The book's 411 entries span about four decades (1927-1965). Below they are listed by period with the nodes directly related to the quotations' sources, each tagged with the chapter(s) to read alongside. Years come from the source dates the entries themselves cite - no guessing.
- Agrarian revolutionary war 1927—1937
- 1927'Report on an investigation of the peasant movement in Hunan' written (March), a 32-day field study; source of Chapter 31's first entry and many in Chapter 23. read alongside:Chapter8、Chapter23、Chapter24
- 1929Gutian resolution 'On correcting mistaken ideas in the Party' (December), the main source of Chapter 24. read alongside:Chapter8、Chapter23、Chapter24
- 1930'A single spark can start a prairie fire' (January), 'Oppose book worship' (May) - the latter proposes 'no investigation, no right to speak'. read alongside:Chapter8、Chapter23、Chapter24
- 1934'Be concerned with the well-being of the masses, pay attention to methods of work' (January), source of many entries in Chapter 11. read alongside:Chapter8、Chapter23、Chapter24
- 1936'Problems of strategy in China's revolutionary war' (December), summing a decade of civil-war experience; source of many in Chapters 5 and 22. read alongside:Chapter8、Chapter23、Chapter24
- War of Resistance against Japan 1937—1945
- 1937'On Practice' (July), 'On Contradiction' (August), 'Combat liberalism' (September) - core sources of Chapters 22 and 24. read alongside:Chapter5、Chapter6、Chapter7、Chapter8、Chapter18
- 1938'Problems of strategy in guerrilla war against Japan' and 'On protracted war' (May), 'The role of the Chinese Communist Party in the national war' (October). read alongside:Chapter5、Chapter6、Chapter7、Chapter8、Chapter18
- 1939'In memory of Norman Bethune' (December), source of Chapter 18. read alongside:Chapter5、Chapter6、Chapter7、Chapter8、Chapter18
- 1940'On New Democracy' (January), source of many in Chapter 3. read alongside:Chapter5、Chapter6、Chapter7、Chapter8、Chapter18
- 1942Yan'an rectification: 'Rectify the Party's style of work' (February), 'Talks at the Yenan Forum on literature and art' (May) - the latter the main source of Chapter 32. read alongside:Chapter5、Chapter6、Chapter7、Chapter8、Chapter18
- 1943'Some questions concerning methods of leadership' (June), systematising 'from the masses, to the masses'. read alongside:Chapter5、Chapter6、Chapter7、Chapter8、Chapter18
- 1944'Serve the people' (8 Sept), eulogy for Zhang Side; source of Chapter 17's first entry. read alongside:Chapter5、Chapter6、Chapter7、Chapter8、Chapter18
- 19457th Congress: 'On coalition government' (April), 'The foolish old man who removed the mountains' (June). read alongside:Chapter5、Chapter6、Chapter7、Chapter8、Chapter18
- War of Liberation 1945—1949
- 1945'The situation and our policy after the victory in the war of resistance' (13 Aug), source of Chapter 21's first entry; 'On the Chongqing negotiations' (October). read alongside:Chapter6、Chapter7、Chapter10、Chapter21
- 1947'The present situation and our tasks' (December), source of many in Chapters 2 and 5. read alongside:Chapter6、Chapter7、Chapter10、Chapter21
- 1948'Talk with the editors of the Shansi-Suiyuan Daily' (April), 'Speech at the Shansi-Suiyuan cadres' meeting' (April); source of many in Chapters 1 and 11. read alongside:Chapter6、Chapter7、Chapter10、Chapter21
- 1949'Methods of work of Party committees' (March), 'Report to the Second Plenary Session of the 7th Central Committee' (March), 'On the people's democratic dictatorship' (June). The 'paper tiger' discussions cluster in this period. read alongside:Chapter6、Chapter7、Chapter10、Chapter21
- Nation-building & socialist transformation 1949—1956
- 1954Opening address to the First National People's Congress (15 Sept), source of Chapter 1's first entry. read alongside:Chapter3、Chapter4、Chapter20、Chapter28
- 1955'On the question of agricultural co-operation' (July), editor's notes to 'The socialist upsurge in China's countryside'; source of many in Chapters 3 and 11. read alongside:Chapter3、Chapter4、Chapter20、Chapter28
- 1956Opening address to the 8th Congress (15 Sept); source of many in Chapters 28 and 33. read alongside:Chapter3、Chapter4、Chapter20、Chapter28
- The exploration period & the book's making 1957—1966
- 1957'On the correct handling of contradictions among the people' (February) and 'Speech at the national propaganda conference' (March); the direct source of Chapter 4. read alongside:Chapter4、Chapter16、Chapter22、Chapter27、Chapter32
- 1963'Where do correct ideas come from?' (May), on the two leaps of the cognitive process; an important source of Chapter 22. read alongside:Chapter4、Chapter16、Chapter22、Chapter27、Chapter32
- 1964First compiled (May), the first edition in 30 chapters; this site uses the 1966 revised edition expanded to 33 chapters. read alongside:Chapter4、Chapter16、Chapter22、Chapter27、Chapter32
- 1965Revised again, the chapter list expanded to 33. read alongside:Chapter4、Chapter16、Chapter22、Chapter27、Chapter32
- 1966Revised-edition preface dated 16 December; the base edition used here (33 chapters, 411 entries). The same year Peking published the English translation. read alongside:Chapter4、Chapter16、Chapter22、Chapter27、Chapter32