Speech at the Mass Meeting Convened
by the Central Peasant Movement Training
Institute in Memory of the Martyrs from
Yangxin and Ganzhou¹

(March 26, 1927)

Even within this domain² of the revolutionary forces, events involving the tragic
slaughter of peasants and workers are constantly being acted out. This clearly
demonstrates that the remnants of the feudal forces are accumulating strength
and sharpening their weapons to fight their last struggle against us! From today
on, we must have one resolve: to attack the forces of these reactionary elements,
and to reach our true goals. This is the duty we should assume at today's memorial service. (Balance omitted.)

This summary was published in the Hankou Minguo ribao on March 31, 1927. Our
source is the text as reproduced in Mao Zedong ji. Bujuan, Vol. 2, p. 273.
1. When this summary of Mao's remarks was first published on March 31, 1927, it
was preceded by a lengthy editorial note of which the only available text contains many
missing characters. We give here a translation of the more legible and significant portions
of this introduction:

In the wake of the tragic murders of the revolutionary comrades in Yangxin and Ganzhou, all
the comrades in the Central Peasant Movement Training Institute began a period of mourning
for the martyrs; in addition, they engaged in various activities to express their resolve. Because
of the urgency of the present trend in party affairs, all the students of the institute went especially
to the Central Party Bureau to present a petition on the day of the memorial service.. They
urged that all the reactionaries be purged in order to protect the peasants and the workers.
Representatives handed the written petition to the Central Executive Committee.... In addition to issuing a telegram to the whole country calling for saving the party, they also issued a
telegram condemning Chiang Kaishek and stating their positions. At six o'clock in the afternoon, the memorial service was held. Invited guests and all the students gathered in the
stadium, their heads held high.... After the ceremony
gist of which was as follows.
Mao Zedong made a speech, the

2. Two characters are missing here in the text as reproduced in the Bujuan; they have
been supplied from the extract contained in Nianpu 1, pp. 189-90.