Recently, the major project of the National Social Science Foundation of China, "Sorting and Research on the News and Propaganda Materials of the Communist Party of China in Japanese Collections (1921 - 1945)", undertaken by Communication University of China, has attracted wide attention by presenting a series of achievements to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People's War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression.
The Major Project Launches a Series of Achievements Concentratedly
People's Daily Key Commentary Article
On September 2nd, People's Daily Key Commentary Article titled "Justice Will Prevail, Peace Will Prevail, and the People Will Prevail - Written on the Occasion of the 80th Anniversary of the Victory of the Chinese People's War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War" was published. In the second part of the article, the achievements of our university's major project were cited, that according to Japanese historical materials, the Japanese invaders analyzed at that time that "the Communist Party is the main body leading China's ideological war", and "the Communist Party (Army) skillfully won the support of the masses and continuously carried out ideological disintegration work on the Japanese army. In the future, it will really be a matter of concern"...
On March 4th, the project achievements were selected into the 3rd issue of the National Social Science Foundation's Important Achievements Report in 2025 (No. 1522 in total), and received positive instructions from national leaders, which were applied to relevant activities and work.
Theoretical Article in Guangming Daily
On August 13th, the theoretical section of Guangming Daily published the project achievements. Based on the Japanese-collected archives during the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression and the early works of Japanese scholars' in-depth analysis of the Communist Party of China, it explained the role of the Communist Party of China as the mainstay in the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression from the perspective of the "opponent". The article deepens the investigation and understanding of major issues such as "the great significance of the Chinese People's War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression" and "the important position of the Chinese People's War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression in the World Anti-Fascist War" from new historical materials and new perspectives, which has far-reaching historical and practical significance.
Cover and Article of Journal of Journalism & Communication Studies, Issue 7, 2025
In the 7th issue of 2025 of the Journal of Journalism & Communication Studies, a project achievement paper titled "Between the Turns: From Aggression against China to Propaganda against Japan" was published. The article points out that during the period of all-out resistance against Japanese aggression, the Communist Party of China educated and transformed a group of Japanese prisoners. Most of this group came from the working class and the peasantry. Under the influence of the Communist Party of China's "two-pronged approach", they changed their stances and realized the turn from aggression against China to propaganda against Japan. Under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, they carried out various forms of propaganda work against Japan, which was a great attempt to carry out external publicity through "foreign mouths".
Theoretical Article in the National Social Science Foundation Special Section of China Social Sciences Daily
On August 29th, the special section of the National Social Science Foundation of China on China Social Science Daily published an article titled "The Propaganda War of the Communist Party of China against the Japanese Invaders during the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression". The article analyzes the formation of the Communist Party of China's "two-pronged approach" theory of uniting the majority and isolating the minority, sorts out the practice of the propaganda war against Japan by skillfully using "foreign mouths" and focusing on psychological warfare, and summarizes the effects of the Communist Party of China's propaganda war against Japan on the Japanese invaders through Japanese-collected archives: low morale and an increase in deserters, fully demonstrating the irreplaceable historical contribution of the Communist Party of China in the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression.
CCTV-4 "In-Depth International" Special Report
The special program "History That Cannot Be Erased" of the in-depth international program on China Central Television's Chinese International Channel (CCTV - 4) revealed from an exclusive perspective about how the project reproduced the wisdom and courage of the Communist Party of China's propaganda during the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression through overseas collections.
Xinhua News Agency Report
Xinhua News Agency launched a special report for three consecutive days, presenting the research breakthroughs achieved by the project from different dimensions. This series of media presentations fully demonstrates the academic value and practical significance of the project achievements.
The Project Discovers a Batch of Rare Historical Materials Not Seen in China
During the War of Resistance Against Japan, the Communist Party of China published the Japanese-language edition of "Friends of the Japanese Army," the Korean-language edition of "Path to Survival," and the multilingual "Illustrated Journal of the Communist Youth League of China."
Since the project was established in November 2021, it has scientifically carried out "organized scientific research", built a cloud-based historical material sharing platform, and conducted a "comprehensive search" for relevant historical materials in both China and Japan. At present, more than 16,000 pieces of historical materials related to the Communist Party of China's propaganda in Japanese collections have been collected, totaling more than 100,000 pages and about 80 million words. Further, more than 300 kinds of rare newspaper and periodical historical materials, more than 200 kinds of propaganda brochures, more than 20,000 leaflets, and hundreds of cartoons have been selected. After screening, most of these archives have not been seen in China and have extremely high historical value. They vividly show how the Communist Party of China carried out propaganda and mobilization through newspapers and periodicals, and are also vivid examples of the Communist Party of China's early international communication.
The Effects of the Communist Party of China's Propaganda War against Japan from the Perspective of Japanese Historical Materials
The Japanese side believed "The Communist Army is the army that attaches the most importance to propaganda." "The policy of the Communist Party of China is to prioritize propaganda." "In terms of propaganda, the Communist Party of China is an expert among experts."
The Japanese side believed that the Communist Party of China attached great importance to and was good at propaganda. On November 9th, 1940, the Japanese invaders' archive "Observation on the Eighth Route Army's Propaganda Work in the Shijiazhuang-Taiyuan Line Attack Incident" pointed out that "the Communist Army is the army that attaches the most importance to propaganda." In September of 1939, the archive "The Tendency of the Communist Party of China" of the Intelligence Department of the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs pointed out that "the policy of the Communist Party of China is to prioritize propaganda." In February 1941, Kanichi Hatano pointed out in "Investigation of Red China" that "in terms of propaganda, the Communist Party of China is an expert among experts."
Anti-Japanese propaganda led to led to a decline in the morale of the Japanese army and an increase in deserters
The Japanese side believed that the Communist Party of China's propaganda led to a decline in the morale of the Japanese army and an increase in deserters. In April 1939, the archive "The Truth and Countermeasures of the Communist Party's Ideological Disintegration Work on Our Army" of the North China Front Army Command of the Japanese invaders pointed out that "there are quite a lot of deserters in our army. Some of them should have deserted and left the team after being influenced by the propaganda related to the Communist Party's prisoner-of-war work." "The Communist Party of China's propaganda has lowered the morale of the Japanese army."
The Japanese side believed that the Communist Party of China's propaganda efforts in Japan are meticulous, ingenious, and effective
The Japanese archives highly evaluated the Communist Party of China's propaganda work, repeatedly using the words "meticulous, ingenious, and effective." In November of 1940, the Japanese invaders' archive "Observation on the Eighth Route Army's Propaganda Work in the Shijiazhuang-Taiyuan Line Attack Incident" emphasized that the propaganda work carried out by the Eighth Route Army was "quite ingenious and meticulous." In March of 1939, the archive "The Propaganda Tactics of the Communist Army in North China" of the Intelligence Department of the Japanese Cabinet pointed out that during battles, when soldiers were emotionally tense and their thoughts were relatively depressed, the Communist Party of China's propaganda "had quite an effect."
The Role of the Communist Party of China as the Mainstay in the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression from the Perspective of Japanese Historical Materials
The Japanese side believed the Communist Party of China was "indestructible"
From the Japanese perspective, the image of the Communist Party of China was "indestructible." In February of 1941, Kanichi Hatano pointed out in the book "Investigation of Red China" that "the Communist Party of China is completely different in nature from the Chongqing regime. It is indestructible."
The Japanese side believed "the Communist Party is the main body leading China's ideological war"
The Japanese side believed that the effective propaganda and disintegration work of the Communist Party of China had a wide-ranging impact within the Japanese invaders and played a positive role in the victory of the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression. In April of 1939, the archive "The Truth and Countermeasures of the Communist Party's Ideological Disintegration Work on Our Army" of the North China Front Army Command of the Japanese invaders pointed out that "the Communist Party is the main body leading China's ideological war."
Why the Communist Party of China Could Succeed from the Perspective of Japanese Historical Materials
The Japanese side believed "the love of the Communist Party of China for the working-class and peasant-class can overcome everything"
The Japanese side believed that the Communist Party of China was constantly achieving victory. In 1940, the archive "The Domestic Policy and Work Truth of the Communist Party of China" of the Intelligence Department of the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs pointed out that "the cadres at all levels of the Communist Party of China have full sympathy for the 400 million working-class and peasant-class people in China", "the love of the Communist Party of China for the working-class and peasant-class can overcome everything", and "the Communist Party of China is constantly achieving victory."
The Japanese side believed "the National Government will soon collapse, but the Communist Party will never fall"
The Japanese side made a comparison between the Communist Party of China and the Kuomintang in many historical materials and accurately predicted the future of the two parties. In March of 1939, the archive "The Propaganda Tactics of the Communist Army in North China" of the Intelligence Department of the Japanese Cabinet judged that "the National Government will soon collapse, but the Communist Party will never fall." It foresaw the fate of the Communist Party of China and the Kuomintang and the profound changes in China's political landscape ten years in advance.
"Taking history as a mirror and educating people for good governance." The research achievements of this project provide new perspectives and new historical materials for studying and explaining major issues such as "why the Communist Party of China can succeed" and "the role of the Communist Party of China as the mainstay in the all-national War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression". On the occasion of the grand commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People's War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War, the above-mentioned content is not only a concentrated display of the academic achievements of the major project but also a great ideological and political lesson for the whole society.
Article translated by a large-language model.
Editor: Li Jichu
