On the September Meeting

#PUBLICATION NOTE

This edition of On the September Meeting has been prepared and revised for digital publication by the Institute of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism under the Central Committee of the Communist Party in Switzerland on the basis of the following edition: On the September Meeting, in the Selected Works of Mao Zedong, First English Edition, Vol. 4, Foreign Languages Press, Beijing, 1965.

#INTRODUCTION NOTE

This is an inner-Party circular drafted by Comrade Mao Zedong for the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China in Xibaipo, Pingshan, Hebei, China on the 10th of October, 1948. It was first published in the Selected Works of Mao Zedong, Vol. 4, in 1960.

The September 1948 Enlarged Meeting of the Political Bureau of the Party's Central Committee was held in Xibaipo Village, Pingshan County, Hebei Province. This meeting convened by the Central Committee had the largest attendance of any since the Japanese surrender. Previously, it had not been possible to hold such large meetings, because the great majority of Central Committee members were in various Liberated Areas directing the tense War of Liberation and communications were extremely difficult.

#Workers and oppressed people of the world, unite!

#ON THE SEPTEMBER MEETING

#CIRCULAR OF THE CENTRAL COMMITTEE OF THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF CHINA

#Mao Zedong

#10th of October, 1948

#★

#1

In September 1948, the Central Committee convened an Enlarged Meeting of the Political Bureau, attended by seven members of the Political Bureau, 14 members and alternate members of the Central Committee, and ten important cadres, including principal leading comrades in the Party and army in northern China, eastern China, the Central Plains, and north-western China. This meeting convened by the Central Committee had the largest attendance of any since the Japanese surrender. The meeting examined the work of the past period and set the tasks for the period ahead.

#2

Since the Party's Seventh National Congress in April 1945, the Central Committee and the directors and cadres of the whole Party have displayed even greater unity than during the War of Resistance Against Japan. This unity has enabled our Party to cope with many important events at home and abroad in the three years since the Japanese surrender; and in the course of these events, our Party has pushed the Chinese revolution a big step forward, shattered the political influence of US imperialism among the broad masses of the Chinese people, combated the new betrayal by the Nationalist Party of China,¹ repulsed its military attacks, and enabled the People's Liberation Army to shift from the defensive to the offensive.

In the last two years of fighting, from July 1946 to June 1948, the People's Liberation Army has wiped out 2'640'000 enemy troops, including 1'630'000 captured. The main war loot of the two years amounts to nearly 900'000 rifles, over 64'000 heavy and light machine-guns, 8'000 pieces of light artillery, 5'000 pieces of infantry artillery and 1'100 heavy mountain and field guns. In these two years, the People's Liberation Army has grown from 1'200'000 troops to 2'800'000. Our regular troops have increased from 118 brigades to 176, that is, from 610'000 troops to 1'490'000. The Liberated Areas now cover 2'350'000 square kilometres, or 24,5% of China's total area of 9'597'000 square kilometres; their population is 168'000'000, or 35,3% of China's total of 475'000'000; and they have 586 big, middle, and small cities, from county towns up, or 29% of China's total of 2'009 such cities.

Because our Party has firmly led the peasants in carrying out the reform of the land system, the land problem has been thoroughly solved in areas having about 100'000'000 people, and the land of the landlord class and of the old-type rich peasants has been more or less equally distributed among the rural population and, first of all, among the poor peasants and farmworkers.

Our Party membership has increased from 1'210'000 in May 1945 to 3'000'000 at present. (In 1927, before the Nationalist betrayal of the revolution, it was 50'000; after the Nationalist betrayal of that year, it dropped to about 10'000; in 1934, as a result of the successful development of the agrarian revolution, it rose to 300'000; in 1937, owing to the defeat of the revolution in the South,² it dropped again to about 40'000; in 1945, because of the successful development of the War of Resistance Against Japan, it rose to 1'210'000; and now, because of the successful development of the anti-Jiang Jieshi war and the agrarian revolution, it has reached 3'000'000.) On the one hand, the Party has in the past year fundamentally overcome, and is continuing to overcome, some unhealthy phenomena which existed to a certain degree in its ranks; these were impurities in class composition (landlord and rich-peasant elements), impurities in ideology (landlord and rich-peasant ideology), and impurities in style of work (bureaucracy and commandism). On the other hand, the Party has in the past year overcome, and is continuing to overcome, some «Left-wing» mistakes which accompanied the large-scale mobilization of the peasant masses in the struggles to solve the land problem; these were the partial, but fairly numerous, encroachments on the interests of the middle peasants, the damage done to some private industrial and commercial enterprises, and the overstepping in some places of certain lines of demarcation in the policy for suppressing counter-revolutionaries. Through the great, fierce revolutionary struggles of the past three years, and especially of the past year, and the conscientious correction of our own mistakes, the whole Party has made a big step forward in political maturity.

The Party's work in the Nationalist areas has been crowned with tremendous success. This can be seen from the fact that, in the big cities, we have won over to the side of our Party the broad masses of workers, students, teachers, professors, cultural workers, ordinary residents, and national capitalists, as well as all the democratic political parties and people's organizations, and have thus resisted Nationalist oppression and completely isolated the Nationalist Party. In several large areas in the South (the Fujian-Guangdong-Jiangxi, the Hunan-Guangdong-Jiangxi, the Guangdong-Guangxi, and the Guangxi-Yunnan border areas, southern Yunnan, the Anhui-Zhejiang-Jiangxi border area, and eastern and southern Zhejiang), bases for guerrilla warfare have been established, and their guerrilla forces have grown to more than 30'000.

During the past two years and especially last year, we have carried out an orderly, well-led democratic movement in the People's Liberation Army, with all fighters and commanders taking part. In this movement, we have unfolded self-criticism, have overcome and are continuing to overcome bureaucracy in the army, and have restored the Party committee system at various levels of the army and the system of councils of soldiers' deputies in the companies, both of which produced good results from 1927 to '32, but were later abolished. All this has greatly heightened the political enthusiasm and consciousness of commanders and fighters, strengthened their combat effectiveness and discipline, and helped us to absorb some 800'000 captured Nationalist soldiers and change them into liberated fighters³ who have turned their guns against the Nationalist Party. During the past two years, in the Liberated Areas, we have mobilized some 1'600'000 of the peasants who obtained land to join the People's Liberation Army.

We already have quite a number of railways, mines, and industries, and our Party is learning on a large scale how to manage industry and carry on commerce. In the past two years, our war industries have grown considerably. But they are not yet adequate to meet the needs of the war. We lack some important raw materials and machines and, generally speaking, still cannot make steel.

In areas in northern China with a population of 44'000'000, we have set up a unified people's government in which our Party cooperates with non-Party democrats. In order to facilitate support to the front, we have decided to entrust this government with the task of unifying the work of leading and administering the economy, finance, commerce, banking, communications, and war industries in three regions: northern China, eastern China (with a population of 43'000'000), and the North-West (with a population of 7'000'000), and we are prepared in the near future to extend the unification of this work to two additional regions, the North-East and the Central Plains.

#3

In the light of our successes in the past two years' fighting and of the general situation as between the enemy and ourselves, the meeting convened by the Central Committee considered it fully possible to build a People's Liberation Army of 5'000'000 in a period of about five years (beginning from July 1946), to wipe out a total of some 500 brigades (divisions) of the enemy's regular forces (an average of about 100 brigades a year), to wipe out a total of some 7'500'000 troops of their regular and irregular forces and of the special arms (an average of about 1'500'000 troops a year), and to overthrow the reactionary rule of the Nationalist Party completely.

The military strength of the Nationalist Party was 4'300'000 troops in July 1946. In the past two years, 3'090'000 of its troops have either been wiped out or have deserted, and 2'440'000 have been recruited. Its present strength is 3'650'000 troops. It is estimated that, in the coming three years, the Nationalist may still be able to recruit 3'000'000 troops and that some 4'500'000 will probably be wiped out or desert. Thus, as a result of five years' fighting, the remaining military strength of the Nationalist Party will probably be only some 2'000'000. Our army now has 2'800'000 troops. In the coming three years, we plan to admit into our forces 1'700'000 captured soldiers (estimated at 60% of the total we shall capture) and to mobilize 2'000'000 peasants to join the army. Allowing for depletion, our army, as a result of five years' fighting, will probably approach 5'000'000 troops. If five years' fighting brings these results, then it may be said that we have overthrown the reactionary rule of the Nationalist Party completely.

To fulfil this task, we must wipe out each year about 100 brigades (divisions) of the enemy's regular forces, making a total of about 500 brigades (divisions) in five years. This is the key to the solution of all problems. In view of the fact that the enemy's regular forces we wiped out amounted to 97 brigades (divisions) in the first year and to 94 brigades (divisions) in the second year, our targets can be fulfilled and even overfulfilled. Of the Nationalist Party's existing military strength totaling 3'650'000 troops, 70% are at the fronts (north of the line of the Yangzi River and the Ba Mountains, east of the line of Lanzhou and the Helan Mountains, and south of the Chengde-Changchun line); only about 30% are in the rear (including those south of the line of the Yangzi River and the Ba Mountains and those west of the line of Lanzhou and the Helan Mountains). Of all the existing Nationalist regular forces, which consist of 285 brigades or 1'980'000 troops, 249 brigades or 1'742'000 troops are at the fronts (99 brigades or 694'000 troops on the northern front, and 150 brigades or 1'048'000 troops on the southern front). Only 36 brigades or 238'000 troops are in the rear, and most of them are newly formed troops of low combat effectiveness. Therefore, the Central Committee has decided that, during the third year, the whole of the People's Liberation Army will continue to operate north of the Yangzi River and in northern China and the North-East. To accomplish the task of wiping out the enemy, it is necessary to utilize large numbers of captured soldiers in addition to mobilizing people in the Liberated Areas, in a planned and prudent way, to join the army.

#4

Because our Party and our army were long in a position in which we were cut apart by the enemy, were waging guerrilla warfare, and were in the rural areas, we allowed very considerable autonomy to the leading bodies of the Party and army in the different areas. This enabled the Party organizations and armed forces to bring their initiative and enthusiasm into play and to come through long periods of grave difficulties, but at the same time, it gave rise to certain phenomena of indiscipline and anarchy, localism, and guerrillaism, which were harmful to the cause of the revolution. The present situation demands that our Party should do its utmost to overcome these phenomena of indiscipline and anarchy, localism, guerrillaism and centralize all the powers that can and must be concentrated in the hands of the Central Committee and its agencies, so as to bring about the transition in the form of the war from guerrilla to regular warfare. In the past two years, both the army and its operations have become more regular in character, but this is not enough, and in the third year, another big step forward must be made. For this purpose, we must do everything possible to repair and operate modern means of communications, such as railways, highway transport, and steamships, to strengthen the administration of cities and industry, and to shift the centre of gravity of our Party work step by step from the rural areas to the cities.

#5

The task of conquering political power throughout the country demands that our Party should quickly and systematically train large numbers of cadres to administer military, political, economic, Party, cultural, and educational affairs. In the third year of the war, we must prepare 30'000 to 40'000 cadres of lower, middle, and higher ranks, so that, in the fourth year, when the army advances, they can march with it and bring orderly administration to new Liberated Areas with a population of some 50'000'000 to 100'000'000. China's territory is very large, its population is very numerous, and the revolutionary war is developing very rapidly; but our supply of cadres is very inadequate — this is a very great difficulty. In preparing cadres during the third year, while we should rely on the old Liberated Areas to supply the greater part, we must also pay attention to enrolling cadres from the big cities controlled by the Nationalist Party. In the big cities in Nationalist areas, there are many workers and intellectuals who can take part in our work and who have, generally speaking, a higher cultural level than the workers and peasants in the old Liberated Areas. We should make use of large numbers of working personnel from the Nationalist Party's economic, financial, cultural, and educational institutions, excluding the reactionary elements. School education in the Liberated Areas must be restored and developed.

#6

The slogan of convening a Political Consultative Conference⁴ has rallied around our Party all democratic political parties and people's organizations and all democrats without party affiliation in the Nationalist areas. We are arranging for representatives of these political parties and organizations to come to the Liberated Areas and are preparing to convene a conference in 1949 of the representatives of all China's democratic political parties, people's organizations, and democrats without party affiliation, in order to establish the Provisional Central Government of the People's Republic of China.

#7

The restoration and development of industrial and agricultural production in the Liberated Areas is an important link in supporting the war and in defeating the Nationalist reactionaries. The meeting convened by the Central Committee held that, on the one hand, the People's Liberation Army must develop its victorious offensive into the Nationalist areas and obtain from the Nationalist forces and areas the large supply of human and material resources needed for the war; and that, on the other hand, in the old Liberated Areas, every effort must be made to restore and develop industrial and agricultural production, so as to raise their level to some extent. Only if these two tasks are fulfilled will it be possible to ensure the overthrow of the reactionary rule of the Nationalist Party; otherwise, that will not be possible.

We will have many difficulties in carrying out these two tasks. When our armies enter the Nationalist areas in force to make war with no rear area or with no adequate rear area, they will have to get all or most of their military supplies themselves on the spot. The restoration and development of industrial and agricultural production requires good organizational work, good leadership of markets in the Liberated Areas, control of trade with outside areas, the overcoming of shortages of certain machinery and raw materials, and, first of all, the solution of the problems of communications, transport, and the repair of railways, highways, and waterways. At present, there are great difficulties in the economic and financial situation in the Liberated Areas. Although our difficulties are much smaller than those of the Nationalist Party, they do exist. The main ones are that our human and material resources are inadequate for the needs of the war and that inflation has developed to a considerable degree. And one cause of these difficulties is the inadequacy of our organizational work, especially in the financial and economic sphere. We believe these difficulties can be overcome and must be overcome. In the struggle to do so, we must fight waste and practise economy. At the front, we must see to it that everything captured is handed in, must cherish our effective strength, take good care of weapons, use ammunition sparingly, and protect captured soldiers. In the rear, we must reduce government expenses, reduce the mobilization of labourers and draught animals not urgently needed, reduce time taken by meetings, observe agricultural seasons, so that farm work is done on time, reduce costs in industrial production, raise labour productivity, mobilize the whole Party to learn to manage industrial and agricultural production and carry on trade, make the greatest possible efforts to organize the economies of the Liberated Areas properly, overcome disorder in the markets, and wage the necessary struggles against all speculators and manipulators. By getting down to all these jobs, we can certainly overcome the difficulties facing us.

#8

Raising the cadres' theoretical level and broadening inner-Party democracy are important links in the fulfilment of the above tasks. The meeting convened by the Central Committee adopted a special decision on broadening inner-Party democracy.⁵ It also discussed the problem of raising the cadres' theoretical level and drew the attention of all comrades present to the problem.

#9

The Sixth National Labour Congress has been successfully held and the National Federation of Trade Unions⁶ has been founded. In the first half of next year, a National Women's Congress will be convened to form the National Federation of Democratic Women,⁷ a National Youth Congress will be convened to form the National Youth Federation,⁸ and the New Democratic Youth League will be established.⁹