Investigation of Caixi Townships
(November 26, 1933)1

The Demarcation of Administrative Districts

Upper Caixi and Lower Caixi, which are well known in the Central Soviet Area,
belong to Caixi District of Shanghang xian, Fujian Province. Since the new
division of administration areas, there have been eight townships in all in Caixi
District: Upper Caixi, Lower Caixi, Lingbao, Tongkang, Zengkeng, Wencai,
Dadi, and Xiawang.
Upper Caixi: There are 523 households, with a population of 2,318.
The township is divided into four villages: Leiwu (with a population of approximately 600), Yangxia (500), Zhongxing (500), and Shangwu (600).
The full-time personnel of the township soviet: a chairman and a documentation clerk.
As it is a big township, the documentation clerk is full-time, so as to assist in
the work of the township soviet.
Lower Caixi: There are 503 households, with a population of 2,610.
The township is divided into four villages: Zhangkeng (with a population of
approximately 600), Xiakeng (500), Fakeng (800), and Sunwu (700).

Conferences of Deputies

1. Number of Deputies
Upper Caixi: Formerly fifty-three deputies. In this election, family members of
workers were counted as having the class status of worker, which increased the
total number of deputies to seventy-five (an increase of twenty-two; this township has many masonry workers). Of the fifty-three original deputies, thirteen are
workers. Together with the newly added twenty-two people, there is a total of
thirty-five worker deputies; the remaining forty are peasant deputies. There are
183 workers in the whole township, belonging to 163 households. Calculating an
average of three people per household, the total is 489, making one deputy
elected per 13 persons, resulting in the above-mentioned number of deputies.
Lower Caixi: Formerly seventy-three deputies, now ninety-one deputies. The
increase of eighteen deputies is also because the proportion of family members
of workers [participating] in this election increased.

2. The Delegation
There are deputies in every village, some villages having more than ten deputies,
other villages more than twenty. In each of the four villages, deputies' meetings
are held in which one person is elected as a member of the township soviet's
"delegation," so that it is a delegation of four. Relatively minor tasks are dealt
with by the chairman's calling a meeting of the delegation. Before each conference of deputies is convened, the delegation is gathered for a meeting to make
preparations (either in the morning or the day before). The conference meets
every five days or so. This practice was begun in 1931 (the term "delegation"
should be changed to "deputies in charge").

3. Relations Between Deputies and Residents
Each deputy is in charge of more than ten residents, more than twenty, thirty,
forty, or at most more than fifty residents. Worker deputies are responsible for
fewer people and peasant deputies for more. This practice was begun in 1932.

4. The Political Performance of Deputies
Among the fifty-three deputies from Upper Caixi:
Over twenty were extremely active.
Over twenty were middling.
One was really bad.
This worst deputy attended only three out of ten meetings and was busy
making his own living. He never applied himself to work he was assigned to do.

After repeated criticism, he was dismissed from the conference of deputies.
Among the seventy-three deputies from Lower Caixi, none were really bad.

5. Transfer and By-Elections of Deputies

The fifty-three deputies from Upper Caixi were elected in November of last year.
By the time of the reelection on October 14 of this year, twenty-seven of them
had joined the Red Army (they left in one batch in November of last year) and
eleven had been transferred to work elsewhere, so that thirty-eight had left and
fifteen remained. By-elections were held by village for replacement purposes.
Worker deputies who had left were replaced by workers, and peasants were
replaced by peasants. Where there had been alternate deputies, their places were
filled by alternate deputies. This by-election was held in November of last year
and none were held after that. By the time of the reelection in October of this
year, forty-two deputies remained, as eleven more had been transferred away
subsequently.
Of the seventy-three deputies from Lower Caixi, eleven joined the Red Army
in Red May this year. A by-election was held by village. In July, another fifteen
deputies joined the Red Army and another by-election was held by village. The
places of the eighteen people who had been transferred away at one time or
another were filled by alternate deputies.

6. Women Deputies

In the election of October last year, sixteen of the fifty-three deputies from
Upper Caixi were women, amounting to 30 percent. Twenty-one of the seventy-three deputies from Lower Caixi were women, which also amounts to 30 percent. After the by-elections, thirty-three of the fifty-three deputies from Upper
Caixi at the time of this October's election were women, which amounts to
approximately 60 percent. Of the seventy-three deputies from Lower Caixi,
forty-three were women, which is also 60 percent. In the latest election, forty-three of the seventy-five deputies from Upper Caixi are women, again 60 percent. Of the ninety-one representatives from Lower Caixi, fifty-nine are women,
representing 65 percent.
The system of deputies in charge in the villages and the method of establishing solid relationships between deputies and residents represent great progress in
soviet organization and leadership. Tremendous results have been achieved in
Caixi Township, as in other townships such as Changgang and Shishui. A
township's core is in the villages, so that organization and leadership of the
village become matters very worthy of attention. By dividing the whole township
into several villages, and relying on the firm leadership in each village provided
by the villagers' own deputies in the township soviet, as well as the village
committee and mass bodies, the popular masses of the entire village can be organized under the soviet just like a network, carrying out all the tasks of the
soviets. This is one of the clearest points of superiority of the soviet system over
all other political systems in history. The methods employed by Changgang,
Caixi, Shishui, and other townships should be spread throughout the soviet areas.

The Current Elections

1. The election committee took the lead in organizing the elections.
2. Resident voters registered and three public notices were posted.
3. The list of candidates for Lower Caixi consisted of more than 160 people
(of whom 91 were to be elected). One copy was posted in each village, each with
over 160 names on it. Many people among the masses wrote comments under
each candidate's name. Some wrote a couple of characters, some wrote five or
six characters, some wrote a dozen or so characters, and children also made
comments. The majority wrote "good" or "bad." There were also comments such
as "agree" or "negative." One candidate's name had "bureaucrat" written under
it. More than twenty of them were criticized in wall newspapers, all for seeking
only to make a living and showing no concern for the interests of the masses, or
for being indifferent toward their work. There were some poems, three of which
complained that the township soviet failed to resolve properly the problems in
the paper-making industry.
4. Meetings of the electorate were held by township and the township soviet
gave a work report.
5. For workers, the whole township constitutes one unit; for peasants, the unit
is the village (four of them).
6. At the election meetings, the attendance rate of the electorate was 80
percent. Approximately 20 percent—those who were ill or on sentry duty, those
working in the cooperatives who were away buying merchandise, and women
recovering from childbirth—were absent. Old people with canes attended as
well.
7. Many meetings were held around the elections: trade unions, poor peasant
associations, women's associations, mutual aid groups, and the Anti-Imperialist
Alliance gathered their members for meetings, as did the Children's League and
the Young Pioneers. Meetings of Communist Party and Youth League members
were held first. There were posters and pamphlets, so that election propaganda
this year was much more widespread than last year and most people understood
the significance of the elections.
Last year, those under the age of sixteen clamored for the right to vote, taking
the view that many of them were Red Army soldiers and had done a lot of work,
so why shouldn't they have the right to vote? This year they have understood
that it is a question of age, and have stopped making a fuss.
The propaganda team went to each village to do propaganda work, making
speeches during the day and putting on performances at night.

8. At the election meetings people were encouraged to buy bonds. Within one
day at the meeting, more than 1,500 yuan worth were sold in Lower Caixi, and
630 yuan worth were sold in Upper Caixi.
During the meeting of the electorate in Dadi Township, thirteen people were
encouraged to join the Red Army. One of the two squads in the model battalion
of the township's Red Guard Army went as well.
9. The election of new cadres: Among the seventy-five deputies from Upper
Caixi, twenty-one of the fifty-three former deputies were reelected, and thirty-two of them lost. Fifty-four were elected for the first time. Among the ninety-one
deputies from Lower Caixi, fifty out of the seventy-three former deputies were
reelected, and twenty-three of them lost. Those elected for the first time numbered forty-one.
The elections in Upper and Lower Caixi could generally be termed a success.
In their election propaganda, their organization of the list of candidates, their
getting the masses to make comments on the list of candidates, their linking the
elections with their other work, and their organizing to elect workers and
women, they were fully carrying out the Central Government's Order on Elec-tions, thereby becoming a model for the election campaign in the Soviet Area.
With regard to mobilizing the electorate to raise motions at the election meetings
for the newly elected deputies to discuss, on the other hand, they have not done
anything to speak of. The model in this respect would have to be recognized as
Changgang Township in Xingguo xian.

Committees below the Level of Township Soviets

There are many committees below the level of township soviets. Some examples
follow:
"Support the Red Army": Five committee members each in Upper and Lower
Caixi. Each of the four villages has a committee, also with five committee
members apiece.
"Preferential Treatment for Red Army Families": Five members each from
Upper and Lower Caixi. Also five members from each village.
"Land Investigation": Eleven members from each of the two townships. Nothing at the village level.
"Elections": Seven members from each of the two townships. Nothing at the
village level.
"Land": Eleven members from Upper Caixi, seven members from Lower
Caixi. Nothing at the village level.
"Labor": This is the committee on labor cooperatives, with five people from
each of the two townships. There is no committee at the village level, only small
groups.
"Hills and Forests": Seven members from Upper Caixi and eleven members
from Lower Caixi.

"Returning Deserters": Twelve members from each of the two townships.
There are no committees such as "spring plowing" and "summer plowing,"
and so forth. Only field cultivation teams were organized, with five people to a
small group, ten people to a squad, thirty people to a medium group, and a
hundred people to a big team. Upper and Lower Caixi each has a big team. Field
cultivation teams are primarily for the purpose of giving preferential treatment to
Red Army families.
The fact that the organization and leadership of the various committees below
the level of township soviets have become an important part of the overall work
of the soviets has been demonstrated once again in Caixi Township. The Central
Government has incorporated the experiences from different places into the organizational regulations for local soviets. It is stipulated therein that a township
soviet may organize more than twenty permanent or provisional committees, and
may reduce or increase the number according to the actual situation in the work
of each place. Soviets in municipal districts need to organize several committees
that are different from those in the townships, based on the special characteristics
of cities. The clear and unified establishment of such a system will draw the
soviets much closer to the masses and enable all soviet work to be carried out
with abundant force. One problem is that committees should be established for
certain important tasks in the villages as well (all sorts of mass organizations
with large memberships should likewise set up leading organs in the villages).
This is because committees at the township level alone are not able to do their
job carefully and thoroughly in any big township that has a population of a
thousand or so. The establishment of these committees in the various villages can
guarantee this point.

Expansion of the Red Army

During the three months of August, September, and October:
Upper Caixi: Sixty people [were recruited]; two platoons of model battalions
were mobilized.
In addition, eleven people returned to their units. Two or three more did not
return to their units because of illness.
Lower Caixi: Sixty-five people [were recruited]. Fifty-two people were mobilized at one time into model battalions. Thirteen more people were individually
mobilized on another occasion.
Another eleven people returned to their units. Fourteen more people have yet
to return.
In the twelve townships of the entire district (before redivision), on August
15, 273 people were mobilized into model battalions. In the eight townships of
the newly demarcated district, there are still more than fifty people who have not
returned to their units.
Within the entire district, the expansion of the Red Army has been most successful in the two townships of Upper and Lower Caixi. The main reason is
that they have historically done a good job in giving preferential treatment to
Red Army families and in providing aid and comfort to Red Army soldiers.
Before Red May, each of the eight townships could collect an average of five
hundred pairs of cloth shoes and straw sandals every month. Recently there has
been a slight reduction because there was no cloth as a result of the blockade.
Upper and Lower Caixi townships nonetheless achieved the following results: in
Upper Caixi, more than five hundred pairs in August, more than a hundred pairs
in September, and more than ninety pairs in October. In Lower Caixi, more than
three hundred pairs in August, two hundred eighty pairs in September, three
hundred pairs in October, and six hundred thirty pairs in November.
All these achievements result mainly from the Party and Youth League's
branches mobilizing Party and League members to lead the conference of
women workers and peasants: (1) Party and Youth League members met first,
(2) the conference of women's deputies next met, and then there was (3) a
meeting of the female masses.
The conference of women's deputies meets every ten days. A township has a
presidium consisting of five members, with one of them designated as the director. The remaining four are from four villages; there is one from each village,
who is in charge of that village.
As for the questions discussed at meetings of the conference of women deputies, all topics considered at township soviets are included. Aside from devoting
much of their energies to providing support and comfort to the Red Army,
promoting the sale of bonds, and developing production, they also often discuss
their own interests such as the question of marriage, and explain the marriage
laws to women.
Mobilizing large numbers of masses to join the Red Army depends on the
following: (1) thoroughgoing political propaganda and agitation and elimination
of all coercive methods; (2) full provision of preferential treatment for Red Army
family members; and (3) organizing and training local armed forces in a sound
fashion. What's more, as the experience of Changgang Township and [the two]
Caixi township[s] has fully proved to us, giving preferential treatment to family
members of Red Army soldiers is a basic task that enables the masses to feel
happy about joining the Red Army, and to enjoy peace of mind while remaining
in it. The total number of young and adult men (between the ages of sixteen and
forty-five) in Changgang Township is 407 people. Three hundred and twenty of
them have left to join the Red Army or work in other places, making up 79
percent. The total number of young and adult men (between the ages of sixteen
and fifty-five) in Upper Caixi is 554 people. Four hundred and eighty-five of
them have left to join the Red Army or work in other places, making up 88
percent. The total number of young and adult men in Lower Caixi is 756 people.
Five hundred and twenty-six of them have left to join the Red Army or work in
other places, making up 70 percent. The expansion of the Red Army in such large numbers is certainly impossible to accomplish if the problem is not thoroughly resolved, starting from the economy and production. Only when political
mobilization is accompanied by economic mobilization can there be a wave of
enthusiasm to expand the Red Army and successful results such as those seen in
Changgang, Upper Caixi, and Lower Caixi.

Economic Life

1. The Question of Labor Power

Upper Caixi: Of the total population of 2,318 (at the time of the uprising), 554
are male laborers (between the ages of 16 and 55, same as below) and 581 are
female laborers. Four hundred nineteen of them are in the Red Army and 88 of
them have been assigned to work in other places (66 men, 22 women). Of the
554 men with labor power who are between the ages of 16 and 55, 485 have
gone either to the Red Army or to work elsewhere (419 plus 66); only 69 of them
remain in the villages. In relation to the 559 women laborers (581 minus 22),
men make up only 11 percent of the total labor force. There are 358 households
in the whole township that are families of Red Army soldiers.
Lower Caixi: Of the total population of 2,610, the combined number of men
and women with labor power is 1,207 (765 males, 442 females). Four hundred
and forty-two of them have become Red Army soldiers and 98 of them have
been transferred to work elsewhere (91 men, 7 women). Of the 765 men with
labor power, a total of 533 have left to join the Red Army or to work elsewhere
and only 232 remain in the township. In relation to the 435 female laborers (442
minus 7), men also make up only 35 percent of the total labor force. There are
355 households in the whole township that are families of Red Army soldiers.
For this reason, cultivation is mainly done by women. In Upper Caixi this
year there are approximately three hundred women who can drive oxen and
more than sixty who can plow the fields. Before the uprising only one tenth, or
around thirty of these three hundred women could drive oxen. This is the result
of years of effort.
At the same time, the "older comrades" are in good spirits, and they are the
ones doing most of the work in opening up the mountains. Some of them can
even take part in plowing and harvesting. Children take part in production as
well. For these reasons, production is developing. In addition to the participation
of women, older people, and children in production, the development of production also depends upon coordinated redistribution of labor power. Within a particular village, households with extra labor power assist those with insufficient
labor power. Within a given township, villages with a surplus help those with a
shortage. Within a district, townships with a surplus help those with insufficiency. In this way, the work with regard to physical labor is done by redistributing labor power with the district as a unit. Party and Youth League members also do "[Communist] Saturdays."2 Production has thereby been even
further developed.
The main method of redistributing labor power or rearranging the labor force
is through labor cooperatives and farming teams. Their tasks are to help families
of Red Army soldiers and to provide mutual assistance among the masses.
Helping Red Army soldiers' families: Bringing food (not prepared dishes)
and farm implements, also when cultivating or harvesting.
Mutual assistance among the masses: Wages are fixed at 2 mao a day, the
same for men and women, busy and slack periods. This has been the practice
since 1930. Wages are 1.5 mao a day for Red Army family members helping
other Red Army families. It is 2 mao a day for Red Army family members
helping the masses. Wages are not paid to members of the masses for helping
family members of Red Army soldiers.
Labor cooperatives take the whole situation into account and plan accordingly. A township's labor cooperative committee consists of five people, with the
head doing the planning for the township. Each of the four villages has a committee member who does the planning for the village. All requests for laborers
must be made through the village's committee member and may not be done
privately, as doing so would create confusion in the redistribution of labor
power. Wages may be determined by the "employer" and "employee" themselves, without going through committee members.
The labor cooperative in this township was founded in 1931. This is where
the "labor mutual aid associations" now operating throughout the soviet areas
originated.
Committee members have on hand a notebook in which to record those who
have labor power, those who do not have labor power, and those who have
insufficient labor power. When someone makes a request for laborers, they may
be assigned immediately. If there is missing information, the farming team detachment leader should be consulted. (Each village has a detachment. Five people make up a small group; two small groups, or ten people, make up a squad;
and a detachment consists of three or four squads.) Brigade leaders have
notebooks on hand as well. "Advocate merging farming teams with labor
cooperatives."
Conditions of production: After the uprising (1929 to 1931), production declined by approximately 20 percent. In 1932, it recovered by 10 percent. This
year (1933) there has been a 20 percent increase as compared with last year (for
miscellaneous crops such as sweet potatoes, beans, taro, potatoes, and so on,
there has actually been a 50 percent increase from last year), or 10 percent more
than before the uprising. After the uprising, a lot of fields in the whole area lay waste. A small portion of these were cultivated last year. This year much was
cultivated, more than 1,300 Dan. Even more hillsides were opened up than flat
fields, the ratio of hillsides to fields being three to one. Because all the fields had
been cultivated, they started opening up the hillsides. There is no field in which
miscellaneous grains have not been planted. Sweet potato has been planted in all
fields where it can be grown. Opening up the hillsides and mountains has reached
the point where women comrades have started "vying with each other," each one
wanting to take part in the work. This competition has had great impact. Before the
uprising, food supply in the whole area was far from adequate (in addition to which
many people were making noodles from bean and sweet potato starch). Last year it
was adequate, and this year there is actually a surplus. Now there is no one in the
whole area making starch noodles and fried dough,³ and no one distilling liquor.

2. Consumer Cooperatives

There are fourteen consumer cooperatives in the eight townships of the district.
Two in Upper Caixi:
One cooking oil, salt, and meat cooperative: Original total stock value was 74
yuan. Later increased to 185 yuan, at 5 jiao a share. Set up in October 1930.
Dividends were distributed once in July 1933, 5 jiao for each share. There is one
full-time administrative staff member. Two people help out on market fair days.
One yard goods cooperative: Original total stock value was 144 yuan. Later
increased to 255 yuan, 1 yuan a share. Set up at the same time as the previous
one. Dividends were distributed once in September 1933, 1 yuan for each share.
Two full-time staff members. One helper on market fair days.
Three in Lower Caixi:
One yard goods cooperative: Original total stock value was 120 yuan. Later
increased to 240 yuan at 1 yuan per share. Set up in January 1930. Dividends
were distributed once in February 1932, 1 yuan per share. Two full-time staff
members.
One cooking oil, salt, and meat cooperative: Original total stock value was 35
yuan. Later increased to 157 yuan at 5 jiao per share. Set up in October 1929.
Dividends were distributed once in March 1933, 5 jiao per share. Two full-time
staff members. One helper during market fair days.
One bean curd, candy, and pork cooperative: Original total stock value was
125 yuan. Later increased to 180 yuan at 5 jiao per share. Set up in January
1931. Dividends were distributed in February 1933, 5 jiao per share. Three
full-time administrative staff members.
Each month the cooperatives' accounts are checked twice (return home for a meal after the books are checked) and a full membership meeting is held once
(no meal). Every three months at the membership meeting there is a reelection of
administrative staff. Those who are transferred to work in xian- or district-level
cooperatives, those in their prime who become Red Army soldiers (to be replaced by slightly older people), and those who are not reelected are all replaced
immediately. In fact, however, more continue to serve and fewer are transferred
or replaced. Only family members of Red Army soldiers who are having difficulties may buy on credit, for one market period, two market periods, or at most
three market periods (one market period is five days). When repaying, rice,
beans, and so on are acceptable. Debts not repaid by the market period are to be
collected in full during July and October each year.
In Upper Caixi, 60 percent of all households have joined the consumer cooperatives. The figure in Lower Caixi is 90 percent.
When there is a shortage of goods, family members of Red Army soldiers buy
first, then members of cooperatives, and then nonmembers.
As for price, family members of Red Army soldiers (with proper identification) get 5 percent off the market price. Members of cooperatives get no discount. The same applies to family members of Red Army soldiers coming to
market from other townships or even other districts. There are also Red Army
family members from Jiuxian, Nanyang, Guanzhuang, and other districts who
come to buy. "Cooperatives are Number One"—public opinion.
As for private shops selling "nonlocal goods," all have died out in the district
(gradually diminishing to this point) except for a pharmacy run by a man from
Jiangxi. Only on market fair days are there are a few private individuals peddling
salt, but there are still private people selling native products such as bean-curd
and so on.

3. Grain Cooperative

Originally called the Bureau of Grain Redistribution, set up starting in 1930 by
collecting money for shares from the masses. The collection was not a general
one; rather, relatively well-off families were solicited at 1 yuan per share in big
foreign dollars. Each township organized one bureau of grain redistribution.
There were eight bureaus in the whole district, with shares worth a total of 1,810
yuan.
Method of redistribution: Buying grain from the masses every year taking 2
sheng less than when bought by a private individual. For example, if a private
buyer gets 1 dou 7 sheng per yuan, the bureau of redistribution will take only 1
dou 5 sheng. When selling, sell first to Red Army families and then to the masses
who are undergoing hardship. Whether or not the member of the masses in
question is undergoing hardship, however, must be investigated and approved by
the township's conference of deputies. When selling, too, the price is not the
current market price, but rather the purchase price with a slight adjustment for consumption and loss. For example, if it was purchased at 1 yuan for 1 dou and 5
sheng, it would be sold at 1 yuan for 1 dou and 4.5 sheng, the 0.5 sheng being
subtracted as loss. Family members of Red Army soldiers who have no money
and the masses who are facing extreme hardship may borrow grain and return it
in full after harvesting the crops, with no interest. Every year when the work of
grain purchasing and grain selling is finished, the township soviet informs the
masses, selects representatives, settles accounts with those in charge of the Bu-
reau of Grain Redistribution, and issues a public notice. Every year after the
autumn harvest the grain is collected and measured into the granary, which is
sealed with a long paper strip issued by the township soviet. In spring and
summer, it is not fixed whether grain will be available for sale once or twice, but
rather to be decided by the masses. Whenever the masses have a need, the
granary will be opened for sales. Generally speaking, the time for bringing out
the grain every year is during the month of March, when fields are being plowed,
and during the month of May, when the new crop is still in the blade and the old
crop has been consumed.

In February of this year, the name was changed to the grain cooperative, but
the organizational structure remained as before. Ever since the economic construction movement began this year, the grain cooperatives in all townships have
expanded. Take the grain cooperative in Upper Caixi, for example. Its original
total stock value was 215 yuan. Now with an increase of 203 yuan, the total is
418 yuan. In Lower Caixi, the original total stock value was 137 yuan, and now
with an increase of 200 yuan the total is 337 yuan. Of the five committee
members at the redistribution bureau, the head is full-time and his expenses for
meals are covered.

In May of this year, the two townships of Shangcun and Zhangyun (now
incorporated into Tongxian District) suffered famine (the two townships are full
of bamboo-covered mountains, each person received only a plot of land yielding
a Dan of grain, and the paper-making enterprise failed), and the bureau of grain
redistribution in every township throughout the district made concerted efforts to
provide relief. The price of grain at the time was 1 yuan for 8 sheng, but the
Bureau of Grain Redistribution made loans to these two townships at last
autumn's price of 1 yuan for 1 dou and 8 sheng, to be repaid after the autumn
[harvest] according to the actual amount of the loan. A total of 36 Dan were
loaned in the entire district. In addition, miscellaneous crops (sweet potatoes and
so on) and cash were donated to provide relief. As a result, no one starved. None
of the other townships in Caixi District suffered famine this year, thanks to the
effectiveness of the adjustments by the Bureau of Grain Redistribution.

Lower Caixi also has a "grain selling cooperative" with a total stock value of
130 yuan at 5 jiao a share. It was set up specially so that Red Army units passing
by, travelers, organizational staff, and masses who are disaster victims could
purchase grain. None of the five committee members works full-time. On market
fair days there is one person in charge for half a day. Usually management is undertaken by the consumer cooperative. Aside from taking care of the expenses
for wages and food for the workers handling the grain, profits are not shared out.
Very few of the ordinary masses come to buy grain from this cooperative, only
one or two out of a hundred. The price follows the current market price. Ever
since the masses pooled funds to set up this cooperative, the Red Army, disaster
victims, and others no longer go house to house getting grain from the masses.

4. Draft Animal Cooperatives

In the whole district, only Upper and Lower Caixi townships have organized
such a cooperative. Each has three oxen.
Approximately 20 percent of the families in the two townships have no oxen.
No method for resolving this problem has yet been devised.

5. Daily Life

Rice: Before the uprising, poor peasants and farm laborers on average ate rice
only three months out of the year, and ate miscellaneous grains for the remaining
nine months. During the season when the new crop was still in the blade and the
old was all consumed they had to eat "goat hoofs,"4 or even chaff. Now they
have rice for six months, which combined with miscellaneous grains for six
months makes enough for the whole year. This area produces very little rice to
begin with, so that half of the grain supply has to be from miscellaneous grains
anyway, and the production of miscellaneous grains is greater than it was before.
In terms of each meal, before the uprising one could not get enough to eat, but
now one can. Moreover, aside from feeding themselves, people can sell to the
Red Army, pay off their land taxes, purchase public bonds, and barter for oil and
salt. All in all, then, the food situation has improved 100 percent (comparing rice
for three months with rice for six months).
Meat: Before the uprising, the average annual per capita consumption of meat
among poor peasants and farm laborers was around 1 yuan (in big foreign
dollars). It is now 2 yuan, an increase of 100 percent. Before the uprising only
sixty families in a hundred raised pigs; now ninety-five out of a hundred families
are raising pigs.
Clothing: Before the uprising each person on average could have one outfit of
a shirt and trousers made every two years. Since the uprising, each person on
average can have an outfit and a half made every year, which makes a 200
percent increase. This year the situation has changed again. Because of the
blockade, cloth is expensive and each person on average can have only half an
outfit made [per year], which restores the situation before the uprising. Before the uprising an unlined outfit cost 18 mao (15 mao for material and 3 mao for
labor). Last year an outfit cost 21 mao (17 mao for material and 4 mao for labor),
equal to 1.5 yuan in big foreign dollars. This year an outfit costs 34 mao (30 mao
for material and 4 mao for labor), equal to 2.4 yuan in big foreign dollars. The
counterrevolutionaries have driven up the price of our clothing to such an extent!
Salt: Before the uprising, the average monthly per capita consumption of salt
was 1 jin. In November of this year, the monthly per capita consumption of salt
is only 3 liang 2 qian. In other words, a family of five that consumed 5 jin of salt
a month before the uprising consumed only 1 jin this November. Unless we
overthrow the Guomindang there will be no salt to eat!
Oil: Before the uprising the average monthly per capita consumption of edible
oil (wood-oil from Jiangxi and local lard) was 6 liang. Currently it has neither
decreased nor increased. Because less wood-oil is coming from Jiangxi, however, what the masses are consuming is mostly lard.

6. Prices
Grain—before the uprising, 10 yuan per Dan (100 jin); in 1929, 2 yuan 5 jiao; in
1930, 5 yuan; in 1931, 6 yuan 2 jiao; in 1933, 10 yuan in May and 5 yuan in
October.
Pork—before the uprising, 1 yuan for 2.5 jin, bone-in. Currently, still 1 yuan
for 2.5 jin, boneless.
Fish—because of the blockade after the uprising, no fish fry have come from
Jiujiang (via Wuping xian), the ponds are empty, and there is no market.
Chicken—same price before and after [the uprising], 8 mao per jin.
Duck—more or less the same before and after, 4 mao per jin.
Chicken eggs—more or less the same before and after, 1 mao buys three.
Duck eggs—more or less the same before and after, 1 mao buys three.
Lard—same price as for pork.
Lime—not used in the fields, rather for making paper. More or less the same
before and after [the uprising], 1 yuan per Dan (80 jin).
Beans—before the uprising, each Dan (8 dou) was 10 yuan; in 1932, it was
20 yuan; this year it is 8 yuan.
Tobacco—before the uprising 1 mao bought 2 liang; now 1 mao buys 1 liang
6 qian.
Tea—more or less the same before and after, 1 yuan for 3.5 jin.
Vegetable Oil—before the uprising, 1 yuan for 3.5 jin; this spring, 2.5 jin; this
winter, 1 jin 13 liang.
Paper—Before the uprising, a qiu (40 jin) of rough paper went for 4 yuan 5 jiao; in 1931, it was 6 yuan; in 1932, it was 5 yuan; in 1933, it was 1 yuan 5 jiao,
so nobody makes paper anymore.
Lumber—cannot be shipped, so there is no market. Paper and lumber have
been this area's largest exports, but today they have completely failed. The
hateful Guomindang blockade!
Wood-oil—Before the uprising, 1 yuan bought 3.5 jin of wood-oil. No more
of it is coming now, so people can only use lard.
Iron—price has doubled since before the uprising.
Cloth—Before the uprising, a bolt (2 zhang 3 chi) of cotton cloth went for 1
yuan. In 1932, a bolt went for 1 yuan 4 mao. This year a bolt is 2 yuan 2 mao.
Salt—Before the uprising, 1 yuan bought 10 jin. From 1930 to the spring of
1932, it still bought 10 jin. In the summer of that year, the price rose to [1 yuan
for] 7 jin. In 1933, 1 yuan would buy a jin, but in November, 1 yuan would buy
only 14 liang. Breaking the blockade is a tremendous problem.
Kerosene—Before the uprising, 50 percent of the households burned kerosene, and 1 yuan would buy 7 jin 14 liang. In 1933, 1 yuan would buy only 1 jin
5 liang. For this reason, no one burns it anymore, except in institutional offices.
Everyone is burning the "pine torch" instead.
Firewood—Before the uprising, 1 jin cost 2 coppers. Last year it was 3
coppers, and this year it goes for 5 to 9 coppers.
Maoyang—the same before and after [the uprising]. Each mao is worth 16
coppers.
Silver dollars—zayang 13.5 mao, guangyang 14 mao, and the same with
soviet paper [currency].⁶ Now there is nothing but soviet paper currency and
silver dollars cannot be seen anywhere. Once again it's the Guomindang making
trouble!

7. The Economy and Public Bonds
In the newly demarcated Caixi District, which has eight townships, among the
2,188 households with a total population of 8,782, 13,600 yuan worth of public
bonds have been sold. There are still approximately 1,000 yuan worth that remain to be sold.
In Upper Caixi, which has 513 households with a population of 2,318, 4,000
yuan [worth of bonds] have been sold.
In Lower Caixi, which has 503 households with a population of 2610, 4,146
yuan [worth of bonds] have been sold.
Methods:
1. Mobilization at rallies of Party and Youth League members.
2. Mobilization at separate meetings of all organizations.
3. Mobilization at township soviet deputies' assemblies.
4. A mass rally held at the village level for the express purpose of conducting
propaganda, without making sales.
5. A mass rally held at the township level where bonds were sold. Each of the
two townships sold more than 1,500 yuan worth, but they were not sold out.
6. Household-by-household propaganda conducted by township representatives, the Committee for Promoting the Sale of Public Bonds (three people from
each village), and the propaganda team (organized by the township, five people
from each village).
7. At the voters' meeting, more than 600 yuan [worth] were sold in Upper
Caixi and over 1,600 yuan were sold in Lower Caixi. To date, Upper Caixi has
sold more than 2,000 yuan and over 1,000 yuan are left, and Lower Caixi has
sold more than 3,000 yuan and approximately 900 yuan are left.
8. Subsequently, through door-to-door encouragement by deputies, sales promotion committee members, and the propaganda teams, the bonds were sold out
and the amounts were acknowledged. But not all the public bonds have been
received as yet.
Purchase was completely voluntary; no coercion was used. Not a single meeting took place in which economic construction was not discussed. Because of the
establishment of the xian trade bureau there has been salt and cloth to buy, and
the masses have realized even more the importance of the economy and public
bonds.
We reiterate that only when economic construction is coordinated with political mobilization can a stronger wave of enthusiasm be created for expanding the
Red Army and the broad masses be inspired to go to the front lines. In Caixi
Township, even after young and middle-aged men left in droves to join the Red
Army or to work elsewhere, production levels exceeded by 10 percent those of
before the uprising. Having reclaimed all wasteland, they are opening up the
mountains as well, and no plot of arable land remains unsown. The lives of the
masses have been very greatly improved.

The labor cooperative (elsewhere called the labor mutual aid association), the
consumer cooperative, and the grain cooperative have organized the economic
life of the masses in the entire township, so that the economy has reached a very
high level of organization and become the first glorious model for the entire
Soviet Area. Such a great achievement on the economic front has inspired all the
masses and caused the broad masses to take up arms and rush to the front lines
for the defense and development of the Soviet Area without any worries and
without turning back. Of the total population of 4,928 people in the two townships, 1,018 men (485 from Upper Caixi and 533 from Lower Caixi) have gone
away to join the Red Army or to work, and 29 women have gone elsewhere to
work. This ironclad evidence has afforded us a powerful weapon with which to
smash all the opportunists' nonsensical statements, such as that economic construction is impossible during civil war, that the lives of the masses in the Soviet
Area have seen no improvement, that the masses do not wish to join the Red
Army, or that if the Red Army is expanded there will be no one to engage in
production. We solemnly introduce to the entire peasant and worker masses the
glorious achievements of Changgang Township, Caixi Township, and Shishui
Township, and we call upon the thousands of townships throughout the Soviet
Area to learn together from these townships, so that the several thousand townships may all become, like Changgang, Caixi, and Shishui, a solid advancing
front striving for victory all over China.

Culture and Education

Upper Caixi

Daytime schools: a total of four, all under one principal, each with one teacher.
The cost of the teacher's meals is covered by taking up a collection among the
masses, calculated at 1 jiao 3 fen per person. There is a total of 141 pupils, most
of whom are between the ages of six and ten. Most of those between the ages of
eleven and fourteen go to the district soviet compulsory education physical labor
school (formerly a training school for cadres who work with children). The
whole township has more than 600 children between the ages of one and fifteen,
of whom 323 are between the ages of six and fifteen. Of this number, 141 go to
daytime schools, 37 go to the district soviet labor school, and there remain 145
who do not go to school.

Evening schools: a total of four, no principal. The teaching positions are held
concurrently by the teachers at the daytime schools. There is a total of more than
120 students, most of whom are women. The monthly administration expense for
each school, 5 jiao, is covered by funds collected from the masses.

Literacy classes: a total of 24 groups, 10 people in each group, a total of 240
people. Every five days the evening school teacher assigns five new characters to
recognize. Each group has a group leader, and there are both men and women.

Those who cannot attend evening school because of old age, work, or being tied
down by children are able to enter the literacy class.
Newspaper-reading group: located in the club, with one person in charge. On
market fair days (once every five days), such publications as Struggle and Red
China, "circulars" (from higher organs], "class analyses," and so on are read
aloud. At least fifty or sixty people are in the audience every time, and sometimes there are as many as eighty or ninety.
Character-learning boards: a total of six, placed at various intersections.
Club: one. Of the more than fifty people working at the club, more than thirty
belong to the new performing troupe.
Wall-newspapers: four locations, one in each village, outside the gate of the
daytime school. Most of the articles are written by the pupils and teachers; not
more than one-tenth are written by the masses.

Lower Caixi
Daytime schools: a total of five, all under one principal, with one teacher in each
school. The teacher's food expenses are handled as in the case of Upper Caixi.
There is a total of more than 150 pupils, and more than 60 go to the district
school, making a total of more than 210.
Evening schools: a total of eight, no principal. Five of the teachers serve
concurrently as teachers in the daytime schools, and three of them are from
elsewhere.
There is an average of approximately 30 students in each school and a total of
240. The monthly administration fee is 5 jiao.
Club: one, with more than fifty staff members.
Literacy classes: a total of 26 groups, with a total of 260 students. The method
of learning characters is the same as in Upper Caixi.
Character-learning boards: a total of five.
Wall-newspapers: five locations.
Newspaper-reading group: one location, which is also held every five days on
market fair days.

---

Notes

We have translated this document from Mao Zedong nongcun diaocha wenji, pp. 333-
54. As indicated in the source note to the preceding text, "Investigation of Changgang
Township," it originally appeared in a mimeographed pamphlet produced in December
1933 and distributed at the Second Soviet Congress. In this case, too, Mao Zedong ji, Vol.
4, pp. 197-98, contains notes regarding the variants between this contemporary version
and later publications, but they are less numerous and much less significant than the
variants in the Changgang investigation.
1. Like the previous text, this investigation was first published in the mimeographed pamphlet Models for the Work of 25 Township Soviets distributed in January
1934, where it was the second item. Before the heading "Administrative Divisions,"
there appeared the following indications, which the editors of Mao Zedong nongcun
diaocha wenji, p. 362, note 88, attribute to Mao himself:

Caixi Township (November 26, 1933)
Zhuo Xinghua Chairman, Upper Caixi
Que Shaoguang Secretary, Upper Caixi
Wang Deqing Deputy, Lower Caixi
The materials below have been compiled from oral reports by these three comrades.

On the basis of Mao's note, we have dated this text November 26, 1933.
2. This refers to volunteer labor done to assist families of Red Army soldiers, poor
peasants, and farm laborers, and to cultivate the Red Army's public plots. The practice was
modeled on that of the Soviet régime of Lenin's day.
3. The Mao Zedong ji text, p. 186, has here the Chinese term guozi, meaning "fried
dough." The 1982 Beijing edition has instead banzi, normally signifying "stick" or
"board," which presumably refers in this context to a piece of dough fried hard.
4. The rhizome of a kind of grass which grows wild in the hills, so called because in
form it resembles a goat's hoof. It was commonly used to allay hunger in times of famine.
5. In other words, one big foreign dollar was worth approximately 1.4 dollars in the
fractional currency. For Mao's explicit comments on this relationship in Caixi, see below,
the section of this investigation on prices.
6. As explained in the "Note on Sources and Conventions" at the beginning of this
volume, and illustrated by the Xunwu and Xingguo investigations in Volume III, several
different types of currency coexisted in the China of the 1930s. There were, on the one
hand, silver coins and banknotes in the amount of one yuan or "dollar," commonly referred to as dayang or "big foreign [dollars]." There were also fractional silver coins and
notes for 0.1 or 0.2 dollars, generally called xiaoyang or "small foreign [dollars]," which
were worth less than their face value. The exchange rate between these two units is
mentioned several times in the materials translated above, but this is Mao's only explicit
discussion of the issue. Here he refers to the "small dollars" by the alternative name of
maoyang, mao being the common term for ten cents or 0.1 dollars. As for the silver or
"big" dollars, the terms zayang (miscellaneous foreign [dollars]) and guangyang (bright
foreign [dollars]) are commonly regarded as synonymous, but apparently in Caixi District
the former commanded a lower price in mao than the latter, to which the soviet paper
currency was equivalent. If one "big" dollar was worth 13.5 or 14 one-mao coins, and each
such coin was worth 16 of the copper coins with a face value of one "cent" or 0.01 dollars,
the dollar was worth about 220 coppers. Such was roughly the level of depreciation of
copper against silver at this time. (The coppers [tongpian] referred to here should not be
confused with the traditional copper "cash" [wen], frequently mentioned in this volume,
which were of much lesser value.)

--- Notes

7. Struggle (Douzheng) and Red China (Hongse zhonghua) were important Party periodicals that appear frequently among the sources for the texts in this volume. "Class
analyses" undoubtedly refers to the important directive of October 10, 1933, "How to
Analyze Classes," translated above, as well as to other materials on the same topic.