Comrades, fellow countrymen:

Our Central Peasant Movement Training Institute is holding its opening ceremony amid the rising tide of the Second Northern Expedition, a moment of profound significance—indeed, its importance is scarcely less than that of the oath-taking ceremonies for the two Northern Expeditions themselves.

For the aim of the National Revolution is to overthrow foreign imperialism and to eradicate the feudal political forces within the country. By “feudal political forces” we mean the warlords, the landlord class, and the local tyrants and ruffians. We know full well that these warlords and local oppressors are, in effect, imperialism’s two hands. With them in place, imperialism can flood the Chinese market with foreign goods, buy up raw materials at rock-bottom prices, and thereby exploit the vast peasant masses. Unless the broad peasantry rise up and coalesce into a mighty revolutionary force, the Chinese revolution cannot succeed. In other words, unless we mobilize the peasants and carry out a rural revolution, the foundations of imperialist domination in China will remain unshaken. Thus, the peasant question has become the central issue of the National Revolution—an indispensable and inescapable one. No one today would dare deny the paramount importance of this question. Whoever opposes the peasant movement is an enemy of the revolution. We must purge the Party of right-wing elements who compromise with imperialists and warlords and undermine the policies for workers and peasants. To resolve the peasant question, we must continue the Two Northern Expeditions and expand the rural revolution.

The mission of the Central Peasant Movement Training Institute is to train cadres capable of leading the rural revolution: individuals with a deep understanding of the peasant movement, thorough research skills, sound methods for resolving agrarian problems, and an unwavering commitment to the cause. Within a few months, each of you will be dispatched to the countryside to rally the broad masses of peasants, to launch the rural revolution, and to overthrow the feudal forces. The Institute may rightly be regarded as the main base of the National Revolution.

Today’s opening ceremony is, in essence, our oath-taking. From this day forward, we pledge ourselves to struggle and sacrifice for the peasants. There is no other path but the peasant movement. Yet such a momentous undertaking is the shared responsibility of all revolutionary people; it concerns every one of us. As we press ahead on this arduous road, we earnestly hope for the sincere guidance and support of all revolutionary comrades and the general public. Let us cry out:

Expand the rural revolution! Uproot the feudal forces! Continue the work of the Northern Expedition! Annihilate the Fengtian clique! Uphold the Premier’s policies for workers and peasants! Resist all counterrevolutionary forces that seek to sabotage these policies!

Long live the liberation of the peasants!

Long live the success of the National Revolution!

Long live the success of the world revolution!

(Note by the reprinter: In the autumn of 1926, as the Northern Expedition advanced victoriously and the peasant movement surged ever higher, there arose an urgent need to strengthen leadership over the peasant movement. The Peasant Movement Training Institute established in Guangzhou was brought to a close due to the evolving revolutionary situation. Its graduates were sent back to their home regions to lead the peasant movement, igniting a new high tide of rural struggle. In October, the Northern Expeditionary Force captured Wuhan, shifting the center of the revolution from Guangzhou to Wuhan. It was then that Chairman Mao went to Wuhan once more to organize the Central Peasant Movement Training Institute, continuing the task of training revolutionary cadres.)