In the foreground, He Long; in the background, the Red Army and the sunrise over a lake; representing a tribute to He Long for his part in setting up the Red Army in Honghu in 1929-1930. Lithograph, 1977, after a woodcut by Yang Xianrang.

The Honghu Lake is the largest lake of Hubei Province. The Honghu area was a revolutionary base in the Land Revolution Period in China. In 1928, He Long was commissioned by the Central Party to set up the Red Army in Hubei and Hunan Provinces for guerrilla warfare. In 1929, the No.1 Independent Division of the Red Army was created in Honghu area, and later on it was expanded to the No. 6 Army Corps of the Red Army. In 1930, the No. 4 Army Corps joined forces with the No. 6 Army Corps to form the Red Army No. 2 Army Group based in Honghu area; He Long was appointed the Commander-in-chief. In autumn 1930, a new local government system was founded, in which the Soviet District centred in Honghu area was formed. In the present print, the Red Army and the local Red Escort led by He Long bring dawn to the Honghu Lake, meaning that the bright (the revolutionary) replaces the dark (the reactionary). The print is full of revolutionary visions of the Red Army in Honghu area, leading local civilians to land reforms and other economic and cultural developments, and providing an example to other rural revolutionary bases. Chairman Mao later on highly commended the guerrilla warfare at Honghu, as it had lasted many years and had devised flexible tactics for fighting on lakes, tributary rivers and wharfs