In 1929, the Chinese Red Army retreated from the small eastern town of Jinggangshan in order to escape the Nationalist Party's Kuomintang army.

The Red Army fought hard but lost many battles. Soldiers had low morale. Some lost their faith.

During those difficult days, leader Mao Zedong came up with many ideas about what kind of armed forces should be established and how to lead them.

At a critical moment, the Gutian Conference was convened in December 1929 in the town of Gutian in eastern Fujian province.

Most of the delegates were workers and peasants from the Red Army.

The conference focused on building the Party and the army following the Nanchang Uprising two years earlier. Members passed a resolution 'Rectifying the Wrong Thoughts of the Party Members' drafted by Mao.

A basic principle 'the Party in command of the army' was set up.

The Gutian Conference systematically solved the fundamental problem of how to build a new party and army. It became an important milestone in the history of the Chinese Communist Party.

In 1972, painter He Kongde created the oil painting 'Gutian Conference' based on this important historical event.

The painting depicts the faces of many in the delegations who attended the meeting. the artist used Red Army uniforms to reproduce the scene.

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