Communism that is eating for free

"Referring to Kang Youwei, Mao Zedong is quoted that he defined in the summer of 1958 communism as the “three no” (sanwu): no government, no state and no nationalities. The family would be a product of history and would one day disappear. Despite the fact that few references to “The Great Unity” were made in public, in August 1958, Chen Zhengren from the editorial broad of the “Red Flag” brought “The critics of the Gothaer program” of Marx and “The Book of the Great Unity” as gifts when he visited the model People’s Commune Xushui in Hebei province. Another source of inspiration for Mao Zedong was the official biography from the “History of the Three Kingdoms” of the Daoist reformer Zhang Lu who lived around AD 200. On the final day of the 6th plenum of the 8th CCP Central Committee in 1958, Mao wrote a comment on Zhang Lu. He praised him for the establishment of “Homes of the Righteousness” which provided food for free to travelers. The principle of free food would be forerunner of the People’s Communes. Mao went even further, when he said: “Communism that is eating for free.
During this pre-Marxist period of his life, Mao Zedong was influenced by Anarchism and the “New Village Movement” (xincun) which was very popular among Chinese intellectuals around 1919/1920. In 1919, Mao listed the institutions he believed the “new villages” should establish: “Public childcare centres, public nursing homes, public schools, public libraries, public banks, public farms, public factories, public consumer’s association, public theatres, public hospitals, public parks, museums, and autonomous association”. Despite the fact the public dining halls were not explicitly included, the similarities to the planned People’s Commune in 1958 were striking."

by Felix Wemheuer