李克勤：由“穷棒子社”感悟毛主席引导农民的自发与自觉

　　李克勤（jixuie）题记：毛主席对中国农民，对农村，对农业，有一整套的理论与实践，那是毛主席道器变通的重要内容。毛主席始终把人放在第一位，解决农村农业问题，当然就把农民放在第一位。中国农民有着自发的致富欲望，但依靠传统的办法，只是少数人富，多数人穷。毛主席通过引导农民自觉组织起来，走集体化道路，从而改变贫穷落后状态。

　　延安时期毛主席有一篇重要著作《组织起来》，电影《金光大道》里面有农民集体学习其中的一段：

　　【在农民群众方面，几千年来都是个体经济，一家一户就是一个生产单位，这种分散的个体生产，就是封建统治的经济基础，而使农民自己陷于永远的穷苦。克服这种状况的唯一办法，就是逐渐地集体化；而达到集体化的唯一道路，依据列宁所说，就是经过合作社。在边区，我们现在已经组织了许多的农民合作社，不过这些在目前还是一种初级形式的合作社，还要经过若干发展阶段，才会在将来发展为苏联式的被称为集体农庄的那种合作社。】

　　那个时候，在解放区就已经有了合作化试点，后来李顺达成了典型。

　　参见：

　　毛主席为农村集体经济的先驱李顺达敬酒的深意【图】

　　全国解放以后，出现了合作化高潮。

　　1956年1月，由毛主席主持编纂的《中国农村的社会主义高潮》一书，就是专门介绍农村合作社的。

　　《书记动手，全党办社》和《勤俭办社》这两篇文章，是谈一个合作社的。其中《书记动手，全党办社》作为首篇收录，毛主席对这篇文章做了多处文字修改，并写了编者按。

　　按语指出：“遵化县的合作化运动中，有一个王国藩合作社，二十三户贫农，只有三条驴腿，被人称为‘穷棒子社’。他们用自己的努力，在三年时间内，‘从山上取来’了大批生产资料，使得有些参观的人感动得下泪。我看这就是我们整个国家的形象。难道六万万穷棒子不能在几十年内，由于自己的努力，变成一个社会主义的又富又强的国家吗？社会的财富是工人、农民和劳动知识分子自己创造的。只要这些人掌握了自己的命运，又有一条马克思列宁主义的路线，不是回避问题，而是用积极的态度去解决问题，任何人间的困难总是可以解决的。”

　　毛主席在《勤俭办社》这篇文章的按语中写道：“这里介绍的合作社，就是王国藩领导的穷棒子社。勤俭经营应当是全国一切农业生产合作社的方针，不，应当是一切经济事业的方针。勤俭办工厂，勤俭办商店，勤俭办一切国营事业和合作事业，勤俭办一切事业，什么事情都应当执行勤俭的原则。这就是节约的原则，节约是社会主义经济的基本原则之一。”

　　从此，西铺村成为全国远近闻名的办社典型。

穷棒子社，如今成了毛泽东文化的教育基地

视频链接：v.qq.com/x/page/x135769dx2v.html

1959年的河北省遵化县王国藩穷棒子合作社 ，用起了拖拉机。

1943年11月29日 组织起来

　　这是毛主席在中共中央招待陕甘宁边区劳动英雄大会上的讲话。

　　今天共产党中央招待陕甘宁边区从农民群众中、工厂中、部队中、机关学校中选举出来的男女劳动英雄，以及在生产中的模范工作者，我代表中央来讲几句话。我想讲的意思，拿几个字来概括，就是“组织起来”。边区的农民群众和部队、机关、学校、工厂中的群众，根据去年冬天中共中央西北局所召集的高级干部会议的决议，今年进行了一年的生产运动。这一年的生产，在各方面都有了很大的成绩和很大的进步，边区的面目为之一新。事实已经完全证明：高级干部会议的方针是正确的。高级干部会议方针的主要点，就是把群众组织起来，把一切老百姓的力量、一切部队机关学校的力量、一切男女老少的全劳动力半劳动力，只要是可能的，就要毫无例外地动员起来，组织起来，成为一支劳动大军。我们有打仗的军队，又有劳动的军队。打仗的军队，我们有八路军新四军；这支军队也要当两支用，一方面打仗，一方面生产。我们有了这两支军队，我们的军队有了这两套本领，再加上做群众工作一项本领，那末，我们就可以克服困难，把日本帝国主义打垮。如果边区去年以前的生产运动的成绩还不够大，还不够显著，还不足以完全证明这一点，那末今年的成绩，就完全证明了这一点，这是大家亲眼看见了的。

　　边区的军队，今年凡有地的，做到每个战士平均种地十八亩，吃的菜、肉、油，穿的棉衣、毛衣、鞋袜，住的窑洞、房屋，开会的大小礼堂，日用的桌椅板凳、纸张笔墨，烧的柴火、木炭、石炭，差不多一切都可以自己造，自己办。我们用自己动手的方法，达到了丰衣足食的目的。每个战士，一年中只需花三个月工夫从事生产，其余九个月时间都可以从事训练和作战。我们的军队既不要国民党政府发饷，也不要边区政府发饷，也不要老百姓发饷，完全由军队自己供给；这一个创造，对于我们的民族解放事业，该有多么重大的意义啊！抗日战争六年半中，敌人在各抗日根据地内实行烧、杀、抢的“三光”政策，陕甘宁边区则遭受国民党的重重封锁，财政上经济上处于非常困难的地位，我们的军队如果只会打仗，那是不能解决问题的。现在我们边区的军队已经学会了生产；前方的军队，一部分也学会了，其他部分正在开始学习。只要我们全体英勇善战的八路军新四军，人人个个不但会打仗，会作群众工作，又会生产，我们就不怕任何困难，就会是孟夫子说过的：“无敌于天下。”我们的机关学校，今年也大进了一步，向政府领款只占经费的一小部分，由自己生产解决的占了绝大部分；去年还只自给蔬菜百分之五十，今年就自给了百分之一百；喂猪养羊大大增加了肉食；又开设了许多作坊生产日用品。部队机关学校既然自己解决了全部或大部的物质问题，用税收方法从老百姓手中取给的部分就减少了，老百姓生产的结果归自己享受的部分就增多了。军民两方大家都发展生产，大家都做到丰衣足食，大家都欢喜。还有我们的工厂，发展了生产，清查了特务，生产效率也大大提高了。整个边区，产生了许多农业劳动英雄、工业劳动英雄、机关学校劳动英雄，军队中也出了许多劳动英雄，边区的生产，可以说是走上了轨道。凡此，都是实行把群众力量组织起来的结果。

　　把群众力量组织起来，这是一种方针。还有什么与此相反的方针没有呢？有的。那就是缺乏群众观点，不依靠群众，不组织群众，不注意把农村、部队、机关、学校、工厂的广大群众组织起来，而只注意组织财政机关、供给机关、贸易机关的一小部分人；不把经济工作看作是一个广大的运动，一个广大的战线，而只看作是一个用以补救财政不足的临时手段。这就是另外一种方针，这就是错误的方针。陕甘宁边区过去是存在过这种方针的，经过历年的指正，特别是经过去年的高级干部会议和今年的群众运动，大概现在还作这样错误想法的人是少了。华北华中各个根据地，因为战争紧张，也因为领导机关注意不够，群众的生产运动还没有广大的开展。但是在中央今年十月一号的指示以后，各个地方也都在准备发动明年的生产运动了。前方的条件，比陕甘宁边区更困难，不但有严重的战争，有些地方还有严重的灾荒。但是为了支持战争，为了对付敌人的“三光”政策，为了救济灾荒，就不能不动员全体党政军民，一面打击敌人，一面实行生产。前方的生产，过去几年已经有了一些经验，加上今年冬天的思想准备、组织准备和物质准备，明年可能造成广大的运动，并且必须造成广大的运动。前方处于战争环境，还不能做到“丰衣足食”，但是“自己动手，克服困难”，则是完全可以做到，并且必须做到的。

　　目前我们在经济上组织群众的最重要形式，就是合作社。我们部队机关学校的群众生产，虽不要硬安上合作社的名目，但是这种在集中领导下用互相帮助共同劳动的方法来解决各部门各单位各个人物质需要的群众的生产活动，是带有合作社性质的。这是一种合作社。

　　

　　我们的经济是新民主主义的，我们的合作社目前还是建立在个体经济基础上（私有财产基础上）的集体劳动组织。这又有几种样式。一种是“变工队”、“扎工队”这一类的农业劳动互助组织，从前江西红色区域叫做劳动互助社，又叫耕田队，现在前方有些地方也叫互助社。无论叫什么名称，无论每一单位的人数是几个人的，几十个人的，几百个人的，又无论单是由全劳动力组成的，或有半劳动力参加的，又无论实行互助的是人力、畜力、工具，或者在农忙时竟至集体吃饭住宿，也无论是临时性的，还是永久性的，总之，只要是群众自愿参加（决不能强迫）的集体互助组织，就是好的。这种集体互助的办法是群众自己发明出来的。从前我们在江西综合了群众的经验，这次我们在陕北又综合了这样的经验。经过去年高级干部会议的提倡，今年一年的实行，边区的劳动互助就大为条理化和更加发展了。今年边区有许多变工队，实行集体的耕种、锄草、收割，收成比去年多了一倍。群众看见了这样大的实效，明年一定有更多的人实行这个办法。我们现在不希望在明年一年就把全边区的几十万个全劳动力和半劳动力都组织到合作社里去，但是在几年之内是可能达到这个目的的。妇女群众也要全部动员参加一定分量的生产。所有二流子都要受到改造，参加生产，变成好人。在华北华中各抗日根据地内，都应该在群众自愿的基础上，广泛组织这种集体互助的生产合作社。
　　除了这种集体互助的农业生产合作社以外，还有三种形式的合作社，这就是延安南区合作社式的包括生产合作、消费合作、运输合作（运盐）、信用合作的综合性合作社，运输合作社（运盐队）以及手工业合作社。

　　我们有了人民群众的这四种合作社，和部队机关学校集体劳动的合作社，我们就可以把群众的力量组织成为一支劳动大军。这是人民群众得到解放的必由之路，由穷苦变富裕的必由之路，也是抗战胜利的必由之路。每一个共产党员，必须学会组织群众的劳动。知识分子出身的党员，也必须学会；只要有决心，半年一年工夫就可以学好的。他们可以帮助群众组织生产，帮助群众总结经验。我们的同志学会了组织群众的劳动，学会了帮助农民做按家生产计划，组织变工队，组织运盐队，组织综合性合作社，组织军队的生产，组织机关学校的生产，组织工厂的生产，组织生产竞赛，奖励劳动英雄，组织生产展览会，发动群众的创造力和积极性，加上旁的各项本领，我们就一定可以把日本帝国主义打出去，一定可以协同全国人民，把一个新国家建立起来。

　　我们共产党员，无论在什么问题上，一定要能够同群众相结合。如果我们的党员，一生一世坐在房子里不出去，不经风雨，不见世面，这种党员，对于中国人民究竟有什么好处没有呢？一点好处也没有的，我们不需要这样的人做党员。我们共产党员应该经风雨，见世面；这个风雨，就是群众斗争的大风雨，这个世面，就是群众斗争的大世面。“三个臭皮匠，合成一个诸葛亮”，这就是说，群众有伟大的创造力。中国人民中间，实在有成千成万的“诸葛亮”，每个乡村，每个市镇，都有那里的“诸葛亮”。我们应该走到群众中间去，向群众学习，把他们的经验综合起来，成为更好的有条理的道理和办法，然后再告诉群众（宣传），并号召群众实行起来，解决群众的问题，使群众得到解放和幸福。如果我们做地方工作的同志脱离了群众，不了解群众的情绪，不能够帮助群众组织生产，改善生活，只知道向他们要救国公粮，而不知道首先用百分之九十的精力去帮助群众解决他们“救民私粮”的问题，然后仅仅用百分之十的精力就可以解决救国公粮的问题，那末，这就是沾染了国民党的作风，沾染了官僚主义的灰尘。国民党就是只问老百姓要东西，而不给老百姓以任何一点什么东西的。如果我们共产党员也是这样，那末，这种党员的作风就是国民党的作风，这种党员的脸上就堆上了一层官僚主义的灰尘，就得用一盆热水好好洗干净。我觉得，在无论哪一个抗日根据地的地方工作中，都存在有这种官僚主义的作风，都有一部分缺乏群众观点因而脱离群众的工作同志。我们必须坚决地克服这种作风，才能和群众亲密地结合起来。

　　此外，在我们的军队工作中，还存在有一种军阀主义作风，这也是一种国民党的作风，因为国民党军队是脱离群众的。我们的军队必须在军民关系上、军政关系上、军党关系上、官兵关系上、军事工作和政治工作关系上、干部相互关系上，遵守正确的原则，决不可犯军阀主义的毛病。官长必须爱护士兵，不能漠不关心，不能采取肉刑；军队必须爱护人民，不能损害人民利益；军队必须尊重政府，尊重党，不能闹独立性。我们的八路军新四军是人民的军队，历来是好的，现在也是好的，是全国军队中一支最好的军队。但是近年来确实生长了一种军阀主义的毛病，一部分军队工作同志养成了一种骄气，对士兵，对人民，对政府，对党，横蛮不讲理，只责备做地方工作的同志，不责备自己，只看见成绩，不看见缺点，只爱听恭维话，不爱听批评话。例如陕甘宁边区，就有这种现象。经过去年的高级干部会议和军政干部会，又经过今年春节的拥政爱民运动和拥军运动，这个倾向是根本地克服下去了，还有一些残余，还必须继续去克服。华北华中各根据地内，这种毛病都是有的，那里的党和军队必须注意克服这种毛病。

　　无论在地方工作中，在军队工作中，无论是官僚主义倾向或军阀主义倾向，其毛病的性质都是一样，就是脱离群众。我们的同志，绝对大多数都是好同志。对于有了毛病的人，一经展开批评，揭发错误，也就可以改正。但是必须开展自我批评，正视错误倾向，认真实行改正。如果在地方工作中不批评官僚主义倾向，在军队工作中不批评军阀主义倾向，那就是愿意保存国民党作风，愿意保存官僚主义灰尘和军阀主义灰尘在自己清洁的脸上，那就不是一个好党员。如果我们在地方工作中去掉官僚主义倾向，在军队工作中去掉军阀主义倾向，那就一切工作都会顺利地开展，生产运动当然也是这样。

　　我们边区的生产，无论在农民群众方面、机关学校方面、军队方面、工厂方面，都得到了很大的成绩，在军民关系上也有了很大进步，边区的面目，和以前大不相同了。所有这些，都是我们的同志的群众观点已经加强，同群众的结合大进一步的表现。但是我们不应该自满，我们还要继续作自我批评，还要继续求进步。我们的生产也要继续求进步。我们脸上有灰尘，就要天天洗脸，地上有灰尘，就要天天扫地。尽管我们在地方工作中的官僚主义倾向，在军队工作中的军阀主义倾向，已经根本上克服了，但是这些恶劣倾向又可以生长起来的。我们是处在日本帝国主义和中国反动势力的层层包围之中，我们是处在散漫的小资产阶级的包围之中，极端恶浊的官僚主义灰尘和军阀主义灰尘天天都向我们的脸上大批地扑来。因此，我们决不能一见成绩就自满自足起来。我们应该抑制自满，时时批评自己的缺点，好像我们为了清洁，为了去掉灰尘，天天要洗脸，天天要扫地一样。

　　各位劳动英雄和模范生产工作者，你们是人民的领袖，你们的工作是很有成绩的，我希望你们也不要自满。我希望你们回到关中去，回到陇东去，回到三边去，回到绥德去，回到延属各县去，回到机关学校部队工厂去，领导人民，领导群众，把工作做得更好，首先是按自愿的原则把群众组织到合作社里来，组织得更多，更好。希望你们回去实行这一条，宣传这一条，使明年再开劳动英雄大会的时候，我们能够得到更大的成绩。

　　参见：

　　http://www.cctv.com/special/756/1/49780.html

GET ORGANIZED!

November 29, 1943

　　[Comrade Mao Tse-tung made this speech at a reception in honour of the labour heroes of the Shensi-Kansu-Ningsia Border Region.]

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　　On behalf of the Central Committee of the Communist Party I would like to say a few words at this reception it is giving for the labour heroes and heroines and other model workers in production elected from the villages, the factories, the armed forces, the government and other organizations and the schools in the Shensi-Kansu-Ningsia Border Region. What I want to say can be summed up in the words, "Get organized!" This year the peasant masses and the people in the army, the government and other organizations, the schools and the factories of the Border Region have been conducting a production campaign in accordance with the resolutions of the meeting of senior cadres convened last winter by the Northwest Bureau of the Central Committee. Great achievements and advances have been scored in every field of production this year and the Border Region has taken on a new look. Facts have fully borne out the correctness of the policy adopted by the conference of senior cadres. The gist of this policy is to organize the masses, to mobilize and organize into a great army of labour all the available forces without exception--the people, the army, the government and other organizations and the schools--all men and women, young and old, who can contribute their labour power on a part-time or full-time basis. We have an army for fighting as well as an army for labour. For fighting we have the Eighth Route and New Fourth Armies; but even they do a dual job, warfare and production. With these two kinds of armies, and with a fighting army skilled in these two tasks and in mass work, we can overcome our difficulties and defeat Japanese imperialism. If the achievements of our production campaign in the Border Region in recent years were not great or remarkable enough to prove this conclusively, our achievements this year have really done so, as we have all seen with our own eyes.

　　In all the armed units of the Border Region that have been allotted land this year, the soldiers have on the average cultivated eighteen mou per person; and they can produce or make practically everything--food (vegetables, meat and cooking oil), clothing (cotton-padded clothes, woollen knitwear and footwear), shelter (cave-dwellings, houses and meeting halls), articles of daily use (tables, chairs, benches and stationery), and fuel (firewood, charcoal and coal). By using our own hands we have attained the objective of "ample food and clothing". Every soldier needs to spend only three months of the year in production and can devote the remaining nine months to training and fighting. Our troops depend for their pay neither on the Kuomintang government, nor on the Border Region Government, nor on the people, but can fully provide for themselves. What a vitally important innovation for our cause of national liberation! During the last six and a half years of the War of Resistance, the anti-Japanese base areas have been subjected to the enemy's policy of "burn all, kill all, loot all", the Shensi-Kansu-Ningsia Border Region has been tightly blockaded by the Kuomintang and we were reduced to the direst straits financially and economically; if our troops had been able to do nothing except fight, we would never have solved our problems. Now our troops in the Border Region have learned to produce, and so have some of the troops at the front, while others are learning. If every man in our heroic and combat-worthy Eighth Route and New Fourth Armies becomes able not only to fight and do mass work but also to produce, we need fear no difficulty and shall be "invincible under heaven", [1] to use the words of Mencius. Our organizations and schools have also taken a big step forward this year. Only a small part of their expenditure has come from the government, most of it being covered by their own production; they have grown 100 per cent of the vegetables they consume as compared with 50 per cent last year, considerably increased their consumption of meat by raising pigs and sheep, and established many workshops for making simple necessities. As the army, the organizations and the schools now meet their own material needs fully or for the most part, less is taken in taxation from the people, who can therefore enjoy more of the fruits of their labour. As soldiers and civilians are alike increasing production, all have ample food and clothing and are happy. In our factories, too, production has been stepped up, secret agents have been combed out and productivity has risen greatly. Throughout the Border Region, labour heroes have come forward in great numbers in agriculture and industry, in the organizations and the schools, and also in the army; we can say that production in the Border Region has been set on the right path. All this comes from organizing the strength of the masses.

　　To organize the strength of the masses is one policy. Is there a contrary policy? Yes, there is. It is one that lacks the mass viewpoint, fails to rely on the masses or organize them, and gives exclusive attention to organizing the small number of people working in the financial, supply or trading organizations, while paying no attention to organizing the masses in the villages, the army, the government and other organizations, the schools and factories; it treats economic work not as a broad movement or as an extensive front, but only as an expedient for meeting financial deficits. That is the other policy, the wrong policy. Such a policy formerly existed in the Shensi-Kansu-Ningsia Border Region, but after the correct guidance given over these years, and especially after the senior cadres' conference last year and the mass movement this year, the number of people who still think this way is probably small. In the base areas in northern and central China, where fighting is intense and the leading bodies have not given it enough attention, the production campaign of the masses has not yet become widespread. However, since the Central Committee's directive of October 1 [2] this year, preparations are being made everywhere for a production campaign next year. Conditions at the front are more difficult than in the Border Region; not only is there heavy fighting, but natural disasters have occurred in some places. Nevertheless, we must mobilize the entire Party, the government and the army and the civilian population both to fight against the enemy and to engage in production, in order to support the war, to cope with the enemy's policy of "burn all, kill all, loot all" and to provide disaster relief. With the experience already gained in the last few years in production at the front, and with the ideological, organizational and material preparations this winter, an extensive campaign can be and must be launched next year. In the front-line areas where fighting is going on, it is not yet possible to have "ample food and clothing" but quite possible and, indeed, imperative to "use our own hands and overcome difficulties".

　　The co-operatives are now the most important form of mass organization in the economic field. Although it is unnecessary to insist on attaching the label co-operative to the productive activities of the masses in our army, our government and other organizations and our schools, these activities are of a co-operative nature, being carried on under centralized leadership to meet the material needs of various departments, units and individuals through mutual help and joint labour. They are co-operatives of a sort.

　　Among the peasant masses a system of individual economy has prevailed for thousands of years, with each family or household forming a productive unit. This scattered, individual form of production is the economic foundation of feudal rule and keeps the peasants in perpetual poverty. The only way to change it is gradual collectivization, and the only way to bring about collectivization, according to Lenin, is through co-operatives. [3] We have already organized many peasant co-operatives in the Border Region, but at present they are only of a rudimentary type and must go through several stages of development before they can become co-operatives of the Soviet type known as collective farms. Ours is a new-democratic economy, and our co-operatives are still organizations for collective labour based on an individual economy (on private property). Furthermore, they are of several types. One type is the organization of agricultural labour for mutual aid, such as the "teams for the exchange of labour" and "teams for the exchange and hire of labour"; [4] this kind of organization was known as the "mutual-aid working group" or "ploughing team" [5] in the Red areas in Kiangsi and is now called the "mutual-aid group" in some places at the front. So long as they are collective mutual-aid organizations which the people join voluntarily (compulsion must never be used), all of them are good, no matter how they are named, no matter whether they are each composed of a few, a few dozen or hundreds of people, or whether they are composed entirely or partly of people who can contribute full-time labour; no matter whether the members render each other mutual aid in terms of manpower, animal power or implements, or they live and eat together during the busy farming season; and no matter whether the organizations are temporary or permanent. These methods of collective mutual aid are the inventions of the masses themselves. In the past we summed up such experience among the masses in Kiangsi, and now we are summing it up in northern Shensi. In the Border Region mutual aid in labour has become much more systematic and better developed, after being encouraged by the meeting of senior cadres last year and put into practice all through the current year. Many labour-exchange teams in the Border Region have done their ploughing, planting, weeding and reaping collectively, and the harvest this year is double that of last. Now that the masses have seen these substantial results, undoubtedly more and more people will adopt the practice next year. We do not expect to organize into co-operatives in one year all the hundreds of thousands of people in the Border Region who can contribute full-time or part-time labour, but this objective can be realized within a few years. All women, too, should be mobilized to do a certain amount of productive work. All loafers must be reformed into good citizens through participation in production. Such collective mutual-aid producers' co-operatives should be extensively and voluntarily organized in all the anti-Japanese base areas in northern and central China.

　　Besides the collective mutual-aid co-operative for agricultural production, there are three other varieties: the multi-purpose cooperative like the Southern District Co-operative of Yenan, which combines the functions of producers', consumers', transport (salt transport) and credit co-operatives; the transport co-operative (salt transport team); and the handicraft co-operative.

　　With these four kinds of co-operatives among the masses and the collective labour co-operatives in the army, the schools and the government and other organizations, we can organize all the forces of the people into a great army of labour. This is the only road to liberation for the people, the only road from poverty to prosperity and the only road to victory in the War of Resistance. Every Communist must learn to organize the labour of the masses. Communists with an intellectual background must also learn to do so; once they have set their minds on it, they can learn in six months or a year. They can help the masses to organize production and to sum up experience. When our comrades have learned, among other skills, to organize the labour of the masses--to help the peasants draw up their household production plans, to set up labour-exchange teams, salt transport teams and multi-purpose co-operatives, to organize production in the army, the schools and the government and other organizations, to organize production in the factories, develop emulation in production, encourage and reward labour heroes, and arrange production exhibitions--when our comrades have learned to bring the creative power and initiative of the masses into play, we shall certainly be able to drive out the Japanese imperialists and, together with the whole people, build up a new China.

　　We Communists must be able to integrate ourselves with the masses in all things. If our Party members spend their whole lives sitting indoors and never go out to face the world and brave the storm, what good will they be to the Chinese people? None at all, and we do not need such people as Party members. We Communists ought to face the world and brave the storm, the great world of mass struggle and the mighty storm of mass struggle. "Three cobblers with their wits combined equal Chukeh Liang the master mind." [6] In other words, the masses have great creative power. In fact there are thousands upon thousands of Chukeh Liangs among the Chinese people; every village, every town has its own. We should go to the masses and learn from them, synthesize their experience into better, articulated principles and methods, then do propaganda among the masses, and call upon them to put these principles and methods into practice so as to solve their problems and help them achieve liberation and happiness. If our comrades doing local work are isolated from the masses, fail to understand their feelings and to help them organize their production and improve their livelihood, and if they confine themselves to collecting "public grain for national salvation" without realizing that 10 per cent of their energy is quite enough for this purpose provided they first devote 90 per cent to helping the masses solve the problem of "private grain for the people's own salvation", then these comrades are contaminated with the Kuomintang style of work and covered with the dust of bureaucracy. The Kuomintang only demands things from the people and gives them nothing in return. If a member of our Party acts in this way, his style of work is that of the Kuomintang, and his face, caked with the dust of bureaucracy, needs a good wash in a basin of hot water. In my opinion, this bureaucratic style is to be found in local work in all our anti-Japanese base areas, and there are comrades who are isolated from the masses because they lack the mass viewpoint. We must firmly do away with this style of work before we can have close ties with the masses.

　　In addition, a kind of warlord style is to be found in our army work, a style also characteristic of the Kuomintang whose army is divorced from the masses. Our troops must observe the correct principles that govern relations between the army and the people, between the army and the government, between the army and the Party, between officers and men, and between military work and political work, and relations among the cadres, and must never commit the errors of warlordism. Officers must cherish their men and must not be indifferent to their well-being or resort to corporal punishment; the army must cherish the people and never encroach upon their interests; the army must respect the government and the Party and never "assert independence". Our Eighth Route and New Fourth Armies are the armed forces of the people; they have always been very good, and are indeed the best in the country. But it is true that in recent years errors of warlordism of a certain kind have arisen, and some comrades in the army have become arrogant and high-handed in their behaviour towards the soldiers, the people, the government and the Party, always blaming the comrades doing local work but never themselves, always seeing their own achievements but never their own shortcomings, and always welcoming flattery but never criticism. Such phenomena are to be found, for example, in the Shensi-Kansu-Ningsia Border Region. The tendency has been basically overcome as a result of the conference of senior cadres and the meeting of military and political cadres last year and of the campaigns to "support the government and cherish the people" and "support the army" during the Spring Festival [7] this year, but there is still a residue which we must make further efforts to eradicate. These faults are also to be found in the base areas in northern and central China, and the Party organizations and the army there must endeavour to eradicate them.

　　Whether it is the tendency towards bureaucracy in local work or towards warlordism in army work, the fault is of the same nature, namely, isolation from the masses. The overwhelming majority of our comrades are good comrades. Those who have this fault can correct it once they have been criticized and their mistakes pointed out. But self-criticism is imperative and wrong tendencies must be squarely faced and conscientiously corrected. If anyone fails to criticize the tendency towards bureaucracy in local work or towards warlordism in army work, it means that he wants to retain the Kuomintang style and keep the dust of bureaucracy or warlordism on his otherwise clean face, and he is not a good Communist. If these two tendencies are eliminated, all our work, including, of course, the production campaign, will proceed smoothly.

　　Our Border Region has taken on a totally different look because great results have been achieved here in production, whether among the peasant masses, or in the government and other organizations, the schools, the army or in the factories, and the relations between the army and the people have greatly improved. All this indicates that our comrades have a stronger mass viewpoint and have made great progress in becoming one with the masses. Nevertheless, we must not be complacent but continue our self-criticism and strive for further progress. We must strive for further progress in production, too. As our faces are apt to get dirty, we must wash them every day; as the floor is apt to gather dust, we must sweep it every day. Even though the tendencies towards bureaucracy in local work and warlordism in army work have been basically overcome, these bad tendencies may arise again. We are surrounded by the serried forces of Japanese imperialism and Chinese reaction, and we live in the midst of the undisciplined petty bourgeoisie, and hence great gusts of dirt of bureaucracy and warlordism blow in our faces daily. Therefore, we must not become complacent over every success. We should check our complacency and constantly criticize our shortcomings, just as we should wash our faces or sweep the floor every day to remove the dirt and keep them dean.

　　Labour heroes and model workers in production! You are leaders of the people, you have been very successful in your work, and I hope you, too, will not grow complacent. I hope that when you get back to the counties in the sub-regions of Kuanchung, Lungtung, Sanpien, Suiteh and Yenan, [8] when you get back to your organizations, schools, army units or factories, you will lead the people, lead the masses and work still better, and first of all get the masses organized on a voluntary basis into co-operatives, get them even better organized and in even greater numbers. I hope that, when you go back, you will do this work and propagate it, so that by next year's conference of labour heroes we shall have achieved still greater results.

　　NOTES

　　1. From Mencius Book III, "Kungsun Chou", Part I, Chapter 5.

　　2. The Central Committee's directive of October 1 was "Spread the Campaigns to Reduce Rent, Increase Production and 'Support the Government and Cherish the People' in the Base Areas", pp. 131-35 of this volume.

　　3. See V. I. Lenin, "On Cooperation", Selected Works, Eng. ed., FLPH, Moscow, 1952, Vol. II, Part 2, pp. 715-23.

　　4. "Teams for the exchange of labour" and "teams for the exchange and hire of labour" were both labour organizations for collective mutual aid in agriculture in the Shensi-Kansu-Ningsia Border Region. Labour-exchange is a means by which the peasants adjust labour power among themselves. Man-workdays were exchanged for man-workdays, ox-workdays for ox-workdays, man-workdays for ox-workdays etc. Peasants who joined labour-exchange teams contributed their labour power or animal power to cultivate the land of each member-family collectively and in rotation. In settling accounts, the workday was taken as the unit of exchange those who contributed more man-workdays or animal-workdays were paid for the difference by those who contributed less. "Teams for the exchange and hire of labour" were usually formed by peasants with insufficient land. Besides exchanging work among themselves for mutual aid, their members also hired themselves out collectively to families which were short of labour power.

　　5. Mutual-aid working groups and ploughing teams, based on individual farming, were formed by peasants in the Red areas to facilitate production through a better organization of labour power. On the principle of voluntary participation and mutual benefit, the members did an equal amount of work for each other, or if one could not give another as much help as he received he made up the difference in cash. Apart from helping each other, the teams gave preferential treatment to the families of Red Army soldiers and worked for bereaved old folk without any pay except for meals during the work. As these measures of mutual aid were of great help to production and were carried out on a reasonable basis they won the warm support of the masses.

　　6. Chukeh Liang was a statesman and strategist in the period of the Three Kingdoms (221-265), who became a symbol of resourcefulness and wisdom in Chinese folklore.

　　7. The Spring Festival is New Year's Day in the Chinese lunar calendar.

　　8. The Shensi-Kansu-Ningsia Border Region was divided into these five sub-regions.

　　李克勤后记：
　　到了合作化时期，中国农民的自发，就与自觉有机联系在一起了，因为毛泽东文化哺育了一大批群众领袖，李顺达、王国藩、陈永贵，还有吴仁宝、史来贺、雷金河，然后人民公社时期农业学大寨，农工商一体化，社队企业出现后，乡村红色企业家队伍就在农民自发与自觉的基础上，自然而然形成了。这就是毛主席道器变通的威力，是毛泽东文化的必然结果。