The Chinese Communist Party’s Exploration of Agricultural Labor Mutual Aid during the Soviet Area Period

During the Soviet Area period, the Chinese Communist Party actively explored and practiced agricultural labor mutual aid, focusing on integrating labor power and promoting agricultural development through labor mutual aid while addressing the land issue for peasants. Studying the Chinese Communist Party’s exploration and practice of labor mutual aid during the Soviet Area period, and analyzing the formation of its ideas, specific measures, and practical development, is of great significance for a comprehensive understanding and recognition of rural economic development and social governance under the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party during the Soviet Area period. Currently, there are few academic research results on this topic. In view of this, this article, centered on documents such as *Red China*, Soviet government work reports, and memoirs, attempts to preliminarily sort out the Chinese Communist Party’s exploration and practice of agricultural labor mutual aid during the Soviet Area period, in order to deepen related research.

苏区时期，中国共产党对农业劳动互助进行了积极探索和实践，注重在解决农民土地问题的同时，通过劳动互助来整合劳动力、促进农业发展。研究苏区时期中国共产党关于劳动互助的探索和实践，分析其思路的形成、具体措施及实践发展，对于全面理解与认识苏区时期中国共产党领导下的乡村经济发展及社会治理具有重要意义。目前，学界针对这一主题的研究成果尚少。有鉴于此，本文以《红色中华》、苏维埃政府工作报告及回忆录等文献为中心，尝试对苏区时期中国共产党关于农业劳动互助的探索及实践进行初步梳理，以期深化相关研究。

I. The “Saturday Voluntary Labor” and the Initial Formation of Labor Mutual Aid

一、“礼拜六义务劳动”与劳动互助的 初步形成

After the establishment of Soviet power, under the guidance of the Chinese Communist Party, the broad masses actively joined the Red Army, which provided an important guarantee for consolidating political power and promoting revolutionary development. However, after the masses joined the army, their families faced problems such as labor shortages and production difficulties. In addition, with the development of the revolutionary cause, war service tasks such as the collection and transportation of materials still required the support and cooperation of the masses. Therefore, ensuring the smooth progress of agricultural production and war service work was an important practical issue facing the Party during the Soviet Area period.

苏维埃政权建立后，在中国共产党的引导下，广大群众踊跃参加红军，这为巩固政权、推动革命发展提供了重要保障。但群众参军后，家庭会面临劳动力缺乏、生产困难等问题。另外，伴随革命事业的发展，物资的搜集、运输等战争勤务仍需群众进行支援和配合。因此，保障农业生产和战勤工作的顺利开展，是苏区时期党面临的一个重要现实问题。

To solve this problem, the Party actively drew on the practice of “Saturday voluntary labor” from Soviet Russia, carrying out labor mutual aid in the Soviet Areas to ensure that both revolution and production were not neglected. In 1919, to defend the fruits of the October Revolution, workers on the Kazan Railway spontaneously engaged in unpaid labor, which was called “Communist Saturday voluntary labor.” [1]1 The “Communist Saturday voluntary labor” (also known as “subbotnik”) was a mass movement of unpaid, voluntary work on Saturdays initiated by railway workers in Soviet Russia in 1919 to support the war effort and economic construction. Lenin believed that this “is the victory over one’s own conservatism, indiscipline, and petty-bourgeois egoism, over these habits that accursed capitalism has left as a heritage to the worker and the peasant,” and that it was “the beginning of a change, more difficult, more substantial, more radical, more decisive than the overthrow of the bourgeoisie.” [2]2 V. I. Lenin, “A Great Beginning,” *Collected Works*, vol. 29, p. 411. Working people and youth using Saturdays to carry out voluntary labor helped the people overcome egoism and cultivate “free and conscious” new social discipline, proving that “the proletariat represents and realizes a higher type of social organization of labor than capitalism.” [3]3 Lenin, “A Great Beginning,” p. 419.

为解决这一问题，党积极借鉴苏俄“礼拜六义务劳动”的做法，在苏区开展劳动互助，保证革命与生产两不误。1919年，为保卫十月革命的胜利果实，喀山铁路工人自发开展无报酬劳动，被称为“共产主义星期六义务劳动”。列宁认为，这“是战胜自身的保守、涣散和小资产阶级的利己主义，战胜万恶的资本主义遗留给工农的这些习惯”，是“比推翻资产阶级更困难、更重大、更深刻、更有决定意义的变革的开端”。劳工大众、青年利用星期六开展义务劳动，有助于人民战胜利己主义、养成“自由的自觉的”社会新纪律，证明了“无产阶级代表着并实现着比资本主义更高类型的社会劳动组织”。

During the Soviet Area period, the Chinese Communist Party, based on the actual needs of carrying out military struggle and consolidating base areas, drew on the effective practice of “Saturday voluntary labor” from Soviet Russia and applied this form of labor mutual aid to various constructions in the Soviet Areas. In November 1927, after the establishment of Soviet power in Hailufeng, [4]4 Hailufeng refers to the Hailufeng Soviet, a revolutionary base area established in Haifeng and Lufeng counties, Guangdong Province, in 1927. the implementation of “Saturday voluntary labor” was advocated in production labor. For example, in Haifeng County, “to encourage labor habits, it was also decided to implement Communist Saturday, every Saturday morning at five o’clock all Party members are mobilized to go out and work, stopping at seven o’clock.” [5]5 “Haifeng County Party Department’s Report on the Work of the Past Two Months” (November 1927), in *Hailufeng Revolutionary Base Area*, vol. 1, p. 43. The executive committee of the Second District Peasant Association of Haifeng County also required: “Get up at five o’clock every Saturday morning, with a cannon shot as the signal; as soon as the cannon sound is heard, work for the public for two hours. Peasants should plow the fields for the peasants of that village who have joined the army. People from other walks of life should also find public work to do. After the specified time, they may attend to their own private affairs.” [6]6 “Resolution of the Second District Peasant Association of Haifeng County” (1927), in *Hailufeng Revolutionary Base Area*, vol. 1, p. 48. In February 1931, the Central Bureau of the Communist Youth League of China required organizing “Youth League members’ Saturday” to help the Red Army “transport grain, dig trenches, and transport weapons,” with female members to “sew military uniforms, military shoes, and repair military uniforms,” and emphasized that “this method should be regularly applied in the work of the League in the Soviet Areas.” [7]7 “Resolution on the Work of the Red Army in the Soviet Areas” (February 1931), in *Selected Documents of the Central Bureau of the Communist Youth League*, p. 112. In November 1931, the “Regulations on Preferential Treatment for the Chinese Workers’ and Peasants’ Red Army” adopted by the First National Congress of the Chinese Soviets stipulated that “those who have not served in the Red Army should implement uncompensated ‘Preferential Treatment Red Army Work Days.’ Each person shall help the families of Red Army soldiers work for two days per month, with the time and type of work determined according to the requests of the Red Army families.” [8]8 “Regulations on Preferential Treatment for the Chinese Workers’ and Peasants’ Red Army” (November 1931), in *Selected Documents of the Chinese Soviet Republic*, p. 89.

苏区时期，中国共产党根据当时进行军事斗争和巩固根据地的实际需要，借鉴苏俄“礼拜六义务劳动”的有效做法，将这种劳动互助形式运用到苏区各项建设中。1927年 11月，海陆丰建立苏维埃政权后，即在生产劳动中倡导实行“礼拜六义务劳动”。比如，海丰县“为鼓励劳动习惯亦决定实行共产党礼拜六，每礼拜六早晨五时起全体党员均动员外出做工七时始息”。海丰县第二区农民协会执委会也要求：“每礼拜六早五时起身，以鸣炮为特号，一闻炮声，即为公众作二点钟工作，农民应替该乡出来当兵的农民耕田，其他各界民众亦应找公家工作来做，过了限定时间始得做自己的私事。”1931年 2月，中国共产主义青年团中央局要求组织“青年团员的礼拜六”来帮助红军“搬运粮食、掘战壕、运枪械”，女团员要“缝制军衣、军鞋、修补军装等”，并强调“这个办法在苏区团的工作中应该经常地应用”。1931年 11月，中华苏维埃第一次全国代表大会通过的《中国工农红军优待条例》中规定，“凡未在红军中服务者，应实行无代价的‘优待红军工作日’。每人每月帮助红军家属工作两天，时间与工作种类依红军家属之要求而定”。

According to the “Resolution on the Red Army Issue of the Chinese Soviet Republic” adopted by the First National Congress of the Chinese Soviets, starting from November 1931, “Saturday voluntary labor” was promoted in the rural Soviet Areas. For example, Youth League members “helped the government implement the regulations on preferential treatment for Red Army soldiers—cultivating Red Army public fields, helping Red Army families plow fields, helping the Red Army with transportation and grain collection, etc.”; [9]9 “Resolution on the Work of the Red Army in the Soviet Areas” (February 1931), p. 115. worker League members in the Soviet Areas should participate in “Saturday voluntary labor,” and in addition to meeting military needs, they should also “work together with rural comrades to help Red Army families plow fields”; [10]10 “Resolution on the Work of the Red Army in the Soviet Areas” (February 1931), p. 116. trade unions at all levels should “help Red Army families with plowing fields and all household affairs. Workers should lead peasants in implementing the regulations on preferential treatment for Red Army soldiers. In particular, responsible comrades at all levels of trade unions should implement Saturday, standing at the forefront of workers, providing leadership for workers and leadership for peasants.” [11]11 “Resolution on the Work of the Red Army in the Soviet Areas” (February 1931), p. 117. In January 1934, the “Regulations on Saturday for Preferential Treatment of Red Army Families” promulgated by the Provisional Central Government of the Chinese Soviet Republic required that Party and government cadres at all levels “should participate in implementing the Saturday work of giving preferential treatment to Red Army families,” and that Party and League organizations at all levels should “conduct the most extensive propaganda and agitation for these regulations and bring them to every branch meeting, township representative meeting, soldier meeting, and mass meeting for reporting and discussion, creating a warm atmosphere for Saturday work and carrying out Saturday work consciously, responsibly, and with discipline on a regular basis.” [12]12 “Regulations on Saturday for Preferential Treatment of Red Army Families” (January 1934), in *Selected Documents of the Chinese Soviet Republic*, p. 234.

依据中华苏维埃第一次全国代表大会通过的《中华苏维埃共和国关于红军问题决议案》，自 1931年 11月开始，“礼拜六义务劳动”在苏区乡村得以推广。如青年团员“帮助政府实现优待红军条例——耕作红军公田，帮助红军家属耕田，帮助红军运输与收贸粮食等等”；苏区工人团员应参加“礼拜六义务劳动”，除满足军事的需要外，还应“与农村同志一起帮助红军家属耕田”；各级工会应“帮助红军家属耕田及一切家庭事务。工人要领导农民来执行优待红军条例。特别是各级工会负责同志要实行礼拜六，站在工人前头，做工人的领导与农民的领导”。1934年 1月，中华苏维埃共和国临时中央政府颁布的《优待红军家属礼拜六条例》，要求各级党政干部“应参加实行优待红军家属的礼拜六工作”，各级党团组织要“将本条例进行最广大的宣传鼓动并提到每个支部大会，乡代表会议，军人大会，群众大会上报告和讨论，造成礼拜六工作的热烈空气和自觉的负责的有纪律的按期进行礼拜六的工作”。

Thus, the “Saturday voluntary labor” carried out in the Soviet Areas mainly took Party members, League members, and cadres as the main body. By helping peasants, especially Red Army families, with agricultural labor, carrying out war service work, and completing public affairs, it ensured that both revolution and production were not neglected. On the one hand, this “prevented Red Army families from recalling their husbands and sons back to farm due to difficulties in plowing fields,” [13]13 “Regulations on Saturday for Preferential Treatment of Red Army Families” (January 1934), p. 235. resolving the worries of Red Army soldiers, effectively realizing rural revolutionary mobilization, and enabling the rapid development of the revolutionary cause. For example, Xingguo County, because it “fully implemented Communist Saturday work,” quickly “expanded the Red Army by more than 1,440 soldiers.” [14]14 “Report on the Work of the Xingguo County Soviet Government” (1932), in *Jiangxi Soviet Area Historical Materials*, vol. 3, p. 67. On the other hand, it also gradually guided and cultivated the habit of “doing public affairs” among Party members and the masses through concrete actions, effectively enhancing the public consciousness, collective concepts, and mutual aid spirit of the masses, cultivating new labor habits among the peasant masses, and laying a preliminary foundation for the formation and development of a mutual aid production model in rural society.

由此可见，苏区开展的“礼拜六义务劳动”，主要以党员、团员、干部为主体，通过帮助农民特别是红军家属进行农业劳动、开展战勤工作、完成公共事务等活动，实现革命与生产两不误。此举一方面“使红军家属不致因耕田困难而去招回他的丈夫子弟回来耕种”，解决了红军战士的后顾之忧，有效实现了乡村革命动员，使革命事业得到迅速发展。比如，兴国县因“充分执行共产党礼拜六工作”，迅速“扩大红军壹千四百四十余名”。另一方面，还以实际行动逐步引导和培养了党员群众“做公家事务”的习惯，有效提高了群众的公共意识、集体观念和互助精神，培育了农民群众新的劳动习惯，为乡村社会互助生产模式的形成和发展打下了初步基础。

II. “Joint Cultivation” and Attempts at Collective Rural Production

二、“共同耕种”与乡村集体生产的尝试

While using “Saturday voluntary labor” to leverage the demonstration and guidance of Party members and cadres to solve the production difficulties of military families and carry out war service work, the Chinese Communist Party also drew on the practice of the Soviet “obshchestvo sovmestnoy obrabotki zemli” (OSOZ) [15]15 OSOZ (Общество совместной обработки земли) was a form of agricultural cooperative in the early Soviet Union where members pooled labor but retained private ownership of land, tools, and livestock. and attempted to carry out collective rural production through “joint cultivation” in the Soviet Areas.

在以“礼拜六义务劳动”发挥党员干部示范、引导群众解决军属生产困难和开展战勤工作的同时，中国共产党还借鉴苏联“共耕社”的做法，在苏区尝试以“共同耕种”来开展乡村集体生产。

The “OSOZ,” also called “land joint cultivation society” or “land cooperative society,” was a primary form of economic organization in the early stage of the Soviet agricultural collectivization movement. “Members only worked together during the seasons of sowing, cultivation, and harvesting. Livestock, farm tools, etc., still belonged to the members privately, but were used jointly during collective labor. The income of the OSOZ was distributed partly according to the amount of collective labor participated in, partly according to the amount of means of production contributed for collective use. In addition, a considerable portion of land was still managed individually by the members.” [16]16 *Soviet Agricultural Collectivization*, p. 45. Collective labor but private ownership of products—this was the basic characteristic of the OSOZ.

“共耕社”亦称“土地共耕社”或“土地协作社”，是苏联农业集体化运动初期经济组织的一种初级形式。“社员只有在播种、耕种、收拾等季节共同劳动，耕畜、农具等仍归社员私有，但在共同劳动中共同使用。共耕社的收入一部分按参加集体劳动的多少进行分配，一部分按交给集体使用的生产资料的多少进行分配，另外，有相当一部分土地仍归社员个人经营。”共同劳动但产品私有，这是“共耕社”的基本特征。

In 1928, the “Jinggangshan Land Law” formulated under the leadership of Mao Zedong already touched on the issue of joint cultivation. The methods for the Soviet government to distribute land stipulated in this land law mainly included: distributing land for individual peasant cultivation; distributing land for joint peasant cultivation; and organizing model farms for cultivation by the Soviet government. Among the above three methods, the first was the main one. In special circumstances, or when the Soviet government had the capacity, the second and third methods could also be used. [17]17 “Jinggangshan Land Law” (December 1928), in *Selected Works of Mao Zedong*, vol. 1, p. 71. Although it emphasized the “individual cultivation” production model for peasants as the main approach, it also pointed out that in “special circumstances” or when the “government had the capacity,” “joint cultivation” and “model farm cultivation” could be adopted, which left room for mutual-aid agricultural production methods such as joint cultivation in the countryside after land equalization. Around 1929, the Soviet Areas in Hunan-Hubei-Jiangxi, the Hubei-Henan border, and Southwest Jiangxi had implemented a joint cultivation system. [18]18 “Report on the Work of the Southwest Jiangxi Soviet Area” (1929), in *Central Soviet Area Historical Materials*, vol. 2, p. 34.

1928年，毛泽东领导制定的《井冈山土地法》中就涉及到共耕问题。该土地法中规定的苏维埃政府分配土地的方法主要有：分配农民个别耕种；分配农民共同耕种；由苏维埃政府组织模范农场耕种。以上三种方法，以第一种为主体。遇特别情形，或苏维埃政府有力时，兼用二三两种。虽强调以农民“个别耕种”生产模式为主，但又指出“遇特别情形”或“政府有力”时，可采用“共同耕种”和“模范农场耕种”，这为土地平分后乡村实行共耕等互助型农业生产方式预留了空间。1929年前后，湘鄂赣、鄂豫边和赣西南苏区曾实行共耕制度。

Through the analysis of documentary materials, it can be seen that the practices or designs surrounding “joint cultivation” in some Soviet Areas at that time roughly had two plans:

通过对文献资料的分析可见，当时部分苏区围绕“共同耕种”的实践或设计大致有两种方案：

First, joint labor but unequal distribution of products. After equal distribution of land, when villages encountered enemy burning and looting, a lack of farm tools and draft animals, and other circumstances, it was necessary for “several or a dozen peasants to organize and farm together.” [19]19 The term “equal distribution of land” (平分土地) refers to the policy of confiscating land from landlords and distributing it equally among poor peasants and farm laborers, a core component of the CPC’s agrarian revolution during the Soviet Area period (1927–1937). This was a form of collective village production adopted “to avoid fields going to waste” under conditions where production difficulties in the village arose from enemy destruction or a lack of original means of production. Moreover, this “joint farming” “could be called a rural production cooperative, and could also be considered a form of the co-farming system,” but it involved “only joint production, not joint consumption.”

一是共同劳动但产品不均分。平分土地之后，乡村在遭遇敌人烧抢、缺乏农具耕牛等情况下，需要“几个或十几个农民组织起来，合伙耕种”。这是在因敌人破坏或原有生产资料缺乏导致乡村生产存在困难的情况下，“以免田园荒芜”而采取的乡村集体生产方式，且这种“合伙耕种”，“可说是一个农村生产合作社，也可以说是共耕制度的一种”，但“只共同生产而不共同消费”。

Second, joint labor and equal distribution of products. In 1930, the “Provisional Land Law” promulgated by the Youjiang Soviet Government stipulated that “if, during a certain period of military difficulty, there is a shortage of people to cultivate the land, the Soviet may designate the use of co-farming methods to resolve it.” [20]20 The Youjiang Soviet Government was a revolutionary base area established in the Guangxi region in 1929, led by Deng Xiaoping and others. The subsequently promulgated “Co-farming Regulations” stipulated that all land in the township was to be managed by the Soviet government; all people in the township “must be responsible for the production work on all the land in the township”; all farming tools in the township, such as plows, harrows, and draft animals, were to be entirely managed by the township Soviet government; the township Soviet government “is responsible for calculating the quantity of agricultural and sideline products produced on the township’s land, and for counting the population, and distributing them according to the principle of equal distribution”; surplus agricultural products “are entirely to be stored and managed by the Soviet government, to be used for emergencies, or as Soviet administrative expenses and for the construction of public utilities.”

二是共同劳动且产品平分。1930年，右江苏维埃政府颁布的《土地法暂行条例》中规定，“如在某种军事困难时期，乏人耕种土地时，可由苏维埃指定用共耕的办法以解决之”。随后颁布的《共耕条例》，规定全乡土地归苏维埃政府管理；全乡民众“均要负责全乡所有土地的生产工作”；全乡所有耕作工具如犁耙、耕牛等，完全归乡苏维埃政府管理；乡苏维埃政府“负责计算全乡土地生产的农产品及副产品的数量，及统计人口，按照平分的原则分配”；剩余农产品“完全归苏维埃政 [府 ]贮积管 [理 ]，以备不时之需，或作苏维埃政费及建设公共事业之事用”。

However, the basic prerequisite for realizing co-farming was that the land be “entirely managed by the Soviet government, with the Land Committee and the Economic Committee jointly responsible,” but this was not a universal phenomenon at the time. In 1931, Deng Xiaoping pointed out in his “Report on the Work of the Seventh Red Army”: “As a result of land distribution in Donglan and Fengshan, co-farming existed in only two townships; in most places, land was equally distributed.” [21]21 Deng Xiaoping (1904–1997) was a key CPC leader; at this time he was the political commissar of the Seventh Red Army. Donglan and Fengshan are counties in Guangxi. Therefore, the co-farming system did not have sufficient social conditions under the historical circumstances of the time. In 1930, the Central Committee of the CPC decided: “The co-farming system must only be implemented when it is unavoidable (for example, when poor peasants receive land but lack sufficient farm tools), and it should be carried out through voluntary contracts made by the peasants themselves—it should not be enforced by the government,” opposing “the forced implementation of the co-farming system.” Viewed from historical reality, the co-farming practice at this time was merely an exploration of agricultural labor mutual aid conducted by some Soviet areas, drawing on the Soviet Union’s experience and combining it with their own realities; it was not widely implemented. Nevertheless, it reflected the early exploration of collective village production methods by the Chinese Communist Party under the premise of equal land distribution and still holds positive historical significance.

然而，实现共耕的基本前提，是土地“完全归苏维埃政府管理，由土地委员会协同经济委员会负责”，但这在当时并非普遍现象。1931年，邓小平在《七军工作报告》中指出：“东兰、凤山分配土地的结果，共耕仅有两乡、多数地方是平分土地。”因此，共耕制度在当时的历史条件下并不具备充分的社会条件。1930年，中共中央决定：“共耕制度，必须是不得已的时候（例如贫农分得土地而没有充分的耕具的时候），由自愿的农民自己订立契约去实行，——不应当由政府强迫行施”，反对“勉强的实行共耕制度”。从历史实际来看，此时的共耕实践还只是部分苏区借鉴苏联经验并结合自身实际而进行的一种农业劳动互助的探索，并没有普遍开展起来。尽管如此，它反映了土地平分前提下中国共产党早期对乡村集体生产方式的探索，仍有积极的历史意义。

III. The Advocacy of the “Spring Plowing Campaign” and “Farming Mutual Aid”

三、“春耕运动”与“耕种互助”的倡导

To solve the difficulties in agricultural production and promote rural economic development, starting in 1931, the Chinese Communist Party advocated rural “farming mutual aid” within the “Spring Plowing Campaign.”

为解决农业生产困难，推动乡村经济发展，自 1931年开始，中国共产党在“春耕运动”中倡导乡村“耕种互助”。

In 1931, Mao Zedong pointed out in his “Report on the Investigation of Caixi Township” that the main method of “adjusting the labor force” in Caixi Township was “labor cooperatives and farming teams. Their task was to help Red Army families and promote mutual aid among the masses.” [22]22 Caixi Township is a township in Shanghang County, Fujian Province, part of the Central Soviet Area. Mao Zedong conducted a famous investigation there in 1933. On May 5, Mao Zedong and Zhu De issued an order requiring the Red Army to “immediately help the peasant friends transplant rice seedlings and plow fields in various places, provided it does not hinder combat and sentry duties.” On June 4, the Central Sub-Bureau of the Hubei-Henan-Anhui Soviet Area emphasized that “Party and League guard units, Young Pioneers, Children’s Corps, and Red soldiers resting locally should organize rice-transplanting teams, under the guidance of the Soviet, to help the peasants transplant rice seedlings.” Whether farming teams or rice-transplanting teams, these were practical explorations by the Chinese Communist Party in adjusting relations of production and innovating production models to solve the difficulties in rural agricultural production at the time.

1931年，毛泽东在《才溪乡调查》中指出，才溪乡“调剂劳动力的主要方法，是劳动合作社与耕田队。其任务是帮助红属与群众互助”。5月 5日，毛泽东与朱德发布训令，要求红军“在不妨害作战及警戒情况下，应立时在各地帮助农友栽秧耕田”。6月4日，鄂豫皖中央分局强调，“党团守备队、少先队、童子团以及在当地休息的红色战士组织栽秧队，在苏维埃指导之下去帮助农人栽秧”。无论是耕田队还是栽秧队，都是中国共产党为解决当时乡村农业生产困难而在调整生产关系、创新生产模式方面进行的实践探索。

In January 1932, the Fourth Standing Committee Meeting of the Provisional Central Government of the Chinese Soviet Republic decided: “To increase the welfare of the masses and raise production in the Soviet areas, thereby increasing the strength for revolutionary development, it is decided to immediately launch a Spring Plowing Campaign.” [23]23 The Chinese Soviet Republic (1931–1937) was the state entity proclaimed by the CPC in the base areas, with its capital in Ruijin, Jiangxi. On February 8, the Provisional Central Soviet Government required that the Spring Plowing Campaign “be led by the Farm Laborers’ Union and the Poor Peasants’ League, and implement a ‘farming mutual aid’ movement during the spring plowing. Whether it be labor, draft animals, farm tools, or seeds, everyone should help each other, in order to appropriately solve the various difficult problems in the current spring plowing.” “All localities should mobilize the broad masses to enthusiastically help Red Army families with plowing and planting, and also cultivate the Red Army’s public fields. Local armed forces should, within the realm of possibility, also help the local masses with plowing and planting.”

1932年1月，中华苏维埃临时中央政府人民委员会第四次常委会决定：“为增加群众的福利，和提高苏区的生产，以增加革命发展的力量起见，决定在目前立即发动一个春耕运动。”2月 8日，苏维埃临时中央政府要求，春耕运动“由雇农工会贫农团来领导，在春耕中实行‘耕种互助’运动，无论人工、耕牛、农具、种子一概彼此帮助，以便适当的解决目前春耕中各种困难问题”，“各地要发动广大群众踊跃帮助红军家属耕种，并耕种红军公田，地方武装在可能范围内亦应帮助当地群众耕种”。

At this point, at the level of the Provisional Central Government of the Chinese Soviet Republic, the concept of rural agricultural production mutual aid and its work requirements were formally established: that is, local peasant associations would organize and adjust the labor force, and, under the premise of giving priority to ensuring the production of Red Army families, jointly promote rural agricultural production. Combining the aforementioned “Saturday Voluntary Labor” and the work of giving preferential treatment to the Red Army, it can be seen that the labor mutual aid advocated by the Soviet government during the Soviet Area period had both the economic significance of solving the shortage of production labor and promoting agricultural production, and the revolutionary mobilization significance of promoting rural class mutual aid and supporting the Red Army.

至此，在中华苏维埃临时中央政府层面，正式形成了乡村农业生产互助理念及其工作要求，即由当地农会来组织与调剂劳动力，在优先保障红军家属生产前提下，共同推动乡村农业生产。综合前文所述“礼拜六义务劳动”及红军优待工作可以看出，苏区时期苏维埃政府倡导的劳动互助既有解决生产劳动力缺乏、促进农业生产的经济意义，又有发扬乡村阶级互助、拥护红军的革命动员意义。

Following the advocacy and requirements of the Provisional Central Government, all localities attached great importance to “farming mutual aid.” In July 1931, the Second Congress of the Hubei-Henan-Anhui Soviet Area demanded, “Increase production so that not an inch of land in the Soviet area is left uncultivated. Organize production teams, appropriately mobilize manpower and cattle power to help places lacking manpower and cattle power with cultivation.” In May 1932, the First Congress of Workers, Peasants, and Soldiers of Jiangxi Province proposed, “The government should pay attention to various difficult problems in cultivation (such as draft animals, farm tools, fertilizer, capital, etc.), and constantly plan solutions, such as encouraging farming mutual aid.” However, facing the increasingly severe situation of military struggle, some governments still implemented the spring plowing orders “very inadequately,” mainly because “there was a lack of work to mobilize the masses, so it could not become a mass movement.” How to further realize the “farming mutual aid” of the masses in the Spring Plowing Campaign became an urgent problem to be solved in the Soviet areas at the time.

经临时中央政府的倡导与要求，各地高度重视“耕种互助”。1931年 7月，鄂豫皖苏区第二次代表大会要求，“增加生产使苏区的土地一寸不要荒了，组织生产队，适当调动人力牛力帮助人力牛力缺乏的地方耕种”。1932年 5月，江西省第一次工农兵苏维埃大会提出，“政府应当注意耕种中各种困难问题（如耕牛农具肥料资本等），经常来计划解决方法，如鼓励耕种互助”。但面对日益严峻的军事斗争形势，仍有部分政府对于春耕训令执行“极不充分”，主要在于“缺乏动员群众的工作以至不能成为群众的运动”。如何进一步实现春耕运动中群众的“耕种互助”，成为当时苏区亟待解决的问题。

To this end, governments at all levels adopted various measures to promote rural production, including disseminating agricultural knowledge, mobilizing the masses to increase production and income, and also making full use of methods such as “Saturday Voluntary Labor” and “farming mutual aid” to directly help the masses carry out agricultural production. On February 22, 1933, Wu Liangping, then Vice Minister of the Department of National Economy of the Provisional Central Government of the Chinese Soviet Republic, published an article in *Red China* introducing the assistance movement carried out in the Soviet Union, where urban workers and the Red Army “were sent to the countryside to help peasants materially, culturally, and labor-wise with the improvement, development, and collectivization of production.” [24]24 *Red China* (《红色中华》) was the official newspaper of the Chinese Soviet Republic. Subsequently, the article, combining it with the actual situation of the Central Soviet Area at the time, proposed that the assistance movement “should become one of the important methods for consolidating the worker-peasant alliance, used to help realize all our current combat tasks.” The article pointed out that relevant Party, government, and military organizations should “stipulate their own assistance to a nearby township or district,” and “should pay special attention to the cultivation of the Red Army’s public fields, organizing Saturday or special voluntary labor to help peasants with cultivation, first and foremost helping to cultivate the Red Army’s public fields.”

为此，各级政府采取多种措施推动乡村生产，包括传播农业知识、动员群众增产增收，亦包括充分利用“礼拜六义务劳动”“耕种互助”等方式直接帮助群众开展农业生产。1933年 2月 22日，时任中华苏维埃共和国临时中央政府国民经济部副部长吴亮平在《红色中华》发表文章，介绍了苏联开展的协助运动，即城市工人、红军“被派到农村中去，在物质上文化上劳动上帮助农民生产的改良、发展及集体化”。随后，文章又结合当时中央苏区实际，提出协助运动“应该成为巩固工农联合的重要方法之一，用来帮助实现我们目前的一切战斗任务”。文章指出，党政军相关组织应“规定自己对于附近某一乡或区举行协助”，且“应该特别注意红军公田的耕种，组织礼拜六或特别义务劳动来帮助农民耕种，首先是帮助耕种红军公田”。

In summary, it can be seen that, along with the continuous advancement of military struggle, the problem of the shortage of agricultural resources such as means of production and labor in Soviet area agricultural production became increasingly prominent. To solve this problem, the Chinese Communist Party, by carrying out “farming mutual aid” and launching the “Spring Plowing Campaign,” more effectively organized and mobilized the masses. While solving the difficulties of agricultural production and promoting agricultural development, it also consolidated revolutionary consensus and advanced the construction of base areas and revolutionary struggle in an integrated manner. During this period, the “assistance movement” advocated by the Soviet government was a way of drawing on the Soviet Union’s experience to strengthen “leadership and assistance to the peasants.” However, these “assistance movements” were not yet mature in concrete practice; “encouraging the peasant masses and organizing various forms of collective production and cooperation were still very weak and slow,” and large-scale rural “farming mutual aid” still needed to rely on specific economic organizations to achieve tangible results.

综上可见，伴随军事斗争的不断推进，苏区农业生产中生产资料、劳动力等农业资源缺乏问题日趋凸显。为解决这一问题，中国共产党通过开展“耕种互助”、发起“春耕运动”等，把群众更加有效地组织和动员起来，在解决农业生产困难、推动农业生产的同时凝聚了革命共识，一体推进根据地建设和革命斗争。期间，苏区政府倡导的“协助运动”，则是借鉴苏联经验来加强“对于农民的领导与帮助”。但这些“协助运动”在具体实践中还不够成熟，“鼓励农民群众，组织各种集体生产、合作的各种形式还是非常的薄弱与迟慢”，具有规模性的乡村“耕种互助”仍须借助具体的经济组织来落地见效。

IV. The Formation of Labor Mutual Aid Societies and Agricultural Production Mutual Aid in the Soviet Areas

四、劳动互助社与苏区农业生产互助的成型

In 1933, under vigorous advocacy and promotion, a variety of production mutual-aid organizations had already emerged in the Central Soviet Area. For instance, the Jiangxi Provincial Party Committee of the Chinese Communist Party convened a meeting of representatives from all provincial-level organs and work units, “discussing the organization of plowing teams” to assist the families of Red Army soldiers with spring plowing; the Political Department of the General Rear-Service Station’s rear branch organized spring-plowing teams “to go to the outskirts to help with spring plowing”; the Fourth Red Army Hospital organized spring-plowing shock brigades “to help peasants plow fields, chop firewood, carry manure, and cut grass.” However, at this time, organizations such as spring-plowing teams, plowing teams, and shock brigades were still, in nature, a form of production assistance provided by Party, government, and military cadres to the rural masses, and were not yet mature and stable mutual-aid and cooperative mechanisms; their degree of institutionalization and organization was not high.

1933年，在大力倡导与推动下，中央苏区已出现多种生产互助组织。比如，中共江西省委召集省级各机关工作人员代表开会，“讨论组织耕田队”来帮助红军家属春耕；总兵站后方分站政治部组织春耕队“到郊外帮助春耕”；红军第四医院组织春耕突击队“帮助农民犁田，砍柴，挑粪，割草”。只不过此时春耕队、耕田队、突击队等组织，从性质上看仍属于党政军干部对乡村群众的生产协助，还不是成熟稳定的互助合作机制，制度化和组织化程度不高。

Practice proved that to effectively solve the difficulties of agricultural production and develop the rural economy, relying solely on occasional and temporary assistance and mutual aid between Party members, cadres, and peasants was far from sufficient. It was also necessary to further raise the level of organization and institutionalization of labor mutual aid, expand its scope, and enable labor mutual aid to develop to a higher level in both depth and breadth. Against this backdrop, labor mutual-aid societies emerged as the times required. In 1933, the Land Department of the Central Government promulgated the “Outline for the Organization of Labor Mutual-Aid Societies,” stipulating that labor mutual-aid societies “are organizations in the countryside where peasants help each other with work, in a planned way to regulate the rural labor force.” This method “has an especially great effect during the busiest agricultural seasons of the year, such as transplanting rice seedlings and harvesting grain.” At the same time, under the influence of this method, “the spirit of class mutual aid among the masses was cultivated.” In June 1933, the West Fujian Soviet Government demanded that the land departments of every county and district “must immediately urge villages that have not yet organized labor mutual-aid societies to organize them promptly in accordance with the Outline for the Organization of Labor Mutual-Aid Societies in the Soviet Areas promulgated by the Central Government. The township government must convene meetings of the township agricultural union, the poor peasant league, and the representative assembly, etc., to explain and propagandize the benefits of mutual-aid societies to the masses in detail, so that every person in the masses understands that mutual-aid societies are the most effective method for regulating the surplus and shortage of rural labor power, and that they have an enormous role in the autumn harvest and autumn plowing; it must ensure that everyone joins the society voluntarily, but coercion and commandism are not permitted. In the past, although counties such as Changting had such mutual-aid organizations (during the busy autumn harvest season, several families would practice labor mutual aid, commonly called ‘pairing up’), their scope was very small, and they lacked the spirit of class mutual aid. You must expand the mutual-aid societies, and, according to the differences in the timing of grain harvesting, have mutual-aid societies from different villages and townships sign mutual-aid contracts with each other, carrying out a broad class mutual-aid movement.”

实践证明，要有效解决农业生产困难、发展农村经济，单靠党员、干部与农民之间偶发性、临时性的帮扶互助是远远不够的，还必须进一步提高劳动互助的组织化和制度化程度，扩大劳动互助的范围，让劳动互助在深度和广度上都向更高层级发展。在这样的背景下，劳动互助社应运而生。1933年，中央政府土地部颁布《劳动互助社组织纲要》，规定劳动互助社“是在农村中农民互相帮助做工，有计划的去调剂农村中的劳动力”，这个办法“特别是在一年中几个农事最忙的季节，如莳田、割禾等有极大的作用”，同时在这个办法影响下，“养成了群众的阶级互助精神”。1933年 6月，闽西苏维埃政府要求各县区土地部，“必须立即催动尚未组织劳动互助社的乡村，按照中央所颁布的苏区劳动互助社的组织纲要，马上进行组织。乡政府必须召集乡农业工会、贫农团与代表会等，把互助社的好处，对群众作详细的宣传解释，使每个群众都了解互助社是调剂农村劳动力多余与不足最有效的办法，在秋收秋耕是有其极大的作用；要使每个人都自愿入社，但不许强迫命令。过去如长汀等县虽有这样互助组织（在秋收农忙几家实行劳动互助，俗叫‘搭伴’），可是范围很小，具 [俱 ]缺乏阶级互助的精神。你们必须把互助 [社 ]扩大，按割禾时间的迟早；乡与乡村的互助社，双方互订帮助合同，进行广泛的阶级的互助运动”。

Labor mutual-aid societies were a relatively mature organizational form that emerged after continuous exploration and adjustment of the agricultural labor mutual-aid production model during the Soviet Area period. They not only expanded the subjects of labor mutual aid—extending from mutual aid between Party members and peasants to mutual aid between Party members and peasants, and between peasants and peasants—but also significantly improved the degree of institutionalization, organization, and regularization.

劳动互助社，是苏区时期农业劳动互助生产模式经过不断探索和调适后形成的较为成熟的组织形态，不仅扩大了劳动互助的主体，由党员与农民的互助拓展到党员和农民、农民和农民之间的互助，而且制度化、组织化、正规化程度也得到明显提升。

On the one hand, labor mutual-aid societies achieved broader mass mobilization. As an article in *Red China* [25]25 *Red China* (*Hongse Zhonghua*) was the official newspaper of the Central Executive Committee of the Chinese Soviet Republic, published from 1931 to 1937. at the time analyzed: “Given that ‘every year during the autumn harvest, the greatest difficulty the peasant masses feel is the shortage of labor power,’ ‘we must correct past shortcomings, mobilize the broad masses of workers and peasants, universally propose an assistance movement, organize labor mutual-aid societies in accordance with the directive of the Land Department of the Central Government, so that the peasant masses enthusiastically organize the scattered labor power of a village, a township, or a hamlet, assist each other, and carry out the autumn harvest movement in a planned way.’” From the original assistance provided by Party, government, and military personnel to the countryside, it expanded to mutual aid among the peasant masses themselves; the subjects of mutual aid were greatly broadened, the enthusiasm and initiative of the peasant masses for production were aroused, and the structure of rural labor resources was further integrated and optimized.

一方面，劳动互助社实现了更为广泛的民众动员。正如当时《红色中华》的一篇文章所分析的：鉴于“每年的秋收，农民群众最感觉困难的就是劳动力的缺乏”，“我们必须纠正过去的缺点，要发动广大工农群众，普遍的提出协助运动，依照中央政府土地部训令，组织劳动互助社，使农民群众热烈的把一乡一村一屋的分散的劳动力组织起来，互相协助，有计划的来进行秋收运动”。由原来的党政军工作人员对乡村的协助，扩大到农民群众之间的互助，互助主体大大拓展了，农民群众生产的积极性、主动性也被激发起来，乡村劳动力资源结构得到进一步整合和优化。

On the other hand, labor mutual-aid societies were a relatively mature and complete form of rural mutual-aid work formed after long-term continuous practical exploration. They played a positive role in cultivating new labor habits among the masses, constructing mutual aid among multiple classes in the countryside, and achieving broader rural mobilization. Labor mutual-aid societies were “organizations for the masses to help each other with plowing and harvesting.” They not only realized the organization of the masses for collective production, thereby effectively ensuring agricultural production, but also mobilized the masses to participate in the work of consolidating and developing the Red Army, enabling the Red Army and the masses to jointly devote themselves to the Soviet revolution and the construction of the Soviet areas, providing a strong guarantee for the development of the revolutionary cause.

另一方面，劳动互助社是经过长期不断实践探索后形成的较为成熟和完善的农村互助工作形态，在培养群众新的劳动习惯、构建乡村多阶级之间的互助、实现更为广泛的乡村动员等方面，起到了积极作用。劳动互助社是群众“互相帮助耕种与收获的组织”，既实现了组织群众进行集体生产从而有力保证了农业生产，又动员群众参与巩固和发展红军的工作，使红军、民众共同致力于苏维埃革命和苏区建设的发展，为革命事业的发展提供了有力保障。

The promulgation of the “Outline for the Organization of Labor Mutual-Aid Societies” in 1933, combined with the promotion of the Soviet government, led to a relatively rapid trend of scaled development of agricultural labor mutual-aid organizations in the Soviet areas. During the “spring-plowing movement” of 1934, the Central Committee of the CPC demanded that “the experience of last year must be applied, and a labor mutual-aid society organized in every village.” In 1934, during the autumn harvest movement in the various districts of Ruijin, more than 10,000 new members were added to the labor mutual-aid societies, half of whom were women, double the number developed during the spring and summer plowing; 260 women’s production study groups were also established, developing more than 3,000 group members. In Xijiang County, the total number of labor mutual-aid society members had grown to 23,774. In Xingguo County, 329 labor mutual-aid societies were established, developing 18,220 members.

1933年《劳动互助社组织纲要》的出台，加上苏维埃政府的推动，使苏区农业劳动互助组织呈现了较为迅速的规模化发展势头。1934年“春耕运动”期间，中共中央要求，“须应用去年的经验，在每个村组织一个劳动互助社”。1934年，瑞金各区在秋收运动中，新增加劳动互助社社员 1万余名，妇女占半数，超过春夏耕种发展数量的一倍，还成立了 260个妇女生产学习组，发展组员 3000多名；西江县全县劳动互助社员已发展到 23774名；兴国建立劳动互助社 329个，发展社员18220名。

The development of labor mutual-aid societies achieved the goal of broadly mobilizing the masses to actively engage in agricultural production and to cooperate with the military struggle of the time, and also enhanced the masses’ sense of identification with the Party and the Soviet regime. For example, in Guanshan Township, Xiaxiao District, Ruijin, during the autumn harvest period, some peasants stated that “they must manage the fields of Red Army families even better than their own, and decided to harvest the grain of Red Army families first.” As a result, the agricultural production of Red Army families “not only did not suffer any adverse effects, but was further expanded and improved.” As the family members wrote in letters to the soldiers at the front: the worker and peasant masses, rear-area troops, and organ personnel “during the spring plowing, summer plowing, and autumn harvest, organized plowing teams, grain-harvesting teams, and labor mutual-aid societies to help us with plowing and harvesting”; “Set your minds at ease! There is not a single thing at home for you to worry about; the Soviets have given us everything”; “You should fight to the end for the Soviet movement! Work even harder, a thousand times harder, to kill the enemy! More swiftly overthrow the imperialists and the Guomindang, and strive for the complete victory of the revolutionary war!”

劳动互助社的发展，实现了广泛动员群众积极开展农业生产以及配合当时军事斗争的目的，也提升了群众对党和苏维埃政权的认同感。比如，瑞金下肖区官山乡在秋收期间，有农民表示“一定要把红属的田禾管理得比自己更好，并决定首先割红属的禾”。如此一来，红军家庭的农业生产“不但不发生不好的影响，而且更加扩大了改良了”。正如家属们给前方战士书信中所写：工农群众、后方部队及机关人员“在春耕夏耕及秋收的时候，他们组织了耕田队，割禾队，劳动互助社来帮助我们耕种收割”；“你们安心罢！家中没有一件事要你们挂念的，苏维埃给了我们一切”；“你们应该为苏维埃运动而奋斗到底！更要努力，千百倍的努力杀敌！更迅速的推翻帝国主义国民党争取革命战争的全部胜利！”

V. Conclusion

五、小结

In summary, during the Soviet Area period, based on the practical needs of rural and agricultural development, and drawing on the experience of Soviet Russia (the Soviet Union), the Chinese Communist Party, in light of the specific realities of the Soviet areas, actively explored and practiced agricultural labor mutual aid. “Saturday voluntary labor,” [26]26 “Saturday voluntary labor” (*libai liu yiwu laodong*) refers to a practice, inspired by the Soviet model, where Party and government cadres, Red Army soldiers, and other personnel performed unpaid labor for the benefit of Red Army families or the community on Saturdays. “joint cultivation,” “cultivation mutual aid,” and “labor mutual-aid societies” were all forms of mutual aid and cooperation that emerged in practice. By sorting through the Chinese Communist Party’s exploration of agricultural labor mutual aid during the Soviet Area period, it is not difficult to see that although the labor mutual-aid societies of this period were still in the stage of initial development and exploration, they achieved certain successes in promoting agricultural production and the development of the revolutionary cause in the Soviet areas. This provided experience for the Chinese Communist Party’s subsequent leadership of production mutual-aid movements, and also offers a useful perspective for understanding multiple issues such as mass mobilization, military-civilian relations, the peasant movement, and rural governance under the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party during the Soviet Area period.

综上所述，苏区时期中国共产党基于农村和农业发展的现实需要，在借鉴苏俄（联）经验的基础上，结合苏区具体实际，在农业劳动互助方面进行了积极探索和实践。“礼拜六义务劳动”“共同耕种”“耕种互助”“劳动互助社”等，都是在实践中出现的互助合作形式。通过梳理苏区时期中国共产党关于农业劳动互助的探索，不难发现，这一时期的劳动互助社尽管尚处于初步发展和探索阶段，但在推动苏区农业生产和革命事业的发展等方面取得了一定的成就。这为后来中国共产党领导开展生产互助运动提供了经验借鉴，也为我们理解苏区时期中国共产党领导下的群众动员、军民关系、农民运动和乡村治理等多重问题提供了有益视角。

(Author: Geng Lei, Associate Professor, School of History and Culture, Northwest Minzu University)

（作者：耿磊，西北民族大学历史文化学院副教授）

Online Editor: Tongxin

网络编辑：同心