Comrade [Zhou] Enlai:
1. The assessment of the current political situation in your telegram is basically the same as ours. It seems that the Soviet Union is the primary target of the Berlin agreement. Beginning in the spring, Germany and Japan will move the main force of their armies and air force northward and the main force of their navy and a portion of their army and air force units southward with the main force of Italy’s navy, army, and air force. Even if this situation comes to pass, it is still beneficial, for Germany and Japan have three fronts each and Italy has two fronts, with their forces very much dispersed. If Japan invades India, then its forces will be all the more dispersed. All the Axis powers will fail as a result of dispersion and attrition. If Japan invades the Soviet Union, then Chiang [Kaishek] will compel us to move northward. We should be prepared to deal with his pressure. However, with the Yunnan-Burma Highway severed and British and American assistance having to go through the Soviet Union, internally he [Chiang] dare not break with us.
2. We have already decided that ideology, politics, policy, military affairs, and Party responsibilities are the five main tasks of the Politburo, with mastering ideology the number-one priority. The way to put this mastery of ideology into effect is through cadre education. The Party School has already been reorganized. Comrades from the Central Committee will teach there. The decision to reform the cadre school has been publicly announced; I wonder if your office has received notice. The decision on educating cadres on the job will likely be published in a few days.1 Senior cadre study groups have already been organized in various places; this is of crucial importance. Recently the slogans “Oppose Subjectivism to Rectify Study Style,” “Oppose Factionalism to Rectify Party Style,” and “Oppose Party Formalism [or Party “eight-legged essays”]2 to Rectify Writing Style” have already been raised. Yan’an is in the midst of mobilization.
3. This year, we also have a way to handle finances and the economy. The border region has now adopted the system of semi-unified planning and support and semi–self-sufficiency.3 It is on track; we are not afraid of a blockade. None of the other base areas is in such a miserable state, and they have ways to handle the situation. The border region’s “Three-Thirds” system is widely popular, and it has united various classes inside the border region. The Crack Troops and Simple Administration policy is now being carried out in various places.4
4. Generally speaking, our basic priorities at present are internal rectification and cadre training, grasping these points to prepare to respond to any changes in the political situation.
5. The figure for Party membership calculated in February of this year is 800,000, and the figure for troops calculated last September is 570,000 (including guerrilla units), which should be kept secret from outsiders.
6. Lin Biao has returned to Yan’an,5 and his health has significantly improved, but he still needs rest. While he was in Lanzhou and Xi’an, he did a good job with United Front work, having some in-depth talks with Hu Zongnan6 and others. According to Lin, there is great potential for United Front work with the Guomindang. He asked me to tell you to take note.
Mao Zedong
Our source for this text is Mao Zedong wenji, Vol. 2, pp. 392–93, where it is reproduced from a handwritten manuscript.
1. The Central Committee resolution was, indeed, published on February 28, 1942.
2. Regarding “Party eight-legged essays” and these three slogans, see the text “Rectify Our Study Style, Party Style, and Writing Style,” February 1, 1942, note 10.
3. Tongchou tongzhi (unified planning and support) and zigei zizu (self-sufficiency) were key economic policies that would be implemented in Yan’an in the coming years.
4. On the “Three-Thirds” system (san san zhi), see above, note to the text of January 26, 1942; the Central Committee directive to require all public political offices to be shared equally by three groups: Communists, non-Party leftists, and middle-of-the-road anti-Japanese patriots. The Crack Troops and Simple Administration policy formed the core of the administrative reforms of the Yan’an Rectification movement. See Mao’s letter on this topic to Xie Juezai and Cheng Zhengren, August 19, 1942, and his “A Most Important Policy” of September 7, 1942. All these policies are described in Selden, China in Revolution.
5. Lin Biao (1907–1971) was at this time the commander of the 115th Division of the Eighth Route Army. He had returned from medical treatment in the Soviet Union.
6. Hu Zongnan (1896–1962) was at this time the commander of the Nationalist Thirty-fourth Army Group, making him the effective commander of the Guomindang-led armies in northwestern China. See Mao’s references below, in “Calling the Guomindang to Account,” July 12, 1943.