Chinese President Xi Jinping (front) and other senior leaders visit an exhibition marking the 80th anniversary of the end of the Long March in Beijing, capital of China, Sept. 23, 2016. Chinese President Xi Jinping and other senior leaders Yu Zhengsheng, Liu Yunshan, Wang Qishan and Zhang Gaoli visited the exhibition here on Friday. (Xinhua/Lan Hongguang)
President Xi Jinping on Friday called for carrying forth the spirit of the Chinese Red Army on the Long March eight decades ago, and striving fearlessly to realize the Chinese dream of national rejuvenation.
Xi made the remarks during a visit to an exhibition marking the 80th anniversary of the end of the Long March.
The Long March spirit is characterized by working hard, fearing no sacrifice, and firm belief in communism and the ultimate victory of China's revolution.
From October 1934 to October 1936, the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army soldiers left their bases and marched through raging rivers, snowy mountains and arid grassland to break the siege of the Kuomintang (Nationalist Party) forces and continue to fight Japanese aggressors. Some of them marched as far as 12,500 kilometers.
The maneuver was a turning point in China's revolution.
Against all odds, the Red Army completed the march under the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC), a world-renowned feat that will be forever engraved in the history of China's revolution and the Chinese nation, said Xi, also general secretary of the CPC Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission.
The Long March clearly demonstrated the power of revolutionary ideals, Xi said at the exhibition in the Military Museum of the Chinese People's Revolution in Beijing.
"Times have changed, the situation has changed, but the ideals and causes that we communists have been fighting for have not changed," he said.
He called for remembering the Red Army's achievements and carrying forward the Long March spirit, in education, in patriotism and in revolutionary ideals.
The people should be guided to march forward with confidence and courage, in "a new long march" that will bring prosperity to the country and realize the Chinese dream of the rejuvenation of the nation, the president said.
Also present at the exhibition were Yu Zhengsheng, Liu Yunshan, Wang Qishan and Zhang Gaoli, all members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee.
The exhibition tells the stories of major battles, historical incidents and important figures involved in the Long March.
It displays 275 photos and 252 artifacts, as well as a great number of videos, charts, paintings and sculptures, showing the Red Army's fight against the Kuomintang regime and Japanese aggressors under the CPC's leadership.
While addressing the exhibition's opening ceremony on Friday, Liu Yunshan said that the Long March was a turning point -- from setbacks to victory -- for the CPC and China's revolutionary cause, and it laid a solid foundation for national independence and liberation.
The precious photos and relics, which show the hardships and great spirit of the Long March, are important for education in patriotism and revolutionary tradition, as well as a vivid lesson in socialist core values, Liu said.
About 600 people, including veterans, Party, government and military officials, and public representatives, attended the opening ceremony.
