People's History of Ideas Podcast

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

Show notes

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

Show notes

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

Show notes

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

Show notes

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

Show notes

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

Show notes

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

Show notes

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

Show notes

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

Show notes

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

Show notes

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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