People's History of Ideas Podcast

The Red Army Victorious: The Conquest of Several Counties in Jiangxi and Fujian in the Spring of 1929 Jun 25, 2024

The conquest of Yudu, Xingguo, Ningdu, Longyan, and Yongding counties by the Fourth Red Army. Zhu De reminisces. Also, poetry.
Further reading:
Pang Xianzhi and Jin Chongji, Mao Zedong: A Biography, vol. 1: 1893-1949
Stuart Schram, ed., Mao’s Road to Power, vol. 3: From the Jinggangshan to the Establishment of the Jiangxi Soviets, July 1927-December 1930
Peng Dehuai, Memoirs of a Chinese Marshall
Agnes Smedley, The Great Road: The Life and Times of Chu Teh [Zhu De]
Joseph Fewsmith, Forging Leninism in China: Mao and the Remaking of the Chinese Communist Party, 1927–1934
Mao Zedong nianpu, 1893-1937 (毛泽东年谱)
Some names from this episode:
Zhou Enlai, head of the Organization Department of the Central Committee
Peng Dehuai, leader of the Fifth Red Army

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Mao Tells Zhou Enlai about Guerrilla Warfare Apr 30, 2024

Mao’s April 5, 1929 reply to Zhou Enlai.
Further reading:
Pang Xianzhi and Jin Chongji, Mao Zedong: A Biography, vol. 1: 1893-1949
Stuart Schram, ed., Mao’s Road to Power, vol. 3: From the Jinggangshan to the Establishment of the Jiangxi Soviets, July 1927-December 1930
David Apter and Tony Saich, Revolutionary Discourse in Mao’s Republic
Tony Saich, The Rise to Power of the Chinese Communist Party
Michael Heinrich, Karl Marx and the Birth of Modern Society: The Life of Marx and the Development of His Work
Some names from this episode:
Zhou Enlai, head of the Organization Department of the Central Committee
Xiang Zhongfa, General secretary of the CP
Guo Fengming, bandit turned Guomindang local despot in Changting
Liu Shiyi, Guomindang commander
Ye Ting, Communist military leader
He Long, Communist military leader

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The Party Center Attempts to Assert Control over the Red Army and Orders Mao and Zhu to Report to Shanghai Apr 03, 2024

A close look at Zhou Enlai’s February 7, 1929, letter to Mao Zedong and Zhu De.
Further reading:
Pang Xianzhi and Jin Chongji, Mao Zedong: A Biography, vol. 1: 1893-1949
Stuart Schram, ed., Mao’s Road to Power, vol. 3: From the Jinggangshan to the Establishment of the Jiangxi Soviets, July 1927-December 1930
E. H. Carr, Foundations of a Planned Economy, vol. 3
Tony Saich, The Rise to Power of the Chinese Communist Party
Some names from this episode:
Zhou Enlai, head of the Organization Department of the Central Committee
Xiang Zhongfa, General secretary of the CP
Li Lisan, Leading Communist

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Mao’s March 20 Letter to the Central Committee, and the 5th Red Army’s Retreat from the Jinggangshan (January to April 1929) Mar 10, 2024

Mao plans to expand guerrilla warfare, and meets up with Peng Dehuai in Ruijin.
Further reading:
Pang Xianzhi and Jin Chongji, Mao Zedong: A Biography, vol. 1: 1893-1949
Stuart Schram, ed., Mao’s Road to Power, vol. 3: From the Jinggangshan to the Establishment of the Jiangxi Soviets, July 1927-December 1930
Stephen Averill, Revolution in the Highlands: China’s Jinggangshan Base Area
Peng Dehuai, Memoirs of a Chinese Marshall
Some names from this episode:
Yuan Wencai, Bandit leader who joined with Mao Zedong
Wang Zuo, Bandit leader who joined with Mao Zedong
He Changgong, secretary of the Ninggang County Party following the departure of the Fourth Red Army
Long Chaoqing, former secretary of the Ninggang County Committee of the Communist Party
Peng Dehuai, leader of the Fifth Red Army
Li Wenlin, Communist guerrilla commander
Duan Yuequan, Communist guerrilla commander
Liu Shiyi, Guomindang commander
Xiao Jiabi, reactionary militia leader

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On the Experience of the National Bourgeoisie in the New Democratic Revolution Feb 04, 2024

Some reflections on the experience of Shanghai capitalists after 1949 prompted by the ‘Notice to Merchants and Intellectuals’ that Mao issued after taking Changting in 1929.
Further reading:
Stuart Schram, ed., Mao’s Road to Power, vol. 3: From the Jinggangshan to the Establishment of the Jiangxi Soviets, July 1927-December 1930
Yao Wenyuan, “On the Social Basis of the Lin Piao Anti-Party Clique” (for heavenly horses reference)
David Apter and Tony Saich, Revolutionary Discourse in Mao’s Republic
Lynn White, Policies of Chaos: The Organizational Causes of Violence in China’s Cultural Revolution
David Barbosa, “Rong Yiren, a Chinese Billionaire, Dies at 89”
Some names from this episode:
Wu Zhongyi, Shanghai capitalist
Rong Yiren, Shanghai capitalist

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A New Communist Order in Changting (March 1929) Jan 13, 2024

Looking at what Mao and Zhu De did to install a new Communist order after conquering Changting.
Further reading:
Pang Xianzhi and Jin Chongji, Mao Zedong: A Biography, vol. 1: 1893-1949
Agnes Smedley, The Great Road: The Life and Times of Chu Teh [Zhu De]
Stuart Schram, ed., Mao’s Road to Power, vol. 3: From the Jinggangshan to the Establishment of the Jiangxi Soviets, July 1927-December 1930
Mao Zedong, “On New Democracy”
Some names from this episode:
Guo Fengming, bandit turned Guomindang local despot in Changting
Feng Yuxiang, warlord close to both the USA and the Soviet Union
Wang Jingwei, leader of the Guomindang left
Dai Jitao, Guomindang ideologue
Yan Xishan, warlord accused by Mao of being a running dog for the Japanese imperialists

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Leaving Donggu, Taking Changting (February to March 1929) Dec 07, 2023

How the Fourth Red Army spent their time in Donggu, and how they took the first city in the new base area in the Jiangxi-Fujian border region.
Further reading:
Pang Xianzhi and Jin Chongji, Mao Zedong: A Biography, vol. 1: 1893-1949
Agnes Smedley, The Great Road: The Life and Times of Chu Teh [Zhu De]
Joseph Fewsmith, Forging Leninism in China: Mao and the Remaking of the Chinese Communist Party, 1927–1934
Gao Hua, How the Red Sun Rose: The Origins and Development of the Yan’an Rectification Movement, 1930-1945
Stephen Averill, “The Origins of the Futian Incident”
Some names from this episode:
Xiao Ke, an officer in the Fourth Red Army
Peng Pai, Communist peasant organizer
Long Chaoqing, important early Communist in Jinggangshan area
Peng Dehuai, Leader of the 5th Red Army
Guo Fengming, Bandit turned Guomindang local despot in Changting

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From Dabodi to Donggu: The Retreat from the Jinggangshan Continues (February 1929) Oct 19, 2023

The Mao-Zhu Army raises funds in Ningdu and moves on to the Donggu base area for rest and recovery. Background on Donggu.
Link to map of Jiangxi province: https://www.chinamaps.org/china/provincemaps/jiangxi-province-map.html
Further reading:
Stuart Schram, ed., Mao’s Road to Power, vol. 3: From the Jinggangshan to the Establishment of the Jiangxi Soviets, July 1927-December 1930
Pang Xianzhi and Jin Chongji, Mao Zedong: A Biography, vol. 1: 1893-1949
Agnes Smedley, The Great Road: The Life and Times of Chu Teh [Zhu De]
Joseph Fewsmith, Forging Leninism in China: Mao and the Remaking of the Chinese Communist Party, 1927–1934
Some names from this episode:
Wang Chuxi, big landlord in Donggu area who lived in Futian
Ye Jianying, Communist who led division of the National Revolutionary Army which took Ji’an during the Northern Expedition
Duan Qifeng, Donggu bandit chief who joined with Communists
Wang Zuo, Bandit leader who joined with Mao Zedong
Lai Jingbang, first leader of the Donggu communists
Wang Liangzhao, younger brother to Wang Chuxi

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Running for Their Lives: The Retreat from the Jinggangshan (January to February 1929) Oct 12, 2023

Mao and the Fourth Red Army break the encirclement of the Jinggangshan and retreat across southern Jiangxi with the Guomindang in hot pursuit.
Link to map of Jiangxi province: https://www.chinamaps.org/china/provincemaps/jiangxi-province-map.html
Further reading/watching on the difficulties of finding good maps of China:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Restrictions_on_geographic_data_in_China
https://www.reddit.com/r/Maps/comments/b6qnvc/just_blew_my_mind_every_map_of_china_is/
https://www.reddit.com/r/China/comments/7pju2c/why_is_google_maps_coverage_of_china_slightly_off/
Further reading:
Stuart Schram, ed., Mao’s Road to Power, vol. 3: From the Jinggangshan to the Establishment of the Jiangxi Soviets, July 1927-December 1930
Pang Xianzhi and Jin Chongji, Mao Zedong: A Biography, vol. 1: 1893-1949
Agnes Smedley, The Great Road: The Life and Times of Chu Teh [Zhu De]
Stuart Schram, ed., Mao’s Road to Power, vol. 4: The Rise and Fall of the Chinese Soviet Republic, 1931-1934
Some names from this episode:
Chen Yi, Political commissar for the 28th regiment of the Fourth Red Army
Lin Biao, Battalion commander in the 28th regiment
Wu Ruolan, Communist cadre and Zhu De’s wife

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Frameworks for Thinking about Tragic Historical Shortcomings of the Socialist Experience Oct 04, 2023

Answering a listener question on the Great Leap Forward famine.
Further reading:
Mobo Gao, The Battle for China’s Past
United Nations, “Losing 25,000 to Hunger Every Day”
Minhaz Merchant, “Churchill’s Bengal Famine”
Karl Marx, Capital
Mike Davis, Late Victorian Holocausts
Frederick Engels, The Condition of the Working Class in England

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The End of the Sixth Congress Sep 28, 2023

We wrap up our discussion of the Sixth Congress with a discussion of the political line coming out of the congress, and some related issues.
Further reading:
Tony Saich, The Rise to Power of the Chinese Communist Party
Chang Kuo-t’ao [Zhang Guotao], The Rise of the Chinese Communist Party (2 volumes)
Daniel Kwan, Marxist Intellectuals and the Chinese Labor Movement: A Study of Deng Zhongxia, 1894-1933
Various 6th Party Congress documents in Chinese Studies in History vol. 3, #4 through vol. 5, #1
Yueh Sheng, Sun Yat-sen University in Moscow and the Chinese Revolution: A Personal Account
A Basic Understanding of the Communist Party of China
Some names from this episode:
Nikolai Bukharin, general secretary of the executive committee of the Comintern
Qu Qiubai, Named head of provisional politburo at August 7, 1927 Emergency Conference
Zhang Guotao, Leading Communist
Pavel Mif, Top Comintern China specialist
Li Lisan, Leading Communist
Zhou Enlai, Leading Communist
Xiang Zhongfa, Trade unionist and new general secretary of the CP
Xiang Ying, Leading Communist

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Clashing Communists and Comintern Guidance: The 6th Congress Gets off to a Rocky Start Sep 21, 2023

Qu Qiubai’s report and proposal are disputed, and the Comintern intervenes to restore order.
Further reading:
Tony Saich, The Rise to Power of the Chinese Communist Party
Chang Kuo-t’ao [Zhang Guotao], The Rise of the Chinese Communist Party (2 volumes)
Daniel Kwan, Marxist Intellectuals and the Chinese Labor Movement: A Study of Deng Zhongxia, 1894-1933
Qu Qiubai, “The Past and Future of the Chinese Communist Party”
Various 6th Party Congress documents in Chinese Studies in History vol. 3, #4 through vol. 5, #1
Some names from this episode:
Nikolai Bukharin, general secretary of the executive committee of the Comintern
Qu Qiubai, Named head of provisional politburo at August 7, 1927 Emergency Conference
Chen Duxiu, Co-founder and first general secretary of the Communist Party
Zhang Guotao, Leading Communist
Pavel Mif, Top Comintern China specialist
Chen Shaoyu, Protégé of Mif (better known as Wang Ming)
Shen Zemin, Sun Yat-sen University student who translated at the 6th party congress

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Bukharin on the Nature of the Chinese Revolution in 1928 Sep 14, 2023

Our third (and last) close look at Bukharin’s speech at the 6th Congress of the Chinese Communist Party, held in Moscow in the summer of 1928.
Further reading:
Nikolai Bukharin, “On the International Situation and the Tasks of the Chinese Communist Party”
Lenin, “Speech at the First All-Russia Congress of Working Women”
Some names from this episode:
Nikolai Bukharin, general secretary of the executive committee of the Comintern
Peng Dehuai, Guomindang colonel who was secretly a Communist and who launched an uprising in July 1928

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Bukharin on the Theory of the Productive Forces (and Mao’s counterpoint on New Democratic Revolution) May 27, 2023

Bukharin articulates a vision of the Chinese Revolution at the 6th Party Congress which is highly colored by the non-revolutionary Marxism of the 2nd International.
Further reading:
Nikolai Bukharin, “On the International Situation and the Tasks of the Chinese Communist Party”
Andre Gunder Frank, World Accumulation, 1492–1789
Immanuel Wallerstein, The Modern World-System, vol. I: Capitalist Agriculture and the Origins of the European World-Economy in the Sixteenth Century
Mao Zedong, “The Chinese Revolution and the Chinese Communist Party”
Vladimir Lenin, “Two Tactics of Social-Democracy in the Democratic Revolution”
Vladimir Lenin, “Once Again on The Trade Unions: The Current Situation and the Mistakes of Trotsky and Bukharin”
Hung Hsueh-ping, “The Essence of ‘Theory of Productive Forces’ is to oppose Proletarian Revolution”
Some names from this episode:
Nikolai Bukharin, general secretary of the executive committee of the Comintern
Chen Duxiu, Co-founder and first general secretary of the Communist Party
Mikhail Borodin, Comintern agent and head of Soviet mission to aid the Guomindang during the period of the first united front

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The ‘Third Period’ of the World Revolution: Bukharin’s Speech at the Sixth Congress of the Chinese Communist Party (June 1928) May 20, 2023

Nikolai Bukharin kicks off the party congress with a very long speech.
Further reading:
Tony Saich, The Rise to Power of the Chinese Communist Party
Chang Kuo-t’ao [Zhang Guotao], The Rise of the Chinese Communist Party (2 volumes)
E. H. Carr, Foundations of a Planned Economy, vol. 3
Nikolai Bukharin, “On the International Situation and the Tasks of the Chinese Communist Party”
Nicholas Kozlov and Eric Weitz, “Reflections on the Origins of the ‘Third Period’: Bukharin, the Comintern, and the Political Economy of Weimar Germany”
Theodore Rosengarten, All God’s Dangers: The Life of Nate Shaw
Robin Kelley, Hammer and Hoe: Alabama Communists during the Great Depression
Some names from this episode:
Nikolai Bukharin, general secretary of the executive committee of the Comintern
Zhang Guotao, Leading Communist
Qu Qiubai, Top leader of the Chinese Communist Party from the August 7, 1927 emergency meeting until the 6th Party Congress
Eugen Varga, Hungarian communist economist

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Preparations for the Sixth Party Congress (April to May 1928) May 13, 2023

The decision to hold the Sixth Party Congress in Moscow, and some of the political debate inside the Communist Party of China leading up to that Congress.
Further reading:
Stuart Schram, ed., Mao’s Road to Power, vol. 3: From the Jinggangshan to the Establishment of the Jiangxi Soviets, July 1927-December 1930
Tony Saich, The Rise to Power of the Chinese Communist Party
Patricia Stranahan, Underground: The Shanghai Communist Party and the Politics of Survival, 1927-1937
Daniel Kwan, Marxist Intellectuals and the Chinese Labor Movement: A Study of Deng Zhongxia, 1894-1933
Chang Kuo-t’ao [Zhang Guotao], The Rise of the Chinese Communist Party (2 volumes)
E. H. Carr, Foundations of a Planned Economy, vol. 3
Organization of Communist Revolutionaries, “The CP, the Sixties, the RCP, and the Crying Need for a Communist Vanguard Party Today: Summing up a century of communist leadership, organization, strategy, and practice in the United States so that we can rise to the challenges before us”
Some names from this episode:
Qu Qiubai, Top leader of the Chinese Communist Party from the August 7, 1927 emergency meeting until the 6th Party Congress
Zhang Guotao, Leading Communist
Chen Duxiu, General Secretary of the Communist Party until summer 1927
Zhou Enlai, Leading Communist

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The Bailu Conference: Suppressing Orders from the Party Congress and Preparing to Leave the Jinggangshan (January 1929) Feb 16, 2023

Potentially explosive guidance arrives in the Jinggangshan from the 6th Party Congress of the Communist Party, and plans are laid to break out of the enemy encirclement.
Further reading:
Stephen Averill, Revolution in the Highlands: China’s Jinggangshan Base Area
Stuart Schram, ed., Mao’s Road to Power, vol. 3: From the Jinggangshan to the Establishment of the Jiangxi Soviets, July 1927-December 1930
Pang Xianzhi and Jin Chongji, Mao Zedong: A Biography, vol. 1: 1893-1949
Tony Saich, The Rise to Power of the Chinese Communist Party
Mao Zedong, “Combat Liberalism”
Some names from this episode:
Peng Dehuai, Guomindang colonel who was secretly a Communist and who launched an uprising in July 1928
Wang Zuo, Bandit leader who joined with Mao Zedong
Yuan Wencai, Bandit leader who joined with Mao Zedong
Wang Shouhua, President of the General Labor Union
Chen Yi, Political commissar for the 28th regiment of the Fourth Red Army
Long Chaoqing, secretary of the Ninggang County Committee of the Communist Party
Wang Huai, secretary of the Yongxin County Committee of the Communist Party
He Changgong, important Fourth Red Army cadre

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The Base Area under Economic Blockade and Unification with the Fifth Red Army (End of 1928) Feb 02, 2023

The national Guomindang center takes note of the Communists’ resilience, and takes charge of organizing a new suppression campaign, which is preceded by a tight economic blockade. Peng Dehuai makes his way to the Jinggangshan.
Further reading:
Stephen Averill, Revolution in the Highlands: China’s Jinggangshan Base Area
Stuart Schram, ed., Mao’s Road to Power, vol. 3: From the Jinggangshan to the Establishment of the Jiangxi Soviets, July 1927-December 1930
Pang Xianzhi and Jin Chongji, Mao Zedong: A Biography, vol. 1: 1893-1949
Mao Zedong, “The Struggle in the Chingkang Mountains”
Edward Dreyer, China at War: 1901-1949
James Sheridan, China in Disintegration: The Republican Era in Chinese History, 1912-1949
Agnes Smedley, The Great Road: The Life and Times of Chu Teh [Zhu De]
Peng Dehuai, Memoirs of a Chinese Marshall
Some names from this episode:
Chen Yi, Political commissar for the 28th regiment of the Fourth Red Army
Wang Zuo, Bandit leader who joined with Mao Zedong
He Zizhen, Communist cadre known as the “Two-Gunned Girl General”
Peng Dehuai, Guomindang colonel who was secretly a Communist and who launched an uprising in July 1928
Teng Daiyuan, Fifth Red Army leading cadre
He Changgong, important Fourth Red Army cadre

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Vagrants, Mercenaries, and Rich Peasants (November 1928) Nov 27, 2022

A close reading of a couple portions of Mao’s November 25, 1928 report to the Central Committee.
Further reading:
Stephen Averill, Revolution in the Highlands: China’s Jinggangshan Base Area
Stuart Schram, ed., Mao’s Road to Power, vol. 3: From the Jinggangshan to the Establishment of the Jiangxi Soviets, July 1927-December 1930
Stuart Schram, ed., Mao’s Road to Power, vol. 2: National Revolution and Social Revolution, December 1920-June 1927
Pang Xianzhi and Jin Chongji, Mao Zedong: A Biography, vol. 1: 1893-1949
Mao Zedong, “The Struggle in the Chingkang Mountains”
Names listed as having attended Nov. 6 meeting mentioned near the beginning of the episode:
Zhu De, Chen Yi, He Tingying, He Changgong, Yuan Wencai, Wang Zuo, Tan Zhenlin, Deng Ganyuan, Li Quefei, Chen Zhengren, Wang Zuonong, Xiao Wanxia, Liu Huixiao, Xie Chunbiao, Liu Di, Xiong Shouqi, Yang Kaiming, Cao Shuo, Deng Jiuting, Mao Zedong, Song Qiaosheng, Peng Gu, and Yuan Desheng.

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Transforming, Building, and Purging the Party (September to November 1928) Oct 31, 2022

Finishing our close reading of the resolution of the Border Area Party Congress of October 4 to 6, 1928. Also, the reorganization and purge of the party following the Communist recovery of the Jinggangshan base area after the August Defeat.
Further reading:
Stephen Averill, Revolution in the Highlands: China’s Jinggangshan Base Area
Stuart Schram, ed., Mao’s Road to Power, vol. 3: From the Jinggangshan to the Establishment of the Jiangxi Soviets, July 1927-December 1930
Pang Xianzhi and Jin Chongji, Mao Zedong: A Biography, vol. 1: 1893-1949
Charles Bettelheim, Class Struggles in the USSR: First Period: 1917-1923
Fyodor Vasilievich Gladkov, Cement

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Opportunism and Self-Criticism: The Jinggangshan Party Congress Resolution of October 1928 Oct 20, 2022

A discussion of the concept of opportunism as it developed in the international communist movement, and a close reading of the self-critical portion of the resolution of the Border Area Party Congress of October 4 to 6, 1928.
Further reading:
Lenin, “Opportunism, and the Collapse of the Second International”
Cheng Yen-shih, ed., Lenin’s Fight Against Revisionism and Opportunism
Mao Zedong, “On the Correct Handling of Contradictions among the People”
Lynn White, Policies of Chaos: The Organizational Causes of Violence in China's Cultural Revolution
Some names from this episode:
Du Xiujing, Inspector sent to the Jinggangshan by the Hunan Provincial Committee in May 1928 and who returned in June
Liu Zhen, Secretary of the Yongxin County Party Committee

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“Why Is It that Red Political Power Can Exist in China?” (October 1928) Sep 15, 2022

A close reading of the portion of the resolution of the Border Area Party Congress of October 4 to 6, 1928, which later became a key early text in the Maoist canon.
Further reading:
Stephen Averill, Revolution in the Highlands: China’s Jinggangshan Base Area
Stuart Schram, ed., Mao’s Road to Power, vol. 3: From the Jinggangshan to the Establishment of the Jiangxi Soviets, July 1927-December 1930
Mao Zedong, “Why Is It that Red Political Power Can Exist in China?”
Pang Xianzhi and Jin Chongji, Mao Zedong: A Biography, vol. 1: 1893-1949
Jane Degras, ed., The Communist International, 1919-1943: Documents, vol. 2: 1923-1928
A name from this episode:
Du Xiujing, Inspector sent to the Jinggangshan by the Hunan Provincial Committee in May 1928 and who returned in June

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The August Defeat (Part 2): The Communists Strike Back (August to November 1928) Jul 31, 2022

The Communists fight to regain lost territory, and ethnic tensions explode among the peasants in the base area.
Further reading:
Stephen Averill, Revolution in the Highlands: China’s Jinggangshan Base Area
Stuart Schram, ed., Mao’s Road to Power, vol. 3: From the Jinggangshan to the Establishment of the Jiangxi Soviets, July 1927-December 1930
Pang Xianzhi and Jin Chongji, Mao Zedong: A Biography, vol. 1: 1893-1949
Some names from this episode:
Du Xiujing, Inspector sent to the Jinggangshan by the Hunan Provincial Committee in May 1928 and who returned in June
Gong Chu, Political commissar for the 29th regiment
Chen Yi, Political commissar for the 28th regiment
Kang Keqing, Peasant guerrilla fighter from Wan’an County
Yuan Wencai, Leader of the 32nd regiment

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The August Defeat (Part 1) Jul 24, 2022

The 29th Regiment goes against Mao’s orders and decides to stay in Hunan, with disastrous results for the Communists.
Further reading:
Stephen Averill, Revolution in the Highlands: China’s Jinggangshan Base Area
Agnes Smedley, The Great Road: The Life and Times of Chu Teh [Zhu De]
Jurgen Domes, Peng Te-huai: The Man and the Image
Stuart Schram, ed., Mao’s Road to Power, vol. 3: From the Jinggangshan to the Establishment of the Jiangxi Soviets, July 1927-December 1930
Pang Xianzhi and Jin Chongji, Mao Zedong: A Biography, vol. 1: 1893-1949
Some names from this episode:
Wang Zuo, Bandit leader who joined with Mao Zedong
Yuan Wencai, Bandit leader who joined with Mao Zedong
Hu Shaohai, Commander of the 29th regiment of the 4th Red Army
Du Xiujing, Inspector sent to the Jinggangshan by the Hunan Provincial Committee in May 1928 and who returned in June
Fan Shisheng, Guomindang general and old friend of Zhu De
Yuan Chongquan, 28th Regiment battalion commander who mutinied
Yuan Desheng, Representative of the Hunan Provincial Committee
Peng Dehuai, Guomindang colonel who was secretly a Communist and who launched an uprising in July 1928

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The Yongxin Joint Conference and Mao’s July 4, 1928 Report to the Hunan Provincial Committee Jul 17, 2022

Mao explains his refusal to comply with orders from the Hunan Provincial Committee.
Further reading:
Stephen Averill, Revolution in the Highlands: China’s Jinggangshan Base Area
Stuart Schram, ed., Mao’s Road to Power, vol. 3: From the Jinggangshan to the Establishment of the Jiangxi Soviets, July 1927-December 1930
Pang Xianzhi and Jin Chongji, Mao Zedong: A Biography, vol. 1: 1893-1949
Some names from this episode:
Du Xiujing, Inspector sent to the Jinggangshan by the Hunan Provincial Committee in May 1928 and who returned in June
Yuan Desheng, Representative of the Hunan Provincial Committee in the Jinggangshan
Yang Chisheng, Guomindang commander defeated by the Communists in June 1928
Wang Zuo, Bandit leader who joined with Mao Zedong
Yuan Wencai, Bandit leader who joined with Mao Zedong
Wang Jun, Guomindang military commander in Jiangxi
Shang Chengjie, Guomindang military commander in Hunan
Xu Kexiang, Guomindang military commander in Hunan
Wu Shang, Guomindang military commander in Hunan

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Clandestine Transcripts of Revolutionary Globalization: The Shining Paths of Late Cultural Revolution Maoism Apr 28, 2022

A talk that I recently delivered at the University of Hamburg, focused on the development of a new socialist political economy late in the Cultural Revolution and how this influenced the Communist Party of Peru.
Further reading:
Alessandro Russo, Cultural Revolution and Revolutionary Culture
Fabio Lanza, The End of Concern: Maoist China, Activism, and Asian Studies
Antonio Díaz Martínez, China: La revolución agraria
Catalina Adrianzén, “Semblanza de Antonio Díaz Martínez”
Peer Moller Christensen and Jorgen Delman, “A Theory of Transitional Society: Mao Zedong and the Shanghai School”
Stephen Andors, China's Industrial Revolution: Politics, Planning, and Management, 1949 to the Present
Some names from this episode:
Catalina Adrianzén, Peruvian anthropologist in China from 1974-1976
Antonio Díaz Martínez, Peruvian agronomist in China from 1974-1976
Zhang Chunqiao, Leading figure on Maoist left in China
Jiang Qing, Leading figure on Maoist left in China

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Nuclear War and Communist Revolution Mar 07, 2022

In light of the Ukraine crisis, a historical look at communist thinking on the connection between a third world war and revolution.
Further reading:
Sergei N. Goncharov, John W. Lewis, and Xue Litai, Uncertain Partners: Stalin, Mao, and the Korean War
David Holloway, Stalin and the Bomb
Edward Wilson, “Thank you Vasili Arkhipov, the man who stopped nuclear war”
Mao Zedong, “On the Correct Handling of Contradictions Among the People”
Mao Zedong, “Speech at a Meeting of the Representatives of 64 Communist and Workers’ Parties”
M. Upshaw, “Considerations on a Revolutionary Situation in the United States: Likely Triggering Factors, Potential Political Contours”
Some names from this episode:
Vyacheslav Molotov, Soviet foreign minister
Vasili Alexandrovich Arkhipov, Soviet submarine officer who averted nuclear war during the Cuban Missile Crisis

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The Beginning of the Midyear Crisis (June 1928) Feb 27, 2022

The Hunan Provincial Committee decides that Mao must obey its authority.
Further reading:
Stephen Averill, Revolution in the Highlands: China’s Jinggangshan Base Area
Elizabeth Perry, Anyuan: Mining China’s Revolutionary Tradition

Some names from this episode:
Wang Meisheng, Courier between Anyuan and the Jinggangshan
Du Xiujing, Inspector sent to the Jinggangshan by the Hunan Provincial Committee
Yuan Desheng, Sent to work in the Jinggangshan by the Hunan Provincial Committee
Yang Kaiming, Sent by Hunan Provincial Committee to replace Mao as secretary of the Jinggangshan special committee
Yuan Wencai, Bandit leader who joined with Mao Zedong

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Land Revolution and Communist Party Growth: The High Tide of the Jinggangshan Base Area (Summer 1928) Feb 10, 2022

In the wake of their military victories in late Spring 1928, the Communists carried out a major land redistribution and a mass recruitment drive. There were some unforeseen complications.
Further reading:
Stephen Averill, Revolution in the Highlands: China’s Jinggangshan Base Area
Pang Xianzhi and Jin Chongji, Mao Zedong: A Biography, vol. 1: 1893-1949
Stuart Schram, ed., Mao’s Road to Power, vol. 3: From the Jinggangshan to the Establishment of the Jiangxi Soviets, July 1927-December 1930
Marcia Ristaino,China’s Art of Revolution: The Mobilization of Discontent, 1927 and 1928
Some names from this episode:
Wang Zuo, Bandit leader who joined with Mao Zedong
Yuan Wencai, Bandit leader who joined with Mao Zedong

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Beating Back Suppression Campaigns and Expanding the Jinggangshan Base Area (May to June 1928) Feb 03, 2022

Mao Zedong and Zhu De learn warfare through warfare as they face continuing onslaughts from Guomindang forces.
Further reading/watching:
Stephen Averill, Revolution in the Highlands: China’s Jinggangshan Base Area
Pang Xianzhi and Jin Chongji, Mao Zedong: A Biography, vol. 1: 1893-1949
China: A Century of Revolution documentary
Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), “Experiences of the People’s War
and Some Important Questions”
Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), “Advance in the Great Direction of Creating Base Areas!”
Mao Zedong, “Problems of Strategy in China’s Revolutionary War”
Name from this episode:
Sunzi [Sun Tzu], Ancient Chinese general

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The Jinggangshan Junction of Forces: Mao Zedong and Zhu De Unite (April to May 1928) Jan 27, 2022

The unification of Mao Zedong’s and Zhu De’s forces. Some discussion of the problems involved in unifying the Communist armed forces.
Further reading:
Agnes Smedley, The Great Road: The Life and Times of Chu Teh [Zhu De]
Stephen Averill, Revolution in the Highlands: China’s Jinggangshan Base Area
Pang Xianzhi and Jin Chongji, Mao Zedong: A Biography, vol. 1: 1893-1949
Stuart Schram, ed., Mao’s Road to Power, vol. 3: From the Jinggangshan to the Establishment of the Jiangxi Soviets, July 1927-December 1930
Some names from this episode:
Zhu De, Communist military commander
Wang Zuo, Bandit leader who joined with Mao Zedong
Ye Ting, Commander of the 4th Army during the Northern Expedition
Chen Yi, Leading Communist who served with Zhu De
Yuan Wencai, Bandit leader who joined with Mao Zedong
Hu Shaohai, Communist from South Hunan
Lin Biao, Communist military officer

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The Wages of Revolution: Life Underground in Shanghai in the Late 1920s (Part 3) Jan 20, 2022

Discussing pay for professional revolutionaries, the role of servants in the lives of Communist leaders, and the Comintern in Shanghai.
Further reading:
Patricia Stranahan, Underground: The Shanghai Communist Party and the Politics of Survival, 1927-1937
Elizabeth Perry, Shanghai on Strike: The Politics of Chinese Labor
Wang Fan-hsi [Wang Fanxi], Memoirs of a Chinese Revolutionary
Gavin McCrea,Mrs. Engels
Frederick Litten, “The Noulens Affair”
Anna Belogurova, “The Civic World of International Communism: Taiwanese communists and the Comintern (1921-1931)”
Onimaru Takeshi, “Shanghai Connection: The Construction and Collapse of the Comintern Network in East and Southeast Asia”
Jospehine Fowler, “From East to West and West to East: Ties of Solidarity in the Pan-Pacific Revolutionary Trade Union Movement, 1923-1934”
Josephine Fowler, Japanese and Chinese Immigrant Activists: Organizing in American and International Communist Movements, 1919–1933
Frederic Wakeman, Policing Shanghai, 1927-1937
Some names from this episode:
Liu Shaoqi, Leading Communist
He Baozhen, Communist cadre and wife of Liu Shaoqi
Li Dazhao, Co-founder of Chinese Communist Party
Qu Qiubai, Top Communist leader
Wang Fanxi, A member of the Central Committee Organization Bureau
Zhang Guotao, Leading Communist
Peng Shuzi, Leading Communist expelled in 1929

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Friendship, Compartmentalization, and Assassination Squads: Life Underground in Shanghai in the Late 1920s (Part 2) Jan 13, 2022

How did the Communist Party try to protect itself in Shanghai? We discuss the compartmentalized party organization and the creation of the Special Services Division.
Further reading:
Patricia Stranahan, Underground: The Shanghai Communist Party and the Politics of Survival, 1927-1937
Timothy Cheek, “Making Maoism: Ideology and Organization in the Yan’an Rectification Movement, 1942-1944”
Mao Zedong, “Combat Liberalism”
Xuezhi Guo, China's Security State: Philosophy, Evolution, and Politics
Some names from this episode:
Qu Qiubai, Top Communist leader from mid-1927 to mid-1928
Wang Shiwei, Cadre expelled during Yan’an rectification campaign
Gu Shunzhang, Zhou Enlai’s deputy in the Special Services Division
He Zhihua, Zhu De’s former lover from Germany, who betrayed the Communist Party

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Life Underground in Shanghai in the Late 1920s (Part 1) Jan 06, 2022

The Communist Party Center remained underground in the dangerous city of Shanghai during the late 1920s and early 1930s.
Further reading/watching:
Patricia Stranahan, Underground: The Shanghai Communist Party and the Politics of Survival, 1927-1937
China: A Century of Revolutiondocumentary
Josephine Fowler, Japanese and Chinese Immigrant Activists: Organizing in American and International Communist Movements, 1919–1933
Chang Kuo-t’ao [Zhang Guotao], The Rise of the Chinese Communist Party (2 volumes)
Wang Fan-hsi [Wang Fanxi], Memoirs of a Chinese Revolutionary
Christina Gilmartin, Engendering the Chinese Revolution: Radical Women, Communist Politics, and Mass Movements in the 1920s
Frederic Wakeman, Policing Shanghai, 1927-1937
Some names from this episode:
Deng Yingchao, Communist Party activist and wife of Zhou Enlai
Zhang Guotao, Leading Communist
Lin Zhuhan, Leading Communist
Li Weihan, Head of CCP Organizational Department
Gong Yinbing, CCP treasurer
He Shuheng, Communist cadre
Li Lisan, Leading Communist
Liu Shaoqi, Leading Communist
He Baozhen, Communist cadre and wife of Liu Shaoqi
Wang Yizhi, Communist cadre and widow of Zhang Tailei
Zhang Tailei, Leader of Guangzhou Commune
Chen Yannian, Chair of Jiangsu Provincial Committee for a very short time until his arrest
Chen Duxiu, Co-founder of Communist Party
Zhu De, Communist military leader
He Zhihua, Zhe De’s embittered lover from Germany
Qu Qiubai, Top Communist leader from mid-1927 to mid-1928
Wang Fanxi, Member of Organization bureau
Xu Baihao, Communist union leader

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Mao’s (Temporary) Expulsion from the Communist Party and the Collapse of the South Hunan Uprising (March and April 1928) Dec 19, 2021

The Party Center puts the South Hunan Special Committee in charge of the Jinggangshan, and the contrast between the strategies advocated by Mao and the Party Center are put on vivid display.
Further reading:
Agnes Smedley, The Great Road: The Life and Times of Chu Teh [Zhu De]
Marcia Ristaino, China’s Art of Revolution: The Mobilization of Discontent, 1927 and 1928
Stephen Averill, Revolution in the Highlands: China’s Jinggangshan Base Area
Pang Xianzhi and Jin Chongji, Mao Zedong: A Biography,vol. 1: 1893-1949
Stuart Schram, ed., Mao’s Road to Power, vol. 3: From the Jinggangshan to the Establishment of the Jiangxi Soviets, July 1927-December 1930
Some names from this episode:
Zhu De, Communist military commander
Li Weihan, member of politburo standing committee
Zhou Lu, head of the military branch of the Southern Hunan Special Committee
Wang Zuo, Bandit leader who joined with Mao Zedong
Yuan Wencai, Bandit leader who joined with Mao Zedong

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The Southern Hunan Uprising (Early 1928) Dec 14, 2021

We look at the successful conquest of three cities (and one heart) by Zhu De during the course of the uprising he led in south Hunan at the beginning of 1928.
The link for my new course on academia.edu mentioned at the end of the episode:
www.academia.edu/learn/MatthewRothwell
Further reading:
Agnes Smedley, The Great Road: The Life and Times of Chu Teh [Zhu De]
Marcia Ristaino, China’s Art of Revolution: The Mobilization of Discontent, 1927 and 1928
Stephen Averill, Revolution in the Highlands: China’s Jinggangshan Base Area
Pang Xianzhi and Jin Chongji, Mao Zedong: A Biography,vol. 1: 1893-1949
Stuart Schram, ed., Mao’s Road to Power, vol. 3: From the Jinggangshan to the Establishment of the Jiangxi Soviets, July 1927-December 1930
Christina Gilmartin, Engendering the Chinese Revolution: Radical Women, Communist Politics, and Mass Movements in the 1920s
Some names from this episode:
Zhu De, Communist military commander
Hu Shaohai, Communist from Yizhang
Fan Shisheng, Guomindang general and old friend of Zhu De
Xu Kexiang, Notorious Guomindang general known as the Peasant Butcherer
Tang Shengzhi, leader of Guomindang Left military forces
Chen Yi, Communist from a scholarly family and staff officer of Zhu De
Wu Ruolan, Married Zhu De in Leiyang
He Zizhen, Communist cadre known as the “Two-Gunned Girl General”
He Zhihua, Mother of Zhu De’s daughter
Luo Yinong, Communist leader killed after He Zhihua informed on him

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Studying Marxism and Getting Thrown in Jail: Zhu De in Germany (1922-1926) Nov 20, 2021

Following Zhu De in Shanghai and Germany, finishing up our four-part detour through the early life of Zhu De.
Further reading:
Agnes Smedley, The Great Road: The Life and Times of Chu Teh [Zhu De]
Some names from this episode:
Chen Duxiu, first general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party
Zhou Enlai, organized branches of the Chinese Communist Party in Europe when he was a student there in the early 1920s, before returning to China to become a leading Communist
Sun Bingwen, Zhu De’s friend who traveled to Europe and joined the Communist Party with him
Li Dazhao, Co-founder of Chinese Communist Party

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Zhu De and The Army for the Defense of the Republic in Sichuan and Yunnan (1916-1922) Nov 02, 2021

As the Army for the Defense of the Republic faces defections from the revolutionary nationalist cause as well as powerful warlord enemies, Zhu De rethinks the military vocation.
Further reading:
Agnes Smedley, The Great Road: The Life and Times of Chu Teh [Zhu De]
Some names from this episode:
Cai E, Republican general and governor of Yunnan after the 1911-12 revolution
Yuan Shikai, leader of the Beiyang Army and dictator after the fall of the Qing
Xiong Kewu, Nationalist general turned warlord
Xiao Jufang, Zhu De’s first wife
Zhu Baozhu, Zhu De’s son (later took name Zhu Qi)
Chen Yuzhen, Zhu De’s second wife
Tang Jiyao, Opium growing Yunnan warlord
Lei Yongfei, Social bandit in control of part of Sikang province

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From Gym Teacher to General: Zhu De in Revolution and Rebellion (1907-1916) Sep 23, 2021

Following Zhu De from his time as a teacher of physical training at a modern school, through his time at the Yunnan Military Academy, the Revolution of 1911 and the rebellion against Yuan Shikai.
Further reading:
Agnes Smedley, The Great Road: The Life and Times of Chu Teh [Zhu De]
Some names from this episode:
Cai E, Republican general and governor of Yunnan after the 1911-12 revolution
Yuan Shikai, leader of the Beiyang Army and dictator after the fall of the Qing
Xiao Jufang, Zhu De’s first wife
Lu Shaozhen, reactionary chief of staff of Yunnan Army’s First Division

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From Poor Peasant to Gym Teacher: The Early Life of Zhu De Sep 16, 2021

Taking a look back at the early life of Zhu De, the man who would later be Mao’s main partner in revolution.
Further reading:
Agnes Smedley, The Great Road: The Life and Times of Chu Teh [Zhu De]
Some names from this episode:
Zhang Tailei, leader of the Guangzhou Uprising of December 1927
Wang Zuo, Bandit leader who joined with Mao Zedong
Shi Dakai, Taiping general who fought a campaign in Sichuan
Emperor Guangxu, Emperor of China who tried to assert his power during Hundred Days Reform only to be thwarted by the Empress Dowager Cixi
Xi Bingan, Zhu De’s teacher
Empress Dowager Cixi, power behind the throne from 1861 to 1908

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Engels on Insurrection Sep 09, 2021

The story behind how guidance on communist armed struggle got into a major American newspaper in 1852. Listener requested background on the text used by Lenin and which was so influential in the Guangzhou Commune.
Further reading:
Frederick Engels, Revolution and Counter-Revolution in Germany
Lenin, “Advice of an Onlooker”
Some names from this episode:
Zhang Tailei, leader of the Guangzhou Uprising of December 1927

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The Guangzhou Commune (December 11-13, 1927) Sep 02, 2021

The last major armed uprising of 1927, in which the Communists temporarily took over Guangzhou.
Further reading:
Arif Dirlik, “Narrativizing Revolution: The Guangzhou Uprising (11-13 December 1927) in Workers’ Perspective”
Marcia Ristaino, China’s Art of Revolution: The Mobilization of Discontent, 1927 and 1928
Hsiao Tso-Liang, “Chinese Communism and the Canton Soviet of 1927”
Lenin, “Advice of an Onlooker”
Some names from this episode:
Zhang Tailei, secretary of the Guangdong Provincial Committee of the Communist Party
Ye Ting, Communist military leader
He Long, Communist military leader
Heinz Neumann, German Comintern agent
Zhang Fakui, Guomindang militarist who seized Guangzhou on November 17, 1927
Xu Xiangqian, Communist military officer, played leading role in Guangzhou Uprising
Deng Zhongxia, Communist labor leader
Huang Ping, One of the organizers of the Guangzhou uprising
Qu Qiubai, top leader of Communist Party beginning in the summer of 1927

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Red Canton: Background to the Guangzhou Uprising of December 1927 Aug 26, 2021

Some background on the situation in Guangzhou leading up to the uprising.
Further reading:
Arif Dirlik, “Narrativizing Revolution: The Guangzhou Uprising (11-13 December 1927) in Workers’ Perspective”
Marcia Ristaino, China’s Art of Revolution: The Mobilization of Discontent, 1927 and 1928
Hsiao Tso-Liang, “Chinese Communism and the Canton Soviet of 1927”
Manuel Gomez, “Organize for Liberation of the Colonies: Canton Center of World Movement”
Some names from this episode:
Wang Jingwei, leader of the Guomindang Left
Li Jishen, Guomindang militarist allied with Wang Jingwei
Zhang Fakui, Guomindang militarist who launched a coup in Guangzhou in November 1927
Zhang Tailei, secretary of the Guangdong Provincial Committee of the Communist Party
Liu Ersong, the chairman of the Workers’ Delegates Conference
Peng Pai, Communist peasant leader
Zhou Enlai, leading Communist
Li Chai-sum, Guomindang general

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‘Blind Actionism’ in Action: Understanding the Hundreds of Small Revolts Led by Communists at the End of the 1920s in China Aug 19, 2021

Using the early November 1927 peasant revolt in Jiangsu province to illustrate features common to the many small Communist-led uprisings at the end of the 1920s.
Further reading:
Marcia Ristaino, China’s Art of Revolution: The Mobilization of Discontent, 1927 and 1928
Chang Liu, “Making Revolution in Jiangnan: Communists and the Yangzi Delta Countryside, 1927-1945”
Some names from this episode:
Qu Qiubai, top leader of Communist Party beginning in the summer of 1927
Zhu De, Communist military commander
Zhou Enlai, leading Communist

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Summing Up Failures, or Playing the Blame Game? The November 1927 Politburo Meeting in Shanghai Aug 12, 2021

The Politburo meets to decide whether the leadership’s overall policy was wrong, or whether all the cadres carrying out the policy are just bad.
Further reading:
Marcia Ristaino, China’s Art of Revolution: The Mobilization of Discontent, 1927 and 1928
Tony Saich, The Rise to Power of the Chinese Communist Party
Chang Kuo-t’ao [Zhang Guotao], The Rise of the Chinese Communist Party (2 volumes)
Some names from this episode:
Chen Duxiu, General Secretary of the Communist Party until summer 1927
Qu Qiubai, Top leader of Communist Party beginning in the summer of 1927
Zhang Guotao, Leading Communist
Li Lisan, Leading Communist
Tan Pingshan, Leading Communist expelled for the failure of the Nanchang Uprising
Zhou Enlai, Leading Communist

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Sedan Chairs, Tired Intellectuals, and Indifferent Masses: The Denouement of the Nanchang Uprising/Southern Expedition (August to October 1927) Aug 05, 2021

We follow the Southern Expeditionary force from Ruijin in Jiangxi province to Shantou in Guangdong.
Further reading:
Marcia Ristaino, China’s Art of Revolution: The Mobilization of Discontent, 1927 and 1928
Agnes Smedley, The Great Road: The Life and Times of Chu Teh [Zhu De]
Chang Kuo-t’ao [Zhang Guotao], The Rise of the Chinese Communist Party (2 volumes)
C. Martin Wilbur, “The Ashes of Defeat”
Some names from this episode:
Zhang Guotao, Leading Communist
Yun Daiying, Communist Central Committee member
Li Lisan, Leading Communist
Peng Pai, Communist peasant organizer
Zhang Tailei, Member of Communist Politburo
Qu Qiubai, Top leader of Communist Party
Tan Pingshan, One of the leaders of the Nanchang Uprising
Zhou Enlai, Leading Communist
Zhu De, Communist military commander
Lin Biao, Company commander in Communist military

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Hearts, Minds, and a Head on a Spike: The Unification of People and Forces in the Jinggangshan Jul 29, 2021

How Wang Zuo and Yuan Wencai’s forces were brought into the Red Army, and Mao cemented the loyalty of the locals by marrying the Two-Gunned Girl General.
Further reading:
Stephen Averill, Revolution in the Highlands: China’s Jinggangshan Base Area
Pang Xianzhi and Jin Chongji, Mao Zedong: A Biography, vol. 1: 1893-1949
Christina Gilmartin, Engendering the Chinese Revolution: Radical Women, Communist Politics, and Mass Movements in the 1920s
Some names from this episode:
Yuan Wencai, bandit leader who joined with Mao Zedong
Wang Zuo, bandit leader who joined with Mao Zedong
He Changgong, cadre sent to advise Wang Zuo and win him over
Yin Daoyi, militia leader
Yin Haomin, Yin Daoyi’s son
Xu Yan’gang, chief-of-staff of the Second Regiment of the First Division of the Red Army
He Zizhen, Communist cadre known as the “Two-Gunned Girl General”
Yang Kaihui, Mao’s wife
Link to a podcast I recently appeared on:
Episode 71 of Cosmopod, discussing the early years of the Chinese Communist movement

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Secret Agent for International Maoism: José Venturelli, Chinese Informal Diplomacy and Latin American Maoism Jul 22, 2021

A podcast version of an article published a few years back. The Chilean artist José Venturelli was a supporter of Maoist China. This article, a brief political biography of Venturelli, shows how he acted on behalf of the People's Republic of China's informal diplomacy among Latin Americans and worked to promote Maoist politics among Latin American revolutionaries.
The article can be read here.

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Two Incursions, One Betrayal, and Six Points for Attention: The Red Army in Chaling and Suichuan (October 1927 to January 1928) Jul 15, 2021

The early progress of the Red Army in expanding Soviet power in the Jinggangshan region.
Further reading:
Stephen Averill, Revolution in the Highlands: China’s Jinggangshan Base Area
Pang Xianzhi and Jin Chongji, Mao Zedong: A Biography, vol. 1: 1893-1949
C. Martin Wilbur, The Nationalist Revolution in China, 1923-1928
Some names from this episode:
Yuan Wencai, bandit leader who joined with Mao Zedong
Wang Jingwei, leader of Guomindang Left
Tang Shengzhi, leader of Guomindang Left military forces
Chen Hao, led Communist takeover of Chaling
Wan Xixian, political commissar in Revolutionary Army
Xiao Jiabi, militia leader in Suichuan

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Alliances, Discipline, and an Army to Serve the People: The Beginning of the Jinggangshan Base Area (October 1927) Jul 08, 2021

Mao forges an alliance with Yuan Wencai and Wang Zuo, and the Revolutionary Army builds its capacity as a political force.
Further reading:
Stephen Averill, Revolution in the Highlands: China’s Jinggangshan Base Area
Pang Xianzhi and Jin Chongji, Mao Zedong: A Biography, vol. 1: 1893-1949

Some names from this episode:
Long Chaoqing, secretary of the Ninggang County Committee of the Communist Party
Yuan Wencai, bandit leader who joined with Mao Zedong
Wang Zuo, bandit leader who joined with Mao Zedong
Peng Pai, Communist peasant organizer
Xiao Jiabi, powerful reactionary militia leader in Suichuan
Yin Daoyi, militia leader

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The Early Jinggangshan Revolutionary Movement Jul 01, 2021

How the Chinese revolution came to the Jinggangshan, and how the revolution and counter-revolution developed up until Mao’s arrival in October 1927.
Further reading:
Stephen Averill, Revolution in the Highlands: China’s Jinggangshan Base Area
Some names from this episode:
Long Chaoqing, important early Communist in Jinggangshan area
Xiao Guohua, Communist women’s movement activist in Nanchang
Yuan Wencai, bandit leader who joined with Mao Zedong
Wang Zuo, bandit leader who joined with Mao Zedong
Zhu De, leading Communist military figure
Yin Daoyi, conservative elite in Guanbei
Ouyang Luo, Yongxin Communist cadre
He Yi, Yongxin Communist cadre
He Zizhen, the “Two-gunned Girl General”
Wang Xinya, Communist military officer
Liu Zuoshu, Yongxin Communist cadre
He Minxue, Yongxin Communist cadre

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Mao’s Bandit Comrades: Wang Zuo and Yuan Wencai Jun 24, 2021

The stories of Wang Zuo and Yuan Wencai before they joined up with Mao Zedong.
Further reading:
Stephen Averill, Revolution in the Highlands: China’s Jinggangshan Base Area
Some names from this episode:
Wang Zuo, Bandit leader who joined with Mao Zedong
Yuan Wencai, Bandit leader who joined with Mao Zedong
Zhu Kongyang, Warlord army officer turned bandit
Xie Guannan, Patriarch of the local tyrant Xie family in the area around Maoping

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Bandits of the Jinggangshan Jun 17, 2021

A closer look at the phenomenon of banditry in the Jinggang Mountains, because of the importance that banditry and other forms of collective violence had on how the revolutionary movement developed.
Further reading:
Stephen Averill, Revolution in the Highlands: China’s Jinggangshan Base Area
Names from this episode:
Qu Qiubai, Named head of new provisional politburo at August 7, 1927 Emergency Conference
Zhu Kongyang, Warlord army officer turned bandit

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Background on Society and Economy in the Jinggang Mountains Jun 10, 2021

With particular emphasis on the geographical divisions between valleys and mountainsides, and ethnic divisions between Han and Hakka.
Further reading:
Stephen Averill, Revolution in the Highlands: China’s Jinggangshan Base Area
Stuart Schram, ed., Mao’s Road to Power, vol. 3: From the Jinggangshan to the Establishment of the Jiangxi Soviets, July 1927-December 1930

Name from this episode:
Zhu Beide, Governor of Jiangxi province

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Entering the Jinggangshan: The Sanwan Reorganization of the People’s Army Jun 03, 2021

As Mao’s troops arrive in the Jinggangshan region, a revolutionary reorganization of the people’s army is begun. Also, a tangent on Mao’s leadership style and nuclear war with a jump 30 years into the future.
Further reading:
Pang Xianzhi and Jin Chongji, Mao Zedong: A Biography, vol. 1: 1893-1949
Stephen Averill, Revolution in the Highlands: China’s Jinggangshan Base Area
Mao Zedong, “Speech at a Meeting of the Representatives of 64 Communist and Workers’ Parties”
Some names from this episode:
Lu Deming, Leader of the Lu Deming Regiment
He Long, One of the Communist leaders of the Nanchang Uprising
Yuan Wencai, Communist ‘social bandit’ leader
Chen Muping, Yuan Wencai’s secretary and graduate of the peasant training institute

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The Autumn Harvest Uprising in Hunan May 26, 2021

The first days of Mao Zedong’s long career of armed struggle.
Further reading:
Marcia Ristaino, China’s Art of Revolution: The Mobilization of Discontent, 1927 and 1928
Roy Hofheinz, “The Autumn Harvest Insurrection”
Pang Xianzhi and Jin Chongji, Mao Zedong: A Biography, vol. 1: 1893-1949
C. Martin Wilbur, The Nationalist Revolution in China, 1923-1928
Elizabeth Perry, Anyuan: Mining China’s Revolutionary Tradition
Some names from this episode:
Lu Deming, Leader of the Lu Deming Regiment
Zhang Fakui, Guomindang general close to Wang Jingwei
Qu Qiubai, Named head of new provisional politburo at August 7, 1927 Emergency Conference
Zhang Guotao, Leading Communist

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Planning the Autumn Harvest Uprising in Hunan May 21, 2021

Mao doesn’t budge on his military line in the face of pressure from the Party Center, and then gets arrested.
Further reading:
Marcia Ristaino, China’s Art of Revolution: The Mobilization of Discontent, 1927 and 1928
Tony Saich, The Rise to Power of the Chinese Communist Party
Roy Hofheinz, “The Autumn Harvest Insurrection”
Pang Xianzhi and Jin Chongji, Mao Zedong: A Biography, vol. 1: 1893-1949
Stuart Schram, ed., Mao’s Road to Power, vol. 3: From the Jinggangshan to the Establishment of the Jiangxi Soviets, July 1927-December 1930
Elizabeth Perry, Anyuan: Mining China’s Revolutionary Tradition
C. Martin Wilbur, The Nationalist Revolution in China, 1923-1928
Edgar Snow, Red Star Over China
Some names from this episode:
Qu Qiubai, Named head of new provisional politburo at August 7, 1927 Emergency Conference
Besso Lominadze, New Comintern head in China starting in July 1927
Peng Gongda, Leading Communist in Hunan
Yang Kaihui, Mao’s wife
Tang Shengzhi, Leader of Guomindang Left military forces
Mao Anlong, Mao’s youngest son
Mao Anqing, Mao’s three-year-old son
Mao Anying, Mao’s four-year-old son

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The Autumn Harvest Uprising in Hubei May 15, 2021

The planning and execution of the Autumn Harvest Uprising in southern Hubei province.
Further reading:
Marcia Ristaino, China’s Art of Revolution: The Mobilization of Discontent, 1927 and 1928
Tony Saich, The Rise to Power of the Chinese Communist Party
Roy Hofheinz, “The Autumn Harvest Insurrection”
Timothy Cheek’s Introduction to Pang Xianzhi and Jin Chongji, eds., Mao Zedong : A Biography, vol. 1
Some names from this episode:
Feng Yuxiang, Christian warlord
“Scarlet Rays” Huang, Member of South Hubei special committee
Liu Pu-I, Leader of “People’s Self-Defense Army”
Hsieh I-huan, Member of South Hubei special committee
Fu Hsiang-i, Member of South Hubei special committee

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The “Tender-Hearted Communist:” Qu Qiubai May 08, 2021

Background on Qu Qiubai before he became Communist leader in 1927.
Further reading:
Tsi-an Hsia, The Gate of Darkness: Studies on the Leftist Literary Movement
Jonathan Spence, The Gate of Heavenly Peace: The Chinese and Their Revolution
Paul Pickowicz, Marxist Literary Thought in China: The Influence of Ch'u Ch'iu-pai
Steve Smith, A Road Is Made: Communism in Shanghai, 1920-1927
Some names from this episode:
Qu Qiubai, Named head of new provisional politburo at August 7, 1927 Emergency Conference
Wang Shouhua, President of the General Labor Union
Li Dazhao, Co-founder of the Chinese Communist Party
Mikhail Borodin, Comintern agent and head of Soviet mission to aid the Guomindang
Besso Lominadze, New Comintern head in China starting in July 1927

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Army or Militia? Mao and the Politburo Diverge on Military Policy for the Autumn Harvest Uprising Apr 24, 2021

Mao takes a critical position on the military line pursued by the Comintern and the Politburo. Also, the issue of scapegoating individuals as a way of dealing with repudiated party policies.
Further reading:
Marcia Ristaino, China’s Art of Revolution: The Mobilization of Discontent, 1927 and 1928
C. Martin Wilbur, The Nationalist Revolution in China, 1923-1928
Tony Saich, The Rise to Power of the Chinese Communist Party
Stuart Schram, ed., Mao’s Road to Power, vol. 3: From the Jinggangshan to the Establishment of the Jiangxi Soviets, July 1927-December 1930
Zhou Enlai, Selected Works of Zhou Enlai, vol. 1
Some names from this episode:
Qu Qiubai, Named head of new provisional politburo at August 7, 1927 Emergency Conference
Besso Lominadze, New Comintern head in China starting in July 1927
Tang Shengzhi, Leader of Guomindang Left military forces
Mikhail Borodin, Comintern agent and head of Soviet mission to aid the Guomindang
Tan Pingshan, Communist representative in Wuhan government
Chen Duxiu, Former General Secretary of the Communist Party
Zhou Enlai, Member of temporary standing committee of Communist Politburo appointed in July 1927

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The Decisive Turn to Overthrowing the Guomindang: The 7 August 1927 Emergency Conference Apr 17, 2021

The new policy of mass uprisings against the Guomindang is decided upon, and Mao’s comments at the meeting stand out for their epistemology.
Further reading:
Marcia Ristaino, China’s Art of Revolution: The Mobilization of Discontent, 1927 and 1928
C. Martin Wilbur, The Nationalist Revolution in China, 1923-1928
Tony Saich, The Rise to Power of the Chinese Communist Party
Stuart Schram, ed., Mao’s Road to Power, vol. 3: From the Jinggangshan to the Establishment of the Jiangxi Soviets, July 1927-December 1930
Some names from this episode:
Chen Duxiu, Communist general secretary until July 12, 1927
Zhou Enlai, Member of temporary standing committee of Communist Politburo appointed in July 1927
Zhang Guotao, Member of temporary standing committee of Communist Politburo appointed in July 1927
Li Lisan, Member of temporary standing committee of Communist Politburo appointed in July 1927
Qu Qiubai, Named head of new provisional politburo at August 7, 1927 Emergency Conference
Xia Xi, Named to the South Hunan special committee responsible for the Autumn Harvest Uprising
Guo Liang, Named to the South Hunan special committee responsible for the Autumn Harvest Uprising
Ren Zuoxuan, Named to the South Hunan special committee responsible for the Autumn Harvest Uprising
Mikhail Borodin, Comintern agent and head of Soviet mission to aid the Guomindang
Besso Lominadze, New Comintern head in China starting in July 1927
Li Dazhao, Co-founder of the Chinese Communist Party
Wang Jingwei, Leader of the Guomindang Left

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The Nanchang Uprising (August 1, 1927) Feb 17, 2021

The mutiny that founded the Chinese Red Army.
Further reading:
Tony Saich, The Rise to Power of the Chinese Communist Party
Stuart Schram, ed., Mao’s Road to Power, vol. 3: From the Jinggangshan to the Establishment of the Jiangxi Soviets, July 1927-December 1930
Marcia Ristaino, China’s Art of Revolution: The Mobilization of Discontent, 1927 and 1928
Agnes Smedley, The Great Road: The Life and Times of Chu Teh [Zhu De]
Chang Kuo-t’ao [Zhang Guotao], The Rise of the Chinese Communist Party (2 volumes)
C. Martin Wilbur, The Nationalist Revolution in China, 1923-1928
C. Martin Wilbur, “The Ashes of Defeat”
Some names from this episode:
Henk Sneevliet, alias Maring, Dutch Communist and early Comintern agent in China
Zhang Fakui, Guomindang general close to Wang Jingwei
Ye Ting, Communist officer
He Long, Communist officer
Zhou Enlai, Commanded Front Committee which coordinated Nanchang Uprising
Mikhail Borodin, Comintern agent and political head of Soviet mission to aid the Guomindang
Besso Lominadze, New Comintern head in China in July 1927
Zhang Guotao, Leading Communist
Wang Jingwei, Leader of Guomindang “Left”
Zhu De, Nanchang chief of public security
Agnes Smedley, Communist journalist
Zhu Beide, Governor of Jiangxi province
Nie Rongzhen, Communist military leader
Song Qingling, Guomindang Left leader and widow of Sun Yatsen
Deng Yanda, Head of the Guomindang peasant bureau
Eugene Chen, Guomindang Left foreign minister

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The End of the United Front (June to July 1927) Feb 07, 2021

As the Wuhan regime collapses, so does the united front. Soviet advisors leave China, Chinese Communists go underground. The purge strikes Wuhan.
Further reading:
C. Martin Wilbur, The Nationalist Revolution in China, 1923-1928
Anna Louise Strong, China’s Millions
Vera Vladimirovna Vishnyakova-Akimova, Two Years in Revolutionary China, 1925-1927
C. Martin Wilbur and Julie Lien-ying How, Missionaries of Revolution: Soviet Advisers and Nationalist China, 1920-1927
Tony Saich, The Rise to Power of the Chinese Communist Party
Some names from this episode:
M. N. Roy, Indian Comintern agent
Wang Jingwei, Leader of the Guomindang Left
Feng Yuxiang, Christian warlord
Vasily Blyukher, Soviet general and military genius, chief of Soviet military mission to aid the Guomindang
Zotov, Blyukher’s code clerk, died of poisoning
Mikhail Borodin, Comintern agent and political head of Soviet mission to aid the Guomindang
He Jian, Nationalist general
T. V. Soong, Wuhan government finance minister
Chen Duxiu, Communist general secretary until July 12, 1927
Zhou Enlai, Member of temporary standing committee of Communist Politburo appointed in July 1927
Zhang Guotao, Member of temporary standing committee of Communist Politburo appointed in July 1927
Li Lisan, Member of temporary standing committee of Communist Politburo appointed in July 1927
Song Qingling, Guomindang Left leader and widow of Sun Yatsen
Deng Yanda, Head of the Guomindang peasant bureau
Eugene Chen, Guomindang foreign minister
Gregory Voitinsky, Chairman of the Far Eastern Bureau of the Comintern

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“Like Taking a Bath in a Toilet” (May and June 1927) Jan 29, 2021

The Comintern’s guidance falls short in response to the ongoing massacre of peasants.
Further reading:
C. Martin Wilbur, The Nationalist Revolution in China, 1923-1928
Donald Jordan, The Northern Expedition: China’s National Revolution of 1926-1928
Alexander Pantsov, The Bolsheviks and the Chinese Revolution, 1919-1927

Some names from this episode:
Tang Shengzhi, Hunan warlord who sided with the National Revolutionary Army and contested leadership with Chiang Kai-shek
Ye Ting, Communist general and garrison commander who defended Wuhan against a right-wing mutiny
M. N. Roy, Indian Comintern agent
Wang Jingwei, Leader of the Guomindang Left
Mikhail Borodin, Comintern agent and head of Soviet mission to aid the Guomindang
Chen Duxiu, General secretary of the Communist Party
Zhang Guotao, General secretary of Hubei branch of Communist Party

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“An Example of the Chinese Tenant-Peasant’s Life” Jan 23, 2021

This episode is an appendix to episode 51, and consists of a booklet written by Mao Zedong describing the life of a tenant-peasant in Hunan. This episode should help you to concretely picture peasant life in Hunan during the period we have been discussing in the podcast, while also giving a short example of Mao Zedong’s practice of social investigation.
Most of this is Mao running down the income and expenditures of a tenant-peasant, and just the last few minutes of this recording are Mao giving his conclusions. If you’re good at hearing lists of expenses and income and extrapolating in your mind what that meant for someone’s life concretely, then this piece will help you. If that’s not you, this might get pretty dry pretty fast. Feel free to skip this episode if it’s not working for you.
Some units of measurement used in this document:
1 mu = .167 acre
1 dan = 100 liters
1 dou = 10 liters
A note to the text indicates that the use of the terms dan and dou is not consistent throughout the text.
1 jin = .5 kg
1 fen = .01 yuan (yuan, or Chinese dollar, is the unit of currency, so 1 fen could also be translated as 1 penny)
3,300 cash = 1 yuan
1 sheng = 1 liter
liang = tael (traditional unit for counting silver)
string = 1000 copper coins strung together through the holes in the middle of the coins
1 zhang = 10 chi = 141 inches

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Mao Tries to Legislate a Peasant Revolution: The Wuhan Land Commission (April to May 1927) Jan 23, 2021

Mao’s experience on the Wuhan Guomindang Left government’s Land Commission, with some comparative remarks on land reform in Communist thought.
Further reading:
Tony Saich, The Rise to Power of the Chinese Communist Party
Stuart Schram, ed., Mao’s Road to Power, vol. 2: National Revolution and Social Revolution, December 1920-June 1927
C. Martin Wilbur, The Nationalist Revolution in China, 1923-1928
Lynne Viola, The Best Sons of the Fatherland: Workers in the Vanguard of Soviet Collectivization
Lenin, “Pages from a Diary” and “On Co-operation”
Some names from this episode:
Mikhail Borodin, Comintern agent and head of Soviet mission to aid the Guomindang
Wang Jingwei, Leader of the Guomindang Left

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The Fifth Party Congress and the ‘Better Fewer but Better’ Approach to Summing up a Massacre Jan 18, 2021

The Fifth Party Congress of the Communist Party (April 29 to May 9, 1927) decides that the united front is better without Chiang Kai-shek.
Further reading:
Steve Smith, A Road Is Made: Communism in Shanghai, 1920-1927
Tony Saich, The Rise to Power of the Chinese Communist Party
Stuart Schram, ed., Mao’s Road to Power, vol. 2: National Revolution and Social Revolution, December 1920-June 1927
C. Martin Wilbur, The Nationalist Revolution in China, 1923-1928
Some names from this episode:
M. N. Roy, Indian Comintern agent
Mikhail Borodin, Comintern agent and head of Soviet mission to aid the Guomindang
Chen Duxiu, General Secretary of the Communist Party
Wang Jingwei, Leader of the Guomindang Left
Peng Pai, Communist peasant organizer
Li Lisan, Communist labor organizer

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Rivers of Blood in the Streets of Shanghai: The Massacre of the Communists by the Guomindang Right Jan 07, 2021

Chiang Kai-shek’s April 12, 1927 coup against the Communists.
Further reading:
Steve Smith, A Road Is Made: Communism in Shanghai, 1920-1927
Elizabeth Perry, Shanghai on Strike: The Politics of Chinese Labor
Maurice Meisner, Li Ta-chao and the Origins of Chinese Marxism
Stuart Schram, ed., Mao’s Road to Power, vol. 3: From the Jinggangshan to the Establishment of the Jiangxi Soviets, July 1927-December 1930
Some names from this episode:
Wang Shouhua, President of the General Labor Union
Du Yuesheng, One of three top leaders of the Green Gang
Huang Jinrong, One of three top leaders of the Green Gang (and top cop in the French Concession)
Zhou Enlai, Leading Communist responsible for the workers’ armed forces in Shanghai
Bai Chongxi, NRA commander whose forces occupied Shanghai
Li Dazhao, Co-founder of the Communist Party
Gregory Voitinsky, Chairman of the Far Eastern Bureau of the Comintern

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The Third Armed Uprising in Shanghai Dec 17, 2020

On March 21-22, 1927, Shanghai fell to a combination of general strike, armed uprising, and the advance of the National Revolutionary Army.
Further reading:
Steve Smith, A Road Is Made: Communism in Shanghai, 1920-1927
Some names from this episode:
Chen Duxiu, General Secretary of the Communist Party
Li Qiushi, Delegate to the Fifth Communist Party Congress known for being very handsome
Mikhail Borodin, Comintern agent and head of Soviet mission to aid the Guomindang
Henk Sneevliet, alias Maring, Dutch Communist and Comintern leader in China from 1921-1923
Zhou Enlai, Head of the military commission of the Communist Central Committee
Bai Chongxi, NRA commander whose forces occupied Shanghai

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The Split in the Guomindang: The Left Government in Wuhan and the Military Headquarters in Nanchang Develop Irreconcilable Differences (January to March 1927) Dec 03, 2020

The question of what sort of revolution the Nationalist revolution will be creates a fundamental division within the Guomindang.
Further reading:
C. Martin Wilbur and Julie Lien-ying How, Missionaries of Revolution: Soviet Advisers and Nationalist China, 1920-1927
C. Martin Wilbur, The Nationalist Revolution in China, 1923-1928
Stuart Schram, ed., Mao’s Road to Power, vol. 2: National Revolution and Social Revolution, December 1920-June 1927
Alexander Pantsov, The Bolsheviks and the Chinese Revolution, 1919-1927
Jack Gray, Rebellions and Revolutions: China from the 1800s to 2000
Some names from this episode:
Mikhail Borodin, Comintern agent and head of Soviet mission to aid the Guomindang
Tang Shengzhi, Hunan warlord who sided with the National Revolutionary Army and contested leadership with Chiang Kai-shek
Peng Pai, Communist peasant organizer
Karl Radek, provost of Sun Yatsen University in Moscow

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Summation, Red Terror, and Frustration: The Aftermath of the Second Armed Uprising in Shanghai (February and March 1927) Nov 12, 2020

Summations of the Second Uprising on several different levels; the continuing inability of the Shanghai Regional Committee of the Communist Party to control the ‘dog-beating’ squads; and some thoughts on the problem of the inevitability of errors being made in revolutionary armed struggle and Mao’s thinking on that problem.
Further reading:
Steve Smith, A Road Is Made: Communism in Shanghai, 1920-1927
C. Martin Wilbur and Julie Lien-ying How, Missionaries of Revolution: Soviet Advisers and Nationalist China, 1920-1927
Stuart Schram, ed., Mao’s Road to Power, vol. 2: National Revolution and Social Revolution, December 1920-June 1927
Allyn and Adele Rickett, Prisoners of Liberation
Some names from this episode:
Qu Qiubai, Communist Central Committee member and head of propaganda
Zhou Enlai, Head of the military commission of the Communist Central Committee
Li Baozhang, the commander of the garrison of warlord troops in Shanghai

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The Second Armed Uprising in Shanghai (February 1927) Nov 05, 2020

Where we continue to follow the insurrectionary journey of the Shanghai Communists.
Further reading:
Steve Smith, A Road Is Made: Communism in Shanghai, 1920-1927
C. Martin Wilbur and Julie Lien-ying How, Missionaries of Revolution: Soviet Advisers and Nationalist China, 1920-1927
Some names from this episode:
Chen Duxiu, General Secretary of the Communist Party
Sun Chuanfang, Leader of warlord coalition in China’s southeast
Zhang Zongchang, Shandong warlord
Li Baozhang, the commander of the garrison of warlord troops in Shanghai
Zhou Enlai, Communist commissar who left Whampoa to aid the Shanghai military commission
Niu Yongjian, Veteran Nationalist operative who came to Shanghai in 1926

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From Dog-Beating Squads to the First Armed Uprising: The Shanghai Communists’ Steep Learning Curve in Developing Armed Struggle (1922 to 1926) Oct 29, 2020

The bumpy road that the Communist Party took in Shanghai as it developed its capacity to deploy organized violence as a political tactic.
Further reading:
Steve Smith, A Road Is Made: Communism in Shanghai, 1920-1927
Some names from this episode:
Wang Shouhua, Leading Communist labor organizer in Shanghai
Yu Xiaqing, Leader of a nationalist faction of Shanghai’s merchant class
Niu Yongjian, Veteran Nationalist operative who came to Shanghai in 1926
Sun Chuanfang, Leader of warlord coalition in China’s southeast
Tao Jingxuan, Communist union organizer executed after First Armed Uprising
Chen Duxiu, General Secretary of the Communist Party

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When Peasant Revolution Meets the Theory of the Productive Forces: The Communist Debate on Unity with the Nationalist Left Oct 22, 2020

The tension between maintaining the united front and mobilizing the peasants for revolution finds expression in a crucial debate over strategy at the end of 1926.
Further reading:
C. Martin Wilbur and Julie Lien-ying How, Missionaries of Revolution: Soviet Advisers and Nationalist China, 1920-1927
Tony Saich, The Rise to Power of the Chinese Communist Party
Stuart Schram, ed., Mao’s Road to Power, vol. 2: National Revolution and Social Revolution, December 1920-June 1927
Some names from this episode:
Mikhail Borodin, Comintern agent and head of Soviet mission to aid the Guomindang
Gregory Voitinsky, Chairman of the Far Eastern Bureau of the Comintern
Chen Duxiu, General Secretary of the Communist Party
Wang Jingwei, Main leader of the Guomindang left

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More Mass Movements, More Problems: The Aggressive Line of the Guangdong Comrades Oct 15, 2020

Debate breaks out within the Communist Party and the Comintern over how to assess the balance of forces and relate to the developing revolutionary situation engendered by the mass movements in Hunan and Hubei in late 1926.
Further reading:
C. Martin Wilbur and Julie Lien-ying How, Missionaries of Revolution: Soviet Advisers and Nationalist China, 1920-1927
Tony Saich, The Rise to Power of the Chinese Communist Party
Arif Dirlik, “Mass Movements and the Left Kuomintang”
Steve Smith, A Road Is Made: Communism in Shanghai, 1920-1927
Daniel Kwan, Marxist Intellectuals and the Chinese Labor Movement: A Study of Deng Zhongxia, 1894-1933
Some names from this episode:
Mikhail Borodin, Comintern agent and head of Soviet mission to aid the Guomindang
Wang Jingwei, Main leader of the Guomindang left
Chen Gongbo, Close follower of Wang Jingwei
Sun Chuanfang, leader of warlord coalition which held east China before being defeated during the Northern Expedition
Vasily Blyukher, Soviet general purported to be de facto commander-in-chief of Northern Expedition
Tang Shengzhi, Hunan warlord who sided with the National Revolutionary Army and contested leadership with Chiang Kai-shek
Gregory Voitinsky, Chairman of the Far Eastern Bureau of the Comintern

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Revolution in the Countryside: The Peasant Movement in Hunan in the Wake of the Northern Expedition Oct 08, 2020

Mass upheaval in Hunan and elsewhere after people are liberated from warlord rule.
Further reading:
C. Martin Wilbur and Julie Lien-ying How, Missionaries of Revolution: Soviet Advisers and Nationalist China, 1920-1927
Yokoyama Suguru, “The Peasant Movement in Hunan”
Stuart Schram, ed., Mao’s Road to Power, vol. 2: National Revolution and Social Revolution, December 1920-June 1927
A name from this episode:
Wu Peifu, Northern warlord

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The Northern Expedition Begins: Attempts at Merging the Mass Movement with Regular Warfare Oct 01, 2020

Examining the role of both organized and unorganized mass support for the Northern Expedition in its first phase, the offensive from Guangdong to Wuhan from May to October 1926.

Further reading:
Donald Jordan, The Northern Expedition: China's National Revolution of 1926-1928
C. Martin Wilbur and Julie Lien-ying How, Missionaries of Revolution: Soviet Advisers and Nationalist China, 1920-1927
Some names from this episode:
Mikhail Borodin, Comintern agent and head of Soviet mission to aid the Guomindang
Chen Duxiu, General Secretary of the Communist Party
Sun Zhongshan/Sun Yatsen, Founding leader of the Guomindang
Wu Peifu, Northern warlord
Gregory Voitinsky, Comintern representative in China at various points

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Mao in 1926: War in Hunan, Coup in Guangzhou, Polemicizing for the Peasant Movement Sep 24, 2020

Mao's political activity and intellectual development during the first nine months of 1926.
Further Reading:
Gerald Berkley, “The Canton Peasant Movement Training Institute”
Stuart Schram, ed., Mao’s Road to Power, vol. 2: National Revolution and Social Revolution, December 1920-June 1927
Yokoyama Suguru, “The Peasant Movement in Hunan”
Philip C. C. Huang, “Mao Tse-Tung and the Middle Peasants, 1925-1928”
Angus McDonald, “The Hunan Peasant Movement Its Urban Origins”
Some names from this episode:
Shen Yanbing (Mao Dun), Communist writer and later Culture Minister, in 1926 worked with Mao Zedong in Guomindang propaganda department
Zhao Hengti, Dominant warlord in Hunan
Tang Shengzhi, Subordinate of Zhao who allied with the Guomindang and displaced Zhao
Wu Peifu, Northern warlord
Nikolay Kuibyshev, Soviet general and head of military mission in Guangdong in late 1925 and early 1926
Andrei Bubnov, Headed Soviet military inspection mission to China in early 1926
Mikhail Borodin, Comintern agent and head of Soviet mission to aid the Guomindang
Peng Pai, Communist peasant organizer

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Spreading Peasant Revolution Across Guangdong, and Beyond: The Guangzhou Peasant Movement Training Institute Sep 17, 2020

How the Communist Party took the formula of "Haifeng + armed self-defense" and set out to organize the peasants of Guangdong, and beyond.
Further Reading:
Pang Yong-pil, “Peng Pai: From Landlord to Revolutionary”
Yuan Gao, “Revolutionary Rural Politics: The Peasant Movement in Guangdong and Its Social-Historical Background, 1922–1926”
Robert Marks, Rural Revolution in South China: Peasants and the Making of History in Haifeng County, 1570-1930
Roy Hofheinz, The Broken Wave: The Chinese Communist Peasant Movement, 1922-1928
Fernando Galbiati, P’eng P'ai and the Hai-Lu-Feng Soviet
Gerald Berkley, “The Canton Peasant Movement Training Institute”
C. Martin Wilbur and Julie Lien-ying How, Missionaries of Revolution: Soviet Advisers and Nationalist China, 1920-1927
Elizabeth Perry, Rebels and Revolutionaries in North China, 1845-1945
Some names from this episode:
Peng Pai, Communist peasant organizer
Chen Jiongming, Warlord dominant in Haifeng region until 1925
Li Zhongkai, Leader of Guomindang left, assassinated in 1925
Li Dazhao, Co-founder of the Communist Party

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The Beginning of the Peasant Movement in Guangdong Province: How the Communist Party Got a Mass Base of Peasant Support in Spite of Itself Sep 10, 2020

Peng Pai and the beginning of the peasant movement in Guangdong Province.
Further Reading:
Pang Yong-pil, “Peng Pai: From Landlord to Revolutionary”
Yuan Gao, “Revolutionary Rural Politics: The Peasant Movement in Guangdong and Its Social-Historical Background, 1922–1926”
Robert Marks, Rural Revolution in South China: Peasants and the Making of History in Haifeng County, 1570-1930
Roy Hofheinz, The Broken Wave: The Chinese Communist Peasant Movement, 1922-1928
Fernando Galbiati, P’eng P'ai and the Hai-Lu-Feng Soviet
Some names from this episode:
Peng Pai, Communist peasant organizer
Li Dazhao, Co-founder of the Communist Party
Chen Jiongming, Warlord dominant in Haifeng region until 1925
Zhu Mo, Bad landlord in Haifeng County
Zhang Zepu, Judge in Haifeng County

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The March 1926 Zhongshan Gunboat Incident: Coup and Countercoup in the Pearl River Delta Sep 03, 2020

Tensions come to a head between Chiang Kai-shek, Wang Jingwei and General Kuibyshev, as a Soviet plot backfires spectacularly.
Further Reading:
C. Martin Wilbur and Julie Lien-ying How, Missionaries of Revolution: Soviet Advisers and Nationalist China, 1920-1927
Wu Tien-wei, “Chiang Kai-shek's March Twentieth Coup d'Etat of 1926”
Barbara Tuchman, Stilwell and the American Experience in China, 1911-1945
Some names from this episode:
Mikhail Borodin, Comintern agent and head of Soviet mission to aid the Guomindang
Wang Jingwei, Leader of Guomindang government in Guangdong in late 1925 and early 1926
Dai Jitao, Right-wing Guomindang ideologue
Nikolay Kuibyshev, Soviet general and head of military mission in Guangdong in late 1925 and early 1926
Victor Rogachev, Soviet general and adviser to Chiang Kai-shek
Li Zhilong, Communist in Guomindang navy
Hu Hanmin, Leader of Guomindang right-wing, spent a period of exile in the USSR
Andrei Bubnov, Headed Soviet military inspection mission to China
General V. A. Stepanov, Headed Soviet military mission after Kuibyshev left and before Blyukher returned
Vasily Blyukher, Soviet general whose return was requested by Chiang Kai-shek
Chen Duxiu, General Secretary of the Communist Party

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From Quaker Peace Activist to Maoist Revolutionary: An Oral History of Personal Transformation from a 1971 American Delegation to China Aug 27, 2020

An oral history interview with Monica Shay (née Newbold, aka Kathryn) about her experience in China in 1971-72.
Some names from this episode:
William Hinton, author of Fanshen and other books on China
Jiang Qing, leading radical during Cultural Revolution and wife of Mao Zedong
Revolutionary Union (RU), pro-China communist group in the US in early 1970s
Dazhai, model agricultural commune

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Bonus: New China Song by Prairie Fire Aug 24, 2020

The song "New China" by the band Prairie Fire, from the 1976 album Break the Chains. This song will be referenced in our next episode.

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The Beginning of Maoism: Mao Zedong’s “Analysis of All the Classes in Chinese Society” Aug 20, 2020

Mao’s first major statement on the need for a strategic reorientation toward mobilizing the peasantry.
The chart cited in the episode is now on the podcast website (as of 8-24-20): https://peopleshistoryofideas.com/episode-33-the-beginning-of-maoism-mao-zedongs-analysis-of-all-the-classes-in-chinese-society/.
Further Reading:
Stuart Schram, ed., Mao’s Road to Power, vol. 2: National Revolution and Social Revolution, December 1920-June 1927
Philip C. C. Huang, “Mao Tse-Tung and the Middle Peasants, 1925-1928”
Some names from this episode:
Chen Duxiu, General Secretary of the Communist Party
Li Dazhao, Co-founder of Communist Party

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Propaganda, Criticism and Corruption: Mao as Propagandist and Disciplinarian (October 1925 to early 1926) Aug 13, 2020

Mao as acting head of propaganda for the Guomindang.
Further Reading:
C. Martin Wilbur and Julie Lien-ying How, Missionaries of Revolution: Soviet Advisers and Nationalist China, 1920-1927
Stuart Schram, ed., Mao’s Road to Power, vol. 2: National Revolution and Social Revolution, December 1920-June 1927
Some names from this episode:
Wang Jingwei, Leader of Guomindang government in Guangdong in late 1925 and early 1926
Mikhail Borodin, Comintern agent and head of Soviet mission to aid the Guomindang
Chen Duxiu, General Secretary of the Communist Party
Gregory Voitinsky, Comintern representative in China at various points
Dai Jitao, Right-wing Guomindang ideologue

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Strike, Assassination and War: The Revolution/Counter-Revolution Dialectic in Guangdong in the Second Half of 1925 Aug 06, 2020

The Hong Kong strike, the assassination of Liao Zhongkai, and the Second Eastern Expedition.
Further Reading:
C. Martin Wilbur and Julie Lien-ying How, Missionaries of Revolution: Soviet Advisers and Nationalist China, 1920-1927
John Erickson, The Soviet High Command: A Military-Political History, 1918-1941
Some names from this episode:
Chiang Kai-shek, Japan-trained military officer, close confidant of Sun Yatsen
Deng Zhongxia, Communist labor leader, involved in Hong Kong strike
Wang Jingwei, Potential heir apparent to Sun Yatsen as leader of Guomindang
Liao Zhongkai, Potential heir apparent to Sun Yatsen as leader of Guomindang
Hu Hanmin, Potential heir apparent to Sun Yatsen as leader of Guomindang (further to Right than the other two)
Chen Jiongming, Southern warlord, ally and then enemy of Sun Yatsen
Mikhail Borodin, Comintern agent and head of Soviet mission to aid the Guomindang
Zhou Enlai, Communist head of the Whampoa Academy political department, leading commissar on Second Eastern Expedition
Victor Rogachev, Soviet general and adviser to Chiang Kai-shek

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Guangdong Spring 1925: Revolutionary Warfare Erupts and Workers Shut Down Hong Kong Jul 30, 2020

The National Revolutionary Army battles the warlords for supremacy in Guangdong, while the British and French escalate tensions by massacring supporters of a strike which shut down Hong Kong.
Further Reading:
C. Martin Wilbur and Julie Lien-ying How, Missionaries of Revolution: Soviet Advisers and Nationalist China, 1920-1927
Some names from this episode:
Chiang Kai-shek, Japan-trained military officer, close confidant of Sun Yatsen
Vasily Blyukher, Soviet general who led military mission to aid Guomindang
Zhou Enlai, Communist head of the Whampoa Academy political department
Wang Jingwei, Potential heir apparent to Sun Yatsen as leader of Guomindang
Liao Zhongkai, Potential heir apparent to Sun Yatsen as leader of Guomindang
Hu Hanmin, Potential heir apparent to Sun Yatsen as leader of Guomindang (further to Right than the other two)
Mikhail Borodin, Comintern agent and head of Soviet mission to aid the Guomindang
Sun Zhongshan/Sun Yatsen, leader of the Guomindang, died in March 1925
Chen Jiongming, Southern warlord, ally and then enemy of Sun Yatsen

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The Soviet Military Alliance with the Guomindang, and the Creation of the National Revolutionary Army Jul 23, 2020

The first year of the Soviet military alliance with the Guomindang, including the creation of the Whampoa Military Academy, the formation of the National Revolutionary Army, and the crushing of the Merchant Corps.
Further Reading:
C. Martin Wilbur and Julie Lien-ying How, Missionaries of Revolution: Soviet Advisers and Nationalist China, 1920-1927
John Erickson, The Soviet High Command: A Military-Political History, 1918-1941
Some names from this episode:
Mikhail Borodin, Comintern agent and head of Soviet mission to aid the Guomindang
Chiang Kai-shek, Japan-trained military officer, close confidant of Sun Yatsen
Chen Jiongming, Southern warlord, ally and then enemy of Sun Yatsen
Deng Zhongxia, Leading Communist labor organizer
Gregory Voitinsky, Comintern representative in China at various points, much more wary of Sun Yatsen and the Guomindang than Borodin
Sun Zhongshan/Sun Yatsen, leader of the Guomindang

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Peasant Revolution?: An Exhausted Mao Rediscovers His Roots Jul 16, 2020

Mao gets sick of all the BS in Shanghai and returns to his hometown of Shaoshan, where he discovers a militant peasantry.
Further Reading:
Stuart Schram, ed., Mao’s Road to Power, vol. 2: National Revolution and Social Revolution, December 1920-June 1927
Yokoyama Suguru, “The Peasant Movement in Hunan”
Some names from this episode:
Li Lisan, Communist leader of the Shanghai General Labor Union
Liu Shaoqi, Communist leader just below Li Lisan in the Shanghai General Labor Union
Liu Hua, Union activist executed for leading role in May 30 Movement
Liu Bolun, Stood in for Mao at a meeting of the Committee for Common People’s Education
Wang Xianzong, Hunanese Communist murdered by a local warlord for organizing peasants
Wang Jingwei, Head of Guomindang government in Guangzhou in late 1925 when Mao arrived from Hunan
Han Suyin, early biographer of Mao for a western audience
Liu Shaoqi, Leading Communist labor organizer in the 1920s, later targeted as a capitalist roader in the Cultural Revolution
Deng Xiaoping, Chinese leader targeted as a capitalist roader in the Cultural Revolution

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Gonzalo in the Middle Kingdom: What Abimael Guzmán Tells Us in His Three Discussions of His Two Trips to China Jul 09, 2020

A podcast version of a recently published article which discusses what the leader of Peru's Shining Path, Abimael Guzmán, has to say about the time he spent in Maoist China.
The article can be read on the podcast website.

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The May 30 Movement: The Chinese People’s Uprising Against the British and Japanese in 1925 Jul 02, 2020

Workers, students and merchants in Shanghai take on the British authorities of the International Settlement and Japanese mill owners after protesters are massacred.
Further Reading:
Steve Smith, A Road Is Made: Communism in Shanghai, 1920-1927
Some names from this episode:
Li Lisan, Communist leader of the Shanghai General Labor Union
Zhang Xueliang, son of Zhang Zuolin, occupied Shanghai’s Chinese city
Zhang Zuolin, northern warlord
Gregory Voitinsky, Comintern representative in China in 1925
Liu Shaoqi, Communist leader just below Li Lisan in the Shanghai General Labor Union
Liu Hua, Union activist executed for leading role in May 30 Movement

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Lenin’s Ideas on Revolutionary Situations and the Situation in the United States Today Jun 25, 2020

In response to a listener request, we consider the situation in the United States today in light of historical thinking on the question of revolutionary situations.
Further reading:
Lenin, The Collapse of the Second International (chapter two)
Lenin, Letters from Afar
Lenin, “Marxism and Insurrection”

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Back to the Labor Front!: The Japanese Mills Strike of 1925 Jun 18, 2020

The Communist Party tries to figure out how to put the workers in the lead of the nationalist revolution, and has some initial success.
Further Reading:
Steve Smith, A Road Is Made: Communism in Shanghai, 1920-1927
Some names from this episode:
Deng Zhongxia, Leading Communist labor organizer
Li Dazhao, Co-founder of the Communist Party, often credited as China’s first Marxist
Li Lisan, Leading Communist labor organizer
Chen Duxiu, Chen Duxiu, General secretary of the Communist Party
Gregory Voitinsky, Comintern representative in China in 1925
Yang Zhihua, Communist leader in women’s movement

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The Proletarian Nation vs. The Theory of the Productive Forces Jun 11, 2020

The thinking of Chinese Communism’s two founders, Li Dazhao and Chen Duxiu, diverges as revolutionary experience is gained.
Further Reading:
Maurice Meisner, Li Ta-Chao and the Origins of Chinese Marxism
Some names from this episode:
Li Dazhao, Co-founder of the Communist Party, often credited as China’s first Marxist
Chen Duxiu, Co-founder and first general secretary of the Communist Party
Zhang Guotao, Communist leader and opponent of ‘united front from within’ with Guomindang

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Friends Close, Enemies Closer: The United Front in Action Jun 04, 2020

As both the Guomindang and the Communist Party benefit from their collaboration, tensions build.
Further reading:
Tony Saich, The Origins of the First United Front in China
Steve Smith, A Road Is Made: Communism in Shanghai, 1920-1927
Alexander Pantsov, The Bolsheviks and the Chinese Revolution, 1919-1927
C. Martin Wilbur and Julie Lien-ying How, Missionaries of Revolution: Soviet Advisers and Nationalist China, 1920-1927
Arif Dirlik, “Mass Movements and the Left Kuomintang”
Some names from this episode:
Sun Zhongshan/Sun Yatsen, leader of the Guomindang
Mikhail Borodin, Comintern agent and head of Soviet mission to aid the Guomindang
Chen Jiongming, Southern warlord, ally and then enemy of Sun Yatsen
Chiang Kai-shek, Japan-trained military officer, close confidant of Sun Yatsen
Lev Karakhan, Soviet ambassador to China beginning in 1923
Gregory Chicherin, Soviet People’s Commissar for Foreign Affairs
Chen Duxiu, General Secretary of the Communist Party

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The Road Is Tortuous: The Chinese Revolution and the End of the Global Sixties May 28, 2020

A podcast version of a recently published article which argues that the rightward turn of Chinese politics in the 1970s was a key contributing factor in ending the revolutionary era of the long and global 1960s and ushering in the neoliberal age of reaction which followed.
The article can be read on the podcast website.

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The Loneliest United Front: The Chinese Communist Party in 1923 May 21, 2020

The Communist Party of China tries to find a way to implement the united front with the Guomindang in 1923, but ultimately has to wait for the Soviet-Guomindang alliance to mature.
Further reading:
Tony Saich, The Origins of the First United Front in China
Stuart Schram, ed., Mao’s Road to Power, vol. 2
Some names from this episode:
Sun Zhongshan/Sun Yatsen, leader of the Guomindang
Wang Jingwei, leader of Guomindang left-wing, later president of Japanese puppet state in China
Cao Kun, northern warlord who controlled Beijing
Li Yuanhong, president of China from 1922-1923
Zhang Guotao, communist leader and opponent of ‘united front from within’ with Guomindang
Henk Sneevliet, alias Maring, Dutch Communist and Comintern leader in China from 1921-1923
Chiang Kai-shek, Japan-trained military officer, close confidant of Sun Yatsen
Mikhail Borodin, Comintern agent and head of Soviet mission to aid the Guomindang

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Communist Unionizing and the Genesis of the United Front with the Guomindang May 14, 2020

The Communist Party begins its labor organizing drive, and the Comintern pushes for a united front with the Guomindang.
Further reading:
Elizabeth Perry, Shanghai on Strike
Tony Saich, The Origins of the First United Front in China
Steve Smith, A Road Is Made: Communism in Shanghai 1920-1927

Some names from this episode:
Henk Sneevliet, alias Maring, Dutch Communist and Comintern leader in China beginning in 1921
Zhang Guotao, emerged from founding congress as an important Communist leader
Sun Zhongshan/Sun Yatsen, leader of the Guomindang
Li Qihan, communist teacher and labor organizer who pioneered utilization of secret society contacts in labor organizing
Huang Ai, anarchist labor organizer executed in 1922
Pang Renquan, anarchist labor organizer executed in 1922
Chen Duxiu, first general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party
Gregory Voitinsky, leader of Comintern delegation to China in 1920
Chen Jiongming, progressive southern warlord, sometime opponent of Sun Yatsen
V. Lidin, Comintern agent in China, subordinate to Maring
Li Dazhao, leading Communist
Adolph Joffe, Soviet ambassador to China
Georgy Safarov, head of eastern section of the Comintern
Wu Peifu, northern warlord who crushed railroad workers’ strike in 1923

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Workers' Revolution or Nationalist United Front? Early Strategic Decisions of the Chinese Communist Party May 07, 2020

The early divergence in strategic thinking and revolutionary priorities between the CCP and the Comintern.

Further reading:
Tony Saich, The Origins of the First United Front in China

Some names from this episode:
Chen Gongbo, Founding Chinese Communist who studied at Columbia and later joined the Japanese puppet regime
Henk Sneevliet, alias Maring, Dutch Communist and Comintern leader in China beginning in 1921
Sun Zhongshan/Sun Yat-sen, leader of the Guomindang
Georgii Chicherin, People’s Commissar for Foreign Affairs of the Soviet Union
Lao Xiuchao, Chinese Bolshevik who attended the first Comintern Congress in 1919
Chen Duxiu, editor of New Youth and first general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party
Gregory Voitinsky, Leader of Comintern delegation to China in 1920
Zhang Guotao, emerged from founding congress as important Communist leader
Li Hanjun, advocated study and propaganda as main party activities as first congress
Liu Renjing, one of the Beijing delegates to the first party congress

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Demarcation and Organization: The Chinese Communist Party is Founded Apr 30, 2020

Polemics with non-revolutionary Marxists and anarchists, and then the party congress in July 1921.
Further reading:
Arif Dirlik, The Origins of Chinese Communism

Some names from this episode:
Chen Duxiu, editor of New Youth and leader of Shanghai Communist nucleus
Gregory Voitinsky, Leader of Comintern delegation to China in 1920
Karl Kautsky, Second International theorist of economic determinist Marxism
Li Dazhao, Beijing-based revolutionary Marxist leader
Zhang Dongsun, Exponent of a non-revolutionary interpretation of Marxism
Ou Shengbai, Guangzhou anarchist and former student of Chen Duxiu
Henk Sneevliet, alias Maring, Dutch Communist and Comintern leader in China beginning in 1921
Zhang Guotao, emerged from founding congress as important Communist leader
Li Hanjun, advocated study and propaganda as main party activities at first congress
Liu Renjing, one of the Beijing delegates to the first party congress

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From Russia with Organizational Expertise: The Comintern Comes to China Apr 23, 2020

Gregory Voitinsky comes to China and helps get the ball rolling to found the Communist Party. Also, a few words on commodity fetishism as the keystone of Marx's Capital and how this leads to Lenin's innovations in conceptualizing communist party formations.
Some names from this episode:
Gregory Voitinsky, Comintern organizer who arrived in China in March 1920
Li Dazhao and Chen Duxiu, two of the key figures in founding the Chinese Communist Party (their background is discussed in past episodes)

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The Communist International Mar 25, 2020

Explaining how the strategic thinking of the Communist International developed, as background to the key role the ComIntern played in facilitating the founding of the Chinese Communist Party.

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