Research on the subject of Chinese communism has longbeen marred by the “spotlight approach”, which, asKathleen Hartford rightly criticises, “illuminateskey actors and events, but leaves in the shadow theaction transpiring in the corners of the historicalstage”. Assuming that only a few great names andsignal events bear relevance to its development,such an approach often produces simplified picturesof the Chinese communist revolution. During the lastdecade or so, however, an increasing number ofhistorians have begun to take seriously the greatcomplexities and diversities involved in thisrevolutionary movement. Using newly availablecommunist Party sources, they have ventured toexcavate forgotten or even deliberately ignoredepisodes in the history of the Chinese CommunistParty (CCP). In so doing, they have not onlyexpanded the scope of enquiry in Chinese communismbut also provided new evidence for testing oldinterpretive structures. This article joins thattrend by presenting the little-known story of theCommunist struggle in rural areas of the Guangdongprovince from 1928 to 1936.