Zhong Haitao: Inheriting the Spirit of the Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army to Fortify Ideals and Convictions [1]
The Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army (NAJUA) was an anti-Japanese armed force established and led by the Communist Party of China (CPC), composed of people from all ethnic groups in Northeast China. In his important speech at the Symposium on Promoting the Comprehensive Revitalization of Northeast China in the New Era, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "We must vigorously carry forward the Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army spirit, the Daqing spirit (Iron Man spirit) [1], and the Great Northern Wilderness spirit [2], guiding Party members and cadres to establish a correct view of political achievements, and stimulating enthusiasm for entrepreneurship and career development." This important discourse profoundly elucidates that firm ideals and convictions are a vital spiritual pillar. The fundamental motivation behind why the NAJUA soldiers were able to rush into national peril without hesitation, persist in the War of Resistance through immense hardships over a long period, and remain unyielding in the face of torture and death, lay in their firm conviction of loyalty to the Party. During his inspection of Jilin, General Secretary Xi Jinping noted, "We must use these Red resources [3] as vivid teaching materials for strengthening ideals and convictions and enhancing Party spirit, organizing the many Party members and cadres to deeply study the history of the Party, the history of New China, the history of reform and opening up, and the history of the development of socialism, so as to educate and guide them to maintain their original aspiration and founding mission forever." In the Northeast region, the history of the NAJUA struggle is undoubtedly the Red resource with the deepest accumulation, most distinctive characteristics, and most unique value. To deeply implement the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important speech, we should closely integrate the practical struggles of the NAJUA and conduct a deep analysis of the internal logic behind the generation of their ideals and convictions. This provides profound theoretical inspiration and practical guidance for contemporary Party members and cadres to inherit the NEUA spirit, fortify the foundation of faith, supplement the "calcium" of the spirit [4], and steady the helm of ideology.
I
"Whether to believe" is the logical starting point for establishing ideals and convictions. It requires Party members and cadres to deeply identify, through both theoretical cognition and emotional internal reckoning, with the historical necessity and moral height of the lofty ideal of Communism and the common ideal of socialism with Chinese characteristics. Currently, the primary crux for the wavering ideals and convictions of a few Party members and cadres lies in a lack of faith and a failure to grasp the dialectical relationship between ideals and reality. Historical materialism holds that social existence determines social consciousness, while social consciousness possesses relative independence and exerts an active counter-reaction on social existence. In other words, ideals originate from reality, but they must transcend and guide the transformation of reality. To conflate ideals with reality is to dissolve the transcendence and leading power of ideals. The core pursuit of the NAJUA was to overthrow Japanese imperialism and build a New China; this ideal has long been realized, but at that time, a vast gap existed between this ideal and reality. The harshness of the natural environment, the extreme shortage of logistics and supplies, the disparity in military strength, and the duration of the NAJUA’s struggle are all extremely rare in the history of human warfare. Facing these hardships, the NAJUA soldiers remained unyielding with rock-firm convictions. On the eve of the sacrifice of Yang Jingyu, Commander-in-Chief of the First Army of the NAJUA, only a few guards remained by his side. Sharing a bowl of gruel boiled with snow water with his soldiers, he calmly told his guards: "Even if all of us sacrifice ourselves, others will inherit our cause; the revolution will always succeed." Yang Jingyu held onto the firm conviction of inevitable victory even in adversity. During his inspection of Jilin, General Secretary Xi Jinping said: "During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, under extremely harsh conditions, General Yang Jingyu led the anti-Japanese armed forces through bitter battles against an enemy several times their size in temperatures of minus forty degrees Celsius. When he died, his stomach contained only withered grass, tree bark, and cotton fiber—not a single grain of food. His deeds are soul-stirring." With his hot blood and a stomach full of grass, Yang Jingyu interpreted the firm ideals and convictions of a Communist. Had the NAJUA soldiers abandoned the struggle due to the huge chasm between ideal and reality, there would be no legend of this heroic force, let alone the inheritance of the NAJUA spirit. The history of the NAJUA profoundly enlightens us: lofty ideals are never an escape from realistic predicaments, but the spiritual motive force for breaking through historical limitations. Only by fortifying the foundation of "belief" at the cognitive level can the lighthouse of ideals and convictions truly illuminate the road ahead.
II
"Whether to act" is the logical landing point for putting ideals and convictions into practice. It requires Party members and cadres to internalize lofty faith and externalize it in action, consciously practicing their original aspiration and founding mission. Looking back at history, after the September 18th Incident [5], the nation was humiliated, the people suffered, and civilization was shrouded in dust. In the face of choices between home and country, life and death, wealth and poverty, and comfort and hardship, the NAJUA soldiers unhesitatingly shouldered the heavy responsibility of the era—to save the nation from peril and rescue their compatriots from fire and water. With their own flesh and blood, they composed a magnificent epic of "revolutionary ideals higher than the heavens." Among the NAJUA were professional revolutionaries, university professors, and students. For example, Feng Zhongyun, Political Commissar of the Third Army of the NAJUA, was admitted to the Mathematics Department of Tsinghua University at 18 and began teaching at the Harbin Merchant Marine School at 22. In the face of national disaster, he resolutely abandoned a comfortable life to head for the battlefield, sleeping on ice and snow, enduring hunger, and surviving narrow escapes. Yang Jingyu bid farewell to his closest kin for the revolutionary cause; Wei Zhengmin traveled thousands of miles only to pass away in a secret camp due to illness; the "red capitalist" Zhu Shouyi ruined his family fortune to join the NAJUA ranks to save the nation... The national righteousness shown by the NAJUA soldiers in rushing to meet the national crisis is a true reflection of transforming ideals and convictions into the practice of saving the country. The history of the NAJUA profoundly demonstrates that to firm up ideals and convictions, one must not only aim high but also lead by example; one must not only internalize them in the heart but also externalize them in action. Today, we should also take the warning that "empty talk harms the country" (空谈误国) and maintain the ambition that "practical work prospers the nation" (实干兴邦). Only by achieving a high degree of unity between knowledge and action in the great cause of national rejuvenation can we demonstrate the firm ideals and convictions of Communists on the new journey of the New Era.
III
"How long to persevere" is the logical fulcrum for ideals and convictions to withstand tests. It requires Party members and cadres to forge their cognitive identification with truth and their conscious action toward the mission into an indomitable will, demonstrating the resilience and determination of faith through long-term struggle and complex tests. Looking back at the arduous years of the NAJUA, one episode is moving: in the late autumn of 1939, when supplies were cut off, Zhou Baozhong, Commander-in-Chief of the Second Army of the NAJUA, faced a situation where some soldiers requested to leave out of extreme despair. He did not force them to stay. He gathered the remaining comrades and announced solemnly but firmly: "Now we indeed face a question of life and death. It is late autumn; the grass is no longer edible, and we have no cotton clothes. We may starve or freeze to death. Those who wish to leave may do so. I only ask that you leave your guns behind and go find a way to live. Even if only I, Zhou Baozhong, am left alone, I will fight the Japanese to the end!" Hearing these words, the crowd sighed. Suddenly, 120 people stood up in unison and shouted: "We will not leave! Even in death, we will die together with Commander Zhou!" Faced with exceptionally difficult environments, some flinched and became deserters, which conversely highlighted the firmness of men like Zhou Baozhong. General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized: "The original aspiration is easy to find, but always difficult to maintain." Whether it was the test of life and death during the revolutionary war years or the test of power during the period of peaceful construction, the essence is the ultimate questioning of the core of faith’s resilience—"how long to persevere." Only by continuously consolidating the foundation of faith through the passage of time and the tempering of complex struggles can we ensure that ideals and convictions grow even stronger over time.
Looking back at history, the NAJUA soldiers remained committed to their convictions and fought bloody battles under extremely precarious conditions where hope for victory was almost invisible. Today, in vigorously carrying forward the NAJUA spirit, the priority is to fortify the foundation of conviction and focus on resolving the ideological cognitive issue of "whether one truly believes"; secondly, we must strengthen practical responsibility and effectively address the practical action issue of "whether one truly acts"; finally, we must temper persistence and resilience to continuously deal with the issue of "how long one can persevere." Only by transforming firm ideals and convictions into a practice of struggling against difficulties and persisting over the long term can we open up a new situation for the great cause of national rejuvenation.
(Author: Zhong Haitao, Researcher at the Jilin Provincial Research Center for the System of Theories of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics, and Director of the Department of Party Building Teaching and Research at the CPC Jilin Provincial Party School [Jilin Provincial Academy of Governance])
Source: Guangming Daily, July 7, 2025, Page 6.