But to add to the peasants' normal misery, that year the vast flooding of the Yangtze River basin wiped out most of their crops. The peasants in Yuntang refused to pay any taxes at all. Then in 1999, farm taxes were increased yet again and the farmers were told they must pay their arrears from 1998 as well. They refused, again, to pay. Villagers say the agricultural tax would crush them financially.
Families generally receive a fifth of an acre per person.
In February 1999, four truckloads of police officers and officials tried to enter the village but were repelled by an angry crowd. Villagers in Yuntang also reported that last July, some 600 police officers tried to force their way into the village, but were repelled by a defiant crowd. Police arrested five alleged ringleaders of the rebel peasants in Yuntang, including Su Guosheng. Su's daughter, Su Xifeng, said her father was ambushed by more than 20 police in the morning after government officials lured him to the riverside to see a spot they claimed could be used for a power station. Another witness said the police grabbed him by the feet and took him away by motorboat.