Rural Survey of the Communist Party of China during the Agrarian Revolutionary War and Practical Enlightenment

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School of Marxism, Northwest A & F University, Yangling 712100, China

Abstract During the Agrarian Revolutionary War, in order to understand the situation in the countryside, win the revolution and answer the question of the nature of rural society in China, the Chinese Communists spontaneously conducted rural social surveys under the efforts of a group of communists such as Chen Hansheng, Mao Zedong, Zhang Wentian and the China Rural Economic Research Association, forming a more systematic and comprehensive rural summary and laying a solid foundation for the formulation of rural policies. The current rural China is undergoing tremendous changes, and the formulation of rural revitalization strategies and the mobilization of farmers’ enthusiasm are inseparable from survey and practice. The rural survey activities of the Communist Party of China during the Agrarian Revolutionary War provide far-reaching practical enlightenment for the work of the Party and the revitalization of the countryside.

Key words Agrarian revolution, Communist Party of China, Rural survey, Rural revitalization

1 Literature review and questioning

Survey is not only a working method but also a big problem that concerns the Party and determines the success of the cause of the Party[1]. During the Agrarian Revolutionary War, the Chinese Communists, represented by Comrade Mao Zedong, used the relevant theories of Marxism to conduct rural surveys, and intensive and persistent rural surveys were carried out in the revolutionary areas and other vast rural areas. The survey content is professional and targeted, and the materials are real and vivid. The surveys have played a great role in understanding and reforming the Chinese rural society.

Today, these surveys have become valuable information for studying the history of the Communist Party of China, and many of the arguments and studies have used this information. Representative of the current achievements is Luo Pinghan’sTheHistoryofRuralSurveyoftheCommunistPartyofChina[2], which reviews the rural survey of our party in various historical periods. Yang Peng’sResearchonChina’sRuralSurveyMovementinthe1920sand1930sintroduces the surveys of Chinese organizations and individuals on the Chinese society in the 1920s and 1930s, and it reflects the situation of rural surveys at that time from a historic perspective. There are also individual discussions on a person’s survey activities. Qi Xiaoxue’sMaoZedong’sSurveyandResearchActivitiesandPracticalEnlightenment:TakingtheAgrarianRevolutionaryWarasanExample[3]and Wang Xukuan’sAnalysisofMaoZedong’sRuralSurveyduringtheJinggangshanStrugglePeriodandHistoricalContribution[4]discussed Mao Zedong’s rural surveys during the Agrarian Revolutionary War. Li Zhangpeng’sHistoricalInvestigationofChenHansheng’sRuralSurveyinthe1920sand1930s[5]and Feng Min’sChenHanshengandChineseRuralSurvey[6]introduced the rural survey of the CCP’s secret party member Chen Hansheng. Zhou Qingshan’sZhangWentianandtheProblemofRichPeasantsduringtheAgrarianRevolutionaryWar[7]introduced Zhang Wentian’s view on rural and peasants from the side, and this view was of course based on certain surveys and studies.

The academic community still lacks a comprehensive and systematic and in-depth study of the rural survey of the Communist Party of China during the Agrarian Revolutionary War. The brief introduction of the rural surveys has been one-sided. Guided by the Marxist historical materialism, on the basis of reference to relevant domestic and foreign achievements, a systematic and comprehensive demonstration and analysis of the theory and practice of the Chinese Communists’ rural surveys during the Agrarian Revolutionary War was conducted to provide historical reference for solving the problems of agriculture, rural areas and farmers.

2 The process and achievements of the Chinese Communist Party’s rural investigation activities during the Agrarian Revolutionary War

During this period, on the one hand, due to the bankruptcy of China’s rural economy and the aggression of imperialism, the Chinese Communist Party was extremely worried about the status quo of China. But due to the lack of understanding of rural issues, a detailed survey and study of the problems in rural China was required to be conducted to prescribe the right medicine and find a good way to save China’s rural areas. On the other hand, in the Chinese intellectual community at the time, a big debate had occurred about the nature of China’s rural areas. In order to correctly answer the question of the nature of China’s rural society, a group of Chinese Communists began the surveys on China’s rural areas.

2.1RuralinvestigationofChenHanshengAt that time, Chen Hansheng believes that in order to win this debate, it was necessary to go deep into the Chinese countryside and speak with facts. The rural survey he presided over was originally conducted with Wang Yinsheng in Heilongjiang. This survey was mainly a survey of the literature. According to the survey materials of the Northeast Railway Economic Bureau and some archival materials, articles published in newspapers and magazines, they wroteThePeasantsandLandlordsoftheHeilongjiangRiverBasin,ExileofRefugeesintheNortheastandRefugeesandLandIssuesintheNortheast[8], which expose the tragic life of peasants under the war of warlords. After the analysis of the status quo, Chen Hansheng believes that China is a big agricultural country. But for various reasons, China’s rural development is extremely uneven. So Wuxi of Jiangsu, Baoding of Hebei and Panyu of Guangdong were selected for comprehensive rural survey.

The rural survey of Wuxi was started in the summer of 1929 by a group of 45 people led by Chen Hansheng. It took three months, and a total of 1 024 farmers were surveyed. In addition, the overview of other 55 rural areas and the industry and commerce in 8 municipalities were surveyed. The survey content included household registration, housing conditions, labor, production and income of various crops, types of side businesses and their income, livestock, agricultural power machinery, borrowing, pledge, commercial trading, living consumption and cultural education. The survey found that Wuxi’s mu system and land rights were very complicated[9-10]. The land was relatively concentrated, and landowners who accounted for less than 6% of the rural households accounted for 47% of cultivated land. High rents, heavy taxes, overwhelmed usury, and extremely upset industry and commerce were also important reasons for the decline of agricultural production in Wuxi[11].

From May to August 1930, the Baoding investigation team led by Chen Hansheng divided the Qingyuan County into four districts based on the agricultural water conservancy. Each district selected the most common villages for sampling surveys of village economy, village household economy, urban division and farmer household, focusing on different aspects of distribution, production, exchange and consumption[12]. The content mainly focused on farming, agricultural production, rural real estate, rural economy and rural population. The survey results showed that the concentration of land was more serious; the form of rent was diverse and the rent was high; and rural exploitation was serious[13]. In 1933-1935, Chen Hansheng organized the surveys on the tobacco-producing areas in Guangdong, Henan, Anhui and Shandong. The surveys showed the situation of rural capital rampage and serious exploitation of farmers.

In addition to the surveys above, Chen Hansheng also conducted some simple rural social surveys in Guanzhong and Hanzhong, Shaanxi[14-15]. The surveys found that in the Guanzhong area, due to the development of commercial capital and usury capital, the land rights were constantly concentrated, and small farmers sold out the fields in order to maintain their livelihood. After the natural disaster, the small farmers in Guanzhong had all become employed farmers excepting those who died or fled from home. The progress of the commercialization of agricultural products in the Guanzhong area had intensified, and the life of farmers had become increasingly difficult. The situation in the Hanzhong area was the same, where farmers were exposed to harsh taxes, usury capital and commercial capital exploitation. They lost their land and had become more impoverished.

2.2RuralinvestigationofMaoZedongDifferent from Chen Hansheng, Mao Zedong and others were truly aware of the importance of national conditions to the victory of the revolution. "Understanding China’s national conditions is the basic basis for recognizing all revolutionary issues"[16].

After the failure of the Autumn Harvest Uprising, Mao Zedong, who led the remaining troops into the Jinggangshan area, began an unremitting rural survey. In order to fully understand the political and economic situation of the border, Mao Zedong conducted extensive and in-depth survey on the Bashang, Yangqiao Lake and Mayuankeng of Maoping. The survey took the forms of forum and individual visit. In the survey, Mao Zedong asked, recorded and discussed with others. Finally, Mao Zedong sorted out the survey materials he obtained, and named it Survey on Ninggang. In late February 1928, Mao Zedong led the Revolutionary Army of Workers and Peasants to carry out mass movements from Jinggangshan to Qiuxi, Yongxin, in order to initiate the masses to fight with local tyrants and divide the fields. In early May, the end of May, and the beginning of June, Mao Zedong went to the Tangbian Village, Yongxin for survey and research three times to guide the land distribution. Based on these materials, Mao Zedong compiled the "Survey on Yongxin".

The survey found that the land allocation situation in Ningyong area was unreasonable. Based on this survey and research, Mao Zedong drafted the Jinggangshan Land Law and initially proposed the method of land allocation. It clearly stipulates the land distribution methods and principles that "all land will be confiscated by the Soviet Government"[17], land will be distributed according to population and labor, and "land sales are forbidden", greatly promoting the development of the revolution at that time.

With the establishment of rural bases and the development of the agrarian revolution, Mao Zedong’s rural survey and research has also entered a new stage. He had conducted a series of surveys on Xunwu, Xingguo, Changgang Township and Caixi Township around the agrarian revolution and the construction of rural political power, and summarized a set of scientific methods for rural survey.

In May 1930, in order to clarify the problem of rich peasants encountered during the revolutionary development at that time and to further clarify the party’s understanding of business issues, Mao Zedong carried out a famous survey into Xunwu. In the survey of Xunwu, Mao Zedong mainly adopted the forms of individual visit and investigation to comprehensively understand the situation of Xunwu County. He mainly investigated the political divisions, transportation, commerce, old land relations and land struggles in Xunwu County. From this survey, Mao Zedong concluded that the rich peasants were not Chinese rural bourgeoisie and treating the rich peasants should advocate a policy of resolute struggle. Based on the survey of Xunwu, Mao Zedong finally determined that our party’s land allocation polity was to "confiscate the land of big owners and give it to small owners", "confiscate fertile land and give it to those who owned only barren land" and "divide the land by population". It had promoted our party to form a correct land allocation policy. On the basis of this survey and research activity, Mao Zedong also wrote the bookObjectiontoBookWorship, the earliest critical dogmatism in the party. In addition, Mao Zedong also pointed out that "someone has no right to speak on a certain issue if he/she has not investigated it"[18], and then put forward a famous assertion that "no investigation, no right to speak". In the following year, it was further developed as "no right investigation, not right to speak"[19-20]. In the survey of Xingguo, Mao Zedong also pointed out that the formulation of policies should be based on actual conditions, that is, the results of the investigation. This practice had implemented a style of seeking truth from facts.

After the Fourth Plenary Session of the Six Central Committee of the Communist Party of China in January 1931, in order to improve the dogmatism of the Soviet Union and improve the relationship between the cadres and the masses in the Soviet Union, Mao Zedong conducted an investigation into Changgang Township and Caixi Township. In the investigation, Mao Zedong found that the two townships had a lot in common. The relationship between the party organization and the Soviets was very close, and the work had achieved great results, as follows: (i) The Soviet representatives were elected by the masses; (ii) Xiangsu had organized the villagers to be closely organized under the Soviets through various committees; (iii) The living arrangements of the masses were good, and their living standards had been improved; (iv) Farming teams and cooperatives were established to implement mutual economic assistance and mobilize labor in an organized way; (v) Economic public debt was well promoted; (vi) Economic construction was in line with political mobilization; (vii) Rural cultural education was popularized through various forms. Mao Zedong praised the model workers in Changgang Township and Caixi Township and pointed out that "they linked the masses to the revolutionary war and they solved the problems of the revolutionary methods and revolutionary tasks"[12].

2.3RuralinvestigationofChineseRedArmyUnder the leadership of Mao Zedong, the then the Fourth Army of the Red Army formed the atmosphere of conducting hands-on investigations in the whole army. Chen Yi wrote a report on the history and current status of Zhu-Mao Red Army on September 1, 1929. The work usually carried out by the various departments of the Fourth Army of the Red Army was reported, and the first item was investigation work.

In April 1931, the General Political Department of the Central Revolutionary Military Committee issued theNoticeoftheGeneralPoliticalDepartmentontheInvestigationofPopulationandLandStatusdrafted by Mao Zedong to the political departments and governments at all levels. It stipulates that every time the Red Army Political Department arrived, both the population and land survey forms should be filled out, and the local government should fill in from township to township.

On November 3, 1935, the Standing Committee Meeting of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee held in Xiasiwan decided that the central leaders would move in two directions. Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai and Peng Dehuai led the Red Army to smash the Kuomintang’s encirclement of the Soviet Area in Northern Shaanxi, and Zhang Wentian and others lead the central authorities to station in Wayaobu. After Zhang Wentian arrived at Wayaobu, he immediately designated Li Weihan, Wang Guanlan and Guo Hongtao to conduct a comprehensive survey of the status of land rural classes in the base areas. Among them, Wang Guanlan focused on the living conditions of poor farmers in the two townships of the Zhongqu District of Anding County after the land revolution, the crackdown on the landlords and rich peasants, as well as the farmers’ production preparation and problems. He held village cadres and poor peasant symposiums respectively and went households to visit. According to the survey, on November 20, Zhang Wentian pointed out and stressed at the meeting of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee that it was wrong to eliminate rich peasants; opposing rich peasants did not mean allocating their good fields; for the rich peasants that had been developed in the future, there must be differences in policies; and he denied the leaf-leaning policy that landlords were not allocated with fields and rich peasants were allocated with bad fields.

2.4RuralinvestigationofChinaEconomicResearchAssociationThe contribution of the China Rural Economic Research Association cannot be ignored. The China Rural Economic Research Association was under the secret leadership of the party. It is an open legal group in the Kuomintang ruled area. After its investigation, the ideal of rural reformist was criticized, the lie of the Kuomintang government’s "rural rejuvenation" was debunked, and the paradox that China was already a capitalist society, China’s rural economy was already a commodity economy and capitalism had dominated was refuted. Under the auspices of Chen Hansheng and Wang Yinsheng, from 1929 to 1930, rural surveys were conducted in Wuxi, Jiangsu and Baoding, Hebei. Xue Muqiao and others conducted surveys in rural areas of Guangxi and in Baoshan of Shanghai, Henan and Shaanxi. These surveys were guided by Marxism and were based on class analysis. They focused on the economic base and production relations in rural areas and exposed the situation of class contradictions and class exploitation. These rural surveys were unique at that time. They provided factual evidence and scientific arguments for understanding the nature of Chinese rural society and the roots of poverty of farmers in the exploitation of imperialism and landlords. They also caused a lot of ideological impact on the study of academic sociology at that time.

3 Main characteristics of the rural investigation activities of the Communist Party of China during the Agrarian Revolutionary War

3.1Highlightingproblemconsciousness,strengtheningproblemorientationDuring the Agrarian Revolutionary War, guided by problem consciousness, the Chinese Communists were actively engaged in rural social surveys, providing solutions to rural social problems. In order to answer the social nature of rural China, Chen Hansheng and his organized China Rural Economic Research Association organized several rural surveys. Among them, the surveys of Wuxi, Baoding and Guangdong provided a solid foundation for answering the nature of Chinese rural society. He also pointed out that conducting large-scale surveys provided a way to solve the crisis in rural China[8]. The orientation of problem consciousness was particularly clear in Mao Zedong’s many rural surveys, such as surveys on Ninggang, Yongxin, Xunwu, Xingguo, Changgang Township and Caixi Township. Zhang Wentian’s investigation of rich peasants was also based on political changes during this period, and it was also to answer how to treat the rich peasants in the end. Mao Zedong once pointed out that "investigation is to solve problem"[9]. Only by investing the actual situation can the book worship be corrected and can realistic struggle strategy be formulated.

3.2ConductingorleadingruralinvestigationbytheCommuniststhemselves,stickingtothemasslineA careful analysis of the survey and study of the Communists during the Agrarian Revolutionary War can reveal that almost all rural surveys were conducted or led by the Communists themselves. In the course of investigation and research, corresponding plans were made by the Communists according to local conditions, insisting on being investigators and recorders of the surveys. They had truly penetrated the masses, united with the people, and become friends of the peasants.

3.3GuidedbyMarxism-Leninism,payingattentiontoclassanalysisGuided by Marxism, the use of class analysis to investigate rural society was a clear survey method for Communists. Chen Hansheng and Mao Zedong used the class analysis method to divide rural members into different classes without exception. Different strategies were adopted for different classes. There are materials indicating that as late as in the survey of Baoding in 1930, Chen Hansheng began to divide the farmers into five categories based on their economic status[21]. In addition, drawing on Marx’s economic thoughts, Chen Hansheng conducted investigation and study of rural economic relations, started with production relations. In 1931, he publicly clearly stated that "the sum of all production relations causes the infrastructure of society, which is the starting point for the study of true sociology; while in China, most of the production relations belong to the rural areas"[22]. Mao Zedong had clearly divided the rural residents according to the class analysis method as early as in hisAnalysisoftheVariousClassesinRuralSociety, not to mention the period of the Agrarian Revolutionary War.

3.4ExtensiveandcomprehensiveinvestigationcontentthatcoversawiderangeoffieldsDuring this period, Chen Hansheng and his organized China Rural Economic Research Association conducted a wide-range survey nationwide, north to northeastern provinces, south to Guangdong and west to Guanzhong and Hanzhong in Shaanxi. The surveys covered rural economy, rural population, rural culture, rural commerce, rural farming and many other aspects. They provided realistic basis for the Communists to formulate land policies and solve rural problems. Mao Zedong’s rural surveys during this period were quite rich, including the surveys of Xunwu, Changgang Township and Caixi Township, which covered all the aspects of the rural areas and comprehensively reflected the situation of rural society in the revolutionary bases.

4 Practical enlightenment of the rural investigation activities of the Communist Party of China during the Agrarian Revolutionary War

At present, China’s rural society is undergoing rapid changes, exempting agricultural taxes, coordinating urban and rural development and building a new socialist countryside, which are all unprecedented measures in history. In this historical process, ancient traditional agricultural civilization is rapidly disappearing and mutating, and emerging civilization is rapidly developing and growing. In today’s world, it can be said that there is nothing faster and more complicated than the changes in rural China. The report of the 19th National Congress f the Communist Party of China pointed out that "the problems of agriculture, rural areas and peasants are fundamental issues concerning the national economy and the people’s livelihood, and it is necessary to solve the problems of agriculture, rural areas and peasants as the top priority of the whole party’s work"[23]. In the new era, we must unswervingly implement the rural revitalization strategy and promote the development of various rural undertakings. Therefore, from the perspective of rural reform and development in China, it is particularly important to strengthen investigation and research. The rural survey during the Agrarian Revolutionary War demonstrated the most direct and valuable understanding and research of Chinese Communists on Chinese rural society and rural problems. By summarizing the historical experience of the rural survey during the Chinese Communist Party’s Agrarian Revolutionary War, we can get at least the following enlightenments.

4.1ApplyingMarxismunswervinglytoguideChina’spracticeSince the beginning of the founding of the Communist Party of China, Marxism has been written on its own banner. After history and people’s choice, Marxism has a strong class foundation and it is correct to use it to guide China’s practice. But the use of Marxism is not a copy of the words of a classic Marxist writer, not a phrase mongering that does not relate to reality, and not a mere looking at commonality but ignoring the own characteristics. Engels said: "Marx’s entire worldview is not a doctrine, but a method; and it does not provide a ready-made dogma, instead, it is the starting point for further research and the method used for this kind of research". Therefore, we must actively strengthen our own Marxist cultivation, actively link theory with practice, and constant innovate, opening up a new realm of Marxism in China.

4.2AdheringtotheprincipleofseekingtruthfromfactsandcloselyconnectingwiththemassesSeeking truth from facts is the living soul of Mao Zedong Thought, and it is also the requirement of Marxism. Seeking truth from facts is subjective and objective. If insisting on seeking truth from facts in investigation and research, the problem can be discovered and reflected in time, so that the current policy can be actively adjusted to better serve the people. It is the fine style of our party to keep close contact with the masses. What comes from the masses to the masses is something that can stand the test of history. Only adhering to the methods of contacting the masses can correct understanding decision-making be formed and can policies that are in line with the interests of the people be formulated.

4.3PromotingvigorouslyfieldresearchtopromoteruralrevitalizationRural survey during the Agrarian Revolutionary War provided a scientific basis for the Chinese Communist Party to formulate a land policy and formulate a course of action at that time. It also provided a solid foundation for the implementation of the policy. The report of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China proposes to implement the strategy of rural revitalization. This is not only a new measure of the Party for rural revitalization in the New Era, but also an important part of China’s comprehensive construction of a well-off society and the building of a socialist modern power. In the process of implementing the rural revitalization strategy, it is necessary to rely on investigation and research to find out the actual situation of rural society in the new era, actively respond to the demands of rural residents and truly solve the rural problems, and only investigation and research can truly reflect the wishes of the villagers, reflect the rural situation, fully mobilize the enthusiasm of the peasants and provide a powerful impetus to the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.