Letter to Song Ziwen¹
                                                               (August 14, 1936)

Dear Mr. Ziwen:

It is ten years since we parted, and now the state of affairs in the nation has
changed completely. Only by returning to the united front can the country be
saved from ruin and manage to survive. When elder brother Dong Jianwu² was
here earlier, I asked him to convey my humble regards; I wonder whether or not
they have reached you? Your younger brother and the rest of us have made three
appeals over the last several years, in the hope that the Nanjing authorities would
change their foreign and domestic policies. Although at present there seems to be
some hint of this, the main aspects remain unchanged, making it very hard to
achieve true unity to resist Japan.
You, sir, are a person of renown in our country, and have on occasion voiced
your opinion on resistance against Japan, thereby filling us with admiration! We
fervently hope that you will advance further in that direction, taking the initiative
in rejecting the traitors who are selling out the country, restoring Sun Yatsen’s
revolutionary spirit in your honorable party, as practiced before 1927, and carrying out the three great policies of uniting with Russia, uniting with the Commu-nists, and uniting with the peasants and workers. Thus you will not only save the
country, you will also save yourselves. The [Japanese] bandits have caused extreme calamity. We cry out urgently in search of friends who will stand together
with us to brave the storms, and we wish to hear your illustrious opinions. In
haste I have set down my views, though there is so much more to be said! I avail
myself of the opportunity to wish you all the best in your work.

                                                               Mao Zedong

Our source for this text is Mao Zedong _shuxin xuanji_, pp. 45–46, where it is reproduced
from a copy in the Central Archives.
    1. Song Ziwen (1894–1971), known in English-language sources as T.V. Soong, was
born in Shanghai. His eldest sister, Song Qingling, was the widow of Sun Yatsen; his
second sister, Song Meiling, married Chiang Kaishek in 1927. Thanks to these
connections with the holders of political power, his family’s economic position, and the
knowledge of economics acquired in taking a B.A. at Harvard, Song became the key
figure in the establishment of a modern financial system in China. At this time, he was
chairman of the National Economic Committee of the Guomindang government, and
chairman of the board of the Bank of China.
    2. Dong Jianwu, mentioned above in the text of March 4, 1936, entitled “Views
Regarding Negotiations with the Nanjing Authorities,” was engaged at this time in
underground work under the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party in Shanghai.