Xingguo Land Law

In April 1929, Mao Zedong drafted the “Xingguo Land Law” based on extensive investigation and research in , South Jiangxi, Xingguo and other places. The land law was revised based on the “Jinggang Mountains Land Law” in accordance with the spirit of the Sixth National Congress of the CPC and the conditions of the land revolution in Xingguo and other places. The full text of the “Xingguo Land Law” consists of eight articles.

Clear and specific provisions were made on the scope of land confiscation, the quantity and regional criteria for the distribution of land, the method of mountain and forest distribution, the collection of land taxes, and the distribution of land to rural craft workers, Red Army soldiers and government workers. Compared with the “Jinggang Mountains Land Law”, the “Xingguo Land Law” has corrected a principle in the object of land confiscation. The phrase "confiscate all land to the Soviet government" was changed to "confiscate all public land and landowners' land to the government under the Xingguo Workers', Peasants' and Soldiers' Soviet, and distribute it to peasants who had no land or little land to cultivate and use.”

The "confiscation of all land" resulted in the confiscation of land from the landowning class while offending the interests of the rich peasants and even the middle peasants and the poor peasants with small plots of land. Thus, it weakened the class power of the agrarian revolution, blurred the class consciousness of the peasants against the landowners. The peasants thought that the purpose of the agrarian revolution was not only to oppose the landlords but also to oppose themselves. This idea was out of touch with the economic situation and the reality of the democratic revolution in China at that time and was not conducive to mobilizing the peasant class for revolution and production, thus hindering the development of revolutionary practice. The latter two methods of distribution were also abolished in the “Xingguo Land Law”, namely "distribution to peasants for joint cultivation" and "cultivation by model farms organized by the Soviet government".

On February 3, 1929, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China issued Central Circular No. 28 on the strategy of the peasant movement. The Circular pointed out, in accordance with the spirit of the Sixth National Congress of the CPC, that the line of the peasant movement was to win over the masses of peasants and that the land struggle was to confiscate the land of the landlord class instead of confiscating all land. It also analyzed the reasons for this.

The “Xingguo Land Law” also had shortcomings, such as the stipulation of confiscated land would be publicly owned by the Soviet government, and peasants would only have the right to use it, and that trade was prohibited. This was not suitable for China's national conditions and the level of development of social productivity at that time and was contrary to the Chinese peasants' deep-rooted concept of private ownership of land by small producers, which to a certain extent affected the peasants' motivation.