The programmatic document of the Party's leadership of the Chinese War of Resistance

"Will China die?" Answer: There will be no death, and the final victory is China's. Can China win quickly? Answer: There can be no quick victory, and the War of Resistance Against Japan is a protracted war. This concise Q&A is Mao Zedong's famous 1938 statement in On Protracted War. When the Chinese Nationwide War of Resistance was in its 10th months, Mao Zedong published "On Protracted War," summing up the experience of the nationwide War of Resistance, systematically expounding the party's general policy of the anti-Japanese protracted war strategy, and forcefully refuting various erroneous views such as the "theory of subjugation of the country" and the "theory of quick victory" that were popular at that time. With profound strategic thinking, broad mind, lofty wisdom, and profound insight, he eloquently analyzed and answered a series of issues that urgently needed to be solved, such as why China's War of Resistance Was a Protracted War, how to carry out a protracted war, and how the war process developed, pointed out the prospects for China's War of Resistance, and greatly enhanced people's determination and confidence in persisting in the War of Resistance.

The first draft of On Protracted Warfare was completed in early May 1938. Prior to this, Mao Zedong successively completed such works as "On the Tactics of Opposing Japanese Imperialism," "Strategic Problems of China's Revolutionary War," and "Strategic Problems of the Anti-Japanese Guerrilla War," summing up the lessons and lessons of the Party's leadership of the Chinese revolution and systematically studying the anti-Japanese guerrilla warfare behind enemy lines. These works were the basis for his writing On Protracted War. He read many works on military theory, such as "Sun Tzu's Art of War", Clausewitz's "Theory of War", the Soviet Union's Field Regulations, and the Japanese's "On Internal and External Front Operations" books; he deeply studied military history, such as many major battles in ancient China, the successes and failures of Napoleon; he concentrated the wisdom of the members of the Chinese Communist Party on protracted warfare, such as the guerrilla warfare theory of Zhu De and Zhou Enlai, and the views of many generals and researchers of military theory. Mao Zedong drew wisdom from ancient and modern Chinese and foreign military examples and military masters, and completed the extraordinary political and military work "On Protracted War".

From May 26 to June 3, 1938, Mao Zedong gave a lecture on "On Protracted War" at the Yan'an Anti-Japanese War Research Association. On July 1 of the same year, the 43rd and 44th issues of Liberation Weekly, "Special Magazine commemorating the 17th Anniversary of the Communist Party of China on the First Anniversary of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression," were officially published, with a total of 41 pages and a text of about 50,000 words. In order to better publicize Mao Zedong's theory of protracted war, the Yan'an Liberation Society published a single edition of "On Protracted War" earlier in July 1938. The Exhibition Hall of the History of the Communist Party of China displays several editions of "On Protracted War" during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression: the edition first published in the weekly magazine Liberation in Yan'an; the single edition issued by the Liberation Society in July 1938; the 1942 edition of the Jiaodong United Society; and the 1943 Edition of Xinhua Bookstore.

The Chinese Communist Party History Exhibition Hall also exhibits the first English translation of "On Protracted War." The English translation of "On Protracted War" was first completed in October 1938, translated by Yang Gang, a reporter of the Ta Kung Pao and an underground member of the Communist Party of China, and the Shanghai English magazine Candled Comment was serialized in four parts from November 1938 to February 1939, with the English title of Prolonged War and the author signed Mao Tse Tung (Mao Zedong). In the process of serialization, the magazine also secretly distributed english one-shot copies, which were disseminated among foreigners in Shanghai. Zhou Enlai also sent "On Protracted War" from Wuhan to Hong Kong and entrusted Song Qingling to find someone to translate it. Epstein and others participated in the translation work. In January 1939, Mao Zedong wrote a preface specifically for the English translation of On Protracted War, pointing out: "The great Chinese War of Resistance is not only a matter for China, a matter for the East, but also a matter for the world. ”

In "On Protracted War," Mao Zedong analyzed the four basic characteristics of the contradictions between the two sides of the Sino-Japanese War; he scientifically foresaw that the War of Resistance Against Japan would go through three stages: strategic defense, strategic stalemate, and strategic counter-offensive. He expounded the specific operational policy, operational principles, and forms of operation to be adopted in carrying out the general policy of protracted warfare; he further clarified that the strategic policy of the Eighth Route Army was: "The basic thing is guerrilla warfare, but it does not relax the movement warfare under favorable conditions." He stressed: "Soldiers and civilians are the foundation of victory" "The deepest root of the great power of war exists among the people." "It is pointed out that the only correct way to win the victory of the War of Resistance is to fully mobilize and rely on the masses and carry out the people's war.

The publication of "On Protracted War" greatly enhanced Mao Zedong's status and prestige within the party. Zhou Baozhong once praised "On Protracted War" as "a guiding light for the Northeast Party and the Anti-Japanese Coalition Army to understand the situation, policies, strategies, and tactics of the War of Resistance." Wang Zhen recalled: After the publication of "On Protracted War", "those of us who directly participated in the battle on the anti-Japanese battlefield, in the gap between battles, the earth kang oil lamp, like hunger and thirst, read it happily and were greatly encouraged. Wu Yuzhang recalled: "The publication of 'On Protracted War' enabled Mao Zedong to win the praise, admiration and even admiration of the comrades of the whole party from the bottom of their hearts, and thus finally established an irreplaceable leadership position and lofty prestige in the party. ”

"On Protracted War" has produced great repercussions in the rear area and has played an important role in promoting the protracted war strategy to become the general strategic principle of the Chinese government's War of Resistance. According to Cheng Siyuan's recollection, Bai Chongxi deeply appreciated "On Protracted War" and held that this was the highest strategic principle for defeating the enemy and winning victory. Later, Bai Chongxi relayed it to Chiang Kai-shek, and Chiang kai-shek was also very much in favor of it. With the support of Chiang Kai-shek, Bai Chongxi summed up the spirit of "On Protracted War" into two sentences: "Accumulating small victories into big victories, exchanging space for time." With the consent of Zhou Enlai, the Military Commission issued a decree to the whole country as a strategic guiding ideology in the War of Resistance Against Japan.

After the publication of "On Protracted War", some mainstream media such as Japan's "Transformation", "Yomiuri Shimbun", and "Tokyo Asahi Shimbun" were introduced in the form of excerpts, translations, and compilations. The Japanese government and military were exposed to "On Protracted War" earlier, and Japanese CCP member Nakanishi Recalled that in 1938 he had already studied "On Protracted War" and was deeply affected. The research methodology of the "Investigation of China's Anti-Japanese Forces" that he presided over was "basically consistent" with the methodology of "On Protracted War". The internal material "Selected Speeches of Mao Zedong's War of Resistance" edited by Japan in 1944 was included in the full translation of "On Protracted War", which is based on the Chinese edition of liberation weekly magazine, and the content is not omitted or retranslated. All this confirms from one side the great guiding significance of "On Protracted War" to the War of Resistance Against Japan.

"On Protracted War" is a programmatic document of the Communist Party of China in leading the War of Resistance Against Japan. The practice of the Subsequent War of Resistance Against Japan has fully proved that the foresight of "On Protracted War" is completely correct and in line with the actual situation. (Contributed by the Exhibition Hall of the History of the Communist Party of China)