The Great Guangzhou Demonstration of
December 20 Opposing Duan Qirui
(January 10, 1926)

Most recently the popular masses of Beijing and Shanghai have risen up to
oppose Duan [Qirui] and Zhang [Zuolin]. Guo Songling turned his dagger in the
same direction,¹ and the popular masses of all the major provinces and regions,
recognizing that this coup d'état was a manifestation of the national revolution
throughout the whole country, have joined together in a response throughout the
country. For this war shows us, on the one hand, that the nationwide high tide of
opposition to the Fengtian clique has already forced the warlords of the Fengtian
clique to split up and crumble, making it easy for the movement to oppose the
Fengtian clique and overthrow Duan Qirui to succeed; it also shows, on the other
hand, that the popular masses have not engaged in positive armed actions, so as
to turn the Zhili-Fengtian war into a bloodless success of the people over the
warlords. The result was that the people could not grasp political power and
regain their position as masters of the state. Taking stock of this, the popular
masses in various places are rising up to engage in violent demonstrations.
Following the sudden outbreak in Beijing, a furious tide of revolution immediately arose in Shanghai, Zhengzhou, Wuchang, and Changsha that has
shaken the entire land. As the revolution was consolidating its foundations in the
high tide of the nationwide movement against the Fengtian clique, Guangdong,
the vanguard of the Chinese revolution, responded and immediately followed up
by leading the people of the whole country in carrying out a great revolutionary
movement to unite the entire country. Because of this, the various large people's
groups, such as the All-China General Labor Union, the Guangzhou-Hong Kong
Strike Committee, the Workers' Congress, the Guangdong Peasant Association,
the Young Soldiers' Association, the Revolutionary Youth Association, the
Guangzhou Students' Association, the New Student Society, the Hong Kong
Student Association, and the Guangzhou Chamber of Commerce, together asked the Central Executive Committee of the Guomindang to hold a march against
Duan Qirui and also to supervise speeding up the national government's preparations to raise troops for the Northern Expedition, since it is necessary to overthrow the traitorous government of Duan Qirui, which brings calamity to the
people, to establish a united national government in the whole country, to abolish
all the unequal treaties, and bring the national revolution to a successful conclusion within a short period of time. All the groups held several preparatory meetings, decided on December 20 as the date for the march, and issued propaganda
guidelines as follows:

Propaganda Guidelines for Supporting the Beijing and
Shanghai Demonstration Movement Opposing Duan Qirui

1. The ease with which Wu Peifu, who is well known for his military prowess, was defeated last year; the fact that the great momentum that Zhang Zuolin
gained from his defeat of Wu Peifu did not last long and dissolved as soon as he
ran into Sun Chuanfang, crumbling before battle with the National People's
Army even began -all this demonstrates that the Chinese warlords are already
in the process of toppling very rapidly.
2. Because, after May 30, the anti-imperialist movement was crushed by the
warlord Zhang Zuolin and has not been able to wage a war to the death against
imperialism, the popular masses want to throw out Zhang Zuolin and make it
possible for the anti-imperialist movement to be victorious. Thanks to the daily
increasing power of the popular masses and to the struggle against the rapidly
declining warlord Zhang Zuolin, the fall and defeat of Zhang Zuolin is inevitable. The reason why Sun Chuanfang, with a small number of troops, was able to
chase the Fengtian army of well over 100,000 troops out of Jiangsu and Anhui is
that Sun Chuanfang at that moment took the position of being an instrument of
the popular mass forces. Under pressure from the forces of the masses, the
Fengtian army could not avoid the emergence of internal splits, and this is the
reason for the occurrence of the incident in which Guo Songling led his troops
against the Fengtian clique.
3. Last year, following the overthrow of Cao and Wu,² despite the advocacy
and leadership of Mr. Sun Yatsen, it was unfortunately impossible to unite the
force of the popular masses, so the opportunity for the people to seize political
power was lost and the forces of the warlords solidified once more. Consequently, they regained the reins of government and continued to serve imperialism in its exploitation and oppression of the people. The then head of the
Fengtian clique, Zhang Zuolin, had already fallen, and since the people did not rise up and take over political control in his stead, political power fell into the
hands of the warlords. This fall of Zhang Zuolin was brought about by the
unwitting instruments of the people, Sun Chuanfang of the Zhili clique and Guo
Songling of the Fengtian clique, and did not depend directly on the forces of the
people themselves or the forces of their conscious instruments. If, at present, the
people do not quickly arise and pursue the matter, and take political power into
their own hands, the warlords will inevitably continue to rule over China, prolonging the oppression and suffering of the Chinese people. This is because, no
matter who the warlord that takes over may be, he will hasten to fawn on the
imperialists and to oppress the people in exactly the same old way. This is in the
very nature of warlords.
4. The recent insurrection of the popular masses in Beijing shows that the
people are no longer willing to be oppressed by imperialism and by the warlords,
and are planning to seize political power. The masses of the people everywhere
should respond to the popular mass movement in Beijing and demand that political power be returned to the people and that the Duan Qirui government be
overthrown and that a people's government be organized to guarantee the freedoms of the people, to convene a national assembly, and to abolish the unequal
treaties.
5. Whether or not these demands of the people can be achieved depends on
the attitude of the National People's Army, because since the loss of power of
Zhang Zuolin and the Fengtian clique, the people have turned their attention
entirely to the National People's Army.3 But the attitude of the National People's
Army depends entirely upon whether or not the power of the popular masses is
solidified. If the people can mount a large-scale movement and show that they
are serious about the National People's Army, then the National People's Army
will certainly be able to decide quickly what kind of an attitude to take toward
the exercise of political power by the people.
6. Guangdong is the revolutionary base of the Chinese people. Guangdong
occupies an extremely important position in the Chinese revolutionary movement. The strength and solidity of Guangdong and its development influence the
development of the movement nationwide. Within a short period of time,
Guangdong has already been able to eliminate counterrevolutionary forces
throughout the province, and Hong Kong has already capitulated and is willing
to send representatives to settle the strike. If the people of Guangdong are able to
continue to support the striking workers throughout the negotiations, then a
settlement by the striking workers will certainly be able to guarantee the next
future great movement of the striking workers. All the provinces bordering on
Guangdong have one after the other manifested a friendly and non-hostile attitude toward Guangdong. The Guangdong government has already obtained
the support of the people, and now if it does even more in such matters as
financial unification, reorganization of the administration, getting rid of bandits,
and maintaining order, it will definitely be able to gain even greater support from
the people. Since the Guangdong revolutionary base has already been consolidated, the Guomindang can extend its movement to the rest of China by developing the Guomindang organization in the whole country, and expanding the military
forces of the Northern Expedition. The people of Guangdong and the people of the
entire nation should assist the Guomindang with the various plans to consolidate the
revolutionary base and to develop the nationwide revolutionary movement.
7. The people's seizure of political power, the success of the national revolution, relies on the nationwide revolutionary forces joining together with the left
wing of the Guomindang. One of the major reasons for the failure last year of the
movement called for by Mr. Sun Yatsen was indeed the disruption by reactionary elements within the party. This bunch of reactionary elements are now once
again making preparations, in Beijing, to sabotage the Guomindang organizations by shaking the leadership of the revolutionary movement and by putting
obstacles in the way of the popular mass movement against Duan Qirui in
Beijing. If the Guomindang is not able to eliminate this bunch of reactionary
elements, the leadership of the revolution will not be consolidated, the revolutionary politics of the Guomindang will be affected, and the nationwide movement will inevitably be badly hurt.
8. Slogans: (1) Arm the Chinese revolutionary masses. (2) Down with the
betrayers of the nation, the Duan Qirui government. (3) Down with all counterrevolutionary forces. (4) Establish a unified national government for the whole
country. (5) Support the revolutionary Guomindang. (6) Convene a national
assembly, retrieve the sovereignty of the people, abolish all unequal treaties. (7)
Restore patriotic groups everywhere. (8) Support the Guangdong-Hong Kong
strike. (9) Consolidate the Guangdong revolutionary base, make preparations to
mobilize troops for the Northern Expedition, and carry out the unification of the
revolution. (10) Let the revolutionary popular masses seize political power. (11)
Resume control over customs duties. (12) Kick out representatives of all nations
to the Customs Conference. (13) Free the jailed anti-imperialist fighters.

At 11 o'clock in the morning on December 20, a crowd of 100,000 people
gathered at the Eastern Parade Ground4 in Guangzhou. The largest number of
them were workers, followed by soldiers, and then people from all walks of life.
Flags and banners flew over the square. Wherever you looked, there was the blue
sky, white sun, and broad red field of the national flags, the blue sky and white
sun of the party flag, and the red banners of the labor unions. In the square, three platforms had been set up. On the central platform were the peasants, workers,
and merchants, led by Li Sen of the All-China General Labor Union and He
Youti of the Provincial Peasant Association. On the platform on the right was the
military, led by Zhou Yijun, and on the platform on the left were the students,
led by Shen Bantong of the Revolutionary Youth Association and Li Zhaokui of
the Guangzhou Student Alliance. Suspended all around the platforms were banners such as "Down With All Counterrevolutionary Forces," "Regain Sovereignty Over Customs Duties," "Restore Patriotic Groups Everywhere," "Down
With the Duan Qirui Government." The meeting began at 12:30 noon, and
amidst loud shouts of support passed the following resolutions:

1. Resolution Concerning the Northern Movement Against Duan Qirui

In a very short period of time, the deeply entrenched Guangdong warlords
have already been rooted out by the Guangdong revolution and the government
representing the popular masses. Zhang Zuolin with his several hundred thousand crack troops, and with the support of the powerful imperialists behind him,
was totally defeated without even a fight. This indeed proves that the warlords
are crumbling at an ever-increasing rate and that their dying gasps for breath
cannot last long. Since the May Thirtieth Movement, the anti-imperialist movement of the popular masses has been rising higher and higher, and even though
the warlords may trample over us and we may suffer from sabotage by the
counterrevolutionary forces, the movement does not stop growing. Recently, in
Beijing, in Shanghai, and elsewhere, the popular masses have again risen up in
insurrection. In order to expand their revolutionary forces, in order to confront
the imperialists directly, the popular masses are already anxious to seize political
power, to guarantee all the people's freedoms, to coordinate the revolutionary
front, and to bring the anti-imperialist movement under a unified command.
Since the people of Guangdong have already grasped political power, by uprooting the counterrevolutionary forces within the province of Guangdong, they
should join with the popular masses of the entire nation and together strike down
the Duan Qirui government and all counterrevolutionary forces, and set up a
unified national government all over the country that will guarantee the people's
freedoms and fight the imperialists.

2. Resolution Regarding Feng Yuxiang and the Attitude of the National
People's Army

Just at this time, when the ruling warlords are losing their power and the
people are making forceful efforts to seize political power, the National People's
Army is in a pivotal position, so this great meeting resolves to send telegrams to
Feng Yuxiang and to the National People's Army asking them to clarify their
attitudes. Will they decide to be a military force of the people to help the people gain political power, or will they decide to retrace the disastrous path of Zhang
Zuolin's Fengtian clique and help the government of Duan Qirui so that the
warlord forces will be solidified again?

3. Resolution Regarding Guo Songling

Since Guo Songling, under pressure from the forces of the people, has already
turned against Zhang Zuolin, thus causing the forces of the popular masses to
take a great stride forward in their development, he should further decide boldly
that he himself is willing to be a self-conscious instrument of the people, in order
to promote the realization of the people's demands. Otherwise, if he turns his
back on the popular masses in hopes of replacing Zhang Zuolin as leader of the
Fengtian forces, his own destruction will come even more quickly than did that
of Zhang Zuolin.5

4. Resolution on Supporting the Striking Workers and on Negotiating with
Hong Kong

The 200,000 striking workers in Guangdong and Hong Kong now fighting for
the freedom of the Chinese nation,6 braving hunger and cold, have held out for
six long months, a sacrifice and determination unprecedented in the history of
the Chinese revolution. This strike has not only dealt a great blow to the Hong
Kong imperialists, it has also retrieved the respect and honor of China that was
lost eighty-five years ago, and it has also helped the revolutionary government to
complete the task of sweeping out the counterrevolutionary forces and of consolidating the revolutionary base in Guangdong. Today, in settling the strike between Hong Kong and the striking workers, the people of our entire province of
Guangdong should continue to support the demands of the workers until victory
is achieved. Our 200,000 compatriots must not be allowed to suffer alone in their
sacrifices in the difficult struggle for the revolution and the nation.

5. Resolution Regarding Lin Sen and Zou Lu

Earlier, having accepted the responsibility of leading the foreign affairs delegation entrusted to them by the people of Guangdong, Lin Sen, Zou Lu, and
others went north to fight imperialism and look into the traitorous activities of
Duan Qirui's traitorous government. Since going north, Li Sen and Zou Lu have
not only betrayed the people's trust, they have not struck a single blow at the
imperialists and have not censored the traitorous actions of the Duan Qirui

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Notes

This article first appeared in Zhengzhi zhoubao, No. 4, January 10, 1926. We have taken it
from that source because there are a number of missing characters in the text as reproduced
in the Mao Zedong ji. Bujuan, Vol. 2, pp. 151-56.
1. In November 1925, in the context of a war between Feng Yuxiang and Zhang
Zuolin, Fengtian general Guo Songling (1887-1925) entered into a secret agreement with
Feng Yuxiang to turn against Zhang. In the event, however, Guo was defeated, captured,
and executed in December 1925. Feng Yuxiang also suffered heavy casualties, and his
position was seriously weakened.
2. The reference is to the defeat of President Cao Kun and his military backer Wu
Peifu by Feng Yuxiang in November 1924. See, above, the note to the circular of November 1, 1924.
3. On the National People's Army of Feng Yuxiang and others, see the "Propaganda
Guidelines in the War Against the Fengtian Clique," November 27, 1925, and the notes
thereto.
4. The Eastern Parade Ground [Dongjiaochang] was located just to the east of the old
city of Guangzhou.
5. As indicated above, in the first note to this text, Guo Songling had been captured
and executed in December 1925, so this resolution, when adopted, was already out of date.
6. Zhongguo minzu.