Hong jun fen ("A Red Army Grave").

Guiyang: Guizhou renmin chubanshe,, 1956. First edition, second printing, of this genuinely rare and visually striking story of revolutionary selflessness, heroic sacrifice, and the people's love for the Communist Party. In keeping with the increasing scarcity of Chinese comics from the 1950s, WorldCat records no copies of the first or second printings. This story is set in the town of Zunyi at the time of Mao's famous Long March to escape Chiang Kai-shek's Kuomintang forces. While passing through the town, the Red Army diligently works to improve the lives of the people, and a soldier is killed defending the townsfolk against Chiang's soldiers. Following the Red Army's departure, grateful locals honour the dead unknown soldier with a gravestone, incurring the displeasure of local landlords and a Kuomintang official. Defiant locals resist multiple attempts to have the grave exhumed and removed, and even when local officials eventually prevail, they continue to commemorate the soldier in private shrines at home. As news of the grave's fate spreads, it is restored in defiance of official instructions, and after the liberation of Zunyi by the People's Liberation Army in 1949, the grave becomes a focus of patriotic local pride and an homage to Communist self-sacrifice. Duodecimo. Original illustrated paper wrappers, stitched gatherings glued into wrappers as issued, spine lettered in black, title on front cover in red. With 47 illustrations after drawings by Pan Zhongliang. Front wrapper bright, a little spotting on rear cover, small loss at head of spine, contents evenly toned. A very good copy indeed.