Mao Zedong’s Practical Exploration of China’s Rural Land Question (1924–1949)

The main reliance of China’s anti-imperialist and anti-feudal New Democratic Revolution was the peasantry. Whether the broad masses of peasants could be won over and mobilized to participate in revolutionary practice directly determined the success or failure of the Chinese revolution. In the course of leading China’s revolutionary practice, the Communist Party of China gradually came to recognize that in semi-feudal and semi-colonial old China, feudalism was the foundation of the rule of imperialism and the bureaucratic-comprador class; destroying this foundation would shake the rule of imperialism and the bureaucratic-comprador class in old China. To accomplish this revolutionary task, it was necessary to rely on the broad masses of the people, especially the peasants, who made up more than 80 percent of China’s population. How the Chinese proletariat could lead the broad peasant masses in agrarian revolution found no ready-made answer in the works of Marx and Engels. Although Lenin raised the point that the proletariat in Eastern countries should focus on leading the peasant revolutionary struggle, the young Communist Party of China did not yet have sufficient experience in leading the peasant revolutionary struggle. In the course of leading the Chinese revolution, proceeding from China’s revolutionary practice and concrete realities, Mao Zedong integrated the basic principles of Marxism with China’s concrete realities, engaged in profound reflection on the peasant land question, and made incisive expositions. From 1924, when he began to pay attention to the rural and peasant question, to 1927, when he wrote the “Report on an Investigation of the Peasant Movement in Hunan,” and thereafter, in different historical periods and stages of the Chinese revolution, Mao Zedong put forward a series of lines, principles, and policies for resolving the land question, making outstanding contributions to the victory of the Chinese revolution.

中国反帝反封建的新民主主义革命的主要依靠力量是农民，能否得到广大农民的支持、动员广大农民参与革命实践，直接关系中国革命成败。在领导中国革命实践过程中，中国共产党逐渐认识到在半封建半殖民地的旧中国，封建主义是帝国主义、官僚买办阶级统治的基础，摧毁这个基础也就动摇了帝国主义、官僚买办阶级在旧中国的统治，而要完成这一革命任务，就必须依靠广大人民群众，尤其是占中国人口80%以上的农民。中国无产阶级如何领导广大农民进行土地革命，在马克思、恩格斯著作中找不到现成答案，列宁虽然提出了东方国家无产阶级要注重领导农民革命斗争，但是幼年的中国共产党并没有领导农民革命斗争的足够经验。毛泽东在领导中国革命的过程中，从中国革命实践和具体实际出发，把马克思主义基本原理和中国具体实际结合起来，对农民土地问题进行了深邃思考，做了精辟论述。从1924年起关注农村农民问题，到1927年撰写《湖南农民运动考察报告》，此后，在中国革命不同历史时期和阶段，毛泽东提出了一系列解决土地问题的路线、方针和政策，为中国革命取得胜利作出卓越贡献。

I. During the Great Revolution: “The Peasant Question Is the Central Question of the National Revolution” [1]1 The Great Revolution (1924–1927) refers to the first period of Kuomintang-Communist cooperation, during which the Northern Expedition was launched against the warlords.

一、大革命时期：“农民问题乃国民革命的中心问题”

In a revolution led by the proletariat, whether the question of allies can be correctly resolved directly determines the success or failure of the struggle. Mao Zedong said: “Who are our enemies? Who are our friends? This is a question of the first importance for the revolution.” [2]2 This quotation is from Mao Zedong’s 1926 article “Analysis of the Classes in Chinese Society.” Lenin once called this question “the most fundamental and most important question” in revolution. [3]3 Lenin’s formulation is drawn from his writings on the national and colonial questions. In semi-colonial and semi-feudal old China, the peasants, who made up over 80 percent of the population, became the main motive force of the revolution. However, early Chinese Communists did not recognize that the peasants were the main force of the Chinese revolution, nor did they recognize that without helping the peasants overthrow the feudal landlord class, it would be impossible to form a powerful revolutionary force in China and overthrow imperialist rule. In this regard, when Mao Zedong spoke with Edgar Snow in 1936, recalling his time in Hunan in 1925, he said: “I had not previously fully realized the degree of class struggle among the peasantry, but after the May 30th Incident of 1925, and in the ensuing wave of political activity, the Hunan peasants became very militant.” [4]4 The May 30th Movement of 1925 was a nationwide anti-imperialist movement sparked by the killing of Chinese protesters by British police in Shanghai.

在无产阶级领导的革命中，能否正确解决同盟军问题，直接关系到斗争成败。毛泽东说：“谁是我们的朋友，谁是我们的敌人，这是革命的首要问题。”列宁曾经把这一问题称为革命中“最根本最重大的问题”。在半殖民地半封建的旧中国，占据人口80%以上的农民成为革命的主要动力，但早期中国共产党人没有认识到农民是中国革命的主力军，没有认识到如果不帮助农民推翻封建地主阶级，就不能组成中国革命的强大队伍而推翻帝国主义的统治。对此，1936年毛泽东在同斯诺谈话时回忆起1925年自己在湖南期间的情况时说：“以前我没有充分认识到农民中间的阶级斗争的程度，但是在一九二九年五卅惨案以后，以及在继之而起的政治活动的巨浪中，湖南农民变得非常富有战斗性。”

During the period of Kuomintang-Communist cooperation from 1919 to 1924, Mao Zedong gained a preliminary understanding of the importance of the peasant land question. In June 1923, at the Third National Congress of the Party, Mao Zedong for the first time put forward the important view of “mobilizing the peasants and relying on the peasants.” He “pointed out to the congress that the number of workers in Hunan was very small, and the number of Kuomintang members and Communist Party members was even smaller, but the mountains and fields were covered with peasants; therefore, he concluded that in any revolution, the peasant question is the most important.” [5]5 The Third National Congress of the CPC was held in Guangzhou in June 1923. On March 16, 1926, Mao Zedong, serving as a member of the Hunan Peasant Movement Committee, gave a lecture to students of the Peasant Movement Training Institute on the Chinese peasant question. In his lecture notes, summarizing the history of Chinese peasant struggles, especially the historical experience since the Revolution of 1911, Mao Zedong profoundly pointed out: “Before this, the Chinese revolutionary parties had not paid attention to studying the peasant question. The reason the Revolution of 1911 and the May 30th Movement failed was that ‘they completely failed to obtain the help and support of the three hundred and twenty million peasants.’” [6]6 The Revolution of 1911 overthrew the Qing dynasty and established the Republic of China. “The goal of the national revolution is to resolve the problems of the various classes—workers, peasants, merchants, students, and soldiers; if the peasant question cannot be resolved, then the problems of the other classes cannot be resolved either.” On September 1, 1926, in the preface titled “The National Revolution and the Peasant Movement” written for the *Peasant Question Series*, Mao Zedong further stated: “The peasant question is the central question of the national revolution. If the peasants do not rise up to participate in and support the national revolution, the national revolution will not succeed.” “The rural feudal class is the only solid foundation of the domestic ruling class and the foreign imperialists. Without shaking this foundation, it is absolutely impossible to shake the superstructure built upon it.” [7]7 The *Peasant Question Series* was a publication of the Peasant Movement Training Institute. At the same time, Mao Zedong hoped that a large number of comrades would resolve to carry out the immense work of organizing the peasants. Mao Zedong vividly stated: “Party cadres must go to the villages you are familiar with or unfamiliar with, in summer bearing the scorching sun, in winter braving the bitter wind and snow, taking the peasants by the hand, asking them what their sufferings are, asking them what they want. From their sufferings and needs, guide them to organize; guide them to struggle against the local tyrants and evil gentry; guide them to cooperate with urban workers, students, and small merchants to establish a united front; guide them to participate in the anti-imperialist and anti-warlord national revolutionary movement.” [8]8 The Peasant Movement Training Institute was a CPC-led institution in Guangzhou that trained cadres for rural work.

1919年到1924年国共合作时期，毛泽东对农民土地问题的重要性有了初步认识。1923年6月，毛泽东在党的三大上首次提出“发动农民，依靠农民”的重要观点。他“向大会指出，湖南工人数量很少，国民党员和共产党员更少，可是漫山遍野都是农民，因而他得出结论，任何革命，农民问题都是最重要的”。1926年3月16日，担任湖南农民运动委员会委员的毛泽东在为农民运动讲习所学生讲授中国农民问题的讲稿中，总结了中国农民斗争的历史，特别是辛亥革命以来的历史经验，毛泽东深刻指出：“在此之前，中国革命党人都没有注意研究农民问题，辛亥革命、五卅运动之所以失败，在于‘完全未得三万万二千万之农民来帮助和拥护’”“国民革命的目标，是要解决工农商学兵得各阶级问题；设不能解决农民问题，则各阶级问题也无由解决。”1926年9月1日，毛泽东在为《农民问题丛刊》写题为《国民革命与农民运动》序言中进一步讲：“农民问题乃是国民革命的中心问题，农民不起来参加并拥护国民革命，国民革命不会成功。”“农村封建阶级，乃其国内统治阶级国外帝国主义之惟一坚实的基础，不动摇这个基础，便万万不能动摇这个基础的上层建筑。”同时，毛泽东希望能有大批同志下决心去做组织农民的浩大工作。毛泽东形象地讲：“党员干部要跑到你那熟悉的或不熟悉的乡村中间去，夏天晒着酷热的太阳，冬天冒着严寒的风雪，挽着农民的手，问他们痛苦些甚么，问他们要些甚么。从他们的痛苦与需要中，引导他们组织起来；引导他们向土豪劣绅争斗；引导他们与城市的工人学生中小商人合作，建立起联合战线；引导他们参与反帝国主义反军阀的国民革命运动。”

In November 1926, Mao Zedong left Guangzhou for Shanghai and assumed the post of Secretary of the Central Committee’s Peasant Movement Committee, taking unified leadership of the peasant movement. Upon arriving in Shanghai, Mao Zedong immediately drafted the “Current Plan for the Peasant Movement” and in late November investigated the peasant movement situation in the Yangtze River region. Mao Zedong sharply criticized the view that “the two provinces (Jiangsu and Zhejiang) are peaceful and prosperous regions, and the peasants suffer no great hardship,” listing a series of incidents in which peasants in Jiangsu and Zhejiang spontaneously opposed cruel feudal oppression. On December 1, the First Provincial Peasant Congress of Hunan sent a telegram inviting Mao Zedong to Hunan to guide the congress. At that time, the Hunan peasant movement was developing rapidly under the impetus of the Northern Expedition. In 55 counties across the province, peasant associations had been established, with membership exceeding 1.3 million. Peasant associations in various localities launched struggles against local tyrants, evil gentry, and lawless landlords. The right wing of the Kuomintang and the local tyrants and evil gentry were terrified by the rapidly developing peasant movement, attacking and slandering it, calling the peasant movement a “ruffian movement” and a “movement of lazy peasants,” and saying the peasant movement was “terrible.” [9]9 “Local tyrants and evil gentry” (土豪劣绅) was a standard CPC term for the rural landlord class and its political representatives. The Party’s main leader, Chen Duxiu, opposed the views of comrades from the Hunan Provincial Committee on resolving the peasant land question, instead accusing them of suffering from “left-wing infantilism.” [10]10 Chen Duxiu was the first General Secretary of the CPC (1921–1927) and was later criticized for right-opportunist errors during the Great Revolution. “Left-wing infantilism” was a term used by Lenin to describe ultra-leftist deviations.

1926年11月，毛泽东离开广州到上海，出任中共中央农民运动委员会书记，统一领导农民运动。到达上海后，毛泽东便立即起草《目前农运计划》，并于11月下旬考察了长江一带农民运动情况。毛泽东严厉地批评了“以为两省（江浙）乃太平富庶之区，农民并无多大痛苦”的说法，列举了一系列江浙农民自发反对残酷的封建压榨的事件。12月1日，湖南全省第一次农民代表大会电请毛泽东到湖南大会进行指导。当时，湖南农民运动在北伐战争推动下发展迅速。全省各县中有55县成立了农民协会，农民协会会员已达130多万，各地农民协会开展了打击土豪劣绅和不法地主的斗争。国民党右派和土豪劣绅被迅猛发展的农民运动吓破了胆，攻击和谩骂农民运动，说农民运动是“痞子运动”“惰农运动”，说农民运动“糟得很”。党的主要负责人陈独秀反对湖南区委同志提出解决农民土地问题的意见，反而说他们犯了“左稚病”。

In order to answer the various criticisms and hesitations regarding the peasant movement both inside and outside the Party, Mao Zedong, from 4 January to 5 February 1927, conducted a 32-day, 700-li [11]11 A *li* is a traditional Chinese unit of distance, approximately 0.5 kilometers or 0.3 miles. inspection of the peasant movement in five counties of Hunan: Xiangtan, Xiangxiang, Hengshan, Liling and Changsha. During these 32 days, Mao witnessed the upsurge of the peasant movement and foresaw that “in a very short time, several hundred million peasants will rise from the central, southern and northern provinces of China, with the force of a hurricane and a violent storm, so swift and fierce that no force, however great, can suppress them. All imperialism, warlords, corrupt officials, local tyrants and evil gentry will be buried in their graves.” On 16 February of the same year, Mao wrote a report to the Central Committee of the CPC on the situation of his inspection of the Hunan peasant movement, stating that “the peasant question is only a question of the poor peasants, and the poor peasant question has two aspects, namely the capital question and the land question. Both of these are no longer questions of propaganda but questions to be implemented immediately.” Mao noted that “now the masses are leaning to the left, and in many places our Party shows itself not commensurate with the revolutionary sentiment of the masses”; therefore, he suggested that the Central Committee adopt a new policy of agrarian revolution. In March, Mao wrote the *Report on an Investigation of the Peasant Movement in Hunan*, highly praising the burgeoning peasant movement, pointing out: “This great mass of poor peasants, together constituting 70 per cent of the rural population, are the backbone of the peasant associations, the vanguard in overthrowing the feudal forces, and the meritorious achievers of the great revolutionary undertaking that has not been accomplished for many years. Without the poor peasant class (in the words of the gentry, without the ‘riffraff’), it would be absolutely impossible to create the present revolutionary situation in the countryside, absolutely impossible to overthrow the local tyrants and evil gentry and complete the democratic revolution.” “Without the poor peasants, there would be no revolution. To deny them is to deny the revolution. To attack them is to attack the revolution. Their general revolutionary direction has never been wrong.” This work of Mao’s on the peasant question theoretically expounded the significance of carrying out the peasant revolution, practically put forward the idea that the peasants are the main force of the revolution, clearly refuted the erroneous arguments of the so-called “riffraff movement” and “lazy peasant movement,” and reminded “all revolutionary comrades to know: the national revolution requires a great rural transformation. The Revolution of 1911 [12]12 The Revolution of 1911 overthrew the Qing dynasty and established the Republic of China, but failed to address the land question or mobilize the peasantry. lacked this change, so it failed. Now that this change has occurred, it is an important factor in the completion of the revolution.”

为回答党内外对农民运动的各种非议和观望，毛泽东从1927年1月4日至2月5日，在湖南的湘潭、湘乡、衡山、醴陵、长沙五县考察农民运动，历时32天，行程700余里。在这32天中，毛泽东目睹了农民运动高涨，并预感到“很短的时间内，将有几万万农民从中国中部、南部和北部各省，其势如暴风骤雨，迅猛异常，无论什么大的力量都将压抑不住。一切帝国主义、军阀、贪官污吏、土豪劣绅，都将被他们葬入坟墓”。同年2月16日，毛泽东就考察湖南农民运动的情况写报告给中共中央，认为“农民问题只是一个贫农问题，而贫农问题有二个，即资本问题与土地问题。这两个都已经不是宣传的问题而是要立即实行的问题了”。毛泽东注意到“现在是群众向左，我们党在许多地方都是表示不与群众的革命情绪相称”，因此，他建议中央实行新的土地革命政策。3月，毛泽东写出《湖南农民运动考察报告》，高度赞扬蓬勃兴起的农民运动，指出：“这个贫农大群众，合共占农村人口百分之七十，乃是农民协会的中坚，打倒封建势力的先锋，成就那多年未曾成就的革命大业的元勋，没有贫农阶级（照绅士的话说，就是没有‘痞子’），绝不能造成现时农村的革命状态，绝不能打倒土豪劣绅，完成民主革命。”“没有贫农，便没有革命。若否认他们，便是否认革命。若打击他们，便是打击革命。他们的革命大方向始终没有错。”毛泽东这篇关于农民问题的著作，在理论上阐述了开展农民革命的重要意义，在实践中提出了农民是革命的主要力量的思想，旗帜鲜明地驳斥了所谓“痞子运动”“惰农运动”的错误议论，提醒“一切革命同志须知：国民革命需要一个大的农村变革。辛亥革命没有这个变动，所以失败了。现在有了这个变动，乃是革命完成的重要因素”。

From 10 to 17 March 1927, the Kuomintang held the Third Plenary Session of its Second Central Executive Committee in Hankou, which decided to establish a Central Land Committee, and Mao Zedong was elected as one of its five members. The session adopted the *Declaration to the Peasants* and the *Resolution on the Peasant Question*. The *Declaration to the Peasants* pointed out: “The peasant question in China, in its content, is a question of the poor peasants.” “The central question of the poor peasant question is a land question.” Mao put forward a series of propositions on the peasant question (including the land question), including the confiscation of landlords’ land. Mao said: “So-called land confiscation means no rent payment, and no other method is needed. Now the peasant movement in Hunan and Hubei has reached a high tide; they have already stopped paying rent on their own, and have seized political power on their own. The solution to China’s land question should first have facts, and then use law to recognize them.” On 9 April 1927, Mao assumed the post of Standing Committee member of the Provisional Executive Committee of the All-China Peasants’ Association and served as its Organization Minister, responsible for the daily work of the Executive Committee of the Provisional Peasants’ Association. Mao persisted in his work in the Peasants’ Association until 15 July, when Wang Jingwei [13]13 Wang Jingwei (1883–1944) was a left-wing Kuomintang leader who later collaborated with the Japanese during the Second Sino-Japanese War. openly betrayed the revolution.

1927年3月10日至17日，国民党在汉口召开二届三中全会，会议决定成立中央土地委员会，毛泽东当选为五人委员会成员。会议通过《对农民宣言》和《农民问题决议案》。《对农民宣言》指出：“中国的农民问题，其内容即是一个贫农问题。”“贫农问题的中心问题，就是一个土地问题。”毛泽东就农民问题（包括土地问题）提出一系列主张，包括没收地主土地。毛泽东讲：“所谓土地没收，就是不纳租，并无须别的办法。现在湘鄂农民运动已经到了一个高潮，他们已经自动的不纳租了，自动的夺取政权了。中国土地问题的解决，应先有事实，然后再用法律去承认他就得了。”1927年4月9日，毛泽东就任中华全国农协临时执行委员会常委并担任组织部长，负责农协临时委员会执行委员会的日常工作。毛泽东在农协的工作一直坚持到7月15日汪精卫公开叛变革命为止。

During the Great Revolution period, both inside and outside the Party, Mao Zedong shouldered the heavy responsibility of leading the national peasant movement. Mainly centering on organizing local peasant associations, training cadres for the peasant movement, expanding peasant armed forces, and solving the peasant land question, this accumulated valuable experience for the Chinese Communist Party’s future leadership of the peasants in carrying out the land struggle. The peasant question during the Great Revolution period was primarily about mobilizing and organizing the peasants to rise up in revolution, which involved many principles and policies centered on the land question. Mao Zedong made many beneficial explorations in the practice of leading the peasant movement. Although some theories and propositions on solving the land question could not be put into practice at that time, they were preserved as valuable assets of the Chinese Communist Party’s democratic revolutionary theory and guided the subsequent agrarian revolution.

大革命时期，无论是在党内还是党外，毛泽东都肩负着领导全国农民运动的重任。主要围绕各地农会组织、培训农运干部、扩大农民武装、解决农民土地问题等，为中国共产党未来领导农民开展土地斗争积累了宝贵经验。大革命时期的农民问题，首要的是动员和组织农民起来闹革命，其中涉及以土地问题为核心的诸多原则和政策，毛泽东在领导农民运动实践中做了很多有益探索。虽然有些关于解决土地问题的理论和主张，在当时没可能付诸实践，但作为中国共产党民主革命理论的宝贵财富被保存下来，指导了日后的土地革命。

II. The Period of the Second Revolutionary Civil War: “Gathering up the golden shards of the land, truly busy dividing the fields and land” [14]14 This is a line from a poem by Mao Zedong, “The Moon over the West River · Jinggangshan” (1928), celebrating the land distribution in the revolutionary base area.

二、第二次国内革命时期：“收拾金瓯一片，分田分地真忙”

After the failure of the First Revolutionary Civil War, on 7 August 1927, the Central Committee of the CPC held an emergency meeting in Hankou (hereinafter referred to as the “August 7 Meeting”), which summarized the experiences and lessons of the Chinese revolution, relatively thoroughly recognized the status and role of the agrarian revolution in the Chinese revolution, and determined the general policy of the agrarian revolution. The August 7 Meeting clearly pointed out: the agrarian revolution question is the central question in China’s bourgeois democratic revolution. The *Resolution on the Recent Peasant Struggle* adopted at this meeting made provisions on the land question. However, in the process of carrying out the agrarian revolution, the specific formulation and implementation of land policy were not very clear, manifesting as a process of continuous exploration and development.

第一次国内革命战争失败后，1927年8月7日，中共中央在汉口召开紧急会议（以下简称“八七会议”），总结了中国革命的经验教训，比较彻底地认识到土地革命在中国革命中的地位和作用，确定了土地革命的总方针。“八七会议”明确指出：土地革命问题是中国的资产阶级民权革命中的中心问题。这次会议作出的《最近农民斗争的议决案》对土地问题做出规定，但是在开展土地革命的进程中，土地政策的具体制定和执行并不十分明确，表现为不断探索和发展的过程。

In the practice of leading the agrarian revolutionary war, Mao Zedong continuously pondered, explored, and formulated the Party’s land policy. On 9 September 1927, the Autumn Harvest Uprising on the Hunan-Jiangxi border broke out. Mao Zedong led the troops into the Jinggangshan area and established the Jinggangshan Revolutionary Base Area. Upon first arriving in Jinggangshan, in response to the question of “how long the red flag can fly,” [15]15 This was a question raised by some within the revolutionary ranks, expressing doubt about the viability of the Communist-led base areas in the face of Kuomintang encirclement and suppression. Mao wrote three works: *Why Is It That Red Political Power Can Exist in China?*, *The Struggle in Jinggangshan*, and *A Single Spark Can Start a Prairie Fire*, scientifically demonstrating that in semi-colonial and semi-feudal old China, only by closely combining the agrarian revolution, armed struggle, and base area construction, and deeply relying on the peasants, could revolutionary victory be achieved. In December 1928, based on summarizing the experience of the land struggle in the Jinggangshan Revolutionary Base Area over the past year, Mao Zedong personally presided over the formulation of the first land law in the history of the Chinese Communist Party—the *Jinggangshan Land Law*. The *Jinggangshan Land Law* stipulated: “Confiscate all land to be owned by the Soviet government”; distribute land equally on a per capita basis, with the township as the unit; “after all land has been confiscated and distributed by the Soviet government, buying and selling is prohibited”; after land distribution, except for the elderly, young, sick, disabled, and those engaged in public service, “the remaining persons must be compelled to labor.” Through the *Jinggangshan Land Law*, the Chinese Communist Party fixed in legal form the experience created by the peasant masses in the land struggle, playing an important role in the deepening development of the agrarian revolution. However, due to insufficient understanding and experience, the *Jinggangshan Land Law* had certain historical limitations, such as infringing on the interests of the middle peasants, which was detrimental to uniting with the middle peasants. On 10 September 1956, at the Second Plenary Session of the Eighth National Congress of the CPC, Mao Zedong classified his own mistakes into two categories: “real mistakes” and “false mistakes.” Among the “real mistakes,” he mentioned the *Jinggangshan Land Law*: “The land law I proposed in Jinggangshan was very clumsy; it was not a thorough land program.” In September 1929, Mao Zedong presided over the promulgation of the second land law—the *Xingguo Land Law*—which corrected the practice of “confiscating all land” in the *Jinggangshan Land Law*, changing “confiscate all land” to “confiscate all public land and the land of the landlord class.” The important changes in the content of these two land laws reflect our Party’s deepening understanding of the peasant land question.

毛泽东在领导土地革命战争的实践中，不断思索、探讨、制定党的土地政策。1927年9月9日，湘赣边界秋收起义爆发，毛泽东率领部队进入井冈山地区，建立了井冈山革命根据地。初上井冈山，针对“红旗到底能够打多久”的疑问，毛泽东撰写《中国红色政权为什么能够存在》《井冈山的斗争》《星星之火可以燎原》三篇著作，科学论证了在半殖民地半封建社会的旧中国，只有将土地革命、武装斗争、根据地建设三者紧密结合，深深依靠农民，才能取得革命胜利。1928年12月，在总结井冈山革命根据地一年来土地斗争经验的基础上，毛泽东亲自主持制定了中国共产党历史上第一部土地法——《井冈山土地法》。《井冈山土地法》规定：“没收一切土地归苏维埃政府所有”；以乡为单位、以人口为标准平均分配土地；“一切土地，经苏维埃政府没收并分配后，禁止买卖”；分配土地后，除老幼疾病者及服公众勤务者外，“其余的人均须强制劳动”。通过《井冈山土地法》，中国共产党把农民群众在土地斗争中创造的经验以法律形式固定下来，对土地革命的深入发展起了重要作用。但由于认识水平与经验不足，《井冈山土地法》存在一定历史局限，比如侵犯了中农利益，不利于联合中农。1956年9月10日，毛泽东在党的八大预备会议第二次全体会议上，把自己的错误分为“真错”和“假错”两类。在“真错”当中，他提及《井冈山土地法》：“在井冈山时我提的那个土地法很蹩脚，不是一个彻底的土地纲领。”1929年9月，毛泽东主持颁布第二部土地法——《兴国土地法》，纠正了《井冈山土地法》“没收一切土地”的做法，把“没收一切土地”改为“没收一切公共土地及地主阶级的土地”。这两部土地法重要内容的变化，反映了我们党对农民土地问题的认识深化。

The ownership of land is the most crucial issue in the agrarian revolution. The Communist International consistently advocated that the central slogan of land nationalization should be propagated, linking the implementation of this slogan with the nationwide revolutionary upsurge and the victory of the worker-peasant democratic dictatorship. In the practice of the Chinese revolution, Mao Zedong gradually came to realize that the peasants’ strong desire for land had not been satisfied; this would dampen their enthusiasm for production and also affect the deepening and development of the agrarian revolution. “In the past, the atmosphere that land belonged to the Soviets and peasants only had the right to use it was very strong, and moreover land was divided and re-divided four or five times, making peasants feel that the land was not their own, that they had no right to dispose of it, and therefore they were uneasy about cultivating it. This situation was very bad.” Consequently, Mao Zedong conducted extensive social investigations around the question of land ownership. In May 1930, with the assistance of Xunwu County Party Secretary Gu Bai, Mao Zedong carried out a social investigation in Xunwu, later compiled as the *Xunwu Investigation*. Through this investigation, Mao Zedong gained an understanding of urban commercial conditions and mastered the various circumstances of land distribution, providing a practical basis for establishing correct policies toward the urban poor and the commercial bourgeoisie, and for establishing the principle of “taking from the fat to supplement the lean” [16]16 “Taking from the fat to supplement the lean” (chou fei bu shou) refers to a land distribution method in which land from well-off peasants (rich peasants and well-to-do middle peasants) was taken and redistributed to poor peasants to equalize land quality. in land distribution to restrict rich peasants. In February 1931, writing in his capacity as Director of the General Political Department of the Central Revolutionary Military Commission, Mao Zedong sent a letter to Zeng Shan, Chairman of the Jiangxi Soviet Government, pointing out that “the failure to fix land ownership is a major problem in the current Red areas.” Because land belonged to the Soviets, peasants felt the land was not their own and were uneasy about cultivating it. He suggested that the Jiangxi Soviet Government should issue a circular to governments at all levels and in all places “to explain that those who obtain land shall manage the land they have been allocated; this land shall be their private property, and others may not encroach upon it. Henceforth, the land of one family shall be the settled property of that family; those born later shall not receive additional land, and those who die shall not have their land taken back; renting, borrowing, buying, and selling shall be at their own discretion. The produce of the land, except for the land tax paid to the government, shall all belong to the peasants.” This meant that, based on a deep understanding of the actual conditions of the peasants in the base areas, Mao Zedong had already initially formed the idea that land should belong to the peasants and be allowed to be bought and sold.

土地所有权归属是土地革命最关键的问题。共产国际一贯主张，应该宣传土地国有这个中心口号，把土地国有口号的实行与全国革命高涨以及工农民主专政的胜利联系起来。在中国革命实践中，毛泽东逐渐认识到农民强烈要求土地的愿望并没有得到满足，这样就会挫伤农民生产的积极性，也会影响土地革命的深入和发展。“过去田归苏维埃所有，农民只有使用权的空气十分浓厚，并且四次五次分了又分，使得农民觉得田不是他们自己的，自己没有权来支配，因此不安心耕种，这种情形是很不好的。”因此，毛泽东围绕土地的归属问题进行了大量社会调查。1930年5月，毛泽东在寻乌县委书记古柏的协助下展开寻乌社会调查，后来整理成《寻乌调查》。通过寻乌调查，毛泽东懂得了城市商业情况，掌握了分配土地的各种情况，为确立正确对待城市贫民和商业资产阶级的政策、为确立土地分配中限制富农“抽肥补瘦”原则，提供了实际依据。1931年2月，毛泽东以中央革命军事委员会总政治部主任的名义写信给江西省苏维埃政府主席曾山，指出“田没有分定一层，在现在红色区域是个大问题”。由于田归苏维埃所有，农民感觉田不是自己的，不安心耕种。他建议江西省苏维埃政府应通令各级各地政府“要说明得田的人，即由他管所分得的田，这田由他私有，别人不得侵犯。以后一家的田，一家定业，生的不补，死的不退，租借买卖，由他自主。田中出产，除交土地税于政府外，均归农民所有”。这意味着，在深入了解根据地农民实际情况的基础上，毛泽东已初步形成土地归农民所有并允许买卖的思想。

On 7 July 1931, the Fourth Plenary Session of the Sixth Central Committee of the Party [17]17 The Fourth Plenary Session of the Sixth Central Committee of the CPC (January 1931) marked the rise of Wang Ming’s “Left” line to dominance in the Party leadership. was convened in Shanghai, and the “Left” adventurism represented by Wang Ming [18]18 Wang Ming (1904–1974) was a leading figure of the “Left” dogmatist line in the CPC during the early 1930s, whose policies caused severe damage to the Party and the Red Army. began to occupy a dominant position in the Central Committee of the CPC. On 10 November 1931, the First Congress of the Party Organization of the Central Soviet Area (i.e., the Gannan Conference) [19]19 The Gannan Conference (November 1931) was a meeting of Party delegates from the Central Soviet Area that criticized Mao Zedong’s military and land policies as “rightist.” denounced “taking from the many to supplement the few, taking from the fat to supplement the lean” as “precisely a rich-peasant-line method in the agrarian revolution,” attacking Mao Zedong on issues such as the base areas, military affairs, and the line of the agrarian revolution. In November of the same year, the First Congress of the Chinese Soviet Republic was convened in Ruijin and adopted the *Land Law of the Chinese Soviet Republic*. This law codified the “Left” land policy of “no land for landlords, and poor land for rich peasants.” In January 1934, the Fifth Plenary Session of the Sixth Central Committee of the Party [20]20 The Fifth Plenary Session of the Sixth Central Committee of the CPC (January 1934) further entrenched the “Left” line and intensified the persecution of Mao Zedong’s supporters. was held, continuing to adhere to the ultra-“Left” land policy and criticizing Mao Zedong’s land policy as a “rich-peasant line,” committing the “right-opportunist error of making concessions to landlords, local tyrants, and rich peasants.” At the same time, the Central Committee dispatched large numbers of “imperial commissioners” [21]21 “Imperial commissioners” (qinchai dachen) is a derogatory term for officials sent by the central leadership to enforce policies in local areas without regard for local conditions. to various parts of the Soviet areas to forcibly implement “Left” policies such as “land investigation,” [22]22 The “land investigation” (chatian) movement (1933–1934) was a “Left” campaign in the Soviet areas to reclassify landlords and rich peasants, often leading to violent purges. causing severe and adverse effects on the agrarian revolution.

1931年7日，党的六届四中全会在上海召开，以王明为代表的“左”倾冒险主义在中共中央开始占据统治地位。1931年11月10日，中央苏区党组第一次代表大会（即赣南会议）指责，“抽多补少、抽肥补瘦，恰恰是土地革命中一个富农路线的办法”，对毛泽东在根据地、军事、土地革命路线等问题上进行攻击。同年11月，中华苏维埃共和国第一次代表大会在瑞金召开，通过了《中华苏维埃共和国土地法》。该法把“地主不分田，富农分坏田”的“左”倾土地政策用法律形式确定下来。1934年1月，党的六届五中全会召开，继续坚持过“左”的土地政策，批判毛泽东的土地政策是“富农路线”，犯了向“地主土豪富农让步的右倾机会主义错误”。与此同时，中央还派遣了大批“钦差大臣”到苏区各地强令推行“查田”等左倾政策，给土地革命造成严重恶劣影响。

During this period, Mao Zedong was sidelined and suppressed, removed from important positions, but he still insisted on prioritizing the revolutionary cause and did his utmost to resist and struggle against the “Left” errors. On 25 December 1940, in an intra-Party directive drafted for the Central Committee of the CPC, Mao Zedong summarized this historical lesson: “Many policies of the past ten years of the agrarian revolution, especially in the later period of the agrarian revolution, produced many ‘Left’ policies because of the failure to recognize the two basic characteristics of the Chinese revolution—that it is a semi-colonial and semi-feudal bourgeois-democratic revolution and that it is a protracted one. For example, economically eliminating the bourgeoisie (‘Left’ labor and tax policies) and the rich peasants (giving them poor land), and physically eliminating the landlords (giving them no land)—such ultra-Left policies caused the Party and the revolution immense losses.”

这一时期，毛泽东遭排挤和打压，被解除重要职务，但仍坚持以革命事业为重，尽力对“左”倾错误进行抵制和斗争。1940年12月25日，毛泽东在为中共中央起草的对党内指示中，总结了这一历史教训：“过去十年土地革命时期的许多政策，尤其是土地革命的后期，由于不认识中国革命是半殖民地半封建的资产阶级民主革命以及中国革命的长期性这两个基本特点而产生了许多‘左’的政策，例如在经济上消灭资产阶级（‘左’的劳动政策和税收政策）和富农（分坏田），在肉体上消灭地主（不分田）这种过左政策使党和革命遭受了极大的损失。”

During the period of the Second Revolutionary Civil War, [23]23 The Second Revolutionary Civil War (1927–1937) refers to the decade-long armed struggle between the CPC and the Kuomintang after the failure of the First United Front. despite the serious interference of Wang Ming’s “Left” adventurism in the agrarian revolution, the Chinese Communists, with Comrade Mao Zedong as their main representative, successfully explored an agrarian revolution line suited to China’s national conditions in the course of leading the people of the vast base areas in the struggle for agrarian revolution. This line was: “rely on the poor peasants and farm laborers, unite with the middle peasants, restrict the rich peasants, protect the small and middle industrialists and merchants, eliminate the landlord class, and transform the feudal and semi-feudal system of land ownership into a system of peasant land ownership.” Mao Zedong accumulated rich experience in the agrarian revolution amidst complex and tortuous struggles, laying the foundation and rationale for the thorough resolution of the peasant land question later on.

第二次国内革命战争时期，虽然有王明“左”倾冒险主义对土地革命的严重干扰，但以毛泽东同志为主要代表的中国共产党人，在领导广大根据地人民进行土地革命的斗争中，从中国具体实际出发，成功探索出一条符合中国国情的土地革命路线，这就是，“依靠贫雇农，联合中农，限制富农，保护中小工商业者，消灭地主阶级，变封建和半封建土地所有制为农民的土地所有制”。毛泽东在复杂曲折的斗争中积累了丰富的土地革命经验，为后来彻底解决农民土地问题奠定了思路和依据。

III. The Period of the War of Resistance Against Japan: From “Confiscating Landlords’ Land” to “Reducing Rent and Interest”

三、全面抗日战争时期：从“没收地主土地”到“减租减息”

On 7 July 1937, the “Marco Polo Bridge Incident” [24]24 The Marco Polo Bridge Incident (July 7, 1937) was the clash that triggered the full-scale outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945). broke out, signifying that the contradiction between China and Japan had become the principal contradiction in Chinese society. To establish the Anti-Japanese National United Front, the Chinese Communist Party changed its land policy from confiscating landlords’ land and distributing it to landless peasants during the Second Revolutionary Civil War to a policy of reducing rent and interest. The basic content was: on the one hand, it stipulated that landlords should reduce rent and interest, with the limit being the principle of a 25 percent reduction in rent; if the masses demanded a higher reduction, a 40-60 or 30-70 split could be implemented, and interest should not exceed the limit permitted by normal social and economic lending; on the other hand, it stipulated that peasants should pay rent and interest, in order to respect and maintain the landlords’ land ownership and property rights.

1937年7月7日，“卢沟桥事变”爆发，意味着中日民族矛盾成为中国社会最主要矛盾。为建立抗日民族统一战线，中国共产党把第二次国内革命时期没收地主的土地分配给无地农民的土地政策改变为减租减息政策，基本内容是：一方面规定地主应减租减息，其限度为地租实行二五减租原则，群众要求增高时，可实行倒四六分或倒三七分，利息以不超过社会正常经济借贷所许可的程度为限；另一方面规定农民交租交息，以尊重和维护地主的土地所有权和财产所有权。

In fact, as early as 3 May 1937, at the National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party convened in Yan’an, Mao Zedong clearly announced to the entire Party and the whole country: “In order to stop the armed conflict within the country, the Communist Party is willing to cease using the policy of violently confiscating landlords’ land, and is prepared to solve the land question through legislation and other appropriate methods in the process of building a new democratic republic. Whether China’s land belongs to the Japanese or to the Chinese is the first question to be solved. Since the peasant land question is to be solved under the great premise of defending China, the shift from the method of violent confiscation to new appropriate methods is entirely necessary.” On 23 July of the same year, in his article “The Policy, Methods, and Prospects of Resisting Japan’s Offensive,” Mao Zedong pointed out that under the policy of resolute resistance to Japan, a complete set of methods was necessary to achieve the goal; otherwise, the War of Resistance could not be won. These included a program to improve the people’s livelihood, such as abolishing exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous levies, reducing land rent, and limiting usury. Through these new policies, the anti-Japanese forces could be infinitely enhanced and the foundation of the government consolidated. Subsequently, at the enlarged meeting of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee held in Luochuan in August 1937, Mao Zedong put forward the famous Ten-Point Program for Resisting Japan and Saving the Nation, [25]25 The Ten-Point Program for Resisting Japan and Saving the Nation was adopted at the Luochuan Conference (August 1937) and outlined the CPC’s wartime policies, including the shift to rent and interest reduction. which for the first time clearly established “reducing rent and interest” as the Party’s basic policy for solving the peasant land question during the War of Resistance Against Japan.

其实，早在1937年5月3日，毛泽东在延安召开的中国共产党全国代表会议上就明确向全党全国宣布：“为了停止国内的武装冲突，共产党愿意停止使用暴力没收地主土地的政策，而准备在新的民主共和国建设过程中，用立法和别的适当方法去解决土地问题。中国土地属于日本人，还是属于中国人，这是首先待解决的问题。既是在保卫中国的大前提之下来解决农民的土地问题，那么，由暴力没收方法转变到新的适当方法，就是完全必要的。”是年7月23日，毛泽东在《反对日本进攻的方针、办法和前途》一文中指出，在坚决抗战的方针之下，必须有一整套办法，才能达到目的，否则抗战就不可能胜利，其中就包括取消苛捐杂税、减少地租、限制高利贷等改良人民生活的纲领，通过这些新政来使抗日力量无限地提高，巩固政府的基础。随后，在1937年8月洛川召开的中央政治局扩大会议上，毛泽东提出了著名的抗日救国十大纲领，第一次明确“减租减息”是我们党在抗日战争时期解决农民土地问题的基本政策。

From “confiscating landlords’ land” to “reducing rent and interest” was indeed a kind of “retreat,” but it was an active and voluntary “retreat.” In essence, “reducing rent and interest” was a temporary measure adopted under the special circumstances of the War of Resistance Against Japan. In *The Urgent Tasks Following the Establishment of Kuomintang-Communist Cooperation*, Mao Zedong gave a concrete explanation of the change in the Chinese Communist Party’s land policy. He said that after the “September 18th Incident” [26]26 The “September 18th Incident” refers to the Japanese Kwantung Army’s staged bombing of a railway near Mukden (now Shenyang) on September 18, 1931, which it used as a pretext to invade and occupy all of Northeast China. in 1931, the primary task of the Chinese people had already become opposing the Japanese imperialist invasion of China. The Kuomintang and the Communist Party ceased their civil war and achieved a peaceful settlement of the Xi’an Incident [27]27 The Xi’an Incident (December 12, 1936) was the arrest of Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek by two of his own generals, Zhang Xueliang and Yang Hucheng, who then forced him to agree to form a united front with the CPC against Japan., which was a major event in Chinese history, thereby establishing a necessary prerequisite for the renewed cooperation between the two parties. Therefore, “implementing a new democratic system in the revolutionary base areas and ceasing the confiscation of landlords’ land were four important political steps, because without these steps, the establishment of cooperation between the two parties would inevitably be delayed, which would be completely unfavorable for rapidly preparing for the War of Resistance.” Why did the Communist Party now declare the abolition of the worker-peasant democratic dictatorship and the cessation of confiscating landlords’ land? It was not that this system and method were fundamentally undesirable, but that the armed aggression of Japanese imperialism had caused changes in domestic class relations, making it necessary and possible to unite the entire nation, all strata, against Japanese imperialism. Changing the policy of “land to the tiller” to the policy of “reducing rent and interest” was a correct concession; it prompted the Kuomintang to participate in the War of Resistance and also reduced the resistance of landlords in the liberated areas to our mobilizing the peasants for the War of Resistance. Based on the above exposition by Mao Zedong, it can be seen that this major shift in the Chinese Communist Party’s land policy was the result of adopting a policy of the democratic united front, based on the new changes in domestic class relations and the need to adapt to the nationwide War of Resistance.

从“没收地主土地”到“减租减息”，确实是一种“退却”，但却是主动积极的“退却”。从本质上说，“减租减息”是在抗战特殊形势下采取的暂时措施。毛泽东在《国共合作成立后的迫切任务》中对中国共产党土地政策的变化做了具体说明。他说，在1931年“九一八事变”发生后，中国人民的首要任务已经是反对日本帝国主义进攻中国。国共两党停止内战，并实现了西安事变的和平解决，这是中国历史上的一件大事，从此建立了两党重新合作的一个必要的前提。因此，“在革命根据地实行新民主制度和停止没收地主的土地等四项，这也是一个重要的政治步骤，因为如果没有这一步骤，则两党合作的建立势将推迟，而这对于迅速准备抗日是完全不利的”。为什么共产党现在又申明取消工农民主专政和停止没收地主的土地呢？不是这种制度和办法根本要不得，而是日本帝国主义的武装侵略引起了国内阶级关系的变化，使联合全民族各阶层反对日本帝国主义成了必需，而且有了可能。将“耕者有其田”的政策改为“减租减息”政策，这个让步是正确的，推动了国民党参加抗日，又使解放区的地主减少其对于我们发动农民抗日的阻力。根据以上毛泽东的论述可见，中国共产党土地政策这一重大转变，是根据国内阶级关系新变化和适应全民抗战的需要而采取民主统一战线政策的结果。

In accordance with the land policy of “reducing rent and interest,” the various anti-Japanese base areas successively formulated corresponding land decrees, regulations, and provisions, and gradually launched the movement to reduce rent and interest. By the end of 1941, the movement to reduce rent and interest in the base areas had achieved significant results: the number of landlord households and the proportion of land they held decreased; the number of poor peasant and farm laborer households decreased, while the average amount of land held per household increased, and their economic status rose markedly, with some rising to become middle peasants. According to a survey of 15 villages in 12 counties of the Taihang Mountains in the Shanxi-Hebei-Shandong-Henan Border Region, after the reduction of rent and interest, the proportion of landlord households fell from 2.75% to 2.02%, the proportion of land they held fell from 23.04% to 8.97%, and the average land per household fell from 98.64 *mu* to 42.28 *mu*; the proportion of poor peasant households fell from 48.95% to 42.12%, the proportion of land they held rose from 18.98% to 20.5%, and the average land per household rose from 4.57 *mu* to 4.69 *mu*; at the same time, the land rent rate basically fell to below 37.5% of the harvest, and in many areas it was between 10% and 30%. The peasants were mobilized, the rural classes were united, and this played a major role in persisting in the War of Resistance behind enemy lines. Of course, as the movement to reduce rent and interest deepened, it encountered increasing resistance during implementation. To overcome erroneous thinking in land work, unify the understanding of the entire Party, and earnestly implement the policy of “reducing rent and interest,” in October 1943, Mao Zedong, in the inner-Party directive he wrote for the Central Committee of the CPC, *Launch the Campaign to Reduce Rent, Increase Production, and Support the Government and Cherish the People in the Base Areas*, emphasized: “Reducing rent is a mass movement of the peasants; the Party’s directives and the government’s decrees are meant to lead and help this mass struggle, not to be a bestowal upon the masses. Any bestowal of rent reduction that does not mobilize the initiative of the masses is incorrect, and its results will not be consolidated.”

根据“减租减息”的土地政策，各抗日根据地先后制定了相应的土地法令、条例和规定， 陆续开展了减租减息运动。到1941年底，各根据地减租减息运动取得了很大成绩：地主户数和占有土地比例减少，贫雇农户数减少，每户平均占有土地数量增加，经济地位有明显上升，其中一部分上升为中农。据晋冀鲁豫边区太行山12个县15个村的调查显示，减租减息后，地主所占户数比例由之前的2.75％降为2.02％，所占土地比例由23.04％降为8.97％，每户平均土地由98.64亩降为42.28亩；贫农所占户数比例由48.95％降为42.12％，所占土地比例由18.98％上升为20.5％，每户平均占地由4.57亩上升为4.69亩；同时地租率基本下降到占收获量37.5％以下，不少地区在10％至30％之间。农民发动起来了，农村各阶级也团结了，对敌后根据地坚持抗战起了重大作用。当然，随着减租减息运动深入开展，在实施过程中遇到越来越大的阻力。为克服土地工作中的错误思想，统一全党认识，认真贯彻落实“减租减息”政策。1943年10月，毛泽东为中共中央写的对党内的指示《开展根据地减租、生产和拥政爱民运动》强调：“减租是农民的群众运动，党的指示和政府的法令是领导和帮助这个群众斗争，而不是给群众的恩赐。凡不发动群众积极性的恩赐减租，是不正确的，其结果是不巩固的。”

During the period of the War of Resistance Against Japan, the Chinese Communists, with Comrade Mao Zedong as their chief representative, successfully formulated the basic policy for the agrarian revolution. Although this policy did not completely eradicate the feudal land ownership system, it weakened the feudal exploitative system in the countryside and created conditions for the thorough solution of the peasants’ land problem. Through “reducing rent and interest,” enlightened gentry were united, the relations of production and class relations within the base areas were appropriately adjusted, all classes and strata were united, and the enthusiasm of the peasant masses was mobilized, laying a solid foundation for consolidating the Anti-Japanese National United Front, developing the anti-Japanese base areas, and building strength for the War of Resistance Against Japan.

在抗日战争时期，以毛泽东同志为主要代表的中国共产党人成功制定了土地革命的基本政策。这个政策虽然没有彻底铲除封建土地所有制，但削弱了农村的封建剥削制度，为彻底解决农民的土地问题创造了条件。经过“减租减息”，团结了开明绅士，适当调节了根据地内的生产关系和阶级关系，团结了各个阶级、阶层，调动了农民群众的积极性，为抗日民族统一战线的巩固和抗日根据地的发展，为争取抗日战争力量打下了牢固基础。

IV. The Period of the War of Liberation: Mobilize the Masses, Rely on One’s Own Efforts, Overthrow the Landlords, Distribute the Land

四、解放战争时期：发动群众、自己动手，打倒地主、分配土地

With Japan’s defeat and surrender, the principal contradiction within the country changed accordingly, and class contradiction became the principal contradiction demanding urgent resolution. The policy of reducing rent and interest, as the land policy of the Anti-Japanese National United Front, could no longer meet the demands of the broad masses of peasants. In areas where the mass movement had deepened, the actions of the peasants had already run far ahead of the policy of “reducing rent and interest.” Under these circumstances, to satisfy the peasants’ urgent demand for land and further mobilize the peasants, the Central Committee of the CPC issued the *Directive on the Settlement of Accounts, Rent Reduction, and the Land Question* (hereinafter referred to as the *May Fourth Directive*) on May 4, 1946, changing the policy of “reducing rent and interest” from the period of the War of Resistance Against Japan to a policy of “boldly mobilizing the masses to obtain land from the landlords through struggles such as opposing traitors, settling accounts, reducing rent and interest, returning rent, and returning interest, and realizing land to the tiller.” Shortly after the issuance of the *May Fourth Directive*, Mao Zedong, in the inner-Party directive he drafted for the Central Committee of the CPC, *Smash Chiang Kai-shek’s Offensive by a War of Self-Defense*, further explained the specific policies of the *May Fourth Directive* concerning the treatment of the various rural classes: “To smash Chiang Kai-shek’s offensive, we must cooperate closely with the masses of the people and must win over everyone we can possibly rely on. In the countryside, on the one hand, we must resolutely solve the land problem, firmly rely on farm laborers and poor peasants, and unite with the middle peasants; on the other hand, when solving the land problem, we must distinguish between ordinary rich peasants and middle and small landlords, on the one hand, and traitors, local tyrants, and despotic landlords, on the other. We should be stricter in dealing with traitors, local tyrants, and despots, and more lenient in dealing with rich peasants and middle and small landlords. In all places where the land problem has already been solved, except for a few reactionary elements, we should adopt a conciliatory attitude towards the entire landlord class, give assistance to all landlords in financial difficulty, and induce fugitive landlords to return and provide them with a means of livelihood, thereby reducing the number of hostile elements and consolidating the liberated areas.” This exposition clearly pointed out the question of the class line in the land reform, embodied the unity of principle and flexibility, and laid the theoretical foundation for the victory of land reform in the various liberated areas.

随着日本战败投降，国内主要矛盾随之发生变化，阶级矛盾成为亟待解决的主要矛盾。作为抗日民族统一战线土地政策的减租减息，已然不能适应广大农民的要求。在群众运动深入的地方，农民的行动远远走在了“减租减息”政策前边。在这种情况下，为满足农民对于土地的迫切要求、进一步发动农民，中共中央于1946年5月4日发出《关于清算减租及土地问题的指示》（以下简称《五四指示》），把抗日战争时期的“减租减息”政策转变为“放手发动群众，通过反奸、清算、减租减息、退租、退息等斗争从地主手中获得土地，实现耕者有其田”的政策。《五四指示》发出不久，毛泽东在为中共中央起草党内指示——《以自卫战争粉碎蒋介石的进攻》中，对《五四指示》关于对待农村各阶级的具体政策问题又做了说明：“为着粉碎蒋介石的进攻，必须和人民群众亲密合作，必须争取一切可能依靠的人。在农村中，一方面应坚定地解决土地问题，紧紧依靠雇农、贫农，团结中农；另方面在进行解决土地问题时，应将一般富农、中小地主分子和汉奸、豪绅、恶霸地主，加以区别。对待汉奸、豪绅、恶霸要放严些，对待富农、中小地主要放宽些。在一切土地已经解决地地方，除少数反动分子外，应对整个地主阶级改取缓和态度，对一切生活困难地地主给以帮助，对逃亡地主招引其回来，给以生活出路，借以减少敌对分子，使解放区得到巩固。”这一论述明确指出了土地改革中的阶级路线问题，体现了原则性和灵活性的统一，为各解放区取得土地改革的胜利奠定了理论基础。

In accordance with the basic spirit established by the May Fourth Directive [28]28 The May Fourth Directive (五四指示) was an internal Party directive issued by the CPC Central Committee on 4 May 1946, which changed the wartime policy of reducing rent and interest to one of confiscating landlord land for distribution to landless peasants, marking the start of the land reform movement in the liberated areas. and Mao Zedong’s “intra-Party directives,” land reform was carried out universally in the liberated areas. Through land reform, poor peasants and farm labourers received land, and middle peasants also benefited from the reform. The peasants’ enthusiasm for supporting the front and developing production greatly increased. As Mao Zedong said, “Once the land system is reformed, or even only initially reformed, the peasants’ interest in production increases.” [29]29 Mao Zedong, “On Coalition Government” (1945), Selected Works of Mao Zedong, Vol. 3. After the issuance of the May Fourth Directive, following more than a year of struggle, apart from the new areas opened up after the transition to the strategic offensive, the land question of the peasants had been basically resolved in most of the old areas (areas liberated before the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japan) and semi-old areas (areas recovered at the time of the victory of the War of Resistance and areas liberated before the strategic offensive). Great achievements had been made, but there were still one-third of the liberated areas where land reform had not been carried out; in places where land reform had been carried out, some were not thorough enough. At the same time, as the People’s Liberation Army shifted to the strategic offensive, it was required that the land reform movement be carried out more universally and deeply in the liberated areas, so as to fully mobilise the broad masses of peasants’ revolutionary and productive enthusiasm, and to provide the steadily victorious War of Liberation with a continuous flow of manpower and material support. To sum up the experience of the previous stage of land reform work and to promote the further development of the land reform movement in the liberated areas, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China’s Work Committee convened a National Land Conference from 17 July to 13 September 1947, which passed the Outline Land Law of China. [30]30 The National Land Conference (全国土地会议) was convened by the CPC Central Committee Work Committee in Xibaipo, Hebei Province, from July to September 1947. It passed the Outline Land Law of China (中国土地法大纲), which mandated the abolition of feudal landownership and the equal distribution of land. The Outline Land Law of China clearly stipulated: “Abolish the land system of feudal and semi-feudal exploitation and implement the land system of ‘land to the tiller’”; “Abolish all land ownership rights of landlords”; “Abolish all land ownership rights of ancestral halls, temples, monasteries, schools, organs and organisations”; “Abolish all debts in the countryside incurred before the reform of the land system.” The Outline Land Law of China also stipulated the basic principle of thorough equal distribution of land: “All land of landlords and public land in the countryside shall be taken over by the village peasant associations, and together with all other land in the countryside, shall be distributed equally and uniformly according to the total village population, regardless of sex, age or youth, taking from those with more to supplement those with less in terms of land quantity, and taking from those with fertile land to supplement those with poor land in terms of quality, so that all people in the village obtain equal land, which shall belong to each individual.”

根据《五四指示》和毛泽东在“党内指示”中确立的基本精神，各解放区普遍进行了土地改革。通过土地改革，贫雇农分得了土地，中农也在土地改革中得到利益。农民支援前线和发展生产的积极性都大为提高。正如毛泽东所说，“土地制度获得改革，甚至仅获得初步的改革，农民的生产兴趣就增加了”。《五四指示》发布后，经过一年多斗争，除转入战略进攻后开辟的新区外，大部分老区（抗战胜利前解放的地区）、半老区（抗战胜利时的收复区和战略进攻前解放的地区）已基本解决农民的土地问题，取得很大成绩，但是还有三分之一的解放区没有进行土地改革；已进行土地改革的地方，有的也不够彻底。同时，随着人民解放军转入战略进攻，要求解放区更加普遍深入开展土地改革运动，以充分调动广大农民革命和生产的积极性，使正在胜利发展的解放战争获得源源不断的人力和物力支持。为总结前一段土地改革工作的经验，推动解放区土地改革运动进一步发展，中共中央工作委员会于1947年7月17日至9月13日召开全国土地会议，通过了《中国土地法大纲》。《中国土地法大纲》明确规定，“废除封建性及半封建性剥削的土地制度，实行耕者有其田的土地制度”；“废除一切地主的土地所有权”；“废除一切祠堂、庙宇、寺院、学校、机关及团体的土地所有权”；“废除一切乡村中在土地制度改革以前的债务”。《中国土地法大纲》同时规定了彻底平分土地的基本原则：“乡村中一切地主的土地及公地，由乡村农会接收，连同乡村中其他一切土地，按乡村全部人口，不分男女老幼，统一平均分配，在土地数量上抽多补少，质量上抽肥补瘦，使全乡村人民均获得同等的土地，并归各人所有。”

To implement the spirit of the National Land Conference, the various liberated areas transferred large numbers of personnel from Party, government and military organs at all levels to form work teams to go deep into the countryside to carry out the work. From November to December 1947, a magnificent mass movement centred on land reform rapidly unfolded in the old liberated areas such as Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia, Shanxi-Suiyuan, Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei, Shanxi-Hebei-Shandong-Henan, and East China; in semi-old liberated areas such as the Northeast; and in new liberated areas such as Hubei-Henan-Anhui, Henan-Anhui-Jiangsu, Henan-Shaanxi-Hubei, Jianghan, and Tongbai. [31]31 These are the names of the liberated areas (base areas) controlled by the CPC during the Chinese Civil War (1945–1949), each covering parts of several provinces. Especially in the old and semi-old areas with a population of 100 million, the feudal land system was basically eliminated, the feudal yoke that had bound the peasants for thousands of years was smashed, the old relations of production in the countryside were changed, the land held by each class in the countryside became roughly equal, and poor peasants and farm labourers basically obtained land and other means of production and livelihood at the average level. This earth-shaking change enabled hundreds of millions of peasants to achieve liberation politically and economically, thereby unleashing an incalculable revolutionary enthusiasm. They enthusiastically enlisted in the army and participated in the fighting, shouldered huge wartime logistical tasks, and supported the People’s Army with grain, fodder, bedding and clothing, giving rise to the victory code that Chen Yi described as “the Huaihai Campaign was pushed out by the common people on single-wheeled barrows.” [32]32 Chen Yi (陈毅, 1901–1972) was a senior CPC military commander and later Foreign Minister. The Huaihai Campaign (淮海战役, November 1948–January 1949) was a decisive battle of the Chinese Civil War in which the CPC defeated the Nationalist forces in eastern China. However, in the stormy mass movement, a “Left” deviation of expanding the scope of attack also occurred in some places, seriously hindering the healthy development of the land reform movement and affecting the normal progress of agricultural production and the stability of social order. The Central Committee of the CPC paid close attention to the development trend of the land reform movement and gradually discovered the above-mentioned “Left” deviation. In December 1947, Mao Zedong pointed out in “The Present Situation and Our Tasks”: “Our policy is to rely on the poor peasants, firmly unite with the middle peasants, and eliminate the feudal and semi-feudal exploitation system of the landlord class and the old-type rich peasants.” [33]33 Mao Zedong, “The Present Situation and Our Tasks” (1947), Selected Works of Mao Zedong, Vol. 4. At the same time, he emphasised that two basic principles must be observed in land reform: “First, the demands of the poor peasants and farm labourers must be satisfied; this is the most basic task of land reform. Second, the middle peasants must be firmly united with, and their interests must not be harmed. There should generally be a distinction in the treatment of rich peasants and landlords.” [34]34 Ibid. Mao Zedong and the Central Committee of the CPC promptly corrected the deviations that had emerged in land reform after the issuance of the May Fourth Directive, and formulated land reform policies and principles that conformed to the actual conditions of China’s countryside. In April 1948, in his speech at the Shanxi-Suiyuan Cadres Conference, Mao Zedong systematically discussed the land reform question, summarising the Party’s basic land reform principles and policies as the general line for land reform: rely on the poor peasants, unite with the middle peasants, eliminate the feudal exploitation system step by step and with discrimination, and develop agricultural production. [35]35 Mao Zedong, “Speech at the Shanxi-Suiyuan Cadres Conference” (1948), Selected Works of Mao Zedong, Vol. 4. The Shanxi-Suiyuan base area was a CPC-controlled area in northern China.

各解放区为贯彻全国土地会议的精神，从各级党、政、军机关抽调大批人员组成工作组深入农村开展工作。1947年11月至12月，一个以土地改革为中心的波澜壮阔的群众运动，很快在陕甘宁、晋绥、晋察冀、晋冀鲁豫、华东等老解放区，东北等半老解放区以及鄂豫皖、豫皖苏、豫陕鄂、江汉、桐柏等新解放区广泛开展起来。特别是在一亿人口的老区和半老区，基本消灭了封建土地制度，打碎了几千年来套在农民身上的封建枷锁，改变了农村旧有的生产关系，使农村各阶级占有的土地大体平均，贫、雇农基本获得相当于平均水平的土地和其他生产、生活资料。这一翻天覆地的变化，使亿万农民在政治、经济上获得解放，由此迸发出难以估量的革命热情。他们踊跃参军参战，担负巨大的战争勤务并以粮草、被服等物资支援子弟兵，造就了陈毅所说的“淮海战役是老百姓用独轮车推出来的”这一胜利密码。然而，在疾风骤雨式的群众运动中，一些地方也发生了扩大打击面的“左”的偏向，严重妨碍了土地改革运动健康发展，影响了农业生产正常进行和社会秩序稳定。中共中央密切关注土地改革运动发展趋势，逐渐发现上述“左”的偏向。1947年12月，毛泽东在《目前形势和我们的任务》中指出：“我们的方针是依靠贫农，巩固地联合中农，消灭地主阶级和旧式富农的封建的和半封建的剥削制度。”同时，他强调在土地改革中必须注意两条基本原则，“第一，必须满足贫农和雇农的要求，这是土地改革的最基本的任务；第二，必须坚决地团结中农，不要损害中农地利益。对待富农和地主一般地应有所区别”。毛泽东和中共中央及时纠正了《五四指示》发出以后土地改革出现的偏差，制定了符合中国农村实际情况的土地改革方针政策。1948年4月，毛泽东在晋绥干部会议上的讲话系统论述了土地改革问题，将党的土地改革基本方针和政策概括为土地改革总路线：依靠贫农，团结中农，有步骤、有分别地消灭封建剥削制度，发展农业生产。

V. Mao Zedong’s Historical Experience in Solving the Peasant Land Question

五、毛泽东解决农民土地问题的历史经验

The main question of the Chinese revolution was the peasant question, and the primary question of the peasants was the land question. In the process of solving the land question of the Chinese revolution, Mao Zedong, through investigating and studying the economic conditions and class relations of China’s countryside, combined the basic principles of Marxism with the concrete reality of China, and combined the peasant land question with the path of the Chinese revolution. He carried out pioneering explorations, accumulated valuable experience, formed a complete set of theories, lines and principles concerning the agrarian revolution, and opened a new chapter in adapting Marxism to the Chinese context. [36]36 “Adapting Marxism to the Chinese context” (马克思主义中国化) is the official CPC doctrine that Marxism must be modified to fit China’s specific historical and cultural conditions. Guided by this set of theories, lines and principles, the development of the agrarian revolution laid a solid foundation for the Communist Party of China to achieve victory in each period of the revolutionary war, and the successful completion of land reform provided a powerful guarantee for the final victory of the Chinese revolution. A systematic study of Mao Zedong’s practical exploration in solving the peasant land question, and a review of the agrarian revolution lines and policies formulated by the Party in different periods, still have practical inspiration and reference significance for solving the “three rural issues” today. [37]37 “Three rural issues” (三农问题) is a standard Chinese term referring to the problems of agriculture, rural areas and peasants.

中国革命的主要问题是农民问题，农民的首要问题是土地问题。毛泽东在解决中国革命的土地问题过程中，通过调查研究中国农村的经济状况和阶级关系，把马克思主义基本原理与中国具体实际相结合，将农民土地问题与中国革命出路相结合，展开了开创性探索，积累了宝贵经验，形成了一整套有关土地革命的理论、路线和原则，开启马克思主义中国化新篇章。在这套理论、路线和原则指导下，土地革命的开展为中国共产党在各个革命战争时期取得胜利奠定了坚实基础，土地改革的胜利完成为中国革命最终胜利提供了有力保证。系统研究毛泽东解决农民土地问题的实践探索，重温党在不同时期制定的土地革命路线和方针，对于今天解决三农问题仍有现实启示和借鉴意义。

(I) Independence: The Prerequisite for Solving the Chinese Peasant Land Question

（一）独立自主：解决中国农民土地问题的前提

“Who are our enemies? Who are our friends? This is a question of the first importance for the revolution. The reason why all previous revolutionary struggles in China achieved so little was that they were unable to unite their real friends to attack their real enemies.” [38]38 Mao Zedong, “Analysis of the Classes in Chinese Society” (1926), Selected Works of Mao Zedong, Vol. 1. The peasantry, this huge group, had long been at the bottom of old society, a group that was exploited, oppressed and even forgotten. In modern China, from the Hundred Days’ Reform to the Revolution of 1911 and even at the beginning of the founding of the Communist Party of China, the peasants were not regarded as the main force to rely on in the revolution. The earliest to recognise and, in practice, treat the peasants as the broadest ally of the revolution were Peng Pai and Mao Zedong. [39]39 Peng Pai (彭湃, 1896–1929) was a pioneering CPC leader of the peasant movement in Guangdong Province, executed by the Nationalist government. In the process of leading the Chinese revolution, the Chinese Communists gradually came to realise that to lead the revolution to victory, they must first lead the peasants to launch an agrarian revolution in the countryside, establish a people’s army, then unite all forces that could be united, establish revolutionary base areas and revolutionary political power, implement the strategy of using the countryside to encircle the cities, and finally seize national victory.

“谁是我们的敌人？谁是我们的朋友？这个问题是革命的首要问题。中国过去一切革命斗争成效甚少，其根本原因就是因为不能团结真正的朋友，以攻击真正的敌人。”农民这一庞大的群体长期处于旧社会底层，是被剥削、压迫乃至被遗忘的群体。近代中国戊戌变法、辛亥革命乃至中国共产党成立之初，农民都没有被当作革命的主要依靠力量。最早认识到并在实践上把农民作为革命最广大同盟军的，是彭湃和毛泽东。中国共产党人在领导中国革命过程中逐渐认识到，要领导革命取得胜利，就必须首先领导农民在农村发动土地革命，建立人民武装，进而团结一切可以团结的力量，建立革命根据地和革命政权，实行农村包围城市的战略，最后夺取全国胜利。

Marx, Engels, Lenin, and Stalin all profoundly discussed the extreme importance of the peasant alliance in the proletarian revolution, emphasizing the significance of solving the peasant land question for establishing the worker-peasant alliance. However, due to differing national conditions, how the Chinese proletariat was to lead China’s peasant land revolution had no ready-made answer in the works of Marx and Engels, nor did the international communist movement provide any sample or experience for reference. Lenin, in his “Preliminary Draft Theses on the Agrarian Question” drafted for the Second Congress of the Communist International, made a class division of the peasantry and determined relevant policies, such as adopting a policy of neutrality toward the middle peasants, without using any violence; waging struggle against the big peasants (rich peasants) and completely disarming them; and unconditionally confiscating all land from the landlords, absolutely not allowing any compensation to be given to them. However, the main areas for implementing the above land policies proposed by Lenin were capitalist countries, whereas modern China was a semi-colonial and semi-feudal society. Marxism provides not ready-made dogmas, but the starting point for further research and the method for such research. Mao Zedong insisted that Chinese affairs must be handled by the Chinese people themselves, and that the victory of the Chinese revolutionary struggle depends on Chinese comrades understanding Chinese conditions. Ross Terrill, in his biography *Mao: A Biography*, said that Mao “took the tiny industrial proletariat as the leading force of the revolution, and he managed to pour the wine of peasant power into the bottle of proletarian supremacy.” Mao Zedong believed that the relations of production based on the feudal landownership system in old China were the economic foundation on which the forces of feudalism, bureaucratic capitalism, and imperialism relied for their existence and for carrying out rule and plunder in China. To overthrow the “three big mountains” [40]40 The “three big mountains” (三座大山) is a standard Chinese Communist Party term for the three oppressive forces that the Chinese revolution aimed to overthrow: imperialism, feudalism, and bureaucratic capitalism. pressing down on the broad masses of the Chinese people, it was first necessary to dig out this “foundation.” This made “changing the comprador-feudal relations of production and liberating the fettered productive forces” the basic task of the new-democratic revolution. From the perspective of class relations and economic conditions in China’s countryside, the landlords and rich peasants, who made up about 10% of the rural population, owned over 70% of the land, while the broad masses of peasants (poor peasants, farm laborers, and middle peasants), who made up about 90% of the rural population, owned 20%–30% of the land. Therefore, without solving the peasant land question and without the active participation of the peasant masses, it was utterly impossible to achieve victory in the new-democratic revolution in an agricultural country like China. Only through land revolution, liberating the broadest masses of the Chinese people from the oppression of the feudal land exploitation system and enabling the broad peasantry to obtain the most basic rights both politically and economically, could the Chinese revolution gain its broadest source of motive force, and could there be an impregnable fortress of the masses and a solid material foundation as a guarantee. Later, when summing up the experience of the peasant revolution, Mao Zedong pointed out that one might read many Marxist books, but one must be careful not to forget the word “peasant.” If these two words are forgotten, then even reading one million volumes of Marxist books would be useless.

马克思、恩格斯、列宁、斯大林都深刻论述过无产阶级革命中农民同盟军的极端重要性，强调过解决农民地土地问题对于建立工农联盟的重要意义。但由于国情不同，中国无产阶级如何领导中国的农民土地革命，在马克思、恩格斯著作中没有现成的答案，国际共产主义运动也没有提供可资借鉴的样本和经验。列宁曾在为共产国际二大草拟的《土地问题提纲初稿》中对农民进行了阶级划分，确定了相关政策，如对中农实行中立政策，不能使用任何暴力；对大农（富农）进行斗争，彻底解除其武装；对地主应当无条件没收其全部土地，也绝不容许给地主以补偿。可是，列宁提出的以上土地政策的主要实施地区是资本主义国家，而近现代中国是半殖民地半封建社会。马克思主义提供的不是现成教条，而是进一步研究的出发点和供这种研究使用的方法。毛泽东坚持中国人的事情要由中国人来办，中国革命斗争的胜利要靠中国同志了解中国情况。罗斯·特里尔（Ross Terrill）在其《毛泽东传》中说：毛泽东“把小小的工业无产阶级看作革命的领导力量，他设法做到了把农民力量之酒装进无产阶级至高无上这只瓶子里”。毛泽东认为旧中国以封建土地所有制为基础的生产关系是封建主义、官僚资本主义和帝国主义势力在中国赖以存在和实行统治掠夺的经济基础。要推倒压在中国广大人民群众头上的“三座大山”，首先就必须要挖掉它的这个“根基”。这就使“改变买办的封建的生产关系，解放被束缚的生产力”成为新民主主义革命的基本任务。从中国农村的阶级关系和经济状况来看，占农村人口10%左右的地主富农，占有70%以上的土地，而占农村人口90%左右的广大农民（贫农、雇农、中农），占有20%—30%的土地。所以，不解决农民的土地问题，没有农民群众的积极参加，在中国这样一个农业国度里，要实现新民主主义革命的胜利，是根本不可能的。只有通过土地革命，把中国最广大人民群众从封建土地剥削制度的压榨下解放出来，使广大农民在政治、经济上都获得最基本的权利，才能使中国革命获得最广大的动力源泉，才能有人民群众的铜墙铁壁和雄厚的物质基础作保障。后来毛泽东在总结农民革命经验时指出，马克思主义的书读得很多，但是要注意不要把“农民”这两个字忘记了。这两个字忘记了，就是读一百万册马克思主义的书，也是没有用处的。

Then, the next question was how and in what way to carry out the land revolution. Ideas do not fall from the sky; they are produced by life itself. Starting from China’s concrete reality, Mao Zedong did not rely solely on books (the Marxist-Leninist canon), did not rely solely on superiors (the instructions of the Communist International), did not rely solely on the Soviet Union (the Soviet experience), but relied solely on reality (China’s actual conditions). Through independent thinking and meticulous investigation and research, he went deep into the countryside and among the masses, comprehensively and systematically understanding and grasping China’s rural economic conditions and class relations. At the same time, applying the Marxist stand, viewpoint, and method, he gradually formed a complete set of land revolution policies and lines suited to China’s concrete reality. Although Mao Zedong himself was more than once labeled with the hats of “right opportunism” and “rich peasant line,” the practice of the Chinese revolution proved that the line and policies Mao formulated for solving the peasant land question not only did not violate the basic principles of Marxism but greatly enriched the Marxist theory on the peasant land question.

那么，接下来的问题就是如何、怎样进行土地革命。思想不是从天上掉下来的，而是生活本身所产生的。毛泽东从中国具体实际出发，不唯书（马列主义的本本）、不唯上（共产国际的指示）、不唯苏（苏联的经验）、只唯实（中国的实际情况），通过独立思考和细致的调查研究，深入农村、深入群众，全面系统了解掌握了中国农村的经济状况和阶级关系。同时，运用马克思主义立场、观点、方法，逐渐形成一整套符合中国具体实际的土地革命政策和路线。虽然毛泽东本人曾不止一次被人扣上“右倾机会主义”“富农路线”的帽子，但中国革命实践证明毛泽东制定的具有解决农民土地问题的路线和方针不但没有违背马克思主义基本原理，而且大大丰富了马克思主义关于农民土地问题的理论。

(2) The Mass Line: The Magic Weapon for Solving China’s Rural Land Question

（二）群众路线：解决中国农村土地问题的法宝

In the long and arduous revolutionary struggle, the Chinese Communists continuously summed up experience and formed a complete set of scientific leadership methods, the core of which is the mass line. The Chinese Communists, with Comrade Mao Zedong as their chief representative, precisely by relying on this scientific leadership method of the mass line, achieved great successes in solving China’s rural land question. Mao Zedong said that another notable hallmark distinguishing us Communists from any other political party is our closest ties with the broadest masses of the people. Serving the people wholeheartedly, never for a moment separating ourselves from the masses; proceeding from the interests of the people, not from the interests of individuals or small groups; the unity of being responsible to the people and being responsible to the leading organs of the Party—these are our starting points. Communists must at all times be prepared to uphold the truth, because any truth is in the interests of the people; Communists must at all times be prepared to correct errors, because any error is not in the interests of the people. The revolutionary cause is inherently a cause of the masses. In “Be Concerned with the Well-Being of the Masses, Pay Attention to Methods of Work,” Mao Zedong said: “Whoever belittles this central task is not a good revolutionary worker. If our comrades truly understand this central task and understand that we must by all means develop the revolution throughout the country, then we must not neglect or belittle in the slightest the immediate interests and living problems of the broad masses. For revolutionary war is a war of the masses; it can be waged only by mobilizing the masses and only by relying on the masses.” Mobilizing the masses is not an empty slogan; it has many concrete measures, the core of which is the land question. Lead the peasants in the land struggle, distribute land to the peasants, raise the peasants’ labor enthusiasm, increase production, and solve the masses’ problems of clothing, food, housing, fuel, rice, oil, and salt. Once the peasant land question is solved, the masses will truly rally around us and warmly support us. “What is a true bastion of iron? It is the masses, the millions upon millions of people who genuinely support the revolution. That is a bastion of iron which no force can break, absolutely cannot be broken.”

在长期艰苦卓绝的革命斗争中，中国共产党人不断总结经验，形成了一整套科学的领导方法，其核心就是群众路线。以毛泽东同志为主要代表的中国共产党人，正是依靠群众路线这个科学的领导方法取得了解决中国农村土地问题的巨大成就。毛泽东说，我们共产党人区别于其他任何政党又一显著标志，就是和最广大人民群众取得最紧密联系。全心全意为人民服务，一刻也不脱离群众；一切从人民的利益出发，而不是从个人或小集团利益出发；向人民负责和向党的领导机关负责的一致性；这些就是我们的出发点。共产党人必须随时准备坚持真理，因为任何真理都是符合于人民利益；共产党人必须随时准备修正错误，因为任何错误都是不符合于人民利益的。革命事业本来就是群众事业，毛泽东在《关心群众生活，注意工作方法》中说：“谁要是看轻了这个中心任务，谁就不是一个很好的革命工作人员。我们的同志如果把这个中心任务真正看清楚了，懂得无论如何要把革命发展倒全国去，那么，我们对于广大群众的切身利益，群众的生活问题，就一点也不能疏忽，一点也不能看轻。因为革命战争是群众的战争，只有动员群众才能进行战争，只有依靠群众才能进行战争。”动员群众并不是一句空口号，有很多具体措施，核心是土地问题。领导农民进行土地斗争，把土地分给农民，提高农民的劳动热情，增加生产，解决群众穿衣吃饭、住房、柴米油盐等问题。农民的土地问题解决了，群众就会真正围绕在我们周围，热烈拥护我们。“真正的铜墙铁壁是什么？是群众，是千百万真心实意拥护革命的群众。这是真正的铜墙铁壁，什么力量也打不破的，完全打不破的。”

In addressing how to resolve the peasants’ land question, Mao Zedong often said: the masses of the people are truly great, and their creative power is inexhaustible. Only the masses of the people are the true creators of history; real history is the history of the masses of the people. This means that the peasants’ land question can be won, maintained and consolidated only through the masses’ own struggle and their own efforts. Any view based on bestowal or on substituting oneself for the masses’ struggle is erroneous. Without the masses’ consciousness and initiative, if one relies solely on someone “bestowing” rent reduction and interest reduction, or on substituting oneself for the masses in organizing mutual-aid teams, the masses will still engage in “open reduction but secret non-reduction,” and land reform can only be formal and hollow. Therefore, in advancing the land reform process, Mao Zedong and the Party Central Committee repeatedly emphasized through directives and instructions on the land question: in carrying out the land movement, it is necessary to convene numerous village and township peasant congresses and county-level peasant representative congresses, and through these mass congresses and representative congresses, lead the peasants to solve the land question with their own hands. It is imperative to fully implement the mass line, to allow the situation to mature through thorough preparation, to truly mobilize the masses, and to have the masses solve the land question with their own hands. It is absolutely forbidden to use methods that contravene the mass line, such as commandism, substitution and bestowal, to solve the land question. During the rent and interest reduction movement in the anti-Japanese base areas, Mao Zedong warned the entire Party: “The Party’s directives and the government’s decrees and regulations are meant to lead and assist this mass struggle, not to bestow favors upon the masses. Any rent reduction that does not mobilize the masses’ initiative is incorrect, and its results will be unstable.” Through the vigorous land reform movement, the goal of “land to the tiller” was truly realized, liberating the peasants, who constituted over 80 percent of China’s population, from the bloody exploitation of foreign imperialism and domestic feudal forces, and transferring land from the hands of feudal exploiters into the hands of the peasants. This created the possibility of “raising agriculture from a backward level to a modernized level, thereby providing a market for industry, and transforming an agricultural country into an industrial country.”

在如何解决农民土地问题时，毛泽东经常说：人民群众是真正伟大的，群众的创造力是无穷无尽的。只有人民群众才是历史的真正创造者，真正的历史是人民群众的历史。这就是说，农民的土地问题只有人民群众自己起来斗争，自己起来争取，才能获得，才能保持与巩固。任何恩赐的观点、代替群众斗争的观点，都是错误的。如果没有群众自觉和自动，只靠有什么人“恩赐”减租减息，代替群众把变工队组织起来，群众还是“明减暗不减”，那土地改革也只能是形式、空洞的。因此，在推动土地改革过程中，毛泽东和党中央一再通过关于土地问题的指示、批示等方式强调：在进行土地运动中，必须多召集村乡的农民大会和以县为单位的农民代表大会，经过这种群众大会和代表大会的形式领导农民自己动手解决土地问题。必须完全执行群众路线，酝酿成熟，真正发动群众，由群众自己动手来解决土地问题，绝对禁止使用反群众路线的命令主义、包办代替及恩赐等方法来解决土地问题。在抗日根据地减租减息运动时毛泽东就告诫全党：“党的指示和政府的法令是领导和帮助这个群众斗争，而不是给群众以恩赐。凡不发动群众积极性的恩赐减租，是不正确的，其结果是不巩固的。”经过轰轰烈烈的土地改革运动，真正实现了耕者有其田，将占全国人口80%以上的农民，从外国帝国主义与本国封建势力的血腥剥削中解放出来，将土地从封建剥削者手中转回农民手里。这样为“使农业从落后的水平进到近代化水平，从而使工业获得市场，造成了将农业国转变为工业国的可能性”。

(III) Land Legislation: The Criterion for Solving China’s Peasant Land Question

（三）土地立法：解决中国农民土地问题的准绳

Revolution is a kind of qualitative change; it must not only destroy old laws and regulations to break the old order, but also continuously issue various new laws and regulations to establish a new order. Any revolution that cannot destroy the old order cannot succeed. Similarly, any revolution that cannot establish a new order cannot succeed. After establishing the red base areas, Mao Zedong, while consolidating and expanding the revolutionary base areas and the red political power, strove to build a new revolutionary legal order through land legislation. In December 1928, on the basis of summing up the experience of land distribution, Mao Zedong personally drafted and presided over the formulation of the first land law of the red base areas—the Jinggangshan Land Law. This land law consisted of nine articles and fourteen clauses, stipulating the scope of land confiscation and the targets and standards for land distribution. Although, due to insufficient understanding and experience as well as the influence of the “Left” policies of the time, it stipulated “confiscation of all land for ownership by the Soviets” rather than confiscation of landlords’ land, and prohibited land transfer, these provisions could not satisfy the peasants’ demand for land and excessively harmed the interests of the intermediate classes. Nevertheless, as the first land regulation of the New Democratic Revolution period aimed at solving the peasants’ land question and realizing “land to the tiller,” it codified the experience created by the peasant masses in the land struggle in the Hunan-Jiangxi border region over the previous year, playing an important role in the in-depth development of the agrarian revolution. In April 1929, after the Fourth Red Army advanced into Xingguo County, Jiangxi, Mao Zedong drafted and presided over the formulation of the Xingguo Land Law, which changed “confiscation of all land” to “confiscation of all public land and the land of the landlord class, to be owned by the Xingguo Workers’ and Peasants’ Representative Conference Government, and distributed to peasants without land or with insufficient land for cultivation and use.” This change reflected Mao Zedong’s high regard for using legal means to solve the peasants’ land question and his active exploration under conditions of insufficient experience in land legislation. On the basis of summarizing and drawing on existing land legislation experience, in November 1931 the First National Congress of the Chinese Soviets of Workers, Peasants and Soldiers passed the Land Law of the Chinese Soviet Republic, which handled class relations in the countryside relatively correctly, providing an important legal basis for solving the peasants’ land question and abolishing the system of private land ownership of the landlord class within the red political power. It objectively reflected the developmental process of our Party’s and Mao Zedong’s understanding of the land struggle. The implementation of this land law played an important role in mobilizing the peasants’ revolutionary and productive enthusiasm, developing the rural economy of the red areas, promoting the smooth progress of the agrarian revolution, and consolidating and expanding the revolutionary base areas.

革命是一种序变，不仅要破坏旧的法规以破坏旧秩序，而且要不断发布各种新法规以建立新秩序。任何一种革命，如果不能破坏旧的秩序，便不能成功。同样，任何一种革命，若不能建立一种新的秩序，就不能成功。创建红色根据地以后，毛泽东通过土地立法在巩固和扩大革命根据地与红色政权的同时，努力建立自己的革命型法制新秩序。1928年12月，毛泽东在总结分田经验的基础上，亲自起草、主持制定了红色根据地第一个土地法——《井冈山土地法》。这个土地法共九条十四款，规定了没收土地的范围，分配土地的对象和标准。虽然由于认识水平与经验不足以及受当时“左”倾政策影响，其中规定了“没收一切土地归苏维埃所有”而不是没收地主土地、禁止土地转让等。这些规定不能满足农民对土地的要求，也过重打击了中间阶级的利益。但是作为新民主主义革命时期第一个以解决农民土地问题、实现“耕者有其田”为目标的土地法规，它把湘赣地区一年来农民群众在土地斗争中创造的经验以法律形式固定下来，对土地革命的深入发展发挥了重要作用。1929年4月，红四军挺进江西兴国县后，毛泽东又起草和主持制定了《兴国土地法》，将“没收一切土地”改为“没收一切公共土地及地主阶级的土地，归兴国工农兵代表会议政府所有，分给无田及少田的农民耕种使用”。这一改变反映了毛泽东对运用法制手段解决农民土地问题的高度重视，在缺乏土地立法经验条件下的积极探索。在总结吸取已有土地立法经验的基础上，1931年11月中华工农兵苏维埃第一次全国代表大会通过了《中华苏维埃共和国土地法》，比较正确地处理了农村的阶级关系，为解决农民土地问题，废除红色政权中地主阶级地土地私有制度提供了重要地法律依据，客观反映了我们党和毛泽东对土地斗争认识的发展过程，这部土地法的实施对调动农民地革命和生产积极性，发展红色区域地农村经济，推动土地革命顺利进行，巩固扩大革命根据地曾经起了重要作用。

(IV) Seeking Truth from Facts: No Investigation, No Right to Speak

（四）实事求是：没有调查就没有发言权

Mao Zedong attached great importance to summing up and drawing lessons from experience through investigation and research. From May 1930 to November 1933, Mao Zedong wrote more than ten rural investigation reports, including the Xunwu Investigation, the Xingguo Investigation, and the Changgang Township Investigation, most of which dealt with the distribution and use of land in the Chinese countryside. It was precisely through investigation and research that sought truth from facts that Mao Zedong gained a more comprehensive and in-depth understanding of the land struggle in the Chinese countryside, gradually corrected errors in land policies and laws such as the confiscation and equal distribution of all land and the prohibition of land sales, and overcame and resisted the interference of “Left” opportunism such as “no land for landlords, poor land for rich peasants.” In the subsequent struggle, Mao Zedong paid great attention to adjusting land policies and decrees in accordance with the development and changes in the revolutionary situation and class relations, so that they served the central tasks of the revolution. During the War of Resistance Against Japan, in light of the objective situation in which the contradiction between China and Japan became prominent and the landlord class in the Chinese countryside could join the anti-Japanese national united front, our Party resolutely stopped implementing the policy and law of confiscating landlords’ land for distribution to peasants, and instead implemented the policy of “rent reduction and interest reduction,” confirming it in legal form. For example, the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region Land Tenancy Regulations, passed in December 1944, made detailed provisions on various relations in land tenancy, forms of tenancy, the rights and obligations of each party, and the amount of rent reduction. The implementation of these land policies and laws played an important role in uniting landlords and rich peasants, consolidating and expanding the anti-Japanese national united front, developing the agricultural economy of the anti-Japanese base areas, and promoting the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japan. From practical experience, in places where these policies and laws were conscientiously implemented, the masses’ enthusiasm for participating in the anti-Japanese struggle and democratic construction was relatively high, and the base areas were relatively consolidated. In places where these policies and laws were not conscientiously implemented, the base areas could not be consolidated, could not withstand enemy mopping-up campaigns, and became weak and powerless.

毛泽东非常重视通过调查研究总结吸取经验教训。从1930年5月到1933年11月，毛泽东撰写了《寻乌调查》《兴国调查》《长冈乡调查》等10多篇农村调查报告，大多涉及农村土地分配和使用问题。正是在实事求是的调查研究中，毛泽东才对中国农村的土地斗争有了更加全面深入的了解，逐步纠正了土地政策法规中没收平分一切土地、不许买卖等错误，克服抵制了“地主不分田，富农分坏田”等“左”倾机会主义的干扰。在后来斗争中，毛泽东十分注意根据革命形势和阶级关系的发展变化，调整土地政策法令，使之服务于革命中心任务。在抗日战争时期，根据中日民族矛盾突出，中国农村的地主阶级可以加入抗日民族统一战线的客观形势，我们党果断停止执行没收地主土地分配给农民的政策法规，改而实行“减租减息”政策并将其用法规形式加以确认。如1944年12月通过的《陕甘宁边区土地租佃条例》，对土地租佃中的各种关系、租佃形式、各方的权利义务以及减租的数额等都做了详细规定。这些土地政策法规的实行，对于团结地主、富农，巩固扩大抗日民族统一战线，发展抗日根据地的农业经济，促进抗日战争胜利起了重要的保障作用。从实践经验来看，凡是认真贯彻执行这些政策法规的地方，群众参加抗日斗争与民主建设的积极性就比较高，根据地就比较巩固。凡是没有认真贯彻执行这些政策法规的地方，根据地就无法巩固，经不起敌人扫荡，变得软弱无力。

Mao Zedong’s thought on China’s rural land question gradually took shape in the course of long-term practical struggle. It is the product of the integration of the universal truth of Marxism with the concrete practice of China’s land reform, and the scientific summation of the Communist Party of China’s more than twenty years of experience in leading the agrarian revolution, starting from the Jinggangshan period. It not only solved the class line question of whom to rely on, whom to unite with, and whom to strike at in land reform, but also added the content of “step by step, separately” and “developing agricultural production,” fitting the developmental process of the Chinese revolution and the reality of the liberated areas, meeting the needs of the fierce class struggle and the social transformation movement, greatly enriching the connotation of the agrarian revolution, and laying a solid foundation for the complete victory of the nationwide land reform cause after the founding of New China.

毛泽东关于中国农村土地问题的思想是在长期实践斗争中逐渐形成的，是马克思主义普遍真理与中国土地改革具体实际相结合的产物，是中国共产党从井冈山开始二十多年领导土地革命经验的科学总结。不仅解决了土地改革中依靠谁、团结谁、打击谁的阶级路线问题，而且增加了“有步骤地、分别地”和“发展农业生产”的内容，切合中国革命发展进程和解放区实际，适应了激烈阶级斗争和社会改造运动的需要，极大丰富了土地革命内涵，为新中国成立后全国土地改革事业的彻底胜利奠定了坚实基础。

It is worth noting that the theoretical exploration and practical tracing of China’s rural land question also constitute an important component of Mao Zedong Thought. From 1925, when Mao keenly perceived a series of issues such as “the primary question of the revolution” and “the main motive force of the revolution,” to 1927, when he wrote *Analysis of the Classes in Chinese Society*, he elevated practical perception into theory. Thereafter, Chinese Communists put theory into practice, achieving significant developments during the Second Revolutionary Civil War period, the War of Resistance against Japan period, and the War of Liberation period — for example, the *Jinggangshan Land Law*, the *Xingguo Land Law*, the *May Fourth Directive* [48]48 The *May Fourth Directive* (1946) was a CPC Central Committee directive that shifted land policy from rent reduction to confiscation and redistribution of landlord land, intensifying the land reform during the Civil War., and the *Outline Land Law of China* — thereby realizing the social ideal of “land to the tillers.” [49]49 “Land to the tillers” (耕者有其田) is a slogan derived from Sun Yat-sen’s principle of “equalization of land rights,” later adopted and radicalized by the CPC to mean the abolition of feudal landlord ownership. As peasants constituted the overwhelming majority of old China’s population, the gradual resolution of the land question turned them into an important ally of the working class, unleashing astonishing combat effectiveness and revolutionary enthusiasm. Ultimately, under the unity and leadership of the Communist Party of China, the Chinese peasantry propelled the “metabolism” [50]50 “Metabolism” (新陈代谢) here is a metaphor for the fundamental social transformation from a semi-colonial, semi-feudal society to a new, socialist-oriented order, echoing Mao’s usage in his writings on the Chinese revolution. of modern Chinese society, transforming Marxism into a concrete reality, and a new China was established.

值得一提的是，中国农村土地问题的理论探索和实践溯源也是毛泽东思想重要的组成部分。毛泽东从1925年敏锐地感知到“革命的首要问题”“革命的主要动力”等一系列问题，到1927年撰写《中国社会各阶级的分析》，将实践感知转升为理论。此后，中国共产党人将理论付诸实施，在第二次国内革命时期、抗日战争时期、解放战争时期均有重要发展，如《井冈山土地法》《兴国土地法》《五四指示》《中国土地法大纲》，实现了“耕者有其田”的社会理想。而农民作为占旧中国绝大多数的人口，因土地问题日臻解决，逐渐成为工人阶级重要的同盟军，爆发出惊人的战斗力和革命热情。最终，在中国共产党团结带领下，中国农民阶级推动了近代中国社会的“新陈代谢”，将马克思主义转化为现实形态，崭新的中国成立了。

(Author: Zhang Yong, Lecturer at the School of Marxism, Shihezi University)

（作者：张勇，石河子大学马克思主义学院讲师）

Online Editor: Jin Qiu

网络编辑：金秋