A worn bamboo basket with a missing piece of its rim may not look like much. But nearly a century ago, it helped sustain Red Army soldiers fighting in the mountains along the Jiangxi–Guangdong border.
The basket is displayed to the public for the first time as a featured artifact at A Magnificent Epic, an Enduring Monument: Traces of the Long March Etched in Time, an exhibition that opened at Guangdong Museum on October 17, 2026, commemorating the 90th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army in the Long March.
A small basket, a remarkable story
The basket belonged to Xie Ximei, a local woman who used it to carry meals to Chen Yi, a Red Army commander, in the Youshan area.
In March 1935, Chen Yi and other Red Army leaders arrived in the Jiangxi–Guangdong border region and joined local Communist Party organizations and guerrilla forces. As they continued their guerrilla campaign, local residents played an important role in supporting them.
Delivering food was risky. Xie sometimes encountered patrols of Kuomintang troops on her way up the mountain, but she repeatedly found ways to avoid danger and get the meals through. She also kept watch when Chen Yi held meetings at her home.
Today, the basket offers a tangible reminder of the courage and care shown by ordinary people during a turbulent period in Chinese history.
A promise kept decades later
Another exhibit tells the story of grain-loan certificates issued in the 1930s by the Chinese Soviet Republic.
Facing severe food shortages, the Red Army organized three grain-borrowing campaigns in the Central Soviet Area between 1933 and the eve of the Long March. Local residents contributed grain and received certificates recording the loans. The principle was simple: anything borrowed from the people had to be returned.
After the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, the government honored this commitment by redeeming verified, unpaid certificates, providing grain at prevailing market prices or making cash payments. The certificates and their printing plate preserve a story of sacrifice, trust and a promise fulfilled long after the original loans were made.
The Long March through art
The exhibition also features The Long March, a traditional Chinese painting by Guan Shanyue. Depicting Red Army soldiers climbing snow-covered mountains, the painting uses winding compositions, vigorous brushwork and vivid colors to convey the scale of their journey and their determination to overcome adversity.
Bringing together historical artifacts and artworks, the exhibition traces the Red Army's journey from its difficult beginnings to eventual victory.
From a simple food basket to documents recording wartime loans, these objects reveal a human side of the Long March: a history shaped not only by soldiers, but also by the ordinary people who stood behind them.
Reporter | Li Fangwang
Photos | Guangdong Museum
