The Long March | A
New Long March
The Long March Detachment
of Red Guards
Walks 1,000 Kilometres to Peking to
Exchange Revolutionary Experience
China Reconstructs, 10/28/1966
Emulating the revolutionary spirit of the
Chinese Red Army's Long March, 15 revolutionary students of the Talien
Mercantile Marine Institute walked through 21 counties and cities in a
month. Following Chairman Mao's teachings that the Long March "is
a manifesto, a propaganda force, a seeding -machine," they simultaneously
studied Chairman Mao's works, spread Mao Tse-tung's thought and learnt
from the worker and peasant masses throughout their journey.' They strictly
observed the Three Main Rules of Discipline and the Eight Points for Attention
of the People's Liberation Army. The masses living along their route praised
them as Chairman Mao's faithful young red soldiers.Under the brilliance
of Mao Tse-tung's thought, 15 revolutionary students of the Talien Mercantile
Marine Institute organized the Long March Detachment of Guards. With boundless
love for the great leader Chairman Mao and emulating the revolutionary
spirit of the Red Army's Long March, and with staunch revolutionary determination
to cross mountains and rivers and overcoming many difficulties, they walked
more than1,000 kilometres in a month from Talien in the northeast to the
centre of the great proletarian cultural revolution and the sacred centre
of world revolution - Peking, capital of our great motherland. This was
done for the purpose of exchanging revolutionary experience.
Carrying the red flag bearing the name, "Long March Red Guard Detachment,"
these young fighters all had copies of Chairman Mao's works in their knapsacks.
They studied Chairman Mao's works and spread Mao Tse-tung's thought all
along the way. In accordance with Chairman Mao's teachings, they carried
forward the "three-eight" working style of the Liberation Army
and learnt from the worker and peasant masses wherever they went. No matter
where they stayed, they helped the masses carry water and sweep the courtyards
and took part in productive labour. With the Liberation Army as their
example, they strictly observed the Three Main Rules of Discipline and
the Eight Points for Attention. The workers and peasants living along
the route they travelled warmly praised them as "Chairman Mao's faithful
young red soldiers," "red descendants of the old Red Army and
the old Eighth Route Army," and "a propaganda force of Mao Tse-tung's
thought."
In August when the revolutionary teachers and students all over the country,
under the guidance of the great red banner of Mao Tse-tung's thought,
were exchanging revolutionary experience on a big scale, Li Lung-fu and
other Talien Mercantile Marine Institute students had the chance to be
the first group to go to Peking by train for the same purpose. And they
longed to fly immediately to Chairman Mao's side!
However, they did not leave immediately because they were considering
how to make this unforgettable act in their lives more meaningful. Some
of them had seen the picture of the great leader Chairman Mao in army
uniform when he had received a million revolutionary masses on August
18, and they recalled scenes of the Red Army's 12,500-kilometre Long March
which crossed many mountains and rivers. To win a complete victory in
the great proletarian cultural revolution, they thought to themselves,
it was necessary to have both dauntless revolutionary spirit and steel-like
revolutionary will and energy. In this great revolution which touches
the souls of the people, it was necessary to emulate and carry forward
the Long March spirit of the old Red Army and to temper and cultivate
the Liberation Army's working style of enduring extraordinary hardships.
They made a bold proposal: Go to Peking on foot!
"To Them a Thousand Mountains, Ten Thousand Rivers Are Nothing"
The 15 young revolutionaries set out with a heroic spirit on the morning
of August 25. Fearing neither wind nor rain and taking neither vehicles
nor boats, they walked over mountains, swam across rivers, and travelled
through 21 counties and cities and one reclamation region in Liaoning
and Hopei Provinces. They faced the world and braved the storms as they
marched over the vast land, they passed a severe test of their revolutionary
will.
Inspired by the great thought of Mao Tse-tung and brimming with lofty
revolutionary aspiration, they trampled down one difficulty after another
along the road. When they encountered gales and downpours on their journey,
they recited together Chairman Mao's poem: "The Red Army fears not
the trials of a distant march; To them a thousand mountains, ten thousand
rivers are nothing… ." In marching against wind and rain, they
also loudly sang We Love Chairman Mao Most and other revolutionary songs.
When big rivers cut across their route, they encouraged each other with
the great example of Chairman Mao swimming in the Yangtse and his majestic
poem "I care not that the wind blows and the waves beat; It is better
than idly strolling in a courtyard." They swam across the rivers
and said: "Chairman Mao swims in the Yangtse even at the age of 73.
We are New China's future seamen who should all the more be tested in
great storms.
When their feet were swollen and blistered and they felt very tired, they
read the passage from Chairman Mao's works "Be resolute, fear no
sacrifice and surmount every difficulty to win victory." They then
immediately became full of spirit and their courage increased a hundredfold.
Mao Tse-tung's thought is strength! Wind, rain or pain meant nothing to
these youngsters! Learning from the practice of the old Eighth Route Army,
they broke their blisters with hair, plastered their ankles and continued
their march with big strides, chin up and chest out. One after another,
motor vehicles and carts caught up with them and passed them. Many drivers
warmly invited them to ride with them, but they politely declined.
When they could not sleep at night because
of mosquitoes and insects in their lodging places, they thought about
the trials endured by their revolutionary predecessors. They said: "Our
present conditions are so many times better than those of the Red Army
in the past, why should we complain?"
Red Propaganda Force
The fighters of the Long March Red Guard Detachment followed the great
statement of Chairman Mao that the Long March "is a manifesto, a
propaganda force, a seeding-machine," and put forth the heroic words:
"We want to be a seeding-machine of the revolution and spread Mao
Tse-tung's thought everywhere." They studied and did propaganda work
on their journey, and spread Mao Tse-tung's thought wherever they went.
They were glad to see Chairman Mao's portraits and quotations from his
works in every household and village. They seized every chance to read
out in a loud voice quotations from Chairman Mao for the commune members
in the fields, and carefully explain to them the Decision of the Central
Committee of the Chinese Communist Party Concerning the Great Proletarian
Cultural Revolution and the Communique of the Ilth Plenary Session of
the Eighth Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party. In villages,
towns and market places, they put up revolutionary leaflets and slogans
on the walls and did active propaganda work for the great proletarian
cultural revolution which was initiated and is being led by Chairman Mao
himself. No matter how tired they were, the first thing they did every
day on their arrival at their place of lodging was to look for newspapers,
study documents and write and stencil propaganda material for the great
cultural revolution by dim candle light. Whenever newspapers carried important
editorials, they promptly mimeographed them and distributed them to the
masses.
In order that more people could hear the words of the Party Central Committee
and Chairman Mao, they picked a route which took them to the hilly regions
to do propaganda work among the masses in out-of-the-way places when they
entered Hopei Province. In order to let Mao Tse-tung's thought go deep
into people's minds and become familiar in every home, they ate sparingly
and saved every cent they could to buy a stencil-plate and paper to print
revolutionary leaflets and slogans.
As soon as the Party Central Committee issued the call to "take firm
hold of the revolution and promote production," they worked with
commune members through the nights, helping to bring in the autumn harvest.
And as they worked they did propaganda work. One day, after covering 40
krn., they reached a production brigade in Luanhsien County, Hopei Province,
at 5 o'clock in the afternoon. Commune members were busy husking maize.
This was a chance not to miss doing propaganda work. They had a hasty
meal and then joined the commune members. With the aid of a flashlight
they read quotations from Chairman Mao, the Decision of the C.P.C. Central
Committee Concerning the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution and editorials
from Renmin Ribao. They worked for three hours and all the while they
did propaganda work. The commune members were moved to praise them as
genuine propagators of Mao Tse-tung's thought. In enthusiastically publicizing
Mao Tse-tung's thought among the masses these red propagandists in turn
were educated. In the process their legs became as tough as iron and their
red hearts became redder than ever.
The Long March Red Guard Detachment knew that to publicize the thought
of Mao Tse-tung well they should, first of all, study it well. To make
room for copies of Chairman Mao's works and Quotations From C hairman
Mao Tse-tung, they took less clothing. They carried as much propaganda,
material as they could. Caught in the rain, these Red Guards wrapped their
copies of Selected Works of Mao Tse-tung in the only raincoat the group
had. "Wet clothing will dry out quickly," they said, "but
these precious books must not be allowed to get spoiled. They are our
very life-blood!" On their way to Peking, no matter how busy or tired
they were, they kept up their study of Chairman Mao's works. In fact,
the busier they were, the more tired they were and the more difficulties
they met, the harder they studied Chairman Mao's works. They studied in
the course of actual struggle and applied it in the course of actual struggle.
At every step of their "Little Long March," it was the great
thought of Mao Tse-tung that brightened their revolutionary way forward,
gave them the courage and the strength to face and overcome hardships
and helped them to grow and mature.
In all the places they passed through, the revolutionary people were deeply
moved by the zeal these youngsters showed in studying and publicizing
Mao Tse-tung's thought. The broad masses of workers, poor and lower-middle
peasants all gave them their warmest support and encouragement. When there
was a printing press the workers rushed out their propaganda leaflets
for them, often working through the night. Many times when commune members
heard that they were on their way to Peking to see Chairman Mao, they
left their work to go and meet them. And the first words of these commune
members were: "When you see Chairman Mao, remember to ask after him
for us, and wish our Chairman eternal long life!" Accompanying them
for a while, the peasants on taking their leave sang the song The East
Is Red in loud voices and shouted again and again "Long live Chairman
Mao!" Often poor and lower-middle peasants cycled tens of kilometres
to get leaflets from them and local Red Guards rushed out letters in the
night for them to deliver to Chairman Mao wishing him long life. People
praised these young revolutionaries for displaying the working style of
the old Eighth Route Army men, saying, "With successors like these
the Chinese and world revolution is in good hands!"
A Great Classroom for Teaching Class Struggle
Chairman Mao has said: "In order to have a real grasp of Marxism,
one must learn it not only from books, but mainly through class struggle,
through practical work and close contact with the masses of workers and
peasants." Keeping to this teaching, these young revolutionaries
of the Long March Red Guard Detachment visited workers, poor and lower-middle
peasants and old revolutionaries and held discussions with them, taking
every opportunity to learn from them. They had more than 40 get-togethers
with old workers, old poor peasants, veterans of the Eighth Route Army
and revolutionary students. Through these activities they learnt profound
lessons on class struggle and about the revolutionary tradition. In Chinhsien
county, Liaoning Province, they called on Ma Yu-cheng, a labour hero and
an activist in studying Chairman Mao's works. The way this old poor peasant
never forget the suffering of his class, his undying hatred for the class
oppression in the old society with its blood and tears, and his boundless
love for the Party and Chairman Mao and persistent study of Chairman Mao's
works, creatively studying and applying what he studied, were profound
lessons for these young revolutionaries. They set their minds to be like
this old poor peasant, study Chairman Mao's works, follow his teachings,
act in accordance with his instructions and be good students of Chairman
Mao.
In early September, they arrived at noon in Tashan where the famous "Tashan
Regiment of Heroes," fought the battle of Tashan during the Liberation
War. Every hill and every blade of grass here is a mute reminder of the
glorious deeds of those heroes. At the monument erected to the revolutionary
martyrs of Tashan, the youngsters took the following solemn oath: "We
members of the Long March Red Guard Detachment will continue along the
road crimsoned with your blood, take up your guns, and go on with the
fight to complete the task you had to leave unfinished. We are at all
times ready to face all kinds of hardships, unafraid of sacrifice, and
will for ever follow Chairman Mao in revolution, so that our great motherland
shall never change colour and that we can build our country into an impregnable
proletarian state and make it secure!"
Long-Dreamt-Of Meeting With Chairman Mao
In Peking, the young revolutionaries of the Long March Red Guard Detachment
happily met their great leader Chairman Mao whom they had long dreamt
of meeting. Li Lung-fu was invited as the detachment's representative
to go up on the Tien An Men rostrum on National Day, and along with other
representatives from all parts of the motherland, he was received by our
most, most respected and beloved great leader Chairman Mao.
The night before meeting Chairman Mao, many were the thoughts racing through
the minds of the 15 fighting members of the Long March Red Guard Detachment.
Sun Feng-chi, whose family were hired farmhands for generations, thought
of his father who worked as a farm labourer hired by the year for the
landlords in the old society. Those were long days of suffering . . .
the landlord's lash . . . the family scattered. . . . It was our respected
and beloved Chairman Mao who rescued the family from the pit of fire and
it was Chairman Mao who gave him the opportunity to go to college!
Chang Huai-fa remembered the days in an orphanage in the Liberated Areas
and the first time he shouted "Long live Chairman Mao!", the
first time he sang the song Chairman Mao Is the Saviour, and the Spring
Festival when a teacher brought them new cotton padded jackets, saying,
"These are from Chairman Mao." At that time he didn't have a
relative in the world but he looked upon Chairman Mao as his only kinsman.
For years he had been wishing and hoping to see his saviour Chairman Mao!
The thoughts running through their minds that night were both bitter and
sweet. Now their dreams through the years were about to be realized. How
could they sleep! Some got into bed, then climbed out again to write something
in their diaries and read some quotations from Chairman Mao. All longed
for the day to break.
The Long March Red Guard Detachment is now about to leave Peking to return
to their school. They firmly expressed that they will certainly take Chairman
Mao's support and solicitude for the revolutionary masses and the revolutionary
spirit and revolutionary experience of Peking's revolutionary students
and teachers back to Talien and their school. They have also pledged to
firmly defend the proletarian revolutionary line represented by Chairman
Mao and to thoroughly criticize and repudiate the bourgeois reactionary
line, and to carry the great proletarian cultural revolution through to
the end.
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