Join 2025 National Library of Australia Fellow, Dr Sanjiao Tang, to discuss his recent Fellowship research focused on the history of the Chinese Communist Party and its new regime.

The year between 1949 and 1950 witnessed the most drastic and profound changes in modern China. Triumphing in the Civil War and taking over the entire country, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was founding its new regime. Paralleling the nationwide transformations, the lives of most Chinese individuals varied significantly at the same time. The younger generations were especially encouraged to closely follow the national progress and become a revolutionary youth as soon as possible.

However, it was not always easy for most ordinary young men and women who never engaged in revolution. Understanding the CCP’s effectiveness in reshaping the younger generations helps rethink the swift establishment of the People’s Republic. Moreover, by paying attention to such speedy and tolerant strategies’ limitations in thoroughly revolutionising the youth, according to the CCP’s ideals, it is possible to reconsider China’s history in the following three decades, in which further political movements were taking place, and those becoming revolutionary youth around 1950 were repeatedly targeted.