Fanshen

by Hinton, William ; Magdoff, Fred;

  (c) Land on river banks, sand land, and land for public cemeteries should be dealt with by the peasant assembly (or its committee) of the county or ch’u (sub-county).

  9. Supplement to Section B of Article 10:

  Any unemployed worker whose home is in the countryside but who finds no means to make a living may go back to his native place to divide land with proofs given by the government of locality where he now lives

  10. “The People’s Liberation Army” as mentioned in Section C of Article 10 includes liberated soldiers (defectors from Chiang’s forces).

  11. Supplements to Section C of Article 10:

  (a) All martyrs who gave their lives on the battlefront since the beginning of the Anti-Japanese War (including soldiers of the People’s Liberation Army, militiamen, civilian cadres, and other personnel) should get a share of land and property equal to that of a peasant for themselves.

  (b) Land for placement of honorable soldiers and veterans should be preserved by the Director’s Administrative Bureau on a unified plan, and should not be distributed; but the amount of such land should not surpass one thousandth of the total quantity of land in the Director’s Administrative Bureau area. Such reserved land should for the time being be handed over to the poor and bitter peasants and other poor people to cultivate through the county peasant assemblies (or their committees) in the counties under the administration of the Director’s Bureau. No rent should be paid but only the burden to the government.

  12. Supplement to Article 11:

  The form of title deeds (literally land ownership certificates) should be designed by the Hopei-Honan-Shansi-Shantung Border Region Government in a unified way, should be printed by the Director’s Administrative Bureau according to the form, then given to the respective county governments which should be held responsible for the filling out and issuance of the title deeds.

  13. Supplement to Article 13:

  Regulations for the Organization of the People’s Court on different levels should be made by the people’s assembly of Hopei-Honan-Shansi-Shantung Border Region.

  14. Supplements to Article 16:

  (a) “Areas where land has already been evenly distributed” as mentioned in this article denotes areas where the land distribution has been done in accord with the principle and spirit of the Basic Program on Chinese Agrarian Law. If illegal holding of extra portions or inequality in fertileness and infertileness still exists, so that the poor peasants have not enough means to make a living, redistribution according to petitions of adjustment should be made.

  (b) If, in areas where land has already been evenly distributed before the promulgation of the Basic Program on the Chinese Agrarian Law, the landlords and rich farmers cannot make a living though they have labor power, land may be given to them, in the way of making up, according to law.

  15. These measures may be revised at any time when necessary.

  16. These measures begin to take effect on the date when they are promulgated.

  Appendix C

  How to Analyze Class Status in the Countryside From: The Agrarian Reform Law of the People’s Republic of China

  1. Landlord

  A person shall be classified as a landlord who owns land, but does not engage in labor or only engages in supplementary labor, and who depends on exploitation for his means of livelihood. Exploitation by the landlords is chiefly in the form of land rent, plus money-lending, hiring of labor, or the simultaneous carrying on of industrial or commercial enterprises. But the major form of exploitation of the peasants by the landlords is the exacting of land rent from the peasants. The management of landholdings owned by public bodies and the collection of rent from school land also belong to the category of exploitation in the form of land rent.

  Some bankrupt landlords who, despite their bankruptcy and their ability to work, do not engage in labor, and whose living conditions are better than those of an ordinary middle peasant, shall continue to be classified as landlords.

  Warlords, bureaucrats, local despots and villainous gentry are the political representatives of the landlord class, and are exceptionally cruel and wicked elements among the landlords. (Among the rich peasants there are also small local despots and villainous gentry.)

  Any person, who collects rent and manages the landed property for landlords and depends on the exploitation of peasants by the landlords as his main means of livelihood, and whose living conditions are better than those of an ordinary middle peasant, shall be treated in the same manner as a landlord.

  Supplementary Decisions Adopted by the Government Administration Council

  (A) Any person who rents large areas of land from landlords, who does not himself engage in labor, but sub-lets the land to others for rent, and whose living conditions are better than those of an ordinary middle peasant, shall be classified as a sub-landlord. Sub-landlords shall be treated in the same manner as landlords. A sub-landlord who cultivates part of his land should be treated in the same manner as a rich peasant.

  (B) Revolutionary army men, dependents of martyrs, workers, staff members, professional workers, peddlers and others who rent out small portions of land because they are engaged in other occupations or because they are unable to work, shall not be classified as landlords. Their class status shall be determined according to their occupations or they shall be referred to as small land lessors, whose landholdings shall be dealt with in accordance with Article 5 of the Agrarian Reform Law.

  (C) The class status of any person who receives income from some other occupation and who at the same time owns and rents out a large area of agricultural land the size of which exceeds the average landholdings of each landlord family in the locality, shall be determined according to the major source of his income. He may be referred to either as a person of other class status and concurrently as a landlord, or as a landlord having other class status. The land and property used directly for his other occupations shall not be confiscated.

  (D) The average landholding of a landlord family in the various localities shall be computed by taking one or several counties as a unit, and shall be determined only after the people’s government of a special administrative district* or of a county has submitted it to a provincial people’s government and obtained the latter’s approval.

  2. Rich Peasant

  A rich peasant generally owns land. But there are also rich peasants who own only part of the land they cultivate and rent the rest from others. There are others who own no land but rent all their land from others. Generally speaking, they own better means of production and some floating capital and take part in labor themselves, but are as a rule dependent on exploitation for a part or the major part of their means of livelihood. Exploitation by rich peasants is chiefly in the form of exploiting the wage labor (hiring long-term laborers). In addition, they may also let out part of their land for rent, or lend out money, or carry on industrial or commercial enterprises. Most of the rich peasants also manage the landholdings owned by public bodies. Some own a considerable amount of fertile land, engage in labor themselves and do not hire any laborers. But they exploit the peasants in the form of land rent and loan interest. In such cases, they should be treated in the same manner as rich peasants. Exploitation by the rich peasants is of a constant character, and in many cases the income from such exploitation constitutes their main means of livelihood.

  Supplementary Decisions Adopted by the Government Administration Council

  (A) If the area of land rented out by a rich peasant exceeds in size the land cultivated jointly by himself and by hired laborers, he shall be referred to as a rich peasant of a semi-landlord type. The land and other properties of rich peasants, or of rich peasants of a semi-landlord type shall be dealt with in accordance with Article 6 of the Agrarian Reform Law.

  (B) Where a landlord family has some members who are engaged in major agricultural labor all the year round, or at the same time hires laborers to cultivate part of its land, the said family shall be classified as a land
lord family and not as a rich peasant family if the major part of its land is rented out and the rented-out land is three times or more the size of the land cultivated jointly by the family and by hired laborers (for instance, 150 mou of land rented out and less than 50 mou cultivated by the family and by hired laborers); or in a case where the family possesses large iandholdings and the rented-out land is twice or more the size of the land cultivated jointly by the family and hired laborers. (For instance, 200 mou rented out and less than 100 mou cultivated by the family or hired laborers.)

  The land and other properties of such a family shall be dealt with in accordance with Article 2 of the Agrarian Reform Law. However, the part of the land cultivated by the family’s own labor shall, after appropriate readjustment, be mainly retained by the family. The status of those members who take part in labor, if their position in the family is not a dominant, but a subordinate one, should be appropriately determined as laboring people in order to distinguish them in status from other family members who do not participate in labor.

  3. Middle Peasant

  Many middle peasants own land. Some possess only a portion of the land which they cultivate while the remainder is rented. Some of them are landless, and rent all their land from others. The middle peasants own a certain number of farm implements. The middle peasants depend wholly or mainly upon their own labor for their living. In general they do not exploit others. Many of them are themselves exploited on a small scale by others in the form of land rent and loan interest. But generally they do not sell their labor power. Some of the middle peasants (the well-to-do middle peasants) practice a small degree of exploitation, but such exploitation is not of a constant character and the main income therefrom does not constitute their main means of livelihood. These people shall be classified as middle peasants.

  4. Poor Peasant

  Some poor peasants own inadequate farm implements and a part of the land they cultivate. Some have no land at all and own only some inadequate farm implements. In general they have to rent land for cultivation, and are exploited by others in the form of land rent, loan interest, or hired labor in a limited degree. These people shall be classified as poor peasants.

  In general, the middle peasants need not sell their labor power, but the poor peasants have to sell their labor power for limited periods. This is the basic criterion for differentiating middle peasants from poor peasants.

  5. Worker

  Workers (including farm laborers) generally have neither land nor farm implements. Some of them have a very small amount of land and very few implements. They depend wholly or mainly upon the sale of their labor power for their living. These people shall be classified as workers.

  Index

  A major function of this index is to help the reader keep track of the multitude of names mentioned in this book. However, no attempt has been made to index the names of all the Long Bow villagers or other local personnel mentioned only incidentally. Also, no attempt has been made to make an exhaustive index of all those names which do appear. The page listings for villagers, work team members, local officials, etc., refer only to certain events or discussions in which they played an outstanding role or which are of particular human interest.

  agrarian reform. See Draft Agrarian Law, land reform

  Ai-lien. See Ch’eng Ai-lien

  “air-raid shelters,” 162, 188

  American Magazine (Michael Lindsay), 86n

  Anti-Japanese Military and Political Training School. See Resistance University

  anti-Japanese struggle. See Japan “Anti-Traitor Movement,” 107 ff

  excesses of, 125–126, 196, 345

  victims repayed, 582–585

  Aptheker, Herbert, quoted, 118

  bank credit, 218–219

  Barr, General David, 483

  base period, in class analysis, 286–287

  modification of, 408

  “basic villages,” 12, 250, 489, 508

  Beauvoir, Simone de (The Long March), 60n

  Belden, Jack, quoted, 396

  “black lands,” 34

  Border Region, defined, 5n

  Border Region currency, equivalent in U.S. dollars, 143

  Border Region Press, 323

  Boxer Rebellion, 60

  Buck, J. Loessing (Chinese Farm Economy), 35n

  Buddhism. See North Temple Society

  cadre, defined, 12n. See Communist Party, work team

  capital, formation, difficulty of before Revolution, 35–36

  in peasant production, 407

  capitalists, policy toward, 404, 537n

  Carry-On Society, 62–66, 121 ff. See also Catholic Church

  cart, of Wang Lai-hsun, bought by Chang-hsun, 124

  purchase of, examined by village, 571–577

  Catholic Church, strength of, in China, xxii

  history of, in Long Bow, 58–68

  as collaborator with Japanese, 80–81

  expropriation of, in Long Bow, 143–146

  split between members of, and rest of community, 67, 126, 194–196

  catty, defined, 30n

  Chang Chiang-tzu (founder of Long Bow militia), 111, 127, 229

  Chang Chih-i (Earthbound China), 31n

  Chang (Little) Ch’uer (work team member), assaulted, 256

  domestic problems of, 386

  Chang Ch’un-hsi, seduced by landlord’s daughter-in-law, 163

  joins Communist Party, 188–189

  becomes acting village head, 235

  before gate, 332 ff

  victimized by “extreme democracy,” 520

  elected village head, 545

  attacked by dissident peasant, 579

  Chang Hsin-fa, joins Communist Party, 172–174

  courts Pu-ch’ao, 189

  becomes secretary of Party branch, 235

  speaks to delegates at gate, 322 ff

  passes gate, 355

  elected to People’s Congress, 544

  leads investigation of Yu Pu-ho, 553 ff

  Chang-hsun, buys cart of Wang Lai-hsun, 124

  purchase of cart examined by village, 571–577

  Chang Huan-ch’ao, and carpentry cooperative, 214–215

  class analysis of, 281–282, 439–440, 475

  Chang K’uan-hsin, before first gate, 359

  before second gate, 452

  Chang Kuei-ts’ai, becomes acting vice-chairman of village, 110–111

  as target of Kuomintang agents, 126

  rejected as soldier, 127

  life story of, 132

  joins Communist Party, 168–170

  becomes district cadre, 235

  quits as cadre, 518–519

  Chang Lao-pao (Old Pao), life story of, 293–296

  accepted into Poor Peasants’ League, 311

  elected as delegate to gate, 330–331

  Chang San-ch’ing, becomes village secretary, 110–111

  reports on cadres’ meeting in Li Village Gulch, 131

  Chang, Secretary (assistant to head of Lucheng County Communist Party), 383, 497

  Chang Tien-ming, joins resistance against Japanese, 89–90

  arrested by Japanese, 94

  role in surrender of Japanese, 99

  role in trial of Kuo Te-yu, 110 ff

  joins Communist Party, 171–172

  becomes district cadre, 235

  Changchih, New Year celebration in (1948), 10 ff

  Changchuang, ixn, 21

  Changchun, 482, 611

  Chao Ch’uan-e, motives for joining Communist Party, 181

  before first gate, 358

  class status of, 439

  before second gate, 451

  Ch’en Secretary (head of Lucheng County Communist Party), 372

  and first County Conference, 376–377, 400–402, 411–414

  and second County Conference, 489–494, 504–505

  Ch’en Keng (Liberation Army general), 7

  Ch’en Yi (Liberation Army general), 6, 7, 482

  Ch’e
ng Ai-lien, husband of, beaten by women, 158

  joins Communist Party, 177–178

  terms of remarriage, 178

  loses land rights, 588–589

  Cheng-k’uan. See Kuo Cheng-k’uan

  Ch’eng-yu. See Wang Ch’eng-yu

  Chengting, 426

  Chi-mei. See Shen Chi-mei

  Ch’i Yun, assigned to work team as interpreter, 14

  sets off for Long Bow, 251

  life story of, 265–266

  effectiveness as cadre, 291, 465, 522–523

  leaves Long Bow, 601

  Chia Village, 380

  Chiang Kai-shek, orders diversion of Yellow River, 6

  and China’s Destiny, 54

  and traitorous generals, 70n

  “Trojan horse” strategy of, after Japanese surrender, 79, 96 ff, 104

  military losses of (1946-1948), 481–482

  disintegration of political control of, 484–485

  final military rout of, 611–613

  clique of (with Kung, Soong, and Ch’en), 11, 537. See also Civil War, Kuomintang

  Ch’ien Lung, Emperor, quoted, 58

  Chin-chu, tortures Ch’ung-lai’s wife, 141

  marital problems of, 228

  coerced into army, 237

  attitude of villagers toward, 307

  Chin-ming. See Han Chin-ming and Hou Chin-ming

  China Democratic National Construction Association, 484

  China’s Destiny (Chiang Kai-shek), 54

  “China’s Sorrow,” 4

  Chinese Farm Economy (J. Loessing Buck), 35n

  Ching-ho. See Sheng Ching-ho

  Ch’ing T’ien-hsing, as puppet officer under Japanese, 77

  execution of, 117

  “chive-cutting thought,” 197, 221

  chop, described, 447n

  Ch’ou-har. See Kuo Ch’ou-har

  Chou Mei-sheng, appointed chief of staff under Japanese, 74

  on trial before village, 119–120