In economically backward, semi-colonial China, agriculture still constituted the bulk of the national economy, with over eighty percent of the population being peasants.
Chinese farmers suffered triple exploitation—by imperialism, warlordism, and the landlord class—leading to extreme poverty and a burning desire for liberation.
Consequently, the primary objective of the Chinese Nationalist Revolution was to liberate the peasantry; without such liberation, the revolution could never be brought to completion.
The Kuomintang, as the leading party of the Nationalist Revolution, bore the solemn mission of achieving this goal.
At its reorganization in January 1924, the First National Congress issued a manifesto that accorded particular attention to the peasant question.
In January 1926, the Second National Congress adopted a platform concerning the peasant movement.
That October, a joint meeting of central and provincial committees released a new political program containing eleven specific provisions safeguarding peasant interests.
Over the past three years, KMT members have engaged in peasant mobilization, establishing peasant associations and rallying vast rural masses to join the Nationalist Revolution in defense of their own rights.
This organizational drive has spread almost nationwide, significantly broadening the revolutionary tide and facilitating the smooth progress of the revolution.
Such success stemmed from the fact that peasants endured the deepest suffering and most ardently sought emancipation, while our Party was uniquely positioned to champion their interests, expand their organizations, and lead their actions.
Recently, peasant uprisings have erupted with unprecedented vigor across the country.
Particularly in Hunan, Hubei, and Jiangxi provinces, there has been tremendous growth within a short span of time.
Along the lower Yangtze River and throughout northern China, as the Northern Expedition advances, peasants are sure to rise rapidly and become a principal force supporting the revolution.
The first concrete action taken by peasants in joining the revolution, aside from participating in combat to assist the revolutionary army in securing victories, has been to overthrow local tyrants and evil gentry and to dismantle the feudal landlord class’s special privileges in the countryside.
This feudal landlord class is the very group that directly exploits peasants most ruthlessly; all exploitation perpetrated by imperialists, warlords, and corrupt officials relies upon this class to be effective.
Thus, the feudal landlords constitute the true foundation of imperialism, warlordism, corruption, and all counter-revolutionary forces.
Unless their power is overthrown, even if these forces suffer formal defeats, the underlying conditions sustaining them will remain intact, constantly threatening to alter the character of the revolution.
For centuries, peasants have been subjected to the rule of feudal landlords.
Without abolishing the latter’s authority in rural areas, any economic struggles—such as demands for rent and interest reductions—would be virtually impossible to initiate.
Therefore, the revolution necessitates a profound transformation of the countryside: every village must undergo a sweeping change whereby the activities of local tyrants, illegal landlords, and other counter-revolutionaries are completely suppressed under the weight of peasant power.
Rural governance should be transferred from the hands of these reactionary elements to those of the peasants themselves, with democratic self-governing bodies led by peasants established at the village level.
This is the sole path to completing democratic politics.
Our Party is firmly resolved to lead this struggle to ultimate victory.
To ensure that peasants, as representatives of democratic forces, can successfully contend against local tyrants and illegal landlords—the embodiment of feudal forces—and secure victory in this struggle, it is essential that peasants be armed.
Peasants ought to organize self-defense units.
The armed forces of the landlord class, such as militia groups and local defense bureaus, must be disarmed and their weapons turned over to the peasants.
Moreover, our Party should endeavor to enable peasants to acquire arms at low cost.
In short, equipping peasants with sufficient means to defend their interests serves as a genuine guarantee of both rural revolutionary victory and the triumph of democratic forces over feudalism.
Following their political victory, peasants will inevitably embark on economic struggles aimed at resisting exploitation by imperialism, warlordism, and especially the landlord class—a form of exploitation accounting for more than fifty percent of their total burden.
It is the Party’s task to lead peasants in this resistance.
A resolution passed at a recent joint meeting sets forth the following policies: first, reduce tenant rents by fifteen percent; second, prohibit usury, limiting annual interest rates to no more than ten percent; third, ban advance payments of rent; fourth, prohibit the pre-collection of taxes and grain; fifth, abolish the system of contracted farming.
The meeting also decided that tenants should be granted rights to use the land, that tax laws should be improved, and that peasant self-governing bodies be endowed with jurisdiction over various local economic matters.
These constitute the initial framework for peasant economic struggle, which our Party must lead to success after the political struggle has been won.
Within areas under the jurisdiction of the Nationalist government, political measures should be employed to help peasants achieve their goals.
Furthermore, due to the rapid progress of the revolution, peasant demands have swiftly advanced from preliminary stages to concrete steps, resulting in serious land disputes in many regions.
Historically, the peasant question in China has centered on the plight of impoverished farmers.
The number of such poor peasants has continued to grow in recent years.
Utterly destitute, landless peasants, together with near-poor peasants who possess meager holdings insufficient for subsistence, now comprise the vast majority of the rural population.
The existence of this massive impoverished class lies at the root of all social unrest and turmoil, while simultaneously serving as a crucial driving force behind the revolution.
Until the problem of impoverished peasants is resolved, social chaos will persist, and the revolution will remain perpetually incomplete.
At the heart of this issue is the land question.
In provinces under Nationalist control, particularly in Guangdong, Hunan, and Hubei—where the peasant movement has flourished—impoverished peasants are increasingly pressing for access to land.
Land scarcity among poor peasants in the north is equally acute.
Comrade Sun Yat-sen, our Party’s leader, recognized this long ago, proposing a decade earlier the principle of “equal distribution of land” as a core component of the revolutionary program.
The First National Congress manifesto stated: “Peasants who have lost their land and been reduced to tenant status shall be provided with land by the state for cultivation.”
In his lectures on People’s Livelihood, he further advanced the slogan “land to the tiller,” fully understanding that peasants’ ultimate demand centers on land; without land, they cannot sustain their revolutionary efforts to final success.
Accordingly, our Party has resolved to vigorously champion peasants’ struggle for land until the land question is thoroughly resolved.
Impoverished peasants not only lack land but also lack capital.
As the revolution progresses, wealthier rural classes have grown increasingly reluctant to lend, with credit often becoming entirely unavailable in many areas, leaving poor peasants in a state of constant anxiety.
Without a concrete policy to address this capital shortage, the problem cannot be solved.
The First National Congress manifesto declared: “For peasants whose lack of capital forces them into high-interest loans that trap them in lifelong debt, the state shall establish relief institutions, such as peasant banks, to meet their needs.”
The joint meeting’s platform likewise included a dedicated provision for peasant banks, stipulating loans at an annual interest rate of five percent.
Our Party will, as soon as possible in territories under revolutionary control, urge local governments to establish peasant banks and other lending institutions offering extremely favorable terms, thereby alleviating the capital constraints faced by peasants.
In conclusion, the completion of the Nationalist Revolution hinges on the collective uprising of peasants nationwide.
Our Party has consistently stood with the peasants, defending their interests and supporting all legitimate forms of struggle.
We are committed to stripping away the privileges of the exploitative classes that oppress the peasantry, reducing their grip on exploitation, and ensuring tangible liberation for every oppressed peasant.
This has always been our Party’s historic mission, and we shall carry it out without hesitation.
Proposers: Standing Committee Members of the Central Peasant Movement Committee—Deng Yanda, Chen Kewen, Mao Zedong.
Actions to be taken:  — Transfer power from counter-revolutionary forces to peasant self-governing bodies.  — Establish armed self-defense units for peasants to protect their interests.  — Formulate a platform for peasant economic struggle, beginning with Article 3, which outlines the establishment of township-level self-governing organs.  — Recognize that impoverished peasants now constitute the majority of the rural population, potentially reaching seventy percent.  — Advocate for “equal distribution of land”—see page 1; note that “cannot” and “insufficient” are crossed out.  — Promote the establishment of peasant banks and similar institutions.  — Ensure that every oppressed peasant receives concrete assistance toward liberation.  — Proposed by Mao Zedong ([Hankou Min Guo Daily—no text above the declaration for peasants, No. 271).