Mao Zedong (1893–1976), the first Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party and leader of the People's Republic of China for nearly 30 years, wrote poetry, starting in the 1920s, during the Chinese Red Army's retreat during the Long March of 1934–1936, and after coming to power in 1949 following the Chinese Civil War. In spite of Mao's political radicalism he was artistically conservative, opting to use traditional Chinese forms.

The Yangtze River Crossing campaign was a military campaign launched by the People's Liberation Army to cross the Yangtze River and capture Nanjing, the capital of the Nationalist government of the Kuomintang, in the final stage of the Chinese Civil War. The campaign began at night on 20 April, and lasted until 2 June 1949, concluding after the fall of Nanjing and Shanghai to the Communist forces, which eventually resulted in the exile of the Nationalists to the island of Taiwan.