Yenan Calls

Dear Readers:

It has been some time since I last reported on the current conditions in our country, and I consider myself lucky in the fact that I have remained safe and in good health. However, it has come time for me to risk this safety as I have been given an assignment that is too important to pass up. In the past weeks, I have made the journey to the remote Chinese Communist Party base in Yenan in northern Shaanxi province. I have made this journey in order to discover and report on why so many people are flocking to the CCP during these hard times.

The Chinese Communist Party has grown larger than I could’ve ever imagined when I wrote my last post regarding the possibility of another revolution. It is now 1943, and party membership has grown to over a million people, and continues to grow rapidly [Dietrich, 29]. But what has caused this rapid rise in party membership, and why are people so willing to travel to such a remote area as Yenan to be a part of this movement? The simple answer is the pull of the movement. The CCP has endured so much over the last fifteen years, starting with the Nationalists’ “White Terror” of 1927. Since this massacre, the CCP has slowly bounced back, first with the Jiangxi Soviet, and now in Yenan. The so-called “Long March” of 1934 and 1935 became the backbone of the Communist movement. The party had endured hardship like never before and came out stronger and with a clear leader in Mao Zedong [Dietrich, 25]. The hardship of the Long March gave the movement a “romantic glamour” [Dietrich, 28]. Also playing a role is the location. It is desolate here in Yenan, yet the atmosphere is upbeat and hopeful. The leaders of the Party do not appear to hold themselves above us normal people. Even Chairman Mao is living in a cave like the rest of the ordinary citizens, and the Communists and Red Army soldiers are all honest and hardworking, always making sure to give back to the people [Dietrich, 28]. The welcoming policies of the CCP in Yenan also played a role in attracting support. One Communist officer I interviewed said that the Party was happy to ally themselves with the rich, and even landlords, as long as they were not Nationalist or Japanese collaborators and wanted to join the resistance [China: A Century of Revolution, China in Revolution, 1:12:10]. While in Yenan, the CCP toned down the traditional Communist calls for a violent class revolution in favor of carefully building rural, middle-class support [China: A Century of Revolution, China in Revolution, 1:11:52]. This shift allowed more people to join the movement, and also prevented the alienation of those who might not have bought into the idea of a violent class revolution.

The most remarkable part of the CCP’s success in Yenan has come from the rise of Mao Zedong. While I have not been able to meet the Chairman in person in order to conduct an interview, I have had access to a vast array of literature written by Chairman Mao, as well as transcribed speeches and interviews with others. Through these, I can confidently say that I believe he is the biggest reason the Party is having such success at the moment. In 1936, American journalist Edgar Snow traveled to Yenan to write about the Communist movement, and his publications have given me much insight into who Chairman Mao is. Snow described Mao as having greater influence throughout the Communist world of China compared to anybody else [Snow in Cheek, 185]. Snow also stressed the importance of personality in his leadership, something that I have witnessed during my travels here, as I have not heard anyone speak poorly of him. Snow’s account of the Chairman documents him attending events and sitting in the theater with the rest of the people, not holding himself higher than anyone and allowing himself to interact with those under him in ordinary situations [Snow in Cheek, 185]. Mao’s connection to the people was also evident in a recent speech on leadership methods where he stated that “All correct leadership must come from the masses and go to the masses” [Cheek, 120]. Mao’s populist viewpoints are immensely popular as he truly believes that the people should have a large influence on how they are governed.

From my travels to the Communist stronghold in Yenan, it has become clear that through moderately worded policies and reforms, the willingness to fight against the Japanese, and the connection of the leaders to the people have resulted in a strong and fast-growing movement that soon will be too powerful to be stopped. While in my last article, I was skeptical if revolution was necessary, I now fully believe in the Chinese Communist Party and its future as the leading group for our great nation.

Stay safe my friends,

孙诚