Hu Feng's 300,000-word letter

Author: Hu Feng
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-01-01
Features: Exclusive disclosure of the motives behind the "Hu Feng Incident," first presents the full scope of the "Three Hundred Thousand Words." After fifty years of and twenty years of imprisonment, the mist has cleared, and the dust has settled. Yet, our reflections are endless as we knock on the door of fate once again.
Fragment: To the Central Committee of the Party, I now submit this report on the situation of literary and artistic practice since liberation. During the process of studying the resolution of the Fourth Plenary Session of the Party, I have given repeated consideration and reflection. I have repeatedly considered how to describe the practice in the field of literature and art in a way that embodies my understanding of the spirit of the Fourth Plenary Session's resolution. It was only when I gradually realized that my understanding was also corresponding to the liberal tendencies within me that I truly struck myself and was finally liberated.
Along my path, due to some theoretical insights and my perception of the development of the revolutionary struggle, I have come to understand that the high level of collectivism achieved by the Party was the result of repeatedly overcoming the destructive influence of anti-Party elements from within, thereby securing victory through bloodshed. Through my understanding of the spirit of the Fourth Plenary Session's resolution, I have felt even more strongly than before that the victory we achieved was the result of such struggles, and the share of that victory I have received has become even more precious to me. At the same time, it has deeply humbled me.
If I had not seen the Party's requirements and the historical requirements as one and the same, if I had not trusted in collectivism, I would not have been able to endure the path I have walked for these twenty-plus years or maintain my resolve. If I had been temporarily expelled from the revolutionary ranks and had not found the Party's leadership at the very beginning of the war of resistance, received guidance and attention from some comrades, especially from Premier Zhou, and been led through one after another of the encirclement struggles, gradually improving my understanding and trust in collectivism, it would have been very difficult for me to secure some working conditions in such a complex and treacherous environment, to carry out minor struggles under the overall leadership of the Party.
Precisely because of this, when I confront the failures and responsibilities caused by my liberal tendencies, the pain of the debts I owe to the Party and to the younger generation is indescribable.