To Zhu Shaoliang[1]

(September 8, 1936)

Mr. Shaoliang:

Over a decade of fierce warfare, I have encountered you everywhere—truly a sign of great affinity! Yet when the snipe and the clam grapple, the fisherman stands by to profit; is this not perilous for the snipe and the clam? I enclose the Communist Party’s letter to the Kuomintang, which seeks the welfare of the nation and its people, and also your own welfare. Between our two parties and two armies, there is no irreconcilable enmity, but rather a shared duty to pull together in times of trouble. Cast aside suspicion and resentment to confront our common foe, and posterity will hail you as a national hero—would that not be far better than what Mr. Hu Zongnan[2] calls “life imprisonment”? For “bandit suppression” is not merely life imprisonment; it is a death sentence. It is not the Red Army that pronounces this death sentence upon you gentlemen, but Japanese imperialism that does so—not only sentencing a certain portion of our countrymen to death, but indeed seeking to condemn the entire nation to it. Alas, how perilous! If you, sir, agree to a united front, I shall welcome you with utmost sincerity. Yet the matter demands urgent action; delay only benefits the invaders who drive deep into our land. I still hope you will convey my regards to Mr. Jiang[3] and urge an immediate decision—the nation’s cause may yet be salvaged. Words cannot fully express my thoughts. With best wishes for your success and well-being,

Mao Zedong

September 8

[1] Zhu Shaoliang (1891–1963), originally from Wujin, Jiangsu, was then serving as Director of the Kuomintang government’s Pacification Office in Gansu.

[2] Hu Zongnan (1896–1962), a native of Xiaofeng, Zhejiang (later merged into Anji), was then commander of the Kuomintang First Army, engaged in attacking the Red Army in northern Shaanxi.

[3] Refers to Chiang Kai-shek.