June 13, 1927. To be issued for compliance.

In the past, the peasant movement, due to excessively rapid development, was not yet organizationally sound. Coupled with the fierce counteroffensive of the local bullies and evil gentry, the rural struggle has consequently become increasingly acute day by day. Whenever the guidance of higher-level organs was occasionally less than thorough, unorganized actions were unavoidable. Our Association has already issued explicit orders to peasant associations at all levels to exert the utmost effort to rectify this, ensuring that peasants everywhere, under the command of the peasant associations, continue the struggle in an organized and planned manner against all local bullies, evil gentry, reactionary feudal forces, so as to fulfill our peasantry’s duty in the revolutionary process of overthrowing the economic foundation of imperialist exploitation in China’s villages and the political foundation of warlord rule. It has also been pointed out that the current objective of the peasants’ struggle everywhere should be to strive for the establishment of village self-governance.

Now, according to reports from all sides, in the three provinces of Hunan, Hubei, and Jiangxi, the offensive of the local bullies and evil gentry is extremely fierce. Party members, peasants, and workers who have been sacrificed number no fewer than over ten thousand. Their venomous scheme to sow discord between revolutionary soldiers and peasants is also being actively pursued. They often fabricate facts, calling a stag a horse, exaggerating and distorting rhetoric, hoping to incite violent clashes between soldiers and mass organizations, alienate the feelings between the army and the people, split the united front, sabotage the Three Great Policies, and thereby overthrow the Party and the nation. They would not scruple even if the people suffer and the nation perishes and the race is extinguished. At the same time, corrupt officials have risen to echo the local bullies and evil gentry, jointly fabricating accusations to slander the peasants, attempting to drive a wedge between the government and the people. For instance, the Huanggang Peasant Association originally had no matter of eradicating opium poppy seedlings, yet corrupt officials deceitfully petitioned the central authorities to dissolve it—this is a prominent example. Now, the Military Commission of the National Government, having clearly perceived the venomous scheme whereby the imperialists, warlords, corrupt officials, local bullies and evil gentry, compradors, foreign slaves, and all reactionaries are exploiting the intense moment when our army is fighting fiercely against the Fengtian army on the Northern Expedition to launch a joint offensive against the National Government, has issued instructions to all armed comrades, ordering them to carefully scrutinize the rumors that call a stag a horse and exaggerate rhetoric, so as not to fall into the traps of the reactionaries.

Nevertheless, in recent days, the incidents of local bullies and evil gentry in various cities colluding with bandits and routed soldiers to massacre peasants have continued to intensify, as also indicated in the recent Directive No. 9 of the All-China Peasant Association. The schemes of corrupt officials to drive a wedge between the government and the people are also emerging one after another. Recently, the various organs have received no fewer than several petitions daily that falsely accuse the peasants. Under such circumstances, peasant associations at all levels must urgently: (1) petition the National Government to (a) issue explicit orders to protect workers’ organizations, workers’ picket corps, and peasant self-defense forces, and to punish all reactionaries who massacre workers and peasants and disrupt order in the rear areas, so that revolutionary organizations such as trade unions, peasant associations, and the Communist Party may enjoy complete freedom to unite revolutionary forces and carry out the punitive expedition against Chiang Kai-shek; (b) purge the local bullies and evil gentry in various counties of Hubei who collude with rebel troops and bandits to massacre peasants and workers, severely punish Chiang Kai-shek’s agents and all reactionary elements who spread rumors and sow discord, so as to consolidate Wuhan; (c) issue explicit orders to punish Xu Kexiang, Qiu Ao, Peng Guojun, and Xiao Yukun, dissolve their reactionary organs such as the Party Salvation Committee and the Party Purification Committee, restore the Hunan Provincial Government, Provincial Party Headquarters, Provincial Trade Union, Provincial Peasant Association, and all other revolutionary organizations that have been wrecked, accept the petition of the Hunan Petition Delegation, and order Tang Shengzhi, Chairman of the Hunan Provincial Government, to swiftly suppress the counter-revolutionaries in Hunan; (d) issue explicit orders to stop the actions of expelling Communists and worker-peasant leaders in Jiangxi, and severely punish the reactionaries who massacre the masses. The peasant associations themselves must especially exert greater efforts to unite the peasants, tighten their organization, and arm themselves for self-defense, so as to resist the armed attacks of the local bullies and evil gentry and suppress all the provocations and sowing of discord by the reactionary feudal forces. For if the arrogance of the local bullies and evil gentry is not extinguished, then the creation of village self-governance and the establishment of a democratic regime will ultimately be impossible, economic construction will be even more impossible to realize, and the foundation of the National Government will also not be consolidated.

This is hereby ordered.

Tan Yankai, Tan Pingshan, Deng Yanda, Mao Zedong, Lu Chen, Standing Committee Members of the Provisional Executive Committee of the All-China Peasant Association.

June 13.