--- Notes



1927.5.9 The land problem is not only a problem that must be resolved in revolutionary theory, but in fact has also now reached a point where it cannot but be resolved. The peasants of Hunan have already taken action to rise up automatically to confiscate and distribute land. The peasant congresses of provinces such as Guangdong, Hubei, and Jiangxi have all, without exception, expressed the demand for an urgent resolution to the land problem. Even the peasants of Zhili, under the oppression of the Fengtian-Shandong warlords, have had countless conflicts and bloodshed over the problem of "banner lands becoming civilian." Looking at it again from a political viewpoint, the revolutionary movement has indeed developed considerably at present, but at the same time, it harbors immense contradictions and dangers. Finances cannot be resolved, and problems have arisen in both the quantity and quality of the army. These contradictions and dangers also cannot but be resolved by solving the land problem to find a way out. For the sake of leading the masses and for the sake of protecting the revolution, our Party has specially organized a Land Committee to be responsible for discussing this major problem that urgently awaits resolution. After the Land Committee was established, it has successively held many meetings, and regarding the methods for resolving this problem, it has also reached considerable conclusions. Now, the course of the discussions will be briefly reported as follows:

After the Land Committee was established, it successively held three meetings and felt that the problem was too major and too complex, and that a method for resolution could not be hastily obtained without collecting materials from various provinces and opinions from all sides. Therefore, after holding three meetings, an enlarged conference was held. The enlarged conference met a total of five times. Later, for the convenience of discussion, a special committee was organized to bear the responsibility of examining various draft resolutions, which met a total of four times. The number of attendees at the enlarged conference was forty at its most, and more than ten at its least. Starting from April 19, the first enlarged conference was held, until May 6, when the final, fifth enlarged conference was held again. The comrades attending the conference represented fifteen provinces and regions. There were a total of four reports and a total of seven draft resolutions. Although a completely satisfactory method for resolving the land problem could not be obtained, in the course of the revolution, it can be considered to have fulfilled a considerable responsibility.

The course of the meetings is now further described as follows: (1) Number of meetings held: 1. The committee itself met three times 2. The enlarged conference met five times 3. The special examination committee met four times (2) Attending comrades: 1. Members of this committee 2. Various members of the Central Committee 3. Comrades in charge of Party departments of various provinces and regions 4. Comrades in charge of the peasant movement of various provinces and regions 5. Comrades in charge of military affairs (army commanders, division commanders, political department directors or secretaries) (3) Places represented by attendees: 1. Hunan, 2. Hubei, 3. Guangdong, 4. Henan, 5. Zhili, 6. Shandong, 7. Anhui, 8. Jiangsu, 9. Zhejiang, 10. Fujian, 11. Rehe, 12. Fengtian, 13. Chahar, 14. Jilin, 15. Shanxi (4) Reports: 1. Report by Russian comrade Dakhanov on the course of resolving the land problem in Russia 2. General situation of national land distribution 3. Report by the Zhili Provincial Party Department on the land distribution situation in that province 4. Report by the Rehe Provincial Party Department on the land distribution situation in that region 5. Reports by comrades from other provincial Party departments on the land situation in their respective provinces (5) Central issues of discussion:

During the meetings, based on reports and investigations from all sides and the current needs of the revolution, it was universally acknowledged that the land problem urgently awaits resolution. But as for the method of resolution, whether to immediately confiscate all land in its entirety to be state-owned, or to carry out partial confiscation, was much discussed. The result was the belief that in theory, all land must be returned to state ownership, of which there is no doubt, but at present, objective facts, the national political environment, and the strength of the peasants themselves do not permit achieving the stage of returning all land to state ownership. Under the current objective facts, only political confiscation (partial confiscation) can be achieved. The land of small landlords and revolutionary military personnel should both be protected. The landlord and tenant farmer systems cannot yet be completely eliminated. The fundamental method for resolving the land problem also cannot be stipulated in detail by a Central Committee meeting. The Central Committee can only stipulate a principle; detailed methods should be formulated by each province itself, taking into consideration the actual conditions of each province. Therefore, the result of the meetings was the following various resolutions: (6) Resolutions: 1. "Program for the Resolution of the Land Problem" Resolution 2. Resolution on the Significance of Resolving the Land Problem 3. Resolution on Peasant Political Power and the Resolution of the Land Problem 4. Resolution on the Poor Peasant Protection Law 5. Resolution on Regulations for the Protection of Land of Revolutionary Military Personnel 6. Resolution on Regulations for the Disposal of Counter-revolutionary Property 7. Resolution on Resolving the Land Problem

The above is the course of the Land Committee's discussion on resolving the land problem. All the various resolutions, especially resolutions 4, 5, 6, and 7, are considered by the Land Committee to be suitable for our Party's current strategy and the needs of objective facts, and should be established as regulations by our Party and promulgated for implementation separately. We respectfully await your committee's detailed review and decision as to whether this is appropriate. We trust this will be of service.

To the Central Executive Committee, with (1) Seven resolutions attached (2) One volume of meeting minutes

Land Committee Members Deng Yanda Tan Pingshan Mao Zedong Xu Mengren May 9, the 16th year Compilation of Historical Materials on the Chinese Revolution, First Volume, Institute of International Relations, Republic of China, 1973. Land Committee Report 239