The actual execution of all Soviet work lies in the township Soviets and city Soviets [2], a fact everyone understands.
However, many people do not understand how the township Soviets and city Soviets should carry out their work.


And without understanding the work of the township Soviets and city Soviets, one simply cannot truly lead Soviet work, nor truly solve the problem of "all Soviet work must be subordinate to the demands of the revolutionary war."


Now among the higher-level Soviet staff, we encounter such a situation: they can issue many orders and resolutions, yet know nothing of the actual content of the work in any township Soviet or city Soviet.


Comrades!

This will not do; this is bureaucracy, an obstacle to Soviet work!

Our tasks have been set forth, and many plans, from expanding the Red Army to building bridges and roads, have been issued.
The question is how to mobilize the masses to fully and practically carry out these tasks and plans.


The extraordinarily intense revolutionary war demands that we resolve this problem swiftly and universally.


And the solution to this problem cannot be conjured up in our minds; it depends on collecting all kinds of fresh and concrete experiences in the process of mobilizing the masses to execute various tasks, on promoting these experiences, on expanding the scope of our mass mobilization, so as to make it suitable for higher tasks and plans.


In many local Soviet organs now, serious errors of perfunctory neglect or coercion through orders have occurred.
These Soviets have very poor relations with the masses, greatly hindering the execution of Soviet tasks and plans.


On the other hand, countless comrades working in the lower-level Soviets have, in many places, created many excellent methods of mass mobilization.
They integrate with the masses, and their work has achieved great results.


One responsibility of higher-level Soviet personnel is to collect and organize these good experiences and disseminate them across broader regions.


Such work should now be immediately implemented in every province and county.


The most effective method to combat bureaucracy is to show them living examples.


The experience of Changgang Township collected here, limited by time and the materials provided by the reporters, is only a summary outline of several of their main tasks.


But this summary is enough to draw our great attention and earn our solemn praise of their work as a "model of Soviet work," because their relations with the masses are very close, and their work has achieved great results.


To promote these experiences, collect more experiences, provide concrete examples to all backward township Soviets and city Soviets, elevate their work to the level of the advanced township Soviets and city Soviets, rally millions of masses around the Soviets, and strive to make all Soviet work meet the demands of smashing the enemy's "encirclement and suppression"—this is our purpose.


December 15, 1933

Political District Division and Households
Changgang Township belongs to the Shangshe District of Xingguo County, Jiangxi Province, having been carved out of Langmu Township in the same district.


The work rankings in Shangshe District: Changgang and Langmu are first; Yangcheng is second; Hefu, Xiushui, and Tangshi are third; Rentian and Shangshe are fourth.


Changgang Township is divided into four villages: Changgang, Tangbei, Xinxi, and Siwang.


Households: 1. The entire township has 437 households, totaling 1,785 people.
Among them, 320 are away serving in the Red Army or doing other work, and 1,465 remain in the township (including temporary laborers and district and township staff).

Within the township population, there are 1,286 middle and poor peasants; 102 workers, hired farmhands, and coolies; and 77 landlords and rich peasants.

2. Those away serving in the Red Army or doing other work: from 1928 to 1932, 80 joined the Red Army; in 1933, 139 joined the Red Army; 7 are in the guerrilla battalions; 34 have been transferred to work at the county level or above; 24 have been transferred to work in rear hospitals; 36 have been transferred as long-term porters; making a total of 320.

3. Landlords and rich peasants: originally there were 2 landlord households, totaling 5 people; originally there were 11 rich peasant households, totaling 72 people.
During the land inspection in August, 6 women—wives or daughters of landlords—who had married workers or peasants were identified.

From these 6 persons, 36 dan and 6 dou of land were reclaimed. No other rich peasants or landlords were uncovered.

Representative Conference
1. Meeting Procedures
The agenda is usually: (1) opening, (2) reports, (3) discussion, (4) other business, (5) adjournment.
Written on paper and posted up. As for the specific issues for each discussion, only the chairperson writes them on paper and does not post them.
"Reports": first, the chairperson reports on the reason for the meeting, speaking twenty to thirty sentences.
Next, the "participating comrade" from the district Soviet makes a report (almost always, someone from the district Soviet participates: section members come often, in five or six out of ten meetings; department heads come less often, in two or three out of ten; the chairperson and vice-chairperson do not come often, only in one out of ten meetings), covering the political situation and work circumstances.
Matters not mentioned by the "participating comrade" are supplemented by the chairperson and the Party branch secretary.
"Discussion": all are specific issues. For example, at a meeting held on November 8, the following items were discussed:
(1) Military mobilization. Further divided into:
1. Expanding the Red Army.
Representatives from Changgang Village promised to recruit five people; Tangbei Village representatives promised four; Xinxi Village representatives promised three; Siwang Village representatives promised three; totaling fifteen people, to be achieved by November 30.
2. Preferential treatment for Red Army dependents. Decided to mobilize both the model plowing teams and the labor mutual-aid cooperatives together.
3. Return-to-ranks campaign. There are seven deserters in the township. Decided that the propaganda teams (township and village) and assault teams (organized by Red Army wives) should carry out work.
4. Comforting the Red Army. Each village promised towels: four each; for hemp straw sandals and cloth sandals, Changgang promised 110 pairs, Tangbei 100 pairs, Xinxi 90 pairs, Siwang 100 pairs.
(2) Economic mobilization. Further divided into:
1. Economic bonds.
The township committed to selling 5,456 yuan worth. 822 dan of grain have been collected, valued at 4,110 yuan, and 127 yuan in cash has been collected, totaling 4,237 yuan collected.
There is still a shortfall of 1,219 yuan not yet collected.
Decided that all representatives must "summon their spirit" to conduct propaganda and complete the collection by November 25.
2. Cooperatives.
Consumer cooperatives existed only at the district level before; now the township is organizing a branch cooperative.
Only slightly over 100 yuan in shares has been pooled so far, but the masses have already pledged 350 yuan.
Decided that all representatives should conduct propaganda for collection, and propaganda teams must also be sent out.
3. Economy campaign. Decided to plant more vegetables to prepare for the spring famine, and to save grain and rice.
(3) Repairing river embankments and roads.
Decided that within the ten days from November 20 to 30, the major road leading to Jiangbeidong, six li long, must be repaired to a width of six chi.
After this repair, other roads will be repaired to a width of four chi.
Five people were elected as preparation committee members.
After the roads are repaired, they will repair the river embankment, one zhang wide, that was damaged by flooding.
As for that large wooden bridge, it will be repaired jointly with Langmu Township.
(4) "Supporting the district Soviet."
To show the support of the entire township's masses for the convening of the Third All-District Soviet Congress on November 12, it was decided to present a red banner, made of one chi and four cun of red cloth, with four characters written on it.
On the 12th, over nine-tenths of the township's masses were to be mobilized to march in formation to the district Soviet, and firecrackers were to be set off. (In the end, eight-tenths of the masses went and set off five to six thousand firecrackers, all bought and set off by the masses themselves.)
The latter two items were discussed under the "other business" agenda item.
All issues discussed this time were proposals submitted by voters during the election assembly to the township Soviet for discussion.

2. Inspection System
Of two representative conferences, one is for discussing issues, the other for inspecting work.
Before each work inspection meeting, the duty representative of each village convenes the representatives under them to hold an inspection meeting, and the duty representative reports the results at the representative conference.
After the report, they discuss how to accomplish what has not been done and how to correct what has been done poorly.
This method began in Langmu Township.
Changgang adopted it after being separated from Langmu, and later Yangcheng Township also adopted it.
Recently, the district Soviet held a district-wide work inspection meeting, requiring all townships to adopt it.

3. Duty Representatives
Number of representatives per village:
Changgang Village: over 500 people (population at the time of land distribution), 14 representatives.
Tangbei Village: over 490 people, 14 representatives.
Xinxi Village: over 300 people, 13 representatives.
Siwang Village: over 400 people, 14 representatives.
Work ranking of each village: Changgang first, Tangbei second, Xinxi third, Siwang fourth.
Each village has one "duty representative," serving in rotation, each person on duty for ten days at a time.
Implemented since September.
Before September, there was a "representative director" system, where one person was appointed full-time.
After two years of implementation, the director system was found to have shortcomings: responsibility fell on one person, and others had no opportunity to practice work.
Rotation avoids this drawback.
However, the duty system (actually a ten-day duty system) also has a drawback: a weak representative cannot lead a village.

4. Standing Committee
A standing committee has existed since the establishment of the Soviet.
Composition: chairperson, vice-chairperson, secretary, CPC branch secretary, and Young Communist League branch secretary, totaling five people. When necessary, the duty representative participates.

5. Representatives Leading Residents
Each representative is responsible for a group of residents, ranging from over twenty to over fifty people.
For example, Representative Li Qiuying from Changgang Village is responsible for over fifty people.
Each representative holds a residents' register.
The register is divided into categories: adult males, adult females, male youth (eligible for long-term porter duty), female youth (eligible for short-term porter duty), male children, female children.
Adult males are further divided into those in the Red Guard (eligible for long-term porter duty) and those not in the Red Guard (eligible for short-term porter duty). Adult females are also divided into those in the Red Guard (eligible for short-term porter duty) and those not in the Red Guard (eligible for preferential treatment as Red Army dependents).

6. Changes in Representation
In Langmu Township before the new administrative division (seven villages, 3,000 people), over seventy representatives and eleven alternate representatives were elected in November of last year, totaling over eighty people.
Among them, sixteen were female representatives and over sixty were male representatives.
By the time of the reelection on November 1 this year, only five of the originally elected male representatives remained.
Most had gone to the Red Army, and a few had been transferred to other work.
Twenty-nine went to the Red Army in Red May alone.
Every time a representative departs, they convene the masses under their charge the day before to elect a new person, called an "acting representative."

7. Political Performance of Representatives
The best: 60 percent.
Middling: 35 percent.
The worst: 5 percent (four individuals).
These four worst ones are two men and two women.
They are very obtuse and lack initiative; they attend only four out of ten meetings; when present, they don't listen to proceedings, and even less do they speak.
Their attitude towards the masses is "rude"; the masses do not like these four.
In July, they were replaced in a by-election.

8. Female Representatives
Among the sixteen: the best—eight individuals, who seek out work to do and do it well.
The middling—six individuals, who do not seek out work on their own, but will do it when assigned, though not very well, and need help.
The worst—two individuals, who do not do the work even when it is assigned.

The Changgang Township Representative Conference has many good innovations, such as the standing committee, duty representatives, representatives leading residents, and the inspection system, all of which can be studied by other areas.
However, the standing committee should be changed to a presidium (seven people for a large township, five for a small one). Duty representatives should be changed to representative directors, selecting the very best representatives for a one- or two-month term; a change every ten days is too frequent.
The issues discussed at meetings are also very practical, but that vague five-point agenda should be abolished—why not post up that list detailing the specific issues?
Changgang Township’s inspection system is very good. The complete execution of work and the striving for speed depend on this method.
The worst representatives should be replaced earlier. Waiting eight months for a by-election is too late.
When a representative is transferred to other work, it is correct to hold a by-election immediately, but the person should not be called an "acting representative."

This Election
1. Election Committee
Composed of nine members: the CPC branch secretary; the CPC women's affairs officer; the head of the hired farmhands' branch [3]; the head of the handicraft workers' branch [4]; the director of the Poor Peasants' League and one other person; the commander of the large unit; two township representatives.
The branch secretary serves as the chairperson.
Organized in September.
The county Soviet originally set the election for the end of September; it was postponed twice, the second time deciding on early November.

2. Election Propaganda
Spoke about how class distinctions were not clearly delineated in the past, but are now clearly delineated, hence the need for an election.
Also spoke about the need for an election to smash the "encirclement and suppression" and to review work so as to make further progress.

Three: Voter Registration
Each of the four villages compiled its own voter register.
The representatives were responsible for registering the residents under their charge and submitting the lists to the election committee, which published them by posting notices: one type of notice for those with voting rights, a second for those under sixteen without voting rights, and a third for landlords, rich peasants, and others without voting rights.
The first two notices were red; the latter was white.

Three such notices were posted outside each of the four villages and the township Soviet office.

The voter registers had originally been compiled in September, but at that time the family members of workers were not classified as part of the worker component.
This was corrected last month and re-announced.

Among the masses, there were some who raised doubts about the criteria for distinguishing between the election of worker and peasant representatives.

Less than one-tenth of the entire township correctly understood the question of "workers' leadership."

Four: Electoral Units
Each of the four villages formed one electoral unit, with an additional unit for the workers.

Five: Work Report
Voters' meetings were held over two days (October 19 and 20), with two villages meeting on the first day and the other two on the second.

The chairman went to Changgang and Tangbei villages to deliver reports, attending on two separate days.

The vice-chairman (who also served as Party branch secretary) went to Xinxi and Siwang villages to deliver reports, also over two days.

The reports covered three areas: military mobilization, economic construction, and other work.

After the reports, the candidate lists were elected.

A call was also made for the attending masses to criticize the work of the township Soviet, but no one came forward with criticism.

Six: Candidate Lists
On October 19, the Party branch executive committee held a meeting, attended by representatives from each village (a total of eleven people).

In proportion to the number of workers and peasants in each village, a list of fifty-five candidates was drawn up, exactly matching the number of representatives to be elected.

The list was then submitted for discussion to the Party group meetings, trade unions, and poor peasant leagues in each village.
At the voters' meetings where work reports were delivered, Party members from these groups rose to propose the list, which was then passed by the assembly, thus saving the election committee the procedure of preparing its own list.

The list was publicly posted, with one copy displayed outside each of the four villages and the township Soviet office.

The election was held three days after the posting.

Seven: Election Assembly
Date: November 4.

The workers held their meeting at the township Soviet, with 90 percent in attendance; the remainder were absent due to illness.

The peasants held separate meetings in the four villages, with 93 percent in attendance.

The meetings were held in the morning.
As voters entered, they signed a "present" mark next to their names on a pre-prepared form (the form had twenty-four spaces, printed and issued by the county Soviet, listing the names of twenty-four voters).

One person guarded the door, while children watched outside, and some also came in.

Landlords and rich peasants, knowing they were excluded, did not come.

Procedure: The election committee member gave a report, followed by the township Soviet chairman and a comrade participating from the district Soviet.
The voters were then asked if they had any opinions (none were raised). Next, each candidate on the list was introduced by name and voted upon (no one was rejected). Proposals were then discussed.
One proposal, that all able-bodied people in the township between the ages of sixteen and forty-five go to the front, was passed by majority vote.

In addition, matters such as "military," "economic," and "embankments and roads" discussed at the representative conference on November 8 were all proposed at this election assembly.

The assembly convened at ten in the morning and adjourned at four in the afternoon, with "excellent spirit."

Eight: Political Performance of Representatives
Among the fifty-five representatives, thirty-six were the most active, nineteen were average, and the poorest performers had yet to be identified.

Among the representatives, old representatives who were re-elected accounted for six-tenths (over thirty), while newly elected ones accounted for four-tenths.

Nine: Representative Conference After the Election
On the morning of the day after the election (November 5), the first representative conference was held, at which the chairman, vice-chairman, and secretary were elected, along with ten delegates to attend the district congress.

Three comrades from the district Soviet participated in this meeting.

On the fourth day (November 8), the second conference was held to discuss the proposals raised at the election assembly (see above).

The shortcomings of the election in Changgang Township were: (1) Propaganda failed to point out that the Soviet is a political power through which the masses manage their own lives, and that electing Soviet representatives is the most important right of the masses.

(2) The number of candidates on the list exactly equaled the number to be elected, without doubling it, so the masses had no opportunity to critique the list.

The election committee played little role in organizing the candidate list, leaving only Party activities to carry this out.

(3) During the work report meeting, no full effort was made to mobilize the masses to criticize the work of the township Soviet.

Apart from these shortcomings, everything else was a success.

Committees Under the Township Soviet
The following are mass organizations.

They are divided into village and township levels.

At the village level, each committee consists of five members, with the director also serving as a member of the township committee.

At the township level, most committees have five members, because there are already village committees, though some have seven, nine, or eleven members.

1. Red Army Expansion Committee: seven members, including three representatives.
Discusses "expansion," "preferential treatment," "comfort and consolation," and "welcome."

A comfort team (seven members, with a team leader; of these, four are representatives—one man and three women; the other three are one man and two women) brought peanuts, beans, vegetables, and straw sandals to hospitals, to the county seat, and once to Huangpi and Xiaobu to comfort the Red Army.

2. Land Committee: seven members.
Met several times during the land investigation movement in September to address the thirty-six dan of land uncovered the previous month.

Has not convened since.

Should be reorganized into a Farming Experimental Station Management Committee, with an agricultural products exhibition hall attached.

3. Land Registration Committee: five members, one from each village, with the director serving on a permanent basis.
Organized in July, it worked for two months until registration was completed, after which the director's board allowance was discontinued.

Method: In each village, the representatives were consulted and registrations were made accordingly.

If a representative did not know, an inquiry was made directly to the household in question.

In August, since the forms were not clearly understood, the registration was incomplete, so it was extended for another month until it was properly completed.

4. Forest Committee: five members; besides the director, one from each village.
Responsible for planting and protection.

Some trees were planted, but the mountain land is poor and undeveloped; planting should be done along riversides, near paths, and around houses.

If private mountain owners want to cut many trees, they must consult the forest committee member; if only a few, no consultation is needed, as no standard volume has been set.

5. Construction Committee: five members.
Directs the "Water Conservancy" and "Bridge" committees.

6. Water Conservancy Committee: five members; besides the director, one from each village.

7. Bridge Committee: five members.
Responsible for the maintenance of bridges and roads.

Should be renamed the Bridge and Road Committee.

8. State Property Committee: five members.
Although it exists, its work is not well understood.

9. Warehouse Custody Committee: three members.
Manages the storage of grain from public bonds and from land cultivated for the Red Army.

Also oversees the famine relief granary, managing the grain from the thirty-six dan of confiscated land for famine relief purposes, totaling over ten dan.

10. Confiscation Committee: three members.
Handles fines and contributions.

Since September, it has imposed fines of nine yuan on landlords and collected contributions of 225 yuan from rich peasants (eleven households, with the largest contribution exceeding forty yuan and the smallest being ten yuan).

In the past, the land, forests, houses, draft oxen, and farming tools of rich peasants were all confiscated, and they were only allocated poor farmland and dilapidated houses, with no forest land distributed.

Now rich peasants must rent draft oxen and farming tools from others.

Previously, cash was sometimes "fined" from rich peasants, and now it is also sometimes "fined," so there is no real distinction from contributions.

Currently, the living conditions of rich peasants are worse than those of hired laborers.

(It should be pointed out that Changgang Township's policy toward rich peasants is mistaken.)

11. Land Investigation Committee: nine members.
Now disbanded.

12. Education Committee: five members.

13. Health Committee: five members.
Organized in April.

14. Air Defense and Anti-Gas Committee: five members.
Organized in October.
Met four or five times.

15. Preparatory Committees: established for organizing commemorative meetings.

The village-level committees in Changgang Township (many committees are present at the village level) have linked the Soviet with an even broader mass base.
This is an excellent creation when Soviet work has reached a high stage of development.

Since each village has committees of five members, many township committees also need only five people.
Among the five members of each township committee, four serve as the directors of the corresponding village committees.
This forms a network of work and provides tremendous assistance to the work of the township representative conferences.

However, the comrades in Changgang Township regard these committees as mass organizations on par with trade unions and poor peasant leagues, failing to recognize that they are part of the Soviet organizational structure.
This is inappropriate.

Among them, the Construction Committee can be abolished.

In a place like Xingguo, where the land struggle has deepened, the Land Committee should be reorganized into a Farming Experimental Station Committee.

Additionally, committees for "Grain," "Household Registration," "Worker-Peasant Inspection," and "Red Alert" should be added.

These are already stipulated in the Local Soviet Organic Law promulgated by the Central Government.

Local Organizations
1. Troop Organization System
(1) Male Red Guards: one platoon, ages twenty-four to forty-five.
In the entire township, there are sixty-six males within this age range.
Excluding the chairman, secretary, and twenty others who were not enrolled due to serious illness or disability, all were enrolled, totaling forty-six.
One platoon leader and one deputy platoon leader; six squad leaders and six deputy squad leaders.
One flag.

(2) Female Red Guards: one company, same age range as above.
In the entire township, there are 246 females within this age range (more than double the number of males). Excluding twenty-six who were ill or disabled, all were enrolled, totaling 220.
One company commander, one deputy commander, one political instructor; three platoon leaders and three deputy platoon leaders; nine squad leaders and nine deputy squad leaders—all women.
One flag.

(3) Young Pioneers: one large brigade, with males and females combined.
For ages sixteen to twenty-three, there are twenty-one males and eighty females in the township (four times the number of males), totaling 101.
Excluding fifteen who were ill or disabled (e.g., with rheumatism affecting the legs), all were enrolled, totaling eighty-six.
One brigade leader and one deputy brigade leader.
Subdivided into one male platoon and two female platoons, each with a platoon leader and deputy platoon leader.

2. Training
(1) Platoon drills: organized by village, twice a month, with Red Guards and Young Pioneers separated but males and females drilling together.
Trainers: the female deputy company commander of Changgang, the female company commander of Tangbei, and for the Young Pioneers, one woman and three men.
Exercises: attention, stand at ease, left and right turns, file insertion, goose step, running (less for women), skirmishing, field exercises (over distances of three or four li).
Weapons: mostly spears, with a few wooden rifles.
Political lessons: drills first, followed by instruction delivered by the political instructor.
Topics include the revolutionary situation, imperialism, and the tasks of the Red Army, with no fixed teaching materials—"just a casual talk."
Time: afternoons, roughly from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m., with two and a half hours for drills and one and a half hours for instruction.
Attendance: on average, seven out of ten attend.

(2) Company drills: organized by township, once a month on the fifteenth.
Exercises: Each platoon demonstrates its drill methods, with reviews to see which platoon performs best and to inspect the results of platoon drills.
Political lesson: after the drills, the instructor gives a talk on the political situation.
Time: four hours in the afternoon.
Now that it is winter, the weather is cold and there is more free time, so the drills are held in the morning instead.

3. Duties
(1) Transport work: Men serve as long-term porters (those over forty-five who are not enrolled in the Red Guards serve as short-term porters).
Women serve as short-term porters (some are assigned to the county seat, Gaoxing, Chaling, and other places). They also undertake relief work (some are organized into relief platoons, kept on standby with no current tasks) and laundry (laundry teams are organized, with over ten women selected from each village—those without the burden of young children—who have washed laundry for the supplementary division and training unit at Shaojiwo several times, and at Chaling two or three times).

(2) Night sentry duty: Three sentry posts in Changgang, Tangbei, and Siwang, with one shift each night, consisting of five or six people per shift.
Red Guards and Young Pioneers each assign a few members, who rotate in turn, with squad leaders or deputy squad leaders taking charge.
One person stands guard while the others sleep.
They ask for passwords (the answer is "common folk," stating one's name, destination, and purpose, though in practice the masses are not informed of the passwords) and check travel permits (for those passing through from other townships). They have never caught any bad elements.

(3) Daytime inspections: Three people take responsibility for one day—one Red Guard, one Young Pioneer, and one member of the Children's Corps.
When someone passes, one checks the travel permit (the Children's Corps member), and another interrogates the person (the Red Guard or Young Pioneer).
If necessary, messages are delivered.
The Tangbei sentry post once caught four or five deserters and sent them to the district.
"Common folk" once caught a person without a travel permit (who was taking a small mountain path), a man from another county who was extremely aggressive; suspecting him to be a spy, they sent him to the county.

(4) Air defense: The Township Air Defense and Anti-Gas Committee guides the masses in air defense, paying attention to the following: When an airplane comes, do not run around in panic.
Dig air-raid shelters; several households may jointly dig one. This work is underway but not yet completed.
If exposed to poison gas, cover the nose with a handkerchief.
Those returning from field exercises said that charcoal powder placed in a cloth can be used to cover the nose.
One signal cannon station per village has been fully set up.

Two persons are assigned to each location, with one always remaining at home while the other goes out, responsible for firing the signal cannon.


All young and able-bodied working people should be organized into the Red Guards or the Young Pioneers, and given proper military and political training, so that on one hand they can defend the local areas and on the other prepare to go to the front.
This is an important task of the Soviet during the civil war.


Changgang Township has also been successful in this regard.


People's Livelihood — This year, a famine struck.
Before planting in the spring, 80 percent of the people were short of grain and had to buy rice from faraway places like Donggu, Shacun, Futian, and Shuinan.


These 80 percent of the people were short of grain for a whole month on average. Each person needed five piculs of grain per year, which comes to four dou per month.

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Eighty percent of the township's 1,500 people is 1,200 people, and one month's grain requirement is 480 piculs.
All this grain was brought in from distant places and the problem was solved, with no one going hungry.


2. Next year, there will be no fear. This year's spring plowing was good, but because of insect damage the autumn harvest was poor, equaling only last year's yield.

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However, (1) the autumn tilling was good, with sweet potatoes and beans each increasing by 40 percent compared to last year; (2) during winter tilling, vegetables, broad beans, snow peas, and rapeseed were planted as well; (3) after last year's autumn harvest, the people sold large quantities of grain to merchants at just 2,800 wen per picul—less than one yuan.
Although they needed money urgently and it was okay to sell some in moderation, this fact was overlooked.
This year, a county-wide meeting was held, and it was decided that grain would not be sold to merchants for less than four yuan and that sales should be kept to a minimum; (4) after last year's autumn harvest, a lot of grain was wasted feeding pigs, chickens, and ducks.
This year, less was used for that; (5) last year, for the first and second issues of public bonds, buying two yuan worth required spending two and a half piculs of grain.
This year, for the economic construction bonds, buying ten yuan worth requires handing over only two piculs of grain.
Thus, it is guaranteed there will be no food shortage next spring.


3. There is a surplus of oil. The peanuts are better than last year and can be pressed for oil.

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Every household has been given some land on the Camphor Ridge [7], and there is also some tung oil [8].

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There is plenty of oil, even a surplus.


4. Beans can be exchanged for salt, but salt consumption has greatly decreased.
This year the bean harvest was good (the water supply was even, whereas last year almost everything suffered water damage), and the bean price is good (last year nine yuan per picul, this year twelve yuan). This can cover 60 percent of the township's salt needs.

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For the remaining 40 percent of salt, the surplus oil (a 30 percent increase in oil) can be exchanged.

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On average, every person, young and old, needs four qian of salt per day (twelve liang per month). This July, that was reduced by half to just two qian (six liang per month), and in November it rose slightly to a bit over three qian (about ten liang per month).

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The people eat pickled vegetable broth and say it's about the same as using salt. (This is the crime of the Kuomintang—we will only have salt to eat once the blockade is broken.)


5. Meat consumption: poor peasants have doubled it, workers have tripled it. About 85 percent of households raise pigs, while about 15 percent are unable to.

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On average, each household sells about twenty yuan worth of pigs annually and buys about twelve yuan worth of pork, leaving a surplus of eight yuan.

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But before the uprising, on average each household could only buy about ten yuan worth of pork each year.

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Divided by class: Before the uprising, middle peasants bought about twelve yuan worth of pork, poor peasants about six yuan, and workers about four yuan.
Now, nearly all have about twelve yuan (though some among them do not reach this amount).

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Before, not only on market days but even during the New Year and festivals, people couldn't eat much meat.

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Now, not just during the New Year and festivals, but every market day, everyone buys a bit of meat to eat.


6. Most chickens and ducks are now eaten by the households themselves; before, most were sold.


7. As life improves, less firewood is sold. There is no local shortage of firewood.

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Before, many people carried firewood to town to sell; now that has decreased by 30 percent because many no longer need to sell it.


8. Clothing has doubled. Taking all clothes together, on average each person needs to make one new set of unlined clothes per year.

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For middle peasants, there has been little change compared to before.

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For poor peasants and workers, it has now improved by twofold. For example, now they can make clothes costing two yuan, whereas before they could only afford one yuan.


9. The livelihood of hired farmhands has improved.
There are about twenty-two such households in the whole township; six-tenths among them are somewhat better off than the poorest of the poor peasants because they received a share of distributed goods.

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In this township there are only two landlord families; a considerable amount was confiscated from the rich peasants (twelve households) and quite a bit was also distributed from the city.

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Four-tenths are on the same level as the poor peasants.


10. Middle peasants remain in their original position. Generally speaking, the livelihood of middle peasants is about the same as before.

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(The Soviet should pay attention to improving the livelihood of middle peasants.)


11.
Market prices (A) Agricultural products: Grain—before the uprising, after the autumn harvest, per picul (ninety catties) three yuan; after the uprising, one yuan; last autumn, one yuan; this spring, nine yuan; after this autumn's harvest, three yuan; in November, four yuan seven jiao.

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Peanuts—before the uprising after autumn, per picul (one hundred catties) three yuan; after the uprising, three yuan; last autumn, three yuan; this autumn, three yuan five jiao.

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Sweet potatoes—before the uprising after autumn, per picul (one hundred catties) one thousand wen; last autumn, one thousand three hundred wen; this autumn, one thousand two hundred wen.

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Beans—before the uprising after autumn, per picul (one hundred catties) seven yuan; last autumn, ten yuan five jiao; this autumn, twelve yuan.

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Pork—before the uprising, per catty six hundred fifty wen; last autumn, nine hundred wen; this spring, seven hundred fifty wen; this autumn, eight hundred sixty wen.

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Chicken—before the uprising, per catty seven hundred fifty wen; last year, nine hundred wen; this year, one thousand two hundred wen.

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Duck—before the uprising, per catty five hundred wen; last year, seven hundred wen; this year, seven hundred fifty wen.

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Chicken eggs—before the uprising, each twenty-five wen; last year and this year, both forty wen.

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Duck eggs—before the uprising, each thirty wen; last year and this year, both fifty wen.

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Firewood—before the uprising, split firewood per catty eight wen; last year, ten wen; this year, twelve wen.

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Tung oil—before the uprising, per catty six hundred wen (five and a half catties per yuan); last year, nine hundred twenty wen (three and a half catties per yuan); from this spring to autumn, three catties per yuan; in November, two catties twelve liang per yuan, because it can be exported.

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Peanut oil—before the uprising, seven catties per yuan; last year, three and a half catties per yuan; this November, three catties per yuan.

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Small oranges—before the uprising, twenty-eight catties per yuan; last year, nineteen catties per yuan; this year, fifteen catties per yuan.

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(B) Imported goods: Salt—before the uprising, seven catties per yuan; in March 1931, one catty per yuan; last year, three and a half catties per yuan; this summer, per catty one silver dollar or two paper yuan; in November, per catty twelve liang one silver dollar, per catty four liang one paper yuan.

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Cloth—before the uprising, medium-quality blue cloth per chi one hundred fifty wen; last year, two hundred fifty wen; this spring, three hundred wen; November, three hundred eighty wen.

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Matches—before the uprising, per box forty wen; last year, seventy wen; this summer, one hundred eighty wen; November, ninety wen.

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Kerosene—before the uprising, per catty five hundred thirty wen; last year, one thousand one hundred twenty wen; this year, one thousand six hundred wen.


12. Rest and labor of the people. On average, each person has about five full days per month (counting many meetings together) of meeting life, which serves as good rest time for them.

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Because many people go out, the labor force in the countryside decreases, and the labor intensity of the people remains the same as before the uprising, but the meaning of labor has changed.

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The Soviet is the organizer of the people's livelihood.
Only when the Soviet uses all its efforts to solve the people's problems, genuinely and steadily improves their livelihood, and gains their trust, can it mobilize the broad masses to join the Red Army, support the war, and struggle to smash the enemy's "encirclement and suppression."

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It should be understood: the great achievements of Changgang Township in war mobilization are inseparable from their achievements in improving the people's livelihood.


Labor Force Adjustment and the Plow Ox Problem — 1. The model plowing team.
Each of the four villages has one team, totaling about seventy people, organized by Red Army family members with labor capacity.
Each team has a leader.

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Under the teams are small squads; for example, the model team in Changgang Village has over twenty people, divided into three small squads based on proximity of residences, some with three people, some with seven.

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Each small squad manages the nearby few or dozen or so households, constantly paying attention to ensure these households' production is done well.

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This was organized during the August rice harvest to adjust labor.

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Method: The labor mutual-aid society helps Red Army dependents plow their fields (without wages), while the model teams help ordinary people plow their fields (for wages).

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For example, if a member of the mutual-aid society is about to help a Red Army dependent plow, but his own field also urgently needs plowing, the model team will send someone to plow for him, or plow for the Red Army dependent in his place, with him paying wages to the model team members, thus adjusting the labor force.

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Therefore, the model team must maintain close contact with the mutual-aid society.


2. The labor mutual-aid society. Each of the four villages has one. Excluding Red Army dependents, eighty percent of those with labor capacity have joined.

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The whole township has over three hundred members.

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In the township's total population: fully able-bodied workers make up 10 percent (about 150 people out of the total township population).

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Semi-able-bodied workers make up 20 percent (about 300 people).

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Those doing supplementary labor make up 35 percent (about 525 people).

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Those with no labor capacity make up 30 percent (about 450 people).

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The first two categories total about 450 people, most of whom have joined the mutual-aid society.

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Among the 320 people from the township who are away (of whom 226 serve in the Red Army and 94 do other work), except for about a dozen who are semi-able-bodied, all are fully able-bodied workers.
This number, compared with the 150 fully able-bodied workers remaining in the township, gives a ratio of 68 to 32.

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Organized adjustment of the labor force has become a central production issue, and therefore the people warmly welcome the labor mutual-aid society.

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The mutual-aid society's work involves giving preferential treatment to Red Army dependents, mutual aid among members, and helping the elderly and childless.
All these goals have been fully achieved, and the fields of Red Army dependents are generally well-tended.

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The methods are as follows: Preferential treatment for Red Army dependents: In this township, during busy seasons, Red Army dependents families need on average about twenty-five workdays of help each month; in ordinary times, they need on average about ten workdays each month.

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Among the people, those with more labor capacity help more, those with less help less, those with none do not help, and women with small children also help less.

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Generally, during busy seasons, a household with two laborers must contribute about thirteen or fourteen workdays of help; one with a single laborer must contribute about six or seven workdays; and one with a half laborer contributes one or two workdays doing light work.

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If less help is given than what is due, then wages must be paid to those who helped more.

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For example, during the busy season, household A was supposed to help Red Army dependents with seven workdays but only helped five, while household B was supposed to help seven and helped nine; then household A must pay household B wages for two workdays.

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Mutual aid among members: the number of workdays is balanced; those who worked less pay wages to those who worked more according to the workdays.

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Help for the elderly and childless: only meals are provided, no wages.

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Production is planned comprehensively with the village as the unit, and labor is adjusted accordingly.

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At the end of each month, accounts are settled once, and wages are paid out (mostly in cash, with very little offset by goods—all can be settled).

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Wages: This year, rice harvesting was divided into three wage grades: the highest was 800 wen (e.g., threshing), the next 640 wen (e.g., cutting, carrying straw), and the lowest 320 wen (e.g., bundling rice, dibbling beans). This was decided at a large meeting of township members in July (with over a hundred attending that time).

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Last year's rice-harvesting wages started at 800 wen and went up to 1,400 wen at the peak, which was the highest.

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Lowering wages: The Hired Farmhands' Union supports this, as they are even shorter of labor after receiving land.

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Those with more labor also do not oppose it, since they must provide more help for preferential treatment of Red Army dependents.

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The mutual-aid society has a five-member committee, including one director, one organizer, and one propaganda officer, and it is directed by the township autumn harvest and autumn tilling committee.

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The great role of the labor mutual-aid society in agricultural production has been clearly demonstrated in Changgang Township.

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Based on the people's will, production can be coordinated with the village as the unit, and this can be implemented everywhere, especially in places where the Red Army has expanded in large numbers.

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When necessary, coordination can even use the township or even the district as the unit, as done in Caixi District of Shanghang.

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The plowing teams can be merged into the labor mutual-aid society to achieve organizational unity.

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An important issue here is mobilizing women to participate in production.

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In Changgang Township, there are 733 young and able-bodied people aged sixteen to forty-five.
Of these, 320 have gone away to serve in the Red Army or do other work, leaving 413 in the township.
Among those remaining, only 87 are men, while women number 326 (a ratio of one to four). Therefore, production in Changgang Township overwhelmingly depends on women.

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Changgang Township has put forward the slogan "Women learn to plow and harrow," and women have entered the production front in groups.
This proves that organized labor adjustment and promoting women's participation in production are inseparable tasks.

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Despite such a large expansion of the Red Army in Changgang Township, production has not decreased but increased, precisely because they have solved this problem very well.


3. The plow ox cooperatives. Organized starting in September, one per village. They are just getting underway and not yet running smoothly; not many have joined.

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There is a five-person committee.

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On average, among one hundred households there are twenty-five oxen, and the whole township has 110 oxen.

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No household owns two oxen.

In households that own cattle, those with one ox per household account for 50 percent (mostly calves, costing around ten-odd yuan per head).

Those with one ox shared between two households account for 15 percent.

Those with one ox shared among three or four households account for 30 percent.

Those with one ox shared among five or more households account for 5 percent (there are cases of seven households sharing one large water buffalo).

Households without oxen make up 25 percent. In the entire township, with 437 households, those without oxen number approximately 109.

The plow oxen cooperative has not yet been discussed on how to resolve the issue.

A ban on killing oxen has been implemented.
For oxen that are old or sick and should be slaughtered, a report must be made to the township Soviet, which sends someone to inspect; slaughter is only permitted after approval.
There are no cases of deliberate harm causing death.

Under current agricultural technology conditions, draft oxen are second only to human labor in importance.

Based on data from three locations—Shishui Township in Ruijin (30 percent without oxen), Changgang Township in Xingguo (25 percent without oxen), and Caixi Township in Shanghang (20 percent without oxen)—it can be seen that among peasants, those completely without oxen average 25 percent.
This is an extremely significant problem.

The best solution is to lead the masses in organizing plow oxen cooperatives, pooling shares to purchase oxen together.

The method is, on a voluntary basis (with approval from the members' assembly), for each household to contribute two to three *sheng* of grain per *dan* of grain-paddy field according to the land allocated to it.

For example, in Changgang Township, each person is allocated 6 *dan* 2 *dou* of land.
The 109 households without oxen, averaging four people per household, total 436 people, with a total land allocation of 2,703 *dan*. At three *sheng* per *dan*, this yields 81 *dan* of grain.
At five yuan per *dan*, this produces 405 yuan.
At 20 yuan to purchase one ox, this amounts to 20 oxen.

Each ox can plow 80 *dan* of land, for a total of 1,600 *dan* plowed.
For 2,703 *dan* of land, this already addresses the majority of the problem.
Next year, by contributing another two *sheng*, it can be fully resolved.

In contrast, renting an ox requires paying an annual rent of five *sheng* of grain per *dan* of grain-paddy field.

This approach was proposed by the masses in Shishui Township, and they are already implementing it.

We hope it can be implemented everywhere.

This not only resolves a major difficulty for poor peasants but also has great significance for increasing agricultural production.

On the promotion of public bonds: The public bond issuance committee has five members, with one director for each village.

The township chairperson attended meetings at the county and district levels, committing to sales of 5,000 yuan, and later added another 456 yuan, for a total of 5,456 yuan.

After returning, the township chairperson convened a representative meeting, where representatives from each village committed to their village's sales quota.

The duty representatives from each village then convened mass meetings of their respective village's residents.

In advance, each representative and the propaganda team conducted individual propaganda among the masses.
When the time came, they led the masses to the meeting, explaining the significance of purchasing public bonds.

At the meeting, the representatives and leaders of various organizations took the lead in subscribing. The masses followed suit, and subscriptions were registered on the spot.

It was not fully sold out.

The representatives and propaganda team then carried out door-to-door propaganda targeting those who had not purchased or had purchased too little.

When some among the masses did not understand, saying "It's so much this year," they made comparisons for them: last year's grain price (buying two yuan in public bonds required handing over 2.5 *dan* of grain) versus this year's public bonds (buying ten yuan in public bonds only requires handing over two *dan*). They explained the benefits of the cooperative (those who pooled shares had already received dividends exceeding their initial share capital in two distributions, while those who did not pool shares received nothing) and explained the significance of the enemy's blockade and economic construction.

Another village-wide meeting was convened, and an additional portion was sold, but it was still not fully sold out.

Further propaganda was conducted.

A third village-wide meeting was convened, and another portion was sold, but still not fully sold out, though the remainder was not large.

Even more propaganda was conducted.

A fourth village-wide meeting was convened, and the entire amount was finally sold out.

A total of 5,456 yuan was sold. With 1,465 people in the township, the average purchase was over 3.7 yuan per person.

The most bought was 45 yuan (by one household).

Fifty-six households bought 30 yuan, and many bought 20 yuan.

Very few bought one or two yuan, only about ten households.

None bought at the half-yuan level.

Over a dozen households, such as the childless elderly, did not purchase.

"The masses are completely satisfied."

From start to complete sale, it took 15 days.

The characteristic of Changgang Township's work lies in its ability to fully mobilize the masses, to persuade them with immense patience, and as a result, to completely fulfill its tasks with the fastest possible speed.
The promotion of public bonds is but one example.

The sale of over 5,000 yuan in public bonds in Changgang Township was entirely through subscriptions at meetings.
There was absolutely no door-to-door pressure selling.
It was all done through propaganda and encouragement, without any coercion or forced apportionment.
After four rounds of individual propaganda and four village-wide meetings, the entire process from start to complete sale took only 15 days.

In other townships, with sales quotas five or six times smaller than Changgang Township's, they resorted to forced apportionment and could not conclude sales even after two or three months.
Comparing these with Changgang Township is truly like comparing heaven and earth!

The cooperative movement began in Gulin Village of Langmu Township (to which Changgang Township then belonged) after the end of the third counter-campaign in 1931.

The village masses, using shares of 0.5 yuan per unit, pooled over 80 yuan and began doing business, with results.

In January 1932, it was changed to the Langmu Township Cooperative. No new shares were added, and goods were cheaper than market prices, gaining the masses' welcome.

By September, it had done 300 yuan in business and made a profit.

Last September, the district cooperative was established. The entire district pooled 800 shares (at 0.5 yuan each), and the Langmu Township Cooperative was merged into the district cooperative.

Staff: During the village cooperative era, there was one cooperative president (Li Kuiying, who later served successively as president of the township, district, and county cooperatives); one purchaser (Li Qishang, who later served successively as purchaser for the township, district, and county cooperatives); and one accountant and salesperson (Wang Rensen, who later served as accountant for the township and district cooperatives). They ate at the cooperative's expense but received no wages.

When it was changed to a township cooperative, it was decided to give each person a monthly wage of three yuan, but the three refused.

Goods were procured from Maodian and Zhixia.

During the village and township cooperative periods, cooperative members and Red Army family members received a discount of 50 *wen* per 1,000 *wen*, i.e., 5 percent.

Non-members received no discount, but compared to market prices, goods were actually somewhat cheaper; for one string of cash worth of goods, they were about 20 *wen* cheaper, i.e., 2 percent.

In November this year, the district cooperative changed its policy: for salt and cloth, it reduced prices by 20 *wen* per string of cash (because salt and cloth are expensive, the profit margin is small). Other goods still received the 50 *wen* reduction.
Non-members paid market prices.
At this time, for 100 yuan in business, the profit was about two yuan.

From last September to this March (half a year), the district cooperative, with over 400 yuan of capital, earned over 600 yuan.
Of this, 50 percent was allocated to the reserve fund, 10 percent was used as bonuses for the operators, management committee members, and review committee members, 10 percent was used for cultural and educational expenses (buying paper and pens for clubs, schools, and children of Red Army families), and 30 percent was distributed as dividends.

In order to increase dividends and encourage members, the educational expenses were temporarily canceled (they should be restored later), resulting in a total dividend of 40 percent.
Each person received one string of cash.

When distributing dividends, accounts were settled, and notices were posted on boards for public announcement.

After the dividend distribution, many additional shares of capital were contributed. By July this year, there were 2,000 shares totaling 1,000 yuan.

In November, the second dividend was distributed: 0.5 yuan per share, of which 0.3 yuan was actually issued, and 0.2 yuan was used to increase shares.

It was decided to change the unit of share capital to one yuan, with no person allowed to exceed ten shares.

There is an eleven-member management committee and a seven-member review committee.

It is currently stipulated that townships set up branch cooperatives.

The Changgang branch cooperative has pooled over 260 shares (at one yuan each) and is beginning operations.

The county general cooperative was established in August and is also starting operations.

The Gulin Village Cooperative was the first cooperative in the entire county and was also the best run, earning it the title of model cooperative.

The grain cooperative of this township has pooled over 220 shares (at one yuan each), mostly paid in grain (five yuan per *dan*), gathered in a single granary in Changgang Village.

Operations have not yet begun; a management committee has been organized.

Every township and every district should learn from the consumer cooperatives of Changgang Township and Shangshe District!

Culture: There are four Lenin primary schools, one in each village, each with a principal and teachers.

Students: Changgang, 55; Tangbei, 53; Xinxi, 33; Siwang, 46; totaling 187, accounting for 65 percent of all school-age children in the township.

The remaining 35 percent are not because their parents refuse to send them, but because the children themselves are playful and unwilling to go.
Students go to "catch" them.
Those caught face punishments like sweeping the floor, confinement, or, in a very few cases, being denied a meal—those were the "big and unruly" ones.

The students themselves launch struggles among themselves, with "very good spirit."

Those naughty children spend little time reading and most of their time not reading. Their parents send them out the door, but "they slip away to the mountains to play war."

Some punishment methods were inappropriate.

Classes are evenly divided into A, B, and C levels.

Student ages range from 7 to 13.

There are also some aged 14 or 15, but due to being busy with production, they only attend school for half a day.

Those living far bring lunch; those living close go home to eat.

Books, paper, brushes, and ink are provided by the students themselves.

Teachers serve on a voluntary basis, but the labor mutual-aid team helps plow their fields, equivalent to a full-time worker detached from production.

The teachers themselves did not request this; the representative assembly decided on the preferential treatment.

(Full-time township Soviet personnel receive preferential treatment; representatives and leaders of mass organizations who are not detached from production do not.)

In Hefu and Xiushui townships, the students contribute grain (collectively pool) for the teacher to eat, contributing two *dou* of grain per month.

Yangcheng Township uses another method: for example, if a village has a primary school, the township Soviet permits the masses to select two people (who must be over 50 and unable to serve as regular laborers) to take up long-term carrying work (regularly carrying loads) doing small business.
The money earned supports the teacher's meals, with the amount matching that of township Soviet office workers (the township Soviet rate is 0.09 yuan per day, so the teacher gets 0.09 yuan).

The township Soviet does not assign these two people any duty tasks; this arrangement is voluntarily undertaken by the two individuals.

Most teachers are not deeply literate.

There are nine evening schools in the township: three in Changgang, two in Tangbei, one in Xinxi, and three in Siwang.

The average number of students per school is about 32, so across nine schools, there are about 300 in total.

Males account for about 30 percent, females about 70 percent.

In the township, there are 413 young and middle-aged people aged 16 to 45. Most have joined the evening schools. A small number of "old comrades" over 45 also come to study.

The masses welcome this very much, saying "The evening school is excellent."

Each school is divided into A, B, and C classes.

For lighting, a few bring their own lamps, with four or five people sharing one lamp.

Most use a single *muyou* lamp provided by the evening school; ten, twenty, or more people read together under this lamp, with each person contributing two or three copper coins monthly.

Books, paper, brushes, and ink are self-provided.

Teaching materials: Class A: newspaper reading, arithmetic. Class B: adult readers. Class C: children's readers.

Each school has one principal and one teacher.

The principal does not need to be literate, only enthusiastic. When students do not arrive, "the principal is invited to give instructions."

Principals also come to study.

Most principals are "old comrades."

Among the nine evening school principals, five are female.

There are no female teachers.

Of the nine evening school teachers, seven are representatives to the township Soviet.

All serve on a voluntary basis.

Literacy classes: Those burdened with young children, those "of an older age," those in households with too few people, and those living too far from an evening school are organized into literacy classes.

Organization: Based on proximity of residence, groups are formed with as few as three or as many as ten people, electing one group leader—someone who knows a few characters.

Most group leaders are students from the evening school.

Teaching method: Anytime, anywhere, with any number of people—while cooling off in the shade, while drinking tea, with one person, three people, or five people.

At first, characters are drawn on the ground. Later, each person keeps a booklet and learns to write, starting with characters like "table, chair, bench, pig, cow, chicken, duck."

About every ten days, the group leader collects everyone's booklet and sends it to the evening school teacher for review and correction. Those who "write a lot and write well" receive verbal praise.

If the group leader does not know how to write a character, they ask the evening school teacher. If the evening school teacher does not know, they ask the day school teacher.

Using this method, those who were previously illiterate now know forty to fifty characters, with a minority able to recognize seventy to eighty.

This method began to be implemented this summer, though the organization of literacy classes existed since last year.

Literacy boards: One for each village, nailed to a wall beside the road.

The boards feature pictures and characters, changed every two or three days, or sometimes every day or every four or five days.

Each time, there are at least two characters, at most three, and none without an accompanying picture.

The day school teacher is responsible.

This method is very effective.

Clubs: There are four clubs in the entire township, one in each village.

Under each club, there are many committees, such as "sports," "wall newspaper," and "evening gatherings."

Each village has one wall newspaper, located at the Lenin Primary School.

Among ten articles, about eight are by primary school students, and two are by the masses.

The club has new plays.


Every township Soviet must learn from the cultural and educational work of Changgang Township!

A health campaign organized residents into hygiene groups, with households grouped by proximity—four or five, seven or eight, or eleven or twelve per group, mostly seven or eight.


Each group had a leader.


Although a major cleaning every five days was prescribed, in practice it often happened every seven days, sometimes even every ten days.


Supervision was needed: "Without supervision, people forget, and there was too much work."


2. Tasks (1) Cleaning: Halls and bedrooms should not store ash or dung; remove mud from front and rear drainage ditches; keep threshing floors clean; public ditches and threshing floors were cleaned on a rotating basis.


(2) Diet: So far, only the prohibition against eating dead animals was mentioned.


(3) Clothing: Must be washed clean.


For those who did not comply, the children's corps was mobilized to shame them, especially those with unclean clothing.


The health campaign was also sung about in civil plays.


3. Results Starting in April, the first effort was "quite good."


Then it slackened, and nothing was done in May or June.


The township Soviet noticed, criticized the director of the health committee, reconvened the health committee (besides the township health committee, there were village health committees, each with five members), called for village competitions, "to see which village did better."


Enforced in July, over four months there were notable results, much cleaner than before.


4. Public Opinion "The Red Army and the Communist Party have thought of everything!"


"The government workers truly cherish (meaning care for) us!"


But a few said: "Opening windows? You won't die of illness but will be blown to death!"


Deeper propaganda is still needed.


Disease is a great enemy in the Soviet area, because it weakens our revolutionary strength.


As in Changgang Township, launching a mass health movement to reduce and eliminate disease is the duty of every township Soviet.


Social Relief The mutual aid association had a township committee of five (including a director, propaganda, and organization).


Villages had no committee, just one director.


Below that were groups.


It had 611 members.


Only about twenty households in the whole township had not joined the mutual aid association, mostly solitary elderly people.


The monthly fee was one copper coin, and everyone paid.


Work: (1) Comforting the Red Army.


(2) Collecting donations to aid refugees and support the anti-imperialist struggle.


This happened twice this year.


Once, when over seventy refugees from Xinfeng arrived in Xingguo City (at the time of Langmu Township), over twenty strings of cash were donated.


Another time, to support the Northeast Volunteer Army (also while still Langmu Township, then with 2,900 people and about 800 members), over forty strings were donated.


Donations started at five copper coins, with some giving one hundred, two hundred, or even one string.


One hundred was the majority, about 60 percent of members.


Only a few gave five copper coins or one string.


(3) When houses burned in the township, or unemployed workers fell ill without medicine, donations were collected for relief.


This spring, a family lost one and a half rooms to fire, and over six strings were donated.


(4) Famine relief.


Last summer in Langmu Township, three or four people went hungry (formerly beggars, still very poor). They asked the district mutual aid association to distribute money and rice, receiving at most three sheng or at least one sheng per person per time, distributed three or four times last summer.


(5) Helping Red Army dependents.


Those among Red Army dependents who were ill and in difficulty (none went hungry) received over eleven strings donated in one campaign last summer.


Also in April, the cooperative lent capital to a few willing volunteers to buy rice and carry it to Qiaotou and Jiangbeidong for sale.
They earned over one hundred strings, which went to aid sick and struggling Red Army dependents.
The volunteers took nothing beyond covering their meals.


While many local Soviets neglect social relief work, and many mutual aid associations only collect monthly fees without addressing people's hardships, the social relief work of the Changgang Township Soviet and mutual aid association is praiseworthy.
Changgang Township addresses every difficulty of the masses in the most concrete and practical way.


Women The women workers' and peasant women's representative assembly had one director per village.
The directors from each village, together with one women's instructor, formed the presidium of the township women workers' and peasant women's representative assembly.
The township had forty-three representatives: twelve from Changgang, eleven from Tangbei, nine from Xinxi, and eleven from Siwang.

Organized last November, it was reelected once this March, with the third election in September.
Village meetings were held every seven days, always on schedule, with only one or two people absent each time (due to children burdening them, etc.). Representatives divided responsibilities, each overseeing five to ten households, mostly six or seven.

During the first election when it was established, the township Soviet representatives were responsible, convening all working women over sixteen in village-based meetings.
Average attendance across villages was six-tenths.
Representatives were elected by proximity, with varying numbers of households.
The number elected per village this time was slightly fewer than now.
At that time, women did not yet understand the role of the women's representative assembly, were not very enthusiastic, and a few were not very active after being elected.
The representative assembly had no presidium, only one director; villages had no directors either.

In the second election this March, the method was the same as before, but presided over by the women's director, with village Soviet representatives attending only to assist.
The number of households each women's representative was responsible for was set.
A township presidium and village directors were established.

In the third election in September, the method changed: instead of calling a village-wide women's meeting, each women's representative convened the women of her assigned households for elections, with the village Soviet representatives still attending to assist.
The first two election meetings only elected representatives without discussing issues.
The third discussed problems like "expanding the Red Army," "comforting the Red Army," "giving preferential treatment to Red Army dependents," "women learning to plow and rake," and "women using silver jewelry to buy public bonds."

At weekly representative meetings, issues discussed included marriage, saying "there should be proper freedom, not hooligan-style freedom, not divorcing after a single quarrel."
During this year's election campaign, the candidate list for women was discussed.
However, other issues directly concerning women—such as "women's health problems," "children's issues," and "women's education problems"—were not discussed.

In this township, no divorce lacked freedom.
Husbands scolding wives was rare, while wives scolding husbands actually increased. (Neither should scold the other.)
Not hitting children at all still hasn't happened, but hitting is less frequent now. (There should be no hitting at all.)
Children are much cleverer now; for example, when parents scold or hit them, they rarely talked back in the past, but now they increasingly do. (If parents don't scold or hit, children won't talk back.)
About one percent of women married three times in the four and a half years since the uprising.
Secret love affairs accounted for about fifty percent before the uprising, dropped to ten percent after, and declined even further this year.
Reasons: first, land distribution; second, freedom to divorce and marry; third, busy with revolutionary work.

Clothes were shortened, with "lace trims" removed.
Except for "old women", hair was all cut short; some old women also cut their hair.
Old women who hadn't cut their hair made up about twenty percent of the female population.
In the past (before the uprising), mutual beatings and scoldings among the masses happened often, with quarrels even more frequent.
Now, beatings have disappeared, and quarrels have lessened.
In the past, when people quarreled, no one explained; even if someone tried to mediate, "the resentment was hard to let go."
Now, once quarrels start, representatives come forward to explain, and "the resentment dissolves immediately."
Current quarrels mostly involve the older comrades—those who attend fewer meetings and don't clearly understand revolutionary work.
Sometimes disputes arise when they are asked to give preferential treatment to Red Army dependents.
But the clear-minded, active ones are the majority (seventy percent), while a few unclear ones are mostly old women who "always refuse to attend meetings."

Since last year, old women openly worshipping gods (burning incense, offering meals, praying to Buddha) has completely stopped.
Yet one or two in each village still "call back the soul."
The rapid eradication of superstition happened because: first, the smashing of landlords and distribution of land; second, anti-superstition propaganda by the children's corps and young pioneers, plus the Soviet movement to save on incense and candles; third, direct intervention by the children's corps (especially prominent) and young pioneers (wiping away their incense and candles). (Persuasion should replace intervention.)
Even so, some old women, though afraid to worship openly, still believe in gods in their hearts—mostly those without sons.

Women's great strength in the revolutionary war is clearly demonstrated in the Soviet areas.
In mass struggles like the land investigation movement, on the economic front (Changgang Township mainly relied on them), on the cultural front (many women take charge of village education), in military mobilization (their campaigns to expand and comfort the Red Army, their work as transport volunteers), and in the organization of Soviets (the role of female representatives in township Soviets)—their heroic bearing and great achievements are evident.
Here, the leadership and impetus of the women workers' and peasant women's representative assembly are crucial and pivotal.

The women workers' and peasant women's representative assembly should first focus on issues of immediate concern to women masses; following mobilization on these issues, link them to all political mobilization.
In this regard, attention in many places is greatly insufficient; even Changgang Township lacks full attention.
Every township Soviet must place the work of leading the women workers' and peasant women's representative assembly on its agenda.


Children The children's corps committee consisted of five township members and one secretary.
Each village had one director.
Children from seven to fifteen joined the children's corps.
Eighty percent joined.
Those not joining were mostly seven-year-olds (too young) and fifteen-year-olds (since they joined the young pioneers—originally one had to be sixteen to join, but some who "grew fast" joined early); among non-members, girls were more numerous.

Work: (1) Propaganda for expanding the Red Army and the return movement (ridiculing those only who didn't go after three or four propaganda sessions; in this township there was never a "shame squad"); (2) Competitions to collect dog dung for the "fertilizer station" and cut turf for the "fertilizer shed"; (3) Paying one copper coin monthly fee to comfort the Red Army; (4) The thrift campaign—eating fewer snacks, buying more public bonds: some bought five jiao, one yuan, two yuan, or three yuan, most bought five jiao; sixty percent of children bought bonds; (5) Playing games, drilling, practicing battle on the drill ground, once every Sunday, with a set curriculum; (6) The vast majority attended Lenin schools.

The children's corps discipline was very strict.
Some naughty children would not obey their parents or teachers, but only the children's corps discipline.
They accepted punishments like sweeping the ground or confinement, always "admitting reason and admitting defeat." (More use of persuasion, less punishment, should be applied.)
In the past, nine- or ten-year-old children worked as cowherds for landlords and rich peasants; that was gone now.
Before, whether at home or working for others, children's daily labor time always exceeded ten hours, equal to an adult, with virtually no time for rest or education.
Now, most of the day was spent on education and games, with only about an hour and a half in the morning herding cattle or doing other tasks.
During busy farming seasons, they spent more time working—asking the teacher for leave to help their parents with farm work.
In the past, children were scolded and beaten by their parents; now, very few suffer beatings or scolding.


Anti-Imperialism The anti-imperialist and pro-Soviet alliance had a township committee of three (director, propaganda, organization). Villages had no committee, just one director.
Below that were groups.
The whole township had 558 members.
The monthly fee was one copper coin, collected in full; none failed to pay.
Regular propaganda was carried out; thirty percent (aged seven and above) understood the general meaning of "anti-imperialism" and "pro-Soviet."
Some comfort gifts were sent to the Red Army.
In many places, the masses and even workers think that anti-imperialism means opposing the Kuomintang and the local tyrants, and pro-Soviet means supporting the Soviet central government; the leading organs of the anti-imperialist and pro-Soviet alliance have not done deep, practical propaganda and explanation work.
Changgang Township has achieved some results in this aspect, but must go still further.


Workers Carpenters: three-tenths unemployed.
Only seven out of ten had work.
Daily wage: 550.
Tailors: mostly unemployed, daily wage 400.
Masons: three-tenths unemployed, daily wage 550.
Bamboo weavers: one-tenth unemployed, daily wage 400.

Haircuts: increase by one tenth.


Barbers: each person contributes eight sheng of grain annually.


Odd jobs: daily wages are usually four hundred (two mao), rising to eight hundred (four mao) during busy periods.


The poor peasant league has a three-member committee at the township level (director, publicity, organization).


A five-member committee at the village level.


In July this year, there were 271 members; by November, the number had grown to 386.


In the past, "the poor peasant league was called upon whenever something came up," but no attention was paid to building a sound organization.


During the land verification movement this year (July), the organization was consolidated, village committees were set up, and the membership was expanded.


Before July, there were stretches of up to two months without a meeting. After July, the village poor peasant leagues met once every five, ten, or fifteen days, depending on work needs.


The township league met once a month.


Issues discussed: "checking class status," "each member saving one mao and two fen," "expanding membership," "building a sound organization," "developing production," and "fines and donations."


As for matters such as expanding the Red Army, giving preferential treatment to families of Red Army soldiers, economic construction, and cultural education, only reports were made to the members.
When the township congress of representatives passed resolutions on these tasks, they were brought to the poor peasant league meetings for "announcement," without any special discussion (.


They should be discussed.


) No monthly membership dues were collected.


Sub-groups were formed under the village committees.


In all places where the land verification movement has not been deepened, the poor peasant league is particularly important, and the township soviet must take responsibility for providing leadership.


The poor peasant league should have committees in each village and should hold meetings on a village basis; meetings held on a township basis can be reduced.


The approach of Changgang Township is correct.


Publicity Teams: The township has one publicity squadron, composed of seven members led by one team leader.


Each village has one publicity squad—large villages (Changgang, Tangbei) have five members, and small villages (Xinxi, Siwang) have three, each led by a squad leader.


Publicity work was carried out for expanding the Red Army, economic construction, commemorative festivals, and the like.


Methods of publicity: (1) individual persuasion, which was the most common (.


(2) Propaganda was conducted at meetings where the duty representative convened the whole village to discuss work.


(3) Publicity was directed at the masses during district- and county-level commemorative assembly days, and also at the "contingents" from other townships and districts.


The township soviet convened a "publicity meeting" once every seven days, gathering the team leader and four squad leaders, five people in all.


The district soviet convened meetings of all district publicity team leaders, at least twice a month, and sometimes three times.


Each meeting lasted at least four hours, after which the participants returned home for their meals.


Across the township, there were twenty-three team leaders and team members, sixty percent of whom were women.


All were "relatively good at speaking"; literacy was not necessarily required.


No routine replacement was practiced; vacancies were filled only when persons were transferred to other work.


They devoted themselves specially to studying propaganda materials and methods—"how to make the masses understand better."


The teams were organized starting in February this year.


Shock Brigades: A five-member shock brigade, with one leader, was formed under the township soviet.


At the village level, Changgang, Tangbei, and Xinxi had shock brigades; Siwang did not.


They were organized by the wives of Red Army soldiers.


When the work in one village could not be carried forward, the shock brigade from another village would go there to inspect and assist, explaining how they managed to push the work forward in their own village.


The township brigade did likewise—when a village ran into difficulties, it would go to inspect and help.


Their work was less than that of the publicity teams, and they did not play a conspicuously significant role.


The township soviet convened them for meetings three or four times.


They were organized starting in August.


The approach of the publicity teams and shock brigades is good; every township can organize them.


Revolutionary Emulation: The method of emulation was initiated with this year's spring ploughing campaign, competing on three items: "earliness," "higher quality," and "no uncultivated land."


This time, it was a competition among all the townships in the district; the decision was made by the township chairmen at a district soviet meeting.


Within this township, competitions were held among the villages, established at meetings called by the duty representatives of each village.


Within each village, competitions were held among the individual representatives, established at meetings called by the duty representative.


Individual households were not required to conclude a compact to compete. (They could also be established.)


The compacts were written to include the following items: the highest standards for the competition items, which village was competing with which, the type and quantity of prizes (divided into first-class, a red banner; second-class, one hundred sheets of letter paper; third-class, fifty sheets of letter paper), the duration of the competition, and the responsible persons and witnesses.


During the competition period, the township congress of representatives held review meetings, where the duty representatives reported on the situation, revealing to what extent each village had achieved the goals.


After the meetings, the township chairman and others (i.e., the witnesses) conducted inspection tours of each village to see whether the duty representatives' reports included "bragging" (lying).


In April, there was another competition, targeting "military mobilization," divided into three items: "expanding the Red Army," "consolation work," and "giving preferential treatment to the families of Red Army soldiers" (.


The "return-to-the-army movement" was not included, since there were no deserters at that time; it was added in May.


) On May twentieth, the township congress of representatives convened a summing-up meeting for both the "spring ploughing" and "military" competitions.
Xinxi captured the red banner; Changgang won one hundred sheets of letter paper; Tangbei got fifty; Siwang received nothing.


In July, two competitions were set up for "military affairs" and "economy"; a summary has not yet been made, but it is already known that Changgang Village performed best.


To strive for speed in work, the method of revolutionary emulation should be implemented in every township.


The township soviet is the leader of the emulation, but the township soviet too is only a "leader," for each competition is primarily a competition among the masses, not merely a competition among the representatives of various villages.


Therefore, when concluding each competition compact, a mass meeting should be convened on a village basis to make a report, obtain the masses' acknowledgment, and post up the competition compact.


For competitions involving production issues and the like, meetings of the several dozen residents under the leadership of each representative should also be convened to make a report and secure their acknowledgment.


Meetings of the same kind should also be called to report on the results of performance checks conducted within a given period, in order to push the work forward.


All emulation campaigns that have produced no results are precisely those in which the competition compact was merely kept in the pockets of a few individuals, without mobilizing the broad masses.


Each competition must be summed up, and prizes should be awarded.


The two competitions in Changgang Township basically accomplished all this, and that is why they achieved concrete results.


Printed and published based on Mao Zedong's Collected Rural Survey Reports, People's Publishing House, 1982 edition.

--- Notes

Notes: (1) In January 1934, the Provisional Central Government of the Chinese Soviet Republic distributed mimeographed offprint copies of this investigation report to delegates attending the Second National Soviet Congress.
The title of the offprint was "Models in Township Soviet Work (I)—Changgang Township."