Chapter 29 Absent from the 2nd Congress of the Chinese Communist Party 1922

Journalist: “Did you attend the 2nd Congress of the Party?”

Mao: “The 2nd Congress of the Chinese Communist Party was held in Shanghai in July 1922, and I did not attend. My good friend Cai Hesen represented the French branch and attended, while Xiang Jingyu also attended as a guest.

Since the 1st Congress in 1921, as a leader of the Party in Hunan, one of my main tasks was to recruit party members. However, I did not go around tirelessly seeking followers. I simply told people I knew well to join. I first recruited my friend Yi Lirong, the manager of the Cultural Book Society. Shortly after my return from the 1st Congress, I called Yi out from the society and had a conversation with him by the bamboo fence, asking him to join the party. Yi had doubts and said to me, ‘The Soviet Revolution resulted in the death of 30 million people. Out of 100 people, 70 were left and 30 were killed. I don’t have the determination to join the party.’ But Yi eventually joined, and his attitude was, ‘If Runzhi wants me to join, then I’ll join.’ This is how the Changsha branch of the Communist Party was established, with myself, Yi Lirong, and He Shuheng, a total of three people.

Then, I recruited family members. My younger brother Zemin, who was working as a steward in our ancestral home in Shaoshan, I brought him out and put him in charge of managing the money. I felt he was reliable. I also brought out other relatives from my hometown and arranged jobs for them, and some of them also joined the party. Yi Lirong said that the Hunan Party was ‘led solely by Mr. Mao, who commands us to do whatever needs to be done, and we rarely hold meetings.’ And that is indeed the case.”

Journalist: “Oh, so the so-called Party is solely managed by you.”

Mao: “That’s the reality. Besides relatives and friends, I did not recruit many party members myself. Among those who joined the Communist Party in Hunan at that time, including Liu Shaoqi and Ren Bishi, none of them were introduced by me. They were introduced by another Communist Party member, He Minfan, who was active in Changsha. He introduced them to join the Socialist Youth League, and they later transferred to the Communist Party. He had previously served as the governor of Changsha and was an elder figure. At that time, he was already in his fifties and had considerable prestige. He did not attend the 1st Congress of the Party because I was familiar with He Shuheng, who served as the Party’s liaison in Changsha. Liu Shaoqi later went to Moscow, and it was He who introduced him.”

Journalist: “So, this He Minfan is older than you?”

Mao: “Yes. Another major task of mine was to organize trade unions, but I didn’t do much in that regard. I didn’t have any particular affinity for the workers. In December 1921, the coal miners at the An Yuan coal mine, located at the border of Hunan and Jiangxi, wrote a letter to the Communist Party, asking for help. That’s when I went to the mine. It was my first time getting close to workers. I stayed there for only a few days and then left, letting others handle the specific work. I was at a loss when it came to organizing workers and couldn’t come up with any ideas. In Changsha, there were two effective labor organizers, Huang Ai and Pang Renquan. At the end of 1920, they established an independent labor union in Hunan. Within two months, 3,000 out of 7,000 workers in Changsha had joined. However, in January 1922, when they led a major strike, Huang Ai and Pang Renquan were arrested and immediately beheaded. Their deaths caused a nationwide uproar.”

Journalist: “Oh, it seems you lack experience in organizing workers, and your achievements were not significant.”

Mao: “That’s true. As the leader of the Communist Party in Hunan and with financial support from the Russians, I had to continue actively carrying out work. In April 1922, I went to a lead-zinc mine, and in May, I went to the Anyuan coal mine. I started leading strikes and demonstrations. On October 24th, Kaihui gave birth to our first son, Anying. I wasn’t by her side; I was negotiating with the government on behalf of the Mud and Wood Workers Union.

The Hunan Party Committee was also established in May. At that time, the Hunan Party had more than 30 members, most of whom were not recruited by me. Liu Shaoqi often held meetings at my home, and during the meetings, I would assign work and give instructions. At that time, there was still a democratic atmosphere within the party in Shanghai. However, even in the early stages of party building, I had already implemented personal autocracy.”

Journalist: “So you already had more than 30 party members; you became their leader.”

Mao: “Yes, that’s correct. At the 2nd Congress held in July 1922, there were 123 party members nationwide, and 9 official delegates attended, including Chen Duxiu, Li Dazhao, Zhang Guotao, Cai Hesen (representing the branch in France), Gao Shangde (representing Beijing), Bao Huiseng (representing Wuhan), as well as representatives from Shanghai and Guangzhou. Zhang Tailei and Xiang Jingyu attended as observers. At the end of the meeting, Li Dazhao requested to step down from his propaganda work as he focused on writing and teaching. Cai Hesen replaced him in propaganda, Zhang Guotao continued to lead the organization, and Chen Duxiu remained as the General Secretary. The three of them formed the Central Committee. The 2nd Congress approved the party’s membership in the Communist International and even agreed to cooperate with the Kuomintang.”

Journalist: “How did you develop party members?”

Mao: “I recruited all my close and distant relatives to join the party to increase our numbers. Most of them later died, and only one survived. I didn’t care whether they were in danger, I only focused on developing a larger quantity of members and reporting more achievements to receive more support.”

Journalist: “Why didn’t you attend the ‘2nd Congress?’”

Mao: “The party didn’t provide me with travel expenses for the ‘2nd Congress.’ How could I afford to attend the meeting without money? If I didn’t have the money, I wouldn’t go.”

“In August 1922, three weeks after the ‘2nd Congress,’ a two-day special central conference was held in West Lake, Hangzhou. Participants included Chen Duxiu, Li Dazhao, Ma Lin, Zhang Guotao, Cai Hesen, Zhang Tailei, Gao Shangde, and seven others. The decision was made for Communist Party members to join the Kuomintang and implement complete cooperation between the two parties.”