The Situation Regarding Land Redistribution
in Western Jiangxi
(November 12 and 15, 1930)
These are the reports made by the delegates to the enlarged meeting of the
Western Jiangxi Action Committee on November 12 and the enlarged meeting of
the Provincial Action Committee on November 15, 1930. I made brief notes of
them during the meetings. Brief as they are, one may get a glimpse into the land
struggle in southwestern Jiangxi.
1. The Situation of Land Redistribution
Chunhua: the distance between townships here can be as great as ten li. In a
township fertile and less fertile land is packaged together for redistribution. The
first round of redistribution was carried out in December last year (1929). The
second round was conducted this March. The original tiller was taken as the unit,
drawing on the plentiful to make up for the scarce. Now the third round is
underway; it will draw on the fat to make up for the lean. The redistribution has
just begun; it will take more than ten days to finish it.
Ruyan: The land of landlords and the local gentry was redistributed in
December last year (1929), but the public land and the land of rich peasants was
not redistributed. All land was confiscated in March this year and redistributed
according to labor power. The third round was carried out in May. All land was
confiscated, and distributed equally according to labor power, but the
distribution was not completely equal. Individuals with more fertile land gave up
some fertile land to others, and those with more barren land also gave up some
barren land to others, but the redistribution was not equalized by dividing the
land into three categories, A, B, and C. In most cases, the redistribution was
carried out taking the village as the unit.
Shuidong: All three rounds of redistribution were carried out taking the
township as the unit. The first round took place in the first month of this year,
according to the principle of drawing on the plentiful to make up for the scarce.
The second round was in June; it applied the principle of drawing on the fat to
make up for the lean, but still did not carry it out thoroughly, and many people
Our source for this text is Nongcun diaocha (Yan'an, 1941), pp. 99-106. This text is

were dissatisfied. Now the third round is being carried out. The land
commissioners of all townships gather in the district, organize a land committee,
and help each other with the redistribution, using the principle of drawing on the
fat to make up for the lean. After Ji'an was taken, more than a thousand people
returned to the city, and they received land just the same. The redistribution is
almost completed; of the seventeen townships, it has been carried out in thirteen.
Xiqu: Two rounds of redistribution have been carried out. The second round
occurred in August this year. Although the land was divided into the three
categories of superior, average, and inferior, and good and bad land were
distributed equally, in reality this was not done thoroughly. The township served
as the unit, and a township is too big. Some land is as distant as six to seven li,
and peasants do not want it.
The district committee recently issued a circular prescribing that the third
round of redistribution must be thorough, drawing on the fat to make up for the
lean, and burning the old land titles. The district government sent five roving
inspectors to help with the redistribution.
Rufang: The first round occurred in the first month of this year. Good and bad
land were distributed equally, but it was not done thoroughly, and public lands
were retained. Some places used the township as the unit, while others used the
village. The second round took place in May. The masses seized the land of the
leaders of the defectors, and redistributed it to the poor. (These people [i.e., the
defectors] had received land during the first round.) In the third (current) round,
the three categories of land superior, average, and inferior-are being
distributed equally. Redistribution has not yet been finished in the three or four
newly liberated townships around Nanyuemiao. It is completed in Xiyiting (?);2
the village was taken as the unit.
Anfu: Redistribution has not been carried out this time in areas where there
were no defections. It is being carried out first in areas where defection has
occurred; a limit of ten days has been set for completing the redistribution, and it
is being done thoroughly. Half of the land in the Seventh District has been
redistributed; two-thirds of the land in the Fifth District has been redistributed;
land in other areas of defection has not yet been redistributed. Of the nine
districts in the whole xian, there were no defections at all in the First District.
One-third of the Second District did not defect. Half of the Third District did not
defect. One-third of the Fourth District did not defect. Three-fifths of the Fifth,
Sixth and Seventh Districts did not defect. Half of the Eighth District did not
defect. The whole of the Ninth District, that is to say the urban district, defected.
1. Regarding the problem of defections (fanshui), see, above, the resolution of October
19, 1930, which argues that it occurs where the land has not been divided up completely
and equally.
2. This question mark in parentheses appears in the 1941 Chinese text, and has been
retained in the 1982 reprint.
The entire area for thirty li around the city defected. The areas that did not defect
failed to do so because they are adjacent to the Red areas of Yongxin, Lianhua
and Yuanzhou. The areas that did not defect are all populated by "small, weak
nationalities" who were oppressed by larger villages. Land has been redistributed in all these places, drawing on the plentiful to make up for the scarce. The
principle of drawing on the fat to make up for the lean has, however, not been
applied.
Donggu: The township is taken as the unit. Land was redistributed in July last
year (1929), drawing on the fat to make up for the lean, and equalizing the
distribution by dividing the land into three categories, A, B, and C. There was no
second round. Later, because those who had joined the Red Army turned over
their land to the government, such land in individual villages is now being given
to the people in those villages to till. Disputes arose among the popular masses,
so the land was equally distributed in July of last year, under the slogan of
"equalizing both [quality and quantity]."
Xiajiang: In January and February of this year, the land of the village bullies
and bad gentry was redistributed in the first round. In the second round,
which took place in March, public land was redistributed. In the third round,
carried out in April and May, the land of rich peasants was redistributed.
Only then was redistribution truly carried out thoroughly, drawing on the fat
to make up for the lean. The village served as the unit, and because land was
plentiful and the people were few, there was some land that no one wanted.
Two rounds of land redistribution were carried out in the newly-developed
areas. The first round occurred two weeks ago; it was done rather carelessly.
The second round is being carried out at the moment, and is scheduled to be
completed within five days. Good and poor land are both being divided
equally.
Shuinan: The first round took place in March this year, drawing on the plentiful to make up for the scarce. The second round occurred in August. In the
places bordering the White areas, the principle of drawing on the plentiful to
make up for the scarce was applied, but not that of drawing on the fat to
make up for the lean. In the rest of the district, the principle of drawing on
the fat to make up for the lean was applied. But the head of the Party bureau
gave himself especially good land, and ordered the peasants to help with
farming it.
Rulin: The first round occurred in March this year, drawing on the plentiful to
make up for the scarce. In May, the entire district defected. In June, the guard
detachment was overthrown, and the second round of redistribution took place.
3. The phrase used is ruoxiao minzu. In this context and region, Mao most likely is
actually referring to small, weak kinship groups or lineages, rather than to actual "nationalities" or non-Han minority peoples. It is also possible that he is referring to weak communities of Hakka minority groups.

reproduced with very slight changes in Mao Zedong nongcun diaocha wenji, pp. 264-70.