Poor and lower-middle peasants
Poor and lower-middle peasants was a term first used by Mao Zedong 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.
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 were social classes favored by the CCP, as opposed to the Five Black Categories that were classified as potential threats. In the beginning of the Cultural Revolution, Red Guards 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
- Revolutionary cadres who are active members of the CCP in good standing
- Revolutionary martyrs, including immediate family, children, grandchildren and relatives of deceased CCP members and PLA service personnel killed in action
Down to the countryside movement
The Down to the Countryside Movement was a policy instituted in the People's Republic of China 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, were forced out of the cities and effectively exiled 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 Xi Jinping was among the sent-down youth.