People's History of Ideas Podcast

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
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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
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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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This interview with Dr. Aminda Smith of Michigan State University touches on topics including why good PRC history is left history; thought reform, reeducation through labor, and brainwashing; the veracity of the propaganda produced for a global audience during the Mao years; and the Maoist legacy in China today.
Further reading and watching:
Aminda Smith, Thought Reform and China’s Dangerous Classes
Aminda Smith, “The Maoism of PRC History”
Aminda Smith, “Brainwashing and World Revolution”
Aminda Smith, “The Legacies of 'Brainwashing': Cold War Ideology and Modern Chinese History” (the content of this talk is similar to the paywalled book chapter on brainwashing)
Stephen Andors, China’s Industrial Revolution
Positions Politics website
H-PRC website
Brian DeMare, Land Wars: The Story of China's Agrarian Revolution
Richard Wolin, The Wind From the East: French Intellectuals, the Cultural Revolution, and the Legacy of the 1960s
Philosophy is no Mystery
Mao Zedong, “On Contradiction”
Jonathan Spence, The Search for Modern China
Zheng Yangwen, Ten Lessons in Modern Chinese History
Maurice Meisner, Mao's China and After
Jonathan Spence, The Gate of Heavenly Peace: The Chinese and Their Revolution
Rebecca Karl, Mao Zedong and China in the Twentieth-Century World: A Concise History
Yueran Zhang, “Leninists in a Chinese Factory: Reflections on the Jasic Labour Organising Strategy”
“Seeing through Muddied Waters, Part 1: Jasic, Strikes & Unions”
“New Alliance of Students-Workers in Struggle of Union Formation: The Case of Jasic Conflict”
“Longing for the Cultural Revolution in China Today”
Rae Yang, Spider Eaters: A Memoir
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The story of how the co-founder and first General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party became a Trotskyist.
Further reading:
Gregor Benton, China’s Urban Revolutionaries: Explorations in the History of Chinese Trotskyism, 1921-1952
Gregor Benton, Prophets Unarmed: Chinese Trotskyists in Revolution, War, Jail, and the Return from Limbo
Lee Feigon, Chen Duxiu: Founder of the Chinese Communist Party
Chang Kuo-t’ao [Zhang Guotao], The Rise of the Chinese Communist Party (2 volumes)
Tony Saich, The Rise to Power of the Chinese Communist Party
Jane Price, Cadres, Commanders, and Commissars: The Training of the Chinese Communist Leadership, 1920-1945
Some names from this episode:
Chen Duxiu, co-founder of the Communist Party of China
Li Dazhao, co-founder of the Communist Party of China
Zheng Chaolin, Chinese Trotskyist
Li Lisan, leading Communist
Yin Kuan, resigned as Provincial Secretary in Anhui
Peng Shuzhi, resigned as Provincial Secretary in Zhili
Wang Zekai, Chinese Trotskyist
Liu Bojian, former Provincial Secretary in Hubei
Ren Xu, Chinese Trotskyist
Xiang Ying, Jiangsu Provincial Secretary following the 6th Party Congress
Cai Zhende, member of Jiangsu Provincial Committee
Zhou Enlai, head of the Organization Department of the Central Committee
Wang Ruofei, sent to work in a factory in Moscow as punishment for Trotskyism before recanting
Qu Qiubai, top leader of Communist Party from the summer of 1927 until the Sixth Congress
Zhang Guotao, leading Communist 
Episode artwork:
Chen Duxiu with Peng Shuzi in 1932
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