Long March - A Story Unheard Before

Author: Harrison Salisbury (USA)
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2002-04-23
Features: Every revolution has its legend. The legend of the American Revolution is Valley Forge. The battle achievements of Valley Forge are etched in the hearts of all American patriots. After enduring that severe test, George Washington and his soldiers embarked on the path to victory. The French Revolution destroyed the Bastille. For the Russian Revolution, it was capturing the Winter Palace in Petrograd. At the time, the Bastille held only seven prisoners, and the Bolsheviks' entry into the Winter Palace was effortless because it was guarded by only young people and women. But none of that mattered. They all became symbols of the revolution. The Long March of the Chinese Revolution in 1934 was not a symbol but a magnificent epic that tested the will, courage, and resilience of the male and female soldiers of the Chinese Red Army. This book about the Long March was published in the United States in October 1985 and quickly gained a large readership. It has also been reprinted in major countries in Europe and Asia, as well as many small nations. Those who have never read the glorious epic of the Red Army can now begin to understand, in a sense, the qualities of the men and women who sacrificed for the cause of the Chinese Revolution. They will start to learn about the most inspiring acts of courage in human history since the written record began. They will begin to understand the magnitude of the sacrifices made by the Red Army simply from statistics—the 86,000 men and women who set out from Jiangxi in October 1934 had dwindled to about 6,000 by October 1935 when the army led by Mao Zedong reached Shaanxi. The Long March is an epic. This is not only because of the heroism embodied by the simple soldiers and their commanders but also because the Long March actually became the crucible of the Chinese Revolution. It forged the entire generation that, under Mao Zedong, defeated Chiang Kai-shek and seized all of China, along with their brotherly revolutionary camaraderie. This camaraderie vanished during the of Mao's later years, casting a tragic hue on this heroic epic. However, the survivors have now miraculously regained power. Under Deng Xiaoping, they have led China on what they call a "new Long March." This new Long March is as arduous as the one decades ago and may become a great social and political experiment of the modern era. But the devastation of the Cultural Revolution and the "Gang of Four" belong to another story. What is chronicled here is the story of the Long March—the historical facts of the Long March that I was able to gather with the help of Chinese historians and survivors of the Long March.