I feel it's appropriate to warn that this book describes some pretty violent scenes at certain points, especially rape. It never goes into detail but they can still be quite upsetting. The descriptions of some of the abuses inflicted by Japanese puppet forces are where it's densest but there's a section where it talks about some of the abuses by cadres before the work team arrived and it mentions a rape and it did so in a way that made me pretty uncomfortable - not dismissing it at all but maybe not as seriously as it should have been? I don't know exactly how to describe it. There are a few other bits where I felt vaguely uncomfortable with the descriptions of women but none that were too bad.

Apart from that, a really, really fantastic and fascinating book. Hinton is a highly sympathetic observer and highly supportive of the CPC but also not strictly party line and he notes down so many details about the process that it's a valuable tool for even people who strongly oppose the Chinese revolution for whatever reason to learn about how things took place. By offering minute detail about how exactly the land reform process worked (even though obviously it's only in a single village) alongside the party's general policy recommendations, he gives us an incredible insight into the contradictions exposed in general by radical action - it was kind of unreal to me how closely some of what happened paralleled my own experience in radical spaces right now. Hinton gets a lot of valuable first hand accounts from before he arrived in the village and during it, with people describing their experiences, their problems with cadres, their grievances with the moment, how much the land reform has helped them, etc - seeing people speak in their own words is really incredible. By giving us all this first hand detail he allows us to directly assess the problems experienced during the process. His account of pre-revolution China is also absolutely heartbreaking - the stories of starvation and poverty and total abuse at the hands of the Japanese forces told directly by those who experienced it made me tear up several times. Anyone could read this and say "well they went wrong at x place" or whatever but the important part is saying the way problems were resolved and to take away lessons from actual revolutionary experience for things now. The most important lessons come out in revolutionary struggle. Someone mentioned that it almost feels too good to be true sometimes with how land reform actually worked out in the village and yeah it's important to realise this is only one village and I imagine a lot of other villages had things work out far more shakily (he mentions a few others with worse problems) but that doesn't make it any less valuable a document.

Some things it made me think about a lot - how is it possible to get justice for a crime with no obvious restitution? how can discipline of party members be done most effectively? how can people be encouraged to act without the existence of vanguard party type organisations? how can you effectively build a coalition of as many people as are your natural allies without alienating people unnecessarily or compromising far too much? None of these questions have easy answers but you get a very valuable sense of how they were handled at the time and it's more useful than a thousand completely ungrounded books purporting to talk about these subjects. And of course I disagreed with some of how it was handled by them at the time in the book! It's probably a mark of how well written it is that I genuinely felt connected to the struggle and the people involved and felt genuine frustration with stuff like the probably far too extensive forgiveness for cadres (as long as they genuinely recanted) even for awful crimes. But that just makes it clear to me more what's at stake and the pros and cons of these kinds of transformative justice ideas (ha).

One thing that did stick out at me is the importance of self-criticism for people in leadership positions. It's a very valuable tool.www ( )

I read this book to challenge my politics and learn about what happens when we win a revolution, especially on a grand scale. However you view China today (the planet's sweatshop with some of the worst human, labor, and environmental abuses ever committed, but labeled "Communist" so that they can shoot striking workers dead without outrage from the Stalinoid wierdos who also call themselves "Communists"), the contents of this book contain a revolution of an immense magnitude, and yet one that the author makes feel very intimate.

I was struck by the tremendous poverty of the Chinese countryside after 1840 and before the Second World War. The poor peasants in Long Bow plant in the spring and summer, but in Winter, they sit inside. One would think that one could make handicrafts or something during the winter, not to waste a moment of time, but the truth of a Long Bow winter for a poor peasant is that you cannot afford it. You sit as still as possible, using up as little calories as you can, because you know you don’t have enough calories to make it through until the next harvest otherwise. You already know you will be bickering with your neighbor over the leaves on the trees and the wild herbs that you will need to harvest, just to stay alive. Furthermore, you prepare latrines by the side of the road, hoping that passing cart vendors will stop at *your* latrine, so that you can have a little extra “night soil” fertilizer.

This diminished carrying capacity is not a natural phenomenon. It is a result of the devastation of a series of wars of foreign invasion turned internecine warlordism. It is a result of the exploitation of the resources by foreign empires, followed by the flushing of the market with cheap machine-made goods, which made whole swaths of the urban population return to the countryside with dwindling prospects of land. And, most crucially, it is a result of the landlords who recieved these landless people and pinched the class of people who owned a tiny amount of their own land. The problems China faced were started by feudalism, but exacerbated by a constant feedback loop between imperialism and the merciless local bourgeoisie.

“The rising tide of landless and destitute people enabled landowners to stiffen the terms of tenancy, to raise rents and jack up interest rates. [...] Weighed down by high interest rates, harassed by heavy taxes, caught in the snares of a rigged market, many landowning peasants went bankrupt, sold out their holdings strip by strip, and ended up with the yoke of rent around their necks, or left for the city hoping to find work [...] that would keep them alive. [...] "There are districts in which the position of the rural population is that of a man standing permanently up to the neck in water, so that even a ripple is sufficient to drown him.""

When Japan invaded China, two official resistance movements emerged: the Nationalists, as lead by Chiang Kai-Shek, whose power came from the gentry (landlords) and the south of China, and the Chinese Communist Party, lead by Mao Tse-tung, drawing power from the radical peasant movements (big C communist and not) of North China. Terrified of losing their stranglehold of peasant China, the nationalists underwent a bizarre calculation for “resisting” the foreign occupation: the bending path to freedom. Seeing that the Japanese would soon be defeated by the United States, the Nationalists surrendered and accepted posts in the occupying government. When the Japanese withdrew, the Nationalists would be in power. Needless to say, in the areas liberated by the People’s Liberation Army, things went a little differently. Mao declared the Draft Agrarian Law:
“"With sentences as abrupt as the strokes of a fodder-chopping knife, the new law claimed the death of landlordism:
Article I: The agrarian system of feudal and semi-feudal exploitation is abolished. The agrarian system of "land-to-the-tiller" is to be realized.
Article II: Landownership rights of all landlords are abolished.
Article III: Landownership rights of all ancestral shrines, temples, monasteries, schools, institutions, and organizations are abolished.
Article IV: All debts incurred in the countryside prior to the reform of the agrarian system are cancelled."”

At first, the “land to the tiller” movement was merely anti-collaborationist, but quickly changed to a class-based redistribution. This is what the book concentrates on, the struggle of a small rural town to redistribute land and therefore wealth in an equitable fashion, to abolish landlordism and feudalism and embark on a new economic project. The author is careful to paint every detail of this amazing process that takes place within this tiny representative sample of the North Chinese countryside. This is not only useful for a narrative grasp on the 600 page book, but also because the scale of a BILLION people working to redistribute wealth and land is so immense that the humanity of the struggle could be overlooked in favor of dead statistics. Luckily, this book maintains a narrow focus on the village to humanize the nuts-and-bolts struggles. Every once in a while, however, we are treated to a contextualizing of these struggles, with the concomitant vertigo of zooming out to such an enormous degree: “In these months Chiang had lost a total of 2,640,000 men who were killed, wounded, or captured. In the same period the People’s Liberation Army had added 1,600,000 regular and irregular troops to its forces.” [482] The book does an amazing job of humanizing events and keeping them within the (ahem, much) larger political and military context, including both overall strategy used by the military commanders (it is said that the revolution was successful because while Chiang Kai-Shek was playing chess, Mao was using the Chinese map like a Go board) and entertaining details (the People’s Liberation Army mocked their adversary: ““America is our arsenal, and Chiang Kai-shek is our quartermaster.” In every major engagement they captured thousands of rounds of ammunition, mountain guns, machine guns, trucks, bazookas, and even tanks.” [483])

The Communist Party of China acts as a shephard for the peasant revolt, sometimes with impressive wisdom, and sometimes with ugly politics carried over from the worst of Marxist-Leninism. The wisdom comes through most readily with the willingness to criticise themselves and change the direction of a policy when it is shown to be ineffectual. And where the revolution invites the deep participation of regular people in the decisions that affect their lives the most, it is the most beautiful. The poorest of peasants, once given enough land on which they could sustain themselves, gathered weeds and organic matter to burn into ash, collecting nitrates used in munitions on the front. “How much more direct, how much more personal is the involvement of a people who must burn leaves and trash to make their own nitrates than of a people who need only contribute dollars to a munitions industry they have never seen.” [594] In a meeting in which the population was consulted to decide on the class standing of themselves and their peers:

“No votes were taken. To decide such matters by a vote meant to impose the will of the majority on the will of the minority, with all the hard feeling such an imposition was sure to cause. [...] This system enabled shy people to speak first in small groups and gradually build up confidence to the point where they were willing to stand up and talk before the multitude. Truth was well served by such an arrangement because what one person forgot another was sure to remember. The collective proved wiser than any individual, and in the end a consensus of the participants emerged." [278] This was not some imposed structure from the Party or strict political dogma, but the organic decisionmaking structure of a people in rebellion.

The Communist Party of China often made successful selfless contributions to this movement. Communists bottomlined working on the field of People’s Liberation Army soldiers so that they could be sure that their families were well taken care of without their labor. The earnest young cadre threw themselves on the most intimidating workload without any noticeable reward, and even come up with charming euphemisms like “Revolutionary Heat:” the fleas and lice that have found new hosts in the itchy flesh of young revolutionaries who have moved to the countryside to make sure that the land redistribution goes smoothly. And the Communists were adept at focusing the struggle: “Where analysis showed an objective community of interest the Party tried to bring people together regardless of the subjective animosities and suspicions that divided them."

But there were other times in which the leadership structure itself steered the movement of the people away from rebellion or made unself-conscious power grabs, which forms a practical criticism of the state form and the use of it to liberate a people.

At first, petty tyranny reared its ugly head when the Communists came to power locally. Governing without the consent of the people was called “commandism,” and ran parallel with corruption and cruelty from the cadres. As happens with all states, especially states-in-waiting, "that strange dichotomy- slack discipline within the revolutionary [sic] ranks coupled with harsh measures to enforce obedience among the people as a whole.[...] Abuses of power characteristic of the political machine of the old regime re-emerged, albeit still in pale reflection." [225] The book seems to think that it is ironic that the worst abuses of power were committed by the people with the most access to this power: "Ironically, it was Wang Yu-lai, vice-chairman of the Peasants' Association, who was responsible for the worst abuses of power" [232] This is not surprising in the least.

This form of counterrevolution was largely abated, however, by the criticism and self-criticism which came about soon after. The formation of “gates” to pass through to be a part of the Communist Party, and the meting out of punishments for the offenders was a respectable step towards justice, though it maintained the state form. Sometimes, tradition such as patriarchy was too great for the revolutionary peasants to overcome: “Many stories revealed that Liberation had not yet guaranteed free marriage or even the property rights upon which free marriage must be based. In East Portal one woman had been forced to marry a veteran. The cadres said, ”This man has faught for us for many years. How could we live a peaceful life if it hadn’t been for his efforts? We must reward him with a wife.” When the woman refused, she was ordered to explain herself at a mass meeting.” [398]

As the victory of the People’s Liberation Army drew nearer, there comes a backlash of institutional power which intervenes to protect the middle peasants and the capitalist mode of production. “Whenever the peasants are mobilized for struggle, they push toward extreme equalitarianism, and the cadres are carried along with them. It is for this reason that the peasants need proletarian leadership.” [607] The purpose of the revolution as steered by the Communist Party is revealed as being capitalist in nature, if state-owned capitalist: “Not abstract justice, not absolute equality, but the development of production, the industrial transformation of the country- this was the goal of the revolution.” [487] The Communist Party, on the verge of taking power over all of China, turns on Leftism and equality. “Only under Communism, when the land belongs to the country as a whole, and abundance is the order of the day, can equality be realized. [...] We oppose the feudal system primarily because it hinders production.” [492]

The restructuring of the revolution against equality and for the consolidation of power within the state was clearly painful for the cadre and for the people of Long Bow. The money and land “unjustly” seized by the peasants from the “middle peasant” class was taken back and put at the disposal of the state, and politics and law were consolidated beneath them. “Those who use democracy as an excuse for criminal acts must be punished by law[...] “Now each person can vote for the men and women he wants to see as cadres. But after the election is over [...e]veryone is obliged to carry out the decisions of the elected. [...] If he is no good, if he does his job poorly, then you can elect someone else to take his place. But as long as he is in office, you must listen to him. That is only fair. Otherwise, we can have nothing but anarchy. [Party members] were relieved to find that enforcement was part of the new system and that the work team meant to tackle the growing trend toward anarchy.”

The copy of Fanshen that I read was an old Paperback I bought thirdhand, and was literally fell apart as I read it. I would have to carefully peel the book open less than halfway, and read it partially obscured. The experience got worse as I continued through the book and found myself holding a chunk of pages that had separated itself from the binding entirely. I patched it together with scotch tape when I could. There is a cheap metaphor in here somewhere about the Chinese Revolution itself.

Despite the consolidation of counterrevolution (passed off by the author as necessary to maintain the revolution), the events described in this book were literally world-changing. A fifth of all humanity was deeply affected by the actions of the Communist Party of China, more than not in a strikingly positive way. The gains of the revolution have given something no counterrevolution could have taken away: “As they marched along [the road to fanshen] they gradually learned the central lesson of our times, that only through participation in common struggle can any individual achieve personal emancipation, that the road to fanshen for one lies through the fanshen of all.” ( )

This is a very interesting look at the history of rural China and the turbulent revolution which followed (fanshen - �{ûzk) (Did I get that right?).

It is important to note that this book is uncritically supportive of Mao's policies. To be fair, this, if anywhere, where he did the most good.

Village life in the late 19th and early 20th century was dirty, nasty, brutish, and short. I recall testimonies of other villages having to purchase mines and machine guns even before the Japanese invaded because they feared the 'local bullies, evil gentry', and warlords so much. Robbery and graft made even local trade almost impossible. Many other villages weren't so lucky. Feudal management, heavy taxation, and natural disasters contributed to years of famine. Even in good years, there was always a risk of famine. People fought and competed over horse dung for their farms.

So when a guy from this new-fangled 'Communist party' shows up promising land reform, fairer treatment of the citizens, abolition of the old customs, the poor tenant farmers are naturally going to listen to what he has to say.

The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945) was another brutal time. Again, one of Mao's best moves during this time was to treat the civilians with utmost respect. The Eighth Route Army (which later became the PLA) had policies of not stealing or foraging for food, depending on local kindness, and treated the civilians with extraordinary respect. This gained him a large backing of loyal allies and friends. Compare this to their enemies - the Japanese had a policy of Kill All, Loot All, Burn All, and even the GMD wasn't much better - they attacked villages and armies which were suspected of being Communist supporters.

So of course the rural population would go over to Mao immediately after the war was over, and they were integral in his victory in the Chinese Civil War. The people of Long Bow village suffered under Japanese occupation, and they yearned for any help. The CCP was happy to deliver.

This book chronicles the reform and revolution which takes place during the late 1940s. It moves from the abolition of the feudal structure to the emancipation of women, the expulsion of the Christian community, and the distribution of land to the farmers. In one case, breaking up one farm and distributing it to the peasants resulted in the average doubling of their plots. They moved from the brink of starvation to being free and healthy almost overnight.

The process is not swift and smooth. There are inner party struggles. But this is a party of agrarian reform, which was much needed, and much progress was made. It's hardly a wonder why they won. This is a very well told and interesting narrative of ( )

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