My Chronicle Story (1939-1945)

Author: Yu Guangyuan
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-06-01
Features: This book is Yu's recollections of the six years from 1939 to 1945, when he was in Yan'an during the War of Resistance. Yu experienced the ups and downs of this period, sometimes being swept by the tides of history, sometimes on the edge of the "whirlpool," or even in the "whirlpool." Through his own experiences, he provides many historical facts and materials, offering thorough observations and in-depth analyses of history.
Regarding My Chronicle of Events and its third volume, My Chronicle of Events, 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 1998, I wrote that the phrase "eight years of the War of Resistance" for this volume should be changed to "in Yan'an before the victory of the War of Resistance," as some content about the early stages of the war had already been covered in the second volume of My Chronicle of Events. Debts must be repaid. In 2001, the publisher asked about it again, 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 Chronicle of Events 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 rhythm 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 due to various reasons, including the discovery of occult blood in my stool during a physical examination in January 2003. Further tests, such as a colonoscopy and barium enema, suggested it was likely colon cancer. I was hospitalized for surgery. The surgery revealed that there was no cancer yet. However, at the age of 88, my body was relatively weak after the surgery, and at that time, SARS was raging in Beijing. It wasn't until today that I could finally sit back at my computer and resume my work. Resuming work means starting from the beginning. Upon reviewing it, I realized I needed to add and revise. Revising once would certainly improve it, but I didn't 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 Chronicle of Events is "in Yan'an before the victory of the War of Resistance," which covers the period from July 1939, when I arrived in Yan'an, to September 1945, when Japan surrendered—more than six years. The concept of "in Yan'an before the victory of the War of Resistance" is distinct from "I was in Yan'an." After the victory of the war, I stayed in Yan'an for a short time, and in August 1946, I returned to Yan'an again. 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 of 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 Chronicle of Events were written and organized differently. I feel that this method is more suitable for this volume. The fourth volume may adopt a different writing and organization method.