MAO TSE-TUNG
(October 1933)
HOW TO DIFFERENTIATE THE CLASSES IN THE RURAL AREAS
I.
THE LANDLORD
A landlord is a person who owns land, does not engage in labour himself, or
does so only to a very small extent, and lives by exploiting the peasants.
The collection of land rent is his main form of exploitation; in addition,
he may lend money, hire labour, or engage in industry or commerce. But his
exaction of land rent from the peasants is his principal form of
exploitation. The administration of communal land and the collection of rent
from school land [1] are included in the category of exploitation through
land rent.
A bankrupt landlord shall still be classified as a landlord if he does not
engage in labour but lives by swindling or robbing others or by receiving
assistance from relatives or friends, and is better off than the average
middle peasant.
Warlords, officials, local tyrants and evil gentry are political
representatives and exceptionally ruthless members of the landlord class.
Minor local tyrants and evil gentry are also very often to be found among
the rich peasants.
Persons who assist landlords in collecting rent and managing property, who
depend on landlord exploitation of the peasants as their main source of
income and are better off than the average middle peasant shall be put in
the same category as landlords.
Usurers are persons who rely on exploitation by usury as their main source
of income, are better off than the average middle peasant, and shall be put
in the same category as landlords.
II.
THE RICH PEASANT
The rich peasant as a rule owns land. But some rich peasants own only part
of their land and rent the remainder. Others have no land of their own at
all and rent all their land. The rich peasant generally has rather more and
better instruments of production and more liquid capital than the average
and engages in labour himself, but always relies on exploitation for part or
even the major part of his income. His main form of exploitation is the
hiring of labour (long-term labourers). In addition, he may let part of his
land and practice exploitation through land rent, or may lend money or
engage in industry and commerce. Most rich peasants also engage in the
administration of communal land. A person who owns a fair amount of good
land, farms some of it himself without hiring labour, but exploits other
peasants by means of land rent, loan interest or in other ways, shall also
be treated as a rich peasant. Rich peasants regularly practice exploitation
and many derive most of their income from this source.
III.
THE MIDDLE PEASANT
Many middle peasants own land. Some own only part of their land and rent the
rest. Others own no land of their own at all and rent all their land. All of
them have a fair number of farm implements. A middle peasant derives his
income wholly or mainly from his own labour. As a rule he does not exploit
others and in many cases he himself is exploited by others, having to pay a
small amount in land rent and in interest on loans. But generally he does
not sell his labour power. Some middle peasants (the well-to-do middle
peasants) do practice exploitation to a small extent, but this is not their
regular or their main source of income.
IV.
THE POOR PEASANT
Among the poor peasants some own part of their land and have a few odd farm
implements, others own no land at all but only a few odd farm implements. As
a rule poor peasants have to rent the land they work on and are subjected to
exploitation, having to pay land rent and interest on loans and to hire
themselves out to some extent.
In general, a middle peasant does not need to sell his labour power, while
the poor peasant has to sell part of his labour power. This is the principal
criterion for distinguishing between a middle and a poor peasant.
V.
THE WORKER
The worker (including the farm labourer) as a rule owns no land or farm
implements, though some do own a very small amount of land and very few farm
implements. Workers make their living wholly or mainly by selling their
labour power.
NOTES
[1] There were various forms of public land in China's rural areas -- land
owned by the township or district government, by the ancestral temple of a
clan, by a Buddhist or Taoist temple, a Catholic church or a mosque, or land
whose income was used for public welfare purposes such as famine relief, or
the building and maintenance of bridges and roads, or for educational
purposes. In practice, most of such land was controlled by the landlords and
rich peasants, and few peasants had any say in its administration.
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