Poor and lower-middle peasants () was a term first used by

Mao Zedong Mao Zedong pronounced ; traditionally Romanization of Chinese, romanised as Mao Tse-tung. (26December 18939September 1976) was a Chinese politician, revolutionary, and political theorist who founded the People's Republic of China (PRC) in ...

in 1955. During the early years of the People's Republic, people in China were classified into different classes according to their economic conditions. The class system played a significant role in their lives. In the countryside, the members of the classes of Poor and Lower-middle peasants were the majority. They belonged to the Five Red Categories and were favored and supported by the

Chinese Communist Party The Communist Party of China (CPC), also translated into English as Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Founded in 1921, the CCP emerged victorious in the ...

(CCP).

Poor peasants

Poor peasants () owned limited or no land and incomplete tools. Generally, they rented land for farming and were subject to land rent, debt interest, and a small amount of hired labor.

Lower-middle peasants

Middle peasants normally owned small plots of land and had tools, which allowed them to be somewhat self-sufficient. They generally neither hired workers people nor worked for others. Lower-middle peasants () are the poorer part of this group. Some supplemented their income by renting land or worked as part-time laborers.

Five red categories

The Five Red Categories () during the Chinese

Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a Social movement, sociopolitical movement in the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). It was launched by Mao Zedong in 1966 and lasted until his de ...

(1966–1976) were social classes favored by the CCP, as opposed to the

Five Black Categories The "Five Black Categories" () were classifications of political identity and social status in History of the People's Republic of China#Mao era (1949–1976), Mao era (1949–1976) of the People's Republic of China, especially during the Chinese C ...

that were classified as potential threats. In the beginning of the Cultural Revolution,

Red Guards The Red Guards () were a mass, student-led, paramilitary social movement mobilized by Chairman Mao Zedong in 1966 until their abolition in 1968, during the first phase of the Cultural Revolution, which he had instituted.Teiwes According to a ...

were allowed to come only from the Five Red Categories, which included: *Poor and lower-middle peasants () *Workers () *Revolutionary soldiers () within the

People's Liberation Army The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the military of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the People's Republic of China (PRC). It consists of four Military branch, services—People's Liberation Army Ground Force, Ground Force, People's ...

*Revolutionary cadres () who are active members of the CCP in good standing *Revolutionary martyrs (), including immediate family, children, grandchildren (if any) and relatives of deceased CCP members and PLA service personnel killed in action

Down to the countryside movement

The

Down to the Countryside Movement The Up to the Mountains and Down to the Countryside Movement, often known simply as the Down to the Countryside Movement, was a policy instituted in the China, People's Republic of China between the mid-1950s and 1978. As a result of what he p ...

was a policy instituted in the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

between mid-1950s and 1978. In total, approximately 17 million youths were sent to mountainous areas or farming villages for re-education by the poor and lower-middle peasants there. Many fresh high school graduates, the so-called

sent-down youth The sent-down, rusticated, or educated youth (), also known as the ''zhiqing'', were the young people who—beginning in the 1950s until the end of the Cultural Revolution, willingly or under coercion—left the urban districts of the People' ...

, were forced out of the cities and effectively

exile Exile or banishment is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons ...

d to remote areas of China. Many of them lived there for years. Some commentators considered these people, many of whom lost the opportunity to attend university, "China's Lost Generation".

CCP general secretary The general secretary of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party ( zh, s=中国共产党中央委员会总书记, p=Zhōngguó Gòngchǎndǎng Zhōngyāng Wěiyuánhuì Zǒngshūjì) is the leader of the Chinese Communist Party ...

Xi Jinping Xi Jinping, pronounced (born 15 June 1953) is a Chinese politician who has been the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and Chairman of the Central Military Commission (China), chairman of the Central Military Commission ...

was among the sent-down youth.

Poor and lower-middle peasants' association

The Chinese National Poor and Lower-Middle Peasants' Association () was created in 1964 as a successor of Chinese Peasants' Association, and dissolved de facto in 1986.

References