Revolution and the Countryside: A Study of Land Reform in the Liberated Areas, 1941~~1948

Author: Wang Youming
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-06-01
Features: The peasant issue is the root of all problems in China, and the land issue is the key to the rural problem. Therefore, solving the land issue has become a fundamental task of the New Democratic Revolution in China. Throughout history, many scholars have studied and been concerned with the land issue, forming a series of theories on land issues from Adam Smith, David Ricardo, Marx, Lenin, Kautsky, to the representatives of various factions in China's land debate in the 1920s and 1930s. However, due to differences in time and space, the land issue has shown great complexity. No single theory can explain the diverse land phenomena, even the land reforms carried out in the liberated areas under the leadership of the Communist Party of China showed significant variations. The Shandong liberated area was an important base for the Chinese revolution during both the War of Resistance Against Japan and the War of Liberation. The land reform in Juxian County in Shandong has long been at the forefront among all counties in the Shandong liberated area. Some of its practices not only influenced the then Binhai Region but also affected the entire province and even the whole country. Therefore, taking the land reform in Juxian County as a case study, conducting an in-depth analysis to clarify its origins and development, would undoubtedly have certain academic value.