????More than eight decades ago on Dec. 28 and 29, 1929, the Fourth Army of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army held a two-day meeting in chilly Gutian Township, east China’s Fujian Province, and adopted eight resolutions of more than 30,000 characters drafted by Mao Zedong.

????Historians generally believe that the meeting resolved a series of major issues concerning the leadership and army construction of the Communist Party of China. This “red gene” has since passed from generation to generation of China’s armed forces.

????In 2014, Xi Jinping proposed the convening of a military political work conference on the site of the Gutian Meeting, in order to reflect on the origins of China’s military. Media commentators described it as a “spiritual pilgrimage” for the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) during a new stage of military construction.

????On the morning of Oct. 30, Xi and senior military officers visited the venue of the Gutian Meeting. Xi recalled the struggle and achievements of previous generations of revolutionaries and shared his thoughts on his previous visits to Gutian, in a reminder of the Three Rules of Discipline and Eight Points for Attention chorused by Mao Zedong and his generals.

????During the visit, Xi said to the officers: “As members of the PLA, we need to ask ourselves where we came from and why we began our journey.” For those interested in Chinese military affairs, it is also a question worth pondering.

????To some degree, if you study the Gutian Meeting, you will find the answer.