Declaration to the Peasants[1]

(March 19, 1927)

The greater part of the national life of economically backward and semi-colonial China is still agricultural, and over eighty percent of the population are peasants. Subjected to the triple exploitation of imperialism, the warlords, and the landlord class, the Chinese peasants suffer extreme hardship and harbor an urgent desire for their own liberation. Therefore, the greatest objective of China’s National Revolution lies in securing the liberation of the peasants. If the peasants are not liberated, the National Revolution can never be brought to completion. As the largest political party leading the National Revolution, the Chinese Nationalist Party bears the mission of completing the National Revolution. In January of the 13th year of the Republic, when our Party was reorganized, the First National Congress issued a declaration giving special attention to the peasant question. In January of the 15th year of the Republic, the Second National Congress adopted a program for the peasant movement. In November of the same year, the Joint Conference of the Central and Provincial Authorities issued a new political platform containing 22 articles on safeguarding peasant interests. Over the past three years, Party members have engaged in the peasant movement, organized peasant associations, and guided the broad peasant masses to participate in the National Revolution in defense of their own interests. These organizations have spread widely, covering almost the entire country, greatly expanding the revolutionary tide and making the progress of the revolution particularly smooth. All this is because the peasants suffer the deepest pain and seek liberation most urgently, and our Party has been able to safeguard their interests, expand their organizations, and lead their actions—only thus have such results been achieved.

Recently, the peasant uprisings in various places have been extremely swift and fierce. Especially in the three provinces of Hunan, Hubei, and Jiangxi, tremendous development has occurred within a short period. In the lower reaches of the Yangtze River and the northern provinces, with the advance of the Northern Expeditionary Army,

Declaration to the Peasants

the peasants will surely rise swiftly and become the main force supporting the revolution. The first action of the peasants in joining the revolution, apart from participating in warfare to help the Revolutionary Army achieve victory, is to overthrow the local tyrants and evil gentry and to overturn the special privileges of the feudal landlord class in the villages. This feudal landlord class is a special class that directly exploits the peasants most ruthlessly. All exploitation of the peasants by imperialism, warlords, corrupt officials, and venal functionaries relies upon this special class to achieve its ends. Therefore, the feudal landlord class is the real foundation of imperialism, warlords, corrupt officials, venal functionaries, and all counter-revolutionary factions. Unless the power of this special class is overthrown, even if imperialism, warlords, corrupt officials, venal functionaries, and all counter-revolutionary factions suffer formal defeat, the substance that enables their existence will not be eliminated, and there will always be the possibility of the revolution changing its character. On the peasants’ side, having been ruled under the political power of the feudal landlords for thousands of years, unless the political power of the feudal landlords in the villages is overthrown, all economic struggles—such as reducing rent and interest—simply cannot be initiated. Therefore, the demands of the revolution require a great rural upheaval. In every village, there must be a great transformation, so that the activities of local tyrants, evil gentry, lawless landlords, and all counter-revolutionary factions are completely eliminated under the might of the peasants. Rural politics must be transferred from the hands of local tyrants, evil gentry, lawless landlords, and all counter-revolutionaries into the hands of the peasants, and democratic village self-government organs led by the peasants must be established in the villages. This is the only path to completing democratic politics. Our Party possesses the greatest determination and will lead this struggle to final victory.

In leading the struggle of the peasants, who represent the democratic forces, against the local tyrants, evil gentry, and lawless landlords, who represent the feudal forces, and in ensuring victory in this struggle, the arming of the peasants is truly one of the essential conditions. The peasants should have self-defense armed organizations. The armed forces of the feudal landlord class, such as the militia, the defense corps, and the local defense bureaus, must all be disbanded and handed over to the peasants. Furthermore, our Party should also devise ways to enable the peasants to purchase arms at low cost. In short, it is necessary to ensure that the peasants possess weapons sufficient to defend their own interests. This is the sure guarantee of victory in the rural revolution—that is, the victory of the democratic forces in overthrowing the feudal forces.

After the peasants achieve victory in the political struggle, the economic struggle will commence accordingly. The significance of the peasants’ economic struggle is to resist the exploitation by imperialism, the warlords, and especially the landlord class. The total amount of this exploitation

exceeds fifty percent. Our Party’s task is to lead the peasants in resisting this exploitation. The political platform adopted by the Joint Conference of our Party includes the following articles: 1. Reduce tenant farmers’ land rent by 25 percent; 2. Prohibit usurious exploitation, with annual interest not to exceed 20 percent; 3. Prohibit advance rent; 4. Prohibit the advance collection of land tax; 5. Prohibit the contract tenancy system. This Plenary Session has further decided on the right of tenant farmers to use the land, the improvement of land tax regulations, and stipulates that the various governing powers of the peasants’ self-government organs over local economic affairs shall all form the preliminary program of the peasants’ economic struggle. Our Party must lead this struggle so that, following the victory in the political struggle, and within the areas under the jurisdiction of the National Government, political power shall be used to help the peasants achieve their goals.

Not only this, but with the progress of the revolution, the demands of the peasants have already rapidly advanced from the preliminary stage to a second stage. That is, in many places, a serious land question has already arisen. The essence of the Chinese peasant question has always been a question of the poor peasants. The number of poor peasants has expanded further in recent years. The completely propertyless, destitute peasants and the secondary poor peasants, who possess some property but not enough to sustain a living, constitute the great majority of the entire peasant population. The existence of this vast poor peasant class is the root of all turmoil and upheaval, and at the same time, it constitutes an essential element of the revolutionary driving force. If the poor peasant question is not resolved, no turmoil or upheaval will ever subside, and the revolution will ultimately never see the day of completion. The central question of the poor peasant problem is the land question. At present, in the provinces under the jurisdiction of the National Government, especially in Guangdong, Hunan, and Hubei where the peasant movement has developed, the poor peasants’ demand for land has become very urgent. The land question of the poor peasant masses in the north is also extremely serious. Our Party’s Premier, Mr. Sun, deeply perceived this and, as early as twenty years ago, already proposed the equalization of land rights as a revolutionary political program. The Declaration of the First National Congress stated: “Peasants who have lost their land and become tenant farmers shall be given land by the state to cultivate.” In his lectures on the Principle of Livelihood, the Premier also put forward the slogan “land to the tiller.” All this shows a profound understanding that the peasants’ ultimate demand lies in land, and that unless the peasants obtain land, they will not be able to support the revolution to its final success. Therefore, our Party is determined to support the peasants’ struggle to obtain land, and will not cease until the land question is completely resolved.

The poor peasants not only lack land but also lack capital. As a result of the revolutionary development, the wealthy class in the villages

Declaration to the Peasants

has extremely tightened lending, and in many places, lending relations have almost been severed, causing the poor peasant society to be in a state of constant panic and insecurity. Without a concrete policy, this problem of capital shortage cannot be resolved. The Declaration of the First National Congress of our Party states: “For peasants who lack capital and are forced to borrow at usurious rates, incurring lifelong debts, the state shall establish adjustment organs, such as peasant banks, to relieve their scarcity.” The political platform of the Joint Conference of the Central and Provincial Authorities also included peasant banks as a special article and stipulated that loans be granted to peasants at an annual interest rate of five percent. Our Party shall, in the shortest possible time and in areas reached by the revolutionary forces, cause our Party’s government to diligently establish peasant banks and other lending organs with extremely favorable terms, in order to resolve the problem of the peasants’ capital shortage.

In summary, the completion of the National Revolution depends on the rise of the peasants throughout the country. Our Party consistently stands on the side of the peasants’ interests, representing the peasants and struggling on their behalf. Our Party consistently supports all reasonable struggles of the peasants, and will ensure that every special class that exploits the peasants loses its basis of support and reduces its exploitation, so that every oppressed peasant achieves genuine liberation. This is the historical mission of our Party, and our Party shall carry it out without the slightest hesitation.

Standing Committee Members of the Central Peasant Movement Committee

Deng Yanda, Chen Kewen, Mao Zedong

March 10, 1927. Group photo of the members attending the Third Plenary Session of the Second Central Committee of the Nationalist Party. Third from the right in the middle row is Mao Zedong.

--- Notes

[1] This is the Declaration to the Peasants, proposed by Mao Zedong, Deng Yanda, and Chen Kewen in their capacity as standing committee members of the Central Peasant Movement Committee of the Nationalist Party, and adopted by the Third Plenary Session of the Second Central Committee of the Nationalist Party.