Dear readers, many Chinese are asking themselves for a proper direction forward, a way out of the political turbulence since the fall of the Qing dynasty. They are asking for relief from the national infighting that has ensued during the warlord years and most Chinese want proper and complete independence from foreigners. Many are longing for a refined and progressive culture independent of our traditional male centric Confucian past. For some, this answer lies in the Chinese Communist Party commonly referred to as the CCP. This brief report will educate the readership on the basic ideology of the CCP and show through a series of interviews why this new ideology resonates with so many.
The CCP was founded in July of 1921 in the city of Shanghai. For most of the party’s early history the CCP was based as an urban movement resembling a typical Marxist approach to economic class struggles, which pitted the wage-earning working class, the proletariat, against the capitalist class or the bourgeoisie. Qiu Hui-ying, a female textile worker explained how many urban dwellers were persuaded by communism because of the promise of less starvation and more rights for the workers. She blames the hardships she faced on her employers “through the labor contract,” and on foreign influence via imperialist powers. Industrial workers have felt displaced by a system that oppresses their ability to lead a prosperous life, and the class uprising called upon by Marx, which clearly reflects Qui’s sentiments and wishes for better treatment within the workplace.
However, the more powerful nationalist Guomindang party soon broke their alliance with the CCP and massacred the communists for fear of their growing influence among many urban dwellers after the communists handed Shanghai over to them peacefully during the Northern Expedition. As a journalist working in Shanghai during this time, I can say that this was an incredibly brutal response and tactic on the part of the nationalists. While this development forced the CCP to relocate and redevelop their strategy for revolution in China, Mao Zedong had been advocating for a different and more rural revolutionary approach for years. Mao argues in his report on the “Peasant Movement in Hunan” that peasants appeared ready to explode against an oppressive feudal and patriarchal system, and that revolution was not a “dinner party” because the goal of the revolution was to overthrow the landlords and foreign elites.
With my curiosity peaked, I decided to leave Shanghai and travel to the heart of the CCP’s new countryside headquarters in Jiangxi, and to other locations of discontent throughout China. This has proven to be a dangerous task as many of the communists are against people of my background and family stature. I have worked hard to conceal my identity to avoid being caught, which would not only be disastrous for me but for this story as well. Women are particularly interested in revolution as the CCP has promised them equality with men before the law. Wan Xiang explained her fears of being married off at age seven and the fear associated with being a child bride. Xie Pei-lan believed that she would gain her freedom if she joined the revolutionary cause, and she was caught up in the violent overthrow of her landlord and was involved within their daughter’s murder. Women clearly desire a social change from traditional Confucian China, and the openness towards gender equality reflects this.
While women feel compelled to join the revolution because of the promise for equality between sexes. Poor peasant men on the other hand are more focused on alleviating economic disparity between themselves and their landlords because of the immense level of poverty peasants were subjected to in the countryside. However, it has yet to be seen how many poor peasant men will respond to the CCP’s call for gender equality even though many of these men have been promised wives as their birthright. Will men perceive gender equality as a threat to their economic futures? This is something the CCP will certainly need to rectify within the countryside. Will they put men before women when push comes to shove? It has become clear that Chiang Kai-shek and his nationalist party will not tolerate communism as seen in the brutal Shanghai massacre. To what extent will the Guomindang attempt to root out the communists in Xiangxi? How persistent will they be if they do take direct action against the CCP? If the massacre at Shanghai serves at precedent, they will likely be persistent in their attempts to root out this rural social experiment that is popular among the rural classes and goes so much against the values of nationalists living in major urban centers.
With both industrial workers and peasants feeling oppressed, it seems like there is nowhere to go in China to live a good life. If the entire country is experiencing problems, and most of the population is suffering, maybe a revolution is the best option, some great upheaval that can help everyone. I am reluctant to say that, though, because of the violent acts being committed by both the Nationalist and Communist Parties. It seems like we have so much more conflict ahead of us regardless of if China stays the same or completely changes. However, I’m not sure if the Nationalist Party understands what needs to be done if half the country (women) are still left feeling unheard.
You pose some critical questions about the future of this new CCP in Jiangxi. As a woman, I understand the draw of the CCP in comparison to the chaos of the Nationalist Party. Our gender has suffered on the sidelines for so long; however, I would hesitate to place myself in the heart of their conflicts. I fear the future will worsen before it gets better, especially in the fight for gender equality.
It’s quite interesting to see how this entire situation is playing out. The Communist Party has clearly picked up on the “underbelly” of society, those with the most to gain in situations of social upheaval, like what we’re going through now. Although I wouldn’t necessarily say this is a winning strategy they do certainly seem to keep surfacing, keep the cause moving forward, attracting more and more people despite brutal opposition from the Nationalist Government. With women clearly receptive to the egalitarian principles espoused by the likes of Mao will the Nationalist government return with some response, a program of reform perhaps? Although, as you pointed out, Chiang Kai-shek has largely taken the “stick” approach that can only work so long when the rest of society, the underbelly, the workers, are disastisfied.
Thought provoking! Amazing facts, and love how you have switched your conservative beliefs to become a outspoken communist! times have changed, and you have as well. Im proud of u, Alex! Be gone with Gender inequality and economic hardship just for the elite, leaving the peasants and minority to merely be forgotten! Amen.
Thank you comrade, and these trying times are definitely pushing and changing my beliefs especially my more fortunate background. I must be careful though, to not be exposed as an intellectual and someone who is not from a poor peasant family.