Telling the World the Great Story of the Long March

General Secretary Xi Jinping has pointed out: “More and more people in the international community believe that the Red Army’s Long March was one of the most important events of the 20th century capable of influencing the future of the world, a human epic written with ideals and a spirit of dedication, with will and courage. The stirring and powerful force unleashed by the Long March transcends time and space, transcends nations, and is a great epic of humanity’s unremitting struggle to pursue truth and light.” This important judgment profoundly reveals the spiritual character of the Long March that transcends time and space and transcends nations. Telling the world the great story of the Long March is a key to helping the international community understand “why the Communist Party of China can.”

习近平总书记指出：“国际社会越来越多的人认为，红军长征是20世纪最能影响世界前途的重要事件之一，是充满理想和献身精神、用意志和勇气谱写的人类史诗。长征迸发出的激荡人心的强大力量，跨越时空，跨越民族，是人类为追求真理和光明而不懈努力的伟大史诗。”这一重要论断，深刻揭示了长征跨越时空、跨越民族的精神品格。向世界讲好伟大长征故事，是帮助国际社会读懂“中国共产党为什么能”的一把钥匙。

The spiritual quality of a political party is often most discernible in extreme circumstances. The Long March, as a great expedition in which the Party and the Red Army rose up from desperate straits and opened new paths amid a turning point, forged lofty qualities such as ideals and convictions, the spirit of sacrifice, seeking truth from facts, taking the overall situation into account, strictly observing discipline, and the people’s standpoint into tangible and perceptible details. It profoundly answered a series of major questions, such as how the Communist Party of China could rise up from a low point, unite in times of crisis, and win the people’s hearts in desperate situations. The value pursuits embodied in the great Long March spirit—such as upholding ideals, pursuing justice, fearing no sacrifice, uniting and struggling, and putting the people first—possess universal significance that transcends differences in national boundaries, ethnicity, and ideology, creating a value connection point for equal dialogue among different civilizations. Based on the overall strategy of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and the world’s changes unseen in a century, telling the world the great story of the Long March not only helps the international community understand China and comprehend China, but is also an inherent requirement for promoting exchanges and mutual learning between Chinese and foreign civilizations.

一个政党的精神成色，往往在极端处境中最能辨识。长征作为党和红军于绝境中奋起、于转折中开新的伟大远征，把理想信念、牺牲精神、实事求是、顾全大局、严守纪律、人民立场等崇高品格熔铸在可触可感的细节中，深刻回答了中国共产党何以于低谷处奋起、于危难中凝聚、于绝境里赢得民心等一系列重大问题。伟大长征精神蕴含的坚守理想、追求正义、不怕牺牲、团结奋斗、人民至上等价值追求，具有跨越国界、民族与意识形态等差异的普遍意义，为不同文明平等对话创造了价值连接点。立足中华民族伟大复兴战略全局和世界百年未有之大变局，向世界讲好伟大长征故事，既有助于国际社会读懂中国、理解中国，也是推动中外文明交流互鉴的题中应有之义。

Connect history with the present, using the story of the Long March to present a true, multi-dimensional, and comprehensive China. First, we must tell the historical story of the Long March well, using historical facts as the foundation, explaining the historical logic and far-reaching influence of the Zunyi Conference, the Four Crossings of the Chishui River, etc.,[n] demonstrating the historical initiative of the Communist Party of China in self-innovation and opening new paths in desperate situations, and demonstrating the original aspiration and courage of Chinese Communists to serve the people wholeheartedly and fear no sacrifice. Using the Long March, this epic feat of heroic and stirring grandeur, and the great Long March spirit, this precious spiritual wealth of humanity, we can further promote exchanges and mutual learning between Chinese and foreign civilizations, allowing the world to better know China and understand China. Second, we must connect the internal logic between historical narrative and the practice of Chinese-path modernization, transforming “the new journey is a new Long March” into a realistic narrative perceptible to the international community. Tell the story of how the Communist Party of China and the Chinese people have continuously inherited and promoted the great Long March spirit over the past 90 years. The comprehensive victory in the fight against poverty is a vivid practice of “crossing snow-capped mountains and grasslands” in the New Era; nearly 100 million rural poor have been lifted out of poverty, highlighting the people-centered development philosophy. The deepening advancement of the Belt and Road Initiative is a realistic interpretation of common development in the New Era; its development achievements have benefited billions of people, demonstrating the responsibility of a major country that “China’s development is an opportunity for the world.” Using these vivid cases, transform the great practice of the Communist Party of China in seeking happiness for the people, rejuvenation for the nation, progress for humanity, and harmony for the world into stories that can be known and felt, turning abstract spiritual narrative into practical narrative that can be corresponded to and verified. Let overseas audiences truly feel that the great Long March spirit is not an exhibit in a museum, but a living spiritual force driving contemporary China’s development, and thereby understand the spiritual origins and peaceful foundation of Chinese-path modernization.

贯通历史与当下，用长征故事展现真实、立体、全面的中国。首先要讲好长征历史故事，以史实为基石，阐释遵义会议、四渡赤水等的历史逻辑和深远影响，展现中国共产党在绝境中自我革新、开拓新路的历史主动精神，展现中国共产党人一心为民、不怕牺牲的初心和勇气，以长征这一气壮山河的史诗壮举、伟大长征精神这一宝贵的人类精神财富，进一步促进中外文明交流互鉴，让世界更好认识中国、理解中国。其次要贯通历史叙事与中国式现代化实践的内在逻辑，把“新征程是新的长征”转化为国际社会可感知的现实叙事。讲好中国共产党和中国人民90年来不断传承和弘扬伟大长征精神的故事。脱贫攻坚战的全面胜利，是新时代“翻越雪山草地”的生动实践，近1亿农村贫困人口脱贫，彰显了以人民为中心的发展思想；共建“一带一路”倡议的深入推进，是新时代共同发展的现实演绎，发展成果惠及数十亿人口，展现了“中国的发展是世界的机遇”的大国担当……用这些鲜活的案例，把中国共产党为人民谋幸福、为民族谋复兴、为人类谋进步、为世界谋大同的伟大实践转化为可知可感的故事，使抽象的精神叙事转化为可对应、可印证的实践叙事。让海外受众真正感受到：伟大长征精神不是博物馆里的陈列，而是推动当代中国发展的活的精神力量，进而理解中国式现代化的精神源流与和平底色。

Create new concepts, new paradigms, and new expressions that integrate Chinese and foreign perspectives, enhancing the international influence and appeal of the Long March story. The great Long March, which shines through the annals of history, forged the great Long March spirit. The value pursuits embodied in the great Long March spirit—such as upholding ideals, pursuing justice, fearing no sacrifice, uniting and struggling, and putting the people first—are intrinsically connected with the common values of all humanity—peace, development, fairness, justice, democracy, and freedom. It is a common spiritual treasure burst forth when humanity faces desperate situations and pursues light. Based on the value core of the great Long March spirit, we must build a discursive bridge that transcends differences in national boundaries, ethnicity, and ideology, promoting a creative transformation from “Chinese revolutionary narrative” to “human spiritual narrative.” Clearly explain the value and significance of the great Long March spirit as a spiritual sample of humanity pursuing light and truth in desperate situations and as a spiritual sample of humanity overcoming difficulties. Accurately convey the historical context and spiritual essence of the Long March while fully considering the reception habits of different cultural contexts, combining what we want to say with what foreign audiences want to hear, combining “emotional appeal” with “reasoned argument,” using expressions easily understood by international audiences to convey core values, avoiding discursive estrangement and cognitive bias.

打造融通中外的新概念新范式新表述，增强长征故事的国际影响力感召力。彪炳史册的伟大长征铸造了伟大长征精神。伟大长征精神蕴含的坚守理想、追求正义、不怕牺牲、团结奋斗、人民至上等价值追求，与和平、发展、公平、正义、民主、自由的全人类共同价值内在贯通，是人类在面对绝境、追求光明时迸发的共同精神财富。要立足伟大长征精神的价值内核，搭建跨越国界、民族与意识形态等差异的话语桥梁，推动实现从“中国革命叙事”向“人类精神叙事”的创造性转化。讲清楚伟大长征精神作为人类在绝境中追求光明与真理的精神样本和人类战胜困难的精神样本的价值意义。既准确传达长征的历史脉络与精神本质，又充分考量不同文化语境的接受习惯，把我们想讲的和国外受众想听的结合起来，把“陈情”和“说理”结合起来，用国际受众易于理解的表达传递核心价值，避免话语隔阂与认知偏差。

Build a multi-party coordinated communication matrix to form a strong combined communication force. International communication is a multi-subject, multi-channel, multi-level complex system. Building a strategic communication system with distinct Chinese characteristics, forming a multi-channel, three-dimensional external communication pattern, requires communication subjects to move from singularity to synergy. Integrate the forces of government agencies, mainstream media, university think tanks, cultural enterprises, and civil society figures, enabling them to leverage their respective advantages and form a combined communication force. Value the role of “foreign voices” and “foreign brains,” inviting overseas scholars, media professionals, and young creators who know and are friendly to China to visit Long March landmarks in person, conveying what they see and think from the perspective of firsthand experience and cross-cultural language, transforming the shortcoming of one-way indoctrination in “self-narration” into the dialogic advantage of “other-narration” within the communication structure, so that the great Long March spirit gains more lasting international explanatory power and appeal. At the same time, follow the trends of mobilization, socialization, and visualization, promoting multilingual translation and overseas distribution of Long March-themed documentaries, books, etc., adopting precise communication methods tailored to different regions, countries, and audience groups, advancing the globalization, regionalization, and segmentation of the Long March story, so that the great Long March spirit can find perceptible and resonant footholds in different civilizational contexts.

构建多方协同的传播矩阵，形成强大传播合力。国际传播是一个多主体、多渠道、多层次的复杂系统。构建具有鲜明中国特色的战略传播体系，形成多渠道、立体式的对外传播格局，要求传播主体从单一化走向协同化。整合政府机构、主流媒体、高校智库、文化企业和民间人士等多方力量，使其发挥各自优势、形成传播合力。重视“外嘴”“外脑”作用，邀请知华友华的海外学者、媒体人和青年创作者实地走访长征地标，以亲历者视角和跨文化语言传递所见所思，在传播结构中将“自述”的单向灌输短板转化为“他述”的对话性优势，使伟大长征精神获得更为持久的国际解释力与感召力。同时，顺应移动化、社交化、可视化趋势，推动长征主题纪录片、图书等的多语种译介与海外发行，采用贴近不同区域、不同国家、不同受众群体的精准传播方式，推进长征故事的全球化表达、区域化表达、分众化表达，使伟大长征精神在不同文明语境中都能找到可感知、有共鸣的落脚点。

(The author is a specially invited researcher at the Research Center for Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences)

（作者为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特约研究员）