Editor's note: Chen Jiaqi, a special commentator for CGTN, is an assistant research fellow at the Institute of Modern History, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. The article reflects the authors' opinions and not necessarily the views of CGTN.

The 12,500-kilometer Long March stands as one of the most remarkable feats of endurance in military history – a desperate journey across mountains, rivers and vast stretches of difficult terrain.

Its eventual success, however, was not achieved through the Red Army's sacrifice and perseverance alone. It also depended on the support of millions of ordinary people along the way. The history of the Long March shows how the relationship between the Red Army and the people became a source of strength: The soldiers remained connected to local communities, respected their interests and sought their support, while ordinary people responded with food, shelter, information and manpower.

This legacy of people-centeredness offers a way to understand one of the defining features of the Long March: the belief that an army's strength ultimately rests on its relationship with the people.

Earning trust through discipline

Maintaining discipline and respecting people's interests were essential to building that relationship.

During the Long March, the Communist Party and the Red Army placed great emphasis on preventing soldiers from disturbing or taking advantage of local communities. Orders required troops to maintain exemplary discipline and avoid harming the interests of civilians. When food was urgently needed, soldiers were prohibited from simply taking supplies. If grain had to be requisitioned, they were expected to leave written receipts specifying what had been taken and what was owed.

These rules applied to everyone, from senior leaders to ordinary soldiers.

Small incidents illustrated the principle. When leader Mao Zedong stayed at the home of a villager named Xiao You'en, he left three copper coins as payment for his accommodation and meals before departing. On another occasion, Red Army soldiers borrowed a water vat from a villager, Zhang Xianjie, to cook food and accidentally damaged it. They compensated him for the full value of a new vat.

Such gestures may appear insignificant against the backdrop of a military campaign, but they mattered greatly to the people who experienced them. They demonstrated, in tangible terms, that the soldiers were expected to respect civilians rather than impose themselves upon them.

Putting people's interests first

Respect for the people was also expressed through policies intended to address their material hardships.

During the Long March, the Red Army put forward political demands including the abolition of excessive taxes, compulsory labor and usurious lending, as well as the redistribution of landlords' land and property to poor farmers. Wherever the army went, it sought to address practical difficulties facing local communities.

In Sichuan's Heishui and Luhua areas, for example, soldiers helped Tibetan communities harvest and transport wheat. When a fire broke out at a Dong village in Guangxi, south China, they immediately joined local residents in fighting it.

Perhaps the most enduring story is that of three female Red Army soldiers who stayed with a poor villager, Xu Jiexiu, in Shazhou village, Hunan Province. When they left, they cut their only quilt in half and gave half to the elderly woman. The simple act became a powerful symbol of the warmth and solidarity the Long March tradition sought to embody.

Drawing strength from the people

The relationship between the Red Army and local communities was not simply about providing assistance. It was also a source of military strength.

In February 1935, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the Central Revolutionary Military Commission instructed Red Army soldiers that securing the support of people in Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan was essential to achieving victory. They called for the mobilization of local people, the recruitment of new soldiers and developing guerrilla forces.

Along the route, the Red Army sought to organize and mobilize local communities. Inspired by the revolutionary movement, some people voluntarily joined the army, while others formed local forces such as the Yi People's Red Army Guji Detachment. Stories such as the Yihai Alliance in Sichuan Province and the establishment of a Soviet government in Hadapu, Gansu Province, became part of the historical memory of the Long March.

More broadly, ordinary people provided crucial assistance by guiding soldiers through unfamiliar terrain, supplying food, treating the wounded and passing on intelligence. In conditions of extreme hunger, inadequate clothing and constant military pressure, such support provided the manpower and material resources that helped the Red Army overcome one crisis after another.

The lesson was straightforward: An army could not survive such a journey in isolation from the people around it.

A legacy that extends beyond the Long March

Ten years ago, at a ceremony commemorating the 80th anniversary of the Red Army's victory in the Long March, Chinese President Xi Jinping said that "the people are the bedrock of the Red Army's victories," emphasizing that sharing hardship and maintaining close ties with the people had been fundamental to the Long March's success.

The historical experience of the Long March therefore points to a broader principle: Development and governance are more resilient when they remain grounded in people's needs and interests. Strengthening grassroots governance, protecting people's livelihoods and bringing together the energy of ordinary citizens can provide a more durable foundation for the development of a political party.

The same question can be extended beyond national borders. At a time when global governance is often shaped by competing interests and concentrations of capital and power, the Long March's experience invites reflection on what it means to put people at the center of governance.

For China, this is part of the historical legacy of the Long March. For the wider world, it offers another question worth considering: How can global governance better respond to the welfare and aspirations of ordinary people?

The Long March was a journey across mountains and rivers. But behind every difficult mile was a relationship between people – soldiers and civilians – bound together by hardship and mutual support. That may be one of its most enduring lessons: Strength does not come from moving forward alone. It comes from knowing whom you are moving forward with, and for whom.

(If you want to contribute and have specific expertise, please contact us at opinions@cgtn.com. Follow @thouse_opinions on X to discover the latest commentaries in the CGTN Opinion Section.)