On the Revisions to
*The Investigative Account of the History of Wu Xun*
and a Letter to Hu Qiaomu
(July 1951)

I

The eulogists of Wu Xun have accused others of "lacking the viewpoint of historical materialism" and "erroneously" applying "the yardstick of today" to "measure historical figures"; they further claim that Wu Xun, constrained by "specific historical conditions," could not possibly have had revolutionary thoughts or actions. After it was pointed out that the specific historical environment in which Wu Xun lived was precisely the era of the great peasant revolutions of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and the Nian Army in the north, some of those who extol Wu Xun still remained unconvinced. Their reasoning was that those revolutionary armies, after all, did not originate in Wu Xun’s native place; although battles were fought there, the soldiers were always outsiders, and thus it was excusable that they failed to attract Wu Xun’s attention.

Our investigation has uncovered a revolutionary army in Wu Xun’s native place. They were neither the Taiping Army nor the Nian Army, but a local peasant revolutionary force linked to the Nian Army and originating from Wu Xun’s own hometown. This fact enables us to provide certain "specific historical conditions" and some "historical figures" as a basis for everyone’s judgment. With these facts, it is not difficult for us to answer: Who, after all, "lacks the viewpoint of historical materialism"? Is it those who criticize and disdain Wu Xun, or those who propagate and extol him?

II

Wu Xun and Song Jingshi were irreconcilable adversaries locked in mortal enmity. It was Wu Xun and Yang Mingqian [1] or Yang Shufang [2] who were blood relatives, "one civil and one martial," breathing through the same nostrils. Quite fittingly, Wu Xun and Yang Mingqian were both commended by the Manchu Qing Dynasty. Wu Xun was granted the commendatory phrase "Delighting in Charity and Good Works" and, after his death, was decreed to have his biography recorded in the National History Institute. After his death, Yang Mingqian was posthumously enfeoffed as "Ceremonial Guard," with the order to "establish a dedicated shrine for spring and autumn public sacrifices," and his descendants also received the hereditary title of "Cloud Cavalry Commandant." They were truly worthy of being two loyal running dogs serving the reactionary rulers, aiding the Manchu Qing Dynasty, and implementing the so-called policy of combining suppression with pacification against the revolutionary people!

III

The propagandists of Wu Xun delight in extolling Wu Xun’s "filial piety" and "fraternal affection." We conducted an investigation into this. Contrary to such eulogies, Wu Xun was an unfilial and unbrotherly person. To avoid proper work and become a vagabond, Wu Xun fell out with his family early on. To sell off family property, he also quarreled fiercely with his elder brother. Seventy-nine-year-old Guo Jiwu said: "Neither his mother nor his brother ever benefited from him. When his mother died, wasn't it just like a dog?" Some say that when his mother died, his brother asked him to return for the funeral, but he refused, saying he had no "money for mourning." During the time Wu Xun was afflicted with money-mania, this could well be true. The masses say that Wu Xun sold the dry provisions he begged to others for feeding livestock but was unwilling to give even a mouthful to his mother and brother. He was precisely such a heartless and unrighteous person.

IV

Wu Maolin was a distant grandnephew of Wu Xun. He spent his life helping Wu Xun in what was called begging for the promotion of education, only to be driven to death by Yang Shufang in the end. Wu Lulin was the grandson of Wu Qian and the son of Wu Kexin. In Wu Xun’s later years, he was adopted as Wu Xun’s grandson. Accused by the Yang family of "resisting payment of school rent," he was arrested by the county magistrate, tortured, and severely beaten. Released, he died the very next day. We mentioned earlier that Wu Xun neglected his family; this pertains to his youth and middle age. In his old age, perhaps dissatisfied with Yang Shufang’s overly strict control, and facing public disapproval, he requested the Yang family’s permission to allocate over forty mu of land, under the name of a sacrificial field for the Wu family, to be cultivated by Wu Lulin’s father, Wu Kexin. At the same time, he satisfied the Yang family with the condition of paying ten strings of cash annually as rent to the school. This matter was officially registered with the authorities (see *An Account of the Beginnings of Promoting Education*, which says forty mu; Wu Jinxing told us it was over forty mu). But the Yang family later forcibly seized it back, denying it was a sacrificial field and affirming it was school land. They sent Wu Lulin to deliver heavy rent; Wu Lulin could not afford it, a lawsuit ensued, and as a result, the man was beaten to death alive, and the land was seized. This is the legal case of the "two lives" of the Wu family. The masses universally sympathize with the Wu family regarding this matter. When Wu Jinxing recounted these events to us, both he and we felt sorrow. Wu Jinxing said with deep grief: "We have a feud with the Yang family!"

V

The property Wu Xun acquired in the Tangyi area after the fourteenth year of the Guangxu reign was his private property and was not designated for the school. Xu Jinchuan was one person who managed this part of Wu Xun’s private property. After Wu Xun’s death, Xu Jinchuan’s eldest son, Xu Gongwang, was once imprisoned by the Yang family on the charge of "resisting payment of school rent." From this, it can be known that any private property Wu Xun had not handed over before his death, once known to the landlords, was seized by them in the name of school land after his death. It is also very likely that Wu Maolin held property of this nature. Whether Wu Xun donated all the property accumulated before the fourteenth year of the Guangxu reign to the Liulin school is also questionable; it is quite possible a portion was not handed over but managed by Wu Maolin. Wu Maolin’s death might also be connected to this point, though we have not found definite evidence.

What kind of person exactly was Xu Jinchuan? A passage in the petition by Jin Jiqiu recorded in *An Account of the Beginnings of Promoting Education* states: "In villages such as Zhaolangzi and Wang’erdatang, there was formerly a Morality Book Society (original text reads thus, suspected error—author). Wu Xun donated over two hundred strings of capital cash, not including various small annual donations. Xu Jinchuan and others wished to erect a stele for Wu Xun, but Wu Xun did not permit it. Every year, the society convened once. Regardless of any matters he had, Wu Xun would personally attend the society meeting and peruse the account books of the morality books printed each year. He also took a number of morality books with him, distributing them everywhere he went." This "Morality Book Society" appears to be a secret society organization, with Xu Jinchuan as a leader. Wu Xun, having contributed much money, became a major leader of this organization. From this, it can be seen that Xu Jinchuan was also a person who supported Wu Xun’s ways and assisted him in his work, one of Wu Xun’s trusted figures. He was quite similar to Wu Maolin, except that he engaged in "morality books," not "promoting education."

VI

The Zhao Yiqin mentioned in Yu Dianyuan’s complaint was a prestigious and influential gentry member in Linqing at the time, a *juren* degree holder. Wu Xun and Yu Dianyuan "swore a life-and-death brotherhood," requesting Zhao Yiqin to preside over the oath. Zhao Yiqin was also willing to come forward and preside for them. We judge this to be related to the struggle for control over the Linqing school. Wu Xun was willing for the faction of Zhao Yiqin to mentor Yu Dianyuan to take over this school after his death, rather than the faction of Jin Jiqiu. Therefore, even people on Jin Jiqiu’s side could not deny the fact that Wu and Yu formed a brotherhood with Zhao presiding, and could only say it was "opportunistically forming a brotherhood."

VII

Based on the various materials mentioned above, we understand that Wu Xun was an influential vagabond chief within the vagabond groups across many counties in western Shandong. He colluded with landlords, especially major gentry and local tyrants, in several counties of western Shandong, and with officials of various ranks in county seats, prefectural cities, and the provincial capital, making himself a big creditor, a big landlord, and a big celebrity. Wu Xun was precisely such a special figure, extremely active within the three circles of vagabonds, landlords, and bureaucrats, thereby alienated from all laboring people and standing in opposition to them. Wu Xun and his vagabond brothers had contradictions with the landlord class, but during his lifetime these contradictions had not surfaced, relying mainly on the support of bureaucrats, especially those in the provincial capital. As soon as Wu Xun died, his schools disintegrated one after another, his property was seized and encroached upon by landlords, and his trusted followers were all attacked. The local masses detested Wu Xun, but they sympathized with his agents who suffered the most severe attacks, such as Wu Maolin. Wu Xun’s unchanging image was begging; the characteristic distinguishing Wu Xun from all ordinary beggars or vagabonds was promoting education. And these two points (begging and promoting education), combined together, were beloved by reactionary rulers of all periods, who exerted themselves to propagate them. Some people with erroneous thinking also cherished such a figure and exerted themselves to propagate him. In this way, many naive and simple-minded people were deceived. Therefore, exposing the true face of Wu Xun and his propagandists has become a necessary task.

VIII

After Wu Xun’s death, a group of people who lived off Wu Xun’s legacy appeared in western Shandong and elsewhere. One of them was Wang Sanye from Linqing, known as "Wu Xun the Second," an educational racketeer who made a fortune through promoting education; we will not elaborate on him here. Another is Wu Jindong from Tangyi. Wu Jindong, a native of Wuzhuang in Tangyi, is a distant relative of Wu Xun, now seventy-eight years old. He is a living Wu Xun existing today. After Wu Xun’s death, he single-mindedly imitated Wu Xun, kowtowing whenever he saw a rich person, obsequious and fawning, words flowing readily from his mouth, soliciting donations everywhere, and amassed quite a sum of money. Before the outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japan, he went to Nanjing, where he was appreciated by the Kuomintang and hailed as a treasure. When he met with us, he was still muttering incantations under his breath. His attitude towards the masses was very bad; the local masses were extremely dissatisfied with him, and during the Land Reform, he was made a target of struggle. When we sought him out for a talk, the masses in Liulin Town were very surprised. When he walked through the streets, the masses pointed and said: "Why has this fellow come again!"

IX

Judging from the requirement that students must be able to write "full-length" eight-legged essays to enroll, the admission standards for the "Chongxian Free School" were very high. Consequently, the qualifications required of the teachers were also very high; only *jinshi*, *juren*, or *bagong* degree holders would suffice.

X

The "Chongxian Free School" only established a beginner’s class in 1895, the eighth year after the classics class was started at this school, and also the year before Wu Xun’s death. Four years later, i.e., after 1898, this kind of beginner’s class was abolished. Wu Xun and the landlords cooperating with him were not interested in setting up such lower-level beginner’s classes. The reason Wu Xun and his collaborator Yang Shufang ran a beginner’s class during those four years was that the merchants in Liulin Town expressed dissatisfaction that their children could not attend school. Wu Xun and Yang Shufang reluctantly set up a beginner’s class to appease them. Regarding the composition of the student body, our investigation found that not only were there no children from poor peasant families in the classics class, but even in the beginner’s class, children from poor peasant families were very few.

XI

Economically, Yang Shufang had designs on Wu Xun’s property. By this time, Wu Xun had already amassed a very large sum of property, totaling over seven thousand strings of cash, just in the Tangyi area alone. As soon as the "Free School" was established, it inevitably fell under Yang Shufang’s control. Therefore, when Yang Shufang told Wu Xun to establish the "Free School," it was impossible for Wu Xun not to do so, even if he had wanted to. As soon as Wu Xun died, the Yang family seized the school as private property, focusing solely on plundering its assets. The number of students at the school sometimes dwindled to just a few, and in later years, it simply suspended operations for several years, showing no concern whatsoever for any notion of a free school. This proves the point. The above is the main reason why the school was established. Of course, at that time, the landlord class also had a need to educate their own children. By utilizing Wu Xun’s loan interest, land rent, and donations, they could establish a school for their descendants—why not take pleasure in doing so? *An Account of the Beginnings of Promoting Education* states: "Tangyi and Guantao border Linqing Prefecture. Since the ravages of war in the *jiayin* year of the Xianfeng reign, poor families unable to study have been especially numerous compared to other prefectures" (page 36). The "ravages of war" referred to here is the fact that in 1854, the Northern Expeditionary Army of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom once captured several county towns in this area. The "poor families" referred to here... On one hand, the landlord class, represented by Yang Shufang, needed to run schools; on the other hand, Wu Xun was already riding a tiger, having maintained his public image for thirty years and accumulated seven thousand strings of cash, forcing him to proceed. Thus, Wu Xun established schools on behalf of the landlord class, and under the auspices of the landlord class.

XII

Wu Xun, the traitor to the laboring people, the arch-vagabond, the big creditor, and the big landlord, relied on the power of feudal rule to exploit and extort the wealth of the laboring people, establishing three schools for landlords and merchants. This situation conforms to the laws of the feudal system. The relations of production under the feudal system are such that the landlord class controls the primary means of production. The landlord class possesses political power and armed forces to protect these relations of production. Consequently, only the landlord class can monopolize culture and run schools. The exploited and oppressed peasant class cannot possibly have the opportunity to receive education and learn culture. In the view of the feudal landlord class, there is also no necessity for peasants engaged in agricultural labor using simple tools to receive education and learn culture. This is the law of the feudal system over several thousand years, a rule indicated by the materialist conception of history. For the exploited and oppressed peasant class to achieve a turnaround in culture and education, to run their own schools, learn culture, and receive education, this is only possible under the leadership of the working class, by overthrowing the political power of the landlord class, establishing political power based on the worker-peasant alliance, and abolishing the feudal relations of production between landlords and peasants, i.e., the landlord’s land ownership system, transforming it into peasant land ownership. In China’s Liberated Areas and throughout the whole of China after the establishment of the People’s Republic of China, this possibility exists. Wu Xun was born in the era of the Manchu Qing Dynasty. He willingly served the landlord class, deceiving the peasants with the slogan "for the poor and humble," while actually establishing three schools for landlords and merchants. This conforms to the laws of feudal society.

XIII

We concentrated our investigation of Wu Xun’s schools in Liulin Town, and our investigation of Wu Xun’s usury in Linqing Town. This is because, regarding Wu Xun’s schools, Liulin is typical, and regarding Wu Xun’s usury, Linqing is typical.

XIV

Most of these lands were forcibly acquired piecemeal from peasants by Wu Xun, exploiting their misfortunes. The acreage recorded on each contract is mostly only one or two mu, or two or three mu. Among the seventy-four contracts we examined, thirty-eight recorded figures of three mu or less; only five recorded ten mu or more. The fact that the amount of land Wu Xun acquired each time was so small is sufficient proof that most sellers were poor peasants who, facing critical situations and unable to survive, had no choice but to sell their land to Wu Xun. Wu Xun became a big landlord through gradual accumulation over twenty-nine years (counting from his thirtieth year), using various cruel methods.

XV

Therefore, we say: Wu Xun was an arch-vagabond, a big creditor, and a big landlord who used "promoting free education" as a means, was granted special privileges by the reactionary government of the time, and served the entire landlord class and the reactionary government. Is this not accurate? Now is the era of the People’s Republic of China. The farce of using the corpse of Wu Xun to deceive the Chinese people should come to an end, and those who have been deceived should awaken.

XVI

Comrade Qiaomu:

Please have ten proof copies made of this document, and deliver them together with the original manuscript to Jiang Qing. When typesetting, please instruct the comrades at the printing house to proofread clearly. There are several tables among them; pay special attention to correcting them without error.

Mao Zedong
July 11