ABSTRACT
The collectivization of the land was far more destructive of old Chinese traditions and institutions than all preceding policies. It had an immediate, direct effect on 80 percent of the population and an indirect effect on almost all Chinese through their families. The process of nationalization was virtually complete: state or mixed enterprises amounted to 95.73 percent of the total, employed 98.73 percent of the working population, and accounted for 99.62 percent of production. Collectivization would allow agricultural efforts to be directed more successfully; it would also allow for closer control of production and consumption and a stricter policy in buying harvests. The first government measures were cautious and persuasive. At first, they aimed to encourage the creation and extension of mutual aid teams which were to be seasonal to start with, and later permanent. Resistance to collectivization was to be found both at the peasant level and at the level of senior Party members.
