Mass Work in the
Land Investigation Movement
(June 1933)

The Land Investigation Movement is a violent and ruthless class struggle. A
correct execution of the class line cannot be guaranteed, and the goal of cracking
down on the remaining feudal forces cannot be achieved, unless the masses are
mobilized on the broadest scale to take part in our struggle and turn it into a mass
movement. All the bureaucratic methods in our work that tend to separate us
from the masses are our ultimate enemies during the Land Investigation Movement. The focus of the mass work in the Land Investigation Movement is on
talking about class, approval of class status, confiscation and redistribution, and
correct leadership over the labor union and the poor peasant league.

I. Talking About Class (Making Propaganda)

A. The tactics for the Land Investigation Movement are to place the workers
in the leading position, rely on the poor peasants, unite with the middle peasants,
weaken the rich peasants, and wipe out the landlords. The essential purpose of
our propaganda is simply to provide a very clear explanation of these tactics to
the masses.

B. In order to explain these tactics it is necessary to define clearly the meaning of terms like landlord, rich peasant, middle peasant, poor peasant and
worker. In this explanation we must demonstrate that the landlord is a feudal
exploiter and the rich peasant is a semifeudal exploiter. Consequently, only by
adopting a policy of eliminating the landlords but merely weakening the rich
peasants can we ensure that the benefits of the agrarian revolution will go entirely to the middle peasants, poor peasants, and workers.

C. The rich peasants are, however, different from the landlords. The rich
peasants take part in labor themselves, while the landlords do not. That is why
we have a policy of eliminating the landlords, but a policy of weakening the rich
peasants. Therefore, the tendency to wipe out the rich peasants is wrong, and we
should not treat those with rich peasant status like landlords.

D. The tactic toward the middle peasants uniting with the middle peasants is

This text was first published in Douzheng, the organ of the Central Bureau, no. 32,
October 28, 1933. Our source is Mao Zedong wenji, Vol. 1, pp. 269-75, where it is dated
June 1933.


the most crucial tactic in the agrarian revolution. The success or failure of the
agrarian revolution will be influenced by whether the middle peasants support or
oppose it. For this reason, it is imperative to explain these tactics again and again
to the masses, making clear that it is absolutely impermissible to violate the
interests of the middle peasants. In order to unite with the middle peasants and
not violate their interests, we should put forward the term "well-to-do middle
peasant," explain it, and use it to clarify forcefully the points of difference
between the rich peasant and the middle peasant, thereby reassuring the well-todo middle peasants. It is important to expose the deception that the landlords and
rich peasants have practiced on the middle peasants, thus enabling the middle
peasants to free themselves from the evil influence of the landlords and rich
peasants and unite around the poor peasants in a common struggle against the
landlords.
E. Every deceptive slogan of the landlords and rich peasants must be exposed
and explained widely to the masses. We must be on guard against attempts by
the landlords and rich peasants to trick and disrupt the middle and poor peasants
by employing the backward localist concepts of the clans.
F. It must be explained that the Land Investigation Movement is the weapon
to crush the enemy's "Encirclement and Suppression." This is because once the
remaining feudal forces are cleaned up and the enemy's troublemakers hiding
inside the soviet areas are ferreted out, the revolutionary enthusiasm of the broad
masses will be increased, and it will be much easier for us to carry on work such
as the expansion of the Red Army and economic construction.
G. Concrete slogans must be put forward on the basis of the actual circumstances of a given locality. In a backward village, for instance, we must discover
the reason for its backwardness, and put forward a concrete slogan to rouse the
masses. Suppose that in a certain locality there is a reactionary landlord who is
threatening the masses, so the masses dare not stand up to involve themselves
actively in the struggle. In this case we must put forward the slogan of capturing
this landlord. Again, suppose that in another area the personnel of the local
government have made a serious mistake by divorcing themselves from the
masses, thus creating dissatisfaction among the masses. To launch the masses
into the struggle in this case, there must be propaganda that begins with unmask-ing these people's mistakes.
H. What has been mentioned above is the content of propaganda. Now let us
talk about the method of propaganda. The propaganda regarding land investigation should be addressed to all the cadres at the township level (the deputies of
the township soviet and the leaders of all the mass organizations), so that they
first understand, and then through them propaganda is conducted among the
masses. Secondly, the matter should be made clear to the masses of the members
of the labor union and the poor peasant league at their meetings. Thirdly, it
should be explained in a speech at a mass meeting of the village, so that every
single member of the masses understands it.

I. The propagandists should be selected mainly from among the active cadres
at the township level. They should make proper arrangements to attend and
deliver speeches at mass meetings. In addition, it is necessary to organize propaganda teams. After training, they may be sent among the masses to address them.
J. The methods of propaganda are: (1) making speeches, (2) putting up notices, (3) writing slogans, (4) distributing leaflets, (5) performing new plays, (6)
writing articles in the wall newspapers, and so on.

II. Investigating Classes
A. The Land Investigation Movement is actually an investigation of classes,
not an investigation of land mu by mu. The investigation of land mu by mu will
definitely arouse panic among the masses and is absolutely wrong.
B. Class investigation means investigating the classes of the landlords and
the rich peasants, investigating the exploiters, investigating these people who
have concealed themselves among the peasants, but in reality are not peasants. It
is these few people, and definitely not the classes of the middle peasants, poor
peasants, and workers, that are to be investigated. So we cannot conduct our
investigation from house to house. Such a method will arouse panic among the
masses and is absolutely wrong.
C. Before the class investigation gets under way, there must be a phase of
propaganda, namely, the phase of discussing the notion of class. To launch the
investigation without open and widespread discussion of class will arouse panic
among the masses and is absolutely wrong.
D. It is imperative to urge the members of the labor union and the poor
peasant league, as well a majority of the other masses, to participate in the class
investigation, and ask them to report promptly the results of their investigation to
the poor peasant league and the Land Investigation Committee. It is not right that
only a few people should be involved in the investigation, because an investigation conducted by a few people will arouse panic among the masses and is
absolutely wrong.
E. The class investigation must be carried on until a clear result is obtained.
Whether you are investigating a landlord or a rich peasant, you must lay bare
every fact regarding his exploitation and his personal life in the past, for only
thus can he be made to plead guilty, thereby satisfying the masses. If we jump to
a conclusion after performing only a rough investigation, it is easy for us to make
mistakes. The suspect will not admit his guilt, the masses will not be satisfied,
and as a result the Land Investigation Movement will be hampered. As for the
class status of those middle peasant elements, it is even more important to carry
out the investigation carefully, so that no middle peasant is turned into a rich
peasant and no rich peasant is turned into a landlord.
F. The materials resulting from the class investigation into one family should
be entered on a copy of the "Investigation Form Regarding Class Status." It

should be made available to everyone for their comments, and it should also be
preserved for checking in the future. It is not proper merely to state the result
orally or to note it in the mind or to write a couple of lines about it in the
notebook, for thus it can easily be lost.

III. Approval of Class Status!

A. The approval of class status means to determine class status. As it is a life-and-death decision for the person in question, we must be extremely cautious about
it. Every case must be thoroughly investigated before being presented for approval.

B. In the process of approval, the first step involves the poor peasant league,
which should call a meeting. Only after a general discussion and a majority vote
by a show of hands can the decision be regarded as approved by the poor peasant
league. If there is still some disagreement, the matter should be postponed until
the next meeting for discussion and must not be approved on this first occasion.

C. The second step involves the township Land Investigation Committee. It
must examine the views of the poor peasant league, and then approve it, if it is
correct, or amend it, if it is wrong. If the committee still has some doubts about
it, it must conduct another investigation.

D. The third step involves the district land department. If this department is
unable to make a decision, it should turn the case over to the district Land
Investigation Committee. If that committee is unable to make a decision, it
should hand the matter over to the xian land department.

E. The fourth step involves a mass meeting in the village. A mass meeting
must definitely be convened in the village of the person concerned, at which the
masses are informed of the facts regarding his exploitation and his life and it is
ascertained whether the masses agree or not. If the masses agree, the proposal is
approved; if they do not agree, the case should be investigated again, and approval must absolutely not be rigidly insisted on. Otherwise, the masses might be
dissatisfied. That would be commandism, which must be resolutely opposed.

F. None of the above-mentioned four steps can be left out, especially the
approval by the mass meeting, which is particularly important. In many localities, confiscation starts even before the decision is approved by the masses. This
is wrong.

G. In the event that a wrong decision has been made in the past, such as
turning a middle peasant into a rich peasant or a rich peasant into a landlord or a
landlord into a rich peasant, the original decision must be reversed. The past
mistake as well as the reasons for correcting it now must be explained at the
mass meeting, until the masses are satisfied.

1. The Chinese expression used here, *tongguo jieji*, means literally "approval of class,"
but as will be seen from the text which follows, it refers to the process of formally
assigning to people the correct *jieji chengfen*, or class status labels.

H. Once a wrong decision is reversed, if the person concerned is a middle
peasant, he must be compensated for the land and property that had been taken away
from him. Even if the land has already been distributed to others, it should be
returned to him. If the person concerned is a rich peasant, we should compensate him
with whatever we have right now. If we do not have anything at hand at this
moment, we have to find a way to compensate his loss in the future. Such a
compensation policy is very effective in winning over the masses. It is utterly wrong
to leave a mistake uncorrected without attempting to do anything about it.

IV. Confiscation and Distribution

A. It must be emphasized that the land and property of the landlords and the
land, surplus draft cattle, farm tools, and houses of the rich peasants can be
confiscated only after approval is granted by the masses at the mass meeting of
the village. It is absolutely prohibited to carry out confiscation without such
approval, or to carry out confiscation at night.

B. All the property confiscated from the landlords, except the cash and valuable articles, which should be turned over to the financial department of the
government, should be distributed to the masses. This is a good method for
raising the masses' enthusiasm for the struggle.

C. Advantage should be taken of the occasion when a mass meeting is being
held in the village to approve class status to elect a provisional confiscation and
distribution committee. Confiscation should take place immediately, and distribution should be carried out on the spot. No delay should occur in confiscation
or distribution. It is not permitted to take the things collected to the government
first and then discuss distribution.

D. Things confiscated from a village should be distributed within the same
village. They should not be divided evenly throughout the township (big landlords are an exception to this).

E. Things should be distributed first to Red Army dependents, farm laborers,
workers, and other impoverished elements from among the masses. Distribution
should not be carried out equally without regard for social strata.

F. Pigs and chickens collected through confiscation should be cooked and
shared by everyone at the mass meeting. They cannot be eaten merely by a few
people from among the personnel.²

G. Government personnel should set an example by not seeking to have
things distributed to them. If one of them is truly in need of some object, he must
obtain the approval of the masses at the mass meeting. The personnel must be
prevented from picking up things at will.

H. The draft cattle and major agricultural implements collected through confiscation may, with the approval of the masses, be placed under the charge of the

2. "Personnel" refers here to government cadres.

beneficiaries of land distribution, who may organize a farm cattle cooperative
and share the use of these cattle and tools.
I. It is wrong to delay the division of the land collected through confiscation.
After part of the land is reserved as the public land for the Red Army and social
welfare, the rest should be distributed immediately. It should go first to those
who did not receive enough land or did not receive any land at all in the past, and
then, if any is left, it should be divided evenly in each village. Hills and forests,
fish ponds, houses, and latrines should also be distributed to the masses immediately.
J. Each time when things are being distributed and the masses' enthusiasm
for the struggle is at its highest peak, we should take advantage of such occasions, bringing forward slogans about expanding the Red Army and developing
the cooperatives, and leading the masses to join enthusiastically in the revolutionary war and in the building of the soviets.

V. The Labor Union and the Poor Peasant League
A. All our major tasks, namely the discussion of classes, the investigation of
classes, and the approval of class status, confiscation, and distribution, can only
be accomplished with the greatest success by mobilizing the labor union and the
poor peasant league. The labor union is expected to be the leader for the class
struggle in the countryside, while the poor peasant league is expected to be the
pillar of the struggle.
B. Develop the Land Investigation Movement correctly, relying on the labor
union to instruct its own members to join the poor peasant league and play a
positive role inside the league.
C. It is necessary to expand the poor peasant league and turn it into an
organization that the broad masses of the poor peasants join of their own free
will.
D. The bad elements hiding in the poor peasant league must be cleaned out.
E. During the Land Investigation Movement, the poor peasant league should
diligently convene meetings and pay close attention to the movement as its
central task.
F. The middle peasants should be rallied around the poor peasant league and
drawn to the league's meetings as auditors.
G. In the course of leading the land investigation struggle, neither the labor union
nor the poor peasant league can violate any of the above-mentioned principles.
Only if the broad masses are mobilized in accordance with the previously
stated tactics and methods can the Land Investigation Movement achieve satisfactory results. Every instance in which we do not make propaganda, or the
propaganda is not properly, conscientiously, and universally carried out; every
instance in which class investigation, class status approval, confiscation, and
distribution are not carried out on the basis of the class line and the mass line or

do not win the support and approval of the masses, will make it impossible for
the Land Investigation Movement to achieve anything. On the contrary, this will
make the masses dissatisfied, and the progress of the Land Investigation Movement will be impeded. Thus, to oppose the "left" opportunism of attacking the
middle peasants and eliminating the rich peasants, to oppose the right opportunism of shielding the landlords and rich peasants, and to oppose the bureaucratic
leadership style and work methods during the Land Investigation Movement are
necessary conditions for carrying out the movement correctly.