Chapter 13 15-year collectivization plan enforced with a compulsory one-year deadline 1955-1956

Journalist: “What are the benefits of cooperativization to you?”

Mao: “Cooperativization is good for me to rule, to supervise the peasants’ work. The individual peasant is his own business to work and collect work, and to work more or less, but after co-operatization, he can’t control himself. In the future, peasants will work twice as long, and women will also work in the fields. In some places, they used to work only 100 days a year, but after co-operative, they work more than 200 days, and women seldom worked in the past, but after co-operative, they work more than 100 or 200 days a year.”

Journalist: “You want to accelerate the co-operative, how to accelerate it?”

Mao: “Catching counterrevolutionaries is conducive to forcing cooperativeization. I proposed: ‘Catch 1.5 million counterrevolutionaries in five years, 300,000 per year, and catch them in a big way.’

In early March 1955, I had an appointment with Deng Zihui, who was the vice premier in charge of agriculture. I told him that I agreed to the 3-character policy of ‘stop, shrink, and develop’ and agreed that the national co-optation should be completed in 1/3 of each of the three five-year plans, and that the co-optation should be completed in the whole country in 15 years.”

Journalist: “Oh, in 1955 you told Deng Zihui that 15 years to complete the cooperative, not very fast ah?”

Mao: “Yes, not very fast. But by April 1955, I advocated doubling the original 650,000 rural cooperatives to 1.3 million; Deng Zihui advocated leaving the original plan intact, and for this reason, I had several appointments with Deng Zihui to discuss this issue. Deng Zihui insisted on the opinion, I held a meeting to resolve. In the provincial, municipal and autonomous regional party committee secretary meeting, I made ‘on the issue of agricultural cooperation’ report, pointed out that like the ‘small-footed woman’ as the east-swinging walk, committed a ‘right-leaning’ mistake.

Journalist: “Oh, you have a whim again, the cooperative to double? And criticize Deng Zihui small-footed woman?” Mao: “Yes.

Mao: “Yes, in late June 1955, I returned to Beijing from Shanghai, Hangzhou, and again to Deng Zihui, I think the original plan to the next spring, the development of cooperatives to 1 million, too negative, proposed to double, from 650,000 to 1.3 million. Deng Zihui insisted or 1 million, told six reasons:
1. the entire cooperative movement should be in line with the progress of industrialization;
2. The existing 650,000 societies had many problems and the task of consolidation was quite heavy;
3. The level of consciousness of the masses differed from region to region;
4. The leadership experience of cadres has yet to be accumulated;
5. The training of accountants was a great deal of work;
6. the lessons of the Soviet Union and Hungary in the process of agricultural cooperation should be noted.

During the conversation, Deng Zihui committed a crime and quarreled with me.

On July 11, 1955, I summoned Deng Zihui, Chen Boda, Liao Luyin, Du Runsheng, Tan Zhenlin also attended, and I was ready to replace Deng Zihui with Tan Zhenlin to grasp agriculture. I criticized Deng Zihui; Deng still insisted on his opinion. I was displeased and said, ‘Your ideas need to be bombarded with cannons!’ The conversation lasted for more than five hours.

Journalist: “Deng Zihui has always spoken for the peasants, you want to rectify him?

Mao: “Yes, At July 11, 1955, I said to Deng Zihui: ‘by 1957 to 40% of the peasants into the community, he disagreed, he was very stubborn, we argued for 5 hours, he was still stubborn, I said: ‘Deng Zihui thought is very stubborn, to be bombarded with cannons.’ I also said he was like a small-footed woman, swaying from east to west.

At August 15, 1955, I quickly classified Deng as a right-leaning opportunist and told him to step aside, I said: socialism should be dictatorship, fire on the private property of peasants, fight in 500 million people. 1955-1956, the climax of collectivization caused terror, hundreds of thousands of peasants were arrested nationwide.

Journalist: “Deng Zihui dared to offend his face, a piece of loyalty, he proposed the 6, is not very reasonable?”

Mao: “Yes, but unfortunately at that time I did not understand. After I made a report on the issue of agricultural cooperation, the provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions were moved by the wind to carry out the anti-rightist struggle to criticize the “small-footed women.”

Journalist: “Oh, you carried out criticism of Deng Zihui’s rightward leanings towards women with small feet to speed up cooperativeization?”

Mao: “Yes, from October 4 to 11, 1955, Chen Boda, on behalf of the Central Committee, made a statement on the Draft Resolution on Agricultural Cooperativization, and I summarized the meeting with the theme ‘A Debate on Agricultural Cooperativization and the Current Class Struggle,’ saying:

“We must make imperialism extinct, feudalism extinct, capitalism extinct, and small production extinct. Conscience

It is better to have less conscience. Some of our comrades are too benevolent and not powerful. To make capitalism extinct in China with 600 million people, extinct on the earth.”

Journalist: “Wow, you want to exterminate small production?”

Mao: “Yes. In October 1955, at a meeting of the Central Committee, Deng Zihui put forward the opinion that “the development of agricultural cooperation should not be too fast and the requirements should not be too hasty”, which I designated as ‘right-leaning opportunism’ and was criticized.

Under my criticism and strong promotion, by the end of November 1956, the country’s rural areas were cooperative, and ‘small producers became extinct’ in one year, not 15 years as originally said.”

Journalist: “Wow, you did what was scheduled for 15 years in one year, so the Great Leap Forward was already underway?”

In 1961, after going to the countryside to investigate, Deng Zizhang still insisted, advocating the retention of the land responsibility system, the package to the household, and still resisted my radical agricultural cooperative policy. ‘In January 1965, I removed him from the post of Vice Premier of the State Council. Instead, he was appointed vice chairman of the CPPCC, who ate idle rice.’”

Journalist: “Deng Zihui was so you rectified down? What happened to him afterwards? ‘

Mao: “During the Cultural Revolution, Deng Zihui was persecuted. October 1969 evacuated to Guangxi, June 1970 back to Beijing hospital treatment. December 1972 died in a Beijing hospital.

After my death, in March 1981, the central government rehabilitated Deng Zihui, pointing out that the criticism and treatment of him was wrong, and restored his reputation. But did not mention that I was the one who rectified him down and defended me.”