The Practice of the Chinese Communist Party in Governing Rural Vicious Customs during the Yan’an Period

During the Yan’an period, in the revolutionary process of “smashing the old society and building a new country,” the Chinese Communist Party faced the problem of how to transform the vicious customs that the masses had followed for generations, and how to carry out this transformation without harming the masses’ enthusiasm while strengthening the revolutionary forces. The Chinese Communist Party continuously adjusted its transformation policies and innovatively employed traditional literary and artistic forms, thereby eliminating the masses’ resistance, reconstructing rural order, consolidating the rural revolutionary foundation, and effectively promoting rural cultural change.

延安时期，中国共产党在“打破旧社会、建设新国家”的革命进程中，面临着如何改造已经被群众世代遵行的陋习，以及怎样改造既不伤及群众积极性又能壮大革命力量的问题。中国共产党不断调适改造政策、创新运用传统文艺载体，消除了群众的抵触情绪，重构了乡村秩序，夯实了乡村革命根基，切实推进了乡村文化变迁。

Vicious customs hinder social progress. During the Yan’an period, the Chinese Communist Party made resistance against Japan and national reconstruction its goal, bringing Chinese social transformation into a critical period. However, vicious customs long entrenched in rural society—such as sorcerers and shamans, opium smoking, and the oppression of women—constrained the germination of revolutionary consciousness, limited the growth of revolutionary forces, harmed the government’s image, and seriously affected the process of social development.

陋习阻碍社会进步。延安时期，中国共产党将抗战建国作为奋斗目标，使中国社会转型进入关键时期。然而，长期存在于乡村社会的巫神、吸食鸦片、压迫妇女等陋习制约革命意识萌发、限制革命力量壮大、危害政府形象，严重影响社会发展进程。

Constraining the germination of revolutionary consciousness. During the Yan’an period, rural masses, due to superstitious worship, placed their hopes for escaping the hardships of life in gods and Buddhas. The masses “prayed for divine protection in temples and monasteries, seeking spiritual solace,” often entrusting their real lives to the protection of sorcerers and shamans. Communication with ghosts and gods, along with the masses’ sorcery and superstition, hindered the germination of revolutionary consciousness. Superstitious ideas were prevalent for a time; even “among Communist Party members, there were still isolated individuals who believed in gods and worshipped Buddhas.” [1]1 Mao Zedong, “The Orientation of the Youth Movement,” 1939. Sorcery and superstition, as dregs of traditional culture, seriously affected the revolutionary process of “smashing the old society and building a new country.”

制约革命意识萌发。延安时期乡村群众因迷信崇拜，将脱离生活苦楚的希望寄托于神佛。群众在“庙宇寺观祈福神祐，寻求精神慰藉”，往往将现实生活寄托于巫神庇佑，交通鬼神与群众的巫神迷信阻碍着群众革命意识的萌发。迷信思想风行一时，甚至在“共产党员中，也还有个别信神拜佛的”。巫神迷信作为传统文化中的糟粕，严重影响了“打破旧社会，建设新国家”的革命进程。

Limiting the growth of revolutionary forces. The vicious custom of oppressing women was deeply rooted in rural society. In traditional society, women did not have the freedom to marry or divorce, and phenomena such as mercenary marriage, early marriage, foot-binding, and abuse of women by husbands and parents-in-law were severe. In the rural society of northern Shaanxi, sayings such as “No matter how good a woman is, she stays by the stove” and “The father-in-law comes and kicks her twice, the mother-in-law comes and twists her ear” were widely circulated. Exorbitant bride prices and the oppression of women planted multiple hidden dangers for family discord. For example, in Hengshan County, Li Jiaxiu arranged for her son-in-law to meet a 20-year-old woman for a matchmaking interview; after the bride realized she had been deceived, she committed suicide by taking poison in a fit of anger. In the old marriage and family relations, women were the laborers in domestic affairs, yet they lacked the right to education, participation in social life, or independent economic status, and thus lacked the ability and means to move toward revolution.

限制革命力量壮大。压迫妇女陋习在乡村社会根深蒂固。传统社会妇女不具有结婚、离婚的自由，且买卖婚、早婚、缠足、丈夫和公婆虐待妇女现象严重。陕北乡村社会广泛流传着“再好的女子锅边转”“公公过来踢两脚，婆婆过来扭耳朵”等说法。天价彩礼、压迫妇女为家庭失和埋下了多重隐患，如横山县的李加秀指使自己女婿与20岁的女性相亲，后新娘发觉受骗，一气之下服毒自杀。在旧有婚姻家庭关系中，妇女是家庭内部事务的操劳者，却不具备受教育、参与社会生活、获得独立经济地位的权利，缺乏走向革命的能力和途径。

Damaging the government’s image. In the Yan’an vicious-custom transformation agency—the Opium Suppression Inspection Office—individual staff members used their positions to take advantage when investigating drugs, secretly swapping, stealing, or skimming opium. Anti-drug team members exploited the government’s reward policy by turning in seized drugs in several batches to claim multiple rewards. Individual administrative personnel and officers even directly participated in drug trafficking. For example, “the Jizhen People’s Cooperative sold opium in Gulin County,” [2]2 Gulin County was a county in the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region. seriously violating the government’s anti-drug decrees; the opium involved was strictly confiscated. In January 1942, the Border Region Government severely punished public official Feng Weixian. Feng was a staff member of the General Tax Bureau; investigations revealed that he not only trafficked opium but also used his authority to shield opium traffickers. This kind of corruption and dereliction of duty that profited from opium not only became a factor eroding revolutionary will but also damaged the government’s credibility.

损害政府形象。延安的陋习改造机构——禁烟督察处，个别工作人员在查处毒品中利用职权便利，偷换、偷取、克扣烟土。缉毒队员利用政府的奖励政策，将查获的毒品分作几次上交，以领取多次奖励。个别行政人员、官兵甚至直接参与贩毒，例如，“吉镇人民合作社在固临县境出售烟土”，严重违反了政府的禁毒法令，涉案烟土被严令没收。1942年1月，边区政府严惩了公职人员冯维贤。冯维贤系税务总局职员，经查，他不仅贩卖烟土，还利用职权包庇烟土贩卖人员。这种利用烟土谋利的贪污、渎职行为，不仅成为革命意志消解的影响因素，还损害了政府公信力。

Experience in transforming vicious customs while overcoming mass resistance. Once customs are formed, they are difficult to change easily. Using coercive methods to change customs may well fail to achieve the goal of transforming vicious customs. To break the shackles of vicious customs on the masses, the Border Region Government adopted compulsory transformation measures in areas such as liberating women, banning sorcerers and shamans, and prohibiting opium. In 1939, the Border Region Government formulated the “Regulations of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region on Prohibiting Women’s Foot-Binding,” which explicitly prohibited foot-binding for women under 18; those violating the regulations would “upon discovery, be sentenced to imprisonment of up to one year for their parents or guardians.” In the transformation of sorcerers and shamans and opium smokers, the measures were also relatively severe; for example, the Yan’an sorcerer Yang Hanzhu was sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment. [3]3 Yan’an City (延市) refers to Yan’an Municipality, the capital of the Border Region. The compulsory transformation methods and cognitive inertia made the implementation of transformation policies somewhat difficult at the time. Liu Yulan, a woman from Jingbian County, would rather be locked up than accept cultural education; the strictly implemented policy of freedom of marriage sparked complaints from the masses such as “rich people have women, poor people have none.” Some sorcerers and shamans became instigators of opposition between the masses and the democratic government, spreading various rumors about Western medicine, fabricating nonsense like “Western medicine needles are two feet long; they go in through the leg and come out through the stomach.” The lack of enthusiasm for transformation and the spread of rumors revealed the masses’ resistance to the transformation policies.

克服群众抵触的陋习改造经验。风俗一旦养成，便难以轻易改变。以强制手段改变风俗，很可能达不到陋习改造的目的。为了打破陋习对群众的束缚，边区政府在解放妇女、取缔巫神、禁绝鸦片等方面采取了强制性的改造措施。1939年，边区政府制定的《陕甘宁边区禁止妇女缠足条例》明令禁止18岁以下妇女缠足，违反条例者“一经查出，即科处其父母或其家长一年以下之有期徒刑”。在对巫神、吸食鸦片的改造中，改造措施同样较为严厉，如延市巫神杨汉珠被判处有期徒刑。强制性的改造方式及认知惯性使当时改造政策的落实一定程度上出现了困难。靖边县妇女刘玉兰宁愿被关禁闭也不接受文化教育；得到严格执行的婚姻自由政策，引发群众“有钱的人有女人，穷人没有女人”的怨言。部分巫神成为群众与民主政权对立的制造者，散布关于西医的各种谣言，制造“西医的针有二尺长，从腿上打进去，从肚子里出来”等邪说。欠缺改造积极性、传播谣言显示出乡村群众对改造政策的抵触。

Appropriate accommodation of old customs. As understanding of the work of transforming vicious customs deepened, the Chinese Communist Party began to gradually adjust its transformation policies. Based on the recognition that “the destruction of this kind of backward culture requires a long process,” the Chinese Communist Party believed that the transformation measures “had neglected the customs and folkways of the Border Region” and that old customs “should be accommodated to some extent.” In dealing with the vicious custom of oppressing women, the Party acknowledged the reality of early marriage and mercenary marriage, and restricted women’s divorce through systems such as “incompatibility of feelings” and a “divorce cooling-off period.” In 1941, local governments adjusted the transformation measures for sorcerers and shamans to “focus on education,” no longer forcibly demolishing temples or banning the burning of incense and worship of Buddhas. According to the review opinions on proposals from members of the Second Senate of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region, the measure “‘prohibit the construction of new temples’ was changed to ‘advocate against the construction of new temples’” in the transformation of sorcerer and shaman superstitions, [4]4 The Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region Senate was a representative body established under the united front policy. showing that there were also certain changes in the implementation of vicious-custom transformation policies.

适当迁就旧俗。随着对陋习改造工作认识的深入，中国共产党开始逐步调整改造政策。中国共产党基于对落后文化“这种东西的破坏，需要一个长的过程”的认识，认为改造措施“忽略了边区民情风俗”，对旧俗“应该迁就些”。在处理压迫妇女陋习中，承认早婚、买卖婚的事实，以“感情不和”“离婚冷静期”制度限制妇女离婚。1941年，当地政府将对巫神的改造措施调整为“重在教育”，不再强制打破庙宇和禁止烧香拜佛。根据陕甘宁边区第二届参议会对参议员提案的审查意见，巫神迷信改造措施中的“‘禁止新修庙宇’改为‘宣传不新修庙宇’”，可见陋习改造施策也有一定变化。

Transforming vicious customs through production. In 1943, the “Decision of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party on the Current Direction of Women’s Work in the Anti-Japanese Base Areas” proposed “produce more, accumulate more, so that women and their families can live well,” [5]5 This decision was issued by the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party to guide women’s work in the base areas. which not only opened a path for satisfying women’s right to labor but, more importantly, enabled women to gain economic status through labor, thereby raising their family status. To implement the labor policies for sorcerers, idlers, and opium smokers at the time, governments at all levels and mass organizations took solving the problem of the masses’ insufficient means of production as the primary principle. Based on the actual needs of idlers and opium smokers, production problems were solved by helping them formulate production plans, adjusting farm tools and land, meeting the demand for draft animals, and lending them grain. Sorcerers, shamans, and opium smokers achieved a prosperous life through labor, gradually changed their occupation of sorcery and their bad habit of idleness, and even genuinely felt from the heart, “I want to repay the government for treating me so well.”

生产中改造陋习。1943年《中共中央关于各抗日根据地目前妇女工作方针的决定》提出“多生产，多积蓄，妇女及其家庭的生活都过得好”，不仅为满足妇女劳动权开辟道路，更为重要的是妇女得以依靠劳动获得经济地位，进而提升了家庭地位。为落实当时巫神、二流子和吸食鸦片者的劳动政策，各级政府及民众团体将解决群众生产资料不足作为首要原则。根据二流子、吸食鸦片者的实际需要，以帮助制定生产计划、调剂农具和土地、满足耕牛需求、借给粮食等方式解决生产问题。巫神、吸食鸦片者在劳动中实现了生活富足，逐步改变了巫神职业和游手好闲的恶习，更是从内心涌发出“我要报答政府这样好的待我”的真情实感。

Using old cultural forms to transmit new knowledge and transform vicious customs. Traditional literary and artistic forms were created by the masses and welcomed by them; stories in yangge, drama, and storytelling even became common sayings in the masses’ production and daily life, capable of shaping customs and the masses’ ideological understanding in the local environment. During the Yan’an period, Mao Zedong pointed out that old forms should be transformed so that they “become revolutionary things that serve the people.” [6]6 Mao Zedong, “Talks at the Yan’an Forum on Literature and Art,” 1942. The transformed folk songs, spoken-word performances, yangge operas, dramas, and “pulling-the-foreign-picture-show” [7]7 “Pulling-the-foreign-picture-show” (拉洋片) was a traditional Chinese folk performance using a box with pictures viewed through lenses, accompanied by narration and singing. became new literary and artistic forms guided by Marxist theory, propagating scientific knowledge, advocating freedom of marriage, leading the concepts of freedom and equality, and opposing sorcerers, shamans, and idlers; they were deeply welcomed by the masses. The Central General Health Office arranged short plays such as “The Nurse Pays New Year’s Call” and “Happiness for the Whole Family” to spread new delivery methods and maternal and infant health knowledge to the masses. “Pulling-the-foreign-picture-show” replaced content that promoted feudal superstition and unhygienic habits with scientific and cultural products. “How to Give Birth to a Baby” was a transformed foreign-picture-show piece that demonstrated the benefits of new delivery methods, making it easier for the masses to accept. Works opposing sorcerer and shaman superstition, such as “The Red-Shoed Female Demon” and “Opposing Sorcerers and Shamans,” applied old cultural forms to the transformative practice of spreading new ideas, reflecting the Chinese Communist Party’s creative use of traditional culture and shining with the light of wisdom.

利用旧文化载体传递新知、改造陋习。传统文艺由群众创造，受群众欢迎，秧歌、戏剧、说书中的故事甚至成为群众生产生活的顺口溜，能够在乡土环境中塑造风俗习惯和群众的思想认识。延安时期，毛泽东指出，要对旧形式加以改造，使之“变成革命的为人民服务的东西”。改造后的民歌、话语、秧歌剧、戏剧、“拉洋片”等成为以马克思主义理论为指导，宣传科学知识，提倡婚姻自由，引领自由平等观念，反对巫神、二流子的新文艺，深受群众欢迎。中央总卫生处编排的《护士拜年》《全家欢喜》等短剧，向群众传播新接生法和妇婴卫生知识。“拉洋片”将鼓吹封建迷信和不卫生习惯的内容代之以科学文化产品。《怎样生娃娃》便是经过改造后的洋片剧，展示了新接生法的好处，使群众更容易接受。《红鞋女妖精》《反巫神》等反对巫神迷信的作品，将旧文化载体应用到传播新思想的改造实践中，体现了中国共产党对传统文化的创造性运用，闪耀着智慧光芒。

The process of transforming vicious customs by the Chinese Communist Party during the Yan’an period was not only an unbinding of traditional consciousness and habits but also a regeneration of the social foundation. The practice of the Chinese Communist Party’s vicious-custom transformation policies promoted changes in rural concepts, shaped a new type of rural social order, strengthened the rural revolutionary forces, and laid the foundation for social and cultural change.

延安时期中国共产党的陋习改造过程既是对传统意识、习惯嵌套的解绑，更是对社会底蕴的再生成。中国共产党陋习改造政策的实践，推动了乡村观念变迁，形塑了新型乡村社会秩序，壮大了乡村革命力量，为社会文化变迁奠定了基础。

(The authors are lecturers at the School of Marxism, Qinghai University.)

（作者系青海大学马克思主义学院讲师）

Online editor: Huihui

网络编辑：慧慧