Tim Meadows, age 16, of Nogales, Ariz., for his question:

WHAT WAS THE `LONG MARCH?'

In 1934 the Chinese Communists and the Communist Army undertook a 6,000 mile journey after Chiang Kai shek, the Kuomintang leader, dislodged them from their bases in Jiangxi (Kiangsi) Province. The march came to be known as the "Long March."

The march started in October with about 100,000 soldiers, officials and Communist followers. Three months later, in January, 1935, the marchers stopped for the conference at Zunyi (Tsun i) that acknowledged Mao Tse tung as the top leader of the Chinese Communist party.

The march continued. There was a great deal of fighting for survival against the Kuomintang forces and the difficult terrain, as well as disease and hunger. There were 8,000 marchers left when they reached Shaanxi (Shensi) in October, 1935, and established their headquarters at Yanan (Yenan).

The marchers turned what was actually a forced retreat into a moral victory. Other units of the Red Army were gathered. The leadership shaped an effective fighting organization and by 1949 it had taken all of China.