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.