Xi shines light on key events in Party's revolutionary history

BEIJING - This year marks the centennial of the Communist Party of China (CPC).

The first 28 years of the Party's history, before the founding of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1949, are known as the revolutionary period, marking its journey from birth to power.

Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, has said the revolutionary history is the best textbook for Chinese Communists.

The following are some of the key events in the Party's history that Xi, also Chinese president and chairman of the Central Military Commission, has spoken of during his visits to various revolutionary sites.

The Red Boat

"Never forget why you started, and you can accomplish your mission," Xi told the Party while addressing the 19th CPC National Congress in 2017.

A week after the national congress, Xi led the top CPC leadership to the sites where the first CPC national congress was held in Shanghai and Jiaxing, revisiting the Party's founding history.

In July 1921, about a dozen young people started the first congress in a brick-and-wood building in the French concession area of Shanghai.

"Comrade Mao Zedong compared this site to the cradle of the CPC. It is a vivid metaphor. I see the site as an anchor of the souls of Chinese Communists," Xi said.

After being harassed, the delegates moved to a boat on Nanhu Lake in Jiaxing, East China's Zhejiang province, to continue their meeting. There, they discussed and passed the Party's first program and resolution.

In the documents, the CPC committed itself to upholding Marxism-Leninism, which laid the direction and cornerstone of the Party, Xi said.

The Nanhu boat is now known as the Red Boat, which "sparked the flame of the Chinese revolution and started the century-spanning voyage of the Party," Xi said.

After 100 years, the CPC has grown from a small party to the world's largest Marxist ruling party with over 91 million members.