front. Since Mr. Qian Shoukang is traveling southward, I have asked him to
present my letter to you. Although we are thousands of miles apart, it is never
too late for us to hear from each other.


I write especially to extend to you with respect my very best wishes.
Mao Zedong


To Yu Xuezhong¹
(September 22, 1936)


For the perusal of the honorable Chairman Yu:
With our two armies confronting each other so closely, we still have not had a
chance to exchange greetings. Please accept my sincere apologies. I have known
all along that you, sir, deeply love our country, and that you have long been in
sympathy with the War of Resistance against Japan. Now it is of great urgency
for us to stop the mutual slaughter between your honorable army and our own, so
that we may seek a ceasefire and a peaceful solution in the Northwest. To this
end I am sending Mr. Peng Yufeng² to meet you and explain in detail the
proposal of our humble side to initiate a joint effort to save the nation. I hope that
you will be kind enough to see him and give him the benefit of your instruction
about all these matters. Undoubtedly, the success of our cooperation in resistance
against Japan will benefit both of our armies, and bring good fortune to the
nation and to the country.


I write especially to convey my best wishes for your good fortune, and more.
Mao Zedong



--- Notes



1. Regarding Yu Xuezhong, see the relevant note to the text of January 25, 1936. At
this time, in addition to his position as chairman of the Gansu provincial government, he
was commander of the Guomindang's Fifty-first Army.



2. Peng Yufeng is an alternative name for Peng Xuefeng. See below, the letter to him
dated December 20, 1936.



3. According to a note to Mao Zedong shuxin xuanji, the Chinese Communist Party
produced a "Draft Agreement on Cooperation Between the Chinese Communist Party and
the Guomindang to Resist Japan and Save the Country" in September 1936. The same
document was used as a basis for negotiations with various regional forces regarding an
anti-Japanese united front, and it is to this that Mao is referring here. For a revised version
of the text as it stood on October 11, 1936, see below.



4. Chen Mingshu (1890-1965), zi Zhenru, was a native of Guangdong, and had been
governor of that province from 1929 to 1931. When the Nineteenth Route Army gained
international fame in 1932 as a result of its resistance to the Japanese in Shanghai, Chen
was overall commander. He also took the lead in the Fujian rebellion of 1933 and was
chairman of the short-lived "People's Revolutionary Government." After the Fujian
régime was suppressed, Chen fled to Hong Kong. In 1936, he traveled to Europe, where
he stayed until the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese war in July 1937.


Our source for this letter is Mao Zedong shuxin xuanji, pp. 76-77, where it is reproduced
from a copy in the Central Archives.