Production Brigade: Rural Grassroots Organization Under the People’s Commune

A production brigade was a grassroots organization under the People’s Commune system and a special product of the People’s Commune period. With the establishment of the People’s Commune and the development of the People’s Commune movement, the establishment of a production brigade from nothing and the gradual improvement of the commune system through a “three-level ownership, team-based” system, a production brigade played the role of a semiadministrative organization, with an important role in connecting the production team and the commune. This article takes Yaolaowo village in Xinglong town, Liaoyang County, Liaoning Province, as a case study, with the production brigade as the research object, and analyzes its origin, development, disappearance, transformation, and impact on modern rural areas in detail. A more detailed study of the empirical materials shows how the Yaolaowo production brigade carried out planned guidance and top-down transmission at that time, how the state extended its power to the lowest level of the rural area through this semiadministrative organization, and how the commune, production team, and members related to this process were related.