Selected Works of Mao Tse-tung
May 1964
[SOURCE: Long Live Mao Tse-tung Thought, a Red Guard Publication.]
1. Close attention must be paid to class struggle. The four cleanups in the rural areas is a class struggle; the five anti’s in the cities is likewise a class struggle. Cities must not brag about themselves. The five anti’s work cannot be concluded either this winter or next spring. It must be continued for a period of 3 to 5 years before it can be finished. Class identifications must also be drawn in the cities. As to how they should be drawn, certain criteria should be formulated when we come to do this work in the future. We should not take account of the class origin alone. Marx, Engels, Lenin, and Stalin, none of them had their origin from the working class.
2. On the Third Five-Year Plan. We must go all out and put forth the utmost effort to set aside all reserve. We cannot formulate any plan based on our age. Planning must have an objective basis. I am over 70 years old, older than you people, but we cannot rely on what we see of communism shortly before we die as the basis for planning. In the present Third Five-Year Plan I feel we must pay attention to increasing quantity without losing sight of improving quality.
The plan must not be based on subjective expectations; it must have an objective basis. It must be practical and dependable.
3. On self-reliance. Self-reliance is very important. It should be practiced not only by a state, but also by a factory, a people’s commune, and a production team. In managing people’s communes, those which practiced self-reliance showed real achievements whereas those communes and production teams which were supported by loans did not fare so well. At present, we have three truly self-reliant communes in the whole country: one is the Ch’en Yung’k’ang commune in Kiangsu Province; another is the Ch’en Yung-kuei commune in Shansi Province; and still another is the Ch’en XX commune in Ch’u-fou, Shantung Province. These three communes have never asked for a penny from the state as they were built up completely on the strength of their own effort.
4. On the question of cadres participating in labor. Cadres must take part in labor. At present, this question has not yet been satisfactorily resolved. Leading cadres should go and stay in selected primary units and should not solely listen to briefings and reports. Even ministers should go and stay in some primary units. Otherwise no meetings would be held.
5. This year’s wheat output is estimated to have an increase of 5 billion catties over last year. It appears that there is an abundance of rain this spring. This will do more good than harm.
6. The Third Five-Year Plan calls for moving such a large number of people from the rural areas to the cities to be workers. This is not good.