People's History of Ideas Podcast

How the Fourth Red Army spent their time in Donggu, and how they took the first city in the new base area in the Jiangxi-Fujian border region.Further reading:Pang Xianzhi and Jin Chongji, Mao Zedong: A Biography, vol. 1: 1893-1949Agnes Smedley, The Great Road: The Life and Times of Chu Teh [Zhu De]Joseph Fewsmith, Forging Leninism in China: Mao and the Remaking of the Chinese Communist Party, 1927–1934Gao Hua, How the Red Sun Rose: The Origins and Development of the Yan’an Rectification Movement, 1930-1945Stephen Averill, “The Origins of the Futian Incident”Some names from this episode:Xiao Ke, an officer in the Fourth Red ArmyPeng Pai, Communist peasant organizerLong Chaoqing, important early Communist in Jinggangshan areaPeng Dehuai, Leader of the 5th Red ArmyGuo Fengming, Bandit turned Guomindang local despot in ChangtingSupport the show

The Mao-Zhu Army raises funds in Ningdu and moves on to the Donggu base area for rest and recovery. Background on Donggu.Link to map of Jiangxi province: https://www.chinamaps.org/china/provincemaps/jiangxi-province-map.htmlFurther reading:Stuart Schram, ed., Mao’s Road to Power, vol. 3: From the Jinggangshan to the Establishment of the Jiangxi Soviets, July 1927-December 1930Pang Xianzhi and Jin Chongji, Mao Zedong: A Biography, vol. 1: 1893-1949Agnes Smedley, The Great Road: The Life and Times of Chu Teh [Zhu De]Joseph Fewsmith, Forging Leninism in China: Mao and the Remaking of the Chinese Communist Party, 1927–1934Some names from this episode:Wang Chuxi, big landlord in Donggu area who lived in FutianYe Jianying, Communist who led division of the National Revolutionary Army which took Ji’an during the Northern ExpeditionDuan Qifeng, Donggu bandit chief who joined with CommunistsWang Zuo, Bandit leader who joined with Mao ZedongLai Jingbang, first leader of the Donggu communistsWang Liangzhao, younger brother to Wang ChuxiSupport the show

Mao and the Fourth Red Army break the encirclement of the Jinggangshan and retreat across southern Jiangxi with the Guomindang in hot pursuit.Link to map of Jiangxi province: https://www.chinamaps.org/china/provincemaps/jiangxi-province-map.htmlFurther reading/watching on the difficulties of finding good maps of China:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Restrictions_on_geographic_data_in_Chinahttps://www.reddit.com/r/Maps/comments/b6qnvc/just_blew_my_mind_every_map_of_china_is/https://www.reddit.com/r/China/comments/7pju2c/why_is_google_maps_coverage_of_china_slightly_off/Further reading:Stuart Schram, ed., Mao’s Road to Power, vol. 3: From the Jinggangshan to the Establishment of the Jiangxi Soviets, July 1927-December 1930Pang Xianzhi and Jin Chongji, Mao Zedong: A Biography, vol. 1: 1893-1949Agnes Smedley, The Great Road: The Life and Times of Chu Teh [Zhu De]Stuart Schram, ed., Mao’s Road to Power, vol. 4: The Rise and Fall of the Chinese Soviet Republic, 1931-1934Some names from this episode:Chen Yi, Political commissar for the 28th regiment of the Fourth Red ArmyLin Biao, Battalion commander in the 28th regimentWu Ruolan, Communist cadre and Zhu De’s wifeSupport the show

Answering a listener question on the Great Leap Forward famine.Further reading:Mobo Gao, The Battle for China’s PastUnited Nations, “Losing 25,000 to Hunger Every Day”Minhaz Merchant, “Churchill’s Bengal Famine”Karl Marx, CapitalMike Davis, Late Victorian HolocaustsFrederick Engels, The Condition of the Working Class in EnglandSupport the show

We wrap up our discussion of the Sixth Congress with a discussion of the political line coming out of the congress, and some related issues.Further reading:Tony Saich, The Rise to Power of the Chinese Communist PartyChang Kuo-t’ao [Zhang Guotao], The Rise of the Chinese Communist Party (2 volumes)Daniel Kwan, Marxist Intellectuals and the Chinese Labor Movement: A Study of Deng Zhongxia, 1894-1933Various 6th Party Congress documents in Chinese Studies in History vol. 3, #4 through vol. 5, #1Yueh Sheng, Sun Yat-sen University in Moscow and the Chinese Revolution: A Personal AccountA Basic Understanding of the Communist Party of ChinaSome names from this episode:Nikolai Bukharin, general secretary of the executive committee of the CominternQu Qiubai, Named head of provisional politburo at August 7, 1927 Emergency ConferenceZhang Guotao, Leading CommunistPavel Mif, Top Comintern China specialistLi Lisan, Leading CommunistZhou Enlai, Leading CommunistXiang Zhongfa, Trade unionist and new general secretary of the CPXiang Ying, Leading CommunistSupport the show

Qu Qiubai’s report and proposal are disputed, and the Comintern intervenes to restore order.Further reading:Tony Saich, The Rise to Power of the Chinese Communist PartyChang Kuo-t’ao [Zhang Guotao], The Rise of the Chinese Communist Party (2 volumes)Daniel Kwan, Marxist Intellectuals and the Chinese Labor Movement: A Study of Deng Zhongxia, 1894-1933Qu Qiubai, “The Past and Future of the Chinese Communist Party”Various 6th Party Congress documents in Chinese Studies in History vol. 3, #4 through vol. 5, #1Some names from this episode:Nikolai Bukharin, general secretary of the executive committee of the CominternQu Qiubai, Named head of provisional politburo at August 7, 1927 Emergency ConferenceChen Duxiu, Co-founder and first general secretary of the Communist PartyZhang Guotao, Leading CommunistPavel Mif, Top Comintern China specialistChen Shaoyu, Protégé of Mif (better known as Wang Ming)Shen Zemin, Sun Yat-sen University student who translated at the 6th party congressSupport the show

Our third (and last) close look at Bukharin’s speech at the 6th Congress of the Chinese Communist Party, held in Moscow in the summer of 1928.Further reading:Nikolai Bukharin, “On the International Situation and the Tasks of the Chinese Communist Party”Lenin, “Speech at the First All-Russia Congress of Working Women”Some names from this episode:Nikolai Bukharin, general secretary of the executive committee of the CominternPeng Dehuai, Guomindang colonel who was secretly a Communist and who launched an uprising in July 1928Support the show

Bukharin articulates a vision of the Chinese Revolution at the 6th Party Congress which is highly colored by the non-revolutionary Marxism of the 2nd International.Further reading:Nikolai Bukharin, “On the International Situation and the Tasks of the Chinese Communist Party”Andre Gunder Frank, World Accumulation, 1492–1789Immanuel Wallerstein, The Modern World-System, vol. I: Capitalist Agriculture and the Origins of the European World-Economy in the Sixteenth Century Mao Zedong, “The Chinese Revolution and the Chinese Communist Party”Vladimir Lenin, “Two Tactics of Social-Democracy in the Democratic Revolution”Vladimir Lenin, “Once Again on The Trade Unions: The Current Situation and the Mistakes of Trotsky and Bukharin”Hung Hsueh-ping, “The Essence of ‘Theory of Productive Forces’ is to oppose Proletarian Revolution”Some names from this episode:Nikolai Bukharin, general secretary of the executive committee of the CominternChen Duxiu, Co-founder and first general secretary of the Communist PartyMikhail Borodin, Comintern agent and head of Soviet mission to aid the Guomindang during the period of the first united frontSupport the show

Nikolai Bukharin kicks off the party congress with a very long speech.Further reading:Tony Saich, The Rise to Power of the Chinese Communist PartyChang Kuo-t’ao [Zhang Guotao], The Rise of the Chinese Communist Party (2 volumes)E. H. Carr, Foundations of a Planned Economy, vol. 3Nikolai Bukharin, “On the International Situation and the Tasks of the Chinese Communist Party”Nicholas Kozlov and Eric Weitz, “Reflections on the Origins of the ‘Third Period’: Bukharin, the Comintern, and the Political Economy of Weimar Germany”Theodore Rosengarten, All God’s Dangers: The Life of Nate ShawRobin Kelley, Hammer and Hoe: Alabama Communists during the Great DepressionSome names from this episode:Nikolai Bukharin, general secretary of the executive committee of the CominternZhang Guotao, Leading CommunistQu Qiubai, Top leader of the Chinese Communist Party from the August 7, 1927 emergency meeting until the 6th Party CongressEugen Varga, Hungarian communist economistSupport the show

The decision to hold the Sixth Party Congress in Moscow, and some of the political debate inside the Communist Party of China leading up to that Congress.Further reading:Stuart Schram, ed., Mao’s Road to Power, vol. 3: From the Jinggangshan to the Establishment of the Jiangxi Soviets, July 1927-December 1930Tony Saich, The Rise to Power of the Chinese Communist PartyPatricia Stranahan, Underground: The Shanghai Communist Party and the Politics of Survival, 1927-1937Daniel Kwan, Marxist Intellectuals and the Chinese Labor Movement: A Study of Deng Zhongxia, 1894-1933Chang Kuo-t’ao [Zhang Guotao], The Rise of the Chinese Communist Party (2 volumes)E. H. Carr, Foundations of a Planned Economy, vol. 3Organization of Communist Revolutionaries, “The CP, the Sixties, the RCP, and the Crying Need for a Communist Vanguard Party Today: Summing up a century of communist leadership, organization, strategy, and practice in the United States so that we can rise to the challenges before us”Some names from this episode:Qu Qiubai, Top leader of the Chinese Communist Party from the August 7, 1927 emergency meeting until the 6th Party CongressZhang Guotao, Leading CommunistChen Duxiu, General Secretary of the Communist Party until summer 1927Zhou Enlai, Leading CommunistSupport the show