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fear of hearing bad things. According to him the Chinese system required to be corrected. He
wooed all the leaders to rally behind him and stand for a better China. He gave an example of
Ch’in Shih Huang who was overthrown and further explained that China was facing attacks both
from within and outside the party. He criticized the party critics and accused them of not seeing
“the bigger picture”.
According to him leaders who argued that the country was in a mess were
missing the point. He however, asked the rest of the leaders to listen to the voices of descent.
The more criticism they offered, the more people should listen to them. He argued that China
was still great and the economy was still doing great. He used the phrase “our backbone is
strong.”
Mao downplayed the lack of agricultural produce in the market in the form of a shortage
in vegetables. He called for an end to the tension that surrounded the whole issue. Although
Mao admitted to have experienced some tension about the issue, he said there was no reason for
the anxiety. He also pointed out that the masses were behind them and that the public opinion
was in their favor. The public opinion as Mao said supported communism and the policy that the
Communist Party seek to enforce. He discouraged capitalism stating that it was a system that
enriched the wealthy and made the poor even poorer. A small percentage of the people were
involved in the running of canteens while a large number of individuals were keen on buying
from the minority. He stated that a small percentage of people were highly conservative and
suffered from petit-bourgeois. He, however, expressed high confidence that the small proportion
would eventually come up and support communism.
He alluded to a poem that was written by a general by the name of Ts’ao. He also made reference
to the Song of Ch’i-lo of the northern dynasty. He stated that neither of the poets was educated.
