Source I

Jonathan D Spence, an historian, writing in the academic book The Search for Modern China (1999).

The outbreak of full-scale war with Japan in 1937 ended any chance that Jiang Jieshi might have had of creating a strong and centralized nation-state. Within a year, the Japanese deprived the Guomindang [the Nationalists] of all the major Chinese industrial centers and the most fertile farmland. Jiang’s new wartime base, Chongqing, became a symbolic center for national resistance to the Japanese, but it was a poor place from which to launch any kind of counterattack. Similarly, the Communist forces were isolated in Shaanxi province, one of the poorest areas in China, with no industrial capacity. It was not clear if the Communists would be able to survive there, and certainly it seemed an unpromising location from which to spread the revolution.

For the first years of the war, the dream of national unity was kept alive by the nominal [in name only] alliance of the Nationalist and Communist forces in a united front. Communists muted [reduced the focus on] their land reform practices and moderated their rhetoric [propaganda], while the Guomindang tried to undertake economic and administrative reforms that would strengthen China in the long term. But by early 1941 the two parties were once again engaging in armed clashes with each other.

[Source: From SEARCH FOR MODERN CHINA, SECOND EDITION by Jonathan D. Spence. Copyright ©1999, 1990 by Jonathan D. Spence. Used by permission of W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. This selection may not be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher. https://amzn.to/2A2zfq9]

Source J

Chang-tai Hung, a professor of humanities, writing in the specialist history book War and Popular Culture: Resistance in Modern China, 1937–1945 (1994).

The outbreak of full-scale war with Japan in 1937 dealt a devastating blow to the Nationalist [Guomindang] government’s efforts to recentralize its authority and revive the economy. It also ended Jiang Jieshi’s chance of crushing the Communist forces, who were isolated in the barren and sparsely populated Shaanxi province. The war displaced the Nationalists from their traditional power base in the urban and industrial centers, and forced them to move to the interior. At the same time, it provided an ideal opportunity for the Communists to expand their influence in north China and become a true contender for national power.

For many Chinese resisters, the clash with Japan turned out to be a unifying force. The Marco Polo Bridge became a compelling symbol of China’s unity. Resisters looked at war as an antidote to chaos. Despite some progress made toward economic growth and political integration by the Nationalist government on the eve of the war, the country was still largely fragmented. Regional militarists remained a serious threat to the government, and the armed conflict between the Nationalists and the Communists persisted. Political instability bred fear and fueled great discontent in society.

[Source: Republished with permission of University of California Press - Books, from War and popular culture: resistance in modern China, 1937-1945, Chang-tai Hung, 1994; permission conveyed through Copyright Clearance Center, Inc.]