Proposals of Lianjiang County Committee [Fujian Province] Concerning the Work of Readjusting the People’s Communes through Winter and next Spring (Draft), 5 January 1963

Abstract

The rural people’s communes in our county have carried out several years of readjustment and improvement. Basically they rest on firm foundations. Most of the communes and teams are managed very well. However, since the spirit of individual enterprise started this year [1962] a series of problems have appeared. The main problem is that cadres and commune members have lost direction and their ideology has become confused. Their leaning towards low production and their emphasis on individualism, while belittling collectivisation, have become widespread and serious. In the realms of organisation and management there are also problems waiting to be solved. An important problem is that there has been no consistent practice of work recording and evaluation of work points; the system of labour and fertiliser management has been weak; and the system of rewards and penalties has not been implemented. At the same time, in some places there are problems concerning the behaviour of cadres, such as the adoption of undemocratic attitudes; doing private financial deals; corruption and greed. Based on these considerations, the County Committee’s proposal to develop a commune rectification movement this winter and next spring is entirely necessary and timely. Through it we must strengthen socialist education, further consolidate the socialist camp in rural areas and maintain our faith in collectivisation.

Issued by the Lianjiang County Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, Fujian Province. Translated from an unpublished version.