Analysis of the Classes in Chinese Society

#PUBLICATION NOTE

This edition of Analysis of the Classes in Chinese Society has been prepared and revised for digital publication by the Institute of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism under the Central Committee of the Communist Party in Switzerland on the basis of the following editions:

• Analysis of the Classes in Chinese Society, in the Selected Works of Mao Zedong, First English Edition, Vol. 1, Foreign Languages Press, Beijing, 1965.
• Mao's Road to Power, First English Edition, Vol. 2, M.E. Sharpe, Armonk, 1994.

#INTRODUCTION NOTE

This is an article written by Comrade Mao Zedong in Changsha, Hunan, China before the 1st of December, 1925. It was first published in the Geming on that date.

The article was written to combat two deviations then to be found in the Communist Party of China. The exponents of the first deviation, represented by Chen Duxiu, were concerned only with cooperation with the Nationalist Party of China and forgot about the peasants; this was Right-wing opportunism. The exponents of the second deviation, represented by Zhang Guotao, were concerned only with the labour movement, and likewise forgot about the peasants; this was «Left-wing» opportunism. Both were aware that their own strength was inadequate, but neither of them knew where to seek reinforcements or where to obtain allies on a mass scale. Comrade Mao Zedong pointed out that the peasantry was the staunchest and numerically the largest ally of the Chinese proletariat, and thus solved the problem of who was the chief ally in the Chinese revolution. Moreover, he saw that the national bourgeoisie was a vacillating class and predicted that it would disintegrate during the upsurge of the revolution, with its Right wing going over to the side of imperialism. This was borne out by the events of 1927.

#Workers and oppressed people of the world, unite!

#ANALYSIS OF THE CLASSES IN CHINESE SOCIETY

#Mao Zedong

#Before the 1st of December, 1925

#★

Who are our enemies? Who are our friends? This is a question of the first importance for the revolution. The fundamental reason why all previous revolutionary struggles in China achieved so little was not because their objectives were wrong, but entirely because their strategies were wrong. Their main strategic error consisted in their failure to unite with real friends in order to attack real enemies. The reason for this failure is the inability to distinguish clearly between enemies and friends. A revolutionary political party is the guide of the masses. No army ever wins victory when its commanders lead it astray, and no revolution ever succeeds when the revolutionary political party leads them astray. We are all members of the revolutionary political party, all leaders of the masses, all guides of the masses. We cannot but ask ourselves, however: Are we able to assume this responsibility? Will we not end up leading the masses astray? Will we definitely achieve success? To ensure that we will definitely achieve success in our revolution and will not lead the masses astray, we must pay attention to the very important question of strategy. In order to determine this strategy, we must begin with uniting with our real friends in order to attack our real enemies. The Manifesto of the First National Congress of the Nationalist Party of China proclaimed this strategy and traced the boundary between our enemies and our friends. But this declaration was very brief. If we want to understand this important strategy and to distinguish real friends from real enemies, we must make a general analysis of the economic status, the class character, and the numerical strength of the various classes in Chinese society and of their respective attitudes toward the revolution.

In any country, whether of Heaven's creation or the Earth's design, there are always three categories of people: upper, middle, and lower. If we analyse things in more detail, there are five categories: the big bourgeoisie, the middle bourgeoisie, the small bourgeoisie, the semi-proletariat, and the proletariat. As regards the countryside, the big landlords are the big bourgeoisie, the small landlords are the middle bourgeoisie, the owner-peasants are the small bourgeoisie, the semi-owner tenant-peasants are the semi-proletariat, and the farmworkers are the proletariat. In the cities, the big bankers, big merchants, and big industrialists are the big bourgeoisie; the money-lenders, middle merchants, and owners of small factories are the middle bourgeoisie; the shopkeepers and master handicraftspeople are the small bourgeoisie; the shop assistants, pedlars, and handicraftspeople are the semi-proletariat; and the industrial workers and coolies are the proletariat. Each of these five categories of people has a different economic position and a different class character. Consequently, they manifest different attitudes toward the present revolution, namely, opposing the revolution, partially opposing the revolution, observing neutrality toward the revolution, participating in the revolution, and serving as the main force of the revolution.

The attitudes of the various classes in China toward the national revolution are virtually identical with those of the various classes in the capitalist countries of Western Europe toward social revolution. This may seem strange, but, in fact, it is not strange at all. This is because the objectives and methods of the present revolution are the same everywhere, the objective being to overthrow international capitalist imperialism, and the method being to unite the oppressed peoples and classes for the fight. This is the most important characteristic that distinguishes the present revolution from all other revolutions in history.

What is the condition of each of the classes in Chinese society?

#1. THE BIG BOURGEOISIE

In economically backward and semi-colonial China, the feudal class and the comprador class,¹ which constitute the big bourgeoisie, are wholly appendages of the international bourgeoisie, depending upon imperialism for their survival and growth. For example:

• The comprador class. The bankers (for example, Lu Zongyu, Chen Lianbo, and so on); the businesspeople (for example, Tang Shaoyi, He Dong, and so on); the industrialists (for example, Zhang Jian, Sheng Enyi, and so on); those who have close relations with foreign capital.
• The big landlords (for example, Zhang Zuolin, Cheng Gongshou, and so on).
• The bureaucrats (for example, Sun Baoqi, Yan Huiqing, and so on).
• The warlords (for example, Zhang Zuolin, Cao Kun, and so on).

The class of the reactionary intellectuals is an appendage of the above four kinds of people. The high-ranking staff of banking, industrial, and commercial enterprises of comprador character, plutocrats, and high-ranking government officials, politicians, part of the students who have studied abroad in Japan and in the West, part of the teachers and students from universities and specialized schools, eminent lawyers, and so on, all belong to this category.

These classes represent the most backward and most reactionary relations of production in China and hinder the development of the productive forces. Their existence is utterly incompatible with the aims of the Chinese revolution. The big feudal and big comprador classes in particular always side with imperialism and constitute an extreme counter-revolutionary group. Their political representatives are the Statists² and the Right wing of the Nationalist Party.

This class probably numbers no more than 1'000'000 people, or 1:400 in a population of 400'000'000 people. It is a deadly enemy within the national-revolutionary movement.

#2. THE MIDDLE BOURGEOISIE

The banking, industrial, and commercial class who own Chinese capital. (Because, in economically backward China, the development of national banks, industry, and commerce by national capital is still limited to the level of the middle class. Here, «bank» refers to the small banks or money-lenders; «industry» refers to small-scale manufacture; «commerce» refers to the business of trading in national commodities. No part of large-scale banking, industry, and commerce is unrelated to foreign capital. They can only be counted as part of the comprador class.) Small landlords. Many of the higher intellectuals — the employees of Chinese commercial banking, industry, and commerce, the majority of the students who study in Japan and in the West, the majority of college and special school professors and students, and small lawyers all belong to this category.

This class represents the capitalist relations of production in China in city and countryside. The middle bourgeoisie, by which is meant chiefly the national bourgeoisie,[^3] is inconsistent in its attitude toward the Chinese revolution: they feel the need for revolution and favour the revolutionary movement against imperialism and the warlords when they are smarting under the blows of foreign capital and the oppression of the warlords, but become suspicious of the revolution when they sense that, with the militant participation of the proletariat at home and the active support of the international proletariat abroad, the revolution is threatening the hope of their class to attain the status of a big bourgeoisie. This class is the so-called national bourgeoisie. Politically, they stand for the establishment of a State under the rule of a single class, the national bourgeoisie. A self-styled true disciple of Dai Jitao³ wrote in the Zhen Bao⁴ [Morning Post], Beijing: «Raise your left fist to knock down the imperialists and your right to knock down the Communists.» These words depict the dilemma and anxiety of this class. It is against interpreting the Nationalist Party's Principle of the People's Livelihood according to the theory of class struggle, and it opposes the Nationalist Party's alliance with Russia and the admission of Communists⁵ and Left-wingers. But its attempt to establish a State under the rule of the national bourgeoisie is quite impracticable, because the present world situation is such that the two major forces, revolution and counter-revolution, are locked in final struggle. Each has hoisted a huge banner: one is the Red banner of revolution held aloft by the Third International as the rallying point for all the oppressed peoples and oppressed classes of the world, the other is the White banner of counter-revolution held aloft by the League of Nations as the rallying point for all the counter-revolutionaries of the world. The intermediate classes, such as the Second International in the West and these national bourgeois in China, are bound to disintegrate quickly, some sections turning Left to join the revolution, others turning Right to join the counter-revolution; there is no room for them to remain «independent». Therefore, the idea cherished by China's middle bourgeoisie of an «independent» revolution in which it would play the primary role is a mere illusion.

To be sure, they are now still in a semi-counter-revolutionary position and are not yet our direct enemy. Nevertheless, when they sense a daily increasing threat from the worker and peasant classes, namely, when they are forced to make a few more concessions to the interests of the worker and peasant classes (such as the movement for reducing rent in the countryside, and the strike movement in the cities), they, or a part of them (the Right wing of the middle bourgeoisie), will definitely take a stand for imperialism, will definitely become completely counter-revolutionary, and will definitely become our direct enemy. In fact, there is a faction of which it is impossible to distinguish clearly whether or not its members belong to the comprador class. As regards commerce, many merchants certainly distinguish very clearly between foreign commodities and domestic commodities, but there are also shops that display both domestic and foreign commodities. As for the intellectual class, those from small-landlord backgrounds who have gone to study in Japan definitely show very clearly that, alongside their indigenous characteristics, they have also acquired foreign characteristics. Even those children of small-landlord backgrounds who study at special schools and colleges inside China, and who are steeped in the influence of these half-indigenous and half-foreign returned students, inevitably take on this half-indigenous and half-foreign nature. People of this kind do not have an unmixed national-bourgeois nature; one might call them the «semi-national bourgeoisie». They constitute the Right wing of the middle bourgeoisie, and, as soon as the national-revolutionary struggle becomes intense, these people will certainly rally the ranks of imperialism and the warlords and make splendid partners of the comprador class. The Left wing of the middle bourgeoisie is composed of those who absolutely refuse to follow imperialism. At times, this group has a certain amount of revolutionary character (for example, during the high tide of boycotting foreign commodities). But it is extremely difficult to get rid of their «pacifist» attitudes, which are quite empty of meaning, but to which they have been attached for a long time, and they are often seized with terror when faced with «Red» tendencies. Hence, their intermittent collaboration with the revolution cannot last. Therefore, the Chinese middle bourgeoisie, whether it be its Right wing or its Left wing, contains many dangerous elements, and one absolutely cannot expect expect it to strike out resolutely on the path of revolution and to participate loyally in the revolutionary cause along with the other classes, except for a few who find themselves in special circumstances of history and environment.

The middle bourgeoisie numbers at most 1:100 people within the country (1%), that is, 4'000'000 people.

#3. THE SMALL BOURGEOISIE

Included in this category are the owner-peasants,⁶ the master handicraftspeople, the lower levels of the intellectuals — students, primary- and secondary-school teachers, lower government functionaries, office clerks, small lawyers, and the small merchants. Both because of its size and class character, this class deserves very close attention. Among those making up the small bourgeoisie, the owner-peasants alone number from 100'000'000 to 120'000'000 people. The small merchants, the master handicraftspeople, and the intellectuals probably number from 20'000'000 to 30'000'000, making a total of 130'000'000. The owner-peasants and the master handicraftspeople are both engaged in small-scale production. Although all strata of this class have the same small-bourgeois economic status, they fall into three different sections.

The first section consists of those who have some surplus money or grain, that is, those who, by manual or mental labour, earn more each year than they consume for their own support, thus giving rise to so-called primitive accumulation of capital. Such people very much want to get rich and are devout worshipers of Marshal Zhao (the God of Wealth);⁷ while they have no illusions about amassing great fortunes, they invariably desire to climb up into the middle bourgeoisie. Their mouths water copiously when they see the respect in which those small moneybags are held. People of this sort are timid, afraid of government officials, and also a little afraid of the revolution. Since they are quite close to the middle bourgeoisie in economic status, they have a lot of faith in its propaganda and are suspicious of the revolution. This section is a minority among the small bourgeoisie and constitutes its Right wing, probably making up no more than 10% of the total number of small bourgeois (or approximately 15'000'000 people).

The second section consists of those who in the main are economically self-supporting. What they earn and what they consume each year even out — no more, no less. They are quite different from the people in the first section; they also want to get rich, but Marshal Zhao never lets them. In recent years, moreover, suffering from the oppression and exploitation of the imperialists, the warlords, the feudal landlords, and the big comprador bourgeoisie, they have become aware that the world is no longer what it was. They feel they cannot earn enough to live on by just putting in as much work as before. To make both ends meet, they have to work longer hours, get up earlier, leave off later, and be doubly careful at their work. They become rather verbally abusive, denouncing the foreigners as «foreign devils», the warlords as «robber generals», and the local tyrants and evil gentry as «the heartless rich». As for the movement against the imperialists and the warlords, they merely doubt whether it can succeed (on the ground that the foreigners and the warlords seem so powerful), hesitate to join it and prefer to be neutral, but they never oppose the revolution. This section is very numerous, making up about 1/2 of the small bourgeoisie (50%), or about 75'000'000.

The third section consists of those whose standard of living is falling year by year. Many in this section, who originally belonged to better-off families, are undergoing a gradual change from a position of being barely able to manage to one of living in more and more reduced circumstances. When they come to settle their accounts at the end of each year, they are shocked, exclaiming: «What? Another deficit!» As such people have seen better days and are now going downhill with every passing year, their debts mounting and their life becoming more and more miserable, they «shudder at the thought of the future». They are in great mental distress, because there is such a contrast between their past and their present. Such people are quite important for the revolutionary movement and can contribute substantial strength to its advancement; they form 40% of the small bourgeoisie, or 60'000'000 people — a mass of no small proportions and are the Left wing of the small bourgeoisie.

In normal times, these three sections of the small bourgeoisie differ in their attitude to the revolution. But in times of war, that is, when the tide of the revolution runs high and the dawn of victory is in sight, not only will the Left wing of the small bourgeoisie join the revolution, but the middle section, too, may join, and even Right-wingers, swept forward by the great revolutionary tide of the proletariat and of the Left wing of the small bourgeoisie, will have to go along with the revolution. We can see from the experience of the 30th of May Movement⁸ of 1925 and the peasant movement in various places during the past two years that this conclusion is correct.

#4. THE SEMI-PROLETARIAT

What is here called the semi-proletariat consists of five categories:

• First, the overwhelming majority of the semi-owner peasants.⁹
• Second, the sharecroppers.
• Third, the poor peasants.
• Fourth, the small handicraftspeople.
• Fifth, the shop assistants.¹⁰
• Sixth, the pedlars.

Among the Chinese peasants, the semi-owner peasants number about 50'000'000 people, and the sharecroppers and poor peasants number about 60'000'000 people each, with the three categories totaling 170'000'000 people.

The overwhelming majority of the semi-owner peasants, together with the poor peasants, constitute a very large part of the rural masses. The peasant problem is essentially their problem. The semi-owner peasants, the poor peasants, and the small handicraftspeople are engaged in production on a still smaller scale than the owner-peasants and the master handicraftspeople. Although both the overwhelming majority of the semi-owner peasants and the poor peasants belong to the semi-proletariat, they may be further divided into three smaller categories — upper, middle, and lower — according to their economic condition. The semi-owner peasants are worse off than the owner-peasants, because, every year, they are short of about half the food they need, and have to make up this deficit by renting land from others, selling part of their labour-power, or engaging in small-scale trading. In late spring and early summer, when the crop is still in the blade and the old stock is consumed, they borrow at exorbitant rates of interest and buy grain at high prices; their plight is naturally harder than that of the owner-peasants, who need no help from others, but they are better off than the poor peasants. For the poor peasants own no land, and receive only half the harvest or even less for their year's toil, while the semi-owner peasants, though receiving only half or less than half the harvest of land rented from others, can keep the entire crop from the land they own. The semi-owner peasants are therefore more revolutionary than the owner-peasants, but less revolutionary than the poor peasants.

The sharecroppers and poor peasants are tenant-peasants who are exploited by the feudal lords. They may again be divided into two categories according to their economic status: the sharecroppers and the poor peasants. The poor peasants have comparatively adequate farm implements and some funds. Such peasants may retain half the product their year's toil. To make up their deficit they cultivate side crops, catch fish or shrimps, raise poultry or pigs, or sell part of their labour-power, and thus eke out a living, hoping in the midst of hardship and destitution to tide over the year. Thus, their life is harder than that of the semi-owner peasants, but they are better off than the sharecroppers. They are more revolutionary than the semi-owner peasants, but less revolutionary than the other category of poor peasants. As for the sharecroppers, they have neither adequate farm implements nor funds nor enough manure, their crops are poor, and, with little left after paying rent, they have even greater need to sell part of their labour-power. In hard times, they piteously beg help from relatives and friends, borrowing a few dou [tens of litres] or sheng [litres] of grain to last them a few days, and their debts pile up like loads on the backs of oxen. They are the worst off among the peasants and are highly receptive to revolutionary propaganda.

The small handicraftspeople are called semi-proletarians, because, though they own some simple means of production and moreover are self-employed, they too are often forced to sell part of their labour-power and are somewhat similar to the poor peasants in economic status. They feel the constant pinch of poverty and dread of unemployment, because of heavy family burdens and the gap between their earnings and the cost of living; in this respect too they largely resemble the poor peasants.

The shop assistants are employees of shops and stores, supporting their families on meagre pay and getting an increase perhaps only once in several years while prices rise every year. If by chance you get into intimate conversation with them, they invariably pour out their endless grievances. Roughly the same in status as the poor peasants and the small handicraftspeople, they are highly receptive to revolutionary propaganda.

The pedlars, whether they carry their wares around on a pole or set up stalls along the street, have tiny funds and very small earnings, and do not make enough to feed and clothe themselves. Their status is roughly the same as that of the poor peasants, and like the poor peasants, they need a revolution to change the existing state of affairs.

The handicraftspeople number about 6% (that is, 24'000'000) of the total population. There are about 5'000'000 shop assistants and about 1'000'000 pedlars. Together with the semi-owner peasants, sharecroppers, and tenant-peasants, the total for the semi-proletariat as a whole is 200'000'000 people, which makes up half of the entire population.

#5. THE PROLETARIAT

The modern industrial proletariat numbers about 2'000'000. The coolies in the cities number about 3'000'000. The rural proletariat numbers about 20'000'000. Altogether, they number about 45'000'000.

The industrial proletariat is not large, because China is economically backward. These 2'000'000 industrial workers are mainly employed in five industries — railways, mining, maritime transport, textiles, and shipbuilding — and a great number are enslaved in enterprises owned by foreign capitalists. Though not very numerous, the industrial proletariat represents China's new productive forces, is the most progressive class in modern China, and has become the leading force in the revolutionary movement. We can see the important position of the industrial proletariat in the Chinese revolution from the strength it has displayed in the strikes of the last four years, such as the sailors' strikes,¹¹ the railway strike,¹² the strikes in the Kailuan and Jiaozuo coal mines,¹³ the Shamian strike,¹⁴ and the general strikes in Shanghai and Xianggang¹⁵ after the 30th of May Incident. The first reason why the industrial workers hold this position is their concentration. No other section of the people is so organized and concentrated. The second reason is their low economic status. They have been deprived of all means of production, have nothing left but their hands, have no hope of ever becoming rich, and, moreover, are subjected to the most ruthless treatment by the imperialists, the warlords, and the bourgeoisie. That is why they are particularly good fighters.

The coolies in the cities are also a force meriting attention. They are mostly dockers and rickshaw-drivers, and among them, too, are sewage carters and street cleaners. Possessing nothing but their hands, they are similar in economic status to the industrial workers, but are less concentrated and play a less important role in production.

There is as yet little modern capitalist farming in China. By rural proletariat, we mean farm labourers hired by the year, the month, or the day. Having neither land, farm implements nor funds, they can live only by selling their labour-power. Of all the workers, they work the longest hours, for the lowest wages, under the worst conditions, and with the least security of employment. They are the most hard-pressed people in the villages, and their position in the peasant movement is as important as that of the poor peasants.

Apart from all these, there is the fairly large lumpen-proletariat, made up of peasants who have lost their land and handicraftspeople who cannot get work. They number over 20'000'000 people and are the source of troops for warlord armies and bandit misfortunes in our country. The largest number of lumpen-proletarians are bandits; the second largest are soldiers, followed in order by robbers, thieves, and prostitutes. They lead the most precarious existence of all. In every part of the country, they have their secret societies, which were originally their mutual-aid organizations for political and economic struggle, for instance, the Triad Society in Fujian and Guangdong, the Society of Brothers in Hunan, Hubei, Guizhou, and Sichuan, the Big Sword Society in Anhui, Henan, and Shandong, the Rational Life Society in Zhili¹⁶ and the three north-eastern provinces, and the Green Band in Shanghai and elsewhere.¹⁷ One of China's difficult problems is how to handle these people. China has two problems: one is poverty, the other is unemployment. Therefore, if the problem of unemployment is solved, half of China's problems are solved. Brave fighters, but apt to be destructive, the lumpen-proletarians can become a revolutionary force if given proper guidance.

What has been said above can be summed up in the following table:

Who are our enemies? Who are our friends? We can now answer these questions.

To sum up, it can be seen that our enemies are all those in league with imperialism — the warlords, the bureaucrats, the comprador class, the big feudal class, and the reactionary section of the intellectuals attached to them — that is, China's so-called big bourgeoisie. The leading force in our revolution is the industrial proletariat. Our closest friends are the entire semi-proletariat, small bourgeoisie, and proletariat. As for the vacillating middle bourgeoisie, their Right wing may become our enemy (even if it is not yet our enemy, it will soon become so) and their Left wing may become our friend (but not our true friend) — but we must be constantly on our guard and not let them create confusion within our ranks.

How many true friends do we have? There are 395'000'000 of them. How many true enemies do we have? There are 1'000'000 of them. How many are there of these people in the middle, who may be either our friends or our enemies? There are 4'000'000 of them. Even if we were to consider these 4'000'000 people as enemies, this only adds up to a bloc of barely 5'000'000 people, and a sneeze from 395'000'000 people would certainly suffice to blow them down.

#395'000'000 PEOPLE, UNITE!