ABSTRACT
The Tenth Plenum of the Eighth Central Committee, held in Peking from September 24 to 27, 1962, apparently brought no modifications to the policy of readjustment followed between the Sixth Plenum and the Ninth Plenum. In the countryside, the collective spirit persisted at the basic level that of production teams, and the "small liberties" remained. The Tenth Plenum gave new life to the half-forgotten theme of the permanence of class struggle. The vigorous resolution adopted by the Central Committee was aimed at the Party rather than at society as a whole: This class struggle is complicated, tortuous, with ups and downs, and sometimes it is very sharp. In the large towns, a privileged proletariat was growing used to its material advantages, bonuses, and the eight-hour day. The hour of great revolutionary fervor had passed, and political activities often became simply a ritual based on events and themes handed out by the Party.
