My Chronicle of the Years·1939-1945 (In Yan'an before the Victory in the War of Resistance)

Author: Yu Guangyuan
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2005-06-01
Features: This book is Yu's recollections from 1939 to 1945, the year before the victory of the War of Resistance, spent in Yan'an. Yu experienced the ups and downs of this period, sometimes standing at the forefront of history, sometimes on the edge of "the whirlpool," or even in the midst of it. Through his personal experiences, he provides many historical facts and materials, offering thorough observations and in-depth analyses of history.
Regarding My Chronological Stories and its third volume, My Chronological Stories, the third volume was published in October 1996, and the second volume was published in April 1998. In the preface to the second volume, it was written that the book would be published in four volumes: 1915–1935 (before the age of 20); 1935–1939 (during the War of Resistance in the Guomindang-controlled areas); 1939–1945 (eight years of the War of Resistance); and 1945–1949 (). After the second volume was published, I began working on the manuscript for the third volume and had almost completed it. However, I never submitted it, and it was delayed for several years. Recently, I found the manuscript and prepared to submit it. After reviewing it, I realized that in addition to revising the wording of the existing chapters, I needed to add more content. In the preface to the 1998 edition, it was written that the phrase "eight years of the War of Resistance" for this volume should be changed to "before the victory of the War of Resistance in Yan'an," as some content about the War of Resistance had already been covered in the second volume of My Chronological Stories. Debts must be repaid. In 2001, the publisher followed up on this matter, and I had been keeping it in mind. In the summer of 2002, I had the opportunity to visit Zhengzhou, a city I had not been to in many years. When I met Comrade Li Yana, I promised to submit the third volume of My Chronological Stories by the first half of 2003. After returning to Beijing, I began working on it. I was very confident that I could complete it on time, as my work routine was such that once the machine was running, the product would be ready in no time. After several months of effort, I had revised almost half of the manuscript. However, things did not go as planned. This work was interrupted again for various reasons, one of which was the discovery of occult blood in my stool during a medical examination in January 2003. Further tests, such as a colonoscopy and barium enema, suggested it was likely colorectal cancer. I was hospitalized for surgery. The surgery revealed no signs of cancer, but at the age of 88, my body was relatively weak after the operation. At that time, SARS was raging in Beijing. It was not until today that I could finally sit back at my computer and resume my work. Resuming my work means starting from the beginning. Upon reviewing it, I realized I needed to add and revise content. Revising it once would certainly improve it, but I did not know when I could pick up where I left off. I hope this time I can complete it without interruption.
The scope of the third volume of My Chronological Stories is "before the victory of the War of Resistance in Yan'an," covering the six years and a few months from July 1939, when I arrived in Yan'an, to September 1945, when Japan surrendered. The concept of "before the victory of the War of Resistance in Yan'an" is distinct from "I in Yan'an," as after the victory of the War of Resistance, I stayed in Yan'an for a short period, and in August 1946, I returned to Yan'an. At that time, it was the era of "overthrowing Chiang Kai-shek and liberating all of China," which would be covered in the fourth volume.
Regarding the writing method for this third volume, I do not have any new ideas and still plan to organize it completely by year. Each chapter will be numbered by year, for example, a chapter from 1939 would be marked as "39-01." The first, second, and third volumes of My Chronological Stories were written and organized differently. I feel that this method is more suitable for this volume. The fourth volume may likely adopt a different writing and organization method.