NOTES

Introduction

1. Mao was not the first to propose the idea that peasants could be true revolutionaries. The idea of peasant revolution has been traced back to 1907 with the work of Liu Shipei, a Chinese anarchist then writing in Tokyo. His views, however, were far from mainstream. Day, The Peasant in Postsocialist China, 18–19.

2. For views on the land problem during the 1930s, see Tawney, Agrarian China. For an early discussion of the land problem by a Western scholar, see Buck, Land Utilization in China.

3. Quoted in Harrison, The Long March to Power, 72.

4. Equally important to Mao at this early date was Peng Pai, active in the Guangdong countryside. Peng, like Mao, was a May Fourth intellectual drawn to both Marxism and the countryside. For more on Peng Pai, see Hofheinz, The Broken Wave; Marks, Rural Revolution in South China; and Galbiati, Peng Pai and the Hai-Lu-Feng Soviet. For Mao’s early work in Hunan, see McDonald, The Urban Origins of Rural Revolution.

5. Harrison, The Long March to Power, 73. The Nationalists eventually turned away from land redistribution, instead promoting agricultural development as the key to solving the country’s rural problems. Not until the Nationalists fled to Taiwan did they seriously address land reform. For more on Nationalist Party views on land reform, see Pepper, Civil War in China, 230–231. For a look at land reform in Taiwan, see Strauss, “Regimes and Repertoires of State Building.”

6. Pantsov with Levine, Mao, 165–166.

7. See, for example, Hunt, Politics, Culture, and Class in the French Revolution, 176–177.

8. Mao Zedong, “Report on an Investigation of the Peasant Movement in Hunan,” 23–24.

9. Ibid., 27.

10. Ibid., 37.

11. Ibid., 38.

12. For more on Chinese villages and their relationships to the outside world, see P. Huang, The Peasant Economy and Social Change in North China, 23–32.

13. For an example of the difficulty of finding class enemies, see P. Huang, “Rural Class Struggle in the Chinese Revolution,” 114–116. Recently, Frank Dikötter has implied that landlords were a Communist fiction. In his study of the early PRC, Dikötter, describing the countryside before the party’s arrival, wrote, “Nowhere in this profusion of social diversity could anybody called a “landlord” (dizhu) be found.” Due to Dikötter’s choice of phrasing, many readers believe that he is arguing that there were no landlords in China. His citation, however, refers to my UCLA dissertation, where I discuss how the term landlord (dizhu) was an alien word in the countryside. See Dikötter, The Tragedy of Liberation, 70. There were, to be sure, many landlords in China. See Esherick, “Number Games.”

14. Quoted in Gao Wangling and Liu Yang, “On a Slippery Roof,” 20–21.

15. Xiaojia Hou has further argued that the unruly peasants Mao had observed were in fact attacking quasi-government officials over market concerns, not feudal landlords. See Hou, Negotiating Socialism in Rural China, 37.

16. In 1927, party central released a flurry of directives in an attempt to halt rural violence. In 1928, Mao himself doubted the use of terror in the revolution. Perry, “Reclaiming the Chinese Revolution,” 1157.

17. Ding Shu, Yangmou, 8.

18. In later years, the Nationalists, unwilling and unable to return to rural reform, squandered the advances the two parties had made in the countryside during their brief alliance. Nationalist land policies, primarily concerned with tapping rural revenue streams, typically increased landlord power at the local level. Reformers working with the Nationalists attempted to implement “rural reconstruction” and offer a true alternative to Mao’s path to modernity through class struggle. For a recent look at rural reconstruction, see Merkel-Hess, The Rural Modern. Many intellectuals affiliated with the Nationalist Party, meanwhile, put their faith in the historical process of modernization, to be carried out not through revolution but a strong centralized state led by enlightened elites. See Huaiyin Li, Reinventing Modern China, 46–47.

19. Stalin hoped that rural radicalism might push left-wing Nationalists closer to the Communists. In actuality, however, violence in the peasant movement helped finally sever ties between the Communists and their Nationalist Party sympathizers.

20. For an analysis of land laws during this era, see Hsiao, The Land Revolution in China, 1930–1934, chaps. 1 and 2.

21. Pantsov with Levine, Mao, 212.

22. The early success of the party’s rural turn owed much to the efforts of rural elites. But some local party members attempted to sabotage or subvert the effort to redistribute land. Averill, “Party, Society, and Local Elite in the Jiangxi Communist Movement,” 294.

23. The December 1928 Jinggang Mountains Land Law.

24. The Xingguo Land Law of April 1929 still forbade the purchase or sale of land. In a concession to the demands of party central, however, the law did reduce the number of targets for expropriation. For more on land laws during the Jiangxi Soviet, see Ling Buji and Shu Long, Zhonghua suweiai gongheguo shi, 274–278.

25. Quoted in Pantsov with Levine, Mao, 223. This third land law, the February Seventh Land Law of 1930, was inspired by Stalin’s criticism of the Chinese Communists for their supposed leniency toward rich peasants. The law did, however, repeal the ban on buying and selling land.

26. Hou, Negotiating Socialism in Rural China, 41.

27. For an overview of Western scholarship on this era, see P. Huang, “The Jiangxi Period.”

28. Mao Zedong, Report from Xunwu, 157.

29. Pantsov with Levine, Mao, 247.

30. Bo Yibo, Ruogan zhongda juece yu shijian de huigu, 114.

31. The Land Law of the Chinese Soviet Republic (Zhonghua suweiai gongheguo tudi fa), passed on December 1, 1931, at the First All-China Soviet Congress. These policies resulted in a clear decline in production, a problem compounded by impractical experiments in collectivization. But with the party desperate for funds due to the ongoing military encirclement campaigns launched by Chiang Kai-shek and the Nationalists, the hope that wider confiscation would stream wealth to the party and its poor supporters trumped concerns over agricultural productivity. See Hsiao, The Land Revolution in China, chap. 3.

32. Quoted in Hsiao, The Land Revolution in China, 105. The two articles, “How to Analyze the Classes” and “Decisions Regarding Some Issues Arising from Agrarian Reform,” were reissued during later land reform campaigns. The reprinted articles were moderated in line with later land policies.

33. Ding Shu, Yangmou, 9.

34. Liu Mianyu, Tudi geming zhanzheng shi, 191. For a recent look at the end of the Jiangxi Soviet, see Huang Daoxuan, Zhangli yu xianjie: zhongyang suqu de geming, 1933–1934. According to Huang, the fall of the Jiangxi Soviet cannot be solely explained by “leftist” deviations.

35. As announced in late 1935, after much of the base area had undergone agrarian reform and eliminated extreme cases of exploitation and inequality, these new policies were designed to protect prosperous farmers and ensure that dispossessed landlords were given a share of land. Further policy changes followed in 1936 with the open call for the formation of a new United Front, including more protection for landlords and rich peasants. Selden’s account of the land revolution in Shaan-Gan-Ning notes the intensity of the 1935 campaign in comparison to the far more moderate 1936 campaign. This increasing moderation was tied to Mao Zedong’s call for a new United Front. See Selden, The Yenan Way in Revolutionary China, chap. 3. Keating notes that even during the United Front, the Communists found ways to confiscate property from “spies,” “traitors,” or “smugglers” who ran afoul of the party. Keating, Two Revolutions, 69.

36. In February the Communists, still looking for a renewed United Front, publicly announced the end of the confiscation of landlord property. Japanese advances lent an urgency to negotiations between the two sides over summer 1937, leading to a formal announcement of cooperation on September 22.

37. Selden, The Yenan Way, 230.

38. Keating, Two Revolutions, 75–77.

39. The movement did not proceed quickly. According to Pepper, it was not until after an October 1943 directive that most base areas focused on double reduction. See Pepper, Civil War in China, 251–252.

40. Selden, The Yenan Way, 232. Pepper made a similar point in her analysis of the May Fourth Directive: “The difference between rent reduction in practice, and land reform in its 1946 formulations, was more of degree than of kind.” Pepper, Civil War in China, 249.

41. Hou, Negotiating Socialism in Rural China, 45.

42. The political education of base area peasants was furthered through a campaign running concurrent and in concert with double reduction, an organized attack on local power holders to “settle accounts.” Pepper also notes that attacks on such men were an effective means of mass mobilization, as well as a means to transfer wealth under the context of the United Front. Pepper, Civil War in China, 256–258. The party also educated peasants to be on guard against landlord “tricks” to subvert double reduction. Keating, Two Revolutions, 167.

43. Du Runsheng, Zhongguo de tudigaige, 155–156.

44. Hou, Negotiating Socialism in Rural China, 48.

45. This is not to say, however, that 1945 represented a watershed in regard to the party’s land policies. The radical experiments of the Jiangxi Soviet era, as well as the more relaxed and inclusive approach active during the war against Japan, provided the party with templates for future land policies. See Westad, Decisive Encounters, 129.

46. During wartime double reduction, confrontations with landlords were to be nonviolent and private. Landlords who agreed to double reduction could avoid all confrontations. If a landlord opposed the reforms, cadres would organize a “speaking-reason” meeting between the landlord and their tenants and hired hands. Only the most obstinate of landlords were to be subjected to public struggle, where peasants would confront the landlord by listing the means and extent of exploitation, as well as explaining how the landlord had defied double reduction. The Communists described this policy as “struggling one to warn one hundred.” See Du Runsheng, Zhongguo de tudigaige, 139.

47. Gao Wangling and Liu Yang, “On a Slippery Roof,” 22.

48. Hou, Negotiating Socialism in Rural China, 13. Hou argues that the party was not primarily concerned with production until 1949.

49. Westad, Decisive Encounters, 116.

50. Officially known as the Directive of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party on the Land Question (Zhonggong zhongyang guanyu tudi wenti de zhishi). For an example of a call to distribute land to the tiller during this era, see “Huazhong fenju guanyu guanche zhongyang ‘wu si’ guanyu tudi zhengce xin jueding de zhishi,” Zhongguo tudi gaige shiliao xuanbian (May 28, 1946), 254 (hereafter ZTGSX). This collection was published in 1988 by the National Defense University of the People’s Liberation Army of China. The massive collection of documents, marked for internal distribution, has no introductory essay, so it is impossible to say what motivated its publication. The editors of the collection, however, showed much forethought, including land reform documents penned by both Bo Yibo and Xi Zhongxun.

51. Thus, the May Fourth Directive did not explicitly advocate the confiscation of landlord property. Teiwes, “The Origins of Rectification,” 34.

52. Quoted in Friedman, Pickowicz, and Selden, Chinese Village, Socialist State, 80.

53. Pepper, Civil War in China, 277.

54. Ma Jia, Jiangshan cun shi ri, 2.

55. Employing a “mobilization-transformation” narrative structure, these works provided a model for future literature claiming to represent rural realities. Cai Xiang, Revolution and Its Narratives, 49. For more on the production of these land reform novels, see DeMare, “The Romance and Tragedy of Rural Revolution.”

56. Huaiyin Li, Reinventing Modern China, 8–9.

57. Shao Yanxiang, Bie le Mao Zedong, 157.

58. Westad, Decisive Encounters, 129.

59. “Dongbei ju guanyu xingshi yu renwu de jueyi,” ZTGSX (July 7, 1946), 268.

60. Westad, Decisive Encounters, 126–127.

61. For an example of local cadres using the market, not confiscation, to redistribute land, see Thaxton, Catastrophe and Contention in Rural China, 70–71.

62. Du Runsheng, Zhongguo de tudigaige, 179.

63. “Kaizhan fanshen da jiancha, shixing ‘tian ping bu qi yundong,’” ZTGSX (September 9, 1946), 310–311.

64. “Jin-Ji-Lu-Yu ju wei guanche ‘wu si’ zhishi chedi shexian geng zhe you qi tian de zhishi,” ZTGSX (September 9, 1946), 311–312.

65. “Dongbei ju guanyu jiejue tudigaige zhong ‘ban sheng bu shou’ de wenti de zhishi,” ZTGSX (November 21, 1946), 326–327.

66. “Zhengqu chungeng qian wancheng tudigaige,” ZTGSX (December 14, 1946), 328–329.

67. Ding Shu, Yangmou, 11.

68. At this time due to the dangers of war, the party leadership had been divided into two; Mao remained in Shaan-Gan-Ning and did not join Liu Shaoqi in Pingshan until May 1948. Mao would later criticize this conference as “ultra-left” despite agreeing at the time with its policies. Teiwes, “The Origins of Rectification,” 34.

69. Friedman, Pickowicz, and Selden, Chinese Village, Socialist State, 93.

70. Teiwes, “The Origins of Rectification,” 39.

71. “Zhongguo tudi fa dagang,” ZTGSX (September 13, 1947), 422.

72. “Xi Zhongxun guanyu tugai wenti de xin,” ZTGSX (January 4, 1948), 447–448.

73. Yang Kuisong, Zhonghua renmin gongheguo jianguo shi yanjiu 1, 96.

74. Mao Zedong, Report from Xunwu, 213

75. Mao Zedong, “Report on an Investigation of the Peasant Movement in Hunan,” 28.

76. Hinton, Fanshen, 226.

77. Ibid., 362. According to Hinton, some of the seventeen cases were clearly rape. “In regards to the others the situation was not clear, but there appeared to be at least some measure of coercion involved.”

78. Du Guang, 1957 niande geming yu fan geming, 256.

79. Gao Wangling and Liu Yang, “On a Slippery Roof,” 26.

80. Liu Tong, Dongbei jiefang zhanzheng jishi, 419.

81. Ding Shu, Yangmou, 11.

82. Quoted in Luo Pinghan, Tudi gaige yundong shi, 273.

83. Shao Yanxiang, Bie le Mao Zedong, 158

84. The tiger stool was an ancient torture device that placed great pressure on the victim’s joints. “Spreading phoenix wings” referred to stringing a victim up by the fingers and toes. Du Guang, 1957 niande geming yu fan geming, 256.

85. Mao was one of the last to come to this realization and was still promoting poor peasant interests above all as late as December 1947. Friedman, Pickowicz, and Selden, Chinese Village, Socialist State, 100.

86. Xi Zhongzun, “Guanyu tugai zhong yixie wenti gei Mao zhuxi de baogao,” ZTGSX (January 19, 1948), 450–451.

87. Westad, Decisive Encounters, 118.

88. Teiwes, “The Origins of Rectification,” 47. Teiwes argues that Mao Zedong and Liu Shaoqi were both responsible for the escalation in violence in land reform.

89. “Zhonggong zhongyang guanyu nanfang ge youji qu zanshi bu shixing tugai de zhishi,” ZTGSX (July 17, 1948), 526.

90. Friedman, Pickowicz, and Selden, Chinese Village, Socialist State, 101. In Wugong, villagers endured three rounds of land reform, although the first round was conducted by local cadres and not an outside work team. The party attached writers to work teams visiting model land reform villages, tightening the connections between narratives and agrarian revolution.

91. Pepper, Civil War in China, 309.

92. Du Runsheng, Zhongguo de tudigaige, 260.

93. Westad, Decisive Encounters, 107–108.

94. “Zhonggong zhongyang guanyu tudi fa dagang zhong ruogan wenti zhengxun ge zhongyang ju de yijian,” ZTGSX (March 30, 1950), 625.

95. Mao Zedong, “Mao Zedong guanyu zanshi bu dong funong de wenti gei Deng Zihui de fushi,” ZTGSX (May 1, 1950), 630.

96. “Zhonghua renmin gonggeguo tudi gaige fa,” ZTGSX (June 28, 1950), 642–647.

97. Bo Yibo, Ruogan zhongda juece, 118–123. According to Bo Yibo’s recollections, there was considerable debate in the party over the rich peasant line. The South Central Bureau, citing a higher concentration of land ownership, called for the confiscation of any lands rented out by rich peasants. In a nod to such areas, the final draft of the land law allowed such confiscation, but only in rare cases and with high-level approval.

98. Quoted in Women canguan tudigaige yihou, 1–2.

99. “Zhonggong zhongyang huadongju guanyu tudigaige ruogan wenti de tongbao,” ZTGSX (April, 1951), 745.

100. Quoted in Zhongnan tudi gaige de weida shengli, 11.

101. Ibid., 193, 12.

102. Xu Bin, Zhang Ailing zhuan, 311; Yang Lianfen, Xiandai xiaoshuo daolun, 270.

103. William Skinner happened to observe the unwelcome arrival of the grain requisition letter in one township. Skinner, Rural China on the Eve of Revolution, 163.

104. In Guizhou, for example, the party withdrew from twenty-eight counties in March 1950. Resisters were not suppressed until the following year. Many were drafted into the PLA and sent to the Korean front. Brown, “From Resisting Communists to Resisting America,” 105–107.

105. This was the case as late as 1953, when the party brought land reform to Yunnan in Southwest China. Diamant, Revolutionizing the Family, 142.

106. For the role of secret societies in resisting the Communists, see Wang, Violence and Order on the Chengdu Plain, 149–153.

107. Neibu cankao (October 14, 1950), 102 (hereafter NBCK).

108. Deng Xiaoping, “Deng Xiaoping tongzhi xiang zhonggong zhongyang xinanju wenyuan hui di san ci huiyi de baogao,” Chongqing Archives, East Sichuan Collection, 26-32-11, in Zhongguo xi’nan dang’an: tudigaige ziliao, 1949–1953, 181 (hereafter ZXD). According to the editors of Zhongguo xi’nan dang’an, no meaningful changes were made to the archival documents included in the collection. This included maintaining local dialects and the original archival numbering system. Mistakes in the original documents (including personal and place names) were, however, corrected.

109. This campaign still used the basic organizational methods of land reform, including locating and developing activists. For targets who had sufficiently offended their community, the result of their struggle might be execution. But even in extreme cases, a death sentence had to be approved through the proper legal channels. See Luo Pinghan, Tudi gaige yundong shi, 323.

110. These meetings were based on multiple administrative villages (xiang). Du Runsheng, Zhongguo de tudigaige, 391. Internal party documents show that some peasants were often confused with regard to the proper administrative unit for land reform. For example, see NBCK (November 6, 1950), 16.

111. “E’ba Chen Xiangji zuizhuang,” Jiangjin County Archive, 1-1-42 (1951), 31–36 (hereafter JCA).

112. Ibid., 20–23.

113. “E’ba Liu Guoqing douzhenghui kougong,” JCA, 1-1-42 (1951), 25–31.

114. These campaigns started in some areas as early as winter 1949 and ended in some regions as late as August 1951. Paying deposits was most common in Sichuan. For an example of a land reform work team that found peasants already well mobilized by these campaigns, see “Xi’nan tudi gaige gongzuotuan di er tuan di san fentuan gongzuo baogao,” Chongqing City Archives, D-65-11, ZXD (1951?), 164.

115. For two accounts of land reform toward the end of the campaign, see Potter and Potter, China’s Peasants, chap. 2, and Ruf, Cadres and Kin, chap. 3.

116. Luo Pinghan, Tudi gaige yundong shi, 368.

117. “Record of Important All-China Events of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference in 1951” [1951 nian quanguo zhengxie dashi ji]. Originally published in 1952; accessed June 16, 2018. http://www.cppcc.gov.cn/zxww/2017/12/25/ARTI1514167285027512.shtml.

118. “Xi’nan tudi gaige gongzuotuan di er tuan di san fentuan gongzuo baogao,” 164.

Chapter 1

1. Ding Ling, Taiyang zhao zai sangganhe shang, 86.

2. Zong Cheng, Ding Ling, 106. For more on Ding Ling’s time carrying out land reform, see Yang Guixin, Ding Ling pingzhuan, 249–258.

3. Ding Ling, “Chongyin qianyan,” 3.

4. Xiong Baishi, “Women cong ‘Sangganhe shang’ yu ‘Baofeng zhouyu’ li xuexi shenme,” Zhongguo qingnian no. 80 (1951), 20 (hereafter ZQ).

5. This included an unintended lesson in the malleability of the Maoist class structures. In Sanggan River, the village villain is Qian Wengui. As Philip Huang noted, Qian “turns out to have been a middle peasant” who becomes the main target of the land reform due to “his unprincipled wheelings and dealings.” P. Huang, The Peasant Economy and Social Change in North China, 82.

6. Ding Ling, Taiyang zhao zai sangganhe shang, 63–65.

7. Ibid., 100.

8. Zhang Ailing, Chi di zhi lian, 7.

9. Xu Bin, Zhang Ailing zhuan, 301–315.

10. Zhang Ailing, Chi di zhi lian, 1.

11. While Zhang Ailing insisted on the authenticity of her land reform narratives, she never mentioned her time on a work team. See Yang Lianfen, Xiandai xiaoshuo daolun, 270. Zhang’s participation in land reform remains a contested issue. See “Zhang Ailing canjia guo tugai ma?” [Did Zhang Ailing participate in land reform?], http://www.guancha.cn/DongFangZao-Bao/2013_03_25_134072.shtml, accessed July 11, 2018. It seems reasonable that Zhang, like so many other intellectuals, would spend time in the countryside. If she did not, however, her novels still demonstrate a keen understanding of life in the countryside as the Communists came to power.

12. Zhang Ailing, Chi di zhi lian, 13.

13. Ibid., 15.

14. Ibid., 17.

15. Hinton, Fanshen, 12.

16. Fan Wenlan was one of the first Chinese historians to write from a Marxist perspective. A trusted friend of Mao Zedong, Fan helped popularize Mao’s unique views on the course of Chinese history. See Li, Reinventing Modern China, chap. 3.

17. Cohen, “Just Fifteen Books on China?” 64.

18. Hinton, Fanshen, 517.

19. Ibid., 266–267.

20. Ibid., 389.

21. Ibid., 366.

22. Ibid., 17–18.

23. “Taihang qu dangwei guanyu Taihang tudigaige baodao (jielu),” ZTGSX (June 15, 1947): 371.

24. The Communists created and controlled the social group they termed “intellectuals” throughout the revolutionary era. As Eddy U has argued, under CCP rule,“intellectuals” were not a natural and stable social category but instead constructed through “discursive practice (statements, assertions, utterances and their internal rules and relations) and nondiscursive practice (power relations, economic and social processes, institutional arrangements, and behavior patterns). U, “The Making of Zhishifenzi,” 119. The role that intellectuals played in land reform, discussed throughout this book, is also explored in DeMare, “Casting (Off) Their Stinking Airs.”

25. Quoted in Pepper, Civil War in China, 78.

26. During the 1935 Wayaobu Conference, party leaders had decided to solve ongoing personnel shortages through the recruitment of “petit bourgeois intellectuals,” setting the stage for a rapid expansion of party members. In the following years, petit bourgeois intellectuals traveled to Yan’an en masse, especially after the start of full-scale war with Japan in 1937. As dictated by party policy, they were to be welcomed into a coalition government as part of the Second United Front and even allowed considerable intellectual and creative freedom. Holm, Art and Ideology in Revolutionary China, 44.

27. For an overview of this process, see U, “Reification of the Chinese Intellectual.”

28. Mao Zedong, Selected Works of Mao Zedong, Vol. 1, 297.

29. Liu Shaoqi advised all Communists to engage in self-cultivation (xiuyang), which meant they must “modestly learn the Marxist-Leninist stand (lichang), viewpoint, (guandian), and method (fangfa), learn from the noble proletarian quality of the founders of Marxism-Leninism and apply all this in our practice.” Liu Shaoqi, Selected Works of Liu Shaoqi, 118.

30. Ibid., 121.

31. McDougall, Mao Zedong’s “Talks at the Yan’an Conference on Literature and Art,” 61.

32. Pepper, Civil War in China, 221.

33. Crook and Crook, Ten Mile Inn, 17.

34. Ibid., 30–35, 191–194, 269.

35. Ibid., 121.

36. “Taihang qu dangwei guanyu Taihang tudigaige baodao (jielu),” 371.

37. “Dongbei ju guanyu xingshi yu renwu de jueyi,” ZTGSX (July 7, 1946), 270.

38. “Dongbei ju guanyu shenru qunzhong tudi douzheng de zhishi,” ZTGSX (August 29, 1946), 307.

39. “Dongbei ju guanyu xingshi yu renwu de jueyi,” 270.

40. “Dongbei ju guanyu shenru qunzhong tudi douzheng de zhishi,” 307.

41. Westad, Decisive Encounters, 127.

42. Deng Zihui, “Cong Eqian xiang douzheng lai yanjiu muqian tudigaige yundong,” ZTGSX (August 1946), 293–295. Li Jianzhen, a poor peasant from Guangdong, had been introduced to rural revolution by no less of an authority than Peng Pai.

43. This meeting was for the Jin-Cha-Lu-Xiang (Shanxi-Cha’har-Shandong-Hunan) base area. Luo Pinghan, Tudi gaige yundong shi, 173.

44. “Zhonggong zhongyang zhengqiu guanyu jieji fenxi de yijian,” ZTGSX (November 29, 1947), 438.

45. This meeting was held in the Jin-Cha-Ji base area in October 1947. Nie was the region’s leading military commander. Friedman, Pickowicz, and Selden, Chinese Village, Socialist State, 93.

46. Bo Yibo, “Bo Yibo guanyu fucha qian buchong zhishi de baogao,” ZTGSX (February 5, 1948), 460.

47. Hinton, Fanshen, 272.

48. Xi Zhongxun, “Guanyu xin qu gongzuo wenti de baogao (jielu),” ZTGSX (July 15, 1948), 525.

49. “Zhonggong Hebei shengwei guanyu jiancha xin qu tugai gongzuo wenti ji jinhou yijian,” ZTGSX (November 11, 1949), 609–610.

50. Pepper, Civil War in China, 417.

51. Chen Tiqiang, “Cong tugai zhong xue maliezhuyi,” 1.

52. “Guanyu nongmin xiehui zuzhi tongze de ji dian jieshi,” Renmin ribao (July 16, 1950), 1 (hereafter RR).

53. Du Runsheng, “Zhongnan quanqu qudong jinchun tudigaige de jingguo yu zhuyao jingyan ji jinhou jihua,” ZTGSX (May 9, 1951), 739–740.

54. Zhongnan tudi gaige de weida shengli, 12, 99.

55. Teiwes, “Establishment and Consolidation of the New Regime,” 84.

56. Zenyang zuo yi ge qingniantuan yuan, 15. This was the journal of the New Democratic Youth League (Zhongguo xin minzhuzhuyi qingtian tuan), the party’s inclusive mass student organization. In contrast to the previous Communist Youth League (Gongchanzhuyi qingnian tuan), which was now criticized as suffering from “closed-doorism,” the new Youth League was open to activists of all backgrounds. Feng Wenbin, “Zhongguo xin minzhu zhuyi tuan shi shenme,” 19–22.

57. “De’wei xiang di yi buzhou gongzuo” [Summary of initial work in De’wei Xiang], JCA, 95-01-03 (1951), 6.

58. “Guizhou sheng huangping xian siping zhen wuliqiao cun jieji chubu diaocha,” ZXD, Chongqing City Archives, D-65-1-1 (August 24, 1950), 83.

59. Gao, “War Culture, Nationalism, and Political Campaigns, 1950–1953,” 196.

60. Quoted in Bai Xi, Kaiguo da tugai, 355.

61. Yang Rengeng, “Gen nongmin xuexi yihou,” 101.

62. “Chongqing jiaoqu dizhu ge zhong yinmou pohuai huodong qingkuang,” ZXD, Chongqing City Archives, D-716-21 (1951?), 136.

63. “Sidong changshou xian nongxie gongzuo de chengji ji muqian cunzai de ji ge yanzhong wenti,” ZXD, Chongqing City Archives, D-422-2 (1951?), 137.

64. Zhao Zengyi, “Cong Hechuan tudi gaige zhong suo jian dao de ji ge wenti,” ZXD, Chongqing Archives, East Sichuan Collection, 46-54 10 (June 25, 1951), 151.

65. “Zhongnan tudigaige weiyuanhui guanyu zhongnan ge sheng tugai shidian gongzuo qingkuang de baogao,” ZTGSX (November 26, 1950), 691–692.

66. Feng Youlan, “Canjia tugai de shouhui,” 69.

67. Chen Zhenzhou, “Tugai jiaoyu le wo,” 87.

68. Feng Kexi, “Canguan Chongqing shi jiaoqu tudi gaige suo jian,” 68.

69. Yuan Fang, “Women de tugai gongzuo zu,” 24.

70. Dang Qiaoxin, “Zai tudi gaige zhong duanlian ziji,” 76.

71. Chen Tiqiang, “Cong tugai zhong xue maliezhuyi,” 2.

72. Wang Xuan, “Wo zai tugai zhong de xuexi,” 93.

73. Dang Qiaoxin, “Zai tudi gaige zhong duanlian ziji,” 75.

74. Feng Youlan, “Canjia tugai de shouhui,” 71.

75. Chen Tiqiang, “Cong tugai zhong xue maliezhuyi,” 1.

76. Meng Gang, “Wo canjia le tudi gaige,” ZQ No. 33 (1950), 31.

77. It is impossible to verify if Zheng Huiren was an actual student or a construct of the China Youth editors. This study treats him as a real student, as his concerns accurately represent the dilemmas facing students from “suspect” families. Indeed, loyalty to the state versus loyalty to the family is a problem reflecting a long philosophical debate that has its roots in the Spring and Autumn era during the first half of the Eastern Zhou period (771–476 BCE).

78. “Zai tudi gaige zhong Zheng Huiren yinggai zenyang duidai ta de dizhu jiating?” ZQ No. 77 (1951), 24.

79. Ibid.

80. “Zheng Huiren yinggai zhenyang duidai ta de dizhu jiating,” ZQ No. 81 (1951), 27.

81. Lou Xianzhou, “Wo renshi le dizhu jieji the zui’e,” ZQ No. 78 (1951), 72.

82. Ren Qing, “Dizhu jiating gei le wo xie shenme?” ZQ No. 80 (1951), 30.

83. Liu Zaixing, “Wo zai tudi gaige yundong zhong ganqing qile bianhua,” ZQ No. 79 (1951), 22.

84. “Zhandao renmin de lichang shanglai,” ZQ No. 92 (1952), 8.

85. Hou, Negotiating Socialism in Rural China, 12–13.

86. Shao Yanxiang, Bie le Mao Zedong, 160.

87. Ibid., 159.

Chapter 2

1. Ding Ling, Taiyang zhao zai sangganhe shang, 78–79.

2. Ibid., 167–169.

3. Ibid., 192.

4. Zhang Ailing, Chi di zhi lian, 17.

5. Ibid., 26.

6. Ibid., 29.

7. Ibid., 30

8. Hinton, Fanshen, 114.

9. Ibid., 134.

10. Ibid., 270.

11. Ibid., 324.

12. Ibid., 378, 386.

13. Hinton, Shenfan, 26. The question of what Hinton got right and got wrong in his account of Long Bow has long fascinated his readers. Forthcoming scholarship from Deng Hongqin and Ma Weiqiang of Shanxi University, investigating land reform in villages near Long Bow, suggests that much in Hinton’s account seems atypical for the Changzhi countryside.

14. Li, Village China Under Socialism and Reform, 15.

15. Seybolt, “The War Within a War,” 201–202. As Seybolt argues, while many Chinese collaborated with Japanese invaders, they did so for personal reasons and thus tended to be highly unreliable.

16. Dongbei ju guanyu tudi wenti ji dui ge jieceng de zhengce de yijian,” ZTGSX (August 30, 1946), 309.

17. “Jinchaji ju guanyu chuanda yu jinxing zhongyang wusi zhishi de jieding (jielu),” ZTGSX (August 1946), 298.

18. Such was the case in Longkou, Shandong, where a campaign against traitors led to almost two thousand mass meetings. Lary, China’s Civil War, 71.

19. Friedman, Pickowicz, and Selden, Chinese Village, Socialist State, 84–85.

20. Li Xuefeng, “Guanyu xin qu douzheng celüe ji zuzhi xingshi de baogao,” ZTGSX (February 13, 1948), 471.

21. Xi Zhongxun, “Guanyu xin qu gongzuo wenti de baogao (jielu),” ZTGSX (July 15, 1948), 524.

22. Friedman, Pickowicz, and Selden, Chinese Village, Socialist State, 97.

23. “Huazhong fenju guanyu muqian tudigaige yundong zhong ji ge wenti de zhishi,” ZTGSX (August 5, 1946), 286.

24. “Dongbei ju guanyu shenru qunzhong tudi douzheng de zhishi,” 397.

25. Pan Guangdan and Quan Weitian, “Shei shuo ‘jiangnan wu fengjian,’” 13.

26. While encouraging peasants to discuss their hardships under party leadership was a new practice, the term suku was not. See Hanyu da cidian, 6552.

27. PLA soldiers, however, would not later personally accuse those who had wronged them in the past. Wu, “Speaking Bitterness,” 14.

28. “Zhankai fanshen da jiancha shixing tianping buqi yundong,” ZTGSX (September 9, 1946), 310.

29. Westad, Decisive Encounters, 130.

30. “Huazhong fenju guanyu jiejue tudi wenti de buchong zhishi,” ZTGSX (June 16, 1946), 263.

31. These party branches were hindrances that had to be dissolved before land reform could proceed. “Huazhong fenju guanyu muqian tudigaige yundong zhong ji ge wenti de zhishi,” 286.

32. Here work team members were advised to use Marxist class analysis to investigate the class background of potential activists. Deng Zihui, “Cong Eqian xiang douzheng lai yanjiu muqian tudigaige yundong,” 296.

33. Xi Zhongxun, “Xi Zhongxun guanyu tugai wenti de xin,” 447–448.

34. “Huazhong fenju guanyu tuanjie zhongnong de zhishi,” ZTGSX (September 1, 1946), 304.

35. Xi Zhongxun, “Guanyu xin qu gongzuo wenti de baogao (jielu),” 523–524.

36. For example, in Wugong, Zhang Yukun promised a share of hidden property for those who joined picket lines in front of the houses of class enemies. Friedman, Pickowicz, and Selden, Chinese Village, Socialist State, 95.

37. Shao Yanxiang, Bie le Mao Zedong, 158.

38. Deng Zihui, “Cong Eqian xiang douzheng lai yanjiu muqian tudigaige yundong,” 294.

39. Thaxton, Catastrophe and Contention in Rural China, 74.

40. Li, Village China under Socialism and Reform, 15.

41. Diamant, Revolutionizing the Family, 142. These predatory gangs would be a problem in 1953, long after the end of land reform.

42. Or as Aminda Smith has argued in her study of reeducation centers, “Anti-state resistance from members of the oppressed masses was essential to early-PRC rhetoric because it validated claims about the devastating effects of the old society and the transformative power of socialist ‘truth.’” Smith, “Thought Reform and the Unreformable,” 950–951.

43. Westad, Decisive Encounters, 130–131.

44. Friedman, Pickowicz, and Selden, Chinese Village, Socialist State, 82–83.

45. “Huazhong fenju guanyu muqian tudigaige yundong zhong ji ge wenti de zhishi,” 283–284.

46. Deng Zihui, “Cong Eqian xiang douzheng lai yanjiu muqian tudigaige yundong,” 294–295.

47. “Dongbei ju guanyu jiejue tudigaige zhong ‘ban sheng bu shou’ de wenti de zhishi,” ZTGSX (November 21, 1946), 326–327.

48. “Huadong ju guanyu Jiangnan xin qu nongcun gongzuo de zhishi (jielu),” ZTGSX (April 1, 1949), 588–589.

49. Crook and Crook, Ten Mile Inn, 16–21.

50. Madsen, Morality and Power in a Chinese Village, 85–88.

51. Kipnis, Producing Guanxi, 161.

52. Zhao Zengyi, “Cong Hechuan tudi gaige zhong suo jian dao de ji ge wenti,” ZXD, Chongqing Archives, East Sichuan Collection, 46-54 10 (June 25, 1951), 150.

53. Zhou Libo, Baofeng zhouyu, chap. 4.

54. “Cong Li Aijie de yisheng kan Hunan nongmin de fanshen,” RR (March 30, 1951), 2.

55. “Qu dangwei xuanchuanbu guanyu zhengliang qingfei fanba jianzu tuiya yundong zhong xuanjiao gongzuo de zhishi,” ZXD, Chongqing Archives, East Sichuan Collection, 1-42-15 (September 25, 1950), 20.

56. Thaxton, Catastrophe and Contention in Rural China, 73.

57. “JinJiLuYu tudigaige de jiben zongjie,” ZTGSX (July 1947), 392.

58. Aganost, National Past-Times, 29.

59. Wu, “Speaking Bitterness,” 9.

60. Zhou Libo, Baofeng zhouyu, 37.

61. Ibid., 162–163.

62. “JinJiLuYu tudigaige de jiben zongjie,” 392. As Denise Y. Ho has explained, land reform exhibits proved highly influential, providing a model that for exhibits of class enemy property during the Cultural Revolution. Ho, Curating the Revolution, 187–189.

63. Fang Huirong, “‘Wu shijian jing’ yu shenghuo shijie zhong de ‘zhenshi.””

64. By offering a direct comparison between the bitter nature of the past and the superiority of the new regime, work team members also promoted the ideal of the party and the state as the embodiment of the people. Guo Yuhua and Sun Liping, “Suku.”

65. Gao Wangling and Liu Yang, “On a Slippery Roof,” 21.

66. This phenomenon is investigated in Righteous Revolutionaries: Morality, Mobilization, and Violence in the Early Years of the People’s Republic of China, Jeffery Javed’s forthcoming study on collective violence, including land reform in the East China Bureau.

67. Crook and Crook, Ten Mile Inn, 30–35.

68. Quoted in Luo Pinghan, Tudi gaige yundong shi, 110.

69. Ren Qingbo, “Li Xiuyang suku,” 1–5.

70. Han Jinfeng. “Wei qinniang baochou,” 5–10.

71. Westad, Decisive Encounters, 131.

72. Hershatter, The Gender of Memory, 78–79.

73. Wu, “Speaking Bitterness,” 12–13.

74. “JinJiLuYu tudigaige de jiben zongjie,” 396.

75. “Beiyue qu tudi gaige yundong zhong fadong funü de jingyan,” 50–53.

76. “Erqu funü gongzuo zongjie,” JCA, 95-01-03 (1951), 128.

77. Yan, Private Life Under Socialism, 47–49.

78. “Guizhou sheng huangping xian siping zhen wuliqiao cun jieji chubu diaocha,” ZXD, Chongqing City Archives, D-65-1-1 (August 24, 1950), 83.

79. “Hebei sheng wei guanyu dizhu he funong fangong wenti xiang huabei ju baogao,” ZTGSX (November 1950), 697.

80. “De’wei xiang di yi buzhou gongzuo,” JCA, 95-01-03 (1951), 3.

81. The account of team leader Li’s training session is penned vertically in clear calligraphy and is most likely a product of an intellectual member of the work team. “He’ai xiang di san ci nongmin daibiao huiyi zongjie huibao,” JCA, 95-01-03 (1951), 1–7.

82. “Zhonggong Hebei shengwei guanyu jiancha xin qu tugai gongzuo wenti ji jinhou yijian,” 608.

83. “Beijing shi renmin zhengfu guanyu Beijing jiaoqu tudigaige de zongjie baogao,” ZTGSX (November 8, 1950), 686.

84. Quoted in Dikötter, The Tragedy of Liberation, 76.

85. “Zhongnan tudigaige weiyuanhui guanyu zhongnan ge sheng tugai shidian gongzuo qingkuang de baogao,” 691.

86. “Nanchuan xian wei jiu yue fen guanyu jizhong ganbu xuexi tugai he zongjie tugai gongzuo zonghe baogao,” JCA, East Sichuan District Party Committee, 6-124 (October 20, 1951), 27.

87. “Qu dangwei guanyu Fuling Zengfu xiang tudi gaige zhong ganbu qiangpo mingling de tongbao,” JCA, East Sichuan District Party Committee, 1-6-144 (November 22, 1951), 43.

88. Quoted in Wu, “Speaking Bitterness,” 5.

89. “Jiangjin xian erqu Shuanglong xiang (tugai qi) di yi ci nongmindai huiyi jueyi gangyao,” JCA, 95-01-03 (1951), 73.

90. Strauss, “Morality, Coercion, and State Building by Campaign in the Early PRC,” 902.

91. Yan Hongyan, “Yan Hongyan weiyuan zai xinan jun zheng weiyuanhui di er ci quanti weiyuan huiyi shang de fayan,” ZXD, Chongqing City Archives, D-65-10 (1950?), 11.

92. “Qu dangwei dui tudi gaige, fucha zhong ying zhuyi de ji ge wenti fu Youyang diwei,” ZXD, Chongqing Archives, East Sichuan Collection, 46-54-10 (June 23, 1951), 147. The party still insisted on blaming landlords even as this investigation directly noted that local party committees were deliberately violating policies.

93. Wu, “Speaking Bitterness,” 7.

94. Cheung, “Guangdong’s Advantage,” 95.

95. Chan, Madsen, and Unger, Chen Village, 20–28.

96. Potter and Potter, China’s Peasants, 40–41.

97. Ibid., 47.

98. Siu, Agents and Victims in South China, 137.

99. Wu, “Speaking Bitterness,” 13.

100. “De’wei xiang di yi buzhou gongzuo,” 1.

101. “Jijing xiang jianzu tuiya qingfei fanba gongzuo de chubu zongjie baogao,” JCA, County Party Committee Work Team, Fengjie Third District, 035-23 (January 1, 1951), 27.

102. “Yange jingyi qilai! Jieshou Fenghuang xiang heping tugai jiaoxun,” JCA, East Sichuan District Party Committee, 1-32-541 (December 30, 1951), 62–65.

103. Shao Yanxiang, Bie le Mao Zedong, 165–166.

104. Diamant, Revolutionizing the Family, 143.

105. “Guanyu Guizhou sheng shaoshu minzu diqu tudigaige de ji ge wenti,” ZTGSX (November 30, 1951), 787–789.

106. “Guizhou sheng huangping xian siping zhen wuliqiao cun jieji chubu diaocha,” ZXD, Chongqing City Archives, D-65-1-1 (August 24, 1950), 82.

107. Diamant, Revolutionizing the Family, 142–143.

108. “Zai minzu zaju diqu jinxing tudigaige de ji ge jingyan: Linxia diwei tudigaige shiban gongzuo zongjie,” ZTGSX (November 1951), 794.

109. “Yongchuan xian 1951 nian douzheng dizhu huiyi jilu,” Yongchuan County Archive, Yongchuan County Shijiao Village People’s Government 115-1-26 (1953), 150 (hereafter YCA).

Chapter 3

1. Ding Ling, Taiyang zhao zai sangganhe shang, 185.

2. Zhang Ailing, Chi di zhi lian, 29.

3. Ibid., 27.

4. Ibid., 54.

5. Hinton, Fanshen, 27.

6. A point made long ago by Philip Huang. See P. Huang, The Peasant Economy and Social Change in North China, 82–83.

7. Hinton, Fanshen, 39–41.

8. Ibid., 47.

9. Ibid., 277–286.

10. Ibid., 305.

11. Ibid., 315

12. For examples of the traditional use of jieji, see Hanyu da cidian, 9655.

13. Lippert, Hanyu zhong de makesizhuyi shuyu de qiyuan yu zuoyong, 170–174.

14. “Taihang qu dangwei guanyu nongcun jiejie huafen biaozhun yu juti huafen guiding (cao’an),” ZTGSX (October 12, 1946), 321.

15. Zhang Xiaojun, “Land Reform in Yang Village,” 3.

16. Workers (gongren) labored in mines or on railways. Merchants (shangren), large and small, sold their wares. Vagrants (youmin) lived off begging, theft, gambling, banditry, or prostitution. Monks, nuns, and fortune tellers were classed as superstition professionals (mixin zhiyezhe), while opera singers, acrobats, and musicians were old artists (jiu yi ren). Doctors, teachers, and reporters were independent professionals (ziyou zhiye zhe). “Taihang qu dangwei guanyu nongcun jiejie huafen biaozhun yu juti huafen guiding (cao’an),” 324–325.

17. Zhang Xiaojun, “Land Reform in Yang Village,” 17.

18. For classical examples see Hanyu da cidian, 5919.

19. Chen Yi, “Ruhe zhengque zhixing zhongyang wusi zhishi (jielu),” ZTGSX (May 1946), 260. Elsewhere, poor peasants were considered “halfproletarian” due to their farmlands. See “Huazhong fenju guanyu muqian tudigaige yundong zhong ji ge wenti de zhishi,” ZTGSX (August 5, 1946), 283.

20. Mao Zedong, “Report on an Investigation of the Peasant Movement in Hunan,” 32.

21. Ibid.

22. Li Zipu, “Guanyu zhongnong wenti,” ZTGSX (June 18, 1946), 264–365.

23. Deng Zihui, “Cong Eqian xiang douzheng lai yanjiu muqian tudigaige yundong,” 293.

24. “Taihang qu dangwei guanyu nongcun jiejie huafen biaozhun yu juti huafen guiding (cao’an),” 323.

25. Li, Village China Under Socialism and Reform, 16.

26. This label was in use throughout the land reform era. For an early use, see He Zhiping, “Lun zhongnong,” ZTGSX (May 26, 1946), 252.

27. “Zhonggong zhongyang yijiusiqi shieryue jueyi,” ZTGSX (December 1947): 443.

28. Lippert, Hanyu zhong de makesizhuyi shuyu de qiyuan yu zuoyong, 205–213.

29. “Huazhong fenju guanyu muqian tudigaige yundong zhong ji ge wenti de zhishi,” 283–284.

30. “Taihang qu dangwei guanyu nongcun jiejie huafen biaozhun yu juti huafen guiding (cao’an),” 322.

31. Mao Zedong, “Report on an Investigation of the Peasant Movement in Hunan,” 31.

32. Deng Zihui, “Cong Eqian xiang douzheng lai yanjiu muqian tudigaige yundong,” 293–294.

33. According to this directive, middle peasants were not to surpass one-third of the local party branch; only true activist rich peasants and landlords might be allowed to join. “Huazhong fenju guanyu muqian tudigaige yundong zhong ji ge wenti de zhishi,” 286.

34. The term, first used as early as the Eastern Zhou dynasty (771–476 BCE), meant the owner of land by the Tang dynasty (618–907 CE). The Hanyu da cidian defines dizhu in its classical use as an owner of land (tiandi de zhuren); in its current class meaning, the dictionary points to the writings of Mao Zedong and Zhu De as usage examples. See Hanyu da cidian, 1171. The use of dizhu to refer to a landholding social class originated in late nineteenth-century Japan and quickly spread to China, where it beat out the competing term, tianzhu. See Lippert, Hanyu zhong de makesizhuyi shuyu de qiyuan yu zuoyong, 213–216.

35. Unlike other landlords, only the agent would be given the landlord label; if the rest of his family labored, they were eligible for peasant statuses. “Taihang qu dangwei guanyu nongcun jiejie huafen biaozhun yu juti huafen guiding (cao’an),” 321–322.

36. Huang, The Peasant Economy and Social Change in North China, 71.

37. Ruan Zhangjing, Chi ye he, 10.

38. Zhou Libo, Baofeng zhouyu, 23.

39. The term eba, referring to a person who abuses authority to oppress others, was firmly rooted in the Chinese tradition. For examples, see Hanyu da cidian, 4305.

40. Xi Zhongzun, “Guanyu tugai zhong yixie wenti gei Mao zhuxi de baogao,” 451.

41. “Zhuanfa Hechuan xian tudi gaige gongzuo zhong de di er ci baogao bing ti ge xiang wenti gong gedi zhuyi can gai,” JCA, East Sichuan Party Committee, 1-88 (July 10, 1951), 1.

42. Friedman, Pickowicz, and Selden, Chinese Village, Socialist State, 83–84.

43. Gao Wangling and Liu Yang, “On a Slippery Roof,” 23–24.

44. “Huazhong fenju guanyu guanche zhongyang wusi guanyu tudi zhengce xin jueding de zhishi,” 254.

45. Li Zipu, “Guanyu zhongnong wenti,” 266.

46. He Zhiping, “Lun zhongnong,” 252.

47. Gao Wangling and Liu Yang, “On a Slippery Roof,” 25.

48. Li Zipu, “Guanyu zhongnong wenti,” 266.

49. “Huazhong fenju guanyu guanche zhongyang wusi guanyu tudi zhengce xin jueding de zhishi,” 254–255.

50. “Huazhong fenju guanyu muqian tudigaige yundong zhong ji ge wenti de zhishi,” 283.

51. “Zhonggong zhongyang guanyu dui funong tudi buyi tuiping gei huazhong fenju de zhishi,” ZTGSX (August 8, 1947), 287–288.

52. “Beifengzhengcun ruhe shixian le gengzhe you qi tian,” ZTGSX (August 24, 1946), 290.

53. “Huai’an xian gongqu Chenxuxiang jinxing tudi gaige de jingyan,” ZTGSX (July 1946), 273–274.

54. Cao used the example of Chenyang village to show that leveling landholdings did not mean widespread confiscation of peasant land. In Chenyang, of 136 households, 54 lost land, but only 2 households lost land they farmed themselves. Cao Huoqiu, “Zai tudigaige zhong laping wenti yu dui zhongfunong zhengce de yanjiu,” ZTGSX (August 4, 1946), 276–278.

55. Deng Zihui, “Cong Eqian xiang douzheng lai yanjiu muqian tudigaige yundong,” 294.

56. “Jinchaji ju guanyu chuanda yu jinxing zhongyang wusi zhishi de jieding (jielu),” 298.

57. “Huazhong fenju guanyu jiejue tudi wenti de buchong zhishi,” 263.

58. “Jinchaji ju guanyu chuanda yu jinxing zhongyang wusi zhishi de jieding (jielu),” 298.

59. The Jin-Cha-Ji Bureau also demanded that commercial enterprises belonging to landlords and rich peasants remain untouched. Ibid., 300.

60. Rich peasants were to generally keep their land, and activists were forbidden from settling accounts with middle peasants. “Huadong ju guanyu tudigaige de zhishi,” 301–304.

61. “Dongbei ju guanyu shenru qunzhong tudi douzheng de zhishi,” 308–309. These lenient directives, however, also indicated that excess landlord land would eventually be confiscated in line with the policies of party central.

62. Deng Zihui, “Cong Eqian xiang douzheng lai yanjiu muqian tudigaige yundong,” 294.

63. The directive made concessions to rich peasants: they ideally would keep all of the land farmed by their households as well as their agricultural tools. Their rented land, however, was to be confiscated and distributed to the poor alongside landlord land. But this leniency was balanced by an ominous caveat: if cadres faced difficulty satisfying the land needs of the poor, the lands personally farmed by rich peasants could be confiscated for redistribution. “Huazhong fenju guanyu tuanjie zhongnong de zhishi,” 305–307.

64. “JinJiLuYuju wei guanche wusi zhishi chedi shixian geng zhe you qi tian de zhishi,” ZTGSX (September 9, 1946), 310–312.

65. “Taihang qu dangwei guanyu Taihang tudigaige baodao (jielu),” 364–367.

66. “Huazhong fenju dui tudigaige fucha de zhishi,” ZTGSX (June 20, 1947), 374.

67. According to Deng, the goal of land reform was to develop the agricultural economy, and he insisted that China would not follow the American model of capitalist managerial farming or the Soviet model of collective farming. Nor, contradicting earlier pronouncements of the some party leaders, would the future be in the “Chinese style rich peasant economy.” Deng pushed for an agricultural system based on middle peasants and urged Liu Shaoqi to draft a law that would confiscate all landlord and rich peasant land, equalizing the holdings of all villagers excepting middle peasants and “new rich peasants.” Deng disregarded criticism that this would depress the desire of rich peasants to produce as irrelevant: the middle peasant economy was, after all, China’s future. Deng Zihui, “Gei Liu Shaoqi tongzhi zhuan zhongyang de yi feng xin,” ZTGSX (July 3, 1947), 379–380.

68. Peasant associations, however, were allowed to take pity on family members of these class enemies. “Huadong ju guanyu Shandong tugai fucha de xin zhishi,” ZTGSX (July 7, 1947), 382.

69. Friedman, Pickowicz, and Selden, Chinese Village, Socialist State, 93.

70. Pepper, Civil War in China, 288–289.

71. The gathered cadres immediately took up the issue of middle peasant land, and while some noted potential problems with infringing on these farmers, most praised equalization as a simple and fast method for dividing the land, with the added benefit of keeping cadres and activists from taking an unfair share of confiscated property. According to the working committee overseeing land policies, equalization would adversely affect only 20 percent of the rural population, meaning the party could expect support from 80 percent of the countryside. “Zhonggong zhongyang gongwei guanyu chedi pingfen tudi de yuanzi xiang zhongyang de qingshi,” ZTGSX (September 5, 1947), 421.

72. “Zhongguo tudi fa dagang,” 422–423.

73. “Zhonggong zhongyang zhengqiu guanyu jieji fenxi de yijian,” 438.

74. While this document denounced basing class status on past generations, it did allow activists to check back as many as six years before the establishment of the new government in their village. “Zhonggong zhongyang gongwei guanyu jiuzheng huafen jiejie shang zuoqing cuowu de zhishi,” ZTGSX (December 1947), 445. For Kang Sheng as the figure behind “checking three generations” and “shape-shifting landlords,” see Luo Pinghan, Tudi gaige yundong shi, 123.

75. Friedman, Pickowicz, and Selden, Chinese Village, Socialist State, 96.

76. “Xi Zhongxun guanyu tugai wenti de xin,” 447–448.

77. Xi Zhongzun, “Guanyu tugai zhong yixie wenti gei Mao zhuxi de baogao,” 450–451.

78. Xi Zhongxun, “Xi Zhongxun guanyu fen san lei diqu shixing tugai de baogao,” ZTGSX (February 8, 1948), 463.

79. Bo Yibo, for example, argued against equalization for taking from middle peasants and not providing enough for rich peasants and landlords. Li Xuefeng, meanwhile, advocated not even mentioning the idea of total equalization until land reform was well underway. But Li continued to press for total equalization, with land reform run through activists in poor peasant leagues. Mao, reading Li’s report, agreed that the formation of peasant associations would have to wait until poor peasant leagues had gained authority within the village. Bo Yibo, “Bo Yibo guanyu fucha qian buchong zhishi de baogao,” 460. Li Xuefeng, “Guanyu xin qu dozheng celüe ji zuzhi xingshi de baogao,” 471–472.

80. “Dongbei ju guanyu pingfen tudi the jiben zongjie (jielu),” ZTGSX (March 28, 1948), 489–493.

81. The lands of the well-to-do middle peasants would now be left intact, as were the commercial enterprises of village landlords and rich peasants. “Huabei ju guanyu xin qu tudigaige jueding,” ZTGSX (October 10, 1949), 601–602.

82. “Huadong ju guanyu Jiangnan xin qu nongcun gongzuo de zhishi (jielu),” 588–589.

83. Zhang Xiaojun, “Land Reform in Yang Village,” 17.

84. For an example, see “Chongqing shi jiaoqu tugai canguantuan di san zu gongzuo baogao,” ZXD, Chongqing City Archives, D-65-19 (1951?), 188.

85. Quoted in Zhang Xiaojun, “Land Reform in Yang Village,” 21.

86. Ibid., 18.

87. “Fuling diwei guanyu Fuling, Fengdu tudi gaige zhong ji ge wenti de tongbao,” ZXD, Chongqing Archives, East Sichuan Collection, 1-29-8 (July 4, 1951), 142.

88. Shao Yanxiang, Bie le Mao Zedong, 171.

89. “Chongqing shi jiaoqu tugai canguantuan di san zu gongzuo baogao,” 188.

90. The party blamed his decision on a lack of education. “Fuling diwei guanyu Fuling, Fengdu tudi gaige zhong ji ge wenti de tongbao,” 141.

91. Vogel, Canton Under Communism, 99.

92. “Zhongnan tudigaige weiyuanhui guanyu zhongnan ge sheng tugai shidian gongzuo qingkuang de baogao,” 691.

93. “Xi’nan tudi gaige gongzuotuan di er tuan chuandong fentuan chongbu cailiao,” ZXD, Chongqing City Archives, D-65-11 (1950?), 169.

94. “Yong’an xiang hua jieji zongjie baogao,” ZXD, Guizhou Provincial Archives, 6-1-20 (February 27, 1952), 105.

95. “Jiangjin Degan xiang shixing chatian pingchan zhong faxian ji ge wenti,” ZXD, East Sichuan Collection, 1-29-8 (July 5, 1951), 143–144.

96. “Chongqing shi jiaoqu tugai canguantuan di san zu gongzuo baogao,”188.

97. “Hua jieji zhong de ji ge wenti,” ZXD, Guizhou Provincial Archive, 6-1-20 (May 10, 1952), 162.

98. Strauss, “Morality, Coercion, and State Building by Campaign in the Early PRC,” 902.

99. Yang Xiaojun, “Land Reform in Yang Village,” 21.

100. “Zhuanfa Hechuan xian tudi gaige gongzuo zhong de di er ci baogao bing ti ge xiang wenti gong gedi zhuyi can gai,” 3.

101. “Yong’an xiang hua jieji zongjie baogao,” 104.

102. “Guizhou sheng huangping xian siping zhen wuliqiao cun jieji chubu diaocha,” ZXD, Chongqing City Archives, D-65-1-1 (August 24, 1950), 81.

103. In Qindong district landlords even dismantled their houses. Huaiyin Li, Village China Under Socialism and Reform, 17.

104. “Chuanxi nongcun de fengjian tongzhi,” ZXD, Chongqing City Archives, D-65-1-1 (November 21, 1951), 103.

105. “Fuling diwei guanyu Fuling, Fengdu tudi gaige zhong ji ge wenti de tongbao,” 140–141.

106. “Chuanxi qu Dayi xian Tangchang xiang nongmin kongsu Liu Yuancong xuexing zuixing,” ZXD, Chongqing City Archives, D-65-1-1 (April 5, 1951), 96–98.

107. Belden, China Shakes the World, 156.

108. “Chuanxi qu Shifang xian da eba feishou Xuan Jingxiu heng qiang hao ba shi yu xian de xuexing zuixing,” ZXD, Chongqing City Archives, D-65-1-1 (December 22, 1950), 99.

109. “Chuanxi nongcun de fengjian tongzhi,” 102.

110. “E’ba Wang Zixe zuizhuang,” JCA, 1-1-42 (1951).

111. Tan Song, “Tugai minbing lunjian dizhu nǚer zhisi,” http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_4c666f350102uvwg.html, accessed June 20, 2018.

112. Feng Youlan, “Canjia tugai de shouhui,” 75.

113. Friedman, Pickowicz, and Selden, Chinese Village, Socialist State, 106.

114. Ibid., 105.

115. “Hua jieji zhong de ji ge wenti,” 163.

116. “Xi’nan tudi gaige gongzuotuan di er tuan Chuandong fentuan buchong cailiao,” ZXD, Chongqing City Archives, D-65-11, (1950?), 176–177.

Chapter 4

1. Ding Ling, Taiyang zhao zai sangganhe shang, 48.

2. Ibid., 193.

3. Ibid., 195.

4. Ibid., 251.

5. Ibid., 256.

6. Ibid., 257.

7. Ibid., 264–270.

8. Zhang Ailing, Chi di zhi lian, 58–59.

9. Ibid., 72.

10. Ibid., 84–90. In one village in Heilongjiang, a rich peasant’s wife was dragged through the dirt by a draft animal after her husband fled. Gao Wangling and Liu Yang, “On a Slippery Roof,” 25.

11. Hinton, Fanshen, 107–124.

12. Ibid., 135.

13. Ibid., 146.

14. Ibid., 202–207.

15. Hanyu da cidian, 7418. Like many other neologisms promoted by the Communists, douzheng had a basis in classical Chinese texts, but its first modern appearance was in Japanese literature. Lippert, Hanyu zhong de makesizhuyi shuyu de qiyuan yu zuoyong, 174–178.

16. This is in contrast to the limited use of struggle during double reduction campaigns. In spring 1943, for example, cadres struggling recalcitrant landlords humiliated a small number of targets but used an emphasis on legality to limit beatings. There were instances of peasant violence, which were condemned in the aftermath of the campaign. Keating, Two Revolutions, 170–172.

17. As Vivienne Shue put it, in order to change peasant mentalities, the redistribution of land had to be preceded by the “thorough discrediting of the landlords, the exploitation, and the old social system supporting them.” Shue, Peasant China in Transition, 82.

18. Geertz explained the connections between rituals and personal transformation in this way: “In a ritual, the world as lived and the world as imagined, fused under the agency of a single set of symbolic forms, turn out to be the same world, producing that idiosyncratic transformation in one’s sense of reality.” Geertz, “Religion as a Cultural System,” 112.

19. For a discussion of stages in Hubei land reform, see DeMare, Mao’s Cultural Army, 198–199.

20. “Xi’nan tudi gaige gongzuotuan di er tuan chuandong fentuan chongbu cailiao,” 169.

21. Seybolt, “The War Within a War,” 220.

22. Liu Tong, Dongbei jiefang zhanzheng jishi, 375.

23. According to Belden, this violent event took place at a “settlement meeting.” This account was told to Belden by two witnesses. The struggle target was a landlord who had been accused of being a Nationalist Party member, collaborating with the Japanese, and killing many villagers. Belden, China Shakes the World, 31–33.

24. Hou, Negotiating Socialism in Rural China, 11.

25. “Taihang qu dangwei guanyu Taihang tudigaige baodao (jielu),” 371.

26. Crook and Crook, Revolution in a Chinese Village, 118–120.

27. Du Runsheng, Zhongguo de tudigaige, 179.

28. Friedman, Pickowicz, and Selden, Chinese Village, Socialist State, 86–87.

29. “Huazhong fenju guanyu jiejue tudi wenti de buchong zhishi,” 263.

30. Chen Yi, “Ruhe zhengque zhixing zhongyang wusi zhishi (jielu),” 259.

31. “Huazhong fenju guanyu muqian tudigaige yundong zhong ji ge wenti de zhishi,” 282–283.

32. Deng Zihui, “Cong Eqian xiang douzheng lai yanjiu muqian tudigaige yundong,” 293.

33. This was particularly true in those areas that had already attacked local elites during previous campaigns. For more on the use of the “three generation” rule to determine class status, see Luo Pinghan, Tudi gaige yundong shi, 123.

34. Crook and Crook, Revolution in a Chinese Village, 130.

35. “Huazhong fenju guanyu guanche zhongyang wusi guanyu tudi zhengce xin jueding de zhishi,” 254.

36. Belden implies that this occurred during summer 1946. Belden, China Shakes the World, 85.

37. Zhou Libo, Baofeng zhouyu, 166–168.

38. Thaxton, Catastrophe and Contention in Rural China, 78–79.

39. “Dongbei ju guanyu jiejue tudigaige zhong ‘ban sheng bu shou’ de wenti de zhishi,” 326–327.

40. Crook and Crook, Revolution in a Chinese Village, 148.

41. Luo Pinghan, Tudi gaige yundong shi, 91.

42. “Taihang qu dangwei guanyu Taihang tudigaige baodao (jielu),” 369–371.

43. “Yi nian lai Dongbei tudigaige lüeshu,” ZTGSX (July, 1947), 377.

44. “Zhongyang gongwei guanyu tudigaige zhong wajiao wenti de ji dian yijian,” ZTGSX (July 15, 1947), 385–386.

45. Luo Pinghan, Tudi gaige yundong shi, 123.

46. Friedman, Pickowicz, and Selden, Chinese Village, Socialist State, 98.

47. Westad, Decisive Encounters, 133.

48. Li Changyuan, Peng Zhen yu tugai, 216.

49. In Da Fo, for example, all who had embraced the homecoming regiment, regardless of class background, were put to death by the village militia. Thaxton, Catastrophe and Contention in Rural China, 79.

50. Quoted in Luo Pinghan, Tudi gaige yundong shi, 92

51. “JinSui fenju guanyu chedi pingfen tudi de zhishi,” ZTGSX (September 15, 1947), 424–425.

52. “Zhonggong zhongyang gongwei guanyu jiuzheng huafen jiejie shang zuoqing cuowu de zhishi,” 445.

53. “Zhonggong zhongyang yijiusiqi shieryue jueyi,” 444–445.

54. Luo Pinhan, Tudi gaige yundong shi, 199.

55. Liu Tong, Dongbei jiefang zhanzheng jishi, 420.

56. Ibid., 424.

57. “Dongbei ju guanyu tudi wenti ji dui ge jieceng de zhengce de yijian,” 309–310.

58. Liu Tong, Dongbei jiefang zhanzheng jishi, 419.

59. Yang Kuisong, Zhonghua renmin gongheguo jianguo shi yanjiu 1, 99.

60. Xi Zhongxun, “Xi Zhongxun guanyu tugai wenti de xin,” 447–448.

61. Xi Zhongzun, “Guanyu tugai zhong yixie wenti gei Mao zhuxi de baogao,” 450–451.

62. Liu Tong, Dongbei jiefang zhanzheng jishi, 431.

63. Xi Zhongxun, “Guanyu xin qu gongzuo wenti de baogao (jielu),” 524–526.

64. Bo Yibo, Ruogan zhongda juece yu shijian de huigu, 116.

65. Hou, Negotiating Socialism in Rural China, 70.

66. Friedman, Pickowicz, and Selden, Chinese Village, Socialist State, 102–103.

67. “Zhonggong zhongyang guanyu jiuzheng tudigaige zhong zuoqing cuowu bu yao xianzhi nongmin biyao de douzheng gei Dongbei ju de zhishi,” ZTGSX (May 10, 1948), 499–500.

68. Others simply blamed violence on the masses. “Zhonggong Hebei shengwei guanyu jiancha xin qu tugai gongzuo wenti ji jinhou yijian,” 610.

69. “Huabei ju guanyu Shunyi xian ji ge tugai shixian cun zhong suo fan zuoqing wenti gei Hebei shengwei de zhishi,” ZTGSX (October 1949), 606.

70. “Huabei ju guanyu xin qu tudigaige jueding,” 601–602.

71. “Beijing shi renmin zhengfu guanyu Beijing jiaoqu tudigaige de zongjie baogao,” 681.

72. “Zhonggong Hebei shengwei guanyu jiancha xin qu tugai gongzuo wenti ji jinhou yijian,” 608.

73. “Beijing shi renmin zhengfu guanyu Beijing jiaoqu tudigaige de zongjie baogao,” 684–686.

74. “Qu dangwei dui Hechuan tudi gaige wenti gei ge di de zhishi,” ZXD, Chongqing City Archives, East Sichuan Collection, 1-29-8 (1951?), 14–15.

75. “Zhonggong Zhejiang shengwei guanyu tugai dianxing shiyan zongjie huiyi xiang Huadong ju de baogao (jilu),” ZTGSX (October 4, 1950), 675–676.

76. “Zhongnan tudigaige weiyuanhui guanyu zhongnan ge sheng tugai shidian gongzuo qingkuang de baogao,” 691–692.

77. Du Runsheng, “Zhongnan quanqu qudong jinchun tudigaige de jingguo yu zhuyao jingyan ji jinhou jihua,” 735–736.

78. “Deng Xiaoping fu zhuxi zai xi’nan junzheng weiyuanhui di yi ci quanti weiyuanhui di si dahui shang de fayan,” ZXD, Chongqing City Archives, D-65-10 (1950?), 4.

79. Du Runsheng, Zhongguo de tudigaige, 402.

80. “Zhuanfa Hechuan xian tudi gaige gongzuo zhong de di er ci baogao bing ti ge xiang wenti gong gedi zhuyi can gai,” 1.

81. Hu Yaobang, “You guan tudi gaige ji ge wenti de shuoming,” ZXD, Chongqing City Archives, East Sichuan Collection, 1-31-2 (1950?), 138.

82. Shao Yanxiang, Bie le Mao Zedong, 160.

83. “Fuling diwei guanyu Fuling, Fengdu tudi gaige zhong ji ge wenti de tongbao,” 141.

84. “Zhuanfa Hechuan xian tudi gaige gongzuo zhong de di er ci baogao bing ti ge xiang wenti gong gedi zhuyi can gai,” 1.

85. Xu Yayun, “Tuanjie ziji, fenhua diren zhong de liangge juti de wenti,” ZXD, Chongqing City Archives, D-65-7 (1950?), 135.

86. Hu Yaobang, “You guan tudi gaige ji ge wenti de shuoming,” 138–139.

87. “Xi’nan tudi gaige gongzuotuan di er tuan Chuandong fentuan buchong cailiao,” ZXD, Chongqing City Archives, D-65-11, (1951?), 179.

88. “Jiangjin xian erqu Shuanglong xiang (tugai qi) di yi ci nongmindai huiyi jueyi gangyao,” JCA, 95-01-03, (1951), 73.

89. “Zhuanfa Hechuan xian tudi gaige gongzuo zhong de di er ci baogao bing ti ge xiang wenti gong gedi zhuyi can gai,” 3.

90. “Qu dangwei guanyu fucha gongzuo de zhishi,” ZXD, Chongqing City Archives, East Sichuan Collection, 46-54-10 (May 17, 1951), 16.

91. Siu, Agents and Victims in South China, 131–133.

92. “Fengjie xian zai jianzu tuiya hou jiancha chu de ji ge wenti,” ZXD, Chongqing City Archives, East Sichuan Collection, 1-29-8 (July 17, 1951), 143.

93. The torture of the widow Huang was said to produce eighteen liang of gold: nearly two pounds. The numbers of deaths discussed here are estimates; the exact figures are partly redacted in the archival documents. “Jiangjin diwei zuzhi buzhang Lin Song tongshi de jiantao,” ZXD, Chongqing City Archives, East Sichuan Collection, 1-29-8 (July 18, 1951), 145.

94. “Dazu si qu quwei fushuji Duan Mingshu de jiantao,” ZXD, Chongqing City Archives, East Sichuan Collection, 1-29-8 (August 10, 1951), 145.

95. “Qu dangwei jilü jiancha weiyuanhui guanyu Dazu xian weifan zhengce jiancha he chuli de tongbao,” ZXD, Chongqing City Archives, East Sichuan Collection, 1-29-8 (August 8, 1951), 146.

96. Ibid.

97. Ibid., 148.

98. Ibid., 147.

99. Ibid.

100. Violence in the countryside of course existed long before the Communist revolution. As revealed in Di Wang’s recent study of the “gowned brothers” secret society, centered on a father murdering his daughter, village China had witnessed shocking acts of brutality. According to Wang such tragedies occurred throughout China, and the men who committed these crimes often went unpunished. As Wang notes, “In rural areas, even those close to big cities, modern concepts of justice were far from embedded in the local society.” Wang, Violence and Order on the Chengdu Plain, 32.

101. “Yongchuan xian 1951 nian douzheng dizhu huiyi jilu,” YCA, Yongchuan County Shijiao Village People’s Government, 115-1-26 (1953).

102. “Jijing xiang jianzu tuiya qingfei fanba gongzuo de chubu zongjie baogao,” JCA, County Party Committee Work Team, Fengjie Third District, 035-23 (January 1, 1951).

103. “Fengjie xian di si qu tugai gongzuo jianbao,” JCA, Fengjie County Fourth District Party Committee, 035-75 (December 24, 1951).

104. Xu Yayun, “Tuanjie ziji, fenhua diren zhong de liangge juti de wenti,” 134.

105. “Qu dangwei dui tudi gaige, fucha zhong ying zhuyi de ji ge wenti fu Youyang diwei,” ZXD, Chongqing Archives, East Sichuan Collection, 46-54-10 (June 23, 1951), 149.

106. Zhao Zengyi, “Cong Hechuan tudi gaige zhong suo jian dao de ji ge wenti,” ZXD, Chongqing Archives, East Sichuan Collection, 46-54-10 (June 25, 1951), 151.

107. Siu, Agents and Victims in South China, 131.

108. “Zhuanfa Chuandong nongxie zhu Yu banshichu guanyu er qi tugai zhong cheng xiang jian dizhu di ge ge wenti ji yijian de baogao,” JCA, 3-135 (September 14, 1951), 14–16.

109. “Fuling diwei guanyu Fuling, Fengdu tudi gaige zhong ji ge wenti de tongbao,” 140–142.

110. RR (March 30, 1951), 2.

111. NBCK (December 23, 1950), 129–130.

112. Zhao Zengyi, “Cong Hechuan tudi gaige zhong suo jian dao de ji ge wenti,” 151.

113. Huang was also asked to turn over some grain, although he was not expected to comply. “Xi’nan tudi gaige gongzuotuan di er tuan Chuandong fentuan buchong cailiao,” 177.

114. Xi Zhongxun, “Muqian Xibei diqu de tudigaige gongzuo he jianzu gongzuo,” ZTGSX (November 22, 1951), 785–786.

115. Xi Zhognxun, “Xi Zhongxun tongzhi gei Mao zhuxi di er ci zonghe baogao (jielu),” ZTGSX (May 4, 1952), 814.

116. The attack would have to wait until the party trained enough ethnic minority cadres. “Xi Zhongxun tongzhi gei Mao zhuxi he zhongyang de baogao (jielu),” ZTGSX (April 10, 1951), 742–743.

117. “Zai minzu zaju diqu jinxing tudigaige de ji ge jingyan: Linxia diwei tudigaige shiban gongzuo zongjie,” 794–795.

118. Hu Shihua, “Renmin minzhu zhuanzheng zai nongcun zhong sheng le gen,” 64.

119. Ibid., 67–68.

120. Li Junlong, “Douzheng zhong de Hunan nongmin,” 50.

121. Zheng Linzhuang, “Douzheng dizhu shi you ganbu tiaobo qilai de ma,” 75–76.

122. Cheng Houzhi, “Canjia jingjiao tugai gongzuo de jingyan jiaoxun,” 101.

Chapter 5

1. Ding Ling, Taiyang zhao zai sangganhe shang, 298.

2. Ibid., 292–293.

3. Yang Guixin, Ding Ling pingzhuan, 258.

4. Ibid., 248.

5. Ibid., 253.

6. Ding Ling, “Ding Ling jiu ronghuo Sidalin jiangji fabiao tanhua,” RR (March 18, 1952), 4.

7. Ding Ling, Taiyang zhao zai sangganhe shang, 3.

8. Zhang Ailing, Chi di zhi lian, 74–75.

9. Hsia, A History of Modern Chinese Fiction: Second Edition, 427.

10. Zhang Ailing, Chi di zhi lian, 202.

11. For a recent reevaluation of the English-language version of the novel, see Link, “Introduction.” For an overview of the many changes between the Chinese and English versions of the novel, see Yu-Yun Hsieh, “Eileen Chang’s Changes: From Love in Redland to Naked Earth,” Open Letters Monthly: An Arts and Literature Review, August 1, 2015, https://www.openlettersmonthly.com/eileen-changs-changes-from-love-in-redland-to-naked-earth/.

12. Hinton, Fanshen, vii.

13. Luo Pinghan, Tudi gaige yundong shi, 59.

14. Hinton, Fanshen, 363.

15. Ibid., 441.

16. Ibid., 609.

17. Ibid., 613.

18. Zhou Libo, Baofeng zhouyu, 12.

19. Hanyu da cidian, 5593.

20. Thaxton, Catastrophe and Contention in Rural China, 73.

21. “Taihang qu dangwei guanyu Taihang tudigaige baodao (jielu),” 365.

22. “Dongbei ju guanyu pingfen tudi the jiben zongjie (jielu),” 488.

23. Mao Zedong, “Report on an Investigation of the Peasant Movement in Hunan,” 53.

24. Guizhou shengzhi: wenhua zhi, 61.

25. Yang Rengeng, “Gen nongmin xuexi yihou,” 101.

26. Quoted in Luo Pinghan, Tudi gaige yundong shi, 45.

27. Li Guangtian, “Weishenme bu neng ‘heping fentian?’” 38–39.

28. “Zhengqu chungeng qian wancheng tudigaige,” ZTGSX (December 14, 1946), 329.

29. “Taihang qu dangwei guanyu Taihang tudigaige baodao (jielu),” 368.

30. Cheng Houzhi, “Canjia jingjiao tugai gongzuo de jingyan jiaoxun, 99–107.

31. Tian Liu, “Tugai sannian hou de beiman nongcun,” RR (July 18, 1950), 2.

32. Li Junlong, “Douzheng zhong de Hunan nongmin,” 48–49.

33. “Chongqing shi jiaoqu tugai canguantuan di san zu gongzuo baogao,” ZXD, Chongqing City Archives, D-65-19 (1951?), 189.

34. Sun Qingju and Wu Shaoqi, “Nongcun jishi,” 27–28.

35. Yi Su, “Tai xian fanshencun xin jingxiang,” 62.

36. Ibid., 64.

37. Ibid.

38. “Chongqing shi jiaoqu tugai canguantuan di si zu gongzuo baogao,” 193.

39. Guo Shuzhen, 1.

40. For one example of the party promoting free marriage, see Chen Bozhong and Wang Dahai, “Tudi gaige hou de nongcun funü,” 70.

41. Feng Ming, “Dongbei nongcun yi yue jianwen,” 28–31.

42. Liu Mianzhi, “Bu yong jinqian ziyou hun, ge ren ai shangle xinshang de ren,” 35–37.

43. Chen Bozhong and Wang Dahai, “Tudi gaige hou de nongcun funü,” 65.

44. Ibid., 69.

45. “Zai minzu zaju diqu jinxing tudigaige de ji ge jingyan: Linxia diwei tudigaige shiban gongzuo zongjie,” 795.

46. This includes memberships in poor peasant leagues. Liu Zhi, “Ding xian funü da fanshen,” 17–18.

47. “Tudi gaige yundong zhong chuxian le xinxing de funü zuzhi xingshi,” 43.

48. Stacey, Patriarchy and Socialist Revolution in China, 116–117.

49. Ibid., 130–135.

50. Stranahan, Yan’an Women and the Communist Party, 109.

51. Ibid., 95.

52. Quoted in Diamant, Revolutionizing the Family, 144.

53. “Huadong ju guanyu Shandong tugai fucha de xin zhishi,” 383.

54. “Zhonggong zhongyang huadongju guanyu tudigaige ruogan wenti de tongbao,” 745.

55. Chen Zhenzhou, “Tugai jiaoyu le wo,” 88–92.

56. Feng Youlan, “” Canjia tugai de shouhui,” 70.

57. Dang Qiaoxin, “Zai tudi gaige zhong duanlian ziji,” 76.

58. Wu Xinxiang and Zhao Zuwang, “Canjia tugai de ji dian tiyan,” 86.

59. Yuan Fang, “Women de tugai gongzuo zu,” 20–24.

60. “Chongqing shi jiaoqu tugai canguantuan di san zu gongzuo baogao,” 191.

61. Hu Du, “Wo zai nongmin de jiaoyu xia jianding le yizhi,” ZQ No. 47 (1950), 21.

62. Ibid., 22.

63. Li Hua, “Tugai jiejue le wo de sixiang wenti,” ZQ No. 36 (1950), 38.

64. Esherick, Ancestral Leaves, 242.

65. “Xi’nan tudi gaige gongzuotuan di er tuan di san fentuan gongzuo baogao,” ZXD, Chongqing City Archives, D-65-11 (1951?), 166.

66. NBCK (August 28, 1950), 88–89.

67. Ibid. (December 21, 1951), 91–92.

68. See, for example: Zhao Zengyi, “Cong Hechuan tudi gaige zhong suo jian dao de ji ge wenti,” ZXD, Chongqing Archives, East Sichuan Collection, 46-54-10 (June 25, 1951), 151.

69. Tian Liu, “Tugai sannian hou de beiman nongcun,” 4.

70. Deng Zihui, “Cong Eqian xiang douzheng lai yanjiu muqian tudigaige yundong,” 293.

71. “Zhonggong zhongyang guanyu tudigaige zhong yingai zhuyi de ji ge wenti gei JinChaJi ju, ReLiao jude zhishi,” ZTGSZ (June 12, 1946), 262.

72. Hou, Negotiating Socialism in Rural China, 11.

73. “JinJiLuYuju wei guanche wusi zhishi chedi shixian geng zhe you qi tian de zhishi,” 311.

74. “Dongbei ju guanyu shenru qunzhong tudi douzheng de zhishi,” 307.

75. Gao Wangling and Liu Yang, “On a Slippery Roof,” 29.

76. In response, party leaders suggested joining these villages into administrative units so that they could share their fruits of struggle or negotiating for a transfer of property between villages. “JinJiLuYuju wei guanche wusi zhishi chedi shixian geng zhe you qi tian de zhishi,” 313.

77. “Taihang qu dangwei guanyu Taihang tudigaige baodao (jielu),” 364–370.

78. Friedman, Pickowicz, and Selden, Chinese Village, Socialist State, 97.

79. Ibid., 104.

80. Xi Zhongxun, “Xi Zhongxun guanyu fen san lei diqu shixing tugai de baogao,” 463.

81. “Zhonggong Hebei shengwei guanyu jiancha xin qu tugai gongzuo wenti ji jinhou yijian,” 609–610.

82. According to the report, before land reform many farmlands were owned by Manchu nobles, eunuchs, warlords, traitors, and bureaucrats. Nobles also had “tomb slaves” who rented fields and also took care of Manchu tombs. “Beijing shi renmin zhengfu guanyu Beijing jiaoqu tudigaige de zongjie baogao,” 681–682.

83. Ibid., 682–683.

84. “Xi’nan ju guanyu zai jianzu tuiya yundong zhong bixu jianjue baohu zhongnong liyi de yijian,” ZXD, Chongqing City Archives, D-699-25 (February 28, 1950), 87.

85. “Fengjie xian zai jianzu tuiya hou jiancha chu de ji ge wenti,” ZXD, Chongqing City Archives, East Sichuan Collection, 1-29-8 (July 17, 1951), 142.

86. The work team blamed this shortage on landlord sabotage. “Chongqing shi jiaoqu tugai canguantuan di san zu gongzuo baogao,” 189.

87. NBCK (March 7, 1951), 55–56.

88. “Xi’nan nongcun qunyun zhong guanyu yikao pingu gong tuanjie zhongnong de cailiao” ZXD, Chongqing City Archives, D-700–33 (March 1, 1951), 90.

89. Ibid., 91.

90. The directive demanded that cadres follow Liu Shaoqi and the land law by giving the unemployed a share of land and housing as needed. “Qu dangwei dui tudi gaige zhong chuli youguan gongren nongmin gongtong liyi shang mou xie juti wenti gonggu gongnong lianmeng de zhishi,” ZXD, Chongqing City Archives, East Sichuan Collection, 46-54-10 (July 2, 1951), 18.

91. “Zhuanfa Chuandong nongxie zhu Yu banshichu guanyu er qi tugai zhong cheng xiang jian dizhu di ge ge wenti ji yijian de baogao,” JCA, East Sichuan Party Committee, 3-135 (September 14, 1951), 8–11.

92. Ibid., 12–13.

93. Ibid., 14–16.

94. NBCK (June 25, 1951), 89–90.

95. Hou, Negotiating Socialism in Rural China, 94–97.

96. NBCK (October 21, 1952), 263–266.

97. Quoted in Cai Xiang, Revolution and Its Narratives, 52.

98. Deng Zihui, “Cong Eqian xiang douzheng lai yanjiu muqian tudigaige yundong,” 294.

99. NBCK (August, 14, 1951), 29.

100. “Di er ci daibiaohui qian de qingkuang,” JCA, 95-1-3 (1951?), 95–102.

101. Hou, Negotiating Socialism in Rural China, 93.

102. NBCK (August 27, 1951), 85–88.

103. Ibid. (November 19, 1951), 41–43.

104. Friedman, Pickowicz, and Selden, Chinese Village, Socialist State, 95.

105. For example, see Thaxton, Catastrophe and Contention in Rural China, 71–73.

106. “Huazhong fenju guanyu jiejue tudi wenti de buchong zhishi,” 263.

107. “JinJiLuYuju wei guanche wusi zhishi chedi shixian geng zhe you qi tian de zhishi,” 311.

108. “Huazhong fenju dui tudigaige fucha de zhishi,” 374.

109. “Huadong ju guanyu Shandong tugai fucha de xin zhishi,” 383.

110. Unfortunately, the party mistook corruption as a symptom of continuing feudal power. Friedman, Pickowicz, and Selden, Chinese Village, Socialist State, 94.

111. “Jiangjin xian erqu Shuanglong xiang (tugai qi) di yi ci nongmindai huiyi jueyi gangyao,” JCA, 95-01-03 (1951), 73.

112. “Fuling diwei guanyu Fuling, Fengdu tudi gaige zhong ji ge wenti de tongbao,” ZXD, Chongqing Archives, East Sichuan Collection, 1-29-8 (July 4, 1951), 141.

113. By overvaluing the fruits they gave to Li and other peasants, activists were able to keep more for themselves and their late night feasts. “Fengjie xian zai jianzu tuiya hou jiancha chu de ji ge wenti,” 142.

114. Li, Village China Under Socialism and Reform, 17.

115. “Nanchuan xian wei jiu yue fen guanyu jizhong ganbu xuexi tugai he zongjie tugai gongzuo zonghe baogao,” JCA, East Sichuan District Party Committee, 6-124 (October 20, 1951), 28–29.

116. Zhao Zengyi, “Cong Hechuan tudi gaige zhong suo jian dao de ji ge wenti,” 150.

117. “Guanyu muqian nongcun gongzuo zhong de ruogan xin qingkuang,” ZXD, Sichuan Provincial Archive, Rural Work Department 1-12 (1952?), 152.

118. Hou, Negotiating Socialism in Rural China, 115.

119. “Taihang qu dangwei guanyu nongcun jiejie huafen biaozhun yu juti huafen guiding (cao’an),” 322.

120. Wenjing was an administrative village in Fushun County. “Guanyu muqian nongcun gongzuo zhong de ruogan xin qingkuang,” 152–153.

121. Shao Yanxiang, Bie le Mao Zedong, 167–168.

122. NBCK (December 16, 1950), 86–87.

123. Westad, Decisive Encounters, 113–114. By 1948, almost half of the PLA was composed of soldiers from Nationalist forces.

124. NBCK (September 24, 1951), 112–113.

125. Ibid. (March 14, 1952), 117–118.

126. Ibid. (November 19, 1951), 41–43.

127. Ibid. (December 24, 1951), 111–112.

128. Ibid. (July 28, 1951), 156.

129. Ibid. (August 13, 1951), 25–26.

130. Ibid. (July 30, 1951), 158–159.

131. Ibid. (July 28, 1951), 156.

132. Ibid. (December 24, 1951), 111–112.

133. “Taihang qu dangwei guanyu nongcun jiejie huafen biaozhun yu juti huafen guiding (cao’an),” 322–323.

134. “Zhonggong zhongyang yijiusiqi shieryue jueyi,” 444.

135. Zenyang quanmian jieshu tudigaige yundong, 32–35.

136. Friedman, Pickowicz, and Selden, Chinese Village, Socialist State, 101.

137. Xi Zhongzun, “Guanyu tugai zhong yixie wenti gei Mao zhuxi de baogao,” 451.

138. Du Runsheng, “Zhongnan quanqu qudong jinchun tudigaige de jingguo yu zhuyao jingyan ji jinhou jihua,” 736.

139. Zhang Xiaojun, “Land Reform in Yang Village,” 17.

Conclusion

1. The Han and Roman empires, which simultaneously dominated opposite sides of the globe, were quickly framed as the forces of civilization fighting against barbarian hordes, be they Xiongnu or Hun. Writers of antiquity, straddling the line between prose and history, reduced vast military clashes to the personal heroics of the great emperors and soldiers—that of Liu Bei and Guan Yu, Caesar and Agrippa. Stories of individual genius and determination formed the basis for tales of Zhu Yuanzhang and Napoleon, the “great men” of obscure origin who forged empires in their own images. And the revolutions that wrested power from rulers into the hands of citizens were similarly told as stories of liberty and reaction, good versus evil, of Sun Yat-sen and Yuan Shikai, Lafayette and Robespierre.

2. Here, historians in China and the West went in vastly different directions. During the Enlightenment, the West embraced a grand tale of modernization and progress, unjustly recasting the Middle Ages as little more than a dark and gloomy shadow to be cast off in favor of ever-greater freedom and knowledge. In China, meanwhile, historians had long relied on the concept of the Mandate of Heaven to explain the passing of one dynasty to the next, each era rising and falling in an endless cycle.

3. Li, Reinventing Modern China, 6–15.

4. Shao Yanxiang, Bie le Mao Zedong, 177

5. Ibid., 178.

6. Liao Luyan, “San nian lai tudigaige yundong de weida shengli,” 841–843.

7. For an overview of the economic changes wrought by land reform, see Wong, Land Reform in the People’s Republic of China, chap. 6.

8. Dikötter, The Tragedy of Liberation, 83.

9. In this study, Zhou Zhiqiang posits that the particular form of feudalism that appeared in China stunted economic growth, and once coupled with Western imperialism, blocked modernization. Zhou argues because the Nationalist Party relied on capitalist and feudal power, only the Communists could have destroyed feudalism and set the stage for later economic transformation. Zhou Zhiqiang, Zhongguo gongchandang yu zhongguo nongye fazhan daolu, 69–84.

10. Du Runsheng, Zhongguo de tudigaige, 2.

11. Ibid., 4.

12. Strauss, “Rethinking Land Reform and Regime Consolidation in the People’s Republic of China,” 24.

13. For Tan Song, see Luo Siling, “Chongqing Teacher Spends Years Investigating the Truth About Land Reform, Suddenly Fired Before Big Nineteen” [Chongqing jiaoshi duo nian diaocha tugai zhenxiang, shijiuda qian tu zao kaichu], Niuyue shibao zhongwen wang (September 29, 1017), https://cn.nytimes.com/china/20170929/cc29-tansong/, accessed June 21, 2018. For Liu Xiaofei, see Vanessa Piao, “Grandson of China’s Most-Hated Landlord Challenges Communist Lore,” New York Times (July 26, 2016), https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/27/world/asia/china-landlord-liu-wencai.html, accessed May 22, 2018.

14. Oiwan Lam, “China Bans ‘Soft Burial,’ An Award Winning Novel About the Deadly Consequences of Land Reform,” Hong Kong Free Press (June 12, 2017), https://www.hongkongfp.com/2017/06/12/china-bans-soft-burialaward-winning-novel-deadly-consequences-land-reform/, accessed May 22, 2018.

15. NBCK (February 5, 1952), 31.

16. Madsen, Morality and Power in a Chinese Village, 81–82.

17. Gao, Born Red, 50.

18. Ibid., 75.

19. “Resolution on Certain Questions in the History of Our Party Since the Founding of the People’s Republic of China,” adopted on June 27, 1981, https://www.marxists.org/subject/china/documents/cpc/history/01.htm, accessed June 20, 2018.

20. Madsen, Morality and Power in a Chinese Village, 87.

21. Li, Village China under Socialism and Reform, 26.

22. Madsen, Morality and Power in a Chinese Village, 42–44.

23. Chan, Madsen, and Unger, Chen Village, 21.

24. In Jiangsu’s Qindong district, for example, landlords were left with about two mu of land per person, while poor peasants were given just under three mu of land per person. (One mu is roughly equivalent to 797 square yards.) Li, Village China under Socialism and Reform, 18.

25. Chan, Madsen, and Unger, Chen Village, 282.

26. Day, The Peasant in Postsocialist China, 37–38.

27. Shao Yanxiang, Bie le Mao Zedong, 170.