Red Base Areas during the War of Resistance

Author: Michael
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-07-01
Features: Michael (1909—1994), a British radio expert, participated in the anti-Japanese work led by the Communist Party of China as a foreigner during the Second Sino-Japanese War. Later, when he met many Chinese overseas students and ethnic Chinese in the United States, Canada, New Zealand, and other countries, they eagerly asked, "Did the Communist Party of China really resist the Japanese invaders during the Anti-Japanese War?" Some Taiwanese students even said they had heard that the CCP "did nothing during the Anti-Japanese War, sat back and expanded its army and territory, and then prepared to control all of China." These people hoped to hear the truth from Lin Maikuo's mouth. Red Base Areas in the War of Resistance (Kunlun Publishing House) is a record of Lin Maikuo's extraordinary experiences, along with many precious photographs he took, reflecting from a side angle the arduous and relentless war led by the Communist Party of China. From 1937, when he came to China, to 1945, when he returned to the UK, Lin Maikuo worked and lived in China for eight years. When he first joined as a teacher at Peking University, he knew very little about China. In 1941, Lin Maikuo married Li Xiaoli, a patriotic student at Peking University, and the couple secretly did some work for the Eighth Route Army in occupied Beijing after the war. After the Pearl Harbor incident, they fled Beijing and were helped by the Eighth Route Army to enter the Jin-Cha-Ji Border Region, where they worked until the war's end. Lin Maikuo always shared the hardships and joys with the anti-Japanese people, witnessing firsthand the Communist Party of China's arduous struggle against the powerful invaders under extremely difficult material conditions. Red Base Areas in the War of Resistance is a photo-essay that reflects the historical facts of the Anti-Japanese War. Taking photos under the scarce material conditions was already difficult for Lin Maikuo, and preserving them for a long time in a war environment was even rarer. This is a great legacy he left to the Chinese people. The lack of material resources did not shake the Chinese people's determination to expel the Japanese invaders. The anti-Japanese policies and military actions of the Communist Party of China were deeply in line with the people's will. They organized the people and shared their hardships. The army was mainly composed of young sons and daughters of the people in the guerrilla zones, and young women also participated in various suitable jobs—some joined the Women's Salvation Union, while others took on the important task of producing food at home. The elderly stayed home to take care of children, make cloth shoes for the army, and nurse wounded Eighth Route Army soldiers. The people and the army were truly one heart and one mind. Through my work, I experienced that the leaders of the Communist Party of China were always first-class in their practice and style in any situation. In this photo-essay that reflects the historical facts of the Anti-Japanese War, I also recorded the life I shared with my wife and children alongside the Eighth Route Army. Every time the Japanese invaders launched brutal sweeps, the Eighth Route Army provided security, ensuring our safety, and every time, we received care and help from the local people.