New Directive of the All-China Peasant
Association to the Peasant Movement
(June 7, 1927)1
This directive is to be strictly observed. Not long ago, Chiang, Xia,2 and other
renegades defected one after another, and all of them used the slogan of opposing the movement of peasants and workers as their banner. Although this has
always been the slogan of the reactionary faction, it is not really a matter of
whether or not the movement of peasants and workers has made any so-called
mistakes. Yet, on one hand, due to the rapid upsurge of the revolutionary tide,
the primitive manifestations of the early stage of the peasant movement have not
been altogether eliminated, and on the other hand, the leadership capacity of the
upper-level organizations does not match current needs—these are indeed undeniable facts. The Chinese peasant movement has entered a new stage, and new
policies must be adopted. To facilitate their implementation, five issues are addressed below. It is hoped that all provincial peasants' associations will make sure to
transmit them to the peasants' associations at all levels and act on them effectively.
(1) Pay attention to strengthening the organization and to strict discipline.
Because of overly rapid development in the past, peasants' associations at all
levels unavoidably have had bad elements such as local bullies and bad gentry
seize the opportunity to worm their way in so as to try to undermine the peasant
movement. They invariably use the name of the peasants' associations to take all
This directive was published on June 8, 1927, in the Hankou Minguo ribao, and on June
11, 1927, in Nongmin yundong, No. 27. It is reprinted from the second of these sources in
Zhonggong zhongyang wenjian xuanji, Vol. 3, pp. 613-16. Both versions are included in
Mao Zedong ji. Bujuan, Vol. 9, respectively pp. 285-88 and 305-09. We have taken as
our source the text in Zhonggong zhongyang wenjian xuanji, which includes the names of
the five authors.
1. This is the date of one of the two available versions of this document; the other is
dated simply June 1927.
2. Xia Douyin had served earlier in Hunan. (See above, the section on the armed forces
in "Hunan under the Provincial Constitution" of July 1, 1923.) At this time he was based
in his native province of Hubei, where a few days after the Horse Day Massacre of May
21, 1927, in Hunan, his troops went on the rampage against the peasant associations,
killing several thousand people and devastating entire villages. His action was believed to
have been instigated by Chiang Kaishek.
kinds of actions that are harmful to the interests of the majority of peasants and
to the reputation of the peasants' associations. To correct this adverse state of
affairs, a majority of peasants must actively participate in the peasants' associations at all levels. The peasants' associations in all townships and districts in
particular should, where possible, call representative meetings to review past
work and oversee the actions of the members. If bad elements are discovered,
revolutionary discipline must be implemented immediately and severe sanctions
must be imposed. In order to carry out the new policies, the peasants' associations at all levels should convene representative meetings immediately, elect
more new staff workers, and add new leadership positions. At the same time, the
poor peasants, tenant-peasants, hired laborers, and self-employed peasants who
till the fields should be enabled to become the solid social foundation for the
peasants' associations.
(2) Pay attention to the interests of the allies of the revolution.
Small merchants in the countryside are the key elements in financial circulation, and they are in the same oppressed position as the peasants. The peasants'
associations should lead the peasants as well as establish close revolutionary
alliances with [the small merchants]. Brewing wine and making sugar and other
commercial goods are in the interests of chambers of commerce, but they have to
do with the rural economy as well and must be protected by the peasants'
associations. As for grains in the countryside, before rural self-rule organizations
come into being, the peasants' associations should be responsible for calculating
grain needs and work hard to circulate surplus grain, avoid inconveniences to
small landlords and rich peasants, and supply plenty of grain to the troops. Other
important rural produce should also have good economic links with the commerce of cities so as to enable small and medium merchants to develop their
businesses unimpeded. In the past there were places where, because of taxes and
levies in goods and money, and for other reasons, the relations between the
commerce of the cities and the countryside deteriorated gradually. In the future,
such situations should be corrected and the development of commerce should be
assisted in an organized way to prevent excessive exploitation by unscrupulous
merchants. With regard to relatives and properties of revolutionary soldiers, this
association's provisional order No. 1 has already stated explicitly that the peasants'
associations at all levels should guide the peasants and provide effective protection
to them. At present, this work in particular should be stepped up simultaneously with
the movement of greeting, comforting, relieving, and aiding revolutionary soldiers.
(3) Pay attention to measures for changing old customs in the countryside.
In the countryside, the movements to forbid feasting, to forbid making food
offerings and burning incense and candles [to the spirits], to oppose all supersti-

tious and patriarchal old customs, to improve the status of women in the countryside and so on, are all actions necessary in order to smash the bad habits of
feudal society, but only when they are preceded by prolonged propaganda efforts
so that ordinary people understand them and the cultural level of society has
been raised can they be carried out unimpeded. If actions are taken hastily, they
will not only fail to yield good results, but will enable the reactionaries to use
these backward ideas to spread rumors and stir up confusion, attack the progressive
peasant movement, and destroy the revolutionary alliance in the countryside.

(4) Begin the task of construction in the countryside.

The establishment of rural organs of self-government is an important task in
suppressing the reactionary feudal forces, consolidating the victories already
won by the peasants, eliminating the state of anarchy in the rural areas, and
adapting the peasant movement to the needs of the new revolutionary environment. This association has already requested in writing that the national government promulgate regulations on rural organs of self-government as soon as
possible. The peasants' associations at all levels should make contacts with the
revolutionary common people at once and work hard to set up rural organs of
self-government within the shortest possible time. Peasants' banks, consumers'
cooperatives, and other construction enterprises should be built up jointly by the
peasants' associations at all levels and the revolutionary common people.

(5) Step up propaganda work.

Since the peasant movement has achieved considerable development, local bullies, bad gentry, and other feudal forces have concentrated their efforts on brutally
killing peasants, buying over running dogs, fabricating false accusations and
rumors, and stirring up confusion. Having gained some measure of freedom for
the first time, the poor peasants have no experience in organizing associations.
They are bound to act in naive ways. The local tyrants and evil gentry then blow
the thing out of proportion to shock the public. Since Renegade Xia's betrayal,
their actions have been even bolder. The propaganda work of the peasants'
associations at various levels in the past has been very lax, allowing the local
bullies and bad gentry to spread propaganda that confused black and white and
spread it all over cities and the countryside. Even revolutionary comrades were
influenced by them and doubted the peasant movement. In the future, the
peasants' associations at all levels should fully and effectively expose to revolutionary comrades and the revolutionary masses the facts of how cruelly the local
bullies and bad gentry oppress and persecute the peasants, so as to disarm the
local bullies and bad gentry of their biggest offensive weapon against the peasants. In addition, detailed facts about the peasant movement should be revealed
as much as possible to enable the peasant associations to guide their work and
correct their mistakes at all times. Regarding this association's provisional order
No. 1, a broader propaganda effort should be conducted for a period of time, so
that ordinary peasants may thoroughly understand the new direction of the peasant movement and so that they will actively work hard to follow the road pointed
out by this association.

All five issues are essential matters for the consolidation of the revolutionary
alliance and promotion of the national revolution. The peasants' associations in
all provinces must lead the peasants' associations at all levels in effectively
implementing them. Cases of lax implementation or of public compliance but
private opposition shall be sanctioned by this association in accordance with
revolutionary discipline, and such associations shall be reorganized immediately.
If reactionaries use the name of the peasants' associations to stir up trouble or
fabricate false accusations, the peasants' associations at all levels should request
that the government eliminate them at once. It is imperative not to let them
spread. This order must be carried out thoroughly.

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