Research On Donggu Revolutionary Base Areas

Donggu revolutionary base areas, one of the earliest of its kind, was founded at about the same time with Jinggangshan revolutionary base areas by the Communist Party of China during Agrarian Revolutionary War. As the cornerstone and fountainhead both of the Southwestern Jiangxi revolutionary base areas and of the central revolutionary base areas, it has made a great historical contribution to the development of Chinese revolution. However, its propaganda and the study on it need more attention from scholars on the history of the Communist Party of China. This dissertation, from the perspective of sinicization of Marxism, attempts to make a monographic study on its rich connotation, characteristics, extraordinary contribution and historical evaluation.Since China adopted the Open and Reform Policy research on Donggu revolutionary base areas has undergone a zigzag course in the field of the history of the Communist Party of China. It came into the latter's range of study in the 1980s and much treasured information was open to the public.1990s witnessed its historical role confirmed in authoritative works on the study of the history of the Party. From the 21st century on, it has become a hot topic. Following an analysis of the reasons for the slow pace of the study which includes a) sensitive topics of the elimination of the regiment AB and the Futian incident; b) the traditional thought of keeping dark the disgraceful deeds done by the respectable and the distinguished; c) the necessity of the propaganda of the Jinggangshan Road; d) the researcher's fear of getting into trouble for discussing sensitive topics; e) the natural disappearance of the Li Wenlin pattern from the development of revolutionary situation, it suggests that while conducting research on Donggu revolutionary base areas the right attitude and approach is supposed to be characterized by a historical height to make the important distinctive, a scientific orientation to draw a distinction between source and course, and a research attitude to free from stock ideas and seek truth from the facts.The start-stop point and stage division of Donggu revolutionary base areas has been in dispute in the field of the history of the Party. This dissertation, on the basis of an analysis of different viewpoints, proposes it be appropriate to take Aoshang Conference as its starting point and the enemy's occupation as its ending point. In between there are four stages:its foundation, consolidation, expansion and persistence. Donggu revolutionary base areas makes worthy exploration and innovative practice in six aspects: the development of the Party, the form of political power, the mode of armed struggle, the policy of agrarian revolution, the construction of economic society, and the causes of culture, education and public health services. This dissertation also summarizes its successful experience as follows:the combination of open armed struggle with secret separatist political power; the link of changeable guerrilla with gradual advancement; the absolute leadership of the Party over the army. The unique charm of Donggu revolutionary base areas is also shown through Mao Zedong's lifelong Donggu complex, together with his high evaluation of the Donggu revolutionary base areas in many of historical materials.A comparison is made between Donggu revolutionary base areas and its Jinggangshan counterpart. They share some similarities in that both are guided by the spirit of August 7 Conference and, by means of armed struggle and taking good advantage of favorable terrain, both are founded and developed in places with a good mass basis. Yet they differ in their motivation, leadership, composition, tactics, separatist mode, agrarian reform policy and their relationship with the White Area. Thus either revolutionary base areas has its own merits. The comparison reveals that first, facing the enemy's strong forces with our weak forces, we should avoid frontal attack; second, we should be skillful in making good use of actual situation to bring forth new forms of revolutionary struggle; third, an armed independent regime of workers and peasants is a must to Chinese revolution.By attaching importance on the significant changes in Mao Zedong's thought around 1930s, this dissertation, with the help of a retrospection to his thought of "going to the mountainous areas" and the history of the Jinggangshan revolutionary base areas, expounds the fact that during the Jinggangshan period many a historical lessons made Mao Zedong stick to the idea of tenaciously defending revolutionary base areas. However, without an economical outlet and a military retreat, he had no alternative but to break away from the conventional idea of defense with natural barrier. The new mode of Donggu revolutionary base areas and broad fields of the southern Jiangxi and the western Fujian helped Mao Zedong form the revolutionary road theory with Chinese characteristics:to take the countryside as the center, surround the cities from the countryside and seize power by armed forces.The foundation and development of Donggu revolutionary base areas results from a couple of factors:the propaganda and development of Marxist scientific theory in Ji'an district; the worker-peasant movement and its influence and Donggu's particular political, economical, cultural and social conditions. It exemplifies how Marxism roots, buds, bloom and fruit in China. Its foundation is of great importance in that its creative mode of taking the countryside as the center develops Marxist revolutionary theory; it impels Mao Zedong to replace the city with the countryside as the center of revolutionary struggle; its effective practice of winning over the neutral forces enriches the Marxist united front theory and makes the revolutionary base areas grow smoothly; its principle of the absolute leadership of the Party over the army and its flexible guerrilla tactics embody Marxist military thoughts and lay the basis for the building of people's army and the formation of Chinese revolutionary strategy and tactics.On the basis of its historical contribution, important role, and the predecessors' evaluation on its historical role, following the principles of the combination of the part and the whole, the historicalness and the sense of the times, objectivity and scientificalness, this dissertation provides its evaluation on the historical status and role of Donggu revolutionary base areas from the following five perspectives:its support for the southwestern Jiangxi revolutionary struggle, its influence on the construction of the People's army, its effect on the formation of Mao Zedong thought, its contribution to the building of the Central Soviet Area, and its importance in the sinicization of Marxism.Three points can be drawn from the above study. First, history must be dealt in a practical, objective way. Second, Mao Zedong thought is supposed to be comprehended thoroughly and accurately. Third, the essence of the sinicization of Marxism must be grasped in a scientific way.