Why We Should Read The Long March Diary

Diary of the Long March

Xiao Feng

Beijing United Publishing Co.， Ltd.

March 2024

49.80 (CNY)

In October 1934， the 18-year-old Xiao Feng left the Soviet Area with the Red Army commanders and soldiers， embarking on a long and arduous journey. No one knew where they were heading， how long the journey would last， or where the base area was. However， the revolutionary belief of “overthrowing the Kuomintang army and liberating the poor” constantly motivated the young soldiers. They braved the hail of bullets and pressed forward with courage， repeatedly breaking through life-and-death situations and ultimately marching towards victory. General Xiao Feng， in extremely harsh conditions， faithfully documented the journey from suffering to glory in his diary， reflecting the unwavering revolutionary ideals held by the Long March soldiers. The great spirit of the Long March has inspired generations of Chinese people to courageously strive for the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

Xiao Feng

Xiao Feng was a Major General in the People’s Liberation Army of China. After the founding of the People’s Republic of China， he served as the deputy commander and advisor of the Armored Corps of the former Beijing Military Region. Since joining the Chinese Workers’ and Peasants’ Red Army in 1928， General Xiao Feng maintained the habit of writing diaries throughout his 64-year revolutionary career. After retiring， he organized more than ten million words of memoirs based on his diaries， publishing works such as The Long March Diary， A Personal Account of a Hundred Battles in Ten Years， and Review of the Landing Battle in Jinmen.

Xiao Nanxi

Xiao Nanxi， daughter of General Xiao Feng， is an associate professor at the Army Academy of Armored Forces (formerly the Armored Corps Engineering Academy). For many years， she has been dedicated to the inheritance and promotion of revolutionary history， assisting her father in organizing and publishing several works.

Xiao Feng’s The Long March Diary was first published in 1979 and quickly became popular nationwide. Since then， multiple editions have been published.

In the early 1980s， I was fortunate to hear a special lecture on this book in my university’s military history class. Xiao Feng’s dedication to writing over 100，000 words in his diary during the 25，000-li Long March， amidst the hardships of being encircled and intercepted by the enemy， deeply impressed and inspired me， a veteran of war.

Xiao Feng was born into poverty and was a cowherd before joining the army， without any opportunity to attend school. He learned to read， write， and compose after joining the Red Army. His comrades told him that recording the fervent combat life could not only consolidate his literacy skills but also enhance his ideological level and work abilities. Thus， he simultaneously learned to read and write diaries on rough paper and all kinds of colorful wrapping paper. This habit persisted for over sixty years， accompanying him through a revolutionary career filled with warfare and relentless struggle.

The Red First， Red Second， Red Fourth Front Armies， and the Red Twenty-fifth Army participated in the Long March， with nearly 200，000 troops. However， only a dozen of them kept diaries， which have now become extremely valuable historical documents. Xiao Feng was the one who maintained his diary for the longest time among them， and his diary is the best preserved to date. Through this diary， we see not only the author’s ideological depth but also the Red Army’s courageous， steadfast belief in the eventual victory of the revolutionary cause.

Mao Zedong once said a famous quote that resonated throughout the army: “An army without culture is a dull-witted army， and a dull-witted army cannot defeat the enemy.” From the early days of the Red Army， he emphasized the importance of cultural education for soldiers， placing “military education，” “political education，” and “cultural education” on equal footing as the three major educations. During the Jinggangshan period， Mao Zedong organized the establishment of the Workers’ and Peasants’ Revolutionary Army Officers Training Corps to improve the military and cultural literacy of grassroots commanders. In December 1929， while drafting the Gutian Conference Resolution， Mao Zedong set clear requirements for the cultural education of the army， stating that “the political departments of each column should be responsible for compiling literacy textbooks for young soldiers” and “each column should establish a school for young soldiers， divided into three to four classes，” with “each term consisting of ninety hours of instruction，” ensuring organized， leadership-led， and planned cultural education for soldiers.

In the same month the Long March began， Xiao Feng wrote in his diary: “Met Director Tan Zheng during the march... He also said: ‘The company should actively carry out a literacy campaign during the march. If each person learns one character a day， they can learn more than 360 characters in a year. Eliminating illiteracy will better facilitate the study of revolutionary theory.’”

During the tense period of breaking through the enemy’s blockade， Zhou Enlai told Xiao Feng: “We must seriously implement the Party’s policies， firmly believe in and rely on the masses， and carry out publicity work so that the seeds of revolution are sown wherever the Red Army passes.” Zhou Enlai praised the “Stand Guard” literacy signs the soldiers carried on their backs， saying: “Fighting while learning， recognizing characters even during combat—this is a good method. Our workers and peasants need culture for fighting now and even more for building the new China in the future.”

The “Four Crossings of the Chishui River” is renowned in the history of the Red Army’s Long March， but Xiao Feng’s Red First Division accomplished the “Eight Crossings of the Chishui River.” During the tense marching and combat periods， the Red First Division still required: “All units should immediately mobilize their literate members to use charcoal and brushes to write slogans to demoralize the White Army on walls and doors. From the company level to the corps level， military and political cadres should lead by example， personally writing slogans to demoralize the White Army all over the camp.”

The Gouba Meeting， following the Zunyi Meeting， was another significant meeting that solidified Mao Zedong’s leadership position in the Party and the Red Army. After the meeting， Mao Zedong decided on a surprise maneuver， crossing the Chishui River from east to west three times. At this critical moment， Xiao Feng’s unit still insisted on cultural learning. In his diary on March 12， he wrote: “Our literacy campaign during the march is going well. Squad leader Liu Xinwen of the Seventh Company learned twelve characters in one day of marching. It’s just that the character for ‘circle’ (圈) is hard to write. I believe we can learn it step by step， from easy to difficult.”

After the Central Red Army’s victorious arrival in northern Shaanxi， Xiao Feng wrote: “Set out from Luojiagou at five in the morning and camped at Hejiaping， covering seventy li (about 22 miles). The regiment headquarters is very strict about the literacy work during the march. The soldiers use hard paper and tree bark to make signs with characters on them， learning characters while marching， and the results are very good.”

It was in this strong cultural learning atmosphere， amidst the smoke and fire of war， that Xiao Feng wrote The Long March Diary.

After reaching the Shaanxi-Gansu revolutionary base， Xiao Feng had relatively stable rest periods during which he transcribed his stained and blurred original diaries into notebooks. Later， during his convalescence， he verified the entries with relevant leaders and comrades， supplementing and organizing the diary. After the founding of the People’s Republic of China， he retraced the Long March route， verifying and revising the names， places， and events in his diary， eventually forming The Long March Diary. The diary shines with the revolutionary spirit of the Red Army commanders and fighters， characterized by struggle (“The Red Army fears no hardship in the Long March”)， optimism (“The boundless rivers and mountains are just idle talk”)， progressiveness (“Now we take a step forward to start anew”)， and resilience (“One who fails to reach the Great Wall is not a hero”).

In its century-long struggle， the Chinese Communist Party has formed a glorious spiritual lineage， of which the Long March spirit is a part. “The great feat of the Long March in human history left us with the most valuable spiritual wealth—the great Long March spirit forged by the lives and blood of the Chinese Communists and Red Army soldiers.”

The Long March was a great expedition full of ideals and beliefs in the history of the Red Army， and Xiao Feng’s diary written amidst the smoke and fire of war is a spiritual expedition. To study the Long March spirit， Xiao Feng’s The Long March Diary is a must-read; to research the history of the Long March， The Long March Diary should be a reference book on your desk; to retrace the Long March route， The Long March Diary is not only a roadmap but also a spiritual guide when facing difficulties and setbacks.

Every generation has its mission， and every generation has its Long March. Life itself is a Long March， requiring ideological “calcium supplementation” and spiritual “refueling” along the way. Reading The Long March Diary once is like retracing the arduous Long March， allowing us to deeply understand the Long March spirit and realize that it is an essential tool for overcoming difficulties. On the new journey， we still have many “Snow Mountains” and “Grasslands” to cross and many “Loushanguan” and “Lazikou” to conquer. Therefore， we need to consciously draw strength from the Long March spirit and energetically embark on the Long March of the new era.

On the occasion of the reprint of The Long March Diary， I was entrusted by Xiao Feng’s daughter， Xiao Nanxi， to write the above words as a preface.