Double Supports

Double Supports or Double Support (Chinese: 双拥), also Supporting the Military, Giving Preferential Treatment to Military Families; Supporting the Government and Loving the People (Chinese: 拥军优属拥政爱民), is a Chinese Communist Party (CCP) campaign with the aim of strengthening unity between the military and the government, as well as between the military and the people. It was institutionalized in 1991 with the creation of the National Leading Group for Double Supports.

History

Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army period

As early as the formative period of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, the Chinese Communist Party and Mao Zedong advanced the idea that the Red Army could not exist without the support of workers and peasants. They required the armed forces to care for the people, while the governments and populations of the revolutionary base areas were to support the Red Army and provide preferential treatment to military families.[1]

Second Sino-Japanese War period

During the Second Sino-Japanese War, in order to consolidate and develop the anti-Japanese base areas and expand the Second United Front, the government of the Shaan–Gan–Ning Border Region launched activities to “support the army and give preferential treatment to families of anti-Japanese soldiers,” while the Rear Garrison Corps of the Eighth Route Army carried out activities to “support the government and love the people.” In January 1943, Mao Zedong affirmed the practices of the Shaan–Gan–Ning Border Region and called on all anti-Japanese base areas to generally carry out these activities.[2]

The background to these developments lay in the harsh climate, barren land, and underdeveloped economy of the Shaan–Gan–Ning Border Region. In September 1939, amid friction between the Kuomintang and the CCP, the Kuomintang government halted the already limited military pay and supplies for troops stationed in the region. In 1939, the region had a population of more than 2 million, with over 40,000 full-time nonproductive personnel; by 1941, the population had fallen to about 1.4 million, while nonproductive personnel increased to nearly 80,000. As the nonproductive population grew, the border-region government imposed increasing levies of “National Salvation Public Grain” (救国公粮) year after year.[3]

On 1 August 1937, the Shaan–Gan–Ning Border Region Party Committee issued the “Decision on the Collection of National Salvation Public Grain,” requiring the collection of 15,000 shi of grain that year. Although regulations were promulgated, only 14,197 shi were collected. Subsequent annual quotas increased sharply: 50,000 shi in 1939, 90,000 shi in 1940, and 200,000 shi in 1941. Vice Chairman of the border-region government Lin Boqu pointed out that in some areas the collection was excessive, noting that in Zhidan County it reached nearly 30 percent, which he described as inappropriate and unbalanced. In addition to grain levies, the population also bore burdens such as “National Salvation Public Fodder,” cash payments for winter clothing, compulsory transport of grain and fodder, and unpaid labor in support of the army.[4]

Dingbian County magistrate Qiang Xiaochu wrote to Lin Boqu and Gao Zili, describing the tax burden of that year as “unprecedented.” Severe natural disasters struck the region in 1940 and 1941, greatly increasing the number of refugees, yet grain collection quotas were not reduced. Excessive levies intensified popular hardship, leading to incidents such as the looting of public grain in areas including Zhidan and the 1940 mutiny of a self-defense unit in Huan County (the Huan County Incident).[5] Some residents reportedly even exclaimed, “Why doesn’t Heaven strike Mao Zedong dead?”[6]

In December 1938, Mao Zedong called on the Rear Garrison Corps of the Eighth Route Army to “hold a rifle in one hand and a hoe in the other, combining production with combat.” In the spring of 1939, he proposed the policy of “self-reliance and self-sufficiency” to the Shaan–Gan–Ning Border Region, calling on government organs, military units, and schools to carry out the production movement to achieve self-sufficiency. By late 1939, the Rear Garrison Corps faced severe shortages of food and clothing, and its political commissar Mo Wenhua complained that regional leader Gao Gang provided no subsidies, leading to sharp military–government tensions. After mediation involving leaders including Zhu De, Ren Bishi, Li Fuchun, Xiao Jinguang, Lin Boqu, Gao Zili, and Gao Gang, Mao Zedong stated: “When problems arise in military–civil relations, the army should first examine itself. The army must support the government and care for the people; those engaged in local work must also support the army and take care of the soldiers.”[6][7]

In July 1940, drought led to disputes over water between military and local authorities in some areas. Facing severe economic hardship, Mao Zedong again called on party, government, and military organizations to “rely on our own efforts and ensure adequate food and clothing,” prompting large-scale land reclamation and production by the troops. This alleviated the burden on the population. To complement the production movement, the CCP Central Committee adopted Vice Chairman Li Dingming's proposal of “streamlining the military and administration.”[8]

The Shaan–Gan–Ning Border Region government issued regulations such as the “Preferential Treatment Regulations for Anti-Japanese Soldiers.” Despite fiscal difficulties, it expanded relief for disabled veterans and improved institutions for wounded soldiers. The Rear Garrison Corps likewise emphasized preferential treatment for military families, guaranteeing increased agricultural yields for such households and establishing model villages and schools for martyrs’ children.[6][9]

Amid ongoing production and rectification movements, contradictions arose among military units, between the military and the regional government, and between the government and the people. These were addressed during the Yan'an Rectification Movement through self-criticism and reforms aimed at strengthening unity under unified party leadership. In September and October 1942, the CCP Central Committee formally called for the nationwide promotion of the movements to support the government and love the people, and to support the military and give preferential treatment to military families, as part of strengthening unified leadership in the base areas.[6][10]

In January 1943, the Shaan–Gan–Ning Border Region government issued decisions to support the army and promulgated a series of regulations concerning military families, relief, civil–military relations, and revolutionary order.[6][11][10]

Chinese Civil War period

In December 1945, Mao Zedong emphasized supporting the government and loving the people, as well as supporting the military and giving preferential treatment to military families, as key tasks in his report “The Work Policy for the Liberated Areas in 1946.” Thereafter, these practices became regularized and institutionalized.[12] During the Second Chinese Civil War, the Double Support movement helped forge strong unity between the military and civilians under CCP leadership, contributing to the overthrow of Kuomintang rule.[13]

People's Republic of China period

After the founding of the People's Republic of China, especially since reform and opening-up, the theory and practice of Double Support have continued to develop, with expanding content and innovative forms, promoting joint military–civil construction of socialist spiritual civilization and national defense education to strengthen public awareness of national defense.[14]

National Double Support work conferences were held in Xuzhou (1980), Beijing (1984), Jiamusi (1987), Fuzhou (1991), Yan'an (1993), and again nationwide in 2004. Beginning with the 1991 Fuzhou conference, model Double Supports cities and counties have been selected, followed by six large-scale commendation conferences.[15]

In June 1991, with the approval of the CCP Central Committee, the State Council and the Central Military Commission established the National Leading Group for Double Supports, along with its administrative office. Corresponding leading groups and offices were established at local levels nationwide.[16]

See also

References

  1. ^ 中国民政辞典 (in Chinese). 上海辞书出版社. 1990. p. 152. ISBN 978-7-5326-0141-7. Retrieved 17 December 2025.
  2. ^ "双拥工作简介". 中国双拥网. 10 July 2007. Archived from the original on 6 June 2019.
  3. ^ 杨安妮 (1 June 2019). 陕甘宁边区农民政治参与（1937－1945） (in Chinese). Social Sciences Academic Press. ISBN 978-7-5201-4851-1. Retrieved 17 December 2025.
  4. ^ 黄正林 (2006). 陕甘宁边区社会经济史 (1937-1945) (in Chinese). 人民出版社. p. 201. ISBN 978-7-01-005237-3. Retrieved 17 December 2025.
  5. ^ 杨安妮 (1 June 2019). 陕甘宁边区农民政治参与（1937－1945） (in Chinese). Social Sciences Academic Press. p. 28. ISBN 978-7-5201-4851-1. Retrieved 17 December 2025.
  6. ^ a b c d e 高中华 (1 August 2017). "抗战时期中国共产党的双拥工作与一元化领导的强化". 求是网. Archived from the original on 29 September 2020.
  7. ^ 解放军将领传 (in Chinese). 解放军出版社. 1984. p. 416. Retrieved 17 December 2025.
  8. ^ 抗日战争大事集 (in Chinese). 上海社联. 1985. p. 403. Retrieved 17 December 2025.
  9. ^ 邹文开 (1 June 2016). 社会服务研究（第3辑） (in Chinese). Social Sciences Academic Press. ISBN 978-7-5097-9027-4. Retrieved 17 December 2025.
  10. ^ a b 军事历史硏究部, 中国人民解放军军事科学院 (1997). 中国人民解放军的七十年 (in Chinese). 军事科学出版社. p. 240. ISBN 978-7-80137-087-7. Retrieved 17 December 2025.
  11. ^ 中国共产党军队政治工作七十年史 (in Chinese). 解放军出版社. 1991. p. 332. Retrieved 17 December 2025.
  12. ^ 中国革命根据地经济大事记, 1937-1949 (in Chinese). China Social Sciences Press. 1986. p. 69. Retrieved 17 December 2025.
  13. ^ 人民军队法制建设八十年 (in Chinese). 军事科学出版社. 2007. p. 1. ISBN 978-7-80237-080-7. Retrieved 17 December 2025.
  14. ^ 国务院, China (1990). 中华人民共和国国务院公報 (in Chinese). Zhonghua Renmin Gongheguo guo wu yuan ban gong ting. p. 509. Retrieved 17 December 2025.
  15. ^ 二十世纪中国实录 (in Chinese). Guangming Daily Press. 1997. p. 6157. Retrieved 17 December 2025.
  16. ^ 国务院, China (1991). 中华人民共和国国务院公報 (in Chinese). 中华人民共和国国务院办公厅. p. 828. Retrieved 17 December 2025.
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