Facing this history of ceaseless turbulence, you can say it was not rich, plentiful, satisfying, tolerant, open or peaceful; even so, it must amaze you with its glory and its dreams, its passion and dedication. It had all these things, despite the ugliness and sorrow it embodied, its hidden decline and decay.

The 20th century was not a slow-flowing glinting river. It was a turbulent, raging torrent; its unceasing roar still echoes in our ears.

When all-powerful figures fade away, their history becomes a great legacy bequeathed to us whole and intact.

In 20th-century East Asia, nothing was more exciting and astounding than the historic fall and rise of the Chinese nation on its two-century trek from “the sick man of Asia” to national rejuvenation. Various political forces collided and fought with each other along the way. Never before had China seen such intense clashes between internal and external forces; never had the game been more complicated; never had strategic transformation been more volatile.

It fell to Mao Zedong to lead the Red Army through the Long March, a purgatory and a test of fire for the Chinese Communists. And when China finally emerged from the scourge of pitiless war, betrayal and sacrifice, the nation had been tempered by history and the times as never before. The Long March was the most epic feat in Chinese history. The Red Army and the Chinese revolution emerged from their suffering and soared to new heights like a phoenix rising from its ashes. And the bugle sounding the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation could be heard in every corner of the globe.