Do Away with the Ideology of Bourgeois Right
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Do Away with the Ideology of Bourgeois Right By Zhang Chunqiao, People’s Daily, October 13, 1958 Translator’s Note: At the time he wrote this, Zhang Chunqiao had been a member of the city commit- tee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in Shanghai, publisher of the Shanghai newspaper Lib- eration, and a leader in attacking Rightist cultural figures in Shanghai. The article reflects the enthu- siasm for a rapid transition to communism that came out of the People’s Commune movement in 1958. Although the egalitarian “supply system” had been officially abolished in 1955, Zhang argues that it should be brought back and extended to the whole society. Mao considered this idea in 1958, and this article was only reprinted in Beijing’s People’s Daily at Mao’s insistence and with an (un- signed) introductory note that Mao wrote. Zhang later played a significant role in the Cultural Revolu- tion, and was prosecuted by the CPC’s victors as a member of the “Gang of Four.” Condemned to death, his sentence was later commuted to life in prison. He was released for medical reasons in 1998, and died in 2005. Editor's note: This essay of Comrade Zhang Chunqiao appeared in the Shanghai "Liberation" semi- monthly, number six, [1958], and is now reprinted here for discussion by comrades. This question needs discussion, because of the important issues now facing us. We think that Zhang's essay is ba- sically correct, but somewhat one-sided, precisely because what is said about the historical process may not be the complete explanation. The author put forward this issue clearly, however, and attracts attention. The essay is also quite understandable, and very good to read. All those people who are somewhat aware work, which makes the rank-and-file not of the history of the Communist Party of China feel that they are fighting for someone and of China's revolution are aware that under else, but for themselves and the peo- the leadership of the Party, in the Chinese ple. In the Red Army up to now there is people's armed forces and inside the revolu- nothing like regular salaried work, only tionary base areas, from the Workers' and distribution of grain, oil, salt, firewood, Peasants' Red Army up to the later Eight vegetable funds and a little pocket Route Army, the New Fourth Route Army, and money.... The Hunan Provincial Party the People's Liberation Army, from the Jing- Committee wanted us to pay attention gang Mountains base area up to the later vast to the material livelihood of the rank- liberation areas, there it was always equality of and-file, and wanted at least quite a few the army and the people, of officers and men, to be near ordinary workers' and peas- and equality of high and low, which was re- ants' livelihoods. garded as a basic principle for handling mutual “Now the standard is different, the relations among the people. This principle was grain is eliminated, and every day for founded in the earliest revolutionary base area every person only 5 silver coins' worth in the Jinggang Mountains, under comrade of oil, salt, firewood, vegetables are al- Mao Zedong's direct leadership. lotted, and it is still hard to keep up.... In "the Jinggang Mountains struggle" re- Now that it is cold, many rank-and-file port to the central committee of the Communist soldiers still wear two-layer unlined Party of China, comrade Mao Zedong de- clothes. This is accepted only because scribed the principle: of bitter experience. But when people "The greater part of the Red Army have the same bitterness, from army rank-and-file come from hired troops, commander to mess cook, except for but when they enter the Red Army, grain, everyone eats meals of five fen their character promptly changes. First, coins.... the Red Army has abolished hired 1 “The Red Army's material liveli- the relationships of the government and the hood is poor like this, and it often fights people, in army and government relationships, this way, but still cannot avoid being relations between cadres, relations between shabby, but the Party's actions precise- high and low, left and right, all abided by this ly depend on practical democracy [that kind of comradely style of equal relationships. is, equality] among the troops. Officers People did not depend on having authority and chiefs don't hit the rank-and-file, of- or guns, they didn't depend on bureaucratic ficers and men are treated equally, airs, or on power or prestige, but they relied on rank-and-file have freedom of speech in serving the people, and depended on persua- meetings, elaborate ceremonies are sion and on the truth to deal with their relation- abolished, the economy is public. ships. The popular masses of the revolutionary “Rank-and-file troops manage base areas also learned the model of the Peo- meals, and still can have oil, salt, fire- ple's Liberation Army for dealing with the rela- wood, and vegetable funds, and from tionships between this section of the people the daily five allotment of fen, there is a and that section of the people. When foreign- little surplus to use for pocket money, ers set foot on these liberated lands, they im- called "food supplement," which mediately found: In the whole revolutionary amounts to about 60-70 wen per per- base area, because of correct handling of in- son per day. By these means, the rank- ternal relations, everyone's life was good, alt- and-file is quite satisfied. Newly cap- hough very difficult, but "good only because of tured troops particularly feel that the bitter experience, when people have the same Guomindang and our armed forces are bitterness," with everyone undergoing the two different worlds. Although they feel communist character of the supply system, alt- that the Red Army men's material liveli- hough because of the needs of work, the hood is not as good as the white army, standards of living had small differences, but their spirit has been liberated. didn't differ very much. At the same time eve- “The soldiers are the same, but rywhere people discussed politics and dis- yesterday in the enemy forces they cussed the mass line, hence workers, peas- were not brave, and today in the Red ants and soldiers studied and consulted, unit- Army they are very brave, which is pre- ing without differences, like relatives in a fami- cisely the influence of democratization. ly, struggling hard and bravely fighting the en- The Red Army is like a stove, a cap- emy. Doesn't everyone still remember the sight tured soldier comes over and immedi- of the large military operations of the liberation ately melts. war period? “In China not only the people need In order to support the People's Liberation democratization, but the armed forces Army, thousands and tens of thousands of mili- also need democratization. The democ- tiamen followed the army's main forces south, ratized system inside the army is an and like the army, they equally underwent the important weapon for the destruction of military communist lifestyle, not to be promot- the feudal system of mercenary troops." ed, not to get rich, and not even thinking of 1 wanting to get paid, not thinking of practicing As everyone knows, in the people's armed "piece work wages," they carried their food on forces this kind of Marxist-Leninist, communist their own backs to fight the revolution whole- relationships established the model for the re- heartedly, only to overthrow the three big ene- lationships inside revolutionary base areas. In mies and liberate the whole country. In the the relationships of the army and the people, in whole revolutionary base area, men and wom- en, old and young, front and rear, hearts linked 1 "The Struggle in the Jinggang Mountains," to hearts, formed the fighting collective. Pre- November 25, 1928, Mao Zedong Selected cisely this kind of military communist life sym- Works (Chinese Edition), Vol. 1, pp. 67-68.— bolizing the Marxist-Leninist style of thinking, trans. Mao Zedong's style of thinking, which hun- dreds of millions of people have already pene- trated to the root, opened the bloom, and bore 2 the fruit. But this kind of use of communist ide- as if it had committed a big crime, must not be ological weapons arose and took part in the wrongly sentenced to death [for these short- battle to temper the army and the people, and comings]. is invincible! Doesn't the whole history of the The most basic argument that people use Chinese revolution prove this? against the supply system is precisely that the After the liberation of the whole country, supply system cannot stimulate productive ac- this kind of use of the "supply system," which tivity. According to their theory it is precisely served as the distinguishing feature of a mili- the Economists [that is, reformists] who stress tary communist life, was still very popular. Re- the "principle of material incentive." They say ferring to the "supply system" is like speaking that because the remains of the division of la- about the old revolution, the same as speaking bor, the differences between mental labor and about the difficult struggles that people consid- physical labor, between worker labor and er glorious. When some young revolutionaries peasant labor, between skilled labor and sim- now take part in work, they expect a "supply ple labor are still preserved under the socialist system," to indicate their similarity to the old system, and therefore "the principle that work- comrades, and that they genuinely and sin- ers are concerned with the results of work and cerely come to the revolution.