My Red Education took me from Yan’an (延安) to Shenyang (沈阳), the capital of Liaoning Province (辽宁), in Northeast China (东北). This region used to be called Manchuria, where the interests of China, Russia, and Japan collided.
It was -160C when I landed in Shenyang on the 28th of December 2016, by invitation to teach at the China Medical University. My visit to this part of the world opened my eyes to the further appreciation (and understanding) of Chinese history.
Shenyang is today the final home of the China Medical University (CMU). It is part and parcel of the history of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the Long March. And how I got to know CMU and Shenyang started in Yan’an.
The Revolutionary Memorial Hall (延安革命纪念馆) in Yan’an, apart from exhibiting political and military history, recorded the development of essential supporting services during the revolution. The CCP had to take care of the health of party members, soldiers, and their family members. In the areas under their control, they provided healthcare services to the civilians, mainly impoverished peasants.
The CCP developed a systematic training programme of a range of personnel – doctors, nurses, paramedics, and auxiliaries. As the Long March progressed, the training school and facilities moved along. They also left behind developed facilities for use by the local civilian population. I left it to my imagination to feel what it would be like if I were a CCP doctor attending to the needs of the Party and the peasants during those eventful years. I could not remain unmoved by the commitment of the participants of the Long March to the ideals they cherished.
To be continued in Shenyang II: Manchuria – Where the Chinese-Japanese War (1931-1945) Began
Vince
Dr Vincent Chong is a retired Professor of Radiology at Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore.
