It is common knowledge that the Communist Party of China won national power through a long revolutionary period． Outstanding China expert in the US，Kenneth Lieberthal，pointed out：“The CCP's path to power was characterized by uncertainty，experi—mentation，disappointment and tenacity…it became softly rooted in some of the poorest regions of this third—world country．．．．Six basic strategies were adopted seriatim in this complex，wide—ranging struggle to achieve national power—Labor Mobilization(1 921—23)，United Front with the GMD(1 924—27)，Adapting to the Countryside(1 929—34)，S~ategic Retreat：The Long March(1934—35)，The Yan’an Era(1935—47)，Fighting a Civil War(1947—49)…．The Yan’an era had a profound effect on the Chinese Communist party and its fortunes．’”The summary by Mr．Lieberthal is concise and appropriate．
In the early years after the founding of the Communist Party of China，it adopted a clear direction——leading the Chinese people to “overthrow the imperialist oppression，and achieve complete indepen—dence for the Chinese nation，’’“eliminate civil strife，overthrow warlords and establish domestic peace．’’During the Yan’an period，when it faced Japanese aggression and the fate of the nation was at stake，it boldly pressed its program for the liberation of the Chinese nation．In July 1 937 when the Lugou Bridge Incident。occurred，the Communist Party of China immediately published an open telegram tO the nation appeal—ing，“Peiping and Tianjin in imminent danger！North China in imminent danger！The Chinese nation in imminent danger！Only the war of resis—tance against Japanese aggression by the whole nation offers a way out．”Putting national interests first and galvanizing mass resistance against Japanese aggression were strategies that formed a sharp contrast with the actions of the Kuomintang and Chiang Kai—shek，who compromised China externally and oppressed the people internally in this early period·Samuel Huntington pointed out that the Communist Party“mobilized the peasants into politics under their auspices on behalf of both nation—alism and revolution．”
P4-5