Beginning in August 1966, a series of rallies were held
on Tiananmen Square, as Mao received Red Guards who had come to Beijing
from all over the country. The travels of these youths, and the travels
of others who also journeyed throughout China seeking to spread the
message of their rebellion, were known as the "Great Link-ups,"
or da chuanlian.
These link-ups were also a way for young people to reenact the 1949
Revolution, and many set out from their homes on foot in imitation of
the Long March. The Long March
(October 1934 – October 1935), when Communist forces trekked over
6,000 miles to the north in the mid-1930s, was the central event in
Chinese revolutionary mythology. It became a metaphor for the revolution
itself. After the Communist victory in China, the history of the Long
March was told in epic fashion, enthralling youths in the 1950s and
60s.
The stations of the 1949 Revolution -- Shanghai (where the party was
founded), Jinggangshan in Jiangxi (where major communist bases had been
established in the 1920s and 30s) and Yan'an in Shaanxi (the war-time
party base), as well as Beijing itself (home to Mao Zedong) -- became
the loci of mass movements of Red Guards from 1966 until 1968.
Next: From Huhehaote to Yan'an
When complete, this section of the Morning Sun website
will feature documentary footage and an original diary tracking a group
of Red Guards on their New Long March from Inner Mongolia to Yan'an,
as well as stage shows and feature films glorifying the Long March of
the 1930s.