Shoulder Poles and Bombs: Grain Market Controls in Greater Chongqing, 1949-1953

In the early years of the People’s Republic, the CCP attempted to establish control over grain markets. The implementation of the Unified Purchase and Sale of Grain Policy (liangshi tonggou tongxiao 粮食统购统销政策) was a significant step toward this end, and part of the broader move toward collectivisation that would lead to the Great Leap Forward. This study aims to inflect the literature by focusing on the grain market and grain policies in rural Chongqing, showing the role of state price management and state-owned grain companies before the grain monopoly in 1953. The local impacts of the 'Five Anti' movement are explored as well. This paper uses an array of material from newly-opened county archives with a focus on Jiangjin County, a rural area of southern Chongqing, to show that in the early 1950s, CCP state-building policy featured not only violent mass campaigns but also utilized gradualist strategies to compete with the merchants, achieve influence, and finally control the market.