138 Episoden
The Localist Opposition within the Communist Party in Jiangxi (January to February 1930)
21.10.2026 | 23 Min.Mao moves to eliminate opposition to land reform among Jiangxi Communists.
Further reading and listening:
Stuart Schram, ed., Mao’s Road to Power, vol. 3: From the Jinggangshan to the Establishment of the Jiangxi Soviets, July 1927-December 1930
Pang Xianzhi and Jin Chongji, Mao Zedong: A Biography, vol. 1: 1893-1949
Mao Zedong nianpu, 1893-1937 (毛泽东年谱)
Li Qingzhao, “Like a Dream”
Philip Huang, et al., Chinese Communists and Rural Society, 1927-1934
Joseph Fewsmith, Forging Leninism in China: Mao and the Remaking of the Chinese Communist Party, 1927–1934
Stephen Averill, “The Origins of the Futian Incident”
Stephen Averill, “Party, Society, and Local Elite in the Jiangxi Communist Movement”
Michael Dutton, Policing Chinese Politics
Textum Dergi special issue on China
Some names from this episode:
Li Qingzhao, Song Dynasty poet (1084-1155)
Guo Huaruo, Communist military theoretician
Xiao Ke, Red Army commander
Peng Pai, Communist peasant organizer
Chen Duxiu, Communist leader during the period of the first united front with the Guomindang
Mikhail Borodin, Comintern agent and political head of Soviet mission to aid the Guomindang
Peng Dehuai, commander of the 5th Red Army
Huang Gonglüe, commander of the 6th Red Army
Zeng Shan, party secretary of Yanfu district, close ally of Mao
Episode artwork:
The room where the February 7 Meeting was held
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Support the showUrban Revolution in Beijing during the Great Leap Forward: An Interview with leading China scholar Fabio Lanza
07.08.2026 | 1 Std. 24 Min.This interview with Dr. Fabio Lanza of the University of Arizona touches on topics related to his new book, Urban Revolution: People’s Communes in Beijing. Topics include the transformation of cities under socialism, women’s liberation, the political economy of socialist society, the Great Leap Forward, and the role of barbers and hairdressers under socialism.
Further reading:
Fabio Lanza, Urban Revolution: People’s Communes in Beijing
Fabio Lanza, The End of Concern: Maoist China, Activism, and Asian Studies
Joel Andreas, Disenfranchised: The Rise and Fall of Industrial Citizenship in China
Mariarosa Dalla Costa, “Women and the Subversion of the Community”
Sigrid Schmalzer, “China's Great Leap Famine: Malthus, Marx, Mao, and Material Scarcity”
Sigrid Schmalzer, Red Revolution, Green Revolution: Scientific Farming in Socialist China
Gail Hershatter, The Gender of Memory: Rural Women and China's Collective Past
Jeremy Brown, City Versus Countryside in Mao's China. Negotiating the Divide
Kimberly Ens Manning, “Making a Great Leap Forward? The Politics of Women’s Liberation in Maoist China”
H-PRC Website (Besides articles and reviews by anglophone scholars, H-PRC also has a section (Revisiting the Revolution) with translations of essays by Chinese scholars on the history of the People’s Republic of China.)
Episode artwork: The cover of Fabio Lanza's new book, Urban Revolution
Subscribe on Substack: peopleshistoryofideas.substack.com
Support the showWinning Over Enemy Troops: Mao’s Leninist Approach to Fomenting Mutiny in the Guomindang (January 1930)
04.04.2026 | 29 Min.When the enemy advances, Mao and Zhu retreat from Fujian into Jiangxi province, drawing the Guomindang’s joint suppression force deep in after them, only to later circle back around and defeat it. In this episode we discuss how Mao conducted propaganda directed at enemy troops in order to win them over to join the Red Army.
Further reading:
Stuart Schram, ed., Mao’s Road to Power, vol. 3: From the Jinggangshan to the Establishment of the Jiangxi Soviets, July 1927-December 1930
Pang Xianzhi and Jin Chongji, Mao Zedong: A Biography, vol. 1: 1893-1949
Bixin Huang, “A Movement Without Vitality: Communist Revolution in Fujian, 1924-1934”
Mao Zedong nianpu, 1893-1937 (毛泽东年谱)
Agnes Smedley, The Great Road: The Life and Times of Chu Teh [Zhu De]
Some names from this episode:
Lin Biao, commander of the first column of the Fourth Red Army
Jin Handing, commander of the joint-suppression force launched against the western Fujian base area
Lo Pinghui, Yunnanese colonel who switched from the Guomindang to the Communists
Episode artwork: photo of Jin Handing
Subscribe on Substack: peopleshistoryofideas.substack.com
Support the show- We conclude our close reading of Mao’s January 5, 1930 letter to Lin Biao. In this episode, Mao discusses his method for understanding the possibilities for revolution in China, as well as the particular tactics to be employed by the Red Army. He also conducts a minor self-criticism.
Further reading:
Stuart Schram, ed., Mao’s Road to Power, vol. 3: From the Jinggangshan to the Establishment of the Jiangxi Soviets, July 1927-December 1930
Pang Xianzhi and Jin Chongji, Mao Zedong: A Biography, vol. 1: 1893-1949
Mao Zedong, “A Single Spark Can Start a Prairie Fire”
Some names from this episode:
Lin Biao, commander of the first column of the Fourth Red Army
Lu Diping, general who ruled Hunan from 1928–29 and Jiangxi from 1929-31
Episode artwork:
Envelope from a different letter that Mao wrote to Lin Biao
Subscribe on Substack: peopleshistoryofideas.substack.com
Support the show - We begin our close reading of Mao’s January 5, 1930 letter to Lin Biao.
Further reading:
Stuart Schram, ed., Mao’s Road to Power, vol. 3: From the Jinggangshan to the Establishment of the Jiangxi Soviets, July 1927-December 1930
Pang Xianzhi and Jin Chongji, Mao Zedong: A Biography, vol. 1: 1893-1949
David Apter and Tony Saich, Revolutionary Discourse in Mao’s Republic
Mao Zedong, “A Single Spark Can Start a Prairie Fire”
Some names from this episode:
Lin Biao, commander of the first column of the Fourth Red Army
Li Lisan, leading Communist
He Long, leader of a soviet in the Hunan-Hubei border region
Li Wenlin, leader of Donggu base area
Fang Zhimin, leader of Northeastern Jiangxi soviet
Episode artwork:
Picture of a prairie fire (in Illinois)
Subscribe on Substack: peopleshistoryofideas.substack.com
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In this podcast, Matthew Rothwell, author of Transpacific Revolutionaries: The Chinese Revolution in Latin America, explores the global history of ideas related to rebellion and revolution. The main focus of this podcast for the near future will be on the history of the Chinese Revolution, going all the way back to its roots in the initial Chinese reactions to British imperialism during the Opium War of 1839-1842, and then following the development of the revolution and many of the ideas that were products of the revolution through to their transnational diffusion in the late 20th century.
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