To Comrade Chen Kewen of the Central Peasant Department[1]

(September 16, 1926)

Brother Kewen:

The Special Committee of the Shaanxi Office may appoint the following five persons as members: Kang Weike, Li Weiping, Li Xiushi, Wang Shuji, Du Songshou, with Kang Weike as secretary.

Zedong

16th

Brother Kewen:

[1] These are two letters written by Mao Zedong to Chen Kewen. Chen Kewen was from Cenxi, Guangxi. Judging from the content of the letters, Chen Kewen’s position at the time should have been Secretary of the Peasant Department of the Kuomintang Central Committee (equivalent to Secretary-General of the Peasant Department). In July 1927, Chen Kewen, in his capacity as Secretary of the Peasant Department, acted as head of the Peasant Department of the Kuomintang Central Committee. During the 1930s and 1940s, Chen long served as a member of the Overseas Chinese Affairs Commission of the National Government and Counselor of the Executive Yuan; after the victory in the War of Resistance, he successively served as a member of the Legislative Yuan of the National Government and Secretary-General of the Legislative Yuan. Chen’s specific dates of birth and death are unknown.

For the responsible persons of the Yunnan Office, from among the students, Zhou Xiao and Chen Nengxin can be designated[1]. Zhou is quite good, and Chen is also relatively good. As for the remaining person, according to Comrade Wang Maoting of Yunnan from the New Yunnan Society, it is appropriate to designate a comrade currently engaged in party affairs and mass movements in Kunming, so as to be sufficient for liaison. According to him, there is Comrade Li Xin, a graduate of Beijing Agricultural University, working in Yunnan, who can fulfill this assignment. I hereby inform you of this for your consideration and decision. The students have already drafted the general regulations for the Yunnan Office; please approve them. The funds for each province should not be rigidly fixed. Issuing a salary of thirty yuan per person, I fear they may take this as a precedent, and before any work is done, all the money will be divided up as salaries. When they receive the money, Brother, you should explain this point to them: use the money economically; where salaries need not be issued, do not issue them; where thirty yuan is not needed, do not issue thirty yuan. Thirty yuan is the maximum amount; it is imperative to save some money for activity expenses. There is no boat departing today; tomorrow there will probably be one. By tomorrow, the number remaining will be within one hundred. The travel expenses have unexpectedly exceeded three thousand small dollars. The budget figure previously submitted to the Political Affairs Committee was too low; it was insufficient for all provinces except Zhili and Chahar. For example, Sichuan was previously set at only fifty-eight large dollars, but now it must be increased to seventy-four large dollars. According to the students, this figure is still very tight, because the upstream boat fare between Yichang and Chongqing is particularly expensive. An increase of as much as sixteen large dollars per person, for twenty-five Sichuan students, totals an increase of four hundred large dollars. For all other provinces, increases are also necessary, varying from two, four, six, eight, to ten large dollars per person per month, hence the total exceeds three thousand small dollars. The official document can be completed tomorrow, and together with the statement of reasons for the increased travel expenses, it will be submitted to the Peasant Department for referral to the Political Council for resolution. Seventeen titles of the "Peasant Problem Series" have already been printed. I am first sending two copies, one for you, Brother, and one for Mr. Gan[2]; another ten titles are in press and will be available soon; about twenty more titles are still being compiled and edited

[1] Marginal note on the original letter: Zhou Xiao may be designated as secretary.

[2] Mr. Gan, namely Gan Naiguang, was then the head of the Kuomintang Peasant Department. The foreword to "The Peasant Movement" was written by Mr. Gan. Together with Mao Zedong, Lin Zuhan, Ruan Xiaoxian, Luo Qiyuan, and others, he was a member of the Peasant Movement Committee of the Kuomintang Peasant Department and also an instructor at the Sixth Peasant Movement Training Institute. On May 28, 1926, the 29th meeting of the Kuomintang Central Standing Committee appointed Gan Naiguang as head of the Peasant Department. See "List of Kuomintang Officials," p. 52. Gan Naiguang and Chen Kewen both published a large number of articles on the peasant movement in the two periodicals "Chinese Peasant" and "The Peasant Movement," sponsored by the Peasant Department at the time.

and will require time to print. Once printed, I shall send a number of copies to you, Brother, Mr. Gan, and the Peasant Department. The same to Mr. Gan.

Respectfully wishing you daily well-being!

Did Mr. Wang[1] come to the Peasant Department for an audience today? Have you seen him?

Your younger brother, Zedong

September 17

P.S. The previous achievements of the peasant movement in Jiangxi were extremely poor. It is appropriate for your esteemed department to designate five students to form a Peasant Movement Committee, to conduct the work of directing the peasant movement under the Provincial Peasant Department. It is not suitable to establish an office in Jiangxi, as there is already a Provincial Party Headquarters, but a Peasant Movement Committee is absolutely necessary. Among the Jiangxi students, there are several quite good ones who can serve as committee members. For Shaanxi, it is also appropriate to establish a committee, not an office, also because there is already a Provincial Party Headquarters. Such is my humble opinion; I pray you consider and decide.

Zedong, another note.

[1] Mr. Wang, referring to Wang Maoting.

Attachment 1:

Designated Symbols for Yunnan Peasant Movement Special Commissioners[1]

| Original Name | Symbol |
| --- | --- |
| Zhou Xiao | Zou Xiao |
| Chen Nengxin | Xiong Xin |
| Wu Guangbi | Wu Guangguo |
| Shi Ruilin | Fang Duan |
| Li Jingmin | Lü Xing |
| Luo Cai | Lin Shi |
| Huang Lisheng | Kuang Dingjin |
| Zhu Yuguang | Niu Guang |

[1] Among the eight Yunnan Peasant Movement Special Commissioners, Zhou Xiao, Wu Guangbi, Shi Ruilin, Li Jingmin, Luo Cai, and Huang Lisheng are all confirmed as graduates in the book "Selected Materials on the Guangzhou Peasant Movement Training Institute," but the list does not include Chen Nengxin and Zhu Yuguang. However, based on this letter, it can be confirmed that both Chen Nengxin and Zhu Yuguang were graduates of the sixth term.

Attachment 2:

General Regulations for the Yunnan Peasant Movement Special Commissioners Office

As the Yunnan Provincial Party Headquarters has not yet been formally established, and the peasant movement is in its embryonic stage, the Central Peasant

Department, for the purpose of developing the peasant movement in Yunnan, dispatches special commissioners to proceed there for organization. Henceforth, all matters concerning the peasant movement shall be entirely under the direction of the Central Peasant Department, until the Provincial Party Headquarters is established, at which time a request shall be submitted to the Central Peasant

Department for review and action. The general regulations are as follows.

Chapter I Organization

Article 1 The Office shall be organized by the special commissioners dispatched by the Central Peasant Department.

Article 2 Name and location of the Office:

1. Name — Yunnan Province Peasant Movement Special Commissioners Office.

2. Location — Temporarily established in Kunming, but may be moved as required by work needs.

Article 3 The General Assembly shall be the highest organ of the Office. It may be convened at any time upon resolution of the Executive Committee or at the request of one-third or more of all special commissioners, to review the work of the Executive Committee and resolve all major issues.

Article 4 The Executive Committee of the Office shall be organized with one secretary and two executive members designated by the Central Peasant Department.

Chapter II Powers and Duties

Article 5 The Office shall convey the orders of the Central Peasant Department to the various special commissioners.

Article 6 The Office shall forward the collected reports from the various special commissioners to the Central Peasant Department.

Article 7 The Office, acting upon the orders of the Central Peasant Department and the resolutions of the General Assembly, shall have the responsibility of directing and supervising the various special commissioners.

Article 8 The Office shall compile detailed information on the progress of work activities from various localities each month, prepare systematic reports, and submit them to the Central Peasant Department.

Article 9 Should any special incidents occur, the Office shall, while earnestly investigating and devising methods to deal with them, report the handling methods to the Central Peasant Department.

Article 10 The organization of peasant associations at various levels by the Office must first be resolved by the Executive Committee and reported to the Central Peasant Department for approval.

Article 11 The Office shall report the work areas and movement plans of the special commissioners to the Central Peasant Department within a specified period.

Article 12 The Executive Committee of the Office shall meet at least once a month.

Article 13 The Office shall have the responsibility and authority to request and allocate funds based on work conditions.

Chapter III Discipline

Article 14 Should a special commissioner slack in work or violate resolutions, the secretary shall convene the Executive Committee or the General Assembly to decide on disciplinary measures, but after such measures are taken, a report must be submitted to the Central Peasant Department and presented at the next General Assembly.

Article 15 Should an executive committee member neglect duties or violate resolutions, upon impeachment by one-third or more of the special commissioners, the General Assembly may be convened to decide on measures, and a request shall be submitted to the Central Peasant Department for reassignment.

Article 16 All work plans must be kept strictly confidential by all personnel.

Chapter IV Supplementary Provisions

Article 17 Should there be any inadequacies in the Office regulations, they may be amended during the General Assembly, but such amendments must be reported to the Central Peasant Department afterward.

Article 18 These regulations shall take effect on the day the establishment of the Office is announced.

Attachment 3:

Estimated Budget for the Establishment Expenses of the Yunnan Peasant Movement Office

| Category | Use | | Summary | |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Premises | Deposit and Commission | Twenty-five yuan | Renting a house in this province requires paying a deposit first, i.e., a type of security deposit | |
| Utensils | Two desks | Five yuan | | |
| | Eight chairs | Fifteen yuan | | |
| | Two bed boards | Five yuan | | |
| Stationery | Writing implements | Five yuan | | |
| | Mimeograph machine | Twenty yuan | | |
| Miscellaneous | All incidentals | Five yuan | | |
| Total | | Eighty yuan | | |

Notes

1. All the above expenses are planned with frugality, intended for the initial establishment period. All operational expenses during the working period are not yet included in the budget.

2. All budget figures above are calculated in small dollars.

3. The deposit and commission item is a necessary expense when renting a house. If no rent is owed upon vacating the premises, the original amount will be refunded and can still be reallocated for other uses.