Circular of the General Political Department
on Investigating the Situation Regarding
land and Population
(April2, 1931)
To all political departments of the Red Army
and local governments at all levels:
We have now drawn up two kinds of investigation forms, one for population and
one for land. The main purpose of these two forms is to compile statistics regarding the ratio between population and land for each class, so that we may answer
the many questions we now face more concretely by relying on hard facts.
In the past, the investigation of the actual facts was often neglected in many
localities, and people simply relied on their own imaginations in determining
work plans and directing the work of lower levels. As a result, the plans were not
feasible and the direction was erroneous.
These two forms we now have can solve many of our problems, provided we
are able to fill them out correctly, on the basis of statistics derived from careful
and penetrating attention to reality. This is particularly true with regard to many
of the concrete problems we face at present in the course of land redistribution.
We sincerely hope that Red Army political departments will pay attention to
filling them out wherever they go, and that the local organs of political power
will fill them out township by township. We particularly hope that every responsible person in the Red Army and in government will conduct such investigations and collect such statistics everywhere and at all times.
In the last analysis, how can we ensure that the materials we obtain from
investigations are authentic and accurate?
First, a deep understanding of this work must be established. Only when the
importance of this work is clearly understood will great efforts be made to pay
attention to it.
Second, people doing the investigating must not shy away from trouble. In
We have translated this document from Mao Zedong wenji, Vol. I, pp. 266-68. The
version in the 1982 edition of Mao's rural surveys., Mao Zedong nongcun diaocha wenji
(Beijing: Renmin chubanshe, 1982) indicates that it was taken from a mimeographed
circular held in the Party Archives. It is also reproduced in Mao Zedong ji, Vol. 2, pp.
255-57, under a title consisting of the two slogans that appear at the end.

S5
investigating a given township, they must find the ledgers of statistics on population and land used in distributing the land, as well as members of the township's
land committee who actually carried out the land redistribution, and people
familiar with conditions in the township. First, the class status of every family
member, and the class to which every mu of land belonged (whether to landlord,
rich peasant, middle peasant, or poor peasant ... .1) must be clearly established.
Clear methods of calculation must then be used to work out the actual figures,
and the forms must be filled in accordingly.
Third, comrades sent out by the government at higher levels to provide guidance,
and comrades in charge of political departments must explain in detail the content of
these two forms and the points for attention during investigation to the comrades
carrying out this work. In particular, it must be clearly explained that the criterion for
identifying rich peasants is that a substantial proportion of their income is derived
from the exploitation of others. Those who practice usury or make loans on a small
scale should still be classified as middle peasants. Those who were originally farm
laborers, but subsequently (before the revolution) rented land for farming. should
still be classified as poor peasants. Only those households in which nobody farms
and instead. they rely for a living on independent work (such as tailoring. carpentry,
etc.) can be called independent workers. Those who make their living panly by
farming and partly by engaging in handicrafts should be classified as poor peasants.
middle peasants. or rich peasants, depending on their economic status. The distinction between someone with an independent profession and a vagabond is that the
person with an independent profession is engaged in a relatively honest calling (such
as doctor, teacher, etc.). Vagabonds have no fixed profession, their lifestyle is also
unstable, and they do mostly bad things.
If the above points are not clearly understood when carrying out investigations, one is operating in the dark. This will surely lead to mistakes in determining class status, and the statistics will lose their true value.
Since these two forms, regarding land and population, are closely related.
they must be filled in at the same time. Individuals and organizations alike, once
they have completed the forms, should seal them and mail them directly to the
General Political Department of the Central Revolutionary Military Commission.
Our slogans are:
I. He who has not made an investigation has no right to speak.
2. He who has not made a correct investigation likewise has no right to
speak.
Director of the General Political Department of
the Central Revolutionary Military Commission Mao Zedong
I. Suspension poinu in original.