On 1 October 1949 Mao Zedong proclaimed the founding of the People's Republic of China. It was a time of revolution, upheaval and bloodshed. The events of that period, and the first decades of communist rule which followed, forged the identity of modern China. Use the key on the left to learn the facts behind the myths of China's revolutionary history, and to hear eyewitness reports from people who lived through the period - from the BBC World Service's My Century programme.