Wang Quanying, believed to be the last surviving female participant of China’s historic Long March, passed away at the age of 105. Her death marks the end of a direct living connection to the arduous military retreat that took place during the Chinese Civil War in the mid-1930s.

Born in Sichuan province, Wang was celebrated just weeks before her passing with a birthday event held at her home. During the celebration, she donned a reproduction of the Red Army uniform worn in the 1930s, a gesture recognized by Chinese state media as a tribute to her role in one of the defining episodes of modern Chinese history.

The Long March, which occurred between 1934 and 1935, involved a strategic retreat by approximately 100,000 communist troops under the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party. The march covered roughly 6,200 miles (about 10,000 kilometers) from Jiangxi province in southeastern China to Shaanxi in the northwest. The journey was marked by harsh terrain, hostile forces, and severe shortages of food and supplies. By the time the Red Army survivors reached Shaanxi, their numbers had dwindled to approximately 8,000.

This campaign is widely considered a pivotal moment in the rise of the Communist Party, eventually leading to its establishment of the People’s Republic of China in 1949. Wang Quanying’s survival and longevity provided a rare, living link to the event that has since been enshrined in Chinese political and cultural memory.

While Wang’s death symbolizes the passing of a generation that witnessed the country’s turbulent revolutionary period firsthand, her story continues to be honored for its embodiment of resilience and historical significance in China’s modern narrative.