The Long March at 90: What a great feat teaches a new generation

Editor's Note: Wang Yan, a special commentator for CGTN, is an associate research fellow at Beijing Foreign Studies University. The article reflects the author's opinions, and not necessarily the views of CGTN.

Ninety years on, the Long March is remembered for a legacy that goes beyond hardships and suffering. What carried an army across 12,500 kilometers was sheer conviction that cannot be seen on a map but guided them forward like a compass.

Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, described the triumph as "inevitable" at a ceremony in Beijing Thursday to mark the 90th anniversary of the Long March's victory. He attributed it to the correct leadership of the CPC, unshakable conviction, an independent and pragmatic course, and the support of the people.

By the time the Red Army completed the Long March, it had endured countless hardships and fierce battles, at times surviving on little more than wild roots. Yet the Long March, a landmark in the rise of modern China, endures not merely as a story of physical endurance but as testament to the faith that carried an army to victory from the brink of annihilation.

The faith served as a compass, providing unshakable conviction, clarity of direction and strategic composure in the darkest of hours. These qualities empowered the Chinese to resist aggression and ultimately establish a new China.

Conviction: The anchor in adversity

After a devastating battle in late 1934, the Red Army shrank from 86,000 to just over 30,000. What sustained those who remained? Xi described that state of mind in the march's own vocabulary: "Conviction as firm as bedrock," enabling the soldiers to survive "at the very limit of existence" and emerge "reborn through a thousand trials."

In moments of adversity, conviction provides direction, resilience and solidarity. A mind anchored in purpose can break the "impossible" down into "one more step." And when thousands march toward the same destination, they learn to move in step with one another. Along the way, the ranks of the Red Army grew as villagers joined them, risked their lives to ferry wounded soldiers, and shared their last morsels of food.

Xi dwelled on that bond, calling the people "the source of strength and the staunch backing" of the Party and the people's army. A cause larger than individual survival made the hardships navigable. It is this sense of purpose that young people today are being asked to rediscover.

Young people today wrestle not with fierce battles but with competition, anxiety and uncertainty about the future. Cutting across eras, the Long March's lesson is that breakthroughs begin with the inner compass, the capacity to hold a direction even when circumstances give every reason to abandon it.

Strategic composure: A nation's ballast in turbulent times

The march was a masterclass in strategy. Crossing the Chishui River four times turned encirclement into maneuver, confounding the enemy many times. The Zunyi Conference of the CPC leadership held in southwestern Guizhou Province corrected fatal errors and charted an independent course at the moment of greatest peril. Xi counted this turning point among the foundations of the victory, together with the principle of "independence, seeking truth from facts and proceeding from reality."

History's message is clear: The gravest danger in hard times is not the difficulty itself, but losing one's footing and direction under pressure. Composure means holding steady amid volatility, refusing to sacrifice long-term goals to short-term turbulence, while remaining flexible in tactics. At a time when China's development faces a complicated external environment and demanding internal transitions, that steadiness remains a core national asset.

In a recent article, José Luis Centella, president of the Communist Party of Spain, described the Long March's central lesson as the organic unity of strategic resolve and tactical flexibility. China's subsequent development, including reform and opening up, Chinese modernization, the elimination of absolute poverty and the push for technological self-reliance, followed a similar pattern: a stable long-term direction, combined with constant adjustment of specific policies as conditions changed.

Strategic resolve without flexibility becomes dogma; flexibility without resolve becomes drift. The Long March's experience teaches that resilience is not passive endurance but the active preservation of a long-term perspective, creating new possibilities through learning, innovation and adjustment.

Endurance without martyrdom

Today's youth have grown up in material comfort, far from the extremes of the 1930s. That is progress. The "spirit of endurance" also has a new manifestation. In Xi's definition, the Long March spirit is one that fears no hardship or danger and spares no sacrifice, but is always for the sake of saving the nation and the people. The "hardship" of this generation is different: years spent in a laboratory chasing a breakthrough, quiet persistence in rural revitalization, the solitary grind of mastering a craft. 

Beyond the textbook

"We revisit history to draw wisdom and strength for forging ahead," Xi said in Thursday's address. Understanding this history requires more than memorizing dates and figures. Young people can retrace sections of the Long March to gain firsthand understanding of the hardships the Red Army endured. They can use virtual reality and digital museums to bring history to life, or retell these stories through film, music and short videos to share the history with their peers.

The Long March has a global perspective as well. Its themes of human endurance and idealism resonate beyond China's borders, and tell China's story to the world.

Seeing the direction, not just the hardship

"Only by remembering history can we open up the future," Xi said. "The history of the Long March has never receded; the road of the Long March keeps extending." A "new Long March" – the Chinese modernization – is unfolding today. Achieving technological self-reliance, revitalizing the countryside and building a shared future for humanity are this generation's Long March missions.

To inherit the Long March spirit is to find light in darkness, choose a path amid confusion and stand firm when winds rise and seas turn rough. Xi urged young people to be ready to "withstand high winds, rough waves, or even tempestuous seas." Ninety years ago, the soldiers overcame hardships and battles under arduous conditions. Today, a new generation should be able to say with equal conviction: However long the road, it can be walked, and however hard the task, it can be done.

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