The Problem of Vagrants

(June 1930)

1. The Vagrant Problem Has Become a Serious Issue in the Struggle

In various places, especially in the Red Army, as the struggle develops, the problem of vagrants has become a very serious issue. Many comrades hold incorrect views on this matter, such as: "Vagrants can fight, so we should not exclude them," "People from all walks of life can be accepted; if they break the law, just punish them," "As long as the officers lead well, the composition of the soldiers is not important," "There is no need to strike at vagrants now; it will not be too late to strike at them during the general insurrection." These erroneous statements are frequently heard in the Red Army. Based on the vagrant elements within the Red Army, many mistaken political and organizational concepts have arisen, such as roving-bandit ideology, the purely military viewpoint, flightism, the policy of burning and killing, the policy of corporal punishment, the system of punitive measures, individual hedonism, individual heroism, small-group mentality, and extreme democratization. These are extremely detrimental to the revolution. Especially at a time when the revolutionary high tide is rapidly approaching and we are intensifying preparations for a nationwide general insurrection to strive for national victory, if various right-leaning opportunist vagrant ideologies are not overcome and vagrant elements are not purged, the future of the struggle will face many dangers.

2. The Social Status and Role of Vagrants

Many comrades have very vague notions about vagrants and lack a clear understanding of them, making it impossible to determine the correct strategy toward vagrants. Therefore, a detailed analysis of vagrants is a prerequisite for deciding on a strategy toward them.

(1) The Origin of Vagrants

In semi-colonial China, the cruel exploitation by imperialism has caused the massive bankruptcy of peasants and handicraftsmen, creating a huge unemployed population. Since there is no large-scale national industry to absorb them, this unemployed population has no way out, thus giving rise to large numbers of vagrants.

(2) The Social Occupations and Characteristics of Vagrants

Vagrants engage in about thirty types of improper occupations: 1. bandits, 2. thieves, 3. prostitutes, 4. soldier riffraff, 5. actors, 6. runners, 7. gamblers, 8. beggars (the above eight categories are large groups; the following are smaller in number), 9. litigation tricksters, 10. local constables, 11. middlemen (with some exceptions), 12. operators of opium dens, 13. water-pipe tobacco servers, 14. diviners, 15. fortune-tellers, 16. physiognomists, 17. geomancers (with some exceptions), 18. jugglers, 19. sellers of fake plasters, 20. martial arts performers (with a small number of exceptions), 21. itinerant scholars, 22. secret agents, 23. swindlers, 24. confidence tricksters, 25. unscrupulous matchmakers, 26. human traffickers, 27. Buddhist monks (with some exceptions), 28. Taoist priests (with some exceptions), 29. sorceresses (witches), 30. religious sectarians (with some exceptions).

In the current debate, the so-called vagrants should be limited to the above categories. Their numbers, on average, account for about 5 percent of the total social population, amounting to approximately 20 million nationwide. Their characteristics are: (1) they are detached from production; (2) their occupations are improper and unstable, relying on "swindling," "plundering," and "begging" for a living; (3) their lives are irregular.

(3) The Factional Organizations of Vagrants

To strive for their social survival status, the vagrant masses have formed various secret societies, such as the Qingbang and Hongbang along the Yangtze River; the San Dian Hui in Fujian, Guangdong, Jiangxi, Guangxi, and Southeast Asia; the Gelao Hui in Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan, Hunan, Hubei, Shaanxi, and Gansu; the Zhi Gong Tang in Fujian, Guangdong, and Southeast Asia; the Fuzi Hui in Fujian; the Dadao Hui in Jiangsu, Anhui, Shandong, and Henan; the Zaili Hui in the Hebei region; the bandits in the three northeastern provinces; the Red Spear Society and similar groups in the northern provinces; the Sanhe Hui and Tiandi Hui in the southern provinces; the Hanliu Hui along the shores of Dongting Lake; the Ku Klux Klan in Shanghai; the Lanhua Hui in Nanchang; the Qinglong Hui in southern Hunan; and the Butterfly Flower-Picking Group in Changsha. These go by various names and exist everywhere, but their organizations are very loose, disunited, and often feudal in nature.

(4) The Characteristics of Vagrants

First, they are anti-organizational (anti-discipline, anti-solidarity; advocating individual freedom). Second, they embrace individual hedonism (excessive whoring, gambling, eating, and dressing). Third, they have a strong mercenary nature. Fourth, they are highly destructive. Fifth, their class consciousness is vague. Sixth, they are anti-mass. Seventh, they are anti-socialist. Eighth, they adhere to blind actionism (indiscriminate burning, killing, and looting). Ninth, they follow roving-bandit ideology (lacking any concept of political power). The above nine characteristics of vagrants are not independent of one another but are interrelated, all stemming from the class status and social occupations of vagrants.

(5) Vagrants and the Revolution

Based on the above analysis, it can be concluded that vagrants do not possess an active revolutionary nature. On the contrary, generally speaking, they have a sufficient counter-revolutionary nature. When they have no other choice, they may opportunistically join the revolutionary ranks, but they are always wavering and may at any time betray the revolution and become running dogs of the counter-revolution.

3. The Party’s Strategy Toward Vagrants

Once we understand the social status of vagrants and their role in the revolution, we can determine the strategy for dealing with them. The Party’s overall strategy toward vagrants should be: to wrest the vagrants from under the ruling class, provide them with land and work, compel them to labor, and change their social conditions, thereby transforming them from vagrants into non-vagrants.

Under special circumstances, they may be temporarily utilized to detach them from the position of the ruling class, after which appropriate measures can be taken against them, or their strength may be temporarily used to undermine the ruling class. However, under no circumstances can any political concessions be made to vagrants.

When vagrants engage in counter-revolutionary conspiracies, or when there is a possibility of counter-revolutionary actions, or when they obstruct mass struggles to the extent that the struggles cannot rise unless they are eliminated, or when they oppress the masses under the guise of the revolution, or when they resolutely aid the counter-revolution and oppose the revolutionary masses to the very end, they must be eliminated without hesitation. Not only their leaders but, if necessary, part or even all of their masses must be eliminated.

The Red Army and the Red Guards are important tools for the revolutionary masses to seize and defend political power. The members of these important tools must be entirely composed of revolutionary workers and peasants, with no vagrants mixed in. The current Red Army and Red Guards contain a considerable number of vagrant elements, who are the most serious violators of discipline. Their interests run counter to the interests of the entire struggling masses. In combat, they also show timidity and reluctance to advance. Although they sometimes display bravery, their bravery is motivated by personal considerations, not by class tasks. Blind actionism and roving-bandit ideology in guerrilla warfare are both manifestations of their behavior. Every time there is an incident of desertion with weapons, it is also their doing. If such elements are not purged and replaced by revolutionary workers and peasants joining the Red Army and Red Guards, thereby changing the composition of the Red Army and Red Guards, then such a Red Army and Red Guards will be very dangerous. Only by purging them can we strengthen the Red Army and Red Guards to carry out the great class tasks. Only by eliminating these anti-disciplinary and anti-organizational elements can we win over the masses on a larger scale, making them willing to join the Red Army and fulfilling the tasks of expanding the Red Army and broadening the struggle. Although this does not mean that all vagrant elements in the current Red Army must be expelled within twenty-four hours, it is necessary to systematically replace vagrants with revolutionary workers and peasants and resolutely oppose sheltering vagrants within the Party. We must criticize erroneous and bizarre notions such as harboring the illusion that vagrants "still have revolutionary hope," advocating that "people from all walks of life can join the Red Army," "do not strike at vagrants during guerrilla warfare; only strike at them during the general insurrection," "as long as the officers lead well, the composition of the soldiers is not important," and such absurd ideas as "if we do not want vagrants now, we will not want peasants in the future, nor workers in the future, leaving only the Communist Party."

We must exert great efforts to eliminate the erroneous political and organizational concepts arising from the vagrant elements, such as roving-bandit ideology, the purely military viewpoint, flightism, the policy of burning and killing, the system of corporal punishment, the system of punitive measures, individual hedonism, individual heroism, small-group mentality, and extreme democratization. At the same time, those with fewer vagrant habits should receive appropriate education.

Within the Party and among the masses in general, we must enhance education and propaganda against vagrants, creating a strong atmosphere of opposition to vagrants. In particular, within the Party, we must purge vagrant elements, overcome vagrant ideology, and clearly recognize that the struggle against vagrant ideology for leadership is the most serious task in the Red Army at present. Only in this way can we ensure that the Red Army, as a tool, is used by the worker and peasant class and is not led astray by vagrants, causing the revolution to fail.