(December 1930)

The true features of rebellion are now completely out in the open! We pointed out very early that the Futian Incident was a joint rebellion by the AB Corps and the Liquidationists. ² No matter how that bunch of rebels waved the red flag and talked about revolution there, once the Futian Incident took place, they in fact enticed the White armies to attack Futian and Donggu speedily, thus exposing the masses of the region of Futian and Donggu to the bitter suffering of burning, killing, and oppression. In fact, they dragged the army to the west of the river, splitting the revolutionary forces. In fact, they initiated an uprising in the rear while the front was preparing to fight a decisive war, thus sabotaging the decisive class struggle. In fact, they sent letters and dispatched people everywhere to create rumors and sow discord, scheming to separate the masses from the Red Army. In fact, they undermined the provincial soviet government, and attacked XXXXXXX the facts as a whole. Before a resourceful person of the Liquidationis! faction (I 08 characters are missing here) c"ame to Huangpi as the representative of the Red School, Cong Yunzhong exhorted him personally again and again to hand over this letter secretly to Comrade Zhu De and Comrade Peng Dehuai. Comrade Zhu De immediately made this letter available.³ Thus the true features of the rebels were unexpectedly exposed. We must ask:

(1) When you come right down to i~ who is framing comrades? The only crime with which Mao Zedong is currently charged by the AB Corps and the Liquidationists who oppose him is betraying comrades. They have created the rumor that "he wants to wipe out in one fell swoop all of the cadres in southwestem Jiangxi," scheming thus to frighten and shake a group of revolutionary comrades into opposing Comrade Mao personally, and to carry out the plot of the AB Corps and the Liquidationist faction to sabotage the revolution. The fact is that all the comrades who understand the Futian Incident in the Eastern Jiangxi Action Committee, the office of the Soviet Government in Eastern Jiangxi, the Southern Jiangxi and Southeast Jiangxi Action Committees, the xian committee and xian soviet government of Xingguo, the xian committee and xian soviet government of Wan'an, the xian committee and xian soviet government of Taihe, the soviet government of Ji 'an City, the district committee of Shuinan, the xian committee and xian soviet government of Y ongfeng, and the district committee and district soviet government of Xingtian, Shaxi, are now increasingly standing by the correct line of the General Front Committee, and are united in opposing the Futian rebellion. Comrade Mao has no imperial pretensions. Why should he want to "wipe out in one fell swoop" all the revolutionary comrades? The deception and blackmail of wiping them all out has in fact already failed. This time, over 4,400 members of the AB Corps have been discovered and arrested in the Red Anny.⁴ The AB Corps had already designated a general director, a commander-in-chief, and a bead of the military group of the AB Corps in the Red Army. Five uprisings were launched according to plan, and the uprising flags were all made. If there had not been severe repression, the Red Army might already have ceased to exist. But from the bloody mouths of the AB Corps and the Liquidationists were heard unfounded and malicious accusations that "large numbers of cadres have been massacred." It is quite true that, from the perspective of you members of the AB Corps and of the Liquidationists, these people are really cadres. The confessions of the AB Corps ringleaders Liu Tianyue and Zeng Zhanhan, as well as of Long Chaoqing, Liang Dingyuan, Jiang Kekuan, Zhou Chi and others have proved many-sided confmnation that Duan Liangbi, Li Bofang, Xie Hanchang and others of the provincial general headquarters of the AB Corps of Jiangxi have been installed inside the Provincial [Action] Committee as the chiefs of the AB Corps elements. In order to save the revolution in southwestern Jiangxi from crisis, the General Front Committee sent Comrade Li Shaojiu to Futian to make arrests. When Comrade Li arrived in Futian, Duan Liangbi, Li Bofang, Liu Wanqing, Xie Hancbang, Jin Wanbang, and others were in the midst of convening a joint meeting, from which only Comrades Chen Zhengren and Zeng Sban⁵ were absent, so it was possible to capture them all at one stroke. Li Bofang, Duan Liangbi, Jin Wanbang, Xie Hanchang and others confessed in writing that they belonged to the AB Corps, adding that their AB Corps was more progressive and less feudal than the one run by Duan Xipeng. ⁶ How vicious are the AB Corps and the Liquidationists. They sneak into the revolutionary organs to engage in counterrevolutionary activities. If they are overthrown, they accuse others of framing loyal comrades. The decision to eliminate the ringleaders of the AB Corps in the Provincial Action Committee was made by the General Front Committee, and not by Comrade Mao alone. Furthermore, the General Front Committee at that time only pointed out three persons, Duan Liangbi, Li Bofang, and Xie Hancbang. Who cared to catch Jin Wanbang, Cong Yunzhong, Zeng Xing, Wang Huai, Zhou Mian, Liu Jinghua, Ren Xinsbi and the others? According to the written confessions of Duan Liangbi, Li Bofang, and Xie Hanchang at that time, Xie Hanchang said, "Overthrow Zhu and Mao, destroy Li and Duan." This conspiracy was concocted as far back as June last year when Xie Hancbang was a member of the District Committee of the Xing[guo]-Yong[feng] border area. At that time, using the pretext that the troops of Jin Handing were oppressing the revolution in Xingguo and Y ongfeng, he put on an outi.vard show of passive resistance to the enemy, but inwardly he was already launching the evil plot of betrayal. He made a false allegation that he had ventured to carry out the conspiracy only after approval by Cong Yunzhong and Xiao Ren. This sbows that the conspiracy had been hatched for a long time, and the Futian Incident was merely its open manifestation. If Duan, Li, Jin, Xie and others were loyal revolutionary comrades, then even if they were wronged temporarily, they would sooner or later be cleared. Why should they make false confessions and incriminate other comrades? It is understandable that other j,eople may make false accusations. But how could members of the Provincial Action Committee and directors of army political departments like Duan, Li, and Xie, who have such important responsibilities, behave in this manner? As for the incorrect charge that Cong Yunzhong, Wang Huai and Li Tianzhu belong to the AB Corps, because they wrote a letter to the Left Route Committee, from today's perspective, it is unfortunately true. The letter was in fact secretly forged by Cong Yunzhong, and Li Tianzhu is a saboteur of the Red Anny SchooP The fact is that the number of positions established by the AB Corps in the Third Anny is particularly large. If the Third Anny, acting upon the opinion of the Left Route Committee, had not crossed the river for consolidation, the present Third Anny would certainly have fallen victim to sabotage by the AB Corps and the Liquidationists! Speaking about it, who would believe that they still want to slander others in order to frame them, and attempt once again to hide under the Red flag to prolong their counterrevolutionary lives? And now what? Currently, the AB Corps and the Liquidationists, in order to overthrow Mao Zedong and undermine the revolutionary forces, have gone so far as shamelessly to forge letters. They forged a letter from Comrade Mao to Comrade Gu Bo, requesting criminal charges against Zhu, Peng, Huang, Teng and other comrades, so as to arrest and execute them.8 On the other hand, they secretly sent this letter to Zhu, Peng, and Huang, and repeatedly and shamelessly begged Zhu, Peng, Huang and Teng to make a comprehensive arrangement immediately to detain Mao, Zhou (Comrade Zhou Yili, representative of the Central Committee) and their running dogs. With this forgery of letters, sowing of discord and sinister desire of detaining people, who is it that is framing comrades, and seeking to wipe them out at one stroke?

(2) In the final analysis, who are the big conspirators? The second phrase used most often by the Liquidationists and the AB Corps in describing Comrade Mao is calling him a conspirator, alleging that Comrade Mao favors the political tactics of"drawing over one and attacking one." Judging from a petty bourgeois perspective, this phrase does to some extent imply conspiracy. But Bolshevik materialists should judge from facts whether it is correct to draw someone over or to attack someone. If the drawing over, and the attack as well, are for the sake of the revolution, why should this not be done? Formerly, did we not win over the Guomindang and attack Wu Peifu and Zhang Zuolin? Did we not also draw over Wang Jingwei and oppose Chiang Kaishek? Should not the proletariat hold firmly to the allied army of the peasants, in order to seize political power? Are we not seeking right now in the countryside to hold fast the middle peasants in order to oppose the rich peasants? What is wrong with all this? These actions are inevitable, no matter what words are used to describe them. You can call it establishing links, or winning over. They do not analyze the facts or the outcome, but are bent on creating rumors and opposing with subjective intent, and Ibis in itself is enough to show their lack of sincerity. Actually, the AB Corps and the Liquidationists are now shouting the slogans "Down with Mao Zedong" and "Support Zhu, Peng and Huang," but Zhu, Peng, and Huang have already proclaimed that it is not a matter of supporting or rejecting an individual, but only of distinguishing between revolution and counterrevolution. The AB Corps and the Liquidationists now say, "We are ready to present our heads before you (referring to Comrades Zhu and Peng)." Faced by a formidable enemy, they do not use their heads to wage a life and death struggle against the warlords, but beg to die before Comrades Zhu and Peng. They do not work hard to fight the enemy in a fmal class struggle, but strive mightily to persuade Comrades Zhu and Peng to use extraordinary measures for detaining Mao and Zhou. These are truly most shameless schemes and venomous conspiracies of the AB Corps and the Liquidationists to draw over one, and attack one.

As a matter of fact, they forged a letter from Comrade Mao to Comrade Gu Bo, saying that Comrade Mao asked Comrade Gu Bo to subordinate himself to the AB [Corps], thus deliberately forcing him to confess that Zhu, Peng, Huang and Teng were also ringleaders of the AB Corps in the Red Army, and were cooperating with the White armies in their areas to carry out the arrests and executions. In this way [they sought] to prove that Comrade Mao had defected and was attempting to cause the masses to distrust the Red Army, the Red Army to become isolated from the masses, and the revolution to faiL But [where] is the original manuscript of this letter? They themselves say that they investigated the matter for a whole night and still could not locate it They cannot fmd the original letter, but say that they offer their heads as a guarantee that it is authentic and not forged. This is an unforced confession, from which we can see that their efforts, despite all their scheming, lead only to nonsensical utterances. Naturally, such fabrications are not rewarded by a single smile from the readers. Even their technique of fabrication does not seem [X][X][X] believable. At the end of the letter the .... finished ... and the date appears as "10/12." Comrade Mao never writes letters in this way [blank space indicating omission].⁹ Sowing discord, they think nothing of alleging on the one hand a desire on Mao's part to force the confession of the crimes committed by Zhu, Peng, Huang, and Teng so as to arrest and kill Zhu, Peng, Huang, and Teng, while themselves seeking on the other hand to incite Zhu, Peng and others to kill Mao and Zhou. Not content with the vicious flaming of comrades and "forging of letters", they also dispatched people secretly and passed on letters clandestinely. In the last analysis, who is really the big conspirator here? At present, the AB Corps and the Liquidationists are still rushing hither and thither to cook up rumors and deceplions and frame comrades. Hu Jiaju of the AB Corps and the Liquidationist faction rushed over to Taihe to agitate Comrade Li Senlin, the chainnan of the xian soviet, and Guo Dexiang, a responsible comrade of the xian committee, saying that the General Front Committee wanted to arrest and execute them, in order to frighten them into opposing the General Front Committee. But Comrade Li had participated in the meeting on arresting the AB Corps ringleaders Duan, Li and Xie, and had listened to the report by Comrade Shaojiu. They had no doubts at all. Moreover, Comrade Zeng Quanya put it best when he said, if the General Front Committee wanted to arrest Li and Guo, why should they tell you, Hu Jiaju? To this, Hu had no reply at all. The rumors created by the AB Corps and the Liquidationists to the effect that the General Front Committee wants to wipe out at one stroke all revolutionary comrades in southwestern Jiangxi, like the forgery of letters, is a plot to create doubt and terror in every revolutionary comrade in southwestern Jiangxi, so that they can stir up trouble from within. They fail to understand that genuine revolutionaries will never be fooled by their dirty tricks. The AB Corps and the Liquidationists say, our only hope now is that this letter will be able to reach you (referring to Zhu, Peng and the other comrades). They also say that if this letter cannot reach you, and if unfortunately it falls into the hands of the traitors, we will have no recourse but to shed blood to repay the Party. It is truly unfortunate that this letter once again fell into our hands. You, the AB Corps and the Liquidationists, cannot produce the original of Comrade Mao's letter to Comrade Gu Bo, but we have found your original text, the original text giving full play to your conspiracy. (The original text is now being reproduced photographically.) It is a pity that your only remaining hope at the end of your days has once again been dashed. Are you really "shedding blood"? Or are you "sucking blood"? Conspirators of the Liquidationists and the AB Corps, you should not use the heart of a Liquidationist and AB Corps member to judge the mind of Bolsheviks such as Zhu and Peng!

(3) Are the actions of Liu Di not a conspiracy of the AB Corps? On the very frrst page, the true features of the Futian Incident are explained briefly and clearly. And yet the argument of the AB Corps and the Liquidationists to the effect that the actions of Liu Di were intended to save comrades was put forward after hearing Comrade Li Shaojiu's statement, "It is a political question." It is as though there was a righteous uprising in Futian, and absolutely no traitorous plot. AB Corps and Liquidationists, once again you are not being very intelligent! If indeed the General Front Committee wrongly arrested Duan, Li, and Xie, why did you not demand the convening of a meeting to conduct a detailed investigation and seek a solution? Even if they were in a hurry to save comrades at that time and had no time for other matters, then the release of the comrades should have meant the end of the issue. Why did you have to drag the troops to the west of the river? Why did you have to capture Army Commander Liu? Why did you have to frame Comrade Li Shaojiu? Why did you want the soviet government to get rid of Comrade Zeng Shan? Why did you have to attack the Red Army School? Why did you have to send special representatives everywhere to hoodwink the masses into keeping away from the Red Army, saying openly, "We want to oppose Mao Zedong and the First Front Army. If the First Front Army comes, we should tell all the masses to leave, and also ask the organs of political power to leave. The Twentieth Army is the only army we can rely upon." They also say, since we have the masses, we are not worried that the Red Army will not get out of Jiangxi. (This was said by a special representative of the AB Corps and the Liquidationists called Wang Anguo in the District of Shuinan.) Moreover, why did you have to forge letters and stir up discord? Some people say that it was a misunderstanding. But why was one misunderstanding followed by another misunderstanding, and then again by a third, endlessly? We must reject this compromising argument about misunderstandings. Moreover, if they really aim at saving comrades, then why do they talk so much about the tactics of a protracted war and the policy of land redistribution not based on labor (letter from Deng Haochun to Yongfeng xian)? If it was a matter of tactics, why did they not hold meetings to discuss it, but insist on using guns and cannons? At present, we do not know whether Comrade Li Shaojiu said "it is a political issue," or not. If he said so, he . is absolutely correct. Indeed, the treacherous conspiracy of the AB Corps and the Liquidationists to betray the revolution, to sabotage the Red Army by innumerable schemes, and to abandon the agrarian revolution is a serious political issue. Every comrade should pay attention to this matter, and make an effort to eliminate the rebels. The false display of feeling by the AB Corps and the Liquidationists, who said, "We tried very hard to stop the betrayal," appears to have been exploited by the enemy. When the White armies attacked Donggu in the company of the running dogs, the contribution of the running dogs was already outstanding, so perhaps they should not be too modest.

(4) Was not the Second Plenum¹⁰ manipulated by the AB Corps and the Liquidationists? We pointed out long ago that the Second Plenum might be a plot of the AB Corps and the Liquidationists. Because in reality, if you compare the February 7 Joint Conference (led by Comrade Mao) with the Second Plenum, no revolutionary comrade can fail to be suspicious of the Second Plenum. The February 7 Joint Conference resolutely put forward a proposal to redistribute the land. II (In the past, the agrarian revolution in southwest Jiangxi was only a topic of investigation and research for those gentlemen of the Communist Party, and the land to be distributed did not include that of Communist Party members.) The Second Plenum did not say even a single word about the agrarian revolution, the principal problem in the Chinese revolution. What it did talk about was simply opposing the agrarian revolution XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXI2 peasant consciousness, opposing the proposal of the February 7 conference for equal redistribution of the land, and liquidating the agrarian revolution. The February 7 Joint Conference resolutely opposed opportunism, and expelled the representative of opportunism, Jiang Hanbo. The Second Plenum resolutely developed the theories of the Liquidationists, and expelled Liu Shiqi, a representative of the struggle for equal land redistribution in southwestern Jiangxi. The February 7 Joint Conference was followed by the launching of the revolutionary struggle for the redistribution of land in southwest Jiangxi, and the establishment of a foundation for the revolution, whereas after the Second Plenum, the AB Corps and the Liquidationist faction developed, and counterrevolutionary plots were concocted. And now? Xie Hanchang personally adplitted that the main purpose of the Second Plenum was to counter the February 7 Joint Conference, and that expelling Liu Shiqi meant opposing the February 7 meeting, and opposing Mao Zedong, for Liu Shiqi carried out the seven struggles in Jiangxi, and resolutely implemented the resolutions of the February 7 conference led by Comrade Zedong. The expulsion of Liu Shiqi was fii'St decided by a secret meeting of Xie Hanchang, Li Bofang and a few other persons, and only then was it proposed at the plenary session. Xie himself confessed that he had the responsibility of. persuading people at the plenary session. No wonder Xie and Li were so forceful in opposing Liu at that time. Xie also said that there was no reason which could be advanced for opposing the redistribution of land, so they had to use the pretext of ''transforming peasant consciousness," and loudly shout that equal distribution was a concept of private ownership, incompatible with .a socialist position. Thus an argument against the redistribution of land was drawn from the most [X] theories of socialism, with the aim ofundermining_the agrarian revolution. Xie also said that the policy of the Communist Party is to win over the masses of farm laborers and poor peasants, and to consolidate the alliance with the middle peasants, and that our policies are aimed at capturing the rich peasants, landlords and vagabonds. The leading roles at the Second Plenum were played by the chiefs of the AB Corps and the Liquidationists, Li Wenlin, Duan Liangbi, Xie Hanchang, and Li Bofang, who performed the tricks described above. Was the Second Plenum manipulated by the AB Corps and the Liquidationists, or was it a formal meeting of the AB Corps and the Liquidationists? We are afraid that the word manipulation cannot describe the meaning adequately. Of course, we cannot say that all those who participated in the Second Plenum were members of the AB Corps and the Liquidationists. Indeed, some of them are genuine Bolshevik comrades such as Comrade Yang Chengfu, who was so against the expulsion of Liu Shiqi that he was reduced to tears, because he was so angry that be could not say what be wanted. This proves that the Second Plenum was totally dominated by those so-called Party leaders, who are in fact the leaders of the AB Corps and the Liquidationists. From today's point of view, this is naturally not accidental. Since the FebllUIIY 7 meeting, rich peasants and landlords have been attacked ferociously. Therefore, the rich peasants and landlords have not only been forcefully opposing the redistribution of land in their actions, and developing the organization of the AB Corps and the Liquidationists; they have also been formulating a consistent counterrevolutionary theory. The Second Plenum bas carried this task to completion. The FebllUIIY 7 meeting was a fierce attack by the proletariat and poor peasants against the landlords and rich peasants, while the Second Plenum was the counter-attack of the landlords and rich peasants.

(5) Who is causing damage to the middle peasants? We have always held that the task in the countryside is to unite the farm laborers and poor peasants, consolidate the alliance with the middle peasants, and struggle against the landlords and rich peasants. Formerly, the AB Corps and the Liquidationists opposed the equal redistribution of land, and demanded distribution taking labor power as the criterion. (In reality, this method reflects the interests of the rich peasants, for only they have capital and thus more labor power. So the rich peasants will have more shares of land. And how about the poor peasants? Since they have neither draft oxen nor farm implements, and also have little fertilizer and seeds, it goes without saying that they have very little labor [power). Therefore, they will have a relatively small share of the land. And yet, poor peasant families, too, have old people and children, and their stomachs and mouths, too, need food to eat. Comrades of the Liquidationist faction and the AB Corps, you also engage in revolution, and must know the strange fact that these people also need to eat!) The AB Corps and the Liquidationists know that it won't do to oppose the interests of the poor peasants. So they suddenly take up an ultra-leftist position, saying that the poor peasants and farm laborers should be given good land, and the middle peasants should be given poor land. This is to show their particular support for the interests of the poor peasants and farm laborers. Looking at the matter superficially, it cannot be said that they are not revolutionary. But in essence, this is yet another plot. Is it not the case that, deliberately to give bad land to the middle peasants at present is deliberately to undermine the alliance with the middle peasants, deliberately to force the middle peasants to go over to the side of the rich peasants and aid the counterrevolution, and deliberately to isolate the poor peasants? In reality, a proposal which disrupts the alliance with the middle peasants is a proposal which sabotages the agtarian revolution. Is not giving good land to the poor peasants, just like the Guomindang's support for the interests of the masses, high sounding but devoid of substance? In sum, if they cannot abolish the agrarian revolution from the right, they want to shift to the left to abolish the agrarian revolution. Now a blow bas been dealt to them from the right, and they have also been exposed on the left. They are reduced to creating rumors that we have raised slogans that are opposed by the middle peasants.

Finally, we want to ask why Mao Zedong should be overthrown, and Zhu, Peng, and Huang be supported? Is it because of problems with Conuade Zedong as an individual? No, it most certainly is not. If it is a problem of Comrade Mao as an individual, why should Comrade Zhou Yili be captured? "Even if he has retreated ten thousand bu,"¹³ Comrade Yili has just arrived in Jiangxi and what political tricks has he played? Whom bas be seized? Whom bas he beaten? So the Liquidationists and the AB Corps have rushed to concoct rumors. Well then, why should Comrade Mao Zedong be overthrown? Precisely because Comrade Mao represents the correct revolutionary line, and is truly leading the struggle and promoting the Chinese revolution at present. Because the AB Corps and the Liquidationists are scheming to sabotage the Chinese revolution, they must overthrow Mao Zedong. It is precisely because Comrade Yili represents the correct line of the Central Committee that he must also be arrested. Why do the AB Corps and the Liquidationists support Zbu, Peng and Huang? This is not at all a matter of supporting the revolution, for the revolution is not a question of supporting an individual or not. Nor do they loyally support Zhu, Peng, and Huang. Their plot is first to draw in Zbu, Peng, and Huang to overthrow Mao Zedong, fll'St concentrating their forces to overthrow one person, and then overthrowing the others one by one. Comrades, at this crucial juncture of the decisive class struggle, Chiang Kaishek is shouting loudly "Down with Mao Zedong" from without, and the AB Corps and the Liquidationists are shouting "Down with Mao Zedong" from within the revolutionary ranks. How they echo each other's voices and copy each other's tastes!

Our source for this letter is the Chen Cheng Collection, Reel XIX, item no. II of tho microfilm. We have also consulted the version in Mao Zedong ji. Bujuan, Vol. 3, pp. 183-91, and the handwritten copy of the text which appears in Hsiao Tso-liang, Power Relations within the Chinese Communist Movement, 1930-1934, Vol. II, The Chinese Documents, pp. 264-{;9. Both of these versions cite the Chen Cheng Collection as their source, but they differ in a number of small but significant points both from the copy cited above, and from one another.

1. This document is a reply to, or refutation of (dabian), the letter of the Jiangxi Provincial Action Committee dated December 20, 1930, denouncing Mao for his behavior in connection with events in Futian in early December 1930. Regarding the extremely complicated and controversial issue of the Futian rebellion, see above, the Introduction. There is no evidence that Mao himself wrote this letter, but as the secretary of the General Front Committee, he must have approved it. Two earlier statements by Zhu De, Peng Dehuai, and Huang Gonglue, dated December 17 and December 18, take a very similar line, but if they had likewise produced this letter, their signatures would surely have been on it. (For summaries of the December 17 and 18 texts, see Hsiao Tso-liang. Power Relations within the Chinese Communist Movement, 1930-1934, pp. 9S-102.) Since no other document arguably reflecting Mao's views regarding the Futian Incident is available outside the Party archives, it seems appropriate to include this letter here.

2. The reference is presumably to the statements of December 17 and 18 by Zhu De, Peng Dehuai, and Huang Gonglue, and possibly to earlier texts not available to us.

3. The refetence is to tho "Confidential Letter of the Rebels" of December 20, 1930, which Zhu De immediately made known to all concerned. (See Hsiao, Power Relations, p. 102.)

4. These arrests had, in fsct, been carried out on Mao's orders at the end of November, a week before the Futian rebellion.

5. Chen Zhengren (1907-1972) was a native of Jiangxi. At this time, he was head of the Propaganda Department of the Jiangxi Provincial Action Committee. Zeng Shan (1899-1972) was born in Ji'an, Jiangxi. At this time he was a member of the Standing Committee of the Jiangxi Provincial Action Corrunittee. and chainnan of the Jiangxi Provincial Soviet Government.

6. Duan Xipeng (189S...l948), a native of Jiangxi, had heen one of the original organizers of the AB Corps in late 1926, as an instrwnent for combatting Communist influence in the Guomindang. Beginning in 1927, he spent most of his time in Nanjing in the entourage of Chiang Kaishek.

7. Taking Hongxiao to be an abbreviation for Hongjun xuexiao, referred to below.

8. Most scholars, including those critical of Mao, regard the letter attributed to him, dated December 10, 1930, as a forgery. See Hsiao, Power Relations, pp. 104-105. A copy of this letter was enclosed in that of December 20, 1930, to Zhu De and others.

9. An explanation for this rather obscure truncated passage is provided by Peng Dehuai's autobiographical notes, as edited and published after his death. According to Peng, Mao in 1930 wrote dates only in Chinese characters, and never used either Roman letters or Arabic numbers. See Peng Dehuai zishu (Peng Dehuai's Own Account) (Beijing: Renminchubanshe, 198l),pp.l62~7.

10. The Second Plenum in question is that of the Southwest Jiangxi Special Committee in August 1930, which adopted a less rsdicalland policy than Mao's. As already noted in various contexts, this committee, dominated by supporters of Li Lisan, had been in conflict with Mao for nearly a year.

11. See above, the "Land Law" of February 7, 1930, and the "Conclusion of the Joint Conference" of February 16, 1930. (As indicated in the loner document, the conference met in fact from February 6 to 9, 1930.)

12. The methods used for indicating omissions in this text vary from one version to the other. Here there are twenty X's in the copy in the Chen Cheng Collection. Presumably each X stands for one character.

13. It is not clear whether bu here means "steps," or whether it refers to tbe unit of length equivalent to S Chinese feet.