Dreamlike Song
New Year’s Day[1]

January 1930

Ninghua, Qingliu, Guihua—
Paths narrow, forests deep, moss slippery.
Whither are we bound today?
Straight to the foot of Wuyi Mountain.
To the mountain foot, the mountain foot,
Red flags unfurl in the wind like a painting.

[1] After Mao Zedong and Zhu De led the Fourth Red Army to establish the revolutionary base in western Fujian Province in 1929, the Ninth Congress of the Fourth Red Army of the Communist Party of China—an event of great significance in the army’s development—was convened in late December at Gutian Village, Shanghang County. At the same time, Chiang Kai-shek mobilized reactionary forces from Jiangxi, Fujian, and Guangdong to launch a “joint encirclement and suppression by three provinces,” gradually closing in on the western Fujian revolutionary base. When the advance units of the Fujian enemy forces reached Xiaochi, only 30 li from Gutian Village, the Fourth Red Army shifted to the enemy’s rear in early January 1930. Zhu De led the First, Third, and Fourth Columns of the Fourth Red Army to advance first into Jiangxi. Mao Zedong, commanding the Second Column, covered the main force’s transfer, then moved north through Liancheng, Qingliu, Guihua (now Mingxi), and Ninghua counties in Fujian, crossed the Wuyi Mountains westward, and joined the main force of the Fourth Red Army in Jiangxi, thus shattering the enemy’s “joint encirclement and suppression by three provinces.” New Year’s Day here refers to the first day of the lunar new year (January 30, 1930).

“Straight to the Foot of Wuyi Mountain” (poetic painting)

“Red Flags Unfurl in the Wind Like a Painting” (Chinese painting)