The CPC’s Comprehensive Construction of Rural Base Areas in North China

After the September 18th Incident [1]1 The September 18th Incident (1931) was a staged event used by Japan as a pretext to invade and occupy Northeast China (Manchuria)., as Japanese imperialism accelerated its invasion of China and the Kuomintang repeatedly compromised and retreated—especially after the Marco Polo Bridge Incident [2]2 The Marco Polo Bridge Incident (July 7, 1937) was a clash between Chinese and Japanese troops near Beijing that triggered the full-scale outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War., when Japan launched a full-scale invasion and the Kuomintang rapidly collapsed—the Chinese nation reached its most perilous moment. The Communist Party of China keenly recognized the importance of going deep behind enemy lines to mobilize the masses to participate in the War of Resistance and resolutely implemented this strategy. After completing flanking operations in coordination with Kuomintang forces on the main battlefield, the Eighth Route Army under the leadership of the CPC swiftly moved into North China, established base areas behind enemy lines, and carried out a national revolutionary war and the work of the anti-Japanese national united front there. Through extensive propaganda, mobilization, and mass organization, the CPC comprehensively built up the traditional countryside in political, economic, and cultural spheres, organizing scattered human and material resources, thereby laying a solid foundation for the ultimate victory in the War of Resistance.

九一八事变后，随着日本帝国主义加紧侵华进程与国民党的一再妥协退让，特别是卢沟桥事变后日本全面侵华和国民党的快速败退，中华民族到了最危险的时候。中国共产党敏锐地认识到深入敌后发动群众参与抗战的重要性，并坚决地执行了这一策略。中国共产党领导下的八路军在正面战场完成配合国民党军队进行侧翼作战任务后，迅速转入华北，建立敌后根据地，在敌后进行民族革命战争和抗日民族统一战线工作。中国共产党通过广泛宣传、动员和发动群众，在政治、经济和文化等方面对传统农村进行全面建设，将分散的人力、物力资源组织起来，为最终取得抗战胜利打下了坚实的基础。

Establishing Democratic Political Power

建立民主政权

Before the anti-Japanese forces led by the CPC entered the rural areas of North China, many local Kuomintang regimes (county-level governments) had already become defunct in name only as their officials fled. There was an urgent need to establish new political power. The CPC first set up mass-based semi-governmental organizations in various localities, such as the “Fuping County Chinese National Revolutionary War Field Mobilization Committee,” the “People’s Armed Self-Defense Forces,” and the “Anti-Japanese National Salvation Association.” To overcome a state of fragmentation, the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Border Region convened a border region military, government, and people’s representative conference that included representatives from all parties, strata, ethnic groups, and religious figures. Through democratic elections, a border region government was formed. This government was a legitimate anti-Japanese national united front local regime approved by the Kuomintang central government, providing unified political leadership and a reliable foundation for the resistance behind enemy lines. Through democratic elections, each anti-Japanese base area behind enemy lines established people’s representative bodies and government institutions at all levels from the village to the district and county. In terms of personnel composition, the “Three-Thirds System” [3]3 The “Three-Thirds System” was a policy for the composition of anti-Japanese base area governments, mandating that Communist Party members, progressive non-Party intellectuals and petty bourgeoisie, and centrist middle bourgeoisie and enlightened gentry each occupy roughly one-third of the positions. was implemented, meaning that Communist Party members, progressive non-Party figures, and centrists each accounted for one-third, fully accommodating representatives from all classes and strata demanding resistance against Japan.

在中国共产党领导的抗日军队进入华北农村之前，国民党的很多地方政权（县级政府）已经随着其政府人员外逃而名存实亡了，迫切需要建立新的政权。中国共产党先是在各地建立了群众性的半政权机构，如“阜平县中国民族革命战争战地动员委员会”“人民武装自卫队”“抗日救国会”等组织。为克服各自为政的状态，晋察冀召开了包括各党派、各阶层、各民族及宗教人士共同参加的边区军政民代表会议，通过民主选举，产生了边区政府。边区政府是报经国民党中央政府批准的合法的抗日民族统一战线性质的地方政权，这使敌后抗战有了统一的政权领导和坚强依靠。各敌后抗日根据地经过民主选举，建立了从村到区、县的各级民意机关与政府机构。在人员构成上实行“三三制”，即共产党员、党外进步人士和中间派各占三分之一，充分容纳要求抗日的各阶级阶层的代表人士。

To strive for national liberation, it was necessary to grant the broad masses democratic rights and fulfill their desire to be masters of their own affairs. Only when the masses obtained genuine democratic rights could they become the main force of the War of Resistance. The CPC vigorously promoted democratic elections in all base areas behind enemy lines, especially village-level elections at the grassroots level. The democratic politics of direct elections by villagers received enthusiastic support from the masses. In the general election of the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Border Region in the autumn and winter of 1940, voters in general areas accounted for over 70% of eligible voters, and in central areas, the figure was as high as over 90%. Women, who had long been oppressed at the bottom of society, also gained the right to vote and stand for election. Through the establishment of democratic political power, the broad masses in the base areas, for the first time, enjoyed and exercised their democratic rights as masters of their own affairs, experiencing the joy and benefits brought by democratic politics. They regarded election day as a grand festival.

争取民族解放就要给广大民众以民主权利，满足人民群众当家作主的愿望。广大民众只有获得了真正的民主权利，才能成为抗日战争的生力军。中国共产党在各敌后根据地大力推进民主选举，特别是深入基层组织的村选，由村民进行直接选举的民主政治得到了群众的热烈拥护。晋察冀1940年秋冬的普选中，一般地区参加选举的选民占70%以上，中心地区更是高达90%以上。处于社会底层饱受压迫的妇女也获得了选举权和被选举权。通过民主政权的建立，根据地广大人民群众第一次享有和行使了自己当家作主的民主权利，享受着民主政治带来的喜悦和权益，他们把选举这一天看作盛大的节日。

In the anti-Japanese base areas behind enemy lines, the CPC, by transforming old regimes from the top down and carrying out democratic general elections from the bottom up, comprehensively and thoroughly reformed the border region political power, especially at the grassroots level. This both united all parties, factions, circles, and national salvation organizations and ensured that the basic masses held a dominant position. It embodied both the nature of a united front and the content of people’s democracy, truly realizing democratic politics.

在敌后抗日根据地，中国共产党通过由上而下地改造各级旧政权和由下而上地开展民主大选举，对边区政权特别是基层政权进行了全面彻底的改革，既团结了各党、各派、各界、各救亡团体，又保证了基本群众占据优势，既包含了统一战线性质，又具备人民民主的内容，真正实现了民主政治。

Improving Economic Conditions

改善经济状况

War is not only a contest of military and political strength but also of economic strength. However, most base areas behind enemy lines were located in remote mountainous areas with poor natural conditions, barren land, and a predominance of scattered small-scale peasant individual production. The level of productive forces was relatively low, industry and commerce were underdeveloped, and connections and trade between areas were severed. Coupled with large-scale, brutal mopping-up campaigns by the Japanese invaders, the resources of the base areas were severely damaged. Nevertheless, the economic burden on the base areas did not lessen. Besides ensuring military and civilian supplies, it was even more important to make full use of existing conditions to provide the material necessities for victory over the powerful enemy. This required, on the one hand, improving relations of production and, on the other hand, promoting the combination of the various elements of productive forces, raising labor productivity, and increasing output.

战争不仅是军事和政治的较量，还是经济的较量，但是敌后根据地大都处于自然条件较差的偏远山区，土地贫瘠，以分散经营的农民个体小生产为主，生产力水平较为低下，工商业亦不发达，相互之间的联系和贸易被切断，加上日寇大规模的残酷扫荡，根据地的资源遭到严重破坏。但是，根据地在经济上的负担并未减轻，除了要保证根据地的军需民食之外，更重要的是，要战胜强大敌人必须充分利用现有条件，为抗战胜利提供所需的物质条件。这就需要一面改善生产关系，一面促进生产力各要素的结合，提高劳动生产率，增加生产数量。

Following the central authorities’ directive on “rent reduction and interest reduction,” the base areas behind enemy lines universally implemented “25% rent reduction” and “10% interest reduction.” This measure reduced the exploitation of peasants by landlords, brought tangible economic benefits to the peasants, improved rural relations of production, and stimulated peasants’ enthusiasm for production. Consequently, production inputs increased and rural productive forces were enhanced.

敌后根据地遵照中央“减租减息”的指示，普遍实行了“二五减租”和“一分减息”。此举减轻了地主对农民的剥削，使农民得到了切实的经济利益，改善了农村的生产关系，激发了农民的生产积极性，因而使生产投入增加，农村生产力获得提升。

After the base areas had shaken off severe economic difficulties caused by the enemy’s economic blockade and natural disasters, and production had begun to develop, under the slogan “Get Organized,” men, women, old, and young were all mobilized to engage in production, and mutual aid and cooperation were vigorously developed. Through the guidance of typical examples and promoting the whole from individual points, on the basis of traditional temporary and seasonal mutual aid and cooperation models, a regular and sustained form of mutual aid and cooperation developed. Its scope expanded from agriculture to handicrafts, transportation, commerce, and other fields, promoting the combination of the elements of productive forces, raising labor productivity, increasing peasant incomes, and improving people’s livelihoods. Under the leadership of the CPC, production was carried out in the base areas through mutual help and collective labor, steering the scattered individual peasant economy toward a cooperative economy with a socialist character.

根据地在摆脱了敌人的经济封锁和自然灾害造成的严重经济困难，生产初步发展起来之后，在“组织起来”的口号下把男女老幼都动员起来，投入生产，并大力发展互助合作。通过典型引领，以点促面，在传统的临时性、季节性互助合作模式的基础上，发展成为一种经常性的、持续的互助合作。其范围从农业推广到手工业、运输业、商业等领域，促进了生产力要素的结合，提高了劳动生产率，增加了农民收入，改善了民众的生活。在中国共产党的领导下，根据地互相帮助共同劳动的方式进行生产，使分散的农民个体经济朝着带有社会主义性质的合作社经济发展。

From the outset, economic construction in the base areas behind enemy lines focused on long-term goals, linking the struggle against the enemy with self-construction. Not only did it transform the natural landscape of the countryside through tree planting, land reclamation, and water conservancy construction, but it also changed the spiritual outlook of the peasants through the organized mutual-aid mode of production, infusing the rural base areas with vitality and vigor even under the harsh conditions of the anti-Japanese struggle.

敌后根据地的经济建设自始就着眼于长远目标，把对敌斗争和自身建设联系起来，不仅通过植树、垦荒、水利建设改造了农村的自然面貌，而且通过组织起来的互助生产方式改变了农民的精神面貌，使得根据地农村在抗日斗争的严酷环境下充满了生机和活力。

Promoting Cultural Construction

促进文化建设

Because modern China had long been a semi-colonial and semi-feudal society, the cultural level of the masses in the base areas was generally very low. Superstitious beliefs and unhygienic habits shackled people’s thinking and endangered their health. People in remote mountainous areas were completely unaware of changes in the outside world. Therefore, there was an urgent need for cultural construction in the base areas behind enemy lines to raise the people’s national self-respect and their knowledge and skills for the War of Resistance.

由于近代中国长期处于半殖民地半封建社会，根据地民众文化程度普遍偏低，迷信思想和不卫生的习惯束缚着民众的思想、危害着民众的健康，偏远山区的民众对外界的变化浑然不觉。因此，敌后根据地迫切需要进行文化建设，提高民众的民族自尊心和抗日的知识技能。

In education, the border region governments established a strong educational administrative system, with specialized institutions for education at all levels. Formal schooling mainly consisted of primary schools, but social education was even more extensive. Various forms of literacy institutions, such as winter schools, night schools, and literacy classes, were developed according to local conditions and the time of year. The cultural learning of the masses was closely tied to the realities of rural life and the immediate interests of the peasants, combining the improvement of cultural levels with the enhancement of the capacity for the anti-Japanese struggle and the solution of specific rural problems. This was warmly welcomed by the broad masses. Through education, the people of the base areas came to know China and the world, and to understand the relationship between their own strength and the War of Resistance.

在教育方面，边区政府建立了强有力的教育行政系统，各级都有专管教育的机构。正规的学校教育以小学为主，更多的是社会教育，因地制宜、因时而行地发展冬学、夜校、识字班等多种形式的识字机构。民众的文化学习贴近农村的生活实际、农民的切身利益，把文化水平的提高和提升抗日斗争的能力、乡村具体问题的解决结合起来，受到了广大群众的欢迎。通过教育，根据地的人民认识了中国和世界，认识到了自己的力量和抗战的关系。

In propaganda, besides founding and publishing newspapers and magazines, wall newspapers and blackboard newspapers in government organs, schools, military units, and villages were even more widespread. In literature and art, various art forms such as music, fine arts, and drama were vigorously developed. In form, these included both modern, Western styles and traditional, national styles. In content, they all reflected the conditions of the base areas’ military and civilian resistance, production, and daily life. Life and the War of Resistance were completely integrated; resistance was life, and life was resistance. The political advocacy of resisting Japan and saving the nation, through the development of mass literary and artistic activities, became a weapon for raising the people’s artistic literacy and spiritual life. The new people, new events, new customs, and new morality of the new society became powerful tools for educating the masses, transforming social traditions, and reforming society, nurturing a new democratic culture and presenting a scene full of vibrant new vitality.

在宣传方面，除了创办和出版报纸、杂志外，更普遍的是机关、学校、部队、农村的墙报、黑板报。在文艺方面，大力发展音乐、美术、戏剧等各种艺术，形式上既有现代的、西洋的，也有传统的、民族的，内容上都是反映根据地军民抗战、生产、生活的情况。生活和抗战完全融为了一体，抗战就是生活，生活就是抗战。抗战救亡的政治主张随着群众文艺活动的开展，成为提高群众艺术素养、精神生活的武器。新社会的新人、新事、新风习和新道德成为教育群众、移风易俗、改造社会的有力工具，孕育了新民主主义的新文化，呈现出一幅充满勃勃生机的新气象。

The cultural construction of the base areas, whether in education, propaganda, or literature and art, all revolved around one central task: to defeat Japanese imperialism and win the ultimate victory of national liberation.

根据地的文化建设，无论教育、宣传、文艺，无不围绕一个中心任务，即打败日本帝国主义，赢得民族解放的最终胜利。

Through comprehensive construction in the political, economic, and cultural spheres, the national consciousness of the broad masses of the people in the anti-Japanese base areas burst forth, and their patriotic fervor ran high. Regardless of age or gender, everyone participated in the anti-Japanese struggle and the development of production. The Japanese aggressors were engulfed in the vast ocean of a people’s war and ultimately headed toward their doom. The rural base areas were not only solid bastions of the War of Resistance but also became new villages with the characteristics and nature of the New Democracy, laying a solid foundation for the founding of New China.

经过政治、经济、文化上的全面建设，抗日根据地广大人民群众的民族意识迸发出来，爱国热情高涨，无论男女老幼，都参与到抗日斗争和发展生产中来，日本侵略者陷入人民战争的汪洋大海之中，并最终走向覆亡。根据地的农村不仅是抗战的坚固堡垒，而且成为具有新民主主义性质和特征的新农村，为新中国的成立打下了坚实基础。

(The author is a professor at the School of Marxism, Hebei Normal University)

（作者系河北师范大学马克思主义学院教授）

Online editor: Tongxin

网络编辑：同心