| 7th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party 中国共产党第七次全国代表大会 | |
|---|---|
 Seventh Congress Hall | |
| Begins | April 23, 1945 (1945-04-23) |
| Ends | June 11, 1945 (1945-06-11) |
| Location | Yan'an |
| Previous event | 6th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party (1928) |
| Next event | 8th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party (1956) |
| Participants | 544 representatives |
| Activity | Election held to form the7th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party |
| Leader | Mao Zedong (Leader of the Chinese Communist Party) |
The7th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party was convened from April 23 to June 11, 1945, inYan'an,Shaanxi. It took place near the end of theSecond Sino-Japanese War during a period of uneasy truce between theKuomintang and Communist parties, with each maintaining their headquarters in different regions of China. It was preceded by the6th National Congress and followed by the8th National Congress.
During the 7th National Congress, Mao Zedong delivered his April 1945 reportOn the Coalition Government which expanded on the principles ofNew Democracy he had formulated in his earlier essayOn New Democracy.[1]: 29
During the Congress, Mao described theChinese Communist Party's guerilla warfare as "sparrow tactics":[2]: 171
In the early phase of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, our prowess was like that of a little finger. How did we grow our prowess? With sparrow warfare, guerilla warfare. Sparrows fly wherever they can find food ... Even though sparrows are opportunists that follow food, even though they are little, when you add them up, they amount to 910,000 strong. Will we be sparrows forever? Long live the sparrow? History has proven that our sparrow is no ordinary sparrow; it can grow into an eagle. In ancient Chinese mythology, there is an eagle that can fly from the North Sea to the South Sea with one swoop of its wings. We will be like that too and grow to three million, five million. Our little sparrow will grow into an eagle swooping up all of China with its wings.
Mao also used the fable ofThe Foolish Old Man Removes the Mountains in a speech.[3]: 272–273 The foolish old man and his sons are engaged in the seemingly impossible task of removing two mountains, but the gods are touched by their resoluteness and have the mountains carried away.[3]: 273 In Mao's speech, he contended:[3]: 273
Today, two big mountains lie like a dead weight on the Chinese People. One is imperialism and [the] other is feudalism. The Communist Party has long made up its mind to dig them up. We must persevere and work unceasingly, and we, too, will touch god's heart. Our god is none other than the masses of the Chinese people. If they stand up and dig together with us, why can't these two mountains be cleared away?
Mao's re-telling ofThe Foolish Old Man Removes the Mountains was later included in theThree Constantly Read Articles[3]: 272 andQuotations from Chairman Mao Zedong, in which it is the only text reproduced in its entirety rather than excerpted.[4]: 4–5
The Party passed its 1945constitution at the 7th National Congress.[5]: 117 The 1945 constitution was the first to incorporateMao Zedong Thought, which it incorporated into the preamble.[5]: 117
The "five great secretaries in the Central Secretariat" (Mao,Zhu De,Liu Shaoqi,Zhou Enlai, andRen Bishi) were elected by the Central Committee.[6]: 168
TheWhite-Haired Girl was first performed in April 1945 in Yan'an as a tribute to the Seventh National Congress.[7]: 171
