On the winter night of 1978, 18 ordinary farmers in Xiaogang Village, Anhui Province, signed a "secret agreement" in a dilapidated thatched hut and pressed 18 bright red handprints, breaking the "one big and two public" system and setting off a nationwide trend of guaranteed production to households. The story became a household name, and the 18 farmers were told as heroes. However, in Zhoujiazhuang Township, Shijiazhuang City, Hebei Province, a little-known story of red handprints also occurred. In 1982, 3,055 members, under the organization of Lei Jinhe, the secretary of the commune, pressed 3,050 red handprints on a "life and death certificate" in order to preserve the people's commune system. Why is this exciting story still unattended? How did the Zhoujiazhuang People's Commune stand firm in that turbulent era?
The choice under the tide of the disintegration of the people's commune
The year 1982 was a critical period for the reform of China's rural system. Since 1978, when the rural responsibility system was first piloted in Xiaogang Village, Anhui Province, this wave of liberating productive forces quickly spread throughout the country. The people's communes have collapsed one after another under the strong cries of the members, and the people have lost confidence in the highly centralized and unified collective management model.
In the midst of this surging wave of reform, the people's commune in Zhoujiazhuang Township, Shijiazhuang City, Hebei Province, also fell into an unprecedented predicament. As the secretary of the Zhoujiazhuang People's Commune, Lei Jinhe was clearly aware that the survival of the commune system had reached the final moment. On the one hand, the members have been skeptical and disappointed with the long-term low-income collective management model; on the other hand, the reform of the surrounding villages has brought tremendous pressure to the Zhoujiazhuang People's Commune, and many members have begun to gear up and look forward to separating their families as soon as possible.
Faced with this situation of internal and external troubles, Lei Jinhe fell into deep contemplation. As a loyal Communist Party member, he never wavered in the correctness of the socialist collective economic path. However, there are indeed all kinds of drawbacks and problems in the current people's commune system, and if we rest on our laurels and stick to the rules, the commune will eventually be eliminated by the torrent of history. How to retain and develop the collective economy in the tide of reform has become a major issue facing Lei Jinhe.
The bold decisions of the Commune were preserved
After repeated weighing and careful consideration, Lei Jinhe finally made up his mind to retain and develop the people's commune system in Zhoujiazhuang. This is undoubtedly an extremely bold and risky decision.
In order to brew this important decision, Lei Jinhe secretly held a general meeting of members. At the meeting, he first expounded to the audience the current situation of rural structural reform and frankly admitted the various shortcomings and problems existing in the people's communes. But at the same time, he also pointed out the unique advantages of the people's communes in concentrating their efforts on major tasks, as well as the importance of the socialist collective economy in achieving common prosperity.
Lei Jinhe's speech sparked a heated discussion in the audience. Some members of the society believe that the responsibility system of guaranteeing production to households can indeed greatly liberate the productive forces, and they call for the separation of operations as soon as possible; however, some members of the society say that although there are problems in the collective economy, completely abandoning it is an excessive method, and it should be retained, reformed, and improved.
In the face of the divergent opinions of the members, Lei Jinhe did not make a hasty decision, but patiently made further explanations and mobilization work. He persuaded everyone that the retention of the people's communes did not mean sticking to the old rules and standing still, but that it was necessary to boldly explore new business models and distribution methods while preserving the collective economy. Only in this way can we truly give full play to the advantages of concentrating forces to do great things and achieve common prosperity.
After repeated mobilization, all the members of Zhoujiazhuang finally reached a consensus: to retain the people's commune, but to carry out bold innovation and reform in the business model and distribution system. As soon as this decision was made, it immediately set off a heated discussion and repercussions in the whole township. Many people questioned and doubted the feasibility of this decision, believing that it was doomed to be futile. But Lei Jinhe and the members of Zhoujiazhuang are full of confidence, and they are determined to prove themselves right with practical actions.
A solemn promise of 3050 mudras
After the decision to retain the People's Commune, Rykinghe did not stop there, but acted quickly to implement this decision. He organized 3,055 members of the township to gather together to sign a "life and death certificate" to demonstrate everyone's determination and belief in adhering to the road of collective economy.
In the early morning of 1982, the members of Zhoujiazhuang Township spontaneously came to the township government compound and saw Lei Jinhe holding a thick document with a solemn face. It turned out that this was the famous "life and death situation". It reads: "We, the members of the Zhoujiazhuang People's Commune, have decided to continue to adhere to the socialist collective economic road after repeated study and discussion...... ＂
Lei Jinhe first read out the contents of the "Life and Death Certificate" to everyone and explained the great significance of this decision. Then, he solemnly appealed to everyone to sign and stamp the "life and death certificate" and use practical actions to defend and develop the cause of the people's commune.
In the face of Secretary Lei's call, the members responded enthusiastically. The first is Lei Jinhe himself, who picked up a bright red ink clay and pressed his handprint on the "life and death form". Subsequently, other members of the club also followed, some of the old people trembled and pressed their handprints, and some of the young and strong members heroically put down their red palms. The bright red handprints are like burning fires, burning with enthusiasm to defend the collective economy.
In this way, in just a few hours, 3,050 burning red handprints were condensed on this "life and death form". This solemn scene gave people an incomparable shock and touch. Every handprint embodies an ordinary worker's persistent pursuit of socialist ideals, and every handprint carries an infinite enthusiasm for the collective economic cause.
The successful practice of the new model of the People's Commune
Pressing 3,050 handprints is only the beginning of the reform of the Zhoujiazhuang People's Commune. Next, a more arduous task was placed in front of Lei Jinhe and all the members: how to explore an effective new way on the premise of retaining the collective economy?
After repeated research and discussions, the Zhoujiazhuang People's Commune finally established a new model of the collective contract responsibility system. The specific method is as follows: The land in the township is still managed by the collective, but the specific production tasks are divided into each production team, which is organized and implemented by the production team itself; after harvesting, the prescribed part is handed over to the state, and the remaining products are distributed to the members according to the work share.
This new model has well retained the advantages of collective management, and at the same time has given sufficient autonomy and enthusiasm to the grassroots production teams and members. The enthusiasm of the employees is high, and the productivity has been greatly improved. At the same time, the Zhoujiazhuang People's Commune also vigorously developed the collective economic industry, and successively opened a repair factory, a printing factory, a hardware and plumbing factory, a steel rolling mill, a building materials factory, a carton factory, and other enterprises, injecting new vitality into the collective economy.
With the successful practice of this new model, Zhoujiazhuang People's Commune has gradually embarked on the track of prosperity and development. By 1985, the per capita income of the whole township had reached more than 1,000 yuan, far higher than the level of more than 400 yuan per capita in rural areas at that time. After entering the new century, the collective economic development of Zhoujiazhuang is in full swing, and the per capita disposable income of the township in 2022 will be as high as 14,104 yuan, which is more than twice the per capita income level of rural areas in the country.
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The fruitful figures vividly interpret the success of the new model of Zhoujiazhuang People's Commune. Although this road of collective economy was tortuous and arduous, it eventually broke out of a new world. It is precisely by virtue of the persistent pursuit of socialist ideals and the boundless enthusiasm for the collective cause that the Zhoujiazhuang People's Commune can stand firm in the torrent of reform and become a banner of the collective economy in the new period.