Opinions on the Land Question[1]

(August 18, 1927)

1. The confiscation of land must have its targets. In China, there are few big landlords and many small landlords. If only the land of the big landlords is confiscated, then there will not be many whose land is confiscated, and the amount of land confiscated will be small. Yet many poor peasants demand land. Confiscating only the land of the big landlords cannot satisfy the demands and needs of the peasants. To be able to fully win over the peasants, it is necessary to confiscate the land of the landlords and hand it over to the peasants.

2. As for the method of confiscating land, a land program must be formulated by the Revolutionary Committee (our Party), and the entire set of measures shall be carried out by the Peasant Associations or the Revolutionary Committee. 3. This program for the confiscation of land must include a proper method for settling those landlords whose land has been confiscated. Therefore, it is advocated that for landlords who are unable to work, or whose working capacity is insufficient, as well as the elderly and weak, the Peasant Associations should levy a certain amount of agricultural produce within the agricultural tax and distribute it equally to such persons. 4. Announce the abolition of all kinds of harsh taxes imposed on the peasants, and levy an agricultural tax.

[1] This is part of the opinions expressed by Mao Zedong during the discussion of the Hunan peasant question (the land question) at the first meeting of the reorganized Hunan Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China.