The route to triumph
Key base of Communist revolutionaries in 1947 reaps the rewards of red tourism
Xibaipo was once an unknown mountainous village in North China’s Hebei province, about 350 kilometers from Beijing. But after playing a key role in China’s revolution, it has become a beacon, burning brightly in the history of the Communist Party of China.
“Xibaipo witnessed the CPC marching from one victory to another. Although Chairman Mao Zedong only stayed here for 10 months, each of the battles he commanded, and each reform the CPC Central Committee carried out here, achieved victory, and a prototype for a New China was established,” said Zhang Rong, chief of Xibaipo town.
Today, Xibaipo is a popular tourist destination attracting several million people every year.
Back in 1947, Kuomintang troops attacked the CPC leadership’s settlement in Yan’an, Northwest China’s Shaanxi province. Considering that the Kuomintang had many more soldiers and more advanced equipment, the CPC Central Committee decided to retreat from Yan’an, dividing into three groups, each responsible for a different task. The first, the Central Working Committee led by Liu Shaoqi, arrived at Xibaipo in May that year.
“Xibaipo was chosen as the settlement mainly because Party branches were established earlier in the area, and many local people supported the Party. Also, it is a good location from which to either launch an offensive or to easily defend in battle. It was also rich in resources and food supplies,” said Peng Li, a tour guide at Xibaipo Memorial Hall.
The first task of the Central Working Committee was to hold the National Land Conference, and issue the Outline of Land Law of China, which overthrew the feudal exploitation of land ownership, fulfilled people’s dream of providing “land to the tiller”, and started a campaign of land reform in liberated areas.
Then, under the leadership of the Central Working Committee, the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Field Army won victories in a number of battles, especially in the liberation of Shijiazhuang, an important city that lies at the junction of three railways. The victory connected two liberated areas into one single territory, paving the way for the CPC Central Committee to settle in Xibaipo.
In May 1948, all three divisions of the CPC Central Committee had reunited in Xibaipo, and the place became the command center for China’s revolution.
“In the space of 10 months, the CPC leadership commanded the three major military campaigns that decided the future destiny of China and held the Second Plenary Session of the Seventh CPC Central Committee, laying out the blueprint of the New China,” said Peng.
The three decisive campaigns, namely Liaoshen, Huaihai and Pingjin, took place between September 1948 and January 1949, lasting a total of 142 days. After the campaigns, the Kuomintang lost much of its main force, and the People’s Liberation Army had laid a solid foundation for overall victory.
The Second Plenary Session of the Seventh CPC Central Committee, held in March 1949, in preparation for the establishment of New China saw Mao propose the “Two Musts” dictum to remind Party members to remain modest and hardworking when the final victory was near.
Several days after completing the session, the CPC leadership left Xibaipo for Beijing. Just before they left, Mao compared this journey to “going for the big exam in Beijing”.
In ancient China, going to the capital to sit, and pass, the imperial exam was the only way the underprivileged could become an official and enter the imperial court.
On March 25, the CPC leadership arrived in Beijing, making their temporary settlement on Xiangshan mountain. On Oct 1, the establishment of the People’s Republic of China was announced.
“The CPC has achieved an outstanding result in its historic exam. However, this exam is by no means over, and it is continuing right now. The entire effort of the CPC to rally and lead the people today represents the continuation of this exam,” President Xi Jinping said at a ceremony marking the 95th anniversary of the founding of the CPC in 2016.
The “Xibaipo spirit”, which values pioneering, solidarity and hard work, still inspires people today. Xibaipo town’s head Zhang said she is impressed by how the cadres united with the masses and did their land reform work in Beizhuang village in Xibaipo in 1947. “Land work is a very difficult task in rural areas, since the land is closely related to people’s life and minor changes may lead to conflicts.”
Cadre Wang Danyi was only in her 20s when she and her son Dongdong came to the village for work. She and her colleagues lived with local people and chatted with them every day, gradually reducing their sense of distance so that local people would trust them and agree to the reform.
“Local people called Wang ‘Dongdong’s mom’. Even after half a century, many senior people in the village still remembered the name. I can just imagine how close they were at that time,” said Zhang.
“We need to learn from our predecessors how they united with local people and how meticulous they were in the work, so that we can inherit their spirit and apply it to our own work, and influence others,” said Zhang.