1. Caijiaya in Xing County was one of the areas where local landlords and rich peasants were relatively concentrated.
In most other villages of the county, there were not as many landlords and rich peasants as in Caijiaya.
However, the experience of Caijiaya offers us an important lesson: we must delineate classes and carry out land reform in accordance with actual conditions. We must never artificially classify people who are not landlords or rich peasants as such, thereby wrongly broadening the scope of our attacks, disrupting the revolutionary front, aiding the enemy, and isolating ourselves.
This is an extremely serious issue that demands the attention of all Party members.


2. It should be pointed out here that my reference to the erroneous class classification in Caijiaya, Xing County, is merely offered as an example.
In other villages throughout the Jin-Sui region, as well as in North China, East China, Central China, Northeast China, and the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region in Northwest China, there were undoubtedly quite a few cases—perhaps even as numerous as in Caijiaya—where class identities were misidentified in a similar manner.
All leading comrades in the liberated areas and all those engaged in land reform work must rigorously examine this issue of class identification, openly and clearly correcting any mistakes they have made.
Even if only one person has been incorrectly classified, that error must be rectified.


3. Traditional rich peasants in China exhibited strong feudal characteristics; many also practiced usury or leased out part of their land.
On the one hand, they worked the land themselves, placing them close to ordinary farmers; on the other hand, their feudal or semi-feudal exploitation brought them closer to landlords.


4. In any event, the scope of our offensive should be confined strictly to the genuine feudal exploiting classes and must under no circumstances extend beyond that boundary.
In areas formerly under Kuomintang rule that have since been liberated by the People’s Liberation Army, the target range should be further narrowed.
There, our initial focus should be on striking at big landlords, gentry, local tyrants, landlord militias, the baojia system, and secret agents. As military victories are consolidated and base areas are strengthened, and as the masses become more conscious and better organized, we can gradually proceed toward the complete abolition of the feudal system.


5. Following the equitable distribution of land, we should encourage farmers to work diligently, improve agricultural techniques, and develop mutual aid and cooperative movements, so as to enhance their own living standards, ensure that the democratic government and the People’s Liberation Army have sufficient public grain supplies to defeat the reactionaries, and increase the volume of grain and other agricultural products available for sale as commodities, thereby providing adequate agricultural supplies to urban residents and industry.


6. Du Bincheng [2] was a member of the Democratic League [3], a prominent democratic figure, who was executed by Hu Zongnan [4]. Yet individuals like Du Bincheng still exist today.
The participation of such figures in the democratic government helps ensure that it represents a united front of all revolutionary classes under the leadership of the Communist Party, rather than being a one-party dictatorship. This is conducive to rallying more than ninety percent of the Chinese population to fight together.


7. Our opposition to indiscriminate killing does not mean that no one may ever be put to death.
Those truly heinous counter-revolutionaries and notorious local tyrants—individuals whom the entire nation deems worthy of execution—may, after being sentenced to death by a people’s court and approved by a designated government body (a committee established at the county, sub-regional, or higher level), be executed by firing squad, with their crimes publicly announced. Such executions are entirely necessary; without them, revolutionary order cannot be established.
However, it is impermissible to arbitrarily fabricate charges and impose capital punishment.
It must be understood that excessive killing solves no problems.
Our task is to resolve the issues of eliminating the oppression and exploitation imposed by imperialism, feudalism, and bureaucratic capitalism, and to build China into an independent, prosperous, people’s democratic republic.
Apart from the unavoidable loss of life on the battlefield during wartime, unnecessary or wrongful killings not only fail to solve problems but may also delay their resolution, potentially even leading to temporary setbacks in the revolution.
This is because excessive killing inevitably alienates the popular masses and provokes widespread opposition.


8. Whether in rural areas, cities, the military, government organs, or schools—in every meeting where Party members or cadres are reviewed—the individual under review must have the right to present their case. This democratic practice is indispensable.
Printed based on Mao Zedong’s revised manuscript preserved in the Central Archives.
Notes [1]: These are several passages that Mao Zedong added and revised in his speech “Several Questions in Land Reform,” delivered by Ren Bishi on January 12, 1948, at an expanded meeting of the Front Committee of the Northwest Field Army. Above the text, Mao also wrote a directive: “Begin transmitting in plain language tomorrow, aiming to complete transmission within two or three days. The message should be relayed nationwide via Xinhua News Agency, immediately published in all newspapers, and also printed as a pamphlet. Comrade Fan Changjiang should ensure that neither the text nor the punctuation is mistranslated. In addition to publication in our news briefs, we will also print a pamphlet to be sent to the Central Committee.”
[2] Du Bincheng (1888–1947), from Mizhi County, Shaanxi Province. He served as an executive committee member of the central committee of the China Democratic League and as chairman of its Northwest General Branch. In October 1947, he was murdered in Xi’an by Kuomintang reactionaries.
[3] The China Democratic League, formerly known as the China Democratic Political Groups Alliance, was founded in 1941 and reorganized as the China Democratic League in 1944. Its members primarily consisted of intellectuals from the fields of education, culture, science, and technology.
[4] Hu Zongnan was, at the time, director of the Xi’an Pacification Office of the Kuomintang army.