Villagers in central China have signed a binding "death pact" under which those killed, injured or arrested resisting eviction from their rural homes will be honoured or compensated.
Farmers from Chiyou village in Hunan province's Anhua county said they decided to draw up the agreement to die for their cause after discovering that "corrupt" officials were attempting to sell the land from under their feet.
Nearly 100 villagers ratified the crumpled A-4 document by stamping bright red thumbprints under its terms, the Beijing News reported.
"If they come and try to take our land, we will defend it with our lives," Liu Jinbao, a village representative and one of the document's signatories told The Daily Telegraph.
"We have been told that if we try to fight for the land they might employ some mafia-style techniques and beat us up. So we have signed the document, to present a more united front."
The pact's terms and conditions commit to providing "a grand burial" for any villager killed defending the land while those who are injured or jailed will have their medical fees covered and receive a monthly stipend of 6,000 yuan (£635).
Illegal land seizures have become increasingly common in a rapidly urbanising China, with local governments often selling villagers' lands to real estate developers without consultation.
Such seizures have triggered an upsurge in rural violence, as furious farmers fight back against gangs of thugs hired to evict them.
In one of the most shocking recent cases, Zhang Ruqiong, a 44-year-old farmer from Hubei province, was crushed to death by a cement mixer during March protests against forced evictions. After a public outcry, the driver was charged with murder.
Mr Liu said his village's troubles had started earlier this month when members of a local farming cooperative "illegally" agreed to sell the rights to around 35 square feet of land to a third party for around £74,000.
Local farmers could not afford to lose their land, Mr Liu complained.
"We need our irrigation land. We need the land for food. We can't afford to eat now that the grain price is so high." Villagers hoped their situation could be resolved peacefully through petitioning the government but they anticipated violence, Mr Liu said.
"I hope someone from high-up would come and look into our case [but] I believe there will be conflict as we start fighting for our land."
