People's History of Ideas Podcast

How the Communist Party took the formula of "Haifeng + armed self-defense" and set out to organize the peasants of Guangdong, and beyond.Further Reading:Pang Yong-pil, “Peng Pai: From Landlord to Revolutionary”Yuan Gao, “Revolutionary Rural Politics: The Peasant Movement in Guangdong and Its Social-Historical Background, 1922–1926”Robert Marks, Rural Revolution in South China: Peasants and the Making of History in Haifeng County, 1570-1930Roy Hofheinz, The Broken Wave: The Chinese Communist Peasant Movement, 1922-1928Fernando Galbiati, P’eng P'ai and the Hai-Lu-Feng SovietGerald Berkley, “The Canton Peasant Movement Training Institute”C. Martin Wilbur and Julie Lien-ying How, Missionaries of Revolution: Soviet Advisers and Nationalist China, 1920-1927Elizabeth Perry, Rebels and Revolutionaries in North China, 1845-1945Some names from this episode:Peng Pai, Communist peasant organizerChen Jiongming, Warlord dominant in Haifeng region until 1925Li Zhongkai, Leader of Guomindang left, assassinated in 1925Li Dazhao, Co-founder of the Communist PartySupport the show

Peng Pai and the beginning of the peasant movement in Guangdong Province.Further Reading:Pang Yong-pil, “Peng Pai: From Landlord to Revolutionary”Yuan Gao, “Revolutionary Rural Politics: The Peasant Movement in Guangdong and Its Social-Historical Background, 1922–1926”Robert Marks, Rural Revolution in South China: Peasants and the Making of History in Haifeng County, 1570-1930Roy Hofheinz, The Broken Wave: The Chinese Communist Peasant Movement, 1922-1928Fernando Galbiati, P’eng P'ai and the Hai-Lu-Feng SovietSome names from this episode:Peng Pai, Communist peasant organizerLi Dazhao, Co-founder of the Communist PartyChen Jiongming, Warlord dominant in Haifeng region until 1925Zhu Mo, Bad landlord in Haifeng CountyZhang Zepu, Judge in Haifeng CountySupport the show

Tensions come to a head between Chiang Kai-shek, Wang Jingwei and General Kuibyshev, as a Soviet plot backfires spectacularly.Further Reading:C. Martin Wilbur and Julie Lien-ying How, Missionaries of Revolution: Soviet Advisers and Nationalist China, 1920-1927Wu Tien-wei, “Chiang Kai-shek's March Twentieth Coup d'Etat of 1926”Barbara Tuchman, Stilwell and the American Experience in China, 1911-1945Some names from this episode:Mikhail Borodin, Comintern agent and head of Soviet mission to aid the GuomindangWang Jingwei, Leader of Guomindang government in Guangdong in late 1925 and early 1926Dai Jitao, Right-wing Guomindang ideologueNikolay Kuibyshev, Soviet general and head of military mission in Guangdong in late 1925 and early 1926Victor Rogachev, Soviet general and adviser to Chiang Kai-shekLi Zhilong, Communist in Guomindang navyHu Hanmin, Leader of Guomindang right-wing, spent a period of exile in the USSRAndrei Bubnov, Headed Soviet military inspection mission to ChinaGeneral V. A. Stepanov, Headed Soviet military mission after Kuibyshev left and before Blyukher returnedVasily Blyukher, Soviet general whose return was requested by Chiang Kai-shekChen Duxiu, General Secretary of the Communist PartySupport the show

An oral history interview with Monica Shay (née Newbold, aka Kathryn) about her experience in China in 1971-72.Some names from this episode:William Hinton, author of Fanshen and other books on ChinaJiang Qing, leading radical during Cultural Revolution and wife of Mao ZedongRevolutionary Union (RU), pro-China communist group in the US in early 1970sDazhai, model agricultural communeSupport the show

The song "New China" by the band Prairie Fire, from the 1976 album Break the Chains. This song will be referenced in our next episode.Support the show

Mao’s first major statement on the need for a strategic reorientation toward mobilizing the peasantry.The chart cited in the episode is now on the podcast website (as of 8-24-20): https://peopleshistoryofideas.com/episode-33-the-beginning-of-maoism-mao-zedongs-analysis-of-all-the-classes-in-chinese-society/.Further Reading:Stuart Schram, ed., Mao’s Road to Power, vol. 2: National Revolution and Social Revolution, December 1920-June 1927Philip C. C. Huang, “Mao Tse-Tung and the Middle Peasants, 1925-1928”Some names from this episode:Chen Duxiu, General Secretary of the Communist PartyLi Dazhao, Co-founder of Communist PartySupport the show

Mao as acting head of propaganda for the Guomindang.Further Reading:C. 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 1927Some names from this episode:Wang Jingwei, Leader of Guomindang government in Guangdong in late 1925 and early 1926Mikhail Borodin, Comintern agent and head of Soviet mission to aid the GuomindangChen Duxiu, General Secretary of the Communist PartyGregory Voitinsky, Comintern representative in China at various pointsDai Jitao, Right-wing Guomindang ideologueSupport the show

The Hong Kong strike, the assassination of Liao Zhongkai, and the Second Eastern Expedition.Further Reading:C. Martin Wilbur and Julie Lien-ying How, Missionaries of Revolution: Soviet Advisers and Nationalist China, 1920-1927John Erickson, The Soviet High Command: A Military-Political History, 1918-1941Some names from this episode:Chiang Kai-shek, Japan-trained military officer, close confidant of Sun YatsenDeng Zhongxia, Communist labor leader, involved in Hong Kong strikeWang Jingwei, Potential heir apparent to Sun Yatsen as leader of GuomindangLiao Zhongkai, Potential heir apparent to Sun Yatsen as leader of GuomindangHu Hanmin, Potential heir apparent to Sun Yatsen as leader of Guomindang (further to Right than the other two)Chen Jiongming, Southern warlord, ally and then enemy of Sun YatsenMikhail Borodin, Comintern agent and head of Soviet mission to aid the GuomindangZhou Enlai, Communist head of the Whampoa Academy political department, leading commissar on Second Eastern ExpeditionVictor Rogachev, Soviet general and adviser to Chiang Kai-shekSupport the show

The National Revolutionary Army battles the warlords for supremacy in Guangdong, while the British and French escalate tensions by massacring supporters of a strike which shut down Hong Kong.Further Reading:C. Martin Wilbur and Julie Lien-ying How, Missionaries of Revolution: Soviet Advisers and Nationalist China, 1920-1927Some names from this episode:Chiang Kai-shek, Japan-trained military officer, close confidant of Sun YatsenVasily Blyukher, Soviet general who led military mission to aid GuomindangZhou Enlai, Communist head of the Whampoa Academy political departmentWang Jingwei, Potential heir apparent to Sun Yatsen as leader of GuomindangLiao Zhongkai, Potential heir apparent to Sun Yatsen as leader of GuomindangHu Hanmin, Potential heir apparent to Sun Yatsen as leader of Guomindang (further to Right than the other two)Mikhail Borodin, Comintern agent and head of Soviet mission to aid the GuomindangSun Zhongshan/Sun Yatsen, leader of the Guomindang, died in March 1925Chen Jiongming, Southern warlord, ally and then enemy of Sun YatsenSupport the show

The first year of the Soviet military alliance with the Guomindang, including the creation of the Whampoa Military Academy, the formation of the National Revolutionary Army, and the crushing of the Merchant Corps.Further Reading:C. Martin Wilbur and Julie Lien-ying How, Missionaries of Revolution: Soviet Advisers and Nationalist China, 1920-1927John Erickson, The Soviet High Command: A Military-Political History, 1918-1941Some names from this episode:Mikhail Borodin, Comintern agent and head of Soviet mission to aid the GuomindangChiang Kai-shek, Japan-trained military officer, close confidant of Sun YatsenChen Jiongming, Southern warlord, ally and then enemy of Sun YatsenDeng Zhongxia, Leading Communist labor organizerGregory Voitinsky, Comintern representative in China at various points, much more wary of Sun Yatsen and the Guomindang than BorodinSun Zhongshan/Sun Yatsen, leader of the GuomindangSupport the show