ROUND THE WEEK

National Day Echoes Echoes of the 10th a n n i v e r s a r y cele-

b ra t ion a r e s t i l l r e v e r b e r a t i n g t h r o u g h - out the land. W h a t w i t h so m a n y th ings going on in so m a n y places at once and the p r e s su re of ho l iday dead l ines it was imp,~ssible to cover eve ry th ing . Th i s week we would l ike to fill in t he pic- tu re of the g rea tes t ce lebra t ion in the h i s to ry of New China . The three-da:¢ hol iday (October 1-3), plus a S u n d a y on the 4th, m a d e qui te a s t r e t c h for t!-e fest ival . The people took pa r t in the parade.~ and festivit ies, w e n t to the t h e a - t res wh ich were o f f e r ing t he i r best , v is i ted the exhib i t ions , spen t t ime w i t h f~.mily and f r iends , and, of course, feas ted.

In Peking, despi te u n w e l c o m e showers , more t h a n a mil l ion and a ha l f c i t izens th ronged spacious Tien An Men Squa re , danced and m a d e m e r r y u n d e r the c l ?a r Oc tober n igh t sky i l l umina t ed by fas- c ina t ing f i reworks , till t he wee hou r s of the morn ing .

On Pek ing ' s m a n y stages, m e m o r a b l e p e r f o r m a n c e s were g iven r a n g i n g f r o m the t r ad i t i ona l Pek ing opera, K w a n g t u n g , Szeehuan , Shaohs ing and o the r local operas to m o d e r n s tage plays. T h e m e s ranged f rom ta les of the Hen d y n a s t y lo the big leap f o r w a r d of to, clay. The w o r l d - famous Bolshoi of the Sovie t U n i o n added colour to the fes t iva l w i t h its r ich ser ies of pe r fo rmances and Ci~ina's No. 1 Pek ing opera a r t i s t Met L a n - f a n g gave a m e m o r a b l e po r t r aya l of Mu Kuei -y ing , the famous ma iden w a r r i o r or Sung t imes.

On the even ing of Oc tobe r 3, the Min i s - t ry of Cu l tu re p r e s e n t e d a g r a n d va r i e ty show in h o n o u r of the guests f rom m a n y count r ies who had come to P e k i n g to g ree t the Chinese people. T h i r t y - f i v e a r t g roups f rom var ious par t s of the c o u n t r y and more t h a n 2.500 p e r f o r m e r s took p a r t in the gala pe r fo rmance .

C h a i r m a n Mao Tse- tung , C h a i r m a n Liu Shao-chi , C h a i r m a n N. S. Khrushchov , a n d the m a n y honoured guests, came to see t he pe r fo rmance . The va r i ed p r o g r a m m e in- c luded a 540-voice chorus r e n d e r i n g The East Is Red a n d o the r songs; a 300-piece o rches t ra p r e s e n t i n g t h e famous Ch inese composi t ion The Spring Festival Overture and Bee thoven ' s Egmont Overture, a n d a select ion f rom the Ch inese d a n c e - d r a m a The Magic Lotus Lantern. The a u d i e n c e en thus ia s t i ca l ly gree ted the ac t i on -packed P e k i n g opera se lect ion f rom Uproar in the Dragon King's Palace in w h i c h the famous M o n k e y S u n W u - k u n g heads a n a r m y of h u n d r e d s of j u m p i n g and s o m e r - s au l t i ng m o n k e y s s t o r m i n g the D r a g o n King ' s pa lace f a t h o m s be low the sea. Bu t the G e n e r a l s ' C h o r u s ~ a n a m a t e u r

g r o u p - - s t o l e the show. 230 gene ra l s from, the lh ree se rv ices of the Ch inese People ' s L i b e r a t i o n A r m y , mos t of t h e m v e t e r a n s of the Long M a r c h a n d t he ea r ly days of the revo lu t ion , s ang the songs t h a t w e r e p o p u l a r a m o n g the r a n k - a n d - f i l e soldiers of the people ' s a r m y d u r i n g the Second I~ewJlut ionary Civi l W a r and the W a r of Resist, hnce to J a p a n .

T h r o u g h o u t C h i n a t h e r e we re p a r a d e s on N a t i o n a l Day. W i t h cha r t s of pro- duc t ion f igures and d i sp lays of p roduc t s on floats, t he people chee r ed t he i r a ch i eve - m e n t s in the f i r s t d e c a d e of the Peop le ' s Repub l i c a n d d e m o n s t r a t e d t he i r d e t e r - m i n a t i o n to c o n t i n u e the })if leap. The floats, char t s , and s a m p l e p roduc t s in e v e r y ci ty e l o q u e n t l y spe l t ou t t he s to ry of the t r e m e n d o u s c h a n g e t h a t ha s t a k e n place in C h i n a d u r i n g the pas t t en years . S h a n g h a i is as good a n e x a m p l e as any. G o n e a re the days w h e n it was a p a r a d i s e for the imper i a l i s t a d v e n t u r e r s a n d one of the no to r ious badspo t s of the East . In ten yea r s it has b e c o m e a c lean c i ty a n d one of t he m a j o r i n d u s t r i a l bases of New China. 600,000 people m a r c h e d pas t S h a n g h a i ' s People ' s S q u a r e in i ts Na- t iona l Day parade . The mode l s of t h e i r new a c h i e v e m e n t s i nc luded a 25,000- k i l o w a t t s t e a m t u r b i n e gene ra to r , a 5,000- ton s t eamer , p rec i s ion g r ind ing m a c h i n e s w h i c h can w o r k to a to l e rance of 1/63 of a ha i r , h i g h - q u a l i t y ny lons and p las t ics and o t h e r p roduc t s of l igh t i n d u s t r y t h a t h a v e g iven the c i ty i n t e r n a t i o n a l fame.

In t h e n o r t h C h i n a po r t c i ty Tientsin, a huge f loa t in the p a r a d e dep ic ted a g ian t c a rp l eap ing ove r the d r a g o n gate - - a t r a d i t i o n a l symbo l for g r ea t p ro spe r - i t y - w i t h a w o r k e r r i d i n g the c a r p and ho ld ing a red f lag i n sc r ibed w i t h go lden c h a r a c t e r s p r o c l a i m i n g : " I n d u s t r i a l Ou t - pu t I n c r e a s e d 13-fold in Ten Years . " This is T ien t s in ' s s to ry in a nu t she l l . In W u h a n , t h e t r ip l e -c i ty on t he Yang- tse, the p a r a d e r s happ i l y r epo r t ed t h a t on the eve of N a t i o n a l Day W u h a n ' s n e w i ron a n d steel w o r k s had p roduced the f i r s t h e a t of s teel f r o m its f i r s t open- h e a r t h :furnace a n d t h a t i ts No. 1 a n d No. 2 b l a s t f u rnaces b r o k e records in the da i ly output of i ron. The t r ip l e -c i ty is wel l on i ts way to b e c o m i n g a n e w g ian t s teel base.

The s a m e sp i r i t p r e v a i l e d t h r o u g h o u t the count rys ide . In t o w n s a n d vi l lages , the peasan t s , w i t h u n b i d d e n pride, d is - p layed s amp le s of t h e i r h a r v e s t a n d t he a d v a n t a g e s b r o u g h t t h e m by t he f i r s t y e a r of the people ' s c o m m u n e s . The Ch inese p e a s a n t s i n c r e a s e d t h e v a l u e of a g r i c u l t u r a l o u t p u t by 150 p e r c en t in t h e p a s t t en years . The n i g h t m a r i s h

decades of i m p o r t i n g rice, w h e a t and cot ton before l i b e r a t i o n had f ina l ly been b r o u g h t to an end. Today C h i n a ' s to ta l g r a in o u t p u t st '~nds f i rs t in t he wor ld and i ts co t ton o u t p u t r a n k s second. In He i lu~gk iang , Ch ina ' s n o r t h e r n m o s t p rov- ince, for ins lance , the people ha i led the t r a n s f o r m a t i o n of the " G r e a t N o r t h e r n W a s t e l a n d s " into a g r a n a r y of the nor th . T h e p e a s a n t s of Y u n n a n P r o v i n c e in the sou th p a r a d e d in the s t ree t s of Nunmin , I , t he c i ty of e t e r n a l spr ing, c e l eb ra t i ng t h e u p p i n g of the p r o v i n c e ' s total food g ra in o u t p u t by 150 p e r ccn l in ten years .

A m o n g t he gayes t c e l e b r a n t s a l l ove r t he c o u n t r y w e r e t he people of C h i n a ' s m a n y n a t i o n a l minor i t i e s . In K w a n g s i , S ink iang , I n n e r Mongol ia , N inghs ia , C h i n g h a i and o t h e r regions w h e r e the n a t i o n a l m i n o r i t i e s live, the m i n o r i t y peoples jo ined the fes t iv i t ies in large n u m b e r s . They s ang a n d d a n c e d in t h e i r co iourfu l n a t i o n a l c o s t u m e s to c e l e b r a t e the good l i fe t h a t t he Peop le ' s Repub l i c h a d b r o u g h t them. In L h a s a 30,000 people turned out on t he s q u a r e be fo re t he P o l a l a to g ree t t he t e n t h b i r t h d a y o1" t he People ' s Republ ic . C r o w d s happ i ly m a r c h e d pas t the r e v i e w - ing s t and , c h e e r i n g and w a v i n g flags.

National Minorities Get Together W h i l e t h e i r fe l low T i b e t a n s we re

re jo ic ing in Lhasa , P a n c h e n Erden i , A c t i n g C h a i r m a n of t he P r e p a r a t o r y C o m m i t t e e for the A u t o n o m o u s Region of Tibe t , and the two V i c e - C h a i r m e n of t he Commi t t ee , L iv ing B u d d h a P e b a l a C h o l i e h n a m j e and Ngapo N g a w a n g - J igme, w e r e p a r t i c i p a t i n g in the jub i l ee c e l eb ra t i ons in t he capi ta l .

On Oc tober 3, t hey a t t e n d e d the b a n q u e t g iven by V i c e - P r e m i e r s Ho Lung1 and U l a n f u in h o n o u r of tile m o r e l h a n 1,100 r e p r e s e n t a t i v e s of ove r 50 n a t i o n a l m i n o r i t i e s in C h i n a who had come to P e k i n g to a t t e n d the ce lebra t ions .

S p e a k i n g a t the b a n q u e t V i c e - P r e m i e r Ho L u n g said t h a t d u r i n g the pas t t en yea r s g r e a t p rog res s had been m a d e by the na t iona l i t i e s , Es tab - l i sh ing reg iona l a u t o n o m y a n d th:. ~ o r g a n s of n a t i o n a l a u t o n o m y in t he a r ea s w h e r e t he n a t i o n a l m i n o r i t i e s l ive in compac t c o m m u n i t i e s ha s bas ica l ly been comple ted . E q u a l i t y ha s also been ful ly e n s u r e d for those na t i ona l m i n o r i - t ies in a reas w h e r e m a n y n a t i o n a l i t i e s l ived t o g e t h e r a n d for those m i n o r i t y peoples who a re s ca t t e r ed in o the r regions. In the a r e a s i n h a b i t e d by the n a t i o n a l minor i t i e s , d e m o c r a t i c r e fo rms and t he social is t t r a n s f o r m a t i o n h a v e been comple t ed a n d in m o s t a reas people ' s c o m m u n e s h a v e been organized . The T i b e t a n people, too, u n d e r the g u i d a n c e of t he C o m m u n i s t Pa r ty , a re v igo rous ly c a r r y i n g ou t the c a m p a i g n of

4 Pek ing Rev iew

d e m o c r a t i c re forms . In the n a t i o n a l minor i ty a r e a s t r e m e n d o u s p rog res s h a d been m a d e in the economic a n d c u l t u r a l f ields and t he l i fe of t he people ha s improved immense ly . " O u r m o t h e r - land," Ho Lung said, "has b e c o m e a g rea t fami ly of soc ia l i sm in w h i c h all na t iona l i t i e s a r e on an e q u a l foot ing, a re uni ted, co-opera t ive a n d f r iendly , and work for t he c o m m o n p rospe r i t y . "

Th e V i c e - P r e m i e r po in ted out t h a t the c o m m o n t a sk facing all the n a t i o n a l i t i e s today is to bui ld C h i n a in to a s t rong social is t coun t ry w i t h m o d e r n indus t ry , m o d e r n a g r i c u l t u r e a n d m o d e m sc ience an d cu l tu re w i t h i n f i f teen, t w e n t y yea r s or more, in acco rdance w i t h the P a r t y ' s gene ra l l ine for bu i l d ing social ism, and he cal led on t he n a t i o n a l m i n o r i t y peoples to w o r k to fulf i l t h e g rea t task.

P a n c h e n Erdeni , in his speech, sa id t h a t t h a n k s to t he policy of the Com- m u n i s t P a r t y on t h e n a t i o n a l ques t ion an d the he lp g iven by t he H a n b ro the r s , t h e n a t i o n a l mino r i t i e s h a v e m a d e g rea t a c h i e v e m e n t s in d e m o c r a t i c r e f o r m s a n d social is t t r a n s f o r m a t i o n d u r i n g t h e pas t t en years, and as a r e s u l t t he p r o d u c t i v e forces in the m i n o r i t y a r ea s had b e e n freed. T h e T i b e t a n people w e r e m a r c h i n g a long b rave ly , closely b e h i n d t h e o t h e r b r o t h e r na t iona l i t i e s , a n d no r eac t i ona ry forces could s top t h e i r f o r w a r d march . He po in t ed ou t t h a t fo l lowing t h e de fea t of t h e c o u n t e r - r e v o l u t i o n a r y a r m e d r ebe l l i on of t h e r e ac t i on a ry c l ique of the u p p e r social s t r a t a " t he T i b e t a n people l a u n c h e d a v igorous c a m p a i g n of d e m o c r a t i c re form. Af te r speedi ly w ip ing out t he oppress ion a nd exp lo i t a t ion of the f euda l s lave sys tem, the T i b e t a n people, eccles ias t ic an d secular , wil l e m b a r k on the road of bu i ld ing socia l ism and wi l l comple t e ly f r ee t h e m s e l v e s f r o m s u f f e r i n g a n d p o v e r t y and m a r c h on the b r o a d a n d happy road of socia l i sm and c o m m u n i s m wh ich will give h a p p i n e s s to all. T h e asp i ra t ions of ' d e l i ve r i ng al l be ings ' as p resc r ibed by B u d d h i s t t e a c h i n g s wi l l thus be g r adua l l y real ized."

Economy Reaches Hew High Meanwhi l e , as the f ina l q u a r t e r opens,

t h e na t ion ' s economic s i tua t ion is b e t t e r

t h a n ever. Th e ou t s t and ing f e a t u r e o n t he in -

dus t r i a l f ron t has been a l l - r o u n d r ap id

g r o w t h eve r s ince the C e n t r a l Com- m i t t e e of the C o m m u n i s t P a r t y issued the cal l for f u r t h e r d e v e l o p m e n t of the c a m p a i g n to i nc rease p r o d u c t i o n and p rac t i s e e conomy a t its L u s h a n sess ion in Augus t . As a r e s u l t of the r i s ing mass m o v e m e n t , to ta l i n d u s t r i a l o u t p u t v a l u e in Augus t was 14 p e r cen t h i g h e r t h a n J u l y a n d it r eg i s t e r ed a f u r t h e r i nc r ea se of a b o u t 27 p e r cen t in S e p t e m b e r . For the first n ine months of 1959, total industrial output va lue w a s 45.5 per cent h igher than the same period last year. T h e inc r ea se s for s teel a n d coal we re 67 pe r cen t a n d 72 p e r cen t respect ive ly . O u t p u t of m a n y m a j o r i n d u s t r i a l p roduc t s in the f i r s t n i n e m o n t h s of th i s y e a r exceeded t h e to ta l o u t p u t of the e n t i r e big leap y e a r 1958.

T h e v o l u m e of f r e i gh t in t he f i r s t n i n e m o n t h s of 1959 r eg i s t e r ed a n i nc r ea se of 69 pe r c e n t ove r the c o r r e s p o n d i n g pe r iod in 1958. T h e v o l u m e of c o m m o d i t i e s p u r c h a s e d rose 42 pe r c en t a n d re ta i l sa les w e n t up 16 pe r cent . T h e m a r k e t is b u o y a n t a n d t h e supply s i t ua t i on of a f ew commod i t i e s tha t had b e e n r a t h e r t ense fo r a t ime at the b e g i n n i n g of t h e y e a r ha s now t a k e n a f u n d a m e n t a l t u r n for the be t te r .

In th i s c o n t i n u e d upsurge , t h e s tee l - w o r k e r s lead. In S e p t e m b e r , t hey topped A u g u s t o u t p u t by 200,000 t o n s - - m o r e t h a n t he to ta l n a t i o n a l o u t p u t in 1949, the y e a r of l ibe ra t ion .

The na t i on ' s coal m i n e r s ove r fu l f i l l ed t h e i r t h i r d q u a r t e r p lan by n e a r l y ha l f a mi l l i on tons on S e p t e m b e r 28, two days a h e a d of schedule .

A t a f o r u m he ld in P e k i n g on Oc tobe r 5, V i c e - P r e m i e r Li F u - c h u n ou t l ined t h r e e m a j o r t a sks on the indus t r ia l , c o m m u n i c a t i o n s a n d f i nance and t r a d e f ron t s to more t h a n 1,000 mode l w o r k e r s w h o h a d come to the cap i t a l f r om al l ove r t h e c o u n t r y for t he 10th jub i lee :

1. Conso l ida t e a n d con t inue to deve lop t he c a m p a i g n to i nc rease o u t p u t a n d p rac t i s e economy and s t r i ve to ove r fu l - fil the t a rge t s se t f o r th by the P a r t y c o n s i d e r a b l y a h e a d of schedu le ;

2. M a k e even b e t t e r a r r a n g e m e n t s for i n d u s t r i a l p roduc t ion , cap i t a l cons t ruc - t ion, t r a n s p o r t a n d c o m m u n i c a t i o n s m the f o u r t h q u a r t e r and lay the f o u n d a t i o n for the big leap f o r w a r d in 1960;

3. On the bas is of the big leap for- w a r d of 1958-1960, s t r i v e to ca tch up w i t h B r i t a i n in t he o u t p u t of m a j o r in- dus t r i a l p roduc t s in less t h a n ten years.

The s i tua t ion on the a g r i c u l t u r a l f ron t is equa l ly encourag ing . T h e ha t 'ves t ing of 150 mi l l ion m u of s e m i - l a t e r ice in 13 s o u t h e r n p rov inces , i nc lud ing Szechuan , H u n a n , K iangsu , Anhwe i , Y u n n a n , H u p e h a n d K w e i c h o w , has b e e n essen t i a l ly com- pleted. I n c r e a s e s in yields ove r l as t yea r g e n e r a l l y r a n g e f r o m 10 to 30 per cent, in a n u m b e r of cases exceed ing 40 pe r

cent.

M e a n w h i l e , r epor t s of b u m p e r h a r v e s t s k e e p p o u r i n g in as t he h a r v e s t i n g of t h e ea r ly a u t u m n c r o p s - - m a i z e , mi l l e t a n d kaoliang ( s o r g h u m ) - - i n t he Yel low R i v e r Val ley n e a r s comple t ion . T h e ea r ly a u t u m n c rop f r o m 16 mi l l ion m u of l and in K i a n g s u P r o v i n c e was 70 pe r cent h e a v i e r t h a n l a s t year . Yields in S h a n - t u n g a n d Hopei P r o v i n c e s w e r e gene ra l l y 10 to 20 p e r cen t h igher .

A vas t a u t u m n t i l l ing a n d w h e a t p l a n t - ing m o v e m e n t is in ful l swing in Cll ina 's w i n t e r w h e a t regions. I t is expec t ed t h a t 360 mi l l ion m u wil l be s o w n to w i n t e r w h e a t th i s year , 50 mi l l ion mu more t h a n las t year. This fore te l l s a r ich s u m m e r h a r v e s t n e x t y e a r and wi l l h a v e f a r - r e a c h i n g in f luences on the en t i r e n a t i o n a l economy. As po in ted out by Vice- P r e m i e r T a n C h e n - l i n : the big l e ap for- w a r d of 1958 was p rope l l ed by ag r i cu l - t u r a l p roduc t ion , espec ia l ly t he b u m p e r s u m m e r h a r v e s t of t h a t year . So n e x t yea r ' s s u m m e r h a r v e s t wil l also p l ay a key role in t he c o n t i n u e d big leap for- w a r d of the n a t i o n a l economy.

T h e V i c e - P r e m i e r was a d d r e s s i n g more t h a n 1,300 r e p r e s e n t a t i v e s of o u t s t a n d i n g a g r i c u l t u r a l un i t s a n d model peasan t s w h o w e r e in P e k i n g for t he 10th a n n i v e r - sa ry celebrat ions . , a t a f o r u m jo in t ly s p o n s o r e d by the va r ious min i s t r i e s re- l a t ed to a g r i c u l t u r a l p r o d u c t i o n f r o m Oc tobe r 5 to 7. He ca l led on the peas- a n t s to d e v e l o p the v a r i e d ru ra l economy a n d s ide l ines p r o d u c t i o n ene rge t i ca l ly in t he l a s t qua r t e r , in add i t i on to ca r ry - ing out wel l t h e t h r e e a u t u m n tasks of ha rve s t i ng , cu l t i va t i on and p lan t ing . The s t a t e p l an cal ls for a n inc rease of 10 per cen t in the to ta l va lue of a g r i c u l t u r a l p r o d u c t i o n th i s year .

October 13, 1959 5