What do we mean by feudalism? Technically speaking, the name is incorrect. And certain learned philosophers, both Chinese and foreign, have taken great pains to point out that feudalism does not exist in hina because there is no serfdom; that is, men can sell their labor freely. It is true that China abolished this formal type of feudalism many years ago, just as it is true that the penetration of the West destroyed the self-sufficient natural economy of the centralized feudal society and placed much of Chinese life under the demands of a money economy, though with few progressive results, as we have seen. But this manner of looking at the problem of China is academic in the extreme and takes no cognizance of the feudal remnants that exercise such an important role in the lives, thoughts, customs, habits and emotions of the people. In abolishing serfdom, the Chinese did not entirely do away with the power of the landlord to conscript labor, to jail debtors and to control the life and even death of his tenants; it did not completely abolish child slavery, the custom of buying and selling girls nor the system of concubinage or forced marriage. All of these conditions are irrevocably bound up with the rule of the landlords and the gentry.
The power of the landlords in China was not everywhere the same. In the provinces along the seacoast and in the Yangtze Valley where foreign capital penetrated and where mercantile and small industrial cities grew up, the power of the rural gentry in many cases had to be shared with city merchants. In the western and northern provinces, however, the landlords had almost unlimited political power because of the thicker atmosphere of precapitalism. Even in northern Kiangsu, along the seacoast and not far from Shanghai, landlords lived like feudal barons in mud castles, surrounded by armed guards and controlling tenants in fifteen or twenty villages. Such castles acted as a trading center for tenants who were completely at the mercy of the landlord or his bailiffs. Not only had the tenant to bring 50 per cent of his crops to the manor, but also his personal and family problems. In Shansi, I found that landlords often governed all wedding ceremonies and funerals, so that no one could get married or be buried without the approval of these feudal lords.
节选自China Shakes the World - by Jack Belden Originally published: 1949
我们说的封建主义，是指什么呢？严格地说，用这个名词并不正确。某些中国和外国的学者，煞费苦心地想说明中国不存在封建主义，因为没有农奴制，也就是说，人们可以自由出卖劳动力。不错，中国多年前就在形式上废除了这种封建制度，而且，西方势力的侵入也破坏了中央集权封建社会自给自足的自然经济，使社会生活的很大一部分受贷币经济的支配，不过，正如我们所了解的，这并没有多少进步的效果。如果用这种观点看待中国问题，未免过于迂腐，这是全然不顾封建残余在中国人的生活、思想、风俗、习惯、情感中还有极大影响。中国废除农奴制的时候，并没有废除地主摊派劳役、监禁债户以及决定佃农生死的种种权力，也没有完全废除蓄奴、买卖少女、纳妾、包办婚姻等等陋俗。这一切都是地主豪绅统治的必然产物。
在中国，地主的权力并不处处相同。沿海和长江流域的省份是外国资本渗入的地方，市镇工商业比较发达，乡绅的权力往往为城市商人所分享。而在西部和北部的省份里，由于资本主义前的特色很浓，地主的政治权力几乎是无限的。就是在上海并离上海不远的苏北，地主也像封建领主一样住在土围子里，有民团守护，统治着一、二十个村庄的佃户。这种土围子是佃户集市贸易的场所，他们完全受地主及其狗腿子的摆布。佃户不但要把收成的百分之五十向地主交租，而且自己的个人问题和家庭问题也要由地主决定。在山西，我发现地主往往包揽一切红白喜事，不经这伙封建老爷的同意，就不能成亲，也办不了丧葬。
What do we mean by feudalism? Technically speaking, the name is incorrect. And certain learned philosophers, both Chinese and foreign, have taken great pains to point out that feudalism does not exist in hina because there is no serfdom; that is, men can sell their labor freely. It is true that China abolished this formal type of feudalism many years ago, just as it is true that the penetration of the West destroyed the self-sufficient natural economy of the centralized feudal society and placed much of Chinese life under the demands of a money economy, though with few progressive results, as we have seen. But this manner of looking at the problem of China is academic in the extreme and takes no cognizance of the feudal remnants that exercise such an important role in the lives, thoughts, customs, habits and emotions of the people. In abolishing serfdom, the Chinese did not entirely do away with the power of the landlord to conscript labor, to jail debtors and to control the life and even death of his tenants; it did not completely abolish child slavery, the custom of buying and selling girls nor the system of concubinage or forced marriage. All of these conditions are irrevocably bound up with the rule of the landlords and the gentry.
The power of the landlords in China was not everywhere the same. In the provinces along the seacoast and in the Yangtze Valley where foreign capital penetrated and where mercantile and small industrial cities grew up, the power of the rural gentry in many cases had to be shared with city merchants. In the western and northern provinces, however, the landlords had almost unlimited political power because of the thicker atmosphere of precapitalism. Even in northern Kiangsu, along the seacoast and not far from Shanghai, landlords lived like feudal barons in mud castles, surrounded by armed guards and controlling tenants in fifteen or twenty villages. Such castles acted as a trading center for tenants who were completely at the mercy of the landlord or his bailiffs. Not only had the tenant to bring 50 per cent of his crops to the manor, but also his personal and family problems. In Shansi, I found that landlords often governed all wedding ceremonies and funerals, so that no one could get married or be buried without the approval of these feudal lords.
地主仗着自己的权势，任意奸淫村里的妇女，特别是佃户的妻子，更是地主随心所欲地玩弄的对像。佃户夫妻因为害怕，往往敢怒不敢言。佃户要是反抗，也绝不会有好下场。我在鲁西一个村庄里见过一个地主，他经常把佃户支出去干活，然后乘机调戏他的妻子。这位姓李的佃户表示了抗议，于是地主便指使土匪把他绑走了。地主为了掩盖自己的干系，假装请伪军解决这一绑架事件，还代替佃户摆了一次酒席。请看地主有多么狡诈吧。佃户被释放了，感激不尽，向仁慈的地主借钱偿还那顿酒席。当然，利息低不了。佃户还不起债，就把自己那一小块地抵出去了。最后，地主要他把老婆也送去顶债，这一桩事才算了结。
实际上，常常不必如此设局。富农或地主只需等到佃户下地后，就溜到佃户家里奸污他的老婆。佃户要报仇，只有去杀地主，但这很因难，因为地主有保镖，控制着村里大部分的武器，还因为地主或其狗腿子就是村长，掌握警察的权力。
我在鲁西的另一个村子里，还听说这样一件事：一个地主看上了邻舍的一个女子，这女子是他表兄的儿媳妇。因为女的深居简出，地主很难上手。唯一的办法就是来硬的。一天，地主叫上村长，自己和管家拿着手枪和刀，闯入屋里，把女的强奸了。没有人敢说什么，也没有地方可以投诉，因为地主即官府。
在河南安阳县的一村子里，一个年轻的农妇告诉我，她被迫经常接待本地一个地主，国民党民团的头子。她和丈夫都抗拒不得，因为那个地主是地方一霸，他的意志就是村里的王法。
对于中世纪的因素在中国农村仍居统治地位这一点，还需要什么证据吗？在西方，随着农奴制的废除，贵族的初夜权也被废除了，然而在东方，地主虽然对佃户的妻子没有初夜权，却可以在许多个夜晚和下午跑去奸污她。
蓄婢、纳妾和包办婚姻的习俗也是与地主制度分不开的。如果不废除地主制度，国民党法律中有关这方面的一切条文都是毫无意义的。穷人女儿在内地地主家当丫头，有的被商人贩卖到上海当妓女，太丑的，就送到工厂做工。她们自己毫无选择的余地，因为已经卖身给他人，只得任人摆布。蒋介石的“国民革命军”不但不去消灭这种制度，反而维护这种制度。在许多国民党军司令部里，我亲眼看到长官把当地地主叫来，向他们要年轻姑娘，供自己在驻扎期间享用。这样弄来的姑娘并不是娼妓，往往都是贫农家的黄花闺女。
这些地主老爷在私生活中向佃户滥施淫威，有时也很惊人。佃户经常被迫做一些下作的事以满足地主的低级趣味。鲁北的北县有个地主婆，强迫一个佃农咬一个丫环的小脚，供她取乐。佃农把丫环咬得大叫，丫环的小脚把佃农熏得呲牙咧嘴，使得地主婆大为满足。在北县另一个村子里，有个地主往一个十六岁婢女的阴户里塞麦子来满足某种色情虐待狂。玩腻了这个游戏，他就把婢女的双手捆上，在她的裤档里放进一只猫，把裤管扎紧。看着婢女被折磨得在地上拼命打滚，他乐得放声狂笑。这些就是旧中国乡村里地主取乐的方式。
在中国，正式的分封制早在纪元前就基本上完全消失了，这比欧洲分封制的发生还早五百年。但是，所有中世纪社会的残余——蓄婢、徭役、凌辱佃户妻女的特权、横征暴敛等等，却延续了两千年，就像挽歌一样萦回在封建制腐烂的、但并未人土的尸体上。中国农村社会的这些毒疮本来足以激发千千万万的农民愤然投入农民战争，但是这并不是决定性的因素。决定性的因素是中国整个农业处于衰败之中。
抗日战争结束后，农民正处于这种状况。军队抽壮丁使农业劳动力减少了一千二百万至一千五百万，饥荒中饿死了大约一千万人，还有成百上千万流离失所的难民。首先遭殃的是无地的农民，其次是半自耕农。丧失土地的人成千上万地增加。到了抗战的第三年和第四年，轮到了中农。然后又轮到一些富农。战争快结束时，中小地主以至一些大地主都感到了蒋介石官吏和伪军兼并土地的压力。荒芜的土地达几千万亩，而缺地的情形却像瘟疫一样蔓延。高昂的地租使农民没法活命。农民的财产已经所剩无几，无法再缴从前那种百分之五十的租子，更不必说百分之八十、九十以至百分之百以上的租子了。地租不仅耗尽了农民的剩余劳动，而且还侵占了农民维持自己生存的必要劳动。 当时大家都在问：“什么时候能把倭寇赶出去呢？”可是，抗日战争结束了，一场新的战争又开始了。农民感到，蒋介石新派的乡村官吏比日本人和旧日的地主更可恨。农民开始有怨言，进而落草为寇。在八路军驻区附近，农民则盼望八路军来。