The Society Changes Of Wuxiang Countryside During Sino-Japanese War Time

During the year 1937 to 1945, the Communist Party of China (CPC) successfully united the widespread social class in national opposition to Japan, social economy and political reform. Especially they applied the policy on land, tax revenue into the reform on countryside social class, the political power, and the economics, so that they solved the problem of political oppression and economical disintegration before the war. During the difficult time formed a lot of Anti-Japanese base areas with harmonious political stand, unified thinking, developed economy, and stable society behind the enemy lines. More importantly, the social structure was already completely different from that of the semifeudal and semicolonial society before the war. The changing of land ownership and the status of countryside society caused the political change. The readjustment and reassignment of economical wealth lead to social transforms. The so-called New Democratic Society by the Chinese Communist Party, dated from those base areas, is radically different from the areas ruled by the Kuomintang (KMT). This difference has caused the political division and the military conflict between the KMT and the CPC;and then the socialist China came into being.During the time of the Anti-Japanese War, all the revolutionary factors manifest its complex changes in the development of the Taihangbase. Although the revolutionaries have basic faith and the guiding principle to social and political transformation, they found the revolutionary path finally through windings and lessons because the understanding and practice are always developing and deepening. Before 1940, Wuxiang County, one of the experiment counties in base areas, is under Yan Xishan's united front pattern, but the superiority of the poor social stratum does not set up genuinely, because the requirement carried on the radical transformation is still extremely intense, which had the very profound impact on the old countryside pattern at the surface. The revolution only means that the revolutionary eliminates the rich man's wealth, which has little to do with so many poor farmers. Under such situation, the political power in the base areas obtained the unification after 1940, but the farmer's political interest has not certainly started. Barriers between the government and the folk truly exist. Only after the mass movement in 1942, did the communist party remove the barriers that influenced the countryside production and the society to meet the general farmers realistic needs on interest through the rent and interest reduction. Thus, as a result thorough transformation of the rural economic basis, the farmers thoroughly got rid of the attachment to and the fear of the landlords and developed into a class-for-itself. Through the grand production campaign after 1943, these new social forces cooperated with each other, which enable Wuxiang County experience a big change. Notonly the social class power balance was more advantageous to the poor social stratum, people's life habits, thoughts, customs, and so on also changed. "Everybody works and creates anew society" is becoming farmers' social slogan.The eight years' Anti-Japanese War in Wuxiang is not only eight years' military struggle, it is also eight years' political reform and social struggles. From the perspective of the social class, although the landlord is very few before the war, it actually is the main ruler. However, it became gradually weakened during the Anti-Japanese War, and the mid-and the lower poor peasant unceasingly rises. Finally formed a quite reasonable middle-classed peasants society in the countryside society. In the political power structure, more and more poor farmer, especially those with a middle-classed family background, became the backbone of the new political power. But because of the emphasis and the pursuit of the policy of the three classes of political powers, the rich person's political power is also guaranteed to certain degree. As for the economic development, because of the initial period of public wealth depriving, the bases entered the extremely difficult historical period during1940------1943. After 1943, a group of heroes like Li Mabao emerged bysteping up the cultivation on people's capacity and the improvement of people's life, by adopting realistic economic policies to enrich the peasants, and by developing Wu Manyou movement. These heroesbecome the new social model characters.The political transformation and the economic development naturally cause the social life changes to some degree. Through eight years' social reform, Wuxiang already changed from the past fell-off, superstitious, and feudal old countryside into a revolutionary new democratic countryside. Compared with other counties at the same period, in Wuxiang, the feudalistic superstition was under the attack. Women's social position was improved. Marriage freedom was enhanced to a great extent. People cared about the current events, which offered them more opportunities to have a close relationship with the outside world. Even the traditional holidays and customs have soaked the new times influence.... These have all presented an embryonic form of a new democratic countryside from one side.