ABSTRACT
Until the 1980s, the Korean War had been China's own forgotten war. A recent surge of Korean War literature in China reveals that, even though China was drawn into the war as a reluctant partner with the Soviet Union and North Korea, the Chinese military took away a number of lessons from its only military clash with the United States, particularly as the People's Liberation Army (PLA) revised its military doctrine in the 1980s. The possibility of engaging the US military was a profound challenge to the doctrines and capabilities of the PLA. From the beginning, top political and military leaders realized that the conflict was going to be very different from others in PLA history. Preparation for the Chinese People's Volunteers (CPVs) intervention was at best inadequate and was complicated by the unexpectedly rapid advance of United Nations (UN) forces toward the Yalu River, which hastened entrance into the war.
