During my Viva Voce, I reflected upon how my thinking towards the process of historical writing has developed my understanding of history as a discipline. Self-conducting the historical research made me increasingly aware of the obstacles in the historian’s endeavor, such as the biases of primary sources and the historian’s personal agendas, revealing the subjectivity and malleability of the discipline. Whilst reading Jay Taylor’s “The Generalissimo,” a biography of Chiang which pulls heavily from his personal diaries, I noticed the dichotomy between Taylor’s glorification of Chiang and how other historians–Spence, Pepper, Lary–described him, thus I learned the importance of evaluating the reliability of a historian’s perspective and their sources. I also deepened my understanding of this historical topic, as my essay argued that Mao’s ideological appeal was the cornerstone for victory. Humans are ultimately driven by desire for food, jobs and money–necessities needed to survive, all of which Mao promised, effectively gaining their support and winning him the war.