At Loushan pass, near Zunyi, the Red Army defeated local Guomindang troops in February 1935. Mao commemorated the victory in a poem.
The oil painting reproduced here is from 1964, its original title taken from Mao's poem:
雄关漫道真如铁, 而今迈步从头越
Idle boast the strong pass is a wall of iron,
With firm strides we are crossing its summit.