{"word_count": 767, "character_count": 5310}
From 1935 to 1947,  Yan’an 延安 had been the command center of the CCP leadership during the fight against both the Japanese army during the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945) and the GMD troops under their leader Chiang Kaishek &#160;蒋介石 (1887-1975). However, the base in Yan’an has been not only been the seat of the Communist Party and its military forces (Beijing Review 1997: 27) but also the centre of communist press and communication media.&#160;The Revolutionary Site of Qingliang Mountain 清凉山革命旧址, located in the north-east of Yan’an City, represents the former headquarters of the “Xinhua News Agency 新华通讯社“. It is the central location of CCP propaganda during the Yan’an-era. The “Xinhua News Agency” was founded in 1931 and embodies the CCP’s most important press- and radio tool before establishing the People’s Daily   人民日报, the mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist Party, in 1946.&#160;Picture 1: The Xinhua News Agency 新华通讯社 at Yan'an The Qingliang Mountain Site itself consists of eighteen caves, in which the agency was located. In detail, the caves exhibit different media of propaganda used by Xinhua, namely the Yan’an Xinhua Radio Station延安新华广播电台, the Central Printing Factory 中央印刷厂 and the Xinhua Bookstore 新华书店 (Red Tourism).&#160;Picture 2: The Central Printing Factory 中央印刷厂 in the caves of Qingliang Mountain Furthermore, the publishing committee of the newspaper Liberation Daily News 解放日报, also a part of Xinhua News Agency, worked in the caves of Qingliang Mountain. In April 1937, the Jiefang Weekly Editor Committee 解放周刊编辑委会, under its chief administrator Zhang Wentian 张闻天 (1900-1976), who also was a member of the Politbüro,&#160; started publishing Jiefang 解放, or Liberation. Picture 3: Zhang Wentian im Jahre 1951The weekly journal contained both propagandistic essays of Mao Zedong 毛泽东 (1893-1976) such as “Win the masses in their millions for the anti-Japanese national united front 为争取千百万群众进人抗日民族统一战线而斗争” (can be found in: “Selected Works of Mao Tse-tung” 1967: 285-294) &#160;and several news on recent war events. &#160;Between 1937 and 1940, the Jiefang spread across the country and was read by both CCP and GMD officials. Due to the high demand (50.000 copies per week), a daily newspaper entitled&#160;Jiefang Ribao 解放日报 was founded in 1941 (Liu Ni 2011: 8). According to the memorial volume “Memories of the Qingliang Mountain 清凉山记忆”, the paper was an important tool for spreading the actual policy of the Central Committee and for elevating the moral and the spirit to fight against the Japanese Army.&#160;In 1986, a memorial hall dedicated to the Qingliang Mountain showcased press and publication activities, in addition to the original exhibits in the caves.&#160;Picture 4: Exhibits in the memorial hall Today, former printing spots of the Jiefang Ribao and the Xinhua Agency and the Central Printing Factory can be visited.&#160;According to the Website “Red Tourism”, the Central Printing Plant, located in the Wanfu-Cave 万佛洞内, is one of these original exhibits, which can be found in the mountain caves. The printing plant started its work in 1937 and was closed in 1948, so it stayed into operation during  all the years the CCP spent in Yan’an. By examining the Revolutionary Site of Qingliang Mountain, Yan’an seemingly was more than just a safe haven of chairman Mao and his followers. It was much more a site where Maoist propaganda experienced a tremendous development.&#160;Insofar, Yan’an can be truly described as a “key role in the Communist movement in China” (Denton 2014: 233), since not only the war of the CCP against the Japanese invaders was organized from there.&#160;Bibliography:&#160;Denton, Kirk A. (2012): “Yan’an as a site of memory in socialist and postsocialist China”. In: Matten, Marc Andre (Ed.): Places of Memory in Modern China – History, Politics, and Identity. Leiden: Brill, pp. 233-283.&#160;Mao Zedong (1967): Selected Works of Mao Tse-tung. Vol. 1. Peking: Foreign Languages Press.“Mozhao xia de Yan’an: Xinhuashe tonxun 魔爪下的延安:新华社通讯”. (Yan’an under evil clutches: The Xinhua News Agency). In: Zhengbao正报, 1947, Vol. 37, pp. 37-38.&#160;Liu Ni 刘妮 (2011) (Ed.): Qing liang shan – Yan’an xinwen jinianguan/ Yan’an qingliang shan xinwen chuban geming jiuzhi guanchu 清凉山记忆– 延安新闻纪念馆/ 延安清凉山新闻出版革命旧址管 理 处 (Qingliang Mountain Memory – The Yan’an News Memorial/ The Yan’an Qingliang Mountain Press Memorial and revolutionary old site). Xi’an: Shaanxi Publishing Group.&#160;“Reiseerlebnis Yan‘an ”. In: Beijing Rundschau, April, 29, 1997, Vol.17/1997, pp.27-28.&#160;Schmidt-Glintzer, Helwig (2008): Kleine Geschichte Chinas. München: C.H. Beck Verlag&#160;Websites:&#160;www.redtourism.com.cn/tris/front/zh_CN/spot_344.htmlList of Pictures: Featured Image: The Qingliang Mountain Memorial Hall (Marc Andre Matten) Picture 1: The Xinhua News Agency 新华通讯社 at Yan'an (author: Marc Andre Matten) Picture 2: The Central Printing Factory 中央印刷厂 in the caves of Qingliang Mountain  (author: Marc Andre Matten) Picture 3: Zhang Wentian im Jahre 1951                                                                                                           (source: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhang_Wentian#/media/Datei:Zhang_Wentian3.jpg, author: Unknown author) Picture 4: Exhibits in the memorial hall (author: Marc Andre Matten) 