China's National Day is October 1st. Why set the date on the first day of October? Many don't know that it relates to a proposal submitted at the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) .
This 33-Chinese-character proposal is probably the shortest one in history. The entire text was, "To set October 1st as the National Day of the People's Republic of China, replacing the previous National Day of October 10th."
The proposer Ma Xulun, who was an educator, was one of the founders of the China Association for Promoting Democracy，which is one of the political parties in China.
In September 1949, 662 representatives, including Ma, attended the first National Committee of the CPPCC, from which the People's Republic of China was established after consultation and negotiation. On October 1st, the China's founding ceremony was held.
However, National Day was not determined due to the holding of the founding ceremony. The previous National Day of the Republic of China (differed from the People's Republic of China) was October 10th.
On the afternoon of October 9th, 1949, the CPPCC National Committee held its first meeting. Although Ma asked for leave because of his illness, he entrusted Xu Guangping, the wife of famous writer, Lu Xun, to present his advice.
As a result, the advice had been accepted and sent to the central people's government for potential adoption and implementation.
The central people's government believed that this proposal was in line with historical reality and represented the aspirations of the Chinese people. Therefore, it was soon adopted. On December 2nd, 1949, the government passed the proposal. Since 1950, October 1st has been designated as National Day.
From that on, China got its first National Day celebration in 1950.
See, the value of a proposal never lies on its length, but is about correct and penetrating views. Making every word count is always the most challenging job for the CPPCC members.
中国青年报社出品
文案：张致远、傅瑞、朱澹清（实习生）
剪辑：蒋继璇、郭扬（实习生）
视觉包装：张岩 李晗
图片来源 ：资料图片、视觉中国
本次播报由中国青年报“青年语料库”支持
