The years 1955–1959 in Communist China included striking fluctuations and successes for Mao Tse-tung’s Party, and the working out of the first Five-Year Plan for economic and agricultural development. Here analysis of domestic developments is supported by 48 documents—directives, speeches, and articles. The major Party pronouncements are given in full. The significance of each is clarified by prefatory comments indicating additional readings, and by the 41-page introductory essay. This newly integrated picture of five crucial years pioneers the use of documentation (as in Soviet studies) for dealing with Communist China.