The National Revolution and the Peasant Movement

The peasant problem is the central problem of the national revolution. If the peasants do not rise up and join and support the national revolution, the national revolution cannot succeed. If we do not speedily create a peasant movement, the peasant problem cannot be solved. If the peasant problem is not properly solved in the context of the present revolutionary movement, the peasants will not support this revolution. Right down to the present day, there are still a number of people, even within the revolutionary party, who do not understand these points. They do not understand that the greatest adversary of revolution in an economically backward semicolony is the feudal-patriarchal class (the landlord class) in the villages. In an economically backward semicolony, the imperialists outside the country, and the ruling class within, rely entirely on the unstinting support that the landlord class gives them in their attempt to carry out the oppression and exploitation of the objects of their oppression and exploitation in that territory, who are primarily the peasants. Otherwise, they would be unable to carry out 388their oppression and exploitation. Consequently, in an economically backward semicolony, the feudal class in the countryside constitutes the only solid basis for the ruling class at home and for imperialism abroad. Unless this basis is shaken, it will be absolutely impossible to shake the superstructure built upon it. The Chinese warlords are merely the chieftains of this rural feudal class. To say that you want to overthrow the warlords but do not want to overthrow the feudal class in the countryside, is quite simply to be unable to distinguish between the trivial and the important, the essential and the secondary. A clear example of this is to be found in Guangdong. Any xian in which the local bullies, bad gentry, greedy bureaucrats, and corrupt officials are relatively restrained is most assuredly a xian in which the peasant movement has already been established, and in which the peasant masses have joined the peasant associations. In other words, a xian in which the power of Chen Jiongming ² has been diminished is assuredly a xian in which the peasants have arisen. We cannot deny the fact that one year ago Guangdong belonged to Chen Jiongming, and not at all to the revolutionary government. For the past year, and down to the present day, the realm of Guangdong has been evenly divided between the revolutionary government and Chen Jiongming, even though Chen Jiongming himself has not been within the borders of Guangdong. The peasants must now gradually continue to rise up in every xian of Guangdong; only this will really demonstrate that the power of Chen Jiongming is being gradually reduced in every xian of Guangdong. Chen Jiongming’s native district of Haifeng xian has historically been aswarm with local bullies, bad gentry, greedy bureaucrats, and corrupt officials, but ever since it has had a peasant association of 50,000 families, with 250,000 members, it has been cleaner than any other xian in Guangdong. ³ The xian magistrate dares not do evil, the tax collectors dare not extort money above the assessment, there are no bandits in the whole xian, and the savage oppression of the people by local bullies and evil gentry has virtually stopped altogether. Thus we can see that the form of the Chinese revolution can only be as follows: it does not constitute a base for the imperialists and the warlords, where local bullies, bad gentry, greedy bureaucrats, and corrupt officials keep the peasants down, but rather a base for the revolutionary forces, where the peasants have arisen to keep down the local bullies, bad gentry, greedy bureaucrats, and corrupt officials. The Chinese revolution has only this form and no other. Every place in China must become like Haifeng, for only then can the revolution be considered to have achieved victory. Otherwise, no matter what happens, it cannot be considered a victory. Only when every place throughout China becomes like Haifeng can it be said that the basis of imperialism and the warlords has truly been toppled; otherwise, this will not be the case. Thus we see that what is called the national revolutionary 389movement is, for the most part, the peasant movement. Thus we see that all those who look down on or even suppress the peasant movement really sympathize with the local bullies, bad gentry, greedy bureaucrats, and corrupt officials, that they really do not want to overthrow the warlords and do not want to oppose imperialism.