ABSTRACT
Since the establishment of the Central Commission on the Peasant Movement by resolution of the Enlarged Meeting of the Central Executive Committee last year, 1 its organization has developed slowly and has not yet been perfected because of various difficulties. Only after Comrade Mao assumed the position of secretary of the Central Commission on the Peasant Movement in November was it formally decided that seven people—Ruan, Peng, Yi, Lu, Xiao, and C.Y.—will together form the Central Commission on the Peasant Movement, with one of the members always present in the bureau to take care of things. 2 An office has also been set up in Hankou to facilitate guidance of the peasant movement in Hunan, Hubei, Henan, Jiangxi, and Sichuan, and a plan for the current peasant movement has been drawn up, as follows:
An order of priority for the development of the peasant movement in various areas should be established on the basis of the following criteria:
Areas where there is relatively more freedom of assembly and freedom to form associations
412Areas that occupy an important political position
Areas along railways and rivers that are easily accessible
Areas where peasants suffer particular economic deprivation and where uprisings have already occurred or are easy to instigate
Under current circumstances, the principle of concentration should be adopted in developing the peasant movement. In the country as a whole, in addition to Guangdong, development should be concentrated in the four provinces of Hunan, Hubei, Jiangxi, and Henan. Next, substantial efforts should be made in the seven provinces of Shaanxi, Sichuan, Guangxi, Fujian, Anhui, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang.
The principle of concentration should also be adopted within each province. For example:
Hunan—We should concentrate on the areas within the prefectures of Changsha, Yuezhou, Changde, Hengzhou, and Baoqing.
Hubei—We should concentrate on the xian along the [Yangzi] River and the railways, particularly the three xian of Wuchang, Hanyang, and Xiakou.
Jiangxi—We should concentrate on the band of territory that extends from Ji’an through Nanchang to Jiujiang.
Henan—We should concentrate on the areas along the three railway arteries of Beijing-Hankou, Shaanxi-Haizhou, 3 and Daokou-Qinghua. 4
Shaanxi—Concentrate on the Central Shaanxi plain, that is, the xian along the Wei River.
Sichuan—Treat Chongqing and Chengdu as the two centers; their neighboring xian should also be emphasized.
Guangxi—Concentrate on the band of territory that extends from Baise through Nanning to Wuzhou. At the moment, we should pay special attention to linking Enlong, Fengyi, Enyang, Baise, and other xian under the power of Fan Shisheng to Donglan xian, where [the peasant movement] is already developed.
Yunnan—Treat Kunming as the center, and concentrate on the areas along the Yunnan-Guangzhou Railway.
Fujian—Treat Yongding as the center, and concentrate on the xian in southern Fujian.
Zhejiang—Concentrate on the areas within the jurisdictions of Ningpo and Shaoxing.
413Jiangsu—Concentrate on xian such as Chongming, Jiangyin, Danyang, Wuxi, Taixing, Tongshan, and Suining.
Shandong—Concentrate on the areas along the Jiaozhou-Jinan 5 and and Tianjin-Pukou 6 railways.
Anhui—Concentrate on northern Anhui; treat Shou xian and Hefei as the center.
Zhili [Hebei]—Concentrate on the areas along the Beijing-Hankou, Beijing-Suiyuan, 7 Beijing-Fengtian, 8 and Tianjin-Pukou railways.
Zhili and the special capital district should be divided into two areas for the peasant movement. Within the Guomindang system, the peasant movement in Zhili is under the jurisdiction of the Guomindang party organization of Zhili Province, with Tianjin as the center. The peasant movement in the capital district should be under the jurisdiction of the special municipal party organization of Beijing, with the immediate suburbs of Beijing as the center.
Peasants in the immediate suburbs of provincial capitals and other key cities must be specially organized into “peasant associations of the immediate suburbs.” The Guomindang party organizations or special municipal party organizations in such cities must set up peasant departments to guide the peasant movement in the immediate suburbs.
[We] must cooperate closely with the left wing of the Guomindang in [organizing] the peasant movement in all areas and also encourage the Peasant Department of the Guomindang Central Committee to establish an office in Wuhan.
Set up a peasant movement training institute in Wuchang.
