(March 9, 1932)

To the Executive Committee of the Western Fujian Soviet Government

Dear Comrades:

Over the course of a few days, Shanghang and Wuping have been completely
occupied by our Red Army's Twelfth Army in cooperation with the broad
masses of workers and peasants, and Zhong Shaokui's bandit regiment has been
totally defeated and has fled to Guangdong.¹ This is a great victory, won at a
time when the democratic revolutionary war has just begun to develop, which is
of great significance both to the development and the triumph of the soviets
throughout the country. The Red Army now has Ganzhou under siege,² so the
taking of the two xian, Shanghang and Wuping, is not only a threat to the
Guangdong warlords, but especially of great help to the capture of Ganzhou.

The capture of the two xian, Shanghang and Wuping, has not only expanded
and consolidated the soviet area in western Fujian, but also formed closer ties
between Fujian and Jiangxi; this is especially true of the capture of the town of
Shanghang, as it is the largest key city in western Fujian, giving it an important
position politically, economically, and militarily. Thus the occupation of
Shanghang and Wuping is not of a temporary nature, but, instead, they will be
consolidated and turned into a solid Red area in western Fujian and the town of
Shanghang made into a Red key city. This is a very weighty task for you, a task
which you must make every effort to fulfill.

The Council of People's Commissars hereby issues the following directives
for the work in Shanghang and Wuping:

1. Correctly carry out the Land Law, the Labor Law, the economic policies,
and so on, adopted by the National Soviet Congress. This is the primary prerequisite and basis for the consolidation of the Red régimes in the two xian of

This letter was first published in Hongse Zhonghua, no. 13, March 9, 1932. Our source is
Mao Zedong ji, Vol. 3, pp. 99-105, which reproduces this version.
1. Wuping was captured on February 23, 1932, and Shanghang was captured on the
26th.
2. For information on the siege of Ganzhou, see the Introduction.

Shanghang and Wuping. Under this condition, arouse the vast numbers of workers and coolies in the towns, farm laborers, poor peasants, middle peasants in the
countryside, and other toiling masses to participate actively in the struggle of the
land revolution and in the Soviet Government. Only when they have attained
concrete benefits can they be expected to give active support to soviet power,
and the soviet régimes in the two xian can only be consolidated provided that
there is a basis formed by the broad masses of workers, peasants, and other
toilers.
2. In order to mobilize the masses of urban workers, the most basic provisions of the Labor Law, such as the eight-hour working day, wage raises, specification of a minimum wage, improved treatment, the practice of collective
contracts and labor contracts, and so on, must be really put into effect. The
government should serve as the defender of the interests of the workers and must
secure the immediate realization of these minimum benefits. At the same time, it
should provide material assistance to the workers and help with the procedure
when they organize trade unions. There are, however, certain things which must
be pointed out and prevented, corresponding to errors that often occurred in work
in the past. (a) As regards putting the Labor Law into effect and protecting the
interests of the workers, only a vague and general statement is issued, but the law
is not enforced in practice and no concrete measures are adopted. Nor does the
government examine or find out whether or not the workers have gained anything. It contents itself with an announcement or an order, thus adopting a
negative attitude toward supporting the workers' interests. (b) As regards protecting the workers' interests, the government does not in most cases make a
study of facts or of the circumstances of the actual struggle of the masses. It
merely resorts to administrative orders to force the capitalists to comply with the
law, it does not put its main effort into mobilizing the masses for the struggle. As
a result, the masses cannot understand what is going on and remain temporarily
passive in the struggle. (c) In the enforcement of the Labor Law, more often than
not the local economic situation or the actual living conditions and needs of the
workers are not investigated, so as to work out proper and practical measures.
Instead, there is reliance on compulsion to go beyond the limits allowed by the
actual local economic conditions. The result is that many capitalists are made
unable to bear the burden and have to close down their businesses, thus undermining the present economic policy of the soviets and greatly affecting the
economy in the soviet areas. Unemployment rises and, furthermore, a great many
workers begin doubting and become dispirited in the struggle and even make
secret compromises with and concessions to the capitalists, thereby dampening
enthusiasm for the struggle and obscuring class consciousness on the part of the
workers. This is extremely harmful. At the same time, restraint on the workers'
struggle or inactivity in the protection of the workers' interests on the pretext of
maintaining the economy of the soviet areas and executing economic policy
must be rejected still more resolutely. In short, the Labor Law is to be enforced

in keeping with the resolute protection of the workers' interests and economic
policy, especially by evoking the workers' enthusiasm for class struggle and
support for soviet political power.
3. To confiscate and redistribute the land in the countryside, the Land Law
must be enforced to the letter; the major issue is to follow clear-cut class lines
and never let the fruits of the land revolution be usurped for a time by the rich
peasants. Here an erroneous concept that existed in the past about the redistribution of land must be rectified, that is, the belief that it is inevitable at the outset of
the land revolution that the rich peasants will usurp the benefits and there has to
be a second or even a third distribution to solve the problem, so that distribution
of land is very careless at the beginning. This is very wrong. We can only say
that, during the land revolution, the rich peasants will definitely try to usurp the
benefits of the land revolution; just because of that, we have all the more reason
to rouse the masses in a resolute way to frustrate the attempts of the rich peasants
and prevent the benefits of the land revolution from being usurped by the rich
peasants by following a clear-cut class line. This mistake was a common occurrence in the newly developed areas in Jiangxi, mostly because, in the land
distribution, the main effort was not to mobilize the masses and instead distribution was done simply through giving orders, thus affording an opportunity for
usurpation by the rich peasants. It is true that the swift redistribution of land in
the newly developed areas is for the purpose of rapidly mobilizing and winning
over the basic masses and consolidating the area; if the rich peasants usurp the
benefits of the land redistribution, the new area cannot be consolidated effectively. Swift redistribution is only possible when the basic masses in the countryside are roused in the struggle for land redistribution, and only then can the
attempts of the rich peasants be frustrated and the benefits of the land revolution
not be usurped by the rich peasants. New areas can be powerfully consolidated
only on the basis of the active struggle of the numerous farm laborers, poor
peasants, and middle peasants. Therefore, when distributing the land, a mass
meeting should be called at which the Land Law of the Central Government is
announced, for the purpose of mobilizing the masses. The land distribution committee should absorb into its membership many farm laborers, poor peasants, and
middle peasants. Members must be elected by the masses, and their backgrounds
made publicly known at mass meetings and subject to examination. Every time a
land distribution plan is made, a mass meeting should be called where the plan is
made known to the people. The plan must be approved by the mass meeting
before the land is actually redistributed. When proclaiming the Land Law and
electing members of the land redistribution committee, the most important thing
is to announce that rich peasants may be given only poor land and that rich
peasants are not entitled to membership on the land committee, so as to attract
the attention and participation of the masses in the struggle to defeat the attempts of the rich peasants, to repel the rich peasants, and to stop them from
sneaking in and taking power in the redistribution of land. During land distribu-


tion in new areas in the past, the Red Army took care of everything, and in most
cases the soviet governments did not send personnel to assume leadership or
even ignored the whole matter, leaving the entire responsibility to the Red Army
alone. On one hand, this hampered the Red Army in carrying out other tasks, and
at the same time, because the Red Army had other tasks to carry out, it was
unable to concentrate all its efforts on distribution under the circumstances, so
naturally the land was distributed in a casual manner. Although the Red Army
did have a serious problem with formalism in land redistribution in the past,
responsibility for the mistakes lies mainly with the local governments, because
they disregarded their responsibility and failed to assume leadership. This time
when land is confiscated and redistributed in Shanghang and Wuping, the government of western Fujian must exercise active leadership and carry it through
correctly in accordance with the above instructions and in line with your many
past experiences in land distribution.

4. You must pay serious attention to the problem of middle peasants. In the
past, the middle peasants were rejected in many places or attacked under the
camouflage of attacking the rich peasants. This was nothing less than undermining the alliance with the middle peasants and was extremely harmful to the
consolidation of soviet political power and the future triumph of the revolution.
Do not repeat the same mistake of the past this time in your work in Shanghang
and Wuping. First, on the problem of land and with respect to equal distribution,
you must strictly and correctly follow Article 5 of the Land Law, a principle
concerning the middle peasants (... [equal distribution] is practiced only when
the majority of the peasants are willing and directly supportive; if most of the
middle peasants are reluctant, they may choose not to participate). Second, the
middle peasants should under no circumstances be encroached upon when funds
are collected. This is most likely to happen in fund collection in the newly
developed areas. The funds we collect should not come out of the pockets of the
middle peasants. Third, the more enthusiastic of the middle peasants should be
absorbed in a positive way in the land distribution, and especially participation in
the exercise of political power. Strict precautions must be taken against the
exclusion of the middle peasants from election and government. In a word,
consolidating the alliance with the middle peasants is one of the major bases for
the victory of the land revolution and the soviet régime. Encroachment upon the
middle peasants must be firmly opposed and considerable concessions should be
made to them on a number of issues (such as the equal distribution of land).

5. Apart from the problem of the workers and the implementation of the
many principles and methods prescribed in the letter of the General Political
Department with regard to the work in Ganzhou, the work in the towns of
Shanghang and Wuping should:

First, follow the economic policy adopted by the National Soviet Congress,
the tax laws promulgated by the Central Government, regulations for investment,
and regulations for loans; correctly carry them out using the experience of

Tingzhou; and translate these documents into bulletins so as to make them publicly known.
Second, try hard to maintain commerce and never undermine it on account of
fund collection. Funds to be collected should be classified and small capital and
part of middle capital should be exempted. Shops run by reactionary leaders
should be confiscated and their crimes and the reasons for the confiscation
announced in detail to the public, the purpose being to foil reactionary attempts
to spread rumors by making clear that it is the possessions of the reactionaries,
not shops, that have been confiscated.
Third, declare officially that all houses belonging to the reactionary organs
are confiscated by the Soviet Government and then reallotted to various organs
and mass organizations. Random occupation of houses at will by various organs
and organizations is prohibited. Confiscation of houses and possessions should
all be declared by the government. Some of the houses may be allotted to the
workers as dormitories and some rented out at low rates to ordinary poor people.
Of the possessions confiscated, cash goes to the government, and apart from that,
part should go as aid to the Red Army and the masses in disaster areas and the
rest should be distributed as much as possible among the urban poor. Transportation of all confiscated items to the old soviet areas without distribution among
the local people must be opposed. The anarchistic phenomenon of free confiscation and free disposition by various organs and mass organizations must be
redressed.
Fourth, preserve unequivocally schools and objects of culture, and even send
personnel to superintend and protect them. No vandalism is permitted.
Fifth, on discovering any shops that issue their own paper bills, compel them
to convert the bills into cash immediately and have the bills recalled for destruction. The government should send personnel for supervision when necessary and
prohibit future issuance of such bills. Cash should be well guarded so that it will
not be smuggled out of the area in large amounts by reactionaries and businessmen, and the economy of the Soviet Area will not be affected.
6. The collection of funds is to be concentrated in one unified organ, which is
made up of personnel from the western Fujian government and the Political
Department of the Twelfth Army. All [other] bodies and organs are strictly
prohibited from attacking the local bullies, so that a basis for unified finances
can be established. Most of the cash collected should be used to aid the Red
Army in developing the revolutionary war. Any willful waste because economic
resources are plentiful is strictly forbidden; cases of such waste are to be severely
punished.
7. As regards the problem of eliminating counterrevolution, a Committee for
Eliminating Counterrevolution should be organized in accordance with Directive

3. The evident meaning here is that small- and some medium-sized merchants should
be exempted.

No. 6 of the Central Government, and all principles in relation to the elimination
of counterrevolution should be adhered to in order to carry on the work correctly.
Preparations should also be made for setting up a tribunal and political security
bureau to maintain revolutionary order, as well as to administer justice in economic matters.
8. It is very important to establish provisional political power. Once the revolutionary committee is set up, it must put into immediate effect all laws and
decrees promulgated by the National Soviet Congress and the Central Government, in order to carry out the land revolution and the political program, suppress
reactionary activities, mobilize the broad masses of the workers and peasants,
and set up formal organs of political power. These are its major tasks. Revolutionary committees must be elected at mass meetings. The Government of West-ern Fujian should spare no effort in leading and supervising the work of the
revolutionary committees of various places. The Government of Western Fujian
should establish Shanghang as a city soviet directly under its jurisdiction. When
considerable progress has been made in the confiscation and redistribution of
land and in the elimination of the reactionaries, the establishment of the official
government should be set in active motion. First urban and rural soviets must
truly build up the system of representative conferences so as to lay a solid
foundation for the organization of the xian soviets of Shanghang and Wuping.
All formal organs of political power must be set up in accordance with the
regulations and directives promulgated by the Central Government. Revolutionary committees must become organs that lead the masses in the struggle and
strictly guard against the development of formalism, as well as the infiltration of
reactionaries and rich peasants.
9. Local armed forces must be organized in a planned way. You are expected
to discuss the matter with the headquarters of the military district and work out
practical plans for the organization of the local armed forces to defend the
Shanghang and Wuping Soviet Area.
10. The Western Fujian [Government] has always been dependent in its work
on the Red Army in the areas newly developed by the Red Army and does not
exercise effective leadership or exert itself to carry on work and fortify the area.
Take Liancheng and Ninghua, for example. They were occupied by the Twelfth
Army for a long time, but the Western Fujian Government did not make a point
of assuming leadership and as a result the newly developed area could not be
consolidated and was even lost when the Red Army left and the reactionaries
occupied it. This was a grave mistake. This past mistake is not to be repeated in
the work in Shanghang and Wuping. You should mobilize and immediately draft
a large number of working personnel from the old soviet areas to work in these
two xian. The responsible comrades of the Western Fujian Government should
go to Shanghang in person to supervise all the work there. Now every effort must
be made to consolidate Shanghang and Wuping, which is the most realistic and
paramount task at present. No other work is more important than this. For this

reason, we have decided to postpone the convening of the Congress of Fujian
Peasants in order to fortify Shanghang and Wuping. It is hoped that you will
issue a general order to notify the governments at all levels, and will moreover
take this opportunity to step up the work of election and reorganization at the
lower levels.
At present, to reinforce the work in Shanghang and Wuping, the working
comrades whom western Fujian sent to the Central Government and who have
received training can be sent back to you immediately, and then assigned to help
with the work in Shanghang and Wuping.
Comrades! Of all the tasks you have at present, consolidating Shanghang and
Wuping is the most central. You must go all out to fulfill this task, turning the
two xian of Shanghang and Wuping into the solidest of soviet territories and
making the town of Shanghang a Red key city.
Finally, you are expected to reprint this letter and relay it to the Political
Department of the Twelfth Army and the comrades working in Shanghang and
Wuping.
It is hoped that the recent situation in Shanghang and Wuping, as well as
future work there, will be frequently reported to the Central Government in a
timely fashion.

Chairman of the Council of
People's Commissars
Mao Zedong

Vice-Chairmen
Xiang Ying
Zhang Guotao