The Issue of Rich Peasants After Land Distribution and the New Situation on the Northern Route)
Exploitation by Rich Peasants in the Yongxin Red Area: 1) hoarding grain, and 2) trading in industrial goods.

Grain hoarding involved two methods: one was hoarding their own surplus grain, and the other was buying up poor peasants' grain at low prices, which resulted in a severe spring famine this year.

Because the rich peasants intended to hoard grain, and the government had set a maximum grain price, they completely hid their grain. As a result, poor urban workers and residents had to eat porridge for a week and could not get their hands on any rice, while hired farmhands and poor peasants in the countryside also suffered from famine.

Later, the county Soviet led a spring famine struggle, resolutely fighting the rich peasants without concessions, with the determination to force down grain prices.

The Party played its role in every district and township, leading the Young Pioneers to open up the granaries. They searched out much of the grain the rich peasants had hidden—in wine vats, within double walls, in thatched huts, inside earthen brick enclosures, and under beds.

In the end, there was not only enough to eat but a surplus. When the new grain came into season, the rich peasants rushed to carry their old grain to town to sell.

In their small-scale trading of industrial goods, the rich peasants made enormous profits, mainly on items like salt, foreign-style socks, towels, sugar, and soap.

They had capital and all kinds of old social connections, so they could procure goods that poor peasants and hired farmhands could not obtain (the above from Wang Huai, the following from Chen Zhengren).

This was the case not only in Yongxin but also on the Northern Route, where a spring famine struggle was likewise waged this year.

The rich peasants there made money from trading, just as in Yongxin.

In Futian there was a place called Jiuru Tang, a small capitalist. During the salt famine on the Northern Route, he went to Nanchang to procure salt, and even when there was no ink or paper available, he could still get them from Nanchang.

He was therefore able to make contact with the captain of the Kuomintang’s Watch-and-Guard Corps; he had old social connections to draw on.

Jiuru Tang sold his salt and other goods at very high prices. In June and July, he sold salt for as much as one string six hundred wen per catty.

He owned two sewing machines, which left the tailors in Futian with no work, and they all opposed him.

Moreover, because his prices were so high, the Futian Market Soviet, under the demands of the masses, arrested the boss of Jiuru Tang and fined him one thousand yuan.

After the fine was paid, he continued to do business in Futian.

After the capture of Ji'an, his business grew even larger.

During the spring famine on the Northern Route, the rich peasants sold their grain to the White areas. The spring famine struggle aimed to stop grain from flowing into the White areas, permitting circulation only within the Red areas.

February 8, 1930. On October 30, 1930, the Front Committee of the Red Army decided at Luofang on the policy of luring the enemy deep into our territory. On November 6, the Red Army crossed the Gan River at Xiajiang and headed for Nancheng in Yongfeng. I went from Xiajiang to Ji'an to arrange the withdrawal.

On November 7, I stayed overnight at Dongtang and arrived in Ji'an the day after. Along the way, I made a few brief investigations.

During the investigation at Lijiafang, I came to understand the organizational and operational circumstances of the village and township Soviets in these places during the land struggle.

Before this investigation, my concept of those circumstances had been vague.

In the course of this investigation, I discovered the seriousness of the practice of distributing land on a village basis.

In southwestern Jiangxi, land distribution had been carried out in several tens of counties. The land law promulgated by the higher-level governments stipulated that distribution should be done on a township basis. Most staff members in the higher-level organs also believed that distribution was being done in accordance with the township-unit method. Who would have known that the actual situation was completely different? Generally, distribution was carried out on a village basis; very few places did it on a township basis.

The practice of distribution on a village basis, a method beneficial to rich peasants but detrimental to poor peasants, should be changed.

1. Investigation at Dongtang
Dongtang Village, the 15th Township, Tongshui District, Jishui County.

This township has one thousand households and three thousand people.

Land is distributed on a village basis.

This village has two hundred and ninety people.

The village government has a chairman and a secretary, both of whom provide their own meals.

In the land distribution, each person received one dou three sheng, equivalent to about two and a half shi of unhusked grain (each dou of field yields one shi of unhusked grain).*
*Other villages distributed as much as one and a half dou, or as little as two dou, which was the minimum; no one in this township received more than two dou.*

The village government secretary, Hu Deshun, also teaches at the commoners' school. He is forty-eight years old.

There are eight people eating in his household: besides himself, five sons, a wife, and a daughter-in-law (the eldest son's wife).

The eldest son works as a tailor and also farms; he is twenty-five.

The second son, nineteen, is apprenticed as a carpenter and went to Yongfeng County as an apprentice but has no money to return.

The third son, fourteen, is learning to make bamboo ware; he is still an apprentice and has no money to come back.

The fourth son, seven, attends school.

The fifth son is three.

In the past, they had one shi three dou eight sheng of land, which could yield twenty-seven shi of unhusked grain, not enough to eat. They depended on sweet potatoes, raising pigs, the eldest son's earnings, and his own farming.

They owe three hundred strings of cash in debts.

In this round of land distribution, the eight people in the family received a total of one shi four sheng, meaning three dou four sheng were distributed out from them.

For seventy to eighty li, from Ji'an city out to Jintan, Tongshui, and Futian, almost every household's women weave cloth; it is a major product.

The yarn (foreign yarn) for the peasant households is supplied by merchants, rich peasants, and landlords.

The process whereby capitalism destroys household side-occupations is not yet complete.

2. Investigation at Daqiao
Daqiao is under the jurisdiction of the 9th Township, Jintan District, Jishui, fifty li from Ji'an.

This district is divided into thirteen townships.

This township is divided into five villages.

This village is called Daqiao Village.

The chairman of the township government is Sun Xiu'en.

In Jiaokeng-Liu Family, there are five hundred and seventy people; each received nine luo of land in the distribution, equivalent to four and a half shi.

In Jiaokeng-Tang Family, there are one hundred and ten people; each also received nine luo.

In Jiaokeng-Wu Family, there are fifty people; each also received nine luo.

The three villages of Liu, Tang, and Wu share one village government; all received nine luo of land per person.

In Daqiao Village, the Guo clan, with one thousand and twenty-seven people, each received eight luo of land—that is, two dou of field, yielding four shi of unhusked grain.

In Shenjiangxu, the Luo clan comprises two villages with two hundred and ten people; they share one village government, and each person received eight luo of land.

The Guo and Luo villages each distribute eight luo per person because the land there is somewhat better.

The Tang and Wu villages each distribute nine luo per person because the land there is somewhat poorer.

On average, old and young alike, each person needs ten luo of unhusked grain (five dan) to eat per year.

In every village, one-third of the land can support a late rice crop; the other two-thirds cannot due to a lack of water.

Land capable of growing late rice and land that cannot are distributed in an intermingled way, so everyone receives a little of each.

The eight-luo and nine-luo allocations refer to the total harvest from both early and late rice combined.

Each person needs ten luo of unhusked grain per year to eat; those allotted eight luo are short by two luo, and those allotted nine luo are short by one luo.

Ways to make up the shortfall:
First, doing hired work—such as dyeing cloth, processing rice, carpentering, blacksmithing, tailoring, etc.
Over three hundred people go out of the township to do such work. Among them, about one hundred and seventy or eighty went to Ganzhou, mostly doing rice processing, tailoring, and small-scale trading.

About one hundred went to Ji'an, mostly doing rice processing and cloth dyeing.
The families of all these people have received their share of land.

This township produces no coarse grains.

Second, cloth weaving. The women in every household weave cloth. Each "bolt" of cloth (over two zhang, one hundred and thirty chi) brings a wage of four hundred wen. Someone quick with their hands and feet can finish in ten days; one person can earn about one thousand two hundred wen a month.

If slow, or delayed by childcare, they cannot finish one bolt in ten days.

Rich peasants and small traders bring foreign yarn from Ji'an and distribute it to every village and household.

For poorly woven cloth, the wage might only be three hundred wen per bolt, or even two hundred wen per bolt; some even have to pay compensation for the cloth.

On one bolt of cloth, the weaver can additionally keep (as profit) about two liang of yarn.

These two liang of yarn can be used to weave two chi of cloth. One chi of cloth sells for a hundred to a hundred and ten wen. The peasants’ clothing depends entirely on this leftover yarn.

The monthly weaving wage of one thousand two hundred wen is used for oil and salt expenses.

The above-mentioned hired work and cloth weaving are the two major supplementary sources for making up the food shortfall.

Now, not much cloth is being woven, and there is not much work available either.

The workers who went to Ganzhou have not yet returned. Of the hundred who went to Ji'an, fifty or sixty have come back.

This township still does not have a school.

Recently, the district issued an order that each township recruit twenty volunteer soldiers for the Red Army. This township sent eighteen, all volunteers. Today, a farewell meeting is being held for them at the Wugang district government.

3. Investigation at Lijiafang
Lijiafang (forty li from Ji'an) is the 19th Township, Rufang District, Ji'an.

This township has nine villages and six village governments.

The nine villages consist of six large villages and three small villages.

The six large villages are Lijiafang, Shangzhaotang, Cangxia, Xuyuan, Jinbi, and Zhouyuan.

The three small villages are Yejiafang, Xiaolijiafang, and Yangpingzhou. The three small villages share one village government with Lijiafang, while the remaining five large villages each have their own village government.

A village government has four staff members: a chairman, a secretary, a person for land and grain, and a person for communications who also serves as cook.

Three people—the chairman, secretary, and communications/cook—work and live at the government office, eating public meals.

The person for land and grain lives at their own home, eats their own food, and only eats public meals when coming to the village government on business.

The expenses of the village government are:
(1) Regular meals for three people plus an average of two guest meals per day. Each person's daily cost is one jiao of silver dollars, totaling fifteen yuan per month.
(2) Office expenses, including lamp oil, paper, and pens: three silver dollars.
(3) Every time the Red Guards and Young Pioneers set out on an expedition, they need straw sandal fees, haircut fees, and tobacco fees—sometimes five hundred wen, sometimes one string of cash (reimbursed at actual cost, with excess returned and shortfalls supplemented).

There were nine attacks on Ji'an; some expeditions that took a long time only returned after a whole month away.

In the past, these miscellaneous expenses averaged three yuan per month.

Previously, when setting out, the village government also had to issue food allowances. Later, it was changed so that the township government provided food, and the village government only gave out the miscellaneous spending money.

Thus, the three items above amounted to a total of twenty-one yuan per month.

In the past, the village government had nine people handling affairs: chairman, secretary, finance officer, purchasing agent, land officer, grain officer, judge, communications officer, and cook.

All nine worked and ate public meals at the village government.

This was the case from the start of the revolution in the first month of this year until the 19th of the third month, and again from the 4th of the sixth month until the 4th of the ninth month.

From the 20th of the third month until the 3rd of the sixth month, the reactionary Watch-and-Guard Corps occupied the area, the village government was dissolved, and the responsible staff fled to Futian.

From the 5th of the ninth month until now, the system has changed to four people stationed permanently to handle affairs.

When nine people were handling affairs, even more money was spent.

The township government operated from the 10th of the first month to the 19th of the third month, and from the 4th of the sixth month to the 5th of the ninth month.

The staff included: chairman, secretary, purchasing agent, finance officer, culture officer, land officer, grain officer, judge, communications officer, and cook—one each; plus three women members, three Young Pioneers (the captain, vice-captain who was also the instructor and secretary), and the head of the Children’s Corps. That made eighteen people in total, all eating public meals at the government.

Starting from the 6th of the ninth month until now, the staff has been reduced to just seven: the chairman, secretary, land-and-grain officer, culture officer, chairwoman of the Women’s Committee, captain of the Red Guards who doubles as cook, and one other secretary.

The secretary’s job combines the duties of "confiscation commissioner" and "going to the countryside to propagandize for expanding the Red Army"—two roles in one.

These seven people regularly stay at the government to handle affairs and take their meals there.

The Women’s Committee has four committee members. They eat at the government when they have business there; otherwise, they stay at home.

The work of the four women committee members is to go to the countryside to organize working women into the Red Guards, the Comfort Corps, and the Laundry Corps, and to propagandize among the men to encourage them to join the Red Army.

In the eleventh month of this year, eight people from this township went to join the Red Army.

On the 18th of the sixth month, during the second attack on Ji'an, each village sent two people to join the Red Army, making a total of eighteen.

During the seventh attack on Ji'an in the seventh month, seven more went.

On the 13th of the eighth month, after the ninth attack on Ji'an, another forty-six people went and were organized into the Independent Regiment, undergoing training at the second Independent Regiment headquarters in Datang.

In all, eighty people from this township have gone to join the Red Army, all through encouragement.

But among the last batch of forty-six, four or five cried and were unwilling to go; they went under coercion.

The nine villages of this township:
Lijiafang (Hu clan, over two hundred and twenty people), Xiaolijiafang (Li clan, thirty people), Yejiafang (Ye clan, forty-five people), and Yangpingzhou (Xiao clan, twenty-four people). These four villages total three hundred and twenty-seven people (one hundred and fifty-five males, one hundred and seventy-two females).

Shangzhaotang, Liu clan, two hundred people.

Cangxia, Yan clan, three hundred and fifteen people (one hundred and fifty males, one hundred and sixty-five females).

Xuyuan, Zhou clan, three hundred people.

Jinbi, one hundred and ninety people.

Zhouyuan, three hundred and seventy-two people (one hundred and seventy-six males, one hundred and ninety-six females).

The total for the nine villages is one thousand four hundred and four people.

Lijiafang and the other three villages together have a total of nine hundred and twenty-one mu and one fen of land.

In Lijiafang, each person was allotted two mu seven fen of land, yielding seven shi of unhusked grain.

In Yejiafang, each person was allotted three mu, yielding six shi.

In Xiaolijiafang, each person was allotted two mu, yielding five and a half shi.

In Yangpingzhou, each person was allotted two mu five fen, yielding five and a half shi.

Lijiafang had a surplus of seventeen mu nine fen, of which it transferred six mu to Xiaolijiafang and six mu to Yejiafang, leaving an actual remainder of five mu nine fen held "in common."

Yangpingzhou, after distribution, had a remainder of two mu three fen held "in common." The surplus fields were due to odd fractions that were inconvenient to distribute; they became public fields of the village government, with their rent used for public expenses. The rent rate was sixty percent.

Shangzhaotang Village had a total of eight hundred and twenty mu of land; each person was allotted two mu four fen, yielding two and a half shi of unhusked grain per mu. After distribution, a surplus of twenty-nine mu two fen remained "in common."

Cangxia Village had a total of six hundred and ninety mu three fen of land. Each person was allotted land that yields seven shi eight dou of unhusked grain.

Xuyuan had over eight hundred and twenty mu of land.

Method of land distribution: Those at home were each allotted three mu five fen. The land in this village is good; each mu can produce five luo (two luo equal one dan), for a total of seventeen luo. Workers were allotted one mu seven fen five li, half the share of peasants. Those who had gone away were allotted one mu four fen.

■ Jinbi Village had a total of 489 mu of communal land. Each person was allocated 1 mu and 7 fen, which could yield 6 baskets of paddy. Those who were away from the village did not receive any land.

Zhouyuan Village had a total of 510 mu and 8 fen of land. Each person was allocated 1 mu and 1 fen of land, and each received 6 baskets of paddy. Those who were away did not receive any.

After the Red Army captured Ji’an, the four members of the local reactionary “Watch and Guard Team”—the captain, vice-captain, secretary, and one platoon leader—were all captured in Ji’an, sent to the district government at Tongshuping, and executed.

The rank-and-file team members all joined the revolution in their home village and none went to Ji’an.

Three platoon leaders and ten squad leaders who stayed in the village and did not go to Ji’an were not executed and were allowed to participate in the revolution.

The chairman of the township government, Yan Chunwen, had 8 mu of land, each mu yielding only 3 baskets of paddy, making a total of 24 baskets. Four people lived off this.

During the first land distribution in July, land was distributed to those both in and away from the village. His own household lost 1 mu and 1 fen, leaving 6 mu and 8 fen, which could yield 20 baskets of paddy, giving each person 5 baskets of paddy.

After the capture of Ji’an in August, another redistribution was carried out. Those who had a livelihood away from the village did not receive land; only those in the village and those away without a livelihood were entitled to shares. Each person received 1 mu and 1 fen of land. He originally had 8 mu and gained an additional 8 fen.

His household had previously owed a debt of 500 strings of cash. They sold a daughter (aged 7) to Ji’an (the buyer was from Ganzhou and ran the Hemao Money Shop in Ji’an) for 100 yuan, which they gave to the creditor, leaving a remaining debt of 200 strings.

They also gave away another daughter (newborn) to the Catholic Church in Ji’an, without receiving any money.

Xiyiting Survey: A village under the 23rd Township, Rufang District, Ji’an, located 15 li from Ji’an.

Rufang District comprised over thirty townships.

This township had nine village governments.

This village, Xiyiting, had a population of about 600.

The village government had five functionaries: chairman, secretary, grain committee member, land committee member, and women’s committee member.

They all provided their own meals. The village government did not set up a communal kitchen; when gatherings occurred (such as meetings), meals were provided at the village government’s expense.

Public funds from ancestral halls and various religious associations were pooled for the village government’s use.

The village government’s expenditures covered the marching costs of the Red Guards and Young Pioneers (whether attacking Ji’an or attending mass meetings), as well as meal allowances for soldiers of the Independent Regiment when dispatched (each person received one jiao in silver dollars per day).

When dispatched, only meal allowances were provided; no allowances were given for straw sandals, haircuts, tobacco, etc.

The township government had 19 people handling affairs: one chairman, two secretaries (one for the township government, one for the Red Guards), one cultural committee member, one purchasing agent, one grain committee member, one land committee member, one Red Guards committee member, one social insurance committee member, two women’s committee members (one chair of the women’s committee, one organization committee member), one cook, one liaison officer, one Red Guards battalion commander, three company commanders, one Red Guards political instructor, and one Young Pioneers captain.

This township government was established on the ninth day of the sixth lunar month this year. Because reactionary forces from Ji’an often came to arrest people in the township, it could not stand firm and retreated when the enemy came.

Work in this township only developed after the capture of Ji’an.

The reactionaries had seized ten people in the township and killed two; after the capture of Ji’an, eight were released.

After the capture of Ji’an, over a dozen local reactionaries were caught in Ji’an. Six of the most hardline were executed, and the rest were released after paying fines; some were sent up to the district government at Tongshuping.

Work is now very busy: distributing land, distributing grain, resisting debts, and setting up schools.

The township is currently distributing land, using the village as the unit of distribution; five villages have been done.

An order came from above demanding that distribution be done with the township as the unit, so it has to be redone.

The opinion among the villages is that villages with more land want the village as the unit, while those with less land want the township as the unit.

Of the nine villages in the township, eight want the village as the unit; only one wants the township as the unit.

The five villages that have already distributed land are Tingtang, Banxikeng, Tashui, Xingtang, and Xiashang.

In Tingtang, each person received 1 mu of land (yielding 4 to 5 baskets); in Banxikeng, each received 1.5 mu; in Tashui and Xiashang, each received 1 mu; in Xingtang, each received only 8 fen.

Xingtang, having little land, demands distribution by township. Xingtang has about 200 people, all surnamed Huang. Although their land is little, it is all good land (no risk of flooding), and they have hills and earth.

More than a month after the capture of Ji’an, the land distribution in this township is still not finished. It will take another five or six days to complete.

The anti-debt struggle requires creditors to submit their debt documents to be burned. To date, only Guantian Village among the nine has submitted its documents to the township government, and they have not yet been burned.

The township government chairman was replaced by the district government. The new chairman, Wang Yutang, has been in office for only five days.

The old chairman, Liu Quansheng, had 1 mu and 8 fen of land and was a carpenter. Three people lived off this. He had been chairman since the sixth lunar month.

Previously, Ruhang and Fangkuo were divided into two districts; now they are merged into Rufang District. The new township chairman is from Ruhang District, while this township originally belonged to Fangkuo District.

Wang Yutang is a carpenter who also farms. He has 5 mu of land, yielding 18 baskets of paddy, supporting four people.

Over 70 people from this district have joined the Red Army as soldiers, more than 40 of them from the Young Pioneers—all youths in their teens, very courageous.

The district government is located at Tongshuping. The chairman is Fang Junbin, a rice industry worker.

Rural Surveys, Liberation Press, 1947
Mao Zedong’s Collected Rural Survey Reports, People’s Publishing House, 1982.12

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