Long March spirit the touchstone of modern prosperity

Editor's note: This year marks the 90th anniversary of the victory of the Long March — a monumental feat in human history. China Daily is publishing a series of reports reflecting on this historic journey and exploring how the spirit of the Long March continues to inspire the Chinese people on their new path toward national rejuvenation.

In the cradle of China's revolutionary history in the small city of Ruijin, Jiangxi province, volunteer guide Liu Yang is transforming how visitors experience the legacy of the Long March by weaving his family's personal tragedy into the narrative.

In 1934, Ruijin served as the starting point for the Red Army's arduous 12,500-kilometer overland maneuver that saw nearly 200,000 troops set out from various revolutionary bases on a mammoth trek to evade military encirclement. Only one in four would survive the ordeal and make it to northern Shaanxi, as most of them perished from combat, exhaustion and starvation.

For 48-year-old Liu, who also works in the local nursing home, the epic Long March journey runs deep in his family history.

Eleven relatives from his grandfather's generation joined the Red Army, with only one returning home. Liu Degui, a relative who died at the age of 27 during the Long March, is the only one officially listed as a martyr; the others disappeared, as did many other Red Army recruits.

With no known descendants of his own, Liu Degui was posthumously given an heir under a regional custom intended to carry on a martyr's lineage: Liu Yang's father. This gave Liu Yang an ancestor he would never meet. Every Qingming Festival, China's traditional tomb-sweeping holiday, he carefully restores the inscriptions on Liu Degui's tombstone.

This intergenerational grief and pride shaped Liu Yang's life choices. He served in the military from 1997 to 2002, handling internal publicity duties. In 2007, he returned to Ruijin and began volunteering as a docent specializing in revolutionary history.

"I am a descendant of Red Army martyrs," Liu Yang said. "I hope that through my work, I can pass on the Long March spirit to more people, inspiring them to strive in our new era."

The Long March spirit embodies a devotion to the public good, perseverance through hardship, self-sacrifice and solidarity with ordinary people.

Over 19 years, he has led more than 1,000 guided presentations. His audiences range from school-age study-tour groups to domestic scholars and overseas guests.

One encounter with a visitor remains etched in his memory. An elderly tourist from Shanghai broke down in tears during a segment describing Red Army soldiers trapped in deadly grassland bogs. The man's father, a Long March veteran, had been pulled from the marsh by a fellow soldier.

Rejecting rigid, script-heavy lectures, Liu Yang leads tour groups through mountain villages dotted with revolutionary landmarks. He combines on-site storytelling, folk songs and short walking segments inspired by the original Long March journey, bringing history to life for visitors.

The family's tradition of public service is continuing into the next generation. His college-age son, Liu Zhenhao, enlisted in the military this year, while his young daughter takes part in volunteer docent shifts to learn about revolutionary history.

Liu Yang has witnessed Ruijin's Red tourism sector undergo dramatic changes. Visitor numbers have surged, public infrastructure has improved, and parking areas now accommodate hundreds of private vehicles and large tour buses. Despite the city's transformation, Liu Yang believes the core message endures.

"The Red Army fought for ordinary people's well-being and bore the burden of rescuing the nation," Liu Yang said. "Each generation has its own Long March. Today, we must carry forward that same spirit of devotion."

After nearly two decades of guiding visitors, Liu Yang sees evidence of that mission in the reactions of those who travel to Ruijin to engage with this chapter of history. Visitors say that walking on the actual ground where revolutionary history unfolded deepens lessons that books and classroom materials cannot fully convey.

Lai Xiaorui, a 24-year-old from the neighboring city of Ganzhou who was visiting to reflect on the Red Army's trials, said being on-site anchors abstract history in real-world sacrifice. "We come to places like this so we do not forget the past. We draw strength from this history," he said.

Xia Zichen, a middle school student who serves as his history class representative and designed his own multi-city revolutionary-history itinerary during the summer vacation, visited to fill gaps in his school education. "Textbooks only give fragments. Visiting the actual sites fills in so many missing pieces," he said.

Contact the writers at lilei@chinadaily.com.cn