Request for Opinions on the Tactics for Dealing With Rich Peasants
#PUBLICATION NOTE
This edition of Request for Opinions on the Tactics for Dealing With Rich Peasants has been translated, 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:
- Request for Opinions on the Tactics for Dealing With Rich Peasants, in the Selected Works of Mao Zedong, First English Edition, Vol. 5, Foreign Languages Press, Beijing, 1977.
- Request for Opinions on the Tactics for Dealing With Rich Peasants, in the Collected Works of Mao Zedong, First Chinese Edition, Vol. 6, People's Publishing House, Beijing.
#INTRODUCTION NOTE
This is an inner-Party circular to the Central-South, Eastern China, Southern China, South-Western, and North-Western Bureaus of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China written by Comrade Mao Zedong in Beijing, China on the 13th of March, 1950. It was first published in the Selected Works of Mao Zedong, Vol. 5, in 1977.
#Workers and oppressed people of the world, unite!
#REQUEST FOR OPINIONS ON THE TACTICS FOR DEALING WITH RICH PEASANTS
#CIRCULAR TO THE CENTRAL-SOUTH, EASTERN CHINA, SOUTHERN CHINA, SOUTH-WESTERN, AND NORTH-WESTERN BUREAUS OF THE CENTRAL COMMITTEE OF THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF CHINA
#Mao Zedong
#12th of March, 1950
#★
#To Comrades Deng Zihui, Lin Biao, Rao Shushi, Ye Jianying, Peng Dehuai, and Deng Xiaoping
#1
Deng Zihui received a telegram and agreed that you would not come with Lin Biao to Beijing for the meeting and instead send Li Xuefeng.
#2
At your current meeting of leading provincial comrades, please gather opinions on the tactics for dealing with the rich peasants and telegraph these opinions to us. The tactics in question are to leave untouched, not only the capitalist rich peasants, but also the semi-feudal ones in the land reform scheduled for this winter in southern provinces and some regions in the North-West and to defer the solution of the problem of the semi-feudal rich peasants for several years. Please consider whether this way is not more advantageous. The reasons for taking this course are:
- First, the land reform is unprecedented in scale and «Far Left» deviations are likely to occur. If we touch only the landlords and not the rich peasants, we can more effectively isolate the landlords, protect the middle peasants, and guard against indiscriminate beating and killing, which would be very hard to prevent otherwise.
- Second, the land reform in the North was carried out in wartime, with the atmosphere of war prevailing over that of land reform; but now, with the fighting practically over, the land reform stands out in sharp relief, and the shock to society will be particularly great and the landlords' outcries particularly shrill. If we leave the semi-feudal rich peasants untouched for the time being and deal with them a few years later, we will stand on stronger ground, that is to say, politically, we will have more initiative.
- Third, we have formed a united front with the national bourgeoisie politically, economically, and organizationally; and since the national bourgeoisie is closely tied up with the land problem, it seems better not to touch the semi-feudal rich peasants for the time being, in order to set the minds of the national bourgeoisie at rest.
At the meeting of the Political Bureau last November, which was attended by Comrades Rao Shushi, Deng Zihui, and Li Fuchun, I raised the question of not touching the rich peasants for the time being, but neither a detailed analysis nor a decision was made then. Now is the time to make a decision. Following that, the Land Law and other documents related to land reform will have to be revised and promulgated for the land reform cadres in the recently liberated provinces to study, so that we can facilitate the land reform which is due to begin after the autumn harvest. Otherwise, we would be letting the right moment slip by and lose the initiative. Therefore, it is most important for the comrades, not only of the Central-South Bureau, but also of the Eastern China Bureau, the Southern China Sub-Bureau, the South-West Bureau, and the North-West Bureau to discuss this question, forward this telegram to the provincial and municipal committees under them for discussion, collect opinions, for and against, and promptly telegraph them to the Central Committee for our consideration in making the decision.