Long March - Details Determine History

Author: Wu Dongfeng
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-08-01
Features: The Long March of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army. If it lacked the details—without the snow-capped mountains, the vast grasslands, the desperate hunger and thirst, the life-and-death struggles, the heart-stirring decisions and disagreements, the、—would the Long March still be as globally renowned? Would it still evoke such awe and emotion? Details are the grains of an event, the links in a process. Every event has a process of occurrence, development, and change, and there is a transformation from the quantitative change of details to the qualitative change of the event. Details are scattered, fragmented, and unordered, but the accumulation and connection of individual details will influence the direction of history. Precisely because any historical event and our memories of these events are composed of details, when we attempt to reconstruct history, we must start from the "smallest units" of the event—i.e., from the details. The Long March was the experience of the Communist Party of China, its led army, and the republic it established thirteen years later during its "childhood." Through its hardship and brutality, and the tenacious journey of tens of thousands of Red Army soldiers in the face of such challenges, the Long March demonstrated the unyielding will and vitality of the Party, the army, and the nation. A person's character, expressions, and behavior during childhood often determine their future life. Similarly, the "details" experienced by a Party, an army, and a nation during their "childhood" can not only help us understand the many accidents and inevitabilities of that time but also guide us in recognizing their future trajectory of existence and development.