this kind of investigation it is impossible to have basic ideas about the rural areas. Second, I have tried to find out the manifestations of land struggle among various classes of people in Hsun-wu but my investigation is not complete. The shortcomings of this investigation are that I have not included in it the situations of the children and women, the situations of exchange and comparison of commodity prices, the situations in. farm production after the land distribution, and the cultural situations. All these aspects were intended to be investigated had it not been for the enemy attack on Lo-fang. Because the Red Army had decided on the policy of luring the enemy deep into our area, we were forced to conclude our fact-finding meetings. The data given below was gathered in this way: I drew in an outline of investigation, then everyone was asked questions followed by a discussion; all conclusions were submitted by me; after they were agreed to by the eight comrades I put them down in writing. On some points no conclusions were reached, but their answers were described. Our fact-finding meetings had been lively and interesting. Two or three meetings were held every day with some lasting into the late night but they did not feel tired. For this we should be deeply grateful to these comrades. Some participants are members of the Communist Party but the majority of them are no t. I. A Survey of Eight Families 1. Fu Chi-t'ing A native of the 1st township of the 10th District, He runs a small butcher shop but has no capital. There are five persons to be fed. He has a rice field of 23 shih (piculs) on which 3 shih must be paid as rent leaving him with a balance of 20 shih. Now each of the five persons eats 7 shih totaling 35 shih resulting in a shortage of 15 shih which must be made up by the business in his butcher shop. He can make a profit of about 1.30 yuan for each pig slaughtered (there are no more large pigs to be killed so he can only earn about 0.50 yuan per pig killed). The five persons are: father, 80 years old; wife cooks, raises pigs, makes firewood, washes and mends clothes, but tills no field; son, 5 years old; daughter, 1 year old; and himself, 39, tilling field and slaughtering pigs. In addition to his own, he rents another field of 5 shih but has to hire someone to help him till it for 1 month every year. His mother died 5 years ago. He spent over 100 yuan for her burial. Apart from his brother's contributing share, he has to go into debt for 50 small yuan which with compound interest added had already come to 150 yuan this year. Out of the 23 shih of rice field, 17 shih were owned by himself, and 6 shih were "t'ui-chiao^t'ien" belonging to the public lands of Chung-wu in Pai-lu (a subdivision of Kan-hsien, 10 li from the 1st township of the 10th District). For 6 shih of this public field he had to pay 6 small yuan per shih totaling 36 yuan as mortgage money. In addition, he must deliver 3 'shih as land rent every year (at the rate of 50 percent). 244 In March last year when the revolution failed, he fled into the hills of Chun-ts'un helping people repair them. In September he returned home with the arrival of the Red Army in Hsing-kuo when the jackals of the Pacification Corps ran away into the hills. There was no land distribution then. In February (March by solar calendar) the Red Army attacked Kan-chou and in the same month land was distributed. Although he did not get any land, he was relieved from the payment of his rent of 3 shih and his debt of 150 yuan. At the same time he did not get back his mortgage money of 36 yuan. From February he served for 3 months as chief of land section in the town government assisting in distributing land to the people. In April he became a company commander of the Red Guards equipped with spears but no guns. He served for 3 months. On 15 June he led his unit in one attack against the jackals of the Pacification Corps in Hsing-kuo County. From June the Red Guards were reorganized into a reserve contingent of the Red Army in which he became a platoon leader. A month or so later he was made a company commander. At this time two companies were formed in the 1st township. In August he led his unit to attack Ch'i-fang and won a victory. During the march (in October by solar calendar) on Hsin-yu he served as a batallion commander. Because he was unable to leave production and because his meat accounts were not collected so that he could pay back to others, he wanted to go home and did not wish to serve in the Red Army. He had a schooling of 6 years and can barely read newspapers. 2. Li Ch'ang-ying A native of PTang-wu-t*ung in the 1st township of the 10th district. There were six persons. He himself, 48, tills fields. His wife, also 48, has aching heart, cooks, washes clothes and feeds pigs. His son, 20, tills fields but is stupid and unable to read. His daughter-in-law, 20, makes firewood daily but cannot till fields. His daughter, 12, was married off in June this year to someone in Wu-wa, 40 li away. His second son, 3} died in April this year. There are only four persons to be fed. He himself is owner of 30 tan (piculs) of rice fields. From his younger brother Li Ch'ang-feng he borrowed another field of 20 tan. Because Li Ch'ang-feng's field was of poor quality and did not yield enough to meet his expenses he went to T'ai-ho and L°.~k'ang to farm for others. Li Ch'ang-ying's own field of 20 tan could yield only 13 tan of rice because water could not be pumped into it but he had to pay 9 tan of rent. Li Ch'ang-feng owed a debt of 120 yuan and 9 tan of rice as rent. He paid interest on them for Ch'ang-feng. As for his own 30-tan field, he could only reap 17 tan because it was a hilly land situated on a broken cliff. Coupled with Ch'ang-feng's actual yield of 4 tan, his total harvest came to 21 tan. Besides they were all paddy rice (rough rice) which when converted into dried rice at a 30 percent discount totaled 15 tan, at best 17 tan in a good harvest year. Six persons need 40 tan of rice a year. Thus there was a shortage of more than one-half which must be made 245 up by his sweet potato harvest of 30 tan 'or so a year. He fed a pig until December when he sold it for money with which he bought oil and salt for home use. No meat can be had in ordinary times. It is bought and served only during festive occasions such as Ch'ing-ming (Tomb-sweeping festival, 40 cents), Shih-t'ien (Planting crops, 1.5 yuan), Tuan-wu (Dragon boat festival, 30 cents), Chifih-hsin (Eating new rice, 1 yuan), Ch'ih-yueh-pan (the 15th day of the 7th moon, a ghost festival, 20-30 cents), Chung-ch'iu (Mid-moon festival, 20-30 cents), Ke-ho (Harvesting festival, 2 yuan), and Kuo-nien (New Year festival, 3 yuan). During ChTih-hsin 1 yuan's worth of meat has to be served because field hands must be hired to plant sweet potatoes. During Shih-t'ien and Ko-ho helping hands must be hired, totaling 20 man-days a year. Father and son, apart from working in their own field, must help younger brother Chrang-feng till his 20-tan field. This would cost him every year 80 man-days of hired labor (for each tan of rice a good field needs 3 man-days of hired labor while a poor one, 4). The death of his younger brother Ch'ang-feng left his wife a widow. She adopted his (Ch'ang-ying's) second son as her own. As these 80 man-days of labor cannot be paid for, he has to work his own as well as his sister-in-law's fields so that there is no time left for him to work for other people. He owed a debt of 120 yuan to the public granary for which he roust give 7.50 shih of rice as interest (for each 160 yuan borrowed 1 shih of rice must be paid as interest valued at 2.4 yuan). At the end of each year he sold pigs for 20 or more yuan. Out of this sum he spent 6 or 7 yuan to buy oil and salt and the balance was paid to the public granary after conversion into rice as interest. The old and new public granaries of this village each have 30 or more shih of rice totaling 70 shih. In March this year land was distributed with each of the six persons getting 7 shih totaling 42 shih. All of Ch'ang-feng's land was awarded to Ch'ang-ying, Ch'ang-feng's old debt on which Ch'ang-ying had paid interest was erased. His own debt of 120 yuan to the public granary was also erased. The 42 shih of rice field is infertile and can only reap a harvest of 40 percent totaling 25 shih or so. This coupled with his sweet potato crop is barely sufficient to keep the family fed. In August this year the authorities of southwest Kiangsi ordered a re-distribution of land on the principle of taking out some fertile land to compensate for the barren. In his family a son died and a daughter had been married off. Only four persons are left now and each is given 6 shih 1 t'ung (4 t'ung make 1 shih). Some of his barren lands were given to others while he got some fertile ones owned by others. On this occasion land was divided equally and evenly. In March each person was awarded 7 tan whereas in August he was only given 6 shih 1 t'ung. Why? The reason is that following the victory of the revolution 1.2 of the P'eng-wu-t Tung peasants who went to T'ai-ho to farm land earlier had come back by this time. There was then no revolution in T'ai-ho, When they heard about the revolution in Hsing-kuo and its land distribution they all came back. This is why the people were given less land in this village than in others on a per capita basis. 246 P'eng-wu-t'ung has only four family surnames of Yi, Li Ch'iu and Cheng, numbering 130 or more people. It has no village government. Li Ch'ang-ying did little work in the town government. His son Li Ch'uan-po was in charge of weapons (spears, bird guns, swords, etc.) in the town government. His son took part in attacks on Hsing-kuo and Liang-k'ou. He himself participated in attacks on Ch'i-fang and Nanchang. He is willing to serve in the Red Army but must ask for 1 month's leave so that he can go home and buy a calf to help till his field. On 27 June his ox died from a fall. He bought it 2 years ago for 23 yuan. After his ox died he sold it for beef and got 10 yuan. In June he spent 12 yuan to buy another calf but in July it also died from a fall. He sold it for beef for 8 yuan (which he had not yet collected). He must buy another calf to help him till his field. This is why he must ask for 1 month's home leave before he can come back to serve in the Red Army. "Thanks to the kindness of the Red Army," an ox for which one had to pay 70 yuan can now be bought for 20 yuan^. "Thanks to the kindness of the Red Army," prices on everything are reasonable now. In the past edible oil cost 23 yuan for 1 tan (100 chin), now it Is only 10 yuan per tan. Rice used to cost 4 yuan per shih, now it costs 1 yuan per shin (3 coppers can buy 1 sheng of rice). Firewood used to sell for 20 coppers per chin, now it only costs 8 coppers per chin. Meat which had been sold for 530 coppers per chin before is now sold for 320 coppers per chin. Only the price of salt and cotton cloth has become very high. Salt was sold for 320 coppers per chin, now it is 800 coppers per chin. White cotton cloth used to sell for 140 coppers per ch'ih, now it costs 320 coppers per chi'ih. 3. Wen Feng-chang A native of the 4th (Hou-ching) township of the 10th district; it has a population of over 300 and a township government. There are four persons to feed. Father, 56, has aching feet and cannot do any work. Mother, 46, cannot see anything or do any work except feeding pigs. He himself, 22, tills fields. In March this year he served as a platoon leader. In June he became a member of the finance committee in the town government. In October he set out to attack Nanchang as acting commander of a company of the Red Army reserve detachment. His wife, 16, makes firewood, cooks, looks after cattle, but tills no fields. He himself owned 8 shih of "tTui-chiao-t'ien." He did not know for how much his father had mortgaged it but he must deliver 2.50 shih of dried rice as rent per year. His 8 shih is paddy rice field and because it is a good field it can reap 8 shih of dried rice. Four persons need 28 shih of rice a year, thus short of 20 shih. He leased a 120-shih rice field from his landlord who demanded no mortgage money but rent in kind. As this is all inundated 247 field, it can only reap 90 shih of paddy rice (only one harvest a year) which when converted into dried rice at a discount of 20 percent totals 72 shih. Out of this he must deliver 55 shih of dried rice as rent in kind (rent is 75 percent), leaving a balance of 17 shih which is not enough to feed the family. Harvest time is from June to July. After harvesting crops, paying rent in kind and paying last year's rent on borrowed new rice, they soon found themselves without anything to eat. In August and September they had to borrow new rice again from rich peasants. For every shih of new rice borrowed he had to pay 3 lo (basket). Every year he must borrow 10 or more shih of new rice. With regard to the 12 shih of new rice he borrowed last year, "thanks to the kindness of the Red Army," he does not have to repay them any more. He owed big landlord Liu Hua-jang a debt of 60 yuan, on which an interest was charged at 1 shih of rice for each 10 yuan due, that debt he does not have to pay back now. Fortunately he is able to harvest 40 tan of sweet potatoes, 3 tan of which equal 1 tan of rice, so the total would be equivalent to 13 tan of rice. In March this year, four persons were given a total of 32 shih of rice fields. After deducting his own 8 shih of "t'ui-chiao-t'ien," he was actually awarded 24 shih. The method of distribution was as follows: out of the 128 shih originally tilled by him (120 shih leased from landlord, 8 shih tilled by himself), 96 shih were shoveled out to others while he kept the remainder of 32 shih. What had been shoveled out were mostly poor land; what had been kept were mostly good land. In August when land was re-distributed, it was found that he had more and better land than he should have, so he had to shovel out 2 shih more and kept the balance of 30 shih. Some of his good land was shoveled out in exchange for poor land from others. "Land was fairly distributed by the town government.11 In the past when he tilled his 120-shih fields, he had to work himself almost to death. During seasons of rice planting, rice harvesting and sweet potato planting, he had to hire hands to help: rice planting required 6 or 7 man-days of hired labor, rice harvesting 30 or more man-days of hired hands, sweet potato planting another 30 or more (for early and late crops), a total of 70 or more man-days of hired hands. This did not include exchanges of labor (that is, you and I help each other with labor) during rice harvest and sweet potato planting which came to another 10 or more man-days. Now he only tills 30 shih so he needs no more hired hands or exchanges of labor. If he used to work 3 times as hard, he now labors one-third as much. Because he has more time on hand, he manages finances and does some other work in the town government. When attacks were launched against Hsing-kuo, Liang-k'ou, and now Nanchang, he took part in all of them. He had a schooling of 4 years, reads half of the posters, and can keep accounts. 248 4. Ch'en Chen-shan A native of the 2d (Chih-ko-ssu) township of the 10th district. The 2d township has 800 people with the town government established at Yung~feng-yu. There are seven persons to be fed: three brothers, three wivesandone daughter of the eldest brother. The eldest brother, 29; ChTen Chen-shan, the second of the three, 24; and the youngest brother, 18. The eldest set up a street stall in front of another man's store selling edible oil and salt. He borrowed 120 yuan as capital, lost it, and "joined the revolution as an expediency." He did not have to pay his debt but could not operate his street stall anymore. He is now a soldier in the Red 20th Army. Ch'en Chen-shan had a schooling of 8 years. Before 19 he tended cattle at home. At 19 he started to learn to farm land and worked for 5 years. He became a propagandist in the Cown government. During the current inarch he became a company political commissar. The youngest brother had been a bamboo-splinter apprentice for 3 years. He is now a soldier in the Red 20th Army. The eldest brother's wife cooks, makes firewood and plants vegetables. His (Chen-shan's) wife joined her in these chores. She now serves as a unit commander of the Women's Red Guards. The wife of the youngest brother is only 9 years old. The daughter of the eldest brother is 2. He owned a rice field of 12 shih. In addition, he leased another 10 shih to be managed by his elder brother (a rent in kind of 5 shih must be paid). Embankment work is usually done 1 day out of 3 on the Yung-feng-yu dike. On such a day his elder brother went out there selling oil and salt and came home later to till his field. Apart from his own tilling, his elder brother must hire 80 hands to help him every year. He owed a debt of 130 yuan on which he must pay 10 shih of rice as interest. He had a harvest of 30 shih of rice a year. After paying interest of 10 shih on his debt and rent in kind of 5 shih, he had a balance of 15 shih left, Among the seven persons, the youngest brother was away from home working as a bamboo-splinter worker for some other people, so there were six persons consuming 42 shih a year, thus leaving a shortage of 23 shih. This deficit had to be made up by his elder brother selling oil and salt and by his earning from land farming. During the period of his apprenticeship, his youngest brother earned no money. In February last year he and his elder brother joined the revolution. His elder brother served as chief of the food and grain section of the peasant association while he himself worked as a propagandist. The wives were all in favor of the revolution because they were frequently hard pressed by their creditors for debt payment and thus unable to observe the New Year. They were delighted when they heard about resisting payment of rents, taxes, grains and debts. This is why they were in favor of their husbands joining the ranks of the revolution. The youngest brother is a simple fellow; he would do what others have told him. He did not join the revolution at this 249 time. In April when the revolution had failed the jackals of the Pacification Corps came here. His elder brother fled to Chungr-ts'un where he helped others repair hills. He himself went to Kuan-ch'ao in T'ai-ho where he made 70 or 80 yuan as a farm helper. In December last year the Red Array re-took Hsing-kuo. He and his brother came home and re-joined the revolution. During the period of failure of the revolution the jackals of the Pacification Corps had burned down six rooms of his house. In March this year land was distributed. In addition to his own 20 shih, his family was given 29 shih more, thus totaling 49 shih with each person getting 7 shih. When the wives witnessed the division of land without having to pay rents and debts they were overjoyed. So his wife cheerfully went to the town government to serve as a unit commander of the Women's Red Guards. In the March distribution they got all good land. In August when land was divided again, it was evenly exchanged this time between the good and the bad. They had to give up one-half of the good land and take in one-half of the bad, but the total remained 7 shih per person. The wives were still delighted because they themselves were government workers and kept telling others that they should even up their land between the good and the bad. So when it came to even up their own land they were also in favor of it. All three brothers including himself and his wife have left home to do revolutionary work. Only three women stayed home: his elder sister-in-law and her daughter, and his youngest sister-in-law, none of whom were able to till fields. So the two on government sent people to till their fields; those who were sent had more labor to spare; they first tilled those of the Ch'en family and then their own; and the tilling was well done. The tillers who were sent to till the fields of the Ch'en family eat at the Ch'en's home. Because four out of the seven persons eat away from home, each of them saved 7 shih a year. This is sold for money to buy oil, salt and cotton cloth. 5. Chung Te-wu A native of the 3d (Shan-k'eng) township of the 10th district. This family has 11 persons. He himself, 28, had a schooling of 7 years, and worked as a bookkeeper in Wang's grocery store in Pai-lu (30 li from Shan-k'eng) at an annual salary of 60 yuan. From apprentice to bookkeeper he had worked a total of 13 years. In March last year he followed the Red Army when it entered Pai-lu and stayed home. His mother, 57, is getting old and looks after children. His elder brother, 31, tills fields. His sister-in-law, 32, cooks, makes firewood, washes clothes, but tills no fields. He has two nephews, one, 9, going to school, and the other, 3. His wife, 28, cooks, makes firewood, and feeds pigs. He has two sons, one, 7, going to school, and the other, 2. His elder nephew is married to a girl of 9 who looks after children. He also has a niece of 2. The above totals 11 persons. Only his elder brother tills fields while he himself is engaged in business, the rest all lacking productive capability. 250 He owned 30 shih of rice field and rented another 36 shih totaling 66 shih. On his leased field he must pay rent in kind at the rate of 60 percent, that is, 21 shih 6 tou (peck) which was converted into money so he could keep his rice. He reaps 40 or more tan of sweet potatoes a year. The 11 persons need 77 shih of rice a year. Another 20 or more shih were needed to raise chickens, feed pigs, make wine, hire labor, entertain guests, etc. Thus he required a total of 120 or more shih a year and was short of over 20 shih on balance. The whole family needed 150 to 160 yuan a year to pay for salt, cotton cloth, workers1 wages, borrowed rice and entertaining expenses. Among these items salt cost 20 to 30 yuan, cotton cloth 30 or more yuan, borrowed rice of 25 to 26 shih at 3 yuan per shih totaling over 70 yuan, and entertaining for 20 or more yuan. The source of this 150 to 160 yuan came from: his salary earned from the store in Pai-lu amounting to 60 yuan plus a bonus of 20 yuan, 10 or more yuan from his miscellaneous crops such as beans, 10 or more yuan from selling surplus pork after feeding themselves, and 10 or more yuan from selling pine firewood, thus totaling about 120 yuan a year. Every year he owed a debt of 30 to 40 yuan. His family owed a debt of 200 or more yuan covering all the previous years. In the past he had owned 46 shih of rice fields. He sold 7 shih 10 years ago at 10 yuan per shih. He sold another 9 shih 2 years ago at 12 yuan per shih. Now he has only 30 shih in all. Tilling by his elder brother alone was not enough so a hired hand of 120 days was needed every year; labor cost 240 coppers a day so the total amount of wages came to 28 strings of coppers a year. In February (March by solar calendar) this year following the success of the revolution each person was given 5.50 shih of rice field. The 11 persons got a total of 60 shih 1 lo (including 30 shih of his own). Because land in this township had not been evenly divided between the good and the poor, another distribution became necessary but so far it has not been carried out. There are more people than land in this township. Each person given 5.50 shih has not enough to live on. In the past his family needed about 120 shih of rice plus an expenditure of 150 to 160 yuan per year. As a result of the land distribution they were given 60 shih 1 lo. This was 6 shih less than what they used to have before the revolution. However, they need not pay the rent in kind of 21 shih (converted into 60 or more yuan). Nor do they have to pay the interest of 40 yuan (at the rate of 20 percent) on their debt of 200 yuan. This is the good side. The bad side is that with the collapse of Wang's store in Pai-lu he is left without a job. Thus he has lost his income of 80 yuan a year (60 yuan as salary, 20 yuan as bonus). By comparison, the situation is about the same as it was before the revolution. However, since the revolution living expenses have been greatly reduced. In making wine some expense of hired labor is still necessary but it is reduced to some extent. Less cotton cloth is needed because of sparing use. Although it is still necessary to borrow rice to make up the shortage, the price of rice is greatly reduced to 0.70 yuan per shih. Entertaining has correspondingly decreased so that miscellaneous expenses which used to require 150 to 160 yuan can now be reduced to about one-half, totaling 80 yuan a year (in Hsing-kuo money is counted in terms of yuan). 251 In March land distribution "was based on existing Land ownership, taking from those who have more to compensate those who have less." Each village was used as a unit of land distribution. Because this village has more people than land, existing land ownership has not been changed. In the present re-distribution some land was taken from other villages so that everyone could get about 7 shih of rice field. When this is done, there would probably be enough rice to go around. In May Chung Te-wu worked in the land section of the town government in charge of distributing forest land (he was a member of a four-man committee) and completed its distribution in the 3d township. The way it is done is by resolution of the town people's congress after which he sets out to various villages where mass meetings are held and lands actually distributed. Those who were given more forest land get less on the plains and vice versa. There were cases in which some got land on the plains but no forest land, but no one got forest land without also getting some land on the plains. In May he served as a company commander of the Red Guards reserve detachment, In June he became a propagandist of an independent regiment. During the current inarch to Hsin-yu he again served as a propagandist. He took part in the 7th and 8th attacks on Chi-an, He is willing to work as a propagandist in the Red Army. 6. Huang Ta-ch'un A native of Ch'a-kan-ts'un (village) of the 1st township of the 10th district. This village has 390 or more people. There are four persons to be fed. He himself, 36, makes firecrackers for others. His mother, 54, has been sick for 9 years and cannot do any work. His wife, 31, chops and carries firewood on a shoulder pole to market in Pai-lu (Ch'a-kan is 10 li from Pai-lu), buys rice with the money she earned, cooks, plants vegetables and washes clothes, working extremely hard. His younger brother, 32, is a bamboo-splinter worker. Since March last year he had gone to serve in the 2d Regiment of the Red Army and was not heard from. His family owned 5 shih of rice field tilled by himself. He rented no field from other people. He makes firecrackers for others as a hired hand earning 0.14 yuan a day. If he works every day, he can earn 4 yuan a month. As a bamboo-splinter worker his younger brother makes 0.10 yuan a day, enabling him to smoke yellow tobacco and make some clothes, but has no money to save. After the revolution he could make no more firecrackers. His younger brother gave up bamboo-splintering to become a soldier. In the past he depended on making firecrackers and his wife selling firewood for a living. They worked hard all year around and still had not enough to 252 eat. After land was divided, they had enough to feed themselves. He owed rich peasant Ch'en a debt of 40 yuan for which he had to mortgage his 5 shih of rice field, This rich peasant was very bad; he was killed by the masses during the revolution. In March last year Huang Ta-chrun organized a secret peasant association in ChIa~kan-tsfun village. It had 50 or 60 members and he served as its liaison officer. In November last year he became a unit commander of the Red Guards. In April this year he worked as a land clerk; in June he served as a platoon leader of the Red Army reserve unit; and in August he was made a company commander of the Red Army reserve unit. He led his unit in the current march to Hsin-yu, In March land was distributed. Each person was only give 6.50 shih which was all poor land. Moreover, because the original tiller had already planted seeds in his field, he was entitled to share 60 percent of the harvest while the new owner could only get 40 percent. In July (August by solar calendar) land was distributed again with each person getting . 7.50 shih, of which one-half was good land. He was a firecracker worker but now is without a job. His brother used to be a bamboo-splinter worker but is now a soldier. This entitles them to their land. Other workers with jobs also got their land in about the same amount as peasants. The reason for this is that a worker even with a job now has no security and is always fearful of losing it so he wants to have a share of the land. Moreover, as a worker cannot till his field and must hire someone to till it for him, he wants to get the same amount of land as given to others. At first, the peasants only allowed the workers to get one-half share of their land, but the workers said that in that case they would raise their .wages. Then the peasants said: "We will let you have your full share of our land but you will not raise your wages." After the workers have got their land, they do not have oxen so they must borrow them from their relatives and friends. As they do not have plows and hoes, they must borrow them too. They find it hard, He had no schooling and can only keep accounts. 7. Ch'en Pei-p'ing A native of the 3d (Shan-k'eng) township of the 10th district. There are 11 persons: three brothers, three wives, two nephews , one father, one mother and one grandmother. The eldest brother, 38, is a mason. The second elder brother, 31, tills fields. The youngest, Ch'en Pei-p'ing himself, 24, had a schooling of 6 and one-half years, studied at a primary school for 1 and one-half years, and taught for 5 years at a countryside primary school. Father is 65. Mother is 62. The three wives stay home to cook, chop wood, plant vegetables and wash clothes, but till no fields. Two nephews are 2 and 3 years old. Grandmother is 92. 253 They owned 32 shih of rice field and leased another 20 shin from others for which they had to pay 10 shih as rent in kind. Two out of the 11 persons eat away from home; the elderly and the young eat less. For this reason they should have enough to eat if they had 60 shih a year. However, their harvest only totaled 42 shih, thus leaving them with a shortage of about 20 shih a year. In addition, there were miscellaneous expenses such as that incurred in wine-making, artisan labor, and purchase of oil, salt, cotton cloth, sundry articles, gifts for marriage, funeral and seasonal festivals, etc., which amounted to 120 yuan or so a year. The eldest brother earned 50 yuan or so in wages; his teaching salary came to 50 yuan or so; and an income of about 20 yuan, accrued from selling coil palm, firewood, bamboo, lumber, etc., from their hill. Their cow gives birth to a calf every year, which sells for 20 yuan or so. All these added to a total of 140 yuan or so which was used to defray miscellaneous expenses and make up their shortage of rice. He owed a debt of 80 yuan. Last year his mother, his eldest sister-in-law, and two nephews died, leaving the three brothers, two wives of the two younger brothers, and the mother-in-law of his eldest brother. There are six persons to be fed. In March land was distributed on the basis of nine persons (at that time there were one new-born son, one new-born nephew, and one newly married sister-in-law, but they all died in the latter half of this year) with each given 5.50 shih totaling 50 shih 5 tou. This included his own 32 shih; he was awarded 18 shih 5 tou which was all poor land. At present, land was being distributed again. Investigations have been completed but actual re-distribution remains to be carried out. With the fall of landlords and rich peasants, no more houses were built. The eldest brother, being jobless, turned to till his field. Although he could still teach at the newly established village people's school, he earned only 0.1 yuan a day as food money but no salary, the same as all government workers. In March he, Ch'en Pei-p'ing, became a political commissar in the standing detachment; in April he served as a propagandist in the town government; in May he was chief of cultural section in the town government; in June he became secretary of the town government; and in the intercalary month of June he returned home to teach school. In September he became political commissar of the 2d Company of the Red Army Reserve in the march to Hsin-yu. The two elder brothers took part in attacks against Wang-t'ang and Lang-ts'un. 8. Lei Han-hsiang A native of the 3d (Shan-k'eng) township of the 10th district. 254 There are five persons to be fed: three brothers, one mother and one elder sister-in-law. The eldest brother, 43, spent one-third of his time as a hired tiller and two-thirds to till his field. The second elder brother, 39, spent two-thirds of his time as a hired tiller and one-third to till his field. Lei Han-hsiang, 25, the youngest of the three, worked as an apprentice mason for 2 years, then came home to be a hired tiller. Mother is 70. His eldest sister-in-law, 34, cooks, makes firewood and plants vegetables. He owned 7.50 shih of rice field and leased another 44 shih from the public hall on which he must pay rent in kind of 60 percent. He owed a debt of 120 yuan at an interest rate of 20 percent. He borrowed it from rich peasant Lei Tsu-yung in the same town. The two elder brothers worked on odd jobs for others. When they worked at home, the eldest brother took two-thirds of his time while the youngest only one-third. He himself spent almost all of his time to do off jobs for others The eldest brother was the head of the household. His own 7.50 shih of rice field could only reap 6 shih in a year of poor harvest. The 44 shih of public hall field could reap 70 percent of the harvest totaling 30 shih. While harvest is reduced, rent cannot be reduced: he must still deliver 26 shih of rice as rent in kind of 60 percent on the 44 shih of the public hall field. From the latter he had only 4 shih for himself, This coupled with his own 6 shih came to a total of 10 shih. This was far from enough to feed the family. Besides he must pay 24 yuan as interest on his debt. Thus the whole family became extremely impoverished. This was the way to sustain their livelihood. First of all,the two elder brothers and especially he himself the youngest of the three were relied on to bring home their wages. He did about 220 days of odd jobs a year, his eldest brother did 30 or 40, and his second elder brother did 170 or 180, thus totaling 420 to 430 days of odd jobs a year. These odd jobs normally earn 200 coppers a day while reaping crops and picking wood earn 500 coppers a day so that the wages come to a total of 40 yuan a year. Second, planting sweet potatoes can reap 40 or more tan equivalent to 10 or more shih of rice. Third, cultivation of late rice crop can yield 10 or more shih on which no payment of rent is required. However, this makes it impossible to raise coarse crops. Fourth, raising pigs at the rate of two a year can earn over 20 yuan per pig totaling 40 yuan or more. If they eat one-half, they still have a balance of 20 or more yuan. According to the calculation given above, the family had an income of 30 or more shih of rice and a cash of 60 or more yuan a year. On the side of the outlay, only three persons ate at home (two of the three brothers ate away from home, only one man and two women eating at home to make a total of three persons). To this was added 24 yuan or 240 mao as payment of interest, thereby leaving a small balance which could be used to buy oil, salt and 255 other sundry articles. They should not feel too hard pressed, Why, then was his family still very impoverished (all year around they simply had nothing good to eat, eating daily sweet potato strings mixed with rice, and nothing good to wear)? The first reason was that all .three brothers were fond of gambling, in which the second brother in particular always had losses. The second reason was that the eldest sister-in-law was gluttonous and lazy, turned the house upside down, made the three brothers loath to work, and beat the pigs to death. The third reason was that two oxen died in a row, one died from drinking nitric acid water and the other died from a fall. His family fortune had turned bad against the times. For these three reasons, his family always remained impoverished. In March land was distributed. Each person was given 6.50 shih totaling 32.50 shih. That is, out of their originally tilled land of 51.50 shih (their own 7.50 shih and 44 shih leased from others), 19 shih were taken out to be given away to others while they kept the remainder to themselves. However, the 19 shih which were given away were mostly hill-side barren land reaping only one crop a year while what remained was all good land yielding two crops a year. Land was to be distributed again. Investigations had been completed but actual re-distribution remained to be carried out. In March when land was divided, 19 shih was taken out to be given away to the new owner. Because this field was then tilled by the new owner, he was entitled to the full share of the harvest of 19 shih. In dividing land of other families, a part .of the harvest was taken out with the original tiller getting 60 percent and the new owner getting 40 percent. That is to say, the new owner had nothing to do with the planting of the current crop and left the work of fertilizing and sowing the field to the original tiller. Accordingly, at harvest time the new owner would let the original tiller take 60 percent" of the harvest while the latter would give 40 percent to the new owner. This is like the original tiller paying the new owner 40 percent of the harvest as rent in kind. The eldest brother became a soldier in the Red Guards detachment of this township. He took part in the attacks against ChiTi-fang and Wang-t'ang, The second eldest brother served as a squad leader of the Red Guards detachment. He himself at first was a soldier in the Red Guards detachment, later became a platoon leader; and in the current march to Hsin-yu he was made a company commander. II. The Old Land Relationship in This District 1. Land Distribution With regard to land in the 10th district, namely, the area of Yung-feng-yu, the old distribution of land was as follows: 256 Landlords Kung-t'ang [Public Hall] Rich peasants Middle peasants Poor peasants 40 percent 10 percent (jointly owned by landlords and rich peasants) 30 percent 15 percent 5 percent 2. Composition of Population In general, the composition of population in the 10th district of Hsing-kuo County is as follows: Landlords Rich peasants Middle peasants Poor peasants Hired peasants Handicraft workers Small merchants Vagabonds 1 percent 5 percent 20 percent 60 percent 1 percent 7 percent 3 percent 2 percent According to the above description, the real exploiting class (landlords and rich peasants) constitutes not more than 6 percent of the population but they hold 80 percent of the land. Out of this amount rich peasants take up 30 percent and substantial portions of public hall land were under their control. Thus if the lands of rich peasants were not evenly distributed, it would be difficult to solve the question of land shortage faced by the majority of the people. Middle peasants comprise 20 percent of the population but they only hold 15 percent of the land. Because of their insufficient holdings, it is necessary for them to share in the equal distribution of land which will result in an increase and not a decrease of their holdings. Those who allege that equal distribution would hurt middle peasants are wrong. In analyzing the composition of population in this district, .the family, not the individual, is used as the unit. The 1 percent of hired peasants refers to pure and simple hired peasants; those who are both poor and hired peasants are not included in this category although their number is considerable. Small merchants refer to full-time small merchants; those who are part-time peasants and part-time merchants are not included in this category. The 2 percent of vagabonds refers to the group of people who are totally unemployed and make their living as gamblers and bandits; those who are partially unemployed are not included in this category, Why landlords only constitute 1 percent of the population? This is because the majority of the land-holding landlords of this district live in Pai-lu and T'ien-ts'un districts of the neighboring county and in the urban area of this county. If they were included in this count, the landlord class would generally make up 2 or 3 percent of the population. 257 3. Conditions of Exploitation Type 1: Exploitation by Rent In the 1st (Ling-yuan-li), 2d (Yung-feng-yu), and 4th (Hou~chin) townships, land rent is 50 percent. In the 3d (Shan-k'eng) township, it is 60 percent in some areas and 50 percent in a small area. Because of floods and drought in the 1st, 2d and 4th townships, harvests are frequently poor so rent is lower. There is neither flood nor drought in the 3d township so rent is higher. Why are there floods and drought in the 1st, 2d and 4th townships and not in the 3d? Because land is mostly poor in the former three townships where the hills are full of shifting sand and devoid of trees. When the sands from the hills were dashed by clashing water into the river, thereby raising the riverbed higher than the farm land year after year, and when the dike bursts open, the result is flood by inundation. On the other hand, drought comes when there is no rainfall in a long time. In the 3d township land is mostly on the hills and higher than the river. Although land acreage is small, there is no fear of flood in case of rain and no drought in case of a long dry spell. There is no way to plant trees on shifting sandy hills. In this district there is only one planting of fields in a year. Less than 5 percent of the people plant late rice crops. No rent is collected on small late rice crops and miscellaneous crops. Type 2: Exploitation by Usury 1. Money usury: This can be divided into two periods. Before 1927 interest on money was 30 percent (annual interest of 30 yuan on 100 yuan). However, not everyone could get this kind of loan; he had to mortgage his land, hill or house to get it, Since 1927 "the world has changed," There were few money lenders. Very few pure landlords lived in this district. Most of them lived in the districts of Pai-lu and T'ien-ts'un in Kan-hsien County although their lands were held here. However, many rich peasants lived here. For this reason, there was no instance of poor peasants borrowing money from landlords and . 80 percent of their loans were obtained from rich peasants and 20 percent from public hall lands. Middle peasants did not need loans and hired peasants could not get them. The only people who needed and could get them were the poor peasants because they had the collaterals. On the other hand, those who were in the business of lending money were mainly rich peasants. Thus the struggle between the poor and rich peasants in the land revolution would doubtless be very intense. Rich peasants sometimes also borrowed money from landlords in amounts of several hundred or 1,000 yuan, at a lower rate of interest ranging from 15 to 18 percent. The money thus raised by 253 the rich peasants were in turn lent to peasants in smaller amounts of less than 100 yuan each while they received mortgaged property and squeezed high interest. In this way the rich peasants acted as the middle man in the exploitation of poor peasants by the landlords. By the same token, the interests of the rich peasants are inseparable from those of the landlords. Most of the public hall lands were controlled by the evil gentry of this district. The majority of this type of local gentry owned some land but not enough to support himself. He is neither rich peasant nor landlord; he is evil gentry. Because he had not enough to eat, he wanted to control the public hall lands to exploit the poor in the process. In the 1st, 2d and 4th townships, 60 percent of the public hall lands were in the hands of the evil gentry and 40 percent in the hands of the rich peasants. In the 3d township, most of these lands were controlled by the evil gentry prior to 1912 because at that time only those who were endowed with official rank or academic degree could gain their control. During the Republican era the rich peasants had controlled most of them. In contrast with the situation prevailing in the 1st, 2d and 4th districts, 60 percent of the public hall lands in the 3d district were controlled by the rich peasants and 40 percent by the local evil gentry. When poor peasants borrowed from the public hall, the loan interest was a little chea'per than that charged by rich peasants: the latter charged 24 percent while the former charged 20 percent. A loan from the public hall required a mortgage as collateral just the same. Collection of debt was even harsher by the public hall than by the rich peasant. If interest on the loan was not paid when it became due, the creditor would resort to hauling cattle and pigs and reaping crops from the field. If the debtor failed to pay the loan interest when due, he could still talk to the rich peasant by agreeing to pay it next year in compound interest or he could sub-lease his mortgaged land to be tilled by someone else and collect the rent to pay his interest. Since the rich peasant is aimed at making money, he is able to compromise on the term of maturity. The harshest form of interest on money is interest by the month. This kind of loan is made to rascals for gambling purposes. Its term is 1 month; forlyuan che debtor pays 2 when due. But this is not often. 2. Rice usury: Borrowing rice is called "producing rice." It is borrowed from the rich peasant at very high interest; if it is borrowed from the public hall or public granary, the interest is lower. When a rich peasant lends rice to a poor peasant, regardless of whether it was lent in November or December last year, or in January, February or March this year, when he reaps his rice crop in July, he pays the rich peasant a uniform interest rate of 50 percent, that is to say, he must pay 3 lo (basket) as interest for 1 tan of rice borrowed. It was less than 1 year from November when it was borrowed to next July when it was to be repaid; it was only half a year from January or February to July; and it was only 4 months from April to July. Why was such a high rate of interest charged (30 percent higher than interest on money loans)? This was because in winter and spring the price of rice was very high, 100 percent higher than in autumn; if it was 259 1.50 yuan per shlh in autumn, it would often be 3 yuan per shih in winter and spring. For this reason, the rich peasant would add interest on the rice he lent in order to compensate for the loss resulting from the lower price of his rice. He would rather buy rice than lend it. Even if he had charged an interest rate of 50 percent, it would still be more profitable for him to sell his rice in winter and spring. So it would be a great favor to the poor peasant if he could get a rice loan from the rich peasant. Out of 100 shih of rice owned by the rich peasant, more than 90 percent would be sold and less than 10 percent lent. In ChTa-kan (1st township) when poor peasant Huang Ta-ctt'un wanted to borrow rice from rich peasant Ch'en Feng-ming, he was refused. However, when Huang asked to borrow money from Ch'en in order to buy rice from him, Ch'en was willing to loan him the money. Eighty percent of the money loans were borrowed by poor peasants from rich peasants; only 20 percent of such loans were made by public halls and public granaries; and no loans were made directly by landlords. In the case of rice crop loans, poor peasants obtained 90 percent of them from the public halls and public granaries, only 10 percent from the rich peasants. Thus it can be seen that the rich peasant is an out-and-out exploiter while some sense of compassion is shown by public halls and public granaries. In the main the public hall is also an exploiter. In the 1st township, the public halls sold 80 percent of their rice and only lent 20 percent. In the 2d 3d and 4th townships, practically all of the rice was sold and almost none was for loan. Only the rice crops owned by the public granaries were totally for loan and none for sale. In this district every township has its public granaries. There are four in the 1st township (population 3,000) with a total of 800 shih of rice. The 2d township (population 800) has five with 500 shih. The 3d township (population 3,000) has six with 400 shih. These three townships have a total of 20 public granaries with 1,700 shih of rice. Practically every village has a public granary. The 4th township (population 4,000) alone has only one public granary with 100 shih of rice. In this district the poor peasants relied completely on the public granaries to lend them rice to tide over the lean months; it was hopeless to borrow rice from the rich peasants. Although public granaries charged a lower interest of 30 percent than that charged by rich peasants on rice loans, their requirements of pledges for security were quite strict; iron implements (plows and hoes), pewter-ware, silver ware, cotton blankets, mosquito nets, clothes, etc., could all be used as pledge. Only in Yang-fang-tsTun village of the 1st township, however, pledges were not required on rice crop loans by the public granary. It would do if the borrower could get his neighbor to write a "note of subrogation" guaranteeing the payment of principal and interest. The rice crops of the public granaries were collected from contributions by landlords, rich peasants and middle peasants. They collected rice to set up a public granary for the purpose of giving relief to the poor people during periods of famine and starvation. This was a deceptive reform policy used to pacify the revolt of the people. Yet those who were ignorant of the truth were 260 prone to sing the praises of their benevolence and virtue, Except for the landlords, rich peasants and middle peasants who cannot and need not borrow it, rice in the public granary may be borrowed by all poor peasants, hired peasants, workers and vagabonds if they can put up their pledge or get someone to write a "note of subrogation." If "producing (borrowing) rice" is harsh enough, "picking money on new rice" is even harsher yet. In the months of February, March, April and May when the poor peasant had nothing to eat, he wanted to pledge his new rice for money from the rich peasant. During that period the price of rice was usually 3 yuan per shih, but the poor peasant only got 1,50 yuan per shih for his pledged new rice. When it was time to deliver the new rice in June or July, its price was usually 2 yuan per shih. Based on the market price of rice at this time, this was not such a terribly harsh deal but the crux of the question lay in the fact that the poor peasant had already delivered his new rice at its lower price and he would just see the rich peasant selling it for a much higher price by next spring and summer. The rich peasant bought the new rice at 1.50 yuan per shih and he sold it for 3 yuan per shih. Thus he made a profit of 100 percent which was 50 percent higher than what was made out of "producing rice." Was not this even harsher yet? 3. Pig usury: None in this district. 4. Cow usury: This practice was in existence in all townships but not prevailing. The rich peasant lends his cow to the poor peasant .who feeds and works her in the field• he gives the rich peasant 1,50 tan (3 baskets) of rice per year as interest; and if the cow bears a calf, each shares one-half. In the 1st, 2d and 4th townships, 3 out of 10 rich peasant families lent out their cows in this manner. In the 3d township, only 1 out of 10 rich peasant families lent out their cows. As the cow may die of disease or from a fall, this kind of interest is not earned with safety so the rich peasant has not made any effort to deal in it. He is afraid that the poor peasant might not keep the cow well fed, make her thin, or work her too hard or she might be stolen by thieves. So if the poor peasant could borrow a cow from the rich peasant, it would be a big favor to him, 5. Oil usury: Some poor peasants were engaged in the cultivation of oil-bearing crops. Between May and June when they ran out of rice, they had to borrow money from the rich peasants to buy rice by pledging to sell new oil. During these months the price of oil was 25 yuan per tan but they could only get 12 yuan, sometimes even 10 yuan per tan in the deal. They must deliver the new oil in September without shortage. In other words, when they borrowed 12 yuan from the rich peasants in June, they pledged to deliver 1 tan of oil in September. In September the price of oil was always 17 or 18 yuan per tan, sometimes even 20 yuan, the lowest being 15 yuan per tan. Now suppose they borrowed 12 yuan in June and the price of oil was 18 yuan in September, then the balance of 6 yuan would be counted as interest for 4 months or at an interest rate of 50 percent. Suppose the price of oil in September was 261 20 yuan, then the interest would be 8 yuan or at a rate of 80 percent. The rich peasant collected his oil in September, hoarded it and waited until the following April to August when oil was in short supply, then transported it down river to Chiang-kTou and Kan-chou-fu where it could be sold at least for 25 or 26 yuan per tan, sometimes even as high as 40 yuan per tan. Two years ago in June peasants of the 1st township went to Pai-lu to buy oil, they paid 1 yuan (10 mao) for only 1 chin (catty) 12 liang (ounce). Although this was retail price but if it was added up it would take 57 yuan to buy 1 tan of oil. In June last year it took 1 yuan (10 mao) to buy 2.5 chin of oil which was equivalent to 40 yuan per tan. Calculating on the basis of this example, in June this year if a poor peasant borrowed 12 yuan from the rich peasant for which he pledged to sell 1 tan of his new oil, by June of the following year he would have lost as much as 28 yuan while the rich peasant would have made a profit of more than 200 percent. This type of usury was not only heavy but also quite safe. From September to December the poor peasants would engage in oil extraction. The rich peasant who was not afraid of finding the poor peasant "delinquent" would wait for him to deliver the oil to his home. Tf he were afraid, he would go to the peasant's home waiting for the oil to be extracted in order to take the oil home in person. Such is the type of oil usury. Speaking from the side of the poor peasant, it is called"picking money on new oil"; from that of the rich peasant, it is called "lending money on new oil." The rich peasant seldom lent oil (not lending money on new oil) but this was done occasionally. For example, in December this year the poor peasant borrowed 1 tan of oil from the rich peasant and sold it for 20 yuan. By next year when the oil price was high, he had to return 1 tan of oil or repay it with money at the market price but without interest. This would be tantamount to having the poor peasant keep 1 tan of oil for the rich peasant and thus could not be regarded as vicious usury. A poor peasant could borrow this kind of oil only if he was favored by the rich peasant and could be relied on to repay it by the following year. The poor peasant borrowed this kind of oil because his parents died, or he was about to get married, or he had other urgent expenses to be met. Then he would ask the rich peasant with whom he was on friendly terms to lend him the money. The rich peasant told him that he had no money but he had oil (or rice). In this way oil or rice was borrowed from the rich peasant to meet the urgent need of the poor peasant. By the following year when the oil price was high, if the creditor wanted oil, the debtor would have to buy it at the market to make the delivery. If he wanted money, the debtor would convert his oil into money at the market to make the payment. This type of borrowing oil is called "hauling oil." 6. Pawnshop usury: There are two types of pawnshops: big pawnshops and small ones. Big pawnshops are not found in this district but in T'ien-ts'un and Pai-lu. The rate of interest is 5 percent per month. If you pawn off anything to get 100 coppers, you pay 5 coppers per month as interest; if you get 1,000 coppers, you pay 50 coppers per month as interest; if you get 1 yuan, you pay 5 fen per month as interest. Money is counted in terms of hsiao yang [small yuan]; the period of maturity is 10 months; if a pawn is not redeemed when it matures, it is extended for 1 month after which it 262 becomes irredeemable as dead pawn. If interest is charged at 5 percent per month, it is 60 percent a year. This kind of exploitation is extremely harsh. Many poor peasants, hired peasants, workers and vagabonds go to pawnshops. Among these four types of people, 60 out of 100 families enter pawnshops. Pawned articles which were desired included iron implements, pewter-ware, silverware, mosquito nets, blankets and clothing. Many people in this township went to pawnshops in Pai-lu; they made up 60 percent of the poor masses. In Pai-lu the pawnshop owners were natives of Hsing-kuo County. When pawned articles became irredeemable as dead pawn after 11 months, they were carted off by their owners to Hsing-kuo to be sold at public auction. If an article was pawned off for 1.50 yuan, it was worth 3 yuan. However, the aim of the pawnshop owners is to make money on interest and not to auction off pawned articles. Every township in this district has small pawnshops. They were run by rich peasants without a store front and not as a regular business. Whenever poor peasants and workers were really hard up, they carried articles to the homes of rich peasants to be pawned off for a little money. This happened not too frequently. Out of 100 families of poor peasants and workers only 10 went to small pawnshops. Why, then, do more people go to big pawnshops and less to small ones? Because small pawnshops were run with a bad reputation. In addition, local people were known to each other only too well. When an article was taken in, the poor pawner always wanted to beg for a little more money and the rich peasant found it hard to argue too much about it. Thus he was rather reluctant to do this sort of business. Small pawnshops charged the same rate of interest as big ones but the period of maturity was much shorter and determined by the rich peasant to be 1, 2, 3 or 4 months beyond which a pawned article became irredeemable as dead pawn. Of the eight persons who came to the fact-finding meetings at this time, the families of Ch'en Pei-ji'ing, Chung Te-wu, Fu Chi-t'ing and Ch'en Chen-shan had not been to pawnshops at all. The other four families of Wen Feng-chang, Lei Han-hsiang, Huang Ta-ch'un and Li Ch'ang-ying had all been to pawnshops. Wen Feng-chang had to go there once a year; between April and May he had to pawn off something to buy rice. In April last year, he pawned off one iron hoe and two wine kettles at Heng-hsing Pawnshop in Pai-lu and got 2.40 small yuan with which he bought 1 shih of rice. In December they were redeemed back by him. The family of Lei Han-hsiang must pawn every year. To say nothing of the two elder brothers who were pawners, Lei Han-hsiang, the youngest of the three, pawned off in January last year his unlined long jacket for 1 yuan and two hoes for 6 mao (0.60 yuan); neither was redeemed. In June he pawned off one masons knife for 3 mao and one "yang-t'ou-tzu" for 5 mao (both were his masonry tools); neither was redeemed. Up to 2 years ago Li Ch'ang-ying had never been to a pawnshop. In February last year when the revolution broke out, he went to work in the guerrilla battalion. When the White bandits came, he fled to Pai-lu. His wife had nothing to eat at home, so she pawned off her cotton jacket for which she got 1.20 yuan. When the revolution broke out again, she did not redeem it. Before last year Huang Ta-cH'un had never been to a pawnshop. In May last 263 year when there was no market for firecrackers and nobody wanted to make them, he had nothing to eat so he pawned off one cotton blanket for which he got 1.50 yuan. This cotton blanket was pawned to rich peasant Chung K'uei-tzu of this village. In July this year the revolution broke out throughout this county. When the Red guerrilla detachment arrived in this village from Pai-lu, the poor people rose in revolt, arrested Chung K'uei-tzu and had him killed in Pai-lu, and returned the blanket to him. The father of Chung K'uei-tzu was a good man willing to give relief to the poor so he was not killed by the masses. Chung K'uei*-tzu operated a firecracker store in T'ang-chiang and learned to be a skillful fighter. He could fight off a score of people. When he was killed, everybody cheered. His land was distributed and his family fined three times amounting to several hundred yuan, 7. Salt usury: This is very harsh because all the salt in Hsing-kuo came from Kwangtung. Many poor peasants were engaged in salt business as a sideline trade. Out of 100 poor families, 10 took to carrying salt on their shoulder-pole for sale as a sideline occupation. As they had no capital, they had to borrow it from rich peasants. They collected young chickens and carried them to Chia-ying-chou (Mei-hsien County, Kwangtung Province) for sale: they went with one pole-load of chickens and came back with one pole-load of salt. For every yuan borrowed, they had to repay with 1 chin of salt as interest. Each trip took no more than 20 days or 1 month; 1 chin of salt was worth 1.20 or 1.30 mao. In other words, 1 yuan of principal must be repaid with 1.20 or 1.30 mao as interest. After 1927 as more and more revolutions broke out everyday, interest rate came down to 24 percent so no more money could be made out of interest on salt. Type 3: Exploitation by Taxes In this district there were no direct taxes levied on peasants except taxes and rents on farm lands. Each 3 shih of rice field is the equivalent of 1 shih of "seedbed field" on which a farm land tax of 4 fen 4 li (0.044 tael of silver) must be paid. For tax purposes 1 tael of silver is converted into 3.60 big yuan; 4 fen 4 li into 0.1584 big yuan. This is the amount of the farm land tax on 1 shih of "seedbed field." One shih of "seedbed field" equals 3 shih of the existing ordinary field. Therefore, on 1 shih of ordinary rice field a land tax of 0.0528 big yuan must be paid. Last year the price of rice in this district was 3 small yuan per shih converted into 6 strings of coppers. One big yuan is converted into 2.80 strings of coppers; 0.0528 big yuan is converted into 148 coppers which can buy 2.50 sheng of rice or less. This is to say that at present 1 shih of rice field in Hsing-kuo must pay a land tax of 2.50 sheng of rice. However, in this area 1 shih of rice field can only reap 7 tou of rice (harvest of 70 percent). Thus for every 7 tou of rice a land tax of 2.50 sheng must be paid or 3.50 percent of the harvest. Although there were no other forms of exploitation than taxes on farm lands, those who traveled to Kwangtung for the salt trade were subjected to various 264 types of taxes and levies all along the way. Middle or poor peasants who were engaged in the salt trade collected 70 chin of young chickens in this village at 0.32 yuan per chin. They shouldered one pole-load of chicken to Chia-ying-chou. In terms of silver, 1 chin of chicken used to be worth 3 ch'ien (0.3 tael of silver) sometimes 4 ch'ien. This year the price had gone even higher at 4.8 ch'ien per chin. Each 7 ch'ien 4 fen of silver is converted into 1 big yuan; 4 ch'ien 8 fen is converted into 0.65 big yuan or 0.91 small yuan. After deducting 0.32 yuan as capital, a profit of 0.59 small yuan could be made per chin. So 70 chin would yield a profit of 41.3 small yuan. Why is the price of chicken in Chia-ying-chou so high this year? Because of the revolution fewer chickens were brought there from various counties in Kiangsi so prices rose sharply. Out of the gross profit of 41.3 yuan as mentioned above, various items of expenses incurred on the road must be deducted. The first item was wages. During prior years it only took 10 days to Chia-ying-chou from here. But now because the Red sector is separated from the White Sector, it is necessary to make detours in many places, thus requiring at least 15 days to make the trip. Wage is 0.25 yuan a day so it totals 3.75 yuan for 15 days. The second item included food, yellow tobacco, tea and strawsandals for a minimum of 0.45 yuan a day totaling 6.75 yuan for 15 days. The third item covered feed grain for the chickens with 70 chin of them eating 0.30 yuan a day totaling 4.50 yuan for 15 days. The fourth item was likin tax. From Hsing-kuo to Meng-ling no levy was made. At Meng-ling likin must be paid at the rate of 1 big yuan (converted into 1.40 small yuan) per tan. In the past no likin was levied at Meng-ling. The fifth item included expenses for collecting chickens requiring 3 days of wages, food and buying chicken baskets totaling 2 yuan. The above four items of expenses came to 19.4 yuan. Deducting 19.4 yuan from the gross profit of 41.3 yuan, the net profit per tan of chicken is 21.9 yuan. Going with 1 pole-load of chicken and coming back with 1 pole-load of salt. This year 1 yuan can buy 18 chin of salt in Chia-ying-chou; in the past it could only buy 14 chin; even last year that was so. Price is counted in big yuan. This year the development of the revolution has slowed down the market for salt and thus brought down its price to a reasonable level. Carrying 1 pole-load of salt at a cost of 4.50 big yuan (converted into 6.30 small yuan), the salt trader brought it to Hsing-kuo where there was a severe shortage of salt between May and June this year. Thus the price rose sharply, and 1 small yuan could only buy 2.50 chin. Based on this price, 80 chin of salt could be sold for 32 small yuan and after deducting the cost of 6.30 yuan a gross profit of 25.70 small yuan could be made. However, from the above gross profit of 25.70 yuan must be deducted expenses on the road. First, wages came to 3.75 yuan for 15 days. Second were food, yellow tobacco, drinking tea and straw sandals totaling 6.75 yuan. Third was likin tax. There were six places: Chi-t'an, Meng-ling, Pai-fou, Tiao-yu-t'an, Hui-ch'ang and Hua-ch'iao. In Meng'ling alone likin tax must be paid. In the other five places, a ticket inspection was required. Formerly payment of likin tax was 0.60 or 0.70 yuan per tan, now it is 265 1 yuan per tan. Ticket inspection in five places cost 0.20 small yuan each totaling 2 big yuan (converted into 2.80 small yuan). The above three items of expenses came to 13.30 yuan. Deducting this from the gross profit of 25.70 yuan leaves a net profit of 12.40 yuan. One pole-load of chicken on the going trip would make 21.90 yuan, and 1 pole-load of salt on the return trip would make 12.40 yuan so the total profit came to 34.30 yuan. The period of time was 1 month. In the past the profit in chicken and salt had not been as great as it is now, but it was more dependable and did not require making detours. A roundtrip would only take 20 days. At present, although greater profit can be earned, the road is not safe for travelers. Local posse and elements of the Pacification Corps frequently searched and robbed travelers of their money (only a small amount of money from selling chickens was used to buy salt with the greater portion being carried on their person). They did not want salt but they often grabbed chickens for food; and the only thing they did not do was kill people. Nevertheless, the number of such traders have not decreased. In May and June the price of salt was high at 1 yuan for 2.50 chin. Now (in October) it has become cheaper at 1 yuan for 3 chin. 12 liang. This is because the breakthrough at Chiang-kTou and Ta-hu-k'ou has facilitated the transport of salt from Kan-chfou to this area. Compared with the pre-revolution period the price is still very high. Before the revolution 1 yuan could buy 6 chin 4 liang of salt. It was cheaper almost by 100 percent compared with the present (in October). It was cheaper almost by 200 percent compared with May and June this year. III. The Classes in the Struggle 1. Landlords The landlords of the first township all lived in Hsing-kuo City or Pai-lu, not in the township itself. The rents were delivered to Hsing-kuo City or Pai-lu. Four or five landlords resided in Pai-lu, each collecting over 1,000 tan of rice as rent. Some operated stores in Pai-lu; others worked in Nan-ch'ang or Kan-chou. One lived in Hsing-kuo City; collected 1,000 tan as rent; operated the Heng-ch'un-hao imported goods store in the city and a store in Kan-chou. The second township had three landlords, each collecting over 300 tan as rent, all residing in the township. Liu Yueh-lin did not farm; collected 300 tan of rent. Two members of his family were killed during the revolution, the first and third sons of [Liu] Yueh-lung, who were both commanders of the pacification force. The family still had 10 mouths to feed after the revolution. Land was allocated to them, and they obeyed the government, Tu Hsi-yu, with over 20 members in his family, farmed 200 ku [6253], of land and collected 300 tan as rent. In his 40's, he joined the revolution in the second lunar month last year. When the Red Army arrived in the second month this year, he was the first to surrender voluntarily the deed to his 266 land to be burned. His farm was divided. He now works In the government as a propagandist. Hsieh Wen-lin, with 30 members in the family, farmed 500 ku of land; collected 100 tan as rent; is related to Tu Hsi-yu; voluntarily burned his deed and divided the land; now serves as chief of the finance section in the government. Of the six brothers in his family, .five farmed; hired four employees; was the richest in the township, no one literate in the family; very honest. (Hsieh Wen-lin was actually a rich peasant.) The third township had two landlords. Tseng Hsi-ch'un's family was divided into five households, totaling over 20 members; collected over 1,000 tan of rice as rent; did not farm themselves; well-known big landlord; counterrevolutionary. All the men fled, leaving behind five or six women and children. Each was allocated land. Houses were burned down. No one was killed in his family, but two of those of his clan serving as his henchmen were. Hsieh Yuan-hsiang collected over 400 tan as rent; did not farm; over 20 members In the family; counterrevolutionary; fled; no one killed. In the fourth township, Wang Jun-lan [3769 3387 5695] was a big landlord; collected 400 tan as rent; farmed 200 ku of land; owned many oil-bearing crop hills, all tended by himself; counterrevolutionary, commander of the pacification force; killed many workers and peasants and burned their houses; fled. Liu Chia-hung owned 300 ku of land, farming 100 himself and renting out 200; five members in the family; counterrevolutionary; organized the pacification force together with Wang Jun-lan and Tseng Mei-hsi. Liu Chia-hung and his sons were all killed. Tseng Mei-hsi collected 100 tan as rent and farmed over 100 ku of land himself; a rich peasant; five members in the family; assistant commander of pacification force; killed many workers and peasants. The ghost of one of his victims, poor peasant Kao Lao-kou "made trouble in his house, and he and his father were both haunted to death." Hsieh Ch'uan-chen collected 300 tan as rent; did not farm; five or six members in the family. He was arrested by the third district and delivered to the government for detention; not yet killed; his assets were confiscated. 2. Rich Peasants First township: 12 rich peasants, 7 among them counterrevolutionary. Heads of two families killed; male adults of remaining five families fled. Family assets of those who fled were confiscated, even including the cooking pots of some of them. Assets of the two families with the heads of household killed were not confiscated. Women, old people, and children of all seven families remained behind; received land allocations. Some women remarried. Liu Shu-yao, son of Liu Neng-ch'ang and now in his 201s; joined the revolution; was sent to Hsin-yu as a squad leader. The other head of household that was killed was Ch'en Feng-ming; his house burned. Five of the 12 families not against the revolution; donated money; divided their land; joined the Red Guards; performed revolutionary work diligently. Hsu Chrang-han, one of them, owned 400 ku of land, mostly fanned by himself, renting out a small portion; over 10 members In the family; loaned out much money; was 267 fined 700 yuan by the guerrillas; household assets not seized; grain not divided up; farm divided. Age 26, he joined the revolution in the second or third month last year; served as a director of the Young Pioneers since the third month this year; subsequently went to work for the Southwest Kiangsi Government (kind of work unknown); returned in the eighth month and again served as a director of the Young Pioneers in the district government; was accused as a member of AB League; detained. Ling Yueh-po owned 400 ku of land, all farmed by himself; 12 members in the family. His son Ling Lei-han is a "graduate"; served as secretary in the village government; was fined over 100 yuan, but still served as secretary; was accused as a member of AB League; detained in the district government for more than 2 months; was permitted to confess and released. Hsieh Chung-chieh owned over 200 ku of land, mostly farmed by himself and a part rented out; eight members in the family; was arrested by the township government recently; fine is considered; not yet released. Of the 12 rich peasants, 7 were active counterrevolutionaries. Though the remaining five joined the revolution on the surface, two belonged to the AB League which conspired to resist the revolution, and one of the remaining three was arrested. Second township; nine rich peasants: Ch'en Hsien-wei, Mei Chia-sheng, Yang Tsu-lien, Hsieh Chung-yu, Hsieh Wen-lin, Ch'en Kun-wei, Wang Cheng-k'o, Tsou Hsiang-ch'un, and Hsieh Liang-tzfu. Ch'en Hsien-wei owned 200 ku of land, farming 120 himself and renting out 80; had money to lend; over 10 members in the family; very exploitative; counterrevolutionary. He fled; all three sons killed; family assets confiscated, Mei Chia-sheng was actually a small landlord; rented out all his more than 100 ku of land; had money to lend; dealt in fabrics; counterrevolutionary; a commander of the pacification force. He, his mother, and a permanent employee were killed by the guerrillas; family assets seized. Yang Tsu-lien farmed half of his 100 ku of land and rented out the other half; counterrevolutionary; assassination team leader of AB League; killed by the district government in July. Hsieh Chung-yu, also a small landlord, rented out all his land; had money to lend; counterrevolutionary; a commander of AB League; evil gentry; killed by the district government on the 16th day of the 8th month. Hsieh Wen-lin farmed 500 ku himself and rented out 100; 30 members in the family; five of the six brothers farmed; also hired permanent help; the richest peasant in the township; was a big rich peasant; related to Tu Hsi-yu; voluntarily burned the deed and divided the land; no literates in the entire family of over 30 people; rather honest;1 now serves as finance section chief in the township government. Ch'en Kun-wei farmed half of his 200 ku and rented out the other half; had money to lend; 20 members in the family; joined the revolution; was accused, in the 8th month, as belonging to the AB League; arrested by the district government. Wang Cheng-k'o farmed most of his 200 ku of land and rented out very little; counterrevolutionary; belonged to the pacification force; killed in the 5th month this year, Tsou Hsiang-ch'un rented out 100 of his 160 ku of land and farmed 60 himself; seven members in the family; joined the revolution. His son Tsou Li-tung serves as cultural section chief in the district government; rather honest. Hsieh Liang-tzTu rented out his 40 ku of land; ran a variety goods store in Yung-feng Market; joined the revolution at first; in charge of finance in 268 the second township government and embezzled over 80 yuan; fired from his job and fined 150 yuan. One day, at a mass meeting, he made use of the pen and ink belonging to someone else and wrote two reactionary slogans: The AB League Reorganization Faction is needed to consolidate the soviet political power"; "The AB League Reorganization Faction is needed to capture Kan-chou and Chi-an." Was arrested and interrogated; confessed that he was a.secretary of the AB League; executed on the 17th day of the 8th month. Of the nine rich peasants (including three small landlords and one merchant) seven were counterrevolutionary; only two were revolutionary. Third township: nine rich peasants: Hsieh Chiu-chang, Mao Shih-chi, Lei Yung-hsia, Ch'en Feng-ming, Chiang T'ao-shu, Ch'iu Fu-t'ien, Ch'iu Shih-li, Ch'iu Chih-k'uei, and Hsien I-hsing. Hsieh Chiu-chang farmed over 200 of his more than 400 ku of land and rented out 200; eight members in the family; made high interest loans; counterrevolutionary; a village tyrant and local bully; entire family fled the revolution. Mao Shih-chi farmed his entire 200-odd ku of land himself; lent money; had 23 members in the family; now divided into four households. Grandson Mao Chang-p'ing, age 22, a middle school student; a commander of the AB League; was arrested. Lei Yung-hsia farmed 50 of his over 200 ku of land and rented out more than 100; had money to lend; went away before; township government assessed him a donation of over 200 yuan. He returned; was asked by the township government to attend the Red Army school, but failed the entrance examination. The township government then asked him to join the instructors1 team of Hsing-kuo County. He is 21, a senior elementary school graduate. Ch'en Feng-ming farmed all his 100-odd ku of land; seven members in the family; had no money to lend, because his son studied in Kan-chou and needed the money; counterrevolutionary; secretary of AB League; was killed; family assets confiscated. Chiang T'ao-shu farmed his entire 100-odd ku of land himself; had a little money to loan out; five members in the family; counterrevolutionary; fled alone; wife went with someone else. ChTiu Shih-li farmed 40 of his 130 ku of land and rented out 90; smoked opium; had no money to lend; counterrevolutionary; fled alone; wife was asked by the township government to remarry; house turned into the office of the township government, Ch'iu Chih-k'uei farmed his 150 ku of land himself; had money to lend; six. members in the family; joined the revolution; son was assigned to the Red Guards; was assessed a donation of 60 yuan. Hsieh I-hsing farmed half of his 200 ku of land and rented out the other half; had money to lend; 12 members in the family; member of AB League; was arrested. His fourth son fled; he still has three sons home. Of the nine rich peasants in the third township, six were counterrevolutionary, and only three not yet counterrevolutionary. Fourth township: two rich peasants: Liu Chia-hung and Tseng Mei-hsi, both counterrevolutionary. (See section on landlords) Of the four townships in this district, 9 out of the 12 rich peasants in the first, 7 out of the 9 in the second, 6 out of the 9 in the third, and the 2 in the fourth were counterrevolutionary. The four townships had a total of 32 rich peasants, and 24 of them were counterrevolutionary. Though the remaining eight are currently not counterrevolutionary, what will happen in the future is unknown. 269 The farms of the rich peasants were very good, just as good as those belonging to the landlords and the courts [kung-t'ang 0361 1016]. When they bought land from the poor peasants, they always wanted to buy the good farms, and the poor peasants had to sell. If the poor peasants sold the poor farms, it would take several mou to make up the price of 1 mou of good land. When the rich peasants loaned money to the poor peasants, they always asked for the good farms as security. Therefore, the good farms gradually were concentrated in the hands of the rich peasants. When the revolution first started, such as the second or third month this year, many of the rich peasants became opportunists and joined the revolution. The rich peasants and their henchmen occupied 30 percent of the posts in the township and district Soviets. During the anti-rich peasant propaganda week in the 4th and 5th months, they were thrown out. Currently, only two rich peasants serve in the district (Hsieh Wen-lin serves as finance section chief in the second township; Tsou Li-tung serves as cultural department chief in the district government.) 3. Middle Peasants The middle peasants benefited in the land revolution. First, not only suffering no loss in land, most of them gained in the land division. The middle peasant population of this district constituted 20 percent of the total, while their land was only 15 percent. Therefore, most of them acquired additional land. Though some of them had their land reduced, it was a very small minority. Second, in the past, it cost around 200 yuan to get a wife, almost equivalent to the entire family assets of a middle peasant. Therefore, it was difficult for a middle peasant to marry, and many of them were in debt due to marrying. If the wife died, it would be extremely difficult to marry again. Now, there is freedom of marriage, costing not 1 penny. This is a great advantage. Third, in the past, when an aged member died in a middle peasant family, the funeral would cost at least 50 yuan, or as much as 100, or more. In the past, very often a middle peasant became indebted or bankrupt due to the death of a parent. Today, superstitious habits have been abolished. If someone dies, it only requires burial, without wasting any money. Fourth, in the past, when the family cow died, the middle peasant would sell the beef for 8 or 10 yuan. He must then add 10 yuan or more to buy another cow. Now, thpugh he will only get 8 or 10 yuan for a dead cow, he only has to put up 3 or 4 yuan to buy another one. Fifth, now that the power of the landlords and rich peasants has been knocked down, the rites abolished, and superstition abolished, it is no longer necessary to give gifts or burn incense, and some expenses are saved. 270 Sixth, besides the above five economic advantages, there is also the political advantage, which is the major one. In the past, under the control of the landlords and rich peasants, the middle peasants had no "right to speak," and must abide by the decisions of others. Now, together with the poor peasants and hired help, they have the right to speak. Approximately 40 percent of the middle peasants have responsibilities in the township and district Soviets. Among the middle peasants, those owing no debt at all constituted 10 percent, and those owing a little debt but still able to manage the household 30 percent. The middle peasants were very brave in the revolution. Same as the poor peasants, they "sallied forth" (assigned to the Self-Defense Army, at times they had to sally forth to do battle), performed patrol duty and held meetings. In regard to the middle peasants of the district, their population constituted 20 percent of the total, and their land 15 percent. Though their land was of better quality than that of the poor peasants, it was far inferior to that of the rich peasants. Generally speaking, it was good and bad—half and half. 4. Poor Peasants After the revolution, the poor peasants gained the following advantages: (1) Land was allocated to them. This is their fundamental interest. (2) Hills were allocated to them. In the past, the poor peasants rarely owned any hills. Among the poor peasants of the first and second townships, 30 households had hills, and 70 had none. As there are many hills in Chin-chun Village (Shan-k'eng) in the third township, 70 poor peasants had hills, while 30 had none. The hills there are mostly oil-producing hills. Of the 100 poor peasants in the fourth township, half of them had hills and half had none. Among the poor peasants in the townships having hills, the area per household was very small. As the hills in the first and second townships are mostly sandy, the landlords only wanted farms, not hills. The rich, middle and poor peasants each owned a part of the hills. The distribution in the first township was: 40 percent owned by the rich peasants; 40 percent by the middle peasants; 20 percent by the poor peasants. The distribution in the second township was: 50 percent owned by the rich peasants; 30 percent by the middle peasants; 20 percent by the poor peasants. As there are more oil-producing hills in the third township, which are more productive, the landlords wanted them, but it was still the rich peasants who owned most of the hills. The distribution was: 15 percent owned by the landlords; 50 percent by the rich peasants; 20 percent by the middle peasants; 15 percent by the poor peasants. It was stated before that 70 poor peasant households in the third township had hills, but what they owned constituted less than 20 percent of the total, each household owning only a very small area. The distribution in the fourth township was: 20 percent owned by the landlords; 20 percent by the rich peasants; 50 percent by the middle peasants; 10 percent by the poor peasants. Owning little or no hills 271 was a big difficulty of th& poor peasants. First, they had little or no firewood, and had to gather straw from hills belonging to others. Second, they could not chop firewood to exchange it for oil and salt at the market; they could only gather straw in exchange for oil and salt, and it took three loads of straw to make up for one load of firewood. Third, they had no lumber to build houses Or make tools. Fourthj owning none or little oil-producing hills resulted in having little or no oil for food. Now that the hills have been divided, according to the number of people in the household similar to the division of land, every household owns hills. Though the number of hills in the various townships varies and the people in some have more while others have less, everyone has a little even in the townships which have less hills and the difficulties of the poor peasants are solved. Because of the need, the poor peasants firmly advocated the division of hills. For the sake of production, the hills had to be divided. In the past, due to the lack of manpower, those households with more hills left some of them untended, while the large masses of poor peasants with adequate manpower had to remain idle. Now that the hills have been divided, the poor peasants can devote their effort to their own hills, and production will greatly increase. (3) At the beginning of the revolution, the grain belonging to the landlords and counterrevolutionary rich peasants was divided, and the poor peasants had their shares free of charge. The grain in Pai-lu (where the big landlords concentrated) was evenly divided among the people, and the poor peasants did not finish eating it even at harvest time. (4) Debts incurred prior to the revolution did not have to be repaid. When the revolution first started in the third month, the higher authorities instructed that debts owed to merchants, to collective funds and among the poor workers and peasants themselves must be repaid. In the middle part of the 6th month (July by Western calendar), an official communication came from Southwest Kiangsi (the Southwest Kiangsi soviet) instructing that all debts were cancelled. Actually, since the third month, no debt was paid, which was a fact, but the three kinds of debts described above still had to be paid, according to principle (a theory). After the 6th month, even that principle was abolished. The poor peasants fully supported the move. Why did they want to cancel even the three kinds of debts? First, in regard to debts owed to merchants, most of the big merchants had fled. (Ten big merchants among the 35 stores in Pai-lu had fled.) As for the small merchants (such as the 25 small stores in Pai-lu), though the workers and peasants owed them money for goods, most of them were in debt to the big merchants, landlords and rich peasants. If the poor workers and peasants did not repay them, nor did they have to repay the landlords and rich peasants. When the two were compared, it was still advantageous to the small merchants, because they owed more to the big merchants, landlords and rich peasants than what the poor workers and peasants owed them. Second, in regard to collective fund debts, which were incurred for the purpose of marrying or paying debts, the poor workers and peasants asked their relatives and friends to set up a fund and borrowed from it. Sucb 272 relatives and friends were either middle or rich peasants, and cancelling the debt did not hurt them. Though such funds were set up to render friendly aid, it was the poor peasants who borrowed from them and, as the poor peasants could not pay, it was proper to cancel the debts. Even if the second and third funds were borrowed by the rich peasants, it was also reasonable to cancel them, because the rich peasants, after borrowing the money, loaned it out to other poor peasants for interest, and now the poor peasants did not have to pay them back. Furthermore, the entire assets of the rich peasants were either confiscated or donated, and there was nothing left. Therefore, it was proper to cancel the debt. As for the funds borrowed by the landlords and rich peasants for the purpose of exploiting the poor workers and peasants, there was no such incident in this district. Third, in regard to the mutual debts among the poor workers and peasants, "as you are poor, and I am also poor, how do I pay you?" Thus, the question was answered. Therefore, it was most proper to cancel all debts. (5) They enjoyed inexpensive rice. In the 1st and 2d months this year, the cost of grain was 4.60 yuan per tan. The revolution started in the 3d month, and it dropped to 2 yuan per tan. From the 6th month to now (9th month lunar calendar), it was .70 yuan per tan. By comparing .70 yuan with 4.60 yuan, it was 6.5 times cheaper. When the grain was cheap, naturally it was unfavorable to the poor peasants who had received land allocations and cultivated and harvested, but it was favorable to them during the several months after the beginning of the revolution and prior to harvesting. (6) Greater freedom to get a wife. (The peasants of Kiangsi turned the term "freedom to marry" into a verb, to distinguish it from the coerced and mercenary marriages of the old days; the term is commonly used among the peasants in the entire soviet area.) In the past, one must have money to get a wife; therefore, many poor peasants could not get married. Or, even if they did, it was either a child bride or someone very advanced in years. Should the wife die, it was most difficult to remarry. Now, such difficulties no longer exist. (7) It is no longer necessary to spend money when there is a death in the family. All one has to do is to bury the dead. (8) The cost of cows is cheap. It is easy to buy or replace a cow. The poor peasants are very short of draft animals. Take 100 poor peasant households in the district: only 15 have 1 cow per household, 40 have 1 cow per 2 households, 10 have 1 cow per 3 households, 5 have 1 cow per 4 households and 30 have none. Under this situation, the cheap cost of cows is favorable to the poor peasants. (9) Social obligations are abolished and superstition eliminated, and • the expenses for them are no longer necessary. 273 (10) There is no longer opium smoking or gambling, or theft. Even if the door is not closed at night, nothing is stolen. (11) With the division of land, every household can raise hogs. Not just to sell them for others to eat, but the poor peasants can eat the meat themselves. In the past, very few poor peasants bought meat from the butcher shops, but now more of them are buying meat. (12) This is the most important point: The acquisition of political power. The poor peasants are the main force of the rural political power and the leading class of the village. The poor peasants can be divided into five strata according to the number of cattle as discussed in item (8) above. 5. Hired Help Similar to the poor peasants, the hired help also received land allocations, because, as the landlords and rich peasants have been overthrown, no one will hire permanent help though temporary help is still needed. Though they now have the land allocated to them, they do not have draft animals or farm tools, and it is difficult for them to farm the land. This problem is not yet solved. Instead of allocating the animals and farm tools confiscated from the landlords and rich peasants to the hired help, the district and township governments sold them, Fu Chi-t'ing's nephew, Chu Ta-hsi, was hired help. He has three brothers, two parents and a wife (a grown up child bride). He is the eldest, age 22, and the boy next to him is 19 years old. He worked as permanent help for rich peasant Chung, at an annual wage of 39 yuan, small currency. His 19-year-old brother was a cowherd, earning an annual wage of 10 yuan. Their total income of 49 yuan was enough to buy- 16 tan of grain, sufficient for 2 and a half persons. They relied on their mother and his wife to gather and sell straw for food, eating two meals in winter time. He owed over 30 yuan; had no house of his own; lived in a mountain shed belonging to a landlord and took care of the latter's hills. His father, now over 60 years of age, had also worked as hired help. The hired help in this district could draw 15 pays per year, reporting for work after the 15th day of the 1st month of the year; no customary meals of meat on the 1st and 15th days of the 1st month; bedding supplied by the boss, but no clothes; paying for their own medicine; no wage deduction due to illness of less than 3 days, but wages were deducted beyond 3 days. Their wages were paid piecemeal. They worked from dawn to dark. Besides the time spent on meals and rest, they worked at least 10 hours a day. In winter time, they peeled mu-tzu [2606 1311] and potatoes.in the evenings. Ninety-nine percent of the hired help had no wives. They were the most miserable class in the rural village. Not only did all landlords and rich peasants have wives, but some of them had several. Ninety percent of the middle peasants had wives and 10 percent did not. Seventy percent of the poor peasants had wives and 30 percent did not. Seventy percent of the 274 handicraft workers had wives and 30 percent did not. Ten percent of the vagrants had wives and 90 percent did not. Even the vagrants were better off than the hired help, as 99 percent of the latter had no wife. In the 7th month (8th month lunar calendar) [sic], the government issued an order that the unmarried men and women must get married as soon as possible by free choice. Thus, the number of marriages by the free choice of the parties suddenly rose. In the 2 months since the 7th month, most of the formerly unmarried middle and poor peasants have been married, and there are very few single men or women. It is more difficult for the hired help. The women object to the lack of utensils and articles for use in the hired help's home and his long absences. Therefore, it is difficult for the hired help to solve the wife problem. In Yang-fang Village in the first township where Fu Chi-tTing lives, of the four hired help (two sets of brothers belonging to two families), only one acquired a wife by free choice. Actually, another one could have acquired a wife also, but the social security section chief of the township government refused to register them on ground of their illicit relationship in the past. As a result, the woman married someone else, and the man is still single. In the vicinity of Yung-feng Market in the second township, four of the six hired help acquired wives by free choice. In Hou-ching Village in the fourth township where Wen Feng-chang resides, the one and only hired help is still single. After land division, there is no longer any permanent help, and only 30 percent of part-time help is left. Wages have not gone up, nor have the hired help asked for a raise. "There is not even any work, let alone a raise!" Now we discuss the issue of draft animals and farm tools after the hired help acquired land, Of the two hired help in Yang-fang Village, the Ch'en family has two brothers, both working as hired help. The elder brother was a permanent employee of rich peasant Ch'en, earning 33 yuan a year. The younger brother worked for rich peasant Chung as a permanent employee, earning 42 yuan. Their father, deceased, was a tenant fanner. Their mother took them around begging after their father died. Grown up, they became hired help. Their mother died. The older brother is now 29 and the younger 23. They have a house and cooking utensils, but no furniture. The farm tools of the past were sold. After land was allocated to them in the 2d month, both brothers returned home. The younger one acquired a wife by free choice. They had no capital. The younger brother once had over 100 yuan, but he lent it to poor peasant Cbung, He could not collect it as all debts were cancelled, and the poor peasant debtor had no way to repay him anyway. Luckily, their uncle, a middle peasant, loaned them a draft animal and tools. The three of them were allocated a total of 16.2 shin of farmland. After receiving land allocation in the 2d month, they immediately farmed the land and kept the entire harvest. Harvesting the first crop, they cultivated a second .one, which is growing well* With a cow, one person can farm 100 ku of land, yet the two brothers together only cultivate over 10 ku. Therefore, they have much spare time, and they do odd jobs for others, work as porters, and earn some money. 275 The Chung family of Yang-fang Village also consists of two brothers. Their parents were deceased. They live with their uncle (Chung En-chiang), uncle's wife, their two sons, a daughter-in-law, and two granddaughters, totaling nine members in the family. The uncle and his two sons were tenant farmers. They owed money and could not make enough to live on. The two brothers worked as hired help. The older brother, Chung Sheng-p'o, in his 40's, worked for rich peasant Chung as a permanent help. The younger brother, Chung Sheng-huai, age 36, worked for middle peasant Chung, also as a permanent help. After land division in the 2d month, they farmed their own land. Formerly they leased a cow from middle peasant Chung Lung-t'an, and the cow threw two calves. After the revolution, Chung Lung-t'an wanted to collect one of the calves. The township government told him: "We must wait and see how the other townships handle such matters. Only if they permit the original owners to do so will you be able to collect a calf. At present you cannot do so." Therefore, the cattle still remained with Chung En-chiang. After the two brothers received land allocations, draft animals and tools were no problem, because their uncle had them. Here we will discuss middle peasant Chung Lung-t'an. He is in his 30's, his mother in her 60's, and his wife in her 20's, a total of three mouths to feed. He owned over 10 ku of land and leased 30 or 40 from others. After paying the rent, he had more than enough for the family, and he sold the surplus. He leased three cows to three poor peasants, collecting 1.5 tan of grain per cow per year as rent. The calves were divided half and half. He had money to loan out. In the land division in the 2d month, his family of three received a total of 24 ku of land (6 tan per person) [sic], which was more than what he owned before, but he was not permitted to lease land from others. Therefore, he had no surplus grain to sell. The cows leased out by him and the money loaned out were all cancelled and gone. He is very honest. He does not oppose the revolution, but nor has he undertaken any important work. He now works as a cook in the Red Army reserve in his home village. The hired help have not gained political power after the revolution. The middle and poor peasants always find them "illiterate, inarticulate, unenlightened, ignorant of official affairs," and incapable. No hired help is among the committee members of the district and township governments, and only one serves as a. team leader of the township Red Guards. 6. Handicraft Workers Handicraft workers in the district included carpenters, masons, tailors, iron workers, barbers, bamboo workers, mill workers, coir workers, stone workers, painters, tin workers, weavers, silversmiths, dye workers, trough workers, lacquer workers, kiln workers, and paper workers, a total of 18 categories. Carpenters, masons, tailors and bamboo workers were more numerous; barbers, iron workers and trough workers (fetching oil) next; and the remaining.categories the least in number. The district did 276 not have coppersmiths, cotton ginners, shoemakers or tanners. The first township had one oil trough; the second, two; the third, 11, and the fourth, 12, each trough attended by one trough worker. The wages per man-day of labor in the past were: carpenter 0.20 yuan, mason 0.20 yuan, tailor 0.15 yuan and bamboo worker 0.15 yuan. The barbers in the first, second and fourth townships received 1 peck of grain per year per person, in the third township they were paid 0.15 yuan per year per person, and all meals were provided free by the boss. Iron workers were paid 0.25 yuan. In regard to trough workers, they are paid 10 coppers for each catty of oil produced in the second township, 3 coppers each catty in the third, and 2 catties of oil for each picul (100 catties) produced in the fourth. The situation in the first township, which produced less oil, was not clear. The oil in the third township was the cheapest because of the large output. In regard to mill workers, each mill was 0.60 yuan, requiring 3 man-days of labor. Coir workers were paid 0.22 yuan, and stone workers 0.45 yuan. Painters were paid according to the pictures. They painted the portraits of rich gentry and landlords and images of gods. Tin workers were paid according to the tin utensils. Weavers were paid 0.10 yuan for every 10 feet of summer or spring cloth. (Summer cloth is hempen fabric; spring cloth consists of 80 percent hemp and 20 percent cotton.) The district had no cotton textile weaver. Silversmiths were paid according to the silver utensils, "suffering a big disadvantage." The situation of the dye workers was unknown.. Lacquer workers were paid by the piece, and so were the kiln workers. Paper workers were paid 0.15 yuan (making durable paper from mulberry bark, only in the third township). In the past, carpenters, masons, tailors and bamboo workers performed from over 100 man-days of work to 200 per year. After the revolution, the work days of the masons and tailors have been greatly reduced, amounting to only about several dozen man-days per year. Carpenters and bamboo workers are doing a little less work than before, but not noticeably so. Barbering is more popular than before, because the women have all cut their hair. After the revolution, tin workers, painters, lacquer workers, and paper workers have all disappeared, because there is'no more need for them. (Paper workers made fuses for firecrackers used in celebrations. Now that such firecrackers are not used, there is no longer need for paper workers.) The "order from above" provided that handicraft workers would receive a half-share of land, but the handicraft workers demanded a full share, on ground that they were either unemployed or their work was reduced and insecure, and that only by getting land would they have security. The peasants said: "The order from above provides that you get half a share." The workers said: "If so, then wages will have to be raised." The peasants did not want the wages to increase, because the poor peasants and hired help needed to employ the workers to make farm tools to farm their land. The rich and middle peasants already owned farm tools; therefore, they had no need to employ the workers. Only the poor peasants had such need; therefore, they opposed higher wages. The poor peasants said:: "Alright, you can have the land, but you must not raise the wages." The workers said that, after receiving their land allocations, if they still performed 100 man-days of work a year, they would be willing to give 2 tan of grain 277 to the public. The barbers were not allocated land, because they stayed with others all day long and had their meals free. The workers of Kan-hsien received land and had their wages decreased. The wage of masons was reduced from 0.20 yuan to 0.15, and that of bamboo workers from 0.15 yuan to 0.12. Seventy percent of the handicraft workers had wives, and 30 percent did not. After the revolution, most of the single men acquired wives by free choice. As the handicraft workers have a wide contact, possess a special skill and are relatively intelligent and articulate, and many among them are literate, they are in a better position than the hired help. The handicraft workers have a general labor union in the district, branch unions in the townships and branch departments in the villages. The 20 or more workers of various occupations in Ling-yuan in the first township, for instance, have organized a branch union. Rural handicraft workers always farmed on the side while pursuing their major occupation of handicraft. There were very few of them who did not farm at all—less than 10 in 100. Eighty percent of the handicraft workers were in debt. 7. Merchants Merchants in the district operated grocery and variety goods stores, rice and fruit stores (further divided into several dozen categories), tea shops, restaurants, butcher shops, beancake shops and opium dens. Those who operated small stores exclusively without farming on the side constituted 3 percent of the population (three families in 100). Among the four townships in the district, there were, in the past, only three small merchants with 500 yuan in capital, all located in Yung-feng Market, and none in other townships. The small stores in the district were distributed as follows: five in the first township, 35 in the second (all in Yung-feng Market), six in the third and none in the fourth, totaling 46. Out of the 46 small stores, four had capital of 500 yuan. (Three of them were in Yung-feng Market: A medicine store, owned by someone from Chang-shu, and two imported goods stores, branches from Hsing-kuo City. None of the owners was a landlord in the district. They all fled when the revolution started. The stores were seized and the goods given to the poor. The fourth store was in Shan-k'eng, owned by a landlord of the township. The whole family fled, and the store was boarded up.) One store had a capital of 400 yuan. (Located in Shan-k'eng, it was a variety goods store, operated by two partners, Han Li-t'ao, who farmed 20 shih of land, and Han Li-tung, who farmed 60 shih. After the revolution, Han Li-tfao fled. Han Li-tung infiltrated the revolution, served as the land section chief in the government, and was accused of belonging to the AB League and detained by the district government.) Three stores had capital of 300 yuan. (All were located in Yung-feng Market: two were variety goods and fabrics stores, operated by individuals from Hsing-kuo City. Both were counterrevolutionary, and both fled. The stores were converted into tea shops. One was 278 a butcher shop. The owner also had 60 ku of land. He joined the revolution; continues in business; serves as chairman of the village government; is honest) Two stores had capital of 100 yuan. (One was in Shan-k'eng, selling variety goods and serving also as an inn. The owner had no land; counterrevolutionary; was killed; the store closed. The other is in Hsi-chiang, selling variety goods and also making silverware. The owner farms several ku of land; not counterrevolutionary; store still in business). Two stores had capital of 50 yuan. (Located in the third township, the one in Chu-k'eng is a medicine store. The owner has 20 ku of land; not counterrevolutionary; store still in business. The other, located in Shang-ching-yao, was also a medicine store. The owner had land; counterrevolutionary; fled; the store closed.) There were 24 stores with capital of 20 yuan. (Two in Wu-niang-miao and two in Chiao-tfien-chiang, totaling four in the first township; 20 in Yung-feng Market in the second township.) There were 10 stores with capital of 10 yuan. (Nine in Yung-feng Market in the second township; one in Chifi-ling-ai in the third township.) The above specialized in small stores, without any sideline. There were many people in the villages whose main occupation was farming, with commerce as a sideline (deriving 80 percent of their income from farming and 20 percent from commerce), constituting about 40 percent of all the households (40 households in 100). The majority of them were poor peasants and a minority were middle peasants. As they did not have sufficient income for their living, they did some porterage to supplement it, such as going to Chiang-k'ou, Han-chou and Hu-k'ou-mien and carrying along some oil as capital to bring back salt. Or, they might carry eggs to sell in Chia-ying-chou (Mei-hsien) and bring back salt. Merchants in the district with capital of 50 yuan or more numbered 12. Of the 12, 9 were counterrevolutionary and 3 were not. Among the 12, only the 4 with capital of 500 yuan hired clerks, 3 of them hiring 1 each and the remaining one hiring 2. The 8 remaining ones did not hire any help. There were 34 stores with capital of 20 yuan or less. Those operating them are called store owners, but actually poor people; therefore, there is no counterrevolutionary among them. All the stores are still in business [except the opium dens]. The 34 so-called "stores" with capital of 20 yuan and 10 yuan included: 9 inns (4 in the first township; 5 in the second, all located in Yung-feng Market). 4 opium dens 2 candy stores 4 butcher shops 4 rice shops 1 woodenware shop 1 ironware store 4 variety goods stores (above all in Yung-feng Market) 5 tea shops (4 in Yung-feng Market; 1 in the third township). 279 In the land division this time, except those who were killed or who had fled, merchants with capital of 50 yuan or more whose stores were sealed or closed were given land. Only three stores whose owners are not counterrevolutionary are still in business. One is a butcher shop in Yung-feng Market with an original capital of 300 yuan. The owner was assessed a donation of 220 yuan, leaving him only 80 yuan. He has 15 mouths to feed and is not counterrevolutionary. Originally he owned 60 piculs of land. In the land division, the owner, Chi'en Shao-lin received half a share and the 14 members of his family each received a full share. Thus, he has a little more land now than before. His brother Ch'en Shao-ying served as a company commander in the Third Army (formerly the Second Regiment); therefore, his family is revolutionary. He serves as the chairman of the village government. The second establishment is a medicine store in Chu-k'eng with a capital of 50 yuan. The owner received half share of land and the members of his family each received 1 share. The third is a variety goods and silverware store in Hsi-chiang with a capital of 100 yuan. The owner is not counterrevolutionary. The township government assessed him a donation (amount unknown). The owner received half share of land and his family members each received one share. In regard to the 34 small stores belonging to the poor, as the business of the four inns in the first township and one candy store in the third township has always been bad and the owners have always relied mostly on farming for their living, they and their family members each received a full share of land. As for the 29 stores in Yung-feng Market, in the past, the owners had no land but operated their small business exclusively. After the revolution, aside from the four opium dens which closed down, the candy, butcher, rice, woodenware, ironware, variety goods and tea shops, and the inns have not only continued in operation, but the business has not dropped. Even so, they still received land allocations, the owners getting half shares and their family members full shares. Those without draft animals or farm tools borrow them from relatives. In general, that the stores with capital of 50 yuan or more (actually they were mostly small stores) suffered severely in the revolution was a result of the excessive leftist policy of the area. The poor operating stores with capital of 10 or 20 yuan were greatly benefited. Besides receiving land allocations, they have reduced the expenses for social obligations, can acquire a wife easily, do not have to spend money on the dead, and have gained political recognition. All these benefits are the same as the poor peasants. Such poor people and small peddlers belong to the same class as the poor peasants. Therefore, the benefits gained by them are not much different. 8. Vagrants There were the following categories of vagrants in the district, (1) Gamblers: About 50 or more in the entire district, including about 10 in the first township, about 20 in the second, all in Yung-feng Market, 6 in the third and about 20 in the fourth. In the past, 9 out of 10 gamblers smoked opium, but they do not do so anymore. There is not one counterrevolutionary among the 50 or more gamblers in the district. When they 280 heard about knocking down the local tyrants and dividing the land, they were very pleased. In the past, they had no clothes in cold weather and were dressed in rags, but now they have good clothes to wear. In the past, they would have fish and meat when they had money but starve when the money ran out, but now, though they do not have delicacies, they can eat rice every day. Eight out of 10 of them had no. family. Now, with the land allocated to them, they borrow draft animals and tools from their relatives to farm the land. As gamblers were always generous, it is easy for them to borrow things now. Among the 10 in the first township, one of them originally served as a finance committee member in the fourth township government. He was an honest gambler, had good credit and performed well as a finance committee member after the revolution. Among the 20 in the second township, four of them are working in the township government: T'ien Shang-jen serves as propaganda department chief in the district government; had a house; no family; joined the revolution the year before last; house burned down by the pacification force. Ch'en Kun-t?ung joined the revolution the year before last; served as judge in the district government; subsequently became commander of the Third Company in the Reserve Army. Yang Ta-hu joined the revolution the year before last; became chairman of the township government in the revolution in the 2d month this year; performed well; subsequently joined the district government. Chfen-Shao-chi'i joined the revolution the year before last; became land section chief of the township in the 2d month this year. Among the six in the third township, Lei Yung-huang has a family; used to gamble and sell opium; joined the revolution in the second month this year; serves as finance section chief in the township government; very loyal and honest. (2) Beggars: There were four beggars in the first township, five in the second, four in the third and four in the fourth, totaling 17. They were people entirely without a future. Most of them had no family; only 4 out of the 17 had families. The entire families of these four begged. Now, after receiving land, they borrow draft animals and tools from their relatives. None of them has done any government work after the revolution. (3) Water-pipe tobacco sellers: There were two in the second township and one in the fourth, totaling three. The two in the second township both had wives and sons. Their wives leased farms from others to farm, but they themselves did not pursue any proper occupation. They sold water-pipe tobacco in gambling dens. The one in the fourth township had no family and did not farm. Now they have all been allocated land. None of them has worked in the government since the revolution. (4) Horoscopists: There was only one in the fourth township; no family; did not farm; specialized in fortune-telling; received land allocation. (5) Kuan-yin [Goddess of Mercy] pickers: There was one in the first township;, land was allocated to him. 281 (6) Taoist priests: three in the first township; all had families; did not farm; performed religious work; two in the second township; neither had family; did not farm; one in the third township; had family; did some farming. All six priests were allocated land. Tseng Yun-chang was a priest; joined the revolution the year before last; no family; no farm; became general commander of Hsing-kuo-Kan-hsien-Wan-hsien guerrilla force in the 2d month this year; "most resourceful; able; never defeated in battle"; now assigned to the 22d Army. (7) Monks: Two in the fourth township, each occupying a temple; collected rent to live on. Originally from Kao-hsing Market. After the revolution, they returned to Kao-hsing Market where land was allocated. (8) Entertainers: They gave puppet shows. One in the third township; had family; farmed; now serving with the 20th Army. Two in the fourth township; had families; farmed; now working in the village government. All three were allocated land. (9) Fortune-tellers: One in the first township; single; has brothers; joined the revolution last year; has been serving as propaganda section chief in the township government since the 2d month this year. Two in the second township; one of them blind; both had families. Their wives farmed and they told fortunes. Land was allocated to them. Blind man Ch'en Hsin-po was "a famous fortune-teller." For his accuracy in telling the fortune of a magistrate, the magistrate gave him 10 yuan." As he was blind, he received a double-share of land—14 ku. There were four fortune-tellers in the third township; all had families. Three of them farmed and one did not. The families did the farming while they told fortunes. Wow, three of them work in the government. Tseng Chling-lung, one of them, joined the revolution in the 2d month last year, "most articulate," has been serving as land section chief in the district government and performing well. He formerly had several ku of land which he rented to his uncle; unmarried. Chi'iu Ta-yang, the second one, joined the revolution in the 2d month this year; no farm nor family; now serving as judge in the third township government; very honest. The third one, Ch'iu ?o<-ch'eng, had several shih of land; married; joined the revolution in the 2d month this year; now serving as propaganda officer in the township government. There were 17 fortune-tellers altogether. The nine categories of vagrants discussed above, totaling 90 persons, generally welcomed the revolution. Not only did none of them resist the revolution, but 10 of them have joined the district or township government in leadership work and one has become a guerrilla commander. This is noteworthy. The vagrants have gained many benefits in the revolution. Aside from the nine categories discussed above, the district has no other vagrants. 282 IV. Current Condition of Land Division 6. Division of Farmland (1) Unit of division; All four townships used the village as the unit to divide the farmland. As the townships are large and have many mountains, it would have been difficult to take each township as one unit, because the great distances would make it impractical to farm. The peasants preferred to get a little less land in their own village rather than going to another village. In villages where the farmland was less and the hills more, each person received a little less farmland and a little more hills, and vice versa. The result was "not much difference." (2) Method of division: The "order from above" was to complete the division in 3 days. Actually, it was completed in the first and third townships in 7 days, and the second and fourth in 8 days. (The time was too short.) The first township has 15 villages, the second and fourth 7 villages each, and the third 8 villages. At the beginning of the division, the district government sent propaganda officers to the villages to hold mass meetings. Notice was given half a day in advance to call the people together. The men came, but not the women and children under 10 years of age. The propaganda officers explained to the people the benefits and methods of burning the deeds and dividing the land. One propaganda officer could hold mass meetings in two different villages in a day. At that time, the reaction of the people attending the meetings was: "It certainly sounds good, but we don't know whether the regulations are stable or not." Some said: "The documents (contracts) are burned; the debts are cancelled. While land division, thanks to the Red Army, is good, it may not be reliable. Now that the land is divided, most likely we will have to pay rent." At the mass meetings, a village government chairman, a secretary, a finance section chief, a land section chief and two executive secretaries, an organization section chief, a propaganda section chief, a grain section chief, a military affairs section chief, and a communications officer were elected. The Yang-fang village government of the first township was elected at the mass meeting in the forenoon of the 25th day of the 2d month, lunar calendar. The propaganda officer left for another village. The masses (60 or 70 out of the total population of over 180 in the village attended the meeting) adjourned for lunch. Returning in the afternoon, the village government called a meeting. Chairman Chung En-ming (an independent laborer; no farm; worked as cook; made beancakes to sell; made rice candies to sell at shows in other areas) served as chairman of the meeting. The following items were decided on: (a) Ask the wealthy families for donations for use as village government expenses. This matter to be handled by the finance section. (b) No grain may be shipped out of the village. This matter to be handled by the grain section. 283 (c) Concentrate all weapons of the village. This matter to be handled by the military affairs section. (d) Make land surveys and divisions. This matter to be handled by the land section. The 4 days between the 26th and the 29th were devoted to land survey. Land section chief Fu Chi-t'ing (a member of the survey committee) led land executive secretaries Chung En-sheng and Chung En-jen (both poor peasants) and the four unit chiefs (the village was divided into four units, every 10 households per unit) to check the farmland by households and record the locations and sizes of the farms. The survey was completed in 4 days and the total area of farmland ascertained. Dividing the total by the number of population in the village, they obtained the area per person. Fu Hua-lung owned 230 tan of land, completely farmed by himself; 10 mouths to feed; owed over 300 yuan in debts; hired one cowherd; had one large buffalo. His land was inferior; actually could only harvest over 140 tan. He needed half of that to feed the 10 members of the family, leaving the remaining half as surplus. After paying interests on the debts and rent on the land (a part of which was not very productive)amounting to over 40 tan, he had around 30 tan left over. He was, therefore, a middle peasant with some surplus. Chung Hsien-hui farmed his own 70-odd tan of land, feeding three. In the past, he had money to lend, but last year he used up his money to build a house. He hired a regular help for 6 months out of the year. Besides feeding his family, he had a surplus of over 30 tan every year. He was also a middle peasant. He had four brothers, not living together. Besides him, one of them could make a living, but the remaining three had a hard time. Now, Fu Hua-lung and Chung Hsien-hui complained that the survey was unfair, and that their farms were over-rated. The several dozen poor peasants, hired help, and workers all objected to their complaint and declared the survey of the land section correct. The three rich peasants at the meeting all obeyed the dispositions and kept quiet. Everyone approved the results of the survey and immediately wanted to "shovel out" so much from a certain household to be given to a certain other household and to "shovel in" so much by a certain household from a certain other household. Those households which had to surrender land decided on the part to be surrendered; therefore, they surrendered the inferior portions. As the struggle was not yet intensive at that time, those who obtained inferior Jand were so pleased to get land at all that they did not complain. The meeting on that day did the work of "taking the surplus to supplement the shortage." After division, the village government secretary recorded it in. books, without posting. From the 25th day of the 2d month to the 1st of the 3d month, the land division was completed in 7 days. After division, "immediate transfer" or "fall transfer11 became a struggle between the poor and rich peasants. At the time of land division in the 2d month, it was after seeding, before transplanting and in the midst of plowing. Most of the transfers were done immediately. However, some rich peasants wanted to see which way the wind blew and hoped that the pacification force would return and nullify the division. They told the poor 284 peasants: "I have already fertilized and plowed. Let us not transfer this year. Let me harvest before transfer, and I will give you 40 percent of the harvest." Some of the poor peasants accepted the proposal, feeling that it was a good deal to get 40 percent without doing anything. Some of the hired help and workers actually could not immediately take over the land to farm. Therefore, about 10 percent in the district followed the "40 percent" method and did not take an immediate transfer. 2. Division of Hills Land was divided between the end of the 2d month and the beginning of the 3d month. The hills were not divided until the end of the 5th month. In Yang-fang Village, the hills began to be divided on the 27th day of the 5th month, because the order from above did not arrive until then. (Note how great is the effect of the order from above!) The township government sent propaganda officer Liu Ta-lun (intellectual; eager in work; but was discovered, on the 17th day of the 8th month, to be secretary of the AB League; killed by the district government; 11 persons of the AB League were killed on that day. Probably a mistake to kill someone like Liu Ta-lun) to the village to hold a mass meeting and propagandize the method of dividing the hills. Seven new land executive secretaries were elected and hill division was decided on. On that day, the propaganda officer reported on the matter of the poor people's loan office. It was decided that it would be carried out. Hill division was even more difficult than land division. As there were big and small hills, more or less firewood, big or small trees, or no tree at all, it was difficult to divide. The land section chief and the seven executive secretaries went out together, covered all the hills in the village, and decided on the method. Instead of dividing by area, the hills would be divided according to the amount of oil-bearing tea plants therein contained. One tan of "t'ao" (1 tan of tea-seed worth 2 strings of coppers, is known as 1 tan of "t'ao") was taken as the unit. Thirty big plants, 60 medium ones, or 120 small ones were considered as 1 tan of "t'ao." The hills of the entire village were converted into "t'ao," then evenly divided among the population and marked by stakes. In Yang-fang Village, it took 4 days to divide the hills clearly. The eight men of the land section had the authority to do the division, "not according to the opinions of the individuals, because the matter would never be settled if everyone had his say." In Ch'ang-chiao Village in the third township, the village government issued 2.10 yuan to the five men of the land section (one chief and four executive secretaries) for. meals, and it took them over 30 days to complete the division. "One can see how difficult it was!" Though the hills were divided, only the branches of the trees could be cut, not the trunks. Government approval was required to cut down trees. 285 3. Division of Ponds With the village as the unit and according to the size of the ponds, the people were formed into teams to stock the ponds with fingerlings. Five households formed one team for a big pond and three households for a small pond. One team took charge of one pond. All the households would do the stocking at the same time with the same number of fingerlings, and the fish, when caught, would be divided evenly. Water for the ponds in the district was no problem; the problem was fish. Some few mountain ponds had a water problem. Thus, mountain ponds which could support fish were divided according to the above method. For those which could not, they were assigned along with the farms, and whoever owned the farm owned the pond. The fingerlings stocked before the revolution would not be divided when grown and caught, but belonged to the persons stocking them. When the ponds became dry in the winter this year, the original owners would catch the fish. Only then would the new owners stock the ponds. 4. Division of Houses In principle, houses should be divided. Many poor peasants with families of 10 or more members lived in two or three rooms. Generally speaking, the housing of 60 percent of the poor peasants was inadequate; the good houses were all occupied by the rich peasants. The poor peasants all clamored for division of houses, but the government said: "No official communication from above." So, the poor peasants did not dare to go and live in the rich peasants1 houses. At the mass meeting in Yang-fang Village, the poor peasants demanded division of houses. The land section chief said: "Those with more rooms should give up a few to those not having enough." But there was no resolution. The rich peasants refused to yield, and the poor peasants did not dare to force the matter. (One can see the importance of "communication from above!" The division of houses should be done with each village taken as a unit. For adjacent houses, those with more rooms should give some to those with less rooms. In the district, only the houses of landlords, rich peasants and unscrupulous merchants who had been killed or expelled due to their reaction'—if such houses had not been burned (burning was not right)—were occupied by the poor peasants, but there was no formal allocation. As for those who had not been killed or expelled, even if they had extra rooms, such rooms were not given to those with less rooms. In regard to the houses of counterrevolutionary landlords and rich peasants which were burned (burned by the guerrillas), there were 1 in the first township, 2 in the second, 5 in the third and 4 in the fourth, altogether 12, including the houses of three landlords and nine rich peasants. In regard to houses of revolutionary workers and peasants which were burned 286 (burned by counterrevolutionaries), none in the first township, 7 in the second, 8 in the third and 8 in the fourth, altogether 23, including the houses of 1 middle peasant, 20 poor peasants, 1 small merchant and 1 vagrant. 5. Public Land In the land division in the 2d month, public land was reserved in every township and every village. In the first township, over 10 tan of land were reserved in Yang-fang Village and over 30 in Ch'an-kan Village. In the second township, 11 tan were reserved in Chih-ko Village. In ChTang-chiao Village of the third township, as land was scarce and 16 persons had not been allocated land, no public land was reserved. All other villages reserved public land. In Hou-ching Village in the fourth township, over 100 tan of land were reserved, the entire parcel suffering from flood. Why was public land reserved? First, the remainder after division was hard to dispose of; thus, it was reserved. For example, if everyone received 7 tan, with a remainder of 10-odd tan, if divided, it would not be enough to let everyone have 1 t'ung [2729] each; therefore, the remainder was reserved as public land. Second, it helped pay government expenses. Third, it was in anticipation of sons to be born next year. There would be a re-division in the 8th month, because official communication from above ordered thorough division, including the public land. Actually, it would have been better not to reserve public land. First, as there are deaths as well as births, there is no worry of giving birth to a son without a farm. Second, the government will get its revenue by land taxes; it does not have to rely on public farms for its expenses. Furthermore, as shown by the examples in the 2d month, all the public land reservations are inferior and not very useful. Therefore, it is better to divide all the land so that the peasants can get greater benefit. 6. Amount of Land Distribution The villages varied. In Yang-fang Village of the first township, for instance, each person received 5-6 tan of land (8 tan in the 2d month, but actually only 5-6 tan of grain could be harvested). In Ch'a-kan Village, each person received 8 tan. In Chih-ko Village in the second township, each person received 7 tan. In Ch'ang-chiao Village in the third township, the amounts in the 2d and 8th months were different. In the 2d month, there were four different allocations, 7 tan, 6 1/2 tan, 5 1/2 tan, and 4 tan 1 t'ung. The division was initially done on the basis of surnames, and people with more land refused to yield their land to people of different surnames. Not until the 8th month was the land divided with each village considered as one unit, each person receiving 6 tan. In Hou-ching of the fourth township, each person received 8.5 tan in the 2d month. When the land was re-divided in the 8th month, inferior land which was previously counted as 2 tan but produced 1 tan was considered as 1 tan only. There were also people returning from out-of-town. As a result, each person received only 7.5 tan. 287 Hsing-kuo produces only one crop a year. According to the amount of land discussed above, there was barely enough for everyone. By planting miscellaneous grains and raising pigs, the people could supply themselves with oil, salt, cloths and sundry goods. The major miscellaneous grain of the district is sweet potato, constituting 40 percent of the staple food of the people. The first township produces relatively less sweet potato, because of the soil. It constitutes only 20 percent of the staples. The second and third townships are entirely different, the percentage of sweet potato consumed by the people as staple food amounts to from 50 to 70 percent. Shredded potatoes mixed in rice are eaten all year round. The people of the fourth township eat an average of 40 percent sweet potatoes. V. Land Tax Known as "public welfare fund," land tax began to be collected at the beginning of the 8th month (lunar calendar): 1 percent on 6 tan of land (6 sheng per person), 1.5 percent on 7 tan of land, 2,5 percent on 8 tan of land (2 tou per person), and 3,5 percent on 9 tan of land (3,15 tou per person). No one in the district has 9 tan of land; therefore, the highest rate of public welfare fund is 2,5 percent, Yang-fang Village of the first township has a population of over 180, each allocated 8 tan of land (according to the figures of land division in the 2d month). At 2,5 percent, the total collection was 36.4 tan. The . 397 population of Ch'a--kan Village each received 8 tan of land, and the total tax collection was 79.4 tan. No tax was collected on the 5,5 tan of land per person in Ch'ang-chiao Village in the third township. (Tax was collected on 6 tan of land or more.) This year the district will probably collect around 1,000 tan in taxes. The taxes collected in the 8th month are mostly deposited in the villages. A portion was delivered to the township government, but none to the district government. During tax collection in the 8th month, the county government, in its official communication, permitted the people to pay in grain or cash by converting grain into cash at the conversion rate of 30 wen [2429] for 1 catty of grain. As the market price at that time was only 20 wen per catty, no one wanted to pay in cash. When the public welfare fund was first collected, 10 percent of the people objected to it. When the officials came to their houses, they said: "You said before that we were to resist rents and taxes, but now you are collecting taxes again!" When collecting the public welfare fund, the order from above was very urgent, allowing 3 days to deliver the grain to the township government. The township government summoned the land section chiefs of the villages for a meeting. The first township was divided into nine Red Guards brigades, and one member of each brigade (land section chief) attended the meeting. It was decided that the 288 responsible persons of the villages should hold meetings and collect the taxes after the meeting. No mass meeting was held. Each brigade was taken as a unit for tax collection. The 8th brigade, for instance, was organized by Yang-fang, Ling-yuan and Li-yao villages. The brigade leader, land section chiefs, three team leaders and nine unit leaders proceeded to the three villages and collected household by household (each village constituting a team). They measured the grain at each household, at 90 catties per tan, and the particular household delivered the grain to the township government. The brigade collected almost 400 tan of grain in public welfare fund. In Ch'a-kan Village of the 1st township, written notices were sent to the households 2 days in advance, requesting them to deliver the public welfare fund to the public granary. On due date, the households carried the grain to the granary (formerly known as the public granary), and it was received by the responsible person (five men) of the township. It took them less than a day to complete the job, receiving a total of more than 70 tan of grain. It was announced in advance that whoever did not deliver the grain on time would have to be responsible for the meal expenses of the five responsible persons. To avoid such expenses, everyone delivered his grain on time. VI. Soviets 1. District Government Committee members of the district government (2d to 6th month): Chairman Liu Shao-piao: From the second township; did not farm; studied Chinese boxing; could read a little; worked as a tailor but subsequently quit; professional gambler; joined the revolution the year before last; house burned by the pacification force; became judge when chairman was replaced in the 7th month. Military Affairs Officer Hsiao Chih-ch'un: From the second township; did not farm; traveled to Kwangtung to sell eggs; .gambled; caretaker at ancestral hall; no house; could not read much; joined the revolution the year before last; became chairman of district government in the 7th month. Treasurer Hou Li-hsin: From the second township; tailor; literate; became district labor union committee chairman in the 7th month. Organizer Liu Shao-ming: From the second township; a doctor; no other occupation; well-to-do in the past, but subsequently the four brothers separated; worked as doctor; owed debts; joined the revolution the year before last; house burned by the pacification force; became treasurer in the 7th month. Propagandist Tsou Li-san: From Kan-hsien; rich peasant; six brothers; middle school graduate; served as propaganda section chief; left for Kan-hsien. in the 7th month. 289 Wang Chen-jen: From the second township; alias T'ien Shang-jen; no occupation; lived by gambling; joined the revolution the year before last; house burned by the pacification force; still serving as propaganda officer in the 7th month. Fang Kung-shu: From the llth district; a scholar; occupation unknown; house burned by the pacification force; returned to llth district in the 7th month. Hsiao Chih-ch'eng: From the second township; professional gambler; could read a little; joined the revolution the year before last; suffered at the hands of the pacification force; still with the district government in the 7th month, position unknown. Ch'en Fang-pao: From the second township; tailor and gambler; illiterate; joined the revolution the year before last; arrested in the 8th month on suspicion of belonging to the AB League. Judge Tseng Li-pang: From the second township; Taoist priest; no other occupation; family poor; joined the revolution the year before last; general commander of Hsing-Kan-Wan Guerrillas; now assigned to the 22d Army. Culture Officer Tsou Li-tung: From the second township; once owned 600 tu of land; sold most of it for studying, leaving 100-odd ku; owed over 300 yuan in debts; a bankrupt big landlord; college graduate; joined the revolution last year; still in charge of culture after reorganization in the 7th month. Secretary-General Hsieh Ying-shan: From county seat; scholar; 50 years old; remained in same position after reorganization in the 7th month. Youth Vanguard Political Commissioner Hsiao Shao-wen: From the second township; professional gambler; could read a little; joined the revolution the year before last; left for southwest Kiangsi after reorganization in the 7th month. Youth Vanguard Director Ch'u Ch'ang-han: From the first township; rich peasant; a "graduate"; last year the guerrillas assessed him a donation and he joined the revolution; arrested in the 8th month on suspicion of belonging to the AB League. Huang Kuan: Scholar; background unknown; whereabouts unknown after reorganization in the 7th month. Ch'en Kun-t'ung: From the second township; father was a local rascal, decreased; middle peasant and gambler; illeterate; joined the revolution the year before last; farm seized by the pacification force; remained in government after reorganization in the 7th month. 290 Yang Ta-ch'eng: From the second township; was once.a tailor, but subsequently became a professional gambler; joined the revolution the year before last; slightly literate; served as propaganda officer in the second township government after reorganization in the 7th month, Women Section Chief Liu Ch'ao-ying: From the first township; laboring woman; illiterate; left for southwest Kiangsi after reorganization in the 7th month. Of the 18 persons above, there were 6 professional gamblers (2 were previously tailors), 1 tailor and gambler, 1 tailor, 1 doctor, 1 Taoist priest, 1 bankrupt big landlord, 2 rich peasants, 1 middle peasant, 3 scholars of unknown background and 1 laboring woman of unknown background. Among the 18, Liu Shao-piao, Hsiao Chih-chfun, Liu Shao-ming, Wang Chen-jen, Hsieh Ying-shan, Ch'en Kun-tfung, Tsou Li-tung and Tseng Li-pang were most authoritative and powerful. The district government is located in Yung-feng Market. Between the 2d and 9th months, there were held over 20 district mass meetings and 2 district delegates' meetings (delegates elected at mass meetings of the villages). There were few district mass meetings before the 6th month. After the 6th month, as the struggles became intensified, many mass meetings were held. After the 4th month, women and children all attended the mass meetings. 2. Township Government Goverment of the first township as an example: Chairman Hsieh Chin-ming: Poor peasant and porter; owned very little land. Treasurer Chung Kuo-ch'un: Middle peasant. Military Affairs Officer Yang T'ing-jung: Poor peasant; owned very little land. Propaganda Officer Hsieh Chung-k'ai: Poor peasant; owned land but in debt. Propaganda Officer Hsieh Chung-mei: Owned land; farmed; made business trips to Kwangtung; middle peasant. Propaganda Officer Hsieh Hua-huan: Rich peasant; graduate of Hsing-kuo county school. Propaganda Officer Ch'en Fang-po: Poor peasant; tenant farmer; fortuneteller. 291 Secretary I Yung-hung; Father was a barber; impoverished; studied, Judge Ch'en Yu-shu: From Lien-t'ang; studied. Fu Chi-t'ing: Poor peasant. Of the 10 persons above, there were 6 poor peasants, 2 middle peasants, 1 rich peasant and 1 scholar from outside. Mass meetings in the township were much less frequent than the district— less than 10 times. Before the 4th month, women and children did not attend meetings, but they did after the 4th month. Some six or seven township delegates1 meetings were held, attended by 30 to 40 persons per township, with one to two delegates from each village. Some non-delegates from villages near the township government also attended. Each meeting lasted 3 to 4 hours. The delegates expressed themselves quite fully. The chairman was elected pro tempore.. 3. Village Government There were village governments between the 2d and 5th months, because they were needed for land division. Once the land was divided, it was no longer necessary to have a village government. Furthermore, money would be needed to run a government. Even if no meal was provided, there had to be some operation expenses. After the revolution intensified and the land divided, every 10 households were organized into a group, and there was also the Red Guards brigade. Therefore, it was alright not to have a village government. 4. Shortcomings of Government Personnel (1) The first is bureaucraticism, putting on airs, and aversion to associating with the masses. When the people ask for information in the government, the officials will say something when they feel like it, but when they don't, they will ignore them altogether, or even accuse them of "making trouble. (2) They sell the things belonging to the reactionaries which have been confiscated instead of giving them to the poor. People without connections in the government cannot buy them; only those with contact and who are articulate can buy them. Furthermore, as the things are for sale, only people with some money can buy them, and the hired help and extremely poor peasants naturally have no share. (3) They assign women to work in the government, always one or two in the township government, and three or four in the district government. It is a good thing for women to work in the government, but the choice is not proper. If a woman is not pretty, even if she is articulate and capable, she is not selected. On the other hand, if she is pretty, even if 292 inarticulate and incapable, she is selected. It is the same when the officials of the township government go to the villages to hold meetings. They will talk to the pretty women and ignore the plain ones. (4) This is the major point. It is the violation of the people's will. Government committee members are decided by a few, and elections at the delegates* meetings are mere formalities. In one instance, the chairman asked the people to raise their hands if they approved of a certain person. Some people did not raise their hands, and the chairman accused them of belonging to the AB League. Another time, the chairman glared at those not raising their hands and demanded to know why. Furthermore, only communist party members may work in the government. The non-members, even if they are mass leaders, cannot work in the government. (I told the people attending the meeting that such bad things only happened in the early stage of the land revolution, that one of the reasons was that the components of government were not very good, and that there would be changes in the future, because such bad things were not right.) VII. Rural Militarization 1. Red Guards There were nine brigades in the first township, three in the second, four in the third and four in the fourth. The method of organization was as follows: 8 to 12 persons constituted a unit, 3 units a team and 3 teams a brigade. Generally, a brigade consisted of 80 to 90 persons in the townships of this district. The 8th brigade in the first township, for instance, included the 1st team of Yang-fang, the 2d team of Ling-yuan and the 3d team of Li-yao, totaling over 90 persons. Members of the Red Guards were between the ages of 23 and 50. All members of the Red Guards were men. At the beginning, it was divided into regular and reserve Red Guards. Subsequently, they were combined, without distinction of regular or reserve. The tasks of the Red Guards were patrolling day and night in every village. A patrol shed was required at the main entrance to every village. In ordinary times, the Children's League and Young Pioneers patrolled in the day time. The regulation called for five persons in one day, two from the Girls' League, two from the Boys' League, and one from the Young Pioneers doing the checking. The Young Pioneers must be literate, able to read the passes. A pass was required of everyone, regardless of who, and it was required even for traveling from village A to village B. Night patrol was handled by the Red Guards, generally four persons a night, two persons per shift, one shift taking the first half of the night and the other shift the second half. When the situation became tense (as when the pacification force advanced close to Chun-ts'un on the 7th day of the 7th month), the Red Guards patrolled both day and night, and additional personnel were 293 assigned patrol duty. Though still A or 5 in day time, they were increased to 10 or more, or even 20 or more, at night. Each Red Guards brigade had a commander, who must be the most earnest person in the township and had some knowledge of military affairs, and a political commissar, who must also be the most earnest person in the township and able to read official documents. Drills were previously required of the Red Guards. After organizing the Red Army reserve in the 7th month, they were abolished. The Red Guards was divided into men's and women's Red Guards. The 8th brigade jointly organized by Yang-fang, Ling-yuan and Li-yao villages in the first township, for instance, consisted of men's Red Guards 8th brigade and womenTs Red Guards 8th brigade. The age limits for women were the same as for men, but there were fewer members, because the number of women was smaller than men, and the pregnant and nursing women were excluded. Generally, each consisted of 40 persons (the third brigade of the second township) to 50 persons (the 8th brigade of the first township; the 3d brigade of the third township). Sometimes, it could be less than 40 or more than 50. Women Red Guards ordinarily did not perform patrol duty. In emergencies when the men Red Guards sallied forth (going out on combat duty was called "sallying forth"), the women would handle the patrolling. The women Red Guards must also drill, once a month, lasting 2 or 3 hours. The brigade leader and political commissar were both women. Drilling was conducted by a member of the men's Red Guards. When the able-bodied men in the Red Guards were organized into the Red Army reserve in the 6th month, leaving some 10, 20 or 30 old weak per brigade, drilling was abolished. For the men's Red Guards, there were a commander and a political commissar in each township. They were not stationed in the township government, but remained in their own homes. When the occasion arose, they were assigned wherever needed. They must attend the township-wide drills. The Red Guards of the various townships had held township-wide drills twice. 2. Young Pioneers Wherever there was a Red Guards brigade, there was a Young Pioneer brigade. The members included both male and female, age 16 to 23. There were a brigade commander and a political commissar. Each brigade consisted of three teams, and each team three units. But the number of members was less than that of a Red Guards brigade, ranging from 20 (Chi-ko village in the second township, 30 (Cli'ang-chiao village of the third township), to 50 to 60 (the 3 villages in the first township including Yang-fang). Groups of 20 to 30 were called teams; groups of 50 to 60 were called brigades. Since the 6th month, courageous elements were selected and organized into the Red Army reserve and the district Special Service Battalion. The remaining members of the pioneers still had to drill, twice a month. Only the men's Red Guards no longer had to drill since its able-bodied elements were organized into the Red Army reserve. 294 After the pioneers were organized into the Red Army reserve and district Special Service Battalion, very few members were left. Some places did not have a Young Pioneer at all (such as the three villages in the first township, including Yang-fang; and Chih-ko village of the second township). 3. Children's League There was no distinction of male or female. The age limit was 8 to 15. Where there were Red Guards and Young Pioneers, there was a laboring Children's League. Each village had a league leader, none in the townships but one in the district. The work of the Children's League was first, patrolling, next, checking on opium smoking and gambling, and last, eliminating superstition and knocking down buddha idols. The Children's League was most ruthless in checking on opium smoking and gambling and in knocking down idols. They gave no quarter, "truly handling public affairs in a public way." They attended mass meetings. Their weapons consisted mainly of wooden guns, with a few lances. All members of the league were students of the peoplefs school. The people's school was started in the 7th month, five in the first township, three in the second, seven in the third and one in the fourth, totaling 16. The district government provided for three such schools in every township and paid for the food of three teachers, 0.10 yuan, large currency, per day, and 2 yuan, large currency, for expenses per month, totaling 5 yuan, large currency, per month. As the area of the first township was large, it was permitted to have five schools. The third township had many hills, and three schools were not enough; therefore, they had four additional ones, totaling seven, but the expenses were still limited to 15 yuan, averaging 2.10 yuan per school. The number of enrollment ranged from 20 or more to 120, usually over 40. The peopleTs school jointly established by Yang-fang, Ling-yuan and Li-yao villages of the first tonwship, for instance, had over 120 children between the ages of 8 and 15. The housing was insufficient, and one teacher could not handle all of them; therefore, many could not attend school. Only around 60 of the 120 were in school. Originally, the three villages wanted to have three schools, but they had no teachers in the villages, nor did they have the money to pay for outside help. Therefore, they could not have three schools. The school in Chu-chao-an Village in the third township had only 21 students. Every village had a people's night school. Each school had one teacher, who was someone in the village who could read a little. He received no pay, pursuing his own occupation at home during day time and teaching at night. Fu Chi-t'ing of Yang-fang and Chung Te~wu of Chfang-chiao were both night school teachers. The number of students varied. The school in Yang-fang had 40 students. The students were of all ages, old, adult and young. 295 Most of the night schools had women students, about one-third. Some did not have women students, such as Ch'a-kan Village of the first township and Hou-ching Village of the fourth township. The Children's League was drilled three times a week, under the direction of the people's school, "drilling well." 4. Picket Units The Picket Unit was organized by workers, one company per township, with a company commander and a political commissar. The Picket Unit of the second township consisted of 105 men. Yang-fang, Ling-yuan and Ch'a-shih (Ch'a-kan) villages of the first township together had one platoon, consisting of 26 men. 5. Red Army Reserve The Red Army reserve was organized from the strong and courageous elements in the Red Guards and the Young Pioneers, two companies per township, totaling eight companies in the district. Each company consisted of several dozen to over 100 men. The two companies in the first township had over 100 men each. For the Hsin-yu campaign this time, all the eight companies of the 10th district participated. After its formation in the 7th month, the reserve was responsible for the advances on Ch'i-fang, Lang-ch'uan and Kan-chou, and on Hsin-yu this time. When the reserve was away on a campaign, the Red Guards, the Young Pioneers, and the Children's League were responsible for village patrolling. Upon its return, the reserve again joined the patrol, The eight companies of the district formed a regiment, with a regiment commander and a political commissar. In ordinary times, there was no battalion. The 1st and 2d companies belonged to the first township, the 3d and 4th companies to the second township, the 5th and 6th companies to the third township, and the 7th and 8th companies to the fourth township. For the Hsin-yu campaign this time, three battalions were formed, with the 1st, 2d and 3d companies as the 1st battalion, the 4th, 5th and 6th companies as the 2d battalion, and the 7th and 8th companies as the 3d battalion, led by battalion commanders and political commissars. Each company had four porters, eight cooks, one to two messengers, one orderly, one bugler (.unable to bugle), but no horse. Each company also had two propaganda officers, with the duties of talking and writing slogans. The battalion headquarters had no propaganda officer, aide or messenger. The regimental headquarters had three propaganda officers, one aide and two messengers. Members of the three battalion headquarters lived together with those of the regimental headquarters, sharing their meals. Weapons were lances and shotguns. 6. District Special Service Battalion It consisted of three companies, beginning to be organized in the 7th month, also selected among the Red Guards and Young Pioneers. Organized from the younger and more courageous elements, it was better than the Red Army Reserve. The members had organization and training, but were not regularly concentrated. Ordinarily they remained at home pursuing their own occupation. Three large drills were held every month, on the 2d, 12th and 22d days. 296 When needed, they were mastered to go out on campaigns. Currently, the 1st and 3d companies were out fighting in Lang~chfuan; the 2d company remained at home. Their weapons were mainly shotguns, native rifles, native cannons, some lances, but no regular rifle. The battalion headquarters was at the district government. The battalion had a commander and a political commissar. 7, Red Army Independent Regiment Hsing-kuo organized a total of three independent regiments, all presented to the Red Army. Also selected among the Red Guards and the Young Pioneers; they were the same in excellency as the Special Service Battalion. They were all young people and volunteers. Each regiment consisted of over 1,000 men. The regiments, battalions and company all had commanders and political commissars. The regiments underwent concentrated training at the county seat, and the members awaited assignment to the Red Army. They were all unarmed. 0 "Selected Works of Mao Tse-tung," Vol 1, 1947 edition * "Rural Survey," Liberation Press, July 1949 Footnote: This article "Rural Survey" Page 186 At the end of the Introduction in "Rural Survey," there is the following notation: Mao Tse-tung, 26 January 1931, at Ning-tu Hsiao-pu-yu, recorded after editing. 6080 CSO: 4005 297 • DUTIES OF GENERAL POLITICAL DEPARTMENT AND RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE RED ARMY POLITICAL DEPARTMENTS AND COMMISSARS Order No 6 of the Revolutionary Military Commission, 17 February 1931 [Text] To organize a revolutionary war, a war to destroy the warlords, is currently the central task of the revolution. To carry out this task, we must create an iron Red Army, and win over the broad masses of the people; accordingly the strengthening of political education in the Red Army, so that commanders and fighters will understand their tasks and resolutely carry them out, and at the same time intensified propagandizing and organization of the masses, and mobilization of the broad masses within the war zone to arise and struggle, have become our most pressing tasks. These tasks are performed by the Red Army's political commissars and political departments. To oversee these tasks for Red Army units in all areas, a General Political Department is necessary. At present the Red Army units throughout the country have made great progress; but unifying and strengthening their political direction have become a pressing need. To meet this need, we have set up a General Political Department in this Commission under the chairmanship of Mao Tse-tung. Out of practical necessity, this Commission's General Political Department will also serve temporarily as the First Front Army's General Political Department. The General Political Department will direct the Red Army's political departments and guide the political work of the political commissars. The Red Army political departments must give absolute obedience to the General Political Department's orders. Orders relating to political work must likewise be accepted and obeyed by the political commissars. Every Red Army political department must make reports to the General Political Department regularly and through channels. Political commissars may make reports to political commissions at higher levels, but in addition they must make reports on political work to the political department at the next higher level. Organizationally, the Red Army political departments and political commissars have their own individual organization systems, but in their work the lower-level political departments take orders from the upper-level political departments, and at the same time they must also follow the orders of the political commissars at the same level; the 298 lower-level political commissars take orders from the upper-level political commissars,, but in political work they also follow the orders of the upper-level political department. Chairman Hsiang Ying Vice-Chairmen Chu Teh, Mao Tse-tung, 17 February 1931 0 Collected Documents of the Red Bandits (8) Printed at office No 2, Nan-ChTang Military Headquarters of the Chairman of the Military Affairs Commission, People's Government April, 1934 8480 CSO: 4005 299 NO INVESTIGATION, NO RIGHT TO SPEAK, NO PROPER INVESTIGATION AND NO RIGHT TO SPEAK Notice of General Political Department on Social Investigation No—2 April 1931 [Text] All Red Army Political Departments and Local Governments at All Levels We have now drawn up population and land investigation forms. In the main, these call for statistics on the proportions of land and population by class, so as to answer more concretely and with ironclad facts many of our current questions. In the past, investigation of the actual facts was frequently scorned in many localities, and work plans were drawn up and used to direct the work of lower levels merely on the basis of things thought up out of thin air. As a result the plans could not be carried out and leadership went wrong. If we can now fill in these forms with correct statistics, arrived at by close attention to reality, we will be able to solve many of our problems. In particular, there are a number of practical land distribution problems in connection with which we hope that Red Army political departments will carefully fill in information for all localities and local governing organs will fill in information for each township. We especially hope that every responsible person in the Red Army and the government will at all times and places perform these investigations and do these statistics. Just what is needed to make the data from these investigations really correct? First, it is necessary to have a deep understanding of this work and a clear idea of its importance before one can undertake it in earnest. Second, it the investigators must investigate a village painstakingly; they must seek out the records of population and land surveys made for land distribution; they must seek out the members of the land committee that carried out the land distribution and people who are well acquainted with the situation in the village; they must begin by clearly distinguishing the class nature of each family and each field (whether it belongs to a landlord, rich peasant, middle peasant or poor peasant...)tand then calculate things out strictly, filling in the form with the actual numbers. 300 Third, the comrades sent out by the higher government levels to direct the survey, or the responsible persons of the political departments, must explain clearly to the persons assigned the investigation work the content of the two forms and the points for attention when investigating. In particular they must explain that: the standard for a rich peasant is that he depended upon exploitation for a sizeable part of his income; those who are engaged in extending credit or lending money to others are still classed as middle peasants, and those who were hired laborers (before the revolution) and have rented some land to cultivate are poor peasants; those none of whose family does any farming but who rely upon their independent labor (tailors, carpenters, etc.) to make a living are called independent laborers; those who do some farming and some artisan work are classed as poor peasants, middle peasants and rich peasants according to their economic status; free tradesmen and vagrants are distinguished by the fact that free tradesmen practice some specific trade (as doctor, teacher), while vagrants have no fixed occupation or mode of life, but all do a good deal of mischief. If all of these items are not clearly understood during the investigation, the investigators will not know how to do their jobs properly, and will surely get the class composition wrong and get wrong values in the statistics. When these two forms, for land and population, are filled out in close cordination, care should be taken that the individual or group fills them out correctly. They should then be mailed directly to the General Political Department of the Central Military Commission. Our slogan is: 1. No investigation, no right to speak; 2. No correct investigation, also no right to speak, Chairman, General Political Department, Central Military Commission, Mao Tse-tung 2 April 1931 0 Direction on Social Investigation Notice—2 April 1931 8480 CSO: 4005 301 QUESTION OF OPPOSING RICH PEASANTS Notice Number 2 of Central Revolutionary Military Commission, 1931 [Text] 1. Reasons for Opposing the Rich Peasants First, rich peasants are rural semi-landlords and capitalists, and an exploiting class. They support feudal power and want to be capitalists, and are entirely in opposition to the interests of the workers, hired farm laborers, poor peasants and the mass of middle peasants. In order to guard the interests of the workers, hired farm laborers, poor peasants and middle peasants, we must oppose the rich peasants. Second, the rich peasants are an exploiting class. They are constantly in close collusion with reactionary power in an attempt to undermine the revolution. To consolidate the soviet governments and protect the victory of land reform, we must oppose the middle peasants. Third, the rich peasants are taking the capitalist road. We are taking the socialist road. Therefore, they are completely opposite to us, and in order to make the revolution advance to the road of socialism we must intensify the struggle to oppose the rich peasants. 2. Errors in Opposing the Rich Peasants In an examination of opposition to the rich peasants in the past, four major errors appear: First, opposition to exploitation was not taken as the test, and opposition to the rich peasants was treated as a speical form of fund-raising. Rather than exploitation, possession of money was used as the test. Money tests, in which for example people with less than 100 yuan were not beaten, but those with more than 100 yuan were beaten, were used by brigades, and in a minority of places it got to the point that people with more than 20 cash or an old sow got beaten, which terrified the masses and made them think the revolution was to make everybody poor instead of making everybody rich and improving their lives. 302 Second, there were encroachments on the middle peasants. The second fault, of encroaching on the middle peasants' interests, grew out of the first fault. Middle peasants are those who have enough land and enough food and are not exploited by anyone, but also do not go out and exploit anyone else. Not only should these people not be encroached upon, but we should link up closely with them instead and all oppose the rich peasants together. Since the middle peasants will only join a revolution led by the proletariat, our revolutionary power can only reach its full force and the revolution can only develop rapidly when we unite with them. Third, the rich peasants' lands were not thoroughly redistributed. In many places the land distribution was conducted just by taking away excesses and making up deficiencies rather than by taking away from rich lands and compensating poor lands. When the rich peasants held such things as good lands, woodland, dwellings and ponds, these were not thoroughly distributed. As a result the rich peasants were in a favored position economically and got hold of political leadership. The Soviets' governments and the revolutionary groups were captured by the rich peasants, who then used their political and economic power to exploit and oppress and impoverish the peasant masses. 3. The Correct Method of Opposing the Rich Peasants a. Politically First, consolidate proletarian leadership. The soviet governments and Red Army and Red Guards units should prevent rich peasants from acting as committee members in the soviet governments or representatives to the soviet assemblies. They should elect leaders of the workers, farm laborers and poor peasants and the most activist elements of the middle peasants to deliberate and take action; they should also organize poor peasants' associations and unite the broad masses of poor peasants and the middle peasants in a good alliance to oppose the rich peasants. All those who have encroached on the middle peasants' interests or fined them or taken money from the poor peasants must make restitution, and the lawless exactions of brigands, which have no class nature and are divorced from the masses must be opposed. If these things continue to happen, they will assuredly be punished by the authorities. Second, put down rich peasant reaction. The rich peasants are an exploiting class, and are sure to use every available means to oppose and subvert the revolution. Accordingly, in the soviet areas, constant and strict attention should be paid to preventing rich peasant reaction; as soon as any rich peasant counterrevolutionary organization, such as the Ya-pi-t'uan, etc., is found conspiring with the White bandits, plotting reactionary activity, trying to subvert the revolution, etc., the government must punish it strictly as being counterrevolutionary. The rich peasants will be allowed to live and pursue their livelihood only if they obey all laws of the Soviets and refrain from counterrevolutionary conspiracies or activities. 303 b. Economically First, oppose exploitation by the rich peasants. At present, opposition to the rich peasants is not destruction of the rich peasants, but chiefly a resolute opposition in the economic sphere to all their exploitative activities, because these activities have increased the hardships of our workers and poor peasants. The rich peasants will be allowed to hire laborers, so long as they treat them in accordance with the Laws for Protection of Labor. They may not treat them harshly. They may also engage in business, but will not be allowed to hold back on buying or selling or to lend money at high interest. These more specific methods should be determined by the county government and preferably by the county assembly, in accordance with local conditions. A program of this sort is not meant to eradicate capitalism but to oppose cruel exploitation by capitalists and to stimulate the vigorous development of social economics. In the cases where exaction of money from the rich peasants is unavoidable, this should be done only for revolutionary needs. The rich peasants should bear what they can afford. But at present we are not eradicating the rich peasant economy. As to the rich peasants' lands, they should all be distributed evenly. Second, an economic policy should be carried out. The limiting of rich peasant exploitation discussed above is still a passive method. But merely passive opposition to poor peasants is not enough; we must also carry out an economic policy, in accordance with the social situation, to actively oppose the rich peasants. For instance, the government should lead the masses in running loan cooperatives that lend money to the impoverished masses at low interest, in running production cooperatives to develop products, and in running trade cooperatives so as to lessen the exploitation carried on between businessmen and rich peasants. Such organizations actively oppose exploitation by rich peasants. If we help the broad impoverished masses take this step toward liberation, we are preparing social economics to develop toward socialism. 4. Guard Against Lingering Evils Our earlier pointing out of errors in opposing middle peasants, and the statement that we are not now eradicating the rich peasants, should not lead people to take opposing the rich peasants lightly. On. the contrary, everyone should understand the policy of opposing the rich peasants and should eppose them even more intensely. In rectifying policies, we should prevent rich peasant elements and their helpers hidden in the revolution from easing up on the work of opposing the rich peasants. Even more important, the rich peasants should be prevented from taking the opportunity to oppose the government Chairman Hsiang Ying Vice Chairmen Mao Tse-tung, Chu Teh, 1931 0 Secret Red Bandit Documents, Correction # 5 Printed by Organization Department of First Bandit Extermination Propaganda Office, Army and Navy GHQ. 8480 CSO: 4005 304