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. C?mmttteeman from the provincial capital, please be my guarantor!" have gone into the peasant associations or have come under their command. 6 It . Unde~ the Qmg dynasty, the household census compiled by the local authori­ hes conslsted of a regular register and "the other" register, the former for honest 3. Command ~ Leadership 4. The officers ~ The officers of the Expeditionary Army 7. The gentry (shenshi) ~ The landlords 5. Command ~ Leadership 8. Litera~ly, "If a member of a peasant association lets a fart . " ," this being a 6. Command ~ Leadership common Chmese metaphor (much used by Mao) for talking nonsense. 432 MAO'S ROAD TO POWER FEBRUARY 1927 433 people and the latter for burglars, bandits, and similar undesirables. In sorne at aIl. ~t is anything but "terrible." To give credit where credit is due. if we allot places the peasants now use this to scare those who were fmmerly against the ten pomts to the accomplishments of the democratic revolution, then the achieve­ .', , associations. They say, "Put their names down in the other register!" - _c., ments of the city dwellers and the military rate only three points, while the Afraid of being entered in the other register, such people try various devices remaining seven points should go to the achievements of the peasants in their to gain admission into the peasant associations. Their minds are entirely set on rural revolution. "Ifs terrible!" is obviously a theory for combating the rise of this, and they do not feel safe until their names are entered in the peasant the peasants in the interests of the landlords; it is obviously a theory of the association register. More often than not the peasant associations turn them down landlord class for preserving the old feudal order and obstructing the establish­ flat, and so they are always on tenterhooks; with the doors of the association ,_ l ' ,-, , ment of the. new democratic order; it is obviously a counterrevolutionary theory. " "' ' .,-,. ..

i t} :: .~- barred to them, they are like tramps without a home or, in rural parlance, "mere :\.' - ,,~{" ~o reV?IU~lOnary comrade should echo this nonsense. If your revolutionary u ", -" -,: , trash." ln short, what was generaUy sneered at four months ago as the ''peasants' , - '" vlewpomt IS firmly established, and if you go to the villages and have a look gang" has now bec orne something most honorable. Those who fmmerly pros­ around, you will undoubtedly feel ajoy you have never known before. Countless trated themselves before the gentry9 now aU prostrate themselves before the - ./ ",' , -i' ; thousands of slaves the peasants are there overthrowing their cannibalistic power of the peasants. Everyone, no matter who, admits that the world has enemies. What the peasants are doing is absolutely right; what they are doing is "fi 1" "It' fi 1'" h h changed since last October. me. s me. IS t e t eory of the peasants and of other revolutionaries. Every revolutionary comrade should know that the national revolution requires a 4. It's Terrible and It's Fine great change in the countryside. The Revolution of 1911 did not bring about this change, hence its failure. Nowa change is taking place, and this is an important The peasants' revoit in the countryside disturbed the gentry's sweet dreams. factor for the completion of the revolution. Every revolutionary comrade must When the news from the countryside reached the cities, the urban gentry were support this change or he will be a counterrevolutionary.11 immediately in an uproar. When 1 frrst arrived in Changsha, 1 met aH sorts of people and picked up a good deal of gossip. From the middle strata of society 5. The Question of "Going too Far"12 upwards to the Guomindang right-wingers, there was not a single person who did not sum it aU up in the phrase, "It's terrible!" Even very revolutionary people, Then there is another section of people who say, "Although peasant associations influenced by the views of the "It's terrible!" school which dominated the c1i­ are necessary, their actions at present are undeniably going too far." This is the mate in the city, became downhearted when they tried to picture the situation in opinion of the middle-of-the-roaders. But what is the actual situation? True, the the countryside in their mind's eye and were unable to deny the word "terrible." peasants are i.n a sense "unruly" in the countryside. Supreme in authority, the Even very progressive people could only say, "This kind of thing is inevitable in peasant association allows the landlord no say and sweeps away the landlord' s a revolution, but still ifs terrible." ln short, no one at aH could completely reject pres~ige. This amounts to striking the landlord down into the dust and trampling this word "terrible." But as 1 have already said, the fact is that the broad peasant on hlm there. They coined the phrase: "If he has land, he must be a buily, and ail masses have ris en to fulfiU their historical mission, and that the democratic gentry are evil. "13 In some of the places even those who own 50 mu offields are forces in the countryside have risen to overthrow the forces of feudalism in the cailed local bullies, and those who wear long gowns are cailed bad gentry. The countryside. 10 This overthrowing of the feudal forces is the real objective of the peasants threaten, "We will put you in the other register!" They fine the local national revolution. What Mr. Sun Yatsen wanted, but failed, to accomplish in and bad gentry, they demand contributions from them, and they smash the forty years he devoted to the national revolution, the peasants have accom­ bul~ies thelr sedan-chairs. In the case of local bullies and bad gentry who are against the plished in a few months. The patriarchal-feudal class of local bullies, bad gen~ p~asant association, a mass of people swarm into their houses, slaughtering their try, and lawless landlords has formed the basis of autocratie govemment for plgS and consuming their grain. They may ev en on the ivory-inlaid beds thousands of years, and is the cornerstone of imperialism, warlordism, and 1011 belonging to the young ladies in the households of the local bullies and bad corrupt officialdom. [To overthrow them] is a marvelous feat never before achieved, not just in forty but in thousands of years. It is fme. It is not "terrible" II. Will be a counterrevolutionary ~ Will be taking the stand of counterrevolution 12. "Going too far" ~ The so-called "going too far" 9. Before the gentry ~ Before the power of the gentry 13. This is a free rendering of a playon the four Chinese characters (tuhao lieshen) 10. The Selected Works text moves to this point the sentence beginning "The patriar­ translated as "local bullies" and "bad gentry"; the original reads "Youtu bi hao wushen chal-feudal class of local bullies," which appears in italics three lines below. bu l'le. " , • 434 MAO'S ROAD TO POWER FEBRUARY 1927 435 gentry. At the slightest provocation they make arrests, crown the arrested with peasant masse~ in the~r thousands and tens of thousands to form this great force. taU paper hats, and parade them through the villages, saying, "You dirty land­ AlI the exces~I:e actIOns 17 mentioned above [result from] the power18 of the lords, now you know who we are!" Doing whatever they like and turning every­ p.easants, mO~Ihzed by the great, fervent revolutionary upsurge in the country­ thing upside down, they have even created a kind of terror in the countryside. side. It was highly necessary such things to be done in the second period of 14 fo~ This is what ordinary people caU "going too far," or "going beyond the proper the peasant movement, t.he penod of revolutionary action. Such actions were limits in righting a wrong," or "reaUy too much." Such talk may seem plausible, ext~emely necess.ary dunng the second period of the peasant movement (the but in fact it is wrong. First, the local bullies, bad gentry, and lawless landlords pen~d of revolutIOn). In this period, it was necessary to establish the absolute have themselves driven the peasants to this. For ages they have used their power domI~a~ce of the peasants. It was necessary to forbid criticism 19 of the peasant to tyrannize over the peasants and tramp le them underfoot; that is why the assocIatIOns. It was necessary to overthrow completely the authority of the gen­ peasants have reacted so strongly. The most violent revolts and the most serious try, to knoc~ them ~o~n and even stamp them underfoot. AlI excessive20 actions disorders have invariably occurred in places where the local bullies, bad gentry, had revolutIOn~ry sIgmficance during the second period. To put it bluntl 't' and lawless landlords perpetrated the worst outrages. The peasants are clear­ necessary to bnng about a brief reign of terror in every rural area' otherwr~ 1 IS sighted. Who is bad and who is no t, who is the worst and who is not quite so vicious, who deserves severe punishment and who deserves to be let off SI de or overthrow the authority of the gentry. To right a wrong it is necessary to lightly the peasants keep clear accounts, and very seldom has the punishment exceed the Iimits; the wrong cannot be righted without doing so. The 15 pro~er exceeded the crime. Therefore, Mr. Tang Mengxiao also sa id "The peasants a~gument of t~IS group seems on the surface to differ from that of the group are arresting local bullies and bad gentry; nine of ten arrested deserve il. " ~lScu~sed e~rher, but essentiaIly they proceed from the same standpoint and Secondly, a revolution is not like inviting people to dinner, or writing an essay, hkewlse ~Olce a. landlord .theory that upholds the interests of the privileged or painting a picture, or doing embroidery; it cannot be so refined, so leisurely c~asses. SIllce thlS. theory Impedes the rise of the peasant movement and so and gentle, so "benign, upright, courteous, temperate and complaisant."16 A diSruptS the revolutIOn, we must finnly oppose it. revolution is an uprising, an act of violence whereby one class overthrows the power of another. A rural revolution is a revolution in which the peasantry II. The Revolutionary Vanguard overthrows the power of the feudal landlord class. If the peasants do not use extremely great force, they cannot possibly overthrow the deeply rooted power 1. The Movement ofthe Riffraff21 of the landlords, which has lasted for thousands of years. The rural areas must experience a great, fervent revolutionary upsurge, which alone can rouse the· The rig~t wing of the Guomindang says, "The peasant movement is a movement of the nf~raff, a movement ofthe lazy peasants." This argument has gained much ~urren~y III Changsha. When 1 was in the countryside, 1 heard the gentry say "It 14. Ordinary people ~ Sorne people IS aIl nght to set up peasant associations, but the people now running them ar~ no 15. Tang Shengzhi (188~1970), zi Mengxiao, was a native of Dongan xian, Hunan, and a graduate of Baoding Military Academy. Early in his career, in 1918, he aligned good. Th~y oug~t to be repla~ed!" This argument cornes to the same thing as himself with Zhao Hengti, under whom he served as a regimental commander beginning in what the ngh~-wmgers are saymg. Both admit that it is aIl right to have a peasant 1918. Following Zhao's assumption of the governorship, he was promoted to divisional movement (smc~ the peasant movement has already come into being, no one commander. During the 1923 war between Zhao Hengti and Tan Yankai, he remained dare sa.y o~herwlse), but they regard the people running it as no good. Their loyal to Zhao. In March 1926, however, he was able to force Zhao to resign in his favor. In hatred IS directed particularly against those in charge of the associations at the July 1926, Chiang Kaishek appointed him commander in chief of front-line operations in lower levels, whom they caU "riffraff." Those people in the countryside who the Northern Expedition, with six Hunan divisions under him. In the spring of 1927, he took the si de of the Guomindang Left against Chiang Kaishek and was thus regarded by used to go around in worn-out leather shoes, carry broken umbrellas wear Mao, at the time of writing, as a revolutionary military man. Indeed, on March 30, he was g~een ~owns, and gamble in short, aIl those who were formerly despis~d and appointed a member of the Interim Executive Committee of the Ali-China Federation of ______klcked mto the gutter by the gentry, who had no social standing, and who were Peasant Associations (see the text of April 9, 1927, which appears below). By late sum­ mer, however, he had turned against the Communists, and in November, 1927, he retired 17. E~cessive ~ Which have been labeled as "excessive" to Japan. 18. Po.":e~ ~ Have been created by the power 16. These are the qualities that enabled Confucius, according to his disciple Zigong, to 19. CntIclsm ~ Malicious criticism obtain infOlmation about the government of the countries he visited. See the Analects, l, X, 20. Excessive ~ Which were labeled as "excessive" 2 (Legge, Vol. I, p. 142). 2]. The movement ofthe riffraff ~ The so-called "movement of the riffratr' 436 MAO'S ROAD TO POWER FEBRUARY 1927 437

completely deprived of22 the right to speak, have now dared to lift their heads. getting your head choppe~ o~f! Don't get people into trouble!" Yet, surprisingly Not only have they raised their heads, they have also taken power into their enough, the peasant assocIatIOns have now been established for several months hands. They are now running the township peasant associations (the lowest level and have even dared to stand up to the gentry. The gentry of the neighborhood of peasant associations), and have tumed them into a formidable force. They who refused to hand over their opium pipes were arrested by the associations and raise their rough, blackened hands and lay them on the heads of the gentry. They paraded through the· villages. 'In the xian towns, moreover, sorne big landlords tether the bad gentry with ropes, crown them with taU paper hats, and parade w~re ~ut to death (such as Yan Rongqiu of Xiangtan and Yang Zhize of them through the villages. (In Xiangtan and Xiangxiang they caU this "parading Nl~gxI~~g). On the anniversary of the October Revolution, at the time of the through the township" and in Liling "parading through the fields.") Every day , . anh-Bnhsh· . raHy and of the great celebrations of the vic tory of the Northern the coarse, harsh sounds of their denunciations pierce the ears of these gentry. Expe dIhon, tens of thousands26 of peasants, holding high their banners, big and They are giving orders and running everything. They, who used to rank below small, . along with their carrying poles and hoes, demonstrated in massive, everyone else, now rank above everybody else that is what people mean by streammg columns. The rich peasants27 began to get perplexed and alarmed in "turning things upside down." their hearts. Dur~g.. the great victory celebrations of the Northern Expedition, they learned that JIUjlang had also been taken, that Chiang Kaishek had not been 2. Vanguard ofthe Revolution or Outstanding Contributors wounded in the leg, and that Wu Peifu had been defeated after aH. What is more to the Revolution they saw "Long live the Three People's Principles!" "Long live the peasan; associations!" "Long live the peasants!" and so on and so forth clearly written on When there are two different ways of looking at a certain thing, or a certain kind the red and green proclamations (slogans). of people, two opposite assessments emerge. "It's terrible!" and "Ifs fine!" are "What?" wondered the rich peasants, greatly perplexed and alarme d, " 'Long one example and "riffraff' and "vanguard of the revolution" are another. We live the peasants!' Are these people now to be regarded as emperors?"28 So the said above that the peasants had accomplished a revolutionary task for manY peasant associations are putting on grand airs. People from the associations say years left unaccomplished and had done the principal23 work in the national to the rich peasants: revolution. But has this great revolutionary task, this principal24 work in the "We'll enter you in the other register!" revolution, been performed by aU the peasants? No. There are three kinds of "In another month, the admission fee will be tenyuan a head!" peasants: the rich, the middle, and the poor peasants. These three categories live . . ~nly under th~ i~pactand intimidation of aH this are the rich peasants tardily in different circumstances and so have different ideas about the revolution. In the jommg the aS~OCIatlOns, sorne paying fifty cents or one yuan for admission (the first period, what appealed to the rich peasants (those who have surplus money regular fee bemg a ~ere ten coppers), sorne securing admission only after asking and grain are called rich peasants) was the talk about the Northern Expedition­ o~herpeople to put m a good word for them. But there are quite a number of ary Army's sustaining a crushing defeat in Jiangxi,' about Chiang Kaishek's dI~hards who have not joined to this day. When the rich peasants join the associ­ being wounded in the leg and flying back to Guangdong, and about Wu Peifu's atIons, they generally enter the name of sorne sixty- or seventy-year-old member recapturing Yuezhou. The peasant associations would certainly not last and the ~f the family, for they are in constant dread of conscription. After joining, the Three People's Principles could never prevail, because they had never been ~Ich ~easants are not keen on doing anY work for the association. They remain heard of before. Thus an official of the township peasant association (generally InactIve throughout. How about the middle peasants? (Those who do not have 25 one of the riffraff type) would walk into the house of a rich peasant, register in any surplus money and rice, are not in debt, and are able to assure themselves of hand, and say, "Will you please join the peasant association?" How did the rich cl~thing, food, ~nd shelter every year are called the middle peasants.) The peasants reply?' "Peasant association? 1 have lived here for decades, tilling my a~ltude of ~e mlddle peasants is a vacillating one. They think that the revolution land. 1 never saw such a thing before, yet l've managed to live aU right," says a WIll .not brmg ~uch good to them. They have rice cooking in their pots and no rich peasant with a tolerably decent attitude. "1 advise you to give it up!" A credltors. knockm~ on their doors at midnight. They, too, judging a thing by really vicious rich peasant says, "Peasant association! Nonsense! Association for whether It ever eXlsted before, knit their brows and think to themselves, "Can the

22. Completely deprived of ~ Had no 26. Tens ?fthousands ... ~ Tens ofthousands ... in every township 23. Principal ~ Important 27. The nch peasants ~ It was only then that the rich peasants 24. Principal ~ Important 28. The most common expression in Chinese for "Long live!" is wansui literally"ten 25. Riffraff ~ The so-called "riffratf' thousand years," which was used ofthe emperor. ' , ;.ri!_ . '>'(, ,­' ,\' , FEBRUARY 1927 439 438 MAO'S ROAD TO POWER peasant association really last?" "Can the Three People's Principles prevail?" commit crimes and become robbers and thieves. They make up 20 out of the 70 Their conclusion is, "Afraid not!" They imagine it aIl depends on the will of [percent]. The less destitute are the partially dispossessed, that is, people with Heaven and think, "A peasant association? Who knows if Heaven wills it or just a little land or a Httle capital who eat up more than they eam and live in toi! not?" In the first period, people from the association would caU on a middle and distress the year round, such as the handicraftsmen, the tenant-peasants (not peasant, register in hand, and say, "Will you pleas:)oin the peasant ~ssociation?" including the rich tenant-peasants), and the semitenant-peasants. These make up The middle peasant replied, "There' s no hurry! It was not untIl the second 50 out of the 70 [percent]. (The number ofpoor peasants in other xian may be period, when the peasant associations were already exercising great that sm aller than in Changsha, but there should not be a big discrepancy). This great powe~, 35 the middle peasants came in. Even though they29 are somewhat better III the rnass of poor peasants constitute the backbone of the peasant associations, the peasant associations than the rich peasants, they are never very enthusiastic,30 vanguard in overthrowing the feudal forces, and the foremost heroes who have 31 and retain their vacillating attitude. The only kind ofpeople in the countryside performed the great revolutionary task which for long years was left undone. who have always put up the bitterest fight are the po or peasants. From the period Without the poor peasant class (the riffraff, as the gentry caU them), it would of underground work straight through to the period of open activity, it is they never have been possible to bring about the present revolutionary situation in the who have fought. 32 As for organization, it is they who are organizing things countryside, or to overthrow the local bullies and bad gentry and to complete the there, and as for revolution, it is they who are making revolution there. They dernocratic revolution. The poor peasants (especially the portion who are utterly alone are the deadly enemies of the local tyrants and evil gentry, and they strike destitute), being the most revolutionary group, have gained the leadership of the them without the slightest hesitation. They alone are capable of carrying out the peasant associations. In both the first and second periods almost aIl the chainnen work ofdestruction. They say to the rich and middle peasants: and committee members in the peasant associations at the lowest level (i.e., the township associations) were poor peasants (of the officiaIs in the township asso­ "We joined the peasant association long ago, why are you still hesitating?" ciations in Hengshan County the class36 of the utterly destitute comprise 50 The rich and the middle peasants answer mockingly: percent, the c1ass of the less destitute 40 percent, and poverty-stricken intellectu­ aIs 10 percent). This leadership by the poor peasants is extremely necessary. "What is there to keep you from joining? Vou people have neither a tile Without the poor peasants there would be no revolution. To deny their role is to over your heads nor a speck of land under your feet!" deny the revolution. To attack them is to attack the revolution. From beginning to end, the general direction they have given to the revolution has never been It is true that the poor peasants are not afraid of losing anything. They are the wrong. They have discredited the local bullies and bad gentry. They have disinherited or semidisinherited in rurallife. Sorne of them reaUy have "neither a tile over their heads nor a speck of land under their feet." What, indeed, is there knocked down the local bullies and bad gentry, big and smaU, and trampled them to keep thern from joining the associations? According to the survey of underfoot. Many of their "excessive"37 deeds in the period of revolutionary

-, " action were in fact the very things the revolution required. Sorne xian govem­ 33 '" ' Changsha xian, the poor peasants comprise 70 percent, the middle peasants 20 ,', , , ments, xian headquarters of the Guomindang, and xian peasant associations in percent, and the rich peasants34 10 percent. The 70 p.ercent, the poor peas.ants, .

. " may be subdivided into two categories, the utterly destItute and the less destItute. , - ",'; Hunan have already made a number of mistakes; sorne have even sent soldiers to The "utterly destitute" are the completely dispossessed, that is, people who have , ' - ' arrest officiaIs of the lower-Ievel associations at the landlords' request. A good neither land nor capital, are without any means of livelihood, and are forced to many chairmen and committee members of township associations in Hengshan leave home and bec orne mercenaries or hired laborers and wandering beggars, or , ' ,', - ',- and Xiangxiang xian have been thrown in jail. This mistake is very serious and unintentionally feeds the arrogance of the reactionaries. To judge whether or not it is a mistake, you have only to see how joyful the lawless landlords bec orne and • 29. They -+ Their behavior ., . how reactionary sentiments grow whenever the chainnen or committee rnernbers 30. They are never very enthusiastic -+ They are not as yet very enthuslastlc; they stIll of local peasant associations are arrested. We must combat the counterrevolu­ want to wait and see. It is essential for the peasant associations to get the middle peasants tionary slogan of a "movement of riffraff' and a "movement of lazy peasants," to join and to do a good deal more explanatory work among them. but at the same time we should be especially careful not to help the local bullies 31. The only kind of people -+ The main force . 32. Have fought -+ Have fought militantly. They are the most responslve to Commu- 35. Mass -+ Mass, altogether 70 percent of the rural population nist Party leadership. 33. The poor peasants -+ Of the population in th~ rural areas, the poor peasants 36. The class -+ The stratum (here and in the following phrase) 34. The rich peasants -+ The landlords and the rIch peasants 37. "Excessive" -+ So-called "excessive" 440 MAO'S ROAD TO POWER FEBRUARY 1927 441

and bad gentry (however unintentionally) in their attacks on the leadership38 of hardly a remote corner where they are not on the move; these are the best places the poor peasant class. In fact, though a few of the poor peasant leaders undoubt­ In. sorne xian like Yi~ang and Hua~ong, the bulk of the peasants have arisen,4; edly did "gamble, play cards, and not earn their living by hard work,"39 most of Wlth o~ly a ~mall sectIOn not yet ansen; these places are in the second grade. In them have changed by now. They themselves are energetically prohibiting gam­ other xzan, IIke Chengbu and Lingling, while a small section has arisen the bulk bling and suppressing banditry. Where the peasant association is powerful, gam­ of the peas~nt~ have still not arisen; these places are in the third grade.' Western bling has stopped altogether and the peril of banditry has vanished. In sorne " , IS : ,i" Hunan, whlch under the control of Yuan Zuming, has not yet been reached by ": '- ~J . •if- " places it is literally true that people do not take articles left by the wayside and - , " the associations' propaganda, and the peasants of many of its xian have com­ that doors are not bolted at night. According to the Hengshan survey, 85 percent pletely failed to rise; these fmm a fourth grade. Roughly speaking, the xian in of the poor peasant leaders have made great progress and have proved them­ central Hunan, with Changsha as the center, are the most advanced, those in selves capable and hard-working. Only 15 percent retain sorne bad habits. The south~rn Hunan .come second, and western Hunan is only just beginning to most one can call them is "an unhealthy minority," and we must not echo the ~rgamze. Accordmg to the figures compiled by the provincial peasants' associa­ local bullies and bad gentry in undiscriminatingly condemning them as "riffraff." tIOn last No~em~er, organizations with a total membership of 1,367,727 have As to dealing with the "unhealthy minority," we can proceed only under the been set up m thlrty-seven of the province's seventy-five xian. Of these mem­ peasant associations' own slogan of "strengthen discipline," by conducting pro­ bers, about one million were organized during the time of October and Novem­ paganda among their masses, by training the "unhealthy minority," and by im­ ber when the power of the associations rose high, while up to September the proving the discipline of the associations; in no circumstances should soldiers be membership had only been 300,000 to 400,000. Then came the two months of 40 arbitrarily sent to make such arrests as would weaken the faith [in] the poor December and January, and the peasant movement continued its brisk growth. peasants and feed the arrogance of the local bullies and bad gentry. This point 46 B~ ~he end of th~ month the membership must have reached at least two requires careful attention. mIllIon. As a famlly generally enters only one name when joining and has an average of five members, the mass following must have reached ten million III. Peasants and the Peasant Associations41 ~his astonishing and accelerating rate of expansion explains why the local bul~ lIes, bad gentry, and conupt officiaIs have been isolated; why society has been Most critics of the peasant associations allege that they have done a great many ~mazed at how different the world was before and after; and why a great revolu­ bad things. 1 have already pointed out in the preceding two sections that the hon has been wr~ught in the countryside. This is the first great thing that the peasants' attack on the local bullies and bad gentry is entirely revolutionary peasants have achleved under the command47 of the peasant associations . behavior and in no way blameworthy. But the peasants have done a great many . Th~ table on t~e following pages gives the membership ofthe peasant associ­ things, and42 we must closely examine aIl their activities to see whether or not atIOns zn ail the XIan in Hunan Province as oflast November.48 what they have done is really aIl bad, as is being said from without. 1 have summed up their activities of the last few months; in aIl, the peasants under the 2. Dealing Polideal Blows to the Landlords command43 of the peasant associations have the following fourteen great achievements to their credit. Afte~ the peasants are organized, the first thing they do is to smash the political prest.lge of the landlord class, and especially of the local bullies and bad gentry, 44 1. Organizing the Peasants under Peasant Associations that IS, to p.ull down the power and influence of the landlords and build up the power and mfluence of the peasants in rural society. This is a most serious and This is the first great thing the peasants have achieved. In xian such as Xiangtan, urgent .struggle;. it is the central struggle in the second period, the period of Xiangxiang, and Hengshan, nearly aIl the peasants are organized and there is ~evoluhon. If thls struggle is not victorious, there can be no possibility of victory 38. Leadership -+ Erroneous actions m any of the economic struggles, such as the struggle for rent and interest 39. Did "gamble, play cards, and not eam their living by hard work" -+ Did have reduction, or for capital and land,49 and so on. In many places in Hunan like shortcomings 40. Weaken the faith in -+ Damage the prestige of 45. Here, and throughout this paragraph, Arisen (qi/ai) -+ Organized (zuzhi qi/ai) 41. Peasants and the peasant associations -+ Fourteen great achievements 46. The month -+ January 42. Here the Se/ected Works text inserts: "in order to answer people's criticisms." 47. The command -+ The leadership 43. The command -+ the leadership 48. The whole of the following table has been omitted in the Se/ected Works 44. Under the peasant associations -+ ln the peasant associations 49. For capital and land -+ To demand land and other means of production .

,-"-,-,-~------COMPARATIVE TABLE OF PEASANT ASSOCIATION MEMBERSHIP BV XIAN ~ •

Social Status of Members ~ o, No. of Semi Handi- Primary Vl • Name of No. of xlang Agr. Share owner Owner craft school Small No. of ~ xian• quassns assns laborers croppers peasants peasants workers teachers merchant Women Other Members ~ Xiangxiang 44 499 16,400 91,500 41,000 13,100 28,000 450 190,544 t:l 6 Xiangyin 67 15,857 87,590 52,635 14,793 12,514 151 634 57 400 176,000 , Liuyang 21 568 139,190 '"o Xiangtan 17 450 27,000 54,100 12,400 8,460 7,400 1,100 120,460 ~ ~ Hengyang 23 244 17,358 37,725 7,532 5,628 6,135 2,256 1,579 88,223 Changsha 12 640 17,527 25,948 9,131 5,381 4,915 1,425 1,463 643 66,415 Anhua 15 120 62,300 Liling 15 323 6,746 35,460 6,920 3,998 3,643 230 601 195 683 58,476 Ningxiang 18 400 5,000 20,000 10,000 4,000 8,400 600 58,000 Chenxian 14 696 19,725 26,898 2,124 2,550 5,711 118 100 16 57,262 Hengshan 13 203 3,623 16,993 2,965 2,174 3,328 1,133 30,016 Suburbs 169 9,509 10,646 3,563 2,893 1,794 332 582 156 29,475 Linwu 6 32 2,183 10,143 4,146 2,291 933 254 20,000 Youxian 29 18,400 Yiyang 7 67 1,568 5,017 6,586 1,586 784 32 126 15,680 Huarong 6 49 2,000 6,595 2,453 1,887 501 1,216 14,652 Yizhang 10 185 1,438 8,936 1,637 1,283 802 87 14,183 Laiyang 9 149 1,145 6,865 2,684 1,844 342 66 12,946 Linli 6 49 2,000 3,000 2,400 4,000 200 60 11,660 ------

, ",. -<, -. ,. ~,""- ~'->o<~_-_~-_':" -"'. ." \

Chaling 4 124 500 7,000 2,500 1,000 200 60 11,260 Yongxing 16 107 • 1,200 2,800 4,020 2,200 200 30 10,450 Pingjiang 17 162 1,023 4,298 1,781 1,612 1,093 214 85 4 42 Xinning 10,152 9 25 1,722 6,533 858 375 184 74 9,746 Changde 3 59 890 2,800 2,080 3,500 310 65 Baoqing 9,545 7 136 1,438 2,367 1,481 1,744 771 9,377 Wugang 8 40 1,800 4,500 900 900 900 900 Rucheng 9,000 6 46 406 4,195 2,957 1,228 41 38 8,865 Hanshou 69 1,125 3,276 1,047 1,378 228 33 61 78 7,226 Nanxian 6 49 1,384 4,064 907 406 69 89 45 36 7,000 Zhuping Lu 21 997 3,152 732 539 687 50 297 10 Xinhua 6,464 6 1,526 3,246 497 424 472 202 6,377 Guiyang 4 52 445 274 1,673 1,525 402 24 6,245 Qiyang 15 70 6,000 Lingxian 12 48 1,312 1,917 601 492 546 218 382 . Zixing 5,468 5 79 2,148 1,123 891 341 699 122 5,324 Guidong 7 95 816 1,156 1,022 1,507 94 62 204 297 25 5,193 Xintian 8 47 456 2,927 955 488 299 25 5,150 Changning 78 486 2,378 823 536 96 12 34 178 4,549 ~ Cili 11 b:l 48 263 1,550 601 1,806 236 40 4,496 ~ Linxiang 7 95 624 995 847 1,195 47 31 105 152 81 4,077 s: Taoyuan 7 ~ 36 ""< 4,000 ..... Yuanjiang 3 19 241 11 .. 74 520 1,615 243 46 3,839 ~ Lanshan 4 51 765 1,499 604 385 41 21 35 " Lixian 3,350 4 16 597 1,033 389 249 215 t 66 2,549 t.I.l .', - "'l','j' ' '-~;. 444 MAO'S ROAD TO POWER St' " > " ,;, FEBRUARY 1927 445

f!! Xiangxiang, Hengshan, and Xiangtan xian, this is of course no problem since the ëCl> cE.0 power of the landlords has been overturned and the peasants constitute the sole ZCl> ::2 ... power. But in xian like Liling, there are still sorne places (such as the two western and southt!m xian50 of Liling) where the power of the landlords seems ... Cl> weaker than that of the peasants but, because the political struggle has not been .s:; o- sharp, landlord power is in fact surreptitiously opposing peasant power. In such places it is still too early to say that the peasants have gained political victory; c: Cl> ... they must wage the political struggle more vigorously until the power of the E (\J o landlords is completely cast down. Generally speaking, the methods used by the ~ peasants to deal political blows to the landlords are as follows: E =cuCU.s:; E~ a. Auditing the accounts. Most of the local bullies and bad gentry are guilty cnCl> E of embezzling the public funds entrusted to them, and the books are not in order. This time, the peasants have used the auditing of accounts as an occasion to (\J ex> ...... r--. 00 (\J v 0 ('t) ex> ('t) r--. ('t) ... .- ... .- ... ('t)(\J ... (\J bring down countless local bullies and bad gentry. In many places auditing committees have been set up for the specific purpose of settling accounts with the local bullies and bad gentry, who shudder at the mere sight of such an organ. ~~(\j~~~~~~t!ex>v ... .- Auditing campaigns like this have been carried out extensively in all the xian z o where the peasant movement has arisen. Their significance lies not so much ~ in recovering the funds as in exposing the crimes of the local bullies and bad -o gentry and knocking them down from their political as weIl as their social o positions. ~ b. Imposing fines. The peasants work out fmes for su ch offenses as irregular­ ~ Îties revealed by the audits, past outrages against the peasants, current activities cC that undermine the peasant associations, violations of the ban on gambling, and ~CL refusaI to surrender opium pipes. For crimes like these, the peasants resolve u.. .,; - ,·'X' , ' that such and such a local bully must pay so much, and such and such a o '-' . ."-'\ W , -"- . ',' . , member of the bad gentry so much, the sums ranging from tens to thousands ..J , '.~,' - "), CO : '. of yuan. Naturally, a man who has been fined by the peasants completely ~ loses face. W > - c. Levying contributions. Rich but heartless landlords are made to contribute a:~ funds for the relief of the poor, for running cooperatives and rural credit agen­ cC CL cies, or for other purposes. Though milder than fines, these contributions are also :E ~ o co- a fonn of punishment. To avoid trouble, quite a few landlords voluntarily make o contributions to the peasant associations. d. Minor protests. When someone harms a peasant association by word or ('t) co Ln r--. (\J ('t) ('t) v ex> ... v ... deed and the offense is a minor one, the peasants collect in a crowd and swanll into the offender's hou se to remonstrate with him not too severely. He is usually let off after writing a pledge to "cease and desist," in which he explicitly under­ takes to refrain henceforth from words and deeds that would hann the reputation of the peasant association.

50. The two ... xian ~ The two ... districts FEBRUARY 1927 447 446 MAO'S ROAD TO POWER who have taken refuge in the xian towns are only of the fourth rank, but there are e. Major demonstrations. A big crowd is rallied to demonstrate against the ~any eyes and ears,5\ and they can easily be discovered. The financial authori­ house of a local buUy or one of the bad gentry who is hostile to the association. tIes ha~e bl~~ed the difficulties encountered by the Hunan Provincial Govem­ The demonstrators eat at the offender's house, slaughtering his pigs and consum­ ment In ra1SI~g mone'y on t~e fa ct that the peasants were banishing the ing his grain as a matter of c"ourse. Quite a few such cases have occurred. There weU-to-do. ThIS, too, glves an ldea of the extent to which the local bullies and was a case recently at Majiahe, Xiangtan xian, where a crowd of fifteen thousand ba~ gentry are not tolerated in their home villages. went to the houses of six of the bad gentry to condemn them; the whole affair 1.. Shooting. This is confmed to the worst local bullies and bad gentry and is lasted four days, during which more than 130 pigs were killed and eaten. After ~arrled out by the ~ea~~ts j~intl~ with other sections of the popular masses. For such demonstrations, the peasants usuaUy impose fines. mstance, Wang Zhlze ofNmgxlang, Zhou Jiagan ofYueyang, and Fu Daonan f. Parades through the villages in taU hats. This sort of thing is very common ~n~ Sun Bozhu of Huarong were shot by the govemment authorities at the everywhere. One of the local bullies or bad gentry is crowned with a taU paper InSlste~ce of ~he peasants and aU circles. For example, in the case of Yan hat bearing the words "Local buUy so-and-so" or "So-and-so, one of the bad Ron~qlU of Xlangtan, .it w~s the pea~ants and aU circles who compeUed the gentry." He is led by a rope and escorted with big crowds in front and behind. maglstrate to execute him dlrectly.53 LlU Shao of Ningxiang was beaten to death Sometimes brass gongs are beaten and flags are waved to attract people's atten­ by. the peas.a~ts themsel:es .. For example, the executions of people like Peng tion. This form of punishment, more than any other, makes the local bullies and Zhl.fan of Llh~~, Zh~o TI~nJue, and Ca~ Yun of Yiyang are pending, subject to bad gentry tremble. Anyone who has once been crowned with a taU paper hat revlew. by the Special Tnbunal for Trymg Local Bullies and Bad Gentry." The loses face altogether and can never again hold up his head. Hence many of the executlOn of one such big member of the bad gentry or big local bully reverber­ rich prefer being fined to wearing the taU hat. But wear it they must, if the at~s througho~t a whole xi~n and is ve~ effective in eradicating the remaining peasants insist. One township peasant association did things most ingeniously. It eVIls of feudahsm. Every xian has such bIg local bullies and bad gentry, sorne as arrested a member of the bad gentry and announced that he was to be crowned many as .several dozen, and others at least a few, and the only effective way of that very day. The man tumed blue with fear. But then in the end the peasants suppr~ssmg the reactionaries is to execute at least one or tw054 in each xian who decided not to crown him that day. They argued that if he were crowned right are gu~lty of the ~ost heinous crimes. When the local bullies and bad gentry were at away, he would become case-hardened and no longer afraid, and that it would be the .helght of therr power, they killed peasants literaUy without batting an eyelid. He better to let him go home and crown him sorne other day. Not knowing when he ~alqlJan, for ten years head of the defense corps in the town of Xinkang, Changsha would be crowned, the man was in daily suspense and was never at ease, Xian, w~ pe~onally responsible for killing almost a thousand poverty-stricken peas­ whether sitting or lying down. ants; this actIon he euphemistically described as executing bandits. In Yintian Tern- g. Imprisonment in the xian jail. This is a heavier punishment than wear- p.I e, X'langtan, 55 Tang Junyan and Luo Shulin who headed the defense corps have ing the tall paper hat. A local bully or one of the bad gentry is arrested and killed more than fifty people and buried four alive in the fourteen years since the locked up in the xian jail, and the xian magistrate is asked to sentence him. second y~ of the Republic. Of the more than fifty they murdered, the first two were Those who are locked up today are not the same as they used to be. Formerly perfectly mnocent beggars. Tang Junyan said, "Let me make a start by killing a it was the gentry who sent peasants to be locked up; now it is the other way couple of beggars." And so these two lives were snuffed out. Such being the cruelty around. of the local bullies and bad gentry in former days, and such being the white terror h. "Banishment." This applies to the most notorious criminals among the ~ey created in the countryside, how can one say that the peasants should not now loc~l bullies and bad gentry. The peasants have no desire to banish them, but n~ and shoot ~ne or two56 of the local bullies and bad gentry and create just a little would rather arrest or execute them. Afraid of being arrested or executed, they relgn ofterror m order to suppress the counterrevolutionaries? then run away. In xian where the peasant movement is well developed, almost aU the important local bullies and bad gentry have fled, and this amounts to banish­ 51. But there .are many eyes and ears ~ But the peasantry, having many eyes and ears ment. Among them, the top rank has fled to Shanghai, the second rank to " 52. Wang Zhlze ~ Yang Zhize , ,," -"'L

Hankou, the third rank to Changsha, and the fourth rank to the xian towns. Of aU , , :,':~:- 53. Execute him d~rect1y ~ To agree to hand him over from prison, and the peasants the fugitive local bullies and bad gentry, those who have fled to Shanghai are the themselves executed hlm. safest. Sorne of those who fled to Hankou, like the three from Huarong, were 54. One or two ~ a few . 55. In Yintian Temple, Xiangtan ~ In the town of Yintian of my native xian of eventually captured and brought back. Those who fled to Changsha are in still Xlangtan greater danger of being seized at any moment by students in the provincial 56. One or two ~ A few capital w~o hail from their xian; 1 myself saw two captured in Changsha. Those 448 MAO'S ROAD TO POWER FEBRUARY 1927 449

1 3. Dealing Economic Blows to the Landlords 1 a~sociations are powerful, the landlords, for fear that the money will be commu­ nIzed, have ~ompletely stopped lending, and virtually no loans are available in a. Prohibition on sending grain out of the area, forcing up grain prices, and ~he countrysl~e. This is a big problem in the rural areas; if will be discussed hoarding and comering. This is one of the great events of recent months in the zn some detazl later. What is currently called reduction of interest is confined economic struggle of the Hunan peasants. Since last October the poor peasants to o~d l~ans. NoL only is the interest on such old loans reduced, but the have prevented the outflow of the grain of the landlords and rich peasants and credItor IS actuall~ fo~bidd7n to press for the repayment of the principal. The have banned the forcing up of grain prices and hoarding and comering. As a poor peasant rephes, Don t blame me. The year is nearly over. 1'11 pay you result, the poor peasants have fully achieved their objective; the ban on the back next year." outflow of grain is indeed watertight, grain prices have already fallen consider­ ably, and hoarding and comering have disappeared. This has outraged the land­ 4. Overthrowing the F eudal Politics58 of lords, rich peasants, the merchants, and even the government, but this is done by the Local Bullies and Bad Gentry in the Rural Areas:­ the broad peasant masses who make up 70 percent. In terms of their immediate Smashing the Du and the Tuan interests, they think if should be this way. The political and economic explana­ tion ofthis matter 1 shall take up again later. The old organs of ru~al administration59 in the du and tuan,60 and especially at b. Prohibition on increasing rents and deposits; agitation for reduced rents the du level (namely Just below the xian level), used to be almost exclusively in and deposits. Last July and August, when the peasant associations were still in an the han~s of the local bullies and bad gentry. They61 had jurisdiction over a era of weakness, the landlords, following their long-established practice of maxi­ ~opulatlOn of from ten to fifty or sixty thousand people. They had their own ,, mum exploitation, served notice one after another on their tenants that rents and mdependent aI med forces, such as the township defense corps; their own inde­ deposits would be increased. But by October, when the peasant associations had pe~dent fiscal powers, suc~ as t~e power to levy taxes;62 and their own judiciary, grown considerably in strength and had all come out against the raising of WhlCh could freely arrest, Impnson, try, and punish the peasants and so on. The rents,57 the landlords dared not breathe another word on the subject. From No­ bad gentry who ran these organs of rural administration were virtual monarchs vember onwards, as the peasants have gained ascendancy over the landlords, of the countryside. Comparatively speaking, the peasants were not so much they have taken the further steps of agitating for reduced rents and deposits. conce~ed wit~ the presi~ent of the republic, the provincial military govemor, or What a pity, ail the peasants say, that the peasant associations were not strong the x~~n magistrate; the Ir real "bosses" were the se rural monarchs. A mere enough when rents were being paid last autumn, or we could have reduced them snort, and the peasa~ts ail knew they had to watch their step. As a consequence then. The peasants are carrying out extensive propaganda for rent reduction in of the present revoIt III the countryside, the authority of the landlord class has the coming autumn, and the landlords are aIl asking how the reductions are to be been struck down everywhere, and the organs of rural administration dominated carried out. It is absolutely impossible for them to oppose this. As for the reduc­ by the local bullies and bad gentry have naturally collapsed in its wake. The tion of deposits, this is already under way in Hengshan and other xian. heads of the du and the tuan aIl steer clear of the people, dare not show their c. Prohibition on cancelling tenancies. In July and August of last year there faces .and hand aIllo~al .matters over to the peasant associations. They put people were still many instances of landlords cancelling tenancies and reletting the land. off wlth the remark, It IS none of my business!" But after October, nobody dared cancel a tenancy. Today, the cancelling oftenancies Whenever their conversation tums to the heads of the du and the tuan the and the reletting of land are quite out of the question; aIl that remains as something peasants say angrily, "That bunch! They are finished!" , of a problem is whether a tenancy can be cancelled if the landlord wants to cultivate ":e~, the. tenn "finished" truly de scribes the state of the old organs of rural the land himself. In sorne places even this is not allowed by the peasants. In others admInIstratIon wherever the storm of revolution has raged. the cancelling of a tenancy may be permitted if the landlord wants to cultivate the land hirnself, but then the problem of unemployment among the tenant-peasants 58. Feudal Politics ~ Feudal Rule arises. There is as yet no unifoml way of solving this problem. 59. Organs of rural administration ~ Organs of political power in the countryside d. Reduction of interest. Interest has been generally reduced in Anhua, and 60.. Here the Selected Works adds a parenthetical remark: (i. e. the district and the townshIp) , there have been reductions in aU other xian, too. But wherever the peasant 61. They ~ The du 62. To levy taxes ~ To levy taxes per mou ofland 57. Raising of rents ~ Raising rents and deposits 63. Snort ~ Snort from these people FEBRUARY 1927 451 450 MAO'S ROAD TO POWER

, the local bullies and bad gentry are frightened of them, but no revolutionaries 5. Overthrowing the Armed Forces of the Landlords should take fright. and Establishing Those ofthe Peasants 6. Overthrowing the Politieal Power ofthe xian The almed forces of the landlord c1ass were smaller in central Hun~n than in the M agistrate and His Bailiffs western and southern parts of the province. An average of 600 nfles for each xian would make a total of 45,000 rifles for aU the seventy-five xian; there may, That only if t~e pe~sants rise can the xian govemment be cleaned up has already in fact, be more than this number. In the southern and central parts w~ere the been proved m Halfeng, Guangdong Province. On this occasion in Hunan we peasant movement is being developed, the l~ndlor~ c1ass cannot hold ItS .own obtained further ample proof. In a that is under the sway of the iocal the overwhelming momentum wlth WhlCh the peasants have nsen, hav~ xian b ecause 0 f ., d bulh~s and bad gentry, the magistrate, whoever he may be, is always66 a COllupt and its armed forces have largely capitulated to the peasant a~SOCIatlOn~ an offiCIal. In a xia~ where the peasants have risen there is clean govemment, taken the side of the peasants; examples of this are to be found m s~ch xl~n as whoever the maglstrate may be. In the xian 1 visited, the magistrates had to Ningxiang, Pengjiang, Liuyang, Changsha, Liling, Xiangt~n, Xlangxlang, consult the peasant associations on everything in advance. In xian where the Anhua, Hengshan, and Hengyang. In sorne xian such as Baoqmg and so on, a p~wer of the pe~sant movement was very strong, the word of the peasant associ­ small number of the landlords' armed forces are taking a neutral s~and, though ation worked mIracles. If the peasant association demanded the arrest of a local still with a tendency to capitulate. Another small section are oppos~ng the peas­ ?ully in the morning, the magistrate dared not delay till noon; if they demanded ant associations, but the peasants are attacking them and may wl~e them out It by noon, he dared not delay till the afternoon. When the power of the peasants before long, as, for example, in such xian as Yichang, Linwu, and Jlahe: At the was just beginning to make itself felt in the countryside, the magistrate worked present time, stronger measures are being taken against these forces, whlc~ may I~. 1~ague 67'wit h t h e local bullies and bad gentry. When the peasants' power grew ail be eradicated soon. The armed forces thus taken over from t~~ ~e!ctlOnary tdl It matched that of the landlords, the magistrate took the position of trying to landlords are aU being reorganized into a "standing household mllitla an~ .are ~ccomm~date. bo~h sides, accepting sorne of the peasant association's sugges­ under the new organs of rural self-government, which are organs ,?~ the pohtlcal tions whde reJectmg others. The remark that "the word of the peasants68 works power of the peasantry. This "taking over these old armed forces IS one part ~f miracles" applies only when the power of the landlords has been completely building up an aImed force of the peasantry. Even though some ofthem are stzll beaten down by that of the peasants. At present the political situation in xian struggling, the various xian in southern and central Hunan have .n.o proble"',s such as Xiangxiang, Xiangtan, Liling, and Hengshan is as follows: any more. There are some problems only in western Hunan. In. ad~ltlOn, there IS a. AlI decisions are made by a joint council consisting of the magistrate and a new way for establishing an armed force of the peasants, whlch IS throu~ the setting up of spear corps under the peasant associations. The spears have pomted, the representatives of the revolutionary mass organizations. The council is con­ vened by the magistrate and meets in his office. In sorne xian it is called the double-edged blades mounted on long shafts, and there are n~w 100,000 of these "joint council of public bodies and the local govemment," and in others the weapons in Xiangxiang xian alone. Other xian such as XIangtan, Hengshan, Liling, and Changsha have 70,000 to 80,000, or 50,000 to 60,000, or 30,000 to "council of xian affairs." Besides the magistrate himself, those attending but not voting are the representatives of the xian peasant association, trade union coun­ 40,000 each. In every xian where there is a peasant movement, the spears ~e cil, merchant association, women's association, school staff association, student spreading rapidly. These peasants thus aImed f~rm ~n "irregular household ooh­ tia." This multitude equipped with spears, WhlCh IS larger than the old armed assoc.iat.ion, and Guominda.ng party office. At such council meetings the magis­ forces mentioned above, is a newborn "thing,"64 the mere sight of which makes trate IS mfluenced by the Vlews of the public organizations and "invariably does the local tyrants and evil gentry shiver. The revolutionary authorities Hunan their bidding." The adoption of a democratic committee system of xian govern­ ~ 69 should see to it that this kind of thing65 is built up on a really extenslve scale ment does not, therefore, present the slightest problem in Hunan. The present among the more than 20 million peasants in the seventy-five xian of the prov­ xian govemments are already quite "democratic" both in fOlln and substance. ince, that every peasant, whether young or in his prime, possesses. a spear, and' This situation has been brought about only in the last two or three months, that that no restrictions are imposed as though a spear were somethmg dreadful. . 66. Always ~ Almost always Anyone who is scared at the sight of the spear corps is indeed a weakling! Only 67. Worked in league ~ Worked in league ... against the peasants 68. The peasants ~ The peasant association 64. "Thing" ~ Atined force 69. Does ~ Should 65. This kind ofthing ~ This anned power 452 MAO'S ROAD TO POWER FEBRUARY 1927 453 is, since the peasants have risen all over the countryside and overthrown the (the authori.ty of the husband). These four authorities political, clan, religious, power of the local bullies and bad gentry. It has. now come about t~at ~e and masculme are the embodiment of the whole feudal-patriarchal ideological magistrates, seeing their old props collapse and needm~ ne~ props to ret~m t~eIr system,71 and are the four thick ropes binding the Chinese people, particularly posts, have begun to curry favor with the public orgamzatIOns, and the SItuatIon the peas~ts. How the p.eas~ts have overthrown the political authority of the has changed as described above. . .. landlords m the countryside has been described above. The political authority of b. The judicial assistant has scarcely any cases to handle. The jU~lClal system the. is the backbone of aH the other systems of authority. With the in Hunan remains one in which the xian magistrate is concurrently m charge of 1~~lords pOhhcs of th~ landlords overturned, the clan authority, the religious authority, judicial affairs, w~th an as~istant to help him in ~andling ~~ses. T? get rich, the authonty of the husband aIl begin to totter. Where the peasant associa­ magistrate and hiS underlmgs used to rely enhrely on collectmg taxes and ~d ~e hon IS powerful, the clan eIders and administrators of temple funds no longer levies, procuring men and provisions for the armed forces," and "extorting dare oppress those l?~er in the clan hierarchy or embezzle clan funds. The worst money in civil and criminallawsuits by confounding right and wrong," the last clan eIders and admmlstrators, being local bullies, have been thrown out. No one being the most regular and reliable source of income. In the last few ~onths, any. to practice the corporal and capital punishments 73 that used to with the downfall of the local bullies and bad gentry, aB the legal pettlfoggers lo~ger d~es b~ mfllcted m the ancestral temples, such as flogging, drowning, and burying have disappeared. What is more, the peasants' problems, big and sm~ll, ~e ?~W ahve .. The old mIe barring women and poor people from the banquets in the aIl settled in the peasant associations at the various levels. Thus the xian jUdlClal ancestral ~emples has also been broken. The women of Baiguo in Hengshan xian assistant simply has nothing to do. The one in Xiangxiang told me, "When there gathe~ed m force and swarmed into their ancestral temple, fmnly planted their were no peasant associations, an average of sixty civil or criminal suits were backsl~es .on the seats, and joined in the eating and drinking, while the venerable brought to the xian government each day; now it receives an average. of only ~our clan blgWlgS had willy-nilly to let them do as they pleased. At another place or five suits a day." So it is that the purses of the magistrates and thelr underhngs where P?or peasants had been excluded from temple banquets, a group of the~ perforee remain empty. flocked m and ate and drank their fiIl, while the local bullies and bad gentry and c. The armed guards, the police, and the bailiffs aIl keep out of the way ~d o~her long-g~wned gentlemen aIl took to their heels in fright. Everywhere reli­ dare not go near the villages to practice their extortions. In the past the peo~le m gIOus authon~ !otters as the peasant movement develops. In many places the the villages were afraid of the people in the towns, but now the people m the 1 peasant assocIatIOns have taken over the temples of the gods as their offices. towns are afraid of the people in the villages. In particular the vicious curs kept Everywhere they advocate the appropriation of temple property for peasant by the xian government the police, the armed guards, and the bailiffs ~re schools and .calling it "public revenue afraid of going to the villages, or if they do so, they no longer dare to prachce ~~ de~~y th~.expe~ses of~e.~ssociations., ~ro~ supershtIOn. In Ltlmg Xian, prohlbltmg supershhous practices and smash­ their extortions. They tremble at the sight of the peasants' spears. mg l?~ls have ~ecome quite the vogue. In its northem districts the peasants have prohlblted the mc~nse-b.urning pro~essions to propitiate the god of pestilence. 7. Overthrowing the Clan Authority ofthe Ancestral Temples There wer~ many Idols m the Daolst temple on Fubo Hill in Lukou, but when and Clan Eiders, the Religious Authority of Town and extra premlses .were n~eded for the district party offices [of the Guomindang], Village Gods, and the Masculine Authority ofHusbands they w~re ~ll ptled up m a corner, big and smaIl together, and no peasant raised ~y ObjectIOn. Sin~e then, sacrifices to the gods, the perfonnance of religious A man in China is usually subjected to the domination of three systems of ntes, ~d the 0f!enng of sacred lamps have rarely been practiced when a death authorities: (1) the state system (political authority), ranging from the national, occurs ma famtly. Because the initiative in this matter was taken by the chair­ provincial, and xian government down to that of the township; (2). the clan m~ of the peasant association, Sun Xiaoshan, he is hated by the local Daoist

, /;:' system (clan authority), ranging from the central ancestral temple and ltS branch '.' , p~ests. In the Longfeng Nunnery in the North Third District, the peasants and temples down to the head of the household; and (3) the supematural s~stem pnmary school teachers chopped up the wooden idols and actually used the (religious authority), ranging from the King ofHeIl down to the town and vIllage wood to cook meat. More than thirty idols in the Dongfu Monastery in the gods belonging to the nether world, and from the Emperor of Heaven down to ~1l the various gods and spirits belonging to the celestial world. As for women, III addition to being dominated by these three,70 they are also dominated by men 71. Ideological system ~ Ideology and system 72. Politics ~ Political authority 73. The corporal and capital punishments ~ The cruel corporal and capital punish­ 70. These three ~ These three systems of authority ments

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, Southem District were bumed by the students and peasants together, and only w~ere the landlords exploited the opposition of sorne peasants to smashing idols. two smaH images of Bao Gong were snatched up by an old peasant who said, ~t IS the peasa~ts wh? made the idols, and when the time cornes they will cast the 4 "Don't commit a sin!" Everywhere it has always been the case that7 only the Idols aSlde wlth thelr own hands; there is no need for anyone else to do it for 80 older peasants and the women believe in the gods; aH the young~r peasants do them prematurely. Our propaganda policy in such matters is, "Draw the bow, but do not release the arrow, having seemed to leap."81 The idols should be not.75 Since the latter control the associations, the overthrow of rehglOus author­ ity and the eradication of superstition are going on everywhere. As to the author­ removed by the peasants themselves, the ancestral tablets should be smashed by ity of the husband, this has always been weaker among the poor peasants the peasants themselves, the temples to martyred virgins and arches for chaste and filial widows and daughters-in-Iaw should be demolished by the peasants because, out of economic necessity, their womenfolk have to do more manual themselves.82 labor than the women of the richer classes and therefore have more say and While 1 was in the countryside, 1 did sorne propaganda against superstition greater power of decision in family matters. In sexual matters, they also have among the ~easants. ~ sai~: "If you believe in the Eight Characters, you hope for relatively more freedom. Among the poor peasants in th~ count,?,side, U:iangular good luck; If you beheve m geomancy, you hope to benefit from the location of and multilateral relationships are almost universal. Wlth the mcreasmg bank­ your ancestral graves. This year within the space of a few months the local ruptcy of the rural economy in recent years, the basis for men' s domination over bullies, ?ad gentry, and con upt officiaIs have aIl faIlen from power. Is it possible women has already been weakened. With the rise of the peasant movement, the that untII a few months ago they aIl had good luck and enjoyed the benefit of women in many places have now begun to organize rural women' s ass~ciations; weIl-sited ancestral graves, while suddenly in the last few months their luck has the opportunity has come for them to lift up their heads, and the authonty. of the tumed and their ancestral graves have ceased to exert a beneficial influence? husband is getting shakier every day. In a word, the whole feudal-patnarchal "The local bullies and bad gentry jeer at your peasant association and say ideological system76 is tottering with the growth of the peasants: power: But in 'How odd! Today, the world is a world of committeemen. Look, you can't eve~ the past and at the present time, the peasants are co~centratmg entlrely on go to pass water without bumping into a committeeman!' Quite true, the towns destroying the landlords' political authority. Wherever It has been wholly de­ and the villages, the peasant associations and the labor unions,83 the stroyed, they are beginning to press their attack in the three other of sphe~~s th~ Guomindang and the Communist Party, aIl without exception have their execu­ clan, the gods, and male domination. But such attacks have only Just begun, tive committee members it is indeed a world of committeemen. But is this and there can be no thorough overthrow of aIl three until the peasants have won caused by the Eight Characters and the location of the ancestral graves? How complete victory in the economic fight. Therefore, our present task is to lead the strange! The Eight Characters of aIl the poor wretches in the countryside have peasants to put their greatest efforts into the struggle, so that the politic~l suddenly tumed auspicious! And their ancestral graves have suddenly started landlords' authority is entirely overthrown. The economlc struggle should follow exerting beneficial influences! immediately, so that the economic problems77 of the poor may be p~~sant~ "The gods? Worship them by an means. But if you had only Lord Guan and fundamentally solved. As for smashing the clan system, superstItIous Ideas, and the Goddess of Mercy and no peasant association, could you have overthrown one-sided concepts of chastity,78 this will follow as a natural consequ~nce of victory in the political and economic struggles. If too much of an eff?rt IS made arbitrarily and prematurely to abolish these things, then the local bulhes and ba~ 80. Our ~ The Communist Party's gentry will seize the pretext to put forward such slogans79 as "the peasant assoCI­ 81. Mao here takes his text from the Mencius, VII, l, XLI, 3 (Legge, Vol. II, p. 474). ation has no piety towards ancestors," "the peasant association is blasphemo~s Legge add~ the words "with it to the mark" after "having seemed to leap," to con vey his understandmg of the passage. Couvreur (Les quatre livres, Vol. IV, p. 628) translates "II and is destroying religion," and "the peasant association stands for the commUDl­ sa~te en qu~lq~e sorte"; his parenthetical explanation reads: "C'est-à-dire, le sage en­ zation of wives," aH for the purpose of undermining the peasant movement. ~ seIgne ses. dISCIples beaucoup plus par ses examples que par ses paroles; il les précède case in point is the recent events at Xiangxiang, Hunan, and Yangxin, Hubei, dans la VOIe, et avance comme par bonds." The moral that Mao wished to draw from the passage is ~Iear, in an~ case: the master ilIustrates the action to be taken, driving home the 74. Everywhere it has always been the case that ... ~ ln places where the power of message wlth dramattc gestures, but leaves it to the disciples to carry out the action. No the peasants is predominant, . . . . doubt he also had in mind a sentence which cornes immediately after the one he cited: 75. AlI the younger peasants do not ~ AlI the younger peasants no longer do so "Those who are able, follow him." 76. Ideological system ~ Ideology and system . 82. By the ~easants themselves ~ By the peasants themselves; it is wrong for any­ 77. The economic problems ~ The land problem and the other economlc problems body else to do It for them. 78. One-sided concepts of chastity ~ Incorrect relationships between men and women 83: !he peasant associations and the labor unions ~ The labor unions and the peasant 79. Such slogans ~ Such counterrevolutionary slogans assocIatIons FEBRUARY 1927 457 456 MAO'S ROAD TO POWER th: p~lice. Now they c~ fmd a weapon, which is no other than the Three People's the local tyrants and evil gentry? The 'gods' and 'goddesses' are indeed misera­ Pnnclples. When a polIceman strikes or swears at a peasant from a vegetable f~ ble objects. Vou have worshipped them for several thousand years,84 and they the peasant fr~m ~e .vegetable fann immediately answers back by invoking the have not overthrown a single one of the local bullies or bad gentry for you! Now ~ee People s Pr~cI~les and the policeman has not a word to say. Once in you want to have your rent reduced. Let me ask you, what method will you use? Xiangtan, when a dIStnCt peasant association and a township peasant association Will you place your faith in the gods, or in the peasant associations?" could. n~t see eye to eye about a certain matter, the chainnan of the townshi When 1 spoke the se words, the peasants laughed, and in the midst of their aSSOCiatIon declared: "Down with the district peasant association's unequal treat' ,~ Th d f 1" les. laughter, 1 imagined that the gods and idols aIl fled from sight. . e sprea 0 po ItIcal propagan~a. throughout the rural area is entirely an achlevement of the peasant associatIons. 86 Simple slogans, cartoons, and 8. Spreading Political Propaganda speeches ~a~e produced such a widespread and speedy effect among the peas­ Even if ten thousand schools of law and political science had been opened, could ants th~t It IS as though every one of them had been to a political school. they have brought as much political education to the people, men and women, Accor~mg to. t~e reports of cornrades engaged in rural work, the influence of young and old, aIl the way into the poorest and remotest corners of the country­ extens.~~e pohtt~al ~r~paganda was .to be found in the three great mass move­ side, as the peasant associations have done in so short a time? 1 think they ~ents. the antI-.Bnttsh demonstratIOn, the celebration of the October Revolu­ certainly could not have. Down with imperialism! Down with the warlords! tIOn, and the vlctory celebration for the Northern Expedition. In these Down with the conupt officiaIs! Down with the local bullies and bad gentry!­ movements, politic~l .propaganda was conducted extensively wherever there these political slogans have grown wings, they have found their way to the ~ere peasant assocIatIOns, arousing the whole countryside. Consequent/y, the young, the middle-aged, and the old, to the women and children in c~unt"ess Impact w~s very great. Fro~ now on, care should be taken to make use of every villages, they have penetrated into their minds and flowed back from the Ir mmds opportumty ~radually to ennch the content and clarify the meaning of the simple into their mouths. Suppose, for example, you watch a group of children at play. If slogans mentIOned above! one gets angry with another, if he glares, stamps his foot, and shakes his fist, you will then immediately hear from the other the shrill cry: "Down with imperialism!" 9. Peasant Bans and Prohibitions ln the Xiangtan area, when the children who pasture the cattle get into a fight, 85 When the pe~sant asso~iatio.ns88 establish their authority in the countryside, the one will take the part of Tang Shengzhi and the other that of Ye Kaixin. When, peasa~ts begm t~ forbld ~trICtly or to restrict the things they dislike. Gaming, after a while, one is defeated and runs away with the other chasing him, it is the gamblmg, and opIUm smoking are the three things that are most strictly forbidden. pursuer who is Tang Shengzhi and the pursued Ye Kaixin. As to the song "Down with the Imperialist Powers ... ," of course almost every child in the towns can Gaming: Where the peasant association is powerful, mahjong, dominoes, and

, ',' sing it, and now many village children can sing it too. Sorne .of the peasant~ can , -.- card games are wholly banned. also recite a little of Mr. Sun Yatsen's Testament. They plck out from lt the The peasant association in the F ourteenth District of Xiangxiang burned two terms "freedom," "equality," "the Three People's Principles," and "unequal trea­ basketfuls ofmahjong [pieces]. ties" and apply them, if rather crudely, in their life. When somebody who looks If you go .to the count~side, you will find none of the se games played; like one of the gentry encounters a peasant on the road and stands on his dignity, anyone who vIOlates the ban IS promptly and strictly punished. refusing to make way along a pathway, the peasant will say angrily, "Rey, you G~bling: ~oIlner. hardened gamblers are now themselves forcefully sup­ local bully, don't you know the Three People's Principles?" pressmg gambhng; thiS abuse, too, has been swept away in places where the Fonnerly, when the peasants from the vegetable faIms on the outskirts of peasant association is powerful. Changsha entered the city to sell their produce, they used to be pushed around by . Opium smoking: The prohibition is extremely strict. When the peasant associ­ 84. Several thousand years ~ Several hundred years ~tton ord~r~ the ~urrender of opium pipes, no one dares to raise the least objec­ 85. As indicated above, in note 15 to the present text, Tang Shengzhi had forced Zh~o hon. In LIhng Xlan, one of the bad gentry who did not surrender his pipes was Hengti to resign the govemorship to him in March 1926. Zhao the~eupon appealed for ald arrested and paraded through the villages. to his principal ally, Wu Peifu, who sent a strong force from HubeI under the command of Ye Kaixin (Iike Tang Shengzhi a Hunanese). On May 2, Ye's t~oops entered Cha~gs~a, 86. The peasant associations ~ The Communist Party and the peasant associations and continued to press their attack southward. Tang Shengzhl responded by altgntng 87. Mass movements ~ Mass rallies himself with the Guomindang, was appointed commander in chief of front line operations 88. ~e peasant associations ~ The peasant associations, under the leadership of the for the Northem Expedition, and had soon fought his way back to Changsha. By early Commumst Party July, Tang was finnly reestablished as govemor, and Ye Kaixin had retreated to Wuhan.

. .. ----~------458 MAO'S ROAD TO POWER FEBRUARY 1927 459 The peasants' campaign to "disarm the opium smokers" is no less impressive allowed to k~~p only three chickens, and in Futianpu five chickens. In many than the disarming of the troops of Wu Peifu and Sun Chuanfang by the North­ pla~es the ralsl~g of d~cks is completely banned, for ducks not only consume ern Expeditionary Army. Quite a number of venerable fathers of officers in the gram but also mm the nce plants and so are worse than chickens. revolutionary army, old men who were opium addicts and inseparable from their pipes have been disarmed by the "emperors" (as the peasants are called deri­ , Fe~sts. Sumptuous feasts are generally forbidden. In Shaoshan, Xiangtan sivel; by the bad gentry). The "emperors" have banned not only the gr~wing and xzan, It has been decided that guests are to be served only three kinds of animal smoking of opium, but also trafficking in it. A great deal of !he op~um t~ans­ food, namely, chicken, fish, and pork. It is also forbidden to serve bamboo ported from Guizhou to Jiangxi via the various xian of Baoqmg, Xlang~lang, s~oots, kelp, and lentil noodles. In Hengshan xian it has been resolved that eight Yuoxian, and Liling has been intercepted on the way and burned. ThIs has dlshes and no more may be served at a banquet, and not even one more is affected govemment revenues. As a result, out of co~si~eration for the a~mt s allowed. Only five dishes are allowed in the East Third District in Liling xian, need for funds in the Northern Expedition, the provmcIaI peasant assocIatIon and only three meat and three vegetable dishes in North Second District while in ordered the associations at the lower levels "temporarily to postpone the ban on t~e West T!llrd District New Year feasts are forbidden entirely. In Xi~ngxiang opium traffic." This, however, has upset and displeased the peasants. . Xian, the~e I~ a ban ,on aIl "egg-cake feasts," which are by no means sumptuous. There are many other things besides these three that the peasants have prohlb­ Whe~ Tle JIawan m the Second District gave an "egg-cake feast" at a son's ited or restricted, the following being sorne examples: weddmg, the peasants, seeing the ban violated, swanned into the house and destroyed the "eg~-cake feast.". In the town of Jiamuo, Xiangxiang xian, the The flower drum. An obscene and vulgar local opera. Its performances are peop~e have reframe~ from eatmg expensive foods and use only fruit when forbidden in many places. offenng ancestral sacnfices.

Sedan-chairs. In many xian, especially Xiangxiang, there have been cases of ?xe~. ,?xen are treasured possessions of the peasants in the South. "SIaughter an smashing sedan-chairs. A prohibition on taking sedan-chairs has become a ox m this lIfe and you will be an ox in the next" has become aImost a religious tenet. vogue. The only people who can take sedan-chairs are the pea~ant movement ox~~ must never be killed. Before the peasants had power, they could only appeal t~ officiais; otherwise, they will be smashed. The peasants, d~testmg the people religlOus taboos in opposing the slaughter of cattle and had no reaI power to ban it who use this conveyance, are always ready to smash the chaIrs, but the peasant People in the towns always want to eat beef, and therefore people in the town; associations forbid them to do so. Peasant movement officiaIs tell the peasants, ~/»:l1Y.s ~ant to kill cattle. Since the rise of the peasant associations, their real "If you smash the chairs, you only save the rich money and lose the carrie~s their Junsdl~tlOn has extended even to the cattle, and they have prohibited the slaughter of jobs. And the carriers will be out of a job if they have no work to do. WIll that c~ttle m the towns. Of the six butcheries that formerly existed in the xian town of not hurt yourselves? Seeing the point, the peasants answer, "That's right. " They Xian~n, five a:e now closed and the remaining merchant sIaughters only enfeebled then adopt a new [policy on] sedan chairs89 "to increase considerably the fares or dIsabled, ammals. ~he sla.ughter of cattle is totally prohibited throughout charged by the chair-carriers" so as to penalize the rich. Hengshan Xla~. No one ln the XIan town dares slaughter either. A peasant whose ox fell from a hzgh place, broke a leg, and is now disabled dared not kill il. He Distilling and sugar-making. The use of grain for distilling spirits and making sugar is everywhere prohibited, and therefore the distillers and sugar refmers are consulted the peasant association and got their permission before he dared kill it. When the of commerce of Zhuzhou rashly slaughtered a cow, the peasants constantly complaining. Distilling is not banned in Futianpu, Hengshan xian, but chambe~ prices are fixed very low, and the wine and spirits dealers, seeing no prospect of on~ day sw~rmed mto town and demanded an explanation. As a result, the chamber, besldes paymg a fme, had to let off frrecrackers by way of apology. profit, have had to stop it.

Pigs. The number of pigs a family can keep is limited, for they consume Vagrant way~. A resolution passed in Liling xian prohibited the drumming of gram.• New Year greetmgs ~r the chanting of praises to the local deities or the singing of lotus rhymes. VarlOu.s other xian have passed resolutions prohibiting this; in Chickens and ducks. In Xiangxiang xian the raising of chickens and ducks is ~ther places, these practIces have disappeared of themselves, and no one engages prohibited, but the women object. In Hengshan xian, each family in Yangtang is m them any more. The "beggar-bullies" or "vagabonds," who used to be ex­ tremely evil,90 now have no alternative but to submit to the peasant associations. 89. New [policy on] sedan chairs ~ New method 90. Evil ~ Fierce ,

,1 ii

" il

1 l,

<, ~,\ 460 MAO'S ROAD ro POWER FEBRUARY 1927 461

In Shaoshan, Xiangtan xian, the vagabonds used to make the te~~le of t~e Rain govemment to provide help to the peasant associations in establishing credit God their regular haunt and could not be persuaded by anyone, ?u~ sl~ce th~ cooperatives. If these things were done, the peasants would naturally find it rise of the associations they have aU stolen away. The peasant assocmtlOn m Hub unnecessary to ban the outflow of grain as a method ofkeeping down99 the price; 92 tuan in the same xian caught three such vagabonds a~d. ~ade them carry clay nor would they have to prohibit the inflow ofmanufactured goods 1OO as the sole for the brick kilns. Resolutions have been passed prohlbltmg the wasteful cus­ method of economic self-defense. toms associated with New Year caUs and gifts. 10. Eliminating Banditry Besides these, a great many other minor prohibitions have ~een introd~ced in various places, such as the Liling prohibitions on incense-bu~mg ~rocesslOns to propitiate the god of pestilence, on buying preserves and fruit for ntual prese~ts, ln my opinion, no ruler in any dynasty from Yao, Shun, Yu, and TanglOl down to burning ritual paper garments during the Festival of the Dead, and on pastl~g the Qing emperors and the presidents of the Republic has ever shown as much prowess in eliminating banditry as have the peasant associations today. Wher­ even a prohibition on smoking water pl~es. In t~e Second DIstnct, lettmg off ever the peasant associations are powerful, there is not even the shadow of a firecrackers and ceremonial guns is forbldden, Wlth a fine of 1.20 yua~ ~or t~e bandit. It is truly amazing! ln many places there are no longer even those pilfer­ former and 2.40 yuan for the latter. Religious rites for the d~ad ~r~ proh~blted m ers who stole vegetables at night. Though there are still pilferers in sorne places, the Seventh and Twentieth Districts. In the Eighteenth District, It IS ~orbldden to in the xian 1 visited, even including those that were fonnerly bandit-ridden, there make funeral gifts of money. Things like these, which defy enumerab~n, .may be was no trace of bandits. The reasons are: First, the members of the peasant generally called "peasant bans and prohibitions." They are of great sl~mficance associations are spread out everywhere over the hills and dales, spear or cudgel in two respects. First, they represent a revoit against bad customs, such as in hand, ready to go into action in their hundreds, so that the bandits have nowhere to hide. Second, since the peasants have prohibited the outflow of gaming, gambling, and opium smoking. These customs arose out ~f the rott~n . 102 h . f' . political environment of the landlord c1ass and are swept away once I~S authon~ nce, t e pnce 0 nce IS extremely modest. It was six yuan a picul of rice last spring but only two yuan last winter. The poor peasants can buy more grain with is overthrown. Second, the prohibitions are a form of self-defense agamst expl.Ol­ , , '. ' tation by city merchants; such are the prohibitions on feasts and on buymg less money. And the problem of food has become less serious than in the past for preserves and fruit for ritual presents. Because manufactured goods ar: ex­ the people. Third, members of the secret societies have al! joined the peasant tremely dear and agricultural products are extremely cheap, the peasants 4 a~e associations, in which they can openly playl03 the hero and vent their grievances,

; , very ruthlessly exploited by the merchants, and they must therefore engage ID , so that there is no further need for the secret "mountain," "lodge," "shrine," and passive resistance.95 The reason for aU this is that the unscrupulous merchan~s "river" fonns of organization. In killing the pigs and sheep of the local tyrants exploited them;96 it is not a matter of their rejecting manuf~ctured g~ods97 m and evil gentry and imposing heavy levies and fines, they have adequate outlets order to uphold the Doctrine of Oriental Culture. The pe~sants econo~lc protec­ for their feelings against those who oppressed them. F ourth, the armies are tion of themselves necessitates that the peasants orgamze consumers coopera­ recruiting large numbers of soldiers and many of the "unruly" have joined up. tives for collective sale and production.98 Furthelmore, it is also necessary for the Thus the evil of banditry has been eliminated with the rise of the peasant move­ ment. On this point, even the well-to-do approve of the peasant associations. Their comment is: 91. Could not be persuaded by anyone ~ Feared nobody 92. Huti tuan ~ Huti Township The peasant associations? Weil, to he fair, there is also something to he 93 Bad customs ~ Bad social customs said for them. 94' The peasants ~ The peasants are extremely impoverished 95: Engage in passive resistance ~ Encourage frugality to protect the~selves. A.s .for ln prohibiting gaming, gambling, and opium smoking, and in eliminating the ban on sending grain out of the area, it is imposed to prevent the pnce from ~Ismg banditry, the peasant associations have won general approval. because the poor peasants have not enough to feed themselves and have to buy gram on the market. 1 . d h Th 99. Keeping down ~ Controlling 96. The reason for aB this is that the unscrupulous mercha.nt~ exp mte t em ~ e 100. Manufactured goods ~ Certain manufactured goods reason for aIl this is the peasants' poverty and the contradIctIons between town and 101. Yao, Shun, Yu, and Tang ~ Yu, Tang, Wen, and Wu country d 102. Since the peasants have prohibited the outflow of rice ~ Since the rise of the 97. Manufactured goods ~ Manufactured goods or trade between town ~n country peasant movement 98. Collective sale and production ~ Collective purchase and consumptlOn 103. Openly play ~ Openly and legally play 462 MAO'S ROAD TO POWER FEBRUARY 1927 463

11. Abolishing Exorbitant Levies peasants are"enthusiastically establishing evening classes, which they call "peas­ ant schools. Sorne have already been opened, others are being organized and As the whole country has not yet been unified and the authority of the im­ on the average there is one schoo/ for every township peasant association: The perialists and the warlords has not been overthrown, the~e is as yet no way of peasants are very enthusiastic about setting up these evening schools and regard removing the heavy burden of government taxes and levles on the peasants or, them, and only them, as truly their own. The sources of funds for the evening more explicitly, of removing the burden of expenditure for the revolutionary schools come from the local "public revenue from superstition," from ancestral army. However, the exorbitant levies imposed on the peasants when the local temple funds, and from other idle public funds or property. The xian education bullies and bad gentry dominated rural administration, for example, the sur­ ~oar~s wanted to use t~is mone.y to establish national primary schools (that is, charge on each mu of land, have been abolished or at least reduced with the rise foreIgn-style schools not sUlted to the needs of the peasants), while the of the peasant movement and the downfall of the local bullies and ba~ g~ntry. peasants wanted to set up peasant schools. Inevitably, there were clashes This too should be counted among the achievements of the peasant aSSOCiatiOns. between the two sides, and the result was generally that both got sorne of the money, though there were places where the peasants got it aIl. The develop­ 12. The Movement for Education ment of the peasant movement has naturally resulted in raising their cultural level. Before long, ~everal1.11 ~cho~ls ,",:ill have sprung up in the villages ln China education has always been the exclusive preserve of the landlords, and ~~r~ughout the p~ovI~ce; .thiS IS ~Ulte different from the empty talk about the peasants have had no access to it. But the landlords' culture is completely ~m~~rsal educatIon, ~hICh the mtelligentsia and the so-called "education­ created by the peasants, for its sole source is the peasants' sweat and blood that ah~ts have been bandymg back and forth and which after aIl this time re­ they plundered. In China, more than 90 percent of the citizens have had no mams an empty phrase. access to culture,104 and of these the overwhelming majority are peasants. The moment the power of the exploiting classl05 was overthrown in the rural areas, 13. The Cooperative Movement the peasants' movement for education began. See how the peasants who hitherto detested the schools are today zealously setting up evening classes! Theyalways The .peasants r~ally need cooperatives, especially consumers', marketing, and disliked the "foreign-style school." When 1 was going to school and saw106 that credIt coop~ratIves. When they buy goods, the merchants exploit them; when the peasants were against the "foreign-style school," l, too, used to identify the~ sell thelr fann produce, the merchants cheat them; when they borrow money myself with the general run of "foreign-style students and teachers" and stand up or nce, theyare fleeced by the usurers; and they are eager to find a solution to for it, feeling always that the peasants were "stupid and detestable people."107 these three problems. During the fighting in the Yangtse valley last winter, when Only in the 14th year of the Republic, when 1 lived in the countryside for half a trade routes were cut and the price of salt went up in Hunan, a great many year,108 did 1 realize that 1 had been wrong and the peasants' reas~ning was peasants organized cooperatives for salt. When the landlords deliberately extreme/y correct. The texts used in the rural primary schools were ent1rely about stopp~d lending, there were many artempts by the peasants to organize credit urban things and unsuited to rural needs. Besides, the attitude of the primary agencl~S because they needed to borrow money. A major problem is the absence school teachers toward the peasants was very bad and, far from being helpful to of detaIled, st~ndard rules of organization. In alliocalities, many of these sponta­ the peasants, they came to be disliked by the peasants. Hence the peasants neously orgamzed peasant cooperatives fail to conform to cooperative princip les; preferred the old-style schools (the so-calledlO9 "Chinese classes") to the modern as a the comrades engaged in the peasant movement are always eagerly schools110 and the old-style teachers to the ones in the primary schools. Now the ~~sult, enqUlrmg about "rules and regulations." Given proper guidance, the cooperative 104. The citizens (guomin) have had no access to culture (wei shou wenhua) ---+ The ~ovement can spread everywhere along with the growth of the peasant associa­ people (renmin) have no education or culture (wei shou wenhuajiaoyu). tIons. Because the term hezuo is not at ail familiar to the peasants, [the ideaj 105. The exploiting class ---+ The landlords could also be rendered as hehuopu.112 106. Saw ---+ Went back to the village and saw 107. "Stupid and detestable people" ---+ Were somehow wrong 111. Several ---+ Tens ofthousands of 108. Half a year ---+ Half a year, and was atready a Communist and had acquired the 112. Hezuo (coop~rate, literallY."work together"), and hezuoshe (cooperative) have Marxist viewpoint been the standar~ Chme~,~ !enns smce the 1920s. The alternative that Mao suggests, 109. The so-called ---+ Which they called ~ehuopu, .m~~~s hter~lly JOI~t go~ds sho~." It is in fact this coinage which he used for 110. Schools ---+ Schools (which they called "foreign classes") Cooperattve m the tttle of thls sectton of hls report in the original version. 464 MAO'S ROAD TO POWER

14. Building Roads and Embankments

, This, too, is one of the achievements of the peasant associations. Before there were peasant associations the roads in the countryside were terrible. Because roads cannot be repaired without money, and the wealthy were unwilling to dip into their purses, the roads were left in bad shape. If there was any road work (March 14, 1927)1 done at all, it was done as an act of charity; a little money was collected from families "wishing to gain merit in the next world," and a few narrow, skimpily paved roads were built. With the rise of the peasant associations, orders have been given specifying the required width--ihree, five, seven, or ten feet, accord­ 1 beg t~ st~te that 1 have recently read reports in the newspapers of Chan ing to the requirements of the different routes and each landlord along a road has been ordered to build a section. Once the order is given, who dares to ~nt~. T,h~se books were originally made available for reference eto e::~ disobey? ln a short time many good roads have appeared. This is no work of s stu.dents and to special representatives of the peasant movement fro ~~;~Itute m charity but the result of compulsion, and a little compulsion of this kind is not at fi ln ere~t provmces a~~ were not for sale.4 If it is necessary to reprint them th all a bad thing. The same is true of the embankments. The ruthless landlords o o~mg three condItIons must be met: (1) your honorable association5 ' e were always out to take what they could from the tenant-peasants and would examme the matter and exclude from publication such dated items as fior must never spend even a few copper cash on embankment repairs; they would leave , exam- " , ~{ , , ',\ i' ; i, them to dry up and the tenant-peasants to starve, caring about nothing but the , . This note was first published in the Hunan minbao on rent. Now that there are peasant associations, they can be bluntly ordered to text as reproduced i~ ~ao Zedong}i. Bu}uan, Vol. 2, p. ~~~h 14, 1927. Our source is the repair the embankments. When a landlord refuses, the association will tell him 1. ln the only eXlstmg version of this text Mao' . . . very affably: the peasant association to the Public S .~ B s note IS mcorporated mto a letter from "Very well! If you won't do the repairs, you will contribute grain, a dou for cemed, asking them to take note of ~cun. ureau and to. the pubIishin~ house con­ document was published in Hun . b s Vlews. March 14. I~ the date thls composite each workday." As this is a bad bargain for the landlord, he hastens to do the was received "yesterday" so .atn mm ao· Tbhle pea~ant aSSOCIatIOn states that Mao's letter , 1 was pro ba y wn tten on Ma h 12 h 1 repairs. Consequently many defective embankments havebeen turned into good Otherwise the association's letter adds nothing to Mao's d' rc. d hor s ort y before. 2 1 th" an IS omltte ere ones. . .e., e senes to whlch Mao's article of S t b l " . The fourteen deeds enumerated above have all been accomplished by the tion and the Peasant Movement" const' ep ~m er ,.1926, The ~ational Revolu- , 113 , peasants under the command of the peasant associations; 114 would the reader •

· ':, uses the title Nongmin congkan (Collected W.. ' an e notes t ereto. In thls letter, Mao • please consider and say whether any of them is bad? Only the local bullies and -", " '-' ' ,",';'­• wenti congkan (Collected Writings on the pe:~!~g~ o~lthe Pea~ants) rather than tv,ongmin bad gentry, 1 think, will caU them bad. Curiously enough, it is reported from ,: : 's' Nanchang that Chiang Kaishek, Zhang Jingjiang, and other such gentlemen do mg House m Shanghai in May 1927 Since the lime' Pub}" h .usan Ive-t ree) Pubhsh­ not altogether approve of the activities of the Hunan peasants. This opinion is Changsh~, this is obviously not the re~rint to which Ma~ is re}~~~ ~~us~hwas ~~at~d. in shared by Liu Yuezhi and other right-wing leaders in Hunan, aU of whom say, does not mclude Mao's preface ofSeptember 1926 d' g. e ang al edltton "They have simply gone Red." But where would the national revolution be without this bit of Red? To talk about arousing the masses of the people day in was then an extremely fashionable topic. r unaut onzed repnnt of a work on what and day out and then to be scared to death when the masses do risc what difference is there between this and Lord She's love of dragons?115 4. According to the editorial note accompan i M ' '. duced in Nongmin yundong (see above th t Y ng ao s preface to thlS senes as repro- 113. The command ~ The leadership :or sale by the Guoguang shuju. Probably ~h:xt of l~ebtembe~ l, 1926), the volumes were 114. Here the revised text inserts: in their fundamental spirit and revolutionary signifi­ mg with the peasant movement and/or G y ~o: e purc ased only by persons work­ cance, ... public. uomm ang members, and not by the general 115. The reference is to an anecdote in the Xin xu (New Prefaces) of Liu Xiang (76-5 5. I.e., the Hunan Provincial Peasant A . t' h' B.e.), zi Zizheng, a descendant of Liu Bang. Lord She professed such a love of dragons hui. We have omitted the "honorable" in ~OC1~ ~~n, Wh Ich Mao a~dresses politely as gui that he decorated his whole palace with drawings and carvings of them. Pleased by this ances below. ans a mg t e term on ItS subsequent appear- report, a real dragon paid him a visit and frightened Lord She out ofhis wits.

465

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