1930.11.15

This is a report by delegates from two meetings, the enlarged meeting of the Ganxi Action Committee on November 11, 1930, and the enlarged meeting of the Provincial Action Committee on the 15th, which I briefly noted down at the meetings. Although very brief, it can also show a glimpse of the land struggle in Southwest Jiangxi.

One. Land Distribution Situation

Chunhua: In distant places, ten li is one xiang; within a xiang, good and bad land are averaged out for distribution. The first distribution was in November of last year (1929). The second was in March of this year, using the original tiller as the unit, taking from the surplus to supplement the deficient. Now the third distribution is taking place, taking from the fertile to supplement the barren. It is just beginning and will take more than ten days to complete.

Ruyan: Last year in February, the land of the gentry landlords was distributed, but public land and the land of rich peasants were not. In March of this year, everything was confiscated and distributed according to productivity. In May, the third time, everything was confiscated and distributed equally according to labor power, but it was not a thorough equalization. Those with more fertile land would give up some fertile land, and those with more barren land would give up some barren land; it was not a complete leveling of A, B, and C grades. Most used the village as the unit.

Shuidong: All three distributions used the xiang as the unit. The first time was in January of last year, taking from the surplus to supplement the deficient. The second time was in June, taking from the fertile to supplement the barren, but it was still not thorough, and many people were dissatisfied. Now the third distribution is taking place. The land committee members of each xiang are concentrated at the district level to organize a land committee, helping each other with the distribution and implementing the policy of taking from the fertile to supplement the barren. After Ji'an was taken, more than a thousand people from the city returned and were given land in the same way. The distribution is almost complete; thirteen out of seventeen xiang have been distributed.

Xiqu: Distributed twice. The second time was in August of this year. Although the land was divided into upper, middle, and lower three grades for equal distribution of good and bad, in reality, it was not thorough. The xiang was the unit. The xiang was too large, with fields as far as six or seven li away, which the peasants did not want. Recently, the district committee issued a notice for a third, thorough distribution, taking from the fertile to supplement the barren, and burning grain registers and land deeds. The district sent five inspectors to help with the distribution.

Rufang: The first time was in January of this year, with equal distribution of good and bad land, but it was not thorough, and public land was left undistributed. Some used the xiang as the unit, some the village. The second time was in May, when the masses took the land of the leaders of the counter-revolutionary turncoats and distributed it to the poor peasants (these people had received land in the first distribution). The third time (the present), land is divided into upper, middle, and lower three grades for equal distribution. In the newly won areas of three or four xiang around Nanyue Temple, the distribution is not yet done well. Xiyiting has been distributed well (?), using the village as the unit.

Anfu: In places where there were no counter-revolutionary turncoats, land has not yet been distributed. The places where there were turncoats are being distributed first, with a ten-day limit to complete a thorough equal distribution. Half of the Seventh District has been distributed, one-third of the Fifth District has been distributed, and the other turncoat areas have not been distributed. Among the nine districts in the county, the First District had no turncoats at all, one-third of the Second District had no turncoats, half of the Third District had no turncoats, one-third of the Fourth District had no turncoats, three-fifths of the Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Districts had no turncoats, half of the Eighth District had no turncoats, and the Ninth District, which is the county seat district, was entirely turncoat. The area within thirty li of the county seat was completely turncoat. The places without turncoats were because they bordered the red areas of Yongxin, Lianhua, and Yuanzhou. The places without turncoats are all "weak and small nationalities," oppressed by large villages. In these places, land has been distributed, taking from the surplus to supplement the deficient, but not yet taking from the fertile to supplement the barren.

Donggu: The xiang was the unit. Land was distributed in July of last year (1929), taking from the fertile to supplement the barren, divided into A, B, and C three grades and leveled out. There was no second distribution. Later, because those who joined the Red Army returned their land to the government, this land is now given to the people of each village to cultivate. The masses clamored, so in July of last year, the land was equally distributed. The slogan was "average it all out."

Xiajiang: In January-February of this year, the first distribution was of the land of local tyrants and evil gentry. The second time, in March, was the distribution of public land. The third time, in April-May, was the distribution of rich peasants' land, which was when it was thoroughly and well distributed, taking from the fertile to supplement the barren. The village was the unit because there was much land and few people, and some land was unwanted. In newly developed areas, it was distributed once, two weeks ago, and the distribution was done carelessly. The second time, at present, is limited to five days to be done well, with good and bad land averaged out.

Shuinan: The first time was around March of this year, taking from the surplus to supplement the deficient. The second time was in August; along the border of the white areas, they took from the surplus to supplement the deficient, but not from the fertile to supplement the barren. In other areas, they took from the fertile to supplement the barren. However, the responsible persons of the Party headquarters specially allocated good land for themselves and ordered the peasants to help them work the land.

Rulin: The first distribution was in March of this year, taking from the surplus to supplement the deficient. In May, the entire district turned counter-revolutionary. In June, the vigilante corps was overthrown, and the second land distribution took place. A few xiang completed the distribution by taking from the fertile to supplement the barren, but in most xiang, it was distributed in name but not in reality, because it was all being managed by the AB-Corps. The xiang was the unit; only in special circumstances was the village the unit.

Yongxin: In the Northwest Special District, the old, young, and disabled without the ability to work were given half as much land again as ordinary people. The first county-wide representative congress also decided this, adding "staff members" with family members unable to work, who were also to be given half as much again. This method was implemented in a part of the Northwest Special District but was criticized by the West Route Work Conference of the Special Committee because it originated from a charitable viewpoint, and some derided it as the "widows and orphans line." Land was distributed universally throughout Yongxin county, twice. The first time was after the capture of Longyuankou, and the second time was decided by the West Route Work Conference in June of this year and implemented in September. Now there is still one district (the county seat district) in its entirety, half of the Fourth District (Nanxiang), and the entire Fifth District (Dongxiang), accounting for one-fifth of the county, where distribution has not been done well. The peasants of Yongxin are willing to distribute land based on the standard of production output, and the county-wide representative congress accepted this.

Jishui: Futian and Shuitian have been distributed well; Jintan has not been distributed well. "Distribute per person." "Mix the good with the bad." "Distribute the new and the ruined." The "Henan fellows" are a difficult problem. In the single xiang of Gucun, each person was only allotted land yielding two dan.

Wan'an: The village was the unit. In the second distribution, they already took from the fertile to supplement the barren (?).

Fenyi: Land was distributed with the village as the unit. It was distributed by grain yield, not by land area. More than two thousand houses were burned by counter-revolutionaries; for more than thirty li, there are no old houses.

Two. The Phenomenon of Fallow Land

Donggu: At a minimum, each person received land yielding sixteen dan of grain (each dan is about eighty jin), and much land is uncultivated. A large part of the mountains has become barren because the wages for picking peaches are too expensive, so they are simply not picked, and the mountains are not dug.

Chunhua: Four to five hundred luo of grain-producing land has become fallow. Because (1) the land distribution in March coincided with the busy farming season, there were no farm cattle, the land distributed was bad, and it was far away, so a lot of land became fallow. (2) Over two thousand people (meaning 2,700 or 2,800) joined the Red Army or went out on business, so there was not enough manpower.

Shuidong: A few li have become fallow. Because it is on the border between red and white areas—a place along the river—when the Ji'an city counter-revolutionaries came to harass, several hundred people were needed for sentry duty each day, with three layers of sentries, and they were still often killed by the enemy at night.

Shuinan: Several hundred dan of grain-producing land has become fallow. Because public land was retained, the peasants were unwilling to rent it for cultivation, so it became fallow. "I've been allotted a few dan of grain-producing land, enough to eat, so I'm not willing to cultivate public land."

Rulin: Over a thousand dan of grain-producing land has become fallow; the grain ripened with no one to harvest it. Because the land belonged to reactionary landlords, rich peasants, and the vigilante corps, after these people left, the government did not distribute it to the peasants, so the peasants had no responsibility to cultivate or harvest it (Rulin is a district near Ji'an city).

Anfu: In Daopu District and Chongwen District, six thousand dan of grain-producing land has become fallow because of the policy of retaliatory massacres; the turncoat peasants dare not return home. Also because the land distribution was not thorough, only distributed in terms of quantity. Both of these reasons are due to the mischief-making of the rich peasant leadership. Anfu has much land and few people. People from Hunan, Yongxin, and Henan often farm in Anfu; as long as you pay the government grain tax for them, they will let you work the land. Why are there few people? Because sanitation is not attended to, and many die.

Xinyu: Within the three red districts, several hundred dan of grain-producing land has become fallow because a portion of the people went to join the Red Army. Some more land has become fallow on the border between red and white areas.

Fenyi: A few dozen dan of grain-producing land has become fallow.

Yongxin: Generally speaking, there is no fallow land; in total, less than a hundred dan has become fallow.

Gannan: In all places on the border between red and white areas, a great deal of land has become fallow.

Three. The Problem of Land Distribution for Workers

The peasants of Yongxin oppose the equal distribution of land to workers; the Yongxin representative congress did not accept this opinion. In one district of Taihe, workers were allotted land and their wages were reduced, but later they were restored. In Ji'an, workers who have worked for less than half a year are allotted land as normal; those who have worked for more than half a year are allotted half a share of land.

Four. The Problem of Distributing Mountains

The Yongxin representative congress decided that tea-seed mountains should be distributed with the xiang as the unit, equally per capita. The Ji'an representative congress (October 1930) decided that bamboo and timber mountains should not be distributed but managed by the xiang Soviet, for the use of the peasants. Those who need bamboo or timber can go and cut it with government permission. Thatch mountains can be cut freely. Tea-oil mountains have been distributed in Yongxin, Xiajiang, Yanfu, Ruxing, Donggu, Taihe, and Xiqu. Rufang and Chunhua have no tea-oil mountains. Wan'an has not distributed mountains.

Fenyi: On November 5 of this year (1930), the Provincial Action Committee sent Liu Lindong to participate in the County Action Committee, which decided on a method for distributing mountains and proposed it for passage at the second county-wide congress of workers, peasants, and soldiers. The method is: "Mountains in a single plot worth over three hundred yuan belong to the Soviet; mountains in a single plot worth under three hundred yuan belong to the original manager." But in May-June of this year (before the Second Plenary Session), because an order was received from a higher level (the fourth enlarged meeting of the North Route Action Committee), the mountain ridges had already been equally distributed with the xiang as the unit, although the county itself had not held any meetings. The reversal of the decision in November has made the peasants very dissatisfied. There are seven types of mountains: (1) tung oil tree mountains, (2) miscellaneous grain mountains, (3) raw material mountains, (4) bamboo and timber mountains (small bamboo and timber mountains, large bamboo and timber mountains), (5) firewood mountains (thatch mountains, firewood mountains), (6) mineral mountains, (7) barren mountains.