Delivered: December 25, 1976.
Source: Hua Kuo-Feng [Hua Guofeng]. Speech at the
Second National Conference on Learning from Tachai in Agriculture (December 25,
1976). Foreign Languages Press, Beijing, 1977.
Online Version: Hua Guofeng Internet Archive, January 2024
Transcribed/HTML Markup: Juan Fajardo.
Comrades!
Our conference is drawing to a close.
The conference has been going on very well. Comrade Chen Yung-kuei has made a very good report on behalf of the Party Central Committee. Many comrades have spoken at the conference. Everybody is in high spirits and morale and fully confident of victory. The conference is one of mobilizing the 700 million peasants to expose and criticize the Wang-Chang-Chiang-Yao "gang of four" thoroughly, of promoting in depth the movement to learn from Tachai in agriculture and to build Tachai-type counties throughout the country and of unifying our understanding and action with Mao Tsetung Thought. It is a conference of unity and victory.
At this conference, we have conscientiously studied Chairman Mao’s brilliant work On the Ten Major Relationships. The whole Party, the whole army and the people of all nationalities throughout the country should study this brilliant work conscientiously and in a thoroughgoing way. In 1956, bearing in mind lessons drawn from the Soviet Union, Chairman Mao summed up in this work China’s experience, expounded ten major relation ships in socialist revolution and socialist construction and set forth basic ideas about the general line of building socialism with greater, faster, better and more economical results, a line suited to the conditions of our country. The basic policy Chair man Mao advanced in the work is: "We must do our best to mobilize all positive factors, both inside and outside the Party, both at home and abroad, both direct and indirect, and build China into a powerful socialist country." We have followed this basic policy at the present conference and we should do so in all spheres of our work.
I believe that after the conference a new up surge will swiftly come into being throughout the countryside in the great revolutionary mass movement further to expose and criticize the "gang of four" and learn from Tachai in agriculture and build Tachai-type counties all over the country. This is an important matter having a vital bearing on the overall situation. It will greatly hasten the vigorous development of the work of our Party and country in every field.
Comrades!
Nineteen seventy-six will soon be over and 1977 is fast approaching. Comrades are all interested in the situation of the country and the tasks ahead. Here I would like to review briefly the fighting course we have traversed in 1976 and out line our fighting tasks for 1977.
Nineteen seventy-six is a most extraordinary year in the history of our Party and of the dictator ship of the proletariat in China. It is a year in which the whole Party, the whole army and the people of all nationalities throughout the country have stood rigorous tests, a year in which we have won a great historic victory. This year, the proletariat has waged a fierce, momentous struggle against the bourgeoisie and crushed the anti-Party "gang of four" of Wang Hung-wen, Chang Chun-chiao, Chiang Ching and Yao Wen-yuan. As a result, a major retrogression and split has been averted in China and we can continue to push the proletarian revolutionary cause forward in the direction pointed out by Chairman Mao.
The historic decisive battle of 1976 between our Party and the Wang-Chang-Chiang-Yao "gang of four" was fought amid tremendous difficulties that confronted our Party after the death of Chair man Mao. It was therefore a battle of particular gravity.
This year saw the passing of our most esteemed and beloved great leader and teacher Chairman Mao Tsetung, the great founder of our Party, our army and our People’s Republic, who had led our Party and people in valiant struggles for more than half a century, and the passing of Chairman Mao’s long-tested and close comrades-in-arms our esteemed and beloved Premier Chou En-lai and Chairman Chu Teh of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress. Vice-Chairman of the Party Central Committee Kang Sheng and Vice-Chairman of the N.P.C. Standing Committee Tung Pi-wu died last year. The successive passing in so short a time of so many great proletarian revolutionaries who enjoyed high prestige among the people, undoubtedly brought enormous difficulties to the leadership of our Party Central Committee. The death of Chairman Mao in particular is an immeasurable loss to the whole Party, the whole army and the people of all our nationalities, and our grief defies description.
This year also witnessed serious natural disasters in our country. In a vast land like ours, there are always some areas hit by natural disasters each year. But in this year, not only did a number of areas suffer quite seriously from drought, water logging, low temperature, early frost and other adversities, there were also violent earthquakes of magnitude 7 and upwards in the Lungling, Tangshan and Sungpan areas on six occasions. Particularly the Tangshan earthquake inflicted a loss of lives and property that was rarely seen in history. The Party Central Committee took prompt and effective measures to help the people in the stricken areas restore production and rebuild their homes and to lead the masses in the heroic struggle to overcome the difficulties caused by the earth quakes.
It was at this time that the "gang of four, " the Wang-Chang-Chiang-Yao anti-Party clique, perversely exploited the grave difficulty confronting the Party and the people and tried to usurp the supreme Party and state leadership, which was their long-cherished ambition. Before Chairman Mao’s death, they went against a series of directives issued by Chairman Mao and the Party Central Committee, sang another tune in the criticism of Teng Hsiao-ping and thus caused great ideological and political confusion and enormous economic losses. After Chairman Mao’s death, thinking their chance had come, they quickened their pace to usurp the supreme Party and state leadership and mounted unprecedentedly wild attacks in an attempt to knock down the Party and the people. Should their scheme have succeeded, that would have led to a great retrogression and split in our Party and country and touched off a major civil war, they would have directly capitulated to imperialism and social-imperialism, relying on the aggressor’s bayonet to prop up their puppet throne, and there would have been both internal strife and foreign aggression. At that time we were faced with the very immediate danger of capitalist restoration, a danger of our Party turning revisionist and our country changing its political colour. For a time rolling dark clouds hung over China. Such a grave situation had never arisen since the founding of our People’s Republic and was rarely seen in the history of our Party.
At that time class enemies at home and abroad were jubilant while our people, our comrades and our foreign friends and comrades were gnawed by deep anxiety and concern over the destiny of our Party and state. Everybody was saying to him self: In the past with Chairman Mao at the helm, we defied whatever difficulty or hazard faced us; now that Chairman Mao has passed away, are we able to withstand the frenzied attacks of the Wang- Chang-Chiang-Yao gang? What will become of China’s future? Will it be a bright China or a dark China? Such anxiety and concern were fully understandable. However, the people are the makers of history and they have answered the question. In the acute and complex struggle between the two lines in 1976, particularly the decisive battle in October, our Party Central Committee adopted resolute measures and smashed at one blow the plot of the "gang of four" to usurp Party and state power. Under the leadership of the Party, our heroic people, our heroic army and vast numbers of our Party members and cadres displayed a high level of political consciousness and firm unity in this great struggle. As soon as the Party Central Committee gave the order, the broad masses rose in response and swung into action, and the issue was settled without firing a single shot or shedding a drop of blood. Armymen and people throughout the country were all cheers and the situation was very stable. Take Shanghai for example. For years the "gang of four" had taken great pains to build up their influence there and felt sure that their rule was quite secure. But the working class and the people of other sections in Shanghai had suffered much from oppression and bullying by the "gang of four" and long harboured intense hatred for their perverse activities. The hate and indignation nursed in their bosom burst out with the speed and momentum of a volcanic eruption. Shanghai has become the burying ground of the gang. Chairman Mao said: "If the Rightists stage an anti-Communist coup d’etat in China, I am sure they will know no peace either and their rule will most probably be short-lived because it will not be tolerated by the revolutionaries, who represent the interests of the people making up more than 90 per cent of the population." The fact that the "gang of four" collapsed rapidly before they could succeed in the plot for a Rightist anti-Communist coup d’etat fully testifies to Chairman Mao’s wise judgement.
Filled with pride of victory, the Chinese people declare to the whole world: We have stood the severe test. Under the guidance of Chairman Mao’s revolutionary line, our Party has won, the proletariat has won, the people have won, the bright socialist China has won!
The struggle of our Party against the Wang- Chang-Chiang-Yao anti-Party clique is another major struggle between the two lines in the annals of our Party. The Wang-Chang-Chiang-Yao anti Party clique is a bunch of ultra-Rightists and their counter-revolutionary revisionist line is an ultra Right line. They are ultra-Rightists because they practise revisionism, create splits and engage in intrigues and conspiracies under the cloak of Marxism, trying by hook or by crook to usurp the supreme leadership of the Party and the state, subvert the dictatorship of the proletariat and re store capitalism. On the question of who are our enemies and who are our friends, which is of the first importance for the revolution, they have deliberately turned things upside down as to the relations between ourselves and the enemy in the historical period of socialism, decking themselves out as "Leftists " and "revolutionaries " while regarding as the targets of their "revolution " the revolutionary leading cadres of the Party, government and army at all levels who uphold Marxism. They have thus adulterated the very essence of Chairman Mao’s great theory of continuing the revolution under the dictatorship of the proletariat.
The great leader Chairman Mao summed up the positive and the negative experience of our country and that of the international communist movement and, by using the Marxist-Leninist theory of the unity of opposites, made a penetrating analysis of class relations in the period of socialism and put forward the great theory of continuing the revolution under the dictatorship of the proletariat. For the first time in the history of the development of Marxism, he pointed out in clear-cut terms that, after the socialist transformation of the ownership of the means of production has in the main been completed and in the entire historical period of socialist society, there are still classes, class contradictions and class struggle, there is the struggle between the socialist road and the capitalist road, and there is the danger of capitalist restoration. It is therefore essential to continue the revolution. Chairman Mao taught us: "You are making the socialist revolution, and yet don’t know where the bourgeoisie is. It is right in the Communist Party — those in power taking the capitalist road. The capitalist-roaders are still on the capitalist road." He also put forward the basic principles "Practise Marxism, and not revisionism; unite, and don’t split; be open and aboveboard, and don’t intrigue and conspire," which are our fundamental criteria for identifying capitalist-roaders in the Party. Chairman Mao’s great theory has provided the solution to the most important issue of our time, the issue of combating and pre venting revisionism, consolidating the dictatorship of the proletariat and preventing capitalist restoration, and has greatly enriched and developed Marxism-Leninism. The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution is a great example of the application of the great theory of continuing the revolution under the dictatorship of the proletariat. Under the personal leadership of Chairman Mao, the Cultural Revolution has won great victories in smashing the two bourgeois headquarters of Liu Shao-chi and Lin Piao and provided the Party with rich experience in directly relying on the broad masses of the people to triumph over capitalist-roaders in the Party.
Clinging to the stand of the landlords and the bourgeoisie, the "gang of four" did all they could to distort and tamper with Chairman Mao’s great theory of continuing the revolution under the dictatorship of the proletariat and had all along direct ed the spearhead of their attack against our Party, against the dictatorship of the proletariat, against the great Chinese People’s Liberation Army and against the leading cadres who adhere to Marxism. In the last few years, people always had the following queries in mind: Why do they invariably stand opposed to the great leader Chairman Mao and so unbridledly tamper with Marxism-Lenin ism-Mao Tsetung Thought, withhold or distort Chairman Mao’s directives and interfere with or sabotage Chairman Mao’s strategic plans? Why is it that they are bent on overthrowing our esteemed and beloved Premier Chou En-lai and other proletarian revolutionaries of the older generation and would be satisfied with nothing short of their destruction? Why is it that they are so hostile to the great Chinese People’s Liberation Army which has made magnificent contributions over the decades and stop at nothing to oppose and disrupt the army in an attempt to demolish this Great Wall of ours? Why do they bitterly hate and ruthlessly attack the large number of leading comrades of the Party, government and army at the central and local levels, the backbone of our Party leadership, who have followed Chairman Mao in making revolution over the decades, are most loyal and devoted to the people and keep firmly to the socialist road? Why do they so unscrupulously suppress and persecute those young comrades who dare to uphold principle and to resist and oppose them? Why do they want to finish off with a single blow the new and old cadres who have committed mistakes, including those who have committed serious mistakes but are willing to mend their ways, and why do they not apply the principle of learning from past mistakes to avoid future ones and curing the sickness to save the patient? Why do they incite bourgeois factionalism, instigate the use of force in struggle and provoke an all-round civil war, create splits within the ranks of the working class and among the people, set new cadres against the old and bring untold distress and sufferings to the masses? Why do they try to sow dissension among the nationalities, to create splits among them and to disrupt the unity of the big family of the Chinese nation? Why do they always rely on such new born counter-revolutionaries as Weng Sen-ho and Chang Tieh-sheng and on those bad elements who are time-servers with wild ambitions and who are engaged in beating, smashing and looting, steal state property and endanger the peace and order of society? Why do they arrogantly trample on the masses of workers, poor and lower-middle peasants, revolutionary intellectuals and other people, lord it over them, turn a blind eye to their sufferings and not even care whether they live or die? Why do they try to undermine Chairman Mao’s revolutionary line and policies in foreign affairs, worship things foreign, fawn upon foreigners, maintain illicit foreign relations and capitulate to imperialism? Why do they try to over throw all, completely deny our tremendous achievements in the socialist revolution and construction, denigrate our Party and the dictatorship of the proletariat, make havoc of socialist cultural and economic undertakings and sabotage the revolution and production? The only possible answer is: They are ultra-Rightists, out-and-out capitalist-roaders and the most ferocious counter-revolutionaries. What "Leftists "! What "radicals "! They could not have pursued a line farther to the Right!
The infamous records of Chang Chun-chiao, Chiang Ching and Yao Wen-yuan show that they were linked with the Chiang Kai-shek Kuomintang reactionaries in a thousand and one ways. From being counter-revolutionaries of the past to being counter-revolutionaries of today — that is the road they have kept to throughout. Wang Hung- wen, on the other hand, is a typical representative of the new-born bourgeoisie. The "gang of four" is in fact a sinister gang of these new and old-time counter-revolutionaries. The social basis of this gang is the landlords, rich peasants, counter revolutionaries, bad elements and new and old bourgeoisie. They formed a system of their own, a party within the Party, all for the interests of the gang itself and for the purpose of usurping Party power; it was an independent counter revolutionary underground kingdom. They are typical representatives of the bourgeoisie and the Chiang Kai-shek Kuomintang inside our Party. After stripping them of their disguises and going into their past records, we are no longer surprised to find that they hate the revolution so intensely and oppose communism and the people so frantically. Our struggle against them is a continuation of the prolonged struggle waged against the Kuomintang reactionaries by the Chinese Communist Party and the masses of the revolutionary people under its leadership, a continuation of the class struggle between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie and a continuation of the struggle between Marxism and revisionism. The smashing of the "gang of four" is another great example of the application of Chairman Mao’s great theory of continuing the revolution under the dictatorship of the proletariat. It is a great new victory for the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution and for our struggle against the capitalist-roaders in the Party who are still on the capitalist road.
I feel deeply that the great victory we have been able to achieve in smashing the "gang of four" should be attributed to our great leader Chairman Mao’s wise decision. Before his death, Chairman Mao not only criticized the "gang of four" repeatedly and severely, but made strategic arrangements for dealing with this gang. He significantly told the story of how Liu Pang saw through Empress Lu’s intention to usurp power,[1] and said: "Chiang Ching has wild ambitions" and "After I die, she will make trouble." Thus, in very sharp and explicit terms, he alerted us against the plot of the "gang of four" to usurp the supreme Party and state leadership. The arrangements of personnel Chairman Mao made before his death forestalled even more effectively the plot of the "gang of four" for a counter-revolutionary restoration. The "gang of four" was smashed precisely in accordance with Chairman Mao’s arrangements and his behests.
The great victory we have been able to achieve in smashing the "gang of four" should be attributed to great Mao Tsetung Thought and Chairman Mao’s proletarian revolutionary line and to our great Party, army and people. Chairman Mao’s great theory of continuing the revolution under the dictatorship of the proletariat has armed our whole Party, army and people. The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution initiated and led by Chairman Mao himself has tempered and educated the whole Party, army and people. Without such education and tempering the high political consciousness and revolutionary enthusiasm displayed by the masses of workers, peasants and soldiers in the struggle to smash the "gang of four" would be inconceivable. The great victory in smashing the "gang of four" fully demonstrates that our Party deserves to be called a Party founded and fostered by Chairman Mao himself, that our army deserves to be called an army founded and fostered by Chairman Mao himself, and that our people deserve to be called a people armed with Mao Tsetung Thought. Our Party has a great future, our country has a great future.
Comrades!
We have won a great historic victory in 1976. But we must not be complacent amidst the cheers of victory. We should continue to press forward. Our tasks ahead are both glorious and arduous. There will be all sorts of difficulties on our road of advance, particularly those resulting from pro longed interference and sabotage by the "gang of four" in the political, ideological, organizational, economic and other spheres. Nevertheless we are fully confident that we can surmount them all. We must unswervingly follow Chairman Mao’s proletarian revolutionary line and his various principles and policies, remain modest, prudent and free from arrogance and rashness and in the coming year grasp class struggle as the key link and exert our selves to win still greater victories.
What are the main fighting tasks for the whole Party, the whole army and the people of all nationalities throughout the country in 1977?
First, deepen the great mass movement to ex pose and criticize the "gang of four. " This is the central task for 1977.
To expose and criticize the "gang of four" is a great political revolution. In the past two months and more, there has been an upsurge in this mass movement which has unfolded in all parts of the country. We should do still better next year. We must have a firm, clear-cut stand, boldly arouse the masses, build up a revolutionary momentum and wage a people’s war to expose and criticize the "gang of four" thoroughly and intensively in the political, ideological and organizational spheres. The current campaign is focused on exposing and criticizing the plot of the "gang of four" to usurp Party and state power. The next step is to expose and criticize the counterrevolutionary features and criminal past of the "gang of four, " to expose and criticize the ultra-Right essence of its counter revolutionary revisionist line and the manifestations of this line in every aspect, and to refute the gang theoretically from the angle of philosophy, political economy and scientific socialism. Through exposure and criticism we must eradicate the pernicious influences of the "gang of four" on all fronts.
For a long time, with the mass media under their control, the "gang of four" spread a host of revisionist fallacies, trampled on the fundamental principles of Marxism at will and tampered with or distorted Chairman Mao’s proletarian revolutionary line and his various principles and policies. Metaphysics ran wild and idealism went rampant. The gang represented many correct things as in correct and vice versa, reversed right and wrong, confounded black and white, and did cause confusion in people’s thinking. It is imperative in the course of struggle to study Marxism-Leninism-Mao Tsetung Thought conscientiously and let the mass es themselves distinguish Marxism from revision ism and the correct line from the incorrect line. In industry, agriculture, commerce, culture and education, military affairs, government and Party, it is essential to take the Party’s basic line[2] formulated by Chairman Mao as the guide, sum up through earnest investigations and study the positive and the negative experience in the past as well as in the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, get clear about the specific line of work and the specific principles, policies and methods in each field and constantly improve and perfect them in the course of practice so that the work in all these fields can advance faster along Chairman Mao’s revolutionary line. It is essential to defend and develop the victories of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution and continue to do a good job in the revolution in the fields of education, literature and art, public health and science and technology and do our work well for the educated youth going to the countryside, encourage new socialist things, restrict bourgeois right and make sure that the task of consolidating the dictatorship of the proletariat is carried out in the grass-roots units.
In the struggle to expose and criticize the "gang of four," it is necessary to draw a strict distinction between the two types of contradictions of differing nature and handle them correctly and carry out Party policy in earnest. Our contradiction with the "gang of four" is one between our selves and the enemy. We must have a clear understanding of this. Those who followed the "gang of four" and made mistakes must be treated on the merits of each case. Among them only a few participated in their conspiracy, while the great majority erred because they had come under the influence of the gang ideologically. Even those who participated in the conspiracy did so not to the same extent. Whatever the extent, they are welcome once they make a clean breast of their part in the conspiracy before the Party and the people and draw a clear line between themselves and the "gang of four. " The target of attack should be confined to the "gang of four" and the handful of their unrepentant sworn followers. As for those who erred under the gang’s ideological influence, it is all the more necessary to stress the need to educate them, help them distinguish be tween the correct and incorrect lines and recognize the contents, harmful consequences and causes of their errors and the ways of rectifying them. To wards the erring comrades, we should adopt the policy: "First we must observe and second we must give help" and "Learn from past mistakes to avoid future ones and cure the sickness to save the patient." This is Chairman Mao’s consistent policy and a fine tradition evolved during the rectification movement in Yenan.[3] This policy and this tradition were seriously undermined by the "gang of four" for a long time and we must revive them effectively in the course of our struggle. We must unite with all those that can be united, including those who once wrongly opposed us, to fight together against the enemy.
Second, strengthen Party building. It is necessary to carry out a movement of education in Marxist ideology throughout the Party, centring on the strengthening of the Party’s unified leader ship and democratic centralism and the promotion of its fine style of work, so as to build up our Party well.
The Party is the force at the core that leads everything. In complete betrayal of the basic principles of "three do’s and three don’ts" (referring to the second quotation on p. 10 — Tr.), the "gang of four" practised revisionism, created splits and engaged in intrigues and conspiracies to under mine and disintegrate the Party, and ganged up to pursue their selfish interests and usurp Party power. In the few places and units where they maintained tight control and did much damage, unified Party leadership was impaired, all principles of Party life were trampled underfoot and the Party’s fine style of work was sabotaged. New Party members were recruited in violation of the provisions in the Party Constitution, cadres were promoted in disregard of the five requirements[4] put forward by Chairman Mao, and even bad elements were drawn into the Party and smuggled into leading bodies. Under the protection of the "gang of four, " some brazenly asked for leading positions and grabbed power at every opportunity. They would stoop to anything for the selfish interests of themselves or their gang. This evil bourgeois trend was highly corrosive to our Party’s organism and corruptive of the minds of our Party members; it was most harmful to the Party’s fighting power and its relations with the masses. We must carry out extensive education among the Party members so that they will truly realize the seriousness of the harm caused by the "gang of four" on the question of Party building; they will understand the fundamental principle that the Party is founded for public interests, that the interests of the Party and the people are above everything else and that ganging up for private interests is not allowed; they will understand the Party rule that forbids the formation of any faction or secret group within the Party; they will understand the importance of unified Party leadership and Party discipline and the harm of anarchism; they will understand that Party members must uphold the proletarian Party spirit and oppose bourgeois factionalism; they will understand that Party cadres are all servants of the people and must in no case ask the Party and the people for higher posts and power; they will understand that Party members must abide by the basic principles of "three do’s and three don’ts " 'and meet the five basic requirements[5]5 set in the Party Constitution. We must repudiate the practice of the "gang of four" of banding together to seek selfish interests and usurp Party power and must thoroughly discredit it so that like a rat scurrying across the street with everyone yelling: "Beat it! Beat it! " it will be deprived of its influence and find no market in the Party.
At the same time it is necessary to maintain a correct attitude towards the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, towards the masses and towards oneself. It is necessary to educate those comrades whose attitude is not correct.
In drawing the lesson from Chang Kuo-tao’s[6] attempt to split the Party, Chairman Mao pointed out: "We must affirm anew the discipline of the Party, namely: (1) The individual is subordinate to the organization; (2) the minority is subordinate to the majority; (3) the lower level is subordinate to the higher level; and (4) the entire membership is subordinate to the Central Committee." Today, in drawing the lesson from the attempt of the "gang of four" to usurp Party power by forming a small clique, we, too, must reaffirm these four democratic centralist principles of organization and discipline and ask all Party organizations and every Party member strictly to observe these principles in their action and wage resolute struggles against all words and deeds that run counter to these principles.
The "gang of four" also spared no effort to undermine the democratic life inside the Party and suppress any criticism directed at them; they ran a "steel plant" and a "cap factory"[7] to attack the revolutionary cadres and revolutionary masses. We must improve the democratic life inside the Party and among the people in accordance with the democratic centralist principles, let people air their views, let people criticize, allow the minority to reserve their differing views and strive to create a political situation in which there are both centralism and democracy, both discipline and freedom, both unity of will and personal ease of mind and liveliness.
It is highly necessary to carry out a Marxist ideological education movement throughout the Party in the struggle to criticize the "gang of four. " Plans have been made at this conference for Party consolidation and rectification in the countryside. The Central Committee is going to launch a movement of Party consolidation and rectification throughout the Party at an opportune moment next year. On the basis of ideological education which is our point of emphasis, we should conscientiously, resolutely and carefully solve the problem of varying degrees of impurity in ideology, organization and the style of work inside the Party resulting from sabotage by the "gang of four, " purify the ranks of our Party, restore and carry forward the Party’s fine style of work which entails integrating theory with practice, forging close links with the masses and practising criticism and self-criticism, and build the Party organizations at all levels into vigorous vanguard organizations capable of leading the proletariat and the revolutionary masses in the fight against the class enemy.
While strengthening Party building, we should strengthen the building of revolutionary committees at various levels in keeping with the developing situation. At an appropriate time next year, people’s congresses should be held in the provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions and, after full discussion and democratic consultation, comrades who meet the five requirements for worthy successors set forth by Chairman Mao, maintain close links with the masses and have their genuine support should be elected into revolutionary committees, leading bodies composed of the old, the middle-aged and the young, which should be enabled to play a more active role under the centralized leadership of the Party.
Third, deepen the mass movements In agriculture, learn from Tachai and In industry, learn from Taching and strive to push the national economy forward.
Revolution means liberating the productive forces. The great revolution which has smashed the "gang of four" has done away with a bane which disrupted the productive forces and obstructed their growth. The revolutionary enthusiasm of the worker and peasant masses long suppressed by the "gang of four" is bursting forth. And prospects are very bright for a rapid development of our national economy. We must implement in real earnest the strategic concept "Be prepared against war, be pre pared against natural disasters, and do everything for the people " and the principle "Take agriculture as the foundation and industry as the leading factor, " bring into full play the initiative of both the central and the local authorities, mobilize the masses, make determined and maximum efforts first to run agriculture well and also to run light industry well and organize the market well. Mean while we must do a good job in transport and communications and in heavy industries that produce fuel, electricity, petrochemicals, iron and steel and other raw and semi-finished materials, so as to ensure the smooth operation of industry as a whole. We must launch a big drive to increase production and practise economy, step up technical innovations, tap production potential, lower costs, improve the quality of products, raise labour productivity, increase accumulation, give full scope to the pro duction capacity of the existing enterprises and bring about an upsurge in grasping revolution and promoting production. We must see to it that our national economy will take a sure step forward in the coming year so as to prepare for a big growth of the national economy in the last three years of the Fifth Five-Year Plan period.
The tasks of learning from Tachai in agriculture and building more Tachai-type counties and of agricultural mechanization have been discussed and set at the present conference, and the whole Party must make serious efforts to fulfil them. The Central Committee has decided to hold a national conference on learning from Taching in industry before next May Day to disseminate Taching’s experience in adhering to Chairman Mao’s line in running socialist enterprises and implementing the Charter of the Anshan Iron and Steel Company[8] in an all-round way and to mobilize the whole Party and the working class to strive to build more Taching-type enterprises. Chairman Mao held up Tachai and Taching as two red banners, but the "gang of four" vainly attempted to cut them down. We must hold them high. Learning from Tachai and Taching means persevering in taking class struggle as the key link and thoroughly exposing and repudiating the "gang of four. " It means implementing Chairman Mao's instruction Management itself is a matter of socialist education, building leading bodies that adhere to Chairman Mao’s revolutionary line and maintain a militant unity so that leadership is truly in the hands of the Marxists and the workers and poor and lower- middle peasants. It means doing ideological and political work conscientiously and effectively, strengthening the revolutionary unity of the working class and the poor and lower-middle peasants and revolutionizing our ranks. It means launching mass movements energetically, bringing into full play the enthusiasm, wisdom and creativeness of the cadres and masses, unfolding socialist emulation campaigns and building socialism in a big way. Whether in industry or in agriculture, or in any other economic undertakings, we must follow the policy of building our country and running all our enterprises diligently and thriftily, rely on the masses, systematize rational rules and regulations, and improve and strengthen socialist economic management. We should encourage people to raise their cultural and technical levels for the sake of the revolution and to acquire proficiency in their work so as to be both red and expert. Leading cadres at all levels must persistently take part in collective productive labour and eat, live and work together with the workers and peasants. We must pay attention to the well-being of the masses and raise the living standard of the people step by step on the basis of increased production.
It is one of the fundamental tasks for the dictatorship of the proletariat to develop the socialist economy energetically. On condition that the socialist orientation is adhered to and proletarian politics is put in command, the more and the faster production develops, the better. By labelling this as the "theory of productive forces, " the "gang of four" distorted Marxism and vilified the workers, peasants and other working people. As early as 1957 Chairman Mao pointed out that only when the social productive forces were fairly adequately developed, could our socialist economic system and political system be considered to have acquired their own fairly adequate material foundation. In his Report on the Work of the Government to the 4th National People’s Congress in 1975, Premier Chou En-lai reiterated the grand plan Chairman Mao mapped out for our country to accomplish the comprehensive modernization of agriculture, industry, national defence and science and technology and bring our national economy to the front ranks in the world before the end of the century, and pointed out that the decade between 1976 and 1985 would be decisive for the realization of this plan. Now a year has passed. It is chiefly owing to interference and disruption by the "gang of four" that the achievement of our national economy this year is not as great as it should be. The people of the whole country now fervently hope that after the overthrow of the "gang of four, " our national economy will grow rapidly and they are deter mined to make up as soon as possible for the loss of time caused by the gang. The work in 1977 has a vital bearing on the situation of the subsequent eight years. We must exert ourselves, maintain in dependence, keep the initiative in our own hands and rely on our own efforts and strive to make outstanding achievements in all fields. Fourth, make further efforts to bring about a new high tide in the mass movement to study works by Marx, Engels, Lenin and Stalin and Chairman Mao’s works.
"We need Marxism in our struggle." Whether in thoroughly exposing and criticizing the "gang of four, " or in successfully building the Party, or in pushing the national economy forward, we must study conscientiously and well works by Marx, Engels, Lenin and Stalin and Chairman Mao’s works and the theory of the dictatorship of the pro-letariat, and use Marxism-Leninism-Mao Tsetung Thought to guide our struggle and command our work.
Immediately after smashing the "gang of four, " the Central Committee adopted the decision on the publication of the Selected Works of Mao Tsetung and the preparation for the publication of the Collected Works of Mao Tsetung. Now, I am happy to announce here to you comrades a piece of good news: Volume V of the Selected Works of Mao Tsetung, which the whole Party, the whole army and the people of all nationalities have been looking forward to, will come off the press in the first half of next year. This will be a great event in the political life of our people as well as in the annals of the development of Marxism. Volume V of the Selected Works of Mao Tsetung will be of an extremely great significance for guiding the thorough criticism of the "gang of four, " the building of our Party and the socialist revolution and socialist construction of our country and will exert most profound influence internationally. Its publication will be warmly welcomed by the Chinese people and the revolutionary people throughout the world.
In the course of conscientiously studying works by Marx, Engels, Lenin and Stalin and Chair man Mao’s works and penetratingly criticizing the "gang of four, " our whole Party, from the Central Committee down to local Party organizations, from departments in charge of ideological work to all other departments, must effectively grasp theoretical work. Otherwise, a big Party like ours would not be able to guide such complex struggles. For the present too, we must do theoretical work well in order to clear up the political and ideological confusion caused by the "gang of four. " Efforts must be made to train through struggle a backbone force for the Party’s theoretical work, and truly organize and build a powerful Marxist theoretical contingent. It is necessary to conscientiously and effectively organize and guide the worker-peasant- soldier masses and the cadres in their theoretical study and, first of all, responsible cadres at various levels must take the lead and study well. It is necessary to conduct good theoretical propaganda in newspapers, make a success of theoretical journals and strive to raise their levels. Party schools at various levels must be run well and education in theory strengthened. "May 7" cadre schools[9] must be run well. Worker-peasant-soldier activists in theoretical study and professional theoretical workers must be so organized that they can further temper themselves and play their role in the fore front of the struggle to criticize the "gang of four. " We must revive our Party’s fine style of study and of writing which was vulgarized and debased by the "gang of four. " First secretaries of the Party committees of all the provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions and top leaders of central departments of the Party, the government and the army must attach enough importance to theoretical work and must personally attend to it. With the lively and rich practical experience provided by the Chinese revolution and the world revolution, with Marxism-Leninism-Mao Tsetung Thought as the guide and with the attention of the whole Party, our Party’s theoretical work will certainly yield good results.
Comrades!
The internal situation at present is excellent. Our great leader and teacher Chairman Mao said: "Great disorder across the land leads to great order." By disorder Chairman Mao meant disorder among the enemy. What the "gang of four" did was to create disorder in the Party, in the army and among the people. Now that we have thrown the "gang of four" into disorder and toppled them in revolution, we will certainly be able, in the course of the acute struggle between the two class es, to achieve stability and unity in our country, consolidate the dictatorship of the proletariat and bring about great order across the land. This ac cords with the general trend of events and the aspirations of the people; it is a strategic policy decision taken by our Party Central Committee in conformity with the fundamental interests and common wishes of the people throughout the country.
It is our belief that 1977 will be a year in which we shall smash the "gang of four" completely and go towards great order, a year of united struggle and triumphant advance.
The current international situation is excel lent too. Our victories have the support of the genuine Marxist-Leninist Parties and organizations and the revolutionary people in all countries. We have friends all over the world. The imperialists, and the social-imperialists in particular, pinned their hopes on the possibility of a violent turmoil in China after the passing of Chairman Mao; their hopes have now come to naught. They also dreamed of the emergence of a certain force that would alter the revolutionary line and orientation Chairman Mao had defined for us; their dream has now been exploded too.
Both internally and internationally, we shall unswervingly forge ahead along the course charted by Chairman Mao. We are determined to adhere to the Party’s basic line for the entire historical period of socialism, enhance the great unity of the people of all nationalities throughout the country, wholeheartedly rely on the working class and the poor and lower-middle peasants, unite with other working people and the large number of intellectuals, further develop the revolutionary united front led by the working class, based on the worker-peasant alliance and embracing the patriotic democratic parties, patriotic personages, patriotic overseas Chinese and compatriots in Hongkong and Macao, consolidate the dictatorship of the proletariat in China, work hard to build a powerful socialist country, and strive to make a greater contribution to humanity. We are determined to accomplish the sacred cause of liberating Taiwan and reunifying our motherland. We are determined to uphold the principles of proletarian international ism, carry out the revolutionary line and policies in foreign affairs formulated by Chairman Mao, strengthen our unity with the international proletariat and the oppressed nations and oppressed people of the world, strengthen our unity with the third world countries and unite with all countries suffering from imperialist and social-imperialist aggression, subversion, intervention, control and bullying, so as to oppose the hegemonism of the two superpowers — the Soviet Union and the United States.
We are determined to carry out Chairman Mao’s behests, take upon our shoulders the cause of proletarian revolution bequeathed to us by him and carry it through to the end.
We are determined to win victory. We can certainly win victory. Let us, the 800 million people and the more than 30 million Party members, unite and wage a common struggle to win still greater victories!
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Notes
[1] Empress Lu. or Lu Chih, was the wife of Emperor Liu Pang, founder of the Western Han Dynasty (206 B.C.-A.D. 8). She is notorious in China’s history as a vicious and ruthless empress who schemed to usurp state power and ascend the throne. Before his death, Liu Pang discerned her wild ambitions and, taking an oath in blood with his ministers, asked them to forestall her plan. In relating this episode from the past, Chairman Mao alluded to the present, stressing the need to guard against Chiang Ching, a woman of the Empress Lu type, and prevent her usurpation of power.
[2] At the meeting on the work of the Party Central Committee at Peitaiho in August 1962 and at the Tenth Plenary Session of the Party’s Eighth Central Committee, Chairman Mao put forward in still more comprehensive terms our Party's basic line in the entire historical period of socialism. He pointed out: "Socialist society covers a considerably long historical period. In the historical period of socialism, there are still classes, class contradictions and class struggle, there is the struggle between the socialist road and the capitalist road, and there is the danger of capitalist restoration. We must recognize the protracted and complex nature of this struggle. We must heighten our vigilance. We must conduct socialist education. We must correctly understand and handle class contradictions and class struggle, distinguish the contradictions between ourselves and the enemy from those among the people and handle them correctly. Otherwise a socialist country like ours will turn into its opposite and degenerate, and a capitalist restoration will take place. From now on we must remind ourselves of this every year, every month and every day so that we can retain a rather sober understanding of this problem and have a Marxist-Leninist line."
[3] The Yenan rectification movement was a great movement launched under Chairman Mao Tsetung’s leadership in 1942. At the beginning of this movement, Chairman Mao made several reports including Rectify the Party's Style of Work and Oppose Stereotyped Party Writing. In these reports, he analysed the petty-bourgeois ideology and style which, masquerading as Marxism-Leninism, were prevalent in the Party, and which chiefly manifested themselves in subjectivist and sectarian tendencies, their form of expression being stereotyped Party writing. He called for a Party-wide movement of Marxist-Leninist education to rectify work style in accordance with the ideological principles of Marxism-Leninism. The movement resulted in strengthening the unity of the whole Party on the basis of Marxism and laying the ideological foundation for the country-wide victory.
[4] Summarizing the experience of the world communist movement, Chairman Mao pointed out in 1964: "In order to guarantee that our Party and country do not change their colour, we must not only have a correct line and correct policies but must train and bring up millions of successors who will carry on the cause of proletarian revolution." He set forth five requirements for worthy successors to the cause of proletarian revolution. These are:
"They must be genuine Marxist-Leninists and not revisionists like Khrushchov wearing the cloak of Marx ism-Leninism.
"They must be revolutionaries who wholeheartedly serve the overwhelming majority of the people of China and the whole world, and must not be like Khrushchov who serves both the interests of the handful of members of the privileged bourgeois stratum in his own country and those of foreign imperialism and reaction.
"They must be proletarian statesmen capable of uniting and working together with the overwhelming majority. Not only must they unite with those who agree with them, they must also be good at uniting with those who disagree and even with those who formerly opposed them and have since been proved wrong in practice. But they must especially watch out for careerists and conspirators like Khrushchov and prevent such bad elements from usurping the leadership of the Party and the state at any level.
"They must be models in applying the Party’s democratic centralism, must master the method of leadership based on the principle of ‘from the masses, to the masses,’ and must cultivate a democratic style and be good at listening to the masses. They must not be despotic like Khrushchov and violate the Party’s democratic centralism, make surprise attacks on comrades or act arbitrarily and dictatorially.
"They must be modest and prudent and guard against arrogance and impetuosity; they must be imbued with the spirit of self-criticism and have the courage to correct mistakes and shortcomings in their work. They must never cover up their errors like Khrushchov, and claim all the credit for themselves and shift all the blame onto others."
[5] These are: (1) conscientiously study Marxism-Leninism- Mao Tsetung Thought and criticize revisionism; (2) work for the interests of the vast majority of people of China and the world; (3) be able at uniting with the great majority, including those who have wrongly opposed them but are sincerely correcting their mistakes; however, special vigilance must be maintained against careerists, conspirators and double-dealers so as to prevent such bad elements from usurping the leadership of the Party and the state at any level and guarantee that the leadership of the Party and the state always remains in the hands of Marxist revolutionaries; (4) consult with the masses when matters arise; (5) be bold in making criticism and self- criticism.
[6] Chang Kuo-tao was a renegade from the Chinese revolution. Speculating on the revolution, he joined the Chinese Communist Party in his youth. In the Party he committed many mistakes resulting in grave crimes. Most notoriously, in 1935 he opposed the Red Army’s northward march, established his own bogus central committee, and engaged in openly traitorous activities against the Party and the Central Committee. Clinging to his reactionary stand, he rejected the Party's education and proved incorrigible. He escaped by himself from the revolutionary base area in 1938 and joined the Kuomintang secret police, thus turning himself into a shameless renegade and secret agent.
[7] These are figurative descriptions of how the "gang of four" attacked and persecuted the revolutionary cadres and masses by the counter-revolutionary means of in discriminately slapping labels ("caps") on people and infinitely exaggerating everything into a "matter of principle."
[8] Summing up the experience gained by China’s advanced enterprises, Chairman Mao in 1960 formulated the Charter of the Anshan Iron and Steel Company consisting of five basic principles: (1) keep politics firmly in command; (2) strengthen Party leadership; (3) launch vigorous mass movements; (4) institute the system of cadre participation in productive labour and worker participation in management, of reform of irrational and outdated rules and regulations, and of close co-operation among workers, cadres and technicians; (5) go full steam ahead with the technical revolution.
[9] These are cadre schools of a new type set up in accordance with Chairman Mao’s directive of May 7, 1966. Cadres attend in rotation so as to remould, their world outlook by such means as actively taking part in current struggles, serious reading and study, engaging in collective productive labour, and going to work in the production brigades of nearby people’s communes. This is a measure of vital importance for carrying out the Party’s basic line in the historical period of socialism, opposing and guarding against revisionism, and consolidating the dictatorship of the proletariat.