THE CHINESE COMMUNIST 'PEOPLE'S COMMUNES'

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP78-02771R000300120016-6
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 6
• Document Creation Date: December 12, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 10, 1998
• Sequence Number: 16
• Publication Date: October 30, 1958
• Content Type: PERRPT

Approved For Release 2001/147RDP78-02771R000300120016-6
TME*CIIINSSIr COMMUNIST "PEOPLE' 3 ,COilliU11381,'
.of the most far-reach-
, ,
ing social reorganizations of-
?.0 modern times is under way in
Communist China, where new .
? social and economic organiza-
tionscalled "people's communes?
are being established. Rural ;
communeavare formed by merging '
' the older collective farms into
larger units, a move in viola-
tion of last fall's central
committee resolution which pro-
vided that the size of collec-
tives should be limited and
then fixed for ten years. The.
prototype commune, called the
?Sputnik," was formed last
April, but it was not until ,
July and August that Peiping
. began to give intensive pub-
licity to the subject. '
The leadership's motives,
, for pushing the drive almost
- certainly include ilicOnomin ones '
--to increase .production and
limit consumption:4-as well as
political and sociological ones,
to enhance . party control and
foster a "new way of life."
Peiping argues that the commune
is better suited to meet pres-
ent demands for more manpower
and investment capital and for
the communalization'of daily
living. '
The politburo resolution
.in late August advised against
"undue haste" in forming com-
munes but, only a month later,
over 90 percent of the nation's.,.
farm households had reportedly,!1'
been enrolled. Some 750,000
collectives are said to haveT,,,,,4,
been merged into 23,384 com
ininellr-Wittftiping observes',
that the spied and scope of :the'
movement has exceeded that ,of "'"!t'
the "high tideft'of.. nooPerstiTine'0.1
mtion 112 late 1955.
,
?
Description
The commune controls not '
only nitric, ultlarfp but industrial,
w -
;
commercialo'culturalp'and mil-
itary affairs as well. Although
the People's D17 has noted a
-"tendency" to link communes into
'"federations" within ,county
boundaries or to embrace en-
tire counties, the present com-
mune is in general equal in
size to a township, and as such
is much larger than the collec-
tives it replaces. The struc-
ture of the township government
and the commune administration
is identical - -they have the
same chief, the same party sec-
retary, and the same people's
congress, and the people's
.council of the township is the
administrative committee of the
commune.
? 7
Under this committee are
the various commissions--plan-.
ning, - technology, and supervi-
sion are usually included--and
? departments--covering such
f le l:ds as agriculture, commerce,
finance, education, and 11111-
tary affairs--which actually
run the commune. Under these
in turn are the various ?produc-
tion teams for industry and
agriculture, which in many
cases are the old collectives
under anew name. ,
Early communes:began-by
_paying Viembers,am a swage-plus-
4.1rward" system. This was a
striking innovation, replacing
the twice-yearly payments in
kind to copective members cal-
culated on the basis of work-
days valued as, a portion of col-
lective income? The commune ;
Approve 111 t
PART III " PATTERNS AND PERSPECTIVES'. -
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CURRENT INTELLF,]
30
member gets a straight monthly
wage in cash. Wage earners in
the commune are classified for
pay purposes into a number of
categories based on physical
power, technique, intensity of
work, and "work attitude."
Bonuses are distributed - -usual-
ly to only 40-60 percent of the
members-on the basis of such
criteria as "progressive think-
ing, work enthusiasm, obedience
love of public property, and
struggle against evil persons "
Those lacking these traits get
no share in some 20-25 percent
of the commune's wages.
r`
More recently, the trend
has been toward the "gradual"
adoption of a "wage-plue-suppl,"
system, under which members
are provided, in addition to n
wage, "free" staples like rice
or wheatb Chairman Mao has
encouraged the spread of this
system, suggesting that it neer
not stop at basic foodstuffs.
but might be broadened to in-
clude other necessities such as
clothing. Some communes have
gone so far as to Include lux-
uries in the supply system,
probably on the grounds that
the leadership can easily sup-
press "inappropriate desires."
Peiping has indicated that the
supply aspects of the system
*rebased on the Marxist pria-
ciple "to each according to his
needs." '
Under either'systes, the
commune member will Perhaps
recognise ens hangover from
the paet.?401* SAW that the in-
teresteACtit04600 come first.
Po10440411$4110tAide the fact
that it expectslatter mobilise.
tioa Of ,raral, capital through
the commiseive,i'vTheir else will
permit the accumulation of
larger capital 110/01 in cue
place: ,Zano.fiukANIC production
10 incrionsid And Miossinaption re.
duce404Abill' rate 1114,40414Pital for.
Nation 011 be,-4400Ammed; Acme
,early ceamusea.bark reported
marked snocus 'isthis. respect.
The Spatial* ,estimates
that,30'ptit. taco
PAR it
1,traLY SUMMARY
'Its yeir will be channeled
nt) it; public fund. This
os *res with a national &ver-
ge of around. 20.33 percent.
Plnance and Trade
In the communes, rural
upaly 4,nd marketing coopera-
twig become departments which.
ndor tut leadership of state
omuercial departments, buy
nd soli for the commune and
et up 3ranch sales--and pre-
uuttly purchasing--centers
br)ughout the commune. Old
rent..00perietives become crel,
l.pa=?Itments. Under the pro-
ional leadership of the
tate bAnk, they acoopt depositL
roo members, regulate the
1.0 capital of the commesba
t Ind thane to production teasiai
n mohalf of the statirbeek,
nd settle thetteeek'S000telte wit.L
tz r COMAGUAOS?
-
Th l authorities' in Pei-
lac ham not yet come to grips
itl all the financial problems
!Its rural reorganisation will
rilg. The first notable pub-
ic commentary on thin aspect
:he COMMODAIS was is a "lett44;
rag the finance sinister to
he theoretical journal Red Pla!,,
a 10 ted that the communiiinelT1-
041,1taLy bring a decrease la
,5msoditv exchange, and that
no present tax structure, Whi:fT.
C4421 !wavily on revenues ex-
ati ilrom.thim'exchangs, is
0 Langer "suitable." He of-
er)d no solution 10 :his lotto:,
amAvor, ft., Sputnik :Commune
b ay4 It hae31111114.0111641,. the re.
PO4aibill* 4.111r aa "over-
& 11 tax" including
& ad trade:- industry.
'assumed
lamas on
)seJoaalbilt leering
&srivulturar to, the
&
ti ;s in tb
reguik-
Th.
sr' her the
ar
&La. 10
'V 11.1P
Mande
U$ of
diroman.
16 : CIA-RDp7
avvitelin.aawr pipes
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CURRENT INTEL
Labor will be organised alon4
military lines and will tackle
its tasks as an "army fights #
battle." With its centralisen
control of the township's labor
force, the commune can plan
larger projects than were pos-
sible under the old system stau
marshal the labor force nec-
essary to carry them out. It
will be possible to shift labii
more freely between agricultuyd
and industry.
"New Way of Life"
The social changes the
munes bring to Chinese villagm
life will, in the long run,
probably far outweigh the eco
uomic. Plainly, the leaders
in Peiping intend to create
what Red rag baa called a ftno
way or-ii e"-through the or-
ganisation of communal mess
halls, housing, nurseries,
schools, and other "amenities '
Communal mess halls have
so far received more stress
than other aspects of the new
life. Peiping has pointed out
that not only do they help re-
strict "excess" consumption--
one moss hall entirely
nedmd "excess" consumption thrA
days after it opened--but al
they free the housewife to wo,
in field or factory. By spee h
lug up the eating process, th
permit the workers to spend
more time on the job; one com-
mune reported that each vireo)
put in three extra hours a day
in the fields after its mess
hall opened. Finally, pont-
Joel cadres and activists have
noted the advantage of having
the whole production teat as-
sembled in one place to receiv
"instructions and explanations
Party Secretary General
Tong lisiao-ping has publicly
stated the regime's intention
eventually to .relocate all
housing. "Residential areas AA
rural regions," he said, "will
come to look like beautiful
cities." The regime has al-
ready begun what may be a slow
4.st.L" SURMARY
s
.cesti of tearing down old
ass And using the materiaw
bui?d large, barracks-lika
illings which will be home
the communalised Chinese
,san;. This aspect, togethei
Lb tato cOmMUUti mess halls,
LI b-tng him ? highly celluisr
.steace. Re will be inex-
,nably tied to his particula!
)duction unit, and will wort
lap, eat, study, and relax
hLts co-oworxers. There
I, no place to hide.
f-14 regime has suggested
Intl tae breakup of the tradi-
nal Chinese family is a
prkmary objective of the cos-
retaal system, which seems well
tgned to achieve this. Vall,4s
being paid directly to the
irlividual wage earner rather
tcsn to the head of the house-
kc 14. Husband and wife may be
sepemated by wort assignments
it distane parts of the comstun,).
Idr4,11 are 14 GOUSUAlla nure-
lies or schools, and the re-
els has strongly indicated it;6
taference that these shoula
4 run as full-time boarding
Istallations.
At one school operated la
ttis manner, it is said that
Ile children "no longer think
i.iout their homes." Even when
a featly is reunited, it
IL ecet likely be at ? cafl-
it nal meal, in a communal bur-
1 4 ciao or at a communal mee%.
ag, This destruction of the
d patriarchal Chinese famly
i: IL not come easy for the Como-
waists, especially in South
Cline. where the family and the
fsmily goods are especially
w' 11 entrenched, and Peiping
*trait* that the family probably
w 11 exist for a, "long time."
measures such as these
s.em assigned also to facilitate
me total regimentation of :01
ct taste behind the regime's
liograms and their complete stub
m onion to its authority. There
w 11 be a further extension of
A; alseady pervasive :polit-
x, al control. An liportaut
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CURRENT INTELLIGEME IFEEICLY SMART
30 Octotcr 95
instrumentality of this will
be the commune's militia, only
a small and rigidly select part
of which will be armed. It
will serve as the state's in-
ternal security police in rural
areas.
An ancillary effect will
possibly be a drop in the rate
of population growth, which
last year reached 2.5 percent.
The brake which these social
factors put on population growth
will be in addition to what-
ever can be achieved through
birth control techniques such
as contraception, abortion,
and sterilization.
Diseersion
The Chinese Communists
have frequently Suggested that
in the event of a-Wholesale
nuclear war the country with
the greatest and most widespread
population will stand the best
chance for survival as a nation-
al unit. Both Mao Tse-tung and
Chu Te have spoken of the need
to have "relatively complete
industrial systems" providing
diversified goods in various
parts of the country. The com-
mune will emerge as an almost
self-contained unit with its
own administration, agriculture,
industry, education, and mili-
tary system. These units might
well reduce the vulnerability
of the local control structure
and permit it to continue even
when cut off from central au-
thority.
mctod that large plants like
the 'Cuban Iron and Steel Works
should gradually turn themselves
into integrated enterprises
which turn out a variety of in-
dustrial goods and embrace agri-
culture, exchange, culture, and
military affairs.
Tmagibiao-ping, while on
a recent tour in the northeast,
listened to reports on experi-
mental work being done there on
urban communes. Applauding the
tea, he encouraged the city
o euping--about 140,000--to
go ahead with the organization
of such a city-wide commune.
More recently the People's
DAily, commenting that the ()Id
174E111 life in Cities, factories,
and mining districts is "in-
compatible" with current needs,
approved the "growing pressure"
for the establahment of urban
communes. It called attention
to the "readjustment" of work-
ers' housing at a coal mining
site in Shansi, where the hous-
ing has been reallocated on the
biisis of production teams and
their accompanying party and
administrative superstructure.
tidespread adoption of this
step, the daily argued, will
'ArAstically improve" the re-
3ations between the leaders and
the masses, free workers' de-
pendents of "burdensome" house-
vorx, rid the teams of "unde-
sirable characters," and lead
to rapid production increases.
Such a step, the daily con-
cluded, must be taken "sooner
k
Urban Communes
Recent statements by top
-leaders make it plain that
cities and industrial regions
are expected to follow the ex-
ample of their, rural cousins.
Some monthscago,, the press cited
instances of the formation of
urban collectives to release
women from the "burden" of
housework for 'work in mills and
factories. Communal kitchens
and nurseries-followed. Then,
in September, _Chairman Mao di-
.4
or, later."
Will Communes Work?
SOme4von*Communist observ-
ers have reported that Chinese
peasants are cheerfully" ac-
cepting communal life--not an
entirely ITIDALIWOUtt *DVS 3.0piNnt
at this early stags in the pro-
gram. Conditioned to submitting
to the will of the state by a
harsh series .of "counterrevolu-
tionary" campaigns during the
tiret years of the regime, the
Malec, Whil further prepared
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PART III PATTERNS AND PERSPECTIVES
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CURRENT INTELLIGEME wEEKLY.SUMMARY
30 October iv58
for communalization by the re-
cently concluded "rectification''
campaign of 195748. However,
there have been hints in the
Communist press that the program
has met with some resistance.
Obviously A number of very
pressing problems will follow
from this far-reaching social
reorganization. Some have al-
ready begun to crop up, includ-
ing a problem which has plagued
--but not prevented--earlier
reforms introduced by Peiping.
This is the perennial problem
of the comparatively well-to-do
peasant.
Like the collective system
before it, the commune in effect
penalizes the more efficient
producers by taking all but a
bare minimum away from him. In
the case of communes, the prob-
lem is magnified since now it
is entire villages or coopera-
tives which have to sustain the
less efficient omen. It is
questionable how long Peiping
can go on penalising its better
farmers without destroying their
incentive to excel.
The system certainly con-
centrates tremendous power over
details of daily life in the
hands of'a few. 'Cases of re-
sentment have already arisen in
the assignment of work grades
and wages. Tb e loss of pri-
vate plots, orchards, livestock,
fowl, and other holdings, as
well as of house and home will
of course not'pleaso everyone.
The degrading:4)f 'the peasant
from the status*: part-owner
t? hired hand wAll not be pop-
ular, ' for will'Ahe introduction
of an almost monastic way of
live, with hard 'work, ' little
food, strict military discipline
and only two dayl off oimonth.
On the other hand, most
peasants may be willing to sc.
cept communal living for the
time being. Accustomed as they
are to very little, they may
welcome the security of guar-
anteed food, shelter, and cloth.
ng, as well as provisions for
medical care, education, and
entertainment. It is probably
the breakup of the family eye-
'tem that will become the crucial
,...ssue for the Communists.
Economically, it is doubt-
u1 that the mere reorganization
will of itself have any great
effect on agricultural output.
ft will bring greater intensity
of labor, but the regime has
:ertainly heavily exploited
this aspect in the past. Bene-
fits will accrue from the bet-
ter maneuverability of labor
In the communes and the larger
lapital funds made possible by
the size of the commune. Some
assistance can be expected in
the furthering of advanced farm-
ing techniques, but large-scale
farming will mtill have to wait
for Chinese industry to produce
the needed sachinery.
Small-scale industry, which
the communes Will in many
cases be takingover, As expected
to add significantly to nation-
al output-..more so in quantity
than in quality.-but this is
the fruit of another program.
The full'burden of the com-
munal status will probably be
felt only after some years. The
communes constitute Mao Tee-
tung's greatest gamble, and
there seems at leftist a possibil-
ity that this time he has asked
more of the human material than
it can stand, and that there
will eventually be an explobion.
International Oilnificance
Pipt*gla,41nising that
communes wig, provide China
with a good4"00W0* organization
to speed up"sOcialist construc-
tion and the transition to Com-
munism. Such statements seem
to imply that,Peiping, while
still engaged is "building so-
cialism Is already taking
steps along the 'road to C,omana-
*ism and is thus approaching
the statue of the Soviet Union.
In general, pfipleig gives the
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PATTERNS AND PERSPECTIVES
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CURRENT IN TELL WEEKLY MOUSY
30 October 1958
impression that the advance to
Communism is a long-range goal,
stating, for instsnco, in the
authoritative Red L1.11g that it
is not spproparfirliEr"strain"
to advance from.0ocialism to
its higher phase.: At times,
? though, 'Peiping has sought to?
give the impression that; the
"transition to ?nism" is
much nearer.
Tbe Chinese Communists are
presenting No Tie-tung's con-
cept of the commune as A area-
tive development of Marx and
Engels, citing specifically the
last two points.of the Commu-
nist ManifestO: "combine agri-
culture and indusiry and facili-
tate the gradual elimination of
distinction between town and
country"; and "Combine educa-
tion and matorlal'production."
In outlining' a specific say of
life under COmmunism, the:Chi.
nese alth0 basing it on se-
cepted dogma, have advanced be-
yond Soviet theoreticians. The
apparent Soviet coolness to the
idea is reflected in Moscow's
lack of nt
'Aside 'from doctrinal con-
sideration*,Moil,ve MT also
be concernetcwer the effect of
the Chinese communes on the Su-
ropelan-satellitesc'.,The Yugo-
slays have7Charactorised com-
munes as a,combination of Stalin-
isa and feudalism and have em-
phasized Priplag's presentation
of them earth. basic organiza-
tional forwrotocoating Communist
society tin?Chlna.,:Aastern :
European ,4Comftonists..have re-
portedly:'beW taken aback -
by .pelpines 'insertions that
this iev:vbst life under
Communise will : be like.
(00117IDINTIAL), Prepared Joint-
17 with 9112)