Inscription for the Founding of the Military Academy of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army\[1]
(January 15, 1951)
Study diligently, safeguard the national defense.
Mao Zedong
\[1\] This is an inscription written by Mao Zedong on January 15, 1951, for the founding of the Military Academy of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army. The Military Academy of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army is the predecessor of today’s National Defense University. It was established in Nanjing on January 15, 1951, with Liu Bocheng serving as its first president and political commissar. The tasks of the Military Academy were: to earnestly study the military doctrines of Marx, Engels, Lenin, and Stalin, as well as Mao Zedong’s military thought; to summarize our army’s rich combat experience and learn from the useful experiences of foreign countries; on the basis of our army’s existing military and political qualities, to train commanders of combined arms forces in the ability to organize and command coordinated operations of various services and arms under modern conditions, and to enhance the military and political theoretical levels of our army’s military commanders and political workers, so as to accelerate the revolutionization and modernization of our army.