Mao’s policies appealed to the peasant class because from WW1 to the end of WW2, the Chinese people were subjected to severe economic oppression by an ex-imperial class, a nascent nationalist government and usurious warlords. Mao was able to channel a relatable narrative that focused around giving the peasants land and access to education in exchange for their loyalty and participation in the revolution that he lead. Mao’s narrative outlined numerous classes which all imposed their autocratic authority on the peasant class. In his Observations, He described this group as, “The patriarchal-feudal class of local tyrants, evil gentry and lawless landlords [which] has formed the
basis of autocratic government for thousands of years and is the cornerstone of imperialism, warlordism and corrupt officialdom. To overthrow these feudal forces is the real objective of the national revolution.” (Tse-tung para. 9). This quote is important because it clearly delineates classes of people that were at odds with each other through the revolution.
The ideology that Mao presented incorporated both nationalist and communist aspects and was very agreeable to the peasantry which was already rejecting Confucianism as a result of being exposed to other religions. Recognizing this ideological struggle, in speaking to the peasants Mao made the point on the gods that, “… if you had only Lord Kuan and the Goddess of Mercy and no peasant association, could you have overthrown the local tyrants and evil gentry? … You have worshiped them for centuries, and they have not overthrown a single one of the local tyrants or evil gentry for you!” (Tse-tung para. 43). His point here was that he was justifying the actions of the peasants in rejecting their past adherence to religious beliefs, and by extension their traditional culture. Further ideological reformations included convincing the peasants that the landlord class didn’t follow the Three Peoples Principles and this in part justified the redistribution of the land of absentee landlords to the people.
This process moved the power over the land from those classes to the peasant associations. Per Wm. Theodore de Bary in Sources of Chinese Tradition, the Three Peoples Principles were, “nationalism, democracy, and the people’s livelihood.” (de Bary Pages 358-397). These values formed the ideological core of Mao’s revolutionary peasant class whose livelihood was perceived to be at risk.
The Chinese peasants were faced with exorbitant taxation that lead many of them to assume usurious loans. It was often the case that they couldn’t pay the loans back and the peasants would then lose their properties. Mao indicated that the peasant associations reduced this burden on the peasants when he wrote, “the exorbitant levies imposed on the peasants when the local tyrants and evil gentry dominated rural administration, e.g., the surcharge on each mou of land, have been abolished or at least
reduced.” (Tse-tung para. 69). Further, the rejection of filial piety, new marriage laws, restructuring the family unit, changes in property ownership, and the erosion of patrilineal tendencies were all pursuits already being taken on by the peasantry – to Mao’s surprise which he recounted in his Observations.
Mao’s focus on individuals rather than classes showed that he believed that class reform was a natural consequence of thought reform. This was because he seemed to believe that individual circumstances would lead to an unavoidable association with a lower, middle and end of any societal structuring. Mao’s promises of individual peasants having access to land, food, education and more offered them hope in the midst of their being pillaged by warlords that the Nationalist government (Guomindang) could no longer maintain authority over. By molding individual values to a collectivist approach (through the peasant associations), all centered around the Three Peoples Principles, peasants came to exhort authoritative power of their own as a class. This was fundamental to Mao’s narrative which hinged on developing a national identity to base the CCP on. The peasants and CCP used this authoritative power to remove abusive landlords from power through various reforms. In a memo to President Truman, Edwin Locke summarized that these reforms, “include redistribution of land to eliminate absentee ownership; drastic lowering of farm rents; abolition of usury; abolition of tax extortion and official corruption; better wages, treatment, living conditions, and education for workers and peasants and their families.” (Locke Para. 7). These reforms were incredibly popular with the peasants and secured their support for Mao.
Once the countryside had been made to operate independently of Mao’s direct support, the CCP moved on to removing the Guomindang from leading China and installed a communist system of government. Here, Mao’s success was also largely due to the Guomindang no longer having the financial means to support itself after having lost much territory (and taxes) to the CCP. Additionally, as Dr. Grasso writes in Modernization and Revolution in China, “The Nationalists’ insistence on sacrificing all economic, social, and political reform to mount a military campaign that would eliminate the Communists as a political force was a price too high for China’s nascent bourgeoisie to pay.” (Grasso Page 91). Due to the resulting financial shortfalls, the Guomindang had no further ability to continue financing itself which lead to them fleeing to Taiwan. This error in selecting a correct approach, along with others discussed, resulted in the CCP winning the Chinese civil war.
In conclusion, the transition to socialized agriculture instead of landowners, the formation of cooperatives (communes & soviets), and the economic collectivization all lead to creating a new communist national identity in China. The blending in of communist ideological perspectives that focused on thought reform and land redistribution cast Mao’s approach as a different flavor of communism. Mao’s strategy of rewarding the country folk with the land from absentee landlords and many others lead to them not being dependent on the more distributed form of government that relied on the peasantry and its wishes. The costs of keeping the countryside safe were paid for collectively by the local peasant associations. Financial issues were major factors in the outcome of the Chinese civil war.
Works Cited
de Bary, Wm. Theodore, et al. Sources of Chinese Tradition : From 1600 Through the Twentieth Century, Columbia University Press, 2001. ProQuest Ebook Central,
https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/bu/detail.action?docID=908711. Accessed 23Sep2025.
Grasso, June M., et al. Modernization and Revolution in China. 6th ed., Routledge, 2024.
Locke, Edwin A. “Memorandum by Mr. Edwin A. Locke, Jr., Personal Representative of President Truman in Charge of the American Production Mission in China, to President Truman.” U.S. Department of State, U.S. Department of State, 20 Aug. 1945,
https://www.history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1945v07/d307#fn:1.5.4.12.14.10.3. Accessed 23Sep2025.
Tse-tung, Mao. “REPORT ON AN INVESTIGATION OF THE PEASANT MOVEMENT IN
HUNAN.” Marxists.Org, Mar. 1927, www.marxists.org/reference/archive/mao/selected-works/volume-1/mswv1_2.htm. Accessed 23Sep2025.