What Yan'an Stood For

J.F Jenner argued that it would be easy but wrong to dismiss the Chinese and foreign observers who "saw something remarkable" developing in the Communist-controlled parts of China during the 1940s.

Against over-whelming odds, and through their ability to mobilize support, the Communists built "a political, military and moral culture: that enabled them to conquer the whole of China."

"Only the most dedicated and tough revolutionaries survived such ordeals as the long marches of 1934-6. Only extraordinary self-discipline and acceptance of the Party's goals made it possible for the isolated Eighth Route Army (pictured) and guerrilla commanders to subordinate their own interest to those of the cause during the Japanese war, even at a time when the centre was in no position to enforce obedience," Jenner wrote. (The Tyranny of History - The Roots of China's Crisis, The Penguin Press, 1994)

During the civil war of the 1946-9 one of the biggest advantages the Communists enjoyed over the Nationalists was that it could use its initially much smaller forces in ways that made the best political and military sense, and without having to worry about the loyalty of generals whose units had to be sacrificed to the greater good of the Communist cause.

Jenner suggested that even though the Red Army and its successors were also sharply factionalized and held together not only by shared dedication to the cause but also by draconian discipline and structures of personal loyalty, their commitment to the Communist cause was stronger than those ties, and that defections and surrenders were less frequent than in the Nationalist forces.

"The Communists were on the whole coherent, vigorous, dedicated, uncorrupted and competent. Despite the ruthless purges and ideological campaigns that were carried out in the rustic Communist capital, Yan'an became synonymous with a way of life that was frugal, disciplined and dedicated to the revival of China. Chiang Kaishek's Chongqing, by contrast, was characterized by rampant corruption, incompetence, conspiracy and the ruthless exploitation of soldiers and peasants."