Long March: Details Determine History

Author: Wu Dongfeng, Zhu Jihong
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 hunger and cold that pushed them to the brink, the near-death experiences, the heart-stirring decisions and disagreements, the widespread hardships, dangers, and sacrifices—would the Long March still be so globally renowned? Would it still evoke such awe and emotion? Details are the grains of an event, the links in a process. Any event unfolds through a process of occurrence, development, and change, undergoing a transformation from the quantitative change of details to the qualitative change of the event itself. Details are fragmented, scattered, and unordered, but the accumulation and connection of individual details will influence the course 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 building blocks" of the event—i.e., from the details. The Long March was the experience of the Communist Party of China and the army it led, as well as the republic it established thirteen years later during its "childhood." Through its hardships and brutality, and the tenacious march of tens of thousands of Red Army soldiers in the face of these challenges, the Long March demonstrated the unyielding willpower and vitality of the party, the army, and the nation. A person's character, expressions, and behavior during their childhood often determine their future life. Similarly, the "details" experienced by a party, an army, and a nation during their "childhood" not only help us understand the many of that time but also enable us to recognize their future trajectory of existence and development.