summer tour, Mao Zedong "became a lobbyist again, talking a little bit all the way around."Naturally, "Anti-Rightism" became the theme of his speeches along the way.

On July 9, Mao Zedong appeared on the podium of a meeting of people from all walks of life in Shanghai.Only then did he reveal that the last time he came to "ignite the fire"! He put it this way: In late March this year, that is, a hundred days ago, I had a talk with comrades in the party here.That's when I came to light the fire.In the past hundred days or so, the current situation has changed a lot, and the people's consciousness has been greatly improved. It is just a battle.We expected these things at the time, and I have mentioned them here, but there was no such thing as burning a fire.It means that when people criticize, we have to bite the bullet and listen...①

Mao Zedong discussed the situation of the "anti-rightists": In terms of students, Peking University has more than 7,000 people. Together with professors and students, the rightists only have one, two, and three percent. What is one, two, and three percent?That is, one percent of the resolute backbone elements, only a dozen people, and there are always only fifty or so people, less than one percent, who often make troubles upside down. They organize small groups, such as "Hundred Flowers Society", The "Wise Lover Society", "Hegel-Engels Society", "Confucius-Mao Zedong Society" were later considered inappropriate, and they were still called "Hundred Flowers Society".The "leader" of the students is Tan Tianrong, who is now a well-known figure throughout the country.This time, some heroes have emerged, both leftists and rightists have emerged heroes...

One percent of the students at Peking University are rightists and core elements, and another one or two percent applaud them and support them.Among professors and associate professors, the situation is different. There are about 10% rightists and 10% leftists. The two are evenly matched, and the centrists account for about 80%. ② Mao Zedong actually put forward the conclusion that "intellectuals are the most ignorant".Here's what he said: Wisdom comes from the masses.I have always said that intellectuals are the most ignorant.The intellectuals turned their tails up, thinking that Lao Tzu was not number one in the world, but also number two in the world.What are workers and peasants?You idiots don't know a few words.But it is not the intellectuals who decide the question but the working people, the most advanced part of the working people, that is, the working class decides the question.Does the proletariat lead the bourgeoisie, or does the bourgeoisie lead the proletariat?Does the proletariat lead the intellectuals, or does the intellectual lead the proletariat?Intellectuals should become proletarian intellectuals, there is no other way.I have said that "if there is no skin, there will be no hair"...①

Mao Zedong appreciated the big-character posters quite a lot.He said: Big-character posters are a good thing, and I think they should be passed on.You can see that Confucius has also been passed down. The "Bible" and "Thirteen Classics" have been handed down, the "Twenty-Four Histories" have been handed down, and the "Fifteen Guans" have been handed down. I think big-character posters must also be handed down. It is better to use big characters, the more the better.If it is 10,000, it is the first class, if it is 5,000, it is the second class, if there are only 2,000 cards, it is the third class, if there are only a few, it is small, etc. ②

Then, Mao Zedong came from Shanghai to Qingdao, a seaside summer resort, where he attended the meeting of the party secretaries of various provinces and cities of the Communist Party of China and gave another speech. Mao Zedong made the following discussion on the "right wing": During the period of our country's socialist revolution, the contradiction between the bourgeois reactionary rightists and the people was a contradiction between the enemy and ourselves, an antagonistic and irreconcilable contradiction between life and death. The bourgeois rightists are reactionaries, counter-revolutionaries.Instead of calling it that way, it is called rightists, one is for the convenience of winning over the centrists, and the other is for the convenience of dividing the rightists, so that some rightists may convert.

The part of the bourgeois rightists who cannot be converted in the end are die-hards. As long as they do not become spies and do not carry out sabotage activities, they are given a little something to do and their citizenship rights are not deprived.This is in view of the consequences of extreme policies adopted in many historical events, which is not good.We should take a long-term perspective. Looking at this incident decades later, we will see that our treatment of bourgeois rightists in this way will have a profound impact and huge benefits on the cause of the proletarian revolution. ① Mao Zedong discussed the significance of "anti-rightists":

Don't underestimate the significance of criticizing the bourgeois rightists this time.This is a great socialist revolution on the political and ideological fronts.The socialist revolution on the economic front (in the ownership of the means of production) in 1956 alone was not enough and would not be consolidated.The Hungarian incident is proof.There must also be a thorough socialist revolution on the political and ideological fronts.Of course, the Communist Party cannot have leadership among some people in the democratic parties, intellectual circles, and business circles (rightists), because they are enemies, and the leadership among the majority (centrists) is not consolidated, and some cultural and educational units have not yet established a party organization. Leadership must establish a solid leadership over the centrists and consolidate it as early as possible.The bourgeoisie and bourgeois intellectuals are not convinced by the Communist Party, and the rightists among them are determined to take on us.After a contest, they failed, and then they realized that their general situation was over and there was no hope.Only at this time, most of them (centrists and some rightists) will gradually become honest, gradually abandon their bourgeois stance, stand on the side of the proletariat, and make up their minds to rely on the proletariat for food.A few people did not change until they died, so they had to be allowed to carry their reactionary views into the coffin.But we should be vigilant.You know, when they get the chance, they will make trouble again.This struggle may extend ten to fifteen years from now.Well done, possibly shortening the time.Of course, this does not mean that class struggle will disappear after ten to fifteen years. As long as imperialism and the bourgeoisie still exist in the world, the activities of counter-revolutionaries and bourgeois rightists in our country will not only always carry the spirit of class struggle. nature, and always echo each other with the international reactionaries.The current struggle should, after a necessary period of time, change from the form of violent storms to the form of gentle wind and light rain, so that it can be deepened and penetrated ideologically.We have won the first decisive battle in the past few months, mainly in the last two months.However, it will take a few months to dig deeper and achieve a complete victory, and we must not withdraw troops hastily.We must know that if this battle is not won, there will be no hope for socialism. ①

Mao Zedong summed up the strategy of this "anti-rightist".He said: In two or three weeks, the leaders of each unit had to bite the bullet in response to the rampant attacks of the rightists, listened to them without refuting them, concentrated their attention, analyzed and researched, gathered forces, prepared for a counterattack, united with the leftists, won over the middle, and isolated the rightists. A good set of Marxist strategies. ① Mao Zedong proposed in his speech that the "Anti-Rightist Movement" is divided into three stages: 1. The stage of making a big noise and letting it go (rectifying and modifying at the same time);

2. The stage of counterattacking the rightists (rectification while reforming); Third, focus on the rectification stage (continue to release). It goes without saying that in Mao Zedong's view, after June 8, the "stage of counterattacking the rightists" had entered.