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: 1893-1949Stuart Schram, ed., Mao’s Road to Power, vol. 3: From the Jinggangshan to the Establishment of the Jiangxi Soviets, July 1927-December 1930E. H. Carr, Foundations of a Planned Economy, vol. 3Tony Saich, The ..read more

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: 1893-1949Stuart Schram, ed., Mao’s Road to Power, vol. 3: From the Jinggangshan to the Establishment of the Jiangxi Soviets, July 1927-December 1930Stephen Averill, Revolution in the Highlands: China’s Jinggangshan Base AreaPeng Dehuai, Memoirs of a ..read more

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 1930Yao Wenyuan, “On the Social Basis of the Lin Piao ..read more

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: 1893-1949Agnes 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 ..read more

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: 1893-1949Agnes Smedley, The Great Road: The Life and Times of Chu Teh [Zhu De]Joseph Fewsmith, Forging Leninism in China: Mao and ..read more

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 1930Pang Xianzhi and Jin Chongji, Mao Zedong: A ..read more

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_Chinahttps://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:Stu ..read more

Answering a listener question on the Great Leap Forward famine. Further reading:Mobo Gao, The Battle for China’s PastUnited Nations, “Losing 25,000 to Hunger Every Day”Minhaz Merchant, “Churchill’s Bengal Famine”Karl Marx, CapitalMike Davis, Late Victorian HolocaustsFrederick Engels, The Condition of the Working Class in England Listen now: Transcript: Welcome to episode 107 of the People’s History of Ideas Podcast. Last episode we ..read more

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 PartyChang 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 ..read more

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 PartyChang 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, 1894-1933Qu Qiubai, “The Past and Future of the Chinese ..read more