Truth-seeking: the Turning Point in Zunyi<\/p>\n
Wang Xiaohui:<\/p>\n
When you march toward your ideals but encounter repeated setbacks and\nfailures, do you have the courage to pause, reflect on the path taken,\nand chart a new way forward?<\/p>\n
David Ferguson:<\/p>\n
If I continually encountered setbacks on the road to my ideals, I\nwould stop and reflect seriously on whether my methods need adjusted or\nmy direction needs corrected. This is a matter of being honest with\noneself and honest about one\u2019s shortcomings. Granted, this requires as\nmuch courage as setting out in the first place \u2014 because what you have\nto confront is not only the judgment of others, but your own ingrained\nreluctance to accept that you might have got it wrong.<\/p>\n
Wang Xiaohui:<\/p>\n
The waters of the Xiangjiang River ran crimson in the winter of\n1934.<\/p>\n
To cover the Red Army\u2019s main force as they crossed the river, Chen\nShuxiang, then Commander of the 34th Division of the Fifth Army Corps,\nled his troops to fight against vastly superior enemy forces until they\nran out of ammunition and supplies. Severely wounded, Chen was captured\nalive. On the way to the enemy camp to be paraded for merit, Chen seized\na moment of the enemy\u2019s unawareness, tore his own intestines through his\nabdominal wound, and died a heroic death. He was only 29 years old.<\/p>\n
The Battle of Xiangjiang River was the deadliest campaign for the Red\nArmy since the start of the Long March. In less than two months, their\ntroop strength plummeted from over 86,000 to just over 30,000.<\/p>\n
At that critical moment, doubts and discontent among officers and\nsoldiers with the military leadership peaked.<\/p>\n
During the fights against the previous four Kuomintang (KMT)\n\u201cencirclement\u201d campaigns, the Red Army adopted Mao Zedong\u2019s strategy of\n\u201cluring the enemy in deep.\u201d With flexible tactics in mobile warfare, the\nRed Army worked miracles of defeating superior enemies time and again.\nYet, the tide turned completely during the KMT\u2019s fifth\n\u201cencirclement.\u201d<\/p>\n
At that time, the CPC was a branch of the Communist International\n(Comintern). After 1927, the Comintern instructed the CPC to adopt an\nurban-centered path in its revolution, for it was how Russia\u2019s October\nRevolution had achieved victory. Affected by this directive, during the\nFifth Counter-Campaign against \u201cEncirclement and Suppression\u201d, Bo Gu and\nOtto Braun, who held actual command of the Red Army, insisted on\nlaunching offensive operations to seize major cities.<\/p>\n
Otto Braun also mechanically applied European conventional warfare\ntactics, forcing the Red Army into rigid positional and fortress\nbattles. In the Battle of Guangchang, the poorly equipped Red Army\nfought head-on against enemy tanks and artillery on open terrain,\nresulting in more than 5,000 casualties, about one-fourth of all\nparticipating troops.<\/p>\n
Successive military defeats forced the Red Army to launch a strategic\nshift. However, Bo Gu and Otto Braun insisted that everything be\nevacuated, including heavy equipment: printing presses, currency-making\nmachines, and arms-manufacturing facilities\u2026 When crossing the\nXiangjiang River, troops were slowed down by these cumbersome supplies,\nand numerous soldiers even laid down their lives for protecting these\nassets. Chen Shuxiang and his 34th Division wrote the gravest footnote\nto this bloody sacrifice.<\/p>\n
By the banks of the Xiangjiang River, the spark of hope in the eyes\nof the Red Army soldiers was nearly quenched by the cold water. Could\nthe rigid foreign doctrines truly guide the Red Army and China\u2019s\nrevolution? What path lay ahead?<\/p>\n
History often unfolds in paradoxes: when all hope seems lost, a\nhistorical turning point is quietly emerging.<\/p>\n
After the Battle of Xiangjiang River, Mao firmly opposed the original\nplan drafted by Bo Gu and Otto Braun to march towards Hunan. Instead, he\nproposed to advance to Guizhou where enemy defenses were weak. There,\nthe Red Army broke through the natural barrier of the Wujiang River, and\ncaptured Zunyi. On Jan.\u00a015, 1935, the CPC Central Committee convened an\nenlarged Political Bureau meeting in an old mansion, later known to the\nworld as the Zunyi Conference.<\/p>\n
Inside the modest living room on the second floor, a charcoal brazier\nexpelled the winter chill. The CPC leadership sat around a long table to\nreview why the Red Army had fallen into passive positions since 1933. Bo\nGu attributed the defeats solely to the enemy\u2019s overwhelming strength,\nwhile other leading officials like Zhou Enlai and Zhang Wentian\npinpointed flawed military command as the fundamental cause.<\/p>\n
Mao Zedong also made a pivotal speech.<\/p>\n
As a revolutionary forged in rural base-area practice, Mao always\nsought truth from real combat experience. Citing victories from the\nprevious four counter-\u201cencirclement\u201d campaigns, he rebutted Bo Gu\u2019s\nopinions and criticized the flawed strategies of passive defense and\nabandoning mobile warfare tactics. In plain, incisive language, he\npointed out that \u201cthe soldiers also needed to march, eat and sleep,\u201d and\nthat Braun\u2019s rigid commands were completely divorced from the realities\nof China\u2019s revolutionary warfare.<\/p>\n
Throughout the whole meeting, Bo Gu remained dejected; Braun sat near\nthe door and lit one cigarette after another. Never had these \u201ctrue\nBolsheviks\u201d faced such rigorous criticism before.<\/p>\n
The intensive confrontation lasted three days. In the end, Mao Zedong\nwas elected to the leadership of the Red Army and the CPC Central\nCommittee, putting an end to the wrong guidance. This marked a\nlife-and-death turning point in the history of the Communist Party of\nChina.<\/p>\n
The Zunyi Conference freed the CPC from the Comintern\u2019s intervention,\nenabling the Party to independently master the destiny of China\u2019s\nrevolution. From then on, the Red Army turned peril into safety, and\nChina\u2019s revolution emerged from despair toward new life.<\/p>\n
David Ferguson:<\/p>\n
When faced with major setbacks, the Communist Party of China was not\ncrushed; instead, it demonstrated the courage to confront and correct\nits own mistakes, thereby turning adversity into opportunity. For any\nruling party, this kind of courage is exceptionally rare.<\/p>\n
Throughout history, guided by the principle of seeking truth from\nfacts, the Party has always corrected errors, updated systems and\nadjusted course. By doing so, it has guaranteed social progress. This is\nprecisely the secret to success that has made the Party resilient and\ninvincible.<\/p>\n
Wang Xiaohui:<\/p>\n
No grand undertaking advances without setbacks. Faced with obstacles\nand defeats, the CPC demonstrated extraordinary courage and wisdom. They\nsought truth from facts, corrected wrong courses, and led the revolution\ntowards triumph.<\/p>\n
The Zunyi Conference Spirit, embodied in firm conviction, adherence\nto truth, independence and self-reliance, solidarity and unity, was\nforged amid blood and fire. It has shaped the unique spiritual character\nof the CPC. In the years that followed, these timeless values continued\nto evolve and sustain the Party in the face of trials and challenges,\nendowing it with enduring vitality.<\/p>\n
China Mosaic<\/p>\n
http:\/\/www.china.org.cn\/video\/node_7230027.htm<\/p>\n
Faith: The Spark Born by the Yudu Riverside<\/p>\n
http:\/\/www.china.org.cn\/2026-10\/17\/content_118737624.shtml<\/p>\n
Source: China.org.cn<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/truth-seeking-the-turning-point-in-zunyi-1793087411", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }