In 1960s, people in Linxian county (now, Linzhou city) of Henan province constructed the Red Flag Canal, a world-famous large-scale irrigation project on the steep side of Taihang Mountains to improve people’s harsh production and consumption condition and to step the water deficiency. The spirit of the Red Flag Canal is “self-reliance, entrepreneurship despite painstaking effort, solidity and cooperation and selfless contribution”. In the September of 2019, the general secretary Xi Jinping stressed that “the spirit of Jiao Yulu, the spirit of the Red Flag Canal and the spirit of the Dabie Mountain are valuable spiritual asset of the CPC”. He also said that “the CPC should educate it’s members and cadres to bear it’s mission and original aspiration in mind while accepting the revolutionary education. The great cause which revolutionary martyrs struggle for and dedicated to must be pushed forward.”

    The Linxian of Henan situated in the eastern part of Taihang Mountains. After the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the CPC and the government payed attention to the water deficiency in the county. In the summer of 1959, the CPC Committee of the county brought up the idea to build a canal through Taihang Mountains to reach Shanxi province and the canal would be a branch of Zhuozhang River to bring water to Linxian, so as to solve water deficiency. The plan was supported by the provincial committees of Henan and Shanxi. The project of the Red Flag Canal formally started in the February of 1960 and end at the August of 1974. 10 thousand heroic men and women followed the leadership of the CPC to overcome unimaginable difficulties. They used sledgehammers, shovels and bare hands to excavate tunnels through mountains and to build bridges above rivers, despite heat in summer and freezing coldness in winter. After 1250 times of mountaintop removal, excavating 211 tunnels and building 152 aqueducts, they finally managed to build an “artificial heavenly river” stretching 1500 kilometers. The Red Flag canal is rated as a “miracle in the construction history of the People’s Republic of China”. The canal has helped to form a network of water conservancy with water diversion, storing water, irrigation and pumping engineering. The large-scale project has ended Linxian’s history of suffering due to high water price and extremely frequent droughts. The production and consumption condition has been changed fundamentally. Enormous economic and social benefit has been created this way. Even at present the canal is indispensable and has been rated as “ the canal of life ” and “the canal of happiness ”.

    There is a poem to prizing the people building the canal. It literally means that “the Taihang Mountain is cut through to let the Zhanghe River run through the mountain and the ambitious people of Linxian county swear to rearrange mountains and rivers.” The construction of the Red Flag Canal is an example of self-reliance and entrepreneurship despite painstaking effort, leaving later general generations not only a water conservancy project irrigating tons of thousands acres of farmland, but also precious spirit of the Red Flag Canal. Cadres and people of the county were determined to solve urgent problems influencing production and consumption. They’d rather do painstaking work than to endure the life full of suffering and preferred to struggle to exchange for long-term happiness. They relied on themself to figure out solutions and to do the work by themselves, instead of dependent on the nation by waiting for, relying on and asking others to solve the problem. They faced difficulties like the dangerous working condition as well as the lack of financial and material resource, so they made the lime and cement used in the canal. Every coin, every bag of cement, every bit of rebar and every hammer handle were used. Despite hardship, workers brought their own tools and prepared meals by themselves. Everyone, no matter with a title or not think and work towards the same end. A group of examples stood out in the process, including Ma Youjin, Lu Yin, Ren Yangcheng, Wang Shicun, Li Gaiyun, Guo Qiuying, Zhang Maijiang, Han Yongdi and so on. Overcoming difficulties was a fight requiring material resource and spiritual strength. The Red Flag spirit is “self-reliance, entrepreneurship despite painstaking effort, solidity and cooperation and selfless contribution”. This is a representative of the spirit of the great Chinese nation, a precious spiritual treasure of the CPC and an important component of the spirit of the CPC, inspiring Chinese people to work hard for the socialist modernization without considering personal loss. Just like what is said by Xi Jinping that “the spirit of the Red Flag Canal is a concentrated representative of the CPC's nature and mission which will never be outdated despite it's long history.”

    The world is undergoing a changing situation unprecedented in the last 100 years. China is at a critical point of realizing the great rejuvenation of Chinese nation. National prosperity and ethnic rejuvenation requires the accumulation of material civilization and the improvement of spiritual civilization. The general secretary Xi Jinping stressed that “the way ahead can’t be a easy path. On the way we will face major challenges, risks, opposing forces and conflicts, so we can’t lose the tradition to be humble, prudent, hard-working, diligent, thrifty and not to be proud nor impatient.” All CPC members should nourish and inspire themselves by the great spirit formed in the hundreds of years of struggle and do well in every work of the party and the nation with high spirit. We need to combine the reality with the Red Flag Canal Spirit and use it to inspire people to push forward the strong spirit force of the socialism with Chinese characteristics in a new era. We need to have a clear idea that self-reliance is a foundation for the Chinese nation to earn it’s place among other nationalities in the world. To reach that aim, we need to do the following: we need to step on a road of self-reliance of high level;we need to maintain the same spirit formed in the time when we had to work hard in the time of difficulties one task after another and one generation after another, so as to meet standards of the new era with determined and sober attitude; we need to be solidified to get together all people we can and mobilize all positive factors we can, so we are able to gather enough strength for the rejuvenation of Chinese nation, we need to contribute to the CPC and the nation selflessly and consider it the goal of life as well as doing real work for people continually to improve the welfare for people, so as to create an achievement in this era satisfying the CPC and people so we never regret.

    After the completion and operation of the Red Flag Canal, there’s also the successful construction and function of the Three Gorges project and the function of the first set of machine of the Baihetan Hydroelectricity Power Plant on Jinsha River which is the largest-scale hydroelectricity project in construction with the most technological difficulties. It’s been proved by the practice that the socialism and a better future in a new era are results of hard work. On the path of the new great journey, we need to promote the spirit of the Red Flag Canal and improve our strength by the inspiration of the spirits of the CPC, so we can work hard, stay solidified and overcome difficulties so as to create new miracles that can impress the whole world and to be successful in the construction of a socialist countries in all aspects.