(July 25,1916)
Esteemed elder brother Sheng:
I sent a letter on the twelfth from Xiangtan, and another on the eighteenth from
school, both recounting current events in detail. I do not know if they have been lost
or not? I keep expecting a reply, and it does not come. My anxiety is inexpressible.
After the three great national problems of the Provisional Constitution, the National
Assembly, and the cabinet were solved on the thirtieth of last month,24 the southern
provinces each successively rescinded independence. With the elimination of the Military Affairs Council, they have gradually moved toward unification. This was made
possible by the deep understanding of the many heroes of the south, Duan’s intervention at the center, and especially the influence of Mr. Li’s25 great sincerity. There are
still those in each province who do not follow orders, for example, those who resist
against Yuan Shikai, he was forced to proclaim Sichuan’s independence from the Beijing government,
and was soon driven out of the province. In July 1916 he was appointed governor of Hunan by Yuan’s
successor, with Lu Rongting as his deputy, but was unable to establish himself in the face of Hunanese
opposition. Duan Qirui (1865–1936), zi Zhiquan, one of Yuan Shikai’s chief lieutenants, was premier for
most of the time from April 1916 to October 1918, and subsequently provisional chief executive of the
Beijing government from November 1924 to April 1926. A native of Hefei in Anhui Province, he was
the head of the Anhui Clique during the struggles among rival factions of northern militarists.
23 On Huang Xing, here referred to by his hao, Keqiang, see the note to Mao’s letter of March 1917
to Miyazaki Toten. Huang, who died on October 31,1916, was already too ill to accept the nomination
by the “Joint Meeting of All Circles,” which Mao calls an election, and recommended Tan Yankai instead.
(On Tan Yankai, see the note to Mao’s letter of July 25, 1916.) Tan assumed the functions of military
and civil governor on August 20, 1916.
24 When Yuan Shikai died in June 1916 and was succeeded by Li Yuanhong, the new president and
Duan Qirui, who remained as premier, acted to restore the Provisional Constitution of 1912, summon
the national assembly, and reestablish cabinet government.
25 Li Yuanhong (1864–1928), zi Songqing, hao Huangpi, from Hubei Province, had become head of
the new revolutionary government in October 1911 much against his will. Elected vice president to Sun
Yatsen, and then to Yuan Shikai in January-February 1912, he subsequently participated, reluctantly

Shen Mingchang in Shanxi, those who resist Hu Ruilin in Fujian, those who attacked
Long Jiguang in Guangdong,26 the struggle between Chen and Zhou27 in Sichuan, and
those who drove out Tang Xiangming from Hunan. Except for the irrational events in
Hunan, however, all these cases were connected with the monarchical system, or
were simply unavoidable, and can be forgiven. The central government must really
be admired for appointing Ren Kecheng governor of Yunnan, Dai Kan governor of
Guizhou, Luo Peijin governor of Guangxi, Cai E governor of Sichuan, and Lu Rongting
governor of Guangdong.28 The removal of Chen Huan, Zhou Jun, and Li Liejun,29
and the appointment of Li as lieutenant general with second-degree honors can be
considered good personnel management. I wrote in an earlier letter that the Hunanese
had adopted a Monroe doctrine and elected Liu30 in order to further their own private
interests, and unfortunately I have been proven correct. Cai E has also already taken
up his appointment. The only thing I did not foresee was that in Guangdong, Long
and Li would both leave, creating a situation similar to that in Sichuan.
I was never in favor of the way the Hunan problem was handled. Although I have
already given a fairly complete account of it in previous letters, I have more to tell
here. Since the common gangsters drove out Tang for no good reason, the governorship
once again, in Yuan’s attempt at restoration in 1915. On June 7, 1916, following Yuan’s death, he
became president in his own right.
26 Shen Mingchang, zi Miantu, from Zhejiang, was a former governor of Shanxi, and at this time
was governor of Shandong Province. Hu Ruilin, zi Zihu, from Hubei, was governor of Fujian Province.
Long Jiguang (1868–1925), zi Zicheng, from Yunnan, was a former Qing governor and Guangdong army
commander. In 1913 Yuan Shikai appointed him governor of Guangdong. At about the time Mao wrote
the present letter, Li Yuanhong removed Long from this post, because of widespread hostility from
southern leaders, and transferred him to Hainan Island as commissioner of mining development.
27 Chen is Chen Huan, referred to in the previous text. Zhou is Zhou Jun, zi Jishan. Two days after
Chen Huan proclaimed the independence of Sichuan on May 22,1916, Yuan Shikai appointed Zhou Jun,
the Chongqing garrison commander, to suppress Chen Huan. Zhou Jun led his army into Chengdu on
June 25, and named himself governor of Sichuan.
28 Ren Kecheng (1878–1945), zi Zhiqing, a native of Guizhou, an educationalist, was former counselor to the Yunnan governor. Dai Kan (1880–1917), had participated as a commander of the National
Protection Army in the offensive against Yuan Shikai, leading his forces into Guizhou in March 1916.
He was made governor of Guizhou by Li Yuanhong on July 6, 1916. Luo Peijin (1878–1922), from Yunnan, educated in Japan, was a Tongmenghui member who had participated in the 1911 revolution in
Yunnan. Cai E (1882–1916), originally Genyuan, zi Songpo, was born in Shaoyang, Hunan Province. He
was a graduate of the Hunan School of Current Affairs, studied in Japan, and on returning taught at
the Guangxi and Yunnan military schools. At the time of the 1911 revolution, he became governor of
Yunnan. In 1915 he was one of the leaders of opposition to Yuan Shikai’s monarchical movement, and
led the National Protection Army into Sichuan. He was appointed governor of Sichuan on July 6, 1916,
but died shortly thereafter of illness.
29 Li Liejun (1882–1946), zi Xiehe, from Jiangxi, was a Tongmenghui member who had become
governor of Jiangxi province in the aftermath of the revolution of 1911. He had fought against Yuan
Shikai in 1913 and in 1915–1916, when he led the Second Army of the National Protection Army into
Guangdong. His subsequent removal as commander of this force, which Mao regards here as correct,
was brought about by Duan Qirui, whose warlord allies Li Liejun had defeated in Guangdong.
30 Liu Renxi.

has already changed hands twice, and Liu’s acting position has been made permanent.
One way or another, they should obey the central government and wait for further
appointments. Now they are urging increased prominence for Huang Keqiang,31 and
seemingly adopting a system of the separation of powers. Thus, Long Zhang has been
elected head of the civil government, but because he is under attack by public opinion,
his appointment has hitherto remained pending, making him a laughingstock. Recently,
the legislature has been coerced into electing him again and submitting his name to the
central government for approval. Huang’s name has been submitted for some time now,
and Long’s has been in for several days, but still the central government has given no
order. I think it will be very difficult for them to accept. They cannot allow this trend
toward nominating one’s own superior officials to get off the ground. If natives of a given
province serve as officials of that province, the damage will be very great. In Hunan
especially, there are particular circumstances, and one does not have to look back any
further than the 1911 Revolution for a good lesson. The causes for the calamities now
before our eyes are again quite conspicuous and easy to see. An atmosphere of bias,
framing, and interest-peddling has arisen. The Department of Civil Affairs produces
one or several batches of xian magistrates each day, and even those who should be
allowed to stay are replaced. The magistrate of Xiangtan, Zhang Qiju, was in office
less than a month, and he earned praise for being a wise and capable man. Now he
has been replaced. The customs agency has already had three replacements. The first
obtained the position by using his connections; then, another used his connections to
replace the first; now, the central government has appointed yet another. The mint has
had four replacements, and the position is still unsettled; each of them lasted only a
few days. Peng Zhengshu has been appointed headmaster of our school. The students
are enraged and want to drive him out, but have not been able to do so. Liu and Wu
are elderly men, and yet they, too, are behaving like this. It is all the fault of those
gangsters. Liu wrote to Tan Zu’an32 saying, “each day passes like a year,” and that is the
truth! I have selected only a couple of examples; the rest you can imagine. It is almost
no better than the common saying: “Cracks your skull open!” In my previous letter
I wrote that the gangsters were taking advantage of the situation to exact revenge.
The most vicious of all are those in the so-called “Council for the United Relief of
National Affairs.” They arrest and execute people without distinguishing black from
white. The arrogance of soldiers and politicians is out of control, and those tainted with
31 Huang Xing.
32 Tan Yankai (1880–1930), zi Zu’an, hao Weisan, was born in Chaling, Hunan. A Hanlin scholar,
he worked in the field of education in Changsha beginning in 1904. In 1909, he was elected president
of the Hunan Provincial Assembly. His strong connections with the Hunan gentry enabled him to bring
about the overthrow and execution of the young radicals who had taken power in Changsha following
the outbreak of the 1911 revolution, and install himself as governor on October 31,1911. He served as
governor of Hunan from then until October 1913, when he was dismissed by Yuan Shikai; from August
1916 to August 1917; and from December 1917 to March 1918, although during this last period he never
formally took up the post.

the suspicion of monarchic leanings are simply thrown out. Shi Wenyao was actually
executed by firing squad. I previously wrote a letter to Zhang saying that once the
killing started, the revenge would never end. Calamities such as those that took place
in France are to be feared the most. One would never have expected that we would
now be playing out the same kind of tragedy. The independence of Hunan was only
rescinded yesterday. This all seems quite strange.
I have said before that not every one of those who went along with the monarchic
movement should be punished. Nevertheless, how can we do otherwise than deal with
those whose crimes were greatest, and who were the originators of the disaster, so as
to prevent future catastrophes, and uphold a sense of integrity, thus shaking the eyes
and ears of the whole world and sweeping out the atmosphere of filth and corruption?
For these reasons, when the order came down to punish the eight,33 the people’s hearts
were greatly lightened. When I read about it in the newspapers, I was really startled.
That these high officials, whose power was so fierce that their very touch burned people,
should now face such an end! Thus history is a useless thing. After thousands of years
of order and civilization, how could the lessons of past successes and failures, ups and
downs, teach us so little that we did not know how to make wise decisions, how to
situate ourselves, and how to behave? How can it be that the likes of Wang Mang,
Cao Cao, Sima Yi,34 Napoleon, and Metternich are not sufficient as examples from the
past? If history were useful, we would not be where we are today. The stupidest of
all was Yuan Shikai, but immediately after him come the eight. This punishment has
not touched the military men like Duan Zhigui,35 Ni Sichong,36 Wu Bingxiang,37 and
others, none of whom were included among those proclaimed guilty, even though they
are criticized by public opinion. And even among the eight, it is said that most have
escaped.
These days there has been some astonishing news in the world I would like to tell
you about. It is called the “Russo-Japanese Agreement.’’ This agreement has already
been concluded. In addition to both countries agreeing to respect each other’s rights
in Manchuria and Mongolia, Russia has given up its railroad line between Changchun
33 On July 14, 1916, President Li Yuanhong ordered that the chief supporters of Yuan Shikai’s
attempt at restoration be punished, but this was never carried out. Chief among the eight was Yang Du,
whose book National Salvation Through Constitutional Monarchy Mao wanted to borrow in the winter
of 1915.
34 Sima Yi (178–251), zi Zhongda, was one of Cao Cao’s generals. He commanded the army of the
Wei dynasty under three successive emperors.
35 On Duan Zhigui, see the note to the text of July 14, 1919, “The Arrest and Rescue of Chen
Duxiu.”
36 Ni Sichong (1868–1924), zi Danchen, from Anhui Province, was a leader of the Beiyang warlord
group and a close ally of Yuan Shikai. In 1913 he became governor of Anhui and in 1917 supported
Duan Qirui’s forceful unification of China, moving troops into Hunan. He was dismissed from office in
1920 after his power base, the Anfu clique, lost influence.
37 Wu Bingxiang, zi Jingtan, also from Anhui, was a former Beijing police chief and an enthusiastic
supporter of Yuan Shikai’s movement to restore the monarchy.

and Bingjiang and navigation rights on the Sungari River, and Japan has agreed to
assist Russia with weapons, ammunition, and other war materials. Until now, only a
small part of this news has been published; the most important of it is being kept a
secret. Our ambassador to Japan has sent back to Beijing an urgent telegram which was
published in the Dagongbao. You should take a look at it. There is talk that the Okuma
cabinet will be dissolved, but no matter who takes power, the policy toward China will
not change. When you think of it, the Japanese are really our most formidable enemies!
To think that our land, which stretches tens of thousands of li in all four directions,
could submit to three islands, or that what is said to be four hundred million people
could be enslaved by these thirty million. Manchuria and Mongolia are gone, and the
north is in danger. The barbarians are riding into the central plains, not to mention
that Shandong is already lost and that they have seized the Kaifeng- Jinan railroad,
thereby entering Henan. Without a war, we will cease to exist within twenty years. But
our countrymen still sleep on without noticing and pay little attention to the east. In
my view, no more important task confronts our generation; if we wish to consolidate
our own situation, in order to preserve our descendants, we must sharpen our resolve
to resist Japan. The Japanese know all about our domestic circumstances, while many
of us, ourselves, do not know; and their domestic situation is understood by very few of
us. I hope that when you read books and newspapers you will pay attention to eastern
affairs. I look forward to our encouraging one another in this. Do you agree?
It looks as if the West will not have a very terrible war. According to economists,
from the perspective of the economy, the war cannot go on another year. At this point,
Germany and Austria have yet to be defeated, the Dardanelles have yet to be broken
through, and Serbia, Belgium, and Montenegro have already been lost. But ever since
Romania joined in last winter, the prestige of the Allied Powers38 has been bolstered.
As for the Entente, they have repeatedly tried to persuade Portugal and Greece to
mobilize, but until now, they have not done so.
The uprising in Mexico continues. The United States announced its intention to
intercede militarily some time ago, but still has not gone through with it. In fact, there
have been some incidents of Mexican rebels entering the southern part of the United
States and recklessly murdering civilians. Wilson’s term is already up, and they are
in the midst of elections. The candidates are Wilson, Hughes, and Roosevelt. Wilson
has been nominated and, in Chicago, Hughes was nominated too. Hughes is the chief
justice of the Supreme Court and agrees with Wilson in favor of peace. The Americans
fear that Roosevelt is too aggressive, and Roosevelt knows that he cannot win, and
has therefore announced his withdrawal in favor of Hughes. I think that since the
Americans are unwilling to enter the war in Europe, and public opinion on expanding
military preparations is not yet mature, the policy will not change, even if Hughes
defeats Wilson. Therefore, Wilson might as well continue in office for another term. As
for Roosevelt’s 1912 clash with Taft, and the subsequent splitting off of the Progressive
38 I.e., of the Triple Alliance of Germany, Austria, and Italy.

Party from the Republican Party, this only allowed Wilson as a Democrat to reap the
rewards of the struggle. I still remember the story about his going somewhere to make a
speech and being stabbed by an enemy. Although his blood and guts were spilling out,
he calmly finished his speech before attending to his wounds. I cannot help admiring
his bravery and fortitude. I hear that he has reached the fullness of his years, yet his
courageous and dauntless spirit has not declined. I do not think they will use force at
this time, and I do not think they will use force in Europe. Their time will come in
ten years, and the place will be the Pacific. Rumors of war between Japan and the
United States have been circulating for some time. In ten years, China will wage a
war of revenge and they will respond to the righteousness of their comrades. We will
attack on land, and they will attack on sea. When the three islands are subjugated,
the two republics of East and West will draw close in friendship and cheerfully act as
reciprocal economic and trade partners. This will be the great endeavor of a thousand
years. What we give up now, we will no doubt see again at that time.
These days there are at least seven or eight newspapers in the Hunanese capital.
The Dagongbao has a lot of spirit, but it is limited in space, and cannot carry very
much news. The Hunan gongbao39 is made up entirely of reprinted materials from
other sources, but has a good deal of news. Recently, there have been several speeches
by famous men in the coastal areas. For example, Sun Yatsen’s40 speech on local selfgovernment is about ten thousand words long, and very informative. It was published in
the Hunan gongbao, but did not appear in the Dagongbao. Moreover, it seems a shame
that this paper never carries announcements of the visits of important personages, such
39 The Hunan gongbao was a daily paper started in Changsha in April 1912. Its first editor-in-chief
was the Republic Party’s Bei Yunzuo, though in 1913 it became an instrument of the Progressive Party.
The paper later supported Yuan Shikai and Tang Xiang- ming, and ceased publication after Yuan’s
death in 1916.
40 Sun Wen (1866–1925), hao Yixian and Zhongshan, was born in Xianshan xian, Guangdong
Province. We refer to him here, and throughout this volume, as Sun Yatsen (Yatsen being the Cantonese
pronunciation of Yixian), the name by which he is commonly known throughout the English-speaking
world. Mao first became aware of Sun’s existence and activities at the time of the 1911 Revolution;
he told Edgar Snow that he proceeded to write a “somewhat muddled” article advocating that Sun be
made president of a new government, with Kang Youwei as premier (Snow, Red Star over China, p. 136).
Although he did not actually organize the uprising of October 10, 1911, which led to the overthrow of
the Qing dynasty, Sun is widely regarded as the father of the Chinese revolution. He was, for a brief
period, the first president of the Chinese Republic in 1912, but was soon forced to resign in favor of
Yuan Shikai. In April 1916 he had returned from exile in Japan to Shanghai, where he resumed his
political activities. Mao is probably referring to Sun’s speech of July 17, 1916, entitled “Zizhi zhidu
wei jianshe zhi chushi” (A Self-Government System as the Foundation of [National] Reconstruction).
See Guofu quanji (Complete Works of the Father of the Country) (Taibei: Jindai Zhongguo chubanshe,
1989), Vol. 3, pp. 164–69.