... In 1968 the Tachai brigade experienced a severe drought and hailstorm. Hailstones as big as eggs fell on the cornfields, piling up two to three inches. Corn stems were broken and rice seedlings crushed; part of the crop was uprooted. Potatoes and beans were smashed completely. But no matter how destructive the hailstorm, it did not destroy the poor and lower-middle peasants who were armed with Mao Tse-tung's thought. They said confidently: "We run into natural calamities every year and we fight them one by one. We are sure of our victory over natural calamities this year!

"We used our hands to save the battered corn and rice. Man and woman, young and old, we worked day and night and everyone did the work of two men. Our efforts proved that a bad thing can lead to good results after all. Through our struggles we turned a calamity-stricken year into one of bumper harvests."

The poor and lower-middle peasants said with animation: "Bumper harvests do not come from heaven or from earth. They come from Mao Tse-tung's thought'. 'Natural calamities are like paper tigers. If you are afraid of them, they will conquer you; if you fight them, you will find them not so powerful'. Equipped with Mao Tse-tung's thought, our strength is inexhaustible and we can be most resourceful. Even though we work day in and day out, we do not feel tired or complain in times of hardship. It is through these disasters that our cadres and the broad masses, particularly the younger generation, were tested and educated.

"Chairman Mao has taught us: 'We advocate self-reliance". With the spirit of hard struggle, we, the poor and lower-middle peasants, displayed the heroism of 'Dare to make the sun and moon shine in new skies.'" Thus flooded lands were turned into fertile fields, barren mountains became forests, river water was pumped to the highlands, and grain production greatly increased. Commune members had new housing and the old Tachai became a new socialist production brigade.

Comrade Lin Piao said: "Once Mao Tse-tung's thought is grasped by the broad masses, it becomes an inexhaustible source of strength and a spiritual atom bomb of infinite power". The Tachai peasants have attached first importance to the movement of creative study and application of Mao Tse-tung's thought. That is why we have revolutionized our thinking and acquired the correct idea of working the land for the sake of the revolution and in the interests of the people...

Peking Radio, 2 January 1969