An Analysis of Cultural Construction in the Enemy-Rear Base Areas during the War of Resistance Against Japan

Marx pointed out in the *Economic Manuscripts of 1857–1858*: “The dissolution of a definite form of consciousness suffices to bring an entire epoch to ruin.” This fully demonstrates that culture exerts a tremendous driving force on revolution. During the War of Resistance Against Japan, the culture of the enemy-rear base areas likewise exerted a tremendous driving force on the military struggle and all other aspects of construction in those areas. This effect was made possible by the cultural construction in the enemy-rear base areas during the War of Resistance Against Japan—that is, between 1937 and 1945, during the nationwide war of resistance, the Eighth Route Army, the New Fourth Army, and other anti-Japanese armed forces led by the Communist Party of China established anti-Japanese base areas (such as the Jin-Cha-Ji, Jin-Ji-Lu-Yu, Shaan-Gan-Ning, Shandong, and Central China areas) in the territories occupied by the Japanese army (the enemy rear). Within these areas, they purposefully and systematically carried out a series of cultural creation, dissemination, and popularization activities centered on serving the war of resistance, based on mobilizing the masses, and focused on shaping revolutionary culture. It was a special cultural practice conducted under extremely harsh wartime conditions to consolidate the national spirit, mobilize the strength of the people, persist in protracted resistance, and strive for ultimate victory.

马克思在《1857—1858年经济学手稿》中指出：“一定的意识形式的解体足以使整个时代覆灭。”这充分说明，文化对革命具有巨大的推动作用。抗日战争时期敌后根据地文化对于敌后根据地的军事斗争和其他各方面的建设，同样产生了巨大的推动作用。这种作用的产生，得益于抗日战争时期敌后根据地文化建设，即在1937年至1945年全民族抗战期间，中国共产党领导的八路军、新四军及其他抗日武装在日军占领区（敌后）建立的抗日根据地（如晋察冀、晋冀鲁豫、陕甘宁、山东、华中等地）内，有目的、有组织地开展的一系列以服务抗战为中心、以动员民众为基础、以塑造革命文化为核心的文化创造、传播与普及活动。它是在极端艰苦的战争环境下，为凝聚民族精神、动员民众力量、坚持持久抗战、争取最终胜利而进行的特殊文化实践。

During the War of Resistance Against Japan, the Communist Party of China placed great emphasis on using culture to mobilize and unite the people. For the sake of the interests of the entire nation, Chinese Communists, with their persistent ideals and beliefs, fully leveraged their powerful advantages in organization, propaganda, and mobilization to strengthen cultural construction in the enemy-rear base areas. The cultural construction in the enemy-rear base areas during this period was always situated within the historical coordinates of a vast disparity in strength between the enemy and ourselves and the turbulent course of the revolutionary process. Facing the Nationalist Party’s military “encirclement and suppression” and cultural “encirclement and suppression,” the Communist Party of China effectively carried out “the deepening of the revolution in the countryside and the deepening of the cultural revolution,” awakening the consciousness of the people across the country. At the same time, the Communist Party of China led the people of the whole country in resisting the cultural aggression of Japanese imperialism, “waging a resolute struggle against all thought that opposes resistance, opposes unity, and opposes progress,” directly pushing the Chinese revolution and the Chinese people “gradually closer to victory.”

抗日战争时期，中国共产党注重以文化动员人民、凝聚人民。为了全民族利益，中国共产党人以执着的理念和信仰，充分发挥自身在组织、宣传、动员上的强大优势，加强敌后根据地的文化建设。这个时期的敌后根据地文化建设，始终处于敌我力量悬殊、革命进程跌宕的历史坐标系中。面对国民党的军事“围剿”和文化“围剿”，中国共产党有效开展了“农村革命深入和文化革命深入”，唤醒了全国人民的觉悟。同时，中国共产党领导全国人民抗击日本帝国主义的文化侵略，“同一切反抗战、反团结、反进步的思想进行坚决的斗争”，直接推动了中国革命和中国人民“逐渐接近了胜利”。

I. The Foundations and Conditions of Cultural Construction in the Enemy-Rear Base Areas during the War of Resistance Against Japan

一、抗日战争时期敌后根据地文化建设的基础与条件

The emergence and development of any thing are conditional; this condition is the basis for its existence and continuation. Mao Zedong pointed out in *On Contradiction* that the development of things is the result of the combined action of internal and external causes. During the War of Resistance Against Japan, cultural construction in the enemy-rear base areas flourished under extremely harsh conditions, becoming an important force for consolidating popular sentiment, boosting morale, and persisting in the war of resistance. Its construction foundation was multi-dimensional, mainly reflected in five aspects:

任何事物的产生与发展都是有条件的，这个条件就是其存续的基础。毛泽东在《矛盾论》中指出，事物的发展是内外因共同作用的结果。抗日战争时期，敌后根据地的文化建设在极端艰苦的条件下蓬勃发展，成为凝聚人心、鼓舞士气、坚持抗战的重要力量。其建设基础是多维度的，主要体现在五个方面：

(1) The Strong Leadership of the Communist Party of China as the Most Solid Political Foundation

（一）中国共产党的坚强领导是最坚实的政治基础

The Communist Party of China was the strongest leading force in the cultural construction of the enemy-rear base areas during the War of Resistance Against Japan. Throughout the entire process of cultural construction in the enemy-rear base areas, the Communist Party of China firmly grasped the leadership and initiative. On May 3, 1937, Mao Zedong pointed out in *The Tasks of the Chinese Communist Party in the Period of Resistance to Japan*: “Under the present circumstances, without the political leadership of the proletariat and its party, the Anti-Japanese National United Front cannot be established, the goals of peace, democracy, and resistance cannot be achieved, the motherland cannot be defended, and a unified democratic republic cannot be successfully built.” The leadership role of the Communist Party of China in the cultural construction of the enemy-rear base areas was mainly reflected in three aspects. First, it formulated the correct political line. The Communist Party of China formulated the line of total resistance against Japan and the strategy of protracted war. The line of total resistance against Japan was “to strive for millions upon millions of the masses to enter the Anti-Japanese National United Front” and “to mobilize all forces for victory in the war of resistance,” guiding the shift from partial resistance to total, nationwide resistance. At the same time, relatively stable anti-Japanese democratic political power was established in the enemy-rear anti-Japanese base areas. On March 6, 1940, in order to consolidate the Anti-Japanese National United Front and unite all classes to jointly resist Japan, while ensuring the Party’s leadership, the Communist Party of China implemented the “Three-Thirds System” [1]1 Mao Zedong, “On New Democracy” (January 1940), *Selected Works of Mao Zedong*, Vol. 2. principle of political power organization in the anti-Japanese democratic governments of the enemy-rear base areas. Under this system, Communist Party members, non-Party left-wing progressives, and centrists (representing the middle bourgeoisie and enlightened gentry) each accounted for one-third of the total personnel in the political power organs, promoting a favorable situation of joint dictatorship by several revolutionary classes. The implementation of the “Three-Thirds System” principle of political power organization effectively consolidated the united front and expanded the anti-Japanese camp; advanced democratic politics in the enemy-rear anti-Japanese base areas, realizing the practice of multi-party cooperation and political consultation; effectively enhanced the governance efficiency of the enemy-rear anti-Japanese base areas, safeguarded the basic rights of the people, and won broad support and trust from the masses. These policies and measures provided the fundamental political guarantee and directional guidance for cultural construction in the enemy-rear anti-Japanese base areas. Second, it formulated clear policies and guidelines for cultural construction. In January 1940, after the war of resistance entered the stage of stalemate, in response to the erroneous remarks of the die-hard Nationalist faction that denied the Communist Party’s cultural leadership and advocated “one doctrine,” Mao Zedong explicitly proposed the direction of a “national, scientific, and mass” new-democratic culture in *On New Democracy*; this was the cultural program of new democracy. It emphasized opposing imperialist oppression, advocating the dignity and independence of the Chinese nation, and stressing that cultural forms must integrate national characteristics, such as the fusion of traditional art forms with modern content; it emphasized opposing feudal superstition, advocating seeking truth from facts and the unity of theory and practice, and inheriting the essence of traditional culture, such as “discarding the dross and selecting the essential”; it emphasized that culture should serve the working masses of workers and peasants and serve the war of resistance; it emphasized cultural popularization and mass participation, such as the literacy campaign in the border areas. These policies and guidelines pointed out the purpose and goals for cultural construction in each enemy-rear anti-Japanese base area. Third, the establishment of the Anti-Japanese National United Front broadly united patriotic individuals from all classes and strata within the base areas (including enlightened gentry, intellectuals, folk artists, etc.), forming a combined force for cultural construction in the enemy-rear base areas during the War of Resistance Against Japan.

中国共产党是抗日战争时期敌后根据地文化建设最坚强的领导力量，在敌后根据地的文化建设的全过程中，中国共产党始终牢牢把握着领导权和主动权。1937年5月3日，毛泽东在《中国共产党在抗日时期的任务》中指出：“依现时的情况说来，离开了无产阶级及其政党的政治领导，抗日民族统一战线就不能建立，和平民主抗战的目的就不能实现，祖国就不能保卫，统一的民主共和国就不能成功。”中国共产党对于敌后根据地文化建设的领导作用主要体现在三个方面。一是制定正确的政治路线。中国共产党制定了全面抗战路线和持久战战略，全面抗战路线就是“为争取千百万群众进入抗日民族统一战线而斗争”和“为动员一切力量争取抗战胜利而斗争”，引导局部抗战向全面抗战、全民族抗战转变。同时，在敌后抗日根据地建立了比较稳固的抗日民主政权。1940年3月6日，为巩固抗日民族统一战线、团结各阶级共同抗日，在保证党的领导权的前提下，中国共产党在敌后根据地的抗日民主政权中实行“三三制”政权组织原则，共产党员、非党左派进步分子和中间派分子（代表中等资产阶级和开明绅士）各占政权人员总数的三分之一，促使形成几个革命阶级联合专政的良好局面。“三三制”政权组织原则的实行，较好地巩固了统一战线，扩大了抗日阵营；推进了敌后抗日根据地的民主政治，实现了多党合作和政治协商的实践；有效提升了敌后抗日根据地的治理效能，保障了人民的基本权利，赢得了群众的广泛支持和信任。这些政策与举措，为敌后抗日根据地文化建设提供了根本的政治保障和方向指引。二是制定了明确的文化建设的方针政策。1940年1月，抗日战争进入相持阶段后，针对国民党顽固派否定共产党文化领导权、鼓吹“一个主义”的错误言论，毛泽东在《新民主主义论》中明确提出了“民族的科学的大众的”新民主主义文化方向，这就是新民主主义的文化纲领。其强调反对帝国主义压迫，主张中华民族的尊严与独立，强调文化形式需结合民族特点，如传统艺术形式与现代内容的融合；强调反对封建迷信，主张实事求是、理论与实践一致，继承传统文化精华，如“取其精华，去其糟粕”；强调文化应为工农劳苦民众服务，为抗战服务；强调文化普及与群众参与，如边区扫盲运动。这些方针政策为各敌后抗日根据地文化建设指明了宗旨和目标。三是抗日民族统一战线的建立，广泛团结了根据地内各阶级、各阶层的爱国人士（包括开明士绅、知识分子、民间艺人等），形成了抗日战争时期敌后根据地文化建设的合力。

(2) The Deep Mass Foundation of the People in the Enemy-Rear Anti-Japanese Base Areas Uniting with One Heart and Mind to Save the Nation from Extinction

（二）敌后抗日根据地人民同心同德救亡图存是深厚的群众基础

Facing the full-scale aggression of Japanese imperialism, the people of the enemy-rear base areas, under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, contributed money if they had it, contributed labor if they had it, and even if they had neither money nor labor, they still raised their voices in the anti-Japanese cry, consolidating patriotic fervor and collective strength into a solid fortress of resistance. At this time, “military resistance” and “cultural resistance” converged into a three-dimensional picture in the great tide of the nationwide war of resistance. The mass foundation of the people in the enemy-rear base areas uniting with one heart and mind to resist Japan and save the nation was deeply cultivated. The cultivation of this foundation was mainly based on three reasons. First, the Communist Party of China implemented land policies and economic reforms in the enemy-rear base areas, such as policies of reducing rent and interest and developing production, which improved the lives of poor peasants and stimulated their anti-Japanese enthusiasm and political consciousness. The initial improvement in their economic status gave the masses the possibility and internal need to participate in cultural activities. Second, the Communist Party of China carried out effective organizational mobilization in the enemy-rear base areas, organizing the scattered peasants effectively through mass organizations such as the Peasant Salvation Association, the Women’s Salvation Association, the Youth Salvation Association, and the Children’s Corps. These organizations were not only vehicles for production, supporting the front, and armed struggle but also favorable platforms and vital forces for carrying out mass cultural and educational activities. Third, under the propaganda, education, organization, and guidance of the Communist Party of China, the people in each enemy-rear anti-Japanese base area quickly awakened, and their cultural needs were improved in step with the times. The brutal war and the atrocities of the Japanese invaders aroused strong national consciousness and the desire of the people to rise up and seek liberation. The people were eager to understand the war situation, learn knowledge and skills, express their emotions, and boost their fighting spirit, providing a powerful internal driving force and audience base for cultural construction in the enemy-rear anti-Japanese base areas.

面对日本帝国主义的全面侵略，敌后根据地人民在中国共产党领导下，有钱出钱，有力出力，无钱无力也要发出抗日呐喊，将爱国热情与集体力量凝聚为抗战的坚实堡垒。此时，“军事抗战”与“文化抗战”在全民族抗战的时代洪流中汇聚成一幅立体画卷，敌后根据地人民同心同德抗日救亡的群众基础得到了厚植。这种基础的厚植，主要基于三个原因。一是中国共产党在敌后根据地施行土地政策与经济改革，如实行减租减息、发展生产等政策，改善了贫苦农民的生活，激发了他们的抗日热情和政治觉悟，经济地位的初步改善，使群众有了参与文化活动的可能性和内在需求。二是中国共产党在敌后根据地开展有效的组织动员，通过农救会、妇救会、青救会、儿童团等群众组织，将分散的农民有效地组织起来。这些组织不仅是生产、支前、武装斗争的载体，也是开展群众性文化教育活动的较好平台和有生力量。三是在中国共产党的宣传教育和组织引导下，各敌后抗日根据地人民很快觉醒，文化需求得到与时俱进的提高，残酷的战争和日寇的暴行激发了人民强烈的民族意识和翻身求解放的愿望，人民渴望了解战争形势、学习知识技能、表达情感、鼓舞斗志，为敌后抗日根据地文化建设提供了强大的内在动力和受众基础。

(3) The Attention and Support of the Party and Government in the Enemy-Rear Anti-Japanese Base Areas and the Establishment of Relevant Organizations as a Strong Organizational Guarantee Foundation

（三）敌后抗日根据地党政的重视、支持与相关团体的建立成为有力的组织保障基础

During the War of Resistance Against Japan, cultural construction in the enemy-rear base areas, while already possessing favorable “top-level design” and popular support, also had three organizational guarantees as a foundation. First, Party organizations at all levels placed great emphasis on cultural work and established specialized institutions (such as propaganda departments and cultural committees) to lead and coordinate cultural work; the Party dispatched a large number of cadres (including literary and artistic workers, intellectuals, etc.) deep into the base areas to carry out cultural construction, especially literary and artistic creation, and they became the backbone of cultural construction in the enemy-rear base areas. Second, the democratic governments of each enemy-rear base area provided support for cultural construction to the best of their ability, for example, by regarding cultural construction as important work and providing policy support and material guarantees under extremely difficult conditions. Third, a considerable number of professional groups were established in each enemy-rear base area, and numerous professional or semi-professional literary and artistic groups were founded, such as the Lu Xun Academy of Arts, the Northwest Battlefield Service Corps, various drama troupes, and cultural work troupes. These professional groups not only created and disseminated a large number of excellent literary and artistic works but also went deep into the grassroots to perform and provide guidance, injecting new momentum into cultural construction in the enemy-rear base areas.

抗日战争时期敌后根据地文化建设在已然具备较好的“顶层设计”与民心所向的前提下，还同时具备了三个组织保障基础。一是各级党组织高度重视文化工作，设有专门机构（如宣传部、文委）领导和协调文化工作；党派遣了大量干部（包括文艺工作者、知识分子等）深入根据地，进行文化建设尤其是文艺创作，他们成为敌后抗日根据地文化建设的骨干力量。二是各敌后抗日根据地的民主政府对文化建设给予了力所能及的支持，例如将文化建设视为重要工作，在极其困难的条件下提供政策支持和物质保障。三是各敌后抗日根据地建立了数量较多的专业团体，成立了众多专业或半专业的文艺团体，如鲁迅艺术学院、西北战地服务团、各种剧社、文工团等，这些专业团体不仅创作和传播了大量优秀的文艺作品，而且还深入基层进行演出和辅导，为敌后抗日根据地文化建设注入了新动力。

(4) The cultural construction of the enemy-rear base areas had a foundation of flexible and effective forms and methods

（四）敌后抗日根据地文化建设有着灵活有效的形式与方法基础

The development of any thing has its own laws; those who follow them prosper, those who go against them decline. The cultural construction of the enemy-rear base areas also had its own strong internal laws. First, it proceeded from reality and adopted diverse forms. To adapt to the rural environment and wartime conditions, each enemy-rear base area created a large number of simple, convenient, and popular cultural forms, such as wall newspapers, blackboard newspapers, clapper talk, yangge dance, local operas (such as Qinqiang opera and Hebei bangzi), street plays, living newspapers, folk songs, winter schools, literacy classes, night schools, and newspaper-reading groups. These forms of cultural construction, which could directly connect with the cognition and receptivity of the common people, undoubtedly greatly expanded the performance stage and sphere of influence of cultural construction in each enemy-rear base area, greatly narrowed the emotional distance between cultural construction in the enemy-rear base areas and the ordinary working masses, and deeply cultivated the foundation for the development of cultural construction in the enemy-rear base areas. Second, the content was closely integrated with reality. The content of cultural propaganda in the enemy-rear base areas closely revolved around the central tasks of the War of Resistance (such as mobilizing enlistment, supporting the front, production self-help, eliminating traitors and countering spies, and demoralizing the enemy army) and the immediate interests of the masses (such as eradicating superstition, paying attention to hygiene, freedom of marriage, and women’s liberation). It had a strong practical pertinence and agitational power, laying a solid contemporary and mass foundation for enhancing the effectiveness of cultural construction in the enemy-rear base areas. Third, intellectuals were integrated with the workers, peasants, and soldiers. Each enemy-rear base area encouraged and promoted intellectuals and literary and artistic workers to go deep into the vast rural areas, troops, and base areas, learn from the masses, learn from the grassroots, draw on excellent traditional forms of expression, and create works that reflected the War of Resistance, reflected reality, and were understood and welcomed by the masses, such as Zhao Shuli’s novels, Li Ji’s *Wang Gui and Li Xiangxiang*, and the opera *The White-Haired Girl*. This greatly enhanced the appeal and inspirational power of cultural construction in the enemy-rear base areas.

任何事物的发展都有其自身规律，顺之者兴、逆之者衰，敌后抗日根据地文化建设也有着很强的自身规律。一是从实际出发，形式多样。为适应农村环境和战争条件，各敌后根据地创造了大量简便易行、群众喜闻乐见的文化形式，如墙报、黑板报、快板、秧歌、地方戏曲（如秦腔、河北梆子等）、街头剧、活报剧、民歌、冬学、识字班、夜校、读报组等，这些与老百姓认知和接受能力可以直接对接的文化建设形式，无疑大大拓展了各敌后抗日根据地文化建设的表演舞台和影响空间，大大拉近了敌后抗日根据地文化建设与普通劳苦大众的感情距离，厚植了敌后抗日根据地文化建设的发展基础。二是内容紧密结合现实。敌后根据地文化宣传内容紧密围绕抗战中心任务（如动员参军、支援前线、生产自救、锄奸反特、瓦解敌军等）和群众切身利益（如破除迷信、讲究卫生、婚姻自由、妇女解放等），具有强烈的现实针对性和鼓动性，为敌后抗日根据地文化建设实效的提升奠定了扎实的时代基础和群众基础。三是知识分子与工农兵结合。各敌后抗日根据地鼓励和推动知识分子、文艺工作者深入农村、部队和敌后根据地的广大地区，向群众学习、向基层学习，借鉴优秀的传统表现形式，创作反映抗战、反映现实、为群众所理解和欢迎的作品，如赵树理的小说、李季的《王贵与李香香》、歌剧《白毛女》等，极大地增强了敌后抗日根据地文化建设的感染力和感召力。

(5) The cultural construction of the enemy-rear base areas also had a specific historical environment and spiritual motivation foundation

（五）敌后抗日根据地文化建设还有着特定的历史环境与精神动力基础

The specific historical environment and the spiritual pursuits of the nation also constituted the contemporary environmental conditions and spiritual motivation foundation for cultural construction in the enemy-rear base areas during the War of Resistance Against Japan. First, the intense sense of national crisis, especially the immense sense of existential threat from national subjugation and genocide, became a huge spiritual driving force that stimulated the anti-Japanese enthusiasm and creativity of the entire people (including cultural workers). Second, amidst the arduous and extraordinary circumstances, the military and civilians of each enemy-rear base area displayed firm revolutionary conviction, tenacious fighting will, and a spirit of revolutionary optimism. This spiritual outlook itself was a valuable resource and important content of cultural construction. Third, importance was attached to the excavation and transformation of cultural resources, especially the emphasis on excavating and transforming traditional folk cultural forms (such as New Year paintings, paper-cutting, and storytelling arts), endowing them with new anti-Japanese content, and making them an effective support for cultural construction in the enemy-rear base areas.

特定的历史环境与民族的精神追求也构成了抗日战争时期敌后根据地文化建设的时代环境条件和精神动力基础。一是强烈的民族危亡的紧迫感，尤其是亡国灭种的巨大危机感，成为激发全民（包括文化工作者）抗战热情和创造力的巨大精神动力。二是在艰苦卓绝的环境中，各敌后抗日根据地军民展现出坚定的革命信念、顽强的斗争意志和革命乐观主义精神，这种精神风貌本身就是文化建设的宝贵资源和重要内容。三是珍视对文化资源的挖掘与改造，尤其是重视挖掘和改造民间传统文化形式（如年画、剪纸、说唱艺术等），赋予其新的抗战内容，使之成为敌后抗日根据地文化建设的有效支撑。

In summary, the foundation of cultural construction in the enemy-rear base areas was an organic whole. The Party’s leadership and correct policies were the political foundation, providing direction and guarantees; the economic improvement, organizational mobilization, and the internal needs of the people in the enemy-rear base areas were the mass foundation, providing momentum and soil; the establishment of leading institutions and the formation of cultural professional groups were the organizational foundation, providing backbone forces and implementation mechanisms; the flexible, diverse, and reality-close forms of cultural construction were the methodological foundation, ensuring effective dissemination and reception; the specific historical awareness of national crisis and the revolutionary ideals of the people in each enemy-rear base area were the historical and spiritual foundation, providing powerful spiritual motivation. It was precisely the organic combination of these foundational conditions that created the conditions for the cultural construction of the enemy-rear base areas to take root, sprout, blossom, and bear fruit under extremely difficult circumstances, becoming a highly vital, combat-effective, and influential important component of the culture of the War of Resistance.

总之，敌后抗日根据地文化建设的基础是一个有机整体，党的领导和正确政策是政治基础，提供了方向和保障；敌后根据地经济改善、组织动员和人民的内在需求是群众基础，提供了动力和土壤；领导机构的建立和文化专业团体的成立是组织基础，提供了骨干力量和执行机制；灵活多样、贴近现实的文化建设形式是方法基础，确保了有效传播和接受；特定时期民族危亡的意识和各敌后根据地人民的革命理想是历史精神基础，提供了强大的精神动力。正是这些基础条件的有机结合，为敌后抗日根据地的文化建设能够在极端困难的环境下生根发芽、开花结果，成为抗战文化中极具生命力、战斗力和影响力的重要组成部分，创造了条件。

II. The Main Content and Characteristics of Cultural Construction in the Enemy-Rear Base Areas during the War of Resistance Against Japan

二、抗日战争时期敌后根据地文化建设的主要内容和特征

Mao Zedong pointed out: “A given culture is the ideological reflection of the politics and economics of a given society.” [1]1 Mao Zedong, “On New Democracy” (January 1940), *Selected Works of Mao Zedong*, Vol. 2. The cultural construction of the enemy-rear base areas during the War of Resistance Against Japan was not only rich in content but also fully manifested the distinct cultural characteristics of that specific era.

毛泽东指出：“一定的文化是一定社会的政治和经济在观念形态上的反映。”抗日战争时期敌后根据地文化建设不仅内容丰富，而且也充分彰显了那个特定时代鲜明的文化特征。

(1) The Main Content of Cultural Construction in the Enemy-Rear Base Areas during the War of Resistance Against Japan

（一）抗日战争时期敌后根据地文化建设的主要内容

The cultural construction of the enemy-rear base areas during the War of Resistance Against Japan had flexible forms and rich content, with its core content mainly reflected in four aspects.

抗日战争时期敌后根据地文化建设形式灵活、内容丰富，其核心内容主要体现在四个方面。

First, serving the War of Resistance; the fundamental purpose of all cultural activities was to serve the national liberation war, awaken the people, boost morale, expose the enemy, and demoralize the enemy and its puppets. This was a full manifestation of the national character of the culture of the enemy-rear base areas during the War of Resistance Against Japan. In November 1937, the street poem *If We Don’t Go to Fight* created by Tian Jian was a short and powerful anti-Japanese poem, widely posted on village walls in the enemy-rear base areas for dissemination. In 1938, the Second Branch School of the Anti-Japanese Military and Political University established in the Jin-Cha-Ji Border Region, through a teaching model of “combining the front line with the rear,” mainly trained grassroots anti-Japanese commanders. Starting in 1938, the Jin-Cha-Ji Border Region used the winter agricultural slack season to carry out the “Winter School Movement,” popularizing literacy and anti-Japanese education, achieving good results. The *Pictures of the Japanese Invaders’ Burning and Killing* published in the supplement of the *Jin-Cha-Ji Daily* vividly exposed the atrocities of the Japanese army. In 1939, the *Yellow River Cantata* used the Yellow River as a symbol of the Chinese national spirit, integrating folk songs, work songs, and Western symphony. Its lyrics, “The wind roars, the horses neigh,” inspired the anti-Japanese fervor of the entire nation and was hailed by Zhou Enlai as a revolutionary cultural banner that “roared for the War of Resistance and composed music for the masses.” The *Drum Dance for Supporting the Army*, adapted from New Year paintings, expressed the deep bond between the military and civilians in the enemy-rear base areas. The yangge opera *Anti-‘Mop-Up’ Yangge Dance*, a mass song and dance incorporating battle scenes, mobilized the people to participate in the anti-“mop-up” campaigns. In 1942, the historical play *One Family in Southern Anhui* created by the Central China Lu Xun Academy of Arts Experimental Troupe profoundly exposed the true nature of the Kuomintang diehards of feigning resistance while actually opposing the Communist Party. In 1943, *Unity is Strength* created in the Jin-Cha-Ji base area, performed alongside a short opera of the same name, became a spiritual torch uniting the military and civilians in the common fight against Japan. In the same year, the Yan’an Lu Xun Academy of Arts transformed traditional themes and created the New Year painting *Brother and Sister Reclaiming the Wasteland*, which celebrated labor production and support for the anti-Japanese front in the enemy-rear base areas. In 1944, the large-scale yangge opera *The Poor People’s Happiness* created by the Gaojie Village Troupe in the Jin-Cha-Ji Border Region reflected the liberation of peasants in the enemy-rear base areas and the theme of production and front support. All works of cultural construction in the enemy-rear base areas during this period possessed strong political nature, ideological content, and combat effectiveness. They were both political declarations and spiritual bugle calls, and even more so, cultural weapons for countering erroneous words and deeds.

一是为抗战服务，一切文化活动的根本目的是服务于民族解放战争，唤醒民众、鼓舞士气、揭露敌人、瓦解敌伪，这是抗日战争时期敌后根据地文化的民族性的充分体现。1937年11月，田间创作的街头诗《假使我们不去打仗》，是短小精悍的抗日诗作，广泛张贴在敌后抗日根据地村庄墙面进行传播。1938年晋察冀边区成立的抗大二分校，通过“前线与后方结合”的教学模式，主要培养基层抗战指挥员。1938年开始，晋察冀边区利用冬季农闲开展“冬学运动”，普及识字与抗战教育，取得很好效果。《晋察冀日报》副刊刊登的《日寇烧杀图》，生动形象地揭露了日军暴行。1939年，《黄河大合唱》以黄河象征中华民族精神，融合民歌、劳动号子与西方交响，歌词“风在吼，马在叫”激发全民抗战热情，被周恩来称为“为抗战发出怒吼，为大众谱出呼声”的革命文化旗帜。改编自年画的《拥军花鼓》，表达了敌后抗日根据地的军民鱼水之情。秧歌剧《反“扫荡”秧歌舞》，结合战斗场景的群众性歌舞，动员民众参与反“扫荡”。1942年，华中鲁艺实验剧团创作的历史剧《皖南一家》，深刻揭露了国民党顽固派假抗日真反共的本质。1943年，晋察冀根据地创作的《团结就是力量》，配合同名小歌剧演出，成为团结军民共同抗日的精神火炬。同年，延安鲁迅艺术学院改造传统题材，创作的新年画《兄妹开荒》，歌颂了敌后抗日根据地劳动生产与抗战支前的情况。1944年，晋察冀边区高街村剧团创作的大型秧歌剧《穷人乐》，反映了敌后根据地农民翻身解放的情况与生产支前主题。这个时期敌后抗日根据地文化建设的所有作品，都具有很强的政治性、思想性和战斗性，既是政治宣言，又是精神号角，更是反击错误言行的文化利器。

Second, it was people-centered, with cultural construction oriented toward the broad masses of workers, peasants, and soldiers in the enemy-rear base areas, emphasizing the massification, popularization, and universalization of culture, so that culture truly became "the people's culture." Mao Zedong pointed out: "Our culture is the people's culture. Cultural workers must have a high degree of enthusiasm for serving the people, must maintain ties with the masses, and must not detach themselves from the masses. To maintain ties with the masses, we must act according to the needs and willingness of the masses. All work for the masses must proceed from their needs, not from the good intentions of any individual. ... Any work that requires the participation of the masses, if it lacks their conscious understanding and voluntary willingness, will end in mere formality and failure." In 1942, at the Yan'an Forum on Literature and Art, Mao Zedong specified that culture (including literature and art) in the enemy-rear base areas serving the masses of the people was concretely divided into four aspects of service: serving the working class (the class leading the revolution), serving the peasants (the most numerous and resolute ally in the revolution), serving the armed workers and peasants, namely the Eighth Route Army, the New Fourth Army, and other people's armed forces (the main force of the revolutionary war), and serving the urban petty-bourgeois working masses and intellectuals (the allies and cooperators of the revolution). Looking at all the content of cultural construction in the various enemy-rear base areas from 1937 to the victory of the All-Nation War of Resistance in 1945, including the "Winter Study Movement" (called "kang-head schools" by the peasants) in the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region, the "Gaojie Village Theater Troupe" in the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Border Region, the "Village-Head Literacy Board" in the Shanxi-Hebei-Shandong-Henan Border Region, the "Folk Song Adaptation Movement" in the Central China Base Area, the "Blackboard Newspaper Popularization" in the Shandong Base Area, the "Peasant Night Schools" in the Shanxi-Suiyuan Border Region, the "Street Poetry Movement" in the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region, the "Anti-'Mopping-Up' Yangge Dance" in the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Border Region, the "Collection of Folk Tales" from the Central China Lu Xun Academy of Arts, and the "Anti-Japanese Literacy Textbooks" in the Shandong Base Area, covering various forms such as education, drama, folk songs, and propaganda posters, all directly served the masses of the people, embodying the core concept of "culture for the people." This was a full manifestation of the mass character of culture in the enemy-rear base areas during the War of Resistance Against Japan.

二是以人民为中心，文化建设面向敌后抗日根据地的广大工农兵群众，强调文化的大众化、通俗化、普及化，让文化真正成为“人民的文化”。毛泽东指出：“我们的文化是人民的文化，文化工作者必须有为人民服务的高度的热忱，必须联系群众，而不要脱离群众。要联系群众，就要按照群众的需要和自愿。一切为群众的工作都要从群众的需要出发，而不是从任何良好的个人愿望出发。……凡是需要群众参加的工作，如果没有群众的自觉和自愿，就会流于徒有形式而失败。”1942年，毛泽东在延安文艺座谈会上，把敌后抗日根据地文化（包括文艺）为人民大众服务具体细化为四个方面的服务，包括为工人阶级（领导革命的阶级）服务、为农民（革命中最广大最坚决的同盟军）服务、为武装起来的工人农民即八路军、新四军和其他人民武装（革命战争的主力）服务、为城市小资产阶级劳动群众和知识分子（革命的同盟者、合作人）服务。纵观1937年至1945年全民族抗战胜利期间各敌后抗日根据地文化建设的全部内容，包括陕甘宁边区的“冬学运动”（被农民称为“炕头学校”）、晋察冀边区的“高街村剧团”、晋冀鲁豫边区的“村头识字牌”、华中根据地的“民歌改编运动”、山东根据地的“黑板报普及”、晋绥边区的“农民夜校”、陕甘宁边区的“街头诗运动”、晋察冀边区的“反‘扫荡’秧歌舞”、华中鲁艺的“民间故事集”、山东根据地的“抗日识字课本”等，涵盖教育、戏剧、民歌、宣传画等各种形式，都是直接为人民群众服务，体现“文化为人民”的核心理念，是抗日战争时期敌后根据地文化大众性的充分体现。

Third, it shaped a new revolutionary culture, aiming to break the shackles of feudal, comprador, and colonial culture and create a new-democratic culture guided by Marxism, with distinct national, scientific, and mass characteristics. For example, the opera *The White-Haired Girl* integrated Hebei folk songs and opera elements, telling the story of "Xi'er" resisting the persecution of a landlord, criticizing feudal exploitation and class oppression, and was hailed as a national artistic model of "the old society turned people into ghosts, the new society turns ghosts back into people." The New Yangge Movement, by reforming traditional yangge, eliminating vulgar content, and creating new plays such as *Brother and Sister Reclaim Wasteland* and *Husband and Wife Learn to Read*, propagated rent and interest reduction and the Great Production Movement, and was called "our yangge" by the masses. The long poem in Xintianyou style, *Wang Gui and Li Xiangxiang*, used the northern Shaanxi folk song form "Xintianyou" to tell the story of the peasants Wang Gui and Li Xiangxiang resisting the landlord Cui Er Ye and joining the revolution. The woodcut print *The Rent Reduction Meeting*, through a scene of peasants sitting together discussing rent reduction, exposed the exploitation and oppression of the feudal land system on peasants, demonstrated the achievements of democratic reform in the enemy-rear base areas, and was evaluated by Ai Qing as "the voice of the peasants carved with a knife," breaking the monopoly of colonial culture over art. The chapter novel *The Story of the Tin Bucket*, with the "Tin Bucket" (a peasant guerrilla captain) as the protagonist fighting against the Japanese, adopted the traditional chapter structure with vivid and popular language, and was called "the Border Region's *Water Margin*" by readers. The play *Blood and Tears of Revenge* told the story of the Henan peasant Wang Renhou's family, who suffered from Japanese burning and killing and extortion by Kuomintang officials, and finally fled to the Border Region. Through plots like "weeping at the grave" and "accusation," it awakened the people's dual resistance against feudal oppression and colonial aggression. The new opera *Liu Hulan*, based on the real event of the young girl Liu Hulan's heroic martyrdom in Wenshui County, Shanxi, integrated Shanxi clapper opera and folk songs, shaping the image of a young revolutionary who "lived a great life and died a glorious death," criticizing the feudal concept that "a woman without talent is virtuous." The fine art woodcut work *The Reclamation Ox* depicted a peasant leading an ox to reclaim wasteland, with the caption "Rely on your own efforts, be well-fed and well-clothed," breaking the colonial stereotype of "China's poverty and weakness" and showcasing the self-reliant spirit of the military and civilians in the Border Region. These contents of cultural construction were a full manifestation of the scientific character of culture in the enemy-rear base areas during the War of Resistance Against Japan.

三是塑造革命新文化，旨在打破封建、买办、殖民文化的束缚，创造以马克思主义为指导、具有鲜明民族性、科学性和大众性的新民主主义文化。如歌剧《白毛女》融合河北民歌、戏曲元素，讲述“喜儿”反抗地主迫害的故事，批判封建剥削与阶级压迫，被誉为“旧社会把人逼成鬼，新社会把鬼变成人”的民族艺术典范。新秧歌运动通过改造传统秧歌，剔除低俗内容，创作《兄妹开荒》《夫妻识字》等新剧目，宣传减租减息、大生产运动，被群众称为“咱们的秧歌”。信天游体长诗《王贵与李香香》以陕北民歌“信天游”形式，讲述农民王贵与李香香反抗地主崔二爷、投身革命的故事。木刻版画《减租会》通过农民围坐讨论减租的场景，揭露封建土地制度对农民的剥削压迫，展现敌后抗日根据地民主改革成果，被艾青评价为“用刀刻出的农民心声”，并打破了殖民文化对艺术的垄断。章回体小说《洋铁桶的故事》以“洋铁桶”（农民游击队长）抗击日军为主线，采用传统章回体结构，语言通俗生动，被读者称为“边区的《水浒传》”。戏剧《血泪仇》讲述河南农民王仁厚一家被日军烧杀、国民党官员勒索的悲惨遭遇，最终投奔边区的故事，通过“哭坟”“控诉”等情节，唤醒民众对封建压迫与殖民侵略的双重反抗。新歌剧《刘胡兰》以山西文水县少女刘胡兰英勇就义的真实事件为原型，融合山西梆子与民歌，塑造“生的伟大，死的光荣”的青年革命者形象，批判“女子无才便是德”的封建观念。美术木刻作品《开荒牛》描绘农民牵牛开垦荒地的场景，配文“自己动手，丰衣足食”，打破殖民文化中“中国贫弱”的刻板印象，展现边区军民自力更生的精神风貌。这些文化建设内容，是抗日战争时期敌后根据地文化的科学性的充分体现。

Fourth, "cultural resistance" was regarded as the "second front" equally important as "military resistance," making cultural construction in the enemy-rear base areas a spiritual weapon and ideological fortress for uniting popular sentiment, persisting in struggle, and consolidating the base areas. Whether it was the "spiritual mobilization" role embodied in the opera *The White-Haired Girl*, the anti-Japanese ideological education of the "Street Poetry Movement" in Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei, the "war record and mobilization" of woodcut prints, or the "literature and art going to the countryside" of the Central China Lu Xun Academy of Arts and the "mobilization order with the scent of soil" of *The Wheat Threshing Song*, all transformed "resisting Japan and saving the nation" into a spiritual force perceptible and participable by the people through forms such as literary and artistic works, educational activities, and visual arts, directly serving the consolidation of the enemy-rear base areas and the protracted war of resistance, highlighting the synergistic advancement and obvious effects of "cultural resistance" and "military resistance." This was a full manifestation of the epochal character of culture in the enemy-rear base areas during the War of Resistance Against Japan.

四是将“文化抗战”视为与“军事抗战”同等重要的“第二条战线”，使敌后抗日根据地文化建设成为凝聚民心、坚持斗争、巩固根据地的精神武器和思想堡垒。无论是歌剧《白毛女》所体现的“精神动员”作用，还是晋察冀“街头诗运动”的抗战思想教育，无论是木刻版画“抗战记录与动员”，还是华中鲁艺“文艺下乡”与《打麦歌》的“带着泥土香的抗战动员令”，都是通过文艺作品、教育活动、视觉艺术等形式，将“抗日救亡”转化为民众可感知、可参与的精神力量，直接服务于敌后抗日根据地的巩固与持久抗战，彰显了“文化抗战”与“军事抗战”的协同推进及明显效应。这是抗日战争时期敌后根据地文化时代性的充分体现。

(II) Main Characteristics of Cultural Construction in the Enemy-Rear Base Areas during the War of Resistance Against Japan

（二）抗日战争时期敌后根据地文化建设的主要特征

Culture is a product of the times and also reflects the characteristics of the times. Xi Jinping pointed out: "Literature and art of any era can only produce a thunderous sound if they are closely bound to the fate of the country and the nation, sharing weal and woe." The culture of the enemy-rear base areas during the War of Resistance Against Japan, in the process of "rising because of the times, changing according to the situation, moving with the times, and resonating with the times," manifested six distinct characteristics.

文化是时代的产物，也反映时代的特征。习近平指出：“任何一个时代的文艺，只有同国家和民族紧紧维系、休戚与共，才能发出振聋发聩的声音。”抗日战争时期敌后根据地文化在“因时而兴，乘势而变，随时代而行，与时代同频共振”中体现出了六个方面的鲜明特征。

First, it had a distinct political and combative character. All content of cultural construction in the enemy-rear base areas during the War of Resistance Against Japan closely revolved around the theme of the War of Resistance, propagating resistance to Japan and national salvation, exposing the atrocities of the Japanese invaders, eulogizing heroic deeds, and criticizing capitulationism. At the same time, it directly served the line, principles, and policies of the Chinese Communist Party for the enemy-rear resistance, such as rent and interest reduction, the Great Production Movement, and the construction of democratic political power. Its combative character was manifested not only in resisting Japanese aggression and opposing the reactionary rule of the Kuomintang but also in the "self-revolution" of mass culture in the enemy-rear base areas. Mao Zedong pointed out: "Culture in the Liberated Areas already has its progressive aspects, but it also has its backward aspects. The Liberated Areas already have a new people's culture, but there are still extensive feudal remnants. In the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region with a population of 1.5 million, there are still over one million illiterates and two thousand witch doctors, and superstitious ideas still influence the broad masses. These are enemies in the minds of the masses. It is often more difficult for us to oppose the enemies in the minds of the masses than to oppose Japanese imperialism. We must tell the masses to rise up themselves and struggle against their own illiteracy, superstition, and unhygienic habits." This was a manifestation of the self-reflection, self-awareness, self-strengthening, and "self-revolution" of cultural construction in the enemy-rear base areas.

一是具有鲜明的政治性和战斗性。抗日战争时期敌后根据地文化建设的所有内容紧密围绕抗战主题，宣传抗日救国、揭露日寇暴行、歌颂英雄事迹、批判投降主义。同时，直接服务于中国共产党敌后抗日的路线、方针、政策，如减租减息、大生产运动、民主政权建设等。其战斗性不仅表现在反抗日本侵略、反对国民党反动统治上，还表现在敌后根据地群众文化的“自我革命”上。毛泽东指出：“解放区的文化已经有了它的进步的方面，但是还有它的落后的方面。解放区已有人民的新文化，但是还有广大的封建遗迹。在一百五十万人口的陕甘宁边区内，还有一百多万文盲，两千个巫神，迷信思想还在影响广大的群众。这些都是群众脑子里的敌人。我们反对群众脑子里的敌人，常常比反对日本帝国主义还要困难些。我们必须告诉群众，自己起来同自己的文盲、迷信和不卫生的习惯作斗争。”这是敌后抗日根据地文化建设的自省、自觉、自强与“自我革命”的表现。

Second, it had a thorough mass character and popular character. The literacy and anti-illiteracy movements (winter schools, literacy classes) in the enemy-rear base areas carried out large-scale cultural enlightenment, raising the cultural level and political consciousness of the masses; all literary and artistic forms took on a massified trend, widely using forms loved by the masses and easy to understand, such as wall newspapers, blackboard newspapers, street poetry, clapper talk, yangge opera, living newspapers, folk ditties, and woodcut prints; all literary and art workers went deep among the masses, and intellectuals and literary and art workers actively carried out cultural and artistic "going to the countryside and joining the army" activities, learning from the masses, and creating works reflecting the life and struggle of the masses.

二是具有彻底的群众性和普及性。敌后抗日根据地的扫盲识字运动（冬学、识字班）大规模开展文化启蒙，提高群众文化水平和政治觉悟；所有文艺形式呈现大众化态势，广泛运用墙报、黑板报、街头诗、快板书、秧歌剧、活报剧、民间小调、木刻版画等群众喜闻乐见、通俗易懂的形式；所有文艺工作者深入群众，知识分子、文艺工作者积极开展文化文艺“下乡入伍”活动，向群众学习，创作反映群众生活和斗争的作品。

Third, it had a strong practical and realistic character. The cultural creation in the enemy-rear base areas drew its material from the fiery real-life struggles (combat, production, supporting the front, democratic construction) and served the cultural needs and military struggle needs of the All-Nation War of Resistance. At the same time, cultural activities directly participated in practical work such as mobilizing enlistment, production to support the front, and disintegrating the enemy and puppets. For example, theater troupes were both propaganda teams and work teams; the cultural work of the nature of the War of Resistance and the military work of the War of Resistance were already integrated.

三是具有强烈的实践性与现实性。敌后抗日根据地的文化创作取材于火热的现实斗争（战斗、生产、支前、民主建设），并服务于全民族抗战的文化需要和军事斗争需要。同时，文化活动直接参与动员参军、生产支前、瓦解敌伪等实际工作，例如剧团既是宣传队，也是工作队，抗战性质的文化工作与抗战的军事工作已然融为一体。

Fourth, they had flexible and mobile organizational forms. To adapt to the war environment characterized by mobility, dispersion, and material scarcity, cultural construction in the enemy-rear base areas of resistance against Japan adopted highly flexible organizational forms, such as mobile troupes, field service corps, and war correspondents, with great mobility and flexibility. All organizations, groups, and individuals involved in cultural construction in the enemy-rear base areas mostly utilized every possible condition—such as fields and roadsides, temple fairs and markets, and intervals between battles—to carry out cultural construction activities. Opportunities to sit down, settle in, concentrate time, and engage in learning, creation, propaganda, and performance at fixed locations were rare and precious.

四是具有灵活机动的组织形式。为适应流动性、分散性、物资匮乏等战争环境，敌后抗日根据地文化建设在组织形式上是相当灵活的，比如流动剧团、战地服务团、随军记者，流动性和灵活性很大。所有参与敌后抗日根据地文化建设的组织、团体、个人，多是利用田间地头、庙会集市、战斗间隙等一切可能的条件开展文化建设活动，坐下来、静下来集中时间、固定地点开展学习、创作、宣传、表演的机会很少，也非常珍贵。

Fifth, they combined inheritance, transformation, and innovation. On one hand, they critically inherited tradition, discarded feudal dross, and used old forms (such as opera and folk art) to inject new content, “putting new wine in old bottles.” On the other hand, they vigorously innovated, actively creating new forms and works that reflected the new era, new figures, and new ideas, such as the new opera *The White-Haired Girl* and the New Woodcut Movement.

五是继承、改造与创新相结合。一方面批判继承传统，剔除封建糟粕，利用旧形式（如戏曲、曲艺）注入新内容，“旧瓶装新酒”；另一方面大力创新，积极创造反映新时代、新人物、新思想的新形式、新作品，如新歌剧《白毛女》、新木刻运动等等。

Sixth, they combined intellectuals with the workers, peasants, and soldiers. The “two-way advance” and “mutual elevation” of various intellectuals and the broad masses of workers, peasants, and soldiers in the enemy-rear base areas endowed cultural construction there with new energy for the times. Large numbers of intellectuals flocked to the base areas, and under the Party’s leadership, they combined with the workers, peasants, and soldiers, achieving a transformation of their worldview and becoming the backbone of cultural construction. By cultivating literary and artistic cadres from among the workers, peasants, and soldiers—such as “soldier-writers” and “peasant-poets”—they continuously supplied a large stream of “fresh blood” for cultural construction in the enemy-rear base areas. This promoted the extension of cultural construction into the “fertile soil” of the broad masses, drawing rich “nourishment” for cultural construction, and thereby caused cultural construction in the enemy-rear base areas to present a completely new look and completely new content, distinct from the culture in the Kuomintang-controlled areas, successfully achieving the reshaping of mass culture and revolutionary culture in the enemy-rear base areas.

六是知识分子与工农兵相结合。敌后抗日根据地的各类知识分子与广大工农兵的“双向奔赴”与“互相提升”，为敌后抗日根据地文化建设赋予了时代新能量，大批知识分子奔赴根据地，在党的领导下，与工农兵结合，实现世界观改造，成为文化建设骨干；通过培养工农兵文艺骨干，如“战士作家”“农民诗人”，为敌后抗日根据地文化建设源源不断地输送了大批“新鲜血液”。推动了敌后抗日根据地文化建设向广大群众的“肥沃土壤”延伸、吸引丰富的文化建设“营养”，进而促使敌后抗日根据地文化建设呈现出了与国统区文化截然不同的全新风貌与全新内容，成功实现了敌后抗日根据地大众文化和革命文化的重塑。

III. The Position and Contribution of Cultural Construction in the Enemy-Rear Base Areas in the Historical Process of the Chinese Revolution and the War of Resistance Against Japan

三、敌后根据地文化建设在中国革命历史进程与抗日战争中的地位和贡献

Mao Zedong pointed out: “A given culture (as an ideological form) is a reflection of the politics and economics of a given society, and it in turn exerts a great influence and effect upon that society’s politics and economics.” [1]1 Mao Zedong, “On New Democracy” (January 1940), *Selected Works of Mao Zedong*, Vol. 2. Therefore, to analyze the position and contribution of cultural construction in the enemy-rear base areas of resistance against Japan in the historical process of the Chinese Revolution and the War of Resistance Against Japan, it must be examined within the specific historical context of the era.

毛泽东指出：“一定的文化（当作观念形态的文化）是一定社会的政治和经济的反映，又给予伟大影响和作用于一定社会的政治和经济。”因此，分析敌后抗日根据地文化建设在中国革命历史进程与抗日战争中的地位和贡献，必须将之放在特定的时代背景下进行考证。

(A) The Historical Position of Cultural Construction in the Enemy-Rear Base Areas in the Historical Process of the Chinese Revolution and the War of Resistance Against Japan

（一）敌后抗日根据地文化建设在中国革命进程与抗日战争中的历史地位

“We Chinese Communists have been fighting, for many years, not only for the political and economic revolution of China but also for the cultural revolution of China; the purpose of all this is to build a new society and a new state for the Chinese nation. In this new society and new state, there will be not only new politics and new economy but also new culture.” [2]2 Ibid. This incisive exposition by Mao Zedong in *On New Democracy* tells us: cultural construction during the period of the New Democratic Revolution was one of the “three aspects of one entity” of the new society and new state that the entire Communist Party of China tirelessly pursued. Examined against the broad historical backdrop of China’s New Democratic Revolution, cultural construction in the enemy-rear base areas occupied a very important position in the historical process of the Chinese Revolution, indispensable. This is because the task of cultural construction for the entire New Democratic Revolution period, which the Communist Party of China undertook, included eight years (the eight years of the entire nation’s War of Resistance) that were accomplished during this period. The cultural construction of this period held a very important historical position and function in linking the past and the future and breaking new ground. Mao Zedong Thought also developed and matured during this period, becoming the guiding ideology for China’s revolution and construction. This is the greatest achievement of cultural construction in the enemy-rear base areas. The enemy-rear base areas developed and formed under the guidance of the cultural construction thought of this period directly became the “great headquarters” from which the Communist Party of China led the Chinese people to seize the great victory of New China.

“我们共产党人，多年以来，不但为中国的政治革命和经济革命而奋斗，而且为中国的文化革命而奋斗；一切这些的目的，在于建设一个中华民族的新社会和新国家。在这个新社会和新国家中，不但有新政治、新经济，而且有新文化。”毛泽东在《新民主主义论》中的这段精辟论述告诉我们：新民主主义革命时期的文化建设，是整个中国共产党夙兴夜寐所追求的新社会新国家的“一体三论”之一。放在中国新民主主义革命的时代大背景下审视，敌后根据地文化建设在中国革命历史进程中居于非常重要的地位，缺之不可。因为中国共产党在整个新民主主义革命时期的文化建设任务，其中有八年（全民族抗战的八年）就是在这个时段完成的，这个时段的文化建设具有非常重要的承上启下、开创新局的历史地位与作用。毛泽东思想也是在这个时段发展并走向成熟的，成为了中国革命和建设的指导思想，这是敌后抗日根据地文化建设最伟大的成果。在这个时段的文化建设思想的指导下所发展与形成的敌后抗日根据地，直接成为中国共产党领导中国人民夺取新中国伟大胜利的“大本营”。

Examining cultural construction in the enemy-rear base areas from three dimensions—first, as part of the overall construction of the enemy-rear base areas; second, as part of the Communist Party of China being the mainstay of China’s War of Resistance Against Japan; and third, as part of China’s War of Resistance Against Japan being an organic component of the World Anti-Fascist War—it is not difficult to find that cultural construction in the enemy-rear base areas was an important component of the construction of the enemy-rear base areas, one of the two major key handles (“military resistance” and “cultural resistance”) by which the Communist Party of China led China’s War of Resistance Against Japan and achieved great victory, and an indispensable component of the World Anti-Fascist War.

再把敌后抗日根据地文化建设放到整个敌后抗日根据地建设、放到中国共产党是中国抗日战争的中流砥柱、放到中国抗日战争是世界反法西斯战争的有机组成部分，这三个维度来审视，不难发现，敌后抗日根据地文化建设是敌后抗日根据地建设的重要组成部分，是中国共产党领导中国抗日战争并取得伟大胜利的两大重要抓手之一（“军事抗战”和“文化抗战”），是世界反法西斯战争必不可少的组成内容。

(B) The Role and Contribution of Cultural Construction in the Enemy-Rear Base Areas in the Historical Process of the Chinese Revolution and the War of Resistance Against Japan

（二）敌后根据地文化建设在中国革命历史进程与抗日战争中的作用与贡献

Lenin pointed out: “Without revolutionary theory, there can be no revolutionary movement.” [3]3 V. I. Lenin, “What Is to Be Done?” (1902). Mao Zedong also pointed out: “Revolutionary culture is a powerful weapon for the masses of the people in revolution. Before the revolution, it serves as ideological preparation for the revolution; during the revolution, it is a necessary and important front in the general revolutionary front.” [4]4 Mao Zedong, “On New Democracy.” The Communist Party of China comprehensively strengthened cultural construction in the enemy-rear base areas precisely to forge a “sharp sword” for the Chinese Revolution and the War of Resistance Against Japan. This “sharp sword” played an important multi-dimensional role and made indelible historical contributions in the historical process of the Chinese Revolution and the great victory of the War of Resistance Against Japan.

列宁指出：“没有革命的理论，就不会有革命的运动。”毛泽东也指出：“革命文化，对于人民大众，是革命的有力武器。革命文化，在革命前，是革命的思想准备；在革命中，是革命总战线中的一条必要和重要的战线。”中国共产党全面加强敌后抗日根据地文化建设，就是在为中国革命和抗日战争锻造“利剑”。这把“利剑”在中国革命的历史进程与抗日战争的伟大胜利中，发挥了多维度的重要作用，作出了不可磨灭的历史贡献。

First, it constructed powerful political mobilization capacity. Cultural construction in the enemy-rear base areas effectively propagated the Party’s resistance policies and propositions, awakened national consciousness, stimulated the patriotic enthusiasm and determination to resist the war among the broad masses of the people, and provided powerful spiritual motivation for mobilizing enlistment in the army, supporting the front, and persevering in the struggle.

一是构建了强大的政治动员力。敌后根据地文化建设有效宣传了党的抗日主张和政策，唤醒了民族意识，激发了广大民众的爱国热情和抗战决心，为动员参军、支前、坚持斗争提供了强大精神动力。

Second, it fully demonstrated an important function of ideological education. On one hand, cultural construction in the enemy-rear base areas raised the cultural level and political consciousness of the military and civilians in the base areas through the literacy campaign; on the other hand, it disseminated New Democratic thought and revolutionary principles, eradicated feudal superstitious ideas, and cultivated new types of values such as democracy, equality, science, and hard struggle.

二是充分彰显了重要的思想教育功能。敌后根据地文化建设一方面通过扫盲运动提高了根据地军民的文化水平和政治觉悟；另一方面传播了新民主主义思想和革命道理，破除了封建迷信思想，培育了如民主、平等、科学、艰苦奋斗等新型价值观。

Third, it achieved the effect of consolidating the base areas and uniting the people’s hearts. Cultural construction in the enemy-rear base areas enriched the spiritual and cultural life of the military and civilians, boosted morale in the arduous environment, strengthened the confidence of the resisting military and civilians in overcoming difficulties, and promoted unity between the military and the people, between officers and soldiers, and between cadres and the masses. It strengthened the sense of identification with and belonging to the base area regimes and the Communist Party, playing a positive role in the consolidation and expansion of the enemy-rear base areas. By April 1945, “the Liberated Areas of China led by the Communist Party of China had a population of 95.5 million. Their territory stretched from Inner Mongolia in the north to Hainan Island in the south, and in most places the enemy had reached, there were activities of the Eighth Route Army, the New Fourth Army, or other people’s armies. This vast Chinese Liberated Area included 19 large Liberated Areas, covering most or part of the provinces of Liaoning, Rehe, Chahar, Suiyuan, Shaanxi, Gansu, Ningxia, Shanxi, Hebei, Henan, Shandong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui, Jiangxi, Hubei, Hunan, Guangdong, and Fujian. Yan’an was the guiding center of all Liberated Areas.” [5]5 Mao Zedong, “On Coalition Government” (April 1945), *Selected Works of Mao Zedong*, Vol. 3. The term “Liberated Areas” was used by the CPC to refer to the base areas under its control during the War of Resistance. By the end of the War of Resistance, the area, population, and military strength of the enemy-rear base areas under the Communist Party of China had undergone a fundamental improvement in both “quantity” and “quality” compared to the beginning of the entire nation’s War of Resistance in 1937. From being repeatedly “encircled and suppressed” by the Kuomintang before 1937, they had become capable of “contending” with the Kuomintang. The revolutionary situation, the revolutionary “base camp,” and the revolutionary forces in China had all fundamentally improved, laying a solid foundation for subsequently seizing national victory. That the resistance base areas could be consolidated and expanded so rapidly was due to the positive role played by cultural construction in the enemy-rear base areas, just as much as by military struggle, political construction, and economic construction.

三是实现了巩固根据地和凝聚民心的效果。敌后抗日根据地文化建设既丰富了军民的精神文化生活，在艰苦环境中鼓舞了士气，增强了抗日军民战胜困难的信心，又促进了军民团结、官兵团结、干群团结，强化了对根据地政权和共产党的认同感、归属感，为敌后抗日根据地的巩固和扩大发挥了积极作用。到1945年4月，“中国共产党领导的中国解放区，现在有九千五百五十万人口。其地域，北起内蒙，南至海南岛，大部分敌人所到之处，都有八路军、新四军或其他人民军队的活动。这个广大的中国解放区，包括十九个大的解放区，其地域包括辽宁、热河、察哈尔、绥远、陕西、甘肃、宁夏、山西、河北、河南、山东、江苏、浙江、安徽、江西、湖北、湖南、广东、福建等省的大部分或小部分。延安是所有解放区的指导中心”。抗战结束时，中国共产党所拥有的敌后抗日根据地的面积、人口、军力等，与1937年全民族抗战之初相比，在“数量”和“质量”上都有了根本性提升，由1937年之前的被国民党反复“围剿”变成了敢于同国民党“抗衡”，中国的革命形势、革命“营盘”和革命力量都发生了根本性好转，为此后夺取全国胜利奠定了坚实基础。抗日根据地能够得到如此迅速的巩固和扩大，敌后抗日根据地文化建设同军事斗争、政治建设、经济建设一样，都发挥了积极作用。

Fourth, it effectively disintegrated the enemy forces and struck at the enemy and puppets. [6]6 “Puppet troops” refers to the armed forces of the collaborationist regimes established by the Japanese in occupied China, such as the Reorganized National Government of the Republic of China under Wang Jingwei. Cultural construction in the enemy-rear base areas launched political offensives against the Japanese and puppet troops through methods such as distributing leaflets, shouting propaganda, and staging performances, propagating the situation of the War of Resistance and the policy of lenient treatment of prisoners, which played a role in disintegrating enemy morale. At the same time, by exposing the atrocities of the Japanese invaders and the traitorous acts of the Hanjian, it stimulated the people’s hatred for the enemy, isolating and striking at the enemy and puppet forces.

四是有效地瓦解敌军、打击敌伪。敌后抗日根据地文化建设通过散发传单、喊话、演出等方式，对日伪军开展政治攻势，宣传抗战形势和优待俘虏政策，起到了瓦解敌军士气的作用。同时，通过揭露日寇暴行和汉奸卖国行径，激发了民众对敌仇恨，孤立打击了敌伪势力。

Fifth, it relatively well cultivated cultural talent and gave birth to the embryonic form of New China’s culture. Cultural construction in the enemy’s rear base areas during the War of Resistance Against Japan advanced in tandem with the war itself. In the practice of war, a large number of outstanding cultural workers—such as writers, artists, journalists, and teachers—were cultivated and tempered, thereby reserving a backbone force for New China’s cultural construction. At the same time, through exploring and practicing the development path of a “national, scientific, and mass” New Democratic culture, it accumulated valuable experience for the socialist cultural construction of New China and laid a theoretical and ideological foundation. Many classic works, such as *The Yellow River Cantata* and *The White-Haired Girl*, became foundational works of New China’s literature and art.

五是较好地培养文化人才，孕育了新中国文化雏形。敌后抗日根据地文化建设是与抗日战争同步推进的，在战争实践中培养和锻炼了大批优秀的文化工作者，如作家、艺术家、记者、教师等，为新中国文化建设储备了骨干力量。同时，通过探索和实践“民族的科学的大众的”新民主主义文化的发展路径，为新中国社会主义文化建设积累了宝贵经验，奠定了理论基础和思想基础，许多经典作品如《黄河大合唱》《白毛女》等，成为了新中国文艺的奠基之作。

IV. Contemporary Inspirations from Cultural Construction in the Enemy’s Rear Base Areas during the War of Resistance Against Japan

四、抗日战争时期敌后根据地文化建设的当代启示

The practice of cultural construction in the enemy’s rear base areas during the War of Resistance Against Japan is a magnificent epic of “using culture to educate people and using culture to forge the soul.” It left behind valuable experiences such as adhering to the Party’s leadership, firmly standing on the people’s position, closely following the pulse of the times, respecting the laws of culture, and building a strong talent team. These provide the nourishment of “roots” and the guidance of “soul” for building a strong cultural country in the New Era.

抗日战争时期敌后根据地文化建设的实践，是一部“以文化人、以文铸魂”的壮丽史诗。它留下了坚持党的领导、站稳人民立场、紧贴时代脉搏、尊重文化规律、建强人才队伍等宝贵经验，为新时代文化强国建设提供了“根”的滋养与“魂”的指引。

(I) Cultural construction in the New Era must adhere to the Party’s leadership and be guided by the latest theoretical achievements of Marxism adapted to the Chinese context and the needs of the times.

（一）新时代文化建设必须坚持党的领导，以中国化时代化的马克思主义最新理论成果为指引

During the War of Resistance Against Japan, the Communist Party of China, with “adhering to the Party’s cultural leadership” as its core, formulated programmatic documents such as the *Ten-Point National Salvation Program* and *On New Democracy*, clarifying the cultural direction of “national, scientific, and mass.” This provided the fundamental political guarantee and ideological guidance for cultural construction in the enemy’s rear base areas. This historical experience profoundly enlightens us: to build a strong cultural country in the New Era, we must unswervingly adhere to the Party’s overall leadership and take Marxism adapted to the Chinese context and the needs of the times as our guide to action.

抗日战争时期，中国共产党以“坚持党的文化领导权”为核心，通过制定《十大救国纲领》《新民主主义论》等纲领性文件，明确“民族的科学的大众的”文化方向，为敌后根据地文化建设提供了根本政治保障与思想引领。这一历史经验深刻启示我们：新时代文化强国建设，必须毫不动摇地坚持党的全面领导，以中国化时代化的马克思主义为行动指南。

Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era is the Marxism of contemporary China and the Marxism of the twenty-first century, and it is the essence of the times of Chinese culture and the Chinese spirit. Adhering to the Party’s cultural leadership is a major matter concerning the future and destiny of the Party and the country. Cultural construction in the New Era must be guided by Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, integrating the basic tenets of Marxism with China’s specific realities and with the best of traditional Chinese culture, ensuring that cultural construction always advances in the correct direction. This will enable cultural construction in the New Era to firmly establish the political stance of “Chinese characteristics” amidst the interweaving of diverse ideological trends, thereby consolidating ideological consensus for the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想是当代中国马克思主义、二十一世纪马克思主义，是中华文化和中国精神的时代精华。坚持党的文化领导权是事关党和国家前途命运的大事。新时代文化建设必须坚持以习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想为指导，将马克思主义基本原理同中国具体实际、同中华优秀传统文化相结合，确保文化建设始终沿着正确方向前进，使新时代文化建设在多元思潮交织中站稳“中国特色”政治立场，为民族复兴凝聚思想共识。

(II) Cultural construction in the New Era must adhere to a people-centered approach and uphold the fundamental stance of “serving the people.”

（二）新时代文化建设必须坚持以人民为中心，坚守“为人民服务”的根本立场

The success of cultural construction in the enemy’s rear base areas fundamentally lay in “firmly sitting on the side of the common people.” From the “winter school movement” in the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region, which farmers called “kang-head schools,” to the Gaojie Village troupe in the Jin-Cha-Ji Border Region using local dialects to perform stories of peasants’ liberation; from the straightforward cry of the street poem “If We Don’t Go to Fight” to the woodcut print *Meeting on Rent Reduction* recording the real life of the masses—cultural construction always resonated with the needs of the workers, peasants, and soldiers.

敌后根据地文化建设的成功，根本在于“把屁股端端地坐在老百姓的这一面”。从陕甘宁边区的“冬学运动”被农民称为“炕头学校”，到晋察冀边区高街村剧团用方言演绎农民翻身故事；从街头诗“假使我们不去打仗”的直白呐喊，到木刻版画《减租会》对群众生活的真实记录，文化建设始终与工农兵群众的需求同频共振。

Cultural construction in the New Era needs to further cultivate the “people’s character” as its foundation. For literature and art to reflect the people’s aspirations, they must adhere to the fundamental direction of serving the people and serving socialism. Whether it is creating literary and artistic works that are “stained with soil, bearing dewdrops, and emitting warmth,” or building a public cultural service system covering both urban and rural areas, it is necessary to take the people’s needs as the guide, allowing cultural achievements to “fly into the homes of ordinary people,” and ensuring that the masses truly become participants in and beneficiaries of cultural construction.

新时代文化建设更需厚植“人民性”底色。文艺要反映好人民心声，就要坚持为人民服务、为社会主义服务这个根本方向。无论是创作“沾泥土、带露珠、冒热气”的文艺作品，还是构建覆盖城乡的公共文化服务体系，都需要以人民需求为导向，让文化成果“飞入寻常百姓家”，确保人民群众真正成为文化建设的参与者和受益者。

(III) Cultural construction in the New Era must closely follow reality and serve the times, injecting spiritual impetus into Chinese-path modernization and the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

（三）新时代文化建设必须紧贴现实、服务时代，为中国式现代化和中华民族伟大复兴注入精神动力

Cultural construction in the enemy’s rear base areas during the War of Resistance Against Japan always coordinated with “military resistance.” *The Yellow River Cantata* inspired the entire nation’s will to resist, and *Brother and Sister Reclaiming Wasteland* mobilized production to support the front, transforming culture into a “spiritual weapon.” This historical experience shows us: cultural construction must resonate with the times and vibrate with practice.

敌后抗日根据地文化建设始终与“军事抗战”协同发力，以《黄河大合唱》激发全民抗战意志，用《兄妹开荒》动员生产支前，将文化转化为“精神武器”。这一历史经验昭示我们：文化建设必须与时代同频、与实践共振。

On the new journey of the New Era, Chinese-path modernization is the greatest reality, and the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation is the most magnificent theme of the times. Culture is the soul of a country and a nation. When culture thrives, the nation thrives; when culture is strong, the nation is strong. Cultural construction needs to focus on the “great affairs of the state,” centering on major propositions such as rural revitalization, scientific and technological self-reliance and self-strengthening, and common prosperity, creating more excellent works that reflect the spirit of the times and lead social trends. It needs to empower social governance with culture, use the core socialist values to forge souls and educate people, provide “spiritual kinetic energy” for Chinese-path modernization, and make New Era culture truly a “spiritual fortress for national rejuvenation.”

新时代新征程，中国式现代化是最大的现实，中华民族伟大复兴是最壮阔的时代主题。文化是一个国家、一个民族的灵魂。文化兴国运兴，文化强民族强。文化建设需要聚焦“国之大者”，围绕乡村振兴、科技自立自强、共同富裕等重大命题，创作更多反映时代精神、引领社会风尚的精品力作。需要以文化赋能社会治理，用社会主义核心价值观铸魂育人，为中国式现代化建设提供“精神动能”，使新时代文化真正成为“民族复兴的精神堡垒”。

(IV) Cultural construction in the New Era must respect laws, uphold fundamental principles and break new ground, and promote the creative transformation of fine traditional Chinese culture.

（四）新时代文化建设必须尊重规律、守正创新，推动中华优秀传统文化创造性转化

The wisdom of cultural construction in the enemy’s rear base areas during the War of Resistance Against Japan lay in the innovative thinking of “new wine in old bottles”: using traditional *yangge* dance to perform rent and interest reduction, using New Year picture forms to promote supporting the army and cherishing the people, and borrowing *Xintianyou* folk songs to tell revolutionary stories. Inheriting Chinese culture is by no means simply restoring antiquity, nor is it blindly excluding foreign things; it means making the past serve the present, making foreign things serve China, making a dialectical selection, and discarding the dross while selecting the essential.

敌后抗日根据地文化建设的智慧，在于“旧瓶装新酒”的创新思维：用传统秧歌演绎减租减息，以年画形式宣传拥军爱民，借信天游讲述革命故事。传承中华文化，绝不是简单复古，也不是盲目排外，而是坚持古为今用、洋为中用，辩证取舍、推陈出新。

Cultural construction in the New Era needs to grasp the dialectical relationship between “upholding fundamental principles” and “breaking new ground.” It is necessary to promote the creative transformation and innovative development of fine traditional Chinese culture. On the one hand, we must deeply excavate the ideological essence of traditional culture, such as “advocating benevolence, emphasizing the people, upholding good faith, and promoting justice,” and activate its contemporary value. On the other hand, we must use digital technology, intelligent agents, communication innovation, and other means to make cultural relics “come alive,” intangible cultural heritage “catch fire,” classics “become new,” and culture “shine brightly,” striving to enable Chinese culture to radiate eternal charm.

新时代文化建设需要把握“守正”与“创新”的辩证关系。要推动中华优秀传统文化创造性转化、创新性发展。一方面，要深挖传统文化中“讲仁爱、重民本、守诚信、崇正义”的思想精华，激活其时代价值；另一方面，要以数字技术、智能体、传播创新等为手段，让文物“活”起来、非遗“火”起来、经典“新”起来、文化“亮”起来，努力促使中华文化绽放永恒魅力。

(V) Cultural construction in the New Era must strengthen the construction of the talent team and consolidate the “roots” and “soul” of cultural development.

（五）新时代文化建设必须加强人才队伍建设，夯实文化发展的“根”与“魂”

The key to cultural construction in the enemy’s rear base areas lay in the talent cultivation model of “combining intellectuals with workers, peasants, and soldiers.” Groups of literary and art workers went deep into the countryside and the army, growing into “people’s artists.” Workers, peasants, and soldiers emerged in cultural practice as “peasant poets” and “soldier writers.” Intellectuals and the broad masses of the people achieved a relatively good two-way empowerment in cultural construction.

敌后根据地文化建设的关键，在于“知识分子与工农兵相结合”的人才培育模式：一批批文艺工作者深入农村、部队，成长为“人民艺术家”；工农兵群众在文化实践中涌现出“农民诗人”“战士作家”。知识分子与广大人民群众在文化建设中实现了较好的双向赋能。

Cultural construction in the New Era needs to build an integrated talent system of “attracting, nurturing, utilizing, and retaining.” Talent is a strategic resource for achieving national rejuvenation and gaining the initiative in international competition. On the one hand, it is necessary to attract high-end cultural talents to devote themselves to the grassroots, using professional knowledge to serve the masses. On the other hand, it is necessary to strengthen the cultivation of the masses’ cultural literacy, tap into “grassroots cultural talents,” and form a vibrant situation where “everyone is a cultural creator.” At the same time, it is necessary to further improve the guarantee mechanism for cultural talents, providing support in funding, platforms, and policies, so that talents can “stay and do well.” Only in this way can lasting impetus be provided for cultural construction.

新时代文化建设需要构建“引育用留”一体化的人才体系。人才是实现民族振兴、赢得国际竞争主动的战略资源。一方面，要吸引高端文化人才投身基层，用专业知识服务群众；另一方面，要加强群众文化素养培育，挖掘“草根文化能人”，形成“人人都是文化创造者”的生动局面。同时，要进一步完善文化人才保障机制，在经费、平台、政策上给予支持，让人才“留得住、干得好”。唯有如此，才能为文化建设提供持久动力。

In summary, the cultural construction in the enemy’s rear base areas during the War of Resistance Against Japan was a great pioneering work of the Communist Party of China in combining Marxism with China’s national conditions. The cultural construction in the enemy’s rear base areas during the War of Resistance Against Japan, with “national, scientific, and mass” as its banner, built a spiritual Great Wall amidst the hail of bullets—the strong leadership of the Party anchored the direction, the immense power of the people infused the foundation, and flexible forms intertwined with burning content. It was not only a magnificent practice of “cultural resistance” but also tempered the deep code of “using culture to educate people and using culture to forge the soul,” proving that culture is both the adhesive to unite people’s hearts and the soft power to defeat the enemy, both a mirror of the spirit of the times and a foreshadowing of the future path.

综上，抗日战争时期敌后根据地的文化建设，是中国共产党将马克思主义与中国国情相结合的伟大创举。抗日战争时期敌后根据地的文化建设，以“民族的科学的大众的”为旗帜，在枪林弹雨中筑起精神长城——党的坚强领导锚定方向，人民群众的磅礴力量注入根基，灵活的形式与滚烫的内容交织。它不仅是“文化抗战”的壮阔实践，更淬炼出“以文化人、以文铸魂”的深层密码，证明文化既是凝聚民心的黏合剂，亦是克敌制胜的软实力，既是时代精神的镜像，更是未来道路的伏笔。

When the pointer of history points to the New Era, this period of eventful years still radiates vivid inspiration. From the lamplight of the Yan’an caves to the blueprint of a strong cultural country in the New Era, from the innovation of *The White-Haired Girl* to the flourishing of “national trend” culture, what changes are the scenes of the times; what remains unchanged are the core genes and successful codes of cultural construction. Those cultural wisdoms nurtured amidst the flames of war will surely be transformed into the source of strength for activating the best of fine traditional Chinese culture and consolidating the spiritual power for the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. The historical wisdom of cultural construction in the enemy’s rear base areas during the War of Resistance Against Japan will surely radiate new brilliance on the new journey of Chinese-path modernization.

当历史的指针指向新时代，这段峥嵘岁月依然焕发着鲜活的启示。从延安窑洞的灯光到新时代文化强国的蓝图，从《白毛女》的革新到“国潮”文化的勃兴，变的是时代场景，不变的是文化建设中的核心基因和成功密码。那些在战火中孕育的文化智慧，必将化作今日激活中华优秀传统文化、凝聚中华民族伟大复兴精神力量的源泉，抗日战争时期敌后根据地文化建设的历史智慧，一定会在中国式现代化的新征程中绽放出新的光芒。