Biography of He Long

Author: None
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2007-01-01
Features: Biography of He Long was organized and compiled by the General Staff Department under the decision of the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the Central Military Commission. After more than ten years and seven revisions, it faithfully and completelyed the life of Marshal He Long, from starting the revolution with two cleavers to becoming one of the founding heroes of the People's Republic of China. Deng Xiaoping wrote the title for this book. Since the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the Central Military Commission assigned the task of compiling Biography of He Long, more than ten years have passed. Today, this book is finally presented to the readers. Deng Xiaoping wrote the title for this book. He Long was a great proletarian revolutionary, statesman, and military strategist, an outstanding leader of the Party and the state. He was the commander-in-chief of the Nanchang Uprising and one of the founders of the People's Liberation Army. He went through arduous struggles in the historical periods of the old democratic revolution, the new democratic revolution, and the socialist revolution and construction. From an ordinary farmer, he grew into a staunch communist. His life was closely linked with the history of Sun Yat-sen and the Communist Party of China leading the Chinese people in their revolutionary struggles, with the birth, development, and growth of the People's Liberation Army, and with the establishment and prosperity of the People's Republic of China. We feel both honored and deeply responsible to write the biography of such a world-renowned founding hero and marshal of the People's Republic. This Biography of He Long took ten years to write. Apart from the fact that the subject's life was full of hardships and twists, and that he was a legendary figure with rich practical experience, and that there was a significant gap between us and him in all aspects, accurately, comprehensively, and vividly reflecting his life to make his radiant image come to life on paper, achieving a biography that truly reflects the person, was not an easy task. Additionally, many important historical documents from the war years were not preserved, especially during the "Cultural Revolution," the subject suffered persecution from the two counter-revolutionary groups, the Lin Biao Gang and the "Gang of Four," resulting in many important historical materials being confiscated, destroyed, or lost, which greatly increased the difficulty of writing the biography. Moreover, due to various reasons, the writing team was changed multiple times, which affected the continuity of the work and delayed the process. Without materials, there could be no biography. Therefore, we first started with investigation and research, painstakingly collecting materials and interviewing elderly comrades, rescuing "living materials," and following the traces of the subject's revolutionary activities to investigate in 25 provinces, cities, and autonomous regions, nearly 110 counties, and 11 large military regions. The Central Archives, the State Council Archives Office, the Military Commission Archives, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the National Sports Commission, the Academy of Military Sciences, the National Defense Science and Technology Commission, the Navy, and the Air Force all provided strong support and provided many archival materials. Hundreds of former comrades who fought alongside the subject or were led by him, as well as revolutionary elders from various bases under his command, as well as democratic individuals and former Nationalist officers who defected, among others, provided many vivid materials, laying a solid foundation for the writing of the biography. During the writing process, we adhered to the perspective of historical materialism and the spirit of seeking truth from facts, and followed the principles set by the Biography of He Long writing leadership of the General Staff Department, such as "combining history and literature, with history as the main focus, serving history with literature," and "ensuring both credibility and readability." We used facts to speak for the subject's glorious achievements, avoiding fabrication and exaggeration; we strived for accurate and impartial evaluations, avoiding; and we wrote about major historical issues related to the subject in accordance with the original nature of history, aiming to achieve the goal of seeing the subject as if meeting him in person. However, the actual results remain to be judged by everyone. The General Staff Party Committee and the leaders of the General Staff attached great importance to compiling Biography of He Long and provided support in all aspects, creating conditions for the writing work. A Biography of He Long writing leadership was specially established with Vice Directors Wang Shangrong and Chi Haotian as the head and deputy head, respectively, to directly oversee the writing of the biography. Later, due to Wang Shangrong's illness and Chi Haotian's transfer to a military region, in June 1983, the General Staff Party Committee asked Huang Xinting, the commander of the Armored Forces, to serve as the second head of the writing leadership, with Yang Xiushan, the president of the Logistics Academy, and Yan Jinsheng, the deputy director of the General Political Department, and Liu Kai, the assistant director of the General Staff, as deputy heads, to lead the work of the leadership. The leadership proposed the principles for compiling Biography of He Long, determined the implementation plan, and put forward specific requirements for the writing process, methods, and progress. They carefully reviewed the manuscript of the biography from the draft to the submission draft and put forward specific suggestions for revision. Vice Chairman Wang Zhen showed great concern for writing Biography of He Long during his lifetime and personally inquired about it. When meeting the writing team, he repeatedly instructed that the book must be written well and he read the manuscript of Biography of He Long. In 1988, after the draft of Biography of He Long for soliciting opinions was completed, it was sent to many elderly comrades such as Xiao Ke, Yu Qiuli,, and Wang Enmao, as well as the departments of Party history and military history for review and to solicit broad opinions. From September 1988 to February 1989, nine symposiums were held successively in Wuhan, Chengdu, Lanzhou, Xining, Urumqi, Beijing, and Shanghai, respectively, presided over by Zhang Xiulong, Li Wenqing, Chen Mingyi, Li Shumao, Zhang Guosheng, Wang Enmao, Zhang Xiqin, Ma Sen, Huang Xinting, Yang Xiushan, Yan Jinsheng, Xing Yongning, and He Yixiang, with more than 90 military and civilian cadres at the army level or above participating. In addition, more than 10 elderly comrades sent written opinions. With a highly responsible spirit, they supplemented and corrected historical facts, proposed improvement suggestions, and greatly helped in revising the manuscript of Biography of He Long. The Central Documentation Research Office, the Central Party History Research Office, the writing teams for the biographies of the marshals, and the editorial departments of the military volume all provided sincere help. Especially the editorial department of the Contemporary China series and the office of the editorial committee of the Contemporary China series on national defense and military volumes provided specific guidance, playing an important role in improving the manuscript of the biography. The Political Department, Administration Department, Operations Department, and Armored Forces Department of the General Staff provided good guarantees and strong support in politics, economy, human resources, and work. Here, we express our heartfelt thanks! Biography of He Long is the result of collective labor. More than 20 people have worked in the writing team of Biography of He Long, among whom the contributors include Zhu Zeyun, Liu Yansheng, Li Bai, Jin Jiang, Liu Tongshu, Sun Shuyang, Sun Linping, Xie Wuchen, Gu Yongzhong, and Xu Hui'en, among others. Wang Dinghua and Liu Zhengdong were specially invited to write the manuscripts on the subject's work in the National Sports Commission and the National Defense Industry Commission. After the draft was completed, Li Bai, Jin Jiang, Sun Shuyang, Gu Yongzhong, and Xu Hui'en were responsible for revising and rewriting the chapters that eventually became the book. The entire book was compiled by Zhang Jingbo and Jin Jiang. Liu Wu and Zhou Fen once served as the head of the writing team, respectively, before October 1981. Liu Bingrong, Wang Jingqian, Wang Jingyan, Cheng Yihuai, Han Junya, Zhang Yan, and Xin Shumei also worked in the writing team for a period of time. They participated in the establishment, investigation and research, and collection of materials for the writing team, making contributions to writing Biography of He Long.