Chairman Mao Zedong's Quotation Stele in Wangcao Town

Chairman Mao Zedong's Quotation Stele in Wangcao Town

The Chairman Mao Zedong's Quotation Stele in Wangcao Town is a cultural tourism attraction and a classic site of red tourism.

In the spring of 1954, a work team composed of nearly ten members from the Suiyang County Committee—led by Wei Bingfen, the County Committee Secretary, and Ma Changxian, the Deputy Secretary, along with personnel from the County Office, Organization Department, Propaganda Department, and mass organizations—was stationed in Guangda Township of Wangcao District. Relying on the Party branch and with Party and League members as the backbone, they mobilized the masses to establish a pilot primary agricultural cooperative. During this period, Wang Taixin, a cadre from the County Propaganda Department, wrote an article titled "The Political and Ideological Work of the Three Cooperatives: Morning Light, Nongyuan, and Yangjiazhai," signing it as "0 Suiyang County Propaganda Department." The article was sent to both Guizhou Work and New Guizhou Daily, and was selected by the Guizhou Provincial Committee to be forwarded to the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. It caught the attention and interest of Chairman Mao Zedong. Mao changed the title to "The Political Work of the Cooperative" and wrote an over 300-word "Editor’s Note." Chairman Mao wrote:

"This article is very well written and deserves to be recommended to every county, district, and township Party and League committee. All cooperatives should do the same. The author of this article understands the Party’s line, and his points are entirely pertinent. The writing is also good, clear and easy to understand, without any stereotyped Party writing. Here I would like to call the readers’ attention to the fact that many of our comrades are very fond of stereotyped Party writing when they write articles—writing that is not vivid, not concrete, and makes the reader’s head swim. Nor do they pay attention to grammar or rhetoric. They prefer a style halfway between classical and vernacular Chinese. Sometimes their articles are full of meaningless words; at other times they are so concise as to be archaic, as if they were bent on making reading as painful as possible for the reader. Among the more than 170 articles in this book, quite a few have a strong flavor of stereotyped Party writing. Only after several revisions have they become fairly readable. Even so, a small number of pieces are still somewhat obscure. The only reason they have been included is that their content is important. When will we be able to read fewer headaches-inducing stereotyped Party writings? This requires the comrades in charge of newspapers and periodicals to pay attention to this matter, to demand of the authors that they write vivid and coherent articles, and to help revise the articles themselves."

In 1955, the General Office of the Central Committee included "The Political Work of the Cooperative" and the "Editor’s Note" in the book The Socialist Upsurge in China’s Countryside. This marked a glorious page in the history of Suiyang and an unforgettable major event for the people of Suiyang. In 1977, the Editorial Committee of Selected Works of Mao Zedong included the "Editor’s Note" in Volume 5 of Selected Works of Mao Zedong.

Half a century has passed, but Chairman Mao’s instructions in the "Note" on opposing stereotyped Party writing and improving the Party’s writing style still hold brilliant practical significance and far-reaching historical importance.

In 1995, Wangcao Town erected a stele inscribed with the full text of Chairman Mao’s "Note" to commemorate this glorious history.

The stele is located beside Provincial Highway 207 in front of the former Morning Light Cooperative (now Morning Light Village) of Guangda Township in Wangcao Town.

Mao Zedong (December 26, 1893 – September 9, 1976), courtesy name Runzhi (originally Yongzhi, later changed to Runzhi), pen name Ziren. He was from Xiangtan, Hunan. He was the leader of the Chinese people, a Marxist, a great proletarian revolutionary, strategist, and theorist, the principal founder and leader of the Communist Party of China, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, and the People’s Republic of China, as well as a poet and calligrapher. From 1949 to 1976, Mao Zedong served as the paramount leader of the People’s Republic of China. His contributions to the development of Marxism-Leninism, military theory, and... More details about Mao Zedong++

Wangcao Town: Located in the northern part of Suiyang County, Wangcao Town is 27 kilometers from the county seat, bordering Meitan to the east, Maoya to the west, and Wenquan to the north. The town covers an area of 272 square kilometers. It includes one of the 17 ten-thousand-mu large fields in the province—the Wangcao Large Field. Provincial Highway S207 runs from south to north across the Wangcao field area, serving as an important transportation route to Zheng’an and Daozhen.

The town governs 12 administrative villages and two communities, with a total of 17,066 households and a population of 65,417 (including 62,879 agricultural residents and 2,538 non-agricultural residents). It is a typical large agricultural town. Staple crops... More details about Wangcao Town++