Xingguo Investigation[1]

(October 1930)

Preface

In September 1930, the First Front Army of the Red Army returned to Jiangxi from attacking Changsha. In early October, we captured Ji’an and advanced into the Yuanshui River basin. Many peasants from Xingguo came to join the Red Army, and I took this opportunity to conduct an investigation of Yongfeng District, the 10th District of Xingguo. I gathered eight individuals—Fu Jiting, Li Changying, Wen Fengzhang, Chen Zhenshan, Zhong Dewu, Huang Dachun, Chen Beiping, and Lei Hanxiang—for an investigation meeting. The investigation took place at the end of October 1930, and the meeting was held in Luofang, Xinyu County, lasting one week. Yongfeng District lies at the junction of Xingguo, Ganxian, and Wan’an counties and is divided into four townships: the former Lingyuan District is the First Township, Dongjiang District the Second Township, Sankeng District the Third Township, and Jiangtuan District the Fourth Township, with Yongfeng Market in the Second Township serving as the political and economic center of the district. Population distribution: 3,000 in the First Township, 800 in the Second Township, 3,000 in the Third Township, and 2,000 in the Fourth Township, totaling 8,800. This district lies at the intersection of Xingguo, Ganxian, and Wan’an. Understanding this district means understanding Ganxian and Wan’an counties as well, and the overall situation of the land struggle throughout southern Jiangxi is much the same. The determination of practical policies must be based on specific conditions. Things imagined while sitting indoors

and things written in superficial written reports seen in rough outline are by no means specific conditions. If policies are decided based on "taking things for granted" or on reports that do not correspond to reality, that is dangerous. In the past, many mistakes were made in the Red areas, all because the Party’s guidance did not match the actual situation. Therefore, detailed, scientific, practical investigation is absolutely essential. Generally speaking, this investigation was still not very in-depth, but it was more in-depth than my previous investigations. First, I conducted a survey of eight families, something I had never done before. In fact, without such an investigation, there can be no basic concept of the countryside. Second, I investigated the performance of various classes in the land struggle, something I had done in the Xunwu Investigation but had not completed. The shortcomings of this investigation are that I did not investigate the conditions of children and women, did not investigate trading conditions and price comparisons, did not investigate the state of agricultural production after land distribution, and did not investigate cultural conditions. These were originally to be investigated, but because the enemy attacked Luofang and the Red Army decided on the policy of luring the enemy deep into our territory, our investigation meeting had to end. The materials below were obtained as follows: I proposed the outline of the investigation, asked questions one by one, and added discussion. All conclusions were proposed by me, agreed upon by the eight comrades, and then written down. Some did not reach conclusions and merely recounted their replies. Our investigation meetings were lively and interesting, held twice or even three times a day, sometimes going very late into the night, and they did not feel tired. I should deeply thank these comrades. Some of them are Communist Party members, but most are not.

January 26, 1931, at Xiaobu Market, Ningdu, written after compilation.

Xingguo Investigation

Mao Zedong

In 1930, based on an investigation of eight peasant families, Mao Zedong compiled the article "Xingguo Investigation." The picture shows a separate edition of "Xingguo Investigation."

I. Observations on Eight Families

Fu Jiting

A native of the First Township, 10th District. He runs a small slaughterhouse but has no capital. Five people to feed. He has 23 dan of grain land, from which he must pay 3 dan in rent, keeping 20 dan. Each of the five people needs 7 dan to eat, totaling 35 dan, leaving a shortfall of 15 dan, which he makes up through the slaughterhouse business. For each pig slaughtered, he can earn about 1.3 yuan (now there are no large pigs to slaughter, so each pig only earns about 0.5 yuan). The five people are: his father (80 years old), his wife (cooks, raises pigs, gathers firewood, washes and mends clothes, cannot plow the fields), his son (5 years old), his daughter (1 year old), and himself (39 years old, plows the fields and also slaughters pigs). In addition to his own land, he rents 5 dan of grain land from others and must hire a month’s worth of casual labor each year to help farm. His mother died five years ago; at the time of her death, they spent over 100 yuan in small silver coins. Apart from what his brothers contributed, he borrowed 50 yuan in small silver coins, and with compound interest, it has now grown to 150 yuan this year. Of the 23 dan of grain land, 17 dan are his own, and 6 dan are "withdrawn-foot land," which is public land of the Zhong family in Bailu (under Ganxian County, 10 li from the First Township of the 10th District). For the 6 dan, he paid a deposit of 6 yuan in small silver coins per dan, totaling 36 yuan, and in addition pays 3 dan in rent each year (50 percent).

In March last year, when the revolution failed, he fled to the mountains in Juncun to help others clear mountain land. In September, when the Red Army came to Xingguo, he returned home. The Jingwei dogs[1] had fled into the mountains, and land had not been distributed. In February this year (March in the solar calendar), when the Red Army attacked Ganzhou, land was distributed in February. He did not receive any additional land, but the 3 dan of rent no longer had to be paid, and the 150 yuan debt no longer had to be repaid. At the same time, the 36 yuan deposit was not recovered. Starting in February, he served as the land section chief in the village government for three months, helping others distribute land. From April, he served as a squadron leader in the Red Guards, with spears but no guns, for three months. On June 15, he led his unit in one attack on the Jingwei dogs in Xingguo County. In June,

the Red Guards were reorganized into the Red Army reserve force, and he served as a platoon leader for over a month, then as a company commander. At that time, the First Township organized two companies. In August, they attacked Qifang, and he led his unit in the attack and won. This time (October in the solar calendar), he set out for Xinyu as a battalion commander. He cannot afford to be separated from production, and his meat accounts have not been properly settled with others. He wants to return home and is unwilling to serve in the Red Army.

He has studied for six years and can barely read a newspaper.

Li Changying

A native of Pengwudong, First Township, 10th District.

Six people in the family. He himself is 48 years old and plows the fields. His wife is also 48, suffers from heart pain, and can only cook, wash clothes, and feed the pigs. His son is 20 years old, plows the fields, is very dull, and cannot plan or calculate. His daughter-in-law is 20 years old, gathers firewood daily, and cannot plow the fields. His daughter, 12 years old, was married off in June this year to a Wu family 40 li away. His second son, 3 years old, died in April this year. Now only four people are left to feed.

He has 30 dan of grain land of his own and borrows 20 dan of grain land from his younger brother Li Changfen. Because Li Changfen’s land is poor and insufficient to cover expenses, he has gone to Luokeng in Taihe to farm. Li Changfen’s 20 dan of grain land is flood-prone and can only yield 13 dan of grain, with 9 dan of rent to be measured out. Li Changfen owes a debt of 1,200 mao, and the 9 dan of rent are used to pay the interest on Changfen’s behalf. His own 30 dan of grain land, being mountain terraces prone to collapse, actually yields only 17 dan. Adding the actual yield of 4 dan from Changfen’s land, the total is 21 dan, all wet grain (unhusked grain). At a 70 percent conversion rate, this becomes 15 dan of dry grain, and even in a good year, it is only 17 dan. The six people need 40 dan of grain to eat each year, leaving a shortfall of more than half, which they make up with sweet potatoes, harvesting about 30 piculs of sweet potatoes annually. They raise one pig, feed it until December, sell it to others, and use the money to buy oil and salt. They usually cannot eat meat; they only buy meat to eat at Qingming (4 mao), transplanting time (15 mao), Dragon Boat Festival (3 mao), eating the new grain (10 mao), mid-July (2-3 mao), Mid-Autumn Festival (2-3 mao), harvest time (20 mao), Double Ninth Festival (2-3 mao), and New Year (30 mao). For eating the new grain, they must buy 10 mao worth of meat because they need to

hire labor to plant sweet potatoes. For transplanting and harvesting, they must hire labor. They need to hire 20 workdays a year. Besides doing their own work, father and son must also help the second brother’s family farm 20 dan of grain land, spending 81 workdays each year (for each dan of grain, good land requires 3 workdays, poor land requires 4 workdays). Because the second brother has died, leaving behind his wife, Changying’s second son has been adopted by her, and the 80 workdays are unpaid. Apart from doing their own work and the work for the second brother’s wife, they have no extra energy to work for others.

They owe a debt of 1,200 mao, owed to the public granary, and pay 7.5 dan of grain in interest each year (for every 160 mao borrowed, 1 dan of grain is measured as interest, with each dan priced at 24 mao). At the end of each year, they sell a pig for over 20 yuan. Apart from taking 6-7 yuan to buy salt and oil, the rest is used to pay the grain interest to the public granary. The village’s new public granary and old public granary each have over 30 dan of grain, totaling over 70 dan.

In March this year, land was distributed. Each of the six people received 7 dan of grain, totaling 42 dan. That is, Changfen’s share of land was completely given to Changying, and the debt Changfen owed, for which Changying paid the interest, was also abolished, as was the 1,200 mao debt to the public granary. The 42 dan of grain land is poor land, yielding only 60 percent, about 25 dan of grain. Together with sweet potatoes, it is barely enough to eat.

In August this year, an official communication came from southwestern Jiangxi to redistribute land, taking from the fertile to supplement the lean. His family lost one son and married off one daughter, leaving only four people. Each received 6 dan and 1 bucket (4 buckets make 1 dan), totaling 25 dan of grain. Some of his poor land was transferred to others, and some good land from others was transferred to him. This time the land distribution was even. Why did each person receive 7 dan in March but only 6 dan and 1 bucket in August? Because with the victory of the revolution, 12 peasants from Pengwudong who had earlier gone to Taihe to farm returned at this time. Since the revolution had not yet occurred in Taihe and they heard that Xingguo had had a revolution and land was being distributed, they all came back, so each person’s land in the village was distributed a little less.

Pengwudong has only four surnames: Yi, Li, Qiu, and Zheng, totaling over 130 people, and there is no village government.

He does not handle any affairs in the township government. His son Li Quanpo manages the weapons (spears, bird guns, knives, etc.) for the Pengwudong area in the township government.

For the attacks on Xingguo and Liangkou, his son set out; for the attacks on Qifang and Nanchang, it was his turn to set

Xingguo Investigation

out. He is willing to serve in the Red Army, but he needs to request one month’s leave to return home and buy a young ox so he can plow the fields. This is because one of his oxen fell and died on June 27 this year. He had bought it the year before last for 23 yuan, and after it died, he sold the beef for 10 yuan. In June, he spent 12 yuan to buy another ox, but it also fell and died in July, and he sold the beef for 8 yuan (which he has not yet collected). He must buy another young ox to plow the fields, so he wants to request one month’s leave to go back once, and then return to serve in the Red Army.

"Thanks to the Red Army’s grace," an ox that used to cost 70 yuan can now be bought for just 20 yuan. "Thanks to the Red Army’s grace," everything is cheaper. Oil used to be 23 yuan per picul (100 jin), but now it is only 10 yuan per picul. Grain used to be 4 yuan per dan, but now it is 1 yuan per dan (3 copper coins per sheng of rice). Firewood used to be 20 wen per jin, but now it is 8 wen per jin. Meat used to be 530 wen per jin, but now it is 320 wen per jin. Only salt, cloth, and the like are extremely expensive. Salt used to be 320 wen per jin, but now it is 800 wen per jin. Cloth: white cotton cloth used to be 140 wen per chi, but now it is 320 wen per chi.

Wen Fengzhang

A native of the Fourth Township (Houjing), 10th District. Houjing has over 300 people and has a township government.

Four people to feed.

His father is 56 years old, has leg pain, and cannot do any work at all. His mother is 46 years old, cannot see, and apart from feeding the pigs, can do no other work. He himself is 20 years old, plows the fields, and starting in March this year served as the captain of the Young Pioneers. From July, he served as the finance committee member in the township government. In October, he set out to attack Nanchang and served as the acting company commander of the Red Army reserve force. His wife is 16 years old, cooks, gathers firewood, tends the ox, and does not help plow the fields.

He has 8 dan of "withdrawn-foot" grain land. He does not know how much his father paid as a deposit, but they pay 2.5 dan in rent each year (dry grain). Originally, it was 8 dan of wet grain land, but because it is good land, it can yield 8 dan of dry grain. The four people need 28 dan to eat each year, leaving a shortfall of 20 dan. He rents 120 dan of grain land from the landlord, with no deposit

required, but must measure out rent. The 120 dan are all flood-prone land, actually yielding only 90 dan of wet grain (harvested once a year). At an 80 percent conversion rate, this becomes 72 dan of dry grain, from which 55 dan of rent must be measured out (a rent rate of 75 percent), leaving 17 dan, which is not enough to eat. From June to July, they harvest the grain. Although they harvest it, after paying the rent and repaying last year’s borrowed grain, they immediately have nothing to eat. In August and September, they must borrow grain again. They borrow from rich peasants, and for borrowing one year, one dan must be repaid with three baskets. They need to borrow over 10 dan of grain each year. The 12 dan of grain borrowed last year, "thanks to the Red Army’s grace," no longer needs to be repaid. They owe a debt of 60 yuan, owed to the big landlord Liu Huarang, with interest of 1 dan of grain for every 10 yuan in silver coins, which now does not need to be repaid. Fortunately, they can harvest 40 piculs of sweet potatoes, and 3 piculs of sweet potatoes are equivalent to 1 dan of grain, totaling the equivalent of 13 dan of grain.

In March this year, the four people were distributed a total of 32 dan of grain land. Apart from their own 8 dan of "withdrawn-foot" land, they received an additional 24 dan. The method of distribution was to take the original 128 dan they farmed (120 dan rented from the landlord, 8 dan of their own), remove 96 dan to give to others, and leave 32 dan. The land removed was as much poor land as possible, and the land left was all good land. In August, during the redistribution, it was found that he had received too much and that it was too good, so 2 dan were removed, leaving 30 dan. Some good land was also removed and some poor land was added. "The township government distributes land very fairly."

When he used to farm 120 *dan* of grain land, he was terribly busy himself. During the three seasons of transplanting rice seedlings, harvesting rice, and planting sweet potatoes, he still had to hire laborers. For transplanting seedlings, he hired six or seven laborers; for harvesting rice, over thirty laborers; for planting sweet potatoes (early and late crops), over thirty laborers—amounting to over seventy laborers in total. The ten-plus laborers exchanged for mutual aid during seedling transplanting and sweet potato planting ("I help you, you help me") are not even included. Now he only farms 30 *dan* of grain land. Not only does he no longer need to hire laborers, he doesn't need mutual aid either, and he himself no longer toils as bitterly as before. For instance, if his past hardship was three parts, now it is only one part. He has a lot of free time and manages finances in the township government, handling some public affairs. He set out for the attacks on Xingguo, Liangkou, and this time on Nanchang.

He has four years of schooling, can recognize half of the slogans, and can keep accounts.

Chen Zhenshan

From Zhige Temple, Second Township, Tenth District.

The Second Township has a total of 800 people. The township government is located at Yongfeng Market.

Seven people eat from his household. Three brothers, each with a wife; the eldest has a daughter. The eldest brother is 29 years old. Chen Zhenshan, the second brother, is 24; the third brother is 18. The eldest brother ran a stall selling oil and salt, set up at someone else's shop entrance, exclusively retailing small quantities of oil and salt. He borrowed 1,300 *mao* as capital but lost it all. "Taking advantage of the revolution," he didn't have to repay the debt, but the stall could no longer be operated. He is now a soldier in the 20th Army. The second brother has eight years of schooling. Before age 19, he tended cattle at home; from 19, he learned "geomancy" for five years. He served as a propagandist in the township government and, on this expedition, serves as a company political commissar. The third brother was an apprentice bamboo craftsman for three years and is now a soldier in the 20th Army. The eldest brother's wife cooks, gathers firewood, and grows vegetables. The second brother's wife does the same tasks as above and now serves as the captain of the Women's Red Guards in the township government. The third brother's wife is only nine years old. The eldest brother's daughter is two years old.

They own 20 *dan* of grain land and rent an additional 10 *dan* (paying 5 *dan* in rent grain), managed by the eldest brother. Yongfeng Market convenes every three days. On market days, the eldest brother goes to sell oil and salt once; after the market, he farms at home. Besides farming himself, the eldest brother had to hire 80 laborers annually to help.

They owed a debt of 1,300 *mao*, requiring 10 *dan* of grain as interest. Annually, the land yielded 30 *dan* of grain. After paying 5 *dan* in rent grain and 10 *dan* in interest grain, only 15 *dan* remained. Of the seven people, excluding the third brother who worked as a bamboo craftsman away from home, six needed 42 *dan* to eat, leaving a shortfall of 27 *dan*. They relied on the eldest brother's oil and salt business and the second brother's geomancy earnings to make up the difference. The third brother, still in his apprenticeship, could not earn money.

The revolution began in February last year. Both the eldest and second brothers participated; the eldest served as grain section chief of the peasant association, the second as a propagandist. Several women all supported the revolution because creditors had previously hounded them for debts so relentlessly they couldn't celebrate the New Year. When they heard about resisting rent, taxes, grain levies, and debts, they were delighted in their hearts, and thus supported the eldest and second brothers in revolution. The third brother is an honest man who does whatever others say; at that time, he did not participate in the revolution. In April, the revolution failed. When the Jingwei dogs came, the eldest brother fled to Juncun to help others with mountain forestry work, and the second brother fled to Guanchao in Taihe, where he practiced geomancy and earned seventy or eighty *yuan*. In December last year, the Red Army occupied Xingguo again. The eldest and second brothers returned home and resumed revolutionary work. When the revolution failed,

six rooms of their house were burned down by the Jingwei dogs.

In March this year, land was distributed. Besides their own 20 *dan* of grain land, they received an additional 29 *dan*, totaling 49 *dan*, with each person getting 7 *dan*. When the women saw the land distributed, with no more rent to measure out and no more debts to repay, they were immensely happy in their hearts. The second brother's wife gladly went to the township government to serve as captain of the Women's Red Guards. The land distributed in March was all good land. In August, it was redistributed, mixing good and bad evenly. Half the good land was swapped out, and half bad land was swapped in, still 7 *dan* per person. The women were still pleased. Because the women themselves worked in the government and often said others should mix good and bad land evenly, they also approved when their own land was evened out.

The eldest brother, second brother, third brother, and the second brother's wife all left home for revolutionary work. Only three women remained at home: the eldest brother's wife, her daughter, and the youngest brother's wife. None had farming ability, so the township government sent people to farm their land. Those with more labor power in the township were dispatched to farm; they farmed the Chen family's land first, then their own, and farmed it very well. The people sent to farm ate at the Chen family's table. Of the seven people, four ate away from home. The 7 *dan* of grain belonging to each of these four was thus left over, sold off, and the money used to buy oil, salt, and cloth.

Zhong Dewu

From Third Township (Sankeng), Tenth District.

There are eleven people in his family. He himself is 28 years old and has seven years of schooling. He worked as a *xiansheng* (bookkeeper) in a Wang family grocery store in Bailu (30 *li* from Sankeng), earning an annual salary of 60 *xiaoyang*. Including his time as an apprentice and as a *xiansheng*, he worked there for thirteen years in total. In March last year, when the Red Army came to Bailu, he followed them home and has lived at home since. His mother is 57, old, and looks after the small children. His elder brother, Lao Ba, is 31 and farms. Lao Ba's wife is 32; she cooks, gathers firewood, washes clothes, and does not farm. Two nephews: one is 9 and attends school; the other is 3. His wife is 28; she cooks, gathers firewood, and feeds

the pigs. Two sons: one is 7 and attends school; the other is 2. The eldest nephew has taken a wife, aged 9, who looks after the small children. One niece, aged 2. Among these eleven people, only Lao Ba can farm, and he himself can do business; the rest all lack productive capacity.

They own only 30 *dan* of grain land and rent 36 *dan* from others, totaling 66 *dan*. For the rented land, they pay 60% rent, amounting to 21 *dan* 6 *dou*, which is converted to money and given to the landlord, keeping the grain. Annually, they can harvest over 40 *dan* of sweet potatoes. Eleven people need 77 *dan* to eat. Raising chickens, feeding pigs, brewing liquor, hiring laborers, entertaining guests, etc., require about 20 *dan* annually, totaling a need of around 100 *dan*. Income and expenditure balanced against each other leaves a shortfall of over 20 *dan*. The whole family's annual expenses for salt, cloth, labor wages, grain purchases, and all social obligations total about 150-160 *yuan*. Within this, salt costs over 20 to 30 *yuan*, cloth over 30 *yuan*, buying 25-26 *dan* of grain at about 3 *yuan* per *dan* costs over 70 *yuan*, plus over 20 *yuan* for social expenses. The sources of this 150-160 *yuan* are: 60 *yuan* salary remitted from the Bailu shop, 20 *yuan* in dividends, over 10 *yuan* from planting miscellaneous crops like beans, over 10 *yuan* surplus from raising pigs after keeping meat for their own consumption, and over 10 *yuan* annually from selling pine firewood—totaling about 120 *yuan*. They must go into debt by 30-40 *yuan* each year. His family previously owed a total debt of over 200 *yuan*.

They used to have 46 *dan* of grain land. Ten years ago, they sold 7 *dan* (at 10 *yuan* per *dan*), and the year before last, they sold another 9 *dan* (at 12 *yuan* per *dan*), leaving only 30 *dan*. Lao Ba's farming labor power is still insufficient; every year they need to hire over 120 odd-job laborers, at 240 *wen* per laborer, costing over 28 strings of cash annually in wages.

In February this year (March in the solar calendar), the revolution succeeded. Each person was allocated 5.5 *dan* of grain land; eleven people received a total of 60 *dan* and 1 basket (including their own 30 *dan*). Because the land distribution this time in this township did not mix good and bad land evenly, it is now being redistributed and has not yet been finalized. This township has many people and little land; allocating 5.5 *dan* per person is insufficient for food. His family previously needed about 100 *dan* of grain annually for food and 150-160 *yuan* for miscellaneous expenses. The land distribution resulted in 60 *dan* and 1 basket of grain, 5.5 *dan* less than the 66 *dan* before the revolution. But not having to pay 21 *dan* in rent grain (converted to over 60 *yuan*) and not having to pay 40 *yuan* in interest (at 20% interest) on the over 200 *yuan* debt are benefits. The disadvantage is that the Wang family shop in Bailu

collapsed, leaving him with no work, reducing his annual income by 80 *yuan* (60 *yuan* salary, 20 *yuan* dividends). Comparing the two, life before and after the revolution is about the same. But after the revolution, miscellaneous expenses have decreased a lot. Brewing liquor, though still needed for hiring laborers, can be reduced somewhat. Cloth consumption has also decreased due to economizing on clothing. Although they still need to buy grain because their own is insufficient, the grain price has fallen greatly; one *dan* can be bought for 7 *mao*. Social expenses have also decreased considerably. So, whereas previously they needed 150-160 *yuan* for miscellaneous expenses, now it is probably reduced by half; 80 *yuan* a year is enough. (All money in Xingguo is calculated in *haoyang*.)

The March land distribution used the principle: "Take the original cultivation as the standard, draw from the surplus to supplement the deficient." Taking the village as the unit, this village had many people and little land, so they only achieved leaving the original cultivation untouched, without drawing from surplus to supplement deficiency. In the current redistribution, drawing some land from other villages, it is likely each person can get 7 *dan* of grain. If this can be achieved, food grain will be roughly sufficient.

In May, he was responsible for distributing mountain forests in the township government's land section (one of four forest distribution committee members). He distributed all the mountain forests of the Third Township. The method was decided by the township representative conference; he then went to each village to convene mass meetings and carried out the forest distribution in each village. Those who received more forest received less farmland; those who received more farmland received less forest. There were cases of receiving farmland but no forest, but no cases of receiving forest but no farmland; those who received forest always received at least a little farmland. In May, he served as a squadron leader in the Red Guard reserve force. In June, he served as a propagandist for the Independent Regiment. On this expedition to Xinyu, he again serves as a propagandist. He went on both the seventh and eighth attacks on Ji'an.

He is willing to go to the Red Army as a propagandist.

Huang Dachun

From Chagan Village, First Township, Tenth District.

This village has over 390 people.

Four people eat from his household. He himself is 36 years old and makes firecrackers for others. His mother is 54, has been ill for nine years, and cannot work. His wife is 31; she chops firewood and carries it to Bailu market to sell (Chagan is 10 *li* from Bailu). She sells it for money to buy rice for cooking. She also has to cook, grow vegetables, and wash clothes—extremely arduous. His younger brother is 32, a bamboo craftsman. He went to the 2nd Regiment as a Red Army soldier in March last year,

and there has been no news since.

The family has 5 *dan* of grain land, which he farms himself; they do not rent land from others.

He makes firecrackers for other people, hired as a day laborer at 1 *mao* 4 *fen* per day. If he works every day, he can earn 4 *yuan* per month. The second brother does bamboo work at 1 *mao* per day, smokes yellow tobacco, and buys clothes, with not much money left over.

After the revolution, firecracker making stopped, and the second brother also stopped bamboo work and became a soldier.

Previously, relying on making firecrackers and his wife chopping firewood to sell, working from the beginning of the year to the end, they couldn't get enough to eat. After land distribution, they have enough to eat. They owed a debt of 40 *yuan* to a rich peasant surnamed Chen, using the 5 *dan* of grain land as collateral. This rich peasant was extremely vicious and was beaten to death by the masses during the revolution. In March last year, a secret peasant association was organized; the Chagan Village peasant association had fifty or sixty members, and he served as a liaison in the association. In November last year, he served as a Red Guard captain; in April this year, as a land affairs officer; in June, as a platoon leader in the Red Army reserve force; in August, as a company commander in the reserve force. This time, he led the troops down to Xinyu.

In the March land distribution, each person only got 6.5 *dan*, all of it bad land. Also, because the original cultivators had already sown the seeds, they received 60% of the harvest, while new households only got 40%. In July (August in the solar calendar), redistribution occurred; each person received 7 *dan*, and they also got half good land swapped in.

He is a firecracker worker who lost his job. The second brother is a bamboo craftsman who switched to being a Red Army soldier; therefore, both received land distribution. Other employed workers also received land distribution, and in the same amount as peasants. This is because although workers are employed, their employment is unstable, and they often fear unemployment, so they demanded land distribution. Also, because workers who receive land cannot farm it themselves and must hire others to farm it, they need the same amount as others. At first, the peasants only agreed to give workers half the land. The workers said if they only got half the land, they would demand higher wages. Only then did the peasants say, "We agree to give you full land shares; don't demand higher wages."

Workers who received land have no oxen; they must borrow oxen from relatives and friends. They also lack plows and harrows and must borrow those too, so they feel the difficulty.

He has never attended school; he can only keep accounts.

Chen Beiping

From Third Township (Sankeng), Tenth District.

Eleven people. Three brothers, each with a wife, two nephews, one father, one mother, one grandmother. The eldest brother, 38, is a mason. The second brother, 31, farms. The third brother is Chen Beiping, 24 years old, with six and a half years of schooling—one and a half years in higher primary school, and teaching for five years in the township primary school. Father is 65. Mother is 62. The three brothers' wives cook, chop firewood, grow vegetables, and wash clothes at home; they do not farm. One nephew is 2 years old, the other is 3. Grandmother is 91.

They own 32 *dan* of grain land and rent 20 *dan* from others, paying 10 *dan* in rent. Two of the eleven people eat elsewhere; the young and old eat somewhat less. Therefore, 60 *dan* of grain annually is enough for food. Their income is only 42 *dan*, leaving a shortfall of about 20 *dan*. In addition, there are miscellaneous expenses: brewing liquor, hiring craftsmen, buying oil, salt, cloth, and sundry goods, giving gifts for weddings, funerals, and seasonal occasions, etc., requiring about 120 *yuan* annually. They rely on the eldest brother's wages of about 50 *yuan*, the third brother's teaching salary of about 50 *yuan*, income of about 20 *yuan* from mountain products like palm, firewood, bamboo, and timber, and about 20 *yuan* from a female buffalo giving birth to one calf annually—totaling about 140 *yuan*—to cover miscellaneous expenses and supplement the insufficient food grain.

They owe a debt of 80 *yuan* in *haoyang*.

Last year, the grandmother, mother, eldest brother's wife, and two nephews all died. Remaining are the three brothers, the second and third brothers' wives, plus the eldest brother's mother-in-law. Now six people eat from the household.

The March land distribution was based on nine people (at that time, there was one newborn son, one newborn nephew, and one newly married eldest sister-in-law, but all died in the latter half of this year). Each person got 5.5 *dan*, totaling 49 *dan* 5 *dou*. They owned 32 *dan* themselves and received an additional 17 *dan* 5 *dou*, all of it bad land. Currently, redistribution is underway; the investigation is complete, but the actual allocation has not yet been carried out.

The landlords and rich peasants fell, so no more houses are being built. The eldest brother lost his job and switched to farming. The newly established village people's

Xingguo Investigation

school still has teaching work for the third brother. Like government workers, he receives a food allowance of 1 *mao* per day, with no salary. The third brother (Chen Beiping) served as political commissar of the standing reserve force in March, as a propagandist in the township government in April, as head of the culture section in the township government in May, as secretary of the township government in June, returned home to teach in the intercalary sixth month, and went down to Xinyu in September as political commissar of the 2nd Company of the reserve force.

For the attacks on Huangtang and Langchuan, both the eldest and second brothers went.

Lei Hanxiang

From Third Township (Sankeng), Tenth District.

Five people in the household. Three brothers, one mother, and one sister-in-law. The eldest brother is forty-three years old, working one part as a hired farmhand for others and two parts farming his own land. The second brother is thirty-nine, working two parts as a hired farmhand and one part farming his own land. Lei Hanxiang is the third brother, twenty-five years old, apprenticed as a mason for two years, then returned home to work as a hired farmhand. The mother is seventy years old. The sister-in-law is thirty-four, cooking, gathering firewood, and growing vegetables.

They own seven and a half dan of grain land and rent forty-four dan of grain land from the ancestral hall. The rent on the ancestral hall land is 60 percent of the harvest.

They owe a debt of 1,200 mao, at 20 percent interest, borrowed from a rich peasant in the same village, Lei Zurong.

The eldest and second brothers do odd jobs for others. The eldest spends two-thirds of his time working at home, while the second spends no more than one-third. The third brother spends almost all his time doing odd jobs for others. The eldest brother manages the household.

On their own seven and a half dan of grain land, in a bad year they can only harvest six dan. The forty-four dan from the ancestral hall yield only 70 percent, totaling thirty dan. Although the harvest is reduced, the rent cannot be reduced; they still must pay 60 percent of the forty-four dan as rent, totaling twenty-six dan. After working the land, only four dan of grain remain for food. Together with the six dan from their own land, the total is no more than ten dan. The grain for food falls far short, and they also have to repay 240 mao in interest, making the family unbearably destitute.

The first way to supplement their livelihood is by relying on the eldest, second, and especially the third brother to earn some money working for others. The third brother works about 220 days a year for others, the eldest works thirty to forty days a year for others, and the second works 170 to 180 days, totaling about 420 to 430 days of work for others each year. Among these days, ordinary days earn 200 wen per day, while harvesting grain or picking camellia seeds earns 500 wen per day, totaling about forty yuan in wages per year. The second way is by growing sweet potatoes, producing over forty dan a year, equivalent to over ten dan of grain. The third way is by growing late rice (i.e., a second rice crop), producing over ten dan of grain a year, on which no rent is paid. Growing late rice means they cannot grow miscellaneous grains. The fourth way is by raising pigs, raising two a year, each bringing in over twenty yuan, totaling over forty yuan; after keeping half for their own consumption, they have over twenty yuan left.

According to the above calculation, their total income is over thirty dan of grain and over sixty yuan in cash. On the expenditure side, there is only food for three people (of the three brothers, about two eat at others’ homes, and only one eats at home; plus the two women, making three people total) and twenty-four yuan in interest. The balance should be enough to cover oil, salt, and miscellaneous expenses, so they should not be very poor. Why then is their family still very poor (with hardly anything good to eat, eating sweet potato shreds mixed with rice all day long, and no good clothes to wear)? The first reason is that all three brothers are fond of gambling, especially the second brother, who always loses. The second reason is that the eldest sister-in-law is gluttonous and lazy, causing chaos at home, making all three brothers too lazy to work, and she even beat the pigs to death. The third reason is that they lost two oxen in succession—one died from drinking saltpeter water, and the other died from a fall. The family’s luck was bad, and they suffered great misfortune. Because of these three reasons, their family is always poor.

In March, during land redistribution, each person was allocated six and a half dan of grain, totaling thirty-two and a half dan. That is, from the original fifty-one and a half dan they cultivated (seven and a half dan of their own and forty-four dan rented from others), nineteen dan were taken out and given to others, and the rest remained with them. However, the nineteen dan taken out were all poor fields on the hillsides, thin and barren, yielding only one crop a year, while the fields kept were all good fields yielding two crops a year.

Redistribution is to be carried out again; the survey has been completed but not yet implemented.

The nineteen dan taken out during the March redistribution: because these fields were then cultivated by the new households, the nineteen dan of grain all went to the new households. For other families, the harvest from the redistributed portions was split 60 percent to the original cultivator and 40 percent to the new household. This was because the new households did not tend the crops at all this season; fertilizing and field work were still entrusted to the original cultivators. So at harvest time, the new households were willing to give 60 percent to the original cultivators, and the original cultivators were willing to give 40 percent to the new households, as if the original cultivators were paying 40 percent rent to the new households.

The eldest brother serves as a soldier in the township Red Guard, and has gone on expeditions to Qifang and Huangtang. The second brother serves as a squad leader in the Red Guard. The third brother initially served as a soldier in the Red Guard, later became a platoon leader, and this time went on an expedition to Xinyu as a company commander.

II. Traditional Land Relations in This District

1. Land Distribution

According to the land situation in the Tenth District of Xingguo, i.e., the Yongfengxu area, the traditional distribution of land is as follows:

Landlords: 40 percent
Ancestral halls: 10 percent (jointly owned by landlords and rich peasants)
Rich peasants: 30 percent
Middle peasants: 15 percent
Poor peasants: 5 percent

2. Population Composition

The approximate population composition of the Tenth District of Xingguo is as follows:

Landlords: 1 percent
Rich peasants: 5 percent
Middle peasants: 20 percent
Poor peasants: 60 percent
Hired laborers: 1 percent
Handicraft workers: 7 percent
Small traders: 3 percent
Lumpen elements: 2 percent

According to the above, the true exploiting classes (landlords and rich peasants) make up only 6 percent of the population, yet they hold 80 percent of the land. Among them, rich peasants hold 30 percent, and much of the ancestral hall land is also under the control of rich peasants. If the land of rich peasants is not equally redistributed, the problem of insufficient land for the majority will be hard to solve. Middle peasants make up 20 percent of the population but hold only 15 percent of the land. Equal redistribution of land is needed by the middle peasants because they have insufficient land; equal redistribution would increase, not decrease, their land. The claim that equal redistribution would harm middle peasants is incorrect.

The analysis of population composition here is based on households, not individuals. The 1 percent hired laborers refers to full-time hired laborers; those poor peasants who also work part-time as hired laborers, though numerous, are not included in this category. The 3 percent small traders refers to full-time small traders; those who are half-peasant and half-trader are not included. The 2 percent lumpen elements refers to those completely unemployed who live by gambling, banditry, etc.; those semi-unemployed are not included.

Why do landlords make up only 1 percent of the population? Because most of the landlords who own land in this district reside in the neighboring counties of Bailu District, Tiancun District, or the county seat of this county. If they were included, the landlord class would probably account for 2 or 3 percent of the total population.

3. Exploitation Conditions

Type 1: Land Rent Exploitation

In the First Township (Lingyuanli), Second Township (Yongfengxu), and Fourth Township (Houjing), land rent is uniformly 50 percent. In the Third Township (Sankeng), it is mostly 60 percent, with a small portion at 50 percent. Because the First, Second, and Fourth Townships suffer from both floods and droughts, harvests are often poor, so rents are lower. The Third Township does not suffer from floods or droughts, so rents are higher.

Why do the First, Second, and Fourth Townships suffer from floods and droughts while the Third Township does not? Because the First, Second, and Fourth Townships have flat fields, and the hills in that area are all shifting-sand hills with no trees. Sand from the hills is washed by water into the rivers, causing the riverbeds to rise higher than the fields, year after year. If the river embankments break, flooding occurs; if there is a long drought, drought occurs. The Third Township mostly has mountain fields, where the fields are higher than the rivers. Although the plots are very small, they are not threatened by water when it rains or by drought when it is sunny.

Shifting-sand hills cannot be afforested.

The fields in this district are planted once a year; less than 5 percent grow a second rice crop. No rent is collected on the small amount of second rice crops and miscellaneous grains.

Type 2: Usury Exploitation

1. Money interest. This falls into two stages. Before the 16th year of the Republic (1927), the interest rate was 30 percent (30 yuan annual interest per 100 yuan), but not everyone could borrow; only those with land, hills, or houses as collateral could borrow. After the 16th year of the Republic, "the world changed," and very few people lent money.

There are very few pure landlords residing in this district; landlords mostly live in Bailu and Tiancun areas of Gan County, though their land is in this district. Rich peasants are numerous. Therefore, poor peasants in this district never borrow money from landlords; 80 percent borrow from rich peasants, and 20 percent borrow from ancestral halls. Middle peasants do not need to borrow money; hired laborers cannot borrow money. Only poor peasants need to borrow money and have collateral to do so. On the other hand, those who lend money are mainly rich peasants. Therefore, in the agrarian revolution, the decisive struggle between poor peasants and rich peasants will undoubtedly be intense. Rich peasants sometimes borrow money from landlords, in amounts of several hundred or a thousand yuan at a time, at relatively low interest rates of 15 to 18 percent. Rich peasants borrow such lump sums and then lend them out to peasants in amounts of several tens of yuan, taking collateral and extracting high interest. In this way, rich peasants act as intermediaries for landlords in exploiting poor peasants, so the interests of rich peasants and landlords are inseparable.

Ancestral halls in this district are mostly controlled by evil gentry. These evil gentry mostly have some land at home but not enough to live on. They are neither rich peasants nor landlords, but evil gentry. Because they do not have enough to live on, they seize control of ancestral halls to exploit others. In the First, Second, and Fourth Townships, 60 percent of ancestral halls are managed by evil gentry, and 40 percent by rich peasants. In the Third Township, before the Republic, evil gentry managed the most, because at that time only those with scholarly honors could manage ancestral halls. After the Republic, rich peasants managed the most, exactly the opposite of the First, Second, and Fourth Townships: 60 percent managed by rich peasants and 40 percent by evil gentry. When poor peasants borrow money from ancestral halls, the interest is slightly lower than borrowing from rich peasants: rich peasants charge 24 percent interest, ancestral halls charge 20 percent. Borrowing from ancestral halls also requires collateral. Ancestral halls are even harsher than rich peasants in collecting debts; if interest is not paid when due, they will seize oxen, drive away pigs, go into the fields and harvest the grain—they are capable of all this. When borrowing from rich peasants, if interest is not paid when due, one can explain the situation, and the interest is added to the principal to be repaid together the next year, or the rich peasant may rent out the mortgaged land or hills to others for cultivation and collect the rent to offset the interest. The rich peasant’s aim is only to seek profit, so sometimes the deadline can be flexible.

Among money interest, the most cruel is "monthly interest." This is borrowed by lumpen elements for gambling, with a one-month term, repaying two yuan for every one yuan borrowed. But this is not common.

2. Grain interest. Borrowing grain is called "sheng gu" (raw grain). The interest from rich peasants is very heavy; from ancestral hall charitable granaries, it is lighter. When rich peasants lend grain to poor peasants, regardless of whether it is borrowed in November or December of the previous year, or in January, February, or March of the current year, when the grain is repaid in July after the harvest, the interest is always 50 percent, i.e., repaying three baskets for every dan of grain. Borrowed in November and repaid in July, it is less than a year; borrowed in January or February and repaid in July, it is only half a year; borrowed in March and repaid in July, it is only four months. Why such heavy interest (20 percent heavier than money interest)? Because in winter and spring, grain prices are very high, double the autumn price. In autumn, one dan is 1.5 yuan; in winter and spring, it is often 3 yuan. Therefore, rich peasants want to add the loss in grain price onto the interest. They would rather sell grain than lend it. Because even if the interest is as high as 50 percent, it is still not as profitable as selling the grain in winter and spring. For poor peasants to borrow grain from rich peasants requires great personal favor to succeed. Out of 100 dan of grain, a rich peasant sells over 90 dan and lends less than 10 dan. For example, Chen Fengming, a rich peasant in Chagan (First Township), refused to lend grain to poor peasant Huang Dachun (in April of the 9th year of the Republic). But when Huang borrowed money and then used it to buy grain from him, Chen was willing.

Of the money borrowed by poor peasants, 80 percent is lent by rich peasants, 20 percent by ancestral hall charitable granaries, and none directly by landlords. Of the grain borrowed by poor peasants, 90 percent is lent by ancestral hall charitable granaries, and 10 percent by rich peasants. From this, it can be seen that rich peasants are thoroughly exploitative, while ancestral hall charitable granaries do indeed have some element of charity.

Xingguo Survey

Ancestral halls are also mostly exploitative. Of the grain from ancestral halls in the First Township, 80 percent is sold and 20 percent lent. In the Second, Third, and Fourth Townships, it is all sold, with almost none lent. Only the grain in charitable granaries is entirely lent out, none sold. Every township in this district has charitable granaries. The First Township (population 3,000) has four charitable granaries with 800 dan of grain. The Second Township (population 800) has five charitable granaries with 500 dan of grain. The Third Township (population 3,000) has six charitable granaries with 400 dan of grain. These three townships together have fifteen charitable granaries with 1,700 dan of grain; almost every village has one. Only the Fourth Township (population 2,000) has just one charitable granary with 100 dan of grain. Poor peasants in this district rely entirely on borrowing some grain from charitable granaries to get through the lean months; borrowing grain from rich peasants is hopeless. The interest on grain borrowed from charitable granaries is 30 percent. Although lighter than borrowing from rich peasants, the collateral requirements are very strict: iron tools (plows, harrows), tinware, silverware, cotton quilts, mosquito nets, clothes, etc., can all be used as collateral—something is always required. Only the charitable granary in Yangfang Village of the First Township lends grain without collateral, requiring only a neighbor to write a "guarantee note" promising to repay principal and interest. The grain in charitable granaries is donated by landlords, rich peasants, and middle peasants. They collect grain to set up a charitable granary to aid the poor in times of famine and cold; this is a reformist and deceptive policy to pacify the poor and mitigate their uprisings, yet those who do not understand praise their benevolence. The grain in charitable granaries can be borrowed by poor peasants, hired laborers, workers, and lumpen elements, as long as they have collateral or can write a "guarantee note"; landlords, rich peasants, and middle peasants neither can nor need to borrow it.

"Sheng gu" is harsh, but "picking new grain money" is even harsher. In the second, third, fourth, and fifth months, when poor peasants have no food, they pick new grain money from rich peasants. At that time, the grain price is 3 yuan per dan; they pick new grain money at 1.5 yuan per dan, and deliver the grain in July or August, when the grain price is always around 2 yuan. Judging by the market price at that time, it does not seem particularly harsh. The problem is that poor peasants sell their grain cheaply in advance, and then in the spring and summer of the following year, they watch as rich peasants sell it at a high price of 3 yuan per dan. Rich peasants buy at 1.5 yuan and sell at 3 yuan, an interest of 100 percent. Isn’t this even harsher than "sheng gu" with its 50 percent interest?

3. Pig interest. None in this district.

4. Ox interest. Exists in every township, but not much. Rich peasants lend female oxen to poor peasants, who raise them...

Keeping this ox for plowing, the poor peasant paid an annual interest of one and a half dan (three baskets) of grain to the rich peasant. If the ox gave birth to a calf, the poor peasant and the rich peasant each took half. In the first, second, and fourth townships, three out of ten rich peasant households lent out oxen, which was called "tax oxen." In the third township, only one out of ten rich peasant households had an ox to lend out for tax. Oxen could also die of illness or from falls, so this kind of ox interest was not very secure, and rich peasants did not put much effort into lending at this rate. They also feared that poor peasants might not feed the ox well and make it thin, or overwork the ox, or that thieves might steal it. Therefore, for a poor peasant to get an ox on tax from a rich peasant, it required a very good personal relationship.

Fifth, oil interest. Poor peasants who owned oil-bearing hills, in the fifth or sixth month when they had no rice to cook, would borrow money from rich peasants to buy grain for food and sell their new oil in advance. In the fifth or sixth month, when the price of oil was 25 yuan per dan (100 jin), they would sell it for 12 yuan, or as little as 10 yuan, with delivery of the oil in the ninth month, not a bit less. That is, in the sixth month they borrowed 12 yuan from a rich peasant, and in the ninth month they had to repay him one dan of oil. In the ninth month, the oil price was usually 17 or 18 yuan per dan, at most 20 yuan, and at least 15 yuan. If they borrowed 12 yuan in the sixth month and the oil price in the ninth month was 18 yuan, the 6 yuan difference was the interest for four months, an interest rate of 50 percent. If the oil price in the ninth month was 20 yuan, the interest was 8 yuan, an interest rate of 67 percent. After collecting the oil in the ninth month, the rich peasant stored it until the following year from the fourth to the eighth month, when oil was scarce, and shipped it down to Jiangkou or down to Ganzhou Prefecture, selling it for at least 25 or 26 yuan per dan, and when prices were highest, even 40 yuan per dan. In the sixth month the year before last, peasants from the first township went to Bailu to buy oil, and with one yuan (ten mao) they could only buy one jin and twelve liang. Although this was retail oil, if aggregated, it would take 57 yuan to buy one dan of oil. Last year in the sixth month, one yuan bought two and a half jin, which was also 40 yuan per dan. If calculated according to this example, when a poor peasant sold one dan of new oil to a rich peasant in the sixth month of this year for 12 yuan, by the sixth month of the next year he would suffer a loss of as much as 28 yuan, an interest rate of simply over 200 percent. This kind of oil interest was not only heavy but also very secure. From the ninth month to the twelfth month was the time when poor peasants pressed oil, and rich peasants, unafraid that poor peasants would "run off empty," confidently let poor peasants deliver the oil to their homes; those who feared poor peasants would "run off empty" went to the poor peasants' homes to watch the oil pressing and personally took it back.

Oil interest took this form. From the poor peasants' side, it was called "taking new oil money"; from the rich peasants' side, it was called "lending new oil money." Rich peasants lending out oil (not lending new oil

Xingguo Investigation

money) was very rare, but it happened occasionally. In the twelfth month of this year, a poor peasant borrowed one dan of oil from a rich peasant, sold it for 20 yuan, and when the oil price was high the next year, repaid one dan of oil, or repaid in money converted at the market price, without interest. This was equivalent to the poor peasant storing this one dan of oil for the rich peasant, so it was not considered usurious interest. Only those who had a good relationship with the rich peasant and could be relied upon to repay the next year could borrow it. Poor peasants borrowed this kind of oil either because their parents had died, or to take a wife, or for other urgent needs, borrowing money from rich peasants with whom they had close acquaintance. The rich peasant would say, "I have no money, only oil" (or "only grain"), and thus they borrowed oil, sold it for money, to meet the urgent need. When oil was expensive the next year, if the creditor wanted oil, the borrower bought oil from the market to repay him. If the creditor wanted money, they converted it at the market price at that time and repaid him in money. This method of borrowing oil was called "pulling oil."

Whether the former method of taking new oil money or the latter method of pulling oil, neither was common and only existed in places with oil-bearing hills. In places with oil-bearing hills, such as the Eleventh District of Xingguo (around Juncun), many poor peasants in that area cultivated oil-bearing hills (very few poor peasants owned oil-bearing hills themselves; most rented them from landlords or rich peasants). Among a hundred poor peasant households cultivating oil-bearing hills, twenty took new oil money. In the area around Juncun, the rich peasants' exploitation through oil interest was very severe. In that area, among a hundred poor peasant households, only one or two pulled oil from rich peasants.

Sixth, pawn interest. There were two types: large pawnshops and small pawns. Large pawnshops did not exist in this district; they were only in Tiancun and Bailu, with a monthly interest of 5 percent. Pawning 100 wen incurred a monthly interest of 5 wen; pawning 1,000 wen, a monthly interest of 50 wen; pawning one yuan, a monthly interest of 5 fen, all calculated in small silver coins. The term was ten months; if not redeemed by the due date, after one more month it became a dead pawn. A monthly interest of 5 percent meant an annual interest of 60 percent. This kind of exploitation was extremely severe. Among the four groups—poor peasants, hired laborers, workers, and vagrants—many entered pawnshops. Out of a hundred households of these four groups, sixty entered pawnshops. As collateral, ironware, tinware, silverware, mosquito nets, bedding, and clothes were all accepted. In this district, a great many people went to Bailu to pawn things, accounting for 60 percent of the poor and suffering masses. The pawnshop in Bailu was run by someone from Xingguo County town. After eleven months, the pawn became dead, and the pawnshop boss transported the collateral to Xingguo County town for auction. Collateral worth three yuan was pawned for one yuan and five jiao. But the pawnshop boss's aim was the interest, not the auctioning of collateral.

Small pawns existed in every township of this district, run by rich peasants. They did not open a storefront, nor did they operate regularly. Only when poor and suffering workers and peasants were in extreme hardship and took things to a rich peasant's home, begging to pawn them for a little money, did it happen occasionally. Out of a hundred poor and suffering worker and peasant households, ten used small pawns. Why did many use large pawnshops but few use small pawns? Because this practice had a very bad reputation, and people in the same township and locality were too familiar with each other. Although the collateral was brought, the poor people always begged for a few more wen, and the rich peasant found it awkward to argue fiercely. Therefore, most rich peasants were not very willing to do this. The interest on small pawns was the same as that of large pawnshops, but the term was very short, set by the rich peasant—one month, two months, three months, or four months. If not redeemed by the due date, it became a dead pawn.

Among the eight people who attended this investigation meeting, four households—Chen Beiping, Zhong Dewu, Fu Jiting, and Chen Zhenshan—had never pawned anything. Four households—Wen Fengzhang, Lei Hanxiang, Huang Dachun, and Li Changying—had all pawned things. Wen Fengzhang had to pawn something once a year, in the fourth or fifth month, to buy rice for cooking, and he also pawned something once last year. In the fourth month of last year, he took an iron rake and two wine pots to the Hengxing Pawnshop in Bailu, pawned them for two yuan and four jiao in small silver coins, brought the money back to buy one dan of grain, and redeemed them in the twelfth month. Lei Hanxiang's household also had to pawn things every year. Not to mention what the eldest and second eldest pawned, just speaking of the third son, Lei Hanxiang: in the first month of last year, he pawned once—a long gown for one yuan and two hoes for six mao, which were not redeemed. In the sixth month, he pawned again—a mason's trowel for three mao and a "foreign-style tool" for five mao (both were tools of the third son, who was a mason), which were also not redeemed. Li Changying had never pawned anything before last year. In the second month of last year, when the revolution started, he went to work in the guerrilla unit. When the White bandits came, he fled to Bailu. His wife, left at home with no food, pawned a cotton-padded jacket for one yuan and two mao. When the revolution rose again, it was not redeemed. Huang Dachun had never pawned anything before last year. In the fifth month of last year, firecrackers stopped selling, no one asked him to make firecrackers, and he had no food. He pawned a cotton-padded quilt for one yuan and five mao to Zhong Kuaizi, a rich peasant in the village. In the seventh month of this year, when the county-wide revolution occurred and the Bailu Red Guerrillas came to the village, the poor people rose in insurrection, captured Zhong Kuaizi, took him to Bailu, and killed him, and the cotton-padded quilt was retrieved. This Zhong Kuaizi's father was good and willing to aid the poor people, so the masses did not kill him. Zhong Kuaizi had opened a firecracker shop in Tangjiang and learned a set of martial arts, able to fight off dozens of people. When he was killed, everyone applauded. His land was equalized, and his family was fined three times, amounting to several hundred yuan.

Seventh, salt interest. It was very severe. Because Xingguo's salt all came from Guangdong, quite a few poor peasants also engaged in the salt trade. In this district, out of a hundred poor peasant households, ten also went to carry salt. Without capital, they borrowed from rich peasants, bought chickens to carry to Jiaying Prefecture (Mei County, Guangdong), taking one load of chickens there and bringing one load of salt back. For every yuan borrowed, they repaid one jin of salt as interest. The time was only twenty days or a month. One jin of salt cost one mao two or three, meaning that in one month, for one yuan of principal borrowed, they had to repay one mao two or three in interest. After the sixteenth year of the Republic (1927), as the revolution grew day by day, interest rates generally came down, falling to 2.4 percent, and salt interest also disappeared.

Third Type: Tax and Levy Exploitation

In this district, apart from the grain tax, there were no direct taxes or levies on the peasants.

For every three dan of grain land, there was one dan of "seedling rent" land, on which the grain tax was four fen four li (in silver). For the grain tax, every liang of silver was converted to three yuan and six jiao in silver dollars. Four fen four li converted to one jiao five fen eight li four hao in silver dollars; this was the grain tax price for one dan of seedling rent land. One dan of seedling rent land was equivalent to three dan of ordinary land at present, so currently, for one dan of ordinary grain land, the grain tax was five fen two li eight hao in silver dollars. Last year in this district, the price of grain per dan was three yuan in small silver coins, equivalent to six strings of copper cash. One silver dollar was equivalent to two strings and eight hundred copper cash. Five fen two li eight hao in silver dollars converted to 148 copper cash, which could buy slightly less than two and a half sheng of grain. That is to say, in Xingguo at present, for one dan of grain land, the annual grain tax was two and a half sheng. But in this district, one dan of grain land actually yielded only seven dou of grain (a 70 percent harvest), so out of these seven dou of grain, two and a half sheng had to be paid as grain tax, amounting to about 3.5 percent.

Although in this district there were no other direct taxes or levies besides the grain tax, those who went to Guangdong for the salt trade had to endure various taxes and levies along the way. Middle peasants or poor peasants engaged in the salt trade bought 70 jin of chickens from their home township at three mao two fen per jin. Carrying one load to Jiaying Prefecture, the price was quoted in silver. Previously, the price per jin was three qian of silver or so, sometimes rising to four qian per jin. This year the price was high, reaching four qian eight per jin. Seven qian four fen of silver was equivalent to one silver dollar; four qian eight of silver was equivalent to six jiao five in silver dollars, or nine mao one in small silver coins. After deducting the capital of three mao two, each jin of chicken yielded a profit of five mao nine in small silver coins. For 70 jin of chickens, the profit was

41 yuan and 3 mao in small silver coins. Why was the chicken price in Jiaying Prefecture particularly high this year? Because of the revolution, fewer chickens came from the various counties of southern Jiangxi, so the price became very expensive.

From the 41 yuan and 3 mao profit, expenses along the way had to be deducted. First was wages. In previous years, it took ten days to reach Jiaying Prefecture, but now, with red areas and white areas interspersed, many places required detours, taking at least fifteen days. At a daily wage of two mao five, fifteen days totaled 3 yuan and 7 mao 5. Second was food, yellow tobacco, tea, and straw sandals, costing at least four mao five per day, totaling 6 yuan and 7 mao 5 for fifteen days. Third was chicken feed. Seventy jin of chickens ate three mao worth of grain per day, totaling 4 yuan and 5 for fifteen days. Fourth was likin. From Xingguo to Menling, no tax was levied. At Menling, likin had to be paid: one silver dollar per load of chickens (equivalent to one yuan and four in small silver coins). Beyond Menling, no tax was levied. Fifth, the expenses for collecting chickens in the district had to be added. For each load of chickens, it took three days, with wages, food, and buying chicken cages costing a total of 2 yuan. The above five items of expenditure totaled 18 yuan and 4 mao. Subtracting 18 yuan and 4 mao from 41 yuan and 3 mao, the actual profit per load of chickens was 22 yuan and 9 mao.

One load of chickens going out, one load of salt coming back. This year in Jiaying Prefecture, one silver dollar bought 18 jin of salt. In the past, one silver dollar in Jiaying Prefecture could only buy 14 jin of salt, and it was still the same last year. This year, because the revolution developed and salt sales stagnated, it became cheaper. Carrying one load of 80 jin, the price was 4 yuan and 5 in silver dollars, equivalent to 6 yuan and 3 in small silver coins. When the salt was carried back to Xingguo, in the fifth and sixth months of this year, salt was extremely scarce, so the price rose: one yuan in small silver coins bought only two and a half jin. At the market price at that time, 80 jin of salt sold for 32 yuan in small silver coins. After deducting the capital of 6 yuan and 3, the profit was 25 yuan and 7 in small silver coins.

But from the 25 yuan and 7 profit, expenses along the way had to be deducted. First was wages: fifteen days, 3 yuan and 7 jiao 5. Second was food, yellow tobacco, tea, and straw sandals: 6 yuan and 7 mao 5. Third was likin: at Jitan, Menling, Baibu, Diaoyutan, Huichang, and Huaqiao—six places. At Menling, likin had to be paid; at the other five places, tickets had to be inspected. For likin, previously it was six or seven mao per load of salt, but now it was one silver dollar. For ticket inspection at five places, each place charged two mao in silver dollars, totaling two silver dollars (equivalent to 2 yuan and 8 mao in small silver coins). The above three items of expenditure totaled 13 yuan and 3 mao. Subtracting 13 yuan and 3 from 25 yuan and 7, the actual remainder was 12 yuan and 4.

One load of chickens going out earned 22 yuan and 9, and one load of salt coming back earned 12 yuan and 4, for a total profit of 35 yuan and 3. The time was one month. In the past, the chicken and salt businesses did not earn as much as they do now, but they were more reliable, with no need for detours, and the round trip took only twenty days. Now the profit is greater, but the road is unsafe. Militia and Peace Preservation Corps often search and rob travelers of the money on their persons (only a small part of the money from selling chickens is used to buy salt; most is carried on the person). Although they do not take the salt, they frequently seize chickens to eat, though they stop short of killing people. Even so, the number of people going to do business has not decreased.

In the fifth and sixth months, salt was expensive: two and a half jin per yuan. Now (the tenth month), salt is somewhat cheaper: three jin and twelve liang per yuan. This is because Jiangkou and Dahujiang have been opened up, and salt can come from Ganzhou. Compared to before the revolution, it is still very expensive. Before the revolution, it was six jin and four liang per yuan, which is almost twice as cheap as now (the tenth month) and almost three times as cheap as in the fifth and sixth months of this year.

III. The Various Classes in the Struggle

1. Landlords

The landlords of the first township all lived in Xingguo County town and Bailu, not in the township itself, and rent had to be delivered to Xingguo County town and Bailu. There were four or five large landlords who owned land in the township but lived in Bailu, each collecting over a thousand dan in rent. Some ran shops in Bailu, and some held posts in Nanchang or Ganzhou. In Xingguo County town, there was one who collected a thousand dan in rent and ran the Hengchunhao foreign goods store in the town, and also had a shop in Ganzhou.

The second township has three landlords, each collecting over three hundred dan in rent, all residing in the township. Liu Yuelin, with three hundred dan in rent, does not farm himself. During the revolution, two members of his family were killed—Yuelin’s sons, the eldest and the third, both served as sub-commanders of the Jingwei Regiment. After the revolution, ten people still eat from the household; they received land distribution and obey the government. Du Xiyou farms two hundred gu of grain himself and collects three hundred dan in rent, with over twenty people in the household. Du Xiyou, forty years old, joined the revolution in February last year. When the Red Army arrived in February this year, he was the first to voluntarily bring out his deeds and burn them, and all the land was equalized. Du works in the government, serving as a propagandist. Xie Wenlin, with thirty people in the household, farms five hundred gu of grain himself and collects one hundred dan in rent. He is a relative of Du Xiyou, voluntarily burned his deeds and divided the land, and now serves as head of the finance section in the township government. His family has six brothers, five of whom farm the land, and they also hire four long-term laborers; they are the wealthiest in the township. No one in his family is literate, and they are very honest. (Xie Wenlin is actually a large rich peasant.)

The third township has two landlords. Zeng Xiqun, divided into five households, collectively collects over one thousand dan in rent and does not farm himself. The five households have over twenty people in total. He is a notorious big landlord and counterrevolutionary. The men have all fled, leaving behind five or six women and children, each of whom also received land distribution. The house was burned. No one from his family was killed; two of his clansmen who served as his running dogs were killed. Xie Yuanxiang, with over four hundred dan in rent, does not farm himself, has over twenty people in the household, is a counterrevolutionary, fled, and no one was killed.

The fourth township: Wang Runlan, a big landlord, with four hundred dan in rent and also farming two hundred gu of grain himself. He has many oil-bearing hills, all farmed by himself. He is a counterrevolutionary, commander of the Jingwei Regiment, killed many workers and peasants, burned many workers’ and peasants’ houses, and fled. Liu Jiahong, with three hundred gu of grain, farms one hundred himself and rents out two hundred, has five people in the household, is a counterrevolutionary, and together with Wang Runlan and Zeng Meixi organized the Jingwei Regiment. Liu Jiahong and his son were both killed. Zeng Meixi collects one hundred dan in rent and farms over one hundred gu of grain himself; he is a rich peasant, with five people in the household, deputy commander of the Jingwei Regiment, and killed many workers and peasants. A poor peasant, Gao Laogou, was killed by him; “his spirit haunted the household, and Zeng Meixi and his father were both entangled to death by the ghost.” Xie Chuanzhen, with six hundred dan in rent, does not farm himself, and has five or six people in the household. Xie Chuanzhen was captured by the third district and handed over to the district government for detention; he has not yet been killed, and his family property was confiscated.

II. Rich Peasants

In the first township, there are twelve households in total, of which seven are counterrevolutionary. Among the seven, the household heads of two were killed, and the able-bodied men of the remaining five all fled. The households of those who fled were all raided, even their pots were taken, while the two households whose heads were killed were not raided. The women, elderly, and children of the seven households did not flee; they received land distribution, and some of the women have married others. One household whose head was killed is Liu Nengchang; his son Liu Shuyao, in his twenties, joined the revolution and went to Xinyu to serve as a squad leader. Another household is Chen Fengming, whose house was burned. Among the twelve households, five are not counterrevolutionary; they contributed funds, equalized the land, joined the Red Guards, and work diligently for the revolution.

Xingguo Investigation

Among them, Xu Changhan has four hundred gu of grain land, most of which he farms himself and a small portion he rents out, with over ten people in the household. He also has a lot of money lent out at interest. He was fined seven hundred yuan by the guerrilla forces; his household was not raided, his grain was not divided up, but his land was redistributed. Xu Changhan, twenty-six years old, joined the revolution in February or March last year. Starting in March this year, he served as an instructor for the Young Pioneers, later went to work for the Southwest Jiangxi government (it is unknown what work he did), and in August returned to the township to serve again as a Young Pioneers instructor in the district government. He was accused of being in the AB Corps and detained. Ling Yuebo has four hundred gu of grain land, all farmed by himself, with twelve people in the household. His son Ling Xiaohan is a “graduate” and serves as secretary in the village government. He was fined over one hundred yuan but still serves as secretary. Someone accused him of being in the AB Corps, and he was detained in the district government for over two months; he was allowed to confess and was released. Xie Zhongjie has over two hundred gu of grain, most of which he farms himself and a portion he rents out, with eight people in the household. Recently, the township government arrested him, intending to fine him, and he has not yet been released. Among the above twelve rich peasant households, seven are actively counterrevolutionary; five, though superficially participating in the revolution, include two that are AB Corps members scheming for reaction, and of the remaining three, one has also been arrested.

The second township has nine rich peasant households: Chen Xianwei, Mei Jiasheng, Yang Zulian, Xie Zhongyu, Xie Wenlin, Chen Gunwei, Wang Zhengke, Zou Xiangchun, and Xie Liangci. Chen Xianwei has two hundred gu of grain, farms one hundred twenty shi himself and rents out eighty shi, has money lent out at interest, with over ten people in the household, exploits others severely, and is a counterrevolutionary. Chen Xianwei fled, his three sons were all killed, and his household was raided. Mei Jiasheng is actually a small landlord, with over one hundred gu of grain, all rented out, has money lent out at interest, runs a cloth business, is a counterrevolutionary, and served as a commander of the Jingwei Regiment. Mei Jiasheng, his mother, and one long-term laborer were all killed by the guerrilla forces, and his household was raided. Yang Zulian has over one hundred gu of grain, half farmed by himself and half rented out, is a counterrevolutionary, and served as captain of the AB Corps assassination squad; in July, the district government killed him. Xie Zhongyu is also a small landlord, rents out all his land, has money lent out at interest, is a counterrevolutionary, head of the AB Corps, and was ordinarily a local bully; on August 17, the district government killed him. Xie Wenlin has six hundred gu of grain, farms five hundred himself and rents out one hundred, with thirty people in the household, six brothers, five of whom farm, and also hires long-term laborers; he is the wealthiest in the township and is a large rich peasant. He is a relative of Du Xiyou. He voluntarily burned his deeds and divided the land. All thirty-plus people in his household are illiterate and quite honest; he now serves as head of the finance section in the township government. Chen Gunwei has two hundred gu of grain, half farmed by himself and half rented out, has money lent out, with twenty people in the household, joined the revolution, but in August was accused of being in the AB Corps, and the district government arrested him. Wang Zhengke has two hundred gu of grain, mostly farmed by himself and a small portion rented out, is a counterrevolutionary, served in the Jingwei Regiment, and was killed in May this year. Zou Xiangchun has one hundred sixty shi of grain, rents out one hundred and farms sixty himself, with seven people in the household, joined the revolution. His son Zou Lidong serves as head of the culture department in the district government and is still loyal. Xie Liangci has forty shi of grain, all rented out, and runs a grocery store in Yongfeng Market. Initially, he joined the revolution and managed finances in the second township government, but embezzled over eighty yuan, was dismissed from his post, and fined one hundred fifty yuan. One day during a public meeting, he used someone else’s ready brush and ink to write two reactionary slogans in succession: “To consolidate the Soviet regime, the AB Corps and Reorganizationists are essential” and “To capture Ganzhou and Ji’an, the AB Corps and Reorganizationists are essential.” He was arrested and interrogated, confessed to serving as secretary of the AB Corps, and was killed on August 17. Among the above nine rich peasant households (including three small landlords and one small merchant), seven are counterrevolutionary, and only two are revolutionary.

The third township has nine rich peasant households: Xie Jiuzhang, Mao Shiji, Lei Yongxia, Chen Fengming, Jiang Taoshu, Qiu Futian, Qiu Shili, Qiu Zhikui, and Xie Yixing. Xie Jiuzhang has over four hundred gu of grain, farms over two hundred himself and rents out two hundred to others, with eight people in the household, lends at high interest, is a counterrevolutionary, called a tyrant in the township, and acted as a local thug. When the revolution arose, the entire household fled. Mao Shiji has over two hundred gu of grain, all farmed by himself, lends money, previously had twenty-three people in the household, now divided into four households. His grandson Mao Zhangping, twenty-two years old, a middle school student, is head of the AB Corps and has been arrested. Lei Yongxia has over two hundred gu of grain, farms fifty shi himself and rents out over one hundred shi to others, has money lent out at interest. He fled earlier, and the township government levied over two hundred yuan from him. He returned home, and the township government sent him to the Red Army school, but he failed the entrance exam; the township government then sent him to the Xingguo County training corps. He is twenty-one years old and graduated from higher primary school. Chen Fengming has over one hundred gu of grain, all farmed by himself, with seven people in the household, has no money to lend out because his son studying in Ganzhou needs money, is a counterrevolutionary, served as secretary of the AB Corps, was killed, and his household was raided. Jiang Taoshu has over one hundred gu of grain, all farmed by himself, has money lent out at interest, with ten people in the household, joined the revolution, and was levied one hundred twenty yuan. Qiu Futian has over one hundred gu of grain, farms it himself, has a little money lent out at interest, with five people in the household, is a counterrevolutionary, fled himself, and his wife went with someone else. Qiu Shili has one hundred thirty shi of grain, farms forty shi himself and rents out ninety shi to others, smokes opium, has no money to lend out, is a counterrevolutionary, and fled himself. The township government told his wife to marry someone else, and his house became the township government office. Qiu Zhikui has one hundred fifty shi of grain, farms it himself, has money lent out at interest, with six people in the household, joined the revolution, his son was enrolled in the Red Guards, and he was levied sixty yuan. Xie Yixing has two hundred gu of grain, half farmed by himself and half rented out, has money lent out at interest, with twelve people in the household, is in the AB Corps, and has been arrested. His fourth son fled, and three other sons remain at home. Among the above nine rich peasant households in the third township, six are counterrevolutionary, and only three have not yet become counterrevolutionary.

The fourth township has two rich peasant households, Liu Jiahong and Zeng Meixi, both counterrevolutionary (see the earlier section on landlords).

In the four townships of this district, the first township has twelve rich peasant households, nine counterrevolutionary; the second township has nine rich peasant households, seven counterrevolutionary; the third township has nine rich peasant households, six counterrevolutionary; the fourth township has two rich peasant households, both counterrevolutionary. In total, the four townships have thirty-two rich peasant households, twenty-four counterrevolutionary, and the remaining eight, though not yet counterrevolutionary, it is unknown what they will become in the future.

The land of the rich peasants is very good, just as good as the land of the landlords and the ancestral halls. When they buy land from poor peasants, they always insist on buying the good land, and the poor peasants have no choice but to sell their good land to them, because if they sell poor land, it takes several mu to equal the price of one mu. When they lend money to poor peasants and require collateral, they also demand good land, not poor land. Thus, good land gradually became concentrated in the hands of the rich peasants.

At the beginning of the revolution, such as in February and March this year, many rich peasants opportunistically joined the revolution, and rich peasants and their running dogs occupied thirty percent of the positions in the township and district Soviets. In April and May, an anti-rich-peasant propaganda week was held, and they were struck down. Now, only two rich peasants hold office in this district (one is Xie Wenlin, serving as head of the finance section in the second township Soviet; the other is Zou Lidong, serving as head of the culture department in the district government).

III. Middle Peasants

The middle peasants have benefited from the agrarian revolution. First, in terms of land, the middle peasants not only suffered no losses but, in most cases, gained land during the equalization. In this district, the middle peasant population accounts for twenty percent of the total, while their land accounts for only fifteen percent; therefore, most middle peasants in this district gained land during the equalization. Although some lost land, they are a very small portion.

Second, in the past, marrying a wife cost around two hundred yuan, almost equivalent to the entire family property of a middle peasant, so it was very difficult for middle peasants to marry, and many incurred debts to do so. If a wife died, remarrying was extremely difficult. Now, with freedom of marriage, it costs not a single coin, which is a very great benefit.

Third, in the past, when an elderly person in a middle peasant household died, the funeral would cost at least fifty yuan, one hundred yuan, or even over one hundred yuan. In the past, it was common for middle peasants to fall into debt and bankruptcy because of the deaths of parents. Now, superstitious customs have been abolished; when someone dies, they are simply buried, costing not a penny.

Fourth, in the past, cattle were expensive; if an ox fell and died, selling the beef would bring in ten or eight yuan, but one would still need to add over ten yuan to buy a new ox. Now, if an ox falls and dies, selling the beef still brings in only ten or eight yuan, but one only needs to add three or four yuan to buy a new ox.

Fifth, with the power of the landlords and rich peasants overthrown, rituals discarded, and superstitions abolished, there is no need for gifts, incense, paper money, or candles, which also saves some expenses.

Sixth, in addition to the above five economic benefits, there are also political benefits, which are the most significant. In the past, under the rule of the landlords and rich peasants, the middle peasants had no say in affairs and had to submit to others’ decisions in everything; now, together with the poor peasants and hired laborers, they have a say. Middle peasants holding positions in the township and district Soviets account for about forty percent. Among them, those completely free of debt account for ten percent, and those with a little debt but whose household finances still manage account for thirty percent.

The middle peasants participate in the revolution very bravely, just like the poor peasants, “going out on missions” (meaning being organized into self-defense forces and sometimes sent out to fight), standing guard, and attending meetings.

In this district, the middle peasant population accounts for twenty percent, and their land accounts for fifteen percent. Although the land of the middle peasants is somewhat better than that of the poor peasants, it is far inferior to that of the rich peasants. Generally, the land of the middle peasants is about half good and half poor.

IV. Poor Peasants

After the revolution, the poor peasants have gained the following benefits:

First, they received land distribution. This is the fundamental benefit.

Second, the division of mountains. In the past, poor peasants rarely owned mountains. In the first and second townships, among every hundred poor peasant households, thirty had mountains and seventy had none. The third township (Sankeng) is near Juncun, where there are many mountains, so among every hundred poor peasant households, seventy had mountains and thirty had none; most of the mountains there are oil-bearing mountains. In the fourth township, among every hundred poor peasant households, fifty had mountains and fifty had none. For those poor peasants in each township who had mountains, the amount of mountain land per household was also very small. In the mountains of this district, because the first and second townships have many shifting sand mountains, landlords only wanted fields, not mountains; rich peasants, middle peasants, and poor peasants each occupied a portion of the mountains. The distribution of mountains in the first township was: rich peasants 40 percent, middle peasants 40 percent, poor peasants 20 percent. The distribution of mountains in the second township was: rich peasants 50 percent, middle peasants 30 percent, poor peasants 20 percent. In the third township, because there are many oil-bearing mountains, which yield income, landlords wanted mountains, but rich peasants still occupied the most mountains. The distribution there was: landlords 15 percent, rich peasants 50 percent, middle peasants 20 percent, poor peasants 15 percent. As mentioned earlier, in the third township, seventy out of every hundred poor peasant households had mountains, but the amount of mountains these seventy households occupied was only 15 percent, each household having only a tiny bit. The distribution of mountains in the fourth township was: landlords 20 percent, rich peasants 20 percent, middle peasants 50 percent, poor peasants 10 percent. Having no mountains or too few mountains was a great hardship for poor peasants. (1) They had no firewood, or insufficient firewood, and had to gather reed grass from other people’s mountains. (2) They could not cut pine firewood to carry to market to exchange for oil and salt; they could only carry reed grass to exchange for oil and salt, and three loads of reed grass were only worth one load of pine firewood. (3) They had no timber to build houses or make utensils. (4) Without oil-bearing mountains or with insufficient oil-bearing mountains, they had no oil to eat, or not enough oil to eat. Now the mountains have been divided, and like the division of fields, they are divided according to population, so every household and every person has mountains. Although some townships have more mountains and some have fewer, and the people in each township have received more or less in the division, even in the township with fewer mountains, everyone has been allocated a bit of mountain land, thus solving the difficult problems of the poor peasants. Out of necessity, the poor peasants firmly advocated dividing the mountains. For the sake of production, dividing the mountains was also absolutely necessary. In the past, households with many mountains, due to insufficient labor, left some uncultivated and failed to maintain others properly. The large masses of poor peasants, who had ample labor, had their labor left idle because they had no mountains. Now that the mountains have been divided, the poor peasants are devoting their great labor to their own mountains, and production will greatly increase.

Third, at the beginning of the revolution, the grain of landlords and counter-revolutionary rich peasants was divided, and poor peasants carried it away and ate it without paying. In Bailu (a place where big landlords were concentrated), it was even divided equally according to population, and the poor peasants could not finish eating it by harvest time.

Fourth, all debts from before the revolution are not to be repaid. When the revolution first arose in March, official instructions from above said that debts to merchants must be repaid, mutual-aid society debts must be repaid, and debts among poor workers and peasants themselves must be repaid. On the tenth of June (July in the solar calendar), another official instruction came from southwestern Jiangxi (referring to the Soviet Government of Southwestern Jiangxi), saying that none need be repaid. Actually, from March onward, nothing was being repaid, but although non-repayment was the fact, the idea that the three aforementioned types of debts should be repaid still remained a principle (still formed a theory). After June, even this principle was overturned. The poor peasants strongly supported this method. Why did the poor peasants advocate not repaying even those three types? (1) Debts to merchants. Most of the big merchants had fled (in Bailu, of thirty-five shops, ten big ones all fled). Although small merchants (such as the twenty-five small shops in Bailu) also had some goods on credit in the hands of workers and peasants, the small merchants mostly owed debts to big merchants, owed debts to landlords, and owed debts to rich peasants. When poor workers and peasants did not repay the small merchants, the small merchants in turn did not repay the big merchants and landlords and rich peasants; comparing the two, the small merchants still came out ahead. Because the debts the small merchants owed to big merchants and landlords and rich peasants were greater in amount than the debts they had extended to poor workers and peasants.

(2) Mutual-aid society debts. To arrange a marriage or repay a debt, one would invite relatives and friends to form a mutual-aid society; these relatives and friends were either middle peasants or rich peasants, so canceling these society debts caused no harm. Although forming a society was out of friendship and assistance, the initiators were poor peasants who could not repay, so cancellation was proper. Even if the second or third round of payouts was received by rich peasants, there was still reason to cancel and not repay, because when rich peasants received the payout, they lent the money at interest to other poor peasants, and now the poor peasants are not repaying them. Moreover, their entire family property has either been confiscated or subjected to levies, and they have already been cleaned out, so it is also proper not to repay. As for mutual-aid societies formed by landlords and rich peasants to exploit poor workers and peasants, there were none in this district. (3) Debts among poor workers and peasants themselves. With the revolution, "You are poor and toiling, I am also poor and toiling, what can I use to repay you?" This answered the question. Therefore, abolishing all debts was most correct.

Fifth, eating cheap rice. In the first and second months of this year, the price of grain was forty-six mao per dan; in March, when the revolution began, it was twenty mao per dan; from June to the present (September in the lunar calendar), it is seven mao per dan. Comparing seven mao with forty-six mao, it is five and a half times cheaper. Cheap grain, after poor peasants have divided the fields and finished plowing and harvesting, naturally brings considerable disadvantage, but during the several months when the revolution had begun but harvesting had not yet taken place, cheap grain was advantageous to poor peasants.

Sixth, "getting" a wife (Jiangxi peasants turn the word "you" from freedom of marriage into a verb, distinguishing it from the old forced and mercenary marriages, and it is commonly used among peasants throughout the Soviet area). In the past, getting a wife was impossible without money, so many poor peasants could not get a wife. Even if they did, it was either by taking a child bride or waiting until they were quite old. If they got a wife and she died, remarrying was extremely difficult. Now this difficulty is completely gone.

Seventh, when someone dies, there is no need to spend money; just bury them and it is done.

Eighth, the price of oxen is cheap. It is easy to buy an ox if you lack one, and easy to buy a replacement if an ox dies. Poor peasants are very short of ox power. Taking every hundred poor peasant households, in this district only fifteen households have one ox each, forty households share one ox between two, ten households share one ox among three, five households share one ox among four, and thirty households have no ox. Under these circumstances, cheap ox prices benefit the poor peasants.

Ninth, social formalities are discarded, superstitions are eradicated, and expenses for both are also eliminated.

Tenth, there is no opium smoking or gambling, and at the same time there are no thieves or robbers; doors are not closed at night, and nothing is lost.

Eleventh, with the division of fields, every household can raise pigs, not solely to sell for money for others to eat, but so they themselves can also eat meat. In the past, at the butcher’s, poor peasants rarely bought meat to eat; now more and more are buying meat to eat.

Twelfth, and this is the most important, is that they have gained political power. The poor peasants are the backbone of rural political power and have become the leading class in the countryside.

Poor peasants can be divided into five strata based on the amount of ox power they have, as described in the eighth item above.

V. Hired Peasants

Hired peasants, like poor peasants, have divided the fields. Because the landlords and rich peasants have fallen, although some people hire odd-job workers, no one hires long-term workers anymore, so they firmly demanded to divide the fields. Having divided the fields, they lack ox power and farm tools, making cultivation very difficult; this problem has not yet been solved. The district and township governments did not distribute the plow oxen and farm tools confiscated from landlords and rich peasants to the hired peasants, but sold them off.

Fu Jiting’s nephew, Zhu Daxi, is a hired peasant. His family has seven members: four brothers, his parents, and his wife (raised as a child bride). He is the eldest, twenty-two years old. The second brother is nineteen. The eldest worked as a long-term laborer in a rich peasant household surnamed Zhong, with an annual wage of thirty-nine yuan in small silver dollars. The second brother tended cattle for others, with an annual wage of ten yuan. Their total income was forty-nine yuan, which bought a little over sixteen dan of grain, enough to feed only two and a half people. They relied on his mother and his wife cutting reed grass to sell, earning a little money to eat; in winter they ate two meals a day. They owed over thirty yuan in debts. They had no house of their own and lived in a landlord’s mountain hut, looking after the mountain for the landlord. His father was originally also a hired peasant and is now over sixty years old.

In this district, hired peasants can take fifteen days off each year, starting work after the Lantern Festival in the first month. There are no meat allowances on the first and fifteenth of the month. The employer provides bedding, but no clothing. If they fall ill, they pay for their own medicine. If the illness lasts within three days, no wages are deducted; beyond three days, wages are deducted. Wages are paid in bits and pieces. They work from dawn till dark; excluding meal and rest times, they work at least ten hours. In winter, they peel tea-oil seeds and grate sweet potatoes at night.

Ninety-nine percent of hired peasants have no wives; they are the most miserable class in the countryside. Not only do all landlords and rich peasants have wives, some have several wives per person. Ninety percent of middle peasants have wives, ten percent do not. Seventy percent of poor peasants have wives, thirty percent do not. Seventy percent of handicraft workers have wives, thirty percent do not. Ten percent of vagrants have wives, ninety percent do not, which is still more than the proportion of hired peasants with wives; only hired peasants are ninety-nine percent without wives. In July (August in the solar calendar), the government issued an order: men without wives should quickly "get" a wife, and women without husbands should quickly "get" a husband. Thereupon, incidents of "getting" wives and "getting" husbands suddenly increased greatly. Since July, in over two months, the majority of middle peasants and poor peasants who previously had no wives now have wives, and very few remain without. It is comparatively harder for hired peasants to "get" one. Women dislike that hired peasants’ homes lack utensils and goods, and also dislike that they are often not at home, so it is not easy for hired peasants to solve the wife problem. In Yangfang Village, where Fu Jiting lives in the first township, among four hired peasants (two brothers from two households), only one has "got" a wife. Originally, another could also have "got" one, but the head of the township government’s social insurance department said: the two of them had a previous entanglement and forbade registration. Therefore, that woman "got" another man, and this hired peasant still has no wife. Near Yongfeng Market in the second township, among six hired peasants, four have "got" wives. In the fourth township, in Houjing Village where Wen Fengzhang lives, there is only one hired peasant, and to this day he has no wife.

After the division of fields, there are no long-term jobs, and odd jobs have also decreased by seven-tenths, leaving only three-tenths. Wages have not risen, and hired peasants have not demanded a rise. "There’s no work to do, so why talk about a raise!"

The problem of ox power and farm tools for hired peasants after field division. In Yangfang Village, there are two hired peasant households. One, surnamed Chen, has an eldest and second brother, both hired peasants. The eldest worked as a long-term laborer for a rich peasant surnamed Chen, with an annual wage of thirty-three yuan. The second worked as a long-term laborer for a rich peasant surnamed Zhong, with a wage of forty-two yuan. Their father was a tenant peasant who died; their mother took the two brothers begging. When they grew up, they became hired peasants. Their mother died, leaving the two brothers. The eldest is twenty-nine, the second twenty-three. They have a house and cooking utensils, but no table or stools; the farming tools they once had were also sold off. In February, they divided the fields, and both brothers returned home; the second "got" a wife. They have no capital. The second originally had over a hundred yuan, lent to a poor peasant surnamed Zhong, but with the debt abolition, it cannot be recovered because that poor peasant has no way to repay. Fortunately, they have an uncle who is a middle peasant and lends them ox power and farm tools. The three of them together divided sixteen dan and two dou of grain fields. After dividing the fields in February, they immediately began cultivating them themselves, and the harvest is entirely theirs. They have harvested the first crop and plowed for the second; the rice is growing very well. If they had an ox, one person could cultivate one hundred dan of grain fields. The two brothers together only cultivate a little over ten dan of grain, so they have much labor time left over, which they use to do odd jobs for others and carry loads, earning some money to spend.

In Yangfang Village, there is another hired peasant household surnamed Zhong, also two brothers. Their parents are dead; their uncle (Zhong Enjiang), aunt, the uncle’s two sons, one daughter-in-law, and two granddaughters make a total of nine people in the family. The uncle and his two sons all plow the fields, renting from others; they have no fields of their own, owe debts, and cannot make ends meet each year. The two brothers work as hired peasants for others. The eldest, Zhong Shengpo, over forty, works as a long-term laborer in a rich peasant household surnamed Zhong. The second, Zhong Shenghuai, thirty-six, works as a long-term laborer in a middle peasant household surnamed Zhong. In February, they divided the fields and began cultivating them themselves. They originally had a female ox, rented from the middle peasant Zhong Longtan, which gave birth to two calves. After the revolution, Zhong Longtan wanted this ox back. The township government told Zhong Longtan: "As for rented oxen, it depends on the methods in each township; only when all townships return them can you get it back; for now, you cannot take it back." Therefore, this ox remains with Zhong Enjiang’s family. After the two brothers divided the fields, ox power and farm tools were not a problem because their uncle has them.

Here, something must be said about that middle peasant Zhong Longtan. Zhong Longtan is in his thirties; his mother is sixty, his wife in her twenties; three people eat. He owns a little over ten dan of grain fields and rents thirty to forty dan of grain fields from others. After paying rent, he has surplus grain for his own consumption and sells the excess. He has three oxen rented out for tax, placed with three poor peasant households, collecting one and a half dan of grain rent per ox per year; if calves are born, each party gets half. He has considerable money lent out at interest. In February, during the equalization of fields, the three people divided a total of twenty-four dan of grain (eight dan per person), a bit more than what they owned. But they can no longer rent fields from others, so there is no surplus grain to sell; the oxen rented out and the money lent out have all been equalized away. He is very honest, not counter-revolutionary, and holds no important position; he serves as a cook in the village Red Army reserve unit.

After the revolution, hired peasants do not hold political power. Middle peasants and poor peasants generally think that hired peasants "cannot read, cannot speak well, are not open-minded, and are not familiar with public affairs," and cannot handle matters. Among the members of the district and township government committees in this district, there is not a single hired peasant; only one hired peasant serves as a township Red Guard captain.

VI. Handicraft Workers

The types of handicraft workers in this district: carpenters, masons, tailors, blacksmiths, barbers, bamboo weavers, hulling-mortar makers, palm-fiber weavers, stonemasons, painters, tinsmiths, loom weavers, silversmiths, dyers, trough makers, lacquerers, kiln workers, paper makers—eighteen kinds in all. Carpenters, masons, tailors, and bamboo weavers are the four...

Among the various trades, carpenters, blacksmiths, and oil-press operators (who extract oil) are the next most numerous, with the rest being fewer still. Coppersmiths, cotton fluffers, shoemakers, and tanners are not found in this district. There is one oil press in the First Township, two in the Second Township, eleven in the Third Township, and twelve in the Fourth Township. Each oil press has one operator.

Wages: In the past, carpenters earned two mao per day, masons two mao, tailors one mao and five fen, and bamboo craftsmen two mao and five fen. Barbers in the First, Second, and Fourth Townships received one dou of grain per person per year, while in the Third Township they received one mao and five fen per person per year, all with meals provided by the employer. Blacksmiths earned two mao and five fen. Oil-press operators in the Second Township received ten coins for pressing one jin of oil, in the Third Township three coins for pressing one jin of oil, and in the Fourth Township two jin were taken as payment for pressing one dan (one hundred jin) of oil. The situation in the First Township is unclear because oil production there is low. The extremely low wages in the Third Township are due to the abundance of oil. Hulling-mill operators earned six mao per mill, with three days’ work to build one mill. Palm-fiber craftsmen earned two mao and two fen, and stonemasons four mao and five fen. Painters were paid by the painting, creating portraits of local tyrants and evil gentry or images of deities. Tinsmiths were paid by the tinware item. Loom operators earned one mao per zhang of summer cloth and also one mao per zhang of spring cloth (summer cloth is linen, while spring cloth is eighty percent hemp and twenty percent cotton); there are no cotton weavers in this district. Silversmiths were paid by the silverware item, and they “took great advantage of their employers.” The situation of dyers is unclear. Lacquerers were paid by the piece, as were kiln workers. Papermakers earned one mao and five fen (making bast paper, found only in the Third Township).

In the past, carpenters, masons, tailors, and bamboo craftsmen worked as many as two hundred days a year at most, and around one hundred days at least. After the revolution, the working days of masons and tailors have greatly decreased, probably to only a few dozen days a year. Carpenters and bamboo craftsmen are working only slightly less than before, with little difference. Barbering has flourished compared to the past because women have all cut their hair short. After the revolution, tinsmiths, painters, lacquerers, and papermakers have all disappeared because they are no longer needed (papermakers made fuses for festive firecrackers; since firecrackers are no longer used, papermakers are no longer needed).

According to “orders from above,” handicraft workers are to receive half a share of land, but the handicraft workers demand full shares. Their reasoning is that some are unemployed, others have seen their work reduced, and their livelihoods are insecure; only by receiving land can they be secure. The peasants say: “The orders from above say you get half a share of land.” The workers reply: “If we get only half a share, then wages must be raised.” The poor peasants and hired farmhands do not want wages to rise because, having received land, they need to acquire farm tools and must hire labor. The rich peasants and middle peasants already have farm tools and do not need to hire labor; only the poor peasants particularly need to hire labor. Therefore, the poor peasants and hired farmhands do not want wages to rise. The poor peasants say: “Fine, you can have full shares of land, but don’t raise wages.” The workers also say that after receiving land, if they can still work one hundred days a year, they are willing to return two dan of grain annually to the public. Barbers do not receive land because they spend their days in other people’s homes, eating their meals. In Gan County, workers who received land had their wages reduced: carpenters and masons from two mao to one mao and five fen, and bamboo craftsmen from one mao and five fen to one mao and two fen.

Seventy percent of handicraft workers have wives, while thirty percent do not. After the revolution, most of those who previously had no wives have now “acquired” them. This is because handicraft workers have many acquaintances, possess a trade, are relatively clever, are good talkers, and many are literate—in these respects, they are somewhat better off than hired farmhands.

Handicraft workers have a general union at the district level, branch unions at the township level, and cells at the village level. For example, in Lingyuan in the First Township, workers from various trades, totaling over twenty people, have jointly organized a cell.

Rural handicraft workers always also engage in farming. Those who specialize entirely in their trade and do no farming at all are fewer than ten out of a hundred.

Eighty percent of handicraft workers are in debt.

VII. Merchants

Types of merchants in this district: those who run oil, salt, and grocery stores; sellers of rice cakes (further divided into dozens of types); teahouse operators; wine and restaurant operators; slaughterhouse operators; beancurd makers; and opium den operators. Those who run small shops exclusively without also farming account for three percent of the total population (three households out of every hundred).

In the four townships of this district, there were previously only three small merchants with a capital of five hundred yuan, all located in Yongfeng Market; there were none in the other townships. Small shops in the entire district: five in the First Township, thirty-five in the Second Township (all in Yongfeng Market), six in the Third Township, and none in the Fourth Township, totaling forty-six shops. Among these forty-six small shops, four had a capital of five hundred yuan (three in Yongfeng Market—one of which was a pharmacy run by a man from Zhangshu, and two were foreign-goods stores that were branches from Xingguo City; none were landlords of this district. When the revolution started, they all fled; their shops were confiscated, and the goods were given to the poor. One shop was in Sankeng, owned by a local landlord; the entire family fled, and the shop was sealed). One shop had a capital of four hundred yuan (in Sankeng, a grocery store run as a partnership between two shareholders: one, Han Litao, who farmed twenty dan of grain, and the other, Han Lidong, who farmed sixty dan of grain. After the revolution, Han Litao fled, while Han Lidong infiltrated the revolution and became the land section chief of the government; he has now been accused of being in the AB Corps and is detained in the district government). Three shops had a capital of three hundred yuan (all in Yongfeng Market: two were grocery and cloth stores run by people from Xingguo City; both were counterrevolutionaries who fled, and their shops were converted into teahouses. One was a slaughterhouse, whose owner also farmed sixty dan of grain; he joined the revolution, continues to run his shop, and serves as the village government chairman—an honest man). Two shops had a capital of one hundred yuan (one in Sankeng, a grocery store and inn, with no land; the owner was a counterrevolutionary, was executed, and the shop collapsed. One in Xijiang, a grocery store that also made silverware, farming several dozen dan of grain; the owner is not a counterrevolutionary, and the shop is still operating). Two shops had a capital of fifty yuan (in the Third Township: one in Zhukeng, a pharmacy with twenty dan of land; the owner is not a counterrevolutionary and still operates it. One in Shangjing’ao, also a pharmacy with land; the owner was a counterrevolutionary, fled, and the shop collapsed). Twenty-four shops had a capital of twenty yuan (four in the First Township—two in Wuniang Temple and two in Jiaotianjiang; twenty in the Second Township, all in Yongfeng Market). Ten shops had a capital of ten yuan (nine in the Second Township, all in Yongfeng Market; one in the Third Township, at Qiling Pass). The above are those who specialize in small shops without engaging in other businesses.

In the countryside, there are many who rely primarily on farming with commerce as a sideline (eighty percent dependent on farming, twenty percent on commerce), accounting for about forty percent of all households (forty out of every hundred). Most of these people are poor peasants, with a few middle peasants; because their livelihood is insufficient, they engage in some carrying trade to supplement their income. For example, they go to Jiangkou, Ganzhou, or Hujiangmian to carry salt back, often taking a little oil with them as capital on the way out; many also carry chickens to Jiaying Prefecture (i.e., Mei County) to sell and bring back some salt.

Among the merchants in this district, twelve have a capital of over fifty yuan; of these, nine are counterrevolutionaries and three are not.

Among the twelve shops with a capital of over fifty yuan, only the four with a capital of five hundred yuan employ shop assistants: three employ one assistant each, and one employs two. The other eight do not employ any assistants.

The thirty-four shops with a capital of twenty yuan or less are called shops but are in reality small stalls run by the poor; therefore, none of their owners are counterrevolutionaries, and all these shops are still operating.

The categories of the thirty-four so-called shops with a capital of twenty or ten yuan are as follows: nine inns (four in the First Township, five in the Second Township, all in Yongfeng Market); four opium dens; two candy shops; four slaughterhouses; four rice shops; one woodenware shop; one blacksmith shop; four grocery stores (all above in Yongfeng Market); and five teahouses (four in Yongfeng Market, one in the Third Township). In this round of land distribution, merchants with a capital of over fifty yuan—excluding those who were executed or fled—whose shops were sealed or collapsed, all received land. Only three shops whose owners are not counterrevolutionaries remain open. One is the slaughterhouse in Yongfeng Market with a capital of three hundred yuan. Because a “contribution” of two hundred and twenty yuan was levied on it, only eighty yuan of capital remains. The owner’s family has fifteen people to feed and is not counterrevolutionary. He originally had sixty dan of grain; in this land distribution, the shop owner, Chen Shaolin, received half a share of land, while the fourteen members of his family received full shares, so in addition to what they originally had, they gained some more. Chen Shaolin’s younger brother, Chen Shaoying, is a company commander in the Third Army (formerly the Second Regiment), so his family is also revolutionary; Shaolin serves as the village government chairman. Another is the pharmacy in Zhukeng with a capital of fifty yuan; here too, the shop owner received half a share of land, and the family members received full shares. The third is the grocery and silverware shop in Xijiang with a capital of one hundred yuan; it is not counterrevolutionary, and the township government levied a contribution on it (the amount is unclear); here also, the shop owner received half a share of land, and the family members received full shares. As for the thirty-four small stalls of the poor, the four inns in the First Township and the one teahouse in the Third Township, because they have never had much business and in the past relied mostly on farming for their livelihood, in this land distribution both the shop owners and their family members have all received full shares. The twenty-nine shops in Yongfeng Market previously relied entirely on small trade for a living and had no land. After the revolution, except for the four opium dens that closed down, the remaining twenty-five—candy shops, slaughterhouses, rice shops, woodenware shops, blacksmith shops, grocery stores, teahouses, and inns—not only still exist but are doing no less business than before.

Even so, they still received land according to the regulations: shop owners received half shares, and family members received full shares. Lacking oxen and farm tools, they borrow them from relatives.

To summarize the above situation: shops with a capital of over fifty yuan (most of which are actually small shops) have suffered severe blows during the revolution, a result of local ultra-left policies. The poor small peddlers with capital of twenty or ten yuan, on the other hand, have gained great benefits from the revolution. In addition to receiving land, their social obligations and expenses have decreased, it is easier for them to find wives, funerals cost less money, and they have gained political prominence—all similar to the poor peasants. These poor small peddlers belong to the same class as the poor peasants, and therefore the benefits they have gained are also similar to those gained by the poor peasants.

VIII. Vagrants

The following types of vagrants exist in this district:

(1) Gamblers: There are about fifty or more in the entire district. About ten in the First Township, about twenty in the Second Township (all in Yongfeng Market), six in the Third Township, and about twenty in the Fourth Township. In the past, nine out of ten gamblers smoked opium, but now they no longer do. Among the fifty or more gamblers in this district, not one is a counterrevolutionary; when they heard about attacking the local tyrants and distributing land, they were overjoyed. In the past, they had no clothes to wear in the cold weather and were in rags; now they are well dressed. In the past, when they had money, they ate fish and meat; when they had no money, they had no rice to eat. Now, although they do not have good things to eat, they have rice to eat every day. Eighty percent of gamblers have no families. Now that they have received land, they borrow oxen and farm tools from their clan relatives. Gamblers are usually quite generous, so it is now easy for them to borrow things. Among the ten in the First Township, one previously served as the finance committee member of the Fourth Township government. He was a hardened gambler but had credibility, and after the revolution, he performed very well as finance committee member. Among the twenty in the Second Township, the following four hold positions in the township government: Wang Zhenyong, nicknamed “Man from Heaven,” serves as the propaganda section chief in the district government; he has a house but no family. He joined the revolution the year before last, and his house was burned down by the Jingwei dogs. Chen Gunzhong joined the revolution the year before last, served as a judge in the district government, and later became the commander of the Third Company of the Reserve Corps. Yang Dahu joined the revolution the year before last, and in February of this year, during the revolution, he served as township government chairman and performed well; he now works in the district government. Chen Shaoqu joined the revolution the year before last, and in February of this year, he became the land section chief of this township. Among the six in the Third Township, Lei Yonghuang has a family, gambles, and sells opium; he joined the revolution in February of this year and serves as the finance section chief in the township government, and he is very loyal.

(2) Beggars: That is, paupers. Four in the First Township, five in the Second Township, four in the Third Township, and four in the Fourth Township, totaling seventeen. These are people with absolutely no way out, mostly solitary individuals without families. Among the seventeen, only four have families, and these four are entire families who beg. Now they have received land and borrow oxen and farm tools from their clan relatives. None hold any positions after the revolution.

(3) Water-pipe tobacco sellers: Two in the Second Township and one in the Fourth Township, totaling three. The two in the Second Township both have wives and sons and rent land to farm, but they themselves do not engage in proper work and sell water-pipe tobacco in gambling dens. The one in the Fourth Township has no family and does not farm. All have now received land. None hold positions after the revolution.

(4) Fortune-tellers: Only one in the Fourth Township, with no family, does not farm, and specializes in fortune-telling. He has received land.

(5) Carriers of Guanyin statues: One in the First Township. He has received land.

(6) Daoist priests: Three in the First Township, all with families, do not farm, and make a living by performing religious rites. Two in the Second Township, both without families, do not farm. One in the Third Township, with a family, farms some land. In total, there are six Daoist priests, all of whom have received land. Zeng Yunzhang of the Second Township is a Daoist priest who joined the revolution the year before last; he has no family and no land. In February of this year, he became the commander-in-chief of the Xingguo-Ganxian-Wan’an guerrilla forces. “He is extremely resourceful, capable in handling affairs, and has never been defeated in battle.” He has now been incorporated into the Twenty-Second Army.

(7) Buddhist monks: Two in the Fourth Township, each living in a separate temple, collecting rent for their meals. They are from Gaoxing Market. After the revolution, they returned to Gaoxing Market and received land there.

(8) Puppeteers: Those who perform wooden-head puppet shows. One in the Third Township, with a family, farms land, and now serves as a soldier in the Twentieth Army. Two in the Fourth Township, with families, farm land, and hold positions in the village government. All three have received land.

(9) Fortune-tellers: One in the First Township. He has no wife but has brothers. He joined the revolution last year and has been serving as head of the Propaganda Section in the township government since February this year. Two in the Second Township. One is blind; both have families and farm their own land while telling fortunes on the side. Now they have received land distribution. The blind one, Chen Xinbo, is "a famous fortune-teller. A county magistrate once consulted him, found his predictions accurate, and gave him ten silver dollars." Because he is blind, he received double the land allocation—14 dan of grain. Four in the Third Township. All have families; three farm their own land, one does not, and all tell fortunes on the side. Three of them work in the government. One, named Zeng Qinglong, joined the revolution in February last year. "Extremely eloquent," he became head of the Land Department in the district government in June this year and is doing a good job. He originally owned several dan of grain land, which he rented to his uncle, and has no wife. Another, named Qiu Dayang, joined the revolution in February this year. He has neither land nor family and now serves as a judge in the Third Township government, very faithfully. Another, named Qiu Bocheng, owns several dan of grain land and has a wife. He joined the revolution in February this year and now serves as a propagandist in the township government. Altogether, there are seven fortune-tellers.

The above nine types of vagrants total over 90 people. Generally, they all welcome the revolution. Not only is there not a single counter-revolutionary among them, but ten participate in the guiding work of the district and township governments, and one serves as a commander of the guerrilla forces. This is quite noteworthy.

The vagrants have gained many benefits from the revolution.

Apart from these nine types, there are no other vagrants in this district.

IV. Current State of Land Distribution

1. Distribution of Land

First, the unit of land distribution: All four townships use the village as the unit for distribution. Because the townships are large in area with many mountains, distributing by township would mean plots are too far apart and inconvenient to farm. The peasants would rather receive a little less land in their own village than leave their village and move to another. In villages with little farmland but many mountains, each person gets a bit less farmland and a bit more mountain land. In villages with much farmland but few mountains, each person gets a bit more farmland and a bit less mountain land. "It's about the same."

Second, the method of land distribution: "The order from above" was to complete distribution in three days. In reality, the First and Third Townships both took seven days to finish, while the Second and Fourth Townships both took eight days. (Such a timeframe was far too short.)

The First Township has 15 villages; the Second and Fourth Townships each have seven villages; the Third Township has eight villages. At the start of land distribution, the district government sent propagandists to each village to hold mass meetings. A half-day's notice was given in advance to summon the people. Men all attended; women did not, nor did children under ten. The propagandists publicly explained the benefits and methods of burning title deeds and distributing land. One propagandist could convene mass meetings in two villages per day. At the mass meetings held in the villages at that time, the feeling of the attending masses was: the talk was good, but they didn't know whether the regulations would hold steady. Some said: "The deeds are burned, the debts need not be repaid. Distributing land thanks to the Red Army is good, but I'm afraid it might not be reliable. If we distribute the land now, I fear we might still have to pay rent." At the mass meetings, they elected a village government chairman, one secretary, one head of the Finance Section, one head of the Land Section with two clerks, one head of the Organization Section, one head of the Propaganda Section, one head of the Grain Section, one head of the Military Section, and one communications officer. The government of Yangfang Village in the First Township was elected at a mass meeting on the morning of the 25th day of the second lunar month this year. After the propagandist left for another village, the people (over 180 men, women, old and young from the whole village; 60 to 70 attended the meeting that day) dispersed to eat lunch. They came back in the afternoon, and the village government convened them for a meeting. The village government chairman, Zhong Enming (an independent laborer with no land, who worked as a cook, made and sold tofu, and made and sold rice cakes when operas were performed elsewhere), chaired the meeting that day. The resolutions passed were as follows:

1. Collect funds from wealthy households for village government expenses; the Finance Section is responsible.
2. Prohibit the transport of all grain out of the village; the Grain Section is responsible.
3. Centralize all weapons in the village; the Military Section is responsible.
4. Investigate the land and carry out distribution; the Land Section is responsible.

--- Notes

[1] In early October 1930, the First Front Army of the Red Army captured Ji’an in Jiangxi and advanced into the Yuanshui River basin. At that time, many peasants from Xingguo County came to join the Red Army. In late October, Mao Zedong gathered eight peasants from Yongfeng District, the 10th District of Xingguo County, in Luofang, Xinyu County, for a week-long investigation meeting, and subsequently compiled and wrote the article "Xingguo Investigation."


[1] Jingwei dogs, i.e., the Jingwei Corps, counterrevolutionary local armed forces.