In the first years of the 20th Century， Guangdong was at the centre of the Chinese peasant movement： Secretary Peng Pai of the Communist Party Central Agricultural Committee gives his life for the Party cause； 1930s Guangzhou enjoys a "Golden Age" of economic takeoff； Nationalist general Chen Jitang allows the Red Army to break out of the Nationalist encirclement campaign； Yuan Geng's "East River Column Communications Points" becomes the US Army's most important intelligence-gathering network in Southeast China； a child grows up during the country's darkest years； the War of Liberation forged the framework on which New China was established； Hong Kong becomes a financial centre for the liberated area； a newly-appointed young offcial excitedly raises a homemade national flag on the 1st of October； a Hongkonger sails his boat through a storm to bring the new People's Republic the resources it desperately needs . . .
1
1943， Lufeng County， Guangzhou Province. In the mountains， dark comes early. Li Chun， a widow from Duimen Village opposite Hekou Town， raises a hand to shade her eyes as she looks out at the mountain ranges and sees that the sun has already sunk behind a distant peak， only a few lonely rays left shooting out from behind. In the dark room， her son Axiang has already prepared his books and is awaiting the light. The widow places a torch in a bracket on the wall， thus Axiang opens his book. Axiang is his infant name；his child name is Muxiang and his personal name is Guoxiang， a scholarly-sounding name chosen by his teacher.
The child of a normal family would use an oil lamp to study in the evenings； Muxiang's family is poorer than most. Only those in such poverty could think up such a lighting solution： chop-ping bamboo on the mountain， slicing the bamboo into smaller sticks， pressing and hammering them before dipping them into the cesspit， pulling them out， drying them in the sun and moulding them into slow-burning torches， each one lasting roughly half an hour. Axiang studies every night until three torches are used up.
When Axiang was very young， his teacher and fellow-villagers all agreed he was a born student， which of course pleased his mother no end. The Hakka families living in this lowly mountain area had a tradition that moved people's hearts： however poor and destitute they may be， every effort had to be made to ensure a child could study. If there were too many children， the eldest would go and work in the fields to ensure that the youngest could learn. Li Chun， through extraordinary tenacity， somehow managed to raise four children， placing her last hopes for a better life on the shoul-ders of her youngest son， Muxiang.
Natural disasters in 1943 led to man-made disaster. The famine that year was one of the worst in Guangdong's history； many elders still remember it with dread. Li Chun， for many years a widow， through unflappable determination to survive had supported her four children， but this time she had no choice but to sell her young daughter. As she was being taken away she called out："Mummy don't sell me， I don't care if I starve， I just want to be at home！"But Li Chun hardened her heart， and sold her. Selling a daughter would only bring in a few pecks of grain，[1] but it was this grain that saved Muxiang's family.
After the nightmare of the famine， the widow Li Chun had even stricter control over her family. She arranged for her two eldest sons to get jobs as porters， carrying rice to the sea and bringing salt back， a roundtrip of sixty kilometres that they had to make in two days， earning three catties of rice[2] per trip. This was a pittance， one from which the shrewd mother made sure to take a cut in order to support the family and her third son's education.
More surprising was that Li Chun suddenly borrowed three piculs[3] of rice， swapped them for a calf， raised it until it reached maturity and bore a calf， then gave it back to her creditor to repay the debt. Suddenly Muxiang's impoverished tenant farmer family owned its own draught ox！ As Li Chun saw it， "people eat the rice from under a cow's feet." Living on someone else's land， you need to have credit. Owning an ox was the credit they needed.
Every day before it was light， she'd wake her children up and send them to work， saying "By rising early you can get as much work done in three days as you otherwise would in four！" Her second son went down to the field at an early age to drive the ox. He couldn't reach the handle on the plow and would have to walk it using both hands； before he was old enough to go to school， Axiang would often go and take care of the cow.
Muxiang's family rented out two mu[4] of a field to farm (the field was owned by a local landowning clan). In good years they could get eight or nine dan of rice；[5] half was rent for that year， the rest was their food for the next. In bad years they might only get 30%of that. So， throughout the year they ate sweet potato. In good years they'd still eat rice only on the Spring Festival， and only eat meat on the eve of the next； on those days Li Chun would go all out to make a delicious meal. These were the only "extravagances"this poor family had all year； she would spare no effort.
Through her redoubtable efforts， Li Chun was imperceptibly influencing the next generation. For example， if relatives came to call， the presents that they brought could never be eaten in front of guests； only when they had gone could they be eaten. If a guest was staying， even if they were all eating the same gruel of sweet potato and rice it was forbidden for the children to take the nicest bits. The nicest bits were for the guest. She taught her children that being poor was nothing to worry about， but that it was vital to never let others know how poor you were or take things that belonged to other people. At Li Chun's instruction， every festival day Muxiang would go to take part in the worship of ancestors and spirits. Other families would sacrifice livestock； Li Chun had to rack her brains to come up with something that could be sacri-ficed. Every other family would offer fresh chicken and pork， but Muxiang's family was not like the others； once the meat and pork had been offered to the ancestors， they would wash the offerings and offer them to the spirits of the earth and of Lord Guan. This way， they could appear to be making new offerings each time.
Li Chun would explain it to her children："The spirits need to be respected， but not trusted. If the spirits really ate the offerings， how much pork and chicken would be left？ And who would keep offering to them？ Everyone's just keeping up appearances with these offerings， showing good intentions. The whole village goes to make offerings on these days； if we don't go people will not only know we're poor， they'll know we're poorer than them and look down on us." For all that， Li Chun believed in fortune-tellers， but whenever one said something she didn't like， she'd say "He knows that if he's wrong， no-one will remember." Fundamentally， she was an optimist. Perhaps it was in her genes. By 2008， she was still going strong， despite having many times had to eat leaves and roots just to stay alive， Guangdong's oldest person at 112 years old. Yet the son she'd loved so much， the Muxiang who'd made her and all her family so proud， had passed away back in 1999. Rela-tives and friends say that a few days later， the century-old banyan tree outside the village shrine fell over with a loud crack on a day with neither wind nor rain， like a person dying without anyone knowing he was ill.
2
Axiang's home county was also the home county of the revo-lutionary Peng Pai. It had also been at the centre of the violence of China's 1920s peasant movements. Peng Pai， one of its sons， was the child of a rich family who came over to the revolution， a classic case of a bright young firebrand becoming a leader of the worker-peasant alliance. As early as 1923， a succession of natural disasters in the area had been causing crop failures， and Peng Pai， converted to socialism in Japan， on his return to China resolved to promote Marxism and bring about a worker-peasant revolution. He set up peasants' collectives in Haifeng and Lufeng Counties， which rapidly expanded into the Guangdong Provincial society from which the large-scale Haifeng-Lufeng Peasant Movement was launched.
The history of the Chinese Communist Party emphasises Mao Zedong's role in organising peasant collectives and launching peasant movements at the time. In fact， the first such organisations were founded in Guangdong Province， led by Peng Pai who was formally inducted into the Communist Party only in 1924； Mao Zedong's role was in their expansion. Axiang's home was the cradle of the revolution. It was also， at the beginning of the 20th century， part of the territory of the mercurial warlord Chen Jiongming， commander of the Kwangtung Army.
After Sun Yat-Sen was declared the Republic's "President Extraordinaire" in Guangzhou， Chen Jiongming， originally from Haifeng County， betrayed him on the 16th of June 1922， ordering troops to surround and fire on his residence. Later， surrounded by revolutionaries， he was forced to retreat from Guangzhou and entrench himself around the East River. Peng Pai's Haifeng-Lufeng Peasant Movement， partly from the same county as Chen， became Chen's sworn enemy. Faced with the crises of resource shortages and bitter class struggle in eastern Guangdong， Peng Pai was forced to lead the lower classes in resistance， and seek land reform through violence.
Living conditions in Haifeng and Lufeng grew worse by the day， and not only for the Hakka people living in the mountainous and foothill regions. It also led to conflict in the overpopulated plains areas. The people living there spoke a dialect known as Laohua， and so Peng Pai made sure to employ agitators gifted in its use. He led the peasant co-operatives he had founded to pressure landlords for lower rents； coming from a large landowning family， he was all too aware of the sufferings of tenant farmers. He was a gifted， eloquent， literate man， unafraid to sacrifice everything for the cause.
Wearing a straw hat and rough workclothes， he travelled from field to field， earning the peasants' trust until they looked on him as a brother. In their own idiom he explained the unreasonableness of the landlords' exploitation， drumming up support for rent activism. According to his own recollections， at first maybe four or five people would speak to him in a day， but numbers soon swelled to the point where every day， several tens would come to see him. The child of landlords leading the sans-culottes in their protest against high rents - he was crazy！ Worse than crazy， unfilial！ As he himself later put it："With a few exceptions， my whole family despised me. My elder brother would have killed me willingly and gladly."
In their fear of this "wild child"， the family divided its land amongst its sons. Peng Pai brought all the peasants on his land to his house and before their very eyes burnt every last deed on the property， announcing to them "from now on you will eat every-thing you grow； there is no rent to pay." News soon spread of the landlord who burnt indenture documents and didn't charge rents. It wasn't long before a crowd of peasants was following Peng Pai wherever he went. When the Guangdong Agricultural Committee was founded， Peng Pai spoke with vigour and emotion， wowing the peasants who had come to attend. Suddenly， he switched dialects and addressed the crowd directly："Friends！ How can justice be brought to the world？"
The audience was shocked. For a moment you could have heard a pin drop. Then a man stood up and shouted："When you're the emperor， there'll be justice！"
The crowd erupted. "Yes！ Peng Pai for emperor！ Long live Peng Pai！"
"No！ I am no emperor； from now on there will never be another emperor. Where there is an emperor， there are local strongmen and tyrants， and there can be no justice. All emperors must be deposed！ My friends， if you want fields to plow and rice to eat， don't rely on emperors， don't trust in gods， claim your land as your own！ Tat is what justice means！" Making vivid use of the local dialect， Peng Pai introduced the long-suffering peasants to Communist ideology with ideas taken from the lyrics of the Internationale， written originally in French by Eugène Pottier and put to music in 1888 by another Frenchman， Pierre de Geyter. According to the report published by the Guangdong Provincial Peasants' Society in April 1926， the Haifeng-Lufeng Peasant Movement had 259，417 members， 41.1% of the total membership of the province. Before April 1927， the leaders of the Communist Party's Haifeng-Lufeng Prefectural Committee had over 400 rifles and the formal recogni-tion of the Guangdong Provincial Government within those two counties， in addition to a peasant army 4，000 strong， ready to take up arms at a moment's notice.
In the February of 1925 and May of the year after， in order to consolidate the revolutionary base in Guangdong， the Guangzhou Revolutionary Government launched eastern campaigns against Chen Jiongming， who was sheltering the landlords of Haifeng and Lufeng Counties. Aside from removing a military threat to Guang-zhou， the campaigns also aimed to put an end to his suppression of the peasant movement in his domain. The campaigns aimed to remove Chen Jiongming who was threatening the Guangzhou Revolutionary Government， and once that succeeded， to make sure that he and the armed landlords would not be able to stage a comeback. The fight between the peasant army and the landlords turned into a to-and-fro contest， the county government regularly swapping from one side to the other.
The Cantonese have an old saying："The Thunder God above， Haifeng and Lufeng below." It refers to the valiance and unflap-pability of the people from these counties. The privations of mere existence had blurred the boundaries of class， making class struggle a convoluted affair. Not only were peasants struggling against landlords： peasants were struggling against peasants， clans against clans， central authorities against grassroots commanders， and the left and right wings within the authorities were at odds， to say nothing of the conflicts at the highest levels between the Communist and Nationalist parties， between entire regions and their neighbours， between landlords and landlords. This was true for the peasant movement， itself an autonomous entity， and for the landlord army， opposed to the interference of any external politics (be they of a Kuomintang or Communist stripe).
Peng Pai would later say， as Zhou Enlai's Eastern Expeditionary Force entered Haifeng， "As soon as I came to Haifeng， the peas-ants were asking me to help them reduce their rents， to get rid of the exorbitant taxes they were paying， and to arm them. Of the three， they saw being armed as the most important." Soon after， Haifeng-Lufeng Extraordinary Communist Party Branch's repre-sentative arrived in Lufeng to set up a peasant army and act as its commander. And so， the Chinese Communist Party began to lead the peasants of Haifeng and Lufeng in a struggle of a higher order - an armed uprising， with the aim of earning self-govern-ment.
On the 15th of April 1927， the Guangdong Kuomintang authorities carried out a massacre of Communists. The CCP's Haifeng-Lufeng Prefectural Committee resolved to stage an armed uprising against the right wing of the Kuomintang. On the evening of the 30th， the order to commence the uprising was given， and early in the morning of the 1st of May， Haifeng and Lufeng Coun-ties rose up， taking power out of the hands of the Kuomintang. When it was light， representatives from the two counties held a celebration of their own May 1st uprising， declaring a temporary county government under the authorities of the Communist Party， with representatives from the left wing of the Kuomintang. This was the CCP's first ever act of armed secession.
After the Nanchang Uprising on the 1st of August， the (Commu-nist) rebel army headed south as per the Central Committee's plan， aiming to use Haifeng and Lufeng as a base of operations. Another objective was agreed upon on the advice of Soviet advi-sors： to capture Shantou in order to have their own port， the better to receive the military materiel prepared by the Soviet Union for transport to China. During August 1927， the Nanchang Army arrived in Guangdong. Towards the end of the month， the Guangdong Communist Party Provincial Committee published a summary of its 7th of August meeting， at which it was decided to launch an expedition from Haifeng and Lufeng Counties to receive the Nanchang Army. The red régime of Haifeng and Lufeng became the Armed Insurrection Committee， staging its second armed uprising on the 7th of September. From the 8th to the 15th， they again attacked the county seats of Lufeng and Haifeng， and then the port of Shanwei.
Unlike the more mobile Nanchang Army， the peasant army immediately set up temporary worker-peasant revolutionary governments in the county seats they recaptured， and local peasant society would take over later. The revolutionary government was fully in control. On the 24th of September， the southern detach-ment of the Nanchang Army took Shantou， but was surrounded on all sides by hostile forces and eventually defeated. Later， the remnants of the Nanchang Army in unison with the peasant army held out until the 1930s to protect the red régime of workers and peasants， holding out to the last man.
The Haifeng-Lufeng Committee， which by this time had retreated into the mountains， used the peasant army to shield the central committee's retreat， bringing the rebel army together in the Liusha District. On the 7th of October， He Long， Peng Pai， Lin Boqu， Liu Bocheng， Yun Daiying， Wu Yuzhang， Li Lisan and Tan Pingshan reached Jiazi in Lufeng County， whilst Zhou Enlai， Ye Ting and Nie Rongzhen reached Jinxiang， also in Lufeng. One by one， under the protection of the local Party and peasant army， they fled to Hong Kong.
Nowadays， it's hard to imagine the feelings of the Haifeng-Lufeng local government's leaders. Even though the Nanchang Uprising had been defeated， the secessionist base in east Guang-dong was still going strong. The revolutionaries in Haifeng and Lufeng were like a group of children watching their mothers leave them， left alone in the mountains to fend for themselves against wolves and worse. Only one word could encapsulate their state of mind： desolate. At the time， China was in the grip of a White Terror that reached as far as the revolutionary base， by that time reduced to just the original two counties.
At the Provincial Committee's ratification， the CCP East River Extraordinary Committee was established， with Peng Pai as its secretary. Through it， a meeting of representatives from the workers， peasants and military was convened， formally setting up a worker-peasant-led régime. In November， the worker， peasant and military representatives from Lufeng and Haifeng convened their own， county-level meetings， announcing the establishment of a Soviet that encompassed both counties (the Lufeng-Haifeng Soviet). The Lufeng-Haifeng Soviet systematically instituted a planned economy， exceeding expectations of what a liberated zone could accomplish. The Soviet-style government instituted a series of economic policies， unifying finances， setting up the Haifeng-Lufeng Workers' Bank and a worker-peasant co-opera-tive， and protecting the flow of commerce and merchant vessels' rights to free trade in co-operation with merchants. It even estab-lished "foreign affairs" policies and an importation treaty with Hong Kong， and in order to safeguard the red government's power launched campaigns into the exterior. All this was possible because it was established in line with local Cantonese characteristics.
Amidst Haifeng-Lufeng's revolutionary fire， the CCP staged the Guangzhou Uprising. Under the leadership of Party members Zhang Tailei， Ye Ting， Zhou Wenyong and Ye Jianying was set up the CCP's first urban government along the lines of the Paris Commune， on account of which the uprising has also been known as the "Guangzhou Commune Uprising". Out in Haifeng-Lufeng Soviet， Peng Pai was chosen to be on the People's Land Committee.
This short-lived local government was quickly put down. The remnants of the forces involved in the Guangzhou Uprising reached Haifeng-Lufeng Soviet under the command of Ye Yong， Xu Xiangqian and others. The East Guangdong Extraordinary Committee， at the behest of the Provincial Committee， took advantage of the war between Guangdong Province's two biggest warlords to stage the East Guangdong rebellion， Peng Pai's detach-ment pushing east into Huilai County and Puning City， another detachment driving north into Zijin and Wuhua Counties. Irreg-ulars from Haifeng-Lufeng Soviet formed the auxiliary troops. During the East Guangdong Rebellion， the red secessionist area was expanded by Haifeng-Lufeng Soviet into neighbouring Huilai， Huiyang， Zijin， Puning， Wuhua and Chaoyang Counties， with local Soviets being established in Zijin， Huiyang and Wuhua Counties.
The Haifeng-Lufeng government was not like the Jinggangshan revolutionary base： Jinggangshan was an armed revolutionary base fighting for its very existence， cut off from the world by its remote-ness， out of the Kuomintang government's reach， a military base first and a polity second. The Haifeng-Lufeng Soviet， however， was founded by a mass peasant movement that completely changed local society and set a fire in the people's hearts， leading them to take up arms in defence of what the revolution had brought to them. In this respect it was a more prototypical worker-peasant revolutionary government： first building (a new economic system， new distribution system and new democratic system)， then fighting to defend what was built. Not only was it China's first worker-peasant democratic régime， it was the site of China's first agrarian revolution， an exploration into the construction of revolutionary bases which provided solid foundations for the Party's later efforts.
Xu Xiangqian， later a founding marshal of New China， once fought under Peng Pai's command， recalling him thus："Not a tall man， dressed in a peasant's clothes， wearing sandals made of straw. Wherever he went， he'd talk with the people， make friends . . . if there was chicken shit on his rice bowl he wouldn't care； he'd eat with them all the same. He had a remarkable knack for getting on well with the peasants， I really envied him this. He had his failings too： he could be unobjective， irritable， occasionally a little too left. This was related to the fact that our revolution was inexperienced at the start."
Peng Pai was always in the vanguard， at the forefront of any fighting. His wife， Xu Yuqing， abandoned their young child to fight alongside him and lost her life in battle. But， behind the name of "Red Terror" that was given， despite some of the Haifeng-Lufeng Soviet policies going too far， when faced with the cruel massa-cres of the White Army， the peasant troops took an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth， and killed on a massive scale. Reprisals against White areas occasionally took place as well. Surrounded by hostile forces， with its back to the sea， the Soviet had no room for manoeuvre and risked obliteration. The smell of blood was on the breeze-the people of Haifeng-Lufeng Soviet kept up the armed struggle for seven years， despite losing over 30，000 of their own in massacres and persecutions！
On the 24th of August 1929， Peng Pai， Secretary of the CCP Central Agricultural Committee was informed on by Bai Xin， a former assistant to Haifeng-Lufeng's Fourth Army commander， captured in Shanghai and executed without trial on the 30th. In his last moments， his loyalty and ardour for the cause remained undimmed. Facing torture with serenity， he calmly gave his brush free rein on the walls of his cell-not poetry， not Communist slogans， but a painting of a dragon， almost lifelike， soaring towards the heavens. When he'd finished， he turned to fellow inmate， Central Military Committee chairman Yang Yin， and smiled："My infant name was Tianquan (Heavenly Spring)， so the local strongmen called me Tianshe (Heavenly Serpent). A snake is just a dragon by another name， and this dragon needs to return to Heaven. From tomorrow I'll be up above the clouds， bringing clouds and rain to the people； I could have done a lot worse. What about you？ How do you feel？" Yang replied："Having heard such fine words， I don't mind dying tomorrow！ Anyway， if nothing else we've used our lives to bring Communism to Guangdong."