The Long March - China's National Myth

All states have their own foundation myth – stories about heroes, who struggling their ways through various hardships finally reached victory.

In China's history this epic victory is manifested in the Long March, dating all the way back to the civil war. Then, Mao Zedong first led his troops to safety from the attacks of nationalists, and after that he completed the revolution.

Although for the Communists the Long March was nearly a complete failure, they succeeded in presenting it as a legend that inspired and united the nation.

Serious Losses

The Long March started out in Southern China, at the border region of Jiangxi and Fujian provinces, where the communists established their base in the 1930s. The Kuomintang troops, led by Chiang Kai-shek, wanted to surround the area, but it was not an easy operation. It took them several attempts before they finally were able to take control over the area.

The communists, as they were much fewer, suffered serious losses in the battles. Eventually in 1934, the communists decided to break out and began to retreat through the West towards the Northern China.

All in all, the Long March took two years, and it is length was about ten thousand kilometers. The route passed through 11 provinces across China’s most infertile and difficult terrains. The soldiers were not told what the destination of the march would be, but eventually the troops stopped in the village of Yan'an in Shaanxi province.

The journey was by no means easy, and it took its toll dearly: of the 80,000 soldiers and party cadres who originally started out, only a few thousand arrived at the destination in Northern China. Along the way some 200,000 people joined, but also of them only some 40,000 survived the march.

The communists lost half of the troops already after three month of the journey. The reason for the quick losses was due not only to fights against the Kuomintang, but also to the fact that many of the soldiers simply deserted.

Mao himself also suffered a rather heavy personal loss right after the Long March had begun: his younger brother Mao Zetan whose troops were supposed to delay the Kuomintang and protect the retreat of the revolutionists, he was caught and executed. It was, however, not only death and suffering that the Long March brought along.

It was also during the journey, that Mao's then wife He Zizhen, gave birth to their daughter. The couple, in order to save to baby from the hardships they knew awaited them, decided to leave the child with a farmer-family in Fujian.

Rivers to Cross, Mountains to Climb

It is said that during the Long March, the communists had to cross 24 rivers and 18 mountainous regions. These obstacles gave birth to many of the great heroic stories. As it is typical of folk-myths, the true happenings during the march are difficult to sort out from the legends that emerged afterwards.

Mao, in an interview by American journalist, Edgar Snow, told that the most significant event during the Long March was the crossing of River Dadu in the western part of Sichuan province. The river was flooding and it not only looked challenging but was indeed dangerous. But the retreating communists had no choice, they had to cross it, and they chose to do it across the old chain-bridge at Luding. The local warlords, however, managed to remove all the wooden planks of the bridge, so it was near impossible to use it for the crossing. The damaged bridge did not stop the communists.

On the contrary, they were skillful enough to climb across the river just by using the chains that the enemy left intact. After they all had landed on the other side of the river, they still had the strength to destroy the guarding Kuomintang troops. Even though it is highly likely that the reports about the battle are somewhat colored and exaggerated, the crossing of River Dadu was inevitable for the communists to be able to continue the march.

Mao's Rise to Power

The Long March marked the beginning of Mao Zedong's reign as the first man of the Chinese Communist Party. Mao did not only take the role of party leader, but he also distanced himself from his influential comrades.

At the last stage of the march Mao succeeded to eliminate his competitor, Zhang Guotao by leaving him alone in the battle against the Kuomintang and the Muslims. Other communists, like Zhou Enlai, Lin Biao and Deng Xiaping, survived the march and formed the elite of the revolutionists for decades.

In December, 1936, Mao decided to end the retreat at Yan'an, the village that became the headquarters of the communists for years. The conditions there were far from paradise. Situated at the edge of the Gobi desert, the troops were stationed the caves nearby.

Cold and hunger were probing them to the utmost, and due to the shortage of food supplies the leaders decided to send the women home. It is difficult to speak of the Long March as a great victory in any other sense than propaganda.

Nevertheless, the Long March helped the communists to raise admiration and respect in Chinese people, and it also made Mao Zedong known in the West. The communists, however, were saved from total destruction only by the Japanese invasion, that for a while made the Chinese put aside hatred and anger.

The Birth Of Red China

October 1st, 2009 marked the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. In Tian'anmen Square six decades ago, Chairman Mao Zedong declared the establishment of the People's Republic of China.

In Tian'anmen Square six decades ago, Chairman Mao Zedong declared the establishment of the People's Republic of China. In front of a crowd of over half a million people, Mao said that "the 475 million people of China have now stood up.”

Mao's words were apparently a response to Napoleon who said that “When China wakes up, the world will tremble”. The birth of the People's Republic, however, brought stability and order to a country that had been ravaged by war and internal conflict for over a half a century.

Since the fall of Emperor Pu Yi[/node] from the throne in 1911, the Chinese had had to bear the rule of warlords, a civil war between the Nationalists and the Communists, and - worst of all – Japanese occupation during World War II.

The Nationalist-Communist Rivalry

The civil war eventually won by the Communists begun already in 1927 when military leader Chiang Kai-shek took over the Nationalist party – Kuomintang - and established a new government in Nanjing. At this point the alliance between Kuomintang and the Communists against the warlords that had begun in the early 1920s came to an end.

It took 10 years of bitter fighting before the two sides joined forces again. In the face of Japanese aggression, Chiang was forced to form an alliance with Mao, who by that time had become the leader of the Communist Party of China.

When the Japanese surrendered, the rivalry between the Nationalists and the Communists soon resumed. In the post-World War situation the United States wanted China to become a stabilizing power in Asia.

A military truce between the Kuomintang government and the Communists was arranged but no further results were reached in the negotiations brokered by the Americans. In 1946, the truce broke down, erupting into a full scale civil war.

The continuation of the civil war meant that there would be no immediate relief to China's economic and political chaos. The Japanese occupation had already left China in bad shape: the country's industry was ruined and hyperinflation rendered money useless.

In a bid to gain popular support the Kuomintang government adopted a new, liberalized constitution and held elections for the National Assembly. In 1948, Chiang Kai-shek was elected by the National Assembly as President of China.

The Rise of Red China

However, by that time the tide had turned in favour of the Communists. They had gained control of the northern part of China and started to win major battles against the Nationalists. The Nationalist army held the cities but in many cases the surrounding countryside had come under Communist control.

During the last year of the civil war, the Nationalists suffered over 1.5 million casualties; and by mid-1949 the Nationalist army simply disintegrated.

Having gained control of Nanjing, the Communists soon transferred the capital to Beijing in Northern China. In October 1949, when Mao declared the establishment of People Republic, the Communist didn't yet control the whole of China.

But only two months later Chiang Kai-shek and two million Nationalists were forced to flee to the island of Taiwan.

Promise of a Change

The end of civil war came as a surprise to the world because the assumption after World War II was that Chiang Kai-shek would continue to hold power in China.

China had fought on the Allies' side in the war and became one of the founders of the United Nations. Yet the Communists took control of China in only four years. In a world divided by the Cold War, this meant that China would from then on be considered a part of the Socialist bloc.

Why did the Communist win and the Kuomintang lose? The main reason is that the Chinese were longing for peace and stability after decades of war and internal conflict. Despite their progressive visions, the Kuomintang government had failed to deliver reforms needed to transform China into a modern power.

Corruption was widespread within the government and they lacked the means to resurrect a spiralling economy.

Meanwhile, the Chinese Communists were able convince their compatriots that they could lead the way out of political and economic chaos. They had won the support of peasants, who at that time made up 90 percent of the population, by promising land reform.

At the end of the civil war, most of the urban population and the Chinese middle class were also ready to welcome the Communists and the change for the better that they promised.

The Day the Chinese People Stood Up

"Ours will no longer be a nation subject to insult and humiliation. We have stood up. Our revolution has won the sympathy and acclaim of the people of all countries. We have friends all over the world."

These were the words of Mao Zedong to delegates at a political conference days before he announced the founding of the People's Republic of China (PRC) at Tiananmen Square on October 1, 1949.

It marked final victory of the Communists over Chiang Kai-shek's nationalist forces in a civil war that had resumed following the end of 14 years of savage Japanese Occupation.

Mao's brilliant leadership, Chiang's overconfidence and the Occupation all played a part in creating the conditions for a revolution which Joseph Stalin considered extremely unlikely. It was felt all over the world, with the United States - which had backed Chiang - asking itself how China could have been 'lost' to the Communists.

The seminal moment of China's rebirth still reverberates today. For the Chinese nation, it marked the end of a 'century of humiliation' (百年国耻 / bǎinián guóchǐ) in which the country had been carved up by imperialists, invaded, occupied and lost its status as a major global power. Hence, sovereignty and self-determination are no small matters today.

The notion of national humiliation, cultivated by China's rulers, is still evident today and used to inspire new, grand achievements and renewal. Xi Jinping, who became China's leader in November, in his first speech drew upon the "constant hardship and difficulties" in recent history and the need for national revival.

The PRC was also born into the early days of the Cold War, finding itself with little choice but to align with the Soviet Union against the 'imperialist' West. The scene was set, and rapprochement with the US would not begin until the 1970s.

Mistrust from the ideologically-charged days still pervades the Sino-US relationship today, despite - or perhaps in part due to - an increasing degree of interdependence.

Even Mao, though long gone and his legacy tarnished by the devastating Great Leap Forward and disastrous Cultural Revolution, is still seen as key to the legitimacy of the ruling Communist Party of China. He was, after all, the one figure able to reunite a shattered nation against the odds.

Today China celebrates its anniversary with a 'Golden Week' holiday packed with festivities, with millions of workers travelling from cities back to their home towns and families. But 64 years ago the prosperity brought by the past three decades of near-double-digit economic growth would have been a very distant, ideologically-tinted dream.

Chinese will remember today where they came from, and perhaps consider where the country is headed. At the same time, it would help for the rest of the world to understand the origins of the People's Republic of China for the good of mutual understanding in a changing world.

Zhou Enlai – Sophisticated Face of Communist China

If Mao Zedong was the visionary and leader of communist China, Zhou Enlai, his first prime minister, was the man who kept the enormous machinery of Chinese society well-oiled and working smoothly. He discreetly moderated Mao's excesses.

Zhou Enlai was born on March 5, 1898, into a wealthy family from Zhejiang near Shanghai. His was a family that had reputedly contributed several officials to the Chinese state, and his actions later as a man of pragmatism and his conciliatory political approach may have been a direct influence from his kindred.

Unlike his father who had chosen to serve the emperor, young Zhou Enlai took a different path, which eventually led him to the lofty position of advisor to Mao Zedong and the whole communist party.

Activist Turns Communist

It is not quite clear what actually drove Zhou Enlai towards the communists from his well-to-do background, but there might have been more than one influence. A possible tipping point may have been the May 4th movement when thousands of students protested against Japan and Treaty of Versailles.

Young Zhou emerged as a significant leader from among the protesters. For his radical actions during the course of the protests, he was sentenced to prison for several months. Thereafter, he turned completely against the Chinese ruling regime.

After his release, not unlike hundreds of other young Chinese like himself, he travelled to study and work in Europe where he met several up-and-coming CCP leaders. Eventually, Zhou joined the party in 1922, and after his return to China in 1924 was given the position of political commissar of the Whampoa Military Academy in Canton with an objective to train soldiers for Northern Expedition for a joint mission with Kuomintang against the then influential warlords of China.

Rise of a Diplomat

The alliance with Kuomintang soon broke down, but Zhou Enlai was in Chinese politics to stay. In 1927, he masterminded the workers' armed uprising in Shanghai, and consequently, the city was liberated from the warlords before Kuomintang forces entered the city.

The Kuomintang led by Chiang Kai-shek ordered a surprise attack against the communists. Zhou Enlai was captured along with many other communist leaders, but one of the Kuomintang soldiers helped him to escape after recognizing him from the Whampoa Academy.

But those were all just early days in his political career. Zhou´s first significant action in the field of diplomacy was in 1936 when he played the key role of securing Chiang Kai-shek´s release during the Xian incident. This led to a second Kuomintang-CCP alliance, this time against Japanese invasion.

Mao's Right-hand Man

During the World War II, Zhou became a key figure for the communists, being in the center of virtually everything that came up before the CCP's foreign affairs division.

He negotiated so successfully and famously with the Americans during the war and almost won them over to support communists in China.

As civil war broke out between Kuomintang and the Communists right after the end of the Japanese occupation, Zhou sought support for the party from amongst workers in the big cities. Having failed in this mission, he travelled to Mao Zedong´s base in Jiangxi province, where the two men soon became great allies.

What is notable at that point in time is that Zhou´s position in the party hierarchy was higher than Mao´s. It was Zhou´s support that paved the way for Mao´s meteoric rise as a party leader during the Long March.

The alliance between the two men saw them cruising together through turbulent political decades. Again, maybe it was Zhou Enlai’s family background that helped him here, as he had the makings of a mediator and negotiator than a public leader.

Establishing Communist China

Considering Zhou's great stature and good ties with Mao, it did not come as much of a surprise to anybody when he was appointed premier minister for Government Affairs and foreign minister on the founding of People´s Republic of China.

As an instinctive politician, Zhou Enlai achieved many great things for China, the most notable being the orchestrating of Richard Nixon´s visit to China, which at the time was considered well-nigh impossible.

This is not to say that his political career was bereft of other major achievements. Examples were the enabling of a peaceful coexistence with the West after the Korean War, and solving several bitter disputes with the Soviet Union, Taiwan, India, Vietnam and US.

Though he passed on the foreign minister's portfolio to Chen Yi in 1958, his influence in Chinese foreign affairs remained remarkable throughout the rest of his life, even after falling out with Mao towards the fag end of his life.

A Legacy for China

For many, Zhou Enlai was the personification of a perfect diplomat: a skilled negotiator and pragmatic statesman with tireless dedication and unusual charm and an eye for detail.

Many consider him as the last Mandarin bureaucrat in the Confucian tradition, who ironically dedicated most of his time to the cause of revolutionary China.

Uncharacteristically of the Chinese regime, Zhou was spared from later political criticism, unlike many other Chinese leaders. Zhou's image has remained positive ever since, even as many of his prominent comrades were knocked off their pedestals at some point of their career.

A Peek into the Red Jungle: Kissinger’s 1973 Visit to China

This year marks the 40th anniversary of Kissinger’s first visit to China. Nixon and Kissinger are names that will draw instant recognition and praise in China because their work opened China to the West and helped to put a stop to Mao’s disastrous Cultural Revolution.

Taking advantage of Mao’s cooling relations with Moscow Zhou Enlai and Henry Kissinger successfully established a good relationship between Washington and Beijing that has blossomed into a fruitful relationship for both countries.

Laying the Groundwork

Several visits by US diplomats were made in secret before President Nixon’s trip in 1972. Overall, the trip was a huge success and paved the way for warming relations between the two countries. Although relations between China and the United States did not normalize until 1978 years of negotiations beginning in 1971 brought many benefits to the people of China and to the United States.

Leading up to Nixon’s visit a series of traumatic events in China had pushed Chairman Mao away from the Soviet Union. For decades, the Chinese Communist Party had looked to Moscow as a source of ideological alignment as well as political and technological guidance in establishing the new People’s Republic.

However, after Lin Biao’s failed coup attempt in 1971 (which ended with a fiery plane crash during his escape to the Soviet Union) Chairman Mao became increasingly suspicious about the motives of his northern comrades.
Before taking office Nixon made it very clear to Henry Kissinger that as President he “seriously intended to visit China before the end of his second term.” Beginning in 1970 Kissinger sent numerous communiqués to his Beijing counterpart to lay the groundwork for this historic visit.

Delicate Negotiations

Following President Nixon’s trip to Beijing in February of 1972 there remained a great deal of work to be done on both sides of the Pacific. The dialogue begun by President Nixon and Chairman Mao continued the following year between Premier Zhou Enlai and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.

By then, it was clear that Chairman Mao had firm ideas about the relationship between China and the United States. He expressed his wish to create a ‘horizontal line’ against the Soviet Union, stretching from China to Europe.

Although it was painfully obvious to Zhou and Kissinger that Mao’s strategy was far too idealistic, Mao’s demands came on the heels of increased communication between Moscow and Washington. Fearing that US-Soviet relations were thawing, Chairman Mao became eager to establish himself as a strong player in the US camp in opposition to the Soviet Union.

Zhou and Kissinger recognized that this was the time to act. In February of 1973, during a trip to Beijing, Kissinger and Zhou hammered out a plan calling for normalization of relations between the US and China. Their plan consisted of two phases that weren’t fully completed until 1978.

The first steps were logistical and fundamental for future progress: a hotline was established between Washington and Beijing and liaison offices were also established. The second phase was a risk that paid off. Zhou and Kissinger knew that relations between Chairman Mao and foreign leaders were temperamental at best, and thus they had to wait for an opportune moment to move things along.

Sadly, Zhou Enlai did not live to see the result of his patience and hard work. Zhou Enlai died of cancer in January of 1976. His passing was followed by that of Chairman Mao in September. With Deng Xiaoping in charge of China’ foreign affairs China and her people were ready to turn the page and write a new chapter their nation’s foreign policy.