Jinggangshan Revolutionary Museum: A Spark Starts a prairie fire

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2021-06-18


Jinggangshan is the cradle of the Chinese revolution. Jinggang Mountain is a mountain of revolution, a mountain of battle, a mountain of heroes and a mountain of glory.  
In 1927, after the failure of the grand revolution, the CPC began a new struggle to save the revolution and find a new revolutionary road. In October, Mao Zedong led the Workers and Peasants Revolutionary Army in the Autumn Harvest Uprising on the Hunan Jiangxi border to fight for the establishment of Jinggangshan Rural Revolutionary Base with Ninggang as the center. In this process, a large number of CPC people with Mao Zedong as the main representative, through the practice of creating and developing the Red Army and rural revolutionary base areas, gradually found a way to promote the Chinese revolution towards revival and new victory. This is the "key significance" of the Jinggangshan struggle.
Jinggangshan witnessed the exploration courage of seeking a new road
Seeking truth from facts and daring to blaze new trails are the core of Jinggangshan spirit. During the Jinggangshan period, Comrade Mao Zedong, based on the reality of the Chinese revolution, closely combined the universal truth of Marxism with the specific practice of the Chinese revolution, put forward the thought of the rural centered revolutionary road, proposed and developed the thought of party building, party command gun, branch building in the company, equality between officers and soldiers and other ideas of party building and military building, and carried out a series of successful practices in armed struggle, agrarian revolution, base area construction, etc.
After the birth of the CPC, the young party chose the revolutionary road of "taking Russia as its teacher" and "taking the city as the center" at the very beginning. After a series of uprisings and struggles from 1927 to 1928, more and more revolutionaries began to realize that "taking cities as the center" was not suitable for the current situation of China. Only by going to the countryside, especially those affected by the Great Revolution, could there be a broad world of revolutionary development. In September 1927, after Sanwan was reorganized, Mao Zedong, in the process of leading the troops southward, through investigation and research, keenly found that the middle section of the Luoxiao Mountains on the Hunan Jiangxi border, namely Jinggangshan, was a very suitable foothold for the troops. Mao Zedong believed that the Jinggangshan area has the following advantages: the Party has a good mass base; The peasant armed forces led by Yuan Wencai and Wang Zuo are willing to combine with the worker peasant revolutionary army; The terrain is dangerous, easy to defend but difficult to attack; With a self-sufficient agricultural economy, it is easy for the army to raise money and food; It is located at the border between Hunan and Jiangxi, far away from the central city under the rule of the Kuomintang. At the same time, there are contradictions between the warlords in Hunan and Jiangxi.
At the beginning of October 1927, when the troops arrived at the ancient city of Ninggang, Jiangxi Province, they quickly held a meeting to study the establishment of a base area and the adoption of the policy of unity and transformation for the armed peasants Yuan Wencai and Wang Zuo in Jinggangshan. After the meeting, the former enemy committee with Mao Zedong as the secretary led the army and the people in Jinggangshan, took advantage of the favorable opportunity of the war between the new Kuomintang warlords and the emptiness of the enemy forces in Jinggangshan area, adopted the policy of positive development, and gradually created the situation of armed separatism of workers and peasants.
The workers' and peasants' revolutionary army first carried out guerrilla insurrections in the counties of the Jinggangshan region to overthrow the local tyrants and evil gentry, mobilize the masses and establish workers' and peasants' democratic political power at the county, district and township levels. In November, the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army occupied Chaling County, and the first red regime on the Hunan Jiangxi border, the Workers', Peasants' and Soldiers' Government of Chaling County, was officially established. In January 1928, the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army captured Suichuan County; In early February, the first "invasion and suppression" of Kuomintang troops in Jiangxi was broken. So far, the foundation of Jinggangshan Base Area has been laid. With regard to this exploration, Marxist classical writers have no relevant discussion, the international communist movement has no ready experience, and the "Left" line and dogmatism within the Party continue to interfere and suppress, which is not easy.
Jinggangshan witnessed an incomparably firm belief in victory
 
After the failure of the Great Revolution, the people's revolutionary struggle led by the CPC entered the hardest era, and the revolutionary situation turned to a low tide. At that time, many outstanding cadres of the CPC, outstanding leaders of the mass movement, thousands of CPC members, Communist Youth League members, revolutionary workers, farmers, intellectuals and non party revolutionaries fell into a pool of blood, and the party's activities were forced to go underground. In an extremely dangerous environment, some people in the Party's ranks lack a correct understanding of the current situation and have a wrong assessment. As a result, they become pessimistic about the situation and environment in which the Party and the Red Army are located and fall into ideological confusion. They do not believe that the revolutionary climax is likely to come quickly. They do not even agree to win military victories first, nor do they agree to use the consolidation and expansion of the Red regime to gradually promote the arrival of the national revolutionary climax.
Under such circumstances, the Jinggangshan struggle led by Mao Zedong broke through the pressure of counter revolution and held up the glorious banner of revolution in the dark. Many of them have defended their communist beliefs with their own blood and lives. They used the red flag on Jinggang Mountain to clearly show that the brave CPC would not be intimidated by the Kuomintang's massacre policy, but would only wipe the blood off their bodies, bury the bodies of their companions, hold high the revolutionary flag, raise the sail of ideal again, firm their faith, and throw themselves into the new battle.
After more than a year of persistent struggle in Jinggangshan, people who followed Mao Zedong to Jinggangshan began to doubt whether the Red Army could stand on its feet and raised the question of "how long the Red Flag can be played". Can the Red regime exist and develop for a long time under the siege of the White regime? In response to this question, Mao Zedong gave a timely answer on the basis of summing up the experience and lessons of the Jinggangshan struggle. In the resolution of Political Issues and Border Party Tasks drafted for the Second Congress of the Hunan Jiangxi Border Party, and in the report he wrote to the CPC Central Committee on behalf of the former committee of the Fourth Red Army on November 25, 1928, he demonstrated the subjective and objective conditions for the long-term existence and development of the Red regime according to the characteristics of Chinese society and the Chinese revolution, and put forward the idea of the armed separatist regime of workers and peasants.
Mao Zedong believed that these subjective and objective conditions were that China was an economically backward semi colonial country indirectly ruled by imperialism. The semi feudal local agricultural economy (not the unified capitalist economy) and the imperialist policy of dividing the sphere of influence in China have continued to cause divisions and wars within the reactionary ruling class. Since such splits and wars have always continued, the Red regime in small regions can take advantage of these contradictions and persist for a long time. The reason why the Red regime took place in small areas was closely related to the influence of the Great Revolutionary Movement. The place where such political power first took place and could exist for a long time was the place where the workers and peasants had been mobilized during the Great Revolution. The long-term existence of small red areas also depends on whether the national revolutionary situation is moving forward. The revolutionary situation in China is bound to continue to develop with the continued division and war between the comprador class and the international bourgeoisie, so the Red regime can not only exist for a long time, but also continue to develop. The existence of a considerable number of official Red Army is a necessary condition for the existence of the Red regime. The strength of the Communist Party organization and the correctness of its policies are even more important. In addition, it is also necessary to have terrain that is convenient for operations and economic power that can provide adequate supplies.
When the revolution is at a low ebb, if we look only at superficial phenomena, we will regard temporary difficulties and setbacks as a loss of hope and future, and ignore the changes in the class balance of power in Chinese society. Mao Zedong reminded: "Some comrades often doubt the existence of such a red regime in times of difficulty and crisis, and become pessimistic. This is because we have not found out the correct explanation for why such a red regime occurred and existed. We only need to know that the division and war of China's white regime continue, and then the emergence, existence and growing development of the red regime is undoubtedly." Under the correct leadership of Mao Zedong and others, the struggle in Jinggangshan has gradually drawn a clear line between the Right pessimism that doubts the existence of the Red regime and the "Left" blind movement mistake that believes that armed insurrection can be launched unconditionally in the countryside. The army and people in the base areas have constantly inspired the spiritual forces of tenacity, courage and victory.
Jinggangshan witnessed the struggle spirit of facing difficulties
Hard struggle is the political essence and fine tradition of our party, and also the cornerstone of Jinggangshan spirit.
The struggle in Jinggangshan is mainly a military struggle. In addition to the Workers and Peasants Revolutionary Army of the Autumn Harvest Uprising on the Hunan Jiangxi border led by Mao Zedong, and the local peasant armed forces of Yuan Wencai and Wang Zuo, Jinggangshan also welcomed more than 10000 people of the Nanchang Uprising Army and the South Hunan Uprising Army led by Zhu De and Chen Yi in April 1928. Later, the troops led by Mao Zedong and Zhu De formed the Fourth Army of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army (later changed into the Fourth Army of the Red Army). On July 22, Peng Dehuai, Teng Dayuan, Huang Gonglue and others led the Pingjiang Uprising in Hunan Province, and soon the Fifth Army of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army was established. The Red Army finally arrived at the new town of Jinggangshan in early December.
While the Red Army in Jinggangshan is growing, the Kuomintang troops continue to launch "suppression" campaigns against the Jinggangshan base because the rule of the new Kuomintang warlords in the southern provinces is temporarily stable. In order to repel the enemy and defend Jinggangshan, Mao Zedong and other leaders formulated a series of correct policies: resolutely fight against the enemy and oppose escape ism; The agrarian revolution in the separatist areas; Create a situation of mass separatism and arrange long-term struggle; Concentrate our forces, oppose division, and avoid being defeated by the enemy one by one; Wavelike advance to expand the separatist regime, oppose rash advance, and so on. During this period, under the leadership of Mao Zedong and Zhu De, the Red Army actively carried out the 16 character guerrilla war decision of "the enemy advances and retreats, the enemy stays and harasses us, the enemy is tired and we fight, the enemy retreats and we advance". With less than four regiments, the Red Army defeated more than a dozen regiments of the Kuomintang army, broke the enemy's second, third and fourth "advance and suppression", and made the separatist regime increasingly expanded. After the Longyuankou battle in June 1928, the Jinggangshan base area reached its peak.
In the face of repeated attacks by the enemy, the Communists and Red Army soldiers showed the heroic spirit of fearing death and sacrifice. Before each expedition, they would tie a red ribbon around their neck. They called it a "sacrificial belt" to express their determination to pay their lives for the revolution at any time. Before the battle, people usually only say two words. One is to ask people living after the battle to tell their mothers when and where their children died; First, please write your name on the martyrs' memorial book after the victory. In the arduous battle, nearly 50000 revolutionary martyrs gave their precious lives successively. Some of them left their names, and some of them became unsung heroes forever.
Behind the military struggle in Jinggangshan, the living conditions of soldiers and civilians in the base area are increasingly difficult due to the tight blockade of the enemy. When Jinggangshan Base Area was founded, "the economy was originally a small peasant economic region, with a large number of self-employed farmers and a rather low level of daily life... Because it was located in the border area, it was quite late to be eroded by the capital economy, and the foreign goods industry was not very developed in the market. In some places, the trade was still a way to meet the market". "The only source of the Red Army's finance was to fight against local tyrants, and the finance was very tight. Later, in order to "invade and suppress" the Red Army, the Kuomintang reactionaries imposed a strict economic blockade on the base areas, resulting in poor circulation of goods and finance. At the same time, "the lack of military necessities and cash has become a great problem." In winter, "many soldiers still wear two layers of single clothes", wear straw sandals and sleep on the floor. The conditions are extremely difficult.
What is more difficult is the backwardness of medical and health conditions and the scarcity of medicines, equipment and doctors. "Once a battle is fought, there will be a number of wounded soldiers. Due to insufficient nutrition, freezing and other reasons, officers and soldiers are very ill." In this case, "the pain of the wounded and the sick is inexplicable". After the main force of the Red Army evacuated from Jinggangshan, more than 130 seriously injured patients and medical personnel in Jinggangshan Xiaojing Hospital were not transferred in time and were surrounded by the enemy. They endured injuries and diseases, fought with the enemy to death with the simplest "weapons" - crutches, stools and sticks, and were eventually captured after exhaustion. The enemy tortured them. They had no fear at all, and none of them divulged the secrets of the Red Army and finally died together at the gunpoint of the enemy.
Undaunted by the ferocious enemy and harsh environment, the army and people in Jinggangshan have withstood the tests of gunfire, cold, hunger, injury and disease with a strong revolutionary will and a firm spirit of struggle. "The separatist areas have expanded day by day, the agrarian revolution has deepened day by day, the people's political power has been promoted day by day, and the Red Army and Red Guards have grown day by day". Starting from Jinggangshan, they held the torch all the way forward, firmly believing that a single spark can start a prairie fire, and resolutely united to fight under the red flag of Jinggangshan. Their heroic feats make Jinggangshan spirit shine forever.