 The National Broadcasting Company and its affiliated stations present the Pacific story. This is the story of the Pacific. The drama of the millions of people who live around this greatest sea where the United States is now committed to a long-term policy of keeping the peace. This is the background story of the events in the Pacific and their meaning to us and to the generations to come. Mao Zedong, Chinese Communist leader. Companionship of young men interested in patriotic work. Right Box 4x9. Let me see that paper, Wolf. Yes, see, there it is. Right there in the classified advertisement. Yes. Wanted companionship of young men interested in patriotic work. Right Box 4x9. What could be the purpose behind an advertisement like that? There's one way we can find out. We wrote to Box 4x9, Chen and I. And then we waited. We were students in the Hunan Normal School in Changsha. I wonder if it could be a student here in school. At last the answer came. It was a student in the Normal School. We were invited to his room. Others who had answered the advertisement were also there. They were discussing Adam Smith's book, The Wealth of Nations, when we came in. Come in and sit down. We will start in just a minute. This was the first time I'd ever seen Mao Zedong. He was tall and broad-shouldered and loose-jointed. I noticed his full face and his high forehead and his shock of bushy hair and his intelligent eyes. He smiled easily and made us feel at home. Who is this fellow, Mao Zedong? He's a student. I have never seen him before. He's just come here. He's the son of a poor peasant. Why did he advertise in the paper like that? I do not know. Except that he grew up in poverty. Young people kept on coming in one and two at a time until there were more than a dozen. Mao Zedong talked casually one after another. Everyone stopped and listened to him. I remember when my father, the other peasants, returned to our village from Changsha. They had gone to tell the governor that we were starving, that all the people of Hunan were starving and to beg for food. The governor said, Why do you not have food? There's plenty. I have enough. The peasants drove the governor out of his house. Then the new governor came and arrested all the leaders and beheaded them and put their heads on poles to warden the people. Mao Zedong expressed what most of us have been thinking a long time. He talked of our common interest. He asked us to join together for the common good to do something to help the people of Hunan. Nothing can be gained in meeting together to talk about the ordinary matters of our daily life. Everything we say or do must have a purpose. Everything we said after that did have a purpose. We talked about books like The Origin of the Species by Darwin and about the books of Spencer and Montesquieu and John Stuart Mill. Mao Zedong told us about the history of other lands. After eight years of difficult war, George Washington won victory and built up the United States. We studied the American Revolution and we talked about Abraham Lincoln and about the other great leaders of other countries, Napoleon, Peter the Great, Wellington, Gladstone, and Catherine the Great. We went on long walks in the fields and mountains. Look at that sweeping country below us. Wonderful. It is like a beautiful landscape. Beauty and so much suffering. Yes. What can we do about it? First, we must work to understand it and then we must build up our bodies as we are doing in these long walks for what lies ahead. We all knew what he meant but we could not dream how great the task would be. We learned to trust his judgment although he was younger than some of us. He kept up a correspondence with students all over Chang'an. Here is a letter from Chang'an. You graduated last year? Yes. He writes, The years I spent in school with you have had a profound effect upon me. Everywhere around me here where I am teaching I can see the need of improvement but there are only three of us here and there is little we can do. If we could only go on a long walk as we used to outside of Chang'an then I feel that we could thrash out these problems and chart a course on what might be done. And Mrs. the group here. Yes. Perhaps we should have a larger group. To include those away from Chang'an? Yes. Maybe all those who have belonged to our group here could belong. Yes. And all those who think as we do. Our small group became the nucleus and Marzi don't organize the new people's study society. There were 70 or 80 members. Some of those in our society will make tomorrow's history of China. Marzi don't look far ahead. He had ideas about democracy. About liberalism and idealism. He was against militarism and he was against imperialism. He was still grouping but his thinking was taking form. The time has come for us to go our separate ways. No, we have only graduated. But we are going to France on the work and learn plan. Why do you not come with us to do? I have still too much to learn about China. It will give you greater understanding to study in France. I must learn about China first. Will you go back to your village and teach? There is nothing for me to go back to. My mother is dead now. I will go to Peking. Peking? You cannot get a teaching job in Peking. I'm not yet ready for teaching but I will go to Peking. I can find some kind of job there. He found a job as assistant librarian and there he met and married Yang Kaihui, the daughter of our old ethics professor. They had a son. The young wife died. Zidong never found out what became of his son. He traveled over the country working in Shanghai then Peking again, then Changsha. He became the editor of the Siang Zhong Review. He organized the anti-militarist movement in Peking and then went back to Changsha and became a teacher. Our province of Hunan must have autonomy. The Northern government has proved itself unwilling and incapable of doing anything for the people of Hunan. We must break with the Peking government. Then we shall make progress with our own efforts. Then we shall modernize. The students listened and the people listened. The people are held in thrall by the landlords and the gentry and these control our provincial parliament. If we are to have our rights, this control must be broken. But, meantime, our still greater interest commanded his attention. What is happening in Russia, Wu, will affect the lives of every person on the face of the earth. Ma Zidong was one of the twelve founders of the Communist Party in China. He was only twenty-seven. He came back from Shanghai full of enthusiasm and determination. It is the only hope for us, Wu. Those of us left of his old group in Hunan listen to him. Our days of theory are over. We have learned what we must do and now we must do it. Ma Zidong is organizing a trade union for you miners. Will you join? Yes, I will join. I will join. Ma Zidong is organizing a union for you railway workers. How many of you will join? I will join. Ma Zidong is organizing a trade union for you printers. I will join. I will join. Most of the workers and nearly all the students of Hunan were organized and Mao was their spokesman. The workers must have better wages and they must have better working conditions. The strength of the Communist Party was growing and the question was emerging of whether or not to enter the Kuomintang, the nationalist party of Suniat Sen and Junkai Shek. The Communist met in Canton to decide the question. We and the Nationalists are working for the same things. The forces that oppose both of us are the militarists of the North. Together we would be strong and we could put down the anarchists of the North. I say we should join the Kuomintang and work with them for the good of all China. The decision was made. The Communist entered the Kuomintang and Mao Zidong went to Shanghai to work in the Central Committee of the Nationalist Party. We made great progress together. Mao worked night and day. I am ill. You cannot work like this without breaking, Zidong. I know. I know. The groundwork has been laid for the entente of the Kuomintang and the Communist. Now is the time for you to take a rest. Go back to Kuomintang. No. You are not only hurting yourself, Zidong. You are hurting all that you are working for. At least you can ease up on smoking those cigarettes. You smoke one after another. One after another. I know. I used to sit there and watch him smoke those cigarettes. He sucked on them with so much vigor that the sound and knowledge made him. You are better take a rest, Mao. If for no other reason than to spare me from that abominable noise you make when you smoke. Soon he reached a stage where he could not go. He went back to Hunan for a rest. I went with him. He rested for only a short time. Then he went out among the peasants. It was not long until the landlords were around. You are the officer charged with keeping peace and order in this district. Are you not? I am. Then why have you not arrested Mao Zidong and his gang of agitators? He has not broken the peace. But I know of it. He has organized 20 peasants unions. There has been no disturbance. Since Mao Zidong came back here, every peasant in this district is troublesome. And this is only the start. Only a fool would wait until a rebellion breaks out. I demand the arrest of Mao Zidong at once. Mao and I fled to Canton. The leaders all knew Mao by this time. They made him editor of the political weekly of the Gomen Downs. He wrote vigorously. The Chinese revolution has two objectives. First, the realization of a democratic revolution. And second, the realization of a social revolution. His words were read and studied by many. Some members of the Gomen Downs were beginning to have reservations about him. The first break came in March of 1926. But after some time, the left and the right were reconciled. We must expect anything more. You mean that there has not been a complete reconcilation? We shall see. In the fall of that year, the northern expedition got underway. Fruits, the Gomen Downs, and the Communist Party marched against the northern militarists in a united front. What do you think now, Zidong? If we can hold together until the northern militarists are put down, then we can hope for some continued unity with the Gomen Downs. You mean that we might not hold together? The sky is dark. What's he doing? What is it, G? The national forces are attacking the communists in Nanking and Shanghai. Attacking? They are massacring the organized workers. The last hope of cooperation is gone. Open warfare broke out between the nations and the communists. The 20th Army led the uprising in Nanchang and became the nucleus of what was to be the Red Army. Marzigong welded the shattered communists together. The Gomen Downs has become, hopefully, the tool of imperialism and cannot carry out the responsibilities of the democratic revolution. Mao went back to Hunan. Hundreds of suspected communists were caught and shot by the Nazis. Mao organized the first division of the first peasants and workers' army. He traveled from place to place. Look there, John. Those men ahead of us, they're on the road. Yes, they may be nationalists. They have seen us. They cannot turn and run now. Walk straight ahead. They have guns. Ding-how. Ding-how. Look, I'm concerned. Indeed, they are watching us. Let me see your pass. I, uh... I must have lost my pass. You? Your pass? Oh, yes, I have it right here. Where is it now? I cannot seem to find it. Search them. You search this one. You search that one. Yes, sir. Yeah, sir. This one has no cards. You need to have this one. Yes. What is your name? Hai. Zhang Guiluo. And you? Feng. See you. I have seen a picture of that one. Some place. Hai? Yes. Where? I do not know. Yes. Yes. It was a communist poster. A communist? Yes. Yes. I know. He is... He is... Mao Zedong. Mao Zedong? Are you Mao Zedong? I am Zhang Guiluo. No. He is Mao Zedong. I know. I know. That round face. That high brow. And that bushy hair. He is Mao Zedong. Thank you. I am honored, but you are mistaken. We will take you to headquarters. They will know. Of course. Let us go. Keep your guns on both of them. What? They will shoot us if they get us to their headquarters. They will not get us to headquarters. What are you saying? We were only talking about how funny this is. You will keep quiet. General, can I speak to you? What do you want? I want to talk to you. Can we stop? What? Look... You are hired soldiers, are you not? These two are? I am not. You can gain nothing by taking us back to your headquarters. We are of no consequence. You will get no reward. You are poorly paid, is it not so? Yes. That is right. Then you can use some money. I can. Yes, and I can. Be quiet. Keep your guns on them. I will pay you ten dollars to let us go. Your headquarters will never know of it. And you will have some money, which you deserve. Yes, good. Each of us will have... No. He is right. If we bring him in, they will not give us... No. I say we should take the money. We will take him to headquarters. What? We will be shot if they get us to headquarters. We must make a break. Stop the talking! Must be the headquarters. Two hundred yards ahead. Follow me now. When I make a break. To the left. I say fire! Take for that tall grass. Over the top of the hill. Yes. Lay panning on the deep grass. Let me scratch them first. We will be better off if we part. I will go this way. I will see you back in town, yee. Mao Tse-dong crept through the deep grass. And at nightfall made his way up into the mountains. He came back ragged and exhausted. In order to survive Wu, we must make ourselves stronger than ever before. We set up the first soviet on the Hunan border. One of the ardent communists was the comely woman Wu Yulan. Mao Tse-dong fell in love with her and married her. Looking back now in the light of what was to happen, I take some comfort in the happiness they had together. Communist armies were now springing up in other parts of China. Judea, who was to become our commander in chief, arrived with his army and combined it with ours. Then this will be our base here in the border area of Hunan and Guangxi and Guangdong. That is right. From here we can expand in all directions. Judea and Mao Tse-dong were in agreement, but others in the party did not see eye to eye with them. We can make no progress by setting ourselves up here and staying here. We should march on Changsha at once. We are not ready for such an expedition. That is what I say. We are not even strong enough to hold our position here. We can hold here. I do not think so. We should have a base for strong that it cannot be taken. I think we should withdraw to the border of Guangdong and dig in there. We cannot retreat. It fell to Mao Tse-dong to convey the broad policies agreed on by Judea and himself to the people. Here we will live as we have chosen to live. We will divide the land and set up soviet. Now what are these troops coming in today? These are the troops that mutinied against Ho Chi-an. My people, these troops coming to help us are the ones that mutinied against Ho Chi-an, the governor of Hunan. They are magnificent in their rags today. How are we going to take care of them? You see, they have no winter uniforms and there is not enough food here. That winter we lived on squash. All winter troops kept straggling in. Mao Tse-dong, the nationalist government in Nangting is up to something. What? I do not know. But they are alarmed over our soviets here and there are signs that they are going to do something. They are getting ready to exterminate us. Yes. They don't suffer on his cigarette and blew out the smoke. And they are offering big rewards for the capture of you or General Jude, dead or alive. Jude said nothing. Mao Tse-dong just sat on his cigarette and blew out the smoke. And then started the extermination campaign. They are sending 100,000 men to encircle our areas here. We have 40,000. They will probably strike us in four or five places at once. They did. We turned them back. But Ho Chi-an captured Mao Tse-dong's wife and chopped her head off. They will strike again soon. In four months the second extermination campaign was lost. Then the third, more Grooming-dong troops mutinied and came to join us. These 20,000 are from the 28th Route Army that has revolted in Nindu. We will need them. The fourth extermination campaign was bigger than the third. The fifth was bigger than the fourth. They did not exterminate it. But at last we were virtually caught. We must break out Mao or we are hopelessly trapped. Yes. If we can fight our way across China to the Northwest we shall join friendly forces and there we can make our stand. The long march starts. Mao married again. And his wife Ho Chi-chun walked along with her. We can expect air attacks any time, War. I know. He walked along smoking one cigarette after another sucking and blowing out smoke. More shots! Air planes down to the kitchen! Quick, Ho Chi-chun! Down into the ditch! Poor Ho Chi-chun. She's been hit war. She's bleeding. Run. Get the doctor. Get the doctor. The doctor found 16 slap-no-sprinters in her body. And she was with the child. We will make a litter and carry her. We carried her. When her child was born she gave it to a peasant along the way. We walked and fought day after day, month in and month out. This is what we were preparing for when we took those long walks back in our human normal school days. I remember what Mao had said. We must build our bodies for what lies ahead. One year after we had left Southern Qianxi we hopped below the Great Wall in Shenzhen. My comrades, at last we are safe. The thousands sitting on the ground look really up at Mao Zedong. We who are here have walked 6,000 miles. We've fought every inch of the way. 90,000 of us started. 20,000 of us got here. Ragged and bleeding and foot sore. We struggled over 18 mountain ranges. Our blood was mixed with the waters of 24 rivers. But we crossed them all. Our people fell in the plains, in the mountain passes, in the deserts, in the swamp. We who have come through must live for the things for which they died. We settled down in the northwest. This became our stronghold. People came from every part of China to join us. Some were earnest, some were not. Some of the artists and writers and musicians and dramatists who came from the cultural centers of old China looked down upon the ignorant peasants and workers and soldiers of Yananmen. On them Mao Zedong wasted no words. This is no place to assume high and mighty heirs. You're decaying, if you persist in your foolish attitude toward those you think beneath you. You must adjust yourselves to new conditions, to a new society. Not a society of intellectuals and wealthy patrons, but a democratic society created by and for the peasants, the worker and the soldier. You must strive to understand the people before you can expect them to understand you. You must study them and learn to love them for what they are, not for what you think they should be. This was the thinking of Mao Zedong when first we came to Yananmen. It was his thinking when first we met more than 30 years ago in the normal school of Yunnan. It is his thinking today. Now that the Guomindang and the Communist are once more working together, this thinking will pervade all that he does. For this is as truly a part of Mao Zedong as his endless sucking on cigarettes and blowing out clouds of smoke. You have been listening to the Pacific Story, presented by the National Broadcasting Company and its affiliated independent station to clarify events in the Pacific and to make understandable the crosscurrents of life in the Pacific Basin. For a reprint of this Pacific Story program, send 10 cents in stamps or coins to University of California Press, Berkeley, California. The Pacific Story is written and directed by Arnold Marquess. The original musical score was composed and conducted by Thomas Paluso. The role of Tao T. Moon was played by William John Stone and that of rule by Howard McNair. Programs in this series of particular interest to service men and women are broadcast overseas through the worldwide facilities of the Armed Forces Radio Service. This program came to you from Hollywood. This is NBC, the National Broadcasting Company.