Or[ on the Peasant Movement in Hunan

428 MAO'S ROAD TO POWER party to be effective it must expand to 20,000 members. wi~in ~ix months. (it now has only 6,000) and must establish a local [orgaruzatlOn] m every xIan where the peasant associations have more than 20,000 members. (12) The Hong or[ SocietY> is a force [to be reckoned with]. We must. win. ov~r such forces and on the Peasant Movement in Hunan never adopt the method of attacking them. (13) The sl~atlOn IS extre~ely fa~or able for women and children to rise up in the countryslde. The women m partlcu (February 1927)1 lar are a great force and must not be neglected. Above, 1 have o~tl~ed the essential features of the thirteen items listed. Beginning tomorrow, Wlthm three or four days 1 shaH write a detailed report on the situation and send it to you for 1. Rural Revolution your inspection, corrections, and further guidance. 1. The Importance ofthe Peasant Problem During my recent visit, 1 made a first-hand investigation of the five xian of Xiangtan, Xiangxiang, Hengshan, Liling, and Changsha. In the thirty-two days from .January 4 to February 5, 1 called together fact-finding conferences in vil lages and xian towns, which were attended by experienced peasants and by cornrades in the peasant movement, and 1 listened attentively to their reports and collected a great deal of material. Many of the arguments of the peasant move ment were the exact opposite of what 1 had heard from the gentry class in Hankou and Changsha. 1 saw and heard many strange things of which 1 had hitherto been unaware. 1 believe that the same is also true of every province in aIl of China. 2 Consequent/y, aIl criticisms directed against the peasant movement The full text of this report was first published in Zhanshi, a weekly put out by the Hunan District Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, Nos. 35-36, 38, and 39, between March 5 and April 3, 1927 (see Nianpu, Vol. 1, p. 284). Our translation is based on the text in Mao Zedong)i, Vol. 1, pp. 207-49, which is taken from the 1944 and 1947 editions ofMao's Selected Works. 1. Although this text is dated March 1927 in the Selected Works, and was first pub lished in March, it was almost certainly written in February. As îndicated below, the investigation on which it is based took place between January 4 and February 5, 1927. On February 16, Mao produced the report to the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee translated above, which ends with the statement that he will be writing a longer report during the next few days. The version of Parts 1 and Il of this report published in Xiangdao No. 191, March 12, 1927, carries the parenthetical indication after the title: "Correspon dence of February 18 from Changsha." That date is perhaps as likely as any, but since it is not otherwise confilllled, we give simply the month. The variants between what Mao originally wrote in 1927, and the text as he revised it for publication in 1951, are indicated below by the devices explained in the "Note on Sources and Conventions" which appears at the beginning of this volume. One exception should, however, be noted. In the new version, the main headings, "I. Rural Revolution," and "II. The Revolutionary Vanguard," have been eliminated. To indicate this by setting these headings in italics would lead to confusion with the next level of subheadings, which appear in italic bold throughout the volume. We have, however, put in Roman the second half of subheading 112, which has been dropped in the Se/ected Works. Other changes in the headings are indicated in the notes. None of the headings in the revised version are 6. A secret society, descended from the Heaven and Earth Soci~o/ (~iandihui), wide numbered, except for the "fourteen great achievements" with which the report ends. spread in the Yangtze valley. The term may stand here for secret soclettes In general. 2. Every province in ail of China 4 Many other places 429 430 MAO'S RaAD Ta POWER FEBRUARY 1927 431 must he speedily set right, and the various erroneous measures adopted by the wa~ on the s~re~gth of their extensive organization that the peasants went into revolutionary authorities concerning the peasant movement must be speedily a~tlOn and wI~hm f~ur months brought about a great revolution in the country changed. Only thus can the future of the revolution be benefited. For the present slde, a revoluhon wlthOut parallel in history. upsurge of the peasant movement is a colossal event. In a very short time, 3. Down with the Local Bullies and Bad Gentry! Ali Power several hundred million peasants in China's central, southern, and northem prov to the Peasant Associations! inces will rise like a fierce wind or tempest, a force so swift and violent that no power, however great, will be able to suppress it. They will break through an the No~ that the p~asants have got themselves organized, they are beginning to take trammels that bind them and rush forward along the road to liberation. They will, actzon. The mam targets o~ their a.ttack are the local bullies, the bad gentry, and in the end, send an the imperialists, warlords, COlI upt officiaIs, local bullies, and the ~aw~ess. landlords, but 10 passmg they also hit out against patriarchal ideas bad gentry to their graves. AH revolutionary parties and aH revolutionary com and mst1~tlOns of all kinds, against the corrupt officiais in the cities, and against rades will stand before them to be tested, to be accepted or rejected as they ba~ pr~chces and customs in the rural areas. In force and momentum the attack is decide. To march at their head and lead them? To stand behind them, gesticulat qU1~e slmply tempestuous; those who submit to it survive, and those who resist ing and criticizing them? Or to stand opposite them and oppose them? Every pensh. As a resu~t, the privileges the feudallandlords have enjoyed for thousands Chinese is free to choose among the three, but by the force of circumstances you of years are bemg shattered to pieces. Their dignity and prestige are being are fated to make the choice quickly. Here 1 have written up my investigations completely s,:e~t away. With the collapse of the power of the gentry,7 the and opinions in several sections, for the reference ofrevolutionary comrades. peasant aSSOCIatIOns have now become the sole organs of authority, and "AIl power to the peasant associations" has become a reality. Even trifling matters 2. Get Organized such ~s .quarrels between husband and wife must be brought before the peasant The peasant movement in Hunan, so far as it concerns the xian in the central and assoc.la~lOn for settlement. Nothing can be settled in the absence of peasant southem parts of the province, where the movement is already developed, can be a.ssOClahOn repre~entatives. Wh~tever nonsense the people Jrom the peasant associa roughly divided into two periods. The frrst, from January to September of last , r- tl~n ta!k at meetmgs, ~hat, too, lS sacred. 8 The association actually dictates every ·',',. ,':<, -t, ~, ':. 10 year, was one of .. Within this period, January to June was a time of ., ' thmg the countryslde, aIl rural affairs, and quite literally "whatever it says " ; ;'".--· . \"' secret [activity], and July to September, when the revolutionary army was driv 1 :. goes." Pe?ple ou~side the associations can only speak weIl ~f them and canno~ • ing out Zhao, an open time. During this period, the membership of the peasant • say anythmg agamst them. The local bullies, bad gentry, and lawless landlords associations did not exceed 300,000 to 400,000, and the masses directly under h~ve completely lost their right to speak, and none of them dares even mutter their command3 numbered little more than a million; there was as yet hardly any dlss~nt. Faced by the intimidating force of the peasant associations, the top local struggle in the rural areas, and consequently there was very little criticism of the bulhes and bad gentry have fled to Shanghai, those of the second rank to associations in other circ1es. Because its members served as guides, scouts, and Hankou, t~ose of the third to Changsha, and. those of the fourth to the xian porters, even some of the officers4 had a good word to say for the peasant to:wns,. whtle t~e fifth rank and the stilliesser fry surrender to the peasant associ associations. The second period, from last October to January of this year, was atIOns 10 the VIllages. one of revolution. The membership of the associations jwnped to 2 million and "Here's te~yuan. Please let me join the peasant association," one of the lesser the masses directly under their commands increased to 10 million. (The peasants bad gentry WIll say. generally enter only one name for the whole family on joining a peasant associa "Ha! W~o wants your filthy money?" is the peasants' reply. tion; therefore a membership of 2 million a mass following of 10 million.) Many mlddle and smalliandiords, rich peasants, and even some middle peas Almost half the peasants in Hunan are now organized. In xian like Xiangtan, ants, who were formerly opposed to the peasant associations are now seeking Xiangxiang, Liuyang, Changsha, Liling, Ningxiang, Pingjiang, Xiangyin, a~ssio~. Visiting ~arious places, 1 often came across such p~ople who pleaded Hengshan, Hengyang, Laiyang, Chenxian, and Anhua, nearly aU the peasants Wlth me, Mr.

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