According to "Mao, the Unknown Story", a biography of the dictator by Jung Chang, the fight against the landlords was drawn up between March and June 1947 by Kang Sheng, an expert on terror tactics. "Kang told the cadres and activists to treat whole families as targets, even children," writes Chang. "He stood by smiling when village children beat up 'little landlords' as children from the wrong families were called." The campaign widened to include many people who were enemies of the Party, or of their local villages, but not necessarily landed rich...