As China gears up for Sunday's gala in Beijing to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Red Army's successful strategic retreat, the Long March, the few remaining survivors of the odyssey might reflect with sadness rather than with the joy shared by their offspring.

"My father never talked to me about his experiences during the Long March when I was a kid, even when I kept on asking," said Liu Taihang, now in his 70s, whose father was late Marshal Liu Bocheng, one of the founders of the People's Liberation Army. 
"He said the mere mention of the Long March reminded him of the great losses of his soldiers, the fathers who lost their sons and the women who became widows," Liu said.

The Communist Red Army was on the brink of complete annihilation by Chiang Kai-Shek's troops in Jiangxi Province in October 1934. Poorly equipped and ill-fed, but with little to lose, the Red Army's 80,000-strong First Division re-grouped after several unsuccessful battles and began its year-long march north in October 1934.

By the time they reached their destination in Shaanxi Province in northwest China, 12,500 kilometers after their first steps, the First Division arrived with just 7,000 members, after suffering tens of thousands of casualties, through starvation, fatigue, sickness and skirmishes.     

"FLESH-AND-BLOOD" RELATIONS     

In an attempt to understand what really happened to their fathers, a group of about 30 descendants of Red Army veterans, including Liu Taihang, trekked the Long March route earlier this year.

Liu was surprised to find that they were greeted with identical song and dance performances staged for the original Long Marchers. Only this time, the descendants of the villagers of 70 years ago took to the stage.

"The villagers, who are still poor, were told by their fathers and grandparents that the Red Army soldiers had treated them well, instead of robbing and molesting them like the warlords at the time," Liu said.

This self-discipline, promoted by late Communist Party of China(CPC) Chairman Mao Zedong, earned the Red Army a high reputation among the peasants and inspired villagers to join the march.     

LONG MARCH LEGACIES

During a visit to an exhibition on the Long March which opened in Beijing this week, President Hu Jintao said, "The spirit of the Long March belongs to the Chinese people and should be carried forward to build a modern and harmonious socialist country."

According to Party historians, the CPC survived the two-year ordeal of the Long March thanks to the dedication of its participants, the down-to-earth work ethic of the CPC leadership and, most importantly, the resolute support from the people.

The young men and women, who abandoned families and farms, fortified the resolve of the leadership, which in turn infused the ranks with courage and led to the final victory of the Red Army. There is no dispute that without the people's support, the Red Army and the CPC would have been destroyed by the better equipped and larger Chiang Kai-Shek army.

Over the past 70 years, the CPC has led China to victory over Japanese invaders, established New China in 1949 and carried out nearly 30 years of reform and opening up.

According to Party scholars, even at a time of rapid economic development, the Long March spirit is still relevant to the Party's well-being and nation's development since, in certain places, relations between the Party and the people have weakened and official corruption has chipped away at the Party's reputation.

In its latest move to address these issues, the CPC issued policy guidelines this week to promote social harmony by narrowing the wealth divide and wiping out corruption. "We should remain sober-minded even in a tranquil time," said the Party document.

By keeping the same sense of impending danger as was prevalent during the Long March, the Party can make headway with its policies. And even if Red Army veterans were reluctant to talk about their past, the Long March legacy should never be forgotten by the people.

Editor: Yan