People visit the museum of the Zunyi Conference in Zunyi City, southwest China's Guizhou Province, April 5, 2018. /CFP
Editor's note: Xia Lu is an associate professor at the School of Party History and Party Building and a research fellow at the National Academy of Development and Strategies, Renmin University of China. The article reflects the author's opinions and not necessarily those of CGTN.
In October 1934, the Red Army, led by the Communist Party of China (CPC), began the famous Long March but soon suffered heavy losses after breaking through the enemy's blockade and crossing the Xiangjiang River. From January 15 to 17, 1935, the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, the supreme decision-making body of the Party, held an extended meeting at Zunyi, a small town located in Guizhou Province in southwest China, which marked a turning point in the history of the CPC.
At the meeting, two important questions in particular were thoroughly discussed: on the one hand, how should the Party view and tackle military setbacks; on the other hand, how should the Party resolve its own organizational and leadership issues?
The meeting criticized the mistakes of the military leadership of the then-central leaders and reaffirmed Mao Zedong's military proposition. It was then unanimously decided that the CPC Central Committee would authorize Mao, Zhou Enlai and Wang Jiaxiang to form a small group to be in charge of the military operations of the entire Red Army.
After the meeting, Mao's de facto leading position in the Party and the Red Army was gradually established. It also led to the formation of the correct sinified Marxist line with Mao as the main representative in the Central Committee. Moreover, the first generation of the CPC leadership with Mao as the core was established.
By saving the Party, the Red Army and eventually the Chinese revolution at the most critical moment, the Zunyi meeting actually changed the situation of the Chinese revolution from a passive one to an active one. Furthermore, the Party entered a new phase following the meeting, enabling the CPC to really explore its own path by combining Marxist-Leninist principles with China's unique realities.
File picture of the site of the Zunyi Conference. /CFP
The reason why the Zunyi meeting is commemorated today is that significant lessons can be drawn from it. The event was a life-and-death turning point in the history of the CPC, marking the beginning of the Party's incremental achievement of the capability to independently comprehend and tackle the key issues of the Chinese revolution.
After the meeting, the Party and the Red Army moved from a point of danger to one of security, and the trajectory of the Chinese revolution continued to shift from smaller victories to greater ones. By commemorating the Zunyi meeting, Chinese people can also draw spiritual strength from it and give a strong spiritual impetus to the realization of the Chinese dream of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.
The Zunyi meeting embodied the firm belief in Marxism. In contemporary China, this firm faith can inspire people to always strive persistently for ideals and convictions in the face of difficulties and severe challenges. The meeting insisted on seeking the truth from the facts and corrected the Party's own error based on the real needs of the Chinese revolution.
Nowadays, seeking truth from facts requires that we adhere to the truth in our daily work and make scientific decisions in accordance with the various and ever-changing reality. The Zunyi meeting was the beginning of the period when the CPC started to solve the problems of the Chinese revolution and Chinese socialist construction in the aftermath on its own. In modern society, the spirit of independence demands that China shall adhere to an independent foreign policy in international affairs and follow the path of socialist modernization with Chinese characteristics.
The meeting also emphasized the unity and integration of the Party through the principle of democratic centralism. In today's China, the spirit of unity and integration requires that the country needs to strengthen the centralized and unified leadership of the Party and jointly promote national development with the support of the whole society.