Party Membership Recruitment

During the last stage of the civil war, party membership jumped from 1.3 million (in 1946) to almost 4.5 million by the time the CCP proudly declared the founding of the new state in 1949. Membership increased to 5.8 million, and 250,000 party branches were organized by 1951^[21] (see table 2).

The rapid expansion compromised the quality of new recruits.^[22] In addition, there was a need to spread party membership evenly in all localities because the heaviest concentration was in central-north China (hua bei )—almost one-third of all party members. The CCP decided in March 1951 to expel "bad elements" and educate party members with Communist ideology to achieve "purity and quality and to improve the combat capacity of the party."^[23] The qualifications of all party members were carefully checked against official guidelines, which specified the types of people to be expelled as well as eight requisites for party members that were more stringent than those of the 1945 party constitution.^[24] Consequently, 328,000—about 5 percent of party members—were expelled.^[25]

When the rural cooperativization drive started, party leaders decided to accelerate membership recruitment in rural areas to prepare for the forthcoming agricultural collectivization. Hunan province reportedly recruited 120,000 peasants—an astonishing 42 percent of all its party members—in 1956. Most peasants recruited during this period were activists of "unified purchase" or "backbone elements" of the agricultural cooperation movement, and

[21] Although rural members constituted the majority (3 million), the PLA ranked first in terms of the ratio between the total number of people employed and party members in a given sector (1.6 million party members were in the military). Seven hundred thousand party members were employed in state organs, whereas workers accounted for only 200,000 members. Wang Yifan and Chen Mingxian, Zhongguo Congchandang Lice Zhengdang Zhenfeng (Harbin: Heilongjiang Renmin Chubanshe, 1985), 123; Zhonggong Dangshi Cankao Ziliao (Renmin Chubanshe, 1974), 87.

[22] For the quality problems of party members, see Wang and Chen, Zhongguo Congchandang .

[23] Ibid., 87; Shenhui Kexue Cankao (Qinghai), 30 September 1984, 2–7. For the official resolution on party rectification, see Zhonggong Dangshi Cankao Ziliao , 121.

[24] For the types of persons to be expelled and the requirements of members, see Zhonggong Gongchang Lice Zhongyao Huiyi Ji (Shanghai: Shanghai Renmin Chubanshe, 1983), 2:13–15.

[25] Zhibu Shenghuo (Beijing), no. 1, 1984, 19.

almost all of them—95 percent in some cases—were classified as poor peasants at the time of the land reform.^[26] After joining the party, new members led collectivization movements and then assumed leadership roles in the newly established cooperatives.^[27]

The party had also expanded rapidly in urban areas, particularly in industrialized areas where few members existed before 1949, in preparation for the socialist transformation of industry. For instance, in the Anshan Iron and Steel Company, only 2,800 people joined the party between 1950 and 1953; but the party admitted 72,000 workers (90 percent of whom were youths) in 1953–54 alone.^[28] The city of Zhengzhou reported that the number of party members among construction workers increased fourteenfold in one year. As was the case in rural collectivization, new party members led the peaceful transformation of industry and eventually landed cadre positions in enterprises. "Model workers, advanced workers, and pioneers in technology" were also accepted in order to effectively promote technical innovation.

The party also admitted a fair number of intellectuals immediately after 1949 when their cooperation was indispensable, particularly in propaganda, education, culture, and the arts.^[29] The introduction of the first five-year-plan further accentuated the need for the cooperation of intellectuals. Therefore, the regime adopted a lenient policy of "unifying, educating, and transforming intellectuals." The CCP granted the class status of "staff" to those who worked in big organizations and "laborer" to self-employed professionals (e.g., reporters, artists, and athletes) on the grounds that they earned their income by selling their labor.^[30] Even "those who are receiving high salaries, such as engineers, professors, and specialists, are also classified as staff."^[31] Only a small number of intellectuals were classified as "reactionary" or "national bourgeoisie." Consequently, some intellectuals managed to join the party and to become cadres after undergoing ideological reform.^[32]

[26] Daily Report , 28 February 1956, AAA25.

[27] Ibid., 6 July 1956, AAA14; 16 December 1954, AAA22.

[28] Ibid., 2 July 1954, AAA6.

[29] For the occupational distribution of about 2 million intellectuals, see Zhongqing Shehui Kexue , March 1985, 42–48.

[30] Renda Fuyin , February 1985, 53.

[31] Ibid.

[32] For a survey showing intellectuals' attitudes toward the CCP, see Zhongqing Shehui Kexue , March 1985, 42–48.

However, the CCP gradually tightened its control over intellectuals. Many of them became the target of mass struggle in such political campaigns as the Three Antis, the Five Antis, the suppression of counterrevolutionaries, opposing America and aiding Korea. The CCP's continuing emphasis on class background, the imposition of official ideology, and the nationalization of educational institutions were bound to clash with the intellectuals' propensity to be critical and independent. The campaign against Hu Feng, a prominent literary figure, for his alleged counterrevolutionary views served as a chilling warning, particularly to intellectuals in creative fields.

As the morale of intellectuals gradually deteriorated, Zhou Enlai found it necessary to improve their political position in 1956. Declaring that 80 percent of intellectuals supported the CCP and that they constituted a "formidable force in the socialist construction program," he urged the party to improve their living and working conditions as well as their political status.^[33] Endorsing Zhou's suggestion, An Ziwen, director of the organizational department, instructed lower-level party committees "first to accept famous specialists and authorities, and then investigate their qualifications," while criticizing lower-level party leaders' reluctance to admit intellectuals as an expression of fear on the part of those members without any education.^[34] Consequently, the proportion of intellectuals to the total number of party members increased from about 12 percent in 1956 to about 15 percent in 1957 (see table 8). In Hunan the total number of intellectuals admitted to the party during the first five months of 1956 amounted to 1 percent of total party membership, and 21 percent of the 1956 new recruits in Beijing were intellectuals.^[35]

Between 1953 and 1956, the number of party members took another quantum leap. By the time of the Eighth Party Congress in 1956, membership had grown to 10 million, almost two party members for every 100 Chinese, an increase of nearly 1,000 percent from

[33] Current Background , no. 376, 7 February 1956, 7.

[34] Keyan Pipan , nos. 4–5, 1968, in Hungweibing Ziliao Xianbian (Washington, D.C.: Center for Chinese Research Materials, 1980), vol. 2, 0587; see also Guangdong Shengwei Zuzhibu, ed., Zai Zhishifenzizhong Fazhan Dangyuan (Guangdongsheng Renmin Chubanshe, 1956).

[35] Daily Report , 10 April 1956, AAA36; Survey of China Mainland Press , no. 1325, 10 July 1956, 19.

1945. Compared with this national trend, the increase of members in the areas liberated during the last stage of the civil war was even more dramatic.^[36] Most of the new recruits were young people.

We have no comprehensive demographic information that shows the composition of party members recruited in the first surge of recruitment after the founding of the People's Republic of China. Data from Zhejiang province may adumbrate the national trend (see table 9).

The composition of those recruited in Zhejiang between 1949 and 1957 approximates the pattern of composition of the entire party as reported at the Eighth Party Congress (see table 8). The percentages of workers and peasants are very close to the national figures. Table 9 indicates that 11.3 percent of the newly recruited were government employees. Although we do not have any information on the total number of cadres in the province, 27,000 must have constituted a large portion of all government employees at that time.

In sum, party membership increased substantially after the founding of the People's Republic of China. From 1949 to 1957, the number of cadres almost tripled—from 2.9 million to 8.1 million (see table 32). By 1956, about 63 percent of those who belonged to

[36] From the date of its liberation to 1956, Qinghai recruited 41,609 party members (2.1 percent of its total membership), 5,944 new members per year on average. Shehui Kexue Cankao , 30 September 1984, 2–7.

the party had been recruited after liberation. Most of them were recruited during mass movements, which exclusively relied on political criteria (including class background). Their revolutionary potential was impressive; most of them came from classes that had little reason to protect the old society, and they proved their loyalty to the party by demonstrating activism in various campaigns. But a basic weakness was a low level of education and a lack of specialized knowledge—the basic requirements for leading a nation toward industrialization and rapid economic development. However, those party members without cadre positions expected their political virtue to be rewarded with such positions.