People's History of Ideas Podcast

This episode is an appendix to episode 51, and consists of a booklet written by Mao Zedong describing the life of a tenant-peasant in Hunan. This episode should help you to concretely picture peasant life in Hunan during the period we have been discussing in the podcast, while also giving a short example of Mao Zedong’s practice of social investigation.Most of this is Mao running down the income and expenditures of a tenant-peasant, and just the last few minutes of this recording are Mao giving his conclusions. If you’re good at hearing lists of expenses and income and extrapolating in your mind what that meant for someone’s life concretely, then this piece will help you. If that’s not you, this might get pretty dry pretty fast. Feel free to skip this episode if it’s not working for you.Some units of measurement used in this document:1 mu = .167 acre1 dan = 100 liters1 dou = 10 litersA note to the text indicates that the use of the terms dan and dou is not consistent throughout the text.1 jin = .5 kg1 fen = .01 yuan (yuan, or Chinese dollar, is the unit of currency, so 1 fen could also be translated as 1 penny)3,300 cash = 1 yuan1 sheng = 1 literliang = tael (traditional unit for counting silver)string = 1000 copper coins strung together through the holes in the middle of the coins1 zhang = 10 chi = 141 inchesSupport the show

The Fifth Party Congress of the Communist Party (April 29 to May 9, 1927) decides that the united front is better without Chiang Kai-shek.Further reading:Steve Smith, A Road Is Made: Communism in Shanghai, 1920-1927Tony Saich, The Rise to Power of the Chinese Communist PartyStuart Schram, ed., Mao’s Road to Power, vol. 2: National Revolution and Social Revolution, December 1920-June 1927C. Martin Wilbur, The Nationalist Revolution in China, 1923-1928Some names from this episode:M. N. Roy, Indian Comintern agentMikhail Borodin, Comintern agent and head of Soviet mission to aid the GuomindangChen Duxiu, General Secretary of the Communist PartyWang Jingwei, Leader of the Guomindang LeftPeng Pai, Communist peasant organizerLi Lisan, Communist labor organizerSupport the show

Chiang Kai-shek’s April 12, 1927 coup against the Communists.Further reading:Steve Smith, A Road Is Made: Communism in Shanghai, 1920-1927Elizabeth Perry, Shanghai on Strike: The Politics of Chinese LaborMaurice Meisner, Li Ta-chao and the Origins of Chinese MarxismStuart Schram, ed., Mao’s Road to Power, vol. 3: From the Jinggangshan to the Establishment of the Jiangxi Soviets, July 1927-December 1930Some names from this episode:Wang Shouhua, President of the General Labor UnionDu Yuesheng, One of three top leaders of the Green GangHuang Jinrong, One of three top leaders of the Green Gang (and top cop in the French Concession)Zhou Enlai, Leading Communist responsible for the workers’ armed forces in ShanghaiBai Chongxi, NRA commander whose forces occupied ShanghaiLi Dazhao, Co-founder of the Communist PartyGregory Voitinsky, Chairman of the Far Eastern Bureau of the CominternSupport the show

On March 21-22, 1927, Shanghai fell to a combination of general strike, armed uprising, and the advance of the National Revolutionary Army.Further reading:Steve Smith, A Road Is Made: Communism in Shanghai, 1920-1927Some names from this episode:Chen Duxiu, General Secretary of the Communist PartyLi Qiushi, Delegate to the Fifth Communist Party Congress known for being very handsomeMikhail Borodin, Comintern agent and head of Soviet mission to aid the GuomindangHenk Sneevliet, alias Maring, Dutch Communist and Comintern leader in China from 1921-1923Zhou Enlai, Head of the military commission of the Communist Central CommitteeBai Chongxi, NRA commander whose forces occupied ShanghaiSupport the show

The question of what sort of revolution the Nationalist revolution will be creates a fundamental division within the Guomindang.Further reading:C. Martin Wilbur and Julie Lien-ying How, Missionaries of Revolution: Soviet Advisers and Nationalist China, 1920-1927C. Martin Wilbur, The Nationalist Revolution in China, 1923-1928Stuart Schram, ed., Mao’s Road to Power, vol. 2: National Revolution and Social Revolution, December 1920-June 1927Alexander Pantsov, The Bolsheviks and the Chinese Revolution, 1919-1927Jack Gray, Rebellions and Revolutions: China from the 1800s to 2000Some names from this episode:Mikhail Borodin, Comintern agent and head of Soviet mission to aid the GuomindangTang Shengzhi, Hunan warlord who sided with the National Revolutionary Army and contested leadership with Chiang Kai-shekPeng Pai, Communist peasant organizerKarl Radek, provost of Sun Yatsen University in Moscow Support the show

Summations of the Second Uprising on several different levels; the continuing inability of the Shanghai Regional Committee of the Communist Party to control the ‘dog-beating’ squads; and some thoughts on the problem of the inevitability of errors being made in revolutionary armed struggle and Mao’s thinking on that problem.Further reading:Steve Smith, A Road Is Made: Communism in Shanghai, 1920-1927C. Martin Wilbur and Julie Lien-ying How, Missionaries of Revolution: Soviet Advisers and Nationalist China, 1920-1927Stuart Schram, ed., Mao’s Road to Power, vol. 2: National Revolution and Social Revolution, December 1920-June 1927Allyn and Adele Rickett, Prisoners of LiberationSome names from this episode:Qu Qiubai, Communist Central Committee member and head of propagandaZhou Enlai, Head of the military commission of the Communist Central CommitteeLi Baozhang, the commander of the garrison of warlord troops in ShanghaiSupport the show

Where we continue to follow the insurrectionary journey of the Shanghai Communists.Further reading:Steve Smith, A Road Is Made: Communism in Shanghai, 1920-1927C. Martin Wilbur and Julie Lien-ying How, Missionaries of Revolution: Soviet Advisers and Nationalist China, 1920-1927Some names from this episode:Chen Duxiu, General Secretary of the Communist PartySun Chuanfang, Leader of warlord coalition in China’s southeastZhang Zongchang, Shandong warlordLi Baozhang, the commander of the garrison of warlord troops in ShanghaiZhou Enlai, Communist commissar who left Whampoa to aid the Shanghai military commissionNiu Yongjian, Veteran Nationalist operative who came to Shanghai in 1926Support the show

The bumpy road that the Communist Party took in Shanghai as it developed its capacity to deploy organized violence as a political tactic.Further reading:Steve Smith, A Road Is Made: Communism in Shanghai, 1920-1927Some names from this episode:Wang Shouhua, Leading Communist labor organizer in ShanghaiYu Xiaqing, Leader of a nationalist faction of Shanghai’s merchant classNiu Yongjian, Veteran Nationalist operative who came to Shanghai in 1926Sun Chuanfang, Leader of warlord coalition in China’s southeastTao Jingxuan, Communist union organizer executed after First Armed UprisingChen Duxiu, General Secretary of the Communist PartySupport the show

The tension between maintaining the united front and mobilizing the peasants for revolution finds expression in a crucial debate over strategy at the end of 1926.Further reading:C. Martin Wilbur and Julie Lien-ying How, Missionaries of Revolution: Soviet Advisers and Nationalist China, 1920-1927Tony Saich, The Rise to Power of the Chinese Communist PartyStuart Schram, ed., Mao’s Road to Power, vol. 2: National Revolution and Social Revolution, December 1920-June 1927Some names from this episode:Mikhail Borodin, Comintern agent and head of Soviet mission to aid the GuomindangGregory Voitinsky, Chairman of the Far Eastern Bureau of the CominternChen Duxiu, General Secretary of the Communist PartyWang Jingwei, Main leader of the Guomindang leftSupport the show

Debate breaks out within the Communist Party and the Comintern over how to assess the balance of forces and relate to the developing revolutionary situation engendered by the mass movements in Hunan and Hubei in late 1926.Further reading:C. Martin Wilbur and Julie Lien-ying How, Missionaries of Revolution: Soviet Advisers and Nationalist China, 1920-1927Tony Saich, The Rise to Power of the Chinese Communist PartyArif Dirlik, “Mass Movements and the Left Kuomintang”Steve Smith, A Road Is Made: Communism in Shanghai, 1920-1927Daniel Kwan, Marxist Intellectuals and the Chinese Labor Movement: A Study of Deng Zhongxia, 1894-1933Some names from this episode:Mikhail Borodin, Comintern agent and head of Soviet mission to aid the GuomindangWang Jingwei, Main leader of the Guomindang leftChen Gongbo, Close follower of Wang JingweiSun Chuanfang, leader of warlord coalition which held east China before being defeated during the Northern ExpeditionVasily Blyukher, Soviet general purported to be de facto commander-in-chief of Northern ExpeditionTang Shengzhi, Hunan warlord who sided with the National Revolutionary Army and contested leadership with Chiang Kai-shekGregory Voitinsky, Chairman of the Far Eastern Bureau of the CominternSupport the show