Chronology of Zhou Enlai (1949-1976)

Author: Compiled by the Documentation and Research Center of the CPC Central Committee
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 1997-05-01
Features:
1. Zhou Enlai is the main subject of this chronicle. In the narration of the subject's activities, the subject is generally omitted.
2. This chronicle records events in chronological order by year, month, and day. A few entries are written in the style of "record of events" as needed. If an entry includes multiple activities on different dates, the first time is marked with , and subsequent times are mentioned in the text.
3. If there are multiple entries for the same time in the chronicle, the first entry clearly states the time, and subsequent entries use the "△" symbol to indicate the same time as the first entry.
4. The text strives to specify the exact date of each activity. For dates that are unclear, "early in the month" is used, and if the month is unclear, "in the month" is used, and so on. These are generally placed at the end of the period (end of the month), but some are placed in the middle of the period (middle of the month), as the compilers can generally determine the time.
5. For documents and telegrams co-signed by the subject and others, the order of names generally follows the original order. If the subject is listed first, their name is usually omitted, and only the activity undertaken with others is mentioned.
6. This chronicle appropriately reflects some important background materials, arranged in chronological order within the text.
7. For events with two different accounts, except for some that have been studied and confirmed as one account, some adopt the prevailing account while noting the other account in the footnote. For accounts where the time cannot be determined, the other account's estimated time is indicated in parentheses.
8. This chronicle provides brief annotations for some people and events mentioned in the text.
In September 1989, "Zhou Enlai Chronicle" (1898–1949), the pre-PRC part, was published publicly. "Zhou Enlai Chronicle" (1949–1976), the post-PRC part, began writing in early 1981 and formed a 400,000-character draft by the end of 1982. Subsequently, due to heavy other tasks and other reasons, the writing work was temporarily suspended. In 1990, writing resumed based on the draft, and was completed by the end of 1996. It was printed in January 1997.
The post-PRC part of "Zhou Enlai Chronicle" is divided into three volumes:
- Volume 1: October 1949 to 1956, with 470,000 characters.
- Volume 2: 1957 to 1965, with 560,000 characters.
- Volume 3: 1966 to 1976, with 530,000 characters.
The three volumes together total 1.56 million characters.