La lunga marcia

by Simone de Beauvoir

Author of The Second Sex, and one of the 20th century's most brilliant writers, Simone de Beauvoir turns her attention eastward to China and paints a masterly picture of that nation in modern times. Honest and detailed, it comes from de Beauvoir's personal journey through the "I have tried to evaluate all the knowledge gained at first-hand, by actually seeing places and talking with people," she said, poignantly, noting how the Chinese "are fighting hard to build a human world." Invaluable.

Genres: Nonfiction, China, History

560 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1957

About the author

Simone de Beauvoir was a French existentialist philosopher, novelist, essayist, memoirist, and feminist whose writings profoundly shaped twentieth-century philosophy, literature, and modern feminist thought. Born in Paris into a bourgeois Catholic family, she displayed exceptional intellectual ability from an early age. After studying philosophy at the Sorbonne, she passed the prestigious agrégation examination in 1929, becoming one of its youngest successful candidates. During her studies she met Jean-Paul Sartre, with whom she formed a lifelong intellectual and personal partnership that became central to the development of French existentialism. Although Beauvoir often rejected the title of philosopher during her lifetime, her work established her as one of the discipline's most influential modern thinkers. She explored themes of freedom, responsibility, ethics, oppression, and human existence through both philosophical and literary writing. Her groundbreaking book The Second Sex (1949) transformed feminist theory by arguing that femininity is shaped primarily by social and historical conditions rather than biology, introducing the celebrated idea that "one is not born, but rather becomes, woman." The work challenged traditional assumptions about gender and became one of the foundational texts of contemporary feminism. Beauvoir also authored influential philosophical studies, including The Ethics of Ambiguity, alongside acclaimed novels such as She Came to Stay, The Blood of Others, The Mandarins, which received the Prix Goncourt in 1954, and The Woman Destroyed. Her four-volume autobiography, beginning with Memoirs of a Dutiful Daughter, remains an important account of twentieth-century intellectual and cultural life. Throughout her career she served as co-founder and editor of the influential journal Les Temps Modernes, contributing essays on politics, literature, philosophy, and contemporary social issues. Beyond her writing, Beauvoir was deeply engaged in public life. She campaigned for women's rights, reproductive freedom, and social equality, signing the Manifesto of the 343 that called for the legalization of abortion in France. She also opposed colonialism, criticized social injustice, and supported progressive political causes throughout her life. Her travels inspired widely read travel books and essays examining cultures in the United States and China. Beauvoir's legacy extends far beyond feminism, influencing existential philosophy, literary criticism, political theory, ethics, sociology, and gender studies. Despite continuing debate over aspects of her personal life and controversial relationships, her intellectual contributions remain central to modern scholarship. Her books have been translated into numerous languages and continue to be studied worldwide for their philosophical depth and literary achievement. Honored with distinctions including the Prix Goncourt, the Jerusalem Prize, and the Austrian State Prize for European Literature, Simone de Beauvoir is widely regarded as one of the defining intellectual figures of the twentieth century, whose writings permanently transformed discussions of gender, freedom, morality, and the human condition while continuing to inspire scholars, writers, and activists across generations.

Reviews

[Allison]

Over all de Beauvoir's book is a beautifully written travelogue and well researched in depth history. For those reasons alone it's worth consideration and a second look.
However, I found de Beauvoir's personal observations frustrating. The Long March is a sympathetic account of modern China, too sympathetic in my opinion. Admittedly, there are roughly 50 years between us, but de Beauvoir's account is frustratingly superficial. Instead of questioning or some objective consideration, de Beauvoir's journey accepts what she sees and is presented with romantic pleasure.
Read with a grain of salt, de Beauvoir's Account is a wealth of information on modern China for anyone interested.

[Greg]

24 Feb. 2020.
Review as I go, by chapter as this is a big read, both deep in page and subjects covered. 513 pages.
Originally published under the title Le Longue Marche in 1957. First published in English in 1958.
From the back cover synopsis: 'Written in the 1950s, it attacks the "bourgeois democracies" which wanted to keep the People's Republic a pariah state. And there is much emphasis on the subjects which the author holds most dear - birth control, female emancipation and the great educational programmes which were forced on the Chinese peasantry. But the best books are written in sympathy. De Beauvoir helps us to understand Communist China.' Roy Hattersley

Contents
Preliminaries
1. The Discovery of Peking
2. The Peasants
3. The Family
4. Industry
5. Culture
6. The Defensive Effort
7. The First of October
8. Cities of China
Conclusions and Index

Preliminaries
September 1955
The book opens with De Beauvoir in a plane over the Gobi Desert flying east with eight other passengers.
'the last three were on their way to China as guests of the government. At Bandung Chou En-lai had made the invitation good not only for the Conference nations but extended to include every country in the world: "Come and see." Not a little surprised at it and at our own selves, we were taking advantage of the offer.'
'Ancient China did not interest me much. For me, China was this patient epic that starts in the dark days of (Malraux's) Man's Fate and ends on the First of October, 1949, in an apotheosis on the Tien An Men; China, for me was this stirring and reasonable revolution which had not only delivered peasants and workers from exploitation, but had rid an entire land of the foreigner.'

'I was sure ahead of time that China would not resemble any of the countries which are solidly anchored in capitalism. I also suspected that China would differ from those where socialism has already triumphed.'

'When you travel by air, appearances are abrupt.' This statement by de Beauvoir reminds us this is the 1950s.

'In Paris I had seen the Peking Opera: I now imagined glittering traditions blending with the innovations of an effervescent present. "This land, both completely new and infinitely old" - the slogan engengered other seductive syntheses; I had anticipated China, at once orderly and fantastic, where poverty had the mildness of abundance, enjoys a freedom unknown in other Eastern places.'

'Six weeks later I crossed the Gobi again, in the opposite direction. It lay golden under a bright sun; snow-capped mountains glistened off in the distance. China had changed. Black, gray, rose, these were not suitable any more, no symbolic colour would do: China had become a reality. The seeming richness of images translates their radical poverty: the true China had infinitely exceeded the concepts and the words with which I had tried to visualize and foregauge it. China was no longer an idea; it had assumed flesh and bone. It is that incarnation I am going to tell you about.'

[P R]

Istruzioni poco chiare: ho invaso Taiwan

[Casper]

Longue marche = longue lecture. Un peu trop long parfois, le chapitre sur l'industrie aurait pu être moins long avec moins de chiffres. Mais celui sur la culture était génial. Dommage que De Beauvoir était un peu trop impressionée par les communistes et que tout ce qui n'était encore pas optimal n'était qu'une question de temps. L'histoire a prouvé que pas tout ce que les communistes imaginaient était une bonne idée...

[Mathilde]

Je ne l’ai pas lu du début à la fin parce que beaucoup de parties ne m’intéressaient pas.
Outre le fait que je ne sois pas toujours d’accord avec les idées de Simone de Beauvoir, je pense que c’est un livre relativement interessant mais qui présente beaucoup d’inexactitudes. Je ne sais pas si c’est un choix délibéré de l’auteure d’omettre des détails ou de carrément les changer, ou bien si c’est parce que la littérature et les recherches sur le sujet à l’époque étaient bien plus rares.
J’ai quand même appris des choses mais bon, beaucoup de passages m’on frustrée :/

[Margaret]

I loved the textures and sensations of her writing, despite the warped view of China it enfolds. A great mid-century travelogue from a great writer.

[Sara Rossi]

Un saggio sincronicistico sulla Cina maoista del 1955, scritto da un’autrice dalla prosa impeccabile che racconta la storia di uno dei miei paesi del cuore