Reflections on the Film *1921*

The film began with modern China and told how, under the guidance of early founders of the Communist Party of China and pioneers in ideological theory, such as Chen Duxiu and Li Dazhao, the Party gradually moved from theory to practice and established an advanced communist party of our own. It gave China a leading collective of the proletariat and advanced our country's gradual development and progress through the New Democratic Revolution and the Socialist Revolution. The Party's First National Congress was initially held at the Red Building in the Shanghai International Settlement. Later, for various reasons, it was successfully held aboard a fishing boat on South Lake in Jiaxing, Zhejiang. The convening of the Party's First National Congress opened a new chapter in China's development of communism and socialism.

Looking back, Shanghai in 1921 was dotted with foreign concessions, and tensions ran high. Thirteen passionate young people from all corners of the country, with an average age of just twenty-eight, set out from the desperate plight of a nation in peril. They turned their youthful ideals into a conviction that they could save the country and its people and seek the truth. Evading surveillance and pursuit by the many complex forces abroad, they gathered in Shanghai. With Chen Duxiu and Li Dazhao leading and guiding them, the First National Congress of the Communist Party of China convened in Shanghai on July 23, 1921, announcing the founding of a party that would change the fate of hundreds of millions of people. From then on, Chinese history entered a new chapter.

Since 1840, we had endured more than a century of humiliation in modern times, shattering feudalism's delusions of grandeur. Yet this period also gradually opened the way for China's modern and industrial development. Generation after generation of thinkers and statesmen advanced different political ideas and theories across the land, helping bring forth the new from the old in China's modern thought and culture.

Driven by ideas, we moved from machinery to thought, from the macro to the micro, and came to understand that China's development was for the Chinese people themselves to decide. We could not simply copy other countries' theories and systems; China's development had to be grounded in China's own circumstances.

As young people today, we must have confidence in our system and our theories, and possess the backbone and integrity of the Chinese people. We must persevere in innovating in theory and continue to forge ahead. We must unite our personal aspirations with the great rejuvenation of our country and nation. With the vigor of youth, we will build a youthful country, a youthful nation, and a youthful society. We are at a crucial juncture in our country's great rejuvenation. We believe that under the leadership of the Party, we will achieve the initial realization of socialist modernization by 2035, and by the centenary of the founding of the People's Republic, become a prosperous, strong, democratic, civilized, harmonious, and beautiful modern socialist power.

As young people of this era, we must learn from the unyielding spirit of our communist forebears. We must work diligently without being rash, keep our feet on the ground, start with what is before us and with the smallest details, and make practical action our standard rather than indulge in empty dreams. We must deepen our study of communist theory and thought, and strive tirelessly to become better successors to the communist cause.

We must keep pioneering new things while also learning our fine traditional culture. As Chinese people, we must have ambition, backbone, and confidence. We have every reason to believe in ourselves, and the Chinese nation has even more reason to believe in itself! As Liang Qichao wrote in Young China: "When the youth are strong, the country is strong; when the youth are independent, the country is independent; when the youth are free, the country is free; when the youth surpass Europe, the country surpasses Europe; when the youth stand proud on Earth, the country stands proud on Earth!"

Young people of the new era, think back to 1921. The Communist Party was founded by thirteen young people whose average age was twenty-eight. Even in such difficult conditions, they dared to blaze new trails. With their flesh and blood, they forged the prosperous nation we have today and gave us the chance to achieve national liberation and the people's prosperity. We must never forget them. Let us hold our remembrance of them deep in our hearts and put into practice, through our actions, how young people of the new era should live and think. Let us build with our actions the Great Wall of steel they forged with their flesh and blood.

Let us work hard together, young people of the new era! Although we have achieved a moderately prosperous society, the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation is still far from complete, and the goal of building a strong modern socialist country remains unfulfilled. We must not lose heart or become discouraged. We must carry forward their fine traditions, pass on the red genes and keep the red flame alive, study diligently, and continue striving. With our whole being, let us live up to the great responsibility and duty of young people in the new era!

Author's note