Economic Construction and Its Experiential Lessons in the Anti-Japanese Democratic Base Areas

The Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression was the longest, largest, and most costly national liberation struggle waged by the Chinese people against foreign invasion in modern times. During the War of Resistance, the vast majority of the anti-Japanese democratic base areas led by the Chinese Communist Party were located behind enemy lines. Facing the frenzied attacks of the Japanese and puppet forces, the economic blockade of the Kuomintang diehards, and relatively barren natural conditions, construction and development were extremely difficult. The urgent problems confronting the Chinese Communists were: on the one hand, the anti-Japanese armed forces needed a continuous supply of materiel to sustain a protracted war; on the other hand, the people in the anti-Japanese democratic base areas, ravaged by the fires of war and suffering from blighted livelihoods, urgently needed to restore production and improve their lives. Therefore, the economic construction of the anti-Japanese democratic base areas shouldered a dual mission: it had to provide a solid material guarantee for the large-scale anti-Japanese army, and at the same time make every effort to alleviate the people’s living difficulties. Only by achieving an integrated balance between the needs of the War of Resistance and the improvement of people’s livelihoods could the centripetal force of the entire people’s resistance be consolidated, laying a firm foundation for final victory.

中国人民抗日战争是近代以来中国人民反抗外敌入侵持续时间最长、规模最大、牺牲最多的民族解放斗争。抗日战争时期，中国共产党领导的抗日民主根据地绝大多数位于敌后，面对日伪军的疯狂进攻、国民党顽固派的经济封锁，加上相对贫瘠的自然条件，建设和发展非常不易。摆在中国共产党人面前亟待解决的问题是：一方面，抗日武装需要持续的物资供应以支撑长期战争；另一方面，抗日民主根据地人民又饱受战火摧残，民生凋敝，迫切需要恢复生产、改善生活。因此，抗日民主根据地经济建设便肩负起双重使命，既要为大规模抗日军队提供坚实的物资保障，又要全力纾解群众的生活困境。唯有实现抗战需求与民生改善的统筹兼顾，才能凝聚起全民抗战的向心力，为最终赢得胜利筑牢根基。

Persisting in Fighting While Producing

坚持一边打仗一边生产

During the War of Resistance Against Japan, the greatest task of the Chinese nation was to resist Japanese aggression and win victory in the War of Resistance. The army was the backbone of the War of Resistance; without an army there could be no War of Resistance, and without an army there could be no opening up or defending of base areas. The overall situation of the enemy being strong and ourselves being weak determined that this was an arduous and protracted war. As the war dragged on, the burden on the people grew heavier and heavier, making it increasingly difficult to sustain the long-term struggle. Phenomena such as insufficient supply and soaring prices appeared in the anti-Japanese democratic base areas, and financial and economic difficulties mounted. Under these circumstances, the Chinese Communist Party put forward the slogan “We ourselves get moving, and we shall have ample food and clothing.” The army and people in the base areas launched the Great Production Movement, developing agriculture, industry, and commerce with the goal of self-sufficiency.

抗日战争时期，中华民族最大的任务是抵抗日本侵略，夺取抗战胜利。军队是抗战的中坚力量，没有军队就不能抗战，没有军队就不能开辟和保卫根据地。抗日战争敌强我弱的总体态势决定了这是一场艰苦卓绝的持久战。随着战争的旷日经久，人民的负担越来越重，越来越难以支撑长期斗争。抗日民主根据地出现了供应不足、物价飞涨等现象，财政经济上日益困难。在这样的情况下，中国共产党提出自己动手、丰衣足食。根据地军民开展大生产运动，发展以自给为目标的农、工、商业。

In fact, the launching of this movement underwent a long process of gestation and preparation, with a gradual deepening and continuous summing up of experience. This was also one of the reasons it could be carried out on a large scale and sustained after 1941. Shortly after the beginning of the nationwide War of Resistance, due to insufficient funds, some rear-area troops engaged in production activities such as growing vegetables, raising pigs, and making shoes to improve the soldiers’ lives. But these production movements were small in scale and not widely promoted. In January 1939, the Fifth Plenary Session of the Fifth Central Executive Committee of the Kuomintang [1]1 The Fifth Plenary Session of the Fifth Central Executive Committee of the Kuomintang was held in January 1939. It marked a shift in Kuomintang policy toward greater suppression of the Communist Party during the War of Resistance. adopted the policy of “dissolving the Communist Party, preventing the Communist Party, restricting the Communist Party, and opposing the Communist Party,” [2]2 This phrase refers to the policy adopted by the Kuomintang at its Fifth Plenary Session in 1939, aimed at restricting and undermining the Chinese Communist Party’s activities and influence. and the Kuomintang-Communist cooperation faced challenges. It was at this time that the magazine *The Military and Political Journal of the Eighth Route Army* was first published. In its inaugural issue, Comrade Mao Zedong, with keen insight, focused on the issue of “the army itself personally participating in production,” arguing that doing so could both improve the army’s life and invigorate its spirit, thereby enhancing combat effectiveness. At the time, this understanding was not yet universal; later history proved its foresight. In February 1939, the Central Committee of the CPC held a production mobilization conference. Comrade Mao Zedong put forward the slogan “We ourselves get moving.” Comrade Li Fuchun [3]3 Li Fuchun (1900–1975) was a senior Chinese Communist Party leader and economist who played a key role in economic planning and construction during the Yan’an period and after 1949. delivered a report titled “Step Up Production, Persist in the War of Resistance,” calling on the masses to organize and improve production. In February 1940, the “Directive of the Central Committee of the CPC and the Central Military Commission on Launching the Production Movement” pointed out that the struggle had entered a more arduous stage and that the solution to financial and economic problems must be raised to the political level. The Central Committee put forward corresponding requirements for troops in relatively consolidated areas, in unconsolidated areas, and even for troops “with no fixed abode.” It can be seen that the final implementation of a policy underwent a relatively long period of gestation before finally maturing. This was also a vivid manifestation of the ideological line of emancipating the mind and seeking truth from facts in the Yan’an Spirit. [4]4 The Yan’an Spirit refers to the ethos of self-reliance, hard struggle, and seeking truth from facts that was cultivated by the Chinese Communist Party during its Yan’an period (1936–1947).

事实上，这项运动的发起经过长期酝酿和准备，有一个逐渐深入、不断总结经验的过程。这也是其能够在1941年后大规模持续开展的原因之一。全民族抗战开始后不久，由于经费不足，有的留守部队从事种菜、养猪、做鞋等生产，改善战士生活。但这些生产运动规模较小，没有广泛推行。1939年1月，国民党五届五中全会确定“溶共、防共、限共、反共”方针，国共合作面临挑战。此时正值《八路军军政杂志》创刊，毛泽东同志在发刊词中以敏锐眼光重点谈到“军队本身亲身参加生产”的问题，认为这么做既能改善军队生活，又能振奋军队精神，增强战斗力。当时这一认识还未成为普遍认识，后来的历史证明了其前瞻性。1939年2月，中共中央召开生产动员大会。毛泽东同志提出“自己动手”的口号。李富春同志作了《加紧生产，坚持抗战》的报告，号召组织群众搞好生产。1940年2月，《中共中央、中央军委关于开展生产运动的指示》指出，斗争已进入更艰苦阶段，财政经济问题的解决必须提到政治高度。中央对比较巩固的地区和不巩固地区的部队，甚至对“行止无定”的部队均提出相应要求。可见，一项政策的最终落地经历较为长期的酝酿，最终走向成熟。这也是延安精神中解放思想、实事求是思想路线的生动体现。

In the spring of 1941, the 359th Brigade of the Eighth Route Army went to Nanniwan [5]5 Nanniwan is a valley in the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region where the 359th Brigade famously reclaimed wasteland, becoming a symbol of the Great Production Movement. to reclaim wasteland, and the Great Production Movement was launched on a large scale. In the two years of 1941 and 1942, through their own efforts, the army, organs, and schools in the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region solved most of their daily necessities. Comrade Mao Zedong gave a high appraisal: “This is a miracle never before seen in Chinese history; this is our unconquerable material foundation.” By 1943, in the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region army, “every soldier cultivated an average of eighteen *mu* of land, and the vegetables, meat, and oil they ate, the cotton-padded clothes, sweaters, shoes, and socks they wore, the cave dwellings and houses they lived in, the assembly halls large and small where they met, the tables, chairs, benches, paper, ink, and brushes for daily use, and the firewood, charcoal, and coal they burned—almost everything could be made and managed by themselves.” Comrade Mao Zedong pointed out: “By the method of ourselves getting moving, we achieved the goal of ample food and clothing. Each soldier needs to spend only three months a year on production; the remaining nine months can all be spent on training and combat. Our army neither asks the Kuomintang government for pay, nor asks the Border Region government for pay, nor asks the common people for pay; it is entirely self-supplied by the army itself.” Under Japan’s brutal aggression and the Kuomintang’s tight blockade, the army led by the Chinese Communist Party relied on its own efforts to achieve self-sufficiency and ample food and clothing in a region like Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia, where natural conditions and economic conditions were relatively backward. This was both an unprecedented miracle and an extremely remarkable achievement.

1941年春，八路军三五九旅到南泥湾开垦荒地，大生产运动大规模开展起来。1941年和1942年两年，陕甘宁边区军队和机关学校通过自己动手，解决了大部分日用所需。毛泽东同志予以高度评价：这是中国历史上从来未有的奇迹，这是我们不可征服的物质基础。到1943年，陕甘宁边区军队“每个战士平均种地十八亩，吃的菜、肉、油，穿的棉衣、毛衣、鞋袜，住的窑洞、房屋，开会的大小礼堂，日用的桌椅板凳、纸张笔墨，烧的柴火、木炭、石炭，差不多一切都可以自己造，自己办”。毛泽东同志指出：“我们用自己动手的方法，达到了丰衣足食的目的。每个战士，一年中只需花三个月工夫从事生产，其余九个月时间都可以从事训练和作战。我们的军队既不要国民党政府发饷，也不要边区政府发饷，也不要老百姓发饷，完全由军队自己供给。”在日本的残酷侵略和国民党的严密封锁下，中国共产党领导的军队自力更生，在陕甘宁这样自然条件和经济状况相对落后的地区，实现了自给自足、丰衣足食。这既是从未有过的奇迹，也是极为了不起的成就。

The Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region was basically in the rear, with relatively little military pressure, so the army had the objective conditions to carry out production. But could the front-line troops, in a wartime environment, fight while producing? The answer was yes. The Great Production Movement gradually developed into a universal movement in all base areas. In base areas such as Shanxi-Suiyuan, Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei, and Shanxi-Hebei-Shandong-Henan, most troops achieved one and a half to three months’ grain self-sufficiency and basic self-sufficiency in vegetables. Troops in the Shandong and Central China base areas, through their own efforts, also guaranteed basic supplies and even built up further reserves. In early 1945, Comrade Mao Zedong published “Guerrilla Areas Can Also Carry Out Production,” affirming that the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei base area had achieved the integration of labor and armed force, and that combat tasks and production tasks were given equal importance. He pointed out: “When spring plowing begins, send specialized troops to strike at the enemy and carry out a powerful political offensive. Precisely because of this, military operations also become more active, and the combat effectiveness of the troops is enhanced.” Some units stipulated that during the busy farming season, 50% of their forces should help the masses with production without compensation. The support of the masses in the guerrilla areas for the Communist Party and the Eighth Route Army was thereby raised to a higher level.

陕甘宁边区基本处于后方，军事压力相对较小，军队具备开展生产的客观条件。那么，前方部队在战争环境下，能一边打仗、一边生产吗？答案是能。大生产运动逐步发展为全国各根据地的普遍运动。晋绥、晋察冀、晋冀鲁豫等根据地大多数部队做到粮食自给一个半月到三个月，蔬菜基本自给。山东、华中根据地部队通过自己动手，也保障了基本供给，甚至还有了进一步贮备。1945年初，毛泽东同志发表《游击区也能够进行生产》，肯定晋察冀根据地实现劳力和武力结合、战斗任务和生产任务被同等看重，指出：当春耕开始时，派专门部队去打击敌人，并进行强有力的政治攻势。正因为这样，军事动作也积极了，部队战斗力也提高了。有的部队规定农忙时期以50%的力量，无代价地帮助群众生产。游击区群众对共产党、八路军的拥护，从此更增高一步。

While fighting on the one hand and engaging in production on the other, the army not only effectively solved its own problems of survival and development but also greatly lightened the burden on the common people. The Chinese Communists used systematic thinking to coordinate the overall situation, placing economic issues on an equal footing with military and political issues, and from the overall perspective of the War of Resistance, mobilized the army to engage in production. The entrepreneurial spirit of self-reliance and arduous struggle formed in the production movement was integrated into the bloodline of the Chinese Communists.

军队在一边打仗的同时，一边从事生产，不仅有效解决了自身生存和发展问题，更是大大减轻了老百姓的负担。中国共产党人运用系统思维统筹全局，将经济问题置于与军事、政治问题同等重要的地位，从抗战全局出发发动军队从事生产。生产运动中形成的自力更生、艰苦奋斗的创业精神更是融入中国共产党人的血脉。

Putting the People’s Interests First

将人民利益放在首位

During the War of Resistance Against Japan, the Chinese Communist Party always put the people’s interests first, deeply understanding that it was necessary to devote itself to improving the people’s lives and promoting rural economic development. Under correct guidance, it fully leveraged the active role of Party member cadres, truly “organized” the people, and helped them develop agriculture, industry, commerce, and handicrafts.

抗日战争时期，中国共产党始终将人民的利益放在首位，深知要致力于改善人民生活、推动农村经济发展。在正确的方针指导下，充分发挥党员领导干部的积极作用，真正将人民“组织起来”，帮助人民发展农、工、商业和手工业。

First, reclaiming wasteland. The Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region increased the amount of reclaimed wasteland every year after 1939. In 1943, this developed into a universal movement. The original plan was to reclaim 390,000 *mu* of wasteland, but the actual amount reclaimed reached as high as 970,000 *mu*, unleashing the immense labor enthusiasm of the masses. Grassroots cadres made land reclamation their main task, leading by example and charging to the front line, playing an exemplary and leading role. Various localities also selected and rewarded labor heroes in land reclamation, inspiring the masses’ enthusiasm for opening up wasteland. The land reclamation movement greatly expanded the area of cultivated land, leading to a leapfrog growth in agricultural output, laying the foundation for food security and economic development in the border region.

一是开垦荒地。陕甘宁边区自1939年后每年增开荒地，1943年发展为普遍的运动，原计划开荒39万亩，实际开荒高达97万亩，发挥出群众巨大的劳动干劲。基层干部将开荒作为主要工作，以身作则冲在最前线，起到示范带头作用。各地还评选与奖励开荒劳动英雄，鼓舞广大群众的开荒热情。开荒运动使耕地面积大幅扩张，农业产量跨越式增长，为边区粮食安全和经济发展奠定基础。

Second, building water conservancy projects. Water conservancy projects required a large input of labor, which was difficult to accomplish by the strength of a single village or household alone, and the work of organization was extremely challenging. To prevent floods and ensure agricultural production, the anti-Japanese democratic base area in Central Anhui decided to build a dam. Lü Huisheng, [6]6 Lü Huisheng (1902–1948) was a Chinese Communist Party member and administrator in the Central Anhui base area, executed by the Kuomintang after the war. director of the Central Anhui Administrative Office, organized 210,000 laborers to build the Huangsi Beach New Dike along the Yangtze River, protecting more than 3 million *mu* of farmland in Wuwei, Chao County, Hanshan, and other counties, and safeguarding the lives and property of over 1 million people. The people of Central Anhui were grateful for the achievements of Lü Huisheng and other cadres, and named the new dike the “Huisheng Dike.”

二是兴修水利。水利工程需要投入大量劳力，单靠一村一户的力量难以完成，组织工作难度极大。皖中抗日民主根据地为防治水患，保障农业生产，决定修建大坝。皖中行政公署主任吕惠生组织21万民工，在长江边修建了黄丝滩新堤，屏障无为、巢县、含山等县300多万亩农田，保护100多万人民的生命财产安全。皖中人民感谢吕惠生等干部的功绩，将新堤命名为“惠生堤”。

Third, organizing cooperatives. During the War of Resistance against Japan, an important form through which the Chinese Communist Party organized the masses in the economic sphere was the cooperative. For thousands of years, China’s countryside had been based on individual economies, scattered and small in scale, with low production efficiency. Cooperatives were mutual-aid organizations built on top of individual private ownership. Cooperatives organized the strength of the masses, promoted production, consumption, and transport, and raised efficiency. Comrade Mao Zedong regarded this as the necessary road from poverty to prosperity, and also the necessary road to victory in the War of Resistance.

三是组织合作社。抗战时期，中国共产党在经济领域组织群众的一个重要形式是合作社。中国农村几千年来都是个体经济，分散且规模小，生产效率低。合作社是建立在个体私有经济之上的互助组织。合作社把群众的力量组织起来，推动生产、消费、运输，提高了效率。毛泽东同志认为这是由穷苦变富裕的必由之路，也是抗战胜利的必由之路。

In the course of production, all kinds of difficulties were always encountered. For example, northern Shaanxi is located on the Loess Plateau, where soil erosion is severe. After a single torrential rain, the hard-won reclaimed farmland and crops could be destroyed in an instant. Yet sometimes, difficulties could instead ignite labor enthusiasm, giving vent to a fighting spirit that seized the day and a heroic mettle that “would vie with Heaven in height.” [7]7 “Would vie with Heaven in height” (欲与天公试比高) is a line from Mao Zedong’s 1936 poem “Snow” (沁园春·雪), expressing a heroic, defiant spirit. Outstanding works of literature and art best capture the style and spirit of an era. The yangge opera [8]8 Yangge (秧歌) is a popular rural folk dance and song form from northern China, often performed during festivals; during the Yan’an period it was adapted by the Communist Party for revolutionary propaganda. “Brother and Sister Reclaim Wasteland,” created by teachers and students of the Lu Xun Academy of Arts and Literature, reflected the bustling scenes of labor in the great production movement in the border region and the new image of the peasantry. Many other works recorded the heroic feat of “fighting while also producing,” and also revealed the truth that “production is for winning battles,” becoming models of the integration of revolutionary art with the mass movement.

在生产过程中，总会遇到种种困难。如陕北地处黄土高原，水土流失严重。一场暴雨过后，辛苦开垦的农田和庄稼毁于一旦。但有时候，困难反而能激发劳动热情，迸发出只争朝夕的拼搏精神和“欲与天公试比高”的英雄气概。优秀文艺作品最能展现时代风貌与精神。鲁艺师生创作的秧歌剧《兄妹开荒》反映了边区大生产运动热火朝天的劳动场面和崭新的农民形象。还有许多作品记录了“又战斗来又生产”的壮举，也揭示了“生产是为打胜仗”的道理，成为革命文艺与群众运动相结合的典范。

Comrade Mao Zedong demanded that Party and government personnel devote 90 percent of their energy to helping peasants increase production, and 10 percent of their energy to collecting taxes from the peasants. This was a vivid portrayal of not only taking things from the people, but first and foremost giving things to the people. Comrade Mao Zedong’s inscription, “Mass production, mass interests, mass sentiments, mass experience,” truly reflected the mass line of the Chinese Communists, namely, that production must be turned into a vigorous mass movement, the initiative of the masses must be raised, efforts must be made to listen to the voices of the masses, and the masses’ production experience must be well summarized. In the great production movement, the people’s living standards improved, and they gained greater capacity and motivation to support the Anti-Japanese democratic base area governments and the anti-Japanese struggle, forming a situation in which the army and the people fought the war to the end.

毛泽东同志要求党政工作人员以百分之九十的精力帮助农民增加生产，以百分之十的精力从农民取得税收。这就是不只向人民要东西、更要给人民东西的生动写照。毛泽东同志的题词“群众生产、群众利益、群众情绪、群众经验”，真切反映了中国共产党人的群众路线，即要把生产开展成热火朝天的群众运动、提高群众的积极性、努力倾听群众的声音、善于总结群众的生产经验。在大生产运动中，人民生活水平得到改善，更有能力和动力支持抗日民主根据地政权和抗日斗争，形成了军民抗战到底的局面。

The army and the people united as one, concentrating strength

军民团结一心凝聚力量

The War of Resistance against Japan was a struggle integrating politics, economics, and military affairs. The Chinese Communist Party thoroughly mobilized, united, organized, and armed the masses to carry out this great struggle. The army led by the Chinese Communist Party and the base area governments were linked by blood with the broad masses and supported each other. Whether it was the army relying on its own efforts to lighten the people’s burden, or the Party and government organs leading the people in production campaigns, in fact all of this strengthened the bonds and feelings between the Party, the government, the army, and the people. In 1943, Comrade Mao Zedong proposed launching a large-scale mass movement to support the government and cherish the people, and to support the army and give preferential treatment to the families of soldiers who died in the war. On the army side, the pledge to support the government and cherish the people was re-proclaimed; on the mass side, the pledge to support the army was re-proclaimed. This was conducive to strengthening the great unity of the army and the people and to drawing closer the relations between the Party, the government, the army, and the people.

抗日战争是集政治、经济、军事为一体的斗争。中国共产党将人民群众彻底动员起来、团结起来、组织起来、武装起来，进行这场伟大的斗争。中国共产党领导的军队和根据地政权与广大人民血脉相连、互相支撑。不管是军队自力更生，减轻人民负担，还是党政机关领导人民开展生产运动，事实上都增强了党政军民之间的纽带与感情。1943年，毛泽东同志提出举行一次拥政爱民和拥军优抗的大规模群众运动。军队方面，重新宣布拥政爱民公约；群众方面，重新宣布拥军公约。这有利于加强军民大团结、密切党政军民关系。

In the course of the anti-Japanese struggle and the construction of the base areas, the Chinese Communist Party continuously mobilized and organized the masses through mass organizations such as the Peasant National Salvation Association, the Women’s National Salvation Association, and the Youth National Salvation Association. [9]9 The Peasant National Salvation Association (农救会), Women’s National Salvation Association (妇救会), and Youth National Salvation Association (青救会) were mass organizations established by the CPC in the base areas to mobilize peasants, women, and youth for production, political participation, and support for the war effort. Grassroots politics made progress, hooligans were reformed, customs changed, and the face of the countryside was renewed. The people gave their heartfelt support to the Chinese Communist Party and the Anti-Japanese democratic base areas, worked hard at production, enthusiastically turned in public grain, and sent their sons and daughters to join the army, forming a profound bond between the army and the people, as expressed in the saying, “The last bowl of rice is used to make military provisions, the last foot of cloth is used to make military uniforms, and the last flesh-and-blood child is sent to the battlefield.” This powerful popular support became an important driving force for the base areas to persist in the War of Resistance.

在抗日斗争和根据地建设过程中，中国共产党通过农救会、妇救会、青救会等群众团体不断动员和组织群众，基层政治获得进步，流氓被改造，风俗在改变，农村面貌为之一新。人民对中国共产党和抗日民主根据地衷心拥护和支持，努力从事生产，踊跃上交公粮、送子女参军，形成“最后一碗米送去做军粮，最后一尺布送去做军装，最后一个亲骨肉送去上战场”的军民鱼水深情。强大的群众支持成为根据地坚持抗战的重要动力。

During the War of Resistance against Japan, the Kuomintang used the war to make a fortune from the national calamity, and corruption was rife. The Chinese Communist Party endured hardships and struggled, and besides fighting and working, it also had to produce. The Kuomintang possessed vast areas rich in grain output, but most of the grain was embezzled by the personnel handling it, and the soldiers were so hungry they were sallow and emaciated. The Chinese Communist Party’s base areas, located in enemy-held areas and barren regions like northern Shaanxi, were able to rely on their own efforts to solve the grain problem. This further expanded the Chinese Communist Party’s political influence nationwide and won the hearts of the people. The patriotic overseas Chinese leader Chen Jiageng, after visiting Yan’an, sincerely exclaimed, “China’s hope lies in Yan’an.” [10]10 Chen Jiageng (陈嘉庚, 1874–1961), also known as Tan Kah Kee, was a prominent Chinese overseas businessman and philanthropist from Singapore who supported the Chinese war effort and visited Yan’an in 1940, after which he publicly praised the CPC’s integrity and efficiency. The Chinese Communist Party not only actively resisted Japan, but also advanced Party building, government building, and army building as an integrated whole, propping up the hope of the Chinese nation for national salvation and survival, and becoming the mainstay of the entire nation’s War of Resistance.

抗日战争时期，国民党利用战争发国难财，贪污成风。中国共产党艰苦奋斗，打仗与工作之外还要生产。国民党拥有粮食产量丰富的广大地区，但大部分粮食被经手人员中饱，士兵饿得面黄肌瘦。中国共产党的根据地在敌后地区以及陕北这样的贫瘠区域，却能自己动手，解决粮食问题。这些使中国共产党在全国的政治影响进一步扩大，赢得了民心。爱国华侨陈嘉庚在参观延安后，由衷地发出感慨：“中国的希望在延安。”中国共产党不仅积极抗日，而且在建党、建政、建军方面一体推进，支撑起中华民族救亡图存的希望，成为全民族抗战的中流砥柱。

In the flames of the War of Resistance against Japan, amid the bugle calls of the great production movement, the vast numbers of Party cadres and members further clarified that the purpose of revolution was construction, and that defeating Japanese imperialism was for China’s liberation and development. The Party cultivated a group of responsible cadres with reliable political quality and good Party spirit, who participated in trade, finance, and fiscal affairs, accumulated rich experience, and grew into specialized personnel. This laid the foundation for the subsequent shift of the Chinese Communist Party’s work focus from the countryside to the cities and toward production and construction.

在抗日战争的烽火中，在大生产运动的号角声中，广大党员干部进一步明确革命的目的是为了建设，打倒日本帝国主义是为了中国的解放与发展。党培养出一批政治可靠、党性好的负责干部，参加贸易、金融、财政事业，积累丰富经验，成长为专门人才。这为之后中国共产党工作重心从农村转移到城市、转向生产建设奠定了基础。

The economic construction during the War of Resistance not only tested the Party’s ability to lead the people in the anti-Japanese struggle, but also tested the ability of the base area governments to carry out economic construction and mass work. History has proven that only by thoroughly emancipating the mind and seeking truth from facts could the army fight while also producing, enabling the military forces of the War of Resistance to develop continuously; only by firmly relying on the masses, making every effort to develop the economy and improve people’s livelihoods, could the base areas be consolidated, providing a stable foundation for a protracted war of resistance; only by the vast numbers of Party cadres and members always sharing hardships with the masses and carrying forward the fine style of hard struggle and self-reliance could the masses be truly and thoroughly mobilized and organized, and the destiny of national independence and liberation be firmly grasped in their own hands. These historical experiences are not only a precious treasure of the Chinese Communist Party’s century-long struggle, but also provide profound historical reference and inspiration for contemporary China to promote the building of a strong country and national rejuvenation in a complex domestic and international environment — only by taking innovation as the driving force, people’s livelihoods as the foundation, and unity as the bond, being independent and self-reliant, and striving with vigor, can we open up new prospects amid changes and achieve the unity of national prosperity and people’s happiness.

抗战时期的经济建设，不仅考验了党带领人民进行抗日斗争的能力，还考验了根据地政府进行经济建设、群众工作的能力。历史证明，只有彻底解放思想、实事求是，才能让军队一边战斗、一边生产，使抗战的军事力量不断获得发展；只有紧紧依靠群众，全力发展经济、改善民生，才能巩固根据地，为持久抗战提供稳固依托；只有广大党员干部始终与群众同甘共苦，发扬艰苦奋斗、自力更生的优良作风，才能真正彻底地将群众动员与组织起来，将民族独立解放的命运牢牢掌握在自己手中。这些历史经验，不仅是中国共产党百余年奋斗历程的宝贵财富，更为当代中国在复杂国内外环境中推动强国建设、民族复兴提供了深刻的历史借鉴和启示——唯有以创新为动力、以民生为根基、以团结为纽带，独立自主，奋发有为，才能在变局中开新局，实现国家繁荣与人民幸福的统一。

(The author is a researcher at the Research Center for Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and director of the Office of the History of the War of Resistance against Japan, Institute of Modern History.)

（作者系中国社会科学院习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想研究中心研究员、近代史研究所抗日战争史研究室主任）

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