In his speech at the 8th Party Congress, Chen Yun said China's economic system should rely mainly on state and collective management, planned production and centralized distribution, although it should be supplemented by a small amount of private management, free production and free markets.

After long deliberation throughout 1956, Mao Zedong systematically elaborated his thesis on the contradictions among the people in the socialist society in February 1957. These were: contradictions within the working class, within the peasantry, and within the intelligentsia; between the working class and the peasantry; between the workers and peasants on the one hand and the intellectuals on the other; between the working class and other groups of working people on the one hand and the national bourgeoisie on the other; within the national bourgeoisie; and between the government and the people. Mao said the only way to solve these problems was "by the democratic method, the method of persuasion and education, and not by the method of coercion or repression."

In this, Mao forwarded many important and new theoretical questions. These were crucial, as China was faced with the problem of what form of socialism to pursue. In the main, the task of transferring the means of production from private to public hands had been completed, and following the criticism of Stalin at the Soviet Union's 20th Party Congress, the country was no longer bound to follow the Soviet model of development, which had dominated up until then.

This latter event was a major step forward in the emancipation of the mind. It signaled that we no longer had to blindly follow Stalin's dictates in constructing socialism. Instead, we could proceed from China's conditions, learn from the errors of the Soviet Union, and seek our own socialist road.

Unpublished Materials

In addition to these speeches which have already been made public, there are also materials little known to the public which can mirrow mind emancipation at the time.

At the meetings of the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce and the China Democratic National Construction Association (one of China's democratic parties) held immediately after the 8th Party Congress, complaints were raised that although the socialist transformation had been completed, there were still people in Shanghai running underground factories. Hearing this, Mao Zedong called together representatives from these two organizations and the Department of the United Front Work of the Party Central Committee. He said that the underground factories had emerged to meet various social demands and needs. Because of this, they should be legalized and allowed to hire labourers, and small family-run shops and private factories should also be permitted to exist.

Mao said this was the "new economic policy," similar to that adopted by the Soviet Union in its early years. In his opinion, the CPSU had dropped this policy too early, and the Soviets in consequence still suffered from a shortage of social materials. He added that overseas Chinese investment would not be confiscated within 100 years, and that investment companies which repaid capital with interest could be run both by the state and by individuals.

Mao's reasoning for this was that the state-run and state-private owned enterprises could not meet social demand by themselves. As long as raw materials and markets existed, individuals would be allowed to invest in and run factories.

Liu Shaoqi adopted a similar stance in a speech made at a standing committee meeting of the National People's Congress in December 1956. When asked if capitalists were allowed to build factories, Liu replied, "Yes. In our country, more than 90 percent of property belongs to socialism. In my view, there is nothing to be afraid of in a few percent of capitalism. In fact, this supplements socialism."

Zhou Enlai repeated this view at a State Council meeting in April 1957 to discuss the year's national economic plan. As concerned mining, Zhou said, when the large coal mines were run by the state, small ones could be run by cooperatives or individuals. If it was ensured that the overall thrust was socialist, greater freedom could be allowed within certain subsidiary fields if they aided the development of socialism. Apart from the railways, all other areas such as large and small-scale industry could adopt this method. Rickshaw drivers and street pedlars could all assume full responsibility for their own profits and losses. Some private-run primary schools should also be allowed to exist. Workers, peasants, business people and students, except for soldiers, could have some freedom to practise private management. Overall, Zhou said, the introduction of a little private management and flexibility in socialist construction would be advantageous.

This evidence all indicates that around 1956-57 the Chinese leadership held that the needs of socialism and the development of China's productive forces called for the active involvement of private business and there was no need to render socialism utterly pure. Subsequently, of course, these ideas were reversed and campaigns were mounted to thoroughly eliminate private and individual business.

This proves that 1956 offered a new starting point for the emancipation of the mind. The efforts of our Party since the Third Plenary Session of the 1 th Party Central Committee in 1978 to build socialism with Chinese characteristics should be considered as a continuation and development of the principles laid down in 1956. Of course, what we have achieved in the last decade is a far greater stride forward than the tentative step of 1956.

Of course, it has to be asked why the ideas first put forward in 1956 did not properly take root for more than 20 years. In 1957, China shifted suddenly and dramatically to the "left," leading to many of the policies and proposals of the previous 18 months being cast aside, distorted and even criticized. This series of events contain profound lessons which deserve to be closely studied so that similar errors do not occur in the future. It is from history that we can discover how to consolidate gains made through the emancipation of the mind and formulate correct policies for the future.