PRELIMINARY SUMMARY OF THE LAND INVESTIGATION MOVEMENT

August 1933

[Text]  I. A Great Success

The land investigation movement, under the appeal of the Party and the Central Government, has been extensively launched.  If the movement in the past was considered as an initial stage only, then the work in the 1 month of July after the eight-county land investigation mass meeting in June, surpassed the achievement of more than half year since last winter.  Generally speaking, in the eight counties included in the mass meeting, the movement has reached a new stage and become an extensive mass movement.  The achievements of Jui-chin and Yo-sheng were the greatest, uncovering a total of two thousand and several hundred landlords and rich peasants.  Initial achievements were made in the counties of Sheng-li, Yu-tu, Hui-ch'ang, T'ing-tu, Ch'ang-k'ing, Shih-ch'eng, and Ning-hua.  In all the districts and townships where achievements were made, extensive mass struggles have started.  In soviet work and party work, there was much stagnation in the past, but now the work has become lively.  Many of the undesirable elements in the soviets were purged, and the counterrevolutionaries hidden in the rural villages encountered severe suppression.  In other words, the remnant feudal forces suffered a tragic defeat at the hands of the broad masses.  On this foundation, all kinds of work developed even more.  In areas where the land investigation movement had made achievements, great successes were also made in the expansion of the Red Army and the local militia, the start of economic construction bonds, the development of the cooperative, fall harvesting and fall plowing, the launching of labor mutual aid associations, and such cultural undertakings as clubs, night schools, and elementary schools.  All items of work became more successful.  On the foundation of mass activeness, large groups of positive elements made themselves into cadres for all types of work, and many among the workers and peasants joined the party and enlisted in soviet work.  The best example was Jen-t'ien District in Jui-chin.  With the help of the work group of the Central Government, Jen-t'ien District in its land investigation movement activated the masses of the entire district in 55 days, thoroughly eliminated the feudal remnants, uncovered over 300 landlords and rich peasants, executed by shooting 12 counterrevolutionaries known as "big tigers," by the people, and suppressed counterrevolutionary activities.  Certain elements among the soviet work personnel committed various errors were accused at mass meetings, and certain class deviationists infiltrating the soviets were purged.  Some 27,000 tan of land were ascertained in the entire district, and the more than 20,000 toiling masses received an additional 1 tan 2 tou of land per capita.  Large quantities of money and things belonging to the rich gentry and landlords were distributed to the masses.  Due to the unprecedented height of mass positivity, over 700 new Red Army soldiers were recruited into the Jui-chin Model Division in 55 days, without even one desertion.  The amount of grain saved and sold to the Red Army reached 1,900 tan or more, an accomplishment which no other district in the entire county could match.  Under the demands of the townships, the district undertook to sell 40,000 yuan of economic construction bonds; 7,500 yuan were collected from landlord fines and rich peasant donations; the district promised to continue to raise 10,000 yuan.  Cooperatives developed rapidly, and cultural and educational constructions, such as clubs, literacy classes, and night schools, also increased.  The number of party members expanded; the Party's leadership strengthened; labor union work improved.  A new atmosphere emerged in the district.  From the backward district of Jui-chin, it reversed itself in 55 days and became a first class district, similar to Wu-yang.  Why did Jen-t'ien District make such great achievements?  We must point out that it was because they firmly followed the task of land investigation and because they firmly followed the correct directives of the Central Bureau and the Central Government in their mobilization pattern, class line, and mass work and performed true Bolshevik work.  In regard to understanding the tasks, they understood the close link between the land investigation movement and the revolutionary wars; therefore, they performed the work conscientiously, closely tackled the leadership of the movement, and arranged the work of the local area with plans.  In regard to the mobilization pattern, they tightly tackled the work of the seven townships which were more or less relatively backward among the 11 townships in the district, activated the Party, the league, the soviet township, the labor union, the poor peasants' league, and other mass organizations of the seven townships, and mobilized the broad masses through them.  In regard to the class line, they firmly followed the strategy of relying on the farm laborers and poor peasants and allying with the middle peasants, and extensively developed the poor peasants' league.  They explained that land investigation was not land division, and that class investigation did not include the middle peasants, poor peasants, and farm laborers.  Their work on "discussing the classes" was adequately performed.  When the landlords and rich peasants of O-feng township frightened the middle peasants and caused alarm in some of them, our comrades held individual conversations with several middle peasants, who spread our ideas to other middle peasants.  The middle peasants of O-feng township immediately settled down and actively supported the land investigation policy of the soviets.  Instead of continuing to be defrauded by the landlords and rich peasants, they joined the poor peasants and workers and attacked the landlords and rich peasants together.  The comrades of Jen-t'ien District did make mistakes in the classification of several householders, but they remedied them promptly.  In regard to guiding the mass struggles, they first made extensive propaganda.  Instead of holding meetings of the entire district and township, they held village and hamlet meetings, contacted broad masses, and propagandized to and encouraged them many times.  Therefore, the masses of the entire district understood that land and class investigations were their responsibilities and in their interest.  Next, they investigated the class components and activated many people to perform the task.  Material evidence on the various components was carefully collected and shown to the masses; therefore, there was no incident of dissatisfaction among the masses.  Subsequently, through the class classification, the Land Investigation Committee first made an analysis and decision which were handed to the poor peasants' organization for discussion and passage and then submitted to the district soviet for approval.  Thereafter, they proceeded to the village where the parcel whose property was to be confiscated resided and called a village meeting.  Only after a clear explanation of the case and the raising of hands to show support was the property confiscated.  In regard to the distribution of money and things and land, the work personnel all understood that they themselves must serve as the models and refrain from taking anything.  They distributed everything to the masses, a larger amount to the village where the property was found and a smaller amount to other villages, and won the satisfaction of the masses.  Land was also promptly divided.  The situation of prolonged delays or other areas was not found in Jen-t'ien district.  Therefore, the masses were rapidly activated.  They attacked the backward big villages also correctly.  They were not afraid of the big villages, but nor did they use brute force.  What they did was to concentrate their forces, make more propaganda, try to win over the local positive elements, rallying and educating them, and activate the remainder of the masses through them.  They were very patient in performing such village work which appeared to be slow but actually very fast.  In 55 days, they activated all the backward big villages in the district and eliminated their backwardness within a short time.  When they were unable to enter a village of Fo-t'ien township, because of the two well-known "big tigers" there, they adopted a different means.  The two rascals were arrested and tried in the local mobile court and, with the enthusiastic support of the masses, executed by shooting.  The mass struggle in this village spread like wildfire.  They held 10 mass trial meetings and mobile court meetings, all via a very extensive mass line.  Most of the people of the township attended while all the villages of other townships sent delegates, 10 or more from small townships, and 30 or 50 from the large townships.  Therefore, the results of each public trial and judgment were immediately spread to all the townships and villages of the district.  Besides realizing the justice of punishing or killing the culprit, the masses of all the townships and villages immediately thought of similar evil elements in their own area who also should be punished.  The land investigation movement of Jen-t'ien District is truly a model for the entire soviet area!  Chiu-pao District of Jui-chin also was very successful.  They first clearly tackled three townships, summoned the members of their land investigation committees to the district soviet for a 3-day training class, and explained the mobilization method, the class line, and the means to win the masses.  On the issue of distributing the confiscated property, they created a good method.  When a landlord's household was to be confiscated, they would ask the masses of the village and the household to gather together, elect a confiscation distribution committee, proceed with the confiscation under the supervision of the masses, pile the things confiscated in an open space, and distribute them to those entitled with the approval of the masses.  The edibles were handled in a different manner.  They slaughtered hogs and cooked rice for a big meal for the masses.  This method produced a great effect in Chiu-pao District.  Their confiscation distribution committee was not a regular organization, but a temporary one, thus creating a closer association with the masses.  (As for the distribution of confiscated land, it was still handled by the regular land committee.)  The confiscated things were not taken to the township soviet, nor did they wait until several households were confiscated before distribution; therefore, delays and theft were avoided.  Chiu-pao District was just as correct on other lines and methods; therefore, they could activate the broad masses for class investigation.  They were so successful that no landlord or rich peasant appeared at the township soviet to object to the classification, which was completely contrary to the condition of land investigation in the past.  In the past, there were always many investigated landlords and rich peasants who appeared at the soviet to object, claiming that the classification was wrong.  Not just themselves, but even the responsible persons of the township representing the poor peasants' organization would come forward and argue for them.  This time, naturally, it was not because the landlords and rich peasants did not want to object, but because they could not do so.  No one of their clan or among their relatives supported them.  They were incapacitated, and it was impossible for them to object.  It showed that Chiu-pao District performed adequate work in activating the masses, for otherwise they could not have attained this stage.

All such glorious exemplary instances (not scarce in other areas) constituted a Bolshevik response to the appeal of the Party and the Central Government and proved the absolute accuracy of the directives of the Central Bureau and the Central Government.  Anywhere where such directives were completely implemented, great successes were immediately made.  Anywhere where they were violated or overlooked, errors were committed in the work, and little or no achievement was made.  Let me prove this point by the facts.

II. Some Areas Relinquished the Leadership of the Land Investigation Movement.

In regard to the fighting task of the land investigation movement, after the promulgation of the decision of the Central Bureau, the issuance of the directive of the Central Government, and the mass meeting of the eight counties, the development of the movement did not reach all areas.  The land investigation achievement of the entire province of Fukien, for instance, was only equivalent to that of the county of Po-sheng; the achievement of Sheng-li, Yu-tu, Hui-ch'ang, or Shih-ch'eng could only match that of the best one or two districts of Jui-chin.  The land investigation committees of many areas had not even held one meeting, and even the county land investigation committees of several counties failed to tackle the land investigation work of the county (Hui-ch'ang, Yu-tu, Shih-ch'eng, and Ning-hua).  In some districts and townships land investigation committees, the district and township chairmen did not serve as the committee chairmen.  On grounds of being busy in other matters, they relinquished the task of land investigation.  In regard to the Party leadership of land investigation, in all areas where land investigation was successful, the effect of the Party's firm leadership was clearly demonstrated, and the majority of the Party membership masses, under the guidance of the Party branch and district committee, performed much courageous Bolshevik fighting work.  On the other hand, wherever land investigation achieved little or nothing, the Party unit's neglect of the movement was apparent.  Almost 2 months after the promulgation of the land investigation decision of the Central Bureau, the Hui-ch'ang county committee, for instance, never once discussed land investigation work.  Not until the end of July did they hold a meeting on the matter.  In one period, the Pu-hsiao district committee paid no attention to the land investigation movement at all.  Though the urban committee of Jui-chin held one meeting for land investigation, it did not activate the suburban branch committee to give attention to the leadership of land investigation, and none of the branches ever held a meeting for the movement.  In other areas, such as the county committees of Yu-tu, Sheng-li, Shih-ch'eng, and Ning-hua and many district committees, they also failed to pay close attention to the work of land investigation.  The Party and the Central Government said:  "The land investigation movement has become an effective means to activate the masses for intensive rural class struggle, thoroughly solve the land issue, and eliminate feudalism or semi-feudalism" (decision of the Central Bureau); "The land investigation movement is an urgent task of the soviets of all areas" (directive of the Central Government); "The land investigation movement is the most important link in the current work" (summary of the eight-county mass meeting).  Meanwhile, many of our comrades said: "Too busy; no time to look after the land investigation movement."  The Party resolution stated: "Some superficial attitude of handling the land investigation movement with bureaucraticism and formalism is most detrimental."  Yet these comrades still handled the land investigation with bureaucraticism.

III. Some Areas Actually Capitulated To the Rich Peasants.

In areas where the land investigation was launched, there still appeared many individual serious errors.  One often came across individual comrades in the local Party units or soviets who, in face of the violent class struggle of the land investigation movement, indicated their opportunist vacillations.  This was mainly because, during the vigorous development of the movement, they were unable to abandon their clan or local relationships but sheltered the landlords and rich peasants of their own clan or village.  Or they erroneously analyzed the class components, considering the landlords as rich peasants and the rich peasants as middle peasants.  Some work comrades of the judicial department, by their extreme intransigence, accepted the false accusations of the positive elements in the land investigation by the landlords and rich peasants in the name of the people.  In another aspect, some of our security bureau and judicial department comrades failed to keep pace with the development of the mass class investigation struggle and actively suppress the counterrevolution, and they even turned down the demands of the masses to arrest and execute the landlords and rich peasants elements who resisted the land investigation.  The judicial department of Jui-chin was an example of making all those mistakes.

IV. The Tendency to Encroach Upon the Middle Peasants Is the Most Serious Danger.

The "Leftwing" opportunist tendency, in the July land investigation, appeared in many areas.  Here, the tendency to encroach on the middle peasants must be emphatically pointed out.  The Central Bureau clearly indicated in its resolution: "Special attention must be given to the alliance with the middle peasant masses.  They are the broadest basic masses of the soviet village after the revolution; therefore, we must win their approval and support in all our measures and strategies.  Every decision made by a poor peasant organization or the soviets must acquire the support of the middle peasant masses at the village or hamlet mass meetings, and all appeals of the middle peasant masses must be heeded.  Any attempt to encroach upon their interest must be severely discouraged."  It was pointed out at the conclusion of the eight-county mass meeting: "The goal of land investigation is class investigation, not redivision of land... Allying with the middle peasants must start from not encroaching upon their interest... At the beginning of the land investigation, we must generally propagandize the soviet policy of allying with the middle peasants and guard against encroaching upon their interest.  In the process of land investigation, we must carefully decide on the borderline cases between the middle and rich peasants and avoid mistakes."  However, the comrades of many areas did not pay attention to such instructions.  In the land investigation of the Jui-chin urban area, they began the investigation by the households and farms.  Some middle peasants were so alarmed that they came to the soviet and asked to have their classification changed into poor peasants.  They said: "It is very dangerous to be a middle peasant, because if we only step removed from the rich peasant.  A poor peasant will be further removed from the rich peasant."  Do such painful appeals not deserve our attention?  The comrades of Yang-wu township, Huang-pu District, announced to the masses: "Class investigation is only the investigation of the middle peasants, rich peasants, and landlords."  The comrades of T'ao-ch'ing district put down stakes and forced the investigation, and some of the middle peasants were so terrified that they fled into the mountains to hide.  Some townships in Po-sheng county also put down stakes and made a general investigation, and the middle peasants there were similarly terrified.  It was stated at the eight-county mass meeting that "the idea that land investigation requires 'staking is not correct.'"  Nevertheless, the comrades paid no attention.  General investigation by "staking" happens in every county.  It was an unusually serious situation.  They confused land investigation and land division.  True, land division would require staking, but the land figures must first be classified before division.  If this method of staking was used in the land investigation movement, it would confuse the rural struggle goal. We pointed out in the past: "Land investigation and land division must be strictly distinguished.  Such distinction is not only for the purpose of stabilizing the peasants' land ownership so that they will not be alarmed over the uncertainty of land division, but also for the victory of the class investigation struggle.  We must concentrate our forces, especially by allying with the middle peasants, to handle the resistance of the landlords and rich peasants.  At this time, there must not be any confusion or disturbance within the peasants' own ranks" (conclusion of the eight-county mass meeting).  It was one of our most important strategies in guiding the land investigation struggle; but it was neglected by many comrades.  Such neglect cannot be tolerated for another moment.  In regard to those who, after being given guidance, continue with such mistakes, the local higher level soviet must punish them severely.  Ideological struggle must be launched inside the Party and the league, and any Party or league member, in his thinking or action, encroaching upon the interest of the middle peasants and violating the strategy of allying with them, must be exposed.  In regard to the mistakes already made, the soviet personnel must openly admit their mistakes to the local middle peasant masses and return the land and property to the wronged parties.  Last year, Hsing-kuo returned land to many middle peasants and won the satisfaction of the middle peasant masses.  It was a valuable lesson.

V. The Closed-door-ism of the Poor Peasants' League and the Neglect of the Leadership Effect of the Farm Laborers Are Wrong.

"The poor peasant masses are the props of the Party, the proletariat in the rural village, and the staunch supporters of the land revolution.  "Relying on the poor peasants" is one of our important strategies in the land investigation movement and all land struggles, and the poor peasants' league is an organization with a great effect in the land investigation movement.  The eight-county poor peasants' league delegates' mass meeting already pointed out that the closed-door tendency of the poor peasants' league was wrong, that the sponsor system must be abolished and the gates opened wide to the poor peasant workers, and that all poor peasant workers, men and women, old and young, could join.  But many places still followed the old methods without change and still required sponsoring.  In T'ao-ch'ing District, Jui-chin, when the poor peasant masses not belonging to the league came to its meetings, the responsible personnel refused them admittance.  In Ch'ao-chai District, Po-sheng, not one new member was admitted to the poor peasants' league in the entire month of July.  In all the districts and townships where land investigation was successful, the poor peasants' league developed extensively, while in all the districts and townships with little or no success, the one manifestation was the closed-door situation of the poor peasants' league.  Similarly, many comrades failed to recognize the great leadership effect of the farm laborers in the land investigation movement.  The Party resolution stated: "The farm labor masses are the rural brothers of the urban proletariat and the vanguard of the land revolution; therefore, the work personnel of the soviets must establish a close connection with the labor union, develop and organize the positivity of the worker masses through it, and turn them into the vanguard of the land investigation movement."  Yet many of our comrades followed this instruction.  Here, the main means is to make the rural workers join the poor peasants' league and form separate workers' cells within it.  Through such workers' cells, the positive elements among the poor peasants are rallied to develop the poor peasants' league and promote the progress of the land investigation movement.  The experiences of Shang-ts'un and Huang-po District, are valuable.  When our comrades failed twice to call a poor peasants' league meeting, they held a joint mass meeting of the agricultural and handicraft labor unions and activated several dozen workers.  Each worker brought a poor peasant to the poor peasants' league.  The next day, a poor peasants' league meeting was held and the land investigation movement was launched in Shang-ts'un township.  This experience must be introduced in all the rural villages.  The higher level leading organ of the labor union must render positive guidance to the lower level labor union and consider land investigation one of the important tasks of the labor union.

VI. Incorrect Concepts of the Rich Peasant Issue.

Our general strategy in the rural struggle is to rely on the poor peasants, firmly ally with the middle peasants, make the farm laborers produce a vanguard effect, and rally all revolutionary forces, in order to eliminate the landlord class and resist the rich peasants.  On the rich peasant issue, the party has stated correctly: "The landlords and rich peasants must be clearly distinguished.  In the struggle to eliminate ruthlessly the landlord remnants, there must not be any attempt to eliminate the rich peasants."  In the land investigation in July, though there was no theory openly advocating the "elimination" of the rich peasants, instances of considering them as landlords and confiscating all their assets were discovered in many areas.  The source of the error was that a result of obliterating the labor force of the rich peasants.  When we said that "those who perform no labor or only incidental labor, but practice exploitation, such as collecting land rent, are landlords," some areas considered those who used considerable number of labor elements as "performing only incidental labor" and classified them as landlords.  Other areas considered the rich peasants who also exploited by high interest loans as usurers, and handled them according to the method of "eliminating usurers."  There were also areas which reckoned old accounts, saying that a certain number of years before the revolution, if a person hired permanent help for 8 or 9 years, or even 10 or more years, before the revolution, he was considered a rich peasant.  Or, the well-to-do middle peasants who once hired permanent help for 1 or 2 years but had not done so since then were classified as rich peasants.  The even more serious instances occurred in a certain area in Hsing-kuo.  They distinguished the landlords and rich peasants by the number of exploitations.  Those guilty of three kinds of exploitations were called landlords, and those guilty of two kinds, rich peasants.  For instance, if a peasant hired permanent help, collected rent, and lent out money, he was considered a landlord regardless

of the number of family members who labored. Then, the problem of "reactionary rich peasants" was very confused in many areas. One rich peasant in Wu-yang District who was also a merchant had 17 mouths to feed in the family. Because one member of his family joined the AB League 2 years ago and was killed, the comrades there insisted on confiscating his entire family assets. Similar instances were many in other areas. In regard to the rich peasants who were not guilty of very serious counter- revolutionary conduct before the uprising, such as "collecting 30 percent grain as rent" (Jui-chin), and who did not perform any counterrevolutionary activity in the several years since the uprising, the majority of the masses did not want to punish them, yet some of our comrades insisted on confiscating their assets. Actually, in regard to this kind of people we must use different strategies for consolidated areas and unconsolidated outlying areas. In the outlying areas, doubtlessly, we must adopt a strict method and appraise all counterrevolutionary elements, including the rich peasants. In central areas, we must decide according to the situation. In regard to those who indulged in serious counterrevolutionary conduct before the uprising, or who continued in their counterrevolutionary activities after the uprising, naturally we must confiscate their assets; but otherwise we must not do so. For some households, we should confiscate only the assets belonging to the guilty party himself and those directly connected with his counterrevolutionary conduct, and leave the assets of the rest of the family intact. This is the only way to handle it correctly.

VII. The Worker-Peasant Prosecutors' Department Failed To Discharge Its Duties and Made Mistakes.

Many of our comrades in the worker-peasant prosecutors' department did not realize that the land investigation movement was the best opportunity to launch the ideological struggle, resist bureaucraticism, oppose corruption, decadence, and negative slowdown, and expose the class deviationists from the soviet, and they were very inadequate in performing such work. Many of them, in face of the violent class struggle, manifested their negative vacillation, bureaucraticism, and formalism. The chief of the Jui-chin city soviet worker-peasant prosecutors's section sheltered the chief of the city soviet judicial section who was guilty of grave corruption (appropriating over 1,000 yuan of public funds). The chief of Yu-tu District worker-peasant prosecutors's section failed to criticize or prosecute the district soviet chairman who neglected land investigation. In some areas, the worker-peasant prosecutors' department followed erroneous directions in the prosecution movement. They considered love as decadence and taking things belonging to the landlord as corruption and prosecuted, or even tried in public, the culprits. Some areas dismissed those making minor mistakes from their posts. Instead of systematically launching self-criticism and ideological struggle, which involved strenuous work, they resorted to punishment in their place. Needless to say, those among the soviet work personnel committing long-term and serious errors must be firmly purged, but dismissing and punishing those making lesser errors were excessive. In regard to the class deviationists, generally only the classi- fication was taken into consideration, not the work. As long as their background was bad, regardless of their long struggle history, or their

correct implementation of the Party and soviet lines and policies in the past or at present, they were considered class deviationists and dismissed. True, we must firmly purge the class deviationists. Those with undesirable classifications and inferior work performances (including landlords, rich peasants, negative slowdown, corruption, etc.) must doubtlessly be purged, but it would be excessive to handle the lesser ones likewise.

VIII. The Leadership Technique of the Land Investigation Struggle.

If we understand the task and the line, but do not have the Bolshevik technique of leading the mass struggle, the land investigation movement still cannot develop. At the beginning of this article we discussed the many good examples of leading the struggle in Jen-t'ien District and other areas, but in many other areas, numerous mistakes were made on this point. In some areas, they did not know how to employ all kinds of means to activate the struggle in the backward big villages where the landlords and rich peasants congregated. In some big villages, only by first arresting the evil gentry and landlord elements, known to the masses as "big tigers," before the struggle could be launched, but our comrades failed to do so. In regard to distributing the confiscated goods to activate a mass struggle, which is an excellent method, many areas did not resort to it. In Tung-te township, I-cheng District, Jui-chin, the confiscated things were only distributed to the land investigation cadres and poor peasants' league members, not to anyone else, on ground that those who were not positive were not entitled. Some areas were very slow in distributing the confiscated things; holding them for as long as a month or more. The distribution of confiscated land was even slower. The comrades of many areas did not know that they must produce a nucleus leadership effect in the mass organizations and villages by mobilizing the departments of the soviet, the mass organizations, and the Party and league members. When the work could not be started, they would say that there was nothing one could do in this area anymore. In some areas, after the class investigation mass struggle had been started and many people came to report on the landlords and rich peasants and request investigation and confiscation, our comrades were unable to utilize the mass fervor, lead the struggle, and spread the class investigation work to the various villages. In some areas, after some investigation, the struggle fervor of the masses could not continue to rise and a situation of stagnation appeared. Our comrades were unable to stimulate the masses by all kinds of means in order to raise their activism until all feudal remnants were eliminated. In other areas, after the land investigation movement, when the struggle fervor of the masses flourished, our comrades were unable to organize and shift the fervor to another front. For instance, after the people received things or land, they should have, at the mass meetings or other favorable occasions, encouraged them to enlist in the Red Army, sell bonds, join the cooperative, devote their effort to fall harvesting and fall plowing, establish clubs and literacy classes, or develop high and elementary schools. They missed the best opportunities. When the higher level ordered such work to be done, they would then begin to propagandize and encourage. Such tailism leadership, dropping behind the struggle fervor of the masses, is most detrimental to revolutionary work.

In another aspect, there was, in many areas, the undesirable situation of a few persons working with brute force. We once stressed that we must oppose the indifference of the majority of the masses and the commandist work pattern, and that only by patient and arduous work to activate the masses and win them before we could get the support of the majority and attain the goal of eliminating the feudal remnants. Such mass work is the only safeguard to implementing the class line. At the beginning of the land investigation movement, we must propagandize extensively in all the villages, explaining to the masses that the land investigation movement was necessary, that land investigation was not land division, and that class investigation was not investigation of the middle peasants, poor peasants, and farm laborer classes, and clarifying to them especially the distinctions among the landlords, rich peasants, and middle peasants. Village mass meetings must be held more than once, especially in the backward villages. Our propaganda must reach everyone of the revolutionary masses. To attain this goal, we must first explain clearly at the township soviet delegates meetings, labor unions, poor peasants' leagues, women laborers' and farm coolie delegates' meetings, and other mass organizations, and to all the positive elements, and propagandize through them to the masses. Class investigation must not be performed by only a few individuals, but by the majority. In regard to class classification, it must be passed not only at the poor peasants' league, the township soviet, and the district soviet, but also at the mass meetings of the village and hamlet of the party whose assets are to be confiscated, and the confiscation can only be carried out with the approval of the masses. When distributing things to the masses of the particular village and hamlet, it must be to the satisfaction of such masses. All these measures are for the purpose of winning the majority of the masses. The work personnel of the Party and the soviet must never forget the majority of the masses in any task at any time. We must turn toward the masses, which means the majority of the masses. Our work must penetrate the masses, which means penetrating the masses of the large and small villages, large and small towns. We must severely oppose the erroneous means of "closed-door-ism" and commandism with only a few individuals performing the work. Yet, our comrades in many areas did not do so. In many districts and townships in Jui-chin, they never even once discussed the classes (never analyzed the distinctions among landlords, rich pea- sants and middle peasants) to the masses. In many areas in Kiangsi and other counties, they started investigating without propaganda. As a result, the landlords and rich peasants created rumors and deceived the middle peasants. They claimed that there were many landowners and rich peasants in the township or that several hundred landlords and rich peasants were to be investigated (Jui-chin); yet our comrades failed to use the means of "discussing classes" to break down the rumor. A landlord in Kuang-feng sang said: "The land investigation movement means that the Central Government wants the debtors to repay their debts to the Central;" yet our comrades did not immediately expose such falsehood. In several townships in Hsing-kuo District, besides the propagandizing, class investigation was performed only by the several members of the land investi- gation committee, and class classification did not go through the mass

meetings, nor the poor peasants' league. They said: "The masses are not reliable. They don't know how to analyze the classes. To pass the class classifications at the mass meetings will lead to disputes. It is more reliable for the land investigation committee to handle it." This theory is truly amazing! In several areas, confiscation of the property of landlords was done at night, not during day time, on the sole ground that the landlords might run away. In one area, for the mass meetings, they used the method of "mass meeting of the entire district." Less than 200 people showed up. Three men lectured in turns from morning to afternoon, not permitting the masses to rest or eat, on the grounds that they might run away. This barbarous method can be considered another amazing thing!

IX. Launch the Struggle Between the Two Lines, Overcome One's Own Errors, and Strive for the Complete Success of the Land Investigation Movement.

Doubtlessly, land investigation has been launched extensively. Nevertheless, when the movement is progressing, and when we have made a correct assessment of the achievements and laid a foundation for its development, we must be alert and give attention to the obstacles in the movement. Only by launching the struggle between the two lines to eliminate such obstacles will we promote the faster progress of the movement. Launching anti-rightwing ideological struggles and opposing under-estimation of the serious signifi- cance of the movement, compromise with and capitulation to the landlords and rich peasants, and the tailist leadership of the mass struggle are the responsibilities of each and every communist party member. Meanwhile, all the party members must be alerted on the danger of encroaching upon the middle peasants; we must "severely hit any attempt to encroach upon the interest of the middle peasants, because this is an extremely serious danger which has clearly manifested itself in the current land investigation work." The incorrect concepts concerning the rich peasants will also doubt- lessly affect the middle peasants. All the commandist ways of brute force are most harmful to the alliance with the middle peasants. By sweeping aside all obstacles on the road to the land investigation movement with the firepower of the struggle between the two lines, the movement will advance in big strides, and its complete success will be fully guaranteed.

* "STRUGGLE," No 24, 29 August 1933
* "Collection of Reactionary Red Bandit Documents," Vol 3, 1935
* "On the Land Investigation Movement," Su-nan Hsin-hua Bookstore
* "Reference Material of the Revolutionary History of China's New Democracy," China Book Publishing Corporation, April 1951