Regulations on Preferential Treatment for the Chinese Workers’ and Peasants’ Red Army[1]

(November 1931)

In the four years of arduous struggle since the defeat of the revolution in 1927, the Chinese Workers’ and Peasants’ Red Army, under the correct leadership of the Chinese Communist Party and in coordination with the broad masses of workers and peasants, has resolutely carried out the agrarian revolution, opposed the Guomindang warlords, opposed imperialism, seized back the land from the hands of the despotic gentry and landlord class, established the Soviet power of workers, peasants, and soldiers, and forged itself into a powerful Red Army, smashing three large-scale attacks by the running dogs of imperialism—the Guomindang warlords.[2] This spirit of heroic struggle for the worker-peasant class and for the Soviet power, and its victories, are worthy of admiration and praise. As the revolutionary movement advances in the Soviet stage, the expansion and consolidation of the Red Army are all the more necessary, to strive for the first victory in one or several provinces through prolonged and arduous struggle, so as to achieve the building of a new Soviet China and fulfill the class mission of the Red Army in history. Therefore, Red Army soldiers and their families shall receive various preferential treatment from the Soviet Republic. The Congress hereby promulgates the following conditions of preferential treatment:

Article 1: Where the family of a Red Army soldier resides in a Soviet area, the soldier and his family shall all receive an equal share of land, houses, mountain forests, ponds, etc., on the same basis as the local poor peasants...

Article 2: Where the family of a Red Army soldier resides in a White area, or where the soldier has newly come over from the White army, public land shall be allocated to them in the Soviet area, to be cultivated on their behalf by personnel dispatched by the local government.

Article 3: Discharged soldiers of the Red Army who are unable to serve and are granted long-term leave shall be allocated land from the Red Army’s public land for their own cultivation. If they settle their families in the Soviet area, their families shall still receive a share of land.

Article 4: During their period of service, if Red Army soldiers lack the labor power to cultivate their family land or the public land allocated to them, the Soviet government (planned by the district government, executed by the township government) shall dispatch personnel to assist with all cultivation, irrigation, and harvesting work. The labor dispatched shall be no less than fifty workdays per year. For Red Army soldiers’ families lacking labor power, supplementary assistance shall be provided according to their needs.

Article 5: To implement the above regulations, it is specially stipulated that all those not serving in the Red Army shall perform unpaid “Preferential Treatment for the Red Army Workdays.” Each person shall help the families of Red Army soldiers with work for two days per month, the timing and type of work to be determined according to the requirements of the Red Army soldiers’ families.

Article 6: During their period of service, Red Army soldiers and their families shall be exempt from all taxes and levies of the Soviet Republic.

Article 7: During their period of service, the state-owned houses inhabited by the families of Red Army soldiers shall be exempt from rent.

Article 8: During their period of service, Red Army soldiers and their families shall enjoy a five percent discount at state stores. When necessities are in short supply, they shall have the right of priority purchase.

Article 9: Whenever Red Army soldiers travel by steamship or train, their expenses shall all be issued by the public authorities.

Article 10: All theaters shall provide free admission to welcome Red Army soldiers to watch performances once a month; at ordinary times, ticket prices shall be reduced by half.

Article 11: During their period of service, the children and younger siblings of Red Army soldiers shall be exempt from all fees for schooling.

Article 12: During their period of service, if Red Army soldiers require recuperation due to injury or illness, they shall be sent to the most suitable convalescent home for recuperation. During the period of recuperation, all expenses shall be provided by the state.

Article 13: Those who have served in the Red Army for more than five years and have reached the age of forty-five may retire for recuperation, with the state subsidizing their livelihood for life. Those who are unwilling to retire and wish to continue serving shall receive special preferential treatment.

Article 14: The state shall establish asylums for the disabled. Those who become disabled due to war or during service in the Red Army shall enter the asylum for recuperation, with all living expenses provided by the state. Those unwilling to reside in the asylum for the disabled shall be granted a lifelong pension annually, determined by the county Soviet government according to local living conditions, but at present no less than fifty silver dollars per year.

Article 15: Correspondence between Red Army soldiers and their families, when stamped by the directly responsible organ, may be sent home without affixing postage stamps. Letters sent by Red Army soldiers’ families to the Red Army, when stamped by the local government, may also be sent without affixing postage stamps and may be forwarded upon reaching the Red Army organ. Governments at all levels and Red Army organs shall be earnestly responsible for this.

Article 16: Where Red Army soldiers sacrifice their lives in war, or die of illness due to overwork during service, consolation and compensation shall be provided according to the following regulations:

1. The time, place, battle, and meritorious deeds of the deceased soldier shall be collected and publicly announced by the Red Army organ or the government.

2. The personal effects of the deceased soldier shall be collected by the Red Army organ or the government and displayed in the Museum of Revolutionary History as a memorial.

3. The local government shall assist the Red Army organ in the burial of the deceased soldier and erect a monument.

Article 17: The methods of preferential treatment for the families of deceased or disabled Red Army soldiers are as follows:

1. Where children, younger siblings, or younger sisters are young, the state shall establish revolutionary memorial schools to specially educate them, and the state shall maintain their livelihood until they reach the age of eighteen, at which point the state shall introduce them to employment.

2. Parents, wives, and children shall be maintained by the state with appropriate subsidies.

3. Articles 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 of these Regulations shall remain in effect as before.

Article 18: During the period of service of a Red Army soldier, if his wife seeks a divorce, his consent must first be obtained; if consent is not obtained, the government shall prohibit it.

Chairman Mao Zedong

Vice Chairmen Xiang Ying, Zhang Guotao

[1] From November 7 to 20, 1931, the First National Congress of the Chinese Soviets was convened in Ruijin, Jiangxi. The Congress elected the Central Executive Committee and proclaimed the establishment of the Provisional Central Government of the Chinese Soviet Republic. The Congress also passed a series of documents including laws, resolutions, and regulations; these Regulations were passed at this Congress.

[2] This refers to the three large-scale “encirclement and suppression” campaigns launched by the Guomindang forces against the Central Revolutionary Base Area from November 1930 to September 1931.