RESOLUTION ON THE ESTABLISHMENT OF PEOPLE'S COMMUNES IN THE RURAL AREAS CENTRAL COMMITTEE OF THE CHINESE COMMUNIST PARTY AUGUST 29, 1958

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80M01009A001502550018-3
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: December 23, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 2, 2013
• Sequence Number: 18
• Publication Date: August 29, 1958
• Content Type: REPORT

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Resolution on the Establishment of People's Communes in the
Rural Areas
Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party
August 29, 1958
1. The people's communes are the logical result of the march of events. Large,
comprehensive people's communes have made their appearance,' and in several places they are
already widespread. They have developed-very rapidly in some areas. It is highly-prob-
able that there will soon be an upsurge in setting up people's communes throughout the
country and-the development is irresistible. The basis for the development of the people's
communes is mainly the all-round, continuous leap forward in China's agricultural production
and the ever-rising political consciousness of the 500 million peasants. An unprecedented
advance has been made in agricultural capital construction since the advocates of the
capitalist road were fundamentally defeated economically, politically and ideologically.
This has created a new basis for practicall eliminating flood and drought, and for ensur-
ing the comparatively stable advance of agricultural production. Agriculture has leaped
forward since right conservatism has been overcoMe:and the old technical norms in agri-
culture have been broken down. The output of agricultural products has doubled or in-
Creased several-fold, in some cases more than ten times or scores of times. This has
further stimulated emancipation of thought among the people. Large-scale agricultural
capital construction and the application of more advanced agricultural technique are
making their demands on labor power. The growth of rural industry also demands the
transfer of some manpowerfrom agriculture. The demand for mechanization and electrir-
fication has become increasingly urgent in China's rural areas. Capital construction
in agriculture and the struggle for bumper harvests involve large-scale co-operation
which cuts across the boundaries between co-operatives, townships and counties.. The
people have taken to organizing themselves along military lines, to work with militancy,
and to lead a collective life, and this has raised the political consciousness of the
500 million peasants still further. Community dining roams, kindergartens, nurseries,
tailoring groups 1 barber shops, ?public,bathsi happy homes!! for the aged, agri-
cultural middle-sdhoOls, ."red and,eipert" schools, are-leading the peasants towards
a happier,colledtiveAffe and further fbsteringideas of collectivism among-the -
peasant masses; WhattrallrtheSe.thingsnillustrate ispthat the agricultural
operative withtscores_of_families_on_severalLhundred familiesccan no longer meet
the needs ofithe changing situation.'In,,the present circumstancesitheestablish-, -
ment of 'people communas.with,all-round4lanagement of agriculture, forestry,:aaimal
husbandry. .side7occuhations and-fishem.where industry (the morl5er), agriculture'
(the peasant); -exchange..(the-trader), culture and education-(the student) and
military affairs (the militiaman) merge'into-one, is the fundamental policy to' guide
the peasants to aCcelerate:socialisticonStruction: complete the building of socialism
ahead of time-and-carry out the zragmaltransition to communism.'
2. Concerning the organization and size of the communes, generally speaking,
it is at present better to establish one CoMmune to a township with the commune com-
prising about two thousand peasant households. Where a township embraces a vast area
and is sparsely populated, more than one commune may be established, each with less
than two thousand households. In some places, several townships may merge and form a
single commune comprising about six or seven thousand households, according to topo-
graphical conditions and the needs for the development of production. As to the es-
tablishment of communes of more than 10,000 or even more than 20,000 households, we
need not oppose them, but for the present we should not take the initiative to en-
courage them.
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As the people's communes grow there may be a tendency to form federations
with the county as a unit. Plans should be drawn up right now on a county basis to
ensure the rational distribution of people's communes.
The size of the communes and the all-round development of agriculture, forestry,
animal husbandry, subsidiary production and fishery as well as of industry (the worker),
agriculture (the peasant), exchange (the trader), culture and education (the student)
and military affairs (the militia), demand an appropriate division of labour within the
administrative organs of the communes; a number of depArtments, each responsible for a
particular kind of work, should be set up, following the principle of compactness and
efficiency in organization and of cadres taking direct part in production. The town-
ship governments and the communes should become one, with the'township committee of
the Party becoming the Party committee of the commune and the township People's Coun7 .
cil:becaming the administrative committee of the commune;
3. Concerning the methods and steps to be adopted to merge small co-operatives
into bigger ones and transform them in o peop e s communesr e merger o sma
cooperatives into bigger ones ana tneir i_ons-thrmation into people's communes is now a
common mass demand. The poor and the lower-middle peasants firmly support it; most
upper middle peasants also favour it. We must rely on the poor and lower-middle peasants
and fully encourage the masses to air their views and argue it out, unite the mslority of
tha upper-Middle peasant-6 who-favOr it, overcome-vacillation among thr remainder, and
expose and foil rumour-mongering'ani sabotage by landlord and rich peasant elements,
so that the masses of the peasants merge the smaller co-operative S into bigger ones
and transform them into communes through ideological emancipation and on.a voluntary
basis, without any compulsion. As to the steps to be taken, it is of course better
to complete the tlergerlinto bigger ,co-operatiges and transformation into communes at
once;.but where this is. not feosible,. it cani be done in'two stages, with no compulsory
or rash steps. In, all bounties, experiments shounifirst be Made in sOme'selected
areas and-the experience gained shoUl&then be popularized gradually
The merger of sMaller co-Operatives into ,bigger ones and their transformation
into communes must be carried out in cloSe coTbrdinotiOn with currept,productiOn to
ensure: not only that.it has no adverse effect on current productiOn, but bacon* a
tremendous force stimulating an even greater leap forward in production. Therefoe,
in the early, period of the merger, the method of "changing the upper structure while
keeping the lower structure unchanged" may be adopted. The original, smaller co-
operatives may at first jointly elect an administrative committee for the merged
co-op to unify planning and the arrangement of work; and transform themselves into
farming zones or production brigades, The original organization of production. and
system ofadministration may, for the time being, remain unchanged and continue as
before; and then later, step by Step,merge, readjust and settle whatever needs merging
or readjusting and whatever specific questions demand solution during the merger, 'so
as to make sure there is no adverse effect on production.
: The size of the communes, the.speed of carrying out the merger of small co-
operatives into bigger ones and their transformation into communes and the methods
and steps to be taken ih thie connection will be decided in accordance with the local
conditions by the various provinces, autonomous regions:' and municipalities directly
under the central authorities. But no matter when the merger takes place, whether
before or after autumn, in the coming winter or next spring, the small co-operatives
which are prepared to merge should be brought together from now on to discuss and
jointly, work out unified plans for post-autumn capital construction in agriculture and
to make unified arrangements of all kinds for preparatory work for an even bigger har-
vest next year.
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4. Concerning some questions of the economic policy involved in the merger
of co-operatives. In the course of the merger, education should be strengthened to
prevent the growth of departmentalism among a few co-operatives, -which might other-
wise share out too much or all of their income and leave little or no common funds
before the merger. On the other hand, it must be understood that with various agri-
cultural co-operatives established on different foundations, the amount of their
public property, their indebtedness inside and outside the co-operatives and so on
will not be completely equal when they merge into bigger co-operatives. In the
course of the merger, the cadres and the masses should be educated in the spirit
of communism so as to recognize these differences and not resort to minute squaring
ce accounts, insisting on equal shares and bothering with trifles.
When a people's commune is established, it is not necessary to deal with the
questions of reserved private plots of land, scattered fruit treEs,. share funds and
so on in a great hurry; nor is it necessary to adopt clear-cut stipulations on these
questions. Generally speaking, reserved private plots of land may perhaps be turned
over to collective management in the course of the merger of co-operatives; scattered
fruit trees, for the time being, may remain privately owned and be dealt with some
time later. Share funds etc. can be handled after a year of two, since the funds
will automatically become publicly owned with the development of production, the in-
crease of income and the advance in the people's consciousness.
5. Concerning the name, ownership and system of distribution of the communes
All the big merged co-operatives will be called people's commJnes. There is no
need to change them into state-owned farms. It is not proper for farms to embrace
industry, agriculture, exchange, culture and education and military affairs at the
same time.
After the establishment of people's communes, there is no need immediately to
transform collective ownership into ownership by the people as a whole. It is better
at present to maintain collective ownership to avoid unnecessary complications in
the course of the transformation of ownership. In fact, collective ownership in
people's communes already contains some elements of ownership by the people as a whole.
These elements will grow constantly in the course of the continuous development of
people's communes and will gradually replace collective ownership. The transition from
collective ownership to ownership by the people as a whole is a process, the completion
of which may take less time -- three or four years -- in some places, and longer --
five or six years or even longer -- elsewhere. Even with the completion of this
transition, people's communes, like state-owned industry, are still socialist in
character, where the principle of "from each according to his ability and to each
according to his labour" prevails. After a number of.yeara, as the social product
increases greatly, the communist consciousness and morality of the entire people Are
raised to a much higher degree, and universal education is instituted and developed',
the differences between workers and peasants, town and country and mental and manual
labour -- legacies of the old society that have inevitably been carried over into the
socialist period, and the remnants*of unequal bourgeois rights which are the reflection
of these differences -- will gradually vanish, and the function of the state will be
limited to protecting the country from external aggression but will play no role in-
ternally. At that time Chinese society will enter the era of communism where the
principle of "from each according to his ability and to each according to his needs"
will be practised.
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After the establishment of the people's communes it is not necessary to
hurry the change from the original system of distribution, in order to avoid any un-
favourable effect on production. The system of distribution should be determined
according to specific Conditions. -Where conditions permit, the shift to a wage system
may be made. But where conditions are not yet ripe, the original system of payment
according to _workdays may be temporarily retained (such as the system of fixed targets
for output,workdays and costs, with a part of the extra output as reward; or the system
of calculating workdays on the basis of output).. This can be changed when conditions
permit.
Although ownership in the people's communes is still collective ownership and
the system of distribution, either the, wage system or payment according to workdays, -
is "to each according to his work" and not "to each according to his needs," the people's
communes are the best form of organization for the attainment of socialism and gradual
transition to communist. They will develop into the basic Social units in communist
society.
6. At the present stage our task is to build socialism.
The primary purpose of establishing people's communes is to accelerate the speed
of socialist construction and the purpose of building socialism is to prepare actively
for the transition to communism. It teems that the attainment of communism in China
is no longer a remote future event. We should actively use the form of the people's
communes to explore the practical road of transition to'communism.
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