| Other works on the Jiangxi period in Chinese Communist Party (CCP) history have studied intra-party factionalism and the ideological origins of later CCP policies. This study focuses instead upon the environment of the Jiangxi hill country where CCP bases developed, and upon the relationship between CCP leaders and local society. It finds that most Jiangxi CCP leaders were part of the hill country elite, that they retained strong ties to hill country society throughout their careers, and that the early stages of revolution in the province were affected as much by existing patterns of social interaction as by the dictates of modern revolutionary ideology. These findings suggest that the role of tradition must be included among the causes for CCP success, and that the role of local elites in Chinese society must be reassessed.; Jiangxi hill country society first emerged during the Ming-Qing transition period, when migrants called shed people developed attitudes and institutions there similar to those which characterized the region when the CCP began in the early twentieth century. Though most Jiangxi CCP leaders were hill country natives, their first large-scale political activity ocurred in the cities of the province. They first dominated the revolutionary movement which started in the 1920s, but were soon over-matched by growing right-wing opposition. In 1927 their urban-centered organizations were crushed, and CCP leaders retreated to the hill country. Between 1927 and 1931 CCP leaders developed base areas in northeastern Jiangxi, around Jinggangshan, and in central Jiangxi. In all of these areas CCP leaders used familiarity with hill country politics and society to build their strength as had earlier generations of strongmen, by allying with traditional powerholders and by exploiting social tensions which sometimes dated from the time of the shed people migrations. To this kernal of strength they then added more radical measures such as land reform and mass mobilization, creating in the process the unusual mixture of traditional political tactics and modern revolutionary strategy which paved the way for ultimate success. |
