Chapter 11 Strategies for Land Reform Struggle in the New Liberated Areas

(January 22, 1948) Comrade Su Yu[1]: Zixiao [2] informed by telegram that all the arrangements are in order.The local armed forces in this area must disperse the guerrillas and cover the mass struggle. They should not concentrate and organize columns too early or too much. Your arrangement is extremely appropriate.However, land reform work should not be hasty. Last year we told you to completely divide the land within one year. You should implement it flexibly.You should determine the speed of land reform according to the situation of eliminating the enemy's armed forces, the strength of the cadres leading the land reform, and the level of consciousness and organization of the masses.Generally speaking, the districts north of the Yangtze River have worked hard within three years, worked well, made no major mistakes, and were able to distribute land according to the land law. This is a great achievement.The so-called distribution of land in accordance with the land law in all districts north of the Yangtze River in general refers to the areas under the jurisdiction of the Central Plains, Central China, East China, Handan, Fuping, Jinsui, Northwest, and Northeast Central Bureaus and Central Sub-bureaus in 1947. The arable land, plus the arable land occupied in the 1948 Victory War, should be won in a three-year period from January 1948 to December 1950, step by step not only in terms of the amount of land In terms of the quality of the land, it is roughly divided equally according to the population.The so-called active efforts, effective work, and no major mistakes mean that in accordance with the resolutions of the National Land Conference[3] and the subsequent instructions issued by the Central Committee and the Central Working Committee on land reform, we should step by step inspire the consciousness of the masses, unite all farmers, and achieve The purpose of dividing the land equally is not to make big "Left" and Right-leaning mistakes, but mainly to avoid making "Left" adventurist mistakes.Without these conditions and if major mistakes are made, it will still be impossible to solve the land problems in the various districts within three years.The so-called step-by-step enlightenment of the masses and the unity of all peasants to share the land equally means that the method of land reform should be based on publicizing the masses, finding a few activists (not speculators) among the masses, investigating and studying specific class relations, and mobilizing the masses to distribute the money of the big landlords. Fight bullies, organize mass organizations, organize party branches, organize militia guerrillas, organize district and township governments, and then develop to confiscate and distribute land.

The confiscation and distribution of land in the new area should be divided into two stages: the first stage is the confiscation and distribution of the land of the landlord class, neutralizing the rich peasants, and the land of the rich peasants will not be moved in principle.When confiscating and distributing the land of landlords, we should distinguish between large, medium and small landlords, bullies and non-bully landlords, and adopt different treatment.During this stage, poor peasants should be the main body, and peasant associations should be organized, including all peasants except landlords and rich peasants, and no poor peasant regiments should be organized.In the rural areas ruled by the Kuomintang, poor peasants, farm laborers and other landless peasants account for about 70 percent, middle peasants about 20 percent, and landlords, rich peasants and other exploiters about 10 percent.Therefore, the peasant associations include a very large number of people, and 70% of the poor and farm laborers are the most active, so they naturally become the main body of the peasant associations.In the early stage, the middle peasants were hesitant to wait and see. When the struggle unfolded with hope of victory, the middle peasants were willing to join the peasant association. Therefore, it is not necessary to organize another poor peasant group during this period.In the second stage, the land of all feudal classes is divided equally, and the land of the rich peasants is only moved at this time.During this stage, whether to organize a poor peasant group within the Agricultural Cooperative depends on the situation of the Agricultural Cooperative at that time.If the leadership of the peasant association is indeed in the hands of the activists of the poor and hired peasants, it is not necessary to form another poor peasant group; Reform the leading organ of the Agricultural Cooperative.The development process of the land reform work in the new areas (such as Hubei, Henan, and Anhui provinces) should generally go through these steps or stages in order to inspire the consciousness of the masses, fight against the feudal class, and establish a stable base.

In the new districts and the old districts where there is a big difference in the level of public consciousness, such as the south of Longhai and the north of Longhai, the application of land law must be different.That is to say, the equal division of land is the highest goal of the anti-feudal struggle. It must go through several stages and procedures before it can be achieved.It took many years and months to divide the land in the old areas.The reason for this is that the masses can only educate themselves, raise their consciousness, recognize the enemy clearly, and win victory through their own personal experience.The same is true for Communist Party members, who must educate themselves and gain experience in struggle before they can lead the masses to victory.For this reason, you should not attack all the districts and townships in the dozens of counties in the whole district at the same time, but choose a few counties with suitable conditions, start with one or two districts in each county, make achievements, gain experience, and influence others District masses, and then gradually promote.It must be recognized that mass work and land reform work are extremely meticulous work, and the art of leadership must be studied.In every village, the vast majority of the masses must believe that confiscating and distributing the land of landlords and rich peasants is not only necessary, but also reasonable, and the masses themselves refute the long-standing erroneous ideas among the backward masses, such as poverty is due to fate, land distribution Immoral behavior, etc., the vast majority of the masses are sincerely willing to divide the land equally before they can act; otherwise, they will make the mistake of adventurism and be used by landlords, rich peasants and bad cadres to beat, kill, fight, and divide classes randomly. Indiscriminately ordering the composition, the land is not divided well, and we have to go back.It must be realized that it is a very long process for the Communist Party members to lead the peasant masses who lack spiritual preparation, lack of group life, and lack of fighting art against the scheming landlords and rich peasants who have superior spiritual and material advantages.In this process, only by working with the peasant masses to gradually complete spiritual preparations, gradually organize themselves (party organizations, mass organizations, militias, guerrillas, district and township governments), and gradually learn the art of struggle, can they finally fight against The feudal class should realize the real equal distribution of land; otherwise, it will inevitably be defeated by the landlords and rich peasants, and many great disturbances will inevitably occur that endanger the masses. Even if it is divided equally, it will be a false equal division.This is true no matter in the old districts or in the new districts.Therefore, we should resolutely adopt the method of gradual promotion, not the method of general hands-on.The movement of gradual promotion may appear to be slow, but it is actually fast; the method of general practice may appear to be fast, but it is actually slow.If the environment permits, there are many cadres, and there are enough trainings (sufficient training is necessary), we can choose one district for each county in all the counties with work groups in the whole district, and carry out land reform work at the same time, while for other districts, we can do land reform. Carry out land reform work.Within a county or a district, the land reform has generally been done well, there is no adventurism, there is no random beating, killing, or random fighting, and generally there is no wrong class classification or wrong composition. All farmers really and consciously unite to obtain the benefits of land reform. If county-level cadres and working group cadres have really learned the methods of land reform, the land reform work in this county will be carried out quickly, and the mass movement will have a real climax, rather than a formal climax that is easy to rise and fall.The so-called environmental permission here means that the new area should be divided into two types of areas and adopt different strategies: the first type is that our army has wiped out a large number of enemies, and the relative strength of the enemy and ourselves has changed fundamentally. It is difficult for the enemy to come back in the future. Potentially long-occupied areas.In such areas, we should start from opening warehouses to help the poor, fighting bullies, distributing the floating wealth of big landlords, organizing peasant associations, governments, militias, and guerrillas, and gradually developing to confiscating and distributing the land of the landlord class. The environment in this area allows us to carried out land reform.The second type is the area where the enemy can come again and will occupy it for a long time.In such areas, our job is to spread propaganda to the masses, open warehouses to help the poor, distribute part of property, find activists, set up secret and capable party organizations and mass organizations, organize capable guerrilla units by camera, and educate How the masses prepare for the enemy's return.In such areas, the environment does not yet allow us to carry out land reform, and the work of land reform has to wait.

In the work in the new area, there is another problem of landlords and rich peasants and leftists that should be properly resolved.Historical experience shows that during the period of guerrilla warfare in the new districts, some left-wing elements of the landlord and rich peasant class supported our party’s policy of anti-imperialism, anti-Chiang and anti-big landlords, and were willing to participate in this struggle. Or there are very few ready-made local cadres. Our party has to cooperate with these left-wing elements. Through this cooperation, we will defeat the Jiang army and the big landlord class, establish a political power, and develop local armed forces and local troops.These leftists joined the party in this process and became part of the backbone of the local party, government, military and civilian work.Some of them are intellectuals, some are not intellectuals, some can change their landlord and rich peasant positions under the education of the party, and continue to implement the party's line. obstacle.When you go to the new area, you should adopt a correct attitude towards this issue.First of all, we should not be afraid to cooperate with them, and we should not be afraid to absorb their activists into the Party, but we must intensify the work of educating them.When it comes to land reform, it should be dealt with on a case-by-case basis: some people will continue to be employed;

In addition, in order to understand the situation in the countryside and carry out land reform, it is necessary to personally investigate the land reform work in several districts and townships from the secretary of the district party committee and the head of the political department; otherwise, it will be impossible to lead the land reform correctly. I hope to inform the Party Committee of the Henan-Anhui Soviet Area and all comrades in your Political Department of the above (this document can be printed as a leaflet and distributed to the Party Committees and working cadres at all levels), and I hope to report your experience by telegram.

Mao Zedong Ziyang Printed from transcripts kept at the Central Archives. -------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ note [1] Su Yu, then deputy commander of the East China Field Army. [2] Zide, that is, January 17th. [3] Refers to the "China Land Law" adopted by the Party's National Land Conference held in Xibaipo, Jianping County (now Pingshan County), Hebei Province, from July 17 to September 13, 1947. Outline".