Primary Source Document
with Questions (DBQs)
R E P O R T O N T H E I N V E S T I G A T I O N O F T H E P E A S A N T M O V E M E N T
I N H U N A N ( M A R C H 1 9 2 7 )
B y M a o Z e d o n g
Introduction
The Chinese Communist Party began in 1921 (with Soviet advice and support) as a Soviet-style Communist Party. It
was based in the urban areas and tried to organize the industrial working class to carry out revolutionary activities.
From 1922 to 1927, the Communist Party, at the direction of the Soviet Union, was allied with the Guomindang
(Nationalist Party) in the “First United Front” in order to help to defeat the warlords and unite China under
Guomindang leadership.
As a part of the United Front (and as a card-carrying dual member of both the Communist and Nationalist parties),
Mao Zedong (1893-1976) headed up the Guomindang’s Peasant Movement Training Institute. In that capacity, he
went to visit rural areas in his home province of Hunan in order to investigate the peasant movement there. An
excerpt from his report appears below.
Document Excerpts with Questions
From The Selected Readings of Mao Zedong (Beijing Foreign Language Press, 1971).


Report
on
the
Investigation
of
the
Peasant
Movement
in
Hunan
(March
1927)

By
Mao
Zedong



The
Importance
of
The
Peasant
Problem

During
 my
 recent
 visit
 to
 Hunan
 I
 made
 a
 first‑hand
 investigation
 of
 conditions
 in
 the
 five

counties
of
Hsiantan,
Hsianghsiang,
Henshan,
Liling
and
Changsha.
In
the
thirty‑two
days
from

January
4
to
February
5,
I
called
together
fact‑finding
conferences
in
villages
and
county
towns,

which
 were
 attended
 by
 experienced
 peasants
 and
 by
 comrades
 working
 in
 the
 peasant

movement,
 and
 I
 listened
 attentively
 to
 their
 reports
 and
 collected
 a
 great
 deal
 of
 material.

Many
 of
 the
 hows
 and
 whys
 of
 the
 peasant
 movement
 were
 the
 exact
 opposite
 of
 what
 the

gentry
in
Hankow
and
Changsha
are
saying.
I
saw
and
heard
of
many
strange
things
of
which
I

had
hitherto
been
unaware.
I
believe
the
same
is
true
of
any
other
places,
too.
All
talk
directed

against
the
peasant
movement
must
be
speedily
set
right.
All
the
wrong
measures
taken
by
the

revolutionary
 authorities
 concerning
 the
 peasant
 movement
 must
 be
 speedily
 changed.
 Only

thus
 can
 the
 future
 of
 the
 revolution
 be
 benefited.
 For
 the
 present
 upsurge
 of
 the
 peasant

movement
is
a
colossal
event.
In
a
very
short
time,
in
China’s
central,
southern
and
northern

provinces,
several
hundred
million
peasants
will
rise
like
a
mighty
storm,
like
a
hurricane,
a

force
so
swift
and
violent
that
no
power,
however
great,
will
be
able
to
hold
it
back.
They
will

Primary Source Document with Questions (DBQs) on
REPORT ON THE INVESTIGATION OF THE PEASANT MOVEMENT IN HUNAN (MARCH 1927),
BY MAO ZEDONG
Asia for Educators l Columbia University l http://afe.easia.columbia.edu Page 2 of 2
smash
all
the
trammels
that
bind
them
and
rush
forward
along
the
road
to
liberation.
They
will

sweep
 all
 the
 imperialists,
 warlords,
 corrupt
 officials,
 local
 tyrants
 and
 evil
 gentry
 into
 their

graves.
Every
revolutionary
party
and
every
revolutionary
comrade
will
be
put
to
the
test,
to
be

accepted
or
rejected
as
they
decide.
There
are
three
alternatives.
To
march
at
their
head
and
lead

them.
To
trail
behind
them,
gesticulating
and
criticizing.
Or
to
stand
in
their
way
and
oppose

them.
Every
Chinese
is
free
to
choose,
but
events
will
force
you
to
make
the
choice
quickly.



Questions:
1. How does Mao characterize the peasants?
2. Reading between the lines, what do you think is the attitude of the
Communist Party members to whom Mao is directing his arguments in this
report?