Why Did This CCP Leader Never Return to Yan’an?

From June 17 to 19, a group of senior CCP military leaders from the Central Military Commission made a rare visit to Yan'an to hold a three-day Political Work Conference of the Central Military Commission. (Online image)

[People News] Yan’an was once referred to as the "holy land" of the CCP revolution. Before the establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949, Mao Zedong spent the longest period of his revolutionary career—13 years (1935–1948)—in Yan’an.

In Yan’an, Mao became the core of the first generation of CCP leadership, ascending to the highest positions of power, including Chairman of the CCP Central Committee, Chairman of the Politburo, Chairman of the Secretariat, and Chairman of the Central Revolutionary Military Commission. It was there that Mao was hailed as "the greatest theorist and scientist in Chinese history" and "a great leader with the highest theoretical prowess and courage." The term "Mao Zedong Thought" was coined in Yan’an, recognized as the "Sinicized Marxism-Leninism," and written into the CCP Constitution as the Party’s guiding ideology.

In Yan’an, Mao married Jiang Qing, a 24-year-old actress from Shanghai. He was celebrated as the "red sun" and the "great savior of the people."

However, after entering Beijing in 1949 and until his death in 1976, Mao never returned to Yan’an in 27 years. Why was this?

Looking back at CCP history, I believe there are possibly four reasons:

1. Yan’an’s “Barren Lands” Could Not Compare to Hangzhou’s “Paradise.”

The saying "In heaven, there is paradise; on earth, there are Suzhou and Hangzhou" highlights the beauty of Hangzhou’s landscapes and its people.

After 1949, Mao frequently traveled to Hangzhou, where he stayed the longest.

In late 1953, Mao visited Hangzhou for the first time as the supreme leader of the CCP. He was so captivated by the picturesque scenery and meticulous hospitality that he stayed for 77 days. Subsequently, Mao visited Hangzhou nearly every year, sometimes multiple times in a single year, accumulating over 40 visits in total. Mao once remarked, "Hangzhou is my second hometown."

Mao explored every scenic spot around West Lake. In 1955, during his third ascent of North Peak, Mao returned to his residence and penned the poem Five-Character Verse: Viewing the Mountain: "Thrice I climbed North Peak high, Hangzhou spread beneath the sky. Beside Phoenix Pavilion trees, Peach Blossom Ridge feels the breeze. When heat comes, fan I chase, When cold, fair maidens face. A paper slips and floats below, Welcoming evening hawks that show."

In Hangzhou, Mao often stayed at Liu Zhuang, known as the finest garden around West Lake.

According to Liu Zhihan, Deputy Minister of the Central Investigation Department: "In his later years, the Chairman (referring to Mao) was akin to an emperor. Provinces built palatial residences for him. Liu Zhuang in West Lake occupied 540 acres, featuring gardens within gardens and a lake within a lake. It was so luxurious that Yugoslavian President Tito, after visiting 60 countries, said he had never seen such a lavish place and extended his stay by two extra days."

Meanwhile, Yan’an remained impoverished and backward for decades after the CCP's establishment.

In the summer of 1974, several Xinhua reporters visited Yan’an. They were struck by the harrowing scenes of many beggars crowding the streets. By night, these individuals slept under the eaves along the roads. One night, outside the former Liberation Daily headquarters, over 50 people lay scattered on the sidewalks. Fortunately, it was summer; otherwise, the scene in winter would have been even more tragic.

In 1980, four Xinhua reporters returned to Yan’an for interviews. They found that in seven northern counties of Yan’an, 36 of the 104 communes had been struggling in poverty for over two decades.

The reporters interviewed Gao Wenxiu, a village leader who had hosted Mao during his Yan’an years. Gao’s family was eating cornbread soup mixed with bitter vegetables. His household had almost no food reserves, and his living conditions were dire. Gao, a 45-year CCP veteran, said he had endured hunger for over a decade and remarked, "Back then, things were better than they are now."

For Mao, with Hangzhou’s picturesque scenery, fine wine, delicious food, and beautiful companions, the harsh and desolate Yan’an held little appeal.

2. Mao Resented the "Yan’an Saved the Central Party" Narrative.

Mao Zedong's first revolutionary base was Jinggangshan in Jiangxi Province, where he stayed from 1927 to 1934, a total of seven years.

On November 7, 1931, under the control of the Soviet Communist Party, the CCP established a "state within a state" in Ruijin, Jiangxi, within the Republic of China—the Chinese Soviet Republic. Mao Zedong was elected Chairman of the Central Executive Committee and Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the Chinese Soviet Republic. It was during this period that the title "Chairman Mao" was first used.

However, to the Republic of China, the Chinese Soviet Republic was considered a rebellious regime. Consequently, the Nationalist government launched several military campaigns against it.

On October 17, 1934, after the failure of the CCP’s Fifth Counter-Campaign against Encirclement, the Red Army was forced to retreat from Jiangxi and flee westward—a movement the CCP later called the "Long March."

Under relentless pursuit and blockades by the Nationalist Army, the Red Army suffered continuous defeats, fleeing through 11 provinces. The main force of the First Red Army dwindled from 100,000 troops at the start to just 8,000.

On October 19, 1935, the Red Army’s Shaanxi-Gansu detachment arrived at Wuqi Town in the CCP’s Shaanxi-Gansu base area. By October 1936, the Second and Fourth Red Armies had also reached the Shaanxi-Gansu base. After more than two years of arduous and perilous marches, with significant loss of personnel, the three main Red Army forces finally regrouped and ceased their aimless wandering, establishing a foothold in northern Shaanxi.

Who established the CCP’s Shaanxi-Gansu base? It was founded in the 1920s and 1930s by figures such as Liu Zhidan, Xie Zichang, Gao Gang, and Xi Zhongxun. Thus, in CCP history, there is a saying: "Shaanbei (Northern Shaanxi) saved the Central Committee."

After the establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949, Mao Zedong became the ultimate representative of the CCP’s "always correct" line and was hailed as the "great leader." Regardless of how much Shaanbei had contributed to Mao, he was unwilling to acknowledge the idea that "Shaanbei saved the Central Committee."

3. Mao Was Driven Out of Yan’an by Nationalist Forces.

During the eight years of the Anti-Japanese War, Mao Zedong spent the entire time in Yan’an. What exactly did Mao do during those eight years? His primary focus was not resisting the Japanese invasion but rather subverting the legitimate government of China—the Republic of China.

While the Nationalist troops fought valiantly on the front lines, shedding blood to defend every inch of territory, Mao was engaged in four major activities behind enemy lines:

1. Launching the Yan’an Rectification Campaign: Mao used this campaign to purge opposition within the CCP and consolidate supreme power within the Party.

2. Collaborating with the Japanese invaders: Mao sent representatives such as Pan Hannian to Shanghai and Nanjing to negotiate with the Japanese forces, persuading them not to attack CCP troops. As a result, there were long periods of peaceful coexistence between the two sides in many areas, with occasional exchanges of resources. Japanese forces rarely bombed Yan’an, allowing it to become a hub of relative peace and prosperity, even hosting events with singing and dancing. CCP leaders such as Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai, and Zhu De were frequent attendees at these social gatherings.

3. Preserving CCP strength and expanding its forces and territory: Over the eight years, the CCP's military grew from over 20,000 to 1.2 million troops, while its base areas expanded to include a population of 100 million.

4. Fighting the Nationalist Army: According to Hou Shudong, Vice President of the National Defense University of the CCP, over the eight years, the CCP forces fought the Nationalist Army 3,200 times, killing or wounding 143,000 Nationalist troops.

When the Anti-Japanese War ended in 1945, the war-weary Chinese people desperately needed peace to rebuild their lives. However, the CCP, under Mao’s leadership, had other plans. Having consolidated power and built strength during the war, Mao believed the CCP was ready to seize nationwide control. He launched a full-scale assault on the weakened Nationalist Army.

In 1946, the Chinese Civil War broke out.

By March 18, 1947, learning that the Nationalist forces were about to launch a major offensive on Yan’an, Mao Zedong was forced to abandon the city and retreat.

4. Mao Purged the "Northwest Clique."

After the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, Mao Zedong initiated one political movement after another to eliminate factions within the CCP. Gao Gang, the leader of the CCP’s "Northwest Clique," became the first casualty of Mao’s power struggles within the Party's top leadership.

Gao Gang was one of the founders of the CCP’s Shaanxi-Gansu base area and had held several significant positions, including Political Commissar of the Red Army’s Shaanxi-Gansu Provisional Command, Political Commissar of the 26th Red Army, Director of the Political Department of the 15th Red Army, Commander of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Security Forces, and Secretary of the CCP’s Northwest Bureau.

After 1949, Gao rose to become a member of the CCP Politburo, Vice Chairman of the Central Government, Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission, and Chairman of the State Planning Commission, making him the highest-ranking official from the Shaanxi-Gansu base area and the leader of the "Northwest Clique."

Between 1953 and 1955, Mao targeted and eliminated the first "anti-Party group" within the CCP—the Gao Gang and Rao Shushi Anti-Party Alliance.

Gao felt deeply aggrieved, believing his contributions to the Party were significant and that he had neither opposed the Party nor formed an alliance with Rao Shushi. In February 1954, Gao attempted suicide with a pistol but failed. In early August, he tried to electrocute himself but was unsuccessful again. Finally, on August 17, 1954, Gao took a lethal dose of sleeping pills and died.

Even after Gao’s death, Mao did not let him rest. In April 1955, the CCP’s Fifth Plenum of the Seventh Central Committee passed a resolution condemning Gao as the "ringleader of an anti-Party conspiracy and an unrepentant traitor," expelling him from the Party and stripping him of all Party and non-Party positions.

In July 1959, at the Lushan Conference, CCP Marshal Peng Dehuai wrote an honest and heartfelt letter to Mao, which enraged him. Mao labeled Peng a "hypocrite, ambitious schemer, and conspirator," and branded him the leader of an anti-Party clique.

Peng had previously served as Chairman of the Northwest Military and Political Commission, First Secretary of the CCP Northwest Bureau, and Commander of the Northwest Military Region. He was also considered a prominent figure in the "Northwest Clique."

In September 1962, at the Tenth Plenum of the Eighth Central Committee, Xi Zhongxun, then Vice Premier of the State Council and Secretary-General, was accused by Mao of "using a novel to oppose the Party" and was purged.

After 1949, Xi Zhongxun held various high-ranking positions, including Second Secretary of the CCP Northwest Bureau, Vice Chairman and Acting Chairman of the Northwest Military and Political Commission, Vice Chairman of the Northwest Administrative Committee, and Political Commissar of the First Field Army and Northwest Military Region. After Peng Dehuai left for the Korean War, Xi oversaw all political, military, and administrative matters in the Northwest. By 1962, Xi was the most senior official associated with the "Northwest Clique."

The accusation against Xi Zhongxun revolved around the novel Liu Zhidan, written by Liu Zhidan’s sister-in-law, Li Jiantong. The novel praised Liu Zhidan, one of the founders of the Shaanxi-Gansu base area. Xi was accused of being the “black backer” behind its publication. The book was said to elevate Liu Zhidan’s contributions, vindicate the already-purged Gao Gang, glorify Xi Zhongxun, and perpetuate the narrative of "Shaanbei Saved the Central Committee."

In his campaigns against Gao Gang, Peng Dehuai, and Xi Zhongxun, Mao toppled almost all senior CCP officials associated with the "Northwest Clique." The three were collectively labeled as the "Peng, Gao, Xi Anti-Party Clique," implicating thousands of officials and their families and children from the Northwest region.

Conclusion

After the establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949, the CCP state created by Mao Zedong was far from a free and democratic "new China." Instead, it became a more authoritarian regime than any dictatorship in history, ancient or modern. Mao himself became a "super emperor" without officially being one. The places Mao preferred to visit outside of Beijing were luxurious retreats that maximized his power and indulgences.

Yan’an, in contrast, had barren mountains, murky waters, and impoverished people. Many senior officials from the Northwest region had their families torn apart and their lives destroyed under Mao's purges. For them, life after "liberation" was worse than before.

If Mao were to return to Yan’an, he would find stifling heat with no comforts, cold without companionship, and a desolate landscape filled with resentment. What would be the point? It was better for him not to return at all. △

(Source: Dajiyuan)