Peng Pai was a Chinese educator and peasants' rights activist from Guangdong.
Biography[]
Born into a wealthy Hokkien family in the town of Haifeng, Peng developed a rebellious streak as a young man. In 1917 he attended Waseda University in Tokyo, where he studied economics, and eventually became interested in socialism. In 1921 he returned to Guangdong where Chen Jiongming's liberal government provided a haven for political radicals.
Securing a position as administrator of education in his hometown, Peng devoted himself to the political organization of the peasantry. He founded the Haifeng County Peasant Association, the first organization of its kind in China. The radicalization of the local peasantry brought negative attention from Chen's government, and Peng instead turned to and joined the KMT. However, the KMT leadership denied his request to create a Peasant Movement Training Institute.
After the failure of the Northern Expedition, Chen Jiongming's forces retook Guangdong and killed a large number of KMT-associated radicals including Peng. Though Chen himself did not approve it, he accepted it as a fait accompli.