Why Yan’an?

Dear Readers:

I hope this post finds all of you safely despite the chaos that is our country currently. With Japan forcing themselves down our coast and further inland, there are only so many “safe” spaces for our people to go. The Nationalists’ government has proven themselves ill-equipped to deal with this threat and I can’t help but think of my poor parents back home who still so vividly remember the 1911 Revolution and their idol, Sun Yat-Sen, who freed China from the imperialism and foreign influence that is now, once again, ravaging entire villages and leaving countless people dead. 

As most of you know, I was formerly a student in Beijing before Japan took over the city in mere days back in 1937. Forced to flee, a few fellow students and I had to quickly decide where we would have even a chance of survival. We didn’t necessarily trust the Nationalists to protect us anymore with how little they seemed capable of against the Japanese, leaving us with one other option: Mao Zedong’s communists. As a reporter, I fervently followed news of the notorious Long March purely in the interest of knowledge and pursuit of fact, so I was aware of the community the Communists had set up in Yan’an. It is commonly said that the Communists are more committed to the anti-Japanese efforts than Chiang Kai-Shek and, please be understanding when I say this, but I would rather be part of a Communist country than a Japanese satellite.

Upon arriving in Yan’an after our own tumultuous journey, my friends and I were stunned by what has been coined as the “Yan’an Spirit,” one of utmost optimism and “exuberance.” I felt that if these people, despite the extreme hardships they had already faced, were this positive and passionate about their mission then, surely, this mission must be one of quality. While the rest of China was fighting hopelessly, the Communists had something they were fighting for proudly. I offered my reporting services, guessing correctly that the community would love the chance to have their story told, and this is how I was able to earn a spot among the Communists despite not being one myself, exactly. My friends and I knew we could not be completely honest about our backgrounds to the Communists, scared they would reject us if they learned of the privileges we had, so I emphasized to the first ones we approached how I had come from a peasant family. This is when I learned I was from the same part of China that Mao’s own family hailed from and this earned my friends and I considerable respect from the Communists in Yan’an.

Mao in general has continuously surprised me throughout my years living among the Communists in Yan’an because, though he is evidently the leader of the community, you would not be able to tell just by observing him. While certainly admired, he is treated with the same amount of respect as any other person in the community is and is afforded the same resources as the rest of us. I myself have shared (meager) meals with Mao, have been in his humble cave, and have watched him sit “inconspicuously in the midst of the crowd” as just another Communist devoted to the Cause. Mao lives just as everyone else does in Yan’an and while this way of life seems far from perfect to me (and probably to Mao, considering we came from the same, slightly more privileged background), I’m sure some of my peers have never felt so taken care of in their life before coming to Yan’an. This must be close to the egalitarian society that the Communists envision for all of China, with people working together to provide for everyone in the community and making sure no one starves or freezes.

I must also report on the position of women in Yan’an. I left the countryside years ago for a reason and was weary about returning, weary about the kind of life I would be told to live in Yan’an. I was mentally preparing myself for the feudalistic, sexist society I left behind and told myself I could survive an arranged marriage if it meant escaping the Japanese. However, the Communists in Yan’an have found a way to bring some of their progressive thinking to the countryside. I feel more respected as a woman here in Yan’an than I did back home… as long as I stay close to the Communists and farther away from the less-devoted peasants in the community; while Mao and his people are working to reform their thought, the ways here are still bordering on traditional. Women work amongst men and stand up to contribute during meetings or discussions but we’ve had many accused of being “too feminist” or “divisive”; marriages are a happy thing here, not something to fear or a symbol of oppression, but many peasant couples that were married before the Communists’ arrival do not have an egalitarian dynamic. I often see a woman named Wang Xin-lan walking hand-in-hand with her husband, chatting and laughing as they work, but also hear many stories of women being hit by their husbands. These husbands are usually punished now, though, which never happened in my experience back home. They are encouraging women to help the war effort with textile jobs (my reporting exempts me from this) and while this may not seem a lot to some, I’m sure my sisters-in-law would have loved this choice when they were my age. One of my classmates that came with me is even considering enrolling in the Army’s medical school, an opportunity few of us could ever dream of before coming to the cities. I’m not naïve enough to think that  “among (Communists), men and women are equal” completely, but they are taking steps toward that standard that few have taken before in Chinese history. I just hope that this progressive thinking prevails and does not lose priority within the Cause.

That’s all for now, everyone. Stay safe out there.